in her own time

You know how sometimes people want you to do something just because they think you should be doing something and they think they know when you should be doing it too? And how sometimes you think to yourself, I'll do that when I'm good and ready! I think babies are pretty much the same way. Only they can't tell you that (unless they're really, really advanced).

Sam was a terrible sleeper as a baby...heck, he's still not that great at it at 7. But eventually he (mostly) figured out the sleeping thing. Delaney has been a great sleeper from the very beginning. Like so great that a very mean nurse in the hospital would roll her bassinet over to me in the middle of the night & tell me I needed to wake her up and feed her, even though she wasn't crying and was sleeping peacefully. Thankfully, Delaney was my second child, and so I let her go on sleeping rather than wake her up unnecessarily. And even more thankfully, once we got home from the hospital, Delaney continued to be a rock star sleeper.

Well, I have no proof that Delaney's awesome sleep habits contributed to her taking a long time to reach some of her milestones, but I don't have any proof that they didn't either. So. 

Delaney didn't crawl until close to 11 months. She wouldn't bear any weight on her legs whatsoever until about that time either. All that sleeping took away time from learning to get around. It was kind of a wonderful thing to be able to put her down & not have to worry about her crawling away and putting her finger in an electrical outlet or anything. But I digress.

Anyway, of course, we were still concerned at the lack of movement and we wanted to know that there wasn't anything physically wrong with her either. We've had a couple of visits to an orthopedic doctor and she's been in weekly physical therapy since this summer to help build her strength.

Well, earlier this week, at almost 16 months old, I think she decided she was finally ready (or she got really tired of all the nagging) and suddenly this is happening: 

She's so proud of herself. We're pretty proud of her too.

Now, about those outlet covers...

frozen in time

Stop the presses... how on Earth is it January 10th already? TEN days have passed in this new year, and I'm not sure how that's even possible.

I'm sure feeling trapped at home due to record cold & snowfall hasn't helped. Not sure if you heard, but we got 13 inches of snow in a day and then followed that up with -40 degree windchills (yes, negative forty). Sam hasn't been to school in three weeks! The roads haven't been passable until today, which is a bit ridiculous when you consider that the snow started falling five days ago.

Regardless, we made it through. This weekend promises forty degrees and rain, so we might be out back building an ark very, very soon. We'll be more than happy to load it up with all the neighborhood school kids and transport them to school on Monday, because I'm sure every mom would agree that it is well past time!

Before the arctic freeze set in, Sam & Brad were able to get outside and build a snowman.

Delaney had the greatest idea of how to survive a blizzard. She did a lot of this:

Which, just let me say, was fabulous! (And do I even need to point out: look at those curls!)

And me, well, at the start of the year, I had big plans to really think about what I wanted to focus on in 2014, but seeing as I've lost track of ten days (TEN DAYS) of the new year, maybe I'll consider February a good starting point...

forty fourteen

Here we are, a new year has arrived. Much like any other year. Filled with much promise. Potential. Resolutions. Hopes. Surprises.

But this year, 2014 also brings something more. I'm turning forty this year. Yes, that's right. The big 4-0. I'm not sure I'm quite ready for it.

My whole life I've always wanted to be older. I'm not joking. When I was little & my parents had friends over, I always wanted to sit at the table listening to them talk rather than be downstairs playing. When I was entering high school, I couldn't wait to be a senior to sit at the back of the bus (never mind the fact that no senior actually wants to be still riding a bus at that point). When I was in college, I couldn't wait to get out and have a real job & work hard & be so successful (ha).

For the longest time, I thought turning 28 would be the greatest thing ever and that I would feel so grown up and that life would really truly begin then. I don't know why 28 was the magical number. And really, I can't remember much of anything that happened when I was 28 that is noteworthy...not until the very, very end, when I was just about to turn 29 and started hanging out with the man who would become my husband. That feels like so long ago now, and yet, I still don't really feel all grown up.

So, as you can see, I've never minded getting older & age has never been a big deal - at least not in a negative way. So maybe that's why the fact that I'm getting anxious about turning 40 surprises me. Maybe it's because I still don't feel like how I thought I'd feel when I was supposedly a grown up. Maybe it's because life doesn't look like what I thought it would look like. (I mean, when do I turn into Martha Stewart and enjoy cooking & cleaning??) Maybe it's because I've got two kids & there's so many life lessons I want to pass on to them, but I have no idea where to even begin.

Well, it's time to start thinking about living life in the here & now. To stop waiting for someday.

2014 may not be the year that makes me feel like I thought I'd feel when I was a kid.
But 2014 will be the year I embrace life and live it to the fullest.