Take Me Back Tuesday: A Look Back at my Baby Girl

My baby girl is turning 9 years old this Friday.  It is pretty strange to be the mom of a "tween-aged" child.  Watching my kids grow up so quickly is like watching Father Time sprint by at Olympic record breaking speed.  So, on this week's "Take me Back Tuesday," I thought it would be fun to slow down, and take a look back at some of my favorite pictures of little-miss, Shaylee.

Hospital Pic

8 mos old

Bath time fun age 1 and a half

Dancin' age 2

 

Ariel the Mermaid, mommy-made costume age 2

almost 3, bringing a flower to mommy

Princess on her 4th birthday

a fabulous 5th birthday

My 7 year old Cheer-leader

 Last  August, 8 years old

This is my beautiful girl today, well a couple weeks ago at least.

Well, now I am all verklempt and teary eyed, looking through all those pics!  I wonder how much Shaylee will change this year, what will 10 look like?  I admire her confidence and her sense of  knowing who she is.  I hope she never looses that, this girl has a lot to offer the world.  I am proud to be her mom... happy birthday Shaylee!

It's Like Riding a Bike

Originally written 5/23/2011

I was getting a sandwich and a glass of water for myself, while my husband and kids were playing outside, it was 7pm and I was going to enjoy a quiet house and some mommy-veg time. As I went to turn on the tv, I glanced out the window at my family and see my almost-8-year-old daughter zooming down the cul-de-sac on her training wheel free bike with the biggest smile stretched across her face. It was her first time riding on two wheels!
Sandwich in hand, I ran out my front door, yelling, “Go Shaylee!!! Go Shaylee!” My husband and I have been trying to teach her how to ride for the past 2 years. Shaylee would freak her self out before she would even pedal for a whole rotation and exclaim she “couldn’t do it” and would give up. But now.. She had finally learned how to ride!!! I asked Geoff, ” What did you teach her to finally make her get it?” He said, “Nothing, its like she finally decided that she wanted to do it, and she just got on it, wobbled a little and then took off!” We were so proud of her.
After Shaylee called all her grandmas to tell them her big accomplishment, and the kids were at last in bed, Geoff and I were still talking about Shaylee’s triumph. I said, “Its amazing to me, that she just decided she wanted to do it, and then did it! I get so frustrated with her sometimes, because I KNOW she could do so many things that she thinks she can’t do if she just did it. She is so more able than she knows.” The second those words came out of my mouth, I heard God whisper to my soul, ” THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU!” Wow! And surprise, surprise, He is right.
My daughter has been afraid of falling off her bike, and that fear prevented her from even trying. I never realized it, but I do the same thing in so many different ways in my own life. I get ideas of things I could do, make, or write and then I over rationalize them in my head, and always lead myself to the conclusion, that it would be a waste of time to even start or try. How frustrated God must be when He knows that He made me special, and gave me talents and gifts that I don’t use because of my own fears of failure and rejection. Just like Shaylee, I tell myself, “I can’t” before I even pedal a complete rotation. He’s frustrated not because I am failing Him, but because I am not experiencing the freedom and exhilaration of zooming down the street on two wheels that He wants me to enjoy so badly.. (the same feelings I had with my own daughter!)
I truly believe that God doesn’t give us gifts for His pleasure but for ours. When we give our own child gifts.. aren’t we giving the gift to make him or her happy? When we don’t use the gifts God gives us, we are missing out on the joy God wants for our lives. I don’t know about you, but I certainly want to tap into all the joy God has to give me. I don’t want my fears and over rationalizations to hold me back anymore. I am ready to start taking off my training wheels, are you?

Kidstructions

Originally written on 11/30/2010

Recently my husband and I got to go away for a week together with NO kids!!! It was amazing. My mom stayed with my kids while we were away so I had to leave her very detailed instructions. I didn’t realize there was anything funny about it, but when my husband printed them off at work, his coworkers got a kick out of it.. so I decided to share it with all of the wonderful people that happen to read my blog.

Kid Instructions

Morning:
Wake Shaylee up by 7:15am. Do not send her to school in any pants that have buttons or zippers… she will leave them undone and have her butt hanging out all day. Make sure she brushes her teeth.. if you don’t tell her to do it, put the paste on the brush and hand it to her—she won’t do it. School starts at 8:15am…. I try to have her there by 8 so that she has plenty of time to get to class, hang up her coat and backpack, and do her “attendance work”… and the earlier you are, the smaller the line to drop off is.
Make Will go POTTY as soon as he wakes up… if he wakes up in the night… make him go potty… then he should still be dry when he wakes up… he might say he doesn’t have to go.. but he does.
After School:
School lets out at 3:40pm. I leave the house at 3:30… so that I can get a parking spot. The teacher must see you in order for Shaylee to be released. Shaylee’s class comes out the middle doors… not the main doors… so I try to park in the East Parking lot…but it’s sometimes hard to find a spot… so parking on Elm street is a good idea too. I usually wait for Shaylee in the grassy area by the big tree… be aware when leaving that the parking lot and pick up/drop off lane is VERY HECTIC for about 5 to 10 minutes.
The first thing Shaylee has to do when she gets home is her homework. Homework is very important; If she doesn’t turn it in it will affect her grade. Make sure her completed work gets put back into her binder and backpack. Monday’s homework is the most important, it’s spelling. We do it as a pretest… you will have to cut off the list of words from the page, and then read them to her…after she is finished with the pretest, she has to write them an additional time, make sure she spells things correctly on the second part. Keep the typed list of words on the fridge… she must turn in the handwritten lists.
MONDAY— Shaylee has dance class from 7:00 to 7:50pm… make sure she has her dance bag with both sets of dance shoes… she can wear basically anything.. we usually do some kind of stretchy pant and a tee shirt.
***also the trash truck comes early Tuesday morning, so put it on the curb Monday night… the bins are on the East side of the house. The recycling bin doesn’t need to be put out, because it only comes every other week.
Bedtime:
Our goal for bedtime is 8pm… to ensure Shaylee is asleep by 9pm. She can watch a movie on her TV. If she is in bed by 8:30
Shaylee needs a bath or shower before bedtime… and she still needs some help especially with hair washing… she doesn’t need her hair washed every night… but if she gets it wet… it gets washed. Don’t let Will and Shaylee take a bath together unattended… they are too interested in each other’s privates.
Make Sure Will goes Potty right before he goes to bed, and he needs to wear a pull up to bed (make sure his pee pee is pointing down.. if its pointing up—if he pees it will come out) He will ask you for Chocolate Syrup (chocolate milk) in bed, Don’t let him have it…or he will most likely wet the bed… even if he has a pull up on, it sometimes leaks out.
Will and the Potty:
Will is doing excellent with his big boy pants! When he wakes up put underwear on him right away (his underwear are in one of the canvas bins in his cubby, the other bins have pj’s and shoes) If he keeps a pull up on for too long even if it is dry it irritates his skin. ALWAYS MAKE HIM GO POTTY BEFORE YOU GO ANYWHERE. That is the number one rule. If you go somewhere, make him potty about once every hour… At home he is good at going himself, but he usually needs help pulling up his pants… but when out he forgets. Even if he says he doesn’t have to, make him try if its been an hour. I don’t recommend letting him have sippy cup of juice when going out… because the more he drinks the more he pees.

First Grade Diva

Originally written 3/4/2010

My daughter, Shaylee, was born two weeks late. It was the end of July and the middle of a record heat wave. The Doctor finally had to take her out via c-section. No one was going to prompt her to do anything she didn’t want to do.. not even be born. I knew my daughter was a diva when she was still floating around in a pool of amniotic fluid in my huge belly. To this day, she is still a diva.
This afternoon I went up to the elementary school to pick Shaylee up, like I do every day. Today however, her first grade teacher, Mrs. “B,” had to inform me of how terrible my daughter has been acting the past few days. Apparently Shaylee is, “whiney, sassy, disrespectful, and unwilling to follow directions.” Wow!! That is sooo fun to hear! I said a sincere, “sorry,” and took my little diva home.
First grade has been a huge pain in my rear!!! I had reservations about Shaylee’s assigned teacher at the beginning of the school year, but I looked past them. I wish I would have put her in a different class. Shaylee has butted heads alllll year with Mrs. B. I know my diva daughter can be a huge sass-a-frass, but sometimes I think a kid deserves a break. She gets in trouble for everything from not sitting in her chair correctly to not grabbing her back pack fast enough. She is rearely rewarded for good behavior or work, but always told when she is messing up. Poor Mrs. B has has choose to fight so many little battles that now she has lost all control over the diva, and the diva has unleashed her full arsenal for war.
I took away Shaylee’s Wii privileges and even discussed what Jesus would want her to do versus the devil. Ahhhh!!!! What can I do? How can I control how my kid acts when I’M NOT THERE. I can’t. I feel like telling Mrs. B, “sorry, you got yourself into this!” Shaylee had no problems getting along with her preK teacher or her kindergarten teacher.. but for some reason she likes to do everything Mrs. B doesn’t want her to do. But hey, its March, we only have to endure first grade for another 2 months!
When second grade comes, if I have reservations abouth the teacher… I am listening to my gut!