Goodbye Rain!

Hey everyone - today was the last and final performance of the 2008 PHNS Winter Guard (we performed a 'recruitment' show for the 8th grade kids). It has been over a month since I have seen this show performed and I feel like I have some things to say... (you'll have to excuse me for a second while I speak directly to my kids)...

~TOWN MEETING~

#1. I LOVED this show. Everything worked so well together - music, work, colors, floor...it just makes me happy every time I watch the video! I can't believe that we just put this show to bed and we'll never perform it again - I am feeling very sad right now! :( For me, 'Every Time It Rains' is right up there with 2005's pilot show as the best year ever.

#2. WG Rookies (Kassie, Megan, & Jori - yes you are technically a WG rookie) - you totally blew me away this year! Winter guard can be a very daunting challenge, but you three amazed me with your talent. This really has been the first year that you could not pick out the rookies. I can't wait to see what you guys bring to the guard next year!

#3. Seniors (Jon, Mitchell, Emily, Emmalee, Becca) - I don't know what to say except that I am going to miss you guys. All of you are so talented...my hope is that you find some way to continue spinning in the future, groups need performers like you. However, if today was the last show you do, I hope you look back on the experience as something that made your time at PN that much more amazing.

#4. Juniors - I hope you guys are ready to step up to the plate and show all the rookies what it takes to be in PN's color guard! You are going to be really important next year!

#5. Everyone - I can't tell you how proud I was to be your director this year! I started spinning over 20 years ago, and I have a lot of good memories - this year has been the icing on the cake. We all got along so well together, it was really refreshing not to have any 'clicks'. I'm as close to this group as I have been with anyone I have ever spun with.

I don't mean to leave out those that didn't spin winter guard who are graduating - Kelsey, Kate, Angie... you all have really made my continuing guard experiences fun and rewarding!

You all mean a great deal to me and I hope you continue to stay in contact with me.

Yay!

Uncle Kevin teaching Hailey to...dance?

How cute is that?

Hailey Jolie Pitt?

Someone commented to us the other day that Hailey looks a lot like Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's daughter).

Meh...

I think Hailey is cuter...

Lessons from the Toddler

Lessons From the Toddler

* Any kind of food (or drink) can be aerodynamic.

* It's easier to run without pants on.

* When something makes you giggle, The 500th time is just as funny as the first time.

* "No" and "Yes" mean the same thing when you don't understand the question.

* The dog's drinking bowl is like a mini water park.

* It's more fun to watch movies without pants on .

* Walking past a waging dog tail is like going through a car wash with the top down.

* You swear the diaper you just changed is the worst thing you've ever smelled - until the next one.

* Dancing doesn't always require music.

* It is possible to eat stew when holding the spoon upside-down.

* Spinning around until you are dizzy is best played near the coffee table.

* Spinning around is more fun without pants on.

* When one of your parents lies down on the floor they are fair game.

* There is no such thing as 'spill-proof'.

* The dirtiest words in a limited toddler vocabulary are 'Time Out'.

* You can say 'Hi' to anything, the phone, your milk, your Dad, a shoe.....

* In general, everything is much more pleasant without your pants on.

Mother's Day Moments

Now that I am a full fledged mom, I've noticed significant changes in my personality, what matters to me and the type of person I am. Some of them are good... some of them maybe not so much - but I have definitely noticed these changes in myself. To mark my second official Mother's Day, I'll share these changes with all of you...

I'm more interested in politics - slightly. I've always voted, but I really don't care much for politics. I think it stems from the knowledge that what you read about politicians is rarely the truth or the whole picture. I have a hard time tolerating that. Now however, I have the responsibility to Hailey to do my part in making sure the world isn't too screwed up for her when she is older. I'm sure my interest will increase even more when she is in school. I might even get the newspaper. That being said...

I hate reading the news - I used to love the news (I read it mostly online). Now, I have to totally edit the stories which I read. Anything involving a child under the age of 10 will depress me all morning - and there is a bad news story about a small child every single day! Every time you read a story like that, you run the risk of imaging yourself in their shoes, and you just can't start every day of your life like that. I'm trying not to become a paranoid parent, so I found it's best to just not read those headlines.

I cry more - I cry a lot more than I used to. It used to take a LOT for me to weep and I never cried at work. I cry now for happy things as well as sad. My top three tear-jerkers: Children, animals and soldiers. One particular song will make me cry every single time I hear it. The news (as stated above) can make me cry with a single headline. My eyes well up almost every time I check in on Hailey as she sleeps. I'm so much more thankful for my life than I have been in the past, so much more empathetic....that I sometimes just can't hold back the waterworks.

I look at children in public places completely differently - misbehaving kids in public used to annoy the daylights out of me. Now, when I see a screaming kid, I am much more tolerant of the child - its the parents that will annoy me more. Often, I will see parents that are genuinely trying to rein the kid in, and I feel sorry for them. Every parent has to deal with public tantrums, they are a fact of parenthood. There are a ton of parents though, that don't help the situation.. or worse...totally pay no attention to what the kid is doing or how it effects others. I'm completely tolerant of babies, toddlers and their parents. But...the older the kid, the more annoyed I am.

I'm even more attracted to my husband - before I had Hailey, I read a story about two married women talking. The childless woman was asking her friend about how having kids changes your relationship with your husband. I read intently at this point, because that is an issue discussed in 'new parenting' circles and something that worried me as well. When you are pregnant, you hear all about how your relationship takes a backseat once a child comes into the picture. In the story, the woman with children thought to herself how she could possibly relay the change to her friend. Yes, the relationship with her husband was different, but not in the way her friend feared. The woman saw her husband as more than a friend and a soul mate... but also as a father. How she felt when she watched him play with their child, made her love him in ways she didn't know existed before. When he became a father, he also became a complete person and she finally understood how to love him as a whole.

I totally get that now.

I'm more aware of my own bad habits - this is a big one for me. I am much more aware of my own bad habits and faults...and hopefully, much more willing to change them. There are the obvious bad habits that everyone wants to change - 'I want to eat better and exercise more' - of course...who doesn't think that? I DO want to lead a healthier lifestyle, and I want to teach that to my daughter. But there are other, sneakier things that also need to change with me. A better self image for one... maybe that comes with better food and exercise, maybe it doesn't. If it doesn't...how do I come across to my daughter - defeated, depressed or positive and determined? And that is just the surface. There are so many things you want to build for your child...that when you realize the foundation of those things is you...you understand how important it is that you be stronger than you have ever been.

Moms are incredible, nurturing and complicated people. We never did much for Mother's Day when I was growing up - but my mother is the most amazing, patient and kind person I have ever met. I hope you celebrated your Mother's Day in a way that every mother deserves.

Two Too Early

Here is my first installment in my blog series:

Things They Don't Tell New Moms:

" The Terrible Twos start long before your child turns two."

Why...why...why...are there no billboards with this important information on them? I don't know why I thought that the terrible twos would begin the moment she finished her 2008 birthday cake, but I did. Hailey is 20 months old, we should have a little less than 4 months of 'One-hood' left before she turns to the dark side. But we don't, that beautiful illusion is shattered and I have to face it...my loving, sweet daughter is a pre-two (like a pre-teen with less angst and more hitting).

How long is this going to last? I'd say I don't know except there is this wonderful thing called the Internet - and now I can find out EXACTLY how long we have to endure the tantrum merry-go-round. I found this online: Terrible Two Countdown No kidding. Plug in your child's birthday and name and this is the result....

Hailey was born on August 24, 2006 and is 1 years and 9 months old. You have 471 days - 9 hours - 2 minutes - and 28 seconds until your child is out of the terrible twos phase.

Yes folks....down to the second. The terrible twos shouldn't last more than a year...it's just cosmically unfair. However, through careful observation, I have learned some things to get us through the next 471 days, 9 hours, 2 minutes and 28...27...26...seconds. I've learned to identify... Hailey's Tantrum Phases

The 'Look'

Scold her for something she just did and you may get to see 'The Look' - head down, chin to chest, deep breaths...not looking at you... until.... suddenly...without moving her head she rolls her eyes up to look at you. This is the warning shot before the battle begins.

The 'Whine'

'The Whine' occurs when Hailey is attempting something but she can not quite achieve her goal. It starts with small "Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh" noises. A really good place to experience this is at the gate between the living room and the kitchen. Let's say Hailey's goal is a glass of milk. She will try to get to the kitchen and if the gate is closed, she will attempt to wrench it out of position while exclaiming "Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh Uh" If there is no milk in her hand at the end of that time, she will go directly to 'The Wail'

The 'Wail'

The Wail is set apart from the final three phases by one unique characteristic - no physical contact is made. The 'Wail' is just an ear-piercing expression of mad. It is loud...really, really loud. If the nearest adult attempts to ignore this stage, they will encounter the next (and possibly painful) stage...

The 'Strike'

The first stage of physical contact. She will rear her arm back and hit you wherever she can reach, leg, arm face...doesn't matter as long as it makes you realize that she is not only mad, but that she won't be ignored either. If you are lucky she will pause long enough for you to catch her arm. However, the truly treacherous aspect of 'The Strike' is that it can happen independent of all the other stages, totally out of the blue. Unlike bowling, the strike is not a good thing.

The 'Meltdown'

Full stage, no-holds-barred all out tantrum. This includes hitting, screaming, flailing, throwing herself on the floor, kicking. It is the result of an adult trying to physically make her do something she does not want to do (putting clothes on after being naked as an example). The meltdown happens most often around naps or bedtime.

The 'Sorry'

Fortunately for us, one of the things she does do well is say she's sorry and give you a hug. the amazing thing about this stage is that you really feel like she means it - at least for now. She's so cute with her lower lip stuck out when she says it, it almost makes those 471 days worth it

...almost.