Wiggles

It may be freezing outside, but with an energetic toddler you have to FIND the motivation to bundle up and get some energy out...or a you WILL die a slow, painful death.
I don't know how teachers do it. The whole "inside recess" thing just isn't the same. Kids need fresh air, sunshine and to RUN. Especially my child. So we bundle up, wipe the snot and go outside. We take breaks inside to heat up and get bored again before we head back out. Thankfully, Isabelle's cousin is out of school so that means she has someone else to bug wear out.

 

I am no cold weather person, but cold weather when it's not snowing and when Christmas is over is just plain terrible, but I can't complain. So far, 2013 has been good to us. The Adoption Tax Credit has been extended (Praise the Lord!) and Isabelle put herself down for a nap!
I know this may not seem like a HUGE deal, but if you know my daughter then you know she is no ray of sunshine when you are trying to get her to go to sleep. Since she came into this world, she has hated sleep. She throws a fit just about every nap time and bed time and tries anything to get out of it (reality check: This is a blog. I don't post the pictures of her throwing tantrums and screaming. One day I will. And she will loathe me for it, but for now I will continue to show the happy, smiling little angel). She is so scared to miss anything in this exciting world, so she tries to stay awake 24-7. Well yesterday was a breakthrough day. We were at my mom's house when she said "I want to go take a little nap." So I told her that I couldn't go with her because I was busy, but she could go lay down on her Neena's bed. So she walked back in my moms bed and covered herself up and closed her little eyes. When I went back to check on her she told me " I need my sound" (We use a sound machine when she sleeps). After I turned that on, sister was out. I wanted to dance in the streets and sing to the birds....I settled for a picture because that sounded less crazy and allowed my mom to keep her neighbors happy.

 

Keep it coming 2013. 

Germs EVERYWHERE!

Right after Christmas, literally the day after Christmas, we all came down with a case of the sickies. It wasn't the flu, it wasn't terrible, it was just enough to piss you off and make you snotty. We were all exhausted, grouchy and unable to breathe out of our noses. It also made Isabelle even MORE sassy. Terrible I tell ya, but thankfully it only lasted a few days. Now we are good healthy and have no excuses on why we are grouchy and sassy.
Watching your own child sick and in pain is a slow torture. You want to help, but you know there is nothing you can do (especially when you are sick too!).
There is one awesome part of having a sick kid....cuddles.

I haven't seen you in so long!

Since last year! ( Ha ha, I know.) Let's start this year out with a corny New Year joke, I hear it's good luck. ONE of my New Years Resolutions is to blog more. I tell myself this all the time, but this time I really mean it. Plus I can say, " I need to do it to fulfill my resolution." I love to remember all the random things that happen in my life and I don't want to forget anything (except for maybe a few little teeny things). I am also going to get back into shape, because it seems like Santa brought me some muffin tops this year. He's kinda rude.
This New Years Eve was spent a little different then most. I didn't have to worry about what I was going to wear, what I was going to drink or how I was going to spent the day with a massive headache ( like I used to before the ol' baby graced us with her presence) . This year was even better. My nephew came over to stay the night and ring in the New Year with us as we ate leftovers, went to Dairy Queen for some ice cream, looked at Christmas lights and watched "Brave". Mr. T and I did make it to midnight, which we usually NEVER do (I'm telling you, we're oldies). We had a helluva time.

Watch out for these two in a few years. They are already doing "Cheers" with their dipped cones.

2012 was good to us, but I have a feeling 2013 will be even better.

Merry Christmas!

~Merry Christmas to You~

Embrace The Camera

Go ahead and hop in front of the camera. It will be nice.

 

 

 Especially do it if you wear an embarassing sweater in public and your child is too young to know it's embarassing. Eventually, they'll think you're embarassing...I can't wait for that day.

Light through the darkness

"We come to realize that we bear responsibility for every child, because we’re counting on everybody else to help look after ours, that we’re all parents, that they are all our children.
This is our first task, caring for our children. It’s our first job. If we don’t get that right, we don’t get anything right. That’s how, as a society, we will be judged.
And by that measure, can we truly say, as a nation, that we’re meeting our obligations?
Can we honestly say that we’re doing enough to keep our children, all of them, safe from harm?
Can we claim, as a nation, that we’re all together there, letting them know they are loved and teaching them to love in return?
Can we say that we’re truly doing enough to give all the children of this country the chance they deserve to live out their lives in happiness and with purpose?"
-President Barack Obama

I don't have anything eloquent to say. I'm just sad. I can't make sense of it and none of us ever will. I felt silly blogging about our daily activities when something so horrific was really on my mind. Like most of you, I didn't feel right acting as if nothing happened. As I listened to our President trying to console some of the families that are having to bury their children too soon, I thought about my current situation and what I CAN actually do. There are, literally thousands of families and children that need help and need help NOW.
Let this horrific act be a call to action for every one of us to do what we can, to help those we can and let this shooting save more lives than it took.  
Good will overcome evil. We just need to decide if we will be a part of the driving force for good or if we let fear push us into the darkness.  
Pick a cause. Send money to build a water well in Africa to save THOUSANDS of lives. Adopt or Foster a child that is otherwise guaranteed a life of hardship and void of love. Mentor an adult that has had a life of despair and pain. Empower people to do a skill that will give them a lifelong steady income.
ANY one. Just PICK. Please.
This is the best time of the year to show love to one another. 
Please, help those in need.  
Please, be the light in the darkness. 
 

Getting her in the spirit

This is my GIANT So What!
I have mentioned before that I am a Christmas junkie. My entire life, I have loved everything about Christmas and each year I get a little depressed on December 26th and I have to take down all my decorations and all the gifts I pretended that I liked (kidding! No I'm not). Now that I have a daughter, Christmas has gotten even MORE fun and I am hoping that I can give her that same love of Christmas.
Now, let's just get this out in the open....we DO Santa. I don't think it's going to put my kid in counseling because I "lied" to her during childhood (she will probably already be in counseling because her mom's a kook and pushes Christmas down her throat, but whatever) because Santa is a cool guy. That childhood innocence is gone way too early and I want to embrace it while we still have it. So I taught her Santa Claus songs, we were the first in line to visit him and we talk about him being "nice" and jolly. We will do the Elf on the Shelf when she is old enough to actually name him and we will do ALL the other trends that come around.
We ALSO teach that Christmas is about Jesus' birthday. It's the best birthday party in the world for the most amazing man that ever walked the earth and we tell her that. We teach her that Christmas is about celebrating Jesus and not about the gifts (she's not about the gifts either...she asked Santa for a blue sucker. That's it.). If you ask her who's birthday is coming, she will say, "JESUS!"

All that being said, she loves to sing about Santa...so I let her. And it's freakin' cute.