My Baby's a Singer!!

OK, OK, actually Georgia likes to sing non-stop these days, especially now that's it's Christmas time and there are SOOOO many Christmas songs. But on this night, my little girl sat on a stage for the very first time and sang in front of a room full of people.

It's her first recital... I'm so proud!!!!!

And just like any true kid, she went from singing to looking around to being a ham.



I wish we would have arrived earlier so I would have been closer to take pictures (lesson learned for next year), but thank God for my Nikkor 70-200mm! It got me close enough.

And then in true Georgia-style, when her class was done, she couldn't let it end there. She proceeded to dance in the aisle to the other songs by the other classes. Always the center of attention, this one!

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March 27, 2012 - Giving the Potty Another Go

We tried potty training with Georgia a week or two after her second birthday. We bought the little pink plastic toilet, we hit the "big girl" panty aisle at Target and we showed Georgia what that toilet paper roll is really for (no, it's really not for rolling around the house to see just how far the paper will go). And at first, it all went great - potty training was a big hit!

Then... we took a trip home to Georgia to visit my family and used pull-ups with Georgia most of the week so there were no accidents on floors and couches other than our own. THAT.WAS.IT. When we came home, Georgia was over the potty training thing and wanted nothing to do with "big girl" panties. Back to pull-ups we went. :(

But today, when I dropped Georgia off at daycare, her teacher asked me to bring some panties to leave in Georgia's cubby and start bringing her to daycare in those Dora and Minnie Mouse-themed panties Georgia picked out almost six months ago.

WHAT?!?! So I find out the little girl who kept refusing, even now, to use the potty at home or give her panties another go has been using the potty every time at daycare. OK, so peer pressure can be a good thing sometimes! She must not want to be the baby of the class.

So the panties are back on and potty training is a go once more. Gosh, I hope it sticks this time. I'm tired of paying for pull-ups.

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February 14, 2012 - Hearts and Love Day!!

Wait... isn't this supposed to be a day for lovers? When did it become a kids' holiday? My Valentine's Day started off with a party at Georgia's daycare. OK, scratch that, it was a sugar fest. Holy sweets, Batman!

OK, OK, Valentine's Day with the kids is pretty darn cute.





Did I mention this was her first "school party?" We even had her valentines for her class in her cubby and all ready to be handed out, and Godiva candy bars for the teachers as well.


After all that sugar at the 9:30 a.m. school party (yes, you heard right, 9:30 IN THE MORNING!), Georgia and I headed home to... more sugar.

It was time to make some treats for daddy.



I've never made chocolate-dipped strawberries and pretzels before, but it was fun - except the steam from the double-boiler. Beware of the double-boiler. But hey, it wouldn't be considered cooking if I didn't burn myself at least once. I do have a reputation to uphold!

Then I placed some valentines I made around the house for the hubby in places I knew he would find them.





Hopefully he liked it all, who knows? I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day.

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February 2, 2012 - I Heart These!

I don't know what I'm more happy with - the fact that I actually finished a project more than a week ahead of schedule or how well that project turned out.

The valentines for Georgia's class are signed, sealed and just waiting for the 14th to be delivered!! This, for me, is an amazing accomplishment. I am a serious procrastinator. No, I really mean it... Mrs. Last Minute. Typically I would buy everything for these valentines on my way to work on the 13th and then stay up until two a.m. or so getting them put together. Or worse yet, I'd have this great vision for beautiful, unique valentines, and I'd put it off so long that I'd just have to rush out and buy the ones in a box.
But look at these!

Now if you follow me on Pinterest, you know my inspiration came from there. I can't take credit for the idea. But you know what... I like my finished product.

I can't WAIT for Valentine's Day!!

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January 3, 2012 - Handing My Daughter Over to Strangers

The good news is - my hubby got a job in our new hometown. The bad news is - Georgia has to go back to daycare.

Today was D-day - that's daycare day in our home.

I guess we've been a little spoiled for almost the last year. If anything good came out of my being laid off, it's that Georgia has had a stay at home parent since February 9, 2011. First is was me, and then starting in July, it was my hubby. She has flourished having one of us home, but sadly, our bank account has not. So we are now a two-income household once again.

We prepped her for this day - we told her all about the new friends she would make, the teachers she would meet, the new toys she could explore, the playground she could play on - she seemed pretty ready and a little excited. That is, until about 30 minutes before she and I needed to walk out the door. I can honestly say I think I witnessed her worst toddler tantrum... yet! She would not even let me put her shoes on (I was lucky to have dressed her much earlier) and forget brushing her hair. I had to carry a squirming, SCREAMING and kicking child to my car and buckle her in. She then SCREAMED the entire way to the daycare. When she saw the building, the tears and screams subsided a bit and I finally got those shoes on.

And she let me take a picture:

(so much for those cute shots of her getting ready and walking to the car with her backpack that I had imagined)

So how did she do? When I left her - after prying her death-locked arms from around my neck - she was crying those big, heaving, ugly sobs while all the other kids started at her. But when my hubby picked her up just three short hours later (yes, she only goes three hours a day), he said she was playing with the other kids and appeared happy. Thank goodness.

Let's just see if we make it out the door tomorrow with shoes on.

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Another Change.

I can't believe it was almost 14 months ago that I was here, crying every day and dreading dropping my little baby girl off at daycare. Today those tears unexpectedly returned for a much different reason. It was Georgia's last day at daycare.

Now that I am not currently working, Georgia has no need for daycare and honestly we need to save that money. So this morning I packed Georgia's lunch box as I do every morning, put on her jacket and boots, strapped her into her carseat and we were off. But we made a stop along the route to daycare... we just had to pick up some cookies and goodies for the ladies who have taken such good care of my little lovely.

One of those ladies in particular played a much more important role then she will probably ever know, although more for me than Georgia. When Georgia first started at this daycare, I had just lost my mother to cancer three months earlier. I soon found myself telling this lady, a grandmother herself, all the things about Georgia I would have been telling my mom if she were here. The new thing Georgia did that day or the funny little quirk she had that morning or the attitude and personality she was starting to show. It wasn't the same, but it helped. It helped. I will miss her. I wonder if Georgia will too. At her age, will she realize these ladies who she has grown close to have just disappeared from her life? I'm sure she will.

So good-bye Miss Carol, Miss Dawn and Miss Kristen - you will be missed.

Of course, what's a post without some pictures. Georgia's inner girl is coming out, she's making jewelry from her toys. Today her stacking rings became bracelets.

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