It really hit me hard today that Miss E is really not a baby anymore. When she came out of her room fully dressed in clothes that she picked out & dressed herself in(headband included), it stopped me in my tracks. She said "I did it"! so enthusiastically with her arms raised in the air. I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her while wiping tears from my eyes. My baby really isn't a baby anymore.
We have been doing "unofficial" homeschooling for a few weeks now. She is like a sponge at this age so I want her to soak in anything I can teach her. We do letters, numbers, shapes, colors, etc. She knows how to spell her name and we are working on learning how to sign it as well. She does it pretty well most of the time (as well as her 2 yr old motor skills will allow). We also do some kind of craft or art project daily. We both really enjoy this time and she really enjoys learning new things. When she is 3 is when we will start "official" home school.
I think it's funny how some people perceive home schooling. I get the "looks" and the "oh I would never do that, I wouldn't want my kid to be socially awkward" comments. The same crap that we heard when we said that I would be a SAHM and not put her in daycare. I used to get really defensive to these ridiculous comments, now I just laugh. Miss E has never stepped foot into a daycare and she is nowhere near "socially awkward". She's a happy, normal, 2 year old. We decided to home school her after looking at the public schools around us and looking at the pre k programs and just not being happy with them. The student to teacher ratios are terrible and quite frankly, I'm not comfortable dropping her off somewhere where I don't know anything about the other kids and how they are raised. You can say that I'm keeping her in a bubble and she needs to be around other kids and blah blah blah, but I am perfectly okay with keeping her in a bubble to an extent. By doing home schooling, I'm able to teach her one on one and really make sure she is learning. For some reason people thinks that home school=holed up at home all day. I'm not sure why this is the case. Have you ever tried to sit at home all day with a 2 year old? It's just not possible! We get out and about just about every day. That's another good thing about home schooling her, she's not couped up in a class room all day. Once we are done for the day, we are free to enjoy our day. We can go out and do things, like go to the park, go shopping, and have play dates. That's right, we have these things called play dates. You know, social interaction with peers around her age(catch my sarcastic tone). She loves going on play dates and I love them because I know who she is interacting with and I get to know the parents as well. I've actually made some good friends. She also gets to interact with kids of all ages, not just other 2 year old kids. So with all of these factors, the better question to me is, why would I NOT home school? At least during the these crucial learning years.
I guess my point is, don't look down on us that choose to home school our children. It's not something I blindly decided to do. It took a lot of research, time, discussion & prayer to come to our decision. I'm doing the best I can do for my child.
I am keeping up with my promise to blog more. I was going to do it last night but my head had other plans when I got a debilitating migraine. This was like no migraine I have ever had in my life and of course Brandon has been out of town since Saturday. I put Miss E to bed early because it was just too much and she picked last night to decide that she was boycotting bed time and stayed awake til after 2am. Lucky for me I have an amazing best friend who lives seriously 8 minutes away and she brought me meds at about 10pm. Thankfully after a little while it started becoming bearable and I was able to function again. Thanks again Ang!
I was hoping Miss E would sleep in some today since she stayed awake so late, but of course she didn't. She was up and ready to go at 8am. I, on the other hand, was not. I was still feeling crappy(if you've ever had a migraine, you know what I'm talking about) and exhausted. We started off the morning by Miss E dropping her yogurt and it splashing everywhere. Not a good start. Brandon called and wished me a Happy Valentine's Day and I realized that I completely forgot about it. We don't ever really celebrate Vday, but I do usually remember it. Like I said though, he's out of town so I can get something together before he gets home. I got a nice surprise from him, he had beautiful roses, a bear, and chocolates delivered to me. It is nice to know that he was thinking of me.
The rest of the day was fine, we stayed in since the weather was rainy. I did school with Miss E this am and then we just relaxed the rest of the day. It was nice. I had to make a call to my dr since I am 8 days late and that is not normal, I am very regular. I haven't been worried though because I'm not in any pain, no cramping, no nothing. She told me that sometimes after women have been on birth control for awhile they stop having periods. I've heard of this before, but I've been on it for a year and a half and I find it odd that it's been normal and then nothing. So of course I went and googled it. On the website for my birth control it says that if I miss a period I should consult my dr. Well....you see where I'm going with this. I'm gonna try not to worry about it for now, we will see what happens next month I guess. She told me to call her if I don't get it and we will go from there.
I already have reactivated my Facebook. I know, I didn't last long. When Brandon is gone & after Miss E goes to bed and I've caught up on everything I get pretty bored(and not to mention lonely). But I don't get on it much while Miss E is awake and I can stay off of it while Brandon is home because I'd rather my time be spent with him.
I have been slacking horribly in keeping up with my blog. I just realized my last blog was over 2 months ago. Not acceptable & I will try to be better.
Christmas was great, Miss E really enjoyed it this year. She loved all of her gifts and Santa was really good to her. Brandon was home with us so that just made it even better. Her birthday was a success too. We had a Minnie theme(of course) and she is still talking about her Minnie cake. I guess it doesn't help that I just threw the cake away yesterday(bad momma), but it was so pretty and I hated throwing so much away because we had a good bit left over. She really had a blast though and she loved being with her little cousins and friends.
I have already started planning her third birthday(way early, I know) but it's going to be really fun. I'm going to invite more of her age kids and we are going to have an art party! Thanks to Pinterest, I've gotten some great ideas=)
Right before her birthday, my cousin called me and told me that there had been a fire and that his home had completely burned down. My uncle was able to get out & he was too, but they were not able to get my aunt out. She was only 52, but she had Huntington's and was really beginning to go down hill. I'm thinking this was God's way of letting her pass at home instead of having to go to a home. She passed of smoke inhalation and probably never knew what was going on. My cousin had to spend a few weeks in Grady, he got burned badly & sliced an artery in his arm trying to break a window to get out. He is home now and doing much better. In fact, he will get cleared to go back to work in a week.
You see these things on the news but you never think of it happening to you or someone close to you. It was a real eye opener. Brandon & I spent a whole evening mapping out a fire escape route. Since Miss E and I are here alone most of the time, it was imperative to me that I have a plan. I pray that nothing like that ever happens, but I feel confident now that I'm prepared.
My aunts memorial service was a couple weeks ago and luckily Brandon was able to come. It was very weird having people that I didn't know come up to me and know me and I had no idea who they were. People who were 2nd cousins and related to my grandaddy. He was there, but he didn't speak to me. I will admit that it hurt, but I just let it go. There is nothing else I can do. It just hurts that he won't even give me a chance. But that's one of the consequences of being Angie's daughter. People who know her think that since I'm her offspring that I'm like her. Luckily most people know better, but there are still those few that are that ignorant.
Switching back to a happier topic, I was terrified of Miss E turning 2. Everyone told me horror stories about the 2's. But I must say that she is such a great kid. She is still such an easy toddler(I say this knocking on wood). She is easy going and pretty much just goes with the flow. She is such a happy little kid too. She is constantly making me smile. I seriously couldn't ask for a better kid. She has her moments, but that is to be expected and they pass easy. Her dr says since she is pretty advanced that maybe she just went through them early (she was a handful at about 18 months). I guess we will see, but for right now, I am truly enjoying my sweet, happy toddler.
I'm really going to try to update this more, at least once a week. I should be able to since I've deactivated my Facebook. I just had a realization that I was spending too much time and energy focusing on what was going on on Facebook and with other people, when I could be putting that time & energy into my own life. I decided to be a SAHM so I could be with Miss E and since she is growing so fast, I just don't want to miss anything. After I would put her to bed, I would camp out on the lap top while Brandon would watch tv and I decided that's not what I want to do every night. This way at night, we can spend time together and connect at the end of the day instead of vegging out doing our own things. It won't be forever, but for now, it's just for the best.
