My baby is going to be a Daddy!

I am excited, scared and excited! My baby is going to be a Daddy. I've known for a while now but I've been trying to figure out my emotions. I'm scared, I think but excited. I wish some of the circumstances were just a little different but I will not dwell on that.

I know that Chris will be a good daddy. He's a good son, a good grandson, a great brother and friend. But I don't think he fully understands the difference being a Daddy will make in his life. That will come the minute he holds his daughter in his arms for the first time.
That's right I said daughter. It's a girl. According to Andrea's mother you could have heard a pin drop in the room when the ultrasound tech announced that the baby was a girl. I guess they wanted a boy! LOL! Chris, of all people, knows that little girls can do anything they want to do. You can have a dancing daughter, a singing daughter, a football daughter or a wrestling daughter. Or all of the above. This little girl's aunties have paved the way for her. I can't wait to see her, hold her and love her. I can't imagine the joy that being a gramma will bring. If it is half a much joy as being a Mommy, then I can't wait!!

Oh, the princess is due to make her entrance around the first or second week of October. So soon!!

Tatiana Back in Colorado!

Tatiana is on her way back to Colorado. I just dropped her off at the airport this morning. I hope she learns to like it there. We miss her when she is gone.

Sometimes this doing everything yourself thing is for the birds. I hate asking people for help but it's inevitable I can't be everywhere at once. I have to work or nobody will be able to be anywhere. No football, no wrestling, no Raging Waters, no everything else these little people are constantly wanting to do. I know my mom gets tired of helping me take my kids here and there. But I promise if my kids ever need me to drop whatever I'm doing to help them with their kids, I will. But my kids having kids is a post for another day. Perhaps tomorrow.

Julia Rose

Julia Rose is my fourth child and everything I have ever wanted to be. She is smart, witty, hard working, kind, loving, responsible, self confident and beautiful. Don't get me wrong, she has her "downfalls". She is super competitive, aggressive, very strong willed and opinionated. All of her "downfalls" can be assets once she matures and learns to use them to her advantage.

My job is to teach her to use her "downfalls" to her advantage. Raising a child with her type A personality is challenging at best. How do I calm her without breaking her spirit? How do I allow her freedom of expression, but teach her respect? It a fine line, but if she can learn to walk that line the world is at her fingertips. If she can't then will be tough and exhausting for her.

Just a little story so that anyone reading might understand her personality. Or so that she may laugh with me about it later. Julia has been wanting a Nitendogs game for her DS for awhile. She had $25 and wanted me to take her to the store to get the game she wanted. I told her that I thought that the game was $29.99 and that I was not going to give her the money for the rest. She insisted that the game was $19.99 and that she would have enough. Long story short the game was $29.99 and she got angry in the store because she couldn't get the game. She didn't make a scene or anything, she was just visibly angry to me.

When we got home I sent her to her room to sulk. About 10minutes later I called her out and explained to her that I couldn't just give her the money that she would have to earn the rest. I explained to her that if I just gave her things every time she wanted them she would never learn to wait for things and that could develop into a major problem later in her life. She calmed down and apologized.. And set out on a MISSION to earn the rest of the money for her game.

First she wanted to know if she could do something around the house to earn the money. I told her that she could possibly do some stuff around the house but they could not involve her regular chores (vacuuming, dusting, cleaning her room or taking care of her dog) for which she currently gets no payment. I consider her chores part of living in a household. So, we brainstormed a little and found a couple things she thought she could do and I told her I would pay her $3.00 for those things. Still not enough for the DS game.

So, now she's starting a home business. Julia's Nails and Stuff. She made a mission statement, a price list, a tip box, a reservation list and even an application to hire her brother Ricky as a masseuse. She now has a home office in her bedroom. She is offering package deals, manicure, pedicure, foot massage, back massage, head massage. And guess who her first customer is??? Yeah, you got it ... ME! It just so happens that the price on the package deal is ($7.00 plus don't forget the $1.00 tip) is just the same amount that she needs to buy her game. Hummmm, I think I just got bamboozled....???? By a nine year old...