Sing a song.
Hope a hope.
Dream a dream.
Listen to advice (but only when it feels right.)
SMILE. Laugh. Be Joyful….
And then keep forever in your Heart
what it is that makes you so happy.

I started and re-started this reflection a few times. There are many trade-offs in life. You have to figure out what is most important and make sure that it is given the emphasis in your life that corresponds with how important it is.

I am not going to say that this time is easy. I have many things that are very important to me. And, even if something (ie my family) is more important to me than something else (ie work or class) that doesn’t mean that the thing of lesser importance is unimportant.

I am doing the best that I can with the resources I have available. And somewhere in it all I am trying to enjoy myself too.

On the commute to work this morning I had a moment of piece and enlightenment that came upon me. I decided that I am just going to be happy. I can only control so much. After that I will let things fall where they may and enjoy the ride.

The quote above was from a card given to me by someone who had a great impact on my life. She was an amazing chorale director and professor at my undergraduate college. I visited there this weekend for a special occasion. She passed away a few years ago from pancreatic cancer. I miss her when I go there, but I am so grateful for the lessons she taught me.

Have a good week, and do whatever it is that makes you so happy.

Here are a few things that make me so happy:

1lb of Ground Turkey
1 lb of Ground Turkey Sausage
2 cans of White Beans
1 package of McCormick White Chicken Chili Spices (You could use your own spices instead. I love ginger, garlic and cumin as an intriguing mix for white chili.)
1 Jar of Salsa Verde
5 cups of water
1 chopped onion
1 chopped green pepper
1 bag frozen corn

Brown and drain the Ground Turkey and Turkey Sausage
Combine all of the ingredients into the Crock Pot and put on low for the day.

It is especially yummy with some sour cream, mozzarella cheese, black olives, diced tomatoes and diced onions to top it off!

First of all, here is Charlie’s three month review:

I don’t have his stats as far as weight and length because he didn’t have a 3 month visit. His four month visit is this friday. As far as I can see he is super long (fitting into 6mo clothes already) but pretty skinny. We all thought he would be a big big boy, but he is basically a skinny long tube. He still fits into size one diapers with is teeny little butt. I hope the doctor doesn’t say he is too skinny!

Charlie is soooo strong….he can hold his head up on his tummy although he does look like a turtle when he does it. Also, he is almost ready to roll from back to tummy, but he hasn’t done it yet. We got an exersaucer this weekend that is just right at its lowest level for him and he can hold himself up in it and he loves playing with his scrunchy toys while pushing himself up to standing….crazy for a four month old! Pretty soon he will be crawling and into everything!

So we have some news….Nadie got a new job. After nine months of being home he was so ready to be out of the house…he is back in software – which is great…we are so blessed to have been able to weather and actually thrive during the storm…it was a blessing in many ways.

So last week was a huge one for our family. The kids started at a new daycare, I had orientation for my Graduate courses and Nadie started his job. We were all pretty much exhausted by the end of the week. Everybody was grouchy on Thursday evening.

After visiting a bunch of daycare centers I decided Z and C really needed a more specific play area. We finally turned the dining room downstairs into a play room. I got a train table and a toy bin and a book shelf and a storage shelf. Z has been having a blast playing there. I don’t know why we didn’t do it sooner. It just makes things so much easier so she has better access to all of her toys.

Z is obsessed with her alphabet. She is constantly playing with blocks or her letter puzzle or the magnetic letters. The way she lines up the blocks, we are sort of concerned about OCD…LOL She also loves the numbers, and when she plays with them you hear her say ‘WAN, DWU, WAN” which is I think Z speak for 1 2 3.

She started trying to push really hard on doors and such and making this huge grunting noise….it is sooooo cute. I will try to get a video of it. Right now she is teething and goes through about 3-4 bibs during the day to catch her drool. Ew!

On the way home from daycare we go over animal sounds. She loves to meow. Her woof is more like WOO WOO, and then her quack is a lot like WAA WAA. In any case it is absolutely adorable.

Sometimes I am not sure what I did to deserve such blessings….

I am so behind…I finally got the pictures from Charlie’s baptism posted. I still need to create his Quarterly review.
He is so long and skinny. He is my little Charlie Bug. He has a bottle around 11 or midnight and then another between 6am and 8am…depending on when he wakes up.
I like the morning one the best. I groggily get out of bed and make the bottle and then I snuggle with my bug while he drains his 4 ounces.
Here is one picture from his baptism.

He was so good. Zoe was a wild woman and she pulled her pigtails out before the baptism ever took place. That day we had been running non-stop. The night before Jason decided that he HAD to go to his 20 year high school reunion, even though he had said he didn’t want to go for two months….so we got up early and ran to Lafayette to walk around Jeff High School and have pizza at a park…then we flew home to get ready and make it to 4:30 Church – which I had to be there at 4pm because I was cantoring…it was insane. Afterward my parents and my brother and SIL and their kids all went to Gray Brothers. Let’s just say I was happy to see the couch that evening when it was all over.

My haircut was awful. I got a cut before I went back to work. It was from my normal salon, but it wasn’t as short as I wanted it…so I made the horrible mistake of going to a walk-ins welcome salon at walmart and the chick butchered my hair. If I wasn’t a big girl I would have cried for days….what am I saying I did cry for days on the inside….so after 6 weeks I went to my REAL hairstylist and had her re-style it so that it didn’t look like a horrible muppet-billy rae cyrus-mullet look. Oh my goodness what was I thinking.’
Sorry this post is so crazy…I just needed to get ‘something’ out there so I wouldn’t wait any longer….

Here are the rest of the pictures….

I finally posted my first contribution to the SP Blog….
If you want to check it out, here it is:
Providence and Social Media.

Have a great weekend! Baptism pictures to come!

Sometimes life has a cadence to it. I can sense being at the end of a phase….moving to the next thing.
Right now I just sort of feel in the middle of it all.

I am back from maternity leave. I start school in late August.
The Senate couldn’t come to an agreement on the Unemployment Extension, so we are hanging in the balance and wondering what we do next.
The extension is just a delay of the inevitable anyways, but it is still a frustration. Our state benefits ran out after the federal extension ended, so even though some people have received 2 years of assistance we received nothing more than the state benefits. I don’t mean to sound ungrateful. I am not. I just wish there was a better economy out there.

I know we will manage. I am thankful for my job.

In brighter news, Charlie turns 2 months on Sunday the 4th. I am going to do a photo shoot with C and Z later this week, but I did take his picture last night so you can see how much he has grown. He is starting to smile. He is a really good baby. I wish I could spend more time with him. I am glad he is with his daddy.

Zoe has consistently been testing the waters on how to get what she wants. She is very good at looking for something she should not have and then running away and giggling. If you take away something she wants or reprimand her for anything she will either act like you hurt her feelings or launch her head back and scream. Dear Lord, I hope we make it through this period without a concussion or a cracked skull.

Despite the hard times, we are lucky people to be with these to kiddos…and to be together…

I have a better idea of why it is so hard to post once you get two kiddos….the days fly!
Charlie is doing great. He is such a good baby. I think it is a bit of us being more relaxed, but he is definitely more chill that Z was as a babe.
We decided at the last minute to ask my sister if she had any deals on condos in Florida. I am typing this right now from a beautiful two bedroom condo on our favorite island, Longboat Key. We are spending the days going from the beach to the pool and trying to relax as much as possible. Z loves the beach and of course the pool, so we are having a great time. Charlie is just relaxing in his bucket or the ergo baby carrier. We are so blessed.
Life is good.

Dear Charlie,
This time and closeness with you has been amazing. It has gone by so quickly. You are my surprise love – the one that said hey since you seem to be having so much fun down there do you mind if I join you?
And every time you move inside of me is amazing…there are no words….you seem bigger and harder to carry around than your sister was – it is my hope that it means you are thriving and happy inside my womb.
In less than a month you will be out and unattached to me. I will miss your movements inside of me – but I will be so happy to hear your cries and see your smiles and watch you grow.
Your sister doesn’t understand that you are coming, but I know once you are here she will become your best friend, and even show you how to make friends with Mittens and Gus and Starbuck. Don’t listen to her about Grace – that cat will never like anyone – not even your momma!
Z will give you examples of how to be an awesome little kid – but you will have your own awesomeness too….you can show her a thing or two!
Get here soon so we can all snuggle together…..
Love- Momma

After a lot of discernment Nadie and I have made a few decisions. At this point I am going to only take one class this fall. I am turning down the AI that was offered to me. I am continuing to work full-time while doing this.
Even just adding this one class will be a big deal, I know.
The wonderful thing is that I think all of this is doable. I have been walking around scared of what would happen this fall – worried that I would take on too much and then fail.
Now I think – this is not so bad – this is awesome!
And the coolest thing is that they still are offering a scholarship! So just taking one class will mean that most of my tuition is covered. That is awesome! I thought the tuition assistance was tied to the Assistant Instructorship they offered – but nope! Yay!

So now I can focus on a little man that I will meet soon!
I have been picking up little clothes here and there. I got a huge tub of clothes from my brother and SIL that will help heaps! Today I picked up the stroller and when the rain dies down I am going to have Nadie get the box out of the car so I can put it together.
I got little Chuckie some bottles. At least I know enough to know that he needs slow nipples at first! I remember learning that nipples had speeds with Zoe. I still think they should make onesies that say ‘I like fast nipples’ on them.
I don’t think we will Breastfeeding this time. I mean, at first we will try, but I will supplement from the beginning. This time it will probably be even more necessary because I am having a c-section and may not experience any labor at all – so none of those hormones that help tell the body to make milk.
Another decision that we made is to NOT consider selling our house. My brother had called last weekend and told us they are going to sell their house. They live in the house that I grew up in on the property that has been in our family for generations. Nadie was all for putting our house up for sale and moving there. I was excited too, but I had some reservations.
First, well – I am having a baby in four weeks – not the best time to get a house ready for sale and move.
Second, we live in a neighborhood that has been greatly affected by the housing decline – foreclosures, etc – and we probably would not be able to sell it for what we need to and we wouldn’t make any profit on the house.
Three, the house we would buy is an hour and a half commute one-way away from the majority of jobs that Nadie is looking at….and I can’t imagine him driving three hours every day and being happy in the long run.

The thing is that the house and the property are beautiful. It would be a gift to live there and raise our children. Still, it isn’t really what has been in our five year plan for a while, so I am hesitant to change all of our plans at the drop of a hat. As Nadie said, sometimes those opportunities weren’t in your plan because you didn’t see them. I agree with that….to me the biggest issue is – I am 35 weeks pregnant! I can’t move! AcccckkkH! Plus I would hate to buy a house and then be unhappy because of the commute and be stuck there.
I hate the thought that the property might go out of our family again, but I can’t do it this time……

Happy Easter!

Wishing you a rejuvenating resurrection!

Enjoy the new life springing about you!