Library Programs

I'd like to start off by saying that I am a former librarian who used to put on adult programs at the library, so I have a real gung-ho spirit when it comes to any library program. That being stated I was thrilled when I learned that Forsyth county libraries had programs starting at birth. I was hoping that my daughter would enjoy them and that I would find a few mommy friends in the process. Of course that did not happen. Carter seemed to be okay with it from the age of three months to eight months and then she was done. Why? Perhaps it is the timing. She takes long morning naps. Maybe it is because she has a mind of her own and has no desire to do what people ask of her during play time. A week ago I met a friend at a library program for little ones. It was a puppet show and since we play with puppets at home I thought she would love it. Well she did not pay attention at all to the puppets, in fact she ran out several times to the main library. When it was time to get up and start dancing, she sat down and laughed. I might want to add that she was the only child doing this. The puppet program was adorable, I just hope that Carter will get into them in the near future. As a mom I have to remind myself that she is only 18 months old and that these programs may just be too much for her to handle.

Fresh Corn

Last week,our family had dinner with my in-laws to celebrate my neice's 9th birthday. At dinner, my neice, Emily told everyone about her hatred of salad. I told her that I too did not understand the love that people gave salad. She asked me what vegetables I like when I was growing up. I gave her the usual Southern veggie list of green beans, lima beans, fried ochre, and collard greens. Emily asked what my favorite was, and I told her that without a doubt it was creamed corn. Growing up I spent a lot of time with my mother's family in south Georgia. I was fortunate that my grandaddy was an excellent cook, and everytime I came down there he always had a fresh batch of creamed corn ready for me. I have to say it was divinely good. Tuesday of this week Klaus came home and said that there was a woman down the street from us that was selling fresh corn. "Let's get some." Yesterday coming back from the library we stopped and got a bag of corn. I assumed that we would either have grilled corn for dinner that night, or for lunch. I was wrong. Klaus has decided to cook creamed corn. I hope it goes well. Good eating.

Church Cry Rooms

Every Sunday, our family is in church and lately we have been attending the 7:30am mass at Good Shepherd Catholic Church. This is a big change from our usually 11:00am or 12:00pm attendance. Why so early? We have an 18 month old who can halfway pay attention or rather not act up for roughly ten minutes. The 11:00am mass is over crowded, if you are not early you can forget about finding a seat. We are always late. So that means that we have to stand during the entire mass and chase after Carter. As you can imagine it is not that prayerful. My husband suggested we try the 7:30am mass and so far it is working for us.

The beauty of the 7:30am mass is the availability of the cry room. It is small, but at least it is present for families such as ours. This Sunday walking in late as usual we made a beeline to the cry room and took a seat. We were the only ones in there. Halleluia! After the homily we managed to get eight more people to fill the room. That would have been just fine, except Carter was the only little in the room that was designed for her. At one point she was too noisy in the CRY ROOM so my husband had to take her outside. I feel cry rooms should be reserved for families with children five and under. Cry rooms should not be used as overflow seating.

Half Birthdays

It started last year when my daughter was 6 months old. We came home from a doctor's appointment to find a package at our front door from Oma. This was essentially a half birthday gift for Carter. Klaus and I liked the idea so much that we decided to keep up with the tradition. At 18 months we celebrated her second half birthday with a bucket of gifts from Mama and Daddy. I must admit I like this tradition, not because I want to spoil my child, but because I want to celebrate life with her. There are too few celebrations in the world, and I find that to be so sad. So raise your glasses to all those quirky celebrations that everyone you know ignores and go wild. Create one of your own, just enjoy and be merry.

July 4th

Yesterday was July 4th. It seemed perfect that it fell on a Saturday, unfortunately it was a rainy Saturday. We planned on going to the Cumming, GA parade at 10:00am, but it was raining. We thought of going to see the fireworks at the lake, but again it was raining. It would appear that our July 4th was ruined, but it wasn't. Our neighbors brought over small hand held flags, we had an indoor barbecue at my brother's house, I held my brand new neice, and at night from our living room window we could see fireworks. We also read the Declaration of Independence as a family. With all the rain we had I would say we had an excelent July 4th.

New Member of the Family

On June 16th, my new little neice Agnes was born. With busy schedules and a little one with a cold I was not able to see little Agnes until yesterday. My husband and I with Carter spent the evening at my parent's house with my brother's family. I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how my little one would react to seeing this new baby. At only 17 months her status has been moved down a notch. While in the car, I imagined my Carter having a few screaming fits especially when she sees her Gaga holding a baby. Carter surprised me. She showed no signs of jealousy and happily played with her cousin and role model, Joyce. She did; however, want to hold the baby thinking Ages was a doll. I wonder if she would be okay if I brought home another baby?

Father's Day

First of all Happy Father's Day to all dads out there, especially the ones that take the job seriously. My daughter is blessed to have such a wonderful father. He is a dad that delights in making treats for his daughter, holding her in church, taking her to the library and watching the Disney fairy movies her. Happy Father's Day Klaus! We love you!