Moving

We're officially and positively moving to Washington within the next couple of weeks. Paul will be starting school again. I'll be taking a couple of courses myself, but mostly caring for Anna. It will be different and exciting. I was nervous and didn't want to say anything until this point, but today we talked to Financial Aid and my fears were relieved. Wish us luck!!!

Word of the Day

wanderlust \WON-der-luhst\, noun:
a strong desire to wander or travel

Growing Again!!!

She's growing again! And getting sooooooo tall! Now her feet go OVER the lip of her high chair! Anna is fitting into those 3T dresses just fine. the length of the arms is perfect! All of her 24 month clothing is TOO SHORT. *sweats* Hopefully we'll find more awesome sales at Target and get more dresses! I'd say she's fully and definitely wearing 2t/3t clothing and 24 month things will have to be put aside!

Blessed

I forgot to share my blessing today! I had my hubby swing by Target on our way home and they had a sale. I picked up two dresses for Anna, size 3T for $2.98 each! That's a bit of a weight off my shoulders... especially post-crayon fiasco. *shakes head*

We'll also be moving here in a couple of weeks. We're going back up to WA and praying things work out better this time around. Maybe they will, considering Paul is going for what he's called to do... the ministry. We found a way in which he can merge both things, his talent for media and his calling. International Media Ministries. But he wants to finish school first. So pray for us! Let's hope this works out!!!

Pictures

Anna finally wanted to dress up! I was so excited hehehe!

Princess Anna...

Me and my sister Jennifer!!! I ♥ her!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Can you believe it's 2009!? I can't. This year, Anna will be turning 3, hopefully she'll be potty trained, she'll get more hair, learn to speak more, hopefully be sleeping in her own room... It's going to be a great year!

Do you have any plans for tonight? None here...

Word of the Day

tacit \TAS-it\, adjective:
1. implied or understood without being openly expressed
2. saying nothing; silent


On a side note, Bones returns in 16 (give or take) days on January 15th on Fox! =)

Wedding Dress Shopping

Today my sister Jen and I looked at wedding dresses. I was really excited that she was able to try on a dress this time. When we went to David's Bridal, they didn't carry any dresses her size. They had her dress at this shop. The very one she wanted. It was a 24W and I was almost sad that it would be too small, but it fit perfectly! I was so happy. She looked gorgeous in it, too. It was the perfect dress and the veil had a red ribbon around the edges. She looked so gorgeous! It was so much fun!!! I only sent two pictures from her cell phone to my email because my email is so disturbingly annoyingly long, so these are the two I sent to my email.

You can click them and they'll enlarge slightly. But not too much.

Words of the Day

Spanish word of the day:

doblar, verb:
to fold; to bend; to turn

English word of the day:

sacrilege \SAK-ruh-lij\, noun:
an intentional injury to anything held sacred; disrespectful treatment of something sacred

When You Must Not Breastfeed

Thank you to Sarah Scrafford for this wonderful guest post!

When You Must Not Breastfeed

There’s nothing babies want as soon as they’re born than to sleep and eat, and the only food that they want is their mother’s milk. Breast milk is a wonder of nature – packed with all the essential proteins, fat, sugar and water that babies need for their survival, it’s the only sustenance your baby needs for the first six months of his/her life. Doctors recommend that you breastfeed your baby exclusively for the first six months, after which you can supplement his/her diet with bottled milk and other baby food.

Breastfed babies have been proven to fall ill less often than those who have been bottle-fed; the antibodies in breast milk act as powerful stimulants on the child’s immune system and prevent him/her from contracting common illnesses like a cold and the flu. Breast milk is also known to be beneficial towards a child’s intellectual development, and the act of breastfeeding enhances the bond between mother and child.

Even with all these benefits that breastfeeding offers, there are times when it’s not advisable to put your baby to your breast, and these are:

• When you’re a regular smoker
• When you consume alcohol on a regular basis. If you’re still keen on giving your baby breast milk, do so only two hours after you’ve had a drink.
• When you are HIV positive.
• When you are a regular user of drugs like cocaine and marijuana. Besides making your baby addicted, they can have adverse side-effects.
• When you’re undergoing chemotherapy.
• When you are on certain drugs (consult your doctor if you’re not sure).
• When you have active tuberculosis.
• When your baby has a rare birth condition that makes him or her intolerant of lactose and galactose, sugars found in any kind of milk.
• When you’ve had a thyroid scan (the radioactive iodine will stay in your milk for weeks after the scan).

It’s ok to continue breastfeeding even when you are ill with the flu or when you have a cold. Viral infections cannot be passed on through breast milk.

You can continue to breastfeed your older child even when you become pregnant with the next one.

Immunizations to the mother do not mean that you have to stop breastfeeding.

If you’re not sure about any aspect of breastfeeding, talk to your doctor before you take any decision to continue or stop.

By-line:

This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of Ultrasound Tech Schools. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

Spanish Word of the Day

The English word of the day was nothing fantastic, so here is the Spanish word of the day:

diario, noun, adjective:
daily

la rutina diaria
the daily routine

Diario is used in a couple of useful phrases. First de diario or para diario, to describe something which is everyday or for everyday use:

nuestro mantel de diario
our everyday tablecloth

Este diseñador ofrece limitadas opciones para la ropa de diario.
This designer offers limited options for everyday wear.

Then, a diario to describe something which happens every day.

Va al gimnasio a diario.
He goes to the gym every day.

Please Pray for Kenny

Paul's cousin was just hospitalized last night right after the Christmas party. We saw him and talked to him and everything. He was OK then. But after he left, he went straight to the ER. He has a viral heart infection. He has a 2/3 chance of living. So it's pretty serious. Just keep Kenny in your prayers. Thank you!

Scale's Not Broken

I discovered today that I lost some weight. Actually, I knew that I had because my jeans were loose and I was fitting into jeans I had once called "unwearable" because of being too small. I stepped onto the scale at the family get-together tonight and when I read it I laughed and said that it was broken. WAY broken. But then Paul stepped on it and said that yeah, it was broken because it made him look ten pounds heavier than when he last weighed himself. I gave him a look. He always thinks he weighs less than he actually does and often blames it on the scale. LOL. And the second issue with that was that I thought it made me way too light. That didn't make sense. See what I mean? The last time I weighed myself I weighed 127. I think sometime after that I thought it said 125 or I assumed I weighed 125 because of my loose-fitting jeans. The truth of it all was that the scale said I weighed 120!!! O.o The last time I weighed that much was when I was a freshman in college. Actually, I'm pretty sure I weighed 127 when I gave blood that year... so it had to have been at the beginning of that year. It couldn't have been in high school. I was a stick in high school and I exercised a lot and ate very little... So I honestly don't know when I last weighed 120. It's kind of insane. But I'm wondering when my sweet tooth will return, or I'll have another child, or Anna will wean and I'll gain b/c of not burning so many calories with her, etc, etc, etc, and I'll no longer weigh this little. So, I'll just enjoy it for now! =)

Edit: If you're wondering how tall I am, I'm 5'1 3/4"

Edit: That puts me at a BMI of 21.9, or a "Normal" weight range.

Par-Tay

We had a great time at the family get-together. We saw Chloe (7 months) and Justin (18 months)... they're so cute. Anna had a great time running around, fighting over toys with Justin, and being terrorized by the dog. She kept turning around and saying, "No, Dog!" LOL! She's a very assertive little girl when she wants to be! Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos, but we did get video. I'll have to upload it soon! Maybe I'll find time to mix a Christmas Video with all of the footage we got for Christmas.

Christmas Party

Tonight is the Smith Family Christmas Party (That's Paul's mom's side of the family). It was postponed due to the snow. Which is almost completely melted off now. Outside it's raining. I actually missed the rain. The snow was such a hassle. But now, of course, there is so much slush and water in the parking lot. It soaks my shoes within a few seconds. I have no idea why the property management never cleared out the parking lot. Now it's such a mess!

Anna will get to see her cousins, which will be nice. One is a six month old (or so) little girl, the other is a little boy just about six months younger than Anna herself. Then there's a ten year old little girl that Anna followed around last year. I'm sure they'll be inseparable this year.

I'll update. Apparently we're leaving at noon and I haven't even had a shower yet!