Thursday, May 29, 2008

Having A Child After 40!

You know, I wonder if a women that is pregnant and in her twenties "does the math" to figure out how old she will be when her child graduates high school? Does a women in her early twenties every wonder if she will be around long enough to see her grandchildren or great-grandchildren, knowing that her children should be at least 20 (or older, hopefully) when they have their own children.



I did this when I was pregnant with our first child. It was sort of a sobering thought when I realized the age I will be when she graduates. Then we didn't have our second child until almost 4 years later. It has forced me to look at mine and my husband's health and how we live our lives. We haven't made very many changes but I am trying. Unfurtunatley we love our Starbucks coffee and it shows......on us! I also LOVE chocolate (almost as much as my family....LOL) and getting my hubby to eat healthy is like trying to pull teeth from an alligator!



But having children at an older age makes you look hard at what the long term consequences will be of how you eat, exercise (or lack of exercise) and generally take care of yourself today. We don't smoke, due drugs and I don't drink and Larry rarely drinks. So it's not that we live an unhealthy or destructive lifestyle, we just don't go out of our way to live a real healthy lifestyle.



We are starting to make changes though. We are walking much more often and have been spending quite a bit of time at the pool. I love that our oldest daughter is our little cheerleader and spurs me to get up and just do it which in turn makes me push Larry to get up and move also. You see, Larry and I's biggest fault is we are both work-a-holics. Before children we got ourselves into a habit of keeping each other on track of not over-doing the work stuff. However, as our family and financial need grew, our work-a-holic personalities came back into play.



The good thing is like I said, Katelynn and Sarah keep us in balance and they probably aren't even aware of how important their roles are to us. But it's funny, I can see my hubby and mine "always working" personality develop in our daughters. Which also makes you stop and think.....they won't want to sit on our laps forever, or dance in the front room with us to their favorite Cheetah, Hannah or Jonus Bros. song.



So what does this all mean? Our children grow up so fast and there will always be bills to pay. We as parents need to make sure we enjoy every possbile minute of their lives and keep good care of ourselves. Even people who become parents at a young age need to live their lives healthy. There is no gurantee that any of us will be here tomorrow either.



Take Care of yourself,

Rebecca in Beckys World 101



P.S. In case your are curious...I will be 55 when our oldest graduates and 59 when our youngest graduates. Larry will be 53 and 57 respectively.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Having A Child At 40 or so! Thoughts Of An Older Mom

I first became a mom at age 37. Which is older than many people become first time moms but the world, or society I should say, seem to handle a women having a child in her late 30's better than they use to.


Now having another child at age 41 is a different story. The doctor's seem to think you will automatically attract every horrible defect known to man and woman kind and pass to your growing baby! They make you very aware of the "statistics" repeatedly and seem to expect every complication there can be.


Because we could and because I didn't want an Amnio (what, I was 40, pregnant and DIDN'T want the to stick my belly with a needle to see if my baby was ok!?!?!? Even though the pregnancy had gone just fine and there were no signs of trouble?) I came out to the front desk of my OBGYN to hear the nurse making a nasty comment about me not wanting an Amnio. She was making the rude comment to the doctor, who seemed to think it was MY decision and didn't see me walk up. Of course we all know how pregnant, cranky women often say what is on their mind, at least I do! I did not have a lot to say because my daughter was there but I let her know under no uncertain terms that is was MY choice and I was not being stupid choosing not to have the test. Especially because we took all other precautions and test to make sure our baby was healthy.

In case you haven't figured it out, our youngest daughter, Sarah is going to be 3 in August and is perfectly healthy! So THERE to the nurse at my old OBGYN............LOL!

Just My Thoughts!
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Katelynn's Second Tooth

That's right, Katelynn, our oldest daughter, has finally lost that stubborn second tooth. It had been loose for quite a while and it was soooooo loose last week that she could push it all the way flat, UGH! But for some reason, it just wouldn't come completely out. Must be the fact that every fiber of my beautiful daughter's being is stubborn, and so was the tooth.






Her dad and I tried pulling it out, which by the way, grosses me out terribly. In fact, the whole "loosing you teeth" thing grosses me out. It always has. I don't know if you can tell in this pic, but I am gritting me teeth as I try to help out the removal process!




But for my dear daughter, it is a "Right of Passage" into the world of being older and slowly, tooth by tooth, Katelynn is eagerly entering the grown up world her dad and I belong too. For her, this idea is awesome, for me, it it bittersweet.


My dear brave husband trying to get a loop around Katelynn's tooth:



Sarah thinks she should get her tooth pulled out too!













Our youngest wanted to get in on the action and tried to convince her daddy to loop some dental floss around her tooth and pull it out too. She seems to be taking the "being like big sissy" thing a little too far. But then again......that's Sarah!

Well that's all for now.
Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Great Mother's Day Gift

My Grandmother is getting to come home from the hospital today. I am very excited that she won't spend Mother's Day in the hospital, even if someone was to be with her every minute. Though her nurses and doctor's were wonderful, that is no place to be on such a special day. I am sure there will be lot's of visitor's at my parents house tomorrow (where Grandma is staying) since she gave everyone such a scare.

Not that we all don't visit her anyway but it was a cold hard reminder my Grams is 94 and won't be here much longer, that is inevitable.

Grab a mom, grandma, great-grandma, god-mother, aunt or friend and hug them this Sunday May 11th and do it every day after. You just never know. In fact, hug starting today, tomorrow might never come!

Happy Mother's Day!
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Friday, May 9, 2008

Always Someone To Worry About

Well I tell you, it's been a busy day today and yesterday. My Grandmother was rushed to the Emergency Room yesterday because her heart rate was elevated. I should say so, it started at 120 then went to 140 and by the time the ambulance got her to the ER, it was at 160! Not good. She is still in the hospital and though things are looking better, they are keeping her another day, maybe longer. I am glad, Grandma is 94 and her health is not as good as it was just last year. (I know I said she was 95 in the post I wrote for the Mother's, Daughters & Friends Tea but I was off a year, she is really only 94!)

Anyway, my mom is up at the hospital most of today and will probably spend most of tomorrow there too, if they don't let my grandmother go home. Which is not easy on my mom. She has a bad back and her legs and feet will swell from standing up there again.

The funny thing that came to mind is that not only do I have my daughters and my mother to worry about, now it goes all the way to the top and there is Grandma to add to my list of women in my family that cause me concern! Not that I didn't already worry about Grams but now there is more to be concerned about.

Thank goodness I have a great sense of humor or I would never last!

To add insult to injury, my oldest is home sick today (supposedly) and her and her younger sister are full of energy today and are being very ornery.

Normally I would throw caution to the wind and yell, "BRING IT!" but I have a horrible headache and really don't want anything else "brought" today, so I guess I will quietly retreat to my husband recliner (my favorite chair) and put my feet up till tonight. I have a workshop for 6 Girl Scouts tonight at 7 p.m. and of course I expect it to be loud and energetic! That's what I do! Then tomorrow it's off to my "other" job for a few hours and then to a skating birthday party!

Wow, that easy chair is sounding super wonderful right now........so I am off! Maybe I will take a bowl of Chocolate Ice Cream. Ya know, chocolate fixes EVERYTHING!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Mother, Daughter and Friends Tea


What a special event my girls and I went to. We had a Mothers, Daughters and Friends Tea at our church today and me and my special little ladies went, along with my mother. It was wonderful having both my daughters and my mom enjoying this fun event together....just us girls!

My mom and I sat at a table I decorated while my daughters went back and forth between sitting a little at our table and a sittling a lot at the "little girls" table the was set up especially for the young ladies of the church. We even had the "teen" girls at a table where they could sip tea and chatter away, probably about boys.

My table was decorated in an old fashioned little girls tea party theme. I took a very old doll that use to be mine and dressed her in a dress that matched the dress my oldest was in (came with the dress.) Then I took my oldest daughters Butter Cookie Bear (from my Noah's Ark line) and my youngest daughters Pink Winter Dress Coat with Hat (also from Noah's) dressed Butter Cookie in it. Of course both the doll and Butter Cookie Bear had plenty of "bobbles" (a fancy word for jewelery) on to compliment their outfits! Last but not least, I added my youngest daughters Holiday Barbie doll. Both my girls have the Holiday Barbie Doll from the year they were born. Sarah's (my youngest) just happened to be dressed in a perfect matching outfit to my color theme....light and dark pink.

Both my daughter's were dressed in pink as well, of course. They had "bobbles" of their own on and fancy shoes to match. (Ya know the ones I mean.....the plastic flashy ones every little girl loves to wear!)

Well it's bedtime so I gotta go for now. I will post some pictures of the lovely and creative tables and some more pictures of my beautiful girls and mom. Unfortunatley, I may be in some of the pictures.....LOL!
For now, here is a picture we took at a station our organizers set up just for this occasion. You are looking at 3 generation of my family. If my grandmother had felt up to the event, we would of had 4 generations there. However grams is 95 years young and sometimes just don't feel like doing things, understanably so!

Take Care,
Rebecca in Beckys World 101