Happy Mother's Day!

BEFORE I WAS A MOM:

Author Unknown

Before I was a Mom,
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was Mom,
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom,
I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
So that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
When I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
Could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom,
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Horse

Jocelyn has always liked the commercials on TV. Her two favorite commercials right now are the Eat 'N Park strawberry specials (yummy pictures of fresh strawberries, including pies, strawberry-stuffed french toast, strawberry milkshakes, pancakes, waffles, etc.), and the commercial for The Horse lecture series and exhibit at The Carnegie Museum of Natural History.
She will stop everything when these commercials come on and watch.

This morning the Horse commercial came on during GMA, and Jocelyn went up to the TV, pointing to the horses on the screen, saying "this." I said "horse," and she went over to her puzzles, grabbed the horse puzzle piece and took it to the TV.
I didn't realize that Jocelyn even knew what a horse was. I just thought it was so amazing...there is so much going on in that little brain of hers!

Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad

May 5, 1979

30 years!

What an amazing accomplishment!

This special anniversary wish
That comes with love to you
Brings warm and heartfelt thanks
For all the thoughtful things you do--

It also comes to let you know
You both mean more each day
To everyone your lives have touched
In such a loving way.

Happy Wedding Anniversary Mom and Dad
With Lots of Love,
Brooke

"The path that leads to happiness is so narrow that two cannot walk on it unless they have become one."

Wordless Wednesday

Smelling the Flowers

For those of you who need a Jocelyn fix (a-hem...mom)!

Thank you Grampee!!

"Wow!"

"I want in!"

"I'm climbing up!"

"Almost there."

"I'm driving the castle."

"I can slide down by myself!!!"

"This is fun and relaxing."

"Thanks to Carol too, who brought me a table and chairs in my size!"

Happy Birthday Kristen!

Today is my favorite sister-in-law's 20th birthday!!!

Hoping you have a wonderful day!

On April 23:

• 1635 - First public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts.
• 1985 - Coca-Cola changes its formula and releases New Coke. (The response is overwhelmingly negative, and the original formula is back on the market in less than 3 months.)
• 1988 - Pink Floyd's album Dark Side of the Moon leaves the charts for its first time after spending a record of 741 consecutive weeks (over 14 years) on the Billboard 200.

Live as long as you may. The first twenty years are the longest half of your life. ~Robert Southey

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time. ~Jean Paul Richter

Human Garbage Disposal

I think Jocelyn is a human garbage disposal. She eats SO much. I have no idea where she puts it. I asked the doctor if it was normal, and she really didn't give me an answer...but I guess since Jocelyn isn't overweight (actually, she's pretty skinny), she's getting what she needs.

Here's a little sample of what she ate today so far:

Breakfast:
Bowl of Cinnamon Chex with 2% milk
3 Strawberries
1 banana
half a sippy cup of pear juice

Snack:
Goldfish crackers
water

Lunch:
Whole grilled cheese sandwich: two pieces of bread, cheese, crust and all!
Mixed fruit cup
Yogurt cup
3 Club crackers
1 chocolate chip cookie
Water

This stuff really makes it into her mouth too...it's not like half of it's on the floor! Crazy, right?

Wordless Wednesday

Random Silly Pictures

Trisha's sunglasses

Pig tails

Who says you have to spend $100 to have fun?

If you can remember, I posted Jocelyn's summer wish list a few weeks back. The short list included The Little Tikes Sand & Sea Play Table.

Well, it doesn't look like our money tree is going to bloom this spring, so I decided to get creative instead. Jocelyn doesn't really need a fancy table to play in water and sand. Yes, the table looks pretty, it has a nice little umbrella to block the sun, and I'm sure Jocelyn would have fun with it, but I thought she could have just as much fun with a bin of sand and a bin of water.

This morning, Jocelyn and I went to Big Lots and purchased two Sterilite storage bins, then went to Walmart and bought a big bag of play sand.

Did you know that they make play sand in various colors now? Crayola makes play sand in blue, red, purple, and green. I had visions of stained clothes and hands, and decided to stick with the plain old sand-colored sand. We did some food shopping, and went back home. After a nice lunch and a good nap, Jocelyn was out in the back yard where I had already set up the bins; one with sand, the other with water. Our next door neighbor, who was cleaning out her garage, found an old but unused kiddy gazebo, and gave it to us. I am very grateful for this, as our back yard is in direct sun throughout most of the day. I set it up the gazebo while Jocelyn began to play.

Jocelyn loved the sand and water. She played for hours. She liked to take handfuls of sand and put them other places around the patio. As much as she likes to move things from one place to another, I think she liked playing in the water better than the sand. She would scoop it up and spill it out...

...splash it around

Jocelyn found lots of ways to play in the water. She even took her Goldfish crackers and realized that they wanted to play in the water too. Maybe she realizes that fish belong in water?!?! She did end up "fishing" and ate up the soggy goldfish floating in her water bin. Yuck!

Once she was done fishing, she realized she was thirsty, ignored her sippy cup sitting only a couple feet away, and decided it would be much more fun to drink the water using her shovel. I used to drink water from the hose when I was a kid. It always tasted different than the water from the kitchen...a little hose water in one's life won't hurt you, right?

After playing with the sand and water, she decided to kick her ball around the back yard. I was impressed at how well she could do it!

What a fun and beautiful day! I'm especially happy it didn't take a $100 table to have fun!

Little Tikes Sand & Sea Table: $99.99 +shipping

~or~

Two storage containers: $3.00/each

1 bag of play sand: $3.23

Savings: $90.76

Easy Decision!!

Easter 2009

Jocelyn had a blast this Easter! She really enjoyed traveling to Charlotte and discovering a new place with new things. Take a look at some of the pictures from Easter and our trip.