Thursday, October 20, 2011
Worth Your Time
Have you ever heard of http://www.pinterest.com/? If not, it's worth checking out, but only if you are ready to spend a few hours glued in front of your computer. Haha, well that may be a little bit extreme, but seriously it can suck you in. It's a website in which people share great ideas, cool crafts, inspirational quotes, funny sayings, beautiful pictures, delicious recipes, and anything in-between. What's really nice about the site, is you create a profile page so you can save all of the cool things that interest you right to your page. There are photography tips, cost saving ideas, entertaining tips, motivational words, and so much more! It really has anything and everything and what else is nice about it, is that you can upload your own ideas, sites, photos, etc. which are called "pins" on the site to share with others. The only downfall is that you have to have an invite to join, which in itself isn't that difficult to get since you can request an invite right on the home page, but still an extra step that probably could be avoided. Let me know if you want an invite from me. I will need your email address. I have a friend from work that I wanted to show some neat things I learned from the site and after I opened up the page, she requested that I send her an invite. The next time I saw her, she told me she was mad at me because she was addicted to the site, lol! Please do not let that detour you. I promise you will love it!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
If I Could Capture It In a Bottle
First I want to say THANK YOU SO MUCH ladies for your positive, sweet, and encouraging words! I cannot tell you how much it meant to me. Even brought tears to my eyes. Sooo very thoughtful and just what I needed. Life is going great! Of course I am lucky to have family and friends like you who help bring warmth and sunshine. MUAH!
It feels like I haven't wrote about my kiddos in a while and they are growing fast, so I need to keep up on all the growth which brings lots of laughs and smiles around.
In one month my baby will become a toddler. I will likely always call her my baby, but it will have a different meaning. Quite hard to believe she is already going to be 1! Her personality is changing right along with her age. She is becoming so vocal and even said "Naw-naw" while trying to push out "Mama" as I repeated those very words a hundred times over again. So I shall say that she was officially 10 mo old when she said Mama. Luckily I had witnesses who verified and agreed that this was certainly the case. Unfortunately, for me, she says "Dada" 90% of the times that I try and get her to say mama. I can't help but laugh and wonder if she does it on purpose!
She's becoming more spunky like her sister and actually is copying some bad habits of Lilah. For instance, she will push her bottom lip out as far as she can, gently "fall" to the ground, and arch her back when being scolded and let out a fake, no tears, "cry". Amazing how fast we pick up behaviors of those around us! Like Lilah, she loves to bounce and the crib is starting to feel the stress. It doesn't help that her sister who bounces more than Tigger used the crib before her.
Lovin her smiles too! She's poppin up teeth unlike the other 2 and makes sure to show them off with a squish of her nose and squinting of her eyes for added cuteness.
She eats her crackers in the most bizarre way. Rather than keeping them flat, she turns them horizontally and takes a bite right between her two front teeth. Definitely bother us adults to see such an odd bite. I think because we don't like having stuff stuck in our teeth and so we assume she wouldn't either, but she certainly enjoys that "Do I have something stuck in my teeth" feeling.
She pulls herself up to stand on anything that is high enough to give her that extra oomph. This is a bit shocking since she refused to bear weight when we would try and stand her up just a couple of months ago. I have a feeling she will be walking soon, but try not to think about that too much.
I am happy to say that she is still a mommy's girl and has a hard time letting others hold her if I'm in her line of sight. OK so maybe it's not always a good thing, but it sure feels good to know that the minute she is in my arms, her tears come to a screeching halt!
Next is Miss Lilah. She has been staying busy being Brinlee's second mama and trying to keep her in line. You would think that being a little caregiver would want to make her be a big girl and go on the potty chair, but unfortunately that is not the case. I now have no doubt that she will not go on the potty because, as she stated, "I want to be a baby. I don't want to be a big girl. I want to wear diapers" I guess she feels she is ahead of her age in so many other ways that this will help give her balance? That is what I have concluded at least. She always helps get her own diaper, wipes, and even pulls out the powder for when she needs a diaper change. A few months ago she even changed her own diaper! I would have never even know about that hadn't it been for the soaking wet diaper she left on the living room floor and the fidgeting motions she was making trying to adjust the diaper that she applied only covering one butt cheek.
Then, there's the cute things she says. I wish we could capture the "I can't believe they said that" moments on video. I am sure there would be a lot more smiles and laughter in the world. I would love to press repeat on those moments when I'm having a bad day. One evening, she ate 3/4 of her apple and put the rest in the fridge to save for later. I thought it was so cute that she did it on her own without prompting and I told her, "You are sooo cute! I just want to eat you up!" She quickly replied, "No you can't eat me, I'm not supper." I chuckled and said, "Oh pretty please! I bet you taste yummy. You are just too cute." She responded, "No mom, you can't eat me. I'm not a cupcake!"
She still loves to color and draw. Anytime I give a card to her to sign, she takes the pink sparkly pen and decorates the entire inside, barely leaving room for our 4 signatures. An interesting thing was said by Mason the other day. Dave had noticed that Mason didn't color much of his fire safety coloring book from school and commented, "You aren't much of a colorer, are you Mase?" He replied, "Naahhh. Is it because Lilah is such a good colorer and I'm not?" We have never told Mason he wasn't a good colorer, nor did we imply it. However, we and a few others have went on and on to Lilah about how well she colors and I suppose Mason took it as a negative that we didn't say the same to him. Interesting how that works. We all seem to do better when we have that positive reinforcement. It makes sense that if you never hear praise about your work, you probably won't find it gratifying and worthwhile, and thus stop doing it.
I am thinking about putting Lilah in dance instead of tumbling this year. I would love for her to do both, but it would be time consuming and of course, financially too much money. She would be a natural at ballet. Hopefully I can better assess which one she prefers or she will be able to help decide which she likes best. I really want all of them to have opportunities to do fun things outside of home that is individualized for them.
Mason is enjoying preschool and making new friends. It's fun to hear about his day, the things he learned, and his interactions. The friend he talks about most is Myles. He's already talked about going to his house or Myles coming here. When did he get so big???
Tonight he told me that he wanted to stay on the couch and sleep "because my knees kind of hurt from too much fighting." Cracked me up a little. He wasn't talking about the fighting that happens between him and Lilah, but rather the pretend MMA fights that he has with the air or his stuffed spiderman. He sure knows how to talk me into things and it never fails that when he gets the sense that I may say no, he quickly flashes me his big brown eyes, bats his long lashes, gives me a suddle smile, wraps his arms around me, kisses my arm, and says, "I love you mom."
He has however had his 4 going on 13 moments. He would play video games 24/7 if we let him, says things like "come on, I just have to" and has even told Dave that he doesn't like him. Ouch! You get nervous and think, seriously, what is he going to be like when he's a teenager if he's already got the attitude of a teenager. I am hoping he takes his time getting there...
Mostly though, he is sensitive, empathetic, and caring. The other day my mom came over to watch the kids while Dave and I ran a couple errands. Mason was in the bathroom as we left and had we waited for him, we may not have gotten all the things done that needed to be done if you know what I mean. Mom said when he came out of the bathroom he was quite upset and said with disappointment, "But I just wanted to give them a hug and a kiss goodbye. If they just waited a minute, I was almost done." Oh be still my heart!
It feels like I haven't wrote about my kiddos in a while and they are growing fast, so I need to keep up on all the growth which brings lots of laughs and smiles around.
In one month my baby will become a toddler. I will likely always call her my baby, but it will have a different meaning. Quite hard to believe she is already going to be 1! Her personality is changing right along with her age. She is becoming so vocal and even said "Naw-naw" while trying to push out "Mama" as I repeated those very words a hundred times over again. So I shall say that she was officially 10 mo old when she said Mama. Luckily I had witnesses who verified and agreed that this was certainly the case. Unfortunately, for me, she says "Dada" 90% of the times that I try and get her to say mama. I can't help but laugh and wonder if she does it on purpose!
She's becoming more spunky like her sister and actually is copying some bad habits of Lilah. For instance, she will push her bottom lip out as far as she can, gently "fall" to the ground, and arch her back when being scolded and let out a fake, no tears, "cry". Amazing how fast we pick up behaviors of those around us! Like Lilah, she loves to bounce and the crib is starting to feel the stress. It doesn't help that her sister who bounces more than Tigger used the crib before her.
Lovin her smiles too! She's poppin up teeth unlike the other 2 and makes sure to show them off with a squish of her nose and squinting of her eyes for added cuteness.
She eats her crackers in the most bizarre way. Rather than keeping them flat, she turns them horizontally and takes a bite right between her two front teeth. Definitely bother us adults to see such an odd bite. I think because we don't like having stuff stuck in our teeth and so we assume she wouldn't either, but she certainly enjoys that "Do I have something stuck in my teeth" feeling.
She pulls herself up to stand on anything that is high enough to give her that extra oomph. This is a bit shocking since she refused to bear weight when we would try and stand her up just a couple of months ago. I have a feeling she will be walking soon, but try not to think about that too much.
I am happy to say that she is still a mommy's girl and has a hard time letting others hold her if I'm in her line of sight. OK so maybe it's not always a good thing, but it sure feels good to know that the minute she is in my arms, her tears come to a screeching halt!
Next is Miss Lilah. She has been staying busy being Brinlee's second mama and trying to keep her in line. You would think that being a little caregiver would want to make her be a big girl and go on the potty chair, but unfortunately that is not the case. I now have no doubt that she will not go on the potty because, as she stated, "I want to be a baby. I don't want to be a big girl. I want to wear diapers" I guess she feels she is ahead of her age in so many other ways that this will help give her balance? That is what I have concluded at least. She always helps get her own diaper, wipes, and even pulls out the powder for when she needs a diaper change. A few months ago she even changed her own diaper! I would have never even know about that hadn't it been for the soaking wet diaper she left on the living room floor and the fidgeting motions she was making trying to adjust the diaper that she applied only covering one butt cheek.
Then, there's the cute things she says. I wish we could capture the "I can't believe they said that" moments on video. I am sure there would be a lot more smiles and laughter in the world. I would love to press repeat on those moments when I'm having a bad day. One evening, she ate 3/4 of her apple and put the rest in the fridge to save for later. I thought it was so cute that she did it on her own without prompting and I told her, "You are sooo cute! I just want to eat you up!" She quickly replied, "No you can't eat me, I'm not supper." I chuckled and said, "Oh pretty please! I bet you taste yummy. You are just too cute." She responded, "No mom, you can't eat me. I'm not a cupcake!"
She still loves to color and draw. Anytime I give a card to her to sign, she takes the pink sparkly pen and decorates the entire inside, barely leaving room for our 4 signatures. An interesting thing was said by Mason the other day. Dave had noticed that Mason didn't color much of his fire safety coloring book from school and commented, "You aren't much of a colorer, are you Mase?" He replied, "Naahhh. Is it because Lilah is such a good colorer and I'm not?" We have never told Mason he wasn't a good colorer, nor did we imply it. However, we and a few others have went on and on to Lilah about how well she colors and I suppose Mason took it as a negative that we didn't say the same to him. Interesting how that works. We all seem to do better when we have that positive reinforcement. It makes sense that if you never hear praise about your work, you probably won't find it gratifying and worthwhile, and thus stop doing it.
I am thinking about putting Lilah in dance instead of tumbling this year. I would love for her to do both, but it would be time consuming and of course, financially too much money. She would be a natural at ballet. Hopefully I can better assess which one she prefers or she will be able to help decide which she likes best. I really want all of them to have opportunities to do fun things outside of home that is individualized for them.
Mason is enjoying preschool and making new friends. It's fun to hear about his day, the things he learned, and his interactions. The friend he talks about most is Myles. He's already talked about going to his house or Myles coming here. When did he get so big???
Tonight he told me that he wanted to stay on the couch and sleep "because my knees kind of hurt from too much fighting." Cracked me up a little. He wasn't talking about the fighting that happens between him and Lilah, but rather the pretend MMA fights that he has with the air or his stuffed spiderman. He sure knows how to talk me into things and it never fails that when he gets the sense that I may say no, he quickly flashes me his big brown eyes, bats his long lashes, gives me a suddle smile, wraps his arms around me, kisses my arm, and says, "I love you mom."
He has however had his 4 going on 13 moments. He would play video games 24/7 if we let him, says things like "come on, I just have to" and has even told Dave that he doesn't like him. Ouch! You get nervous and think, seriously, what is he going to be like when he's a teenager if he's already got the attitude of a teenager. I am hoping he takes his time getting there...
Mostly though, he is sensitive, empathetic, and caring. The other day my mom came over to watch the kids while Dave and I ran a couple errands. Mason was in the bathroom as we left and had we waited for him, we may not have gotten all the things done that needed to be done if you know what I mean. Mom said when he came out of the bathroom he was quite upset and said with disappointment, "But I just wanted to give them a hug and a kiss goodbye. If they just waited a minute, I was almost done." Oh be still my heart!
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Keep Your Head Up!
I'm not gonna lie, I've not been on here because emotionally and physically I haven't been feeling great and didn't want to be a "debby downer." Then, as things started to look up, I was crazy busy planning Dave, my mom's, and my Birthday party. It was a lot of fun with a great turn out and I am so very thankful for all the family and friends who came out to help us celebrate. We were very overwhelmed with the generosity of everyone. It's very heartwarming after being in the dumps to feel the love of so many! It's times like that when you realize how fortunate you really are. We got to see people we haven't seen in a while and be surrounded by people who really make your positive energy flow.
It frustrates me to think that I allow people who don't have such an influence on me, to control much of my happiness. You know when you give advice to others having a rough relationships (whether these relationships be friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances) and you say, "Do you really want them to be your friend or in your life if they would treat you that way?" Well, I fully believe that this advice makes total and complete sense and I believe it to my core. Many times have expressed those words to others needing comfort. Yet, I find myself having a hard time letting go of the feelings that have pulled me down to a pit over the type of people who really don't share positive, caring, and kind words or actions. I suppose it goes back to the days when I was so very naive and thought that everyone in this world was kind and if they weren't then it was merely because they were having a bad day. Surely that is the case many, if not most of the time for people. You have a bad day and may say things or do things that you later feel bad about. However, there comes a point in life when you realize that there are people out there who on a day to day basis express negativity. It's not just a bad day for them, but a way of life. It's a hard thing to swallow that there are people who thrive on bringing others down, who only care about themselves. People who likely did not have it easy at a time in there life and have since not been able to get out of a rut that can suck the life and energy out of those around them.
I have never been the type to surround myself with these people because it's just not healthy. Have you ever been around someone who lightens up a room simply just by being there? Someone who you trust, someone who is almost more happy than you when you have good news? I actually have a co-worker like this. She is loved by all, has never said a bad thing about anyone, and just makes you feel at ease when you are in there presence. That is the type of person I strive to be and that is the kind of person I like to be around and for the most part am around. Why is it that one or maybe even two bad apples can ruin the entire bag of apples? And, why are these people so toxic? Why doesn't the many, many wonderfully amazing people over-ride such crap. I am still trying to prove this unfortunate reality wrong. In the end, we all know that those people who care about you are all that matter. Maybe I'm having a hard time actually letting go of the naive girl inside of me who wants to believe that there really is good in the bad.
It frustrates me to think that I allow people who don't have such an influence on me, to control much of my happiness. You know when you give advice to others having a rough relationships (whether these relationships be friends, family, co-workers, acquaintances) and you say, "Do you really want them to be your friend or in your life if they would treat you that way?" Well, I fully believe that this advice makes total and complete sense and I believe it to my core. Many times have expressed those words to others needing comfort. Yet, I find myself having a hard time letting go of the feelings that have pulled me down to a pit over the type of people who really don't share positive, caring, and kind words or actions. I suppose it goes back to the days when I was so very naive and thought that everyone in this world was kind and if they weren't then it was merely because they were having a bad day. Surely that is the case many, if not most of the time for people. You have a bad day and may say things or do things that you later feel bad about. However, there comes a point in life when you realize that there are people out there who on a day to day basis express negativity. It's not just a bad day for them, but a way of life. It's a hard thing to swallow that there are people who thrive on bringing others down, who only care about themselves. People who likely did not have it easy at a time in there life and have since not been able to get out of a rut that can suck the life and energy out of those around them.
I have never been the type to surround myself with these people because it's just not healthy. Have you ever been around someone who lightens up a room simply just by being there? Someone who you trust, someone who is almost more happy than you when you have good news? I actually have a co-worker like this. She is loved by all, has never said a bad thing about anyone, and just makes you feel at ease when you are in there presence. That is the type of person I strive to be and that is the kind of person I like to be around and for the most part am around. Why is it that one or maybe even two bad apples can ruin the entire bag of apples? And, why are these people so toxic? Why doesn't the many, many wonderfully amazing people over-ride such crap. I am still trying to prove this unfortunate reality wrong. In the end, we all know that those people who care about you are all that matter. Maybe I'm having a hard time actually letting go of the naive girl inside of me who wants to believe that there really is good in the bad.
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