Her Story:Emily

The blogging world has been pretty much awesome to me.

I've met so many people.

Amazing people. People who have become my real life friends.

Em is one of them.

I've shared the good, bad, and ugly with this chick.

And I love that she can laugh with me, be frustrated with me, and have real conversations with me.

Today she'll be sharing a little part of what has helped her grow as a woman.

Go on. Get to know her.

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Hi soon to be friends!! {too presumptuous?} I’m the cool, the awesome, the neato bonito Emily at Amazing Grapes. {too confident?} Its like calling an ass a donkey. Its no less an ass when calling it a donkey but it just sounds better.

yep, there I am

I’ve had so many defining moments in my life that have molded me into the woman I am now. Like being called every name in the book including “Olive Oil” while working 6 years in 3 separate men’s prisons. Which, I get it..you’re in prison..you use big mean cuss words. But Olive Oil?! Them be fightin’ words! And don’t even think about making the Popeye sound. It’ll be on like donkey kong!

There’s also the time I played a ton of sports. …in high school and college that gives me my athletic side. But seriously! I’m 30 years old. At some point I have to stop reliving the glory days like the uncle in Napoleon Dynamite and tell myself, ‘self, you haven’t played a sport in 10 years.’

Of course I can’t go without mentioning my relationship. A fine relationship, if I do say so myself. And I do…say so, that is. 4 years now and I can’t even begin to tell you how much I’ve learned and grown (through trials and errors). From virtual day one, it’s been long distance. That takes a lot of trust and communication, by the way. Communication that I didn’t have until 2 years into the relationship. But we’re great and fantastic and I just love that man something fierce.

But if I pinpointed what has really defined me as the independent “confident” woman I am today, its living alone. Weird, right? I officially moved out at 21. On my own, in a new city, new state, new roommate, who by all accounts could have been a crazy person. Thank the Lord she wasn't, completely.

Since then, I’ve moved countless times and had countless roommates over the years, but being able to establish my own home, my own way and learn responsibility, independence and the ability to take care of myself has done wonders for me. And I encourage every single woman to do the same at least for a year before getting married. It establishes you in a way you can’t get anywhere else. You get to know yourself more when you live alone. There’s no one to depend on but you! It might be scary and intimidating to think about having your own place with all the bills and no one to kill the spiders or roaches or answer your door when its dark outside and you see the silhouette of a man standing there, but you’ll be amazed at the things you can do that you thought you couldn’t, when you live alone. I highly recommend it!

some of my many homes..you can see how my couches and tv’s have evolved over the years.

So, did you live alone before you married? Or are you living alone now? Have you noticed a change in yourself from living on your own?

Thankful times

The whole entire week I had my fingers crossed that I wouldn't have to work on Thanksgiving.

By Wednesday night I was getting all kinds of anxious about the possibility of getting called off on Thursday.

And then the much awaited "You're on standby" phone call came the next morning, and my food celebration begun.

As soon as they called at 5:30am, I jumped out of bed and went to get groceries.

Well, I peed and brushed my teeth first, for those of you who want to be particular about it.

'Cause those two things are morning essentials, you know.

But still, I was out of the house before the early six am hours.

All for the sake of food.

I may need to have "Get in ma belly" tattooed on my ever growing hips.

But we'll cover that topic some other time.

So... the overall summery of the Thanksgiving 2011 story is that it was a pretty good one.

With lots of yummy food and only minimal drama.

And I gotta say, that the only good things that comes out of family not getting along is that you get to have Thanksgiving times two.

Which pretty much means twice as much food for me.

What can I say, I work with what I'm given.

Other than that we did the normal Thanksgiving-ish things.

And I like normal.

Most days.

We filled our bellies with yummy food.

And some of us even walked it off.

For a couple of hours.

That my friends, takes dedication.

Both for the toddler doing the walking...

And for the mother who is tying to prevent the toddler from walking into the walls.

We smiled for the camera...

Had a great old time hearing laughs and giggles from a very excited little girl...

Learned how to fly...

But most importantly we were thankful for this year's newest addition to all this Thanksgiving fun.

Happy Monday Friends!

Blessings in disguise

Can't believe it's Thanksgiving tomorrow.

Again.

Is it just me, or did this year pass right by?

I think having an almost 1year old will do that to you...

Get you all senile and make you feel like you just had her yesterday.

Gosh, am I ever thankful for that almost one year old.

She makes it so darn easy to be thankful for her, too.

Giada and I just a few hours after her birth.

Speaking of being thankful.

I think it's so easy to forget about the things that we need to be grateful for.

But it's even easier to forget about the things we felt were inconveniences, or caused us heartache, when in actuality they were blessings in disguise.

Today I would like to take a moment and give those blessings in disguise their 15 minutes of fame.

I'm thankful for the fact that I came to this country, even though when I left my mother land 11years ago I cried for months until my eyes looked like puff bags.

In case you were wondering, being a non-english speaking teenager in a foreign land, is no fun.

At all.

But it has taught me so much about hard work, and dedication, and pushing myself farther.

And then that hard work has paid off, because living here has opened the door for so many other opportunities.

I love the life I'm living.

And as silly as it sounds,

I know a lot of it has to do with my geographical location.

For that, I am thankful.

I'm thankful that my mom pushed me to the point of heavy annoyance when I wanted to give up breastfeeding SO many times in the beginning.

Then, her 'keep on going' advice, was unbearable torture on my very sore boobs.

Now, I am so very thankful for the many special moments Giada and I were able to share.

It's something that only her and I will ever be able to experience, and it's the sweetest thing.

I am thankful for (some) unanswered prayers.

I'm thankful that I serve a God who outsmarts me by a long shot, and that he knows what's best for me, before I do.

I am thankful for a broken heart.

I didn't see it then, but...

I am glad God did not allow the relationship I thought was 'the one,' to be 'the one.'

Because instead of 1/2 year of heartache, I would have had an entire life of pain, broken dreams, unkept promises, and bitter tears.

That being said, I'm thankful for the fact that I gave Brandon a chance.

He was not supposed to be 'the one.'

But he is. He is so THE ONE.

Brandon and I at our first banquet shortly after we started dating.

Yes, we were babies.

I'm thankful for growing up in a very conservative church.

Because now that I know my God is not nearly as legalistic and uptight as I was told?

Has made me fall in love with Him so much more.

I hope that in this season of Thanksgiving you'll be able to count your blessings.

Big or small, I hope you can find something to be thankful for.

"Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, His love endures forever."

Psalms 107:1

Her Story: Megan

Hi y'all.

I've got a pretty fabulous lady sharing her story today.

This sweet thing? She can be any girl's best friend.

And I love that about her welcoming and loving personality.

Also, her humble attitude and love for Jesus makes me want to be a better person.

Get to know her. You won't regret it.

Say 'Hello' to Megan.

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Hi there, y'all! My name is Megan and I write about life over at Mackey Madness.

picture via Brandon O'Neal Photography

When Tatiana asked me to guest post for her beautiful series on women, I was SO honored...and a little (or a lot) nervous, too! Sometimes it's hard to admit things that we did wrong or mistakes that we made in life, but it's so good to share with others sometimes so that we can help them, gain support, and move forward.

The story that I'm sharing today starts in college. I went to a Christian college and I didn't drink or party. Right off the bat, I met a guy. Isn't that how most stories start? ; ) He was super athletic, sarcastic, cute, and really sweet...and I was a freshman in college and I fell fast and hard. We dated our entire first year of college and things were great. Until the day that I found out that he had been lying to me the whole time and partying and drinking behind my back.

I was devastated and we broke up. I told him that we were done, but he cried, apologized, and blubbered enough that I gave him another chance. He promised to change. And I believed him. As we continued to date, I really thought that he had changed. I prayed about our relationship constantly and asked God to take my feelings for him away if we weren't supposed to be together. I would hear rumors here and there about things that he was doing when we weren't together. Sometimes they were bad enough to make me break up with him, sometimes I just ignored them. I told myself that we could make it work because he never cheated on me, just lied about drinking, etc. Sometimes I felt God telling me that we weren't meant to be together, but I ignored it.

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We continued to date for the next 3 years. We had too many dramatic breakups to count, yet we never dated anyone else. We always got right back together. After so many years together, I couldn't imagine a future without him, regardless of the things that he was doing. He told me that I would never find anyone that would love me as much as he did...and I believed him. I believed that he loved me. I believed that "one day he would change." I still prayed about our relationship, but my prayers had changed. I prayed that he would grow to know the Lord, but I prayed it selfishly so that we could stay together, not for his heart and salvation.

I graduated college a year before him (because he got suspended for drinking, which wasn't allowed on our Christian college campus) and moved about two hours away to start my nursing career. We continued to date his final year at college. Being away from him and having a lot of time to myself, I began to see that the things that he had once kept secret from me were now done right in front of me. Instead of me changing him for the better, he had begun to change me for the worse. My standards had dropped. He lived and breathed things that I was totally against, yet I stayed with him because I loved him. I started to realize that we couldn't have a future together unless I was willing to accept what he was doing...and I couldn't.

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After 5 years of dating, I ended things. It was the hardest thing that I've ever done. I cried. He cried. He begged me for just one more chance. He promised me that things would be different, but this time I didn't believe him. I clung to the Lord and got stronger, day by day. Looking back, I can't believe that I thought we were so "happy" through all of the drama, tears, lies, and hurt. I see now how shallow and selfish his love for me was...someone who truly loved me would never knowingly lie to me and hurt me time and time again.

The hardest part for me to accept was how quickly I had let a guy become my leading man, taking the place of God. I did a lot of soul searching after that. I'm happy to report that I am now happily married to an amazing, Godly man...and this relationship is stable, and good, and honest, and happy. And God is the head of it.

Picture via Brandon O'Neal Photography

Thanks so much for having me, Tatiana! I hope that someone out there can relate to this or can learn from it.

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Aren't her and her husband the cutest thing?

So glad they ended up together!

Thank you so much for opening your heart today Megan.

I think so many of us have met "Mr. Wrong" along the way and will be able to relate to this.

And ladies... If it feels wrong. Get out.

A Few Things on a Friday

• Giada is obsessed with my phone. Obsessed. If I let her, she could click, make phone calls to people I haven't talked to in ages, delete and send messages on it all.day long.

• I feel like this girl o' mine is growing like a weed and turning into a real kid. This week she took her first two steps all by her lonesome self. I mean seriously? Wasn't she just kicking the inside of my belly and making me puke my guts out? How is she even this old?

• I hate hate hate when they give me the craziest patients and their even more loony tunes families because they think I'm the nice one. Now, there's something wrong when I'm considered the nicest person there. I'm not nice dang it! I'm not nice, you hear me! Not nice!

• On that note, I don't think I'll ever get used to my patients dying. I know it's part of life and all, but it still gets me every freaking time. During comfort care days? I'm an emotional mess.

• What is it with kids and trash? Or pets and trash? I don't know why trash is so intriguing to them. Anyway, I turned my back for one second and when I turned around my kid was eating mashed potatoes from the trash bag. Oh heavens. Now that's a thing to tweet about. So I did. Twenty second later, I find this. She gets into EVERYTHING!

• Seeing the look on everyone's face when they open their presents Christmas morning is one of my favorite things EVER . So inevitable, Christmas time gets pretty insane around here. Our family goes all out. This is my living room last Christmas morning before any presents were opened. There were 12 of us there, but still. We opened gifts for over 3hrs. So we've decided that this year we need to sloooooowwww dooooowwwwwn as well as take it a few notches down.

• And yes, I'll still go bright and early on Black Friday and score some awesome sauce deals. I did it last year for the first time, and saved a LOT of money.

• I would like to take a moment and call all lurkers today. There are so many of you that stop by, but so few that actually let your presence be known. So please. Do introduce yourselves today. Even if it's just to say 'Hi.' I would LOVE to 'meet' ya!

I hope your all have a fabulous weekend!

A Christmas tale

I LOVE Christmas pictures.

LOVE THEM!

Not just because it's the cool thing to do,

Which totally is by the way.

But also because, to me, they tell the best story of where you've been.

The other day I was looking at our past Christmas pics, and all those memories just started flooding my brain.

So I thought, why shouldn't I share them?

So share them I will.

Year one.

We're still babies, and between the two of us we weigh about 40 to 50 lbs less.

Maybe more.

That one hurt to say out loud by the way.

I'm pretty sure if I try to pick Brandon up now, my ovaries would get loose and come out.

Year two...

That year's got two good things going for it:

We're still newly weds

and my perm grew out.

Having a perm made me look like an unshaved sheep that got it's head stuck in an electric socket.

Trial and error my friends.

You live and you learn.

Year three.

A whole bunch of milestones are taking place.

This marriage thing is starting to get good.

We know what sets us off, and what makes us happy.

I accept the fact that I'm the world's worse baker and completely give up on it.

Also, we're having a lot of fun.

You know, because I have rock hard abs and my boobies are still pointing up.

That being said...

We're going into year four.

Two weeks after having a baby.

I'm double padding my bras for extra leakage protection, and hiding my super post-baby belly flab with my newborn's feet.

Oh, and thanks to sleep deprivation I can't figure my head from my ass tail most days, let alone at what camera I'm supposed to be looking.

Believe it or not, this is our best Christmas family picture last year.

This year will probably be somewhere between year 3 and 4:

We know who we are, and we're really happy with our little family.

We're getting more sleep than during year 4, and most days I'm able to tell where my head is.

However my boobs are not pointing up as much.

Moral of the story:

You win some you lose some.

Happy Thursday friends!

Her Story: Sara

Sara from 3Men and a Mommy is sharing her story today.

When this beautiful, sweet momma asked me to share her story, I never knew that it was going to bring tears to my eyes.

Her story?

Is one that none of us should ever have to experience.

A story full of heartbreak, and pain, and courage, and healing.

Stay a while and meet Sara.

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Here is my story of how I became the woman I am today...

Since having kiddos I have often thought about my childhood days (and my middle school and high school days too) with my younger sister and brother. I grew up in a very loving and Christian home. My childhood is full of fun and silly memories. As I grew up I started becoming my own sassy princess-like (as my mom would say) person. I wasn’t the popular kid in school, but I wasn’t the geeky person either. I was somewhere in the middle. I wasn’t picked on too much until I got to high school and met a certain someone. He changed my life…in horrible ways, and in good ways. It is still hard for me to say this. I was raped by someone who I thought loved me, my boyfriend (at the time), I was 16...

I thought it was so cool, me being a freshman in high school having a junior like me. He wanted to take me to prom. I was so excited. I was a busy girl. I was a cheerleader who cheered at least 7 different games a week plus of coarse homework. My new boyfriend did not like this at all. He would complain to me that I needed to spend more time with him. He took me away from my friends who ended up being very angry with me. I was being pulled in 2 different directions. When he realized my friends and family were getting upset with him, he changed. He wanted me all to himself. So he started to control me by telling me my friends didn't really want to hang out with me. He convinced me that he was the only person that wanted to be around me. I was a pretty good cheerleader...I heard it from several people who would come up to me after games and tell me the gymnastics I could do was awesome. The crowd would cheer for me and want me to do more. He hated this, and would tell me not to do gymnastics. If I did he would do something to hurt me or someone I cared about. I didn't always listen to him, and he would sit up in the stands and glare at me and call me names. He did more controlling things like this as the months went by. He would randomly say things to me like...he would find someone to beat up my friends or family, or slash their tires. I was becoming scared of him, however I never let that show. I didn't know what to do other than keep seeing him. He then started telling me that no one else would ever love me like he loves me, and that if I ever left him, he would hurt me or the people I cared about.

It got worse. He made me do sexual things, things that I DID NOT want to do. He then told me he wanted to have sex with me. I was so scared because I knew I didn’t want to at all.

He had a friend set it all up. We met him in a field out in the country. He was there with his Grandma’s car. It was June, so it was very hot outside, but I was freezing. The friends left, leaving me there alone…with him. He put me in the backseat, and I started to cry. He took my clothes off, than his. He forced me to have sex with him all while I was crying and shaking. I felt gross. He manipulated me into thinking that what happened was ok, made me write him notes saying I loved him, and what happened was a good thing. It happened again. I was alone with him at a friend’s house and he put me on a bed and forced me to have sex again with him. This time I was crying and telling him to stop, but he didn’t. Again, he manipulated me into thinking it was ok…and that no one would believe me any way.
It was the summer I was going to be a junior now, I was still with him. I went to a cheerleading camp, and while I was there, he proposed over the phone to me. Said he had a ring and everything. Over the past few years he had manipulated me into thinking no one else would want me or love me. So I said yes. I got home and I prayed in my room. And it was like a light went on in my head! I typed out a letter to him, mailed it, and then threw away all of the things I had that had to do with him. I heard that he was very mad at me when he got the letter…but he didn’t do a thing. He was going to be going into the military. I was at school the 1st day as a junior and he was in the parking lot. He then told people about things that happened between us when we were together. And for the next 2 years the rumors he spread about me that day stuck.

As a senior I dated a guy who stuck up for me when someone would mention the rumors. He was a sweet guy. And being a still naïve girl, I tried to change and be the girl he wanted me to be. I moved to Michigan (to get away from you know who) with him and his family. I went to beauty school there. And after many nights of crying cause he was talking to an old girlfriend from NE again. I decided one night while working and talking to some people I worked with, that I needed to end it with him. I drove home, woke him up and told him it was over. I then drove back to a friend’s house and there I stayed till I got my cosmetology license, and then moved in with a girl I worked with at a hair salon. Well this place was great at first. I was making new friends and loving being a hair stylist! But they weren’t paying me enough to live off of, and I was working full time. I ended up moving back to NE…back in with my parents. 1 month after I moved back…I met my husband who wasn’t even from NE. He worked with my dad. The moment I laid eyes on him, I knew we would be together forever.
We had been married for 5ish years when a friend of mine came out with her story of being raped in college and she created “The Teal Lotus Project”. It was that very day I read her story that I knew I had to tell my husband and family my story. Finally my healing process had begun. There were so many tears that fell that day. But after that, a small weight had lifted off my shoulders. I kept talking to my friend through emails, phone calls, and play dates. It felt good to talk about it after holding it in for so long. I talked to my mom and sister about it too. And through praying and talking I began to realize why I have been so angry inside…him! Which made me realize why I was mad at my mom…why we fought so much over the years. I sorta blamed her; thought she could of done something to prevent what happened to me. Now my anger is pointed in the right direction. POINTED STRAIGHT AT HIM. I felt so good knowing why I had been so angry but I also felt guilty for putting my mom through HELL (excuse my language)! I now call my mom my BEST FRIEND which I have never done before. My relationship with her has grown so much! I am crying happy tears just thinking about it. My relationship with my husband has strengthened too. Knowing that he believed me gave me strength, and also knowing that he wasn’t going to leave me gave me even more strength.

However, I began to battle with myself. I kept telling myself that yes it did happen, and then I would tell myself, no it didn’t happen, you are making this up. This is the battle I have been fighting for 13 years!! I felt sick to my stomach one night and all the next morning. And then it occurred to me…did it really happen the 1st time? So I emailed my friend telling her my thoughts. And after I sent it, I sat down and in detail I wrote everything that happened that night. After that I knew it happened. I had just forgot, my mind was trying to protect me. The battle was over. I finally believed myself. Another step in my healing process. The next step in my healing process was something I had tried before and couldn't do. Forgiving him. There was several months of crying and praying and talking with my friend, my mom and sister, and my husband. One day I all of a sudden got this wonderful feeling...I sat down on my bed, I prayed, and I forgave him. It sounds so easy put into words like that. But it was honestly the hardest thing I have ever done! I felt free. He was finally controlling me NO MORE!!!

A couple of months went by where everyday I thought of all that I have been through. I went into a bit of a depression...because I couldn't get it all out of my head (for 13 years I had forced it all out of my head) the good and the bad. But I kept praying and praying. The more I prayed, the happier I felt. I realized it had been a year since I had told my family everything. So I decided to do a follow up blog post (I told my story in 2 different blog posts last april) on how I was doing. When I started writing something inside me clicked and at that moment I realized I was going to be ok. I was happy again.

It WAS a rough year of many tears and prayers. But I got through it with the support of my husband and family. If my parent’s house wouldn’t have been a Christian family, I wouldn’t be sitting here typing this story out today. That evil man (if you can call him a man) had plans to move me FAR away from my family and never look back. I am a stronger person because of what happened to me. I am still healing inside from it all; some days are harder than others. But I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. My husband and little boys have changed my life in so many good ways. I love the Lord, and I am so glad he has helped me through this horrible thing for the past 15 years. For the 1st time in my life I feel beautiful inside and out. For me saying that…is amazing, because “he” made me feel ugly and told me I wasn’t worth anyone else’s time. My husband has told me every day since we have met that I am beautiful. I finally am starting to see what he sees.

Since I have shared my story, I have become so confident with who I am (and I have never been a confident person). I don’t care what people think of me anymore. All that matters is that I have a loving family who supports me and that I love myself.

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Thank you so much Sara for willing to open up your heart and share your story.

Your courage is outstanding, your heart is so beautiful, and the pain you overcame is a true testimony of the strong woman you are today.

PS: If YOU would like to share your story, shoot me an email at myblog.tatiana@gmail.com. I would love to have you.

Worry and Life Lessons

I think life is funny.

I think the things that one can learn in one short year are unbelievable.

Last year I was wobbling around, thinking about how in a few short weeks I'll get to meet my little baby girl...

Worrying about having to push a small child out of my much, much smaller hoo-ha...

(Which I did, and I still have a hard time believing it even after the fact.

Because the math on that just ain't right, ya know?)

Worrying about bringing her into an unfinished house with no carpet or flooring...

Like she would have given a dirty diaper about that.

But that passed. And then she came.

And then I had a whole different class of things to worry about.

Will she eat? Why doesn't she eat? Will she sleep? Why won't she sleep?

Ok, she's sleeping too long.

But that passed. And then I had a whole other class of things to worry about.

Because that's how life is.

And if you let it, the worry will eat you from inside out and never look back twice.

However I've learned so much about myself.

Did you know that I can be a patient person?

'Cause I didn't. But I am. And that's thanks to my daughter.

Because when someone has a tantrum and hits you in the mouth with their head to the point that you feel your front teeth may fall out, and you don't do the same thing back?

That's called being patient.

I also didn't know that my brain would be able to function as well as it does with only a few hours of sleep a night.

Or that half of my brain would be expelled from my whispering eye during Giada's birth.

Or maybe pregnancy turns it into jello.

Either way, it's useless.

Or that I would much rather stay home with my girl than work.

Or that I would have to be ok with going on dates once every few months and wait to exchange spit with my husband at a movie theater like some horny teenagers.

Or that a 17lbs little girl would bring so much joy into our lives...

And fit right into our small crazy family.

So today I chose not to let worry take over.

Today I chose to be thankful for what I have...

And for the small moments that make my heart complete.

Because life's too short to worry about the rest.

11 Months

Sweet Little Bear,

In one month from now, together with friends and family, we’ll be celebrating your very first birthday. My heart may just stop at that point. But we still have one month of babyhood. One month of me living in everlasting denial. One month before the world gets to call you a ‘kid’, since we both know you’ll forever and ever be my ‘baby girl.’

But let me tell you a little bit about what has happened this past month, since it’s been a wee bit eventful as far as your development goes.

Last month you were only saying ‘momma’ and ‘dada.’ This month you more than doubled your vocabulary. You now can also say ‘mmmmm” (for a cow’s moo), ‘ney-ney’ for horses, and your last important accomplishment is saying “Gia-da, Gia-da, Gia-da” over and over again all day long. It so stinking cute, and my heart melts every time I hear you saying it.

Even though you slobber like crazy, you still don’t have a single tooth to your name. Not even one. Also, you can stand on your own for quite a few seconds at a time if you’re distracted. You walk around furniture all day long, but still haven’t taken any steps on your own. And that’s ok. In your own time.

You also recognize what different things and people are. Among those are “Loli,” (your favorite sleeping buddy), Olivia the pig (your favorite cartoon), who mommy, mimi, and daddy are, and of course the sound for food. Speaking of food. Still loving all of it! You can seriously eat all day long. However, you’re not a huge fan of nursing or formula. I know that part of it has a lot to do with the fact that my wells are getting more and more dry each time you attempt to nurse. I have a feeling our feeding days are coming to an end pretty soon. Once that day will come, my heart will break a little bit since those special moments that only you and I shared will come to an end.

Your full of joy personality puts a smile on my face every single day, Little Love. When you clap your hands or dance around I see a little part of me in you, and my heart can’t help but skip around. However, your toddler tantrums are also starting to make their appearance. Oh mercy, the fits you throw when we try to change your diaper or get you dressed. And more recently when you need a bath. You were my little happy fish, however a couple of weeks ago that all changed and you scream bloody murder as soon as you see the tub. I really hope this phase will pass, because I may very well loose my mind one of those nights.

Thank you for bringing so much joy into our lives over the past year, sweet baby. You’re the biggest blessing that I have ever received, and I don’t have enough words to thank God for you.

Love you to the moon and back,

Forever yours,

Mommy.

Her Story: Janae

Today I've got the ever so hilarious Janae from Grumpy Grateful Mom honoring me with her presence. This woman makes me laugh out loud. She can make any situation, no matter how disastrous, sound tinkle-your-pants funny. Her humor and outlook on life put a smile on my face every single time.

Go on...Read her story...

You'll see I ain't lyin.

Say 'hello' to Janae

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Now that I have kiddos, I notice history repeating itself much too often! Luckily, I was blessed with a wonderful role model—my mom.

When I was young, my elderly neighbors had the yummiest looking raspberries and those luscious berries were lingering just across the back alley from my house…untouched and unloved. How could I let them go to waste?

My friend and I made the important decision to save those raspberries from their certain rotting doom. We each took a handful….that was later discovered by my mom!

She marched us over to the neighbor’s back door. We had to give the raspberries back AND apologize. I sobbed through the whole ugly incident.

And never stole again.

Now, I’m teaching my children. A few years ago, my then four-year-old daughter, Dani, was caught red-handed with an empty cylinder-shaped container of mini-M&Ms. I had seen her admiring those M&Ms at Walmart only the day before and was certain they had been stolen.

There was no hesitation. I was knew what needed to be done to end her thieving ways. I lovingly dragged Dani to the store as she cried and screamed,

“Noooo, I don’t want to go! I’ll never do it again!”

I made her apologize and pay for the M&Ms with her ENTIRE childhood savings, about 60 cents.

I even took it a step further. We helped her write down her misdoing on a piece of paper, then we buried the paper in the ground. I was quite proud of my firm discipline and fabulously effective burying idea.

Until a couple months later, when I discovered, another empty bottle of M&Ms! Apparently, I didn’t quite have that technique down.

I took her to apologize and pay, again. No burying this time.

And Dani’s never stolen since then…or at least she’s gotten better at hiding her empty M&M bottles.

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Seriously now, this woman is funny!

If you don't already know her, you should go on and introduce yourselves.

Thank you so much Janae for sharing one of your life stories with the rest of us.

It was great having you! True story.

PS: If YOU would like to share your story, shoot me an email at myblog.tatiana@gmail.com. I would love to have you.

Miscellaneous Monday

• On Saturday night we went to an authentic Japanese restaurant. You know, the kind that makes you take your shoes off so you could smell everybody else's stinky socks. Good thing we were all among friends. Anyway...Giada ate a ton of food there. Probably about as much as I did. At one point I was wondering if she was hiding it somewhere. However, two filled to the top, super craptacular diapers later, and I was convinced that she has indeed eaten all that food. Girlfriend sure enjoys her grub.

• I honestly don't remember the last time Brandon and I went on a date. So when my SIL volunteered to babysit Giada last week, we jumped on it like a hobo on a sandwich. Nothing too special, just my first 3D movie and a theater all to ourselves, with very minimal tonsil hockey and spit exchange. I'll take it. Get'er done.

• We're getting more and more creative with our play time around here. We're almost leaning on the white trash side of the fence. Ok, so if you take into consideration my outfit there, we probably are way on the other side of it. Don't hate.

• First world problem coming up: My pathetic dish washer is becoming more pathetic. After getting my dishes out dirtier then they got in, I gave up and started washing them. BY HAND. It's been two flipping months. TWO. That in combination with washing my hands a billion times a day at work, makes for some cracked, alligator-skin-looking, bleeding hands. I whine and complain all day long about it, but still can't bring myself to buy a new one. 'Cause I can't fit it in my budget just yet. Needless to say, not a fan of the budget thing.

• Have you been feeling all the Christmas cheer already? If not, all you gotta do is drive by a Starbucks. But seriously now. My Christmas decor juices have been boiling over like wow. I even contemplated putting the Christmas tree up. Well, really, I was going to ask Brandon to do it, because lets face it, there ain't no way I can put that 12 feet tall beast up.

• Confession: sometimes, good, strong coffee and winter themed flannel pajamas are what carry me through a crazy day. Now you know.

Happy Monday!