It's my Party and I'll.....

So it's my birthday! Hooray! I really don't feel bad about getting older.  Perhaps it has to do with liking where I'm at in life.  It's pretty much where I saw myself, I think.  Of course things can always go up/be better/more wonderful, but I've got it pretty damn good right now.  "How so Rachel?" (you might ask) Well, let me tell you.

(Prepare for some bragging, but really it's just appreciation for what I'm surrounded with)

First, I am married to my Jacob (yep, that's a Twilight reference, get over it if you don't like the books, I read them in one week while I was 8 months pregnant with Jack, I was obsessed. Perhaps my emotions were SLIGHTLY hightened, but who's counting) (and I say Jacob because Edward love does not exist, that is a fairytale people, come on, get with the program), we go up and we go down, but in the end, we are doing it all together and getting closer by the second. (*tear* right? i know, I'm just too much!) And then there are my beautiful babies!  My mom said she knew I wanted to be a mom when I was two.  I believe it.  Super bonus plus, I get to stay home with them every day of every week of every month of every year.  Wouldn't have it any other way. (another tear, I know, I'm killing myself!)  My mom, she's pretty freakin fantastic. (she's here right now reading Ms. Moo a book before bed, love)  As far as families go, mine's crazy.  Who's isn't?  There awesome though.  So is my in-law fam.  I know what you're thinking: "Really Rach? You are just saying that because they read this." No, I swear!  They are great! And friends, wow, my friends are amazing.  This one friend, she just brought me a present (against my wishes) and it was the #1 vegan cook book on my list! Again with the love!  I am living in the neighboorhood I've always wanted to come back to in a house that I really like. 

Sure, there is always more that we want and more that we "need", but when it comes down to it, I've got everything and more.  Sometimes it's hard to take a step back and look at what we have and appreciate it all (good and bad), but if we do, we see that it's pretty amazing.  At least I do, I hope it for all of you too.




Ok ok..enough with the sappy stuff.  Let me tell you what Mother Nature brought me for my birthday: cramps, bloating, longing for icky foods...yep, you guessed it. (I won't say it for the men that read my blog, Dad.)  Wah.  Heating pad here I come!


Let me update you on what I did this weekend!  I planted a bag garden!  I'll take pictures soon so you can see what I mean.  I have all kinds of things planted from pumpkin to cantalope to pickeling cucumber! (shout out to Lindsay!!)  I'm really excited about it.  Oooo! I have strawberries too!  I made a stirfry tonight and used green onions from my garden! I can't wait for more to grow.


Oh, if anyone is wondering about the Gdiapers, I am still using them.  Usually just around the house and not for bed time.  The reason for just around the house is that the poops can kind of be a mess and hassle to clean up.  There is ALWAYS poop on the liner that has to be hosed off and then the liner needs to be soaked or it will stain.  So I still love them and use them, and if Jack has had his morning poop, I'll take him out in a g, I just don't want to have to deal with that somewhere in public.  The con.

My "lifestyle diet change" is still going good.  My stomach is loads better.  It acts up everyonce in a while, but for the most part, it's good.  I still try to take at least one acidophilis pill, but I've been doing pretty good.  I think my body is getting it, which is good because I was begining to wonder.

Time for some Idol folks, GO LEE!

Peace love and birthdays!

Check yourself before you wreck yourself and your kids

First of all, be prepared for a few links, I got link happy



Ok, so a few months ago, my sister-in-law turned me onto this blog of a mother of 4 tots.  She has a son almost exactly Jack's age.  From before he was born, the Dr's discovered he had a heart defect and was in heart failure and would probably not survive.  He was born healthy, but has ran into many problems along the way (go to her blog and read the story, it's an amazingly heart tugging one).  At the time I began reading the blog, her son was having a hard time staying alive and there were pictures of him in the hospitol and all I could see when I looked at those pictures was Jack.  It was aweful. I was reading the story and balling.  One of the things I don't think ANY parent should ever have to see (except for birth) is their child laying in a hospitol bed (God what?), I can't help but cringe at the thought. (I know, get real Rachel, it's life, don't live in a fantasy world, life happens, blah blah blah) (And now I was just reading a friends blog and she turned me onto this, again with the sobbing.  Are you freaking kidding me!? Wrong wrong wrong!) This is not what I meant for this post to be about, so.....Anyway, I have followed their story ever since.  It's a fantastic blog. 

So lastnight I was reading her latest entry before bed and began sobbing (I do that a lot lately).  It really made me think about all the times that I snap at my kids or don't want to play the monkey game one more time, don't want to read the story one (5or 10) more time, don't want to go to the park, dont' want to get out of bed and be "on" all day long.  I am so so so blessed with what and who I have in my life and I forget that sometimes.  I forget that things are changing everyday and we can't get yesterday back, ever.  I need to stop putting things off (eating healthy, feeding the kids healthy, doing things the kids want to do, doing laundry, seeing friends and family) until tomorrow and seize the day (today!) (ok, so I've been watching Newsies lately, sue me). 

Today I feel inspired to be great! A great mom, a great wife, a great friend, a great daughter!

In the words of a NFL player, Chad OchoCinco (yes, you read that right, I follow him on twitter and he's neat), BE GREAT!!

So...Avery

I wonder, how long do you write these things with no one following? I am basically writing to myself right now? Well, that's cathartic. Anyway, on we go!

Avery LeeAnn. My girl, my giant, my turkey. She is almost 4.5! Wow, I feel old. This little lady was the most perfect baby anyone could ever imagine, ask anyone, for real. She never cried, and when I say never, I mean it. (again, ask anyone) She would give a slight wimper when she was hungry, that's it! She slept well, she played well, she still does! She goes to bed when told, in her own bed, she plays alone for hours, she is so sweet to all of her friends. If hurt, she doesn't cry, again the wimper. She is a great big sister too (perhaps the sharing could be better, but really, who likes to share?), she's very helpful. She never did the terrible twos. Yes, I know what you're thinking, and you're right, she is a genuine angel. Sure, she has her moments, but they are few and far between. She does like to talk, alot, always has and probably always will. Her first word was "pretty". We're not sure why... And wow the imagination! Lately, she is a dog more than a girl. She LOVES animals and dancing, especially to Michael (who doesn't love a good Michael dance party though?). She LOVES school too. Mostly for the friends and playing. She's going to be creative I think, not so much an acadamia. That's cool, I wasn't either one, so at least she's got something!









With a baby/toddler like her, why wouldn't you want 5 more!? I'll tell you later....his name is Jack.

Give it a whirl

Well, I never really thought I was clever enough to do a blog. I'm not a creative writer, I'm not really that funny, but I do have cute kids! And isn't that reason for most blogs these days? I also am a stay at home mom, and don't most of us have blogs? Because we don't have much else to do, right? Kidding, don't be offended. Is it presumptuous to think that people will want to read about my family? Possibly, but I like to read about other families and know that I'm not the only one going through the things us families go through! So...here we go!

Introduction:

Me, Rachel, the mom. I stay at home with Avery, 4.5, and Jack, 1.2ish. I would not want it any other way. Some people can't handle staying home all day, and there is nothing wrong with that, at all, but I just couldn't leave my babes with someone else all day long! Sure, I like to get away from time to time, but there is no where else I would rather be than home with them. Thankfully, my husband, Bret, the dad, agrees with me! He works full time/and on-call some nights. It's rough, but he does what he has to do to keep me home! Hooray for Dad!

We recently bought, that's right, bought (yikes! what were we thinking! who buys a house in this economy!? WE DO!) a house in Albany. It's in my dream neighboorhood that I partially grew up in. We enjoyed living in Monmouth for the last 8 (me, 9, on and off) years, but were so excited to move on! There is something to be said for living in a small town, but I ran out of thoses things about 2 years ago :) Love to the Monmouth crowd!

Ok, that's all I have time for now, Av wants to play horses :) Hopefully someone will read this :\ and enjoy it! Come back again real soon, I'll try to also.