20 Random Things I've Learned...

... after three years as a mother. :)

1) Pediatricians are not always right.
2) I really do know my daughter best.
3) Sleep "issues" come and go and in the end, it really doesn't matter if it is/was teething, growth spurt, mental leap, or nightmare. I help her through whatever it is, and eventually we get back to sleeping again, so why even try to guess...
4) There are great days and there are "those" days and you just hope to have more of the one to counter the frustrations of the other.
5) Parenting is the most mind numbing yet glorious job you can do. Finding a way to salvage your mind and do a good job is the trick. (Especially for SAHMs.)
6) Children are funny.
7) Watching your child do anything dangerous truly does stop your heart. Better make sure you are in good enough health to handle it.
8) If you can, stay close to your family. Support is priceless!
9) You WILL find yourself making up the strangest rules because you never knew what a creative little being you raised and what they would imagine up to do with a hand, a vanilla milk shake, and some whipped cream. The more creative the child, the more creative the rules.
10) Teaching a child proper behavior can sometimes be better than child proofing something. How will they learn what to do versus what not to do if they aren't even presented with the situation in the first place.
11) The only toy anyone wants to play with is the one that the other child is already playing with. I mean... if they like it, it must be the only thing worth liking right now. Hehe...
12) To go with 11... Once they learn the concept of taking turns, that suddenly becomes the reason the other child needs to give them the toy. They WANT A TURN! New rule needs to be put into place. Who knew?
13) You really will treasure and fawn over the blob of color your child tells you is a picture of your face.
14) There's nothing funnier than destroying daddy's tower.
15) A kiss from a child given freely, even slobbering all over you, is divine!
16) Talking poop is just another everyday conversation.
17) Your detergent can get food out of your clothes over, and over, and over again.
18) The generation gap is real.
19) Everyone, nowadays, has too many toys, but I think we need one more. :)
20) Being a family as a couple is SPECIAL, being a family with children is MEANINGFUL.

I'm sure I've got more, but I've got to get some sleep. Just some thoughts. :)

Ari and Jasmine's Princess Birthday

Ari and her girlfriend Jasmine are the same age and have birthdays one day apart so they had a joint birthday party this year. It was a princess birthday party with essentially all girls. Ari is always more interested in boy things, so while all the other girls were interested in a princess costume for the most part, our girl went for the pirate costume. Hehe... It was a fun time for all!



Don't know why my embed is not working, but in case it starts working, I'm leaving it in. If it doesn't work, feel free to go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30157232@N06/sets/72157612684614593/show/

to see the pictures. :)