The Namesake

What would you do if there was someone in your family you loved dearly who wanted you to name your child after them? If the name is a nice name, or a name that's "with the times" that's probably not a problem right? But what if the name is something you absolutely are not a fan of?

My family has a mixture of "normal" and "unique" names. There's Johns, and Richards and... well, that's about all of the common ones in my extended family. I have grandparents named "Ronald" and "Siebra." My mother's and grandmother's names are "Joy." My mom I guess wanted to give all of me and all of my siblings the VERY NORMAL (almost too common) names and gave us: Jennifer, Heather, Michael, Lauren and Kimberly. But trust me, I'd take that over any of the latter.

My dad goes by DJ but his birth name--Are you ready for this?... Dyke.

I love my grandpa, and I want to name a child after him, but "Ronald" isn't my first choice in names.

What would you do if someone in your family wanted you to name your child after them but the name wasn't... Let's say it wasn't one of your top choices. Would you still do it?

The Resolutions

2008 was a good year for me. Here are some of the things I did:

-I adopted my puppy Snoop
-Graduated college, and spoke at my graduation ceremony
-Continued reporting for a station in Salt Lake City and quit before I could get laid off.
-I got a new (better) job as an anchor/reporter in the WARM city of Austin, Texas.
-Became a suga mama
-Learned how to sew
-Started a dog collar business (still trying to make my money back)
-Made new friends
-Got an iPhone :o)
-Celebrated my 4 year anniversary
-Started "monthly mini-vacations" with my hub-a-lub
-Cried less
-Grew up more
-Became an avid blogger

This year I hope to:

-Learn how to cook
-Eat better
-Give up caffeine
-Read the good books daily
-Go on more real vacations
-Enjoy one of the last years without spawn
-Learn Yoga
-Exercise more (aka ever)
-Keep a good blogging streak
-Volunteer more
-Babysit
-Be a better wife
-Get back into the habit of writing a daily journal
-Start a gratitude journal
-Pray more
-Be brutally honest
-*Get knocked up


*= maybe

I have a feeling 2009 has a lot in store for me. Between my three blogs and two journals, I'll have a lot of stuff to look back and read. Moving to a new place for the first time in 5 years has been a new challenge for me, but I think it'll give me the opportunity to grow in ways I didn't know. Hopefully 2009 will bring me growth in my career, marriage, relationships and spirituality.

Cheers to 2009!

The Love Factor-- Things I'm Going to Miss Part 3

Well, it's Valentines Day. Happy Valentines Day! And I figure it's a good time to pose a question and concern I've been thinking about.

As I was babysitting two young girls last night so their parents could go out and celebrate Valentines Day, I thought how grateful I am that at a drop of a hat my husband and I can do whatever... Go out, make dinner together... And so on.

I got my dog Snoop last year for Valentines Day and I noticed how having a small puppy around kind of affected... Routines we'll say. It really bothered me. Eventually I got over it and things went back to normal but it was quite annoying at the time.

I think it's so important to continue to have couple time together, date nights and time to... Ya know, practice making babies and stuff.

It just seems that once kids come along that priority goes to the back burner for some, or it just becomes more difficult. What in the world do you do to fix that? Get ear muffs? Sedate the kids? Drive away and leave them for a night and hope they survived through the next morning?

I was reading a parenting magazine last night (funny I know, but it was just sitting there on the table ok?) And one of the articles was about women being angry at their husbands for not helping around the house, turning off the lights, understanding their children etc. To me it just seemed a little ridiculous and like a bunch of depressed and nagging women. I don't want that to happen to me!! I still want to be a happy woman and wife, as well as a happy mom. Some of the women complained that their husband's drive to have a love life went down and I kind of judgmentally thought 'Boy I wonder why!' That article is a discussion for a whole different topic but I'll use that part for example's sake.

Do you try to keep date nights together? How often? Right now every night is literally like a date night with me and my Boo and I wonder if it'll be a hard transition when we lose that one day.

This year we're keeping the holiday low key. I want a heart-shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's, some chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite) and a movie to snuggle up and watch. What are your plans?

The Look Back

It's a little late because I work Sundays and I just HAD to share my excitement about cooking, but better late than never right?

Sometimes I don't think I'm ready for parenthood because I still act like a child myself. A perfect weekend for me would consist of watching at least one Disney movie and maybe a cartoon show or two. I love playing board games, and eating snacks like Mac and Cheese.

I often get nostalgic about the days when my sister and I would play with our Barbie dolls, dress them up and cut their hair. We even teased our little brother once and pulled off all of the heads on his power ranger action figured and switched them with the other super hero heads. It was mean, but it was fun.

One summer we got creative and turned our sleeping bags into sleds and drove them down the staircase. Karaoke and dress-up were commonly on our to-do-list. We loved to play! But you know what?--I still do.

It's a lot easier to entertain myself with the Internet at my hands, but I miss the good 'ol days of laughing at childish movies, and watching them over and over a million times.

I got a taste of this a couple of weeks ago. I watched Tarzan than Cinderella, then when my husband got home I made him watch Tarzan with me again cause he had never seen it before.

Have I mentioned I love Disney? I think I have... Once or twice. But really, I DO! I bought an entire DVD collection of EVERY Disney Classic (cartoon) movie from Snow White to Ratatouille (I just need Bolt and Wall-E). I can't wait to have kids and be able to share all of those movies with them. They may not like them as much as I did, but I sure hope it's a tradition I can pass on to my kiddos!

I love being around little kids cause I feel like it gives me an excuse to BE a kid again--An excuse to take me back. I don't want to feel like an old fart already. Is this why people say children keep you young? I hope that means becoming a mom will take off a few years for me. If anything it'll give me someone to watch those things with since right now getting my husband to watch them with me is like pulling teeth. And now that it's Easter season I'm sad that I don't have a little girl to dress up in a pretty dress, or a cute little boy to put in a suit.--Even worse, I don't have someone to decorate eggs with... It's not dying them alone (or with an unenthusiastic husband).

Same story at Halloween and Christmas time. I'm really looking forward to being young again through my children.--At the same time thought I'm hoping I'm not one of those crazy moms that tries to force my kids to do things I didn't get to do. We'll see how it works out.

What are other fun traditions you have with your kiddos? And do your kids keep you young, or make you feel old?

The Wheel: Balancing Marriage Before and After Baby

Sadly, children is one of the top five reasons couples get divorced. Not having children I'm not exactly sure why that is, but that statistic sorta frightens me.

When I was on my trip with The Blogrollers in Chicago I met a lot of women who had been married longer than I had. One thing I took the time to ask them was how they made their marriage work.

Most women were at a loss for words when it came to describing the technique. From what I hear, once you have kids it can make time together more difficult and stressful. Most of the women I talked to said it was a struggle getting their husbands to help out around the house.

Luckily for me, that's not a problem with us... Yet. To be honest, I'm the one getting begged and pleaded with to help. It's actually been that way the entire time we've been married. I've done the laundry maybe a handful of times, and the dishes... I think three times. So seeing we're an odd couple when it comes to that it has me wondering what our battles will be when a baby comes into the picture.

I think it'll be waking up at night... As we both love to sleep. When we first got Snoop I was the one who got up in the middle of the night to let him go to the bathroom. Now though, my husband is the one that remembers to walk (and feed) him every day.

Thinking about all of this and after reading my friend's Newly Identified blog post about marriage, it made me think about what makes OUR marriage work now.

One of the biggest, most obvious things is communication. We try not to go to bed angry, but sometimes that's not always possible. But when we wake up the next day usually we've cooled off enough to talk about whatever the problem is. Sometimes communication means tears (on my part) but at least it's getting it all out there. Neither of us are too proud to say "I'm sorry," and I can't think of any problem or disagreement we haven't been able to handle.

Sure, there are things that bug the HECK out of me, but I've learned to adjust to them, and not let it get to me. I think that's important--Accepting who they are, and remembering why you fell in love and got married. Sometimes that thing you loved about them changes, but that's ok. I think you've gotta be willing to grow and change together.

But most of all... The advice I think works best in any relationship, is advice I shared in a small hotel room in Chicago with five other wonderful women. The opportunity to share it came up when one of the women said sometimes it's hard to continue to get closer together as you grow older, because you change and sometimes grow apart. In answer to that I shared the advice I was given before we got married and I've promised to never forget.

My future-husband at the time, and I were described as spokes on a wheel. Sometimes we'd be far apart on this wheel and sometimes we'd be close together. But what will be sure to pull us closer together more than anything else is what's in the center of that post... The center being Christ.

He told us if we both work toward getting closer to Christ we'd also be getting closer to each other at the same time.

I'm not sure exactly how having a child will change our marriage. There are the obvious things like sleep and time, but I wonder what kind of toll it will take on us. I love spending time with my husband now, and sometimes that already can be short. How will I continue to make alone time for us?

Last night after a long day we went babysitting. We were both already tired and a little cranky, but our little friend was wide awake and ready to play. Not long after we got there, we were both getting tired. We took turns playing with him while the other rested our eyes.

During my his, my husband was playing with J, but he was being SO loud! I mean, WAY louder than the laughing baby. I shhhed him, and he told me that is what it was going to be like after we have a baby.

His words made me think... Seeing he'll be a fun and entertaining dad is encouraging, but obnoxiously loud? Hmmm. I hope our love for the Lord can keep us from driving each other crazy after kids!

I've heard children can bring you closer together but I've also heard they can drive you further apart. What do you do to keep your marriage going strong? Those with children--How do you make it so your children bring you closer together? What are the major changes in your relationship after having kids? I'd LOVE your input!

5 Years Down, an Eternity to Go

Exactly five and a half years ago I met the love of my life. I didn't know it then, but he was my future husband.

-June 2004: First date, and first time we met. I thought he was a hottie but had big eyes and was a little shy.

-2 dates later: First kiss, he's not so shy after all, I can't believe I let him kiss me.

-A week after that: We said "I love you."

-A couple days following: We talked about marriage planned it to be 2 years from then.

-Two months later: He goes away to college 3 and a half hours away. We are sad, but see eachother every weekend.

-A month later: We realized long distance SUCKS and decide to move up the wedding to that year.

-October 2004: We get engaged.

-December 2004: We're married exactly 6 months from the day we met.

Things I remember about my wedding day

I remember waking up at an absurd hour because we had to be at the temple about 5 hours early

I remember being tired from staying up late writing in my journal the night before.

I remember taking a shower and thinking I'd better get extra clean.

I remember wondering what our wedding ceremony would be like.

I remember NOT wanting to drive my car up to Salt Lake cause I had just been in an accident and the hood was bent.

I remember seeing my soon-to-be husband right before we walked in our sealing room and thinking "I love you."

I remember not saying "Yes/I do" when I was suppose to, and people thinking I was bailing out.

I remember shaking a little as we exchanged rings.

I remember being so happy walking hand and hand outside of the temple right after we were sealed, and thinking my husband was the most gorgeous man on Earth.

I remember snow on the ground and people shivering, but it was the one day I didn't complain about the cold, I wanted good pictures.

I remember driving back from the temple and thinking "wow, we're married"

I remember my dad being the first person to use the term "your husband" and being weirded out.

I remember downing about three cans of redbull before and during our reception to stay awake.

I remember wondering why we had to stand in a line.

I remember my wedding day being the best day to date, and the first day of the rest of my life.

Like we planned, 5 years later we're expecting our first baby, which is due to be born exactly six years (and two days) from the day we met. Boy we've come a long way!

Since getting married

-We went on a cruise to Mexico for our honeymoon.

-We were poor, our dining-room set was a cardboard box and two camping fold-out chairs we got as a wedding present.

-We arranged our schedules so we took four classes together.

-We got a new (to us) Kitchen set from my husband's grandparents.

-We moved 7 times

-We cleaned toilets together as early morning (4am) custodians and fought over the iPod.

-We bought our first home.

-We spent two summers apart for work.

-We adopted Snoop.

-We moved again.

-We went on a cruise to the Caribbean.

-We started, switched and started new careers.

-We created Spawnie.

-We stayed madly in love with each other.

He's been the most supportive, most forgiving, most loving husband in the world. He's my best friend, a great husband, and he's going to be a wonderful daddy.

I love you baby, and can't wait to see what the next 5(,000,000) years hold!

Aloha Little LadyBug We're 34 Weeks Pregnant!

My Dear Precious Little Ladybug,

Six weeks still seems like a long time until we meet, but when I was reading one of my update emails talking about "relaxing" as much as I can and saving up, eating up etc. for labor I realized you really are almost here.

I think my "mommy paranoia" is already starting to set in. I've heard some people experience extreme anxiety after they have babies, worried something bad is going to happen to them. I'm normally not that kind of person.. I mean, I'm not afraid if you get a little rash from a new dress. It's not cause I don't love you, it's because I don't think you'll have super sensitive skin and be allergic to new clothes. We'll see. But I AM already worried that if I'm not watching you when you're sleeping you may go to sleep an never wake up. I'm not morbid, just paranoid or something. I hope it goes away once you're born. But I have a feeling it may get a little worse before it gets better.

I had a dream two nights ago that something bad had happened to you and I woke up startled. Then I was waiting for you to move and felt a BIG JAM into my rib. Your foot. It hurt, but I smiled cause I knew you were ok.

People keep asking my if I'm ready to get you out. I am ready to meet you, I'm so excited for that. But I also feel like taking care of you now is easier than it's going to be, and I don't mind giving you all time time you need... Well, until June 30th, I REALLY want you to be a June baby. Oooh, I can call you June bug! I'll add that to your list of nicknames.

I've been thinking about our morning/night routine. I like to sing to you, as you've probably noticed, so I bought an album called "Twenty Five Beloved Primary Songs" and it has all of these songs I remember listening to when I was young. Primary is where you'll go when you're about four years old, it's at our church. You'll learn about Jesus and sing songs.

I didn't really get a chance to go to Primary but my uncle gave me a CD of some of the songs when I was young and I remembered some of them when I'd hear them at church.

I don't know all of the songs on the CD I made you but we'll learn them together. I'm going to put that CD in your player every night before bed and I'll read and sing to you. Sound like a deal?

Oh little girl, you are getting so big now! You should be about 4 3/4 pounds now, and around 18 inches long! I have a feeling you're longer though. I was a really long baby, and based on where I feel your head, and kicks, and the fact that I think you're hunched over, I think you're long too.

Your lungs and central nervous system are still developing and you're only three weeks to being term! If you were born now though you'd most likely be ok after a short stay in the NICU, but just keep cooking, we've still got lots to do before you get here!

You're developing fat layers now so you should be nice and round when you come out. That's the downside of long babies... I was so long there was nothing round about me... You daddy on the other hand, he was round for quite some time. Yes, he was very chubby. ... And had red hair, but we won't get into that. I'm hoping you have dark hair like your mommy! And lots of it!

Your daddy and I were talking about doing some practice runs to the hospital in the next couple of weeks. Just to make sure we know the routes to get where we're going, where to park and what not. We also talked more about your birth. We both have learned SO MUCH lately but we've decided not to go into it with our fists up ready to fight. We know you'll come into this world the way you're suppose to, and as long as you and I are ok, we are going to be so happy. We're not aiming for what some see as a "perfect experience" because to us, the perfect experience will be meeting you, and really, it doesn't matter the means. Besides, after comes the fun part!

We are so excited to meet you baby girl! Keep growing for us!

Love,

Mommy

****

To find out more about being 34 weeks pregnant visit Pregnancy Corner. - Words from a sponsor.

Welcome to Aloha Friday! For any of you who do not know what Aloha Friday is...In Hawaii, Aloha Friday is the day that people take it easy and look forward to the weekend. So, we take it easy on Friday blog posts by sticking to just one quick question that surfers-by can answer with just a quick response themselves. (I'm an overachiever and do this on top of my normal post).

This week I want to know:

What nicknames do you have for your family members?

My answer: I'm still coming up with nicknanes for Spawnie (besides Spawnie) but so far I have Ladybug, Baby Girl, Little J and now June Bug (if she's actually born in June).

My husband doesn't really have nicknames. I just call him "babe" and sometimes "hubby" or "hubs" on my blog.

Your turn!

Mother-Daughter Photos and Photography Session Giveaway

Holding my sweet baby girl makes all my worries go away. Gosh... I said I'd wouldn't be that mushy gushy mom but here I am... I love her so much!! *GUUUUSSSSH!!*

When we visited Utah, my college friend and creator of Grand Felicity Photography was able to capture some tender moments between my daughter and I on the day of her baby blessing.

These are some of my favorites!

Becca was so patient with us (Lil' J wasn't so happy) and was great at picking out locations! She let us do our thing but also guided us into natural poses. Needless to say I'm SO HAPPY with how these turned out! This was the shoot I got my new blog header from.

She's sweet enough to offer a free session for my blog readers. Here's what you'll get!

A Newborn/Family combined shoot
Up to 2 hours with Photographer
2-3 locations
Family of up to 6 people (each additional person is $25)
High Resolution CD of 25-30 fully edited images
$25 Print Credit
Online Proofing for six months on her website

It's a $200 value you'll get for free!

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment telling me what you'd use this for!

For an extra entry you can comment on your favorite post on her photography blog, subscribe to her blog, or you can blog or tweet about the giveaway! Just leave a comment for each entry!

It's open to people who live, or will be in Utah. Preferably in Utah or Salt Lake County.

You have until next Saturday at 11:59pm to enter! Good luck!

In Need of a Date Night... I Think

A husband? What's that?

I catch myself asking that question from time to time over the last few months. I know what a baby's daddy is. I have one of those--Actually, I'm quite convinced I have the best one. But between work, and my daughter, sometimes it's hard to remember I have a husband who needs attention too.

Being back at work seems to be getting a little bit harder every day. I do have my good days, where time flies and it's time to see my baby again, but overall it's really hard to be away from my daughter so many hours every week.

The positive is she has a great daddy at home who manages to go to school, work on my days off, take care of our daughter, and take better care of the house than I ever did. How he does it, I have no clue. But I'm grateful.

When I come home from work my daughter is happy to see me but her eyes never light up as much as they do when she looks at her daddy. Why that is, I have no idea, but she thinks he's really funny. Even when he's just standing there.

Both of us have put the needs of our daughter before our own but I'm torn because I feel like we need US time too.

What's a husband? I have one, but I don't always act like I do. No, I'm not talking about flirting with other men--Who has time to cheat?!--What I'm saying is we don't spend much time alone. And, we haven't been on a date just the two of us since our daughter was born--three and a half months ago! We've each been out and had alone time, and we've gone out as the three of us, but it hasn't been just the two of us (besides one trip to Costco, which I don't count).

What's worse is I don't really feel that bad about it.

I don't miss it being the two of us, or miss having quiet time alone. But I feel like I should. Like maybe it would be healthy for us to get out alone, to nourish our marriage.

Confession: I always told myself when we had kids we'd go on a date at least once a month. Heck, I didn't think it was a stretch to have dinner together once a week. Now I laugh at that thought.

When Lil' J is in bed and we have time to catch up, we interrupt ourselves constantly asking "is she crying?" (we still need to invest in a baby monitor).

And remember that letter I wrote? Yea, still a problem.

I don't think our relationship is suffering from living this way, but I can't help but wonder if it's one of those things that could build up and form something bad. A big fat tumor on our marriage. I don't want to give our marriage cancer, and if a date every once in awhile is the antibody, I'm all for it.

How long did it take for you to go on a date sans baby after birth?

10.5 seconds to make it good

How fast can you move in 10.5 seconds? Can you set up a camera while holding a wiggly baby, run to your pinpointed position, and pose with your child before the timer goes off? I gave it a shot yeserday.

Since I'm getting into photography, want to get better and want to connect with other photo hobbiest I finally upgraded my Flickr account to pro, joined a couple groups, and even added a nifty widget to my sidebar.

When I was browsing around in one of my groups I noticed this gorgeous photo of a mother and daughter. She also has a biracial daughter and I just loved their faces side by side and the contrast reminded me of my daughter and I. I noticed in her description she said it was a self portrait-Waa? And that she had cropped her remote out of the shot. She was also linked up to the group "Self-Portrait with CHILD."

Despite having a pretty expensive camera, my husband can't seem to snap a decent picture with it. I frequently ask him if he'll take a picture of Lil' J and I and he'll sigh, but he'll do it. But it's almost always blurry. After about 10 times of saying "Ok now this time try it this way..." he gets really annoyed and no one is really happy at that point. He's ready to go watch sports, Lil' J is tired of us and our silly faces, and I'm just so darn picky and aggravated that he's not getting it right. So I thought trying to capture a self-portrait wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Now I don't have a tripod for my camera, which this woman had. I also don't have a remote. But I have a nifty self timer button, and can run REALLY fast.

There's a spot in our neighborhood I love to go to take pictures. It's a wide open area with lots of trees and green grass. The ground isn't level so I thought I could set my camera up high, then run down the hill, fix my hair, pose with Lil' J, and have the camera snap just in time.

When we got across the street I noticed a fallen tree was slumped at the top of the hill, so I decided to improvise used that as my tripod. I laid our quilt down, put my daughter on it, framed the shot toward her, then made a mental note of how much space I had. I set the timer for 10 seconds (it was that or two seconds) and ran.

The first photo wasn't so bad but my head was cut off. I realized this was a lot of energy for one photo at a time, so I changed the setting to snap 5 pictures in a row. Ran, and did it again.  After doing that a few times I had gotten a couple of good shots but not quite what I was hoping for. The first three photos I'd be setting up the pose and the last two were somewhat decent but not enough to choose from. So I changed the setting to snap 10 photos in a row and went at it again. Now I was getting somewhere.
The funny thing was Lil' J liked the sound the camera made when it was rapid firing she would look at it and laugh, which made for a great photo.

After running back and forth a few more times, and surely confusing my poor child I was stoked when I saw my last shot, and I knew it was time to stop. I got it!


I showed it to my husband and he was impressed, but then when I showed him the picture that inspired me he said "Oh so you copied it?" No! Ok, well sorta, I copied the pose, but that's not illegal! Besides, I was limited by height because I don't have a tripod. And who is he to judge me anyway?

My photos aren't as cute as the original one that inspired me but I'm working on it! I uploaded it to that flicker group and I'm going to try some more of these as long as the weather stays warm, Lil' J cooperates and I can come up with different pose ideas. Taking pictures is becoming my new favorite thing to do on my day off. I just ordered a wireless camera remote for my camera for $3.50 off ebay so that should save me from running back and forth (even though the exercise is warranted). Lil' J loves playing outside and I love the memories, so it's a all good all around.

Self-portraits are a neat little photo challenge, especially with a baby, and aside from our shoot before her baby blessing, these are some of the best photos of us together. Figures. You want something done right you've gotta do it yourself!

First Valentine All Over

I got home exhausted from a very long hard week of work but decided to stay up late after everyone went to bed to make a Valentine's Day tutu dress for my daughter.

She woke up around 3am, not long after I went to bed and she had a hard time going back to sleep, probably from more teeth coming in, so I was up most of the night. This morning I ran around getting things together before our professional photo shoot.

Right before I ran out the door I grabbed a teddy bear I've had for exactly six years. It was the bear my husband gave me for Valentines day six years ago. "Our First Valentine" it says on the heart it holds. A perfect prop for my daughter's first Valentine with us.

We were married two months before Valentines day, and had met just eight months prior. Things are a lot different now.

Forever Bliss Photography

I snapped a few photos myself while we were there for my 365 project, but I'm so glad I had these done. It took her a while to get into it and show us her breathtaking smile, but Mr. Teddy helped us pull out some laughs from my little girl.

Forever Bliss Photography

We put her to bed early and ordered from our favorite restaurant to go (Olive Garden). And hubs got me my favorite treats for celebrating: chocolate covered strawberries and sparkling cider.

Our first Valentine with our daughter was much different than it was for us six years ago, but one thing's for sure--There's a lot more love going around.

Happy Loving Day!

I make fun of my husband sometimes. His silly antics and freak outs. His funny remarks and things he does that drive me nuts. But I love him. More than anyone. I'm so glad I met him and honestly, I don't feel like there is anyone else in the world who could be a better match for me.

Although we're a perfect match on the inside. If my husband and I had met just 44 years ago, in some states, because of how we look on the outside, it would have been illegal to get married. ILLEGAL. In 1967. That's nuts people.

This hatred was taken out on people like Mildred Jester and Richard Loving.

Source

Let me tell you a story you might not know. It's one I sadly didn't know until a beautiful reader brought it to my attention. I'm so glad she did.

Once upon a time, Mildred and Richard a couple from Virgina fell madly in love. In 1958 they decided to get married. But because she's black and he's white, they had to travel to Washington DC to be legally wed. When they returned to Virgina to start their lives together, they couldn't.--Because it was illegal for whites and non-whites to not only marry, but live together. They were hauled off to jail, sentenced to a year in prison, and exiled from Virginia. They couldn't even go back to visit their families.

Mildred wrote a letter in protest to then Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy, who referred her to American Civil Liberties Union who helped them file a suit that eventually got brought up to the U.S. Supreme Court in the case Loving v. Virginia. Get this--The state's argument was that it wasn't discriminatory because they punished "both parties" (meaning Mildred and Richard) equally in their "crimes." The court dismissed that argument.

June 12th, 1967 they won their case. The anniversary is today, and now known to many as Loving Day. The organization was started by a fierce group of people who want the memory of the Lovings to live on. Their goals?:

• Create a common connection between multicultural communities, groups and individuals
• Build multicultural awareness, understanding, acceptance, and identity
• Educate the public about the history of interracial relationships in order to fight prejudice
• Establish a tradition of Loving Day celebrations as a means to achieve these

You can read more about it here, add them on facebook, and see if there are any Loving Day events near you.

Sadly there's nothing near me, or in Texas at all for that matter this year, but maybe I'll get something together for next year. Anyone near me want to join in?

I'm so grateful for this couple and that they made it possible for my husband and I, and others to marry who we fall in love with. No matter what race.

Happy Loving Day!

More reader posts on Loving Day:

Desu Mama
This Nest 
Kimberly Johnson
Weather Anchor Mama

My favorite part about going to work...

Is coming home to this...

A kid in a candy store

I was scared to back to "SOCO" as they call it, since the break in. But I couldn't let fear keep me from the cute avenue of photo backdrops forever, so I brazened up and went again.

Lil' J was dolled out in MudPie and I had everything packed in one bag I planned to keep on me the entire time. Luckily, I found  parking spot right in front of the store we'd be going in.--The world famous (or so they say) Big Top Candy Shop.

We perused the store for a bit, scoping out spots to take photographs. Lil' J of course eying the shiny candy as we walked though. To my knowledge she hasn't had much--If any candy. Oh wait, she has had a bit of a sucker before. But other than that, she doesn't eat the stuff yet. But I had a vision of photographing her with a big rainbow sucker, and a big stick of pink cotton candy. They had bags of cotton candy but no sticks! I didn't realize the no-stick part until after I bought the bag. Big BOOO!

Mudpie Dress from BNB Boutique; Matching Shoes by Robeez via Consignment

Sadly, they were out of root beer too, and it didn't feel right to let my one-year-old have a sip of my Dr. Pepper, so we got a vanilla ice cream float.

I plopped her on the stool next to me, and with my camera strapped around my neck, snapped away while we enjoyed our sweet snack.

She'd smile at me, and the people waiving at her through the window as they passed the store. I felt like I was just hanging out with one of my girlfriends. But with less verbal communication.

When we finished our ice cream I let her suck the lollipop from the outside of the wrapper, but she still managed to bite a little bit of the plastic off and get the sweet goodness out. She dropped it a few times and I thanked my lucky stars for not opening the thing. Not only would it probably had who knows what stuck to it (and she's already had her fair share of grossness in her mouth), but the wrapper was keeping all of the crumbled pieces together. So it still looked like a solid sucker.

We looked at the chocolates, and the candy dishes. The jelly beans and the taffy. She wanted to get down and scoot around herself, and she screamed and laughed in excitement.

Afterward we took a few photos outside a barber shop which looked like a step back in time. Even the people coming out had hair cuts from the 50s. I kid you not, one guy walked out looking like John Travolta in Greece with his black shirt, tight jeans and hair slicked back. He even had his little comb to tighten up his do! I should have taken a picture!

We went home and crashed on the couch for a nice long nap from our sugar high. I love this girl. Every day watching her learn and grow I feel like she felt as a kid in the candy store.

**I bought the dress Lil' J is wearing from one of my favorite Boutiques: BNB Boutique. They had a Facebook contest last week. I promised if we won, to split my winnings with a blog reader, but we came in 3rd, winning the $25 prize to BNB Boutique, so instead of splitting it I've decided I'll give the full prize to one of you sweet readers. 

Thanks so much for reading and commenting on my blog! Your words mean more than you know! Someone who comments on this post before next Monday the 14th will win the prize! If you're a subscriber of mine in some shape or form you can leave (one) extra comment for an extra entry. I'll announce the winner on my FB Page before emailing them. Good luck and thank you!**
PS: PLEASE make sure you have an email address I can find so I can contact you if you win! I have had to skip numerous winners in the past who had private profiles and left no email address. 

I'm a bad influence mom

It was hot. We had been taking pictures for half an hour, and you were in such a good mood. I wanted to make sure you went to bed that night thinking 'I had so much fun with mommy today.' So I loaded you in your car seat and we drove to the next park over. I heard it was cooler, and that there was some water you could play in.

The sun was setting when we got out of the car. If we were lucky we'd only have 15 minutes or so to play before it started to get dark. But I hadn't been there before and I didn't know how to get to the water.

We passed the fountain as we walked in and you leaned, reaching for it, trying to get out of my arms.

I jogged with you around the building and down the stairs but I couldn't see an entrance to the lake.

We ran back up the stairs near the fountain. I took off your pants, and after a quick glance around I let you loose. As I expected, you speed-crawled to the fountain and climbed right in.

At one point a man walked by--I'm assuming someone who works at the park--And said "After everyone goes home, I like to strip down to my underwear and climb in there too." I laughed and thanked my lucky stars he didn't kick us out. You were having so much fun (and I assumed he was kidding).

Rock On Shirt by MoRiginal Designs; Hair Clippie by Moi!

I couldn't help but snap pictures of the good time you were having. At one point my battery died and I brought you half way to the car with me while I grabbed my back up. I sat you down at the edge of the grass thinking you may follow me, instead you raced me back to the fountain. You were in a state of bliss.

But oh man, when it was time to go, you threw a fit. Arched back, jellyfish squirm and all. I felt bad for pulling you away from so much fun but it was past your bed time, and time to go home.

As we reached the car you had calmed down and rested your head on my shoulder. I kissed your wet hair and nose, and told you what I always tell you, time and time again. I love you.

Letting you play in the park fountain probably wasn't my best role-model moment. But it gave us a moment and memory I'll remember, hopefully forever.

What? It's been a month already?

Dear Baby Girl,

I was just getting used to saying you're 13 months and I just realized today that you're now 14 months. Holy cow that last month flew by! Probably the quickest one yet, it feels.

This month was a doozy for us. You started a new school. It's been really hard for both of us. You cried and cried the first few days I dropped you off, and so did I. Now you only cry sometimes, or for a moment, before I go. I can't wait for the day you tell me bye and run off to play with your friends.

White Ruffle Dress: Old Navy via Ebay; Coral Bow: Little Star Sweeper

Speaking of running, you're beginning to. You took off walking this last month, and you love being on your two feet. You're loving being able to carry things while you move around, and you laugh so hard when I say I'm going to get you or ask you where you're going.

Your new words are "bye bye" and "bubbles." Your teacher also told me you try to say your friend's names at school. You also sometimes call Snoop "Ba" I think short for "bad" but we're trying to change that. Poor Snoop. You also say "tin too" Which means thank you and it's so stinking cute!

Your favorite foods are Spanish rice and chicken, pizza, grapes, strawberries, and steak fries. You also love sandwiches. These are all our favorite foods too so you fit right in. You're still nursing. I thought you'd stop by now but you don't seem to be weaning yourself at all. The good thing is when you're teething like you are now, it's one way to make you feel better. You also haven't been sick yet. But I guess we're lucky. It could be the nursing or the fact that I let you eat off the floor, I haven't sterilized things immediately after you drop them, and I only sporadically wipe the shopping cart down for you. I guess it's built you up some nice immunities.

One of your new favorite things to do is brush your teeth. When I do the sign for it and ask you if you want to brush them you stick your tongue out and get excited. You have seven teeth, and I think you're about to get another.

Leg warmers, pearls, ruffle butt and bow: Belle Dezigns; Romper: Borrowed

Dancing and humming are also some new things you love to do. If I hum a song you wiggle your butt and start humming too. I think it's so adorable. Oh, and another funny thing you're doing is climbing on your rocking horse and rocking like crazy! You think it's so much fun. We're glad you like it.

You also like the "Art Show" episode of Yo Babba Gabba and you've watched it about two thousand times. We get the songs stuck in our heads too. I try to turn on a different episode or show but you aren't having it. I am trying to convert you to watching Disney movies instead because those will never get old to me.

I didn't think I could love you any more than I already do but I do! Every night after you go to bed I look at your pictures and get so excited to see you the next morning. You're my little buddy and I have such a blast hanging out with you. I thought I'd be sad about you getting bigger, especially since month after month is just flying by now! But I'm not sad. I'm enjoying seeing you learn and grow.

Your daddy says he loves how "cool" you're getting. He likes that he can chase you around and make you laugh, and get you to throw things. You two don't get to hang out as much these days but the time spent together I can tell, is much more cherished.

We love you so much. I hope you remember that always.

Love,

Mommy

 ***

Lil' J won a contest and as promised, I'm doing a giveaway for a $30 gift card on my Facebook Page to your store/restaurant/place of choice. If you don't have facebook, or would prefer not to comment there, leave a comment on this post instead. Only comment on one or the other please, not both. I'll combine entries to draw the winner. Giveaway ends Monday at 8pm CST.

Her First Teddy Bear

I grabbed the first bear I got her from her display shelf in her room. I took it down and pushed his hand and the sound of a heartbeat filled the room. Her heart beat. I remember the day I recorded it when I was very pregnant and eager to meet my little princess.

I picked this bear because it reminded me of the one I had when I was a little girl. I named him Teddy Jr. After my Teddy.

I left him naked thinking someday my little girl can pick out clothes for him--If she chooses. I sorta like the look of naked bears.

Though she has a growing slew of stuffed animals and baby dolls, it appears she has a sweet spot for Teddy Jr. I secretly hope she'll keep a special place in her heart for him a very long time, just as I did for mine.

And every time she pushes his hand to hear the thumping of it's heart, I'll smile and remember what that sound meant to me.

***

I was not compensated in any way for writing about Build a Bear, CouponCabin offered a giveaway for my readers and I thought I'd write about the cute one we already had. CouponCabin is helping to give the gift of Build a Bear with their online coupons. Here's one for $10 off $40. They've also graciously offered a $100 electronic gift card to one of you fabulous Baby Making Machine readers. Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter. Good luck!


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Tell someone what they need to hear {+ Giveaway!}

If you're not a mother yet, you probably won't understand what I'm about to say, if you are, I hope you know exactly what I mean.

Being a mother is such a blessing. Sure, everyone here on this planet is here because of their mother. It's nothing unique, but that doesn't make it any less special.

It's like I've gotten to hit the "reset" button on my life and start it over in a new perspective. I don't mean I'm living my life vicariously through my daughter, I mean I have an excuse to do everything all over again with her. 

From playing with bubbles, and tossing a balloon around the house, to smelling the bluebonnets in a field of wildflowers, or tickling her until she's helpless with laughter (at least once a day); these are the moments I want to remember. Moments I can remember now that I'm older.

They're times she'll probably forget at her young age, but ones I'll capture, cherish, and share with her someday.

Recently Hallmark came to my town to talk to bloggers about our passion for writing and doing what we do. They fed us breakfast and shared their Moments and Milestones and "Tell them" campaign. When they started I was jumping up and down inside going "YES! I do this!" but the longer I was there the more I realized there are a lot more people aside from my daughter who need to know how much they mean to me.

The idea is that everyone has something to hear. For instance, I would like someone to tell me that it's Ok that my house is messy. That their house is messy too and that we all need a break from cleaning every now and then. Is that so much to ask? If someone told me that every day, I'd feel so awesome.

We watched some videos about this campaign and I like a dork, I went home to watch more because they seriously gave me goosebumps. Watch this one! It's super short but if you're sappy like me, it'll hit home.

Awww! That little girl on the diving board asking for you to tell her she can do it. I imagine that being Lil' J years from now looking for me on the sidelines for reassurance.

I think of things I'd like to tell my daughter every day. Things I hope to remember to tell her again and again when she's older and can understand. Every day I capture a moment with her, and I share something about herself, or wisdom I want her to remember on my 365 Moments blog. I'm hoping to print and bind it all in a coffee book for her someday. I'll have to make two.. One for her and one for me. (By the way, you can also upload your own photos on their mosaic, they're picking some to be featured in their magazine.)


I always think of all of the things I want my husband to tell me: Why he loves me, that I'm beautiful, that even though I'm far from a perfect wife, he loves my imperfections. But the men and father's in this video made me stop and think of all of the things he's probably wishing I'd tell him... 
 
That he's a wonderful father, the man of my dreams, and thank you for working long, crazy hours in a pretty darn demanding job to provide for us, that I'm so proud of him. That I pray for him every night, and that I support him no matter what. Sure, I tell him those things. But not enough.

I'm going to try a little harder to tell the people I love what they mean to me, and what they need to hear. I challenge you to do the same. Of course it's great to tell them face to face but that's not always easy or possible. You can send a text message, and email, a letter or a card. If it's hard for you to say things in your own words there are oodles of things Hallmark offers that can help. We were gifted a bag with examples of things like this, like a little rose that opens and closes with a push of a button. On the inside it says "You are the heart of our family." Lil' J claimed it but I helped her share it with Daddy.

We're about halfway through the year but I'm going to make a new resolution to tell someone close to me something they need to hear. Like my mom. Sure, I talk to her about once a week if I'm lucky (I need to do better at this) and she knows I love her, I tell her every time we are hanging up. But oh how much more it would mean to her if it were the first thing I said when she picked up the phone, and not the last.

My best friend needs to know how much I miss her. Because I really do. And my Heaven-sent new friends here in Texas need to know how much of a lifesaver they've been through all of our transitions. And you! People who actually take the time to visit my blog and see what's going on in my life... Emily, who messaged me the other day about my most recent post, another Emily who tweeted me and told me my 30 days plan (in 7 days) worked on her husband too, and everyone else who's ever emailed me about my blog, or left a comment sharing your thoughts, wisdom, laughter, experiences... THANK YOU. I try to write back and tell each of you how much it really and truly means to me that you take the time to not only read, but respond... But I know I've missed far too many of you. I'm going to get better about telling each of you personally what that means to me.

After the even Hallmark wrote to me and said I could do a giveaway for some of the items they treated us to at the event. My favorites were the Blooming Expressions flower I mentioned earlier, and the Christopher Interactive Story Book and Storybuddy. I rekindled the habit and started reading her a story every night (my husband and I alternate) before bed. She LOVES it. We let her pick out a book to read and this one is one of her favorites. She holds the bear while I read the story and at the end of each page he'll add his little two cents. It's so cute! (He also sleeps in her crib now).

Side note!: Speaking of their books, we got a Mommy and Me recordable story book, so she can still hear me read to her while I'm away, and I definitely plan to get one more for my husband to read to her while he's away at work. My heart breaks a little when I'm getting her ready for bed alone after several nights of him being home and she reaches for the door, and says "Daddy?" This way when she makes that request while he's working, she can still have him read her a story. In case you haven't heard of those recordable storybooks you can check them out there! I'll probably make one a part of his Father's Day gift.

Ok, back to the giveaway! Thank you for reading my blog! I'd love to gift one of you with both the Blooming Expressions flower and the Christopher Interactive Story Book and Storybuddy courtesy of Hallmark. I promise you your kiddo would get a kick out of them, and all you have to do is leave a comment letting me know what you want to tell someone (or tell me) or what you'd like someone to tell you!

Make sure you use the rafflecopter widget below(you can't see it from my homepage, you need to click on the title of this post to see it) to mark your entry. Check out the widget to see how you can get extra entries. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway