the dripping faucett: So It Ends.......

Well I have had a lot going on lately been busy with the girls during the summer tried to fit some of the fun stuff in before school, which we did manage; went to the zoo and as like a last fun thing of the summer, took the girls to Celebration Station with their mom. It was fun and would have been more if it hadn't rained. :) That's ok, we'll go again. Anyway, pretty much right after my last blog we lost our dear friend Anna to cancer and about a month later my dear friend Terri lost her father in law to cancer! It just makes you realize how real this disease is! It also makes you treasure life and those people you have in it! It just makes it so hard for those people left behind! August was also the anniversary of Lynlee's passing, so I've definitely been thinking about life a lot!
Well, I also have my 10 year high school reunion coming up and I've really been looking back at my life and where I've been and where I am now; the choices I've made and should have made. I've really been thinking a lot lately with the funerals and the reunion coming up, you can't help but think about things! I've had my moments in the past where I've questioned, am I where I should be in everything, who I married my career choices, etc., and just to show you how amazing God can be He steps in and assures me that I have made the right choices; maybe they were bad choices at the time or not a choice someone else would have made or even choices I regret immediately or later; they are still the right choices because they got me here with the best husband and most precious daughter! I wouldn't trade them for the world! Of course I might have changed some things a little but only if it got me where I am today. :) I don't know if that makes any kind of sense, but it does to me. :)
I know Jason has probably been doing a lot of thinking as well with Anna being the wife of one of his good friends and maybe I'll talk him into blogging about it; we'll see. He has been pretty busy at work as usual, which is good. He has been doing good keeping up with his friends keeping in touch checking in on Jon and being the great person he is.
Madison has been growing (too much)! She's walking better almost running sometimes. She definitely knows when to run; like when Mommy has a diaper in her hand or is coming to get her to take her back inside, etc. She has also learned how to use her lungs, that's what cousins are for to teach the good and bad! :) It also cracks me up because she has learned how to let you know if she doesn't want you to pick her up or mess with her and despite the fact that it is a bit of a scream Kyleigh and Katelynn still try picking her up even if she screams in their ear. I guess they adore her so much they cannot resist! I totally understand that, but I do get tired of hearing her scream! I really just wish she could unlearn the screaming! :) I do love that she is learning more words and I'm sure part of it is because of her cousins so that goes with the cousins teaching good and bad! She can say 'Clo-Clo' for Chloe our little dog, she says "mon" for Come on, the other day I'm pretty sure she said Ashley! She says 'bite' and I think some form of outside. She definitely understands a lot as well. She knows if we ask her if she wants to eat she goes up to her high chair and on occasion I can get her to do the sign for it as well. She says 'hi' and 'bye' and today she was saying bye-bye and waving! She has definitely learned 'mine'! She pronounces it very well. The funny thing behind that is she learned it from Seasame Street. :) They had an episode where everyone got "minitis" and Oscar the Grouch had to share so to older kids the concept is to share. Madi just picked up the 'mine' part and of course after the episode Kyleigh and Katelynn were walking around doing the 'mine' thing as well so I think that just encouraged Madi. It's not a big deal yet b/c I don't think she fully understands the concept and does share (sometimes) at play dates, so I'm not worried yet; I'm just trying to encourage the sharing concept as much as I can. :) She's been a busy bee for sure! She also got a new wagon from Aunt Granny which she loves and sometimes loves it so much it stresses out Mommy and Daddy! :) But she loves it and that is what is important! We could walk around the complex all day pulling her in that thing and she would be so content! It's when she plays with it inside that makes it so hard b/c she wants to go outside or gets frustrated about something and we can't always help her which just makes it worse. I try to distract her and that only works so many times. :) She is getting big and I don't want her to! I keep telling her to stop growing but it doesn't work. :) On that note; this past week Kyleigh and Katelynn started school on Katelynn's birthday none-the-less! She is 6 now and I just can't believe it! They are all growing up so fast! In the next few months all my neices will be a year older; Kyleigh will be 8 and Bella will be 4! It goes by way too fast! Before we know it they'll all be driving! Ugh! Where is the mechanism that stops time for just a little bit! Even better how do we get to never-never land?! (Not Michael Jackson's ranch, lol)! It's one thing to realize how old they are getting by their birthdays but when they use words like 'literally' and understand what they are saying you really can't believe it!
It has been interesting also because being in the apartment we are in we really like where it is because it's right by the courtyard where Madi can walk around and the dogs have some freedom (sort of) and it's close to one of the pools. Plus we love some of our neighbors. Well, being that we are friendly with our neighbors the one above us has a little girl a few months younger than Madison that if we are out about the same time they get to play. Well, first of all when we moved in the lady giving us our keys (and as she was handing them to us) told us that for some reason this building was not built with the washer/dryer connections. Which irritated me b/c if we'd known that ahead of time we would have looked into a different apartment. We talked about it after the first month or so, which at that time I didn't feel like repacking everything so I passed at that. Well, around that time I was in the bathroom or Madison's room and could have sword I heard a dryer above us. I thought surely not; it couldn't be. It is such a distinctive sound, and I kept meaning to ask and never got to it. Well the other night I was out talking to the neighbor that lives across the way from my upstairs neighbor in a 2 bed 2 bath (we have a 2bd 1bth). Well, somehow we got to talking about the apartments and I asked her if our upstairs neighbor had a w/d (because they're friends) and she said she did. I told her what we were told, etc and she was shocked. We concluded I need to call the office, and I plan on it; I don't know what solution I'm looking for from it, but we shall see. Well it was pretty neat too b/c this neighbor in the 2bd 2bth offered to show me her apt b/c I was curious how it was laid out by looking at the outside. It gave me a good idea and if for some reason we stayed here it might be a possibility to move to that (would have been really handy this summer w/ the girls)! Although I am hoping we'll move to a house when our year is up. :) Anyway, long story sorry, just wanted to share that b/c I was pretty shocked to find it out!
Well, aside from all that I have been busy with my sewing and stuff! I've been putting together some stuff for our friends that are about to have a baby; finished a nursing cape for our friends that had their baby a month ago and a bunch of other things! I will include pictures of course! :) I have been busy and happy that I made time because I really do enjoy it! I'm hoping that now that the girls are in school I may have a little more time getting stuff put together so I can sell it! I always get such good responses from the pictures I post, so I know it would probably go well! I also used to do bead bracelets in the past and gave it up because the beads were so little and frankly I didn't have time; I haven't really picked it back up; but after Anna passed I did wear the arm band she had given me for Ovarian cancer awareness and after wearing it awhile I decided I don't like wearing those because it makes it hard when you sweat. :) So I decided to go to WalMart and see what I could find. Well lucky for me they have beads already on the strand that you can just add your clasp or whatever you want add to it. Well I just bought some of those in the appropriate color to wear instead and it worked out nicely; plus then I don't have tiny beads to keep away from Madison! Well when Terri's father-in-law passed I went and got one in the appropriate color and decided that I would get one for Laci and Tony's little girls too and couldn't find dark purple for the March of Dimes color found a really nice bracelet with purple and pink beads which worked out so purple for one girl and pink for the other and had enough of the strand left over to make one for Laci!
Alright, I think this blog is long enough for now. :) I will add a few pics so enjoy! Thanks for reading. :) Take care!