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Monday, January 24, 2011

I love my little calendar baby...

I've talked about the ARCof VA and especially The Hanover ARC how great they are for families like us... They are devoted to promoting and improving support systems and services for people with disabilities and thier families. We were lucky enough to receive a grant for Ethan to take his classes at Romp n' Roll because they believe that all children should have "A Life Like Yours". 

They have a tough job because in 2009, Virginia ranked in the bottom ten states (45th), for its spending per capita income toward services for people with developmental disabilities.

Want to help kids like Ethan have a "A Life Like Yours"?  Well you can, purchase The Arc of Virginia’s anniversary edition wall calendar, it highlights The Arc’s historical accomplishments in the ID/DD civil rights movement. And sports a certain sweet, cute, silly little boy named Ethan in the month of September.  Which just happens to be my birthday month, can't think of better way to celebrate my birthday than looking at sweet Ethan all month :)  Here is the cover of the calendar:



If you think this is cute just wait till you see September...I'm not gonna show ya, you gotta buy it to see it :)


Go here and for $10 you can have one and you will be supporting a great cause!


Sunday, January 16, 2011

Love

Eleven years ago I married this handsome man...

My little sister is getting married in October so our family is right in the middle of wedding bliss and it is F.U.N.!  It reminds me of planning my wedding and all of the excitement that comes with it. 

Like many girls I had my wedding planned for years before I found my Prince.  I knew exactly what I wanted, red roses, star gazer lillys, big long (little did I know it would weight 10 lbs and my calves would hurt for days) train on a frilly white wedding dress, lots of candles, a very traditional ceremony...the list goes on and on.  "My" day was perfect, just as I had always planned.  I will never forget the way I felt that night when the doors to the church opened and he was waiting for me at the end of the aisle...Everything else just stopped and it was just "us". 

Life has changed in 11 years.  We created four amazing and beautiful babies who each have the best parts of us intertwined in their being.  It is no longer "us" but more, more love, more hugs, more kisses....just more of everything wonderful.

Oh, but don't get me wrong, we are not perfect.  My insanely need to start a new project without much notice annoys him and the way he leaves his shoes all over the house makes me nuts or the fact that I always don't fill up with gas until the gas light comes on (and that ALWAYS seems to happen when we are running late to be somewhere) or how he he will take clothes out of the dryer but not put the ones from the washer into the dryer drive me right over the edge.

But at the end of a long day when we have been up since 5 am, made lunches, changed diapers, got kids off to school, taken kids to doctors appointments or sports practice or friends houses, did laundry, helped with homework, found a missing shoe, broken up a fight, read "just 1 more" book out loud, given medicine and breathing treatments, swept the floor, beamed at an A on a paper or was disappointed in a choice that one of the kids made their is still Love. 

One of my favorite passages from the bible is from Corinthians.  This was read at our wedding 11 years ago...


1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.


Do you remember when I won RVA contest for Richmond Mom of the Year?  If not, you can check it all out right here... my gift certificate included an overnight stay at the Omni Richmond and dinner and breakfast..We had a wonderful and relaxing time and pigged out! Here is what we ate for dinner.

Appetizer - Virginia Crab and Artichoke Dip
 
Entree - 14 oz bone in fillet, wrapped in prosciutto and smothered in Gorgonzola fondue
Dessert - Bread Pudding

Happy 11th Anniversary to my wonderful husband ...

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Nap Mat

So naptime "stuff" at preschool has gotten way outta hand!  Anna Claire takes a crib sheet, a blanket, a pillow and a stuffed animal. She has so much stuff it falls out of her cubby. So I searched online for an all in one nap mat and found some really cute ones but they were all like $50-$60.  Um, NO THANK YOU!  So I found this awesome tutorial right here and off to the fabric store I went.   Anna Claire gave me specific instructions that it must be Dora, have a soft blankie and a silky blankie.

Dora Fabric, fleece, satin, bunting and $18 later. I followed the tutorial ...almost...here is what I came up with...


Sunday, January 9, 2011

Daughters

Having a daughter means loving

more than you knew you could love.

It means giving

more than you knew you could give.

It means receiving

so much more in return...






Having a daughter means knowing

that whatever else

you did or didn't do,

You gave the world

something beautiful.

Monday, January 3, 2011

You are blessed...

So 2011 hasn't exactly started off the way we planned but than that shouldn't really come as a big surprise to me!  On New Years Day Ethan started vomiting...often...lots...not fun!  Ethan has always given us "signs" that he is getting sick.  Not like the other kids, who run around and than all of sudden fall out with a fever and are fine within 24 hours.  With Ethan, we notice more puffiness around his eyes than normal, a glassy stare and he stops eating.  Those 3 things usually happen all together and fast and within 24 hours he is very sick.  Not this time, this time, he was TYPICAL, yes you heard that ... TYPICAL.  He was playing, eating, having a great time and than BAM he started throwing up....But he woke up on Sunday and was F.I.N.E. Another TYPICAL for him because what the other kids get over in 24-48 hours usually takes Ethan a week to recover from.  He was doing great but than Chris got it but by the evening he was doing just fine.

So I was HAPPY, on cloud 9, celebrating this TYPICAL milestone.  I was a obviously a little cocky because he woke up today throwing up more...the good news is that he hasn't been sick since early afternoon and he has kept down food and drink since 5 tonight with no problem...but I'm not getting all HAPPY, on cloud 9, and celebrating this TYPICAL just yet.  The bad news is that I got a call from the school nurse that Jake was in the clinic throwing up so it looks like the stomach bug has hit our house....and our washing machine is leaking and our dryer has been giving us problems also so now we are looking at buying a new washer and dryer, exactly how I want to start the New Year ... sick kids and a $1,000 expense...

Yep, so I've been acting like a little BRAT this evening...but than I read a very sweet poem on one of my favorite blogs KIDZ and I remembered that I am blessed...

Because it is true, I am BLESSED so excuse me while go celebrate TYPICAL...


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