Our Adventures at the Beach

Today we went to the beach. I'm so sad that I don't have any photographs of the day. I left my camera behind. :(
Anyhow, it was really warm at the coast and we were sweating while walking towards the ocean (we had to park quite a ways away). But once we got closer the wind was blowing and it was actually pretty chilly. I put on my sweater and put on Anna's long sleeve swim shirt from Land's End (very helpful). Anna loved the water and the sand. She ran through the water (the very shallow surf) and picked up wet sand and threw it over and over. After about fifteen minutes she was very chilly and was shivering. So we left. We went and rinsed off under the outdoor showers. Anna did not like that. She screamed! I stripped her, showered her, and put her in warm clothes very fast. We stopped at a little pizza place on our walk back and ate. It was very yummy pizza. Anna refused to stay in her high chair and kept escaping from her seat. So I set her on the chair next to mine, but she kept standing up. After a few moments the worst thing happened--she knocked the chair backwards while she was standing on the chair and facing towards its back. She and the chair fell to the ground (the CONCRETE ground!) For a split moment she laid very still then started crying. I scooped her up so fast. She was crying, but not a single drop of blood. I started crying. I should've seen it coming, I thought. I was crying, she was crying. I'm sure it was quite a scene. I just felt so bad. What if she was injured and I couldn't see it? She didn't even bleed. Even the bruise that is now on her forehead is quite light... big, but light. It doesn't make sense to me. I can only think that the Lord was protecting my little monkey once again! So we quickly left. We decided since Anna was doing better we should spend a little time in the games. Paul played DDR and I followed Anna as she wandered around. On my way out I put fifty cents into one of those toy retrieving machines and won Anna a little dolly on the first try! We then walked back to the car and drove home. Exhausted, fully, and paranoid (or at least I was the paranoid one). I kept checking to see if Anna was still breathing lol.
I guess that serves me right for watching so much "Bones" lately. I just watched an episode where the victim had a hematoma under her skull.... and to top it off I learned about a family who lost their 18 month old son the other day to RSV. Please keep them in prayer. The little boy has a twin brother. He was in the car, started to cry, then "fell asleep" but really passed away. I couldn't imagine that. It would be so hard!
Ok... enough Chatty Cathy for now. Good night. I'm exhausted.

Going to the Beach

Today we are going to the beach... obviously it's just barely after midnight now and we'll need to get some sleep first, but that's what we'll be doing today. I'm excited. I love the ocean. It's probably one of the best places on earth. It's calming. It's wonderful. I love the Oregon Beach. It's been so long since we've gone to the ocean. I think last August was the last time we went.

Wordless Wednesday: Disneyland

These are photos of our trip to Disneyland in February 08. My parents received a settlement after my brother's death and we decided to spend it as a family with a trip to D-Land. Click to Enlarge.

Anna and mommy on the carousel x2, our family with a giant bug from A Bug's Life, Anna on Snow White's stoop.

Anna and me with Pooh at the character breakfast, Daddy and Anna with Eeyore, Nephew Cade with Chip or Dale (don't know which is which), Capt. Hook threatening my nephew Cade.

L-R/T-B: Anna, Anna and Pluto, Anna and daddy X2.

Anna on the big A of CALIFORNIA, Anna and me with my nephew Cade on the rocket rides... won't do that again!, Anna with her Daisy Duck, Standing in line for the Rocket Ride.

Back to front: Me with my arms in the air, my nephew Cade, hubby Paul, sister Jen.

Anna on Goofy's I think Mickey's chair, playing on Goofy's Piano... she LOVED it!, Anna and Daddy... one of my most favorite photos of them together, Anna on the piano again.

Anna and me with Alice... the only character she wasn't afraid of, Daddy and Anna with Chip or Dale... she was afraid of him, Anna and me with Minnie... Anna was afraid of their big masks, Paul, Anna, my nephew Case and niece Alayna.

NO! THAT DOESN'T GO IN YOUR EYE!

Grrr! My hubby always seems to leave around tacks, same with the rest of the family (MIL, FIL, Brothers in law...) and whenever Anna finds a tack, do you know what she does? She puts the sharp point up to her eye and says, "Eye! Eye!" Why does she think those things go in her eye!?

Munchin Giveaway @ Mommy Rant

Mommy Rant is having a giveaway of a HUGE basket of Munchkin products! Don't you love Munchkin? You probably do but just don't know it! My daughter loves her sticky foam letters and super scooper in the bath!
Anyhow, head over to Mommy Rant to sign up!

Guess Who's The Happy Panda Fabulous Baby Winner?

Just watch!!!!!!! Thanks Happy Panda Blog!

Sparkle & Charm Boutique

Overwhelmed with Joy is starting a new boutique business called Sparkle and Charm Boutique. Overwhelmed has created many gorgeous bows, clips, and bow holders...and they can even match your adorable outfits! What fun! To help spread the word about Sparkle and Charm, Overwhelmed has a contest! If you write about her boutique and spread the word, then you can be entered into a contest to win a 10 dollar gift certificate to her boutique! That can buy a whole lot of adorable bows!!! I love all of her bows, but this one happens to be my favorite, the beautiful pink butterfly clips:










The website is not up yet, but you can still order! Just CLICK HERE to see all of Sparkle and Charm's adorable bow and clip designs!

Blog Party MommyFest

I just became aware of MommyFest, which is a blog party. I'd love to join. Sorry I've been so out of blogging this week. I'm a little behind on a few things I've been wanting to write about. I've been not only fighting off a bug of some sort, but also just completely stressed out left and right with financial worry. I don't want to get into that.... Let's just say I haven't been feeling up to it lately. Maybe this will kick my butt back into the mood? :)

Well, first of all, nice to meet all of the ladies who visit my site! My name is Sarah. I'm a 24 year old mother to my daughter, Anna who is about 18 months old. I've been married for 4 years (four years next month!) to my hubby Paul. Nice to meet you all!

To say a little something about myself, I am a Christian. I love reading, writing, 'rithmatic.... just kidding. Nah, I do like math. But besides that, my daughter is the center of my world. I love her like nothing else. I just love her so much! I am totally blessed by the God of Heaven who has given me such a wonderful little blessing such as my daughter! Thank you Jesus!

What else??? Hmmm Oh I really like the show Bones, if that helps. I love to read Jane Austen. I love her writing style, but honestly I haven't read anything since before my daughter was born. When I read a book, I read nonstop until it's done. I just don't have time for that any more lol! I love photography! Oh I love taking photos of my daughter... just one thing, I could really use a great digital camera. I use the photo feature on my JVC camcorder, so it takes pretty poor photographs, being a video cam and all. Great video pictures, though! Another thing is that I would love to adopt some day. I think God gave me the heart of a mother for some specific reason. I've always wanted to be a mother. I've always loved children. And since Anna was born, I mother her like there's no tomorrow. I've always wondered what God wants me to do on this earth and I'm beginning to believe he wants me to be a mom. That's it, but that's not a simple or a lowly thing. That's a huge responsibility and privilege. I can't wait to have more children. We can't financially right now, but some day soon!!!

Anyhow, thank you for visiting my blog, everyone... party guests and otherwise. Thank you! And may God bless your day! Oh a photo, you say? You'd like a photo? Well, here you go:

One photo is of my husband and my daughter. The other is of me and my daughter. Photos taken this weekend at a family member's wedding. :) That's the first dress I've bought and worn since my wedding four years ago! I'd love to wear more dresses. I feel so feminine in them!

Anna's Appointment

Today Anna had an appointment (not the big 18 month appt.... that's on the 20th), but she was 32 1/8 inches tall! She was also 25 pounds and 4 ounces. Her head circumference was 18 7/8 inches. She has slowed down quite a bit in her growth, but is still quite tall. I didn't expect for her to be over 32 inches already!

Anna Pee-peed on the Potty!

Anna peed on the potty today for the first time!!! She stood by the bathroom door and held her crotch, so I tried it... I took down her pants and diaper and sat her on the potty. We talked about poopoo and peepee and then she went peepee! It was amazing! Aside from the fact that she peed on her shirt and stuck her hand in the potty lol! :D But I'm proud althemore!

Guess what?

Congratulations to Our Winner!

Congratulations to Kisha who won the "Smell My World" DVD by Braincandy!
Kisha said:

Mission: to create educationally inventive, enriching, entertaining products that help young children learn about themselves as they fully experience the world around them.

My daughter, Evelyn, would love these!

Please contact me by the end of this coming week (AKA Sunday May 18th, 11:59 PM Pacific Standard Time)

Thank you! And congrats! These are great DVDs. My daughter keeps bringing me her DVDs. She loves them! Here she is enjoying her DVDs, fresh from the mailbox, in a way only toddlers can... by gnawing on them! (Of course, the fifth DVD, Smell My World, remained unharmed, ungnawed on, and untouched) ;D

[[photos deleted by author]]

Long Day

I got a response from J. Go figure, I write her letters that she never responds to, but she managed to write me back the exact day with her response this time! She was rude to me, as expected. Told me I had no right to ask her such things. I'm beginning to think that I should just try to let go of this baby, Lilyann (NO APOSTROPHE). I will never see her, she will never be told about Sean, let alone me. Maybe I should just let go?

The wedding went well. It was really nice. I have a new cousin! :D Her name is Lindsay. She is a loving, sweet, kind, funny, strong woman of God! Congratulations to John Jr. and Lindsay! May your marriage be blessed!
I'll upload photos when I get them. We lent out our video cam (it's a JVC Everio digital video/digital cam... so I didn't get many photos) but I'll upload the ones I got.

Today........

Today we are going to my husband's cousin's wedding. I'll post photos this evening. It's actually midnight now, but the wedding is at 1PM Pacific Standard Time.


Oh... I sent off a letter to J. (refer to previous post)... I just asked her if the baby was his. We'll find out soon. Hopefully she doesn't say anything nasty to me.

Braincandy DVD Giveaway! *CLOSED*

This Giveaway is Now Closed.

Braincandy is a Seattle based Award Winning childrens company who approaches learning in a whole new way! Braincandy teaches the five senses (click each for a preview): See My World, Smell My World, TouchMy World, Taste My World, and Hear My World. Braincandy is in a whole new stratosphere as far as children's educational DVDs go. Instead of teaching about the ABCs and 123s, BraincandyDVDs focus on what the five senses are really like. For example, one part of the Taste My World DVD asks if it is "yucky" or "yummy" to have a pencil, bread, turkey, etc. on a sandwich. In the See My World DVD, shadows of children danced, beautiful roses came before the screen, and we saw round eyes, blue eyes, and big eyes.

My little girl, Anna, is on the cusp of a language explosion (expected at around 18 months to 2 years old) and I am excited that she is learning new words that she might not hear on a daily basis otherwise. I enjoyed how interactive the DVDs were. They encouraged my daughter to point to her eyes, nose, mouth, and so on. My daughter is almost 18 months and these videos were perfect for her age. Had my daughter been any younger, I don't think she would have cared for the DVDs much, but she watched each video, laughed, sang along in her own way, and interacted with the DVDs. She loved the creative and fun puppet characters (if your kids like puppet shows, such as Sesame Street, then you should try these videos!) It was also easy for me, as a parent, to interact with my daughter while she watched the DVDs. I could easily ask her, "Where are your eyes, Anna? "

My daughter, who is usually only ever glued to the TV when Spongebob is on, intently watched the Hear My World DVD. She sat quietly, eating ice from a cup (I don't know why she loves to eat ice, but she does!) and laughed at the DVD. I was surprised to see my busy little bumblebee sitting quietly and watching the majority of the Brain Candy DVDs! She loves her Braincandy DVDs!

The Braincandy DVDs are full of music, interactive activities, and new vocabulary for your little one! Would you like to try out a Brain Candy DVD for yourself? I have a Smell My World DVD from Braincandy for one lucky winner!

Click here for a fun preview of what you have a chance to win!

For all entrants:
Go to the Braincandy Website and tell me what the MISSION of Braincandy is. OR one award that Braincandy has earned. (Hint: click on the ABOUT tab)
Comments submitted without following my simple guidelines will be ignored/deleted on the day I tally votes. It's only fair to my totally generous sponsors.
Oh, it's not required, but I'd like to know who this video is for if you win.

Bloggers:
For a second entry, blog about this giveaway and come back to Mommyology and leave a second SEPARATE comment with the URL. Be sure to link your post to Braincandy and Mommyology.

Nonbloggers:
You can post a comment on this post for an entry with no problem. You can also email me at: (mymommyology at gmail dot com)


Entry Deadline: May 10th

The winner of this giveaway will be drawn randomly via Random.org. Please come back to this site on Sunday, May 11th to find out who won!