I need more money!

Despite the title of this blog, I am not selfish. I don't need money for me. I have food, a home, a family, and even some spending money to go out occasionally. I have no right to complain.

But as I sit and watch news stories about orphans in Haiti I can't help but want to offer to take care of all of them. When I was growing up my parents took care of several foster children. I think it helped instill in me a desire to help everyone in need. I'm the type of person who would go to an animal shelter and want to take every single cat and dog home with me because I can't stand to see them alone in the cages. I cry when I think about all the children without homes, not only in Haiti but in every country of the world, including our own. If I had a house right now I would be begging Ryan to allow me to foster some of those children for a while.

I also wish I could help adults in need. Anytime I hear of someone having money troubles I have overwhelming urges to anonymously give them money, or gift cards to grocery stores (yet another thing I learned from my parents). It hurts to know that I can't help the people who need it.

I know you don't necessarily have to have tons of money to help people. I have volunteered in places like homeless shelters, and I donate canned goods and clothes to charities.... I just always wish there was more I could do.

Someday God will bless me with the money I need to pursue all my philanthropic desires. Until then all I can do is pray.

Look what I can do!

I have done such a bad job of keeping track of all of Ryleigh's milestones. Whenever people ask me what age she learned how to do certain things I can never remember! But, at 5 days shy of her 1st birthday here's a list of things she's learned at some point during the past 12 months

-stand independently, cruise along furniture, take about 3 steps all by herself, and full-out run when someone's holding her hands

-say dad and mom

-kind of say Hera, no, dog, woof woof, moo, duck, quack, bad girl, and work. (I know she's saying them but no one else really does)

-do the motions to "if you're happy and you know it", "itsy-bitsy spider", "so big", and she claps along to ABC's

-loves soccer and chases down balls so that she can practice kicking them

-loves music, dances and claps along, and loves playing the bongos with daddy

-loves animals and doesn't mind dogs licking her on the mouth (gross!). She also makes a fishy face anytime she sees a fish, or a picture of a fish, or hears the word fish. I call it the "F" word cause if you say it too much her poor little mouth gets tired from trying to make the face

-feeds herself finger foods.... unless she decides to just throw them on the floor when she wants to be naughty :-(

-sleeps for about 12 hours a night and takes 2-3 naps a day

-loves brushing her teeth, and gets a very proud/"I'm a big girl!" look on her face every time she does

-loves to bite people, especially her mom, and has yet to respond to any form of discipline I have tried on her :-(

-knows where her belly is, and sometimes knows where her nose is

-understands the words cat, dog, Hera, shoe, ball, Curious George, floor, dad, mouth, hair, tub, pants, socks, no, jump, and clap

-and of course, she is a daddy's girl in every sense of the word!

Feeling blessed

Ever since moving to New Jersey my biggest struggle has been making friends. It was extremely difficult when I was nannying, because really, how do you make friends when you're inside with a baby all day? But this week I realized things are starting to look better.

My friend Erin and I took a drive to go visit another friend of ours who moved about an hour away. It was so fun to get all our babies together and watch them play. I also spent an afternoon having lunch at Erin's house, along with another girl friend of ours.

My Bible study started up again this week, which was a huge relief because a) I needed the fellowship with other women, and b) I really need to get back into a routine of reading the Bible.

My Mom's Time Out group also started. I love getting to talk/laugh/relax/eat/and make crafts with all the women at my table. I'm also thankful for the opportunity Ryleigh has to make friends with all the other kids in the nursery while I get some time to myself :-)

I got to visit with a friend who recently had a precious little baby girl. I also got to envision what it'll be like when I have to juggle having two kids as well.

And finally, Ryan and I got to go over to a friends house and hang out with other couples for a game night. I love game nights, especially when they involve good food and lots of laughter.

I really needed this week of encouragement by all the people I have become friends with in my new home of NJ

Get me out of here!

I just over heard a couple of maintenance guys outside of our apartment (because the walls are so thin you can hear all the conversations around here). They were discussing how much mold is in our hallway.
What the crap! I am so mad! I mean, the hallway has always smelled bad, and I probably should have guessed that it is because of mold, but to have in confirmed is horrible. They talked about how everything is wet and leaking, and it hasn't even been raining. They also were talking about how we have a baby and she shouldn't be exposed to all that mold.
If I wasn't right in the middle of feeding Ry I would have gone out to say something. Now I have to call the office and demand that they do something.

But isn't something like mold a thing that you should check for before letting people move in? I'm no medical expert but I know that on House when people get sick one of the first things they always do is search their house for mold.... not that TV medical dramas are all that accurate. Haha.

I am tired of living in such a piece of crap apartment!! I'm tired of having to call maintenance twice month to come out and fix things. I'm tired of looking at the pre-stained carpet that came with the apartment. I'm tired of the fact that even when maintenance does fix something they do a crappy job and put no quality into anything.


Ugh. I can't wait to move. (and yes, I know that once we have a house it'll be more expensive repairs, and we'll have to hire people and all that, but at least we can get an inspector to check on things like cracks in the ceiling and mold before we decide to move in!)

Sympathy for hubby

I'm pretty sure my poor husband deserves all the sympathy in the world.

Lately, with the cold weather and wanting to stay inside/warm, no Bible study, and no MTO I have gotten very bored being at home. After hour upon hour of trying to entertain Ryleigh I started going crazy. By time Ryan got home I'd usually be snippy at him because I was mad at him for being gone so long.

Seriously? I am an awful person! A year ago I was praying and praying that we could work it out so I could be a SAHM. And I am so thankful that it worked out. And I am thankful for the job that Ryan has to support us. And I am thankful for the time I get to spend with Ryleigh. But now here I am, complaining!

But now, here comes the really horrible part, and the reason why I am suggesting you have sympathy on Ryan. After complaining about being bored in the house, today I had a chance to visit with 4 different friends and their kids. When I got home I realized I missed having my Ryleigh time, so I complained about that to Ryan.

Geez, I am never happy and my poor husband has to put up with it all the time. And for some crazy reason he still loves me and wants to be with me!

God definitely helped me find the perfect man for me!

right now = 4 hours

This morning Ryan looked at me and said, "you wanna go run errands right now?"
My reply, "Sure, just let me feed the baby her breakfast, then I need a shower, then I have to give her a bath, then it'll be time for her morning nap. When she wakes up I'll have to giver her some lunch, and then we can go. So if by "right now" you mean 4 hours from now, sure."

Of course he had already gotten to relax in the bath, take a nap, and eat breakfast by this time. I was lucky that I had a chance to eat breakfast by then!

Waaahhhh

My wonderful daughter who used to sleep through the night from 7-6:15 every single night has decided to throw her sleep schedule out the window. It started with her waking up in the middle of the night about a week ago. It progressed into waking up earlier to eat in the morning. Now today she decided to take 2 very short naps and not go to be till nearly 9:00.

I knew she wouldn't always sleep that long but I am definitely not prepared for a no-nap, go to be late kind of baby.

Maybe it's just a phase.... please God just let it be a phase!

My hats

-wife
-mom
-house cleaner
-cook
-teacher
-grocery shopper
-chauffeur
-secretary
-daughter/granddaughter/sister/niece/cousin/aunt
-life saver
-pet caretaker
-friend
-volunteer
-personal shopper
-nurse
-cafeteria
-soccer cheerleader

..... I wonder where the "Micayla" hat went......

Too much George

I'm pretty sure Ryleigh has watched too much Curious George. The show is on at the same time when I settle down with my laptop and my coffee in the mornings, so she watches it every morning.
We have cable wire running up and over our sliding glass doors. Because the cable guy obviously doesn't have kids he didn't do a good job at all of hiding all the wire or securing it. We have about 3 feet of wire that Ryleigh can grab and kinda hold on while swaying/swinging back and forth. So every morning she watches George and swings on wire. I'm thinking we may have to rearrange the living room to stop her from doing this. Too bad we really have no furniture arranging options for our tiny living space.

Also this morning, when she thought I was looking I caught her standing up, and letting go of whatever she was holding onto so she could stand up by herself. Once she got her balance she kept clapping for herself. Haha. She is so proud that she can stand up now!

Cause daddy can't say no

Ryleigh flat out refuses to say mama now.... even though she knows how. Anytime I tell her to say mama she says "dad".

So I have decided to use this to my advantage. For example, "Ryleigh who do you want to change your poopy diaper, mama or dad?".

hehe.

Just a regular little girl

My daughter is the most regular person I know, and I'm not saying that she's plain and ordinary. I mean that she has the most regular digestive system ever. Seriously, drug companies should do research on this girl.
She has a BM at the same time every morning. Unfortunately it's around 6:15 every morning. And I don't know about anyone else's kids but mine will not go back to sleep after she's had her diaper changed.
I guess I should be glad she's healthy and everything, but seriously, I just want to sleep in past 6:15 for once!
(and to those of you reading this who don't have kids and think that a blog about poop is gross, just wait.... you'll have kids soon enough and you'll just learn to get used to it :-)

Birthday wishes

I still cannot believe my little peanut is going to be 1 soon. I can't wait to celebrate. I'm excited to go buy her a birthday outfit, and get her pictures done. I'm excited to watch her eat cake and smush it all over her face. And I'm excited to watch her open presents (if she's gotten the hang of it.... I may wrap some "practice presents")

The only thing I'm not looking forward to is figuring out what to buy her. What do you buy a little girl who has everything she needs?

I bought her a drum already. We're also thinking of getting her one of these

We may be crazy for doing that because really, if we set it up it will take up the entire apartment, but it folds flat for storage.

People want to know what to buy Ryleigh..... how about everyone pitches in and buy us a house to hold all these toys? Haha.