Mother of Preschoolers - MOPS

Since Xylie was eight-months-old, MOPS has had a tremendously positive impact on our family. When we first moved to Tyler, Texas from the Washington DC area, I was missing city life. Not only was I adjusting to a new location farther than I have ever lived from the Northeast, but I was also adjusting to life as a stay-at-home mom. There are pretty much two dream job cities in the US for PR professionals - New York and Washington DC. Not that there aren't great jobs elsewhere, but I was always told in college that if you could make it in DC or New York, then you've "made it." So, I "made it" and felt good about my professional life. But Napp and I really felt that me staying home with our children would be best for our family. Now, I am convinced that we made the right decision for us, but 3 years ago, I wasn't so sure. That's where MOPS came in! After I had a chance to meet other moms (not all MOPS moms are SAHMs by the way) I started to have more confidence in my ability to mother. I didn't even know I could join MOPS at first, because Xylie was not a traditional preschooler. However, I quickly learned that MOPS is for all moms who are either pregnant or who have any children who are not yet in kindergarten. There are some moms in my current MOPS group that have teenagers and preschoolers!

Xylie and I both loved our first MOPS group in Tyler and as soon as I found out we were moving to Corpus Christi, Texas I made sure we had a MOPS group lined up there. In fact, I joined two groups! After a few months, however, I was asked to be part of the leadership team at the Bayshore group (our church home in Corpus) and I felt led to accept. It was fantastic to be a part of the leadership team. I was able to assist in planning some of the meetings as well as the educational materials for the kids. Plus, I got more opportunities to reach out to the mothers of my community and also be ministered to at the same time.

Now, with two kids, as you can guess, finding a MOPS group was my top priority when we moved here. There was a group close by to where we lived, but it was all filled up by the time we arrived. I was so disappointed, but did some more research and found another group about 30 min. from our place. This group is such a blessing and I know in my heart that it was God's design for us to be at Riverbluff. I've only been to two meetings and one playdate but already am starting to feel accepted and loved and so are the children. The childcare is amazing. Zayden enjoys being cuddled by the nursery workers and Xylie is thrilled to be crafting and playing with kids her own age. She always leaves the room singing and showing off her newest masterpiece.

I'd like to extend a special thank you to three ladies of this group.
1)Riverbluff MOPS Coordinator and fellow PA native, ShawnaLee Irish who always takes time to answer my questions and goes the extra mile to make all the ladies feel comfortable.

2)My table leader, Jaime Kesler, whom I've mentioned before in another post. Jaime has a wonderful ability to make people feel at ease and keep the conversations flowing. I also find her honesty refreshing.

3)Moppets Coorindator, Annie Magner, who does a fantastic job at greeting all the mothers and our kids. She also makes sure that there are enough teachers and workers in each room. This position makes MOPS more special for both the kids, who get to have fun for 2 solid hours; and for the moms, who get to enjoy two hours without their kids. Annie always does her job with a smile and if she feels any stress while doing it, she never lets on.

Throughout this post, I've posted some pictures from MOPS today. Xylie is looking sad in some of the photos, because on the way out of her class room she accidentally knocked heads with a little boy. Today's lesson for her class (the gators-how cool is that???) was "God is king" She made a Styrofoam king and megaphone so she can "shout this news to the world!"

I just had to post a picture of Zayden in the nursery. Napp and I bought him a brand new baby swing and ended up selling it because he disliked it. I couldn't even get his fit in the seat before he was screaming bloody murder. We tried and tried to get him to like his swing, but our efforts failed. Where did I find him today at pick up? --Just a swingin'!

To learn more about MOPS, check out some of my favorite links posted on the lower right section of this blog.