Happy Birthday, Baby Richie, Baby Auguilera & ME!!

Welcome to the world, baby Richie (Harlow Winter Kate Madden) and baby boy Auguilera (name TBD)!

Today was also my birthday and now I am officially into my 30's. Wow, has time gone by fast. Sometimes it feels like it was yesterday that I was 22 living with my friends and other times I feel every bit of my 30's - like this continuous neck pain I have had for the last 3 days! Anyhow, it was a great birthday !

Happy New Year!

A Belated Merry Christmas - the holidays got the best of me and now we are about to ring in the New Year! Tis the season. It was a great Christmas. Grace enjoyed the many beautiful gifts she received, however my house is officially consumed by toys. Oh well, she's happy!

I can't believe another year has come and gone and that it is the eve of 2008. Really, where has the time gone?!?! 2007 was a good year. I am thankful for my wonderful family, good health for all my loved ones and great friends. I hope 2008 is just as blessed.

I have never been one to set resolutions for the New Year. However, I do take the out look that with a new year comes a new time to improve myself, especially as I approach my birthday and become a year older. It might be the fact that I have a January birthday, therefore my age always becomes an issue to me this time of year. Last year, I was approaching a big bday with leaving my 20's behind me - I can't even tell how quick that decade came and went. This year is a pretty uneventful birthday. I even think I like the sound of 31 vs. 30. But is a big year for many of my loved one's - there big 3-0's, my sister's wedding and another blessed year of watching Grace grow and mature into a little girl!

This year I will set a resolution. I will make myself commit. In 2008 my resolution will be to take the time to breath and enjoy life - cherish and enjoy my family and friends that I am so grateful to have in my life. To focus on what I have rather than what I do not have. To enjoy where I am at vs always looking to the future at where I will be. Given my personality, I am sure at times this will be a challenge but I think it will make 2008 a great one!

Cheers to a New Year! Health and Happiness to all.

This is a keeper!

The NY Times published an article titled, "101 Simple Appetizers in 20 Minutes or Less". How perfect is that. I know I always struggle on what appetizer to bring to a party. Now I always opt for something simple and quick. I will try to make note of something I had a party before but I always forget. Well, with the holiday season in full force and trying to get your last minute shopping and everything else done, this could make life a bit simpler :)

This is one that I will print and save in the recipe files. Plus, they all really sound delicious and easy!

Happy Holidays! 6 Days to Christmas!

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/dining/19mini.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&em&en=24a32ff82114e284&ex=1198213200

The Girl has got Soul (ja)!!

I think I have mentioned in the past that Grace has a true love for music. She adores "The Wiggles", loves when Elmo sings and her favorite CD is Fisher Price's, Songs and Games for the Road. As I previously stated, it is music that can calm Grace when she is having a moment. It puts her in an almost catatonic state. It is pretty funny to me. Well, we can add a new favorite to Grace's list, Soulja Boy - you know - "Crank that Soulja Boy, Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll , Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy!". Hilarious. By the way, I thought it was Soldier Boy until I googled it. That was a mom moment...I am getting old.

Anyway, today we were running a million errands and Grace became very antsy in the car - almost crazy! Well, I couldn't listen to one more children's song so I just blasted Soulja Boy to tune out the whining. To my surprise, she sat back and enjoyed the song, even danced a bit in her seat. Maybe it was the base or maybe she just gave up?!? Not sure. All I know is she loved it! She even "mored me" in sign language because she wanted to hear it again when the song was over. Maybe Santa will get her the CD to add to her collection or maybe not. Oh, my little rock star.....


At first I thought she was a bit young to appreciate this song, however these kids aren't too far behind. Also, note what a great dancer that little boy is....wow!

Tis the Season!

I can't believe Christmas is exactly 21 days away....the tree is not up, the house is not decorated and our Christmas cards have not been sent. Shame on me! I am way behind schedule this year!
It has been a busy couple weeks and now I have to get in pure holiday mode. Full speed ahead with getting all these items wrapped by this weekend. Wish me luck. However, I know I am not the only one in this boat, as they say, "Tis the Season!"

So, to kick off the holiday season, here are some hilarious pictures of Miss Grace visiting Santa this past weekend. As you can see she wanted nothing to do with with big fella, there was nothing jolly about this encounter....

Tis the Season

I have had no time to post over the last week and it looks like things will be just as busy through Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Husband Home = Project Time!

My dear husband is starting a new job come December and has been home the last week as he awaits for this new career venture. We are all excited for him to start and I have my own reasons other then his professional goals....

The week started out well - we made a list of things that needed to get down and we set dates to complete each project. We have been chipping away at all that needs to get done but in the meanwhile my house is a disaster and I haven't had much "me" time. And the list of things to do just seems to grow and grow! Our main objective from a household perspective is to de-junk! The master bedroom has turned into a storage locker with a bed in the middle. It has been my pet peeve for the past 6 months. Most of it is baby items namely a bassinet that still sits on my side of the bed and Grace is 16 months old. So, needless to say I have been occupied.

Well, back to the grind - need to make sure Mr. Roundhead is hard at work!!!

She's Making Her List and Checking It Twice...

Do realize there is only 46 days until Christmas?? Wow, the holidays are quickly approaching.

Grace doesn't exactly know what Christmas is or that Santa Claus will be coming to town, but she has made notice of the 10+ toy catalogs that arrive in the mail on daily basis. She actually turns each page with an oooh and ahhh...pointing at dolls and Elmo saying, "Mama...Mama..." Like look mom, I want that!

Well, last night I told her we need to make our list for Santa. You will need to be really good and let Santa know all the toys that you want. I think she took me a bit seriously....


"Hi Santa, "
"Oh, ok, I'll hold....."


" Where do I start with this list? I am new at this...."

Babies, Babies and More Babies!

This has been the week of new babies or at least in my world. I know of 4 babies that were born in just the last week that are either family, friends or acquaintances. That doesn't include the 8 other babies I know that are coming before March! Babies are so in!

Well, all these babies made me think about being pregnant and having baby #2. After Grace was born, I was SO thrilled and immediately in love with her but I was also certain that I did not want to be pregnant again for a LONG time! I didn't mind the child birth part (even though it included 3 hours of pushing and 14 hours of labor) and I didn't mind the first 7 months of pregnancy but the last 2 months and 9 days - as I was 9 days late with Miss Grace - were pretty tough. One I was huge - big baby and swollen like a watermelon! No ankles and sausage fingers for two whole months! Partly, due to the hot summer we had and my propensity to swelling anyways! And that she was so low for so long and it hurt to even walk plus the sciatic nerve pain and heart burn. Needless to say, I was so uncomfortable. It was a long pregnancy.....


BUT SOOOO worth it.....


Well, after seeing pictures of these new bambinos - so tiny, so precious, so small compared to my ever growing, maturing Grace. It made me realize that I don't want her to grow up so fast and that time is actually flying...how did she become 15 months?? It also made me contemplate when do we have #2. Although, I do want more children, no doubt, it does make me think about sharing my love. I know it is normal, but it is hard to imagine loving another baby as much as I love my darling, Grace. Will it rock her world that she won't be our only pride and joy? How does it work?? Obviously, I know it does and the greatest gift I could give her would be siblings.

These are my deep thoughts for today. Now I am going to go get my little Grace from her nap and enjoy our time before my other big kid gets home from work.

Halloween Fun!

Grace had a great Halloween. She was blessed to be surrounded by her Grandma, Grandpa and aunts and uncle. We went to a city park that had wonderful Halloween activities for kids of all ages. It included a puppet show, a man on stilts and costumed people handing out candy. A lot fun had by all! Here are some pics of our evening!

Happy Halloween!

I love Halloween as I know many of you do out there. So in the spirit of this fun day, here is our precious girl as Dorothy! She wore her costume to her friends birthday party last week and will be wearing it again tonight for the festivities so there will probably be more pictures tomorrow!

Happy Halloween :)

No, No...

Everything is now "No." in our household. Grace has reached this famous milestone. I ask her, "Grace, do you want some milk?" or "Grace, can I have a hug?" I now get a very confident and certain, "No." as her reply along with a head shake to reinforce her point. It really is cute. She knows what it means and is using it a very matter of fact way. I see a glimpse of our teenage years - it is like she is going on 15 and not 15 months!
But then I look at that adorable face and chubby cheeks and I want to kiss and hug her no matter what she says! It is also a big milestone for our communication. I know when she responds with no that she really means it. It is one less option in the guessing game! I also know that she does know what No means, so when I tell her No and she ignores me that we indeed have a normal mother/daughter relationship....no matter if she is 15 months or 15 years!

Living Life...

On the advice of my dear mother in-law, I watched the Oprah show from yesterday. I was hesitant when I saw the preview of the show, as it was about something we all want to avoid discussing, death. However, from her strong recommendation she told me that it was so much more about living, something we all had to see. I was tempted. So, I recorded the late airing of the show and figured I would watch it when I had a few minutes alone.

So, I made some coffee this morning and prepared myself to watch two individuals with terminal cancer discuss their outlook on life. It was amazing. It had it's sad moments but it was SO much more a lesson on life than death. It is so true in life we often don't think of the meaning of life and it's importance until we are faced with death.

The first guest was a woman, Kris Carr, who talked about "Crazy, Sexy, Cancer" - actually the name of her documentary and book and how she manages her cancer with a healthy lifestyle and even refers to cancer as her guru. She is way more than the cancer but an inspiration for all of us on how we should live our lives. One line, I loved that she said was, "I think life is just too sweet to be bitter." How true.

The second guest was Randy Pausch. He is a married, father of 3 young children and a professor at Carnegie Mellon who is also dying from cancer. I was most hesitant to hear his story as the basis of his tragedy hit so close to home. However, we were graced with his presence as he gave his last lecture as he did for his students. Again, so inspiring and amazing. I pulled so much from his words but something that I loved was his advice on apologizing. He noted there are only 3 parts to an apology:
1) I am sorry.
2) I was wrong.
3) What can I do to fix it.

Wow! How often do we apologize and include the words BUT or some way to justify how we acted or what we said? I know I do. And I realized in his advice that in those time I was not apologizing. This will change for me as I remind myself of his words.

Overall, it was a lot of information to take in but something I needed to hear. I have had the unfortunate luck to be in the face with cancer and see the one's I love face this battle. It had been tragic for me, but I know I am not alone. Losing my father when I was 16 was horrific and being that I was just 16 I didn't pull much from the situation other than it was unfair and I was understandably hurt and angry. I don't know that I could have felt differently or that I should have at the time. I do know that his death and cancer did not define him and that I when I think of him I think of good memories and times we had together. However, as the years have gone by the one positive I have pulled from my loss is the appreciation for life. But I do get caught up in the nonsense of day to day life and need to be reminded of the blessings in life and to live each day in that way.

A couple years ago, a sorority sister of mine faced a battle with cancer and lost her life and she was just in her late 20's. She had the courage to document her fight and share with so many friends, family and complete strangers on her battle with this disease. She was always inspiring and always brave. It was actually the first blog that I read religiously. Although, I was not very close to her and had not seen her in recent years, I felt her battle. I wanted to read about her journey and I wanted her to be okay. In the end I do believe she was okay - she always was bigger than cancer and even though she passed on, she has left a legacy. As I watched these individuals on the Oprah show speak of their journey, I thought of Katie and I knew I had felt this inspiration before.

Watching this show I had to pinch myself once again. I needed to be reminded to appreciate life for what is and what is for today. It made me a better person, mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend to watch this show. It once again reminded me of the simple things in life, something I far too often forget. I highly recommend visiting www.oprah.com to see clips from this show. It was truly amazing and something you will not forget.

Thanks Mom!

Slacker Mom??

All fellow moms out there, I am sure we have each asked ourselves this question at some point, "Am I a slacker mom? or Am I being a bad mom?" I know I have and I only have Grace and she is just 14 months. It comes up when I turn on PBS or NOG to just get a few minutes of down time. Or when I use her nap time to read or surf the web, when I should be cleaning the bathrooms. Or maybe when I put Grace in her highchair with a tray full of goldfish while I try to fix dinner. Am I being slacker or am I just coping? I can only imagine what my guilt will lead me to believe when I have more than one adorable child....

Is the mom that puts on Clifford and just wants to 20 minutes to read a magazine a slacker mom? I know the answer is no - we can only read so many" Ruff, Ruff, Where is Scruff?" or sing "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" before we are committed. I don't think there is a slacker mom out there other than the abusive, druggie types, but again I don't think the question was meant for them since the answer is obvious. This question was a headline in my iGoogle this morning - if the questions wasn't silly enough, check this quiz...

www.areyouaslackermom.com

A Day at the Pumpkin Patch

Grace had a wonderful time picking her pumpkins, it actually was a great time had by the whole family. Here are some cute pictures of Grace - she is getting so old and so big! She cracks us up everyday and we just love her so. With that face, how could you not!