Mariah

 Every child is different. Honestly you parent each child differently. Your first child you are unsure make mistakes which you will still do with subsequent children   also they are not spared by birth order. They are things in your life that contribute to how you parented that child at that time. My first born Mariah has had the pleasure of being on this parenting learning curve with me. I have made mistakes along the way some good some bad but all in all mistskes. The most important part is to learn from them and that I hope I have. Mariah has always been shy from the beginning she hated people holding her and even looking at her. I signed her up for dance lessons thinking that would help well it didn't. Signed her up for sports to help with  the shyness to learn that was also not her thing. Playing video games was  making  friends not so much. She never came home and chatted about kids in her class or made that friend she had to spend every minute with.  She was the child to invite a friend over than an hour later come whisper to me that the friend had to leave she had enough. She did have a love for reading books for a little bit. Even swam on a swim team for one season and than half a season. She never really got into the catty girl chat in school and would come home perplexed that girls would talk about each other just tell them to their face she would say?!! See what I  did not realize was the my child was not just shy but had anxiety. I just chalked it up to she isn't one of the cookie cut neighborhood girls that cheers plays sports hangs out with all these kids etc..That she did not like crowds, or going to amusement parks or ordering food. That these were her quirks. Which they are but they are also extensions of her anxiety. She was never the child to ask for anything not a ice cream from the ice cream truck or a present. I would tell people she was a trying baby but a great toddler always listened never gave me any problems well until she became a teenager. Now looking back it was anxiety she probably did want an ice cream but knew if she asked I would of just handed her a dollar to go get it so instead she just did not ask. Going on a ride would mean handing someone a ticket. That hanging out with a friend is okay for a bit but after a short time it becomes more of a chore for her and even hearing them talk sends her over the edge. That when she is over it she is over it. I think she falls between a shy person and an introvert.

 It is hard when your child does not fit the mold you had imagined. You think they are going to be typical teenagers go out hang out with friends do as their peers. That has never been that way with Mariah she hates clothes shopping but her style was always her own. She would always ask why does every girl wear the same thing as each other? You could never join in on the conversation at work about your childs doings in school with sports or extra curricular activities. I was glad that she was passing. We have had our issues with school failing and just not doing her best. This is the part that scares me where is she headed in life. If she does not go to college what will she do with her life? What do you do for your child when they are so lost in life? As parents we are problem solvers but sometimes the problem is out of our capabilities. How do you convey to your child that her future is important and the mistakes she is making today has such an impact on their future? How do you find your child when they are so lost? How do they find themselves? What do you do when you have done everything? How do you give them answers that you do not have? How did my daughter end up here? Is it my fault? Did I not pay enough attention? Should I have pushed her harder? Should of have gotten out of that terrible marriage years earlier? How do I make up for how others have done her wrong in her life? How do I show her life is hard sometimes honestly it is quite unbearable. There are times in your life when you do not know how you will make it out of bed the next day. Sometimes I do not show any emotion but anger I get this from my mother. It is sometimes hard for me to be anything less than stoic becuase there were many times in my life I had to be that more than I would have liked. There were many times in my life were all there was was me no one to cry too no one to pick me back up and dust me off. I would have loved to be a blubbering mess many of times but who would of took care of Mariah when my father died, when she was born and I was all alone with her or my girls when I was in a horrible marriage? Thank God I was finally able to be that blubbering mess when my Nan died my husband was there to pick me up and dust me off and what a comfort that was knowing I finally had someone to be there for me. My family was not hugs and kisses at all. I try to be that with my girls and I know along the way that has gotten away from me. I just want my first born Mariah to know her worth. That she is worth everything. That I love her even when I am mad at her. I love her when she makes the wrong decisions. I love her when she loves the wrong boy. I love her when she fails. I love her with every breath that I take and with all that I am she made me what I am today a mom. I love her when she plays with Leah. I love her when she shares secrets with Lil. I love when I see her curled up with a book. I love when I know she wants something and has that smirk on her face. I love her from a distance when she needs it. That I do give her tough love and honestly I feel that's all I have given her lately. I pray she finds direction in her life and I can love her without the toughness.  

One Whole Year

It has been 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months and countless minutes and hours that Leah has been in our lives yet I can not imagine life before her. She was an answer to many prayers. There were so many tears shed for her before she was even conceived. There are a couple things infertility does give you, it is the appreciation for this tiny human being. Now I am not saying I never appreciated my other children but I did take them and the experience for granted. I did slow down and savor the moments this time.  It was like I parented through a different set of  eyes this time and it was so beautiful to see and experience. I have mentioned before in my other posts about this time being so different for me I feel like this time I was able to enjoy this experience of being a mom actually it was the first time I  felt like a mom to a newborn. Let's just say in my prior times parenting a newborn was not enjoyable because of the situations I was in and I do feel guilty for that. I feel cheated because this past year has been so magical and awesome. Maybe that is why I paid such close attention to it. Maybe that is why I held her a little tighter and enjoyed her. I think also age has something to do with it I was young with my other 2 daughters in a bad marriage and well you get the idea. This time I felt so ready especially with my husband who is just an incredible person to go through this with. I mean what woman's heart would not swoon when everytime Leah did something new my husband would get choked up and tears would well up in his eyes. God I love that man. When you have a partner who is so on your page with you and just is so in awe of this tiny human being it makes it so much more beautiful. I was able to work full time and breastfeed Leah and it has been  one of the most life changing experiences of my life along with such an encouraging husband by my side while doing it. It has been a year of firsts for so many things. I wish I could keep her this little forever. Her personality is starting to surface and lets just say she is a feisty one. The clinging has begun snd she is defintely  a level 10 clinger. She literally grabs my ankles and does not let go. Her belly laugh is contagious. Her smile delightful. Her curiosity sometimes gets her into trouble. Her eating food is so much better that she is trying so many new things and loving everything. Her love of books reminds me of my dad and maybe that is something he instilled in her soul. Mariah and Lily can not get enough of her and there are still daily squabbles over her. This tiny human being has brought so much to so many in these past 365 days.  To see my husband fall in love with her was absolutely magical. That everything I told him before she came how your heart just exlpodes he did not believe until he held her for the first time. I remember that moment he looked down at her and than up at me and   with tears in his eyes he just looked at me no words needed to be   exchanged you could read it in his eyes that at that very moment he was experiencing a life changing event. Life happens so quickly one moment you are holding a squishy baby the next moment you are wrangling a one year old out of the cat food. We are still cosleeping and nursing know I have no idea when we are going to stop and she is just not ready yet and quite frankly neither am I. I love our escapes upstairs were we lay quitely together and I get to stroke her hair and breath her in just me and her. This is our life right now and I am absolutely loving it!!!

Time

Time is what we all think about everyday time to do this time to do that.... no time for this no time for that. Sometimes it feel like time stands still minutes feel like hours, hours feel like weeks. There are other instances were time goes by so fast that it is gone in a blink of an eye. Even for me I could of swore I blogged about our summer and vacation because it felt like we were just on it last week but I come on here and realize nope that didn't happen and that it happened four months ago?!!! What, where did four months go? So time brings me to now. Some people live a lifetime decades nine of them to be exact my Nan did just that she lived till she was 92 two months shy of her 93rd birthday. She was granted a full lifetime of memories, happiness,heartache, experiences, and time. She was in plain words awesome see you do not realize how people affected your life until they are gone. You see with my Nan our relationship evolved overtime when I was little she was that grandmother that I swam with in the summers at the pool along with my sister. I remember playing a game where I would dive and swim between her legs superfast and she would laugh and smile and say how fast I was. Her and my Uncle would bring big black trash bags full of toys and her mandatory underwear and socks at christmas. My sister and I would kneel on the couch on Christmas day waiting for them to come over and be amazed at how big those bags were while lookig out the window. She was at every dance recital or performance, graduation and even my sporting events. She was always there. When someone lives as long as my Nan you do take for granted that they will always be there I mean we all know no one can live forever it's more of going through life know without that cheerleader. It is beuatiful now to look back at my relationship with my Nan how it came full cirlce from a little girl to a grown adult. I went many places with my Nan over the years when I was young she was that kind of grandmother. Now as a teen and young adult we were not so close but not because of her doing mine you know that rebellious phase. In my 20's I knew her heart broke for me when I was in a bad marriage. Her advice was to me never live in a house that you can not afford on your own, take yourself where your pocketbook takes you advice from her mother, and you can do bad all by yourself. Nan was a woman of faith said three hours of prayers a day and rarely spoke about her life tragedies. She was a mother who buried 3 children. Just take that in for a minute three children. The weight of that just in words takes my breath away. The first child she lost was stillborn, then her son Jackie when he was in his 30's than my father in his late 50's. I remember her saying once about death she said what are you going to do about it nothing you can do I just put them in my prayers. The stories she would tell abut growing up and the stories of her life were funny amd amusing. I love how my Uncle would tease her especially telling her that my dad was her favorite and she would say I do not have any favorites. Her jokes and one liners would have you belly laughing. Her most famous ones were not a worker her term for someone who does not want to work and is capable and skunk she would watch her soap operas and always say this one is a skunk that one is a skunk. We would watch cbs 48 hours on saturday nights and than the next time I would talk to her we would talk about it and she would automatically say I knew so and so did it he/she was a skunk. My nan was so many wonderful things that I could go on for days about her. Nan hasbeen gone for 2 and a half months and it feels like she has been gone for longer. The last couple of weeks with the holdiays it really just hit me that she is gone. Going over to her house and seeing her sit empty brought me to tears. Being able to pick up the phone (which I could of done more often) and just talk to her. Fuuny the other day I was at work and watched a minute of General Hospital which I have not seen in forever but it was one of Nan's favorite shows the one lady looked like she had a lot of plastic surgery and I thought to myslef omg the next time I talk to Nan I gotta mention this and see what she thinks and ask her how old this lady is. Than I remembered she is not here to ask so I ran in the bathroom at work and cried my eyes out. The other day I just really missed her and cried on and off that whole day. The Golden globes are on right now and I know the next time I would of talked to her she would of said something along the lines of did you see her in that dress or she would say did you get a load of him? I just really miss her I guess. That's grief for you somedays are better than others. For this new year I going to try and not take time for granted. When I get into the house now phone goes on top of the enetrtainment cenetr(needed it for photo opps) and I have not picked it back up until the girls are in bed. I am trying to didvde up my time between them nursing Leah to sleep and than trying to spend time with Lily. Soemtimes it does not happen baby does not cooperate and before I know it it's Lily's bedtime. See everything revolves around this time thing. Time is precious and it should be valued. Just the other day I was nursing Leah in my bed wondering where have her 9 months have gone. It felt like a lifetime to conceive her and now here she is 9 months old already. So I sat there and stroked her face and hair and inhaled her baby scent and just took that time out of my busy day to enjoy that moment.