Happy 21 Month Birthday Inara Grace

Inara turned 21 months yesterday. Only 3 more months till she turns 2! I can't believe it!!! To commemorate Inara's monthly birthdays, I usually like to write about new things she's doing. For this post, I decided to write about Inara's friends, real and imaginative.

In the past few weeks, I have noticed Inara's really starting to bond with several friends. I think her favorite friend would have to be a little boy named O. She will say his name at least once a day if not more. O is the son of the Stroller Fit instructor, who I used to work out with weekly. She's pregnant and can't teach SF any more, but we have been hanging out on a fairly regular basis. When Inara wakes up in the morning, I will ask her, "Who are we going to see today?" She almost always responds, "O." Whenever we drive down Broadway and pass the church where we used to meet to do our SF workouts, Inara always yells out her best friend's name. Then yesterday we were driving to the post office and Inara starts yelling out, "Mommy, Owen car." It took me a few beats to figure out what she was trying to say. I noticed in the next lane in front of us was a white Ford Explorer, which looks a lot like the car his mommy drives. I started laughing and asked, "Inara does that look like O's car?" "Yeah, mommy," she replied. So cute (and impressive that she is able to connect a white SUV/truck with her friend...so smart!) I really think Inara has started building a friendship with this little guy, and I'm so happy about it because I adore O too. K was one of the first moms I met when I moved here, and I am so glad we did. She and I get along great, and obviously Inara has a liking for Owen, who is only 2 weeks older than Inara. As I've commented before, Inara has a hard time warming up to other adults and often pulls away when moms at playgroups try talking to her, but not with K. Inara will talk to Kr and even sit on her lap on some occasions. The more time we spend with the two of them, I can see Inara warming up more and more to K. She obviously has a special place in her heart for O too.

The other friends Inara has really grown to like are Jen and Addison. Jen is the real estate agent who helped us find our house and one of the moms from the group I joined. I love spending time with Jen and have really felt like she and I have started building a strong friendship. Her hubby Andrew and Shawn get along great too, so we hope to have them in our lives for a very long time. As for the girls, Addison and Inara are only a few months apart and from the get-go seemed to really click. The last 4 weeks we've been able to hang out more one-on-one with the two of them and that has really worked best for Inara who tends to be really shy when in large group playdates. Last week, the 4 of us joined the mom's group at Wildlife Experience, and Inara and Addison were like 2 peas in a pod. They even held hands and walked together. So precious! I love hearing Addison say Nara when she's trying to get her attention. The other great part about this friendship, again, is Inara gets along great with Jen too. At WE, Addison wanted me to hold her hand, and Inara didn't seem to mind too much because she cozied up to Jen and held her hand. The 4 of us had a fantastic time at Wildlife Experience. Jen and I had even discussed getting an annual pass so the 4 of us can visit regularly. Yesterday, we met up with the two of them at the park and had a great time hanging out, playing, and having snacks. I absolutely love watching the two girls play together and can only hope they will be the best of friends forever.

I had asked one of the moms from the group, Jill, to babysit Inara so I could go to two dentist appointments. The first time was rough going, and Inara cried most of the time. The second time, however, it was a totally different story. Inara had a great time with Jill and her little one McKenna, who recently turned 2. When I came to pick Inara up the first time, I could hear her sobbing and calling for me. The second time she was sitting at the table doing Play-doh with McKenna and was having a grand ol time. On Saturday, I co-hosted a baby shower for the mom's group leader Laura. When Shawn and Inara got back from My Gym that day, Inara walked in to see a living room full of women. I could tell she was a bit hesitant to enter, but she walked right up to Jill and gave her a hug. I was so proud of my little girl for recognizing and being so sweet to Jill. She is another mom I just love talking with and enjoy spending time with. I keep saying we've got to get our hubbies together since her husband coaches soccer, and we all know how much Shawn loves to play soccer.

When driving around or walking through stores, Inara always loves to point out other kids and is fascinated watching what they do, especially older kids. Our neighbors across the street have two older girls, Ashley and Kayla, and Inara just loves seeing the girls. The other week they were having a garage sale, and Inara waved at them when we pulled into our driveway after running a few errands. I closed the garage door once inside only to be greeted with a horrible scream. When I asked Inara what was wrong, she cried, "Kids, mommy." Oh I'm so sorry. She didn't want me to close the garage door yet because she wanted to see the kids. We walked to the end of the driveway so she could wave hi to the two girls. I should have known that's what she wanted to do. Haha.

As you would expect, Inara's other best friend would be her cousin Avery. I can remember back to last year when we lived with them, and Avery would want to play with Inara who was still too little to do much of anything besides lay there and watch her cousin run around and have fun. The other week Kristi and the kids came over here to hang out and have lunch. It was so special to me watching Inara run after her cousin and listening to the two girls giggling. Avery likes to play house with Inara and calls her honey. So cute! It makes me think back to playing with my cousin April when we were younger and how special my childhood was once my brother came along. Boy, do I have great memories of playing with the two of them, my best friends growing up. I also love watching Inara when she's around Jack. She loves to kiss him lately, and I'm careful to make sure she touches him gently with soft hands. It's things like this that remind me why Inara has to have a sibling. Yes, she will always be close to Avery and Jack, but I want her to have the same experiences I had growing up with a best friend in the house. Well, a best friend until she is old enough to have a love/hate relationship like Michael and I did. I love you little brother and am so glad mom didn't get rid of you when I had wished she would. Hee hee.

Along with the real friendships Inara has started building, she also has several friendships with a couple toys in particular. When my parents were here in April, Pop had bought Inara a blue monkey at the mall. From that day forward, we have to take baby monkey with us practically every day when we leave the house. She even tried to put him in her car seat strap yesterday. Usually he sits right next to her in the car seat all snuggly close. I'm afraid she'll lose him if we bring him inside stores with us, but sometimes if I even mention leaving him in the car, I get a scream of protest in return. So sorry baby girl.

And of course, a blog about Inara's friends wouldn't be complete if we didn't mention Curious George. Inara LOVES LOVES LOVES Curious George. She is obsessed with watching his cartoons every day. I now have at least 32 episodes recorded on our DVR so we have options when it comes time to watch an episode of "Ah ah" as George is referred to around here. What really cracks me up now when she watches the show is how she will laugh when George does silly things. She's really getting to where she understands what's going on in the show. During the opening credits, she also has to yell out the names of the other characters that come on screen: hat (for man in the yellow hat), bird (for Compass the pigeon), Hunley (for Huntley the weiner dog), cat (for Gnocchi the cat), her eating squirrel sound effect (for Jumpy the squirrel), and her favorite of all Charkie (the trouble-making dog). It cracks me up how so many things on a daily basis can be related back to George stories. It could be the simplest thing like seeing a worm outside in the yard, and she'll say, "Ah ah, mommy." "Yes, sweet pea, George raced worms with his friend Bill, didn't he?" "Yeah." This is a typical anecdotal conversation we'll share relating back to George. I can't say it enough: she absolutely loves Curious George, and I'm totally cool with it because not only does she learn a ton from his cartoons, but Shawn and I have also grown to love watching George too.

Happy 21 month birthday baby girl. Mommy loves you so very much!!!

I'm more in love with my house every day

I was reading my cousin Kim's blog the other day about all the renovations/upgrades she and Danny are doing to their house and it got me to thinking about our house. We've been so busy working on things lately that I've forgot to step back and look at all that we've done to it since we moved in, so I thought I'd share some of the new things with you all. Plus, I wanted to let my husband know just how much I appreciate all the hard work he's been doing to make our house beautiful.



Shawn's big project the past few months as been the backyard. He has become obsessed with making it perfect. OK. Maybe not perfect but it sure does look a 1000% times better than it did when we bought the house. He did get some help from my dad, of course, on his last trip out here since Shawn's never had such a big yard to take care of. Shawn finally got all the weeds and flowers taken out and put sod in those areas along the concrete patio, along the flowerbed, and around the tree off the dining room. He also filled in patches around the yard that were dead. At first we were a little sketchy on whether or not the sod was going to grow, but after a few weeks of Shawn watering it and tending to it almost every day, it's all thriving and looks great. We've been having a lot of rain here lately in the afternoons, so the lawn is super green and growing so fast that Shawn has to mow it every week. Joyous would be his response. Shawn also trimmed the Aspen trees in our backyard that were looking a bit dead. There were also two trees, one on each end of the flower bed, that were growing out of control and, come to find out, thorny little buggers, so Shawn dug them up. The back of the yard along the fence looks so much better now and not all overgrown. He's also becoming the weed fanatic and continuously sprays Round Up along the walking paths on both sides of the house. Like I said, the yard is looking pretty fantastic in my opinion. I know it's been a lot of work for him lately, so I want Shawn to know it hasn't gone unnoticed. It's been so awesome getting to sit in the backyard on our new patio set and have our dinners out there. Inara and I have even taken advantage of this during lunch on several occasions. I really love having my own backyard, barbecuing and having a family dinner, and looking out at the mountains in the distant. It's a bonus of homeownership I've gotta say.



While Shawn's been tending to the yardwork, I've been dabbling in planting flowers. I must say it ain't no easy task growing flowers. I've had several die on my already. But I'm plugging away trying to add some color to our front and back yards. I bought two really large flower pots to put in front along the single car garage and planted purple and pink flowers that are doing well so far. I've also got several other potted flowers along the driveway and two terra cotta pots along the ledge outside the dining room window that I'm trying to grow flowers in. I am determined to get better at gardening even if it kills me and the plants too.



When you walk into our house, you walk into a large foyer where there are 7 windows at the very top of two of the walls. I've noticed that when the sun starts beating down in the late afternoon, those windows get a lot of sunlight and glare. I had gone to a home expo and met a rep from a local window film company. We had them come out to do an estimate and learned a lot about their company and product. One thing we had to consider was the position of the windows directly hits the thermostat, so it might make the AC turn on more frequently throughout the summer. I also knew, and the man confirmed, that the sun coming in was beating on the hardwood entry, which could lead to damaging the floor. We decided to have the window film installed since it wasn't going to cost an arm and a leg. I noticed a difference on the glare immediately, especially when standing in Shawn's computer nook at the top of the stairs. I'm so glad we chose that upgrade already.



To also help keep the afternoon heat out, we installed new curtains in the front living room/playroom. I wanted something bold and colorful, so I got red silk curtains, although Shawn said they look too nice to be in Inara's playroom. I say just because Inara plays in there doesn't mean we can't have nice things like curtains in there. The color also brightens up that room a lot since before it was all beige.



In the front foyer, I also started a family photo collage on the wall above the bench. I love the HGTV show Dear Genevieve, and one of the things she's always recommending homeowners to use are family pictures when you walk in a house because it gives the entry a very personal touch. Funny thing is when my mom and brother were here they were both telling me to put the picture of Shawn, Inara and I from a few months after she was born up on that wall. Guess they knew what they were talking about.



In the family room, Shawn's other big project was installing a ceiling fan. It was already prewired, but Shawn was still a bit nervous about installing the fan. After my suggestion, he took one of those free classes at Home Depot and came home confident he could do it, and he did a fantastic job. I love our new fan, and it's made a huge difference in that room. Yes, more reasons for us to not have to run the AC when the weather gets warm.



One project we both would love to do now but know we have to wait on is finishing the basement. We were having a hard time imagining where to place the rooms, so we went ahead and had a contractor come out to take a look and give us some suggestions. I had met this man Mark at the home expo and was really impressed by him. He was super nice, and Shawn liked him as well when he came to the house. He took the time to walk through the basement and give us ideas on how to finish it. One thing he suggested was to hang old sheets where walls would be so we can see if we like the layout. I really liked his ideas because he allowed for lots of storage space and left a lot of open space as well. Shawn also asked him about doing a built-in entertainment center in the family room. We both really liked his ideas for this as well and will more than likely have him do this before we are anywhere near finishing the basement, unless we win a large jackpot soon or something. It still felt good to talk to Mark about the basement and get an idea for a layout.



The other night Shawn and I started reminiscing about searching for houses and how we fell in love with this house from the get-go. Next month will be one year that we signed the papers and bought our first house. Hard to believe it's already been a year. But each day that we live here, I fall in love with my home more and more. We sat and talked about all the things we love and dislike about the house. Not hard to believe that our love list was miles longer than our dislike list. All the things I first fell in love with our house have all held true: the location, the open circular floorplan on the main floor, the family room opening into the kitchen, the large front living room, the guest room and bathroom on the main floor, the laundry room on the main floor, the large master bedroom and bathroom, Inara's room and bathroom, the backyard and patio. I love it all! Today I hosted a baby shower and several moms who had never been here before commented on how beautiful my house was. This made me so proud to call this my home. It's no easy task caring for a house, nor is paying for one, but I can honestly say that I want to live here for as long as possible. It has everything we want and need and love. I feel so lucky to have such an amazing house. So Shawn, thank you for giving Inara and I this awesome home. We love it!

The latest and greatest adventures of Inara Grace

Before I started this blog, I scrolled through and read some of my previous entries. I realized something, besides the fact that I can be long-winded, I gush a lot about my daughter. Some of the stories get so mushy sweet. Guess what? I love every word of it. I want to gush about my daughter to everyone I come in contact with. Wanna know why? The girl rocks! I seriously think she is the coolest chick I've ever hung out with. Sorry to all my girlfriends past and present, but seriously, she is the greatest girl in the world. This has made the discussion of when to try for another baby a rather difficult subject. It's hard to imagine loving another baby as much as I love Inara. She is so darn cool! How could a second child be as cool if not cooler than her? I know this may sound silly, but it's the honest truth. I even told Shawn we shouldn't mess with perfection because Inara really is perfect. Yes, I know that I've had many really rough days in the past, but they've all lead me to this awesome stage with her and I'm so grateful for them. Plus, I absolutely love getting to spend so much time with her and watching her grow every day. I worry that once I have another child, I won't have the same one-on-one time and relationship I have with her that I love so much. I want to give her my undivided attention as long as possible, so when is the right time to have another child? Let's all face it, I'm not getting any younger and starting to hit the high-risk pregnancy stage, so if we're going to have another baby, we really should start trying soon. But I hate the idea of only giving Inara half of my time when right now I love giving her everything I've got. Yes, she's spoiled and I'm damn proud of it. She's worth it!

As always, I have to share some of the funny stories with all my readers. Yeah, all 5 of you I'm sure, but even if nobody reads this, I have to throw these stories out there in hopes that some day Inara will get to read them when she's older.

So the other day Shawn, Inara and I were shopping at Sports Authority. Shawn was looking for some new shoes, and I was trying to keep Inara busy walking around looking at things so as not to disturb Shawn too much. I started walking back to the shoe department with Inara in tow talking away to her as usual. I said, "Where is daddy? Let's call him. Daddy. Where are you?" Like the obedient daughter she is, Inara cupped her hand around her mouth and started yelling out for him too. But she didn't yell Daddy. Instead, she yelled Shawn. I turned around, flabbergasted that I heard her call him by his name for the first time. Shawn, two aisles away, also heard her, came around the corner, and asked, "Did she just say Shawn?" The two of us cracked up. The rest of the time we were in the store Inara proceeded to call him Shawn as he kept correcting her, "NO! It's Daddy!" Obviously she hears me call him by his name. Good thing I've refrained from calling him some of the others names I have for him in her presence. That's all I need is for her to walk around the store calling out for Butthead or other colorful names.

Inara is quickly learning the art of negotiation. She can be heard throughout the day saying, "One more." This can be in reference to pretty much anything: one more french fry, one more glass of chocolate milk, one more episode of Curious George, one more book before bedtime. It's so hilarious that she tries to get her way by asking for just one more of something she wants, which of course is followed by several more rounds of "just one more" until Shawn and I say no more.

I keep telling myself that now that I'm a mom I need to come up with a million dollar invention for some gadget moms can't live without. My all-time favorite right now is the crazy monstrosity shopping carts that have cars attached to them for kids to sit and play in. Whoever invented this is a pure genius! For awhile there, shopping with Inara was a total nightmare. Several times I was tempted to leave her in the middle of the store as she proceeded to scream at the top of her lungs. I swear I'd never do it but on several occasions, I grabbed an item off the shelf, opened it, and gave it to her. At least it was only crackers and string cheese, but still, I was so embarrassed to do it, but anything to get her to quiet down. Well now the girl has a grand old time driving around in the car shopping carts. The second we step foot into the grocery store, she asks for the car. She loves it! Yes, I agree they are obnoxiously large and impossible to maneuver through a store, but I don't care. Whatever I have to do to get my groceries in some peace and quiet, I'll do it. It's hilarious to watch her play in the car too. She turns the steering wheel, honks the horn, goes VROOM VROOM, and waves at people as we "drive" passed them. We have gotten many a smiles and chuckles from passers-by. I mean really, how can you not smile and laugh as a 20 month old drives pass you and waves? It's a beautiful sight to see.

One thing that has been hard for me to adjust to these past 20 months is the fact that I'm not working. I loved teaching and have struggled at various times adjusting to my stay-at-home status because I miss the classroom. Recently though, I've fully embraced my new role as a full time mommy and am more at ease with myself. Even Shawn has noticed my new relaxed demeanor. And there are certain moments that I get to revel in the fact that I'm a stay-at-home mom. Last night we went to Sweet Tomatoes for dinner. There were two ladies in the booth next to us. I heard them talking about Inara several times during our meals. As we were getting ready to leave, one of the ladies asked how old Inara is. When I told her 20 months, she seemed shocked and said, "Wow. She's got a great vocabulary and really does understand a lot for such a young age." I could do nothing but smile. It made me feel so good to hear such great compliments about my daughter. I think it has a lot to do with me being home with her to teach her. I know she really does thrive in a one-on-one setting and might get lost if she were in a daycare with a handful of other kids. On several occasions, even Kristi has commented that she wouldn't be surprised if my kid was the one reading before she was 3. I love comments like this because it offers me rewards that no other job has offered. I love to see Inara thrive in such ways. She's starting to learn her colors and her letters, which I think is impressive for a child under the age of 2. All of this is because I'm home playing with her and trying to offer her learning opportunities whenever I can. Yes, this means you can hear me talking away all day long, in the car, while walking through stores, on walks, everywhere. I've gotten many a funny look from people as they hear me talking away to her, but I don't care if it means she's having fun learning something new every day. True, I might not have a paycheck job, but now after 20 months, I wouldn't change my job as a mommy for anything in the world.