Happy 5 Year Anniversary!

i love you

A SHORT LOVE STORY IN STOP MOTION from Carlos Lascano on Vimeo.

Happy 13 Month Birthday!

(My SIDEBAR: I think that many people think it's funny to keep counting the MONTHS after the child is already 1... but I guess you just fall into tracking the months because most mom's do.)

Happy 13 Month Birthday little guy!!!

We love you SO much!

Highlights from Month 12:
- Walking well (trying to run)
- Able to stand up w/o pulling up
- Your birthday party (parties)
- More communication
- Wanting to read books all of the time (and points things out)
- Going to see your aunt at UA and going to your 1st College Game
- Interacting with family and being the life the get together's
- Another tooth (3rd top tooth)
- Obsession with our ELMO movie (Elmo; The Great Outdoors)
- Dancing (on cue)

- 26 lbs / size 5-51/2 shoes
- Knows eyes, nose, ears, mouth, tongue, toes
- 1st time to the North GA State Fair

Highlights from Month 11:
- Talking and communication increased
- Learning to Walk
- Walking

- 31 " tall / size 12 month clothes
- Learning GOOD/SWEET and NOT SWEET (and sorta testing it out)
- Love for our ELMO movie (Elmo; The Great Outdoors)
- Watches TV: ELMO, Super Why, Word World, Backyardigans, Mickey Mouse Club House, Sesame Street, and I hate to admit it... but, Telletubbies too
- Learning to dance and loving music even MORE

outrage

My husband and I made the decision to self-insure a few months ago. I have been filling out lots of paper work to get our ducks in a row. When asked if I wanted to include maternity benefits, I said YES. (No, I am not pregnant right now, btw.) Well, my outrage is with this... the description and listing of the maternity coverage:
-
Maternity Benefit Confirmation Notice
You have elected the maternity plan which is offered as a specific disease coverage. This coverage is offered in addition to you health plan.
-
WHAT? This is offered to me, a healthy person, as a specific disease coverage!?! What disease does a pregnant person have? Outrage. Ladies (and Gentlemen), I am so upset by this.

Being pregnant with my son was a life-changing miracle for me. It was a blessing from God. The bible says that Children are a GIFT FROM THE LORD. Being pregnant is not a sickness and far from a "specific disease". Pregnancy is joy. Pregnancy is the formation of life in the womb by the hand of God... a life the He planned (even if you didn't ; )), He foreknew before the beginning of time. Maternity is natural, healthy, and wonderful. Why can't the health insurance companies see it this way instead of seeing maternity as a condition to treat. Outrage. Broken hearted. But what can we do?

How does this inspire you?

Disturb us, Lord, when

We are too well pleased with ourselves,

When our dreams have come true

Because we have dreamed too little,

When we arrived safely

Because we sailed too close to the shore.

-

Disturb us, Lord, when

With the abundance of things we possess

We have lost our thirst

For the waters of life;

Having fallen in love with life,

We have ceased to dream of eternity

And in our efforts to build a new earth,

We have allowed our vision

Of the new Heaven to dim.

-

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,

To venture on wider seas

Where storms will show your mastery;

Where losing sight of land,

We shall find the stars.

-

We ask You to push back

The horizons of our hopes;

And to push into the future

In strength, courage, hope, and love.

-

-- Attributed to Sir Frances Drake, 1577

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Toddler Games

This is our new game...
Not just opening the kitchen cabinet doors, but putting things inside the cabinets that don't really belong.
I have found:
- my cell phone bill on the veggie cans
- his frig magnet farm on the fruit cans
- the plastic tea pitcher in the food cabinet
- my blue hair brush in the Pyrex bowls
- a small blue ball in the dryer
- pillow case in the waste basket
And there are other fun games, like "Hide the Remote" (we play that one everyday). There have been times when my cell phone has gone missing for so long that the battery died and we could not find it for 2 or 3 days!! FUN FUN!

Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day Weekend... On a front porch
swing with my Papa!

We had a great weekend visiting my husbands family on their north GA farm. Our little guy loved to see the cows, the 4-wheeler, the dogs, the cat, the donkey, and the tractor! A boys play day for sure! He had a little cough & cold but all in all we enjoyed it. He loved going to eat BBQ and swinging on the porch with Papa!!
My favorite moment came when we had to stop on our way back home. The baby-love was crying and we knew he had not been feeling well. My husband was so compassionate (read my post "A Daddy's Girl in a Boy World" for more back story on this) and pulled off to stop at a corner gas station. We got him out of the car seat... which was now FRONT FACING for the first time! And he nursed and then we just talked and took turns holding him and loving on him. He sat with my husband, in the drivers seat, in the dark, just looking at the cars & trucks passing by. My husband was teaching him the difference in the vehicles and they would wave to them... "Oh look, there's a truck! Wave bye bye". Of course his favorites were the BIG trucks coming in off the highway. It was a sweet time. We just loved on our son together and we were not in a rush. I can't fully explain why... it was just such a blessing.