Stepping Back for Family Time

I wish there was more than 24 hours in a day. Maddy is growing up too fast and most of the time I miss out because I'm either working or doing other extracurricular things that I don't necessarily think people appreciate anyway or simply take for granted.

I feel like I am missing out eyewitness accounts of Maddy's milestones. For example, it was only just last night when I saw Maddy clapping her hands for the first time. What I didn't know is that she's been clapping her hands for the past couple of days! How could that milestone slip by me? How can I be such an oblivious mom?

Erwil and I really like having our family time, but it's not always possible since we both work during the day. We come home tired, only to do the same old evening routine again. You would think that having a weekend would take care of it, but that time isn't enough either. Our weekends are hardly "free". It seems like the Friday, Saturday and Sunday simply melts and evaporates away like ice that fell on hot asphalt. One thing I really hate is "over-programming" my weekends. I make plans with people or make plans for meetings, sacrificing time away from my own family. This needs to stop.

Time is always running by me. I am learning that there is no art to making up for lost time when you're raising a child. I have to really step back and be a mom first, just for Maddy's sake.

Baby Workout

It was just last weekend when the whole family (including Lolo & Lola, Ninong Noel, Elmer, Ninang Karen, Jeffrey and Christine) spent a weekend in San Diego. We took Maddy to Sea World and Carlsbad Outlets and we loved the short trip. It was a much needed getaway! Maddy is such a good traveler! It wasn't hard for us to keep her in the car for 2 hours and she was able to sleep well during our travel.

As far as milestones, Maddy is 9 months. NINE! She's crawling on her hands and knees instead of her belly. Maddy can sit up without being supported. She loves standing, spinning around and jumping in her exersaucer. Shes always tries to pull herself up either to stand or to climb so we took her crib mattress down to the lowest level. She hasn't started teething yet. I keep checking her gums to see if teeth are coming in, but I don't see anything different.

It's such a fun, playful stage of Maddy's childhood. She doesn't really like her own toys. I've tried to give her a toy cell phone, Leapfrog laptop, and other toys. Maddy would rather play with my cell phone, the TV remote control, water bottles, empty boxes, empty food storage containers and pull folded clothes out of the laundry basket.

Erwil and I are so tired. Now that Maddy's constantly moving, we always have to keep a watchful eye on her wherever she goes and make sure that she doesn't pick up and swallow things that could choke her. We started baby proofing the house, but now it's time to step it up!

4 More Needed

Today is Norm Day for LAUSD. This is the day when all schools have to report their official enrollment count to the district and balance the ratio of students per teacher. I believe my job is safe, now that we came to the exact number of enrolled students to keep me at Catskill. I won't be displaced. Since I went back to work, it had been such a stressful month for me to figure out whether or not I was going to stay at Catskill or move to another school.

As of Monday, the principal told me that we still needed 4 students to keep me on staff. My heart felt like sinking, but I then snapped out of it. I realize that God has a plan, so I should just be open for whatever was meant to be. What I think is a miracle was that a family from the Pampanga, Philippines arrived just last Sunday and enrolled their 2 daughters on Wednesday. Then on Thursday, another family just moved to Carson and they had 2 more children who were enrolled. We lacked 4, but now we satisfy all the enrollment number requirements. Whew, it was so close! Can you call that coincidence, or a real blessing from God? I'm rejoicing for another answered prayer!