OK, Maybe Just One More

So my kid is in the tub and she yells for me, then says, "Mommy, smell in this cup" and hands me a plastic cup out of the tub. I say "why?" and she laughs and says "I tooted in it." She could only have gotten that trait from her father.

It's The End of the Blog As We Know It

Since my last post, Bella started Kindergarten, has learned to read, grew about 5 inches and she has just gotten smarter and smarter every day. Between school & homework, play dates, vacations, skiing, ballet lessons, duck hunting (yup, little girl's a ballerina and a hunter!), trips to the playground, etc. etc. etc., my time for keeping the blog updated has dwindled away. So while I'll say good-bye online, the words I have written for the past 2 years will be soon published in hardcover - forever in print to someday embarrass and torment my beautiful and beloved daughter!

So looking back to my very first entry, I'll end with this simple message:

Take a moment each day to laugh out loud...Because Life is Funny...Enjoy the ride!

It's beginning to look a lot like winter...

Last night it was a cold night. Bella crawled up onto my bed so we could read some books before going to sleep. The dog had been laying right where she wanted to sit so of course, the dog got kicked out and moped off to find another place to curl up. Bella noticed that the bed was nice and warm where Zaidy had been laying. She jumped right under the covers and yelled, "Mmm mmm...warm and cuddly, here I come!"

I know it's been a while since I last wrote, but the laugh out loud moments are still an every day occurrence. I'll try to be better about sharing them again.

Coming soon...

I know I've been slacking lately, but it's summer time! We've been having too much fun. Stay tuned...

Like Mother, Like Daughter

I can hear Bella in the next room playing with her friend. They are searching for treasures and playing dress up. I peek out and her friend has on some sunglasses and a hat and he says "I am going to be the mailman." As Bella puts on some fancy shoes with feathers on them, she replies "I am going to be Shoe Girl!"

That's my girl.

Car Talk

Today after running some errands, I was unpacking the car and Bella was still sitting in her car seat. I made 2 or 3 trips in to the house and she was still sitting there when everything was unloaded. I asked her, "What are you waiting for?" to which she replied, "Christmas."

Thank goodness she didn't pick up some of the worse things I say while stuck behind slow drivers!

Enjoy the Ride

I am a night owl. Love to stay up late. Mornings...not so much. 10 years ago I liked to stay up late, to stay OUT late, because that's when the fun happened. Meeting up with friends to party, talk, laugh until the wee hours of the morning. But things are different now. Now I like to stay up late for the quiet. Everyone is sleeping and it is peaceful at the end of the day. When I finally call it a night, I give my little girl a kiss and whisper in her ear, "I love you". She is sound asleep, dead to the world. Her energy completely drained from living each day to the fullest. She has not stopped thinking and learning (and taking!) since the moment she woke and tomorrow she'll do it all over again. I am in awe of her energy. Tonight, I too will go to bed completely exhausted, and in the morning I will wake way too early for my own good. But I don't mind. I don't want to miss a moment of it. Life is too short. There is too much to learn and see and do. 

Reminds me of one of my favorite James Taylor songs:

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time
Any fool can do it
There aint nothing to it
Nobody knows how we got to
The top of the hill
But since were on our way down
We might as well enjoy the ride

Good night...and enjoy the ride.

Every Day is Mother's Day

Five years ago on Mother's Day, I was riding home from the hospital with my one-day-old daughter. I was excited and exhausted, overjoyed and overwhelmed, completely in love with my tiny beautiful baby and completely terrified, all at the same time. I'll never forget that day.

Yesterday, we celebrated Bella's 5th birthday, surrounded by friends. When the party was over, she and I sat outside eating just one more piece of cake and enjoying the last minutes of the warm sun. I watched as she played with all her new toys, her face filled with joy. It was a great day.

Today it is Mother's Day once again and I am thankful for my own mother - who supports me in everything I do and is always there for me. I know now how hard it was for her to raise my sister and I. And I know now that the love between a mother and her child is never ending.

And I am thankful for my mother-in-laws, who treat me like their own daughter and for the rest of my family and my family-in-law, who I also love very much.

I am in awe of all of my girlfriends who have become amazing mothers. We share a special bond now. All of motherhood's ups and downs make us stronger and wiser and better human beings. We laugh together, cry together, share advice and stories. We survive the tough days with a spur of the moment play date, or plan a girls night out to regain our momentum. We support each other because we know how important our jobs as mothers are. All of you have inspired me more than you know, and for that I thank you.

I am blessed with a husband who loves me for who I am, and tells me so every day. He is a wonderful father and it shows. My favorite moment of the day is when he walks in from work and I hear, "Daddy!" and the sounds of little feet running to the door. Thank you Daddy for all that you do.

Not a day goes by that I don't know just how lucky I am. My daughter has taught me more about life in the past 5 years, than I have learned in my almost 40. By stopping to see the bright green grass growing in a crack in the sidewalk, or wiping away my tears when I lost a loved one. She gets it. Not because she doesn't yet know the evils of the world, but because she chooses to see the good. She is funny, charming, and she knows that unconditional love is the best thing life has to offer - and when we adults forget that, she is quick to remind us. And it works every time.

So thank you my families, my friends, my husband and my beautiful daughter. Thank you for making me the mother and woman that I am today. I couldn't do any of it without you.

Happy Mother's Day.

Rules are Rules

I guess she'll never be Miss America now...

A Rainy Friday Dress Up Party

"Mommy, where's my other go-go boot?"

Now there's something you don't hear every day.