Mama's Intuition

I love me a good thunderstorm.

This past Sunday I had a rare moment of alone time - everyone was out running errands & G was napping. There was a storm brewing in the distance. The power had flickered a few times, so I decided to make sure all the TVs & computers in the house were off and I settled down in front of our big picture window to watch the storm roll in.

The lightning got closer, the thunder louder. I told myself if I saw another bolt of lighting get much closer in the field across the street that I would move from my perch at the window. The lightning didn't get any closer, but the hail started pelting the window.

I went to our back room (we all call it the no name room) to turn on the weather radio. None of the warning lights were on and it kept giving me weather for Niagara Falls. Um...I don't live near there, so it wasn't much help.

After fussing with the radio for a minute or 2, I looked up and realized the house looked like it was going through a car wash. Horizontal rain was hitting every side of the house.

This is what amazes me about being a Mom...I don't know if it was intuition, a pressure change in the atmosphere or not wanting to be alone...but I didn't wait another second in running upstairs & getting G from her crib.

She must've sensed it too, because she was wide awake and shot her arms up for me to get her out of there.

Heading down the stairs my mind was racing, deciding if we should sit in the shower in the bathroom, should we go to the basement (which gives me heebie jeebies) or should I just stand in the middle of the house, looking out the windows, ready to run to one of the locations if need be.
We hung out in the back room for a few minutes, Miss G just sitting on my lap, starring out the windows, not even trying to wiggle away from my grip. Luckily the storm started to subside before I could give where to go another thought. I was flooded with relief as I could no longer hear thunder and there was only the sound of light rain.

Like I said, I love a good thunderstorm but that was the most intense storm I've ever been in.  And I've been through 2 microbursts - one of which in a RV - and 3 hurricanes.

It turns out, a tornado had touched down not a mile & a half from where we were. Lots of homes, barns & crops have been damaged but luckily there was not one single injury. (To humans, some cows received scratches & bruises.) 

Tornadoes are a part of life in parts of this country, but certainly not this part. As you can imagine our little community is a buzz.

I learned 2 things from that storm: Never second guess a mama's intuition and the weather radio we have is useless.

A few words can say a lot

There has been loss & illness surrounding our friends & family the past week or so please keep them in your prayers.

 

I'm going to keep this short & sweet. All of the emotions I have flowing through me (both good & bad) are difficult to put into words. So I'll focus on what matters.

 

 I am so grateful for my amazing family & friends. I am blessed for all the time I have with them.

 

With everything going on in this world, all the things that make you want to cry, I have the faces of my loved ones to make me smile. We all don't know how long we'll be healthy, happy & walking this earth, so please enjoy & be thankful for every moment you have together. Nothing is more important than that.

What's Your Legacy?

I'm going to be honest with you all.......…I didn’t make that loaf of bread.

But I’ve got a really good excuse this time.

I got sucked into ancestry.com.

It’s absolutely fascinating, and has made me look at my parents, grandparents, siblings, cousins, husband & daughter in a complete new light. None of our lives may be extraordinary different. None of us may become a famous pop star, or a president, but we’re all part of a bigger picture. We’re all part of a legacy.

If a man & woman did not meet in the right time or place, and they were not blessed with their children when they were blessed……..everything would be so different. Everything.

Right now we all get so caught up in the here & now, and what’s best for our kids, and what’s in their food, etc. But in 100 years, all that will matter is that we met our spouses when we did, we had our babies when we did…because if we hadn’t, that generation would not exist as it is now destined to.

There is so much debate over large family vs small family vs no family….and I still don’t exactly know where I stand in that debate….but I can tell you that I wouldn’t have wanted my great, great, great, great grandparents to decide they were done having children before they were blessed with my great, great, great grandmother.

I am so in awe of this extensive history we all have, that I can’t seem to find the right words to finish out this post. Dozens of generations, and a multitude of different branches of Walraths, Hills, Maus, Mclouds, Doans, Hickoks, Quas, etc, etc, etc…..all meet together in one little girl. My little girl.

G in the 100 year old Baptismal Gown

What a fascinating legacy & journey we all have to be proud of. What an amazing lineage we have to be grateful for.

Truly Grateful 2.0

It has been a couple of weeks since I posted a Truly Grateful Tuesday  - to be honest with you I was a little disenchanted with how it was going.

I didn’t like the listing. The listing of random things. The listing of random things in weirdly formatted sentences.

Well…you get the idea.

And it felt way too forced, on my part. (I don’t know if it felt that way to you?)

Don’t get me wrong, I was absolutely grateful for all that I typed about but I just couldn’t feel it in what I spoke.

My life is so full & rich right now; I want to share that with everyone. That was my point of the truly grateful Tuesday. (And also to force myself to enjoy so much more in life, and notice the little things.) I have completely accomplished that, now I just wish to express it a little better.

So now I give you a moment of Truly Grateful-ness….

G has started this phase of wanting to feed herself, it happened way too soon. I enjoy shoving heaping spoonfuls of baby food into her mouth. I’m a mom, and that’s what mom’s do. It seems to help in confirming I am…indeed…a mom. Tonight I finally decided to go with it. Instead of spooning in tastes of peaches & cottage cheese – I cut up the peaches and put them on her tray. Watching her happily scoop up handfuls and shoving them in her mouth. She has great form. Even employing the ‘tilt head sideways to get the piece that’s hanging off the back of my hand’ technique.

Then I took a deep breath as I placed the bowl of cottage cheese in front of her. I even put a spoon in the bowl. (Which I am pretty sure it was more for my need of having it there, than her need of well…needing it.) You could tell this is something I haven’t done very often, as G looked at me inquisitively when I set the bowl down. I encouraged her: ‘Go ahead, dig in. I gave you a spoon.’ (Again, the spoon was for me, not her.) She gingerly took the spoon (okay okay I admit it; I put TWO spoons in the bowl. One short one for her use and one regular baby spoon…just in case she needed me to feed her.)

Ahem…

She gingerly took the SPOONS out of the bowl, and licked one. That was it…game over…she dropped the spoonS and both hands went diving into her bowl. I am quite certain this entertained her for 20 minutes, though I did not time it. Tyson kept hearing me giggle and would catch me smiling, at first asking why I was smiling, and after the third response of ‘just watching her’, he finally stopped asking. I was completely amazed by this little girl. (Not a baby…a little girl…) And then it just became amusing as she would hold the bowl in one arm (tilted like you might hold a bowl while trying to stir a thick doughy substance) while eating with the other hand. Then finally…the bowl licking.

All of this fun led to a very strong need for a bath.

I decided to throw all caution to the wind – tonight would be her first night taking a bath in the big tub. No baby bath tub, no constrains of any kind. Just G and the tub (and about 8 rubber duckies that Tyson insisted on throwing in).

As G played in the bath, splashing, enjoying the freedom of movement and playing in the running water, I again just sat there, enjoying the chance to watch this little person grow up right in front of my eyes. Thinking about her first bath, and how it’s right there in my brain, like it happened yesterday – but also happened a lifetime ago. All the reminiscing and amazement was starting to bring a tear to my eye….and that’s when it happened…..

…….

She pooped in the tub.

I couldn’t stop laughing as I grabbed her out of the tub to save her clean body from needing ANOTHER bath. And as I dressed her for bed and combed her hair, thinking of how big my baby girl is…I told her…this will DEFINITELY be a story I share with her prom date.

I am grateful for having been blessed by having her in my life.

I am grateful for new experiences.

I am grateful for stories to tell prom dates.

Very Grateful This Week

I am forgoing the list of what I’m grateful for this week. I have something else on my mind.

Tonight I rocked G for a few extra minutes after she fell asleep. I soaked in every second of having her there in my arms. I’m grateful that I have little opportunities to snuggle my baby and tuck the images back in my mind.

When she was a newborn I spent too much time worrying. Mostly I worried over if she’d never sleep through the night. Heck, worrying that she’d never sleep anywhere but in my arms. That I would never again have any time to get anything done.

Tonight I sat in that rocking chair, thinking about how 8 months ago I was sitting in that same chair with a teeny baby wishing she’d let me put her down. And now I struggle to hold her for more than 30 seconds without her WANTING to get down. (Unless she’s asleep! Ah ha!)

I know, all too soon, she will be too big for me to wrap my arms around her & rock in that chair while she sleeps. Too big to let me kiss her forehead after we read a bedtime book. Too big for me to even be involved in her bedtime routine at all.

I am grateful for a happy, healthy, bouncy, beautiful baby girl. I am grateful for the memories that I’ll always be able to hold on to, even when I can’t hold on to her.

Grateful for the Dull & Boring

This week I am struggling to come up with what I’m grateful for.

Not that I’m lacking for things, just that they all seem sort of dull & boring. It’s an okay to think to be grateful for dull & boring things, right?

For starters, I’m grateful for automatic draft saves…because though I did type up what I was thankful for last week, I forgot to post it. It sat there waiting for me.

….Also for a successful trip to the Christmas tree farm this weekend, and being able to decorate the house & tree. G’s first experience with Christmas makes everything seem so much more fun & meaningful this year.

…and on that same note, for having a young body or else that wipe out in the tree farm parking lot could have been much more disastrous.

…for a husband who tries to let me get as much sleep as possible on the work nights he’s home, even if G refuses to be comforted by anyone but me in the wee hours

…and also for a daughter who decides that after one rough night’s sleep, she’ll give a reprieve and sleep for 11 hours.

And because I just thought of one more thing….

….Radio stations that play all Christmas music, and being able to share an office with a boss who also likes to have Christmas music on 24/7 this time of year

Full of Gratefulness

This week I am truly grateful for:

…My husband returning, safely, from a trip back home, and relaxed

…A fun Saturday with my mom, Grandma & G, hanging out around the house, going to a craft bazaar and just relaxing

…SNOW! It may be cumbersome to drive in. But it’s so pretty and really makes it much easier to get in the Christmas spirit. I am one of those annoying people who loves every single season, for one reason or another.

….Being able to stay home and have a Mommy & baby day with G today. Tuesday’s are my mom’s day to watch G, and she is not feeling well at all. And G seemed to be running a slight fever. I just didn’t have the heart to bundle her up, drive through the mess on the roads and send her off to the sitter for the day. So I stayed home. J

…A job that allows me to get *some* work done from home. Not 8 hours worth, but a few hours to make me feel less guilty and not necessary for me to use an ENTIRE day off from my Time Off bank.

Truly Grateful Tuesdays!!!

Has it really been almost a week since I last posted?
Time flies, especially when I had a long weekend to enjoy with my family....

So here is what I've grateful for this week:

.....4 AMAZING days off with my husband & daughter. I have not spent 4 days in a row, without having to work, with G since my maternity leave ended. It was pure bliss.

.....Black Friday shopping with my mom, Grandma, Aunt & G...without a major argument. It was actually enjoyable!!

.....My husband who keeps going to a job that he really does not like, to provide for his family. He sees the missed time as not being there for his family, when I see the exact opposite. He's doing what he has to right now. Like all things in life, this too shall pass.

.....Teething Bling!!

Without which making this post (and catching up on old posts) would not have been possible!

Truly Grateful Tuesdays!!!

Truly Grateful Tuesdays

I’ve barely been able to keep up with this blog, and I have stashes of things to post. Heck, I don’t even think I have anyone reading this. But I have suddenly become ambitious enough to start my own meme.  (What’s a meme you ask?)

I heard on the John Tesh radio show, of all places, some benefits of keeping a gratitude journal.  I know I am not disciplined enough to keep up with an actual 'writing' journal. Trust me. I’ve tried. Recently. So I figured: Hey I have a blog. And hey I don’t need to do it EVERY day….so I’ll do it once a week.

And from hence forth, it shall officially be called: Truly Grateful Tuesdays

That’s it, all my creativity for the week. I can’t possible risk using & therefore exhausting another brain cell to list what I am grateful for…………

Perhaps, I should be grateful for brain cells. For that I truly am. Especially the ones in my daughter’s head. She is such a smart baby and it is such a joy to watch her grow & learn.

I’m also grateful for:

… a wonderful place to work and a very relaxed boss. (Who let me leave a little early Friday after Tyson & G came to surprise me with a visit me.)

… getting my blood test results back and my TSH levels are good, and my meds don’t need to be upped again!

…a very productive weekend, and a very comfortable bed to crash into after a long weekends worth of work.

…safe hunting excursions for Tyson & my grandfather (Even though Tyson *shot* a buck with a HUGE rack, and after tracking for hours the blood trail ran cold. Now we have reason to believe that buck is out there taunting Tyson. Oh well, still plenty of time left in the season!)

Typing that brought a smile to my face. What a great way to reflect on the past week. I also thought it fitting to start this “trend” the week of Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for this year, and can’t wait to share one of my favorite holidays with my daughter. A happy thanksgiving to each & every one of you! Safe travels to those of you who are venturing out!