Reflection on Reaction and Reflexes

Has anyone every noticed that your reflexes improve double fold when you became a parent?

Today i was sitting on the porch reading my book while the boys played in the yard and Sione' crawled around the porch. We do not have a proper gate yet and as of right now we have a storage container full of winter clothes and a footstool set side by side to keep little crawlers from tumbling down the 2 steps.

Well as i read my book i heard a little scratch noise and before i could even think about what i was doing i jumped up and managed to catch Sione' right before the footstool gave way and tumbled them both down the stairs. Apparently it did wonders for crawlers but standers not so much. When he tried to use it to pull himself up it started to slowly slip and thank God for my Mommy reflexes.

Another example would be a few weeks ago when i caught MJ right before he fell out of the trampoline. I was all the way across the lawn and saw it happening and ran. I didnt even think or have time to think for that matter. Not that it would have hurt him terrible but it would have probably knocked the breathe out of him.

So are your reflexes different since you have been a mom? Is it a mommy intuition thing?

Random Dozen

 
 
1. Would you rather host party or simply attend a party? Hosting is fun and i prefer it any day.

2. Tell us about the most memorable party you've been to. Probably the Valentine's Party i attened with my husband last year as we know know we concieved out son that night. I will never think about him without thinking about that party.


3. What is one thing you hope for in the after-life? I hope to be with my family who has already left us and especially my mom.


4. What do you enjoy most about sunshine? The feel of it on my skin. I love the warmth it gives off even if it is freezing outside.


5. When you attend a bridal/baby shower, do you prefer to bring your own gift or chip in with others to buy a larger gift? Bring my own but i often wait til after a baby shower to see what the mama to be still needs.


6. Would you rather have a FREE week of having your house cleaned or all of your meals cooked for you and your family? My house cleaned! I love to cook so i could handle that as long as someon eelse is cleaning it up lol.


7. What song describes your mood today? Mr. Roger's "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood"


8. What is something you received for your own bridal shower/wedding that you still own or use? (If you are not married, feel free to sub a gift you received a long time ago.) Lets see....a picture frame or towels would have to be it.


9. Your favorite flavor of ice cream is? Better Batter with marchino cherries and walnuts added in from Maggie Moo's....it is sooooooooooooooooooooo yummo!


10. When was the last time you felt "tested?" Oh god every day...ten minutes ago...3 seconds ago...i have 3 kids what can i say.


11. "[Fill in the blank] is a food that once I start eating I find really hard to stop." Chips, chocolate, cookies, ice cream...oh i know...Corned Beef...i can eat that til it makes me sick.


12. "-----" is the best motivation. My kids and my family. they can push me like nothing else.

Wordless Wednesday - A Day at the Park

Please visit Wordless Wednesday and 5 Mins for Mom

Random Dozen

1. What is one really fast, know-by-heart "go-to" meal to fix in a pinch? I am big on sphagetti. It is easy, quick and yields lots of leftovers!

2. What is one item you won't leave home without. (Purse and license do not count.) Something to drink. I always have a bottle of soda or water with me whenever i leave the house.

3. Where is one place you never tire of visiting? I never get tired of the beach. We go to Florida atleast once a year and the beach is always my favorite stop.

4. Share one factoid of your family's history. My great-grandmother on my maternal Grandfather's side was a full blooded Native American Indian.

5. Complete this sentence: "Once upon a time I ...." ...Use to be able to pee without interuptions.

6. If you could win a one year's supply of anything, what would it be? Probably coffee or creamer for my coffee. I am a joe a holic.

7. "One quirky thing you may not know about me is ...." ...I bit my nails up until a year and a half ago and stopped when i got pregnant cause it just didnt taste right anymore.

8. You have one dollar in your pocket. What will you buy? Probably a candy bar or some kind of chocolate.

9. "One thing that always makes me laugh is ...." ....When my kids make funny little joke that are so corny but they find it so hilarious.

10. What is one thing you could do today to help yourself reach a personal goal? Stop procrastinating. I am a A+ procrastinator.

11. What is one thing you could do today to bless someone else? Present anyone i meet with a smile and a warm heart. Ask how they are doing and if their loved ones are well.

12. What is one thing you're looking forward to soon? Summer vacation with the kids home from school. I cant wait for the sun, the pool, and lots of fun. (although i am sure i will be taking that back after about 3 weeks of nonstop kids)

Sione' - 6 Months

Dear Cuddle Bug,

Mommy has been so excited to see all your new growth in the last month. Even the last few weeks have been really exciting with all the milestones.

You now weight around 20 pounds and are 26 inches tall. You are so chunky and I just wanna eat you up. You are eating 3 meals a day. You love your cereal in the morning mixed with some fruit. Which is about the only way i can get you to eat your fruit. Weird for a baby to not like fruit but you are your own unique boy.

Your favorite foods include peas (which are your absolute favorite), sweet potatoes, and mixed veggies. Fruit is a little hit and miss. We have tried them all and right now i can tell you that you hate bananas but love pineapple with pears and applesauce. owever you tried bananas with apples and pears and like that so maybe it is just straight bananas you dont like.

You are sitting up and crawling now. You are all over the place. Keeping you still is not an option anymore. You discovered grass the other day on a trip to the park and are now obsessed with it. You like to get into crawling position and put your mouth down to it like a cow. You are a fast little booger too. You have even decided that laying down to eat your bottle is too much stillness and that you need to eat sitting up so as not to miss a thing.

You are still trying to cut your first tooth but not being very nice about it. You can be a bit of a grouch especially in the evenings but over all you are still a very smiley baby. You enjoy attention and steal it whenever you can. You like to be held by anyone how is willing but you are also starting to know the differenc ebetween people you know and strangers. You often will give strangers very odd looks before giving them that grand toothless smile.

Your favorite thing to play with is MJ's cars. I suppose you like the bright colors but you more or less want to chew on them. I suppose the hard cold metal feels good on your gums or maybe you just like the taste of dirt.

You are becoming very vocal and it isnt all screaming and crying. You have started to make conversation type sounds like dadadada and ahahahaha. We often go back and forth "ah"ing at each other til you end the conversation with a high pitched scream or giggle. It makes my day to have these baby talk conversations with you.

This has been the fastest 6 months of my life. You are growing up so fast and i wish i could slow the time down and enjoy every last second to its fullest. I know i willmiss the days when you just wanted me to hold you all day because i already miss the dependence you once had on me. You like your independent time now and i love to watch you, but a part of me yearns for time to stop and just let me rejoice in all your baby glory.

I love you my little bug. You have brought sunshine to my life through your smile and warmth through your giggles. You are and always will be my littlest buggy.

The Love Dare: Day 1 Thru Day 3

I think i mentioned on here once before how i was thinking about reading and following The Love Dare by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Lawrence Kimbrough. If i didnt then consider this you notice (cause i dont really know what else to say).

I heard about this book from some fellow mommy bloggers. They talked about the movie Fireproof which features the book. I do have the movie but have yet to watch it. I must say that i didnt think there was any real problems in my marriage which probably says more than anything how ignorant and selfish i am. I just figured i would read and play along with this book for fun and see how it worked. If nothing else it wasnt like it would make my marriage worse right.

So on Saturday i started The Love Dare. Day 1 was no gentle ease into the water. It was a giant leap into a pit. Patients was the lesson of the first day and boy could i use that lesson. I didnt realize until after i read the chapter how negative i can be. I jump quickly to conclusions and if i dont get my own way i tend to beat (not physically) my opponante into submission. I can be a bit of a negative nelly or debbie downer. In other words i am a bit pesamistic. I always pick the bad in the situation to focus on and rarely the good.

This in turn leads to a lot of unneseccary fights between me and my husband. Now he is not a confrontational type of man. He would rather bend and let me have my way than fight with me. Sometimes this is great but most of the time it just enrages me even more (whats wrose than trying to fight with someone who wont fight you back). So the point of all this is to say that Day 1's lesson of paitents and dare of "Resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all" was going to be a little difficult. So much for that cake walk i was looking for.

But Day 1 came and went and you know what i found? Go on take a guess!

It was simple and quite natural to be patient and postive to my husband. Yes a few times i had to bite my tounge and change my words to more kind options, and i even had to walk away once so i could calm down for a minute. But it came so easily i thought it had to be a fluke. So i went to bed happy that night and looking forward to the next dare. Thinking maybe this is a cake walk or maybe i just dont have anything in my marriage to fix.

Day 2's lesson was all about kindness and the dare was "In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness". Now this got me a little. Being positive for one day proved easy but nothing negative for a second day in a row might just prove to be my downfall. It isnt that i cant be a sweet loving person but i tend to run on high octane and low water which causes me to over heat quite frequently.

So since Marcus was at work that day i decided to concentrate on the kindess act first before confronting the no negative nelly routine. Let me tell you trying to come up with an unexpected act of kindness was th easiest thing i have done by far.

See i dont do dishes...EVER! I do all the cooking so it has always been our agreement that he is to do the cleanup of the kitchen. It isnt that i am lazy (although i am) i just detest dishes. I hate the feel of the water on my hands. That gritty, suddy feel just makes me queesey. So my act of kindness was to suck it up, put on my big girl panties, and do the dishes.

We had just had a BBQ on Saturday so i had quite the load to do. I finished them about an hour before Marcus got home. When he came into the kitchen and looked around he gave me a quizical look. I told him the dare for the day and how i figured the kindest thing i could do was take care of the dishes so that he wouldnt have to bother with them after being at work all day. He was pleasantly surprised and i  felt really good about it.

As far as the attitude and not being negative it went really good. I have realized that it is so much easier to speak to my husband in a kind, explaining way rather than a yelling, raging, bitchy way. He returns my attiude ten fold and we treat each other the way we want ot be treated.

Day 3 was not really accomplished in full. The Dare for the day was this "Along with restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse somethign that says i was thinking of you today". The lesson in this was about being selfless instead of selfish. Now i would never have called my self selfish but then again who would.

After some soul serching through the day i realized i am a selfish being just as we all are. We all look for what is best for us and not nesecceraily what is best for those around us. So i did not accomplish the dare for lack of funds but i did learn a lesson and i am looking forward to the day when i can complete it in full. As for the attitude on day 3.....

It came natural to just be kind, positive, and gently! It is a stride and i still had some moments but over all it was wonderful.

So i will be back in a few days with the next few days and how they went. Hope all is well in your lives.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope you all have a wonderful day. If you still have your Mother in your life be thankful and show her all the love she showed you. Be thankful for the ones who made you a Mother and bask in their joy today. The greatest blessings in our lives our often the people who surround us.

Vacation Slide Show

Hey...Over Here...Yes It's Me

I am alive! I know are you shocked? I have been gone for so long. Busy busy busy I have been!

Lets see where do i start!

The boys started teeball last month and are loving every minute of it. Phabian really enjoys running the bases and no matter what happens he has a surprisingly great attitude about it. MJ is not as happy all the time. If he doesnt get to hit the ball when he wants he gets mad. When his team heads into the field he always comes over to sit with us. Over all thought he enjoys it and i think by next year he will truly be into it like Phabian is now.

We just got back from vacation. We went to Myrtle Beach, SC for a week and it was wonderful. The weekend was spent talking and eating with extended family as it was our family reunion. I have family all over but most of then came from Tennessee. It was great to see everyone and all though we are all so very different in our beliefs and ways of life it is nice to connect and get to learn things about one another.

After they left on Sunday we spent the rest of our time with my Aunts. They had paid for the room and it was fantastic. It was a 3 bedroom suiet. It happened to be on the 16th floor and had the most beautiful ocean view i have ever seen. I took a lot of pictures of the view; both of sunrise and night. The sun rising on the water and the moon making a silver streach were 2 of the most magnificent things i have ever witnessed.

I however forgot the camera for most of our family excursions. We took the kids to the Ripley's Aquarium and how i wish i had picture of that to share but as most of you have probably seen an aquarium at some point you can use your imaginations. I was glad to be in the moment instead of behind it for once. The kids really enjoyed it for the most part. MJ was rather scared of the underwater tunnel. He thought the sharks were going to fall through but got over it quickly enough and enjoyed the rest of his time there. Phabian being my little Marine Biologist loved every second. Petting the sting rays was by far his favorite and i had to hold him still to keep him from falling inthe water to swim with them lol.

My husband and i snuck away a few times by ourselves. We went out for drinks one night and then for a little private walk on the beach at night. Once there on the beach far down from our hotel he stopped me and dropped to one knee. Yes my sweet, romantic, loving husband ask me to marry him again. He said he wants to be married on that beach under the hotel's gazebo. It is beautiful and i do have a picture of that to share later. He stunned me and made me cry of course but it couldnt have been more perfect. To know the man that i married still loves me enough to want to do it all over again is an amazing and powerful feeling.

We spent a good deal of our time at the indoor pool. The ocean was freezing and the outdoor pools were not much better so indoor was the way to go. It was on the second floor overlooking the ocean and it was heated but the cool breeze was let in by balconies. It was spectacular. Phabian is on the verge of swimming on his own. The whole pool was only 3 ft deep so he was able to take off his lifevest and go onhis own. By the time we left he was doing back flips and front flips in the water and swimming with his snorkle gear we bought him. He really is a fish in the water my little Picese. Mj is much more concervative and spent a good deal of time in the luke warm hot tub (there were 2, one that was really hot and one that was luke warm). He loved the bubbles created by the jets and proclaimed that it was a big bubble bath.

Mr. Sione' enjoyed every minute of his attention. He loved the pools and his young cousins from New Hampshire enjoyed holding and spoiling him. Not so great now that we are home and i dont want to be holding him all the time but he enjoyed it then atleast. He also enjoyed the pool. He is a natural swimmer and with only the slightest hand to hold him up was doggy paddeling around the pool. It amazed me. I have never seen a baby do such a thing but it was brillant to watch. He also loved to fall asleep on our hotel balcony listening to the waves crash on the shore. Who could blame the little guy as even i have to admit it was very calming to the senses.

We aalso took the boys to play Putt Putt and wasnt that fun. It was the hottest day there and we all were sweating and steaming by the time we were done with our 18 holes of pirate funny. MJ however did not like the rules of the game and would move his ball constantly to where he thought it should have landed. It was so much fun to just be with them in those moments.

My Grandma celebrated her 83rd birthday while we were there. She says she doesnt feel much older and who can blame her when she is surrounded by the youth of her great-grandchildren. She has survived so much in her life and i love her so much.

We made it home safe and sound after getting treated to a storm and a double rainbow on our last day there. I have some beautiful pics as soon as i get them on the comp and loaded i will be sharing.

Now it is back to everyday life. School, kids, cooking, cleaning, teeball games, and soon football season will be upon us. Man life is moving so fast and i am finding it harder and harder to keep up.

I will be back soon with pics from vacation and Sione's 6 month update. Til then i hope you all are having a wonderful time enjoying what life has to offer.