I am so glad it's Friday! Hopefully this weekend we can finish up the rest of our "projects" at home. For once, we don't have anything planned. Sorry, I have to take that back... H is going to a birthday party on Sunday. I promised him I would take him to the mall after that. Crapola! I was hoping for once, we didn't have any obligations.

Next week, M's brother and sister-in-law will be moving down here from FL. We are all so excited.

S has her first boyfriend. She is so excited. She asked me if they were allowed to hold hands. I didn't know what to say! She picks out her school clothes at night, and she is so careful about what she wears each day. Everything that she picks out, must have his favorite color in it. I love watching her act all giddy. It is so cute, but so heartbreaking too. Even though this isn't a serious long-term "relationship," it's just a preview for all that is yet to come. She will never be our baby girl again. Well, yes she will. But it will be different now. She's ready to make more decisions, and to be a little more independent. I am so proud of her and what she stands for. She is only 7, but she is so smart and levelheaded. She is stubborn too! Once her mind is made up, it is not likely to be changed. I love that about her. I am the same way, so we can relate well on this. I proud that she is strong.

H, on the other, has problems being a leader. We work really hard to keep building on his self-esteem. Then little things will happen, like someone that he despises calls or sends them something in the mail. Even though he doesn't talk to the psycho and they don't open their mail from her, he still gets reminded and then we have to start back at square one. Why can people just not get the hint that YOU ARE NOT WANTED AROUND HERE! Until everyone is willing to put that first, I don't think H can progress in his healing to the fullest extent. But hey, I guess when you really don't love someone, you don't care that you hurt them. I cannot stand people like that. I know you are all really confused right now, but there is a time and a place for the story of H and S's past. Right now, is not that time.

On the brighter side, H is extremely brilliant too. He gets his daddy's way of thinking. He seems so mature at times, and that makes me really sad. But other times, I am really glad because he helps me out a lot. Especially when my DVD player doesn't work or my bathroom drawer gets stuck. I call for him and he says "Mama, when will you ever learn... **sigh**" Gosh, I love that kid.

D can now kiss upon command :) I just tell him, "D give Mommy a kiss" and he will. Even though it is a big, wet open mouth one, I'll take it for right now. He has also learned to jump off of things. He gives me a near heartattack everytime he does it, but he thinks it is so funny. He stands on his chair, bends his knees, and jumps. You have to ALWAYS be prepared!

Life with children... does it get any better? No, I think not.

New Pictures

Going Good

We are on day 2 of the weaning process. Surprisingly, it is going much better than expected. D has not had a bottle or formula for 2 days. He has also gone to sleep without need to drink from his sippy cup (that was my backup if he needed the comfort of the bottle). So, hopefully all will continue to go well. I do admit that this hurts me a lot. I'm having a hard time dealing with all of the "baby" things have to come to a close. As much as I enjoy his growing and changing, I will forever miss all of those special little moments.

Times... They Are Changing...

It has come time to wean D off of the bottle...*sniffle sniffle*. I was thinking back last night as I was rocking him to sleep. I cannot believe all of the times that I wish he would just go to bed, so that I could either go to sleep too or just have time to myself. I wished I could just lay him down sleepy and he would be alright. How many times that I got so frustrated because he started crying in the middle of the night. Well, now I would gladly take those times back. It's a strange feeling that he sleeps through the night, that he will go down sleepy and then fall asleep on his own. It cuts deep when he would rather lay in his bed instead of being rocked to sleep. How I would give anything to have back those precious moments that I thought we so very frustrating. I never realized how fast this past year would have gone by. I'll never take for granted another single moment in my children's lives because they are gone all too soon.

Ticked Off!

I hate uploading images to Blogger. I've have been trying for over an hour to post more pics, but have been unsuccessful! What is the deal with this? Does anyone know?

To My Babies

"My Wish"

I hope the days come easy
And the moments pass slow
And each road leads you
Where you want to go
And if you're faced with the choice
And you have to choose
I hope you choose the one
That means the most to you
And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin' 'til you find the window
If it's cold outside
Show the world the warmth of your smile
But more than anything
More than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big
Your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold
And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things, too
Yeah, this is my wish

I hope you never look back but you never forget
All the ones who love you and the place you left
I hope you always forgive and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get
Oh, you find God's grace in every mistake
And always give more than you

To M

"Amazed"

Every time our eyes meet
This feelin' inside me
Is almost more than I can take
Baby, when you touch me
I can feel how much you love me
And it just blows me away
I've never been this close to anyone or anything
I can hear your thoughts
I can see your dreams

I don't know how you do what you do
I'm so in love with you
It just keeps gettin' better
I want to spend the rest of my life
With you by my side for ever and ever
Every little thing that you do
Baby, I'm amazed by you

The smell of your skin
The taste of your kiss
The way you whisper in the dark
Your hair all around me
Baby, you surround me
You touch every place in my heart
Though it feels like the first time, every time
I wanna spend the whole night in your eyes

D's First Birthday

I am in limbo because this is so sad, yet so unbelievably wonderful! I have loved watching him grow. I have loved watching him face the world and attempt to learn as much about it as his little mind will let. I have loved watching him try new foods, learn to walk, learn to run, learn to kick a soccer ball. I have loved watching him try so very hard to be independent. I have loved everything small aspect of his precious little life. But most of all I LOVE the dependency he still has for me. I LOVE how he snuggles up to me to go to sleep. I LOVE the peaceful I feel inside while watching him sleep. I LOVE watching him smile and run to me. I LOVE listening to him call for me and his daddy. I LOVE this little guy with every part of me. Happy birthday baby boy!

He loves his birthday cake!D's "big boy" bedding
"Big boy" room
Birthday breakfast - ham and cheese omlet... yum!

Surrounded by all his presents

I'm Baaaaaaaaaaack!

Wow! I have not posted in forever! We have been so busy. Constant company for months now. I am so ready for things to slow down and go back to normal. I guess that won't be for a while, so who am I kidding.

D will be 1 year old on Sunday. 1 year! Time flies. I've been getting really emotional about it lately. M and I were talking last night about when we want to try for another one. We are thinking about October. That's sounds so far away to me. But honestly I don't know if I would be ready for another baby much sooner than that. I love being able to dedicate most of my attention to watching D grow. He can do so much. I never dreamed that being a mommy would be so wonderful and rewarding.




Here we are at Christmas. We do the family thing on Christmas Eve and then on Christmas Day, we just have to have Santa. It works out so well this way!



Christmas morning!

We had so much fun! D loved opening gifts. H and S love his presents even more than their own. That's all that they have been playing with. D really got into opening things. He loved tearing off the paper. He went crazy with all of his new toys. We went crazy buying them too. I have no idea what is left to get him for his birthday!