One caller made me upset however, she was criticizing Sarah Palin for accepting the nomination because she has kids. She feels that she won’t be a good Mom is she is busy running a country. This caller even went so far as to ask why she even HAD five kids if she wasn’t going to raise them. Good grief. That’s a little harsh isn’t it?

I have not decided who I’m voting for yet, but I will say this. To be given the opportunity to make history is well… historical. Now you all know how I sometimes struggle being a working Mama and feeling like I don’t get the time I want with Prayse. I can imagine it would be magnified x 1,000 being the Vice President of the Free World. But to be given that chance to be the first woman in the USA to hold that high of an office? Sarah Palin has the opportunity to break through an incredibly thick, double-paned glass ceiling. As a woman, and as a Mom, I’m proud of her.

For the caller that stated “You only have one shot at being a Mom, you can run a country at any time.” Uh… no, you can’t. Sorry lady.

There were also a couple of nine-ish year olds who first of all in my opinion should now have been running around and playing in this place. They were way too old and didn’t look out for all of the other toddlers who the thing was built for. I seriously wanted to ask them where their parents were. So I was watching as this nine-ish year old was trying to convince my one year old to get out of the car that she was playing in first. She gave him “the look” and just stared at him like he was crazy. It made me so proud. He kept looking at me and I knew he wanted to make her move but wasn’t about to push it.

His friend quickly informed him that in fantasy land the blue car was actually the POLICE car and that he needed to jump in the red car with him so that they could make their get away. I then watched this kid “pretend” to punch in the car windows of the police car, throw the invisible policeman to the ground and get in “speeding off.” This didn’t surprise only me, his friend watched him and commented, “Now you’re really gonna get arrested.” (which actually did make me smile).

But oh no, this kid was not done. He got behind Prayse and pretended the car was speeding off, shooting behind him yelling “Die Policeman! Die! Die Policeman! Die!”

Ahem, time for Miss P to find some other place to play.

Seriously?? I’m sure every single generation played their version of Cops and Robbers. This does not surprise me. But isn’t the cop supposed to win? Aren’t the cops the good guys? Someone give these kids a clue, it is NOT cool to hurt people and kill in make believe. Make believe so quickly becomes reality as evidenced in Von Maur, Omaha last December. (Granted, I know there were a ton of other factors in that instance, there always are).

It reminded me of this spring when Prayse, Raymonn, and I went to the park. We saw two young boys playing and one grabbed the others’ wrists to hold behind his back. The first young guy asked, “What did I do wrong?” To which the other replied, “I’m the FBI. You are a terrorist and you are under arrest!”

I walked away with tears in my eyes because that is what our kids see and the world that they live in. At least in that case, the good guys won. The kid today? Scary.

My dad and I were leaving to run to the store and P came running from the kitchen with her arms up. So naturally I bent down for a hug. The turkey fell to the ground crying! I had apparently gotten in the way of her getting to her Grandad. Good grief! It is awfully cute though so I can’t complain. Here’s the sweetest picture I’ve seen all day. This defines her loving relationship with those two. She has them both wrapped around her little finger!!

We went to the State Fair which was a blast. We are not the family that goes out and does stuff. Ya know what I mean? I see pictures of my friends taking their babes to the swimming pool, the water park, the beach, the strawberry farm… all that fun stuff. Us? We went to the mall once to let her play on the indoor playset when it was 100+ degrees outside. Party like rockstars we do (or don’t).

Here are a few more. She was so into watching the pigs, lambs, baby goats, cows… when we would say “MOOO” for the cows it brought instant giggles. So of course I said it 100 times and probably annoyed everyone around me. Who cares though? It got a giggle! Here she is just chillin looking at the animals:

Dang she is gorgeous. I know, I know we’re not supposed to say that. It’s all about how smart she is, how hard she tries, how fun she is… which I tell her all the time. But let’s face it, Raymonn and I? We make cute babies

There was an exotic petting zoo at the fair. For the life of me I can’t remember this animal. I think it’s a llama??

Not sure what this fella was, but he was super cute!

Can someone tell me why they have an animal that bites in a PETTING Zoo?? Exotic or not, what parent wants their kid bitten by a zebra? This guy was mean too. He kicked the poor donkey right in the ribs while we were standing there.

It takes about 100 shots to get a decent picture of Prayse and myself.

She’s a bit of a socialite. The other 99 look like this:

We also went and watched a dog show (she can look, just can’t touch). Prayse was more entertaining than the dogs. Before the show they were playing music and she would jam out. She’d raise her arms in the air and go to town!

This next one isn’t at the fair obviously, but I had to show you. My Mom bought these jeans for Prayse and I remarked in the store that they were waaaaaaay too long. We were going to have to roll them. So today I put them on her to see how much we’d have to roll them or how long we’d have to wait for her to wear them… Much to my surprise:

The picture is a little fuzzy but doesn’t my baby look like a little girl?? Those pants are none too long really. And she looks so grown up in them. I am loving every single minute of every day with her. She learns something new every day. This weekend she has started whispering in my ear. I’m not sure what she’s saying but it is really important. She has also found her belly button and thinks she should lift up her shirt to show everyone!! As long as that stops by the time she’s a teenager I’m okay with the fact I caught her trying to climb up IN her crib today (which is a new one) and she takes the stairs both up and down like a pro.

Time flies my friends. Time flies.

Be nice to my baby. Quit picking on her! You are big, she is little. It simply is NOT a fair fight.

We have dealt with the five ear infections (three doubles) in the past nine months, we have acknowledged the peanut, milk, egg, and dog allergies and are moving forward. But you go in and throw in the Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease and for what? For kicks and giggles? Do you enjoy this? What? Is HFMD just icing on the cake for you? Is this the cherry on top?

Good grief! Please, I am begging you, give her a break. She’s a good kid, she even laughs and plays right through this snafu. But as her Mama, I have limits and you are pushing them! Leave. Her. Alone.

Hee hee

It is hard to believe you are ONE YEAR OLD already! I remember your Mama being pregnant and just how excited we all were to meet you. You felt the same way because you sure were in a rush to get here! Five weeks early dude? You were giving us all a scare as we just prayed for you to keep being patient one day at a time

But you arrived and you were perfect! Tiny, but perfect.

I’m throwing in a couple of pictures of your first friend. I know she looks a bit on the gigantic side! But keep in mind she had six weeks on you (and four pounds from day one… imagine six weeks later :O )

Don’t worry, I didn’t let her roll over on you!

And a few to prove that my child is not abnormally gigantic:

Even if you aren’t 100% appreciative of her full on body hugs… you’ll still be good friends I think

Hee hee! Happy birthday buddy. Give your Mama a huge hug from Miss Prayse and Aunt Tiffy. Love you!

which seems to happen a lot. Off we went to the allergist. They tested for maybe 18 different things? Things that I never would have thought of. My friend Molly once said that her mother-in-law once sweared that eczema was really food allergies. That is one smart lady apparently. When hearing that she had  eczema the allergist decided to test her for MORE things. Poor babe. She took it like a champ b/c I would have been a lot crabbier than she was. She had a right to be pissed. Check this out:

So yeah, I’m thinking we need to call the dietitian (as suggested by our fantastic pediatrician) to walk down the aisles in the grocery store so I can understand the labels, what to supplement in her diet, etc…  Thank goodness for her pediatrician, the allergist while I’m sure very smart and very expensive just told me that the peanut allergy is extremely dangerous (they had to wipe it off right away and it still kept reacting), she only has a 20% chance of outgrowing it, if we have to use the epi pen get her to the ER b/c it only lasts 20 minutes, and oh yeah here is a one page list of things to avoid and good luck! Oh and here are two other prescriptions for you.

WHAT??? Good grief. I’m glad there’s an internet and a great pedi who will help us understand all of this! At least I semi-know what is going on now. She still breaks out and I can’t figure out why, but I’m not feeling like I’m constantly doing something wrong. There is legitimately something that is affecting her and I’m not over-reacting at every little thing. Because with a face like this:

I’ve gotta keep her safe!

In other news, I am SO excited that this evening is supposed to be the last day of two-a-days. Now only until November 15th and I’ll have my husband back! We really need to sit down and say when our family days are. The hubs and I do an awful job of communicating about stuff like this. I always am afraid that I’m nagging and he gets frustrated with a lot of questions, but honestly I HAVE to know what to expect or I just get frustrated and mad. And while last year was scary because P was so brand new and I had no clue what I was doing… this year while she is way more fun, she is also a lot more work. I NEED the backup. I need my husband to be my husband but also to be her Dad.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a walking party and super fun. I’m just about the coolest Mom evah! But Prayse needs her Daddy too. I am worried with football season that R is going to be absent a lot. Between going to work early, practice, film, one late night to review RB/Special Team stuff, another night that is the new JV games, any nights that they will travel for Varsity games, nights they will have to travel for JV games, actual Saturdays for Varsity games, and then reviewing game film… where do Prayse and I fit in?

I understand how important this is to him. He is good at what he does. And when I say good, I mean GOOD. Those kids love him and respect him and work so hard for him. He can take just a little bit of talent and hard work and make an All-American. Kids that aren’t just RB or ST just gravitate toward him, like everyone really. R has the most magnetic personality of anyone I’ve seen. I want him to be successful and a successful season. I really do. I just get tired.

But, I’ll still be cheering “Go Doane!” on Saturdays.

Bear with me, I am a single Mom trying to adjust to my husband coaching football and the second week of two-a-days as well as getting used to the curve-ball thrown my way and working through that and the list of things I am behind in work. It keeps getting worse because when I am home I focus on my beautiful daughter and just accept that getting my “To Do” list done is going to be impossible without a couple of nights burning the midnight oil. At this point though, I’m not sure how much I care.

I’ll do what I can and make sure that I enjoy the many many many laughs that Prayse provides. She is number one right now and I am somewhat rebelling against anything else. Prayse has had a couple of rough weeks and needs her Mama. She is going to get what she wants. I can already list out the days/nights/times when I’ll HAVE to put work first because of previous commitments. So when I am with her, I need to be with her. I have to continue to remind myself to be present or my mind gets consumed with work.

Anyway, my point is to please be patient. I haven’t gone anywhere, I am just not quite adjusted. My hat goes off to all you single Mamas. My goodness the job you do is amazing. I am so tired and I even had some help this weekend by spending the night in Omaha with my family. Here’s to you and here’s to me