Where did my baby go?

This morning, we had orientation for preschool. My baby will be three years old the end of this month. We could have put off preschool for another year as she is 2 weeks behind the cut off date for Kindergarten and will now attend preschool for 3 years. Not that this is a bad thing. She already goes to daycare every day and has a very structured environment there. She will get to play a lot and she will get to work on her fine motor skills. I’m hoping this will push her to become potty trained as well. She already knows 2 kids as they are coming from her daycare. But even as we seem to push her to be a “big girl,” I try to remember the little baby she used to be.

It is sometimes hard to remember that this little tow-haired girl who loves to laugh and jump and sing used to be a bald little thing that captivated her father and I long before she could even smile at us. Her tiny hands that used to wrap around my finger are now holding paint brushes and books. Her little feet that used to seem to be there just for decoration are now being shoved into boots and little mary janes and are running everywhere! Her blue eyes that used to stare at me blankly now look at me in anticipation of what we may do or where we may go next.

I know this is not the last time I will look at her and wonder where my baby went. When she starts Kindergarten. When she rides her first bike. When she stops wanted to cuddle with me. When she turns into that surly teenager.

For now, I will try to savor the snuggles, the kisses, the “I lovechyou, Mommy“s. I will try remember that reading “Green Eggs & Ham” for the 5th time in a row is a good thing. I will try to pay attention when she starts singing and will sing a long (if she’ll let me). She is my big girl and growing up much too quickly. But she will always be my baby as well.

September 2008

Life has been busy the past few months, with rehearsals and work. Friday August 29was opening night and we've had 2 shows so far. As a cast, we were definitely ready for an audience. Hearing the instant response is amazing. We have three more weekends of shows -- 4-5 shows a weekend. It's hard to be away from home so much, but a lot of fun. I will keep an eye open to do other shows, but will be picky about what shows to do. "The Producers" has been worth it! You can see a short video and review on the Gazette Web site.

We took a long weekend and drove to Aberdeen for my cousin Nicole's wedding. We had a lot of fun at the hotel. Maggie learned to "swim" and had a lot of fun dancing at the wedding dance. She was very well behaved during the wedding and only asked to "go home" once. Maggie got to spend a lot of time with Grandma Alana and even spent Friday night after the wedding with her so Rocky and I could have a few more drinks at the dance. We visited Great Grandma Alberta for a while and Maggie did her Clifford puzzle. Then it was off to spend some time in Watertown. Maggie had a lot of fun playing with her cousins, especially Amy and Delaney. She told Daddy "I play with my friends!"

We've also driven out to Deer Lodge for a quick visit. My cousin Angela and Aunt Karen were in town for another cousin's wedding. It was nice to see both again as I couldn't quite remember the last time I saw either of them.

The yard is really coming in nicely and it fun to play in. Maggie loves to go outside and blow bubbles, play with water balloons or write on the sidewalk with her chalk. We will also have some tiny tomatoes as the seeds Maggie and I planted this spring have already produced 3 bright red tomatoes. I haven't picked any yet to see if they are any good.

Tomorrow is preschool orientation. Maggie still isn't potty trained, but is ready in every other way, so we will chat with the teachers to see if they will let her attend. She will also be moving up to the 3 year old room where many more kids are trained. I'm sure she'll just decide one of these days and that will be the end of diapers.

Rocky starts classes again this week. He's taking 2 this fall, but doesn't think it will be much more work than the 1 class was that he took this summer. His folks are going to come out later this month to "baby-sit" -- he has class one night that I also have a show. It's a nice excuse for them to come visit.

Opening Night

I am two days away from my very first opening night for a musical. I’ve been in high school plays before but those were part of class and not everyone took them as seriously as we should have. Now, I’m in a community theatre production of “The Producers.” A fun show. And a life-long dream of mine. And to think I almost chickened out of the audition.

The time commitment for this has been unbelieveable. I could most likely be 2 classes closer to a master’s degree with the time that I’ve used for rehearsals. I’ve been gone so much that the word “rehearsal” brings out the bottom lip for my daughter. But this is a huge show, with lots of wonderful musical numbers. Dancing little old ladies with their walkers. Showgirls in pearls. Springtime for Hitler. The cast is excellent, hard working and going the extra mile for the show.
I love singing again. Hearing the harmonies that send chills up your spine. Hitting those high notes that I can feel in my nose. Finally finally FINALLY getting those few steps right! And hearing the audience laugh. Wow. That is just an amazing feeling, especially when I know it’s my performance, especially when they’ve seen it and they still laugh.

Tonight is the first full dress rehearsal. And we only have 2. We hope all the costumes are ready. We hope we can get the timing down for moving the sets. We hope to not run nylons or mascara.

I’m tired. We’re all a little cranky, but I know it will be a great show. I know my husband and daughter will be happy when it’s over and I’m back at home in the evenings. Part of me will be happy too. And part of me wishes it would never end. It’s been a lot of fun. Will I do it again? Maybe, someday. It would depend on the show and the timing. But at least I can say I’ve done it this time.

And here's the review: Billingsgazette.com

Big Sky Country!

I believe we have hit the dog days of summer. As Rocky mentioned the other day, "I thought we left VA because of the heat!" I do better understand the idea of a "dry" heat though. The heat in Richmond would just wait at the door and hit you like a ton of bricks as you walk out.

I'm also really enjoying the Montana "Big Sky." Last night, we watched a rain storm come in from about 7 miles away (at least that's what I've been told how far away the horizon is). The rain came down in streaks in front of the big red ball of the sun -- perfectly round and not diminished in it's light. We saw the lightening and heard the thunder. And we stood outside playing with water balloons and bubbles until 9 and then continued watching the storm from our bedroom until 9:30 when we all feel asleep. I love that I can see all of this from my backyard. This morning, we played in the pool for a few hours and watched 2 hawks search for a meal. The farm on the other side of the creek and slough has cows we can hear bellowing in the morning. The deer have gone off for the summer, but seem to spend the fall and spring in a small clearing of trees just past the slough. I had truly forgotten what it is like to live on the prairie. We got a huge rain on July 5th and we saw the best rainbows ever. I think it was the first time I was able to see all five colors so clearly.

We actually have grass now! It is rather patchy, but is really coming in. Our neighbor says that next year we will really be able to tell that the hydro-seed was a good investment. It's nice as we can actually walk in the backyard barefoot. Otis loves it and never misses a chance to roll around on it. Maggie's not sure what she thinks yet, but I'm sure next year she'll be ready to run around barefoot. The front yard looks really good.

Maggie was doing really well about sleeping in her own bed, but has regressed a little in the past few weeks. I think it may be because of my rehearsal schedule. But she's also been stuffy -- with the weather being so hot, we are spending a lot of time in the air conditioning. She loves to go to the zoo and knows exactly what animals she wants to see when we go. We took Grandma when she was here over the 4th of July. We also went to a baseball game at the new stadium. The stadium is really nice, but we only stayed until the end of the 2nd inning because it was raining so hard and Maggie had seen enough. On the plus side, we got to see a lot of the great rainbows!

June 2008 part 2

FINALLY I have a reason to update that doesn't involve what Maggie's doing now! A week ago, I decided to go for a long time dream of mine and auditioned for the community theatre here in town. They are putting on "The Producers." It's been ages since I've sung and even longer since I had to audition for anything. And I've never auditioned for a musical, which I've always wanted to do. I was very nervous, but fortunately, I know the choreographer, so there was a familiar face in the audience for me. I had to wait until Wednesday to find out that I got a part in the chorus! I'm excited and nervous, but just thrilled that I finally get to be in a musical. It's a huge time commitment --- rehearsals start tonight and go through the end of August, and there are 4 weekends of shows. I'll get the actual schedule tonight, but according to my co-worker, it's pretty much 5 nights a week, 3 hours a night. Rocky and I will have to do some balancing, especially with his class schedule, but I know it will be worthwhile. If there are any videos to share, be certain that I will!!

Other than that, it is business as usual in the Dailey house. Our yard has been hydro-seeded and we are seeing "baby grass" (as Maggie calls it). We are already talking about what we want to do next year -- plants, a pergola, maybe a fence. Otis does such a good job of keeping his "business" outside our yard!

Rocky is in another class and hopes to take a least one class a semester until he has his Ed.D. He is also keeping an eye on jobs at the local colleges as that will help with the tuition bills! And of course, Maggie is still growing and becoming a little girl more every day. She loves to give us hugs and say "I love you Mommy." She is starting to make up songs, with whatever is in her hand or whatever we are doing. She even has a "Poopy goes in the Potty" song -- even if she's not getting to the potty prior to the poopy!

June 2008

I'm not quite sure where May went. It seemed it was just starting and then it was over. We have been in Montana for exactly a year! The time has gone by so fast and it seems like we've always been here. Well, maybe not always. I do miss the wine festivals and I know Rocky does miss teaching, but Montana has been good to us this past year and we are here to stay!

We drove back to SD for Memorial Day weekend. Rocky sits on the advisory board for SDSU's journalism school, so he spent Friday in Brookings. Maggie and I spent time with Grandma Alana and visited Uncle Ardie, Aunt Jeanne and Great Grandma Alberta. Maggie enjoyed spending time with Uncle Ardie in his backyard and even tried some rhubarb. Arden told me that he would cut some peonies from his garden that came from Granddad Gilbert's. I wanted to plant peonies in the backyard anyway and it will be nice to have some "Gilbert Heirloom." It was a nice enough day that we were able to go outside a bit at the nursing home. Grandma is in the secured unit now and they have a dog -- an old Lab I think. He was very gentle, but seemed to love having a little girl pay attention to him (I think Great Grandma enjoyed watching that)! Maggie ran about the backyard and picked dandelions for everyone. When it got a little chilly, she tried to get everyone involved in a domino game and do a couple of puzzles. That evening, we spent some time at Aunt Natalie's house and saw brand new cousins Kinsley and Parker. Maggie was not impressed and was much happier when her older cousins arrived to play with. Maggie did not want me holding either baby for very long and told me to put Parker in the swing ("Baby in the swing!")

The next day we drove to Sioux Falls and spent time with Aunt Holly, cousins Jada and Jeffery and my friend Kristy and her boys at the zoo. Maggie loves animals. She did ask to see the elephant and "hip-it-to-potomus", but seemed pleased with the animals we DID see. Since returning home, she has asked to see the giraffe several times.

Maggie spent most of Sunday jumping on the trampoline! "I jumping!" She didn't care who jumped with her. Taylor and Maggie put on a show (Here's Maggie! Here's Taylor!), which consisted of Taylor dancing and Maggie jumping. She really enjoyed jumping with Delany and Amy who would hold her hands and help her jump really high.

Our yard is finally getting worked on! There has been so much rain in Billings that it's taken awhile and there have been a few days where no work could be done. The sprinkler is in in the front yard and the landscaper is working on the edging. He's planted several bushes, most I recognize on sight, but not on name, though he did plant miniature burning bush and a lilac! The backyard is still in trenches, but Maggie enjoys jumping over the trenches. There is still plenty of moisture in the soil (and it is raining right now!!), so we shouldn't have to use the sprinkers for a few weeks!!