The ending of yet another year...

…and what a year it has been! Elyssa has blossomed into a beautiful, intelligent, loving little girl. My baby has somewhere and somehow disappeared, and this inquisitive, demanding, sweet little child has been put in her place. I do have to say I am a bit sad at the loss of my baby, but I am so excited about the future. She will be turning 3 in 3 months. Yes, 3 in three months. I almost had a small breakdown when I realized her 3rd b-day was so close. Of course this does bring on the excitement of planning her big 3rd b-day and we all know just how much fun I have doing that. I’m very confused about a theme this year, Elyssa and I will have to have a talk about this. Speaking of talking, she is doing quite a bit of it! Her vocabulary is just amazing and her ability to speak in full sentences is just amazing to me. I guess it is just normal for kids her age, but to me it is amazing that I am able to have a conversation with her and she is able to communicate to me exactly what she wants. She tells me when she is cold, hot, hungry, thirsty, sad, or having a bad day. Some of the things that she says just cracks me up. If she is upset, she will tell me “mommy, I have my feather’s in a bunch” or if she is happy about something she will say “mommy, that just cracks me out” (instead of cracks me up!!). She also tells me that Daddy is being grumpy when he tells her “no”, or that she wants to do things “by myself mommy, by my self”. Such independence and character, my little girl has!

The last few months have been very busy and exciting. There were so many holidays to celebrate. In October we went to the pumpkin patch with Elyssa’s friends Jack and Luke. She had such a wonderful time, feeding the goats, going on a hay ride and of course picking out the pumpkins to take home. We also went trick or treating for the first time. We went to Aunt Na-na’s house and went with her. This year Elyssa was a beautiful princess. It was so cute seeing our little princess go up to each house and say “trick or treat” and “thank you” for all the candy. By the end of the evening she had the whole idea of trick or treating down to an art. We also went to a Halloween party at Aunt Lisa’s house. It was so much fun getting dressed up; playing games and Aunt Lisa even had a haunted graveyard walk in her backyard. She did hay rides in her wheel barrel and had lots of pizza to eat. Aunt Lisa eve n took us to a Fall Festival at the Rec Center a week or so before Halloween where Elyssa go to play games, jump in bounce houses, walk through a petting zoo, and of course eat yummy snacks. Elyssa had so much fun!

November was not only a Thanksgiving celebration but also the kick off of the Christmas season! We spent Thanksgiving at Nana and Pops in Lufkin TX. Elyssa got to stay in a hotel while we were there and she loved it. Her cousin “Eban” (Ethan) even got to spend the night in the hotel with her and she thought that was just wonderful. The day after Thanksgiving Nana and pop took us all the Lufkin Zoo. We all had a really great time and Elyssa just loved running around looking at all the different animals. We even got to ride the “choo choo” train around the zoo. A week before Thanksgiving Elyssa asked to see Santa. Now everyone remembers that last year, Elyssa would not go near Santa. This year, she not only wanted to see Santa, she sat on his lap on multiple occasions. I was just so proud of her. Aunt Heidi also came to visit in November. We had a wonderful visit with her and wished she could have stayed longer. We went to the Gaylord Texan Resort with her and Aunt Lisa to kick off some Christmas spirit. They decorate the entire resort in a Christmas theme and it is amazing to see.

December was filled with Christmas fun! We even had a playdate with her friend Jamie where we made Sugar cookies and let the kids eat all the cookies and icing that they wanted to. Hey, kids are only kids once sooo I say let them eat cookies!! We went to the Bass Pro Shop’s Christmas celebration with her friend Jamie as well. We took her to the Wylie light up night to watch the parade, but it was soooo cold we did not stay very long. She even got to see Santa at Wal-Mart and got her picture taken there as well. There were so many wonderful things we go to do this year with her for Christmas. We went to Richardson’s Santa’s village and got to see all the holiday lights and walk through some really cute cottages as well. In school (MDO) Elyssa put on a Christmas program. It was so cute! The kids all got up on stage in the chapel and sang songs. I was such a proud mommy that day. She stood up there and sang and did all the motions for the songs. Of course I took hundreds of pictures and a video of it all. Afterwards she came to me and said “mommy, all I see was daddy taking pictures and more pictures and more pictures!” I almost died laughing, she knows her mommy and daddy well! For Christmas Eve we had a Mexican Fiesta at our house for all the family and Aunt Na-na & JT. Christmas morning was incredible and magical. Elyssa really understood that she was going to get toys for Christmas this year and was so excited when she came down Christmas morning. Santa had been very hard at work Christmas Eve putting together a new red tricycle and a new princess 3 wheel scooter. She got so many wonderful things that as of today there are still items still in plastic waiting to be opened and played with. I’m in no hurry, it can be a new Christmas next week! We spent Christmas day at Aunt Cheri’s house in Irving with all the family including Nana and Pop!

That brings me to today. New Years Eve 2009. Tonight we are spending it with some friends. A small gathering of people close to us to bring in the New Year and reflect on the past. I am hoping Elyssa is going to stay up for the New Year, in fact she is still napping right now in hopes that she will be able to stay in and ring in the New Year with mommy and daddy….

Happy New Year from our house to your!

Remember me? Can I? Why? Love you more…

Yup, those are Elyssa favorite new things to say. She will look at me with those big inquisitive eyes and ask “mommy, daddy remember me?” I try not to laugh and say “Of course Daddy remembers you”. Of course she answers this with, “why mommy?” and the day begins….

I sometimes think that Elyssa talks just to hear herself talk. It is truly amazing to me but I think she could amuse herself all day long just talking to herself! I remember saying that I could not wait till she talked and we could carry on our own little conversations, now, sometimes I wish I had a good set of ear plugs!

She certainly is learning how to push buttons with the phrase “Can I?” She will ask if she can do something and I will say “no, Elyssa”. She will answer this with “Can I?” I will say “no”, she will again ask “can I?”, and Again I will “no Elyssa” a bit more firmly. Does this stop her, of course not. She will yet again ask “Can I mommy, Please!!!” I look at her and ask “Elyssa, what did mommy say?” she then will get these adorable pouty eyes and whisper “Sorry, mommy, sorry”. I honestly think she thinks if she asks the same question multiple times she will get a different answer. And this scenario will play out about 20 + times a day with the same routine. I sometimes start to wonder about Pavlov’s theory…..

The sweetest thing she says and of course I could listen to her say it all day long is “love you more, mommy”. I can’t even imagine 3 sweeter words that she could ever say. She is just changing so much and growing up way to fast. I know I’ve said that a million times but it is so true and there is just no way to stop time.

Well it is official, Elyssa is 100% “poopie in the potty” trained! No accidents for about 2 and a half months now. Of course the “pee-pee” in the potty is a whole other story. Isn’t #2 suppose to be the hard for kids to get and #1 is the easy one? Well we think that Elyssa really has no control over it at all. The last time we had her VCUG for her renal reflux it had progressed from Stage 2 to Stage 3 so it was not getting any better. The dr agreed to allow us to wait till she was 3 to do the surgery (in case we could get her potty trained with the hope that it might help) but it appears my little girl is ready to be all the way potty trained and because mommy and daddy don’t want to do the surgery she is unable to “hold it or feel the urge” to go. In fact when I ask her where does the “pee-pee” go and she will reply “in the potty mommy”. So I ask her why is it in her diaper, she looks at me and says “no fair mommy, not fair”, so I ask her again and she tells me “hush your mouth mommy”! So, I think we have decided to call the urologist and see if we can go ahead and do the surgery and pray for the best.

Elyssa has been enjoying the fall. We went to the TX state fair where Elyssa got to see, pet and feed all kinds of animals and eat her first Corny dog. We took her to pumpkin patches, fall festivals, Six Flags Fright Fest and 2 Halloween parties. I don’t think there was anything she missed out on. She even went Trick or Treating on Halloween. It was her first time and she did great. She said Trick or Treat to everyone who came to the doors and held her bag open. She of course kept asking to “eat candies” all night long as well, and of course we let her. What else is Halloween about ….CANDY!!

Right now I have flooring installers at my house installing new floors downstairs. I am so excited, no more carpet on the first floor. Next is the upstairs!!

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

TX State Fair~ Oct 2009

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The amazing Jumping Bean..

Elyssa loves to jump. I guess all kids love to jump, but I just think Elyssa is sometimes obsessed with jumping. She even at 2 years old wants to jump rope. I hold the jump rope for her and she will jump over the rope. Now I only hold it about an inch off the ground but the girl loves to jump. Recently, on one of our many trips to Collin Creek Mall, Elyssa notices a new play object. They have something new that allows a person to be strapped into a harness and jump as high as they can. Elyssa of course when she first saw it, begged to go on the “jumping bean”. Jumping Bean is what she so loving calls anything she can jump on. The first time I saw it I told her no that she had to be “bigger” to get on it, to me it just looked a bit to dangerous for a kid her size and I honestly did not think they would allow her to go on it. So she was happy to do what we always do; ride the train, play in the play area, and ride the coin operated cars on the way out. Well the next time we went a few days later daddy was with us. Of course as soon as daddy saw the new “jumping bean” he was intrigued. As Elyssa was riding the train (it is in front of the area where the train is), he walked over and talked to the gentleman who was running the “jumping bean”. He found out that Elyssa was no only big enough they had actually allowed kids smaller than her to jump. Apparently the weight limit on the “jumping bean” was 20-150lbs and Elyssa is 30lbs. So after the train ride we walked over to the “jumping bean” and discussed what to do. As Eddie and I debated whether or not to allow her to jump Elyssa was standing beside me pleading “want to mommy, want to, please mommy want to” so of course as I looked into those adorable blue eyes and could not refuse..she got to ride the “jumping bean”. I won’t lie, I was scared to death that she would start bawling and hate it, but my little Elyssa was a real trooper. She not only did great, she loved it. The gentleman who ran the “jumping bean” was great with her and helped her the whole time. She was giggling and laughing as she jumped at least 10-13 ft in the air. All I could do was laugh with her and of course take a ton of pictures and videos of her first amazing experience on the jumping bean!

Of course since that first time jumping on the “jumping bean”, we now have to ride on the jumping bean every time we go to the mall, but I have to say her giggles and laughs make it all worth it…

Skateboards and Roller Skates...

Yes, I said a skate board and roller skates. I know she is only 2 but she was watching one of her favorite cartoons (Max & Ruby) and they were roller skating and on a skate board and she sooo wanted them as well. We did not exactly buy them at the same time. We actually went to Academy and got her the skate board first. We bought her a helmet, knee and elbow pads to go with it. In fact she insisted we buy them when we got her the skateboard. Of course it is a princess helmet with matching elbow pads and knee pad, what else would you expect? She did not do real well on the skateboard and pretty much just sits on the board and lets us push her around. We got her the roller skates about 2 weeks later at Target. They of course are princess roller skates and also came with matching elbow and knee pads. The kid is set for safety that is for sure. She did so much better with the roller skating. In fact reminded me of myself when I was learning to skate. She wears the skates all around the house. She does great on the carpet (does not roll as much…lol) and when she goes in the kitchen she does great as long as she is holding on to the counter and such. I’m really proud of her on the skates. In fact we took her roller skating at a real roller rink a week after we got the skates. She absolutely loved it and did a great job for a first time. Daddy was home so he went as well and Aunt Lisa went with us to. I actually think we could start skating more often … time will tell.

First Family Vacation...

Well we finally broke down and took our first and much needed family vacation. So we worked some magic with daddy’s horrible schedule, got the plane tickets, packed the suitcases and headed for the first Borden family vacation. Now what better place to take a well needed vacation than….WALLY WORLD…oh, wait that was the Griswold’s National Lampoon vacation I’m confusing this with, …we actually went to Disneyland or in the words of Elyssa “Mickey’s House”. Ok, really Disneyland was only a part of our trip, we took 8 blissful days and enjoyed the San Diego Zoo, a bunch of beautiful beaches, and 2 days at incredible Disneyland. Thanks to daddy working his horrible travel job, the plane tickets and the hotel were all free! Ok, since daddy sacrifices so much family time with us because of his job, I guess the tickets were not really “free”. Unfortunately daddy had to pay for all the “free” stuff with time he had to spend away from myself and Elyssa. There truly is a tradeoff for everything in life, nothing is every truly free!

We started the trip off by flying into Las Angeles and driving to San Diego where we spent 2 days. We went to the world famous San Diego Zoo where Elyssa had an incredible time visiting with all the animals and got to take her first Gondola ride over the Zoo and a tour of the zoo in a double decker tour bus. We also went to Mission Bay Beach, Ocean Beach and Dog Beach. At Dog Beach Elyssa got to run on the beach with all of the puppy dogs. She had an incredible time visiting with all the dogs. Dog Beach is an off leach beach that pet owners can take there dogs to play in the water.

After leaving San Diego, we made our way to Anaheim, CA to our hotel, Hilton’s Embassy Suites. We spent the rest of our visit there where we spent 2 blissful days at Disneyland, Downtown Disney and the rest of the time at Huntington Beach and Crystal Beach.

Elyssa had a wonderful time at Disney, and I have to say the most incredible way to see Disney is through the eyes of an inquisitive 2 year old. I had never been to any of the Disney parks so this was a first for me as well. The joy of seeing it through the eyes of Elyssa was more than any mom could hope for. At first she was a bit afraid of the characters but quickly warmed up to them and ran to great each and every one of them! She even really surprised us and rode all of the rides that she was able with us.

All I can really say to sum the whole trip up is….. MAGICAL!

I speak Elyssa, and other idle ramblings...

Elyssa is just talking and singing up a storm. She is her own little jibber jabberer, she is either talking to me or talking to Pooh Bear, or talking to her baby, but she is always talking or singing to something. Now, to me, everything she says is almost completely understandable but there are several times that others and even Eddie look at me as if to say “what the heck did she just say??” So I realized that I indeed speak “Elyssa”. Now what this means is that I am the only one who can decipher some her “not so perfect enunciations” of some of the English language. I’d have to say for the most part, she does pretty well with most words but some are just a little less than perfect. I’m sure it will work itself out in the end and she will be speaking more clearly but for a 2 year old I think she is doing just great. I still think it is absolutely adorable the way she makes up words for things she has no idea what they are. One example of this is that she likes to ride “Coooch” What is “coooch” you ask? It is the exercise equipment (a stair stepper and stationary bike) that is in our room. She saw Eddie on it one morning and decided she wanted to try so she said “ride coooch daddy, ride coooch”. We explained to her it is exercise equipment, a stepper and stationary bike. She can very clearly say stepper and bike but the 2 collectively are not exercise equipment, they are “coooch”. So she will wake up in the morning and ask to ride “coooch” and it is something only myself and Eddie would understand.

We have been spending a lot of tome making new friends. We have been having lots of play dates with kids of all ages lately and it has been a real blast watching how Elyssa interacts with all the new kids. I used to think she would always be very shy and never play with other kids but it seems she is starting to come out of her shell. Usually she is very shy in the beginning, like the first 10-15 minutes, and then she is out of her shell and playing just fine. It is so cute except when she starts the “mine” stage. We are working on sharing still and from what I hear it can take kids till they are almost 5 before they completely grasp the whole idea of sharing! We have been using time out a lot. I have set up her old pack-n-play in the downstairs guestroom and when she gets totally out of control she gets a timeout in her pack-n-play in a room separated from us. I do not leave her in there long and I check on her but, she does not get to come out till she a) stops crying and b) apologizes for what she has done. I have no idea if it is working but it helps at the moment!

We got some bad news about Elyssa’s Stage II renal reflux. She had her VCUG procedure a couple months ago and the results showed that her Stage II has progressed to Stage III. Her urologist is ok with putting off surgery till after she is 3 or potty trained. He said if she gets potty trained they will do another VCUG and the reflux is still present they will have to do the surgery anyway. He did tell us that potty training will be more challenging. Apparently she has a lot of pressure on her bladder and even when she goes pee-pee and thinks she is done a few minutes later she may go more. It is very difficult for her to understand. I can say she is doing wonderfully with potty training but a bit discouraging also because it seems she is never going to just get it. She used to be only 50% potty trained now I’d say it is about 70% …she has started going potty when we are out places. In fact I’ve probably visited every public potty in every public place I’ve been and sometimes, several times. She of course does not go every time, but she does get to visit a new potty, which is I guess the whole thrill. On a positive note, she is no longer afraid of the automatic flushing potties. The noise does not bother her at all!!

We have finally planned our first family vacation! We are going to California! We are going to take Elyssa to Disneyland for a couple days, to the San Diego Zoo and of course several beautiful beaches since she LOVES the beach. We are so looking forward to it. Poor Eddie has been working a lot and has not been able to spend a lot of time with Elyssa and I so we are looking forward a whole week of just family time!

I think that sums up what has been happening in our world, time to get little princess some dinner!

June 29, 2009

I know I should be happy about this….

But I must confess I am not. Let me start at the beginning. Elyssa is 2 years 3 months old and for the last 27 months she has slept in my room in her crib beside my bed. That is where I wanted her, where I could keep an eye on her and be there in a second if she woke up in the middle of the night and needed me. I have always wanted her to know Mommy is always there and will always be there for her. We tried letting her sleep in her crib in her nursery one night after converting it into a toddler bed but that was very, very, short lived. Well, I started looking at all of the cute “toddler” beds that they have for kids and she would see them as well as I was looking at them online. She would get so excited and say “mommy, me bed?” and look at me with her beautiful blue eyes. So I set on a mission to find her the perfect bed. Although they make a really nice “castle bed” I just felt it was too big and to much. I even at one point considered a Thomas the Tank Toddler bed that was shaped like a train, but I just got to much flack from everyone including Eddie that is was not a good “little girl bed”. So finally this past weekend we found an adorable “cottage” bed made by Little Tykes. I showed it to Elyssa and she proclaimed to me that it was a “house bed”. Ahhhhhhh, to see the world through the eyes of a child. Anyway, we went on Saturday morning and picked up her new bed and to make a long story short, she loves it. She played, and played, and played in her bed and would pretend she was sleeping and look at me and say “night-night mommy”. It was so cute yet so sad to me in a sense. My little girl was telling me she wanted to sleep in her new house bed but mommy wanted her to sleep in her crib in her room. I know it is selfish but that night when I was rocking her to sleep, I was so tempted to put her in her crib beside my bed but in my heart I new the right thing to do was to allow her to spread her wings and sleep in her new big girl “house bed”. So instead of making the turn at the top of stairs to put her in my room, I went straight ahead to her room and laid my sleeping princess in her bed for the first time. I had to stand there beside her bed for a few moments and make sure she was ok and not going to roll out onto the floor. I kept hoping she would jerk and wake up and know it was not her crib and want to come to bed with mommy, but no luck. I know was a selfish way of thinking, but somedays I just don’t want her to grow up. She slept through the night that night. A part of me wanted her to wake up. The part of me that could not sleep that night, as I lay staring over at the crib knowing she was not in there. All I could hear was the sound of the baby monitor as it waited to tell me she was stirring. I heard her wake up in the morning and she was playing in her bed. About 5 minutes go by before I heard her yelling “mom, mom, Mommy”. I got out of bed to find her at the baby gate across her door all smiles, I walked to her and she said “mom, mom, house, night night” and ran to her bed and climbed back in. Although it broke my heart that night not to have her in my room, it was so sweet to see the happiness on her face as she showed me where all her Pooh Bears had slept the night before. She now asks to go night-night and loves playing in her room. I know we did the right thing…even if it was so heartbreaking for mommy!

In other areas, on Sunday Eddie was carrying her down the stairs in the morning, playing around as he was doing so, and missed 4 stairs! All I heard was the screaming and crying of my baby and Eddie screaming for me to come quickly. He thought he had “protected” her and I had hoped he was right but within 15 minutes we knew that was not the case. After calming Elyssa down, I set her down and as she tried to walk on her left foot, cried out in pain and would not, and could not stand up. I did not over react; I figured we would give her a while to get over this. Maybe it would go away in a couple house with ice on it to “make it feel better”, but 4 hours later, she would still not walk on it and would cry out in pain when trying to walk on it. We finally decided to take her to Care Now and have it looked at. I was so afraid it was broken, but after an hour visit with Care Now dr’s, it was determined it was just a really bad sprain. She could not walk on it at all yesterday and we had to “carry me mommy” all day. Today she was not walking on it for most of the day, but later this after noon, because I think she was just so tired of not being able to move or do anything, she learned to limp on one foot or do a crawl around the house on her knee’s dragging it behind her. Very pathetic looking but she made it work. I really think she will be walking on it tomorrow, she is a pretty tough girl and with a daddy like hers she has to be!

Well it is late and I better get some sleep or at least try to, I’m still having trouble sleeping without her in my room….sad, I know, but true….

2009 June ~ Father's Day

Happy Daddy’s Day!

Ok, so we all know it was father’s day but poor Elyssa just could not get “father” out correctly, so in order to accommodate her we changed it to “Happy Daddy’s Day”. I spent most of the morning with Elyssa Sunday morning practicing “Happy Daddy’s Day”. Eddie was out side working on the pool and watering our new trees so we had some alone time to get these 3 words down. She was so cute, I asked her “What are you going to say to daddy when you see him” and she would say “Happy Daddy’s Day”. We did this over and over again. She had it down perfectly even her own added “Surprise” at the end. So we came downstairs and got Daddy’s father’s day gift out of the closet where we had hid it and I called him in from outside. The whole time prepping Elyssa in the background and she was saying over and over again “Happy Daddy’s day!” Well Eddie walks in the door, she is holding her “bag” for daddy and the big moment was there and ……..you guessed it NOTHING. She would not say it at all, I kept telling her to say it, coaxing her to say it, she just stood there with the bag saying “daddy, surprise”…hmmmm, ok, so close but no cigar! We tried, really we tried to get it right. She really was saying it but when the big moment came, she froze like a deer in the headlights. O’well, maybe next year right? I can say that she did indeed say it for daddy after the fact and several times that day, just not at the big moment! She got Daddy a #1 Dad shirt and matching #1 Dad cap and some Dallas Cowboys decals for the car. Daddy had to wear the shirt that day and to the airport since he was flying out on Father’s day as well to Omaha, NE. Fro dinner Daddy took us all out to Texas Roadhouse. He picked that place because it is Elyssa favorite restaurant. She loves the dinner rolls, sweet potatoes and of course the rice. Mommy and daddy love the place because it is so loud in there that no one hears screaming kids throwing tantrums and since we are in the terrible two’s we are always prepared for some kind of fit! I got Eddie his father’s day gift early so he already had it before Father’s Day. He got a new Garmin GPS system, it is an upgrade to his old one (I got the old one), and he got a new semi-pro digital camera he had been wanting. I think he did pretty well for Father’s Day!

On Saturday before Father’s Day we took Elyssa to a beach on Lake Lavon. She has been bugging mommy to “go to beach play sand and watie mommy”. She has read some of her books where the people go to the beach and play in the sand and water and she wanted to go as well. I guess it is not good enough that she has a pool in the backyard and her own sandbox; she wanted to go to the beach. We took Aunt Tonia and her dog Princess with us to the beach and Elyssa had an incredible time. She had so much fun and is such a little dare devil in the water. She wanted to go out deeper and deeper. Of course mommy was watching daddy with her and kept getting scared that he would drop her or something…isn’t that just like a paranoid mom??? Yeah, that’s me…. We can’t wait to take her back again. Watching her little face light up and hearing her little giggles were worth every single minute…

June 2, 2009

I’m not so proud… …of my daughters new favorite word! I guess it was just time before it happened so I should not be very surprised but geez, I thought it would have been my husbands mess up and not mine! I really, really do my best to be careful, and thought I had done an incredible job of cleaning up my language, at least around Elyssa. But one day not to long ago, I was in the kitchen and I dropped something all over the floor. I was having a rough day anyway and when it happened I said that magical word “Sh*t”. The moment it slipped from my lips I looked up and Elyssa was standing right there look at me and the mess! She very calmly exclaimed to me “Mess mum, mum, sh*t”. Well apparently for a 2 year old, you only have to screw up once and you pay for it the rest of your life, because since that one not so innocent day, my little girl has started using her new favorite word. The ironic part is that from the ONE incident she has learned the correct grammatical emphasis to use it in as well. Now every time she is carrying her blocks and they fall, or when she is dealing out cards and they all fall on the floor or is she is drinking from her big girl cup and she accidently spill, or drops something she proudly proclaims “Sh*t mum, mum mess!” She is also very good at pointing out when either mommy or daddy make a mess as well and will use her new favorite words at the right time for US! Now although I accept complete responsibility for this mishap, just how long will she keep this up??? I do not acknowledge when she says it as something bad, because if I make a big deal out of it she repeats it over and over and over again. So I figure if I don’t give her an audience maybe the word will disappear, but so far, no luck. Eddie on the other hand thinks it is funny and nearly laughed his head off when she repeated not only “sh*t” one day, but also “bull sh*t” for him. Again, I am not innocent, I can roll out a whole slew of colorful metaphors when angered but I have tried very successfully NOT to do it in front of my daughter, and now because of one, yes, I said one incident where I let my guard down, she is now using a swear word.

Now, in a positive note, I am very proud of some of her new words! She used to call her drinks a “Geeze’. I have no idea where she got the word or how she came up with it but when ever she wanted a drink she would say “Geeezzzeee” and we knew what she waned. We would ask if she wanted Juice / Milk and she would say “yeah’ when we picked the right one. Each time giving her the sippy cup and repeating what it was, milk/ juice. Well suddenly out of the blue, on evening while I was sitting in my chair watching TV, she came to me and said “mommy, Mulk”. I looked at her a bit confused and asked her what she said and she repeated “Mommy, mulk, mommy drink mulk”. I was so proud of her!! I of course got up and got her the “mulk” (not quite milk, but we will take mulk). She then proceeded to call Juice, by the name Juice, water by the name “wat-ee” and said drink when she wanted a drink! It was literally overnight and her whole vocabulary changed. Now, as sad as this sounds, I almost miss the word “Geeze” for her drinks. It was always so cute when she would stand adamantly in front of you repeating “Geeze, mommy, geeze”. She is changing so fast and picking up new things everyday. I think her vocabulary doubles every day and if she does not know a word for something it does not stop her, she just makes up a word for it and leave it up to me and daddy to figure it out!

It really is true that kids grow up to fast…right now, I’m looking for the rewind button!

May 29, 2009

I celebrated my 38th Birthday on the 15th of this month. Yup, 38th birthday…wow, does that sound as old as I think it sounds? Honestly I can say I don’t feel that old, I just feel like me, and quite honestly I think the alternative to having birthdays does not appeal to me either. Death, or another year older….I choose another year older! Bring it on I say, give me your best shot, I’m up for the challenge!! I’m the mom of a baby girl who is testing her limits in what is most commonly referred to as the “Terrible Two’s”!! If I can survive the Terrible Two’s I can most certainly survive being another year older. A lot of people make such a fuss about getting older, they refuse to tell people their ages, they joke about being 29 and holding, me, not so much. I really could careless, age is simply a number, and is no direct reflection on the person. So the number of years assigned to me may be 38, but I in no way feel “old”. I think that is all that really matter.

Since my birthday fell on a Friday, Eddie, of course was not in town. He was in DC and flew in that night. He did send me a dozen and half red roses for my b-day that came on Friday so I can’t make him feel too bad. When they came Elyssa saw them and started yelling “surprise mommy, surprise!” It is almost as though she new they were coming and had some hand in the whole thing. She is just so darn cute these days. Friday evening before we went and picked up daddy at the airport, we went out to eat with some friends. My friend Lisa’s b-day is May 18th and we celebrate our b-days together every year. Anyway, Aunt Lisa, Elyssa, Aunt Tonia and I went out to eat with friends of our (Rob, Andrea, and Elyssa’s little friends Olivia and Alexa) to the Twisted Root. After eating we went back to Aunt Lisa’s so that we could all visit for awhile. We picked Daddy up at the airport that evening and he had a really cute card for me also for my b-day. All and all it was a great day.

Saturday we went with Aunt Lisa to the Richardson Flower Festival. It was actually a raining miserable day, but by the time we got there the rain had quit. We had a pretty good evening and Elyssa did pretty good. We spent a lot of time inside at the concerts inside the theater. Well we stayed inside until Elyssa decided to start singing louder than the actual artists, oh and throwing her balloons into the seats in front of us disturbing the people in their seats. Hey, she did last about an hour and for a 2 year old that was pretty good!

On Monday I made dinner for Lisa for her birthday and had her and Aunt Tonia over to eat. Eddie was in town so he got to celebrate with us as well. I bought a cake and had them put mine and Lisa’s name on it for our b-days. Hey, you are never too old for cake and ice cream right? Elyssa insisted on singing the “Happy” song and blowing out our candles and since the only candles I had were Elyssa’s number “2” candles, Lisa and I turned 2 again this year!! Oh and Elyssa had a blast blowing out the candles.

On Wednesday after my birthday, we all went to Southern Junction for Steaks. We being, Aunt Tonia, Aunt Lisa, Eddie, Elyssa and myself, all piled in the van and had a fun evening at our favorite Country music venue. We all had a blast, helping Eddie cook the steaks and letting Elyssa dance with daddy when the band started playing. She was so cute in her pink cowboy hat! Of course Eddie and I got to take a few “spins” around the dance floor as well. Gosh, it has been forever since we’ve done that. Needless to say I was pretty rusty!

So all in all I had a wonderful b-day or should I say b-day week!

May 11, 2009

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play. Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together. Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sitwith you in the backyard and blow bubbles. Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by. Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned.
Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them. Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys. Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry. Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars. Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows. Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. I will think about the mothers and fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore.
And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a little longer.. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day............
*****Wish I could take credit for writing this, but it was an email forward I got that really enjoyed****

May 9, 2009

Mother’s Day came early for me this year! On Friday I took Elyssa to her Mother’s Day Out play day and to my surprise all the moms were invited to stay for a special Mother’s Day “breakfast” of Muffins, fruit and juice! It was so cute, we got to sit with our little ones and enjoy some snacks with them. They had special coloring sheets the kids did for mom waiting at their seats for each mom. Made me feel so special and so proud to be Elyssa’s mom! Well little did I know there was even more to come. When I picked Elyssa up from school, they had another sheet for me that was laminated with her handprint on it and an adorable “mother’s day” poem attached and as I was leaving they gave me a big package all wrapped up in purple paper. I got in the car and looked inside and it was a ceramic filled pie pan with Elyssa footprint in it and her name and the year traced in it as well!! It was so cute, they had her put pretty little glass type stones in it to decorate it. It actually brought a tear to my eye. I know it is actually my third Mother’s Day and I probably should not get so emotional about little things like this, but it was just so darn cute and made me so proud to be Elyssa Mom!!

Eddie actually out did himself as well this year. He was out of town last week and will be gone again this week (will actually be leaving tomorrow on Mother’s Day). When I got home from picking up my little princess , a dozen red roses and a box of chocolates were delivered with a special little note attached telling what a wonderful mom he thought I was. So all in all, although Mother’s day is not till tomorrow, I have already had an incredible Mother’s Day!

April 20, 2009

Well I have finally got a lot of the pictures updated from our busy couple months! It all started with Elyssa b-day and then ran right into the Easter holiday. As you can tell from the pictures and the videos, Elyssa LOVED decorating eggs for Easter. Aunt Tonia and JT helped us color eggs this year. In the end we gave her one egg to do with what she pleased and she put it in every color we had and pretty much turned it black. It was so cracked by the time she finished dropping it into all the colors we took a picture of it and had to throw it away. It certainly was not edible!
For Easter we went to visit Nana and Pop in Lufkin, TX. Since the house is not big enough for all of us to stay at one time (Eddie’s 2 sisters and their family were there as well), we stayed at the Hampton Inn Saturday night. When we got to our room it only had a shower (was a handicap accessible room) and there is no way little princess will take a shower and allow the raindrops to fall on her head in the shower so we had to switch rooms. There were no other rooms available so they upgraded our room to a suite. It was a really nice room with a living room, kitchen, bedroom and bath! It was the perfect room for our morning Easter egg hunt! It does help that Eddie has diamond status with Hilton Hotels, so whenever there is a problem they do their best to satisfy him. He will only stay in Hilton hotels or Embassy Suites when he travels so the free nights/ stays really to rack up! In the morning Elyssa woke up to find her Easter basket on the coffee table and was soo excited that the Easter bunny had come. I had to coax her through the egg hunt. All she wanted to do was find the egg, open it and eat the “canies” (candies in Elyssa words). She only eats M&M’s so that is what all the eggs were filled with. The Easter bunny only brought her lollipops in her basket since she will take a few licks off of “pops". Her basket was over flowing with toys and such that the Easter Bunny brought her for Easter. I think she really did enjoy the morning. She even took her little egg hunt basket down to breakfast with us so she could show everyone downstairs some of her treats. She got gummy bears from the hotel desk clerk and a Bible from one of the other guests staying at the hotel. It was a very sweet morning!! After leaving the hotel, we rushed over to church where Pop was preaching and made it just in time for the start of the service. All the rest of the family sat up front, we of course had no idea how Elyssa was going to be for the service so we sat all the way in the back, just safer that way! After church we all went back to Nana and Pops and visited for awhile and then headed back to Dallas!
Eddie has been around a bit lately. He was home all last week, and only travels Thursday and Friday this week. Of course then his schedule picks up again on Sunday and who knows when his next break will be. He has another upcoming trip to Washington DC and Elyssa and I are going to try to go with him. The weather is getting so nice that a trip north will be great. Elyssa and I can do some site seeing while daddy is at work!
Elyssa is doing great! She is learning new words everyday and I don’t know where she is getting some of it. The other day she came up to me pointing to her neck saying “neck mom-mom”. Now I don’t ever remember telling her neck before, we just stick to the basics, mouth, teeth, cheeks, face, eyes, tongue..you know.. but she came up with neck on her own! She loves trains and says “choo-choo” every time we see one. When we are driving down the road she points out all the trailer trucks and say “big truck mom-mom, big truck” and tells me they have “big wheels”. She has even started talking on the phone some! She would usually just sit there and listen to the other person but she will talk now to people, especially daddy. When Eddie was away on his last trip she heard his voice and squealed into the phone “daddy, hi daddy!” It truly is the cutest thing in the world to watch as her world opens up more to her. She knows 2 colors now, pink and green, knows her name starts with the letter “E”, and can hold up 2 fingers when asked how old she is! I’m sure there is so much more I am forgetting to put on here but those are some of the things I can think of. There is just so much she is learning.
She is doing wonderfully with her potty training! We got her another new potty and this one is a fr nd she LOVES it!! She has it in the living room and will sit on it forever..lol. She even tells me know when she has to pee, of course sometimes it is a bit late but she is trying soooo hard. In fact I have not changed a “poopy” diaper in 3 days, she has done her poopy on the potty every time! She even told me at Fry’s yesterday that she had to pee-pee and held it till I got her to the potty and she went for the fist time on the big potty. Of course then we went to the Olive Garden to eat afterward and she said she had to pee, I took her and the darn thing had an auto flush that would not stop flushing, and it scared the “bajeezers” our of her!!! She would not go and of course went in her diaper on the way home. Not sure how to get past the auto flush modes on the potties!! At night it is hard, she is waking up in the middle of the night yelling “mom-mom pee-pee potty” but each time it is to late. She is usually dry in the morning (after being up and me changing her at about 4am) and goes right on the potty! I’m so proud of my little girl.
Ok enough about the potty talk. Aunt Tonia is on her way over and is going to make us dinner tonight! Aunt Tonia is just too good to Elyssa. For Easter she got Elyssa a big wagon filled with Sand box toys. Elyssa loves the wagon and pulls all of her stuff all over my living room with it.
Hope everyone had a great Easter!

April 8, 2009

Well once again, just as with Santa Clause, our little girl is terrified of the Easter Bunny. So daddy and I got smart for Easter. We decided to have her picture taken with a live Bunny!! She absolutely loved the bunny and the woman who did the pictures was just great. She was so patient with Elyssa and got some really incredible shots. In fact she took 113 pictures and I have 103 favorites!! I know, I know, that is a lot, but she did such a good job how could I just pick 1 ??

April 2, 2009

I just cannot believe my little girl is 2 years old. Two years ago, I was sitting here typing and telling the world of her arrival and now she is 2 years old. Yes, they do grow up to fast. We had an absolutely wonderful and incredible birthday party for her on the 21st of March. The theme was “Wonder Pets”, so Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming helped her celebrate her big day. The cake was absolutely adorable. It was the Wonder Pets flyboat with all three of them sitting on top of it. Aunt Tammy did a wonderful job! Elyssa spent the day surrounded by all the people who love her and care for her and I can say she loved every single second of it! I have to confess that mom loved it as well. It is just so much fun to sit back and watch your child’s eyes fill with excitement as the piñata was broke and the candy and toys fell from the sky, the look of anticipation in her eyes when she saw the cake and the candle that was lit just for her to blow out, and the look of enjoyment as she ripped open all of her presents and played with all the paper and boxes (oh and the toys as well!). Mommy and Daddy got her a new “play kitchen” for her birthday that is now sitting in mommy’s kitchen so Elyssa can cook while mommy is cooking. She has so much food and pots and pans to play with and it is all usually spread across the kitchen, into the living room, and the playroom as well! She will tell me all the time that her kitchen is her “house”…”mom, mom baby house” and run over to it. She calls herself either “baby” or “me” all the time. I try to explain to her that her name is Elyssa and showing her pictures and she will say “Yeah mom, mom me” and point to the picture. I guess eventually someday she will understand.

Aunt Heidi stayed for the week after her birthday and we spent the week doing all kinds of fun things with our little princess. She was glued to Aunt Heidi that week, in fact for 4 days after Aunt Heidi left she would wake up in the morning asking for “Hi-yee” and look around downstairs for “Hi-yee”. I really think she misses her!! That week we took her to parks to play, to Grapevine Mills Mall where she got to ride her first carousal (she was not to thrilled with it), and the big trip was to the Fort Worth Zoo! While at Grapevine Mills Mall we wanted to take her to the Rainforest Café to eat dinner because of how neat and exciting it is. Every 8 minutes while you are eating they put on a “rainforest display” and the whole restaurant is decorated like a rainforest with birds and monkey in the trees, and an incredible display of elephants. They simulate lighting, thunder, rain and the birds, monkey, and elephants all move. It really is a great experience. Well we got seated right in front of the elephant display (as many know, elephants are my favorite) and lets just say Elyssa was NOT impressed. In fact she was so scared she buried her little face in my neck and would not look at anything. We tried for a few minutes to show her there was nothing to be afraid of but it was no use. We ended up having to leave the restaurant and ate at Chili’s and she was just fine. The zoo was a bit of a different experience. She really did enjoy seeing the animals and getting to run around and play on some of the displays. I almost think it was too big for her, she was really tired by the time we left. I think as she gets older she is going to enjoy these kinds of events a lot more. I have ton’s of pictures to post from all the fun we had at the parks, zoo and of her birthday and now that things have settled down around here I hope to get some of them posted!

On a side note, Elyssa had her 2 year check up yesterday. We were excited that there were no shots on that visit and we found out she is growing just wonderfully. She weighs 31 ½ lbs (in the 90%) her length is 35 ½ inches (90-95%), and her BMI 17.6 (75-85%). Her next check-up is not till she is 3 and no more shots till she is 4!

March 20, 2009

Today is Elyssa's Birthday! Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday my sweatheart Elyssa! Happy Birthday to you!
Mommy and Daddy love you so much!!! You have been such a blessing in our lives...Hope you enjoy your special day!

March 16, 2009

Note from me: I thought I had posted this to the public but realized it was only in draft form..sooo here it is now.
We had a very unexpected, yet expected death in the family last week. Daddy Jay, Eddie’s 94 year old grandfather died. I say unexpected, yet expected because although he was older he was doing well from what we had heard. So, last week we traveled to Balmorhea, TX which is out in West TX about 8 hours from Dallas for the funeral. I was very concerned about how Elyssa would do at the funeral viewing and at the church and I had just cause to be concerned. We did not predict the weather very well and thought it would be a lot cooler than it was. We went to the viewing on Wednesday and I had Elyssa in a long sleeve dress. Well little miss was miserable and very warm and while I was in one room and she was in another room with Daddy, she decided to take off her clothes and was running around in her tights and diaper at the funeral home!! Although everyone thought it was cute and was laughing at her, I was appalled! I tried to put her dress back on her to which she responded with a beautiful “tantrum”. I had a pair of sweats / and a t-shirt in my diaper bag that I carry as “back up clothes” and managed to get them on her without much trouble. So instead of the beautiful velvet dress that I had for her to wear that day, she was running around in no shoes, UT Sweat pants and a t-shirt!! Then to add icing to the cake, daddy took her outside with him to visit with his Uncle Wes and allowed Elyssa to run all over in her bare feet playing with the puppy dogs outside! I went out to find them about 20 later and she was filthy!! I could not believe her at all, but I guess what should I have expected from an almost 2 year old right? Well luckily it was time for the afternoon break and we headed back to our hotel for the break and 6-7 people came back to our hotel with us and had some dinner. What did we have? Bar-b-que of course, remember I did say this was west TX! Elyssa took a much needed nap while we all sat around and ate. When she got up, it was time to go back to the funeral home, so I just changed her into a comfy pant set I had for her and called it done. I was not fighting with her to get “dressed up” again! After the evening viewing we went to Walmart where I bought her a comfy , cute spring sun dress to wear to the church service so she would be happier and more comfortable. The church service was not to bad. Nana and Pop sat behind us and she played , climb over the pews during a lot of it, but at least she did not cause a scene. She did ok at the graveside also, except she did not understand why she could not be out running around during everything and why she had to sit on mommy’s lap. It is so hard explaining these kinds of things to her, kept telling her “shhhhhh” and putting my finger over my lips…she just did it back to me in response to me doing it to her. We drove home on Thursday after the funeral and I thought it was going to be an uneventful trip, but about 3 hours from Dallas Elyssa decided to puke all over the back seat and her car seat. I have to say this is probably one of the grossest things that can happen. Why you ask? Because although I cleaned up as much as I could, I changed the baby clothes, and wrapped all the dirty stuff in 2 plastic bags, the SMELL does not go away and you are trapped in the car with the smell of puke for hours….yup, that is how this trip ended up. No, she is not sick, it is all part of her reflux problem and drinking to much milk. Fun huh?

Well she has stopped eating altogether again. It has been a downward spiral for about 3 weeks and now she has stopped. Her new trick now, if you try to give her a bite of one of her “preferred foods” , she will gag herself till she pukes!! I have decided that my daughter will be bulimic before she is 4!!! I have no idea how she learns this behavior or why she is doing it. I wish I had answers. I have talked to her therapists and they have decided that it is best if we put her on the waiting list for the inpatient program at the hospital. I hate that it has come to this but Elyssa will not eat food and we have to do something for her to fix this. I think the waiting list is about 4-6 months so we are in the waiting game now. She is still going to therapy and feeding frenzy till a spot is available. I just hope it does not take that long. This is just really, really very frustrating for me.

March 4, 2009

On Feb 23, 2009 we lost a very special member of our family. Daddy Jay Oates died at the age of 94. This is in memory of him...

A Cowboys Last Request..
Let me tell you folks Who have gathered here today That I'm a proud and thankful cowboy Who has just passed away
I know it's hard But, please don't cry Fer I'm now ridin' Gods trails High up in the sky
The hoss I'm ridin' now Don't spook, buck or kick Fer God stables perfect horses And now I have my pick
Lord, please forgive me of all my sins Fer I haven't been perfect But I know that he who believes in You Forever wins!
I have lived a good life A cowboys dream come true Thank You Lord, Fer I'm now ready to ride into eternity Me, my horse, and You.

Feb 15, 2009

Can I believe it has been 4 years already??? Nope, not at all, it seems just like yesterday that we were planning our wedding and frantically getting the place ready for all of our company. My mom and dad came in from PA for the wedding and were staying with us. Anyway, that was 4 years ago on the 12th of Feb. Amazing I say, just amazing to look at us now, everything has changed and nothing is the same! I mean, I sit here and look around me and the biggest change to hit me is the beautiful little girl who is lying on her Dora couch watching Toy Story right now. It is so amazing to me still sometimes that I am a mom to this beautiful little girl. Anyway, that was one of the big events this past week, the other one was Valentine’s Day of course. Eddie was actually home for both our Anniversary and Valentines Day for a change! I remember 2 years ago; he had to fly out on our Anniversary, now that was no fun at all. We did not get to go out this year for Valentines Day. Well, let me rephrase that, we did not get to go out alone for Valentines Day, Elyssa got to come and share it with us. Our babysitter, Aunt Tonia (NaNa), came down with the flu so she was not able to watch Elyssa for us. So we decided we would just take her with us. In fact the above picture is of her and Daddy at the restaurant we ate at. It was a little Thai place in Garland that we absolutely love. We tried to go to Olive Garden, but geez, there was a wait out the door and that is just no fun with an almost 2 year old in tow. So we ran over to the Thai place, there was no wait and we went right in and sat right down. Now that is service I tell you! They even cater to kids. Elyssa loves their fried rice, and they bring her out the bowl of rice and her own pink plastic kid’s plate and a big pink plastic fork and spoon. The first time we went there and they did that, they won me over! I mean most places will bring you out an extra glass plate for a kid which is not practical, not this place; they are on the ball and kid ready! So we had a nice dinner, ran to Wal-Mart to pick up some binders for a class Daddy is teaching next week in D.C. and then to Circuit City to see if we could find any good “going out of business” sales. We found a few things, but nothing really exciting. A lot of the stuff was really picked over.

For our Anniversary we went to Lufkin, TX to visit Nana and Pop (Eddies parents). We had not been to see them in a while and since Eddie travels so much, we have to jump on opportunities when they “knock”. It is about a 4 hour drive from Dallas so we just went down on Thursday and came home on Friday. We had a nice visit, Elyssa was all dressed in her UT (University of Texas) cheerleader outfit for the drive down and then that evening I changed her into her UT sweat suit. She is just so darn cute in those outfits. Nana and Pop enjoyed visiting with Elyssa, they are just so amazed at how big she is getting. I’m amazed myself, considering the kid does not eat…!!!

Well Elyssa has discovered a new talent that she has. She likes to walk backwards!!! We were at Eddie’s office today (yes, he has an office to go to here in Dallas, but he is never here to go to it..lol) and she was going up and down the halls backwards and singing. She loves going to daddy’s office. She runs all over the place (it is huge office, almost the entire 2nd story of the building). I think she tires herself out while she is there just running from hallway to hallway yelling for “Daaaaadddyyyyy”. He does not help matter when he is chasing her around as well. It is really comical to watch the two of them. But anyway, today she learned to walk backwards and I have to say she does it really, really well. Maybe she has been doing it for a while and this was the first time I noticed, I don’t know, but to me, it is new!

Well, princess has fallen asleep, so I better get her to bed… a mom’s work is never, ever done…

Feb 2, 2009

How about them Steelers????? Yup, that was quite a game Sunday night. I have to say I was unable to watch the last 33 seconds of the game. They were so close to loosing up till that last second I just could not take it. I think I scared Elyssa a few times, I was yelling and screaming at the TV, she has never seen mommy like that. She would run up to me, jump in my arms and start patting my back. I kept telling her that we were watching football; she just kept saying “ball, ball, mommy ball?”t a I am so happy that they won!! I wish Eddie could have been here to watch the game with us. He was stuck at the airport. He flew out to DC this week. When he got to the airport he found out his flight was cancelled and he was pushed back to an 8:30pm flight. So he got to see most of the game sitting in a bar at the airport but we did not get to see it together. Such is life I guess. I loved the new Clydesdale Budweiser Commercials. You know half the fun of the Super bowl is watching the commercials.

Poor Elyssa, she has been inundated with sports these days. Last Wednesday we got free courtside tickets to see the Dallas Mavericks play the Warriors at American Airlines Center. Eddie was in town last week so it was the perfect week to go. My friend Lisa got tickets from the Dr she works for and she could not use them herself so she gave them to us. So the 3 of us went and we took Tonia and JT with us as well. There were 4 tickets and Elyssa does not need a ticket until she is 2. She had a blast!! I thought all the noise and confusion would upset her but not at all, she did great and had a great time. I have to say she has got to experience a lot of different things in her short life so far. I just hope that we can continue to expose her to lots of different things.

Well the birthday planning has begun. I cannot believe she is going to be 2 years old next month!! My baby isn’t a baby anymore. We are planning a Wonder Pets themed party. Of course it is going to be here at the house, she is still pretty young to have big parties at bounce houses and such, she just would not get as much out of it. So we will have everyone here and celebrate the big # 2 for our little Princess. Can’t wait, I’m sure it will be a blast!

Jan 28, 2009

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. Or give shots. 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 feed a hungry 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 gotten up in the middle of the night every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay. 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.

Jan 22, 2009

Elyssa certainly had a busy couple weeks. We have been dealing with some more medical issues with her. For the last several weeks she has been waking up in the middle of the night “puking”. Yes, I know not a pretty subject and allow me to say not so nice to clean up at 2 or 3 am either! I finally took her into the Pediatrician and she had no idea what was causing it. Elyssa was not sick in any other way, no fever, no congestion, just throwing up almost every night all over herself, me and her bed. Our pediatrician called her GI dr who advised us to give her the Prevacid 2 times a day instead of once. We were to do it in the AM before her breakfast and in the PM before her last meal. We started that and it worked great. The GI dr also wanted to see her and check her out as well. So last week I took her into the GI dr. She told us that the Prevacid will not be approved by our insurance for twice a day so she wanted us to start Zantac in the evenings instead of the Prevacid. Well 2 days into the Zantac and she was puking all over the place again every night!! I have to say, I am so sick of cleaning puke off myself, her, her crib and the floor!! So I called the GI dr again and she told me we are going to have to go back to the Prevacid twice a day and they are going to have to fight with our insurance to try to get it approved for twice a day. Now, I have already decided if the insurance company refuses to pay for it, we will be paying for it out of pocket. I will not have my daughter puking every night because her reflux is so bad. It is just amazing that an insurance company would give you trouble over something that is needed to keep you well?? O’well, I remember all the problems we had when she had her Doc Band, this is just one more fight we will have to fight. Time to get my boxing gloves out again.
This week Elyssa had one of her little friends over to visit. I posted a picture of the 2 of them having a tea party. She and Olivia got along pretty good. We did have some problems with Elyssa and her new favorite word “mine”; it is a slow process teaching her to share. We have decided that we need to get the girls together more often. Elyssa has not really been around someone her own age and Olivia is a month younger than Elyssa. It was really sweet watching them, of course I did see a bit of jealousy in Elyssa as well. Olivia’s mom has a new 7 week old baby and I was holding her. Elyssa came up to me whining “mom, mom baby back” and she would motion for me to put the baby back in her carrier!! She was really getting upset. I can say, holding that little baby really made me want another little one. I miss that baby phase so much.
Today was a beautiful day outside and after we left her therapy session this morning I decided we were going to a park that afternoon. We went home and Elyssa took a nap and then we went out to Pirate Cove Park. I debated taking my camera with me, but I decided instead of taking a bunch of pictures I wanted to spend the time playing, running, jumping and swinging with my baby (or should I say toddler..naah, I like baby better). We had such a nice time. I think we were there for almost an hour before she started asking for a drink and I did not have it with me. It was in the car since I wanted to play with her on all the climbing stuff, I left all of our bags in the car. So she took my hand and we walked together back to the car. I had such a nice afternoon playing with her.
Have I told you about the sweetest sound? Well these days that is Elyssa when she is watching either Wonder Pets, Little Bear or Oswald and she starts to “giggle and laugh” at all the funny parts in the cartoon. Yes, she completely understands what is going on in the cartoon and laughs at all of the funny parts. I will be in the kitchen washing sippy cups or something and hear this little giggle erupt from the living room floor. It really is the sweetest little sound these days. She is getting so smart and learning so fast and she is in her “big girl helper stage”. She helps me put the stuff from our grocery cart on the belt at the checkout counter. She helps me carry in bags from the car (and will even tell me “heavy mom mom”). She helps me put the stuff away from the bags we brought in from the car. She even helps me unload the dishwasher and the dryer when I’m doing laundry. Now, I can say, there are times I really don’t want her help, but there is just no way to tell her you don’t want her help, she is very persistent!
Well I think that is a pretty good update on what has been going on in our household in the last couple weeks. Oh and if you happen to be living under a rock these days and have not heard yet “PITTSBURGH’S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL”!!!!! Here we go….

Dec 31, 2008

Wow, another year almost gone. When I sit here and reflect on the past year, I am amazed at everything that has happened. Elyssa celebrated her first birthday, learned to walk, is talking up a storm and now sleeping in her own big girl bed. So many accomplishments for such a little girl I can only imagine what the New Year will bring for her. I know that potty training is top on mommy’s list. She is doing really well at it when I keep one her. She actually started using the potty regularly on August 17th but I did not pressure her at all. She is still a bit young and not even 2 yet. She will go if I put her on the potty and EVERY morning she has to go potty and “pee-pee and poopy” in the potty. If you don’t let her go she throws a holy fit. I am just not in any hurry to strap myself to the potty training ritual. I really do think it is more about training mommy and daddy than it is about training Elyssa. I have to say diapers are just so much easier..Yeah, messier but much easier…I know, I know excuses, excuses. I know she has to be potty trained before she is 2. Her urologist told me he wanted her potty trained by the time she was 2 because it would help with her Stage 2 renal reflux. She has to go through all of that testing again in March. I have to say I am not looking forward to that again this year. That was simply just a horrible experience for her and for me as well.
Tonight we are not doing much at all. Since I am still pretty miserable with my cold, we are just having some friends over for a low key evening. I am of course making sauerkraut, hot dogs and sausage since that is a tradition but nothing to exciting. I even warned the guests that I just may not make it till midnight, just depends on how I feel. I hate being sick.. really, really hate it. Today we went and made a huge donation at Good Will. Like many others, trying to take advantage of another tax deduction this year. I hate tax season, Eddie spends hours working on the taxes trying to make it so that we don’t owe anything. I remember a time in my life when I actually got tax refunds, but it really is true, the more you make the more they take!! Boy do they take, and take and take and now that we are stuck with a democratic president for the next 4 years I’m sure they will be taking even more…!!
Well hope everyone has a Happy New Year and most importantly be safe!

Dec 28, 2008

Yes, I said big girl bed! Elyssa, who has been sleeping in a crib beside my bed since she was born, has slept 2 nights now in her big girl bed in her own room. Yes, the nursery that has been used for nothing but getting her dressed and letting her play in was actually used as a “bedroom” the last 2 nights. On Christmas Eve Eddie and his dad covered her crib she never used into a toddler bed and I have to say it is quite adorable. I am going to have to get pictures of it and post them; she is just so darn cute sleeping in there all by herself. She can get in all by herself with the help of a step stole and get out the same way. Eddie put up a bedrail along the open side so she will not fall out at night and so far so good. Of course I think mom has more issues with this new sleeping arrangement than Elyssa does. Of course I still use that term “sleep” loosely since she is still up sometimes 3 times a night but she is doing it in her own room now. I on the other hand have further to walk to check on her when I wake up in the middle of the night and want to make sure she is still ok. Yes, you read that right, go ahead read it again, yes, I still check on her to make sure she is ok. I have a horrible time sleeping these days and I think it is because she has me up all night long still. When she gives me 3-4 hours straight I can’t sleep now. But anyway she is “non” sleeping in her own room just fine. No problem with the transition, in fact I think she likes her big girl bed more than her crib beside my bed. When Eddie starts traveling again (after the holidays) I am not sure I will leave her in her room. It is just too scary to me being home alone with her and having her in her own room. Some people thought she would sleep better in her own room…”Ha, Ha” I say to those folks. My baby still does not sleep through the night and sleeps no better than she did in my room. O’well I guess it was worth a shot but no success yet. I don’t think it will get any better till she starts eating and is not hungry in the middle of the night, but that is a whole other story.
Christmas was a HUGE success! Elyssa had a wonderful Christmas and her Aunt Tonia and JT came over to watch her open her presents. It was so much fun this year, she loved opening the gifts and hearing her say “wow-wow”! She got so many new and wonderful things for Christmas, just too many to tell. She got new babies, a musical tea set, new Wonder Pets toys, books, a new Dora couch, a new shopping cart and a bunch of Mr. Potato heads just to name a few things. I think we will have to just move out of the house and let the toys take over; it just may be easier that way. We all had lunch at Eddie’s sister’s house and that evening Aunt Tonia made us all a Christmas dinner. We really did have a great day and of course we have tons of pictures and videos! I just need to get on the ball and get them all posted.
I of course have caught a cold for the New Year. I woke up today with a sore throat and no voice and feeing like a Mac Truck hit me. My luck I must say. We were suppose to take a trip to Balmorhea, TX to visit with Daddy Jay this week , but with me sick I am sure we are not going. I can bet that Elyssa will be coming down with this soon…happy, happy, joy, joy!

Dec 24, 2008

Well here I sit, watching my little princess get all excited about “Ho, Ho” coming tonight to bring her presents. She sees all the presents wrapped under the tree and runs over and picks them up. Of course I have to explain to her that she cannot open her presents till tonight. We are having Christmas Eve here at our house. Eddie’s Dad and step-mom came into town yesterday and stayed last night with us. This evening his sister Tammy and her family are coming over and we are all enjoying a Pre- Christmas “Mexican Fiesta”!! We will also exchange gifts tonight so Elyssa will get to open some presents which will really, really excite her. Last week she got to open her present from Aunt Lisa and she really got into tearing the paper off, so I think this year she is going to have a blast Christmas morning! I just can’t wait to watch her and see how excited she gets. She really understands what is going on this year. When we are driving around town and she sees Christmas lights she says “mom, mom…HO, HO!!” Everything is HO, HO. The lights, the tree, Santa Claus…everything associated with Christmas!
Well, I am going to enjoy the day with family as I hope everyone does today! Merry Christmas to all and to all a wonderful Good Night!

Dec 14, 2008

Sleepless in Dallas…
Ok, so I stole the title from the movie Sleepless in Seattle, but geez, I definitely fit the description. Elyssa will not sleep through the night. Because Elyssa has not sleeping through the night, I in turn am not sleeping through the night. Well let’s be more specific here, Elyssa is almost 21 months old, yes, almost 2 and has never, ever, ever consistently slept through the night. Ok, so on occasion once in a blue moon she has surprised me and slept through the night, but that is very, very rare and I mean rare. In fact I cannot at this time remember the last night she slept through the night. Now, what this means to me, is that I HAVE NOT HAD A FULL NIGHTS REST IN 21 MONTHS!!! I really, really would appreciate a good night’s rest. I mean I remember when I was pregnant, so long ago now, but anyway, I remember when my dr prescribed Ambien for me because I was having trouble sleeping. I used to sleep so soundly on those evenings. I remember what is like to sleep; I just don’t get to do it anymore. Even on those rare, and again I mean rare, occasions that she does sleep through the night, I on my own, wake up to check on her because I think there is something wrong that she has not gotten up. I know it sounds ridiculous but I think it is just being a mom. Not only does she not want to sleep through the night, she has started the “I don’t want to go night, night mama” phase. So as I type, tonight at 9:20pm, my beautiful daughter is climbing all over me “ruffing” like a dog, watching “Little Bear” on demand. I cannot for the life of me get her to lie down. I tried to put her to bed and she wiggles, squirms and cries. I know, lots of mom’s are into the “let them cry it out” theory, me, no way. I never want my daughter to think I am not there for her, so no crying it out in this family. So I will remain “sleepless in Dallas” till this phase passes.
I think we have officially hit the terrible 2’s and we have not even celebrated our second b-day yet. She has definitely started the tantrums and the my way or no way antics. I can honestly say there are days I want to rip my hair out. Again, I know this is a phase she is going through and this too shall pass, but man, it sure can wear a person out. I have started with Time Out, redirecting, and explaining to her that some things she does is just not acceptable, but when was the last time you tried rationalizing with an almost 2 year old. She certainly is an independent person and at such a young age. A friend of mine told me the other day “Wait till she is 13”, yeah, geez, I can’t wait (said with a great deal of sarcasms)!
This weekend we took her to a Breakfast with Santa at Aunt Tonia’s church. They had cookie decoration, crafts, a bounce house and ball tosses. There was also coffee, juice, donuts and etc, but of course Elyssa would not eat a thing or drink anything. Of course my little girl would not go near Santa, just cried and said “no, no, no” so again no pictures with Santa but she had a blast none the less. She loves the bounce house and of course balls are her favorite toy these days. Aunt Tonia and JT played the bells also while we were there. It really was a great morning and daddy was there so that made even better. It really is so hard with him travelling so much these days. Today when we dropped him off at the airport Elyssa was awake and she waved “bye-bye” to him and blew him kisses, it was actually kind of sad. I really think she understands that he is leaving these days. Of course when he gets home this week, he will be home for a few weeks and for that we are very, very thankful!

Dec 9, 2008

Well we made it home from PA on Dec 2nd! Since then I have been trying to get back into the swing of things around here. It is always a hassle getting things organized again after a trip. While we were in PA we went to State College PA for Thanksgiving with my cousin Lisa. We had a great time; she made me homemade Gobs (if you have never had one you don’t know what you are missing), homemade peanut butter fudge and homemade no-bake cookies. I was utterly in Heaven. I of course think I gained 5lbs over night if that is possible at all!! We did do some shopping on Black Friday but not the early morning shopping frenzy this year. This was the first year we did not go early morning black Friday shopping. We did do too much shopping none the less, we ended up having to pack an extra suitcase for the return flight and we sent a huge box of stuff home. Yeah, a bit too much shopping I’d say!
We put up the Christmas tree this week and did the decorating outside. Of course this year is an even more scaled down version of decorating than last year. It is just so hard with Eddie traveling and Elyssa getting into everything to put up all of our stuff that we usually do. I figure in about 3 or 4 more years we can put up the 3 trees again, but for now it is just 1 tree. Eddie is in Washington DC this week and next week. He will be home for Christmas and New Years though; we are pretty excited about that. I have pretty much finished all of the Christmas shopping for Elyssa. She is having a “Wonder Pet’s” Christmas. She loves that show and I bought her almost all of the figures that are out for it. She is going to be so excited. We are going to be home for Christmas, no plans at all right now. Maybe spending the day with Eddie’s sister, but no plans have been made as of yet. I think I am always the last one to find out anyway..!
Ok, I have to get going, the girls (Aunt Tonia & Aunt Red) are coming over for dinner tonight. I have cheese soup to make, better get cooking….

Nov 24, 2008

Well the Eagle has landed….we are in PA visiting with my family. Elyssa did not do to bad on the airplane. Well, either she did better or I am just getting used to her behavior may be more like it. We had 3 drops on the way up here because we flew Southwest Airlines and they of course do not have a direct flight to Pittsburgh. We left Dallas, went to Little Rock, then to Chicago where we changed planes and came into Pittsburgh. We had a whole row to ourselves except from Chicago to Pittsburgh. In fact on that flight they had over booked the flight! I want to know how the heck do you overbook a flight??? I mean you know how many seats are on the plane you only sell that many seats right?? Am I the only one who understands this concept? O’well, it really does not matter, Eddie has “A” status with Southwest because he flies so much that we are always the first ones on the plane. Makes the process a lot easier and smoother for us. We were happy to get here; the evening we got here we took Elyssa and Mikey to Burger King to play in the play area. They had a blast. On Sunday we took Elyssa outside to play in what was left of the snow. It is so cold that we did not stay outside very long but she did get to walk in it and touch it! We actually went to Kmart and bought her a snow suit yesterday so she can go outside and play this rest of the week. The fun has just begun!!

Nov 19, 2008

Well times are a changing I tell you! Little princess is growing up and at the same time “growing” into her own little personality as well. She has mastered the word “NO” and uses it at her own will at the least appropriate time. Oh and let us not forget that she learned the word “Mine”. I have tried “not” to teach her that word because well, I knew once she learned it; EVERYTHING would be “MINE”. What is hers is “mine” and what is mine is hers. Yeah, funny how that works isn’t it?
Last night was an interesting evening, a first if I may add. My friend Lisa and I have a weekly date where we go out to eat and visit and catch up on each other lives. Up until last night we would meet at a sit down restaurant and have dinner and either goes back to one of each other houses or shop afterwards. We have been doing this for what seems like forever, I think it keeps the both of us sane! Well last week when we got together, Elyssa, my little Princess, was what can only described as a demon child. At the restaurant she threw a fit, would not play with her toys, would not color, there was nothing I could do to satisfy her. I was so upset that I could not concentrate on my own meal or what the table conversation was! Well I made an announcement at the end of our meal that I was not taking Elyssa out to another restaurant (with out Eddie) again. I had had enough and it just was not fun anymore. Well Lisa tried to assure me that Elyssa was not bothering her and this was just a Phase she was going through and next time could be just sooo different. All things that maybe true, but I decided that it just was not going to happen again. Well my wonderful friend Lisa, stressed that we may not get to go out again, decided this week we would go to eat at McDonalds, BK , or Chick-fil-a where they had a play place. That way Elyssa could run around and play while we sat down, ate and talked!! I have to say it was genuinely a wonderful and sweet offer and guess what???? It worked!!! We had dinner at McDonalds (no not my favorite but desperate times call for desperate actions) and Elyssa ran all over and I did not have to worry about her for a second. We actually had a great time and joined in on some of her play. We got some really great pictures of Aunt Lisa and Elyssa in the tubes as well as Mommy and Elyssa playing. Afterwards we ran to Target and I think we pushed our luck. She was actually tired and the trip was not much fun, but at least we got to sit, talk, and actually eat a decent meal…well ok, a fast food meal…lol.
Children change our lives is so many ways, and as a new mom I am learning that she is not going adjust to me, I have to learn to adjust to her. We are both learning each other every single day and it one challenge I am actually enjoying every minute of!

Nov 17, 2008

So the whole family has been sick and let me say it is no fun for mom! Especially when mom is as sick as the rest of them. Eddie had last week off and to be honest we were quite glad he did, except he brought some kind of creepy crud back with him and well after coming down with it himself on Tuesday, gave it to the baby by Thursday night. Elyssa was up all night Thursday night with a temp of 103. I knew if it got to 105 we were in trouble and had to get to the hospital, but I just kept giving her Tylenol and Motrin and it kept her fever down a bit. I spent Friday morning in the dr's office with her making sure she did not have strep throat , the flu or a UTI. All the test came back negative so after telling me the obvious, she had a sore throat and it was all viral (nothing they will do about it except give her Tylenol and Motrin), they sent us home to try to make her comfortable. Well by Sunday she was up and acting like herself but on Saturday "mom" came down with all of it....I tell you when it rains it pours. Eddie is of course feeling a bit better and is out of town again and I am here alone, sick taking care of a baby...yaaaahhhh for me! I am just hoping that it is gone by Friday because we are all getting on a plane Saturday morning to head home again to visit with Grandma and Pappy for Thanksgiving! We will be gone from the 22nd till Dec 2nd. We were going to board the dogs like we usually do, but Aunt Tonia and Uncle Brother JT are going to move into our place while we are gone so the dogs can stay home while we are gone. I guess you can say they are dog sitting or house sitting is more like it. I can't believe I will be home for a holiday. I have not been home for Thanksgiving in over 8 years and have not been home for Christmas for probably over 10 years...yup, it has been a long, long time. We are actually going to visit my cousin Lisa in State College, PA for Thanksgiving. She invited all of us up for Thanksgiving dinner, of course my mom is cooking..lol, she is just hosting..!! I can't wait, it has been so long since I've had a home cooked holiday meal!

On a side note, Elyssa has stopped eating again. Not that she was eating a lot before but she would at least eat some "snacky food" and a bit of corn and mac/cheese once in while. Now nothing at all except her milk with carnation instant breakfast and her V8 fusion. I think the sore throat is what caused it, but now she refuses to swallow any food at all. If I manage to get it past her lips she spits it out at me...yeah, fun... I know. She is still in therapy 3 times a week so at tomorrow appointment I get to tell them we have taken 3 steps backwards after this past week. I am so tired of all of this, I just wish she would eat like a normal kid. Is that really to much to ask? Why did I have to have the kid with oral facial hypersensitivities...and food aversions??? Come on...o'well... we will just keep working on it. I was excited last week she was up to 24 lbs but after this week, I'm sure she will loose a couple pounds and we will be back where we started...I will keep my fingers crossed that she doesn't, miracles do happen you know

Nov 10, 2008

I wish I could take credit for writing this but it was actually a forward I got in my email....but none the less it certainly says it all..

Subject: The Death of White Guilt




Look at my fellow conservatives! There they go, glumly shuffling along, depressed by the election aftermath. Not me. I'm virtually euphoric. Don't get me wrong. I'm not thrilled with America 's flirtation with neo socialism. But there's a massive silver lining in those magical clouds that lofted Barak Obama to the Presidency. For today, without a shred of intellectually legitimate opposition, I can loudly proclaim to America : The Era of White Guilt is over. This seemingly impossible event occurred because the vast majority of white Americans didn't give a fluff about skin color, and enthusiastically pulled the voting lever for a black man. Not just any black man. A very liberal black man who spent his early career race-hustling banks, praying in a racist church for 20 years, and actively worked with America-hating domestic terrorists. Wow! Some resume! Yet they made Barak Obama their leader. Therefore, as of Nov 4th, 2008, white guilt is dead. For over a century, the millstone of white guilt hung around our necks, retribution for slave-owning predecessors. In the 60s, American liberals began yanking that millstone while sticking a fork in the eye of black Americans, exacerbating the racial divide to extort a socialist solution. But if a black man can become President, exactly what significant barrier is left? The election of Barak Obama absolutely destroys the entire validation of liberal white guilt. The dragon is hereby slain. So today, I'm feeling a little "uppity," if you will. From this day forward, my tolerance level for having my skin color hustled is now exactly ZERO. And it's time to clean house. No more Reverend Wright's "God Damn America ," Al Sharpton's Church of Perpetual Victimization , or Jesse Jackson's rainbow racism. Cornell West? You're a fraud. Go home. All those "black studies" programs that taught kids to hate whitey? You must now thank Whitey. And I want that on the final. Congressional Black Caucus? Irrelevant. Maxine Waters? Shut> up. ACORN?
Outlawed. Black Panthers? Go home and pet your kitty. Black separatists? Find another nation that offers etter dreams. Go ahead. I'm waiting. Gangsta rappers? Start praising America . Begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. And please.no more ebonics. Speak English, and who knows where you might end up? Oh, yeah.pull up your pants. Your underwear is showing. You look stupid. To those Eurosnots who forged entire careers hating America. I'm still waiting for the first black French President. And let me offer an equal opportunity whupping. I've always despised lazy white people. Now, I can talk smack about lazy black people. You're poor because you quit school, did drugs, had three kids with three different fathers, and refuse to work. So when you plop your Colt 45-swilling, Oprah watchin' butt on the couch and complain "Da Man is keepin' me down," allow me to inform you: Da Man is now black. You have no excuses. No more quotas. No more handouts. No more stealing my money because someone's great-great-great-great grandparents suffered actual pain and misery at the hands of people I have no relation to, and personally revile. It's time to toss that massive, obsolete race-hustle machine upon the heap of the other stupid 60s ideas. Drag it over there, by wife swapping, next to dope-smoking. Plenty of room right between free love and cop-killing. Careful.don't trip on streaking. There ya go, don't be gentle. Just dump it. Wash your hands. It's filthy. In fact, Obama's ascension created a gargantuan irony. How can you sell class envy and American unfairness when you and your black wife went to Ivy League schools, got high-paying jobs, became millionaires, bought a mansion, and got elected President? How unfair is that??? Now, Like a delicious O'Henry tale, Obama's spread-the-wealth campaign rendered itself moot by it's own victory! America is officially a meritocracy. Obama's election has validated American conservatism!
So, listen carefully.Wham!!! That's the sound of my foot kicking the door shut on the era of white guilt. The rites have been muttered, the carcass lowered, dirt shoveled, and tombstone erected. White guilt is dead and buried. However, despite my glee, there's apparently one small, rabid bastion of American racism remaining. Black Americans voted 96% for Barak Obama. Hmmm. In a color-blind world, shouldn't that be 50-50? Tonight, every black person should ask forgiveness for their apparent racism and prejudice towards white people. Maybe it's time to start spreading the guilt around.