A fun day

Now that Jenna’s getting older and the weather is getting nice, I’m excited to start doing more family activities. But, we don’t have a lot of extra money to spend and we have a hard time thinking of activities that are truly entertaining to a young toddler.  As part of my mother’s day gift, Aaron suggested that we go to the Arboretum at some point over the weekend, so we loaded up and drove the 10 miles, unloaded and explored.  They had a plant sale going on, so we checked it out first. We didn’t need any new plants and decided we’d see how our garden does this year before buying more herbs or veggies, so we headed into the park.  Last year Jenna and I went by the arboretum a couple times, but it was mainly for me, not her, so I was excited for her to see everything again.  I was also excited for Aaron to see it, too. He’s not a huge nature person, but he does like to learn the names of native plants and he loves water (he is a Pisces), so I thought he’d enjoy the grounds.  We started out by pushing Jenna in the stroller, but she’s at that age where she wants to walk or push the stroller, so we let her out and figured she’d ride again if she got tired. Boy, she can walk a lot farther than one would think! I held her hand at first, but mostly she stayed close to her Daddy.

Here are a few shots I snapped during our adventure:

Checking out a water feature (Jenna loves them as much as her dad does!)

 

I love the look on her face in this one. She’s inside of a covered tunnel, I guess she thinks that’s pretty darn cool.

 

Another one in the tunnel

 

Doesn’t this one remind you of being a kid?

This is the view I had most of the day. Doesn’t it melt your heart!!!

Sitting on a stone bridge in a meadow

Such a big, happy girl!

First Official Haircut

Jenna got her first “official” haircut on Saturday. By “official” I mean that a professional was paid. We went to a salon that specialized in children cuts.  Since it was her first cut, they were going to do this big package with a before and after picture and a special lock of hair. Since we’d already trimmed her bangs a couple times, we already have a lock of hair and the before/after picture was just a quick b&a shot printed on a piece of regular paper. So, if you know Aaron and I, we figured we could save the extra $20 and take a picture ourselves. Heck, it was like pulling teeth for us to pay for the haircut! So, here’s a picture from last week (doesn’t the look on her face scream – get the bangs out of my eyes Mom!)

 

 

here is the big reveal!

Ends up, this place puts the kid in a chair shaped like a car, flips on Dora, and faces the kid toward a mirror. Smart folks, I tell ya! They also stocked the first half of the store with toys, tiaras, bows and candy.  Very smart indeed (not that we were willing to pay for any of it!). Jenna’s not interested in Dora, but she is interested in driving…and in Jenna, so the mirror and car (mainly just the steering wheel) were helpful.  She was a happy girl and held still when asked. We think the stylist felt bad for getting paid $17 for about 3 minutes worth of work, so she did a little side braid in Jenna’s hair. It was cute. Right now the way her hair grows, the top hair goes forward, like bangs, so for now, we need to keep it corralled with a bow, barrette, or pig tail, until it is long enough to go behind her ear. In the picture above, part of the non-bangs were missed in the braid, so it looks like she has a long spot in her bangs, but rest assured, they’re even and that rouge hair is kept pulled back.  Will we go back to the special kiddy hair salon? Probably not, but it was a good place to go for the first “official” trim.  I watched closely, so I’ll probably keep trying my hand at managing the bangs.  Hopefully by the time we need to cut the back, she’ll be older and I won’t feel bad taking her to a different, less expensive salon.

A Mother’s Day Message

I hope all the mothers out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day!

I awoke to Aaron and Jenna cooking French Toast for me.  I don’t often let Jenna help me cook, so I could tell she felt very special to get to help her daddy. Breakfast was delicious! Jenna gave me a cute card, that she signed herself and is going to get me a small greenhouse for the deck.  Aaron and I are growing a small container garden this year and hope to move into a raised bed. We tried growing a few plants from seeds, but it didn’t turn out well, so we’re hoping a greenhouse will help us next year. I’m excited to get it, even if we won’t be using it for a while.  Since it was a gloomy day, the three of us spent it inside – including two good naps for Jenna (Aaron and I watched a couple Netflix movies we’ve had for a long time). It was perfect!

Before becoming a mother I always imagined what it would feel like to love my child. Even now after having her I think my idea was pretty accurate.  My heart would be so full it would ache, my mind would constantly be amazed. Yeah, yeah, yeah. ;) What I didn’t realize is how your child truly feels like an extension of you. When she hurts, I hurt, when she’s happy, I’m happy. I always want to be near her and take care of her, teach her, dance with her, make silly faces with her. I never imagined that!  I’ve only seen it from the other side as a daughter – where you see yourself as an independent person, most importantly independent from your own mother!! Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom and unlike most girls, I really never went through much of a phase where I tested her (okay, maybe there were a few months when I was 11 or 12), but I have always wanted to be independent. I can still remember when I was growing up, my mom (the least morning person I know) would wake up before us, go cook breakfast (including making me something special like a burrito or pot pie because I “didn’t like any breakfast foods”), then knock on my door and say, “Good Morning Sunshine!” Every morning I would wait for her to come in before I got up, but one morning I decided that I didn’t need a wake-up call! I didn’t need my mom to make me breakfast! So I told her this. Oh so nicely. I could do it on my own, I really didn’t need her babying me. I couldn’t understand why she was upset. Hey Mom, I get it now! I dread the day my baby girl doesn’t need me to get her up, doesn’t need me to make her breakfast, but when it happens, I can hope that it is because I’m doing my job right. It is a cruel irony of life – being a mother. I can’t imagine the day that I can’t hold my baby in my arms, but I know it will come. I can’t imagine the day that she can buckle her seatbelt, but I know it will come. I can’t imagine the day she falls in love…and has a baby of her own, but I know it will come.  I want all of those things for her and I’m raising her to be able to make those decisions and feel confident and independent, but what I really want is for her to stay 17 months old and need me and want to lay in my arms before I put her in her bed at night! 

I am so blessed to have the Mom that I do. I’m sure you all know this, but to know her is to love her. She’s always been so present in my life. She volunteered at school, girl scouts, church, heck she even volunteered at sporting events! Sure there was a time or two that I wasn’t altogether happy about having my mom around so often, but I could count those times on one hand - the vast majority of the time, I was proud that she was there and proud that she was MY mom. I never doubted her love and have always valued her opinion (even if it was to tell me my boyfriend was a jerk – she was right BTW). Now as a mother, every.single.day I make decisions based on things she’s taught me or from advice she’s given me.  So, I just want to say Thank You Mom! I love you and am so thankful that I got you as my mom! I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day!