"Star" Baseball Player

Nathaniel: Mommy, when I grow up, can I be a Star Baseball player, would you like that?"

Spring time is here and it's t-ball again. Nathaniel has come such a long way this season. He has impressed us, his team mates, and coaches. He is so much more focused, able to throw better and often catches the ball. We are so proud of his hard work playing this year.

Here are some of the highlights from my #5, Royal Blue, left handed boy!

Up to Bat!

Home!

Baseball Ready!



Check out that form!

Always a... "Good Game!"

Team Party and Trophie night.

Spring 2010 Summerville Little League 'Sportsman Shop' Royal Blues

" YES, My dear... You can be ANYTHING you want to be when you grow up... and I would love to see you play baseball. Just remember... You are already a STAR to me!

I love you Thanie!!"

18 Months

Elliana is now 18 months old!

It's so hard to believe she is growing up so fast. She is such a joy and delight to us. It's amazing how much she has changed and progressed in the last 6 months. We are so proud of all that she is doing. She is really trying to imitate sounds and words and has learned quite a few. She loves music and is often found dancing. You'll never miss when Ellie walks in the room as she beams her million dollar smile and gives her"Miss America" wave high in the air. She blows kisses and gives hugs all the time and absolutely loves babies. Elliana will never be left out of play time with Daddy... she loves to be tickled and wrestled with and jumps right in with big brother. She already has such a sweet tender and caring heart and it shows with her interactions with others as well as in her play. Elliana adores her big "bubby", Nathaniel.


Ellie knows many of her body parts and has taken off with signing!I love to see her making requests with signs and I do believe it is reinforcing the verbal language as well. Here is a short video of her in all her cuteness.

Elliana also has such a little personality blooming. I must confess that we do have quite a Diva Princess on our hands.

Elliana loves shoes (of any kind, any size!) loves jewlery, lipgloss and nail polish. She is often found with a purse or bag on her arm and a bracelet and necklace on.

We have learned the word, "No" which we are not too happy about but we are working through it. When she wants something, Ellie is not shy to let us know and when we don't get our way, there is quite a little attitude that shows its face. We've also learned to love the camera... and "CHEESE!" ...when we're in the mood!

We love her so much, and know that we have been soo blessed with the gift of a daughter. I thank God every day for our precious little girl, our Elliana, our answered prayer.

Out of the Mouths of Babes Moms!

This is a new blog carnival found over at MckMama's Blog. I always chuckle when I read about the silly things that come out of MckMama's Mouth. It's nice to know I'm not the only one that say's such goofy things. As Mom's you never know what we may need to say to our children on a daily basis! It's part of the joys of Motherhood.

So today, I decided to join in on the fun! Here are some things that have come out of the mouth of this Mom...

"NO, Hunny... Please don't put your hands IN the Poop!"
"If you would just lie still, this would be over with very quickly!"

"Please do not squeeze or pull the snake! We will let him free himself."

"Do not let her touch or grab your penis! We keep our private parts to ourself!"

"Yes, that is poop all over her sheets, No you can not see it and smell it, I will clean it up". "Yes you make Lots of messes like this when you were little."

"Wipe off marker should not be used on your sister... please only use it on your wipeoff board, thank you."

"No, when you grow up you will not have breast, and you will not need to wear a bra. Only Mommy's and ladies where a bra."

"I'm sorry sweetie, but you may Not eat scissors! They are not a snack or a toy."

How about you?? What silly things have you said lately?!

ISR Update

My little Swimmer! ...

Well, we are now at the end of week 3 of lessons. Things are going great! It's amazing to see the change in such a short time period. Elliana is doing so good and is so much happier, you can see the confidence building as she improves day by day.

As intense as I knew it would be, I still had my doubts about only 10 minutes a day. I have been so impressed and amazed to see how much that 10 minutes and the consistency of everyday can do.

Earlier this week we also started Nathaniel with Self rescue lessons as well. He was so excited to finally have his turn at lessons! With a big smile on his face from the first minute, he is really enjoying the lessons and doing really well.

Here is a short video of Nathaniel on his first day...

We are working on floating more than anything with him as he is a bit over confident, but I know that he will continue to improve and gain these important skills in no time.


Chin to the ceiling.... starfish!

Looking forward to the coming weeks to see them get even better and better as they gain more confidence and the skills come naturally

OrangeOnions.com

I found a great new website that I wanted to tell you all about! It has great products for great deals. They also have giveaways and sales for all your shopping needs! I am looking forward to doing some shopping! Check it out for yourself and be sure to check out their
Deal of the Day!


http://www.orangeonions.com/c=6xOgJrKRACevEDu2AyvMVwvsN/category/peel_of_the_day/

Elliana's 1st ISR self rescue swim lesson

Today was Elliana's first ISR swim lesson. She will be learning self rescue water skills over the next few weeks. It was an emotional and difficult day but I am so proud of how well Ellie did! They began today by working on holding onto the wall (or the pvc bar at the wall- lower for practice due to Ellie's size) She needs to gain confidence in the wall and learn to reach and go for it (not a person) when needing help or a way out.

Here is just a quick snipet of her lesson.

Looking forward to watching her grow and learn over the next few weeks!

18

This past Saturday, March 20th was a very significant day for my family.

A month and a half before my twelth birthay, in 1992, my dad died in a work related accident and went to Heaven to be with Jesus.

It was one of the hardest days of my life.

It rocked our world, and changed the course of our family.... forever.

This year marked eighteen years, he's been gone... 18!! Wow!

Such a hard thing to comprehend. I remember that day like it was yesterday.

I still miss him so much.

I still wish so desperately he was here to be apart of our future. To have been here for al of lives exciting (and diffcult) events. To have met his incredible grandkids, to have taught us all to appriciate music even more, to remind us always to laugh.

Yet life has moved on.

Soooo much has changed and we have all grown up.

My mom is remarried. I have a step father and 3 new siblings (:

We now live 8 hours away and each have families of our own.

Saturday was also a special day in a very different way.

11 years ago, in 1999, Jake and I made a decision to begin something together....

We began to sponsor a little boy named Mohamed Abeid. Mohamed lives with his family in Tanzania, Africa.

What makes Mohamed special is that he was born on the same day that my dad went to Heaven. March 20, 1992.

One of the things that comforted me that most after loosing my dad was remembering that Life begins and life ends. God gives life, and he ends life. It's a cyle we are all a part of.

It may be hard for others to understand, but for me it was comforting and special to know that I could help and support this little boy, who God chos to give life to, the same day tht he chose to take my dad to his heavenly home. Mohamed may not make it through this life, without sponsorship, and we were able to be apart of that plan.... pretty amazing.

Through the years we have kept in touch with Mohamed, watched him grow, and mature. Kept up with his studies and been amazed as his handwriting, and artistic abilities have improved greatly. He know writes us his own letters and draws wonderful pictures for us. It has been a wonderful journey to have been a part of.

Last Saturday, March 20, 2010, Mohamed turned 18 years old. He has grown into a handsome young man. Our little boy, is not so little anymore... and we are proud to have him as part of our family... and honored to havebeen able to be apart of his life.

Happy 18th Birthday Mohamed!