A letter to my daughter on her first birthday

Just found this in my email. I wrote this letter to my angel on her first birthday!!! It made my heart smile. 

My dearest Carleigh,

Today is your first birthday! I know you wont remember your first year so I thought I would write you a letter filling you in on all the big stuff. This is going to be hard because to me everything you have done has been so exciting. I was in labor all day long. It was long and hard but so worth every second. The moment I saw you face I knew what true and undying love really was. When we brought you home from the hospital I had never been more happy in my life. I stayed home with you for about seven weeks. It was tough at first because you had a hard time adjusting to eating. We had to put you on special formula to keep you from getting sick and once we did that you were the happiest baby on the planet! When I went back to work you stayed with big momma in the afternoons until daddy gets off work.

Your first outing was exactly one week after you were born and we took you to the bowling alley! This was your daddies idea... not mine! Everyone there fell head over heals in love with you. You spent lots of time in the bowling alley this year. We even went to say hello to everyone tonight for your birthday.

When you were about 4 months I started feeding you cereal. Then at about 5 months you started eating fruits and veggies. You took to em like a pro! I have some of the best pictures of you trying peas for the first time. Lets say you were less than thrilled about them. But after you kept trying them they became one of you favorites. At around 7 months you started cutting teeth and we gave you bitter biscuits! You loved them. You were also a huge fan of baby toast! You still eat the baby toast almost every morning.

When you were about 7 month old we took you on your first vacation to New Mexico to see daddy and the team bowl in the national tournament. We drove all the way there and back, just you me and daddy! It was so much fun. You were so good in the car and barely fussed at all. We stayed in Carlsbad on the first night and walked the cave in the morning. Daddy straped you in to the baby pack and walked you all the way down the cave. I think you liked most of it. About half way down you fell asleep in daddies arms! It was the cutest thing I had ever seen. So that you would have something to remember, big momma bought you this cute little bat that hangs upsidedown and the wings open and close. You played with it in the car the rest of the way to Albuquerque  Big momma and big daddy rented a beautiful house for us to stay in. It was a great trip! We all had so much fun!
Well there are a million other adorable things you have done, but it is time for me to go to bed. It was a long day full of all your birthday festivities! You are growing up so fast! I cant believe how smart and beautiful you are. I want you to know that no matter what happens in our future, I will always love you with every inch of my heart. You are my life and I will always be proud of you! 

Child's Ten Commandments

To all the moms I know.... in these busy and sometime frustrating days, let us not forget the Child's Ten Commandments! I know personally how easy it is to do.

 

 

A Child’s Ten Commandments to Parents

 

1. My hands are small; please don’t expect perfection whenever I make a bed, draw a picture, or throw a ball. My legs are short; please slow down so that I can keep up with you.

 

2. My eyes have not seen the world as yours have; please let me explore safely: don’t restrict me unnecessarily.

 

3. Housework will always be there. I’m only little such a short time—please take time to explain things to me about this wonderful world, and do so willingly.

 

4. My feelings are tender; please be sensitive to my needs; don’t nag me all day long. (You wouldn’t want to be nagged for your inquisitiveness.) Treat me as you would like to be treated.

 

5. I am a special gift from God; please treasure me as God intended you to do, holding me accountable for my actions, giving me guidelines to live by, and disciplining me in a loving manner.

 

6. I need your encouragement, but not your praise, to grow. Please go easy on the criticism; remember you can criticize the things I do without criticizing me.

 

7. Please give me the freedom to make decisions concerning myself. Permit me to fail, so that I can learn from my mistakes. Then someday I’ll be prepared to make the kind of decisions life requires of me.

 

8. Please don’t do things over for me. Somehow that makes me feel that my efforts didn’t quite measure up to your expectations. I know it’s hard, but please don’t try to compare me with my brother or my sister.

 

9. Please don’t be afraid to leave for a weekend together. Kids need vacations from parents, just as parents need vacations from kids. Besides, it’s a great way to show us kids that your marriage is very special.

 

10. Please take me to Sunday school and church regularly, setting a good example for me to follow. I enjoy learning more about God.

Its been a while...

Wow... these last few months have absolutely flown by. Its like I fell asleep and when I woke up, three months had past! Im sure you wonder what I have been up to....

A whole lota living! That is what I have been up to, and im really proud of myself for it. Its taken me some time to be able to say that, but I am now.

Things have been beyond hard. I am still broke, but no longer sleeping on the floor. lol This journey has shown me how truely blessed I am to have such dedicated and caring family and friends. If it werent for them, I would  be a mess.

We had Car's 4th birthday party last month. I cant believe my little girl is growing up so fast!! I cant take it!! lol She had a blast bowling with family and friends. She got tons of barbie movies, a baby princess bell doll, and a new pair for twinkle toes. It was all fun untill she fell on a ballon and it popped. That scared the tears out of her.

They all say it will get better....

They better be right!

Its been a rough month to say the least.

It started the week before mothers day. Greg and I had been together for just over a year. Things were going well till he asked one little question. "What do you think about getting married?" he asked one day while sitting at the table in our favorite Chinese food restaurant. Without even thinking, I answered "why do you want to marry me?" All the man could come up with was "you would make a good wife"  As he tried to convince me that it was a great idea, all I could think of was 10 years in to the future with him. I saw me being bored out of my mind and surrounded by computers and ninja gear. I saw our closets full of MRE's and ammo. I pictured us in debt and still stuck in an apartment. It was terrible!!! I knew I had to leave that day. I told him I would never get married that afternoon. He didn't talk to me for 5 days. I already had one foot out the door.

Saturday June 4th I went with mom to look for an apartment. I cant remember ever being more frustrated in my life. Every apartment we looked at was too expensive and wouldn't be ready any time soon. I thought I was going to pull my hair out. It took me three days to finally find a place to stay that worked for me and car. Its an old one bedroom apartment with a really neat view of the green belt off the balcony. (12118 Walnut Park Crossing Apt 422) My own place! It only took my 26 years to get my own place. No ones dishes to do but mine and cars. No one elses laundry to wash. The house will be the exact way I leave it every day. It feels good. I have to find out where to get the 660 dollars rent next month. Oh and the 220 dollar deposit for electricity. And don't forget the 100 deposit for gas. (this is all after the almost 700 dollars I had to spend just to get the place)

I'm sleeping on the floor for now, and I am eating off plastic plates. I have no microwave and I'm broke, but it will get better. At least that's what they all say!

First check in while on vacation in Missouri

Wow is this place amazing!  We are staying at greg's uncles house for the week. The place is huge and I love every inch of this place. It has four rooms, an office, a work out room, two living rooms, and a really neat kitchen with the range in the middle. Car and I are staying in the basement, which works out great. Its like we have a whole house to our selves in the morning. The basement is a walk out, so we were able to walk out in the backyard which has some of the tallest trees I have ever seen! lol I know im a dork.

Anyway...  today greg, janet, and I took car to this amazing park here in monett. It had a bunch of different little play areas and a huge sand box. The park also had a pond with with a gander of geese and a big fountain. (i like the word gander lol)

On the way home we passed this place that had a sign that read "Movie rentals / low cost tobacco / tanning beds " Talk about a one stop shop!! lol It cracked me up. This town is so back woods country... I love it! Plus I feel really skinny being around most women in this place. ha

 Other than that, we just took it easy today. Gregs uncle and aunt still have to work today and tomorrow, so wed is when the real fun starts. That is the day we are planning on going to silver dollar city. Cant wait for that!! Well, we are about to leave for dinner. I think we are going to some kind of Chinese buffet place that is supposed to be amazing.
 

Adding instead of taking away.....

So I have decided that its time to get healthy again. I say that all the time, but I think im going to go about it a different way this round.

Every time I decide that I want to lose weight, I start removing things from my life. I remove all the good food I like. I remove going out to eat with friends. I even try to remove smoking cigarettes. In the end, all these things lead to my failure to stick to a plan. I cant keep taking things that I love away and thinking its going to be ok.  Its like taking a security blanket from a child. I have to do this slowly so that it lasts.

This time im going to try add things to my life. Im sure it sounds kinda silly, but at this point, anything is worth a shot. I started today by adding a piece of toast with peanut butter to my breakfast. (since I dont normally eat anything in the morning) Next is to add two bottles of water to my day. These are just two of the small steps I am going to take to start my journey to a better me.

Change is coming...  I can feel it.

I will miss you Megan....

My father always told me "The only unconditional love you will ever truly know, will be the love of your child, and the love of your dog" On this day, I know that is so true.

I remember going with JJ and Kaitlyn to go pick Megan out from a huge litter of spunky yellow lab puppies. When we walked out on the back porch, all the pups ran and hid under a hot tub in the yard. Only one little fuzzball remained on the porch. There she was, laying across a bowl of dog food about the same size as her whole body. When we saw her face, we knew she was the perfect pup for dad. From the moment I saw dad pick that chunky little puppy up, I knew that love at first sight did exist. While Megan left us today, that love will always stay.

Today my father said good bye to his Megan.