Guess who can say Mamamama?

Yep, you guessed it, cute little Blake. He is posing here with cute Aunt Bailey {this picture is from a couple weeks ago at Max's party}.
So now, as if his chocolate brown/look like Daddy eyes, weren't enough to melt my heart ... he has now added on the Mamamama. He will be able to get away with anything!

I have A LOT of craft stuff.

I'm in the process of organizing my scrapbok room and ya know, I have A LOT of stuff. I have more stamps and paper and embellishments than I can use. So, I am going to sell some of it {saving for a new lens for my camera}. I will likely list things on craigslist. But, if anyone is interested, email me or leave a comment here and I will post pictures and prices here before I list on craigslist.

I'd be happy to ship and I'm going to Utah at the end of next month, so I could bring stuff then also.

First boy-girl sleepover ...

Drake slept over on Tuesday night. He and Mylie had such fun! This is how they slept that night, each at one end of the bed.

They play together so well and he is such a polite and pleasant little boy. He also spent the day with us on Saturday and we had a blast. Mylie, Drake and I hit the town! We splurged on the dollar menu at Taco Bell for lunch, went to Madagascar 2 at the dollar theater {Drake got embarrassed when Mylie and I danced along to "He likes to move it move it}, hit happy hour at Sonic for slushies, and then went grocery shopping. Mylie loved every minute of it.

I think I am actually an adult now ...

{Shhhh, blogging from work, don't tell.}

I think I am finally an adult, I figured this out last night when I was wishing we still had cable, not so I could watch MTV (lol), but so I could watch MSNBC. And today, all day, MSNBC.com has been playing on my computer. And this morning my eyes were welled up with tears and I was explaining to Mylie about how we have a new president today. And I realized that in her lifetime, though undoubtedly there will still be racism, there won't really be a doubt that everyone in America has amazing opportunities. Never in her life will she hear someone say that an African American will never become president. My kid's lives are starting out with that ceiling shattered ... and literally, it brings me to tears. Last night, on Nightline, they were talking about a businessman who spent $2 million to bring people to the inauguration who would not have been able to attend otherwise. One such person was a 100 year old black man. He was sobbing, and could barely answer the question in the interview {which in turn led to my tears}. Think about what he has seen in his lifetime and what he never thought he would see. America is an amazing place.

Someday my kids and grand kids will read in history books about when America elected its first black president. I can tell them I was there, that I voted for him. I can tell them I watched it as he was sworn in and I took a picture of it on my computer screen. I can tell them that it was during his acceptance speech that I knew that I wanted to continue in a life of public service, maybe even hold a public office someday. It was listening to now-President Obama's "call to service" that made me want to get my young children involved in service within their communities right now, to do all we can to make the country a better place, not just look to and expect our elected officials to do it.

I am very proud to be an American today. This is an amazing country full of such deep and rich history. In fact, I'd forgotten how much I love to learn about history. Listening to Tom Brokaw spout off random facts all afternoon reminded me of that. I know that we live in a blessed nation. I know that the founding fathers of this country were inspired by God, that our constitution was inspired. I know that I am blessed to live here and to raise my children here. Regardless of all the scary things going on in the world right now, we are so blessed to live in the United States of America and to have all the freedoms that we do.

{OK, back to work.}

Can I just say ...

... that I really cannot believe that Blake is almost one! It blows me away. This last year (and longer) has been full of so many things and changes. I feel like I am just starting to walk out from a fog and see sunshine. Its a beautiful thing. I've been nervous to think it out loud for fear of jinxing myself, but it seems like finally this cloud of postpartum depression that has followed me for the last 4 years is lifting. I actually have tears streaming down my face, but they are happy tears, like this feeling that things are going to be OK.


It is something I am pretty open about it, because most people aren't. People don't talk about it, about what it does to them or how it makes them feel. New moms don't know it is coming and then feel terrible that they are miserable when they should be happy. I don't even think doctors really know how to treat it (at least in my experience). But please know, it does get better, the sun does shine again.

And because they make me so happy that somedays it feels like my heart may burst ...

"Mama! I had a bad dream ..."

So I am just sitting here on the computer catching up on some blogs and I hear Mylie start crying in her sleep. I go into her room and kneel at her bed to hug her and ask her what is wrong. She is still mostly asleep and she tells me she had a bad dream ....







... about a rabbit.

This kid cracks me up.
{Hmmmm, perhaps she was listening to Big A's stories this weekend.}

"Pumping Iron"

So Tuesday nights I have Youth Court and rarely get home before 8:30. And I must say, it sounds as if there is never a dull moment on those nights. Jeff puts some weird stuff on our Netflix list and today he got a documentary called "Pumping Iron" with Arnold. So guess what he and Mylie did tonight? He said that she loved it. Sigh. They are two of a kind. Apparently he let her stay up late if she would do push-ups. No wonder I seem boring in comparison!