lazy rainy day

Ever since we got back from our beach vacation we have had lazy days. And they have been so nice! Allie has either played in her play room or wandered around the house. I say wander like she has no idea where she is going, when it is us that are the clueless ones. That girl is on a mission from the moment she gets up in the morning until she goes to bed at night. She knows when she wants to go and where. I love watching her face light up as she walks around the house and does her thing. It rained for the majority of the day here and playing with my little girl was exactly what I needed. I'm so very thankful that I get to stay home with my baby girl. All I have ever wanted to be was a stay at home mom and I love every lazy day.

I am trying to figure out when I need to start working with Allie on different skills she will need so I can have her ready for kindergarten in three and a half years. Where did the first year and a half of my baby's life go? I haven't missed a single tear, a new food, a new skill mastered, but it feels as though the time is flying by. She is so busy and is learning so much, I just want to make sure I am doing everything as her mommy that I am supposed to be doing to prepare her for life. I watch her as she learns new things and I smile knowing she is right where she needs to be. But then the fear I am sure every mom experiences sets in. Is she really where she needs to be? Is she mastering the skills she is supposed to? Is mom365 really accurate or are they talking about the super advanced toddlers? All I want is for her to be learning and growing just as she should be. I follow Kelly's Korner blog and if you haven't ever read it, you should check it out! (www.kellyskornerblog.com) She said in a post the other day she would rather her kids love Jesus and be kind to others than to be the smartest kid in the class. I totally agree with this, but a part of me wants them to maybe be a little bit above where they should be academically. I want my baby girl to be successful and to go on to be whatever God has created her to be. I know she will need to graduate high school and go on to college to be the successful girl he designed her to become. As a former kindergarten teacher I know what she needs to know by the time she starts school. I know the skills she must master to be successful there and into first grade. However I want her to still be a baby too. I want her to play and have fun, be creative and enjoy being little. I know that school won't always be enjoyable for her and I want her to have fun learning memories with me at home. It's funny I was always an advocate for public school. Teachers are like me, they care about their students and want only what is best for them. They will carry them from the playground the office when they fall at recess, skin their knee and are crying. <--- definitely did that with one of my little ones. :) But after talking with my best friend, whose daughter unfortunately has not had such luck, I find myself toying with an idea I have been against my whole life... home school. There are so many advantages and disadvantages to both. Do I want my daughter to be a social outcast? No. Do I think it would be waaaaaay cooler to SEE the American Symbols rather than learn about them based on a picture? Yes. Two of my first year kids are homeschooled. Both because they were not being challenged enough in the regular classroom. I know each and every child is different. I know they all have different needs that need to be met. But I can say I have a fear that what if my baby is the one that falls on the play ground, is crying and just needs a hug and to maybe be carried to the office for a band-aid? And what if the teacher she has tells her, "We are going inside in five minutes. You can wait." Irrational? Maybe. But something I have been thinking about lately.
I love my little baby with all of my heart and I will do anything and everything I can to make sure she is the most successful where ever she is, whether that is in a public or private school or at home with me. Guess I need to do some praying and trust that God will lead Nick and I to the right decision for our baby girl.

So right now I am relishing in the fact that I have at least three and a half more years at home with my princess (that is if I decide not to put her in preschool... eek! another fear!) before I have to make the decision. I am enjoying these lazy days where I watch her innocent eyes take in our home and watch with amazement as she discovers opening cabinets and moving the blinds to see outside.

Love. Love her, love my job, love my life.

17 months

Allie you are 17 months old! I cannot believe how big you are getting and all of the new things you do each and every day. All of these pictures are from September 12 while we were at the beach. Happy 17 months my little love! Here is what you are up to this month:
You wear a size 4 cruisers diaper.
You wear 18 months clothes, but mostly 24 months pajamas.

You laugh as you fall asleep. (Daddy says I do this too!)
When I am rocking you, you will grab my face and turn it to yours and want to snuggle.

When you wake up from your nap you need Mommy snuggles to wake up a little before you go play. 
When I am rocking you to sleep you hold on to my shirt or play with the snap on my bra strap. You also still spin your sassy around as you fall asleep.

You like to have your sassy at meal times often.
You LOVE to drink out of your Tinkerbell cup and you are very good at it! You've only dropped it off of your tray once and it was an accident. You love to play with the straw.
You also like to play with my hair, mostly to keep you awake, as I rock you to sleep.

When you don't want to do something (i.e.: get dressed, leave an area, etc.) you will arch your back, raise your arms and squeal, making it impossible to pick you up. However if Daddy is trying to move you and I walk over I can pick you right up without much of a fight.

You love to walk to your room, open your closet and get out your brown & pink shoes and your silver sparkly ones and carry them around.

You enjoy playing in your play room, but you'd rather be out walking around the house.
One of your favorite pass times right now is balancing any and everything you can on your foot! You will sit on your bottom, lift your leg into the air so that your foot is off of the ground, pick up a toy and put it on or try to balance it on your foot. It is so cute! The other day you put a teething ring on there and stood up and tried to walk with it still on your foot!

You love to push the button and the screen on the security panel for the alarm system. You think it's the greatest! You pushed the button to the elevator while we were on vacation.
You are so funny when you have had socks on and we take them off. You will spread your toes and pick out the lint!

After you get out of the bath tub and I put lotion on you help me rub it into your feet!
You grab and hold my hand, pulling me to where you want to go. 

While on vacation you really began pointing at everything. You loved the birds and all the helicopters that flew by. You don't tuck your thumb, so it is so cute when you point.

When you want to eat or drink something you will pick it up and hand it to me. I love when you do! However while in Florida you were eating some of my chips, picking them up, handing them to me and letting me break them off for you. Well you picked one up off of my plate and just ate it! Daddy and I cracked up!

You LOVE blueberries. They are by far your favorite fruit.
You also love peas, they are definitely your favorite vegetable.

You are my "snacky shopper". You are content as can be as long as you have melts or shreds or bunny shacks to eat while we shop!

You recognize packaging, such as your bunny snacks, cereals and the bag of frozen blueberries.
You love to splash in the tub. You like it even more when we say, "splash splash!"
When we got you in the pool in Florida you were kicking your feet and then you started putting your hands in the water and reaching, making a swimming motion, to get to the wall you wanted to go to.

You are a little copy cat right now! If shown how to manipulate a toy or make a face you will do it too.
You nurse three times a day: before bed, middle of the night and after your second nap.

After we brush your teeth you like to rinse your toothbrush under the running water. You are so cute as you place it under the water then hand it to me to be put back in your holder.
You love to be rocked. It is the only way you will fall asleep and only Mommy can rock you to sleep.

You give the BEST hugs. You wrap your little arms around me or Daddy and squeeze! Melts my heart. You were extra lovey in Florida and I am so thankful it has carried over to home too. I love how you come up to me and snuggle into my chest.

You got so spoiled while we were in Florida because you slept in your pack n' play next to our bed. When you would wake up in the morning you would stand up, reach over and put your hand on my face and giggle. It was the sweetest way to wake up, except when it was 1am! You didn't sleep very well in your pack n' play and I can understand why. The mattress isn't really a mattress at all and I think it was uncomfortable. So you slept in between Daddy and I a good bit. (You did this the first night home too, I'm curious to see if you wake up to do it again tonight.)

You absolutely LOVE the movie Tangled. You laugh and smile and are completely captivated while it is on. You still enjoy watching Toy Story and Toy Story 3 too.

You like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, but not nearly as much as you used to. You enjoy watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, but only for a little while. You also like Doc McStuffins (which is my personal favorite show on Disney).

You love to play with my heart necklace Daddy gave me after you were born as you fall asleep.
You have the BEST fake laugh! You can make anyone laugh when you do it. Daddy can fake laugh and get you to do it back and y'all will go back and forth.

You loved the beach and the ocean! (I was so scared you were going to hate it!) Playing in the sand and running into and out of the ocean are your favorites. You love watching Mommy and Daddy chase your beach ball too. You loved chasing the birds and looking at all of the helicopters that flew by.
You tried yoohoo and loved it!

You like to brush your own hair now, not just your baby dolls hair. It is so cute!
You try to put on your shoes. I came home from getting my toes done and you had your tennis shoes on. I asked you if you and Daddy had been outside and Daddy said, "Nope! She wanted to put them on, so we did!"

You also will pull your clip or bow out of your hair and then try to put it back in. So sweet! 
You love your animals from Noah's Ark and love to line them up on the arm of your chair and then try to rock without them falling off. 
You love remotes and like to carry them around the house.

You love any and all technology. You love to push the keys on mine and Daddy's laptop, you love to press the home button on our iphones and you like my ipad as well!

You loved your shovels and other beach digging tools. You would shovel the sand, tile in the condo and ground outside.

You are very good at taking "big steps". You will lift your leg so high to step over something. 
You go up and down stairs like a pro and take them one at a time, you do not put two feet on one step at any time.

You rarely ever trip and fall anymore. You have really good balance!
You will try any and everything that is on my plate.
You love to stand in your rocking chair and wait to see who is watching. When we tell you to sit down you will sit really fast and then stand back up. You think it is a game.
You love to see who all is looking at you. If there is a group of people you will look from person to person to see if their eyes are on you.

You do this bashful thing when a stranger says hello to you. If I am holding you, you will put your head on my shoulder while looking at them. If you are standing you raise your arm and rest your head on it. It's precious.
You love the dogs and Chesney is still your favorite. I think she is slowly coming around to you!
Your favorite sounds/words right now are "bah bah" and "Momma". You love to talk to me and I love it too.

I have recently decorated for fall. We have a glass candy jar in the shape of a pumpkin and you love to touch and pick up the lid. 
You love to put the Barbie sunglasses that Mimi gave you on your pig that Grammie gave you. We put them on and say, "ooooohh piggywood!"

You were not into wearing your sunglasses or hats at all until we went to the beach. Even when you would pull them off you would stand very still and wait for me to put them back on! You love to wear your sunglasses even in the car now! And I must say you look SO cute when you have your Babiators on! We say, "oooooh Hollywood!"

You like to drink out of water bottles and are really good at it.
You are definitely still a Mommy's girl. When you get hurt or are sleepy you just want Mommy. You LOVE your daddy though and enjoy doing things with him, like being outside. 
While at the beach you would hold your arms out away from your body when you got sand on them, but even after we rinsed them in the ocean you would hold them our away from you.

In the mornings you love to eat raisin toast, Cheerios, Cascadian Farms Fruitful-O's, Cascadian Farms Cinnamon Crunch, Earth's Best French Toast and Earth's Best blueberry waffles.
You eat yogurt for snack after your morning nap. Your favorite flavors are banana and pumpkin & banana.
We have lots of nick names for you, but the ones we use the most are: Allie-poo, lady bug and booga. 

Lunch varies depending on your mood and the day. But you love the Jammy Sammies by Plum Organics. The blueberry and oatmeal is your absolute favorite.
You still LOVE melts and eat them by the dozens. 
You really like grilled chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-A.

You drink 2% Organic milk in the mornings, although Friday is juice day so you get that with breakfast. The rest of the day you drink water, which you prefer over everything else.
Your favorite restaurant is still Panera. You love their bread (and like your Daddy can put A LOT away!) and their broccoli cheddar soup.

You are very independent and love to do things by yourself and to figure them out all on your own.
You are looking more and more like your Daddy, although you still have my facial expressions.

You are a typical hoarding toddler. Any toy you see you want. You will also collect and hold as many toys as you can and get aggravated when you can't hold all of them at once. 
You climb on everything! Especially if it is behind the couch in your playroom or by the window. 

You are the happiest baby. It is so very easy to make you smile. Everything on you is ticklish from the palm of your hands to the tips of your toes. Your smile brightens my day and I listen by your monitor for you to stand in your crib and say, "o-o-o" making the short "o" sound. You rarely ever cry when you wake up from naps or in the mornings, you just talk until we come get you. I love everything about you Allie and I am so grateful and thankful God chose me to be your mommy!