My new favorite blog to frequent...

In the last year (since taking the bar exam and an increase in K's ability to play independently both allowed more time to be somewhat free) I have become addicted to several parenting blogs.
My new favorite is one called How to be a Badass Dad. Although I am probably not his target audience I thoroughly enjoy his posts. He is so insightful and writes beautifully (as an English Professor should). I have forwarded several posts to my husband to either show him that there are other sensitive dads out there doing their best to put their family first - or - to show him that there are men out there willing to live their lives the way that is best for their families, regardless of what others think or say. My husband is a great catch so this is more to bolster his confidence than anything else.

One of my favorite posts from Badass Dad is The Breastfeeding Father. I can't tell you how heartwarming it is to hear the thoughts of a father who so utterly and completely supports his wife and her breastfeeding relationship with their children. Breastfeeding can often be a touchy issue for some fathers, especially if their own families weren't completely pro-breastfeeding. In my current very pregnant state, this particular post made me quite misty-eyed. I know that my husband will be less intimidated by breastfeeding with our second child, now that we have become more comfortable and confident in our personal parenting styles and what is right for our family.

Closely related to my views on the importance of breastfeeding, are my views on baby-wearing. Badass Dad also has a recent post on babywearing. Again, to see a father so comfortable with his manhood to willingly wear his babies makes me a bit teary. It reminds me of my own husband with our first child strapped to him, raking the front lawn when she was a few weeks old. Our neighbors (mostly parents 5-10 years older than us) cracked up. Or there was the holiday party we attended when K was 2 months old where my husband spent the majority of the evening with her once again strapped to his chest, only taking breaks when it was time for me to retreat to a bedroom upstairs to nurse or change her diaper. Our friends quickly became accustomed to one of us wearing K most of the time and rarely using babysitters early on.

K obviously remembers riding in the sling, front carrier, or backpack. When I was newly pregnant this time around I purchased one of those belly band things to extend the life of my pre-pregnancy pants. As I sit here writing I glanced over to my Google gagdet bar docked on the side of my screen and there is a picture of K with my belly band over one shoulder and across her body, "wearing" Cookie Monster in a perfectly toddler-sized "sling." Hoping to make her transition into sisterhood a little easier I bought a toddler sling for her to carry her "baby" in. I hope to give it to her when her new sibling arrives.

Thanks to Badass Dad for sending me down memory lane and getting me misty-eyed in reflection. I'm excited to venture onto the next phase of parenting with the arrival of #2 and truly appreciate the parents out there who pour their hearts into their blogs for others to read and benefit from!

The funny things kids say

It is amazing how K's personality is growing each day. Sometimes she says the most adult things! She is also picking up on our mannerisms and how we treat her. Example: this morning I found that the cat had gotten sick on the carpet. I proceeded to get the relevant cleaning supplies and clean it up. Not only did K enjoy being a spectator during this exercise, leaning against my leg saying "I want to see," but she also was quite the cheerleader. She kept saying, "good job cleaning Mommy." It was one of those moments you couldn't help but laugh through. "Good job" seems to be a common praise coming from her these days - usually associated with an action you wouldn't normally think about or notice.

K LOVES the Kids Club at church. We go to church on Thursday mornings so that I can do some volunteer work. While I am volunteering she hangs out with the kids of other volunteers in the provided childcare rooms. As soon as we round the curve and she can see where we turn into the church property, she yells from the backseat, "Kids Club, Yay!!!" It really is cute. When we leave the building afterward she runs to the car saying, "my car!" These have become the normal reactions to our Thursday adventure. This morning she added a dialogue with herself as we drove out of the parking lot. It went something like this: "Thank you lady, see you soon. See you soon Kids Club." I could hardly contain a giggle. She is just so darned cute!

She has also started modeling our comforting behavior with her stuffed animals. She will pick one up, cradle it in her arms, stroke it and say, "it's alright, I've got you." She really is a caring child. She kisses our "boo boos" and pats us on the arm in a comforting way. It is truly amazing how they grow and develop - I feel blessed to be on the ride!

K playing kickball with the family

Playing in the sand at the beach, still not a fan of the waves though!

Whew...too much time on the road.

Wow, we have tried to cram an aweful lot of travel into a short couple of weeks. Amazingly, K did quite well with all of the time in the car. We can all recite the words to Finding Nemo from memory at this point and the car is in need of a serious bath, but we had a great time!

K learned to play kickball with cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts/uncles, second cousins, etc. We had four generations together for a wonderful day Labor Day weekend. We met some distant relatives and the entire family was introduced to a newly-adopted little girl from China.

That short trip was followed by a 12-hour drive to the coast for a week of relaxation. K LOVED the sand, but wasn't a fan of the ocean. The waves coming in scared her a bit. We did have a breakthrough in the pool - she had a blast! It was a great trip and we got to spend some quality time together and with our friends.

A few days later we took off for a short trip to visit friends in St. Louis. Six more hours in the car each way, but it was definitely worth it! It was great to meet my friend's daughter and for her to meet K. Two years is way too long to go between visits to close friends!

Finally we're home for a few weeks! Sometimes I feel like I need a vacation after our vacations just to rest up. For now I think a nap will do...hopefully K will sleep well this afternoon!

Summer Sunday Night

Tonight was a perfect summer night. The little girl across the street is just a few months older than K and we really enjoy her parents' company. This evening, as the heat of the day was wearing off a bit she and her mom came over so the girls could play in the front yard. They played at the water table (which my husband graciously filled with water) while we sat in camping chairs nearby, chatting.

When the girls were thoroughly soaked (they both thought it was hysterical to "take a bath" by pouring cups of water over themselves, each other, and us) and we were all hungry, we decided to meet at an Irish pub about a mile from our houses for dinner. The restaurant was practically empty and thanks to Ohio's smoking ban we had a wonderful meal and didn't worry about the atmosphere at all! After a great dinner we decided to head over to a local ice cream shop to top off our meal with the best soft-serve around! We had an impromptu ice cream tailgate. We opened the back of one vehicle, spread towels out for the girls to sit on, and the adults stood in a semi-circle around the tailgate eating, chatting, and watching the girls enjoy their ice cream. It was the perfect night.

We are blessed to live in a great neighborhood, have wonderful neighbors who have become true friends, and have great places to eat minutes away. I can only hope that these memories are just the beginning of many great childhood memories K will look back on fondly. These times are already integral parts of the wonderful patchwork quilt that is my collection of memories. Here's to many more to come...

In the holiday mood

It seems like our family is in the holiday mood. My little one has been securely attached to a Christmas teddy bear all day today, she insisted on reading a Christmas board book several times today (although she kept calling it the Baa Baa Black Sheep book since there were sheep on the cover), and we bit the bullet and bought our plane tickets to go see my mom for Christmas.

Speaking of buying plane tickets - let me digress and rant a bit about an online booking site which I will not name...the fare on EVERY single flight I chose suddenly increased between the time I put in the search parameters, chose the times, and clicked "continue." Every fare went up at least $20 in the mere seconds it took to click a few buttons! How terribly frustrating. Contrast that experience with my wonderful experience with Travelocity 5 minutes later...not only did they have better search parameters, but somehow the fares DECREASED in the same few clicks! Not only that, but they actually took my daughter's age into account and booked a child's fare. Wouldn't it be nice if you got that kind of service everywhere?

I guess "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas" in August! Now, if the Reds could just beat the Cubs tonight...

What a CUTE family (if I do say so myself)!