Something Happy!

Here are some fun pictures that made me smile! ...of feeding the pigeons when the ducks were full, Livy after she put on her make-up (I pretended not to notice while she was getting in to it), and hanging out with friends at the park and zoo.

Goodbye, Dear Friend

Tonight our family had to say goodbye to our beloved dog, Bubbles. She came to us several years ago when she followed my dad and a bag of burgers to our home. Since then, she's provided us with endless love, laughter, and friendship. We will forever miss her , but she will always be alive in our hearts and memories. I love you, Bubbles.

Mom's Day Letter from Livy

Mommy,

I just needed to write you a letter to tell you how happy I am that you are my Momma. Below is the list of things I could think of:

I get to wake up to you every morning.

Whenever I need to randomly take off my diaper, you are there to put a clean one back on.

Whenever I need to take a bath, you give me one.

Whenever I needed to be born, you birthed me.

I learned how to pick my nose because of that horrible elephant nose thing you used to use. (Nose sucker)

I’ve had some pretty bad diapers, and Daddy never changes me.

You taught me my current favorite song – Where is Thumbkin?

You taught me A, B, C, D, etc…you know how it goes, but I get a little lost after D.

You taught me to say 2,3,4 after you say 1.

You take me to see horsies.

Whenever I am crying my head off for no reason, you pick me "down."

Whenever I need down, you let me down (as long as I’ve taken enough bites and have said “all done”, and have said “I luv you Mommy” and have said “I luv you Mommy much” and have said “thank you”).

You taught me not to hit others even though that’s the one of the first games Daddy taught me how to play.

You let Daddy know when he is tickling me too much (sometimes it hurts even though I’m still laughing).

You play ring around the rosies with me

You helped me a lot when I was going through the ‘teething’ part of my life.

You taught me that every book reads first “I luv my Daddy because”

You took me to the Circus

You read with me every night.

You brush my teeth every day.

You taught me to go poo-poo in my potty.

You obviously love Daddy so much, I mean come on Mommy you don’t even try to hide it!

You have helped me grow so much this last year.

You put me in the prettiest/cutest things so that everyone always tells me how pretty I am.

No matter how many times I take off my socks and shoes, you put them right back on.

You let Daddy and I go to the park by ourselves every once in a while so we can have one-on-one time.

You know, I’m getting sleeping and Dad just fell asleep, and I just realized that it’s five o’clock in the morning so I better get back to sleep because I usually get up at 6 am, so I was planning on going on to 9 million, but I think I’m too tirrrrr…zzz

I luv you much!

Wow, thank you Olivia for the sweet note. And thanks to her Daddy for dictating. I luh you much!

To My Husband

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

I couldn't have asked for a better man to spend my life with and raise a family with! Thank you Aaron for being my sweet husband. I love you more today than ever before.

Happy Birthday Jenny!

Happy Birthday Jenny! I enjoyed making this for you...sorry it took a while for me to get it on your blog.

Growing Pains

Livy had trouble falling asleep tonight, so I went back in her room after a while to rock her. I rubbed her legs as I do when she needs some help relaxing, and she looked up at me and said, "Thank you, Momma." Sometimes she even asks me to do this..."Legs?" she will request. I wonder if she is having growing pains. It made me marvel at the unbelievable amount of growth she's made since her young life began 29 months ago. This brought to mind some of my favorite and/or most memorable "prego" moments, when her growth was most rapid:

• Covering up being tired and sick with massive amounts of Caffeine and DayQuil before we figured out why I was so tired and sick...Thanks to God for bringing her through that ok!
• Daily naps on the couch with Gracie
• That first sonogram when we learned how far along we were - Aaron was beside himself w/ excitement; I cried to learn that she would be born right before the start of the school year instead of early in the summer. I was devastated at the thought of not being home with my baby longer than 6 measly weeks!
• HORMONES - What a roller coaster ride - exhilaration, anger, tears, laughter, anger, sleepiness, unhappiness, nervousness, etc. (And that was just in the course of an hour!) I've always been relatively even-keeled and was completely taken aback this crazy experience. I think Aaron may have been, too! His sense of humor and goofy-fun-lovingness did not fly with me at this time. At all.
• Story time in the classroom. My kids would alert me when Baby was on the move. I also remember having to lean WAY back to catch a breath to continue reading, especially during the summer term when I was as big as a house.
• Watching and feeling Olivia's acrobatic moves in my belly. This was especially interesting when I wore my dress with the big floral print. It looked like flowers blowing in the breeze. :-)
• My favorite memories may very well be related to the relationship that was already building between my little girl and her dad. I never saw such a big manly man gush as he did over her. I woke up one Saturday morning about 10 or 11 to find him playing with the baby in my belly. He was talking to her, playing gutchie goo with her, and rubbing my belly, all while I was sleeping. She also liked to tease him. She'd do several wild somersaults, and when I would tell him to feel her moving around, she would immediately freeze. She did this so often it became a joke with us.
  

Here's a picture that was taken sometime close to the due date.
(Did you think I was kidding when I said I was as big as a house?)

Two things that made me cry yesterday

A former student and special friend was in a talent show at my old school, and I was able to watch her perform with her three younger sisters. Her and her family are such lovely people and are completely faithful to and filled with faith for God in the midst of Mom's battle with a glioblastoma, a cruel form of brain cancer. God is good, though, her health and all their spirits are remarkable considering their trials. Seeing such a precious family perform Do a Deer touched my soul to the core. After their performance, there was a duet. One of the girls was wheelchair bound, and her little body is strongly affected by Cerebral Palsy. But her soul is not! I watched these beautiful girls sing, "Take the shackels off my feet so I can dance! I just want to praise You. You broke the chains, now I can lift my hands. And I'm gonna praise You!" Wow! What a powerful message that touched the audience immensely!



I heard this song on the radio last night on the way to the talent show and watched the video on YouTube when I got home. Tears streaming down my face. If you have a little girl or are a girl who has that special bond with your dad, prepare yourself with tissue. I'm not savvy enough to actually post the video, so here's the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfxL0S-7yVo