Well, technically, one little Pumpkin, one little Pirate, and one little Duck...
Happy Halloween Y'all!
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Oh Happy Day!
Lawdamercy! I can breath again!!
After 21 days of feeling like my head was going to bust wide open every time I bent over, the wretchedness has passed. My apologies go out to anybody who crossed my path over the last three weeks. I know I tried to throw everyone off with the whole putting on a happy face deal last week, but I am completely aware that I have been a real pain in the you know where to deal with these past three weeks.
Whew! Good thing I am such a joy to be around the rest of the time. (Ha. Ha. Ha.)
Other things making me smile today...
-Starbucks hot chocolate in a festive holiday cup
-The fact that it is almost time to legitimately listen to holiday music (what I consider the legitimate time to listen to holiday music is probably about a month sooner than most of the listening public, but c'mon people, it's the most wonderful time of the year for a reason)
- This kid, who is celebrating "Spirit" week at school. Honestly. Today is "Wild and Wacky" day (hence the crazy tights etc.) Tomorrow she has to be a farmer. I am trying to decide if I can scrape her hair back into teeny tiny pigtails.
After 21 days of feeling like my head was going to bust wide open every time I bent over, the wretchedness has passed. My apologies go out to anybody who crossed my path over the last three weeks. I know I tried to throw everyone off with the whole putting on a happy face deal last week, but I am completely aware that I have been a real pain in the you know where to deal with these past three weeks.
Whew! Good thing I am such a joy to be around the rest of the time. (Ha. Ha. Ha.)
Other things making me smile today...
-Starbucks hot chocolate in a festive holiday cup
-The fact that it is almost time to legitimately listen to holiday music (what I consider the legitimate time to listen to holiday music is probably about a month sooner than most of the listening public, but c'mon people, it's the most wonderful time of the year for a reason)
- This kid, who is celebrating "Spirit" week at school. Honestly. Today is "Wild and Wacky" day (hence the crazy tights etc.) Tomorrow she has to be a farmer. I am trying to decide if I can scrape her hair back into teeny tiny pigtails.
She's Wacky, She's Wild!
- Halloween. Last night we carved our pumpkins. Correction- Parke carved our pumpkins and Gracie and I watched. Gracie is having a "Halloween party" tonight (i.e. Some of our friends in the neighborhood are bringing their babies over so we can take pictures of the kids in their costumes, hopefully before one or all of them has a meltdown). This time last year, while I was full of Gracie and hope, I still wasn't sure I was ever going to be able to take part in the magic of having kids at the holidays...this year I am taking full advantage.
SUPER BABY (and Daddy)
- The cooler weather. Normally, I am a tan-loving, beach-going girl. But this year I didn't get much beach time in (for a well worth it reason), so this sweater weather goes much better with my vaguely green complexion. Also, wind blown = rosy cheeks= homemade blush.
- Did I mention that I feel better? Seriously, I am a terrible sick person. It makes me weepy, and I hate being weepy. Just glad to feel like pale, tacky child toting, holiday lovin' me again.
Oh Happy Day!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Put on a Happy Face
I admit, I've been having a little pity party the past week or so.
A combination of a tough time of year, a two week cold, a baby with an ear infection, a bunch of rejection letters, and a bit of an identity crisis pity party.
So where do you turn during such a time? Well, yeah, I mean first and best answer-God, the Bible, etc. Let's just say that's a given.
But recently my second favorite place for a pick-me-up...Pinterest.
So without further ado, wisdom from the fabulous world of Pinterest, based on a board I've named "Put on a Happy Face"
"Just because something isn't happening for your right now doesn't mean that it will never happen"
"Keep your head, heels, and standards high"
"Your children will become who you are; so be who you want them to be."
"People who love to eat are always the best people"
"You're prettiest when you're happy"
"Keep calm and WRITE something"
"REALLY GOOD STUFF IS COMING"
"You're a human being you live once and life is wonderful so eat the damn red velvet cupcake" Emma Stone
"I've seen miracle just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new...that's what faith can do"
"The stronger you are the better you feel"
"All they can say is no or hell no"
"Nothing worth having comes easy"
"She believed she could so she did"
"I'm not bossy I just know what you should be doing"
"It always seems impossible until it is done"
"Faith in God includes Faith in His Timing"
"Have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it?"
"Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together" Elizabeth Taylor
My face feels happier already!!
A combination of a tough time of year, a two week cold, a baby with an ear infection, a bunch of rejection letters, and a bit of an identity crisis pity party.
So where do you turn during such a time? Well, yeah, I mean first and best answer-God, the Bible, etc. Let's just say that's a given.
But recently my second favorite place for a pick-me-up...Pinterest.
So without further ado, wisdom from the fabulous world of Pinterest, based on a board I've named "Put on a Happy Face"
"Just because something isn't happening for your right now doesn't mean that it will never happen"
"Keep your head, heels, and standards high"
"Your children will become who you are; so be who you want them to be."
"People who love to eat are always the best people"
"You're prettiest when you're happy"
"Keep calm and WRITE something"
"REALLY GOOD STUFF IS COMING"
"You're a human being you live once and life is wonderful so eat the damn red velvet cupcake" Emma Stone
"I've seen miracle just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new...that's what faith can do"
"The stronger you are the better you feel"
"All they can say is no or hell no"
"Nothing worth having comes easy"
"She believed she could so she did"
"I'm not bossy I just know what you should be doing"
"It always seems impossible until it is done"
"Faith in God includes Faith in His Timing"
"Have you prayed about it as much as you've talked about it?"
"Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick and pull yourself together" Elizabeth Taylor
My face feels happier already!!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
She's Gonna Be Just Fine
As a Mama, I think you always worry about how your child is going to turn out. All of the sudden you are given this little person and tasked with making sure that they know how to make it through all of life's ups and downs...I mean, sometimes I am not even really confident distinguishing my right from my left so this is a daunting task to say the least.
The other morning, Gracie played her first joke on me. Keep in mind, she is nine months old so it is not like this is something that will have you rolling on the floor, but I was so proud and most of all relieved.
Every morning when I pick the girl out of her crib, I lean my face very close to hers and she gets a big kick out of it and we laugh and move on to other important things (like her first "ba ba" of the day). That morning I was mindlessly fixing said bottle when I noticed I tiny little head making its way towards mine. She leaned in close, touched my forehead, and threw her head back and laughed and laughed. The look on her face made me laugh out loud, she was just so pleased to have sneaked up on me.
I was just so pleased to see my baby had a sense of humor. See, I can and will try as hard as I can to teach Gracie what is important about life. I will teach her to trust God and her faith. I will teach her to count on her family, that her Daddy and I will always love her no matter what. I will teach her to find good friends and hold on to them, they will be there when she needs them most. But I am not sure that you can teach someone to have a sense of humor...and I honestly don't know what you do without it.
Even on the very worst days of my life, I have laughed and those laughs have fed my soul. I am not sure that on those days I could have seen the purpose of life without laughter.
So, seeing that baby girl with her head thrown back and a twinkle in her eye, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. She may not always be able to tell her right from her left, but she's gonna be just fine.
The other morning, Gracie played her first joke on me. Keep in mind, she is nine months old so it is not like this is something that will have you rolling on the floor, but I was so proud and most of all relieved.
Every morning when I pick the girl out of her crib, I lean my face very close to hers and she gets a big kick out of it and we laugh and move on to other important things (like her first "ba ba" of the day). That morning I was mindlessly fixing said bottle when I noticed I tiny little head making its way towards mine. She leaned in close, touched my forehead, and threw her head back and laughed and laughed. The look on her face made me laugh out loud, she was just so pleased to have sneaked up on me.
I was just so pleased to see my baby had a sense of humor. See, I can and will try as hard as I can to teach Gracie what is important about life. I will teach her to trust God and her faith. I will teach her to count on her family, that her Daddy and I will always love her no matter what. I will teach her to find good friends and hold on to them, they will be there when she needs them most. But I am not sure that you can teach someone to have a sense of humor...and I honestly don't know what you do without it.
Even on the very worst days of my life, I have laughed and those laughs have fed my soul. I am not sure that on those days I could have seen the purpose of life without laughter.
So, seeing that baby girl with her head thrown back and a twinkle in her eye, I breathed a deep sigh of relief. She may not always be able to tell her right from her left, but she's gonna be just fine.
My little jokester
Monday, October 15, 2012
Let Him Shine
Today, October 15th, is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. At 7:00 tonight, anyone who has lost a baby or knows someone who has is asked to light a candle and keep it burning for at least an hour in their memory.
We will be lighting a candle for Rip tonight, and would love for you to do the same for Rip or for another baby who has touched your heart. As always, our candle will be lit in celebration of his life. Rip brought light into our lives and our goal on this earth is to let him shine.
Much love,
Anne
We will be lighting a candle for Rip tonight, and would love for you to do the same for Rip or for another baby who has touched your heart. As always, our candle will be lit in celebration of his life. Rip brought light into our lives and our goal on this earth is to let him shine.
Much love,
Anne
Thursday, October 11, 2012
See, that's where you are wrong
I tell you what, if you want to be humbled (and who doesn't love a good humbling?), write a book.
I feel like running out and writing a letter to every author I've ever read, much less loved, and thanking them a million times over for the hard work they put into getting that book published. I had NO idea.
See, I made up this arbitrary goal in my head that I would send out as many query letters and proposals as I could before Rip's birthday this year. So far I've sent around 40. For what it's worth, I like sending out proposals a lot more than sending out query letters. To me, a query letter is kind of like showing someone your hand and asking them if they think you are attractive...which is great if you were lucky enough to be born with long fingers and have the time to run out and get manicures, but if you are like me and have a tendency towards man hands and usually have some kind of gunk under your nails...well, you get the idea.
So to this point I've gotten about ten rejections, all of which have been fairly nice and some really helpful. But the other night I got one that wasn't. The overall tone of the letter was so condescending I could practically feel her patting my head through the entire thing. Basically, she said there were a million books on grief and nobody was going to benefit from reading my crummy little story. That everybody grieves in their own way and my talking about what helped me was helping nobody but myself. That you can't help someone else survive.
I've got to admit, it threw me for a few days. Rejection isn't my favorite (as if it is someone else's), but I really started to think that maybe she was right. I mean, everyone does grieve differently. My story is my own, I can't tell someone else's story, I don't know how to tell someone else to get through their loss.
I stopped sending queries and proposals, decided it wasn't meant to be.
But see, the first line of her response was "I've never lost a child".
She is right, there are a million books on grief. She is right, everyone grieves in their own way. But as for helping someone else survive, see lady, that's where you are wrong.
After we lost Rip I needed someone to tell me how to get through the days, weeks, and months that followed. There could have been 500 books on grief, but if they had to do with losing a child and finding hope and strength and love and laughter...I would have ready every single one of them. Because knowing that one person can do it means that just maybe you can too, and if more than one person can do it, all the better.
So, today I send out three more queries, gunky fingernails and all.
I feel like running out and writing a letter to every author I've ever read, much less loved, and thanking them a million times over for the hard work they put into getting that book published. I had NO idea.
See, I made up this arbitrary goal in my head that I would send out as many query letters and proposals as I could before Rip's birthday this year. So far I've sent around 40. For what it's worth, I like sending out proposals a lot more than sending out query letters. To me, a query letter is kind of like showing someone your hand and asking them if they think you are attractive...which is great if you were lucky enough to be born with long fingers and have the time to run out and get manicures, but if you are like me and have a tendency towards man hands and usually have some kind of gunk under your nails...well, you get the idea.
So to this point I've gotten about ten rejections, all of which have been fairly nice and some really helpful. But the other night I got one that wasn't. The overall tone of the letter was so condescending I could practically feel her patting my head through the entire thing. Basically, she said there were a million books on grief and nobody was going to benefit from reading my crummy little story. That everybody grieves in their own way and my talking about what helped me was helping nobody but myself. That you can't help someone else survive.
I've got to admit, it threw me for a few days. Rejection isn't my favorite (as if it is someone else's), but I really started to think that maybe she was right. I mean, everyone does grieve differently. My story is my own, I can't tell someone else's story, I don't know how to tell someone else to get through their loss.
I stopped sending queries and proposals, decided it wasn't meant to be.
But see, the first line of her response was "I've never lost a child".
She is right, there are a million books on grief. She is right, everyone grieves in their own way. But as for helping someone else survive, see lady, that's where you are wrong.
After we lost Rip I needed someone to tell me how to get through the days, weeks, and months that followed. There could have been 500 books on grief, but if they had to do with losing a child and finding hope and strength and love and laughter...I would have ready every single one of them. Because knowing that one person can do it means that just maybe you can too, and if more than one person can do it, all the better.
So, today I send out three more queries, gunky fingernails and all.
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