Look...

Look at these CUTE guys! Wow, how I love them!

Side note- look at my cute Grandma in the background with her cute little hat on and pedal pusher pants. I love her!

Pray For My Brother

I had to deliver very somber news to my brother today. His estranged wife passed away. How did I know before him? Well, I didnt. He had heard from a coworker who knows a friend who knows a friend. That friend told the other friend who told the coworker who told my brother that she was dead. Being the investigator that I am, I did some investigating online and found that it was true (He didnt believe it because of a really good reason, so he asked if I could go online and just see what I found). Well, very sadly she passed away. She passed away back in February of this year, but he did not find out until now.

When I saw it online I immediately called him. My brother never cries... NEVER. He started bawling. I felt so bad. He said "Even though we were estranged she was still me wife and I still love her". I started crying for him. Even though his wife and I did not get a long AT ALL, I still feel very sad for him. He is taking it hard. Please pray that God lifts his spirits.

She was 30 years old. He went to go talk to her parents today after I told him its true (Yes, her parents couldnt even call him to tell him when it happened, ughhhh). Her mom told him that her heart just suddenly stopped. For those of you that knew her, you probably know exactly why her heart stopped, but regardless, my brother is really mourning.

Please pray that he finds strength in the Lord and keeps his head up. I love you brother and I am here for you.

Its That Time...

Last night as I was sitting on the couch watching my husband type his school paper and my son play I started thinking about this time last year. What was I doing? For starters, I was four months pregnant. It is amazing how life just flies right by us. I remember thinking that around Christmas I will be six months pregnant and what will I look like then. I remember this is the time that I was DYING to find out if I was having a boy or girl. Stubborn Liam had his legs crossed and the sonographer couldnt tell. I had to wait until I was 25 weeks pregnant and even then they were not 100% sure. It was a guess.

I remember thinking what my life would be like this time next year, and here we are. My son is almost eight months old. About a week ago he finally started sitting up on his own without any support! GO LIAM! He is making progress crawling, however, he has not mastered it yet. All these thoughts about motherhood were flying through my head at this time.

I remember thinking about how scared of child birth I was. I must say, I was blessed with the easiest child birth ever! I remember thinking about Christmas gifts, what to get everyone, if I should get people gifts, or just learn to appreciate Christmas for what it really is! I remember thinking about how GOOD Thanksgiving dinner sounded. The turkey, ham, red chili, mashed potatoes, pumpking pie and of course green bean casserole (I am making myself hungry, YUMM).

I remember developing PUPPPS at this time in my pregnancy last year as well. I do not wish PUPPPS on my worst enemy.

So, I find myself thinking, again, about the all the Holidays coming up. This year my thoughts have turned... turned to why we even celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Over the years these two holidays have lost there meaning to a lot of people and all they think about is turkey and Christmas shopping. It makes my heart hurt. Thanksgiving should be a time of thanks. When we give thanks to the Lord for everything we have. Roofs over our heads, heat to heat our homes, food in our stomachs, good health and a family to love. It makes me so sad to think that people dont care anymore. Dont even get me started on Christmas- thats even worse. People care way to much about gifts. What gifts they or there kids are going to get. What gifts they are going to buy. I am making a vow this year. My vow at Christmas time is to NOT buy any gifts. I am going to celebrate Christmas for what it is- the birth of our Lord and Savior! OK I will by a gift for my Grandparents and my Son, Mom and Husband, but that  is it.

We really need to focus on why we REALLY celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. Rejoice and love Him!

Oh yeah, one more thing- only TWO MONTHS until we celebrate His birth!

Sidenote- Can anyone tell me where the heck the spell check button went???? They took it of blogger... I think.

One more sidenote- I am no longer sick, and NEITHER my Son or Husband got the H1N1 from me- WOOHOO!

SOOOOO SICK

I have been extremely ill since Monday evening. I am pretty sure I have the H1N1. My Dr. told me to NOT come in unless I need emergency help and to then call 911. He said that because I am not pregnant, over the age of 65 or an infant there is nothing they can do. His advice "get lots of rest and drink plenty of water". Isnt that what they ALWAYS say. Please pray that I start feeling better. This is the most sick I have been in years.

What The World Needs Now...

What the world needs now is less tears:

more toe sucking:

and more laughter:

$829 Billion

$829 Billion. That is the cost of the the new healthcare reform bill. It was passed today in congress by thirteen Democrats and one Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. It would require nearly everyone to obtain coverage, bar insurers from denying coverage because of preexisting conditions and make insurance plans easier to afford by providing lower-income consumers with financial help.

It would cost an estimated $829 billion over 10 years and be paid for by taxes, fees and reductions in Medicare costs. Yes I said it- MORE TAXES, MORE FEES AND A REDUCTION IN YOUR GRANDPARENTS MEDICARE BENEFITS. Thanks to Maine's Olympia Snowe, a moderate Republican, she said she backed the measure ``with reservations.''

Oh, and government mandated and provided health care is NOT the only possible solution, and not the best because historically (and today is no exception):


1. Bureaucracy has always been known to be expensive and restrictive, and no one has ever known it to be otherwise. Mandatory health care will be expensive and restrictive as well.

2. There is a laundry list of scandals readily available from countries that provide government provided health already. (A good example is Canada.)

3. A quick reminder that “The grass is always greener”. The sun doesn’t automatically shine when the Government dirties its hands the way the media portrays it.

4. Think about the vast history of government spending scandals, and then incidences where the government has been applauded for its frugal spending, which is more numerous? Is the answer significant?

5. “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time”: the press has the ability to create a temporary ‘mob mentality’ with people who don’t take the time to think through the problems themselves when they run away with an idea. Just because it sounds ‘humanitarian’ doesn’t make it so, good, or even the ‘right thing’.

6. Our country came to be precisely in order to limit government control and so prevent abuses by government imposed on its citizens. That has historically been the source of our countries greatness, and this bill is in direct contradiction to that rule.

7. Each of these points can be easily supported against attack, and there are many more strong arguments that can made concerning this bill.

A quick note: We Americans like change. “Change is good”, or so the adage says, right? But isn’t it more true that Change is neither good nor bad? Change can happen for better or for worse, and it takes a discerning eye to tell the difference between the two – not a passing glance at some text and trust in other’s opinions. You have to look at the stuff yourself, or risk adding to the problem.

Side note: Albuquerque is FINALLY going to get its own Hard Rock Casino and Hotel!!!! We are moving up in the world!!!!!

Third Time Is The Charm

I have come to the conclusion that the third time is NOT the charm. I love the balloon fiesta every year it rolls around here in Albuquerque. It is a huge event, and people from all over the world come to see. Every year I go... it never changes, same balloons, same atmosphere, but I still like to go. I prefer the balloon glows over the early morning balloon launches.

For the past three years I have made an attempt to see a balloon glow. The first two years it was way to windy, and we went and say absolutely nothing but a lot of people. This year I thought "ok, this is going to be the year, the weather is perfect and the third time is always the charm". NOT.

Thanks to Brianna we had FREE park entrance passes. The passes said "Balloon Chase Crew Gate Entrance". So we thought we would be smart and enter where the balloon chase crew people do. The guy told us that this pass only got us into the park, however, we had to park with the rest of the crowd. He was nice enought to let us park there anyway. We parked for free, and went inside the park for free. All the balloons went up. Next thing I knew the wind picked up and balloons were collapsing all over the place. Five minutes later there was no balloons standing. Glow was canceled. We went home.

A Mothers Intuition

"Mother's intuition" is more than a cliché. It's a powerful tool that can help  raise your baby. Moms know baby best, so they can be an especially astute judge when it comes to changes in our baby's condition.

As Benjamin Spock famously wrote in the first line of his classic 1946 book Baby and Child Care, "Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do." If you feel something's not quite right about your baby's health, development, or general well-being, don't be too quick to dismiss such feelings. Many a parent has been ahead of the medical community in detecting the first signs of a problem, whether it's the beginnings of an illness even before fever appears or the presence of an undiagnosed disorder that's causing behavioral changes or a developmental delay.

Don't worry if you make mistakes or suspect a problem when there isn't one once in a while — everyone does. Between recognizing gut feelings and learning from experience, we figure out how to do what's right for our baby .Almost every mom will tell you that she has a special sense about knowing what is right for her child and family. Some believe that moms have a bond so strong with their children that they have an intuitive way of knowing when their children are at risk.


Unfortunately, many mothers have been trained to ignore this voice, trusting that surely educational experts and child psychologists know more and better than we do. While I believe it is possible to gain a wealth of knowledge from the experts, I don't think that anyone is more likely to love a child as much as the child's mother. And in this way, the parent is uniquely qualified to be the expert on what is best for their child.


As moms, we need to reclaim our special unique ability, our women's intuition, when it comes to our children and family. When it comes to our kids, listening to our heart instead of the opinions of well-meaning outsiders. More often than not, we can save the day for our young ones. And even when the victories are minor, we are still the heroes of our young children

Wigs

Halloween is such a fun time of year. It is a time for children to dress up as ghosts, goblins and fairies. Its a time for adults to get together and dress up as children. This halloween however, is going to be the most fun halloween ever, because of my 7 month old son. Because of great family, I had the opportunity to put my chubby cheak baby in a wig.

Wigs bring out another personality in everyone. We can be rock starts, hippies and impersonators. We can dance around the living room and sing silly songs. I found myself wondering what my 7 month old thought about this wig. Did he even notice he added half a pound of hair to his head, or that he had curly hair draping down his shoulders? Probably not, but it sure was fun for me.

Then his mommy put on a wig. Silly girl- I then tranformed into another person. If only I would've captured my sons face when he first realized it was me under all that crazy curly hair. He looked confused like "crazy hair, what did you do with my mommy?" Then he let out a little chuckle. Wigs can give laughter to even the youngest souls.

Wonder how he is going to react on halloween. By the way- he will be a dragon- so no wig required for his costume. Or maybe he should be a cabbage patch kid. Hmmmmm...


His daddy also particpated in the wig fun...

Gone Too Far

Adam Goldstein AKA DJ AM 1973-2009

As you all know, DJ AM was the most famous DJ in the world. Sadly, in August he was found dead in his NY apartment from an apparent drug overdose. Nobody knew he had relapsed on this drug addiction that he once overcame.

The New York City Medical Examiner has said the cause of death is "acute intoxication" due to the combined effects of cocaine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, Ativan, Klonopin, Xanax, Benadryl and cocain.

Adam was born in Pennsylvania to a Jewish family. As a child, his father verbally abused him. His father abused drugs and was secretly a homosexual. His father was sent to jail for committing bank fraud and later died from AIDS. Adam began taking drugs, so his mother placed him in a treatment center that specialized in “tough love”.

When Adam was 20 years old, he started deejaying, which he'd been obsessed with since seeing Herbie Hancock do the song “Rockit” at the Grammy Awards. During his early 20s, he also battled a drug addiction, specifically to crack cocaine. At one point, he attempted suicide but was unsuccessful when the gun did not go off.Shortly thereafter, he became sober, began attending AA meetings and dedicated himself to working as a DJ. He also distanced himself from friends who were still using drugs, which aided in his recovery. At this point he began booking jobs at every major club and had started to gain a following. He lost more than 60 pounds and began Deejaying for celebrity parties and night clubs. After getting clean, DJ AM was sober for more than 11 years and was held up as a positive example for the recovery process.

He was also a co-owner of the popular club LAX. In 2009, DJ AM became Rain Nightclub's regular Friday night DJ at the Palms Resort & Casino. He had a record deal with Interscope, and had partnered with Travis Barker (Blink 182) to perform a live DJing/drumming set. TRVSDJAM performed about once a month at sponsored events, clubs and concerts. Their act involved mixing live drum beats to scratched records, as they performed side by side. DJ AM had evolved into a prominent brand. He was a partner in a DJing company, as well as the music director for the website doppelganger.com. T-Mobile/sidekick also created a limited edition sidekick featuring him and the artwork of tattoo artist Mr. Cartoon. In Sept 2008 DJ AM and Travis Barker were in a plane crash that killed four people on board. They were the only two survivors. DJ AM had been prescribed medication for pain and post traumatic stress after surviving the Learjet crash. Travis Barker stated "He struggled with pain after the crash,But it seemed like he was functioning fine and never missed work." Sources have speculated that the cause of death may have been a result of a drug overdose, other sources speculate that it was a suicide.Drug paraphernalia, including a crack pipe and a half a bag of crack cocaine, were found in the apartment, but no signs of foul play. Reports indicate that DJ AM was found with nine OxyContin pills in his body.

Before his untimely death DJ AM was in the works of making a TV documentary called "Gone Too Far". MTV is going ahead with plans to air the late DJ AM's "Gone too Far" documentary series, in which he and concerned families staged interventions for young drug abusers, with the first episode set to air Monday.

An Army Soldier

I hope the picture touches you - of this Army soldier in Iraq with his tiny 'plot' of grass in front of his tent. It's heartwarming!

Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq , stationed in a big sand box. He asked his wife to send him dirt ( U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.
If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted.

Upon reading this, say a little prayer for our soldiers that give and give (and give up) so unselfishly for us.

Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us,
Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need.
In Jesus' name, Amen

Really Missing Him Today

Some days are good and some days are really bad. I miss him a lot today. I have struggled the last three years with all of this. I would never tell him that I struggle. He has enough on his shoulders. When I first found out he was going to prison for 20 years I was so heart broken. It was like loosing someone. I cried for days and days. I couldn't gain composure. Then I talked to some very close family and friends about it. One person in particular, Brianna, really helped me through the initial shock of it all. I love you Bri, thank you for always being there.


His lawyer is coming to see him in a few weeks. Once he signs all the filings they are going to file a mistrial. It could go two ways- 1. the judge could realize he was misrepresented and do a whole new trial or 2. the judge could see that he was not misrepresented and give him his full sentence. The longest term he could have got initially was 40 years. He received 20. He truly, truly, truly was misrepresented, and since what he did is such a new crime the system is trying to make an example out of him. He does not deserve twenty years. I am not trying to say that he didn't do anything, because he did, and he does need to serve time for the crime, but not twenty years.

(this is when I went to go see him in prison in 2008, this was also the last time I saw him)


In the end of October I will be emailing all my followers in Christ to help me storm the heaven with prayer. I believe prayer heals. He has found Christ, and I hope my life can exemplify his one day. I pray he gets out soon. Please Lord. I really miss him.