LIKE YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE

I had an entirely different post planned for today, one that consisted of pictures of beautiful baby twins - but things turned a different route for me late last night while I was finishing up my shift at work. I was helping a lady & her young daughter in the fitting room find some new items, even though it was already well past closing time. The mother couldn't decided between two sizes of pants for her daughter - she wanted to show me both pairs so I could tell her which ones I thought fit better. Hey, what's an extra three minutes to find the perfect fit & eliminate a return? I was happy to help until the mother said to her daughter, "Change quick. Like your house is on fire quick."

"LIKE YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE QUICK."

In a moments notice, my mood was RUINED. I no longer wanted to help this lady. Infact, I instantly felt a wave of dislike for this lady. She had no idea about the tragedy that I went through only ten months ago - she didn't know my childhood home was a total loss to flames. That I had to fight tooth and nail to make the impossible happen before my daughter was born nine months later. To her - I was just a Gap employee. I was a salesperson. I was put on this earth to help her & her daughter find a new outfit to purchase on her husband's credit card.

"LIKE YOUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE QUICK."

People really need to watch what they say in public. Everyone you come in contact with has a personal life of their own - some could be better, others could be worse. You don't know WHO you are talking to, nor do you know THEIR situation. I find it ridiculous how unaware most people are about the fact that what they say can negatively effect someone else unintentionally.

"Like your house is on fire quick." is a phrase the doesn't fit the situation. The feeling of your house on fire includes your body shaking uncontrollably - so much that you can't think or accomplish basic functions. Your stomach twisted so tightly in a knot that you feel nauseated & very fatigue. You may even need to sit down & take deep breaths. Speaking of your breathing - it's rapid, almost as if you were hyperventilating. Time seems as if it is going in slow motion, you can't get anywhere fast enough - it's like you want to tear out of your skin to get where you need to be.Clearly, it's nothing like switching into another pair of pants.

"QUICK LIKE THEY ARE CLOSED ALREADY"
Would have been the proper thing to have said.

LEARNING TO EMBRACE WHAT WE HAVE

Mornings are beautiful things.

Before my daughter was born, I missed the early mornings. Daycen has been quite a night owl since the day that he was born. He stays up til eleven & sleep through til nearly ten every morning. (That's almost the afternoon, y'all!) Baby Sister is completely different - she sleeps four hours at max, and enjoys being up to watch the sunrise.



At first, I was MISERABLE. My body wasn't use to these 5:30 wake up calls. I barely could keep my eyes open when I gave her the morning bottle, I just stared down at her bright eyes wondering to myself, "How can you be THIS awake?!" As the days turned into weeks, I became familiar with this routine. My body began adjusting - I'd even awake before her sometimes. (Surprise! I know I sure was.)



I absolutely love the sunlight that floods in my bedroom windows as the morning welcomes us. During these cold winter months, my body starts to crave the warm blanket the sun offers. I'm starting to enjoy mornings. You heard me right, I am falling head over heels! I've even debated the idea of trying to get Daycen to get up this early with us...


but for now, I just want to enjoy this as a mother/daughter time. Since it's because of her I learned exactly how beautiful the beginning of the days are.



I normally don't participate in these type of things, but I thought it's a fabulous idea. ♥

Thank you, Emily.

MORE CHEESE, PLEASE!

I'm not going to lie. In this household, if you LOVE something you overdue it. There is what seems like thousands upon thousands of toy cars scattered across the living room floor, ruffles & tulle cover half of my daughter's closet, the hours spent playing world of warcraft by my husband probably equal my son's age, & of course there is always bags randomly placed throughout the house from my terrible shopping addiction. My son also has these crazy obsession issues with food - milk, juice, pretzels, any sort of fruit, eggs ....


but most of all - macaroni & cheese.

He'd eat this stuff til it came out of his ears if I'd let him. I can assure you, he isn't picky either - Kraft, Annies, Velveeta, Stoffers, Noodles & Company - he'll devour any & all of it. Hell, he even loves the Chef Boyardee stuff that comes out of a can. (Seriously though, mac & cheese in a can?! Can that even be GOOD? It just doesn't seem very fresh to me.) I'd have to say, on a weekly average, he probably has some sort of macaroni & cheese four times.

Of course, when I came across a Macaroni & Cheese shirt, I was instantly in love.



What a perfect way to show the world his love for this dish. Not to mention, what better way to overdue it.

TODDLERS & CATERPILLARS, OH MY!

Ever since Daycen was born I dreamed of having play dates with other kids. I waited in anticipation for my friends to have children of their own - for the most part, they never did. So, as he grew older, I began to make new friends with lovely ladies that already had kids in hopes to socialize my son a little more. Even with my progress, I still fell short of actually getting play dates set together (except with my one friend when she would come over for coffee with her son, but those play dates were more for me.) This year, I plan on organizing as many play dates as I possibly can, including large group play dates. I'm quite thrilled with the whole idea.

So to start things off right, Last night we had a play date with my niece at my mother's house. It consisted of colorful caterpillars, an old school fisher-price kitchen, & a whole lot of laughter. Each time that we get together with Naomi & her mother, it seems like Daycen has more & more fun. He's actually getting familiar with her & it seems they might start playing with each other than beside each other. To be honest, whatever way they want to play is perfectly fine with me - as long as everyone is enjoying themselves! I know that I fully enjoy having a warm cup of coffee with good company while the kids destroy the house.



If every night could be like this I'd take it. Seriously. I can't believe how much I love watching my sons social skills bloom. I just wish I would have had the ambition to do this sooner.

THE JOYS OF MONDAYS.

In this society there is a lot of Monday hate, especially the mornings. You hear people complain about it constantly - I guess if you had a weekday job that you hated this day would be sort of a downer. In our humble home, we LOVE Monday mornings. Normalcy sets in again; Andy goes back to work for the week, the routines set in, & despite my hate for cleaning - I feel rejuvenated from the weekend of sleep (since Andy watches Ripsi most of the evenings during the weekends) that I feel as if I could tackle anything!

This morning was no different than any other, the sun greeted us when we came down the steps & both kids seemed to be in great moods. We had laundry tumbling nearby as Me & Daycen baked up some cranberry bread muffins for our afternoon play-date. Ripsi enjoyed some tummy-time in the sunlight that came through the foyer windows. The smells, the sounds, the atmosphere is something I couldn't & wouldn't trade in for anything!




This Monday is particularly great because Daycen is beginning to be slightly interested in his baby sister. Well... perhaps he is just reconnecting with a few of his old baby items, but either way, the fact that he gets semi-close to her is a miracle. This itself is a WHOLE other story, but we won't get into that today.

I'm content. You may be one of those people who hate Mondays, but we absolutely look forward to them. I feel the difference might be comparable to how Ripsi feels about tummy-time verse how her brother felt about it...

BACK TO WORK.

Maternity leave is officially over. I've taken the return to retail slowly by only returning to one of my jobs now, & returning to the other one in a week after the kids have gotten used to mommy going back to work. I'll be completely honest with you, I love staying home with my kids, but I just couldn't do it every single day without a break. It's nice to get away, make a little extra money and be able to socialize with more than a two-year-old chatterbox on a daily basis. I absolutely love my job. I can't really explain why, I just do.

Those of you who work retail & are floored that I'm excited to go back. Enjoy the video below. You can relate to it, laugh about it, maybe even see your job in a different light. I know when my manager showed this to me, I laughed - a lot. I enjoyed knowing that I'm not the only one out there loving what they do, despite all the craziness that can be endured.

THANK YOU GRANDPA ORMAND

Life to Death.
Newborn to Elder.

The cycle of life just keeps going, no matter what. We are in the age of immortality, with all these Vampire movies & television shows, people seem to forget that life doesn't last forever. I'm not particularly into these types of media, but I still forget quite often that we aren't guaranteed tomorrow.

My grandfather passed away on New Years Day. He lived to be 94 and in all those years changed SO many lives (for the better). I was proud to be able to say I was his granddaughter, that my kids were his great-grandkids. He was a spitfire, a clever man from the day that I met him. He warmed the hearts of many, despite sometimes being stubborn everyone loved him.

He had a passion for making ugly things beautiful - showing it's true beauty to the world. He would take what seemed like ordinary rocks to me & you - cut them open, polish them, & make them into amazing jewelry pieces. Most of this pieces were lost in his 1999 house fire, however, a handful of those were saved, cleaned up, & in the homes of his family. One of those is in my possession. It survived not one, but two house fires. I'm lucky to have it, as I was lucky to have him in my life all these years.




Thank you, Grandpa for everything. We love you.