Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Well Hello !!


After what felt like the busiest few months of our life...
we're finally settled in.
With about 30 more boxes to unpack.. but hey !
We're making progress.

And I promised myself I'd get back to posting little moments of our day...

It's Tuesday morning.. and daddy is at work.
It's still a tolerable 83 degrees out, and with the help of our fan, our back porch is quite the place to be lately.

Jordan has accomplished pulling himself up into a chair. It's really a big deal.
He always looks so proud once he gets up there.
Even with his morning hair.




More to come...
for now its just a picture update =)


Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Finding our happy place.


Tonight, I'm resorting back to my old blogging roots.
Where I wait until everyone is sound asleep, I turn on some John Mayer on Pandora, and I load pictures until my patience is on the fine line of giving up..
until finally, I can write.
I'm still planning on following my book blogging- the 365 Health and Happiness Boosters, but this week, we found it all on our own.

Life is full of ups and downs, and frequently we feel like we can never catch a break, but we quickly remind each other that things could be way worse. And then we whip ourselves back into grateful shape.

There has been some downs.. my grandmother was back in the hospital, again..
Jason had a death in the family..
and some little downs like how I just spilled a glass of wine on the table with my camera sitting on it..
and Jordan discovering how much he likes to reach down there, when your changing a poopy diaper.

But life is always going to have to have it's downs, but you have to find the positive in them and then you will be up again, and being up makes us happy.

Grandma is back "home" again with my grandpa, which makes him happy and that makes all of his happy.
Jason's great auntie is in a happier place now after battling cancer.



And Jason and I, we have found our ups. We are slowly drifting into our happy place and we plan to keep drifting and make it a full time position.

I'm happy to say, we finally cracked.
I came home from work on Monday morning after a 12 hour shift, and said, that's it. GET UP. We're going to work out.
And, a very grumpy husband looked at me like I was crazy, but right at that moment, Jordan woke up and I was saved.

And as I softly carried my happy baby with messy morning hair into our bedroom, and plopped him onto our soft fluffy bed, Jason wasn't grumpy anymore at all. Not even a little.

So, we got dressed, and took the twisting car ride to Starkey Park. Where we put the babe in the stroller, stretched our non existent muscles, and jogged and walked. For 2.5 miles. And we were damn proud.

Jordan enjoyed the cool breeze on his face, while taking in the overgrown trees and the shade they provide.

And today, we did it again. We went to my mom's and ran and walked another 2 miles.
I'm sore.
But, we're so happy to be doing something for ourselves. To be healthier and happier.

You know what else makes me happy? My mom's gardening. About now, you're probably wondering about the flowers photos..
well this was our Monday night. After a much needed nap, Jordan and I headed our way to Grandma Joyce's where he was such a little explorer.

He found a shovel, and went to town. He was making sounds (we're pretty sure he was playing pirate and the shovel was his sword)..
and he played in the dirt.

Until his shoes were full of it.

And it was in his hair. And on his face. And in his pants.
It was making him happy, it was his happy place for the night.


And as he played, I snapped pictures, and mom watered her plants, and we were all full of endorphins and went to bed happy that night.

Our next mission: our house. I can only hope to be able to have such beautiful gardening talents one day.

Where Jordan will have a backyard to call his own..
where he can be a pirate, or a football player, or whatever brings him to his happy place for the day.

Where he can sit in the cool grass, enjoy the warm pool, or cause havoc on the back porch.

Even on the days that we have our downs, we will accept what it is, we will grieve, and we will change our outlook. Because outlook is everything.

Happiness is available to each of us in every single moment, no matter what else is happening, if we just make a commitment to it over and over again.



So, I lied.
I said I wasn't going to include my book, but I opened it and found this, and honestly, it kind of puts things into perspective, a bit perfectly, for how I feel lately.

Buddha once said that happiness is created by four things: "To be skilled, efficient, earnest, and learned in whatever profession one has; to conscientiously protect one's income and family's means of support; to have virtuous, trustworthy, and faithful friends and spiritual aspirations; to be content and live within one's means."
I'm so happy to say that we're buying a house. Although we really weren't sure that was really going to work out in our favor, it did.
And we plan to live within our means by being conscientious, and efficient in our profession. Fill it with faithful friends. And thank God.

If I were an ant, this tree would scare the shit out of me.

I think it's so pretty in person, but from this view, it's rather intimidating, ay?

Yes, he still has the shovel.




Enlarge this picture by clicking on it, to see the dirt collection on his face.



On our way home, this was the moon. It was massive, and glowing, and incredible.

And for some reason, blogger decided to place my 2nd picture of it at the bottom, although I didn't tell it to.
We'll roll with it.

Today, was one of those days where the clouds looked so incredibly white and fluffy you just wanted to lasso one and pull it to you and take a bite out of it because it looks like the best cotton candy created by heaven.

When the sun began to set, it had this glorious glow.



Goodnight :)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Greet the day.


Onto page 54 of my book (I decided to go for the 'random' selection style)
GREET THE DAY.
She goes on to explain that how we begin the morning is what sets the tone for the day.
& that in some cultures, greeting the sun is part of spiritual practice, a way of beginning in gratitude and awe for the new day we've been given.

So Tuesday morning, we went to playgroup. And the sun, it greeted us.

No one knew it, but I was in total awe that morning. In awe of my son, and how he has changed. The last time I brought him to this park, he poked around in the mulch... we spent time swinging, and he walked around the playground.
Today. was. different.

It was like the park was his personal adventure land.

Where he explored, from one side, to the other.

He wanted to CLIMB. And that he did. He went right up those stairs.
And with my stand by assistance, he climbed the whole thing. Again and again.


Maybe next time he can do the slide by himself :)

And before long, he wanted to do it by himself. And I had to take a deep breath, and let him.
So I stood next to him, pretending like I wasn't on full 'catch the falling baby alert'..
and let him do it.
All. by. himself.

Before I knew it, I had a very tired baby on my hands.
After a few chocolate animal crackers from one of the playgroup mommy's...
we went home, for a nice, long nap.
:)
Happy Friday.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

A big ole Easter post.


What would Easter be without baskets filled to the brim with candy treats such as Cadbury Eggs (thanks momma).. new toys like this shiny new boat, and plastic eggs? :)
After a much needed nap secondary to an early morning, we got ourselves together, and headed out to enjoy Easter Sunday.

F A M I L Y.
Families are like fudge... mostly sweet with a few nuts.

"Bringing up a family should be an adventure, not an anxious discipline in which everybody is constantly graded for performance."

"The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together."

"Family means putting your arms around each other and being there."

"A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart till the day you die."
C O N G R A T S to Rick & Lena, who are now expecting baby #2 !
:)

"The family is where children and vulnerable family members should be able to go for safety and support."



The new lil pup :) Awww...





I'm pretty sure we could have fed an army. Literally.


Easter egg hunt !!




Little bitty rain drops were falling....

As Forrest Gump said..
I was RUNaaang.

and running....

and making you think I'm not going to run again..

there I go, again.
It was an early bed time, for all of us.
Happy Easter, from our family, to yours !!