First PIggies & Other Tales

Sorry I've been MIA. It's been a hectic weekend. My niece Alayna turned 7 over the weekend. She was darling. She had a Hawaiian Luau birthday party and she had a blast. Anna was so wound up that I didn't go to church this morning. She didn't go to sleep until 4! Ugh! Hopefully she'll go to sleep at a normal time tonight.

And on another front.... Anna's first pigtails. They're itty bitty but I'm proud as ever lol. Click to Enlarge.

Anna Signs & Sings "Twinkle Twinkle"

I took a ton of random photos while Anna was singing and signing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"... I'll label the ones where she's signing. :)

(Above) Anna is signing "How" and saying "How I"

(Above) Anna is signing "Star"
(Above) Anna is either signing "You" or "Little" [not too sure which, sorry]
(Above) Anna is signing "How"

Sara's Doing Well!

I heard that baby Sara is doing well! She is breathing on her own and crying when she's upset. She is also sucking on pacifiers and bottles! Praise God! So that means that she won't need a feeding tube surgically inserted (one has been down her nose), but she does not need it any more! How awesome is that? She may be able to go home Monday! What a miracle! Thank you all for your prayers!

Update: I just heard that Sara is yawning, vocalizing, rolling onto her side by herself (!!!), and tracking!!! The report just gets better!

Contest - Win an Amazing Breastfeeding Package from Mommy's Little Monkey @ SuperMoms Blog

SuperMomz Blog is offering a fantastic Breastfeeding Prize Pack!!! :D The pack is worth 102 dollars. It includes the following:

• Note to Nurse Set If mommy plans to breastfeed baby, this practical little gift set will help her rest at ease that baby will not be given products that might interfere during their stay in the hospital. This is especially important when the baby is taken to the nursery for observation. Set includes lap tee and beanie. Shirt reads: To My Wonderful Nurse, I'm learning how to breastfeed. Please no bottles or pacifiers while I'm in your care. Mommy is waiting for my return to feed me. Beanie reads: Breastfeeder in Training.


• Simple & Sweet Nursing Curtain


• Mini Burp Cloth


• Monkey Onesie

TO ENTER, PLEASE CLICK HERE AND READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!!!

***This contest is not on my blog, it is at supermomz.blogspot.com, please click the link above to enter.***

Anna's Piggy Bank

Anna has a piggy bank. She is pink, unlike this one, and she has a crown. We got her at Target. Anna looooooooves her piggy bank. Every time she finds a penny, nickle, dime, or quarter, she picks it up and comes running towards us with the biggest grin on her face! She looks so proud and so excited! We then put it in her piggy bank. The thing must weigh five or ten pounds right now. It's HEAVY. She's constantly bringing us change. It's great because I know she won't play with the money and put it in her mouth. Instead, she comes running to us proudly with the money and she puts it into her piggy bank! We're going to start her bank account soon, but I know that there is quite a bit in there. Several months ago, I counted it and it was up to over 20 dollars. That was months ago. I imagine there is quite a bit more than that!

Doctor's Appointment

I set up an appointment for today for marks on Anna's skin. It turns out she has mild eczema. Dry skin. Yup, she is officially MY DAUGHTER. She has inherited my dry skin! Argh! On the up side, she did not inherit daddy's greasy skin. That's a plus lol! She now weighs 26 pounds 4 ounces and she IS WEARING 2T CLOTHING!!! Yikes! She's getting tall! Just out of nowhere, she outgrew all of her clothes. She basically skipped over the 24 month clothing. There's an upside to that, too. Anna and Mommy get to go SHOPPING!!! :D Oh, yeah!

Wordless Wednesday: Bones Promo Shots

Tonight is the Bones Season Premiere on Fox at 8PM. It's a 2-hour, 2-parter in London! In honor of the premiere of my favorite show, here are some fantastic promo shots...

Click to enlarge.

TJ Thyne as Dr. Jack Hodgins
Entomologist "The Bug Guy"

Michaela Conlin as Angela Montenegro
Forensic Artist

Brennan and Booth/Deschanel and Boreanaz

Tamara Taylor as Dr. Camille Saroyan
Pathologist, ex-cop

David Boreanaz as Special Agent Seeley Booth
FBI Agent

Emily Deschanel as Dr. Temperance Brennan
Forensic Anthropologist
Her character is based off from the author Kathy Reichs' novels.

John Francis Daley as Dr. Lance Sweets
Psychologist & FBI Profiler

Is that a dance studio? =)

The Countdown

This is a great countdown video. I hope you all enjoy it. It counts up, basically, from Episode 1x01 to the very last episode of season 3. Season Four of Bones starts Wednesday September 3rd. I'm a huge fan. xD

Sara Cried Today!

I heard some great news! Sara cried today for the first time since the accident. The Doctor came in to draw blood and she cried! It's fantastic news. Sad that she cried, of course, but wonderful that she is responding!!!

The Anti-Potty

I think we'll be taking a potty break for a little bit. Anna went from excited to pee-pee on the potty to extremely anti-potty tantrums within a few days. I think we'll be putting it off for a while and then pick it up again. Besides, I left Anna's potty at my sister's house! LOL! Maybe it was meant to be! hahaha

Update on Baby Sara

They are talking about sending Sara home! How exciting! But please keep praying for her. She still cannot suck, so she'll have to be on a feeding tube. She is also not tracking (following objects with her eyes). So please stay in prayer for her. Also, her parents are nervous about taking her home. They're afraid they won't know how to properly take care of her.

This Is Hilarious!

Thanks to my friend Kortney for posting (or re-posting) this... it truly is a cut above the rest!

Just in case you need some writing inspiration. Every year, English teachers from across the USA can submit their collections of actual analogies and metaphors found in high school essays. These excerpts are published each year to the amusement of teachers across the country. Here are last year's winners:

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli, and he was room temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife's infidelity came as a rude shock, like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM machine.

9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn't.

10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you're on vacation in anothercity and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.

14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan's teeth.

16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

18. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

20. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

23. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

I've Been Tagged--7 Random Facts

The rules:
-Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
-Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
-Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here are mine...

1- Numero uno... I attended Northwest University with a major in education, but graduated early with an AA. It was a good thing, though. I didn't want to do education. I just thought I had no way out b/c I was already like 180 credits into it lol...

2- I could use a nap.

3- I'm really excited about the Bones Season Premiere (3 days and counting, September 3rd on Fox) Yeah... I accept my addiction. I choose to do nothing about it. ;)

4- I LOVE TO WRITE!!!

5- I prayed for Anna's blue eyes. Mine are brown. Paul's are blue. God heard my prayer. Yippee!

6- I love to oil paint! I haven't done it since before Anna was conceived, though. I'm paranoid about the chemicals (paint thinner, strong scent of oil paints, etc.)....

7- I have partial adontia... That means that two of my teeth are "baby" teeth. There were no adult teeth beneath them. I'm praying Anna didn't inherit it. I hate it. If I had the money, I'd have them capped or veneered--something along those lines.

Here they are:
Loving God Means Loving People
Storing Up Treasures in Heaven
3 Angels to Grow Me
Get the Lead Out
Seeryus Mama
Our Journey Home
21st Century Nomad

BFF Gold Card Award

Aww... :D Thank you very much to Sarah of Sassyfrazz for nominating me for the BFF Gold Card Award!
Just a few tidbits of info on Sarah--She is the mother to 4 (one of whom is on the way!!!) and she is a wonderful Christian woman and a fantastic blogger!

Here are the rules for this award:- Only 5 people are allowed to receive this award.- 4 of them followers of your blog.- One has to be new to your blog and live in another part of the World!

Here are my peeps (in no particular order):

1. Renee@ Life With My Special Ks--A blog about being a busy mom to four beautiful children and battles with leukemia and Down's Syndrome, and also being a wife to a military man. ;)

2. Lisa @ What Have I Done--Lisa blogs about her busy life with a full time job, hubby, and two beautiful school age girls!

3. Violet @ Just A Girl And Her Dog--Violet is a friend of mine from college. She is a nanny and an awesome auntie!!!

4. Shannon @ Gabi's World--One of my fave blogs! Shannon blogs about her busy life as a mom to three beautiful children, one teenager, one school age daughter, and one little toddler son. She's also a step-mommy to two sons. Her daughter, Gabi has Down's Syndrome... adventure is around every corner with this brood... seriously! :D

For #5, I don't know anyone who quite fits the bill, but there are a million great blogs to your right of the screen!!! Enjoy!

Breastfeeding Vice Prez

Thanks for the blurbs of info on Sarah Palin! She is also a breastfeeding mother! Now that just MAKES MY DAY! Seriously!!! Wow!!! OK, I officially have a girl-crush on this woman. ;) hehe Just kidding! But seriously... o.O

(Somebody mentioned that Palin also has adopted, but thank you firemom(!!!) that info may not be true. If anybody has the truth, that would be great... either way! I'm excited to have a booby mama on the ticket hehehe)