Just A Little Late

Today is January 29. During the week of January 9-16, it was National Letter Writing Week.

I love letters. Especially handwritten letters. (And little hands trying to steal letters)

During my "I have no life and spend all my time on AOL" phase, I wrote a lot of letters to my "internet friends". I took pride in my letters...especially the envelopes. Stickers, glow in the dark crayons, individual letters cut out of magazines to make up the recipient's name, etc..

I suppose there's some excitement in receiving a personal letter in the mail. There's also so much more meaning behind something that's been handwritten. I always feel a bit special knowing that the sender has taken their time to write a personal note (or thank you card).

Which reminds me of Christmas cards. I'll admit, I didn't write on every single card we sent out this year...maybe 95% of them? But isn't it so much more interesting to receive even a little, "Thinking of your family!" rather than a blank picture? I'm just sayin'.

So although I'm 2.5 weeks late, my goal is to send out a handwritten letter (or note) this week. And the rent check, with an attached note saying, "Please deposit promptly!" doesn't count.

Going There

I've been debating whether or not to post this but I realized...this is my blog and I can post whatever I want.

It's probably been a month now, maybe a little more, since I watched the "16 and Pregnant - Life After Labor" special on MTV. Afterward, they showed another "special" about one of the girls that was on "16 and Pregnant", who was pregnant again. She had to make the choice to have an abortion, give the baby up for adoption or keep it. After discussing it with her boyfriend and family, they opted to have an abortion. Needless to say, I think I cried the entire time the show was on. And not just small tears streaming down my face; I was sobbing and my chest was doing the whole "gasping for air" motion.

I couldn't imagine validating such an action. Especially when at 6 weeks (which I believe she said she was), the baby is already growing and progressing. It's not just a speck of matter anymore. Ack! The guilt would eat at me for the rest of my life.

Then I woke up yesterday, to find on the news that there was a huge pro-life rally in San Francisco. They displayed President Obama's statement on the screen:

"Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters."

Um...private family matters? If he's going to go down that road, people could say that physical or sexual abuse is a private family matter. Do we want the government to stay out of those situations?

Clearly (and thankfully) I've never been in a situation where I had to make such a drastic decision. But I don't think I'll ever be able to wrap my brain around the idea that abortion is the right choice for women.

Tally Mark 12 pt.2

-He went on the swings for the 1st time today.
-Also went on his first tractor.
-Loved both.
-He says Mama, Dada, Dieter (sounds like Dada), baba (for ball and bottle).
-Will stand on things that he's not supposed to and yell, "MAMA!" until someone recognizes him.
-Has learned to climb up stairs (ugh!).
-Swallows pasta whole; macaroni and ravioli.
-Still nurses 3 times a day. Don't hate, appreciate!
-Still wakes up at least once in the middle of the night. As long as it's once, I'm fine. I really love any moment I get to be with him, even if it's at 2:00 in the morning.
-Likes to play with my hair or his hair while he nurses.
-Gets SO excited when he hears Daddy's car in the afternoon, then the door unlock and Daddy walks in. I know it melts LaVor's heart.
-Laughed so loud and hard in Target today, I'm 99.9% sure the whole store heard him.
-Fits in the little wooden shoes we bought in Holland.
-Is the sweetest, greatest, most amazing little boy we know.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tally Mark 12 pt.1

To My Sweet Boy,

I'm not sure how we've gotten to this point! Just a year ago (although it seems like yesterday), I was enjoying one last nap before you would be joining us.

Can I tell you a secret? I was really scared for you to come. So many changes would be happening to our family and you'll soon learn that Mama doesn't like change. I was scared from the moment Daddy and I found out we were pregnant up until the moment you were here. When I felt the urge to push, I started to cry because I didn't think I could do it. Omi was there and assured me that everything would be fine.

What I wanted more than anything was to be able to see you. The first thing I said when they placed you on me was, "I love him!" You were absolutely perfect!
You've been such a joy and blessing in our little home. You're able to find the good in all things. While you were Christmas shopping with Mama at Williams-Sonoma, we were waiting in line and you started to laugh...for no reason. The lady in front of us turned around and said, "Now that's what we need during this crazy time! More laughs!" You're able to make anyone smile. I love that about you.

You're going to be just like Daddy when it comes to fixing things. We can tell that the wheels in your little mind are cranking a mile a minute. You will stare at something for long periods of time, trying to understand what's going on and how it works.

Did you also know that for 363 (I had to be away from you for 2 nights in July) nights, I've said, "Night night Sweet Boy. Mama loves you!" as I've put you down to sleep? Then I kiss my hand and pat your head. I always want you to know that I love you and you're so very special. We're lucky that we get to be together forever.

Hugs & Kisses,

Mama

Whirlwind, Tornado, Twister...It's All The Same

When trying to decide what theme The Lime's party should be, all I could think about were his favorite things; paper and shoes. LaVor said "no" to both. One day, as usual, The Lime had taken all of his toys off the shelves and LaVor said, "It looks like a tornado ripped through here!" And that's what we went with...a tornado party.

Google offered me a few ideas but not much so I had to put on my thinking cap and hope for the best.

These were the invitations...

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the "decorations" at the party but we wrapped the front door with yellow caution tape, had 2 overturned barns on the food table with misplaced animals and a "Twister" themed unscramble.

Since there are tornadoes in Texas, we had pulled pork sandwiches with coleslaw for dinner. I'm a mean Mom and haven't let The Lime try too many "adult" foods so we had carrot cake for dessert.

We weren't sure how everyone would fit in our tiny house so we opened up the garage for extra space. Somehow, everyone still ended up in the living room.We're so blessed to have so many people that love The Lime and were able to celebrate with us. I think (and hope) everyone had a good time. We sure did!

Pick It Up...

and put it in the bag! Boom boom!


I was thinking of this video while I attempted to clean up our garage this weekend.

I wouldn't consider myself a hoarder, more like someone that enjoys looking back on old things :o)

After looking at the same two boxes for the last (almost) 5 years and hardly touching either one, I figured it was probably time to go through them. My goal was to consolidate them into one plastic bin (and I ended up not needing the whole thing!). I was able to throw away my math notebooks from my Junior AND Senior years of high school, taxes from 2001-2004, pay stubs from 2001-2004, and useless papers that were given to me in culinary school. I did, although, keep the many notes that my friends and I wrote to each other in high school, lots of old pictures, the award I got for counting to 100 in Kindergarten, a Young Author Fair book I wrote in the 3rd grade, and a note my Mom had written me.

I was actually reminded of the note while we watched Parenthood on Tuesday night. One of the teenage girls(Haddie) was secretly dating an older boy(Alex) she had met while doing some work at a Food Bank. One night, while her mom was waiting to pick her up, she saw Haddie and Alex kiss but never confronted her about it. Haddie's dad ended up inviting Alex to dinner, where he informed the family of his past.


Things went well, or so Haddie thought, until her parents approached her and told her she could no longer see Alex.

I looked at LaVor and said, "I was Haddie and look what happened to us."

LaVor wasn't a recovering alcoholic or was on his own by the age of 16 but he was 5 years older than me and I was only 17 at the time we started dating. I was Haddie in the sense that I didn't tell my parents much about what was going on between LaVor and I but I expected them to be okay with us dating. Now, being a parent, I can't imagine what my parents felt. I can only hope that I end up having all boys and they aren't interested in older women.

The Earth Is Round

Therefore, we have not fallen off the face of it.

I feel as though I need to steal my idea from November and post something I'm thankful for everyday. Then our blog wouldn't be neglected.

I suppose our lives are just a bit boring right now. Nothing new, exciting, dramatic or amazing has happened. We get up, go to work, eat dinner, go to bed and repeat the same thing the next day.

Can I just say how I'm dreading these next 2 weeks? My last 2 weeks before The Lime turns 1. It makes me sad...REALLY sad. So sad, I cried in the bathroom at work yesterday.

I'm not ready for it.