can't think of a title

Over the weekend my Aunt had her daughter's first birthday party at Peter Piper's. I have no idea what they were thinking by having it there but I must say, I did enjoy being with my family. I usually do what I can to steer WAY clear of that place. There are way too many people running around, very dirty and germy toys/games, possible child predators, sometimes rude & undisciplined children, very gross bathrooms (most of the time) and just an uninviting feel to the whole place. It could be just me but that's how I feel about it anyways. And here's a little tip for those of you who do not celebrate the scary things of halloween-don't go there this time of year. It's so annoying to see (and scary, of course) scary faces hanging from the windows on the doors going to the kitchen and spiders hanging from the ceiling and caution tape wrapped around the slide. Niiiice. I didn't like it AT ALL. Like my one year old needs images of dead looking people in her head...like I need images of dead looking people in MY head! GGRRR. Really, seriously, is it necessary to think that everyone celebrates halloween with scary masks, spiders, witches, tombstones and fake human remains???
But, besides all of that, AK LOVED that carousal.

Although not in this picture, I totally tought AK all about riding "side-saddle". It IS the proper way afterall ;).

On a lighter note. I painted my little darlings toenails this weekend and I must say, they are the cutest little toes I've ever seen.

Seeee, I told ya. -If you're wondering how I pulled this off lets just say a highchair and some yummy snacks will do the trick. Of course, you have to sit on the floor and hold the foot still for quick application. It really doesn't take that long because the toenails are so tiny...and it dries really fast. But yeah, I love her little toenails painted. Some people may think it's a little "over-the-top" but oh well. Do what you will (or won't) with your own kid :).

Happy Wednesday.

ouch

Wow, it's been a long day. First, I started out by putting Anna-Kate down for a nap. In all honesty, that's when my day truly begins, as far "deep house duties" go. Then I headed out to the storage shed to see if I could make an "organized" dent in all the chaos. I ended up trapping myself in the back because I started pulling things from the back and putting them by the door (behind me) so that I could get it organized from back to front. I was tripping over stuff, climbing over mountains of baby paraphernalia and having it out with boxes, boxes and more boxes (they were totally ganging up on me). It was kind of frustrating. Not to mention the BUGS. I hate bugs. I murdered a roach on accident. Really, I'm kinda glad I did it because I would've feared for myself the whole time if not. What was even more frustrating than getting trapped, attacked by bugs & boxes and sweating my butt off was the fact that it still looked a mess when it was all said and done. Grrr. Atleast I know where everything is now, right?! Yeah. I did make a "garage sale" pile in front so I could start taking stuff from the house to the shed and have a place for it. Not only did I do all of that but I totally unloaded the bookshelf in our bedroom and put them in storage until we're ready to take them. It's so tempting to totally pack up our house before November even gets here but I know I have time and I'll do a little bit everyday so that we're not bombarded when the time comes to load up. We are really hoping for this to be a smooth, organized and light move.

On another note, I finally told my parents about the move. It didn't go over soooo well but it went over and that's all that matters. It's so hard to make them understand that this is for our best as far as time and money goes. We have atleast two classes each to complete, possibly three, by April or so. That's NOT a lot of time when you have a one year old and a part time job. They definitely do not like the idea of MAF and all that it entails. Moving their daughter across the US or even the world is not in the question (in their minds) but moving their daughter AND most precious granddaughter, now that's a different story to them. They find it to be a selfish thing to do because other countries can be "soooo dangerous". Now, I know there are things happening in other countries that are awful and scary but my take on it is that they should not, even for a split second, assume that we would take our family to a place that could be dangerous for us and our child. It's so hard when you are trying to tell these plans to people who do not have a "world view" and are not educated in the least about other countries...except for what they see on the news. It's sad and I hope one day my family will see the good in what we want to do and the reason WHY we want to do it. People are dying everyday without even hearing the precious name of Jesus. How unfair is that?! Very.

And then the thought comes to my mind, "has my family even had a true chance?" Ouch.

taking steps

My child is "walking". Well not completely, totally or uninitiated but she's doing it! On Thursday night I think she took about five or six steps total. Earlier last week it was only like two or three. On Friday she took about nine or ten steps. YESTERDAY this amazing little genius kid took sixteen steps and then immediately following that she took twenty-one steps!!! That's right, twenty-one ladies and gentlemen, TWENTY-ONE! It was so amazing to watch. AND better yet, we got it on video!

9 steps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11bMraQJUy8

20/21 steps:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e22fzA5FAHY

special birthday

Happy 1st Birthday Tristan!

I can't believe he's a year old today...just like I couldn't believe when my little one turned one...and is now 14 months old. My my, where does time fly?!

Tristan, this post is for you. I want you to know that you have ONE of the BEST set of parents ever. They love you with all that they are, I'm sure of it. You are a well cared for little boy and it even shows on your face. You are doing a great job growing and getting big, way big. Your personality shines like no other little boy I've ever met and I'm very lucky to know you. We love you Bear and hope that this birthday brings you lots of joy, goodies and a good nap afterwards ;) (for mommy's sake).

Love, Aunt Tia

battle of the mind

I found out yesterday that we have some committed renters for our house. Great, now it's almost totally 100% official. Which, really, nothing is 100% until it happens but you know what I mean. This is making the realization more...real. My mind is battling against itself. Some days I think about how I know this is best for us right now. It will be good for us to have tons more time to be together as a family, more time to take some classes, more energy to actually DO things as a family, less of a house to clean ;), more room for our big dog, a "built-in" babysitter, a change (which is sometimes good), new friends and new hobbies. Then I think about how I will have to leave a job that I love!, we will be using well water and it has the most awful smell in the world, the water pressure (excuse my lang) sucks, when Sean goes to work (out of town) on the weekends I will be left without a vehicle in a city where I know noone, no dishwasher and I'm KNOW I could come up with more but I won't. I totally see that all of these things aren't really good excuses for not moving but it was a thought ;). I know things will work out the way they are supposed to. Surely, right?!

I'm having a hard time bringing this up with my family. I have a feeling they aren't going to be exactly excited about the whole thing. I KNOW they won't. In my head I rationalize saying that it's only an hour and a half away and it's not that big of a deal. Right? Well, some people can't rationalize and they only think of the negative side of things, not what is really the best for others. It's hard and I'm putting off the conversation we'll have to have. I mean, who knows, maybe they'll surprise me but I'm having a feeling that won't be the case. I don't want to tell them too soon though because then I'll have to deal with it for a month and a half before it actually happens. Ya know? But then I think about how it's not fair for them not to know because they aren't getting a chance to spend time with us as much as they would probably want if knowing we were moving. Blah blah blah. I don't know.

I'll leave you with this, as promised, a picture of AK crawling through the house with her lovey on her head: