Just a reminder....

Song for a Fifth Child
By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton



Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Recipe Thursday - Fried Zucchini!!

Did I even spell that right?! Oh well! This is a GREAT recipe for delicious fried zucchini (again, spelling?). The batter for this actually makes wonderful onion rings too, if you aren't in the mood for green stuff.

Here's what you need!

Wet stuff:
2 cups buttermilk
2 tbsp of your favorite hot sauce (or 1 tbsp if you want a little less kick)
2tsp sugar
2tsp Cajun seasoning, or seasoning salt is good too!

Mix all that together and set aside

Dry Stuff:
2cups flour
3-4tsp baking powder
2 tsp pepper
1/2tsp cayenne powder (you can leave this out if you want)
2tsp salt

Mix all together and set aside.

Fill your deep fryer with veggie oil till the stop line. If you don't have a deep fryer you need 3-4 inches of veggie oil and heat it too 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Don't use a small pot and fill it, oil expands as it heat up so use a good size pot. A deep fryer is easiest though.

Cut up 4-5 zucchini's into spears. I usually half them the fat way then cut that into quarters the long way. So you get about 8 spears out of each one.

Dip them in the wet, then the dry. At this point you can double dip back into the wet, then dry again, or you can put them in the fryer. (I find that single dipping makes more of a tempura-like batter and double dipping is a thicker batter once cooked)

Let 'em fry till they are golden brown and scoop out with a strainer or metal slotted spoon and lay onto a paper plate lined with a paper towel.

DONE! Aren't they yummy???
I like to dip with ranch dressing.

Presents Everywhere!

Wow! What a whirlwind November was! Not that December is any better, but November is always a busy month for our family. Birthdays galore!


We made it through the kids' birthdays pretty much unscathed, and it was a lot of fun (although stressful planning between work and everyone else's birthdays on top of it). We had a big family and friends get together and got both of them done at once; One great thing about them being born so close in the same month (another being I haven't had to spend a dime on new clothes for Kali). Woohoo!

They got some great gifts and everyone was so generous! Fun moves, books, new shoes and clothes (for chenda, she needed that!), and toys toys toys! My mom, uncle and Aunt made cupcakes for me that I was able to decorate, and my in-laws made some wonderful food for everyone. It was delicious! All in all a great time for everyone.


Now with Christmas coming up it's time to start thinking about presents again!

*AHH!*

Just when you think you are done Christmas sneaks up on you doesn't it? (just one of the DOWNsides of having so many birthdays right before the holidays!) By the way, Chan and I went to Toys-R-Us for their 12am "Black Friday" sale, and let me say I will NEVER do that again. Not fun. However, we were able to get this great play kitchen for Chenda for about $40 that's usually $100 and to see the look on her face will make the 2 hours of standing in the blistering cold with no coat (yah I'm the idiot who forgot my coat) worth every minute. The things we do for our children are just rediculous aren't they!?

It looks like I'm being summoned to watch the closing scene of Tinkerbell with Chenda (it's her favorite part). 'Till next time!.....

Wordless Wednesday 11/10

In honor of Baby Sister's 1st birthday coming up this weekend, here is a picture to commemorate (with more coming on her actual birthday, of course!)


Our first time making eye contact

A conversation with Chenda....

Baby sister is very sick with a high fever the last couple days. Chenda noticed that this morning when we woke up and she came to lay in bed with us for a few minutes...This short conversation cracked me up.


Chenda: *feels baby's forehead" uh-oh! Baby hop (hot)!
me: I know baby is sick so her head is hot
Chenda: ohhh. I blow on it! *blows on her head like it's a hot bowl of soup*

hahah So sweet trying to break a fever by blowing. Well, it works for food doesn't it?!?!?

Halloween and other Shenanigans!

Halloween is definitely one of my favorite times of year. I find now that I have children, it's even better! Especially this year, since Chenda is finally into it enough to do things like pick out her own costume, sit still (sort of) for face paint, and help gut the pumpkins without throwing the goop and/or eating the seeds and choking on them. This year, her costume of choice was a black and pink Kitty Cat...Which ended up driving my CRAZY by the end of the night because the pink fuzzy trim kept falling off of it! But it was still cute.


Of course, in the spirit of having 2 girls, daddy wanted to get baby sister a matching costume, and since the closest we could find was a pink and black leopard, that is what we went with.




The night before Halloween we had a family pumpkin carving session! It was a lot of fun. Chenda helped us gut them and tape on our stencils, and then Daddy and I carved them out. They actually came out really well! Halloween was spent out and about trick or treating! Chenda started out with some pretty nice face painting that was smudged into oblivion in about 10 minutes, and halfway through the evening her costume was coming apart at the seams (remind me next year to just spend the extra $10 and get the nicer costume) but she loved it, and Kali even seemed to enjoy being out in the fresh air! It was definitely a fun night and I can't wait till next year to see what their little imaginations spark them to dress up as again.

Little Kali is an official full-time walker, and she is busy busy busy! I thought the two of them would be trouble once this happened and boy was I right!! They are in to EVERYTHING! But alas, they make trouble so cutely that it's hard to be mad at them. In fact, here is a recent (short) conversation that I had with Chenda as her and baby were playing.

*Baby starts crying in other room*
Me: Chenda what are you doing?
Chenda: uhmmmmmmm....
Me: are you being nice??
Chenda: No!
.....
......well, at least she is honest right?!

Recipe Thursday!! *on saturday*

Ok, so I realise that it's not Thursday...And yes, I'm a couple days late for Recipe Thursday, but I have 2 kids, 2 dogs, a husband and a full time job so I'm sure I have your forgiveness.

OK! So, this weeks recipe is......Rum Cake!!

Ingredients:
Cake
1 Box yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines Butter yellow is the best!)
1 small box vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dark rum
4 eggs

Glaze
1 stick butter
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup rum (the same you use for the cake)
1 cup sugar

Steps
1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2:Mix all cake ingredients together and pour into a greased (yes you want to pull out the Crisco for this) AND floured bundt ban....If you like nuts, sprinkle them into the bottom of the pan and then pour the mix over
3: Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out clean

4: *When the cake is done, do not turn out of the pan quite yet. Take out of the oven and make the glaze*
Mix all the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil.
5: Boil glaze 2-3 minutes and pour over the cake (while still in the pan..careful it's hot!)

Let the cake sit one hour at least before turning out of the pan. Then eat, and try to stop!!

Wordless Wednesday 11/3

The first wordless Wednesday of November!! How about some Halloween fun!!

Purpose.

"And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me." Matthew 18:5


Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out why God put them on this earth, and never find the answer. Or, well, in my opinion, they don't work hard enough to figure it out. God usually puts that kind of stuff right in our faces and it's up to us to pray about it and then recognize the signs. I recognized them several years back while attending a Women of Faith conference. I was a couple of years out of high school, and so naturally I didn't want to go. I thought it was going to be some boring Holy Rolling 2 day sermon that I would barely stay awake through. Pretty sure my dad said I HAD to go..To which I was not happy about, but I went. To my surprise it was a most entertaining event. About midway through the second day, they showed a video on the big screen for a child sponsorship program called World Vision.

That was it. I found my purpose.

Once the video was over I rushed to the WV booth and chose my first sponsored child. A young girl from the Philippines. The next year, I added another girl from Africa. No, no, sponsoring children through Christian programs is not my calling from God. I know for a very specific fact that my purpose in life, the REASON I was born to this Earth, is to love and help children in any way I can.

And so you might ask, "How will I know why God has put me here?"...Listen to your heart! What tugs at you when you see/hear it? If you could choose what you would do, if given the chance to do ONE thing with unlimited resources to help someone. What would it be? For me, it is adoption. Perhaps, it is appropriate then, that I was an adopted child myself.

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day after reading a friend's Blog about her journey through the process of adopting not one, but two children from Africa. It only makes sense. My God given purpose in life to do what I can to help children (most specifically my life-long desire to adopt) and being adopted myself. God must have (duh) designed my life to be so, in order for me to best use this purpose. I mean, who better to be a parent to an adopted child then someone who was herself adopted!!? Not saying that someone who wasn't adopted wouldn't make a good adoptive parent though, so don't misunderstand that. I'm just saying, for myself in my journey that is what I think.

I think the calling to help helpless and orphaned children is something that everyone needs to take an answer to. The bible says:

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you.

James 1:27

Take a few minutes to think about that verse and really let it resonate you. God may have not called you to adopt a child but there are other ways to help. Send a box of clothing to an orphanage over seas. Mentor a foster child. Donate money to a family in the midst of raising money to bring a child home.

I prayed the other night...I was feeling a bit guilty that I wasn't sure if I was being selfish wanting to wait until I was done having biological children before we decided on the adoption route. I asked God if I was ignoring something I shouldn't be. If I should be looking deeper into this now. After I while I felt a peace come over the guilt and I knew that it was Him telling me that now isn't the time. Why? I'm not sure. Perhaps the child that has been destined for us hasn't been concieved yet, who knows. But I do know that I am ready when the time comes, and I am listening and waiting, ready to follow the leader...and we all know who THAT is!!

And so, I will leave you with a few things to think about. One is: Find out what your purpose in life is and make the choice to participate. You have NO idea how fulfilling it is to take part in the thing you were born to do.

Second is some global stats on the orphan crisis in this world. I will admit living in my little bubble of the USA (no matter how hard things are here, we have NO true idea how privileged we are) I really had no idea the grand scale of things....
*There are between 143-210 MILLION orphans in the world today (to give you a perspective, the current US population is just over 310 million)
*Every year, 42,000 more children become orphans
*Each night 60 million orphans go to bed hungry, and
*Each year, 400,000 of them die due to malnutrition. (that's every 90 seconds)

"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.
John 15:12

Recipe Thursday - Beef Stew!

So I decided I'm going to dedicate Thursdays to posting some of my Favorite recipes! If you need to find one later you can go to my "Recipes" page at the top of my blog.

Here is the best Beef Stew recipe EVER! This is from a diabetic cookbook so it is healthy.

Ingredients:
3 tbsp flour
1 lb. boneless lean beef stew meat, trimmed of all fat
2 tbsp olive oil
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 bay leaf
3 cups beef stock - reduced sodium
1/2 cup red wine
6 carrots cut into one-inch chunks
6 medium red potatoes cut into one-inch chunks
18 small boiling onions, halved OR 1 cup chopped onions
3 large portabello mushrooms, brushed clean and cut into one-inch chunks
1 cup celery cut into one-inch chunks
1/3 cup chopped parsley

step 1: Place flour on a plate. Dredge meat in flour. In a large sauce pan, heat the oil and add the beef. Brown on all sides and then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

step 2: Add shallots to the pan and saute till soft and golden. Add salt, half the pepper, thyme and bay leaf. Saute for one minute. Return the beef to the pan and add the stock and wine. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer covered about 30-40 minutes.

step 3: Add the carrots, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and celery. Cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender (about another 30 minutes). Stir in the parsley and remaining pepper. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

Wordless Wednesday 10/27

A look back at my Chenda's shenanigans! I can't believe this was just over a year ago, she looks like a little baby here! (Of course I'll be saying that in a year about her most recent pics I'm sure!)

Birthday season is beginning!!

So I always say my mom's birthday marks the start of "Birthday Season" in my family. In just about a 6 weeks period we have about 6 birthdays in just my immediate family. It's a fun time!


Chan and I decided to kick of the kids' birtday "season" by taking Chenda out on a VERY special dinner date with Mommy and Daddy. It's a few weeks early but given the amount of dinners and birthday parties that will be happening in the month we figured there's no better time. Plus it was very overdue as I'm pretty sure that she has been feeling a bit like she needed some time with just us without little sister. She does love her very much but sometimes you just need the one on one time. I knew it was time because the day our dinner was planned she just came up and sat on my lap and just started crying. I felt so bad! I try to be the best mom I can be to BOTH my kids equally, but Kali is still quite clingy to me and so I know Chenda can feel left out even when I am giving her attention, because I almost always have the baby on my hip, or attaching herself to my leg haha!





Anyway, our dinner was at Red Robin and she did SO GOOD! She didn't even try to get down from the table once! We ordred her chicken and fries and a very special birthday sprite. Then they came out and sang to her and she was a bit shy but still loved it. She even had to take her balloons to the bath with her when we got home.

I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to make my sweet little Chenda's day!!

Wordless Wednesday 10/20

Today's wordless Wednesday photo is a funny one!




Dont worry the dog cage was clean!! She actually had her locked in there but I couldn't get to my camera before she decided to let her out!

Wordless Wednesday....

So a big thing on Blogs is to do "wordless Wednesday". I will just post a picture and a caption (or no caption), the jist of it is that a picture is worth a thousand words, and therefore there is no big long post required with the photo.
*I am aware that those are words above, but I felt the need to explain**

MOMMY AND BABY

Bedtime Antics...

Ok so, night time has been a bit hairy around here lately. A lot of NON sleeping going on by both me and the kids (and daddy too most nights). Not sure what is going on, but they are each getting up several times a night, leaving me on 3 hours or less a night of sleep for a few weeks now. Needless to say I'm suuuuuuper tired!

So a friend let me borrow her book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child". Aside from being the most boring book I have ever read, it does have some good tips and points. One being that overtired kids have more trouble getting to sleep and staying to sleep at night. I know Chenda is overtired. The poor thing hasn't had an afternoon nap in who knows how long and rarely goes to sleep before 10pm. Not by my choice in that I WANT her up like that, but it's a relentless fight to get her to sleep. On top of all this getting up at night, just GETTING Chenda to sleep is a fight in itself involving a lot of screaming and crying (and not just by me!! HAHA!) causing a lot of stress on everyone and probably just exadurating the issue. I always figured that she just wasn't tired and would fall asleep when she was.

I know now that I was wrong. She can't sleep because she is SO tired and her body is pumping out adrenaline and other hyper hormones in order to fight fatigue. Thus causing hyper alertness, fussiness, and higher levels of agitation (hence constant fits through the day). *This is all according to the book, but fits her like a T"...So in light of being fed up with no sleep and really not wanting to do any permanent damage to her (according to the book, these kinds of sleep habits usually develop into ADHD and insomnia as they grow), I have decided to implement a new sleep schedule.

After dinner, we will begin our night schedule with a bed time (for now for the sake of easing her into it) of 8:30-9, and wake up time of 8am (eventually I will be making bedtime 8pm and get up no sooner then 7am but no later then 8am), nap time at 1 or 2 and on and on. Of course the baby gets one extra nap in the morning around 11am which she pretty much already takes anyway.

And that puts us where we are now. Chenda is currently up in my room hollering because I am making her take a nap. I promised myself I wouldn't go in there till 3pm to check on her. Because then if she is awake she can come downstairs and we will do bed time earlier, or I will let her sleep till 4pm if she is sleeping. We'll see what happens. I'm glad the baby is easy to get down at this point!!

Growing up!

I realize that I am wayyyyy overdue for an update here. My apologies, but I figure it's OK. A lot has gone on in the last couple months, and has kept me quite busy from blogging, and really doing much of anything.

The kids are growing in leaps and bounds here. Kali is officially mobile and expect she will be walking in the next couple of months. She is already trying to walk from one thing to the other, but the balance isn't there yet so she just lets go and falls. She's really giving it some good tries though!! She is now eating mostly table foods, so I haven't made her baby food in a long time. She really doesn't like the purees much and prefers mashed soft fruits and veggies that she can pick up and eat herself. This is quite a surprise for me, since Chenda was on the purees for a long time and didn't have a lot of interest in table foods until she was slightly older.

I tell you, once you think you have parenting figured out you have another kid! They are so different but similar at the same time!!

On top of the table foods, Kali also has a taste for anything laying on the floor. I am constantly vacuuming/chasing her around digging something out of her mouth before she chokes on it. This is one of the things she is just like her big sister on. Chenda did her fair share of choking on stuff off the floor when she was a baby, and Kali is no different! So I am whipping out the vacuum about 3 times a day and sucking up everything i can.

Still a boobie monster, Kali loves to nurse. I think this is great, although at night she is waking up several times wanting to "comfort nurse" which is making me very tired. I talked to the pediatrician about it and hoping to implement some of her ideas soon. Another thing I don't like so much is TEETH!! AHHH! Well, of course I like that she has teeth but not while she is nursing and, well, you get the picture.

We are also going through some (OK major) separation anxiety with her too. Perhaps because I wasn't nursing Chenda at this age she was never really like that. Chenda would literally shut the door in my face when I dropped her off somewhere to go to work. Kali doesn't want anyone but me. Even Chan can't hold her if I am in the same room. It's definitely different and taking some getting used to since I can hardly leave the room to go to the bathroom without a little one chasing after me crying! But I do love that she wants to be around me so much and I will definitely miss it when she is OK with me not being around when she is older.


Speaking of going to the bathroom....Potty training Chenda is still underway, but getting better. She's got the #1s down but the poos are a bit more difficult. I am trying to convince her that squatting in the backyard isn't where we do that, we need to go in the potty, but it's really not sticking too well. I'm sure she'll figure it out soon though! I can't wait for the day we aren't spending money on pull ups for her!

Chenda is getting great at counting, and ABCs and all that! She can count to five in English, Khmer and Spanish and can say please, more, and *we are working on* thank you in sign language. Kali can also say "more" in sign language too. Chenda loves to play mommy to her dolls and baby sister too! Sometimes she tries to discipline her baby sister, which kind of makes me laugh because she's not doing anything to hurt her but I have to tell her no because I don't want her to think it's OK to give her sister a spank!

My babies are growing up so fast! I will try to not make it so long before my next post, but as you can tell I'm sure things are nuts around here!

Life's Lessons...

Wow what a month July has been!

I realise that I have not updated in a while. I definitly haven't forgotten this, I just haven't had a ton of motivation to really sit down and write *not to mention no time either*. Recent life events have left me more then slightly drained, as our family has prepared for the uncertainty of major life changes. Now, don't get yourselves too worried, we are ok, but it has definitly got me thinking about things that I don't often pull to the forefront of my mind. Hard times, uncertain times...And how people often deal with them.

Not that I have never been a religious person, but I haven't always been a "church" person. I enjoy church, but I have never made it a priority. That has changed now. I don't by any means think that I get any extra brownie points from God for going to church..Plenty of people go every week and manage to do damage to other people's lives. Even still I don't think that making it a priority will make my life easier (not that it's hard in comparison to many). I just love the lesson. I have been trying much harder to make my work schedule work around church as apposed to the opposite which is what I was doing before. I still can't make it EVERY weekend, but the majourity, and even if I cannot my husband takes the kids. That is most important - that my kids go. I don't want them growing up not knowing about God the way they should, and that was another of my main motivations.

I guess that is how my little family has dealt with one of our darker periods of life (of which we are finally coming over the fence on), we are bringing ourselves closer to God, and in return God is bringing us closer to each other. Sometimes it feels like we kept getting knocked down, but we are able to stand together, and find the good in a situation and come up from it. If the path of our lives leads us to be knocked off the path again, then we will stand up and get back on. And that is how it goes.

And so, I ask you this question: How will you handle the dark days that come your way? They can't always be sunny.

And when your children go through the tough times in their lives, and they will, what will you tell them about your life experiences?? Did you ask "why me?!" or did you see what you could do to help those still less fortunate then you? Did you take the easy way out and run away, or did you stand head on into the storm and fight through till the problem was resolved?

Perhaps this post is a bit off topic from what my blog is about, but I think it is important. Our children will always look at how we handle all situations in life. They will mimic us, learn from us...

...How do you want them to see you?

Potty Days....

Woohoo I got both kids down for a nap together AGAIN *dang I'm good!* Although I'm pretty sure this will be short lived because Kali has been asleep much longer then Chenda (she's a sleep fighter). So this might have to be a quicky.

Our main focus (well, one of them) right now is getting Chenda potty trained. She's doing pretty well, actually, but seems to have lost interest the last couple of days. I think it's because we have had a few really nice days and she wants to be out playing after months of being couped up in the house. I even asked her yesterday if she wanted panties and she told me "no mommy!", so I didn't push it but asked her after her next diaper change and she said she did. She did really well but then after about an hour took it off, and brought me a diaper and said "byper mommy"...So i put it on her. And that was that! She still "peepee pottied" a few times but really right now doesn't have a whole lot of interest in the panties.

I have heard some hardcore mommies online talk about this "3 day potty training" stuff before and I thought I would look into it. So I googled it and (wouldn't you know) you have to BUY it. Like $30!! Uhm, no thanks! I kind of read up on it and it's pretty much you put the kid in undies and let them run around the house in them. Then after a few days they get it and want to potty on the toilet more to keep dry. And you wake them up at night to potty so you do day and night training at once.

Ok, first off, I don't need to pay that kind of money to figure out that just letting them wet/soil themselves for three days is going to help, and if anyone knows my toddler, waking her at night to pee would only mean I would probably not get back to bed! The offficial website even says that if you have an infant it probably won't work because you have to give your WHOLE attention to the kid in training (probably chasing them around cleaning up pee and poop all day)....Soooo pretty much that's out. I'm sure we'll get through this, but it would be nice to be done with diapers for Chenda. I just hope we get it done before the fall because we might look into some spring time three-year-old preschool programs and I'm pretty sure potty trained is a pre-requisite.

Chenda is becoming such a smart little kid! She is really starting to pick up on colors, shapes, numbers, etc....She can count to 10 all on her own, and draw hearts, circles, and triangles! She also knows a lot of shapes by name, and can sing her ABCs. It's really fun to watch her grow intellectually after watching her develop physically as a baby. This is like a whole new world! A lot of people who know her know that she really only started talking after her second birthday, so all of this new communication is a lot of fun...Except the "no mommy!"'s I get on a daily basis! But that's just a part of her learning her independence and I usually get what I want out of her anyway. Speaking of, it's amazing what you can get a toddler to do while singing the "clean up!" song from Barney!!!

Kali is on her way to crawling! She's pretty much got it down backward, and is working on forward movement. But I'm really excited to see how she discovers her world once she's mobile (I'm sure I'll be taking this back when she's all over the place in a month!) I think she might be teething again because she's back to waking every couple of hours wanting to chew on everything. I was really enjoying the rest I've been getting but I suppose it will just have to wait until they are out of the house or something in 18-20 years. I am most likely going to graduate her from her bassinet to the crib today and I'm pretty excited about it! Maybe she'll sleep better in there, since she will have more room to wiggle.

I can't believe how big she is getting! I found myself the other day looking up things to do for her first birthday! I was thinking a joint birthday party for both of them maybe at the Children's Museum would be fun, but not sure yet. It blows my mind that in just 5 months I will be the mom of a one year old AND a three year old! What a whirlwind!

Life continues to truck along here in our home, and what a great adventure it's been!

It's been a while!

So I've been a little busy lately. Well, actually a lot busy! We had family come into town and visit us for a week. Talk about tons of fun! All of them stayed at my house (about 6 in total), and the babes finally got to meet their cousin. They had tons of fun playing around when the weather was nice (it wasn't for most of the days, but we still had a great time and did many outside activities). Travelling around the state was a really great experience. It's not often we take the time to see how beautiful OUR home is! People are so often wanting to see where other people live, what other states look like, but when you just hop in the car and take in your own home it's a totally worth wile experience. Of course, I have the privilege of living in the best state ever, so I suppose I'm biased.

After a week off it was definitely hard to leave the kids and head back to work! Lucky (not lucky) for me we all got sick this week to I ended up having to stay home one of my return-to-work days. I have to say I have never known life so hard as to be home alone with two sick little ones! I was thinking how when Chenda was a baby (my only baby) I would remember how easy life was before I had kids. Not to say that I have ever wished I didn't have them, quite the opposite, but who doesn't think things are simpler when you just have you and your spouse to worry about?? Well, to my surprise I found myself saying "wow, I remember how easy it was with one kid! Two is so much harder when they are sick!". I got a good chuckle out of that thought. It's funny how life's blessings also bring on some of our most challenging moments...

Take my strong willed two year old, for example. This kid tests my overflowing cup of patience like nothing else. And if you know me you know that cup is DEFINITELY overflowing, and yet I find myself getting flustered more then ever. Not that she's BAD by any means. She is a sweet and loving little girl who loves to be fun! Her determination, strong personality and ability to hyper-focus on a tasks is something that most adults lack....But I think I'm starting to see why God gave me the gift of patience! I do look forward to 20 years from now to see what she is doing in life. Maybe kicking butt and taking names in some top career, who knows?! She's definitely got the goods already to be the best at anything she does! For now, we are getting through the "terrible two's" and she's cuddling in bed going "night night" with her daddy while I type away.

Little baby Kali is in her early attempts to become mobile. If I thought things were difficult NOW I wonder how they will be a month from now! She's not quite made her forward motion yet, but she's pushing up on hands and knees so I know it's not far off. I still can't believe it's been almost 7 months since her birth! Her first birthday is going to be here before we know it and I still see her as that little newborn sleeping on my chest. Even Chan the other day was telling me that he keeps thinking she won't be able to eat cake at her birthday, because he still sees her that way too. Of course, we'll probably think that way when she's a teenager!

The little ones are growing up before our eyes! I know they are still small and I shouldn't look so far into the future, but the future keeps coming before I'm ready for it so I might as well be prepared right? I feel like I'm going to blink and when I open my eyes I'll be sitting there holding my grand kids or something! Maybe I'm crazy (probably) but it's true. I'm sure that's how my parents feel. In the mean time, I'm just going to sit back and enjoy these short, precious times with my babies and take it all in, through the fun, and the frustrating... because I know it doesn't last forever.

What a slacker I am!

Whew it's been a little bit since I've made a post! And so much has happened in the mean time.

We took Chenda to an appointment at the Shriners Hospital to see an Orthopedist. She's crazy in-toed (pigeon toed) and trips on herself constantly. Basically we were told that she is turned in at all three locations that can cause in-toeing (usually kids have it in either hips, knees or ankle...she is in all three). The said it should get better over time but will probably get worse before it's better and if it doesn't improve significantly the only thing to do is surgery. They don't do braces anymore because they found that they don't solve the problem correctly and often the child feels like they are being punished when in them. So in about a year we are to take her back if things are the same/worse and take it from there.

Kali is developing before our eyes! she now has TWO teeth (I have no photos because they aren't up far enough to see in the camera yet), and is starting to sit up like a champ! Still not overly interested in rolling over, but she really doesn't need to because she gets around just fine (thank you very much) by scooting herself backward. She can cross a room doing that! Unfortunatly it's not helping that bald spot on the back of her head!

I took her to her six month check up last week and she weighed in at 18 lb and 17.25 inches long. She's about a half inch longer and a pound lighter then her big sister was at this age. She did great in the appointment and the doctor said she looks great and is doing everything they want her to be at this age.

Making baby food for her has been going great and is really enjoyable for me. So far I have made her sweet potatoes, apples, and butternut squash, and I'm going to try some more new things next week. She is eating great and I'm about to put her on more meals a day since she's really gotten the hang of it!

On the mommy side - I'm finally going to get serious about making my bows. Hopefully one day I can make a full fledged business out of it (I would love to own a baby boutique shop), but for now I will be selling on Etsy. I don't have it all set up just yet and when I do I need to make some stuff to post and sell, but I am really excited. In the mean time I am going to make a few for a great organization a friend of mine founded up in Canada called Made By Momma. They help mothers and their babies in times of need...illness, post partum struggles, etc. They do it all free of charge and in their short time have helped so many women! I am so excited to make them, they will be giving the bows to a few of the mothers with little girls who are having a rough time.

www.madebymomma.org

So that's the update for now! Hopefully I won't be such a slacker in the future!

Six Months Already?!

Today marks my little baby bean's six month "birthday". I can't believe it has already been six months. It feels like just yesterday she was being placed in my arms for the first time. I thought it would only be appropriate to tell the story of how little Kali came to be:

As you read from an earlier post, I became pregnant just a few months after a very devastating loss of the pregnancy before. I was very happy and excited, as was Chan, and we spent the first few weeks looking forward to what was to come. I was a bit apprehensive having just had the loss, but I was still happy.

The next few weeks pretty much went off without a hitch. I decided to wait to tell anyone but close family until we had our first ultrasound at ten weeks, but then around six weeks decided I couldn't take it anymore and made my announcement. Then at the beginning of my 8th week I started to get a bad feeling about things. It was weird, I just knew something wasn't right, something was going to happen. Which takes us to Easter weekend...

The day before Easter I was feeling really nervous. I knew something was wrong, I knew it was to do with the pregnancy but I didn't know what it was. I just walked around with this terrible feeling, trying to ignore it. It wasn't until we were in church that night and I was able to sit there and think about it that it got really overwhelming. Sitting there in the sermon on the verge of a panic attack I remembered a little saying that I found on a support forum after my last loss:

God does not instill a desire within your heart without intending to fulfill it. Wait on him and you will see your dreams come alive.

I sat there, closed my eyes and repeated that in my head through the whole sermon. In fact, walking out of church that day I probably wouldn't be able to even tell you what the pastor had said because I was concentrating so much on that. After church Chan and I stopped at the store and then headed to my parents for Chinese food. I got my food, sat down and started eating, and then felt something. I ran to the bathroom and low and behold, I was bleeding....again....and a lot. Like, a LOT! So here I was trying to keep it together, I got things under control and went back to sit at the table but couldn't keep it together long and went back to the bathroom and started crying.

I remember thinking "oh not again!", I told my mom I felt stupid for crying because I thought it wouldn't be so hard this time around to loose another pregnancy. I felt stupid too, because I was crying in front of my WHOLE family, but I know they didn't care that I did. Chan and I decided to go home, and I spent the night praying for a miracle. What better weekend for a miracle then Easter weekend, after all..right??

Easter came and went and by then I was pretty much at peace that things could be going horribly wrong. Monday I called my midwife and they got me in that day for an ultrasound. Chan and I went in and I didn't want to be there. I didn't want to be shown what I thought was happening. We waited for someone to call us and I told Chan I'd rather be going in for a root canal (and if you know me you know that's saying something!) but eventually we were called and went back into the small room. The technician put the little ultrasound wand to my belly and I saw the baby...and a little flicker in her chest! I started to get excited but stopped myself since he hadn't said anything yet. then the most wonderful words ever! "well, you're still pregnant!"

STILL PREGNANT!

I sighed out loud and he let us look a little longer while he tried to figure out what had happened. Turns out I had a Subchorionic Hemorrhage. Which is basically a pool of blood behind the placenta that forms when something doesn't attach right in the first few days of pregnancy. I just had to take it easy for a while and everything would be fine! I had my miracle....

The rest of the pregnancy went text-book great, although after the scare I found it really hard to connect, to bond. People would tell me congratulations and I would say thanks all the while thinking "but we'll see what happens" in my head. It wasn't until almost mid way through the pregnancy that I was listening to the radio and the song "Halo" by Beyonce (I know it's cheesy but I'm being serious here) came on, and I listened to every word of the song. It was the first time I had heard it, and while I'm well aware this song isn't about babies or anything like that, it just made sense to me. As I was hearing the words it was like God was telling me to let go and really love this child with all of my heart and not just the part that was comfortable with it. And so I did...

The day she was born was a day of excitement and anticipation. We went into the hospital where I was going to be induced, but I was already 4cm and having regular contractions so it really didn't take a lot to really get things going. I labored hard for a few hours, then at about 6cm requested an epidural. The epidural came when I was about 9cm. No it didn't take that long, that's just how fast my labors are. I literally got it, laid down, and felt that it was time to push. And so I did....twice....and there she was, placed on my belly and into my arms. My little survivor, my angel, my Kali.









Halo -Beyonce...
Remember those walls I built
Well, baby they're tumbling down
And they didn't even put up a fight
They didn't even make up a sound

I found a way to let you in
But I never really had a doubt
Standing in the light of your halo
I got my angel now

It's like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
It's the risk that I'm takin'
I ain't never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

I can feel your halo halo halo
I can see your halo halo halo

Hit me like a ray of sun
Burning through my darkest night
You're the only one that I want
Think I'm addicted to your light

I swore I'd never fall again
But this don't even feel like falling
Gravity can't forget
To pull me back to the ground again

Feels like I've been awakened
Every rule I had you breakin'
The risk that I'm takin'
I'm never gonna shut you out

Everywhere I'm looking now
I'm surrounded by your embrace
Baby I can see your halo
You know you're my saving grace

You're everything I need and more
It's written all over your face
Baby I can feel your halo
Pray it won't fade away

What a Wonderful Weekend!

This past weekend, as everyone knows, was Mother's Day. It's such a fun day in our family. The husbands plan a dinner which usually ends up being burgers (what a great weekend for it too! Pretty much the only decent weather this year for eating outside), and then we all sit together in the living room and give each other a gift. This year we had to have Mother's Day at my parent's house a day early, but it was still just as special.

Sunday, which was actual Mother's Day, was a great day as well. The first 2/3 of the day I spent at work though, which was not exactly how I would have liked to spend it but I had a nice day talking with everyone at work and sharing silly stories of our kids.

I had told Chan not to get me anything, but couldn't help himself and when he dropped me off for work for the day I gave him a list of three things I wanted. When he picked me up and brought me home, he told me to grab something out of the trunk, and it was a shoe box! He bought be some beautiful new shoes that I had been wanting but didn't want to buy for myself (I have issues spending money on me, as most mothers do I think). After that we went out for a nice steak dinner and then came home to watch Sherlock Holmes, which I had been wanting to see but we never made it out to the theater when it had been released. The kids had gone to bed early, and I enjoyed a nice glass of syrah while we watched it. Then we were both so sleepy we crashed right after.

I got some other great gifts from family, shoes from my mom, starbucks cards from my sisters (the best gift for a mom!) and two great cookbooks from my sister in law. But of course, the greatest gift of all the the reason I get to celebrate in the first place, my beautiful baby girls! I don't even know who I would be if they weren't here. And my wonderful husband who is the best husband and father ever!

All in all it was the perfect Mother's Day (minus the having to work part).

Memories and the Bonds of Sisterhood

To have a loving relationship with a sister is not simply to have a buddy or a confident -- it is to have a soul mate for life.
-- Victoria Secunda

You know, nothing beats two napping babies and a cup of coffee in the late afternoon, with dinner simmering away on the stove just begging to be eaten. I'm not going to eat it now, of course, it's still raw..But oh how it smells delicious already! The house is clean, laundry chugging away upstairs, and I am feeling at peace in all the peace and quiet.

It's times like these that I just take a look around at all the blessings of my life and smile. I wonder what my little ones are dreaming of and hope that it is of only good things. Jelly beans and butterflies for Chenda and, well, I can't say what Kali might be dreaming of since she can't talk of her favorite things yet, but maybe something along the lines of sugar and spice and everything nice?!

It was the other night when I was laying in bed with Chenda trying to get her to fall asleep for the night. She closed her eyes and cuddled me and layed her head in the crook of my arm, and I thought back to when she was a baby. The way she used to shake her head just to keep herself awake. How, when she finally lost the battle to keep her eyes open, she fit so perfectly in that same part of my arm that she was laying in just now. The same place her baby sister lies just in just the same way... She still fits perfectly, just in a different way. She's much bigger now!

So I was laying there in the warm light of her night light thinking back to those days when she was so small. Just a couple of years have passed, and yet even though they flew by in no time, they seem so long ago. I tried to think of what the next two years would bring, how I would remember today...and though we never know how things will pan out, I prayed it will only be happy times coming our way.

She made my heart happy today when she kissed her baby sister on the cheek over and over and said "I lah you baby!". I'm sure you can guess what that means. I am so happy she has a sister to share her life with just the same way I did (I have two wonderful beautiful sisters who are my best friends). Things got off to a rocky start, as they almost always do when a new baby is brought into a family. Chan and I spent a few nights breaking up "fights" between them, snuffing out fits because she was receiving less attention. But that only lasted a short time and now she is so proud of her baby, making sure EVERYONE knows she is hers by kissing her on the cheek in public and every once in a while giving her a territorial "love tap" on the head *insert eye roll here*.

Kali loves her big sister too, she's always cracking up at the crazy things Chenda will to do make her laugh. Today Chenda was laughing extra silly because it made baby sister smile and giggle. The first thing either of them want in the morning is to see each other. I lay Chenda next to the baby and she touches her face and says "Hi baby! Hi Kali!" and baby just looks at her and smiles. It's true sisterhood is a bond of friendship from birth. Of course I know this in my own experience but it is so amazing to watch it come to life before my eyes. At such a young age they know they are meant to love one another and be friends.

My greatest prayer for them as sisters is that they will always be there for each other, even long after their parents are gone. Of course there will be fights, I know how it goes, one of them takes the other's make up on a weekend trip out of town (oh yeah Katie, I still remember that), or takes something out of the others closet (a large downside to being practically the same size as your siblings). But I pray that even when the dramas of female life is being slung at them, they will stand beside each other, and kiss and make up when they argue. I pray they will walk head on into the world hand in hand looking after one another through thick and thin, turbulence and clear blue skies.

The bond of sisterhood is one that is strong and unwavering when it is fed appropriately, and I fully intend on feeding theirs until it is so fat it can't get up and walk away.


A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life.
-- Isadora James

Do you Believe in Signs??

So I've been a bit stressed out and down on myself lately.

Recently I have had friends tell me I am "supermom". A title which I definitely don't feel like I live up to. I don't TRY to, so whenever someone says that I feel that little chuckle inside that says "yeah, if they only knew you are nowhere NEAR that!" And this is where I get down on myself.

The house is always a mess (not like gross, but you know, I have two kids, a husband and two dogs), the laundry is never caught up, I work too much, I don't spend enough time with the kids, I don't make enough money, I don't do enough for my husband, I don't do enough for me, I don't do enough to help others, etc etc etc...

All of these things spin around in my head almost constantly and bog me down, stress me out. It's a bit overwhelming. I've been praying for help, something to tell me what to do, how to de-stress my life. And you know what I get?! All of a sudden out of no where I have this desire to do volunteer work.

So I'm sitting here thinking about this one night, like "Ok God, I know you have a grand plan, but I don't know how you expect me to pull this off". I mean, I know they say God never gives you more then you can handle, but I sometimes wonder if he severely overestimates my abilities (and psychological capacity at that). Every night I have been praying about this. Not just the volunteer work (which I have decided to wait a bit till the baby is a older to start on that one), but on all the rest of it. All those other things that I feel like I don't do well enough...

Fast forward to today, and I get a package in the mail. It was actually some things I ordered for my cloth diapers which makes this even more obvious that it's no coincidence. I'm opening the package and I get to the packing receipt and stapled to it is a little card with a poem and a verse on it:

God's love is always with you
His promises are true.
And when you give your cares to him,
Just trust - He'll see you through

Cast your cares upon the Lord and he will sustain you
Psalm 55:22

Ok ok, I can take a hint. So this is the answer to my prayers...It's not twice as much money at half the hours, not a miraculously clean house or folded laundry, it's a reminder. A reminder of who is in control and that all I need to do is remember that, pray, and trust that things will work out as they should. I don't need to be overwhelmed at all the things that I sometimes think I don't do well enough.

And when I am feeling that voice in my head, that little chuckle that mocks me and tells me what I am doing isn't good enough: I just need to stop, take a breath and tell it to quiet down.

Because I may not be supermom, but I am the best mom I know how to be...And that is just fine with me.

The Ones who Never Were....

Forget me Not
"My little one You have left us too soon
Though my body can no longer hold you I hold you forever in my heart
As precious and beautiful as this flower caught in time
A mother's love does not forget"
~Kimberly de Montbrun



There are many things in this life that we don't expect. I never thought I would be one of those people who loose a pregnancy, let alone two of them. These are the stories of those little ones who I carried for a short time, but will love for the rest of my life:

November 2006 was when i got my first positive pregnancy test ever (and a few more after that)! It was faint but being that it was the first and something I always wanted, I told everyone I knew right away. I had no idea that in a few days time I would have to tell everyone I had lost it. I will spare the gorey details but I woke up one morning (November 19th to be exact...you don't forget these dates) and knew what was happening. Unsure of what to do being that I had never been pregnant before I just called in to work and stayed home with Chan that day. I cried a little, it was a huge blow. I had only just found out I was pregnant a few days earlier and hadn't really had a chance to enjoy the thought and here I was looking up what to do in the event of a loss. This all happened on a Sunday so I couldn't call the doctor (well I could but I didn't know about the on-call nurse at the time). Every time I heard of someone getting pregnant I cried. I hated even to look at a pregnant woman for a couple months, I couldn't figure out why everyone had it so easy but me. After not too long I started to feel better. I can't say I got over it easily but it did get easier over time. They say what you don't know can't hurt you, and I had no idea what I was missing... I had hope that we would try again and it would work, and it did. Almost one year later I gave birth to my first baby girl.

When Chenda was about 11 months old I became pregnant again. Chan had just left for hunting and I took a test on a whim not expecting much but extremely excited to get a positive test! Once again I shared the news with everyone. I really can't keep this stuff to myself. Things went perfectly through Chan and Chenda's birthdays, through Thanksgiving and the first week of December. I couldn't wait for Christmas and also couldn't help but think that just one year later we would be sharing the holidays as a family of four.

I had a dream one night...I was walking through the snow with Chenda to my right, and another child to my left and we were holding hands. Chenda was about as old in this dream as she is now...The other child was a little boy, about a year old and a few months. I knew instinctively although I had never seen this child in real life that he was mine. I rememver vividly what he was wearing...Little jeans with a blue "plush" winter coat, black mittens with the strings that thread through the jacket so they don't get lost, and a black beanie with the ear flaps and a ball at the top of the head. He was perfect, he looked just like his big sister...just like his daddy. None of us said anything as we walked, hand in had through the snow and into the distance......

The next day I started bleeding, a few days later I found out I would miscarry, and a few more days later (after a very long and painful Monday) it was all over. That's one thing you don't expect is how painful a natural miscarriage is. It's like labor but without the happy ending. This loss affected me much more then the first. I didn't just cry a little I went into a full on depression that lasted a couple months. I cried almost daily, sat alone on the couch and didn't sleep well for weeks. I'm still not sure why this was so much worse this time...Maybe it was because this was a painful "delivery" where I could see everything where as the last was more just like my time of the month, or because I was almost 3 months along in this pregnancy as opposed to just a couple weeks like the last. I had more time to fall in love... Maybe it was because, unlike the first time, I knew what I was missing out on. I knew what it was like to hold my baby in my arms and this wouldn't come to that. Or a combination of all of those. I was angry that God would let me see that beautiful little boy in the dream only to rip the dream away days later, I didn't understand why. I still don't but I'm not angry anymore...Maybe it was for me to remember something happy from it. Even now as I write this I can't think of it without tears.....

There was one thing different about this loss, I wasn't angry when I saw a pregnant woman after this one. I realised that maybe it wasn't so easy for everyone after all...Maybe they went through all the same things I did and would now feel the joy of being a mother like I was now doing with Chenda. I felt happy for them, I felt content that I would have another chance to give her a sibling, and my husband another little one to love, and I started to feel better. It took six long weeks for my blood tests from the doctor to read "not pregnant" and we were able to try again. Happily we were blessed not long after with the news that baby Kali was on her way!

This is a poem that helped me through...

I thought of you and closed my eyes, And prayed to God today.
I asked, “What makes a Mother?” And I know I heard him say.
“A Mother has a baby, This we know is true.”
But God, can you be a Mother When your baby's not with you?
“Yes, you can,” He replied With confidence in His voice
“I give many women babies, When they leave is not their choice.
Some I send for a lifetime, And others for a day.
And some I send to feel your womb, But there's no need to stay.”
I just don't understand this, God I want my baby here
He took a breath and cleared His throat And then I saw a tear.
“ I wish I could show you What your child is doing today.
If you could see your child smile With other children and say
‘We go to earth to learn our lessons Of love and life and fear.
My Mommy loved me oh so much I got to come straight here.
I feel so lucky to have a Mom Who had so much love for me
I learned my lesson very quickly My mommy set me free.
I miss my Mommy oh so much But I visit her each day.
When she goes to sleep On her pillow's where I lay.
I stroke her hair and kiss her cheek And whisper in her ear.
Mommy don't be sad today I'm your baby and I'm here.’
So you see my dear sweet one Your children are ok
Your babies are here in My home And this is where they'll stay.
They'll wait for you with Me Until your lesson is through.
And on the day that you come home They'll be at the gates for you.”
So now you see what makes a Mother It's the feeling in your heart.
It's the love you had so much of Right from the very start.
Though some on earth may not realize you are a Mother, Until their time is done.They'll be up here with Me one day And know that you're the best one

October 15th is pregnancy and infant loss rememberance day. Light a candle that day in memory of those little angels

Milestones, and Other Fun Times!

Over the past couple weeks there have been some great milestones in the world of little baby Kali. This is an amazing age, as she is going from a snugly little baby who doesn't do much, to an older infant (still snugly though!) who is learning, reacting, and growing in leaps an bounds!

For one she rolled over for the first time yesterday! Of course we couldn't get a video of it because you know once you get out the camera they stop doing whatever it is they were doing before. I was at work but Chan called me and shared the news! It's very exciting. She has made many attempts before but this was the first one all on her own.
Kali has also started sitting up!! She needs someone to sit her straight but can usually hold herself up for a little while.

Solid foods (and by solid I mean rice cereal with carrot puree) is the most recent introduction to Kali's diet. She likes it pretty well I suppose. She looks at me sometimes like "what are you doing?! Just give me to boob!" but she still eats it. We aren't quite at a point where she's getting 2-3 meals of 'solids' but she's got a pretty good introduction to it I think! I am currently on the lookout for some ice cube trays so I can get going on making her home made baby foods. I'm pretty excited. Baby food is getting expensive so I'm happy to save money that way and also knowing that I can experiment more with different flavors of food.

And then there's Chenda! This little girl never fails to crack me up!! Her most recent shenanigan is turning all of her crayons into lipstick. The other day she put some of this "lipstick" on and then fell asleep for the night. I didn't want to wake her to wipe it off so I just put her to bed and figured I would take care of it when she woke up in the morning. Needless to say it looked like the Joker was in our bed in the morning!

Chenda's new favorite dance is the Robot Dance. Yes, my two year old does the Robot Dance thanks to the Disney Channel, and today she was teaching her baby sister to do it by moving her arms and legs around. I was cracking up, and of course I had to join in and do the Robot myself. One day I'm going to have to get that on video.

So that is the most recent fun we are having in our home! I can tell you one thing there is never a dull moment with these two little ones constantly learning, growing and running around doing silly things.

It seems today is Earth Day!

I swear I'm so spacey, I didn't even realise it. There is so much we have been doing lately (and some stuff we've always done) to be more earth concious.

*For one we have always kept a garden in the summer. We grow everything from herbs to tomatoes to lettuce and everything in between. It's more Chan's project: I've never been much of a gardener...But I do enjoy helping out by cooking all those delicious veggies!! This year I intend on being better about par-cooking and freezing the veggies that can withstand it so that we can enjoy them for a longer period of time.
*We switched Kali to cloth diapers. Fuzzi Bunz to be exact. I love them...They save me money and they save the landfill from not only more diapers that will take centuries to decompose, but it keeps the human waste out *yuck* and in the sewer system where it belongs.
*Started using natural cleaning agents. We have been using 7th Generation cleaning products. I love them. I have always been one of those people who is paranoid about setting stuff on the tables or counters that would go in to the kids' mouths. Now I dont have to worry so much anymore. We also wash our clothes in cold water, and I clean the hard floors with a steam mop. It not only doesn't need chemical cleaners but works off straight tap water and gets hot enough to sanitize the floors.
*Chan's car will very soon be able to run off E-90 Flex Fuel. I'll bo honest I dont really know what that means, but I do know it burns way cleaner then regular fuel (and on another good note costs less then $2 a gallon)
*Keep lights off during the day...This will be much easier when the sun decides to come out, but we can still keep it minimal.
*I will very soon be making all of Kali's baby food out of organic fruits and veggies (and when our garden is ready out of veggies right out of our backyard!)

So those are the things we do to help the environment (and our wallets too really!) What do you do?? I think it's important no matter what you feel about global warming to do your part to help the Earth. After all, we only have one home and just as we all want to keep our houses clean we should also want to keep the world outside clean as well, as we need the world to sustain us all.

An Introduction...

And so, here I am. I gave in and decided to give this whole Blog thing a go...Generally I'm no good at these things, but I am determined to keep up on this. I suppose the best place to start would be an introduction:

I am Breanna. Wife, sister, daughter and mother of two. I have lived in basically the same place my entire life and really can't imagine living anywhere else. I have many hobbies, most of which I actually have no time to participate in anymore, but it makes enjoying those things that much sweeter.

My husband of the last *almost* four years is Chan. He is, as I like to so eloquently put it, "the butter to my bread, the bread to my life"...ok ok so I got that off the movie Julie & Julia, but it states how I feel to a T. Without him my life would be a hollow shell of what it is.

And then there are the kiddos. They are the most beautiful, silly little girls there ever was. So yes, I am probably biased but who wouldn't be?!


Chenda is the oldest and almost 2 1/2. Talk about a fire cracker! She can run circles around you all day, keep you on your toes, and make you feel so loved all at the same time. She loves play dough, basketball, having her finger and toe nails painted, balloons, and apparently as I have learned recently, eating dog treats and washing her hands in the toilet. For the last one, don't worry, we have implemented the necessary tools to combat this (a toilet lock from babies R us). She is a spunky little two year old. Saying the cutest things, singing songs with all the wrong words, and throwing fits when she doesn't get her way. Sometimes, all I can do is sit back and laugh at all the crazy things she does. But at the same time, all it takes is one kiss and one "ah-yooo mommy (love you mommy)" to make the worst day turn around in an instant.


Kaliyan (Kali) is the newest addition to our little family at 5 1/2 months old. She is one of those little ones that you can look in her eyes and tell she's lived at least a few lifetimes. An "old soul" as they say. As much as I love her baby-ness I am so interested to see how she grows and how her personality unfolds. Don't get me wrong, she loves to laugh and play too, in fact she laughed for the first time at just one week old! But you just can't help but smile when she looks at you. Kali loves her big sister and they often share long conversations that only they can understand.

So with that I begin this little diary of my many adventures with these loves of my life...Motherhood has been the most rewarding, terrifying, joyous, tiring, anxiety ridden, fun, and enlightening experience of my life...And I am loving every minute of it!