Who knew?

Who knew that quitting your job would make for such a stressful week. My week started with the relief of knowing that my life was going to start to slow down a little. Well, that definitely was not the case last week. I told my boss that I needed more time off and of course he begged me to stay. Ok, there was no begging, but he asked me nicely to stay part time for a while to finish out some projects and then to consider working from home on certain things. I said sure.

Well, then all 3 of us got sick. Sallie Rose had been a little sick off and on, but as of Monday she was the big green booger producer. Then, I followed in her foot steps and began coughing and blowing my nose. Kevin followed shortly after. Then, Kevin's Mom got sick and had to go into the hospital for a few days. Kevin stayed with her one night and saw her everyday she was there. She is home now and feeling better.

I had tons of call for rentals, yeah! However, that means lots of talking on the phone and scheduling appointments, getting rentals cleaned, residents notified to pick up their undies and then actually taking people around to look at each rental. Exhausting. But we are thanking God for the calls and praying for leases to be signed.

We had a birthday party on Saturday for Sallie Rose's best friend, Andrew. I think they might be more than friends, but I haven't told Kevin. They see each other 3 or 4 times a week. His babysitter and Susan get together for play dates. The party was fun and Sallie Rose definitely enjoyed the cake and ice cream.

Sunday of course was Mother's Day. Kevin let me sleep in until 8:30 and then made me waffles. It was nice, but we were all so tired and cranky. I sent Sallie Rose to Church with Kevin and I went and picked up Ms. Virginia, my 98 year old friend, and took her to Church. After Church, I went to Target by myself, got Pizza Hut bread sticks and a coke and went home. That was my Mother's Day gift: being by myself to do nothing for 30 minutes. We did make it downtown after naps for shopping and playing. It was a good day, but Monday rolled around again and I wished I had done more relaxing. Maybe this weekend?

No, this weekend we have a garage sale at Susan's, Sallie Rose's first swim class, and a going away party. As my annoying Mom always said to me in high school, "you can sleep when you die". Ugh...I hated that phrase.

I have a lot to update on Sallie Rose, but I will do that in a separate post.

1 Month Ago

Wow, I am not even sure where to start. It has been a month since I have written or posted pictures. I guess I have just been busy. I will try to summarize the last month and then give an update on what is going on within the next month.

First, Kevin and I went on our first ever Mommy/Daddy get away alone in 18 months. I can't believe we have never done this. That's what happens when you live 3 states away from all of your family. You have limited parties of whom you would trust your child's care with. Susan is our main person, and she watches Sallie Rose every day during the week, so we hate to burden her with it. Sweet as Susan is, she said she would keep her and we went and it was well deserved and overdue. It was fun.

Next we went to Texas for a long weekend. Last minute, but also really needed. I needed to get out of town, see my family, and get Sallie Rose used to seeing her Texas family. She did fine, although she was apprehensive a little still. The time will come when I have to pull her away screaming and crying.

Last and for the present. I am giving my notice tomorrow at work. Why you ask? Well, a lot of reason, but the main one being that I have a lot of responsibilities here at home and I can't work 6 full days anymore like I have for the last year. I am tired and I want to spend more time with my family. No, my job at the office is not demanding. Actually, quite the opposite. It is boring at times and very draining on my creative juices. So, what will I do with my time you ask?

1. Be a part time stay at home Mom who works while the baby girl sleeps.
2. Run 12 properties and 40 something residents (and all their crying and whining)
3. Work on my architecture website, link to come soon, and start studying for the 7 tests that I must take to call myself an Architect.
4. Pick up architecture/interior design work as I can find it. Seems to come out of no where most of the time.
5. Do a lot of volunteer work for Urban Hope, which I sit on the board for
6. Paint artwork, furniture, and anything else that I can get my hands on.
7. Get inventory ready for my retail space that I will hopefully open sometime next year, as well as have my Architectural firm in the back of.
8. Spend time with Kevin and Sallie Rose on the weekends. Kevin has never had a weekend off since I have known him. We are hoping that since I will be doing 90% of the property work that he will have weekends off again. Yeah!!
9. Travel to see my family, in laws, friends, and things

I haven't told many people that this was coming, mainly because I wanted to make the decision on my own without a lot of opinions. I didn't want to hear that I was giving up my career for my husband's properties. That is not true at all. I will be going back to where I first started with my love for art and design. I will use my experience that I have gotten for the last 4 years and break free from sitting in front of the computer 8 hours a day. No one knows what is best for you and your family other than the Mother herself. I made the decision and I am really excited about it. Last year was the hardest year I have ever experienced and this year will be better, because I am making it better!

Gotta get to bed now. We have a sick baby and I have a feeling she might be up a lot tonight. She threw up 3 times in the car as we were driving home from Target. Not the best parenting moment I have ever had, and it was really sad to see.

Easter

Easter was amazing. We had such a good weekend and it was so nice to dress in whites and pastels and see all the flowers at the Church. The weather has been amazing lately. I know in 2 weeks it will begin to be blistering hot, so I am really trying to enjoy it.

Susan started Sallie Rose off with a practice round of Easter egg hunting on Friday (the week before Easter). She loved it. Susan hid them in the park in front of our house and she knew just what to do after one try. Then on Saturday we went to an Easter egg hunt in a public park. She was a little hesitant because of the older kids running around crazily finding the eggs. Then, Sunday the Church had a hunt and we went to that as well. She was beginning to not feel well by Sunday afternoon, but she still had a great time hunting eggs.

Then, that whole following week she was sick, with what? We never knew. Just a fever. I guess a virus. It was awful. She was up all night and clingy all day. I took off Monday to go to the doctor with her and that was hell. I'll spare you the details of the blood samples, the adhesive bag placed for urine sample (later covered in poo that I had to remove), and the sad crying. She felt that way all week. On top of her being sick, I was the busiest at work that I have been in a long time. Oh, and the 45 tenants that all needed something that week. Kevin and I were exhausted by Friday.

So, Saturday rolled around, finally, and we relaxed, planted flowers, and ran around naked in the backyard chasing the water hose. No, not me and Kevin, just Sallie Rose. She loves the water and she loves being outside. She also now loves playing "hide" with the Easter egss. We have a daily Easter egg hunt at our house now. Kevin hides them and Rosie finds them. And screams with excitement.

Sunday, we woke up, opened Easter baskets, got our Sunday finest on and went to Church. The music was amazing and so were the Easter lilies that covered the entire Church. Easter always brings a sense of renewal for me. Maybe it is a mix of the Resurrection of Jesus, the flowers, the warm weather, and the absence of pantie hose. I have to admit, one main reason I look forward to Easter is feeling like I don't have to wear hose or tights anymore. I know, that is silly these days, but my Grandma was strict about it and I do what my Grandma says.

After Church, the 3 of us went to lunch at Vic's on the River. We had oysters, shrimp, tuna and lots of biscuits. It was a really nice day. A good end to a bad week and a good beginning to a wonderful Spring and Summer.





This is the outfit Mayme and Grumps (also known as Poppy to Sallie Rose) sent her. Isn't it adorable. So fun! You can't find cow outfits like that in Georgia.

Pictures

I rarely have time (or energy) anymore to actually write something, but I will try and at least put up pictures occasionally.

Sallie Rose loves flowers, just like her Mom.

Sometimes you've got to stop to smell the flowers, literally.

Savannah's St. Patty's Day Parade. We were surprised we made it. Sallie Rose was up all night the night before. We stayed about an hour, then we all needed naps.

Hello Sunday

A Sneak Peak of Savannah's Ellis Square | WSAV

A Sneak Peak of Savannah's Ellis Square | WSAV

Bragging Rights

I think that sometimes I get so consumed with what our new challenge is with Sallie Rose that I forget to brag about how great she is. Or maybe it is because I get annoyed with Moms who all they talk about is what their child is doing every second of every day. I love my boo boo, Rosie, but I don't think that everyone else in the World cares to hear how she made me drink out of her sippy cup this morning.

However, this is my blog and I will make this post about bragging on my baby girl. Yes, she throws a fit every time I make her come in from "side", which is outside. Yes, she puts up a fight every time I need to put her down to cook for her, but she also does so many things that are truly sweet and truly funny. My child has not been affectionate. I don't know if it is something I did, like cry it out, or if she is just that way. I have accepted that she does not want to kiss me or give me hugs, but that she will kiss any boy in any book or catalog. The sweetest thing that I have seen her do this far is hold her hand out before meals and say hand. Which means she wants Kevin and I to grab her hand, say the blessing and then she prematurely says "Amen" and claps her hands. It is funny, it is adorable, it is sweet and it makes me so proud that at 16 months she is already praying, sort of.

She also has a huge vocabulary. Some of the words are understandable by everyone and some of the words are only words that Mommy, Daddy and Su Su can understand. When she wants milk she says "milk" and if she doesn't want milk she says "no". If she wants a bunny cracker, she will say more and then you will ask her what she wants more of and she says "bummy" or "cwacker". Basically anything you say to her she can repeat. Her latest is "yeah", not yes, but "yeah". I don't think she can say the s part, so it is just "yeah", clear as a bell. Everyday I feel like a new word comes out of her mouth and it just surprises me. She is growing up way to fast and before I know it she will be reading to me. Oh that is another thing. She has flashcards that Susan does with her and she can actually read a few words off of them. Amazing, scary, but amazing. I am afraid she is going to know I can't read by the time she is 2. ( I can read, I am actually a good reader, but I don't like to, it bores me) One day I hope I can get it on video, but she loves the camera too much to concentrate.

So, in a nutshell, she is a genius, super cute, and very generous with her sippy cup. I think she is going to be athletic too, because Susan said that she has never seen a 16 month old kick a ball like Sallie Rose does. So, how is that for bragging?