Times are a Changin...

What happened to my sweet baby Kaelah? Kaelah would never hurt a fly and always seemed to be the victim of random attacks by her big sister Haleah, yet never would retaliate. She always gave me kisses and hugs and wanted to snuggle with me. But now she's nearly two and I am seeing a different side come out of her. It's not necessarily bad, but I am kind of surprised that she has developed strong opinions and a will, of sorts.

Now Kaelah will say, "Bad mood, Mommy," when I ask her a question. Or she'll say, "Don't want to Mommy," when I tell her it's time to do something in particular. She is also becoming more assertive with Haleah and says, "My try" (for my turn) or "I do it!" Miss Kaelah doesn't want help anymore and she wants to do things herself. A lot of this is very good, but what a change!

Kaelah has also started to potty train. She is growing up. Before I know it, she has her pants and diaper off and wants to sit on the potty herself. She barrels into the bathroom saying, "Myself! Myself"! She goes pee pee about 1-2 times a day. It's the start of something good.

Kaelah says funny things too. She came into the room the other day where Haleah and I were sitting, and she said, out of the blue, "Whatcha doin guys?" It was so cute to come out of the mouth of a mere 23 month old. Kaelah also told me that she wanted a bagel for breakfast the other day. She said to me, "Bagel. Big bite. Cut it up." Well, okay there, little lady!

Life is precious with growing children who surprise me every day with their cuteness and spunk. Haleah is now 3 and is seeing the world from a new perspective all the time. She said to me the other day, "Aren't I clever, Mommy?" I thought, "Well, if you are asking that, then I guess you are!" Haleah is learning to write her letters and is always asking "Why?" She wants to figure everything out. She is also doing wonderfully with the potty. She doesn't really have accidents anymore and wakes up dry (most days) from nap. And she is able to tell me when she has to go while we're out. Today we went potty in Walmart. I was proud of her.

And finally, but not least, Bekah is a roly poly. She is practically on all fours now at just six months. That child wantS to crawl! She scoots backwards and can also sit up well. She eats a lot of food, all kinds, and just loves to eat. She is even taking some liquid from a sippy cup now. Bekah is always smiling at us. I love her fluffy hair and big eyes and her exuberance. She is such a happy baby, and that makes me overjoyed!

Below are some more videos, to make my Mom happy...

Fall Fun

Today we got little accomplished in the morning, but had some fun this afternoon. David delivered two of our family's broken down riding mowers to a shop to be fixed (or trashed). Later the kids went outside to play in the leaves. It was the first real day that felt like autumn. It was cool and crisp.

After the kids' naptime, we ventured to our friends, the Davis', for football, food and fun. They rented a bouncy castle outside for the kids to jump on, and they had a blast.

There was also a huge spider (actually quite pretty too) on the stairway of their deck. We had lots of good food to eat and I brought along a shoo fly pie. It turned out to be very rich, but at least I gave it a go on baking it.

Bekah had a nice time rolling on the floor with her friend, John Michael. The babies are 10 days apart and were so cute together!

Here's to Joe

I've been spending the past couple of days looking for his photo. The one where Joe is laying on top of his bed in his one room apartment. He had an English looking hat on, as I recall, and he was smiling his big old Joe smile that would make you just want to laugh too. In the photo, his smelly cat, Ramey, who was as equally old as Joe, was sitting by his side. I couldn't find this photo, but I'm remembering Joe tonight.

Joe was born in the 1920's to a relatively loving Italian family in Quincy, MA. But during his toddlerhood, he fell down a set of stairs and broke his back. He wasn't given much hope for recovery, much less survival, so his mother sent him away to live in a tuberculosis hospital. Joe lived in the hospital for years and was told he'd never walk again. His growth was somewhat stinted (he only ended up to be about 5 feet tall). Joe also had a pacemaker and only one kidney, but Joe stunned the doctors over time and became fully healed. Joe took a job as a laborer in the water department in the City of Quincy, the only job he ever had, where he worked for over 35 years until he retired. It was at that time that I met Joe.

I worked for the City in the Personnel Dept. My focus was retirees and coordinating their health benefits. Joe came in and needed help in finding doctors and general direction. I loved his sense of humor and his bluntness right away, and over time, a friendship was formed between us.

Joe never married or had children. He only had Ramey his cat. He didn't have much, but he used his savings to buy himself a Lexus, his lifelong dream. Joe wanted people to envy him for something, I suppose. I did various things to help Joe out. I shovelled his driveway in the winter, made doctor's appointments for him and checked up on him frequently. I helped him organize his paperwork and buy turkey for his cat. One time, I recalled he had the gout in his foot and was laid up. I went to see him and, in examining his foot, I accidentally banged it with my arm, causing him severe pain, as he shouted out to let me know it! It was one of those things where you didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But I'll never forget it...

Joe worried a lot and had a way of getting me "on the bandwagon" with him. He kind of felt like the world was out to get him. He had caller ID and jumped to conclusions, always thinking someone was out to swindle him, including his doctors and his family. But he trusted me, which was nice. Joe and I enjoyed going to his favorite Italian restaurant a few towns over, where they had smooth spaghetti sauce, just like his mama made, so he said. He had to have it that way...

Then I moved to Colorado and then to Alabama, and slowly I lost touch with Joe. My Mom took over "care" of him when I left, checking up on him and having him over to her house now and then. But I just found out that Joe passed away in April. Joe was in his 80's. His cat had died a year or two before that... I was sad when I found out. Joe was a good man, who made the most of the life given to him. He always managed to use his charm to get other people to help him. It worked on me! So tonight I'm remembering an old friend, a person who holds a piece of history in my life. Here's to you, Joe!

I'm a Slacker!

I'm sure that everyone is not waiting with bated breath for me to blog again. It's been a couple three weeks since I've blogged, after I had been so faithful, daily, for so long. But I have been busy with getting my financial house in order and dealing with some family issues, so I have been a slacker!



I have felt guilty about not writing. I do love to type words out on this blog to form a story, share a memory or to make myself laugh. It's therapeutic.



So, here I go again...



Last weekend was a whirlwind of events as my friend Laura and I worked feverishly to put forth a huge yard sale. Each year on the first weekend of the month, our entire neighborhood holds garage sales during our town's annual Fiddler's Convention, so swarms of strumming bargainers come through. It's always a fun day, but it takes a lot of preparation and dedication. Laura always makes more money than I do, but it's fun for the social aspect of it as well. Each of us has a little baby this time around, so it was extra difficult to get things done; but we made it through. I didn't get to browse around at many other yard sales, but I was able to score a Brighton handbag that my neighbor had for sale when I got to preview her stuff before the barrage of crowds. I was psyched!

The kids kept getting into Laura's house that she was trying to sell at the yard sale!


On the weekend prior to last, our family ventured off to a place called Lyon Family Farms. I wanted to do something "fall-esque," that didn't cost too much. So we drove about an hour away and ended up at this quaint little farm full of fun! It had a corn maze, big slides, an animal petting area, a cow train ride, a corn box to play in, hayrides and more! We had a great time. Haleah was scared to death as a donkey brayed at her. It was hard not to laugh. We had a nice picnic lunch on the farm grounds and got to pick out mini pumpkins for the kids before we departed. See the pics below!



Look at Haleah's face! This was when the donkey was braying at her. Hilarious!

Other than our past weekend festivities, my days have been filled with cleaning out and sorting clothes, having various play dates with different friends so that Haleah and Kaelah can adapt to other kids, worrying about financial issues and working on some family relations. Life does have it's ups and downs and sometimes we need to face the challenges head on. I have been concentrating on staying positive and listening to the Wisdom that is higher than mine (mainly God's and my mother's--ha).


This was a play date with friends Jenna and Kate. Jenna has her arms around Kate and Haleah. Precious.

On a lighter note, Haleah came up to me the other day while I was nursing and said, "Mom, can I try your boob?" My response? "Ah... no." My kids make me laugh every day and lighten almost any situation. They are the truest blessings in my life.

Bekah's getting so big. She is my sweet baby, almost 6 months!