Graduation

I wish this picture would have turned out better. Joshua dug in the drawer underneath the oven and put on this mit by himself. What a ham! :) :) :)

Yesterday was a much better day. Joshua woke up at the crack of dawn, but that's better than 3:30 am! We took our time getting ready for Mommies & Me and enjoyed the morning. Yesterday the discussion in our group was about taking care of ourselves as mommies. The instructor said that when she quit her job to have kids, most of her friends still worked. There were days she felt like she was going crazy couped up in the house, even though she loved her kids. I've definitely felt that way at times, too. She said she joined a moms group in the area, and one of the other moms there told us about it (they had known each other outside of this group). This moms group has about 50 people right now with children in all age ranges, and they organize play groups and fun activities for the kids, moms night out where they get together just themselves, babysitting swap where you can take your kids to enjoy a morning and/or evening out and then you take a turn being one of the parents to watch the kids (they do this in groups), and many fun planned activities that are free or relatively inexpensive for children of all ages. They also told us there are published resources including newspapers and magazines that list things going on in the area that are kid-friendly and gave us one of these. This was GOLD to me! The instructor noted that it's important to have balance in your life where you have time that you serve others and then have some 'down time' to relax so that you have healthy balance. I think that's true, and I'm glad to have some resources of things we can do as a family in this area. Unfortunately, this was our last class and we all received a certificate of 'graduation.' I also bought two books on parenting. The gal brought in tons of resources, and most of the things were ideas that we could do with the things we already have lying around our house that didn't cost money. I chose to buy the two books because they were on positive ways to "discipline" and teach your child. The instructor also noted that COBYS Family Services (who offered this program) is also hosting more mom's instruction groups every fourth Friday of the month starting in June at the Women's Pavilion next to Women's & Babies and she's taking over them. I'll probably try to go since I enjoyed these so much. I'll take all the advice I can get!

This morning while Shawn mowed, Joshua & I played and played. Then Grandma called and offered to keep Joshua company while I cleaned my house because that was my goal for this morning. But, instead when she got here, she helped. She dusted, swept the floors and vacuumed while I cleaned all three of my bathrooms including the tub, emptied the clean dishwasher and re-loaded it, scrubbed my countertops and the inside of my fridge and microwave, watered the plants, washed the mirrors and did some laundry. It felt nice and productive; although, I'm a bit sore from leaning over the bathtub. After she left, Grandpa Georgia called to say he arrived and we met him for lunch. It was delicious, but afterward I felt really sick. So, when Joshua napped I did too. I think I need to take it easy, even though I have more I want to get done including some writing jobs. Sometimes when you're body says 'break!' it's important to listen.

Joshua has been a gem all day today. I'm hoping he's good tonight when we all get together with Dad again at my sister's house... I love him so much!