Life and Love

We've had a busy but fun few days. We've gone to the park, we've visited family, we've eaten in restaurants TWICE without a single tear shed by any of us!



Yesterday in the quiet of the afternoon as I nursed our baby and my husband read with our toddler, I was overcome with love for my family.



You know that love.



Your heart swells with so many emotions that it spills over into tears. You feel blessed and honored to be such a part of these wonderful beings' lives.



I look at my husband and am still amazed that our paths crossed and how almost instantly I knew he was who I had been searching for. Before, I thought that was a ridiculous notion. Can you possibly meet a person and within moments of speaking you just...KNOW? Well, yes. With age and experience comes awareness, I guess.



I see Bella and what a beautiful individual she is. Each day is a fresh day of learning, exploring and growing. I look at her photos over the last 2+ years of her life in awe. I see her pure love for family and friends. She is loving and kind to her baby sister, climbing into the crib to play with her, "reading" to her, singing to her. She is a remarkable person.



Playing face to face with Ava, I sense that she will be an opinionated observer :) She takes in everything but is never quiet about it. She's the noisiest 5 month old ever, grunting, growling, babbling. She absolutely adores her sister. She's already got a sense of humor and gets quite happy with herself. Funny how hard you'll work for wet kisses and laughter.



I never want to take my husband or my children for granted. I want them to always know my love, support and joy for each of them.



Happy Tuesday, all!

Hoppin On

I'm not one for getting on bandwagons and am usually turned off immediately when Oprah touts anything as THE NEXT BIG THING. I mean really, who can even afford any of her Favorite Things?

However...

I have to say that watching The Secret was truly inspiring. What's sad is my husband brought it home weeks ago after watching it at work. He hailed it as incredibly eye-opening and I dismissed it as some hooey for motivating his work staff.

Then I happened upon Oprah's show last week and 7 of the "teachers" of The Secret were discussing the video. It definitely peaked my interest to see such a diverse group of people all so excited about this discovery.

The funny thing is...there's nothing new about The Secret. It is simply the law of attraction. We've all heard about it. We all recognize it. Few of us really apply it to our life.

This weekend I watched the video my husband brought home, ignoring his baffled looks that it took Oprah and not him to get me to believe the video's magic. I'll never live that down.

Let me just say that I recommend this to everyone and everyone's loved ones. It IS truly eye-opening.

All those sayings we've heard:

1) Every action has a reaction
2) Think good things and good things will happen
3) Don't do today what you'll regret tomorrow
4) Life is what you make of it

All of that is true! And all of it is related to the law of attraction. Many of you Christians or other religions may wonder if this will interfere with your beliefs and I don't think it does. I think it coincides. I think God is all things, will always be all things, for eternity. He created the law of attraction just as He created the law of gravity.

I've been on a spiritual quest for some time now and watching this just felt right. It made sense to me and how I view spirituality. I won't go into great detail but I don't just believe in blindly following the Bible or man's teaching of it. There is great mystery surrounding the Bible, much history and many debates. I love to learn about it all. It is a huge part of my spiritual growth.

As I said, "The Secret" isn't some great mystical discovery. It is life. Energy. Spirit. Your MIND. This video really explains it better than I've ever heard or understood.

If you have seen this or decide to watch it, I would love to know your views.

Not For The Weak

Wanna know what's gross?

Emptying the laundry basket as you do each week and finding a moldy spit-up infant pj's and your favorite t-shirt also molded by spit-up.

Are you shuddering? Me too!

Also what's gross?

Your potty training toddler deciding she needs to potty on the BIG big girl potty (ie. toilet) and doesn't warn you or your bathroom carpet that she had already pooped in the pullups she was removing all by herself with great pride.

And one more gross-out?

Your gimpy dog who can't tell when he goes either type of potty and thus doesn't realize it as he snuggles all happily in his cozy blanket rather than face the cold for a walk-n-drop stroll.

Would bathing in bleach be a bad thing? Think I'll just stop and smell the roses from hubby instead....

PB Warning!

A salmonella outbreak that has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August has been linked to tainted peanut butter, federal health officials said Wednesday.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter because of the risk of contamination.

The affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111." The affected jars are made by ConAgra in a single facility in Sylvester, Georgia, the FDA said.


I have a jar of Peter Pan with the number 2111!! ACK! Threw it out immediately!

No better time than now to find out other PB options. What is YOUR favorite peanut butter brand?

Happy Vamentime's Day!!!

Hope you all feel loved and appreciated today!

Wiggin Out

Ava's 4 month checkup was on Friday. The usual. Strip her down, weight check, eyebrow raised at thunder thighs (hers, not mine...I think), height measurement, gasps from doctor on future NBA player, screams from shots and then the silence of breastfeeding.

Ava is 13 lbs, 14 oz. Just 9 oz more than Bella was at 4 months, which surprises the heck out of me. But even more suprising is that Ava is 26 3/4 " long and Bella was 24" long at 4 months. It never ceases to amaze just how different siblings are from the beginning!

Now on to even more important things.

Which 'do will do?

An Amazing, Exciting and Lovely Time

She called this a "rain down".

Logical, don't you think?

Forgot her shoes. Had to make do.

Bella loves talking. And talking. But it is at such a high decible, I think my dad doesn't even hear her sometimes.

She also loves adjectives. And is learning to use them correctly!

We went to see my family this weekend. My parents, sister, BIL, nephew, brother, and his GF.

Dad became Bella's new best friend with his gumball machine. He'd give her a penny for a gumball and she'd chew it for about 3 seconds, spitting it out as instructed (the concept of gum still pretty much eludes her) and would immediately ask Grandpa for another "doin". Yes, that is "coin" with a "d". Watching Dad try to figure out that one was funny.

All weekend, everything was "amasing" and "essiting". She told my mom that the peaches in the fruit bowl were "lofely".

What 2 1/2 year old says "lovely"??

Climbing awkwardly out of little cousin Dillon's toy house, she exclaimed "Its a WONNERFUL day!"

My sister just likes to hear her talk. I'm very glad someone other than me thinks everything Bella says is adorable. That is, except when she screeches "Noooooooo!". That is not adorable on any level. Even when she's got teensy-tiny pigtails I've managed to stretch up into rubber bands. Instant face-lift for a toddler.

We had a great weekend and I already miss everyone. How was your weekend?

And WHY would I want my toes in my face, Mama?

Could he BE any cuter?