2 years and growing

Sweet girl,

• you are 32 pounds (95% for your age group) and 36.5 inches tall (97%).  

• You wear 3T/4T clothes, size 7/8 shoe and 18 - 36 month tights and socks. 

You are growing right on track and the doctor said you're absolutely doing wonderfully.

• Your language skills are above where they should be and you are a very confident toddler :)

• You love to help mommy around the house and are very stubborn self-assured that you can dress and undress yourself, even though you get stuck and incredibly frustrated to the point of shrieking. 

• You brush your teeth and hair every night, admiring yourself in the mirror and telling the M in the mirror that you're such a big girl. 

• You protest sitting in seat of the carts at the store, so you like to "drive" in the basket or walk next to the cart (if mom AND dad are with you!). 

• You still use a paci at night or when you need some extra soothing. 

• You are drinking either out of sippy or regular cups now - what a big girl! Fork and spoons are being used consistently but if you feel that you can't shovel it in fast enough, the hands still come out occasionally. 

• You LOVE raw carrots, apples, oranges, all colored peppers, yellow peppers, onions as well as the cooked versions. You still don't like lettuce or green beans or peas UNLESS they're dipped in ranch dressing, BBQ sauce or ketchup. Just about everything else is okay, as long as you're in the mood for it. Some days you eat EVERYTHING and other days, very little.

• Ranch dressing, by the way, makes your face break out :(

• You are sleeping in the converted toddler bed but decided lately that you need a big girl bed. You like to MOVE your furniture around your room when you sleep and we don't feel it's safe. 

• You always go to bed with your nightlight on, soft music playing and your T-Rex tucked in. You MUST have T-Rex next to your pillow, laying down and tucked in with a blanket.

• In morning, you wake up happy and chipper not matter WHAT time you went to bed or how many times you got up. Mommy is jealous :) 

We love you, sweet girl. Your laugh, your smile, your ability to make my heart just want to explode with love. You are growing so fast and we are so incredibly proud of you. Momma loves her sweet peanut!

Musings of a Mommy

I haven't posted since our miscarriage - our lives are extremely busy and I just didn't have the "umph" to do it.
Since losing the baby, we have had numerous tests done with nothing coming back as anything but normal. We're disappointed but encouraged that we don't have anything glaring wrong with us. And we know my body can carry a baby, as I have a toddler that is currently enamored with Caillou, Elmo and all things Dora and Diego running around my house :)
Our next step is currently just prayer and the unknown.  We have decided to take some time off of testing and all that jazz, as we are both back in college and working hard.
Speaking of college, Caleb and I both finished our first quarters with 4.0 in each of our classes :)  We both worked very hard, learned some lessons about going back to school while working and parents but we enjoyed our professors and classes. It feels great to be back in school, achieving goals and trying to keep my teaching certificate! I've met some great new people and am just loving it! Caleb's schooling is helping him move up in his job and finally achieving the college degree of programmer that he really wants!
We both start up again in 2 weeks and are about as ready as we can be.  Once again, we will have to have rotating grandparents on duty one night a week, but I think that both the grandparents and Moira enjoy it as much as we do!  She gets a few hours of uninterrupted grandparent time, dinner (and often times, choco milk!) with them and just all around fun.  We get 4 hours of class (not always fun) but we know she is in good hands :)
Work is going well - Caleb was promoted right after we started college again and is now Programmer Analyst for the team. He would eventually like to be Programmer but needs some more schooling in order to achieve that title. It's a big motivator in doing well and getting his degree!
I'm still teaching part-time at a local school with the after-school program. This year has been challenging, as a few of my kindergarten students are very low...they struggle with simple concepts and tasks and could probably have great benefit in attending a preschool but since preschool is not required.... It is fun though, and I really enjoy working with the kids.  We made gak the week of Christmas break ( a great find on Pinterest) and the kids had a BLAST! Some of the parents got irritated with the mess we were making when they came to pick up their kids. I personally enjoy making the mess with the kids and we always clean up! My current college plan is also to help my job - in order for me to keep my teaching certificate, I have to have 18 credit hours.  My certificate expires in June of 2012, so I need to push through getting my hours in before then!
Moira is going to be 2 in a few weeks - I still cannot believe it! She's a walking, running, signing, laughing, coloring toddler who LOVES Dora and Diego, as well as Caillou and Elmo. She enjoys crafts, coloring and hates to be messy. Go figure.  She's speaking in full sentences a lot and it is great to see her personality just shine through! She is stubborn often times (there is a great debate as to which parent this trait comes from!), especially if she's tired.  We notice massive meltodwns, temper tantrums and whiney toddler moments when she's overstimulated/overtired, so we're making every effort to make sure she's getting her necessary sleep.  I know this seems like general knowledge, but up until a few months ago, this kid could/would sleep anywhere with just about anything going on. Not so much now.
Her party is planned for her birthday and we're going to do a simple fun penguin themed soiree. Cupcakes and hot chocolate bar will be the menu, I think.  Her party is just a few weeks after classes start and I really don't know that I can handle anything huge.  Some balloons, a few decorations. Nothing big.
Well, I have been offered a lovely lunch of hot dogs, hamburgers, yogurt, baby's bottle and oatmeal from Moira's Diner, so I must go!
I want to make every effort to try to post something each day in 2012 - something about the day or what we are thankful for. Not exactly sure yet but I'm going to try!