Bruises

It has started. The never ending quest to acquire new bruises. Jayme is crawling just like Isaiah did. Face down, plowing into anything in her way. Which equals a large amount of forehead bruising.

She is also standing quite a bit now. Meaning increased slipping and falling. Which in turn equals screaming, tears, snot, and a little sweat and blood.

It breaks my heart every time, too. Before I can get to her, she's developed a knot and a blue bruise. It eventually fades into an ugly dark purple, then it disappears all together just in time for another incident.

I keep saying that she'll only do it a few times before she learns to watch where she is going, but she continually proves me wrong.

Going to the Pediatrics office scares me a bit. At Jayme's check up this month, the Nurse Practitioner informed me that she has a good amount of bruises for a baby her age. Whew!

None the less, her cuteness tends to overwhelm me. When all hope is lost of her going down for a nap or going to bed at all, she starts to snuggle and holds on to her ear (no, she does not have an ear infection. The Dr checked). Then she peacefully drifts off to sleep, once again winning my heart over.

Beautiful baby girl, I'm excited for you to read all of these posts when you're older.

Kisses

Isaiah is very insistent upon getting 'morning kisses', 'goodnight kisses', and 'because I want chocolate kisses'. It makes my day, every time. He little lips all puckered up.

Jayme is giving kisses now too. It's adorable. Mouth opened, slobbery, squealing kisses.

Jon has always given me kisses. That is also adorable.

How is it that kisses from those 3 people makes my tummy do flips? Maybe it is the amount of love being transfered via kisses. I'm not quite sure, but that is my theory.

I'm constantly astounded at the amount of love I can have for a single human being. It feels like my heart might explode. It's swollen up to a million times it's normal size. I feel all warm and whole. Cozy and delighted. You know what? It feels like a hug from God when I love someone that much.

And now I'm realizing how silly my feelings look in writing. But maybe that is because feelings are not usually written down.

I'll make you a promise right now. No matter how silly, or ridiculous my feelings look on paper...or on a computer screen, I'll always write them down. Partly because I love writing, and partly because you should know how I feel. You should know that my feelings are an open book. You should know that I wear them on my sleeve even if it looks silly or a little too out there. Oh and partly because I love sharing...sometimes.

And partly because this is my blog, and by reading it, it would seem that you want to know a bit more about me. Am I being narcissistic?

You Learn - Alanis Morissette

I recommend getting your heart trampled on to anyone
I recommend walking around naked in your living room
Swallow it down (what a jagged little pill)
It feels so good (swimming in your stomach)
Wait until the dust settles

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

I recommend biting off more then you can chew to anyone
I certainly do
I recommend sticking your foot in your mouth at any time
Feel free
Throw it down (the caution blocks you from the wind)
Hold it up (to the rays)
You wait and see when the smoke clears

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

Wear it out (the way a three-year-old would do)
Melt it down (you're gonna have to eventually anyway)
The fire trucks are coming up around the bend

You live you learn
You love you learn
You cry you learn
You lose you learn
You bleed you learn
You scream you learn

You grieve you learn
You choke you learn
You laugh you learn
You choose you learn
You pray you learn
You ask you learn
You live you learn

And today we learn a little more. Through all these things mentioned in such a profound song. We're never too old to learn something new. And learning something new is usually quite the process. Sometimes it hurts. Sometimes it doesn't. However, learning is always enlightening...at some point or another.

It will run out and this too shall pass...eventually

Last night was a night that could be forgotten. Jayme barely napped yesterday which is a bit odd for her. She usually naps like a champ. Her napping totaled out at less than 2 hours. Not a happy total. She was cranky, I was cranky...and when mama ain't happy, nobody's happy.

During dinner she finally started to get sleepy. We gave her a bottle, massaged her, rocked her and put her to bed. After 2 and a half hours of her screaming, us comforting her, rocking her, and bouncing her...and after producing enough tears and sweat to fill the bath tub, she finally passed out. It was miserable for everyone, except Isaiah. He didn't have a nap either, so he went to bed early. Ah, to be so peaceful during a time of chaos.

When Jayme was at last tucked away in her crib, sleeping soundly like the princess we all know and love, Jon and I decided to make some 'adult' hot cocoa. And being the before bed snack eater that I've become, I decided to have strawberries and whipped topping.

As I read my beloved addiction of Better Home and Garden magazine, I apparently, single 'mouthedly' consumed the entire carton of strawberries...and the whole can of whipped cream. About the time the can started spraying madly in every direction due to it being mostly empty I discovered I had just eaten the last strawberry.

What am I getting at with my enormous description of strawberry eating? Well...the first thing I thought of (after the frustration that my snack was all gone) was that when your patience is just about to run out, the situation requiring you to use patience, usually ends.

When I was just at my ropes end, Jayme decided to bless us with silence and a full nights sleep...and just as my strawberries were gone via my ridiculous snacking, the whipped cream ran out.

A few new chapters, and a continuation.

A bit of time has passed and so much has happened I'm a bit overwhelmed as where to start. I'll share with you the most exciting of these happenings.

#1) My book is here!!!! Well...the experimental copy, anyways. I used a program called shutterfly for the layout and what not. It's basically giving me an idea of how it's going to look...and how I want it to look. There are a few changes that need to be made. And it won't be for sale until the first 12 mini books are done. Each mini book contains 30 (or so) 'Kokopelli Komments' (yes with a 'k'). They are sarcastic and silly, yet inspirational and meaningful. There will be a total of 36 mini books. There will also be 3 full books. We decided on Kokopelli Komments because Kokopelli is a symbol of fertility and abundance...that and I've always found Kokopelli to be rather cute. For the next few years Kokopelli Komments will be my baby. I always thought I would be a nurse or teacher or something. I never thought 'writer' would be in my list of occupations.

#2) Isaiah is potty trained! (mostly). I was informed at his 2nd birthday party that it was impossible to potty train a boy before their 3. Well, I would just like to say "Impossible ain't nothing. Get er done!" I don't have pictures to illustrate 'potty training' but this picture is cute, anyway... He LOVES having his window down while riding in mama's truck! When the window locks are on, he gets super frustrated because he can't put his window up and down at his leisure.

#3) I'm pretty sure Janice-May is going to walk before she has teeth. At 7.5 months old she was pulling herself to standing. Very wobbly, yes. Now at 8 months old, while holding onto whatever she can find, she 'walks'. It's rather adorable. I'm pretty sure I'm not ready for this yet, But I plan to cherish this stage to it's bitter end.

#4) Jon and I have been married for 3 years! THREE! Can you believe that? Time sure does fly...like crazy! I'm so thoroughly blessed to have such a loving, supportive, cute man as my husband. I look forward to the next 50+ years with him by my side!

Vanilla vs. Rocky Road

At times, I crave that chocolaty, peanut and marshmallow goodness, but sometimes just plain old vanilla is so much nicer.

As most of you know, since you all know me so well, there is a hidden meaning behind my ice cream analogy.

Once again...as most of you know - My life is more hectic than a roller coaster that has multiple tracks and can't decide which one to take. It involves a lot of whiplash, pulled muscles, messy, wind blown hair, and usually scrapes and bruises. AKA Rocky Road

Wait...just one second. Where exactly has anybody seen a roller coaster like that? Yeah, you're right. No where. My imagination is running wild. I have no intention of catching it...ever.

Anyway, back to the ice cream analogy; So Vanilla vs. Rocky Road

I got to thinking about how freaking hectic and chaotic my life has been. We've had a whoping 2 nights at home this week. TWO! Don't we live there?! Shouldn't we be there a touch bit more? Ehh!! Nope. Not at all.

I'm beginning to crave the simple, vanilla, calm and plain things of life. If my life were calm and smooth, I could add nuts, chocolate, fruit, and whipped topping as I please. As it is the nuts, chocolate, fruit, and whipped topping just jump in my ice cream all by themselves, and laugh at me.

Maybe I should filter my ice cream....Uh, I mean, my life. But then again, if I did that, said filter would remove all the creaminess and smoothness. I would just have melted cream and sugar...and a bit of vanilla flavoring.

I'm pretty happy with the Rocky Roads in my life. They make my head hurt sometimes, but I wouldn't have it any other way. It helps me throughly enjoy the Vanilla.

Irrational Emotions

It's my professional opinion that laughter, tears, screaming, and bouncing up and down is what happens when we are too emotionally overwhelmed to express them rationally. Over this past weekend there was quite a bit of laughter, tears, screaming, and bouncing up and down.

One of my closest and best friends, Justine, got married on Saturday. She has been there for me through thick and thin over the last 4 years or so. We met at my brother-in-laws high school graduation...and honestly, I was quite certain she didn't like me very much and my first impression was that she was a tad stuck up. Then I got to know her...rather quickly. We're rather inseparable now-a-days.

When Chris and Justine got engaged I nearly popped from excitement. Justine had been waiting for a man to treat her right for some time. That same night, Justine asked me to be a bridesmaid for her. Oh course! So over months of planning, organizing and getting ready the big day was finally here.

After hours of decorating the reception hall and ourselves we made our way to the church...that's when the water works started. They didn't stop for any length of time until after we left the reception. I've never cried so much in my life. The wedding was perfect for them. Just perfect.

Justine looked gorgeous. Just stunning in her lovely dress. I'm pretty sure Chris stopped breathing for a minute when he saw her walking down the isle. I got goosebumps and started bawling. So did everyone else. Every direction I looked someone was teary eyed. Their first dance, the father daughter dance, the speeches, all started us crying again.

Since that fateful day of meeting my lovely friend, she stood by me while I pledged my love and loyalty to my husband, she was one of the first to meet Isaiah, she held my leg when Jayme made her grand entrance, I stood by her while she pledged her love and loyalty to her husband. I can't wait to see what else we get to go through together. And I'm so blessed to witness the wonderful love of Chris and his lovely bride.