365 Days of Everything Georgia: January 2012

January 30 & 31, 2012 - Make It Monday and a Taste of Tuesday

>> January 30, 2012 – arts and crafts, family

Sometimes I feel like I'm running in circles every day, over and over again. They are the same circles, just different days. My circle had a little 90-degree angle added to it Tuesday - I had to be into work 30 minutes early for a meeting. Hence the dual day post because I missed my 11:59 p.m. deadline to get January 31st posted under the month of January... oops! Let's hope I'm soon back running in my circle.

January 30, 2012

It's a Make It Monday! It's not a craft so much with Georgia today, but one for Georgia (and maybe my sanity). I made a calm jar.

You fill a jar with colored water, glitter and some corn syrup to thicken it up.

Then you super glue the lid shut.

The idea behind it is that when someone needs to calm down, um, I don't know, say a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum, you shake the jar and watch the glitter fall. By the time the glitter settles, hopefully that tantrum has too! (although I don't know what little angel in our house would dare throw a tantrum...)

I haven't tested it yet, but something tells me I won't have to wait long.

January 31, 2012 - A Taste of Tuesday

I had a long day at work and didn't get home until after midnight, so I'm exhausted. So here's quick glance, or taste, at/of our Tuesday.

Georgia and her daddy eating lunch when he came home on his lunch break.

And Georgia not happy that I was photographing their meal...

They are my loves... my true loves.

January 29, 2012 - A Walk in the Woods

>> January 29, 2012 – family, outdoors

Daddy's home!!!

I have had to spend several days and nights away from my daughter during my job hunt about six to eight months ago. I always had to leave town for job interviews. So I know well that tug at your heart when you know you'll go without seeing that little smile today or wiping that messy little mouth at lunch time or getting those fabulous hugs throughout the day or that sweet goodnight kiss as the day come to an end. It sucks, it really does. And while a day and night (or two) away can bring a little peace and quiet, really, who wants that when there's lots of love in all that noise at home?

Georgia daddy's just got his first real taste of missing her when he went out of town for work the last two days. So today was all about time together. So we found our own peace and quiet - together - with a walk through the woods in a nearby national forest.

This is some serious lichen!

Over the river and through the woods... right?

Or maybe it was under the tree...

Maybe it's the bit of southern girl in me, but there's just SOMETHING about Spanish Moss hanging in a tree.

Wait mommy, are you coming?

After all the energy we used up walking through the woods, a re-energizing stop at the ice cream shop was a requirement. :)

Life is a whole lot sweeter with daddy home. We missed you daddy and are very, very happy you are home!

January 28, 2012 - Girl's Time, Part 2

>> January 28, 2012 – fun, new home town, outdoors

It's day two of just me and Georgia. Me and Georgia. Me and Georgia.

So let's go chase some birds!

We also fed the seagulls.

... and Georgia.

A lot of seagulls here.

We also took a walk by the rivers. There's this bench/art work where you can talk into this funnel-like thing, and the person on the other end at the other funnel-like thing can hear you. Georgia tried talking to her daddy...

And what's a girls' day out without some sweets, right?

Daddy comes home tonight from his out-of-town work... and we can't wait to see him!! But I will be a little sad to lose my mommy/daughter time - it has been a sweet two days.

January 27, 2012 - When Daddy's Away...

>> January 27, 2012 – family, food

The hubby is out of town for work, meaning Georgia and I have two days of girl time!

I treasure my time with Georgia when it's just the two of us - for those moments it's just her and me and the rest of the world just fades into the fuzzy outlines of our life. I love that. Her feelings and emotions - good and bad - toward me are pure and raw and not diluted in any way through another. They are times I will always remember and pull off the memory shelf when I need a smile. But these days are hard work too, right? It always makes me wonder how single moms and dads do it every. single. day.

Well, we started mommy/daughter day one with an AWESOME morning at the library. Friday is story/puppet time there, and while I'd love to show you all the adorable pictures I had planned to take, this momma remembered her camera but forgot to grab the memory card out of my laptop. Sooo... no cute pics.

I did snap one or two with my phone while we were looking for books after tot time.

Riding home with our finds.

We went home with four books, and I was sure to get a shot once I was reunited with my memory card.

Georgia still went to daycare for a few hours so mommy could get some much-needed errands done - work suits altered, meeting at the bank for a mortgage, etc - and it was great to finally get to be the one to pick her up. I'm always the "bad guy," dropping her off every day while daddy scoops her up and rescues her after 5. Today, she turned to see me with that humongous smile and a beautiful "mommy!". It was a highlight of my day.

How to wrap up our day? A marvelous dinner out at an Italian restaurant of course!

Mmmmm... Baked Ziti for Georgia and Chicken Marsala for me. It was delish, but what was best was laughing and talking our way through dinner - and thoroughly entertaining the older couple sitting next to us. Dessert went home with us - tiramisu - and was just as delightful as dinner.

I actually held off tucking her into bed for an extra 15 minutes because I didn't want our day to end. So I'll certainly mark this one down as a super good day. Good night my sweet, it's just you and me again tomorrow, kid.

January 26, 2012 - Paper Bag Puppets

>> January 26, 2012 – arts and crafts, housework

Hmmm... do I wash the dishes that are impatiently waiting by the sink?

NO! I'd rather spend time with my little. So we're making it a crafty day in our house!

Lunch sack paper bags + various items from our craft box =

Georgia's puppet:

and my puppet:

The hardest part is having the patience to wait for the glue to dry!!

January 25, 2012 - A Winter of Picnics

>> January 25, 2012 – food, outdoors, winter

Yes, you read that title correctly - winter and picnics in the same breath. I'm loving this whacked-out, overly-warm winter on the NC Coast!!

When Georgia and I were walking back from the playground this morning, I asked her what she wanted for lunch. She answered, "a picnic." Enough said, little one, enough said. A turkey sandwich, some sliced fruit and a juice box later, and we were sitting in the sun on a quilt made by my grandmother and great-grandmother.

Delightful!

(and yes, I do realize a picnic post comes dangerously close to being my third lunch food post for the week, but... yeah, I've got nothing. enjoy!)

January 24, 2012 - Life's Everyday

>> January 24, 2012 – food

Now matter how much I hope every morning when I wake up to make that day different and special and full of excitement for Georgia, let's face it, life is full of the same things over and over again.

To prove my point, or should I say my point is backing up my photography of the day, my pictures from today are again of lunchtime. I know, you're wondering right now "why am I wasting my time reading about some kid's lunch again?" I think Georgia was thinking along the same lines here when I pulled out my camera - "you want to take a picture of my lunch, again?"

Might I add it was a triangles and squares kind of lunch?

Oh, and remember "Larry the Octopus?" He is finally complete.
(he was once an empty paper towel tube)

Good lunch to you all!

January 23, 2012 - Octopus for Lunch???

>> January 23, 2012 – cooking, food

Well... not really octopus, but that's what we are calling them.

This:

plus this:

equals this:

Turkey dog octopuses! Yum!

January 22, 2012 - Empress Baker

>> January 22, 2012 – cooking, the little things

Score today at one of my favorite stores... Michaels! We not only picked up MORE tidbits for all the arts and crafts I have planned for Georgia, but they were giving away free princess crowns and Georgia snagged one.

But the hubby was quick to point out Georgia is much cooler than some powerless princess and instead, she is Empress Georgia. And after dinner, she was Empress Georgia the Baker - as we had a date with some cupcake mix.

Deliciousness.

And no hoity-toity girl here - my little Empress Georgia digs right in to the chocolate!!

Maybe she's just what some royal family needs - a dose of reality and messy chocolate!

Hail Chocolate! Long Live Chocolate!!

Georgia's Birth Story

The timing of Georgia's birth, in a way, came out of a journey to death. I'd like to think with every death comes new life, and for me, Georgia is that life. She is my saving grace and has kept me breathing when my lungs were screaming to stop, screaming to drown in my own self-pity.

My husband and I decided to try for Georgia just a few months after our walk down the aisle. You see, my mom had been diagnosed with incurable Ovarian Cancer, so I wanted a baby soon. I wanted a baby while there was still time to have my mother there as I brought a new being into the world, to see my mother hold her granddaughter, to ask my mom which of my baby features my daughter bore, to lean on my mother when I had those "new mom" questions and for so many other moments I had played out in my thoughts over and over again through the years.

My husband and I were thrilled to soon find out our little Georgia was growing inside of me, rounding out my belly day by day, pushing tiny feet into my sides, entertaining us with a neverending chorus of hiccups. We went to the doctor's appointments, the baby classes, took the hospital tour and had everything ready for the day we brought our darling home in Omaha, Nebraska.

It's funny though, life seems to fight our planning and always chooses its own course - and so it did. When my belly was just shy of 38 weeks round, the day came. After a 52-year-long life, which was as bright as they come, my mother faded away. She died on Sunday, October 11, 2009.

Early Monday morning, with my doctor's permission, my husband and I got on a plane to fly home to Georgia for my mom's funeral. We got off the plane in Atlanta around 3 p.m. Twelve hours later, at 3 a.m. on Tuesday, I was sleeping at my parents' house. As I lay in the home where my mom had been just days before, that journey toward life took a leap. My water broke and the contractions started coming within minutes. We were more than a thousand miles away from our doctor, our hospital and our house.

So off to the local hospital we went in the dark of night, my husband driving my mom's SUV and not having a clue where he was going. I had to give him directions between contractions. We arrived at the hospital and didn't even know what entrance to go to. We found locked doors twice before finding the right entrance, and yeah, I floundered up to both locked doors!

We checked in and by the time we got to a room, I turned around and there were my sister, brother and cousin in the room with my husband and I and my other sister and father were on the way. We had thought we'd be delivering in Omaha with just my husband and I and the calming classical CD's I'd burned. I guess my mom had other ideas.

So there we were, in the hospital where two years earlier they had cut cancer from my mother, in the hospital where my two nieces were born, in the hospital where my delivery nurse had also been my sister's bridesmaid - there surrounded by those who love me most and the memory of one who just couldn't stay long enough to make it. I delivered Georgia Katherine at 10:46 a.m. She weighed 7 lbs. and 8 ounces.

We left the hospital on Wednesday with a borrowed car seat, a bag full of borrowed baby clothes, a lot of flowers and hearts bursting with every emotion you can possibly imagine. We arrived at my parents' house to a borrowed crib, borrowed baby supplies and relatives arriving in town with funeral clothes and baby gifts packed in their suitcases. On Friday, my daughter and I looked down on my mother in her casket, and on Saturday we buried her. It's the only time my daughter every saw her grandmother.

My mother fought hard to live long enough to meet her granddaughter and in the end, she missed the date by two days. But life doesn't stop, and it's the beauty of my daughter's life that keeps me smiling. And oh how her life makes me smile. I like to believe whenever I'm holding my daughter and she's starring off into the distance, over my shoulder, that she's seeing my mom - a guardian angel for both of us - and that they are already the best of friends.

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January 30 & 31, 2012 - Make It Monday and a Taste of Tuesday

January 29, 2012 - A Walk in the Woods

January 28, 2012 - Girl's Time, Part 2

January 27, 2012 - When Daddy's Away...

January 26, 2012 - Paper Bag Puppets

January 25, 2012 - A Winter of Picnics

January 24, 2012 - Life's Everyday

January 23, 2012 - Octopus for Lunch???

January 22, 2012 - Empress Baker

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