Rushing It

"You still rock her to sleep?  Even for her naps?"
"You nursed her until she was how old!?"
"She's old enough to walk, why do you carry her everywhere?"

My response has changed of the course of my parenthood adventure but I seem to have found the best response for me : "Why rush it?"

I assure you, she will grow to no longer ask for her stars night light before bed, lullabies, or to be rocked.  And she nursed until she was ready to stop and so what if she remembers?  If we have more children she'll see me nurse them constantly anyway.  And carrying her, well, aside from the fact that she absolutely will not ride in a cart or stroller, she loves it.  We can chat face to face while I shop or hike and she twirls my hair around her little toddler fingers.  (This isn't a major factor, but just driving the point home: 4 children have been abducted from their parents while in plain site in our area in the past year.  Praise the Lord they were all rescued and returned safely to loved ones).

Why is everyone so set on rushing it?  Sometimes I think it's a milestone war, who's baby can sleep through the night first, crawl, walk, etc.  Milestones will drive you mad.  If not the worry about them, the constant reminder from others.  I no longer care.  She was late on all of her mobility milestones by months and she still isn't ready for potty training.  This isn't a problem or a concern I have.  She has proven to me time and time again that only when she's ready will she tackle something new, once ready she only takes a few days to master it.

Other times I think it's buying into the hype.  Heard of a thing called "tweens"?  My general definition of a tween is the stage before becoming a teenager where kids are allowed to emulate teens because they are soon to be one.  Um, no.  Why are we rushing kids out of childhood into a world of scantily clad dressed pop stars and dolls.  Let babies be babies and children be children.  I'm not buying into what the newest toy company is telling me my child should be interested in.

My baby is a baby until she lets me know she's ready to be otherwise.  I miss what we call her "peanut days" when she was brand new but I also adore every new skill she masters as she grows.  Having a front row seat for your child growing up is pretty awe inspiring, who in the world would want to rush that?

The Epic Month of May

Three birthdays, two graduations, and lots of travel.  May is a whirlwind of celebrations for our family and to be honest I'm still reeling.  But as hectic as it was, I loved every beautiful second of it.

Our Weekend Together: JMU Gradutaion

  This past weekend we all gathered to watch the baby of four walk across the stage, shake the Dean's hand and accept her diploma.  She did it!  A James Madison University Alumni and a future New England Law student.  It rained all day, but if you remember Kaite, Grandma taught us that rain was a blessing.  I love you dear sister very very much and I know with certainty you'll succeed.  I'm proud of you.  Congratulations!

Bella Cakes update

Spring has arrived and so have the cake orders!  It's been a busy few weekends around here...

That moment when..

She looks at me with a furrowed brow and quizzical look.  I can see the thoughts: "is this okay?  Is it safe?" run across her face.

She's searching my face for the answer.  I send her a smile.
Her smile is now beaming back at me, eyes twinkling and a happy smiling mouth full of baby teeth.

Those moments, one of the best feelings ever.

'Round here

Family Garden

I grew up less than five miles from where we bought our first house.  Growing up, my grandparents lived in the house next door (later moving in with my parents for their care).  In our rural area clusters of homes are separated by large farms and the towns consist of local businesses sprinkled with franchises.  After any introduction with a "local", the question "Well who's your Daddy?" is never far behind.  "Oh! Your one of Donnie/Anne's babies." (There are four of us).  "Yeah, I knew your Granddaddy too, he used to farm __so and so's__ land..." or "Yeah, I went to church with your Grandma was a real sweetheart, loved to laugh..."

Start 'em young

I don't consider it prying, although I can see how some people might think it's being nosey.  Around here it's just another aspect of southern living. 

Getting chicken out of the smoker

Throughout my childhood I heard stories of how my grandparents made their own mattresses stuffed with straw, washed their clothes in the nearest creek, and when the river was too high to cross to get to the one room school, older kids would wade across carrying the younger ones on their shoulders.  Work started before dawn and the day ended shortly after supper.  I considered these stories of an era past, true accounts of hard work, times, and living.

Dad and Corey installing our wood stove

My experience living in this small southern community:  Church parking lots packed on Sundays.  Men break their backs working hard for their families and women are the glue that hold it all together.  It's okay to tell the neighbors you'll be out of town for the weekend, as a matter of fact, tell our neighbors we are out for the weekend so they can watch the house.  I have had the same best friend since kindergarten and our kids have regular play dates.  When driving around you'll notice that you will get a wave or head nod from almost everyone.  The bag boys at our grocery store carry out the groceries and neatly pack them away in your car.  We grow our own vegetables and what we don't eat we can away for the winter.  Our freezer is stocked with locally grown and locally butchered meat.  It's a down home, swinging screen door, sweet tea kind of feeling that you can easily take for granted having lived it your whole life.

Playing in leaves with Daddy

Four wheeling baby

When I was in high school I would roll my eyes at "Drive Your Tractor to School Day" (and I'm not talking about lawn mowers). But now that I'm older, wiser, married, and a parent I find a lot of comfort in that southern charm.  I feel safe here.  I'm happy to raise our kids here.  As they say, home is where the heart is and there's no place like it.  Maybe I'm turning into an old hick.  Maybe I've been one my entire life and I'm just getting around to accepting it, either way is just fine by me.

Hey last frost, hurry up!

Just look at these guys! So ready to get their roots in some freshly laid soil.  I am also very ready to plant them and reclaim my crafting/sewing area (the dining room table).
So far:
Fail-
I planted the seeds for the california wonder peppers too deep and it took them a while to surface.
My sweet peas have grown into one huge tangled vining mess, I failed to stake them in time.
Success-
The raised beds are packed full of fresh dirt!
The seedlings are crowded, but they are growing!  I plan on letting them get a little more established and then I'll replant them individually to harden before their final resting place in the garden. (I'm going to have an absurd amount of tomato plants, I'm planning on giving a lot of them away).
So far, we'll have cherry tomatoes, rutger tomatoes, beefsteak tomatoes, oh-boy tomatoes, sweet peas, and california wonder peppers.  Also on the agenda are cucumbers, sunflowers, zucchini,  and yellow squash.  Still contemplating adding to this list but I'm waiting for our garden center to get more seeds.
All said, I love seeing all of the progress!