My not so little, little girl.

I didn't plan on writing a post today. In fact, these UTI pills called Nitrofurantoin have seriously been kicking my butt.  They have made me feel unbelievably tired.  I finally decided that I would research this medication and see if "being tired" was part of the deal with these things, because I can hardly keep my eyes open these last few days.  Having taken a nap with Morgan each day just to get through the remaining part of my day.  Indeed, drowsy, was part of the deal.  Although, I did read the following:  

What side effects can this medication cause? 

Nitrofurantoin may cause side effects. Your urine may turn dark yellow or brown; this effect is harmless. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

• upset stomach
• vomiting
• loss of appetite

If you experience any of the following symptoms, call your doctor immediately:

• difficulty breathing
• excessive tiredness
• fever or chills
• chest pain
• persistent cough
• numbness, tingling, or pinprick sensation in the fingers and toes
• muscle weakness
• swelling of the lips or tongue
• skin rash

Which is what I would call what I am experiencing, but what is excessive in their books? Anyways, it's now Friday evening and office is closed.  Thankfully, Mark is home and can help with baby girl when I need to sleep, in which I have done a lot of over the last couple of days.  In fact, I am surprised I am up and able to write this post.  I thought, while Morgan was sleeping, I would FINALLY get around to putting my family cruise trip, photo album together.  I have an hour and something left in download time, shutterfly.com tells me, so I figured I would take the time and write a quick post.  On Tuesday, I'll get my lab results back in from the doctor and she will be able to tell me if the medicine she gave me is the correct kind and I can hopefully be finishing up with the remaining days and be done.  If not, she may tell me that I need a different kind and I will have to start over.  Either way, hopefully I have just a few days left of this type I have now and I can get back to my life in the not so drowsy way.  

Anyone else taken Nitrofurantoin before?  

So my not so little, little girl is sleeping.  She had a pretty rough start to her day today, and a pretty rough ending to her evening, yesterday.  

Let's start with yesterday.  

Baby girl is not being a very good listener or quick to obey when it comes to playing or eating the cat food.  She knows and understands the word "no," but she often looks right at us and just does what she wants to do anyways.  Well, daddy finally had enough and he took charge to discipline her.  He spat her hand and made her cry.  Then he placed her in a little corner, facing her towards it in timeout for about three minutes.  He held her there not allowing her to turn around and kept telling her the whole three minutes, "timeout, no cat food."  While I sat there with my hand over my mouth, partly laughing, partly wanting to cry because she looked so cute and I felt so bad for her. I wanted to rescue her.  She had no idea what this timeout stuff was about and why she was being held to face the wall of a corner.  She looks so little next to daddy. 

Then after all that drama, she was playing with the cat.  Recently, she has been getting a little too rough with the cats.  Laying on them too hard, or pulling them by their tails.  They are getting pretty old and so their bodies can't tolerate all that heaviness as much, but they are always very gentle and forgiving of Morgan.  That was until last night when she was on top of Milo and I guess he was trying to escape and some how his back claw scratched her arm.  She of course started to cry.  

After feeding her and putting her to bed, I told daddy that I thought we needed to save the hand spatting and harsh punishment (for her age) for more serious things that can really hurt her, and not over things like playing with the cat food.  That will (playing with cat food) eventually get old to her, its not hurting her or anything, and I just want to make sure she understands the "not allowed" stuff and punishment that goes with it if she does do it, versus the "no" things that are just going to take time, patients and repetitiveness to get it through to her.  

He too then starts to feel bad and we both go sneak into her room (as we often have and do) to stare at her, rub her little hand that was spat and kiss her head and tell her we love her once again.  

I tell you, it really does pull at the parents heart strings when you first start having to take action and discipline your children.  Their little faces get so upset, confused and their feelings hurt.  Its tuff love for parents to give sometimes.  

Then today she fell a couple of times pretty hard before leaving for church.  We get to church, place her in her class, where she willingly and cheerfully runs in without looking back to show to anyone that was interested in her teddy bear.  She does this at the gym too.  She totally understand "lets go bye-bye" and we tell her she can take one item and to "go get baby or teddy."  Today, she chose teddy to take with her.  When she walks in she starts showing everyone her teddy.  Today, out of no where she walks up with a smile to show this other little girl her teddy, when the little girl for no reason what so ever just smack's Morgan in her face.  It's a good thing mommy didn't see it or I would have had to jump over the little child gate in the doorway. Daddy saw it though and said it was not very nice at all.  

To continue her little rough patch, we go to pick her up after church and she has this big welt on her right cheek.  When asked what happened, the lady went to explain that she climbed up and fell off of this toy and hit the side of her face.  Sigh.  My little girl just looks so beat up right now, with bruises, scratches and red marks.  But that doesn't stop her from being HER.  A very sweet, tender, loving, kind and gentle not so little, little girl. 

She is TALL, thus the "not so little" part I keep repeating.  She is as tall as most two-year-olds, and so she is also often confused to be older than she is around other kids.  She is still just a baby of only 15 months old. She is just a big tall 15 month old.  Not her fault.  

She really is just the sweetest little girl.  

She loves to give hugs and kisses.  She is also girly.  She loves to wear bracelets, carry purses around on her arm, talk on phones, carry her babies or teddy around.  She loves humming and singing.  She is a really happy girl. 

Her vocabulary is growing by the day.  I recently just purchased "yourbabycanread.com" program.  I got mine on ebay for less than $60.00, in case you were wondering.  I am convinced that this program is surely worth the try with Morgan.  She learns fast and quickly is able to repeat things that you try to tell her to say. Its really beautiful and exciting to watch.  I remember having Hunter saying his ABC's by this time and age as Morgan is now, but his vocabulary was much smaller.  So, I am really looking forward to getting this program and to see where she is by her 2nd birthday in April.  

Aside from all the things she is learning daily and constantly surprising us with.  I also got to witness her first "fear." I say her first, only because its the first thing that I have actually seen her express true fear of.  Can you guess what that may be?  

The VACUUM.  

I think the reason for so many kids being scared of the vacuum is for a couple of reasons.  One, it's loud, and two, they don't see it every day, so when you bring it out weekly or however often one brings out their vacuum cleaner, it starts to be the fear of the "unknown" of what that thing really is and or does.  They don't understand that you or sucking up dirt and things off the floors and carpets.  I thought it was very sad, and a little cute, watching her get all scared over the vacuum. She would sit down and curl up her legs in criss-cross apple sauce and then tuck her arms in between her legs and scream.  It's what she does when she is a little scared, tucks her arms in.  If I am holding her, and she gets shy or a little nervous about something, she tucks her arms in between herself and my body.  

My favorite right now is that she loves, wait let me really express what I am trying to say....she LOOOVVVEEESSSS watching Choo Choo Soul videos on my computer or iPhone.  She sits in my lap, folds her legs in, gets all comfortable and sits as long as I will let her and watches those videos on youtube over and over again.  I love looking at her little ears, and shoulders from behind as she sits in my lap.  I play with her hair, and if you follow me on twitter, you saw that I even got a little braid in her hair for the first time the other night.  

She is becoming such a good eater.  She is allowing me to explore with different things to see what she will or will not like or eat.  Trying to widen her choices in eating, but keeping it very healthy at the same time.  

Next week Morgan will have a little friend to play with.  My blog friend Daniella, from "Learning to Love Every Moment" blog, is bring her family and pregnant belly to stay with me for an entire week.  It will be our first time to meet face to face.  I am so excited.  Its her family's last vacation before their little boy arrives and I am thrilled she chose to come here and stay with me.  I can't wait to see our little girls playing together.  Mark said to me last night "I see Morgan possibly getting into her first fight this next week" and starts to laugh.  I guess I can see it too, since it will really be the first time that we have had another child in our home close to Morgan's age, that Morgan will have to share HER own things with.  She won't be in the class at church or the gym, or at someone else home with toys of her own to play and share.  This will be her own home and toys to share.  So it will be fun and interesting to see come Saturday of this week when they arrive.  

Well, I think my pictures are about to be done uploading and I know Morgan will be waking up soon so I better wrap up this unplanned post.  I will post a couple of pictures here, and eventually, hopefully this week, I will get more pictures posted to my Facebook albums.  If you don't already follow me, you can easily by clicking on my facebook button to the left of my blog.  Friend me if you have an account, if not, you don't need one to view the pictures in my album.  

For your little quick fix.... feast your eyes out on this precious and adorable little girl in my life. 

I ...............LOVE..............HER.................SO...............MUCH................!!!!!!

My Wedding Dress:

Kelly at Kelly's Corner Blog, is having a 'show your real life wedding dress' carnival today.  Just like any girl, I think this gives the perfect excuse to post pictures of our wedding dresses and then cry when we look back over them, remember the moment and feeling we felt that day.  

(I love how my little guy looks all dressed up)

(I loved the bridesmaid dresses, in chocolate brown.)

Everyone of my girls looked beautiful. 

(Yes, it was raining on my outside wedding, and then came a down pour)

(I just love this picture)

(Our mother and son dance, I am bawling.  The song "Up to the Moon" by Kim Hill)

(I like the black and white image of us running inside from the storm and down pour)
My wedding day:  February 11, 2007
More pictures in slide show at bottom of my blog if you haven't ever seen it.   Now head over to Kelly's blog and see more beautiful wedding dresses. 

Broadway + City Lights + Parks + Good Eats = NYC

Energy.  

Energy is the first word that comes to mind when I think of Manhattan.  I love the energy in the city.  I seem to really feel this kind of energy in two cities out of all the cities I have been to, and that would be L.A. and NYC.  Some would even say Vegas gives off that energy, but not to me.  When I think of Vegas, I think of smoke, sounds of slot machines, and filth.  It always seems dirty to me, and I think its because of all the smoking with the gambling.  

This is agreed upon between both me and Mark.  We both just love the city of Manhattan.  I love looking at all (and many) tall building that surround you.  The herds of people walking in every direction there is around you.  The good smells (but not the bad smells) from all the great places to eat.  The lights.  The entertainment.  The sounds.  

We both say "we could live there." 

Let's start from the beginning.  

This was our first getaway (alone) with no kids.  This was also my first time away (ever) from Butterfly.  I thought I was going to have an separation anxiety panic attack, from her.  This was our first getaway as a married couple alone since our honeymoon.  Needless to say, it was way over due and much needed.  

We took off Friday morning, arriving in JFK airport around noon.  We get a cab, head to our hotel and check in.  We ended up getting our hotel room from "points" on our American Express card.  Go figure.  We stayed at the beautiful Sofitel Hotel.  That's French, in case you were wondering.  They take so much pride in it, that they hire french employees only to work there.  

Our room wasn't big, but I would take nice over size any day.  It was a beautiful room.  The bed was comfy, even though Marks feet did hang off of it.  (Laughing as I type that!) The bathroom and shower was nice.  We acted like honeymooners and well, did what honeymooners do when they first arrive to their room.  HA! (TMI - too much info?) This is my blog, remember that.  

(Hotel, Mark getting hair cut and checking out the city)

Then after that, what do honeymooners normally look for next?  FOOD! 

We heard Stage Deli was the place to grab a great sandwich.  Let me just say this, I thought NYC was known for the amazing pizza slices, but I have to say I think it's a pretty close run with their sandwiches.  These sandwiches were so huge, it was like having an entire animal on your plate.  Actually, I don't like the way that sounds, but for me I had the turkey club, and it was like having an entire turkey on my plate.  It was so good.  The ice tea in NYC, awesome also.  However, it was pricey.  We dropped a whopping $60 for two sandwiches.  Crazy, but mmmmmm.... good! 

We had made dinner reservations for Del Frisco's when we arrived at our hotel, but not knowing how big our sandwiches would be, we quickly slowly walked over to Del Frisco's to move our dinner reservations to the following night.  There was no way we were going to be able to eat a nice steak dinner at 6:00 PM after just eating that big of a late lunch at 3 ish.  

We then walked around for about an hour, then Mark decided he didn't like his hair cut he just got the day before in Florida.  We found a barber shop and had them buzz it back off. Our first day in the city and here we are getting a hair cut.  Silly, silly boy!  See men (especially mine) care about their appearance and hair just as much as we girls do.  We then headed back to our room, where we ended up taking an awesome nap before getting up and ready for our musical on Broadway.  We decided to see Rock of Ages.  What a great choice too, I tell you.  Mark, my 80's music lover knew every song in the entire show.  He loved telling the me song name and singer at the beginning of every sound.  This show was full of amazing talent.  The singers, the band and the creative art behind it all.  I love that stuff. I do believe if I had to do it all again, I would totally have experienced my feet in Broadway.  I love everything about Broadway shows.  

We ended up sitting in front of this fun group of women.  Guess where they were from?  TEXAS!  Then to top it off, as we were talking with them, the group in front of us then turns around to tell us that they too were from TEXAS.  To continue on, the college girl in front of us there with her parents, is really good friends with one of the ladies behind us nieces or daughter, something like that, so they ended up taking pictures together and chatting.  It was a great time.   The girls outfits are little to nothing, but if you don't focus on that, its a really great show.  

After the show we walked Time Square, while making our way over to Bryant Park, which was only three blocks or so from our hotel.  Unfortunately, it was closed already and so we just held hands and walked the city, while chatting whatever came to mind.  

On our way back we decided to chow down on a late night dinner at the Red Flame, this little diner next to our hotel.  It wasn't bad food, but in wasn't the best out of all the places we did eat at.  However, it got the job done by filling up our tummy's before turning in for the night.  

Saturday, after waking up to a great nights sleep.  No up in the middle of the night screaming, no getting up to check on baby girl to see if she is warm or cold.  No baby monitor making annoying sounds all through the night by radio waves in the air. Just a white-noise machine, a comfy bed, one eye mask, no kids, one full belly and one great nights sleep.   

We get up and Mark had "Metro Cafe" on his mind for breakfast.  So, Metro Cafe it was.  After breakfast we went back to the hotel and got ready for our travels to the Yankee stadium.  

By the way, this whole Google Maps app..... AMAZING!!!  I mean that app/program totally rocks the house.  It was so quick, so sharp, so informative with anything and everything that we needed getting around NYC.  I love it.  It is by far my new favorite thing on my phone and I didn't even know it was on my phone for the longest time.  Who needs a tour guide map ever again when there is Google Map?  Sorry, had to throw all of that in there, because it was very cool having that app in the palm of our hands.  It made getting around New York a breeze.  Its also cool when you are using cabs, so you know they are not taking you the long route.  HA! 

Okay, back to the Yankees game.  We arrived, and the new and old stadium are crazy close to one another.  For Mark he had so many mixed emotions going into the new stadium.  He missed the smell and the energy that came from the history of the old stadium.  The one he grew up knowing.  For me, the new stadium was top of the line and great.  I obviously didn't grow up going to games at the old stadium, and so the history and stuff that Mark speaks of, I can appreciate, but couldn't relate in full.  

Our friends Joe and Kim Girardi rocked the house with leaving us VIP tickets at will call to some amazing seats.  We sat 20 rows up, behind home plate.  Oh yes we did.  We did not expect that at all.  We knew we would have good seats, and we were just thankful for anything that Joe could give us.  Mark just wanted to see his Yankees and check out the new stadium.  When we picked up the tickets, Marks response was "WOW!" over and over again like ten times, as a kid would be walking into a candy store for the first time.  It was very cute to witness my thirty something husband become 8 years old again.  

It was a very hot day, but that didn't stop us from having a good time.  We got some sun on our arms and legs.  My honey purchased me a Marc Teixeira t-shirt, that I changed into and sported around.  If you follower me on TWITTER, then you recall my comment about me sporting the only 'gear'.  Yea, I was like what the heck man? Come to a Yankees game and my honey seemed more concerned about what he looked like than I did for once.  I rocked out a Yankee t-shirt and hat that I brought from home.  And there was Mark with his black shirt on, and his Yankee ball cap folded in his back pocket.  Whateverrrrrr!!!!  

And get this, the last time Mark attended and watched a Yankees game in the Yankee Stadium was back in 1998, I believe he said.  The last game he attended in that stadium, David Cone pitched, and Joe Girardi played catcher.  How crazy is it (and we had no idea about this until this weekend) that David Cone came out to throw the first pitch of the game, and while Joe (now the Manager of the Yankees) came out to catch?  Pretty crazy, if I say so myself.  I think that is pretty radical.  What are the odds?  

By the way, I looked good in my Yankees get up too! HA! Just in case you were wondering. 

After getting into our one and only argument of the trip, over NACHOS.  We had a great time at the game.  Yes, we argued over nachos.  I am a pretty easy going person.  I let Mark pick every single restaurant, show, event, hotel.... the entire weekend in New York.  The one time I decided to stand up and voice what I WANTED, we get into an argument.  I eat like a child. I eat my food very simple, very plain and boring.  Mark ate an hot dog, we decided we would go get my nachos.  On MY nachos I wanted beef and cheese only.  Then here was Mark telling the lady to put this salsa on the side, peppers on the side, sour cream on the side. As you know, these little bowls they put the nachos in aren't big at all to begin with.  By the time she got through putting all that stuff "on the sides" (every corner of my bowl) there was very little left uncovered of my beef and cheese only.  I of course get my feathers all ruffled up, because I was hot and hungry.  I wanted my nachos the way I wanted MY nachos.  After all they were MY nachos.  Let's just say that we sat a few innings in silence. I still enjoyed the game.  I think Mark came to his senses and realized how inconsiderate he was about MY nachos, when after all I hadn't made one choice for us the entire time we were there.  I let him do what he wanted to do to make this a fun weekend trip for him, and I was there for the ride.  I can go with the flow, just as long as you don't mess with MY FOOD.  LOL!!  We made up before we left the game, and back to being honeymooners again.  

We had to go back to the hotel and makeup before going for a walk to Bryant Park.  We sat in the reading room for a few and just relaxed.  The weather was perfect and breezy.  Oh and sorry, mom and mom-in-law if some of this is too much info (again).   I love you guys though.  LOL!  Writers don't need to tip toe around things or hide details.  I think its fun and keeps things interesting.  Besides I am trying to not leave anything out, so when I look back on this, sort of like the movie Note Book.  I want to remember all the details, good, bad and juicy.  This is what life is about, creating such memories.  

After that, we again took an amazing two hour nap, before getting up and ready for dinner.  Funny thing is,  I didn't sleep very much at all the night before we flew to NY.  I thought I would try and sleep with Morgan in Hunters bed my last night with her.  Yea, lets just say that was a very, very, very bad plan.  She woke up and thought it was play time, it took me over an hour to get her back to sleep.  I got very little sleep.  So my first day in NY, I was so tired.  I had suggested in the cab about wanting to get in a nap at some point.  Mark sort of shook his head as in disagreeing, saying "I didn't come to NY to sleep."  Go figure.... we ended up taking naps, and naps that Mark himself suggested.  Realizing how good he felt after those naps.  So much like a kid he is, right?  Like taking Hunter to Disney, tired as heck, but doesn't want to be made to take a nap.  Once he finally gets in his nap, realizes how great it felt and glad he did take a nap after all.  Napping is a good thing.  Good for the entire body, and for those around you if you didn't get any sleep the night before.  I'm just say'in.  

Finally, we made it to Del Frisco's.  You want to go to a place for a 'right on the money' steak, then Del Frisco's is the place.  Sort of like "the man." We had a great time enjoying an amazing dinner, just the two of us, talking and holding hands.  Getting to know 'Paul' our waiter really well in the process.  Nice guy.  After a bottle of wine (had by only Mark),  Mark and Paul were pretty chatty.   We won't talk about that bill for two, because you know if you are at a nice steak house, its going to be a pretty penny, dime, nickel, quarter....leg, arm, your daughters college fund, to pay for that meal.  You get the picture.  The leg and arm probably worth it though, it was a very classy, tasty and delicious dinner to have had.  

(Does he look like he had a whole bottle of wine? I can tell! LOL)

My friend Blair lives in NYC and had returned back from her travels earlier in hopes that we could meet up. We made plans to meet up with her and friends down in SoHo at Merc Bar around 11:30 PM.  I know, crazy how late people get out on the town right? We were game though, and figured we would go back to the hotel, brush our teeth, chill for a few and then head back out.  Actually I wanted to change my entire outfit and shoes as well.  We walked around and slowly made our way back to the hotel. We dive for the bed and just chill for a few, stuffed like two pigs ourselves, laid out on the table as a buffet.  While I am texting my friend Blair and reading up on tweets, I then look over and see my honey with his full belly and whole bottle of wine, passed out sleeping next to me.  No big deal I thought.  I figured I would just wake him up when it was time to head out.  I mean after all that was only like two hours away, how bad could that be, right?  And HE didn't come to New York to sleep!!! HA!

Finally, 11:15 PM rolls around and I haven't heard from my friend, so I text her to get the update.  She replies that she was running behind so we would meet there at midnight, and she was almost ready.  WHAT??? Midnight?  I know it was only 30 minutes later than the original meet up time of 11:30 PM, but I had already been sitting there for over two hours, flipping through channels, listening to Mark snore and tweeting.  It didn't look like Mark was going to be up anytime soon either.  I was finally tired and a hot shower and bed sounded better.  Let's just  say our Saturday night wasn't all that exciting after dinner after all.  LOL! Although, I did entertain the thought of sneaking out and meeting up with Blair, leaving Mark there passed out, I mean sleeping.  Wondering what his reaction would have been had he awakened and didn't see me there.  That would have been funny, but I was just too tired to play the prank. 

But the middle of the night got pretty exciting after my husband had a few hours of sleep .... I will leave that up to your imagination though.  

After yet another amazing nights sleep, its Sunday now.  Our last day in New York.  I sort of have that bittersweet feeling shooting through my body.  Getting all excited knowing I will see my little girl in a few hours, and sad to leave the city and back to Florida, where no one goes to parks just to hang or to read books, because parks stink out here Florida, and you get eaten up by bugs.  It just isn't the same.  

We were told by my blog friend Stacy, that Sarabeth's was a great place to have brunch at.  We took her suggestion and walked about 15 blocks to Central Park, and put our name on the list at Sarabeth's.  That place was packed.  We were told it would be about 2o minutes, so we thought we would go sit on a bench in Central Park and people watch.  Instead we not only watched people, we watched the Statue of Liberty take pictures with tourist.  We watched Dr. Phil, filming whatever it was he was filming in the park.  We watched people trying to take pictures of Dr. Phil, filming whatever it was he was filming in the park.  And we watched Captain Jack the mime, stay really, really, really still until someone put in a tip in his box, to make him "come alive" and take pictures with him.  The funniest was a little boy in his stroller.  His parents droped in a dollar in Captain Jacks box, Captain Jack comes alive and starts moving and waving at the little boy with his hook arm.  That little boy freaked out, scrambled to climb out of his stroller, and couldn't get out of it fast enough and started running away from Captain Jack.  It was hilarious.  Priceless was his expressions while doing it all.  Didn't like Captain Jack so much alive after all.  I wonder if he wanted his dollar back?  LOL.

After having had enough smell of fresh horse crap, we walked back over to Sarabeth's, and just as we stepped up onto the sidewalk to wait for our name, our name was called.  Perfect timing.   Stacy was right, this place was great.  Great food and service.  The only minor glitch during our visit there, was the ice tea mishap that almost made me lose my lunch brunch.  Mark was drinking coffee, while I was drinking ice tea.  When they gave me a fresh glass of tea, I went to take a drink of it.  I was a bit grossed out, because I could smell Mark's coffee, and swore that it was affecting the taste of my tea. I asked if he would move his coffee to the other side, thinking maybe it was the way the wind was blowing and it was blowing the scent of his coffee in my direction and affecting my joy on sipping my ice tea.  I take another sip and again I taste coffee and I am starting to feel a bit sick.  I look at Mark again and tell him I taste his coffee every time I take a drink of my tea.  He is like "what the heck, how are you tasting my coffee in your ice tea?"

I then take one more drink of my tea, and by this time I am like "okay, Mark you taste this and tell me what you taste." That was a bad idea, he tasted tea.  While I tasted coffee every time I took a drink. I then stop our waiter and asked him if this was a different tea or freshly made, and told him what I was experiencing.  He says to me "yes, it is a fresh brew of tea, and I too thought it looked dark, maybe they put too many bags of tea in the mix. I'll go check it out." 

He comes back and apologizes for the mishap, and took off the glass of tea and our side of fries off our menu, although we told him that wasn't necessary.  We did appreciate it though.  So, of course after thinking about it, I should not have asked a guy that is actually drinking coffee, to taste my tea, because to him it would taste like tea compared to his coffee.  I knew I wasn't imagining things, nor was I crazy.  Other than the little tea mishap, the place was splendid and I highly recommend anyone to try it out if ever in NYC.  

The next thing we did, we went and actually walked through Central Park.  What a great park.  I love it.  I used to roller blade in that park, back in the day when I lived there, while filiming Guiding Light.  Being outside was just so nice.  People laying, sunbathing, reading, eating, relaxing and sleeping all over the place in that park.  Love it.  

We walked upon a few softball games going on, and decided to climb up on some rocks and watch for a bit, both wishing we lived here and could be playing softball like that on this beautiful Sunday afternoon.  

I found myself lost in a daydream, thinking of all the wonderful days I could and WOULD be the perfect mom, IF we lived in Manhattan.  Taking my kids to Central Park every day, flying kites, reading books and just being oh so happy.  Doesn't that just sound so nice and so perfect?Oh how I love fantasies!!!  

After a couple of innings of the softball games, we decided we would take our walk back to the hotel.  On the way back we had to make a quick stop at Del Frisco's because Mark after his whole bottle of wine, left his cell phone there.  Silly boy.  We were lucky that someone was even there since they didn't even open till 4:30 PM, the same time our flight would take off for Florida. After picking up the phone, Mark was on a hunt for the fat free yogurt ice cream truck we got ice cream from the first day we arrived.  It must have been the only fat free truck in the city, and like Chick-Fil-A, must not work on Sundays, because we walked and walked and walked looking for that truck, to only end up at several regular ice cream/yogurt trucks.  He walked up to one truck and asked the lady if by chance they had any fat free, she shook her head 'no' at Mark and said "what we have is more tastier."  Mark got a giggle out of that, but no sale.  It has to be fat free.  So, we walked, and walked some more... and found ourselves walking in a market that was open in Time Square, and instead Mark settled with a fresh fruit made smoothie.  We walked more and more, and finally our legs were starting to feel all that walking from the last three days.  We decided to take one more stop at Bryant Park for the last hour we had in the city.

(Those boys were seriously all sleeping in a pile like that)

We found a nice shaded patch of grass to lay on, right next to the girl in the white bikini.  Just seems like an odd mix.  Seeing people reading, sunbathing and or on their computers, reading or hanging out in one park, in the city with no water around.  Just doesn't seem right.  My brain doesn't register all of that.  While Mark read one of his books, I tweeted for about 30 seconds bragging on my view looking up at all the buildings, trees and blue skies, before falling into a hard snooze there on the grass.  That 'hour' we had seemed, like only 20 minutes, when I heard Mark saying "babe, babe, its time to go." 

As we were leaving Bryant Park we noticed a lot of action taking place and asked around to see what was going on, to learn that Rachel McAdam's and Patrick Wilson were filming "Morning Glory" in which I believe is a romantic comedy.  I could be wrong.  I like both Patrick and Rachel, so I will be looking out for that movie regardless.

I have been on so many sets, and around so many celebrities, its like another day of work to me.  However, something about being there in NYC, with Mark, and then seeing Patrick and the film crew at work, made me become a little paparazzi nerd.  I got out my camera and took a couple of photos of Patrick, the film crew and the extras.  Secretly hating that I was going back to Florida, and wasn't living in NYC, being a part of this film.  HA! 

Off to get our luggage at the hotel, grab a cab and back to the airport.  Taking a picture of a bridge from my car window, as I bid my farewell to a beautiful city, a wonderful weekend and a great second honeymoon.  Thank you Mark, I love you. 

But it doesn't stop there.... we of course had to get in one more slice of NYC's pizza before getting on our flight.  

A smooth flight home for the most part, a little bit of turbulence toward the end of the flight that left me feeling motion sick for about an hour after we landed.  I was so happy to see the face of my little girl, and to smell her and kiss her.  I quickly forgot about NY and the turbulence at that moment that my little girl wrapped her arms tightly around my neck.  At that moment, my biggest prayer also had been answered.  I prayed that God just allow me to get through my weekend with my husband, and get back to see and hold and kiss my little girl, one more time.  I prayed that it would not be my last time with her when I left for New York.  I guess making sure that our last Wills where signed and stamped before we left put some fear into me.  I told Mark on the car ride to the airport heading to NY, that I have never been afraid to fly before, until today.  I was stressing that much over leaving my little girl in FL.  I think it was because I have never left my kids in a state alone without someone in the family there with them.  I was leaving Morgan with a friends, and not one family member near her in the same state.  

Thank you God for an amazing getaway weekend with my husband. Giving us the chance to reconnect as a husband and wife.  Thank you for the blessings we have that we are even able to take such a vacation like this.  We are thankful, grateful and abundantly blessed.  Thank you so much for the safe travels and for the safety of my children.  Thank you for my friend Val for giving up her weekend to be with Morgan.  And thank you for letting me have that answered prayer, of making it home to see, hold, smell and kiss my daughter one more time, and then some.  Amen.

Well, how is that for a detailed look into our fantastic weekend in New York?  You packing your bags and looking online for flights now?  I don't blame you one bit.  

Thank you Joe and Kim for the awesome seats at the Yankees game.  What a great game it was to watch also.  You guys have been amazing to us, and when things slow down, put us on your calendar, because we are taking you out to a nice dinner.  

If you are still reading this, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and don't forget you can follow me HERE on Twitter, and HERE on Facebook.  

And look at this picture that Mark took tonight.  This is my little girl sitting in my lap, watching her favorite Choo Choo Soul videos on youtube, while I typed my blog post.  She loved just hanging out in my lap watching her videos.  Too precious. 

(She is watching Choo Choo Soul, on my iPhone)

Until next time New York, I'll be singing this.  Although, they play a lot of Frank Sinatra in NY, in which I also love.  

They say the neon lights are bright

On Broadway

They say there's always magic in the air

But when you're walkin' down the street

And you ain't had enough to eat

The glitter rubs right off and you're nowhere

They say the chicks are somethin' else

On Broadway

But lookin' at them just gives me the blues

'Cause how ya gonna make some time 

When all you got is one thin dime

And one thin dime won't even shine your shoes

They say that I won't last too long

On Broadway

I'll catch a Greyhound bus for home they say

But they're dead wrong, I know they are

'Cause I can play this here guitar

And I won't quit till I'm star

On Broadway

But they're dead wrong, I know they are

'Cause I can play this here guitar

And I won't quit till I'm star

On Broadway

His Will Wednesday

Please pray for Kate, click HERE to read her story and just simply get down and pray for her.

Do you have a prayer, need, request or a thanks for an answered prayer and need a safe place to share it?  

You have come to the right place.  A christian faith blog, with a ton of prayer worriers.  If you are hurting, struggling, healing, changing, trying, worried, happy, thankful, stressed, angry, confused, scared, sick, sad, unsure and even lost. 

It doesn't matter, because HIS love is deeper than anything you are going through or experiencing. You just need to trust Him enough, believe in Him enough, and even allow Him enough to show up in your life and prayers.  

Please leave your prayer request in the comment section, and know that people are reading them and praying for you.  And I once read and LOVED this little chain idea.  If you do not read all prayer request, while you post your own request, will you please take the time to say a prayer for the person right above your comment?  

I personally will read each and everyone myself and pray over them.  

So, you think you wanna know, hu?

Apparently, you wanna know three (that's 3) things about me, that possibly you don't already know.  

This is my first time trying to do this Linky Blog Hop thing, so let's see if I can get it right on my first try, so that I do not have to spend much time (that I don't have today) on this post.  HA! 

1.  I used to go by the last name Dennie in school.  All my friends I grew up with know me as Misty Dennie.  When I graduated I got two diploma's, just in case, one said Misty Dennie, and the other said Misty Rice.  How many you know got two diploma's when they graduated?  

It's my step dads name, and when I moved to Cedar Creek lake in the 4th grade, I had cousins out there and so I wanted to have the same last name as my family at my school. My maiden name is Rice, and now my legal married name is Rice-Baniewicz.

2.  I am considering going back to school to become a PICU nurse. I want to be more medically hands on with children at the hospital.  I'm scared and intimated by the thought of school and commitment, but I wanted to do this since I was in middle school. In fact I 'shadowed' a pediatric doctor on career day at school.  Right now I am just praying, and seeking God's plan in all of this.  Trying to figure out what God's plan for me is in this crazy world down here. 

3.  I can't sing, but wish I could.  And because of that, I have never sang karaoke alone.  

Did you already know any of this, or does any of it surprise you?  Now let me know three (that's 3) things about you.  

And just because its a blogging sin to post without pictures....... here are some more pictures from our 4th of July day.  Morgan will make Loui Vitton proud. And never mind my really bad hairdo in the family shot. I just came off the jet skis for crying out loud.  

 

PS:  I am tweeting if you want to be nosey on my every day stuff. I am nosey.  I love to know what people are doing.  This is a great way to keep up, and also a fast way to get the word out if its important or if you need urgent response or prayer request.  Follow me HERE on twitter or you can always read my last five tweets to the top left of my blog here.   
I also have a facebook account, and what I am going to use the most on facebook is the photo albums. I love pictures, and I know a lot of you do as well. For pictures I am not able to post on my blog, I will have them on my facebook albums.  So click HERE to follow me on facebook.
Does that fill your nosey needs?  LOL 

Drinks, Food and Laughs = Good Date Night

It turned out to be a good night out.  The sky was filled with heat lightening, so it was coming fast and bright throughout the sky.  Our first stop was to feed the beast stomach of the men. We ate at J. Alexander's of Boca, and when I say "we ate" we didn't just eat, we STUFFED our faces.  

A round of drinks, calamari, chips & spinach dip and then steaks, fries, another round of drinks (for me ice tea - yum!).  Just when I think we couldn't eat more and were ready to leave, Patrick and Val order this huge chocolate heresy's cake with ice cream.  Ewww!!!  

Ewww?

Yea, I am not a big fan of deserts or sweets.  Although, I did have two small sample taste of the ice cream.  I don't understand how people can stuff themselves silly and then still make room for big deserts.  It was Patrick's 40th birthday celebration, so the man wanted his chocolate desert and that is what the man got.  

Our next stop was the movie theater, where we watched 'The Hangover'.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, not my preference of movie, but I was out voted.  Ill be short on my thoughts of this film.  It did have a ton of funny 'one-liners', but some of that stuff is over board, filthy, tacky and so not necessary.  

I mean seriously, it would still be a funny movie with just the comical lines, without all that other crap and the over use of f-bombs and G-D's. Its awful.  I have more I would like to share about this, but I will wait to use it when I finally sit down and write my post about Christian artist in this industry.  Hopefully by next week I can have that post finished.

Anyway.

After the movie, our next stop was supposed to have been Mug Shots.  It is a dive in the hole bar and karaoke place. I think I may or may not have mentioned it on here once before.  Oh yes I did, remember the story about the girl that came up to me and asked if I would help her win the bet of $25.00 to her "old man" and kiss her?  Ugh!! Makes my stomach twist thinking of that.  I should have said "Ill make you a better deal, I will pay you $50 to just stay away from me." HA! 

Yea, THAT place.  Val and some of the girls from her work like to sing there and there just aren't that many great karaoke places around here it seems.  This place is a dump, and you come out smelling like a human ashtray.  It took me like three days to get that stench out of my hair.  

After the movie we decided it was getting late.  It was 11:00 PM, you think its late?  Um, YEA when you have kids that will be waking you up early! I was so relieved when Val and Patrick said they were up for just going home.  We got home around 11:30 PM not terrible, to three (3) sleeping kids and one tired babysitter.  A sweet young girl from my church named, Jessica.  She is great with the kids.  

Honey and I got in bed, and instead of following through with that double-dog-dare I had mentioned earlier in the day.  We laid in bed like an old married couple watching the Yankees lose a 5-1 lead against LAA, and listened to the lava lamps heating up in our stomachs. Watching all those yard-darts being thrown by the Yankees, I was thinking I wish I had a dart to throw at my stomach and pop the bloated pooch that was quickly arising.  

All-in-all, I feel a little tired today, but not horrible.  I think I will lay down now after this post and take a nap while Morgan sleeps and Mark heads to the gym. Good for him, going to the gym.  LOL.  Sleeps wins over just about anything, other than a screaming baby in the monitor, for this girl.  

Here are some shots taken from last night.  My blogging friend that is coming to stay with me for a week in August (exactly 20 days to be exact!) Daniella, sent me an email yesterday helping me figure out how to curl my hair for that nice beach -curl look, similar to the way she had her hair in her recent maternity photos she posted on her blog.  It turned out pretty nice, and it wasn't as big as I feared it would be.  Mark loved it and I think I will wear it like that this weekend during services I will be participating in this weekend.  It gives me an entire new due than the straight look, so this makes me happy.  Who knows, maybe it will entertain me for a couple of weeks and I can hold off on those extensions.  We'll see, and I hope to see some of you at church this weekend.  

please not my house

That was my very thought as I walked out of Publix (grocery store at 9:15 AM) this morning.  

Grocery shopping that early? 

Yes, I was. 

That is not my norm though.  I just happened to have a small list of things needed and I figured I would run in pj's and all, and grab the items on the way home from dropping my son off at the rink.

You know, very important things like: litter, milk, bread, shampoo/conditioner, toothpaste, cantaloupe, razor, shave cream, pirate booty, orange juice and arizona ice tea.  

Yea, all that stuff.  Stuff that I probably should have gotten on my Wal-Mart Supercenter run Monday.  

In truth, I really ran into Publix to get a couple of important things like milk and bread, and then I got a bit lazy and got the rest of the items that I was not able to get at Wal-Mart on Monday, as well.  But.... sometimes it just gets really, really old having to figure out what is for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner day in and day out.  Some days I feel I am not meant to be a stay-at-home mom.  Not because of the mothering part, but because of the cleaning, laundry and grocery part.  Then I quickly slapped myself in the face and said "um, well all that stuff still exist even when you do have a job to go to." Oh, right!  Glad I cleared that up.  

Don't get me wrong readers.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being home with my babies.  I am SO VERY THANKFUL I have that choice.  When I vent and complain on my blog, it is NOT with a serious heart and pity me intentions.  I am simply letting out current frustrations. At the end of the day, when I rock my baby girl to sleep or tickle my sons back to sleep.  I pray, I give thanks and I am in love and grateful all over again, EVERY SINGLE DAY. 

Last night was a romantic night for honey and I.... well, the thunderstorm is love music for the two of us.  We love thunderstorms.  We got the kids down for the night at a reasonable time and then we got to enjoy each other's company.  Something we need to make more effort in.  It was nice.  

However, it seems as though we like to play a lot of musical chairs beds in this house.  Not last night, but the night before, this is how the dance went.

I rocked Morgan to sleep and put her in her bed.

I then lay with Hunter and tickle his back until he falls asleep in his bed. 

I fall asleep in Hunter's bed with him.  

I wake up to go to my bed, to see my husband had fallen asleep on the couch watching the Yankees.  

I go to my bed and go back to sleep. 

I wake up to honey, Hunter and two cats literately all laying on top of me where I could hardly breath.

Morgan wakes up crying.  I gasp for air and try to dig myself out of the human/cat pile I am at the bottom of to go and comfort her.  

She wasn't having it due to the thunder outside, so I ended up taking her into Hunters bed with me and that is where we slept.  Leaving Hunter, Mark and cats in my bed. 

Basically, everyone woke up in a different place than where they started.  Ha! 

So, as I was leaving Publix this morning, walking to my car, I hear and see a fire truck at full speed going in the direction to my neighborhood, and the first thought that rushed to my head is "please not my house." 

Ever done that? 

I felt like I couldn't get my bags unloaded into the car from cart fast enough.  All the thoughts rush through my head, "did I leave anything on?" It is such a scary feeling.  

Well, my house is clean.  I have two more loads of laundry to finish off and then I think baby girl and I are going to go get mommy's nails polished.  Mark and I are actually going out to dinner with Patrick and Val tonight, for Patricks BIG 40th birthday.  Both men are in the mood for some steak, so it looks like J. Alexanders tonight.  I am looking forward to a nice dinner with only adults.  I don't get those often. Then we are going to see The Hangover.  Not my preference of movies, but I am out voted.  See I am cool like that.  I can go with the flow of things, as long as I am fed.  A nice steak should do the trick. 

I know this post is all over the place and I am typing fast, as baby girl is now next to me and I can smell the foul stench of her dirty diaper 10 feet away, while she plays with the snot sucking machine.  She likes pushing the button and hearing the vibration sound.  Oh and guess what?  She said a new word last night, "night-night." It came out of no where.  I love that.

I still have to write her little update post, as she also has broken in one of her molars, which explains all these dirty diapers and waking up in the middle of the night issues.  Ah...the life of a mommy at home with a child.  

And since it is my rule to not write post when possible without posting a picture....isn't this a cute one of Mark and Morgan on 4th of July walking by the lake?  I wish I had by good camera when I took this shot.  All I can think of when looking at this, is the next image like this is when she is a teen or getting married.  So sweet.  

Oh and guess what else?  Hunter is getting baptized this Sunday.  As well, I am, or should I say my acting skills (ha!), are being used this weekend in church.  I will be acting on stage during the entire service, for all seven (7) services this weekend.  The discussion this week at church "How to have an affair!"  You read correct.  If you want to know how to have an affair, how to mess up your family and children's life, this message is for you.  Its going to be a great message and I encourage everyone to come check it out.  It can also be heard on podcast and as well seen on TV, just visit our church website www.cbglades.com. But if you live in this part of Florida, come visit our church, and come see me in action on the stage. I dare you.   

If you are able to come and your schedule is flexible.  Come to the 12:45 PM service and watch my beautiful boy take the plunge in his public display of his faith, and be baptized.  

Other than that, I hope everyone has a beautiful blessed weekend.  

"mom, do you do weird things in the shower?"

I figured I give a little update on my kiddos, after all this is what I started blogging about in the first place.  This post will be my Boo's post.

Since having him back with me, after him being up in Cape Cod with his dad for 19-days at the beginning of summer.  I have so enjoyed his company.  He really is wise beyond his years, an old soul and I love him so much.  

My first love.

Sometimes I find myself so quickly to put Hunter off because I am busy with something in the house, baby needs my attention or I am just physically and mentally spent.  Hunter has never complained.  He has been so patient with his sister, and with me, and probably way more than a boy his age should have to.  When I say "put off" I mean simply by telling him to "hang on" or "not right now" kind of put off. I am not saying that he goes with out being noticed or loved.  

Now that I cleared that up.

Hunter has such a sweet and tender spot for babies and animals.  He is just one unique and special young boy.

He is already a hopeless romantic kind of guy.  Meeting girls every where he goes and almost always finds one that he crushes on and talks about until your ears want to bleed.  I am thankful though that he does openly talk to me about girls right now. There may come a day (although I hope not) he will not want to talk to me about this stuff. I want to do my best so that he will always feel safe to talk to me about anything.  Knowing that I will not judge him or make him feel uncomfortable in anyway.  

The week before last he attended a camp. This was considered a "fun, go be a boy" kind of camp.  He does so much with sports throughout the year and summer that I decided this year he needed to equally have time to let loose and be a kid and just go to a fun camp. A camp that allowed him to explore, be outdoors and not have so much expected out of him.  

He loved it so much that he has begged me to let him attend again next year. Or maybe a little girl named Autumn had something to do with that? 

Anyway, at the end of the week they handed out awards. Can anyone guess what award Hunter may have received?  

"BEST AT SPORTS" award.  Yeap!  But at least he was having fun and doing what comes natural to him, without having coaches or his dad on his back.  Put the "fun" back into sports and you get a kid that is just naturally very talented and athletic.  

He (as he should be) was very proud of this award.  Part of me wonders if he was so proud because often it seems as though he and his dad are always butting heads over sports related stuff, that Hunter never feels as though he is 'good enough' at times for his dads liking.  His dad is also the coach of the hockey travel team that Hunter is on.  I think winning this award gave him some reassurance that he is that good, and something that could make his dad proud of him.  Regardless, I am proud of him and for him with this award.

If you recall, I mentioned a couple of months ago about Hunter talking about salvation and wanting to be saved.  I never updated on that because as time went by, I let it be, seeing if Hunter brought it up again on his own, to make sure he really meant all that he was saying to me. I wanted this to be between him and God. Not something that seemed like it was being force fed down him to do.  So I haven't mentioned it to him since that last time. 

On our flight to Texas last Monday, Hunter out of no where says to me "mom, do you ever do weird things in the shower or think of stuff while in the shower?" "Ummm, where you going with this son?" 

Hunter, "I asked Jesus into my heart and to be my savior while I was in the shower. I want to be baptized, but only baptized in front of the people that work at the church and friends and family that we know." 

"WOW Hunter, that is wonderful news.  I am so excited." As I secretly want to cry and just give thanks to God for an answered prayer.

I always feared that Hunter would become confuse about his faith because of his dads view on things.  I always feared that Hunter wasn't getting enough church time or bible time traveling so much with hockey or at his dads every other weekend.  I feared I wouldn't be a good enough example or role model for him as a Christian person.  

Some how, some way, my son has really grown into his own understanding of faith and has taken upon himself as a young boy, and said a prayer in the shower on his own, asking God to be in charge of his life.  

(Now I am crying!)

I still remember the day I said that prayer, and I was only a year older than Hunter.  I remember that prayer, where I was and the weather that day.  He will remember this prayer and the place (a shower) all his life as well.  At least I hope he does.  

He was so proud that he couldn't wait to call our pastor (whom is like an uncle to Hunter anyways) and tell him the news.  He couldn't wait to tell my parents when they picked us up at the airport.  And often throughout the week last week, he would say things to me like "its okay if we die today mom, because I know where we are going." or "I hope Michael Jackson took that step and Ill meet him in heaven one day." 

See what I mean?  He is wise beyond his years.

I find myself learning so much by being his mother.  

He has this way about him.  He knows how to comfort me when I am feeling down and knows when to push my buttons or give a good debate when he wants something.  

The other day while sitting at the airport, across the way was a book store and there was a book titled "God is not great." It started up a conversation between myself, Mark and Hunter.  Each of us giving our thoughts on why a book like that was written.  While at one point I kept trying to speak, but Mark kept talking and talking over me.  Sorry honey, I am ratting you out here.  HA! I got a bit frustrated and said "forget it" on whatever it was I was trying to say.  

Hunter noticed that I got a bit annoyed and asked me to tell him what I wanted to say.  At that point I didn't feel like saying it.  I was being a kid, pouting and sulking.  Hunter was being the adult, and he says to me "please say what you were going to say, its going to be a part of my life and my future, so I need to know what you feel and have to say on this." Talking about this "God is not Great" book.  

He quickly got me to smile and over my annoyance, and had me back into the conversation.  One that was important to him, and mattered to him, probably more than I will ever know.  Next time I will just need to eat more, so I can be a little more patient with being talked over.  HA! 

Isn't that awesome though? 

I ended up having some great conversations with Hunter about salvation, and its almost like the day I heard the words "discharged" for Morgan's cardiologist checkup back in April.  Hearing my son tell his prayer, in the shower, on his own, melts my heart.  His words keep repeating in my head, and I keep smiling with joy that I must be doing a little bit of something right.  I get that flutter in my stomach just thinking about it.  

This week Hunter is back to attending hockey camp, and wants to be baptized this weekend, so I hope we can make that happen for him.  Then he is off to Cape Cod for another 19 days with his dad this Monday.  

Did I tell you that I love him so much already?  Just in case you didn't read that or you didn't really HEAR me, I LOVE HIM SO MUCH, and apparently his sister does too. 

Blankets for Hope

Hello peeps.

I know its been awhile.  Probably the longest "awhile" I have had from posting or reading blogs.  I have to admit that it felt pretty good.  In truth, I think I have a bit of blogging addiction.  I think about it all the time.  I am constantly coming up with topics to write about.  Don't take it the wrong way, I am not constantly trying to think of topics, my mind is just constantly thinking of topics without any help.  I love to write and I wish I were a more talented writer. I wish I had a better understanding of proper grammar and writing rules.  I wish I could captivate people with my words and say I have a talent for it, but in truth I am just average.  

But I do enjoy it. 

Regardless, I felt that I was putting a lot of my personal time into 'keeping up' with blogging.  Not that my post took that much time, it was the time it took to constantly edit photos, read other blogs, comment on other blogs and before I knew it, my day had passed by.  Then I found myself frustrated because nothing got done around the house and I like things to be clean and orderly.  Its one of those things I have always been obsessed with.  Its either from my upbringing, living in a small house, with a small room, that the only way I felt I had any sense of space and organization in my life, was to keep things tidy, in its place and CLEAN.  Or I have control issues, OCD or something I am unaware of.  HA!  

If my home starts to get unraveled and messy, its starts to takes its toll on me.  I have tried to train myself to back off a bit and I have gotten better, but not over it.  I still have to have things a certain way.  I guess its better than being a slob right? 

However, it was not always easy to stay away or not be tempted to jump on and start blogging.  Traveling to Texas, being around family, friends and staying busy helped a great deal.  When I am home, this is my place of escape.  My entertainment, aside from my kids and my adult interaction.  If I don't blog, I can tend to annoy my husband at work with my non-stop texting, just looking for a little bit of attention, or adult conversation, anything really to keep me from feeling so depressed, lonely and imprisoned to my home as a stay-at-home mom.  

I love being home with my kids.  I love dedicating and giving up things in my life to be home with my kids.  I am blessed I have that choice.  BUT, there are many moments and days that seem to just never end with crying, fits, spills, dirty diapers, laundry, cat hair, dust, dirt, messy beds, dishes, making food, feeding kids, washing dishes, changing diapers and doing it all over again about three to five times a day.  Those days can really, really suck life right out of you at times.  That's been me lately, and I found myself waking up and crying for no reason at all.  I started to watch myself become more and more sad and depressed feeling.  Then to read so many other sad stories on the blogs, I would feel humbled and thankful for my own blessings, but then some how feel even more depressed and sad about others dealing with such horrible things in their lives, like the loss of a child.  

I realized quickly that I needed to take a break and get my head clear, and do so quickly.  I am sure many of you can relate, and I feel safe enough here to come clean and be honest here and say the truth of what is going on in my personal world.  Right now I need a little action in my life outside of this home.  Being home in Texas around people every day to talk and hang with was so refreshing.  Waking up back here in Florida Monday morning was a quick dose of reality that I wasn't in Kansas Texas anymore. 

My trip to Texas was a much needed little vacation.  

Although, I am quickly learning that my vacations I plan in my head (travel with kids) never seem to be as I imagined them to be.  Its almost like parents need a vacation, after the family vacation.  Its a lot of work to travel with kids.  Ill get more into that in another post.  I just wanted to let you know that I am okay.  I have gotten a few emails asking me if all was okay or that my post were being missed.  I have to admit, I got way more emails checking in on me than I would have ever imagined.  I know my blog gets anywhere from 200 plus hits a day, with 174 followers, with only about 10 of you that loyally leave me comments, but when I go MIA for a little bit and I have some come hunting me down...that's feels kind of good.  Maybe I will have a 'get to know YOU' post one day, giving all of you a chance to introduce yourselves to me, so I can get to know a little about you and what you enjoy about my blog?  Maybe I will find something creative to motivate you all to come out of your own hiding and say hello to me.  I know you are reading, but you never say hello. 

You see how it just happens naturally?  I tell you, my mind is always thinking of post to write.  You should see the list that is growing and the none stop pictures I have piling up on me, taking up all my space on my computer. Because, I just know I will want to post them one day, so I don't delete them.  Sigh.   I have a list on my 'notes' app on my iPhone of all the post I plan on writing.  Before I never did that. I just posted as they came to me.  Now I make a list and find that my list is growing faster than I can post.  What gives?  

Okay, N-E-WAYS...(going old school on you).

I am okay.  

Thank you for checking in on me and letting me know that my company even via blogspot.com, is enjoyed and has been missed by you.  That makes a girl feel a little less lonely (a little).  

So, what is up with the title "Blankets For Hope?" 

I am glad you asked.

A blog reader of mine was moved by me volunteering my time at the hospital photographing terminally ill children.  She and her mother make handmade and homemade blankets to give to children in need of hope.  They call them "Blankets For Hope".  

She contacted me and said she would like to send me some to give to some babies at the hospital.  I was so wonderfully surprised that it gave me chills to know that someone was willing to devote their own personal time to make something by hand, to send to me, so that I could give to a child that was sick, and possibly dying.  She wanted to remain anonymous, but I didn't want it to go unmentioned on my blog about these beautiful blankets that arrived at my door yesterday.  

Tomorrow, I will be going down to the hospital just to catch up, say hi to some special people and see if there are any new faces to meet.  While Amanda passed away while I was in Texas last week, my heart has been heavy.  Today, opening this box of blankets and knowing I will be at the hospital tomorrow, cheered me up and put a smile on my face.  I can't wait to give them out.  

Take a look at these beautiful blankets.

I want to thank you "B" and your mom, for your generous gift to me, and these children.  This is a very special and beautiful thing you are doing to spread love, kindness and HOPE around the world.  

Thank you.

The card that comes with the blanket says:
Blankets For Hopewith this blanket,we prayhealingwisdomcouragelifejoypeace, strengthandHOPEover you and your precious child.