This weekend...

We went to a birthday party on Saturday! On Sunday we carved a pumpkin. Actually....I carved the pumpkin. She was not too thrilled with the texture of the pumpkin guts, and after a few moments of watching me, she went off and drew with chalk on the driveway.

It's been six months!!

Wow, I haven't done very well in keeping up with this thing. Let me re-cap the past six months....

I switched jobs in July.

My old car died and I bought a new-old car. It is a 1998 Cadillac Catera, and I am unfortunately learning the many reasons why this particular model is no longer made. However, it is a pretty car and probably the nicest vehicle I will ever own, so I am hoping to hang onto it a while (fingers crossed that nothing major goes wrong with it!!).

I bought a house in September. It has needed some minor and aesthetic repairs and things, so I am not fully moved in yet. The electricity has been on, and today I ordered phone/internet service, so I expect to be moved in soon....the furniture gets moved on Thursday after work.

Courtney turned TWO YEARS OLD in August!! She is an amazing little girl. She is so fun to talk to and she is at an age now where she loves doing projects, so we have been doing art projects, nature walks, et cetera. I am very proud of her. I am not her teacher anymore (I'm in the class next door!!!) so I make extra effort now to do projects and stuff with her, so that our time together is more than just time, it's the QUALITY time that all children need. Every weekend I plan something fun and different for us to do, it doesn't have to be anything big. For example: Sunday we took a "nature walk" around the block. I gave her a small gift bag and we collected things from nature. By the time we got home, we had a bag full of interesting leaves, acorns, feathers, etc! Then I helped her paste them onto a piece of posterboard and added lots of glitter! We have it displayed on top of her play kitchen and she is oh-so proud!

Today was her 2 year checkup. I was very proud of how awesome she was in the waiting room, considering we had to wait 20 minutes. Not once did she ask to get down, she just sat nicely beside me and we read her new book, The ABC's of Halloween (great seasonal book, btw). She cried a little during her checkup, but she was still good, and afterward we went to Target so she could pick out a Schleich animal figurine. Being the clever girl she is, she opted for TWO baby animals instead of one adult animal, because 2 baby ones were cheaper than one adult.....as soon as I said she could get 2 baby ones, she was like "baby polar bear, baby elephant!" and the decision was made. I think that makes the total count in her animal collection 6 Schleich brand animals now, and 3 or 4 Safari Ltd. We will have an entire zoo when it's all said and done!

We had a nice day after her check-up. It was pretty late in the afternoon, and we had a special snack out and then came home and played and watched some Yo Gabba Gabba and then read stories before bed.

Oh how I love that baby!

3 great things my daughter did today

• 1.) has heard me say "I know, right?" so many times that she now repeats it, often appropriately, in conversation.

• 2.) was cleaning one of her baby doll's hands and face with a wipe, and then went to wipe the doll's nose, and calmly told it "I'm sorry, I'm sorrrryy" the way I do when I wipe noses for kids at work, which the majority of them hate to have done.

• 3.) she sat still and quietly long enough for us to read a REAL storybook tonight, not just a board book for babies with short attention spans. We read an Arthur book. I liked it because I used to watch Arthur with matt after school, so I know how the characters talk and enunciate particular words lol. She acted like she was following along. I can't wait for the day when she is old enough to sit and read chapter books and long stories with me. I sure hope I'm raising a child who loves books like I do.

God i love this kid. she is cutting 3 teeth and was crabby and a grouch all day, but she still manages to sneak in 3 bullet points of awesome. the only thing in the entire world i've ever TRULY enjoyed is being her mother. maybe i have been rewarded for enduring my crappy life, by being given a child this great.

I am so lucky.

This is not the first time I've realized it. I am lucky in life.

I am so thankful for my daughter, who is healthy, happy, and full of life. I cannot put into words how important she is to me or how she has changed my life and the way I view the world. I am lucky in life and it has taken me a long time to fully grasp that. I have my health, I have my daughter and other loved ones, I have a full time job in this economy, I live in a safe place and have a roof over my head. I have food to eat and access to medical care. When a crisis arises, I have people who will help. Our lives are blessed. I see it more and more every day. I owe a lot of people a lot of "thank yous" for helping me to understand.
Life is so precious and happening so quickly. I have begun to enjoy every minute of every day of it.

From now on, trying very hard to let go of the negative and embrace the future and the positive. I owe my daughter this much.