Time Away...

This past weekend, I went away. For the first time since Giuliana was born, I left her behind. Now that it's all over, and everything was fine while I was gone, I am glad I did it. But I'll admit, I was nervous. I am always worried something will happen to her if I leave her behind, or send her away for the weekend. It's normal, and it's also a little bit paranoid. But, that's me. A little corky. What can I say....

Look at what happens when I leave Giuliana with her Nana and PopPop.. They picked her up from school, and brought her home. M&Ms were on the agenda, a Wal-Mart tee and a Dora hat... Man oh Man.. Nana also sent me this picture when I was gone, with a caption.."Look Mommy, I am a fashion statement"


Wondering where I went? Well, I went to Fort Wayne, Indiana. What could POSSIBLY make me go to Ft Wayne? Matilda Jane, of course. What else?? Denise, the owner/designer at MJC had a big party on Friday night at a local Art Gallery around the corner from the main office. There were a lot of us girls that flew and drove in for the party. What a great time I had. It was WONDERFUL to finally meet Denise and her husband David. They have 2 really cute boys who were fun to play with. Specially that boy Gabe, hes a little older than Giuliana, and SOOO full of fire. I also got to meet some of the Trunk Keepers (Sales Reps) and some of the girls I chat with on the clothing boards. I am waiting on Tami, one of my girlfriends, to send me the pictures she took. Once I get them, I'll post them. For now I only have a few..

This is Amy.. She is from Tampa and her and I have hung out before.. Lucky for us, she was in Michigan already on vacation and Ft Wayne was only a few hours away ;)


This is Tami.. Gosh, she was just GREAT! Her and I spilt a hotel room and rental car. It was a BLAST. She lives too far away.. Colorado :( Good thing her and her family like to come to FL on vacation :D


Last.. and certainly not least.. This is a picture of Tina, Lisa, Sam & I. I am not sure, exactly, what I was laughing at. But whatever it was, obviously it was funny. If I had to guess.. Sam was making jokes about something as the photographer was getting ready to snap the picture.


I'll have more pictures to post once they get emailed to me.. I'll elaborate on my weekend away once I have them.. Blogging isn't as much fun with out photos ;)

Rough Days

I have been having a lot of those lately. It's been hectic, and money is tight. It's not always easy doing the single parent thing.

But anyway, I came home tonight, after a rough day, that just got worse. I was short with Giuliana, and irriated all the way around. I tried time after time to chill out, and not be so aggrivated. It never happened. She goes to bed and I come to check my email and read this.
_______________________________________________________
This morning, I am going to step over the laundry and pick you up and take you to the park to play.

This morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together.

This afternoon, I will unplug the TV and keep the computer off and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles.

This afternoon, I will not yell once, even a tiny grumble, when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by.

This afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.

This afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them.

This afternoon, I will take you to McDonald's and buy each of us a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.

This evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you.

This evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry.

This evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars.

This evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV show.

This evening when I run my fingers through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given.
I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mother and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.

And when I kiss you goodnight I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer. It is then that I will thank God for you and ask Him for nothing except one more day.

______________________________________________________
I bolded the sections that really got to me.. the ones that make this thing ring true.

It brough tears to my eyes, and I jumped up from the computer chair and went and got Giuliana out of bed, with tears in my eyes I told her over and over again how much I loved her and I was sorry for being upset with her tonight. I must have hugged her a million times, and kissed her too. She's so sweet. She said " I know that Momma".

I really couldn't have asked God for a better child or a sweeter gift. I love her, pieces.

Dots, Dots & More Dots!

I love polka dots on little kids. Actually, I just love polka dots. I think that kids can wear them a lot easier, than me for example, but I do love them.

I sent Giuliana to school in this outfit the other day, and some new shoes from Nana(the SHOE Nana to be exact). I got tons of compliments on it, which shocked me. But I guess people like the simplicity of it, and perhaps the fact that it "actually matches".



What's funny about this picture is the conversation that we had while I was taking it. Giuliana is CONVINCED that this bike rack is ACTUALLY monkey bars, and she will not hear you out when you try to explain to her what it actually was. Ah well, the beauty of being 2 ;)

Tally & Back!

It's been busy the past few weeks.. excuse the lack of posting.

My evenings have been spent trying to get Giuliana to go potty here at home- which I have not done so well at. Seems that she will go all day long at school, at her friends house, at a McDonald's in the middle of no where.. but go at home? No way! That just CAN'T happen! I've been trying, and so has she, but for whatever reason, she just won't go. I'm hoping this week goes a little better.




Last weekend was Carli's 1st birthday. It was a lot of fun, and I tried to get away before the pool part of the party started. Well, as you can see below, that did not go so well. Actually, when she was sad I wouldn't let her go in and I was trying to leave... I got her bathing suit out of the car and let her have at it. What can I say, I'm a sucker for her ;)




This past weekend we were in Tallahassee for my sister's 17th birthday. It was a lot of fun and always nice to see family. However, it was 101 degrees there and "felt like" according to the TV weather man, about 110+ with the heat index. I took Giuliana swimming in the pool with my youngest sister and her girlfriend who was over visiting. It was alot of fun and for the first time, Giuliana would jump in and actually let her self go under the water.



Here is Giuliana & MoMo.. He was watering the plants, so they didn't die in the 100degree heat and Giuliana was attempting to convince him to let her help..Can't you tell...

I Did Potty!

Yep! That's right! Giuliana has begun to go potty on the big girl potty. Strange how that makes me proud, but it does. They have been working really hard at school to get them all started on potty training and she started going on the 2ed day. Of course, in true form, she has not gone for me. But that is something I am used to. She always shows me LAST when she's learned something new.



This past weekend we were supposed to go to Elizabeth's baby shower. So, Giuliana and I got all dressed up- I even let her wear jewelry for goodness sakes. Then we hopped in the car and made our way to that side of town. Funny how 1 hour later, and many u-turns, phone calls, and text messages; we could never find the party. The phrase " All dressed up with no where to go " kept creeping into my head. I decided we wouldn't go home, we made all this effort into looking nice, SOMEONE had to see us. So, we went to Chuck and Darlene's house for a little bit. We are there so often they probably didn't even notice that we were in fact all dressed up. I even had on makeup for goodness sakes!



This weekend is another party packed weekend. We have Carli's 1st birthday on Saturday and then a baby shower for Linkon's Mommy- he's going to be a big brother in a few months. So, Saturday will give me another reason to dress her up and take some more pictures.. as if I need a reason, huh? I'm not so sure Giuliana enjoys this though...



No comments from the peanut gallery... Good night!

2 Shoes + 2 Cookies = Good Day 4 Giuliana

I tried to help my girlfriend buy MAGIC playoff tickets this morning. My oh my. I thought Matilda Jane sold out fast- those tickets were all gone in less than 6 minutes- and for all 3 games. Can you believe that?? I was shocked. Sadly, they are usually called the "Tragic" but all of the sudden they have become a hot ticket item! I am glad for them, they worked hard. It's also good for my local economy :)

After that fun was over, I got Giuliana dressed and off to Mammy's house we went! She took us for a nice little shopping trip to get Giuliana some much needed tennis shoes and socks ;) I can't wait to put them on her! She was also sweet enough to take us to lunch, and then I treated Giuliana to 2 cookies while we were at the mall. All in all, I would say that the kid made out pretty well. Wouldn't you?


I took a few pictures of Darlene and Giuliana together before we left this morning and then I got one of Giuliana with the fountain that Darlene & Chuck's neighbors donated in memory of Clara. It was a really sweet thing they did, and meant so much to Chuck to have that there for everyone to see. Clara really was such a great lady and even in her passing she always remained classy and greatful of people.

It's Catch Up Time!

Where have we been you may wonder.. NOT HERE. Seems like we never stay put for very long these days. I have been all over the place. Since last weekend, it doesn't seem like we've stopped..

Giuliana developed Bronchitis. Fun, huh? The good doctor recommended that I take her to the beach and let the salt air and salt water do her lungs and sinus' some good.. so I did. Allison and Carli came along for the ride ;) Oh how I love the beach. It brings a smile to Giuliana's face that never seems to end, and a sense of peace comes over me.. I wish I could live at the beach. I hope at some point in my life, I can own and live in a small little beach abode.

How CUUTE are these two? They liked being in the sun shade. Allison and I decided however that it was a major pain to put away, and it needed to go back to the store ASAP...


I also took Giuliana to see Daddy this weekend too. She was excited to go see him, and excited to be there. She's not a fan of loud noises, and gets scared easily. So she was attached to my leg while we were in the shop. We did take her around back though where it was quiet and I took a few pictures of them together. How cute does she look here. She loves him so much. He doesn't even know how lucky he is to have a daughter like her, who loves him so unconditionally. She may be a "spitting image" of her Daddy, but to me, I see myself in this picture of them two.


This kid is so funny. If she can't physically SEE me or hear my voice, she turns around to make sure I am not gone. Look at him, looking at her, who is looking at me.. I sure do love her.


I took these pictures a few days ago in the garage. I really like the fabrics on this top, and the dress above. They are GREAT colors for Giuliana and they are so brought and cheery. Not to mention, they wash up GREAT and fit just WONDERFUL. My girlfriend in Colorado has an Etsy store that she sells them at.



These I took these morning.. Shes so cute. The 1 picture was taken outside of her school.



And lastly, let me just tell you- and anyone who reads this - I love this girl. My goodness. I never knew I could love some one as much as I love her. It amazes me every day. She changes and grows right before my eyes, and each day I somehow love her more than the day before. She gives so much purpose and so much reason to my life it's just amazing.

Everyone should be so lucky to live the twinkle of a child's eye- because that's got to be Heaven on Earth.