Little Changes

Yesterday Celia started at her new "school". It's really a daycare/preschool, but she prefers to call it her new school. It's quite the change for us. She's been in in-home daycare her whole little life. So a real daycare with structure and a schedule is new and different and a little scary. She had a ton of questions before hand. She was excited, but also a little leery. I was too. Maybe even more so than she was. What if she doesn't make friends? What if her teachers aren't nice? As I dropped her off, I put on my very best mommy brave face then headed to work. I worried all day. Silly me. She loved her first day! When I picked her up she was on the playground with her new friends just playing away. Before we left she announced in her loudest voice to the entire playground, "I'm leaving now! Who wants to give me a hug?" Then she stood there with her little arms as wide open as she could. Immediately two little girls embraced her. The one said, "I love you Celia! Are you coming back tomorrow?" Can you imagine how my mother heart just melted? She made friends! And she sang her heart out all the way home! While I still yearn to be at home with her more than anything, at least for now she's happy.

The Never Ending Story

This past weekend I got to share a piece of my childhood with my little Celia. The Never Ending Story was one of my favorite films when I was younger. I must have watched it a hundred times. Like the boy, my head was usually in the clouds, in a world of my imagination.

Celia, is much like me in that regard. So, we snuggled close and I thrilled as she instantly loved the film. Her little eyes lit up during all my favorite parts and she laughed with me during the most funny parts. We cried when the horse sinks in the swamp and rejoiced together when he is restored at the end. She made me laugh when she announced that she wanted a flying puppy named Velcro too. It's actually Falkor, but I didn't have the heart to correct her.
I love that she is so much like me. She is also very different. Very much herself. But, when it comes to imagination and creativity, she is me. We love to snuggle and tell stories to each other. We love to do 'projects' together. She loves when I share with her stories from when 'Mommy was little'. Then she'll tell me stories about when she 'was little'. Usually her stories are just slight variations from mine, and that just makes me laugh. I love that she still wants to be with me and like me. I treasure these moments knowing that someday all too soon they will be gone.

Enjoying the Moment

I love this quote...

What can young mothers do to reduce the pressure of raising young children and enjoy their families more? Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction. Author Anna Quindlen reminds us not to rush past the fleeting moments. She said: 'The biggest mistake I made as a parent is the one that most of us make. I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of my three children sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less"
M. Russell Ballard