Blankie Baby

She's developing quite an affection for her pink blanket these days...

She likes to wrap herself up in it.

And chew on the soft, silky edges.

We play peek-a-boo with it and she giggles and grins.

And Mommy puts the blankie on her head...because, well, it looks cute. :)

She also likes to rub her little face on it.
Sweet blankie baby!

Choosing Happiness

We've had some unfortunate luck over the past year....seems like bad things like to come all at once, doesn't it?  I don't consider myself to be a negative person.  I try to stay positive and "hang in there" when things aren't going my way.  But, sometimes, the negative things gang up on me and get me in a less-than-desirable mood.  Haven't we all been there??

In the past year, we've dealt with (in no particular order): identity theft, unemployment, Mark's eye injury (+7 surgeries), a break-in (Mark's truck), Mark's truck breaking down, termite infestation, broken computer that ended up needing to be replaced, rough labor/delivery and c-section followed by a week in the hospital, and accumulating debt (from all aforementioned problems!).

I've been thinking a little about luck, and happiness, and how much easier my life would be if things would just stop. going. wrong.  I've been lamenting about our latest "unexpected expense" - the demise of our computer.  I feel like we can't catch a break!

The problem is, I've been waiting around for luck and happiness to just come along and happen to me.  I finally realized (a little late, maybe) that happiness is a choice,  and if I want to be happy - then, well, I should just go ahead and get on with it!

So, in an effort to choose happiness, I've decided to try to focus more on the good, and much less on the not-so-good.

Here are the sweet, simple joys I tried to focus on a little more today:

*A great night's sleep last night - for me and for Natalie.  Makes our day start so much better when we are both well-rested!
*Watching my sisters' babies swoon over my baby.  I mean, these kids go nuts when "baby Natalie" is around.  Picture slobbery kisses and singing songs and head-patting and lots and lots of baby talk.
*A long nap....long enough for mommy to finally clean the basement!
*An easy crock-pot dinner.  Mom coming over for dinner and loving on her grandbaby likes it's her job.  Watching said grandbaby smile at her Mimi like it's her job. :)
*Rocking my baby to sleep.  Nothing, nothing, on this earth beats it.  It's like an instant high when her little body melts against my chest, her breathing slows, and her eyelids flutter as sleep finds her. 

Look at this little darling....who wouldn't be happy when you look at this sweet face all day!?

Happy weekend, friends.  Stay cool!

On My Mind

All kinds of things running through my mind tonight...

My heart has been heavy the past couple of days....I just can't seem to get this family out of my mind.  To have such a beautiful baby boy, and then to watch him suffer...seems unbearable to me.  Finding out about little James' prognosis had me in tears, rocking my own sweet girl a little longer tonight before bedtime.  If you've been following their story, too, you should check out these pictures and video that they just had taken of James.  So beautiful.  Click here to see it.

Thanking God for a HEALTHY baby tonight, and praying feverishly that she'll always stay that way.

On a lighter note...I've got to get going on my July goals!  All I've done is pull a few maternity tops out of my closet and put them in a pile.  I better get myself in gear if I want to accomplish these all by the end of the month.  I'm hoping to start tackling the basement tomorrow...

Pretty soon I'll be heading back to school.  I can't believe that the summer has gone so quickly - I'm starting to get anxious about getting my classroom ready for the new school year.  I am a little nervous about my large class size this year....there were 27 kids on my list in May, so I'm hoping there weren't any more added over the summer!  Let the planning, organizing, bulletin board making, and laminating begin!  I'm looking forward to a new school year (as I always do) but nervous about all the changes that will come - especially being away from Natalie.  Not gonna go into that though....

Hoping to get some blogging inspiration soon -- this post was a little bit all over the place.  Natalie will be FIVE months old next week (WHAT?!?) so I'm sure that will give me plenty to write about. :)

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