"Fun" Friday: Wachawdano

"Running Record" Thursday

Book #19 Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

Lexi Smart awakes one day in the hospital and finds out that she has lost 3 years of her memory. In those 3 years, she has become a totally different person-she has gone from drab to fab, she has a gorgeous husband, lots of money & a whole new set of friends. The only problem, she still feels like the "old" Lexi inside & has no idea how she could have changed so much in such a short amount of time. This book is about Lexi trying to piece together her life, who she was & who she wants to be & is done with a good deal of humor thrown in along the way.

I think I may have found a new favorite author in Sophie Kinsella & can't wait to read another one of her books. This was the 2nd book of hers that I have read & I really enjoyed her humor & the characters she has created. I loved trying to imagine walking through my life right now, but looking at it as I would have 3 years ago...it would be a very strange feeling. I also love the fact that these books are set in Britain, in some way, the phrases they use make everything sound so much more sophisticated. British curse words sound so much nicer than our American words :)

Book #20 The Pact: A Love Story by Jodi Picoult

This book is about the Golds and their neighbors, the Hartes, who have been inseparable since becoming neighbors. Eventually, their teenage children, Chris and Emily, begin dating, however, tragedy strikes when seventeen-year-old Emily is shot to death by Chris as part of an apparent suicide pact & the parents realize that maybe they didn't know their children as well as they thought they did.

Although, the subject matter was a bit difficult to read about, I found this book to be a good read. It does make one stop & think "how well do I really know [fill in the blank with your own loved one's name]". These parents felt that they knew their children inside & out, but they really only knew what they wanted to see. It definitely made me think about how I view people & how as a parent I want to know my child's "true" self not just the person I hope he will be. The Jodi Picoult books I have read have all seemed to deal with 'tough' issues, but the way she writes has really drawn me in too to the point that I can never seem to put these books down! :) They also always seem to be done long before I am actually ready to part with the characters & what is going on in their fictional worlds. *sigh* That must be the sign of a good writer-always leaving you ready for more...

Wordless Wednesday: Welcome Bert & Sassy!

More Wordless Wednesday here

(B)eat it!

I love making up my own words to songs as I am singing them & have come up with several dandies in the past, but none as good as Weird Al. So I thought it would be fitting to do a post in honor of recent events.

Watch this & then watch this...

RIP MJ

One cannot live on Fruit Loops alone...

or can he?

Luke is becoming less of a picky eater, but he still has his days sometimes.

Today was one of those days!

Everything I offered him (& I offered many of his favorite things, mind you), he would look at me & politely say "Nooo."

"Well, what do you want then?" his frustrated mother would reply.

"Fwoot Woops" he said (at breakfast, snack, lunch, snack & supper times-normally they might make the cut for ONE snack time every few days)

So I gave him the d*&# Fruit Loops several times :)

No worries, he did manage to add in about a handful of grapes, 2 cookies & a spoonful of lettuce salad throughout the day too along with plenty of liquids. But, oh, the poor oatmeal, banana, applesauce, sandwich & spaghetti that bit the dust without being touched (unless you count using it to decorate the himself, the table top & the floor-does he get nutritional value by osmosis maybe?) just broke my heart :( So much effort on my part~so little enjoyment out of it on his! *sigh*

Is it wrong to say that I am glad he will be going to the babysitter's for at least 1 meal tomorrow?! ;)

"Fun" Saturday :)

Sooo...I meant to get this posted yesterday & didn't quite make it :)

I was trying to decide what to post here yesterday & then Luke was kind enough to provide the story for me!

Luke had just finished up his afternoon snack & I was trying to figure out what we were going to do next when he said "Bike"..."ride?"
I said "Oh, Luke, that is a great idea! Let's go on a bike ride that will be fun." (It did sound like fun, but I was also very aware of the fact that it was VERY HOT outside too-fun!)
I got his juice cup all made up & we headed out to the garage. I hooked him all up in his 'straight jacket' bicycle seat & rolled the bike outside. I went to sit on the bike and only then did I realize that my bum was sore...from riding the bike the day before. What could I do? This little guy behind me was expecting a bike ride now & I didn't want to waste all of my effort of getting his cup ready AND getting him into his seat :) And get this, it wasn't only my bottom, but also my thighs once I started pedaling along that were sore too. (Have I ever mentioned that our road is full of lots of very 'subtle' hils that you don't notice so much when you're walking on them, but they are very noticeable when riding a bike on them!) So I toughed it out for at least 1 1/2 miles-fun! Anyway, we eventually made it back to our driveway, which by the way has the steepest hill of the whole ride, yeah, I know-fun! I got off the bike & started to push it towards the garage when all of a sudden I hear Luke say:

"FUN!"

All I could say was "Yes, Luke it was fun."
In fact, that made it all totally worth it & actually I did enjoy it, but I think maybe tomorrow we could...

let dad do it ;)

And for more "FUN!" I hope the following videos help everyone to stay cool-I know I am (& you can interpret that anyway you'd like too :)

The version I love:



And one that I thought was funny:

How are You?

"Fine" "It's fine" "It's okay"

My standard answers to this question over the past 3 weeks.
Are they lies? Some days yes...Some days no.

Today, a little bit yes. "Baby E" already seems like eons ago in my head. Maybe that is my mind's way of coping, I don't know, but it truly does feel like it happened "so long" ago now. Yet, when I actually let myself sit down & think about it for very long-I realize that he is only 3 weeks old today & that is not that long ago. I would have had a 3 week old baby in my arms today if all had gone as planned...

but it did not & so here I sit.

Am I walking around ready to fall apart at any second? No, but that doesn't mean that I am not still grieving for what "might have been"

Does it hurt to see others' with their babies? Yes, but not in a spiteful way, just a sad for what we could have been experiencing with"Baby E" at this moment way

Honestly, I haven't figured out which is better yet-seeing people who we know, but no nothing about what happened & trying to pretend that everything has been fine & dandy for the past few weeks or seeing people who know, but are afraid to talk about it because it might upset us or people who give us the "oh I just can't imagine...". No...you can't, but at least we know that you care & are thinking of us. Of course, some of this is just me too because I know that I don't want to be asked about it constantly, but I am also not afraid to talk about it either so I am sure that I have sent out plenty of mixed signals to many of our family & friends. Although, I have a strong feeling that this is all just part of the "process" too.

I do know that I don't want people to...

use their most "sympathy filled" voices to talk to me-it is sad that it happened, but I promise you that I am not walking around all day just waiting for the first chance to have an emotional breakdown for you just because you're talking about it :)

act like it never happened or gloss over it with a "there will be another baby"-just because it may not seem completely "real" to you because you didn't witness it or see the baby-I promise that it was very real for us

believe me completely when I say that I am just "fine"-just being willing to listen instead of asking lots of questions about it will help more than anyone could ever know.

I also know that...

we have already received countless understanding & support from so many of our family & friends & other bloggers and for that I say "THANK YOU!"

I know that we will come through this stronger than we were before & that maybe one of these days we will have another little baby to hold in our arms & raise as our own, but for the moment I just might need to dwell on "what might have been" occasionally for a while yet & figure out the answer to the question that has brought all of this up again these past few days...

"What do I do with the pictures we took?"