First time at MOPS

When I was single and then even more so when I was married yet childless, one of the things I looked forward to participating in when I finally became a mom was MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). I had many friends over the years who had talked about how they enjoyed it. I didn't go last year for several reasons - my class schedule conflicted with the meeting time in the fall semester, it interfered with Nadia's nap schedule in the spring semester, and the closest one is at my "old" church (25 minutes away). However, I am not teaching on Wednesdays this semester, and Nadia has transitioned to one nap a day. Since MOPS only meets once a month and I will get to see friends I haven't seen in awhile, it seems well worth the commute. I am not sure if I'll continue to go once January rolls around, but I might since little ones under the age of 4 months can usually sleep just about anywhere.

This morning they had quite a delicious assortment of refreshments available at the meeting. The leaders were in charge of bringing the food today, but each "cottage group" is responsible for a meeting or two throughout the year. These groups are based on where you live. No one else from my town was there, but I picked the group closest to my home (about 15 minutes away). It was a small group; we are in charge of the food for the next meeting. There was one lady in our group who remembered me from a ladies Bible study I had attended a few years ago. Unfortunately I didn't remember her. She remembered that I had been having trouble having a baby. It turns out she and her husband just had their first in April (a girl) after ttc 4 1/2 years. They had also been pursuing domestic adoption. When a birthmother picked them, she was actually pregnant (and didn't know it). That birthmother changed her mind, but that didn't bother them too much since they had since found out they were expecting. It was nice to meet (or I should say become reacquainted with) someone who has also been down the paths of trying to adopt and infertility. The cottage groups meet once a month (last Wednesday of the month) for a playdate. It would be wonderful if I made a friend or two through MOPS! :-)

We did a craft today of painting a coffee mug that they'll have ready for us at every meeting, and then we can take it home with us in May. I am not at all an "artsy/craftsy" sort of person so I just put all different color polka dots on my mug and also painted the handle. I can't remember the last time I painted something (aside from walls in our homes). I am sure I will be painting and coloring more often once Nadia is old enough to enjoy such activities. Right now she'd just prefer to eat the crayons.

The only scheduling problem with MOPS is that the meetings are from 9-11am, and lately Nadia has been going down for her one nap a day around 11:30. I knew she was going to fall asleep on the way home, and she did. The problem is that 25 minutes is not a long enough nap. She's been a bit crankier lately because her one nap has only been one hour long (whereas her naps used to total 2-3 hours). Yesterday her one nap was 95 minutes so we are at least going in the right direction, and thankfully she's also been moving in the right direction with her wake-up time as for awhile she was reverting back to waking up at 5:15am. Last night Paul put her down at 7:35pm, and she woke up at 6:50am. When we got home I fed her lunch and let her play for awhile before putting her down at 1pm. Hopefully she'll nap for at least an hour even though she already had one short nap in the car. I am very grateful I finally am eligible to participate in MOPS and also that the time the meetings are held works for me this year.