Nora

Nora is growing so fast and getting so big…it’s so hard to believe.

She, honestly, has been difficult for me to parent recently.  I don’t know if it is because I am 6 weeks away from having a baby and a LITTLE on edge or if is just a stage she is going through.  Either way, I am worn out by her at the end of the day!

And I hate feeling this way!  She is ULTRA emotional and if she does not get a rest/nap during the middle of the day she is miserable by 5:30 in the evening…and in turn, I am usually miserable too.  Thankfully, for both of us, Matthew is a ROCK and is able to deal with us both.

She also thinks I’m “kidding” when I give her direction lately.  Oh, I don’t know if she actually thinks I’m kidding but she sure is NOT quick to obey.  And it is driving me crazy!  I will tell her, “Nora don’t (fill in the blank)!”  TWO SECONDS later, I will turn around and she is doing (fill in the blank).  Grrrrrrrrrr!  It’s like she has reverted to being two and I don’t like it AT ALL!!!!!!  She has revisited time outs and spankings.

I just pray that she is a kind friend, a loving sister and a thoughtful person.  I feel like we are batting 0 for 3 right now.  She IS a good girl and I am amazed, at times, how loving she can be…but the good is not being outweighed by the bad right now.  I want to parent her and not constantly being saying “no”, “stop it”, “get it together”, “that’s ridiculous!”.  I want to love her and have her know that I love her, especially when she is on my last nerve.  Sigh.

Parenthood is NOT for cowards or for the weak or for those that tire easily!

I love my girl so much and she is growing so big, like I said at the beginning of this post.  To prove that, we went to see our doctor for her well-child check up.  Here are her 5 year stats:

Weight: 39.5 pounds (46th percentile)

Height: 42.9 inches (55th percentile)

Pretty average…pretty perfect!

We love our doctor!!!!!!  Dr. N declared her ready for kindergarten-a genius-ha!

Here are Nora and Dr. N at her first ever visit with him…sniff, sniff:

Nora also had her first soccer game on Saturday!  Again, lately, we never really know what we are going to get with her.  Will she play or will she have a mental breakdown?  Thankfully, she played!  And she loved it!  She kept telling us how much fun she at her “soccer game”.  And she surprised us by actually being pretty good.  She scored 3 points for her team and really hustled up and down the field.

There they are, with their coach.  Matthew was recruited to coach when no one else stepped up.  What a lucky little girl Nora is to have her daddy coaching her!

Look at the little cheerleader sitting with the team on the bench…bless her heart, she wants to be a part of the “big” girls so bad!

Half-time pep talk from the coach…

Going to score a goal-

Hey, did you see that mom?

Throwing the ball in…

LOVE this picture!  The two coaches are showing the girls how to say “good game, good game, good game, good game”.

Team “Dynamo”!  The girls did great and won their first game (but, hey, who was keeping score)!  Matthew felt HORRIBLE because the other team scored no points.  He wasn’t trying to dominate but the other team…well, bless their hearts!  Maybe this next weekend will be more evenly matched.

Regardless of Nora’s up and downs and our frustration with this stage of her life, we love her with our whole hearts and couldn’t imagine life without her!

One funny thing that she said on Sunday, coming home from church:

Us: What did you talk about in Sunday school today?

Nora: Leprechauns

Us: What?????  Leprechauns?

Nora: You know, people that have leprechauns all over them…

Us: Oh, leprosy!

Hahahahahahaha!  She is a joy and I pray that we always make her feel that way.  And I pray that we can all get through this stage with minimal damage-ha!