did you know we were even gone?? :) seeing as that we had 3 windows out in our house...we decided not to announce to the world that we were going on vacation...but for the last week we have been doing a lot of this....
this...
this...
this...
and did i mention?...this...
more photos to come of our Florida vacation once we get settled :)
we have been on the look out for a bookshelf for piper...up until now all her books were put up in her closet and we would just get them out as needed...but i wanted them out and displayed for her to get a book to read whenever she wanted :) well, last Saturday we found this gem at an estate sale... .JPG)
its just her size....JPG)
we have already played MANY games of "pulling everything off the self"....JPG)
thank you da-da for putting up our new book/toy shelf....JPG)
the garden failed again...this time not because of my "purple thumb"...but because of mother nature herself!
before the storm...
after the storm...
CRAZY!!!
ohhh and....
not so fun news....the yukon is totaled
fun news...we are getting a new car!!!!!
yesterday, while jake was at the church for meetings, Piper and I were woken up from our nap right at 4pm with the sound of what i thought was someone braking into our house! with my heart racing I grab Piper and run into the living room and see glass and hail flying all over our little house. Then I look to the left out our big front window and could not see anything it was so dark and loud! Since I had not been awake or watching tv I just KNEW there was a tornado right on top of us...with piper in my arms and my stomach in my throat, I start pulling things out of our coat closet and Piper, I and Annabelle squeeze into the dark closet. About 5 minutes later it was quite so i thought it would be ok to come out...there was no tornado but we at least protected ourselves from all the glass...it could have been much worse...and I feel so gratefull that we are all safe...but our little house has 3 windows broken...our garage door is torn up as well as the siding on the north side of our house and of course both our cars have damage, but no glass out and we will be needing a new roof. I have honestly never seen anything like this or been so scared...but thank God that it was not a tornado and that we are all safe :) 
*btw i stole this photo from my friend Katies facebook (wow i have a lot of friends name katie that i steal from ;)
we had a garage full of stuff that needed to GO....so we convinced our neighbors to join in and we had a garage sale this last weekend...it was really fun! jake and i both got a little sun...and thankfully piper took her longest nap ever! 2.5 hours!!!we dont have baby monitors (you really dont need them in a 1200sq ft house)...so we went old school and i just opened the window so i could hear when she woke up :) but when she was awake she LOVED talked to all the people and wanted to play with all the little ones that stopped by...ohhh yeah it was also nice to make a little cash :)
Before I was a Mom,
I never tripped over toys
or forgot words to a lullaby.
I didn't worry whether or not
my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never been puked on.
Pooped on.
Chewed on.
Peed on.
I had complete control of my mind
and my thoughts.
I slept all night.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held down a screaming child
so doctors could do tests.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night
watching a baby sleep.
Before I was a Mom,
I never held a sleeping baby just because
I didn't want to put her down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small
could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.
Before I was a Mom,
I didn't know the feeling of
having my heart outside my body..
I didn't know how special it could feel
to nurse a baby.
I didn't know that bond
between a mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
could make me feel so important and happy.
Before I was a Mom,
I had never known the warmth,
the joy,
the love,
the heartache,
the wonderment
or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much,
before I was a Mom
i admit it...im not much of a writer...i have so many views, thoughts, feelings that i just am not good at getting them to "paper"....but i have very talented friends that are great writers... so when i read something that i really connect to...i just steal from them... :)
my awesome friend Katie wrote this....
"Judgment~
I've been wanting to blog about this for awhile and have been trying to decide which angle to address it from because let's face it...as soon as I throw out a belief I have or a parenting choice I've made, people reading this have an opinion of me and they will judge me based on that opinion. It's really hard not to, and I get it because I do it too. Usually I don't mind when I feel judged by others because I'm pretty confident in my choices...but still. Mothers judge other mothers. Maybe not out loud, but they do in their head every day. And how can you not? Obviously the choices you make for your family are the ones you feel are right, so if someone else does it differently, it seems wrong.
For the most part I truly believe that you have to do whatever works for you and your family (different strokes for different folks right?) and I try not to give unsolicited advice or opinions UNLESS someone asks me and then I will be more than happy to ramble on. I am blessed to know many moms and babies and we don't all do things the same. In fact, by getting to know them, I have come to respect many of the differences that we have and the choices we have made. I've also learned that you can find solid research to back up whatever choice you want to support, you just have to decide which side to listen to!
I am truly blessed to know people who......
had planned pregnancies, unplanned pregnancies
had natural births, medicated births, c-sections, home births
circumcise their boys, didn't circumcise, vaccinate, don't vaccinate
co-sleep, use a crib, use a floor bed
breastfeed infants, breastfeed toddlers, use formula,
use doctors, use chiropractors, use acupuncturists
cloth diaper, use disposables, use elimination communication (you're googling aren't you)
are working moms, are stay at home moms, etc.
Becoming a mother has made me feel more judged by others and also made me more judgmental. At the same time though being a mom has helped me see that there aren't always black and white decisions...some things are gray...and some things that I think are black and white, I'm learning to shrug and say "agree to disagree"! Some days I can celebrate the differences, but some days I do find myself thinking that I know best.
I don't know if I have a point to this post other than rambling my thoughts (and hey it's something deeper than a cute pic of my kid with a fun title), but I guess I'm wondering do all moms feel this way? What do you do when you start to feel judgmental towards others? What do you do when people say judgmental things to you? Inquiring minds want to know!"
