#1
I sad goodbye to a very dear friend who is moving to Arizona. We have known each other for six years and have shared so many sweet memories together and with our kids. I have lived in Rochester all of my life, but never understood the transient city it is until recently. Many lovely women I met in my twenties were temporary transplants to Rochester due to medical school, residency, and/or fellowship. This year especially, I've known several families who are now moving on from Rochester and their time of training at Mayo. I am forever grateful to have shared the last six years in Rochester with Krista, but I also know that a move to Arizona is not the end of the road for our friendship:)
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| Nora being moody with Krista |
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| And, warming up to Krista:) |
I attended my final MOPS at Hope Summit meeting this week. Seven years ago when I first became a mom, I knew I wanted to connect with other moms so we could learn and grow together through the experience of motherhood. By the time Luke was 18 months old, our church started a MOPS (Mothers Of PreSchoolers) group. I was blessed with the opportunity to be a leader for the first four years and have attended the past two years. Similar to my sentiments above, I met so many wonderful women through MOPS and am so grateful for the opportunity to share our kids' preschool years with them. Thankfully, our church is continuing a moms' ministry in the fall in a slightly different format so I am looking forward to connecting with both familiar and new faces.
#3
I am so grateful that my kids stay in the "baby stage" for most of the first year. Not sure what I mean??? Well, my kids are slow to crawl, slow to walk, slow to get teeth, slow to get hair, but they are certainly not lacking in personality:) I always feel like babies who meet these milestones early in the first year grow up quicker than my bald headed, toothless grinned, stationary babies:)
#4
I am so very grateful to work half time. I once nannied for a mom who said she was a better mom because she worked half time and a better nurse because she was home half time. I concur (except I'm not a nurse;)) I am so grateful for the extra time at home with my family and also grateful for the opportunity to contribute to our family's physical needs by working. I am so thankful for this balance.
#5
I have been, once again, reminded of the incredible blessing of living in the midst of "Mother Mayo." It is easy to take Mayo Clinic for granted since I've lived in Rochester and had access to its care my entire life. But, I am regularly reminded how unique our situation is and what a blessing it is.
Love your focus on gratitude Jen, and enjoyed reading about the things you are thankful for. I especially love your take on "babies" and how they grow and are so different in the first year of life. I often hear more negative comparing of little ones, which is really kind of crazy. You are right about how they seem to "Grow up" faster, but sadly you cant put a brick on their heads....ha. All 3 of mine were those kind that grow up too fast, all walked early 8-9-10 months in that order. They did everything early and yes they werent babies for long. I love that you are savoring the babyhood! I will miss that Krista too, such a sweet sweet lady! I too have worked 1/2 time since the kids were born it is such a great balance...one of the things that I loved about that was that Rick had the opportunity to be a dad without the mom influence around. They had alot of fun together, I found about alot of crazy things they did, many years later. I also made Rick a better dad, and I'm sure you see with Brent too! Sorry about the lengthy "comment"... I love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your lovely comments Jackie, it was a more reflective week than normal:) Funny thing though...Nora woke up with her first tooth this morning...I just can't slow this growing process!
DeleteSuch a sweet blog Jen. I agree, I grew up here my whole life, but wasn't until I had Audrey did I meet new mom's, and lots of them, who are only here for a short time because of Mayo, it's a whole different side to Rochester! I will miss that lovely Krista too! Way to savor that babyness, I'm trying to soak it in with Carson, it's going to fast!
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