As I give thanks.....

On the eve of Thanksgiving, it is a day to think about all of the things I have to give thanks for. I am very blessed in my life.

I give thanks for my husband who is above all the best father and husband in the world.
I give thanks that I have 2 beautiful healthy daughters
I give thanks for the beautiful home that I am fortunate enough to live in
I give thanks for the food that we have to nourish us
I give thanks for my mother who is my best friend, confidant, and biggest fan
I give thank for dear friends
I give thanks that even during tough times, my business remains strong

Now the only thing is, how do you teach a 4 yr old....Julie said yesterday to me that she only gives thanks for one thing..."SANTA"

For the love of 4 yr olds.....

Okay well all I can say is that I am so tired of cleaning balls......

Okay get your mind out of the gutter. I mean little tiny bead balls that they stuff things with....Julie and her friend broke open this huge 4 ft dolphin and all the balls spilled out and then Julie thought it would be funny to make it look like it was snowing all over her room. Well about 2 hrs after I started to vacuum I think they were all gone. Then I get home last night and my husband tells me to come into Julie's room. While I was gone, the kids got a pair of scissors and Kaitlyn decided to cut up a neck pillow that had even littler balls in it, the went everywhere and stuck to everything....Julie was hiding under her covers and was quick to point out that Kaitlyn did it and when I asked Kaitlyn if she made the mess, she proudly said YES!!
So this morning I was at Gymnastics with Kaitlyn and I kept looking at her because her hair looked different. I couldn't quite place it, then it hit me...her bangs had been cut....it looked like she just had a horrible bang trim....and I asked her if she got her hair cut and she told me "Yes, Julie did it!"

Okay so I am addicted

So I admit it, I said I would never ever have my child play such a boring sport as soccer. The only thing is that when it is your child, it isn't boring, it is a blast and so exciting. I am a true soccer mom, so much so that my throat hurts after the game from yelling so much. Do I love it!!!The first game was last week and Julie got a patch for best goalie and today she scored her very 1st goal!!!!! I am SO PROUD.

Sept 11th...

I know what you are probably thinking that here is another story about 9/11...well yes and no. Sept 11th is bittersweet for me. I still remember when and what I was doing that morning when a friend called us very early to tell us to turn on the TV...then I remember being glued to the radio all day at work, as the whole nation stood still and know one knew what to do. This day is also the 3 year anniversary of when I had my miscarriage. I wish that it had not happened on 9/11 and on some other random day because then I know that I would forget the date when it happened but because the date was already significant, I can't. So I morn for the child that I lost that I will never know except in my heart. For the little baby who just couldn't hold on for some reason or another. Some of you might say that you shouldn't think about it anymore because it has been 3 years, but for anyone who has ever carried a child will know that you cant just forget. So I morn, I morn for all of those lost on Sept 11th at the Trade Center and all of the people affected by it, I morn for the little one that I lost, and I morn for all the others who have a hard time on this day.

On the other side of this equation I look at my 2 beautiful girls and think how lucky I am to have them. Also if I hadn't lost that baby, I wouldn't have Kaitlyn who I cant imagine life without. A lot of people try for years to have a child and it never happens, yet I have two healthy girls. My oldest is becoming such a big girl. Last Sunday I did a walk to cure kids cancer at Six Flags in Vallejo. I tried to convince friends and family to walk with me, but no one would complaining that it was to early or they would be too tired because it is Sunday. ARE YOU KIDDING ME...get off your high horse and think about all of the kids affected and families of the sick children. Why don't you tell them that it was to far to go...anyhow out of the blue, my little Angel Julie said, "I will go with you mom because I don't want you to have to walk alone"...I told her that we would have to be out of the house by 5:30 am and she told me that was okay she could go back to sleep on the car ride. I was so happy that in that fact she is becoming just like me. Feeling the true meaning of helping others even if it means being a little inconvenienced. Let me tell you, she got payed back tenfold. Since it was mostly adults walking, all the characters came out before and hung out, so she basically had unlimited access to all without having to compete with others, she danced with them, took pictures and had fun with all of them for about an hour. Then at the end she got to meet Candace Cameron from Full House(DJ Tanner) and although she didn't know who she was, she thought it was cool to take a picture with a "movie star". My heart felt great to know that my little girl had a great time while doing a great thing. Last but not least, it is a special day because it is my sister-in-laws birthday!!! Happy happy birthday, wish we were there!!

While we are on the topic already..

So to make our whole injury week even worse after our bee sting on Wed, Kaitlyn now has a bad infection in her leg. She has just kept getting scraps and cuts on her poor knees and the other day she got her knee and top of her ankle/foot at the same time. Yesterday I noticed a red rash like ring around both areas. This morning it was much bigger and her whole leg was swollen. So thankfully our doctor works on the weekend so off we went...now we are on a strong antibiotic that we were told tastes nasty...yeah that should be fun to give her tonight.

On a good note though, I think our two year old is a genius. We were sitting and eating dinner the other night and Julie was getting in trouble for something and so I started to count to 3...well I said 1, then Kaitlyn said 2,3,4,5. I think that I almost fell off my chair. I would have never guessed that she could do that. So I tried to go more and she can count to 10 all by herself...wow!!

I don't know who it hurts more..

So we decided today to take a day trip to the San Francisco Zoo...I know some say I am crazy especially since we had to be home by 5:30 to get ready for soccer and it is about a 3 hr drive. So we arrived a little after 11 which meant that we had a little over 3 hours before we had to head home. I know you think I am crazy too, but I have always wanted to go and I can convince no one to go with me so I said what the h..l. The kids were having a lot of fun, but in between the children's zoo and eating lunch and seeing a few birds we didn't have time for much else....So as we were just seeing some of the bears, Julie said that she once again had to go potty and she really had to go. So I put her in the stroller, Kaitlyn on my shoulders and there I was trying to run to the potty while pushing a 4 yr old in a stroller trying to push it with one hand and trying to hold onto Kaitlyn so that she didn't fall off my shoulders....thankfully we made it and I am sure all that saw me had a good laugh. So we were leaving the bathroom and walking to our next animal and Kaitlyn was being a typical 2 yr old, meandering behind us, picking flowers, touching everything, so I turned around to tell her to hurry up and she was grabbing a line divider poll. She all of a sudden gets a scared look on her face and keeps freaking out and then she starts screaming. I thought that she got her finger pinched in the roll up divider thing. But this was a cry much worse then that. So I ran over to her and looked at her finger only to find a stinger from a bee....all I can think of is she touched a bee on the pole and it stung her. Well I have never been stung, but those who have said it hurts like hell for like 2 hours. The people working in the restaurant brought us some ice which she let me put on it for like a minute. She was just screaming and crying and nothing I could do could comfort her. Poor Julie was so worried about her little sister and kept checking on her. Then she told me that she thinks that we should go home now. OF course we were on the far end of the zoo and had a long way to walk to the front. I was carrying a screaming toddler that kept saying boo boo and holding her hand since she got stung in the thumb and crying, I was trying to also push the stroller and help Julie. I got the stinger out but she was still screaming. So I called Adam and had him look online to see what to do. It said that it will hurt for at least 2 hrs and to put Ice(yeah right) so that it will keep swelling down and help with pain and to give Motrin. So I gave her Motrin and a double dose of Tylenol and was prepared for a very long car ride home, with a painful screaming toddler. I think it hurt me almost as bad as her. To have your child cry and know that there is nothing that you can do to make things better, it makes your heart hurt, you wish that you could just take the pain away somehow....She finally cried herself to sleep after about 30 minutes, only to wake up halfway through the ride home, crying and saying boo boo and holding her hand. Her hand was swollen and painful and thankfully she fell back asleep. Hopefully she wont have horrible memories of the zoo and we will be going back soon so that we can see the whole thing this time.

Do you believe???

Let me say that I have always been on the fence about all natural medicine and homeopathic fixes...I believe that in some cases it has sucess but in the back of my mind I also think that we have prescription drugs because the stuff in nature didnt work. So I guess I say that my thinking isif you combine it with a prescription maybe it will improve things yes, but on its own...I am not quite sure. Except for today when a miracle happend before my eyes and it was all in part to a homeopathic remedy....let me explain.

I was at a new clients house do a consult for pet sitting and we were going outside to look at the plants that needed taking care of also(she is a landscape designer). Well as we opened the door she became very upset because a small hummingbird had run into the plate glass window of her bonus house/room and was lying on the ground. We went out to see it and it was on deaths door. Being a vet tech, I didnt want to say it but the bird had no chance. It was laying on its side, eyes closed, beak flat against the ground, struggling for its last breath of life. It was very sad and we were both upset. She has put decals up on the window to try and deter the birds but she said it still happens. She was thinking what to do because she didnt want to leave it there and have her cat get it....the only good thing was that it looked like it had been knocked out so it probably no longer felt the pain...she then told me that she has some homeopathic medicine that she has used before and although she didn't think it was going to work on this bird because of the state he was in, she has seen birds get up and fly away before after receiving this...in the back of my mind ?I was thinking yeah right.....no way, and especially not on this bird. So she ran inside and came back outside with what looked like an eye drop bottle. She placed a small drop on the birds beak and then a few small drops on his back. Within seconds, he jumped up and fluttered a few steps and then sat on the ground....it was dazed but up....I couldn't believe it. Now I was thinking no what the heck are we going to do with a broken bird who cant fly and it we leave him here he will surely get eaten by the cats. He looked at us and he was so beautiful. Well we went along to leave the little bird to rest and check out the plants. When we came back about 5 minutes later he was still sitting in the same place. So we went closer and stood by him and talked to him...before we knew it, he took off flying over the roof and back to wherever like nothing had ever happened to him before...I asked her what she gave him and it was some drop made for animals that is used for trauma....WOW. I believe....