Tuesday's Nuggets of Wisdom

Bullets for good measure:


* It's virtually impossible to get smooshed sweet potatoes out of an Australian Shepherd's coat after it has been rubbed in by baby fingers

* Who knew athlete's foot cream can cure a wicked diaper rash?

* Before babies, the chances of being crapped on and thrown up on in the same day are slim to none unless you're a nurse. Once you have kids, it's rare when it doesn't happen at least once a week!

* There is no limit to the number of "why's" and "how's" you will answer when conversing with a toddler/pre-schooler... Be prepared, but I doubt you can ever really prep for the number of times you'll hear it in a day.

How LOVED

Finally 4: Brooklyn's first photo shoot March 2009 (6 weeks old)




First Family Photo with Baby Luke (2 weeks old) Oct 2005




Grandpa John & Luke @ Brookie's 1st birthday party




Aunt NeNe and Lukey Duke - Snow Trip 2008



Grandpa and Brooklyn



Aunt Melanie & Brook



Grandma & Miss B




3 Generations: Lukey Duke, Daddy & Grandpa John




Mom & The Duke




My gorgeous aunt and Miss Brooklyn

March of Dimes March for Babies Walk

It's that time of year again! Last year I was invited to join Team Matthew to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies here is Sacramento in memory of a mutual friend's baby boy who passed away in his sleep from SIDS. Here's a little background on baby Matthew, the motivation behind our team to walk and raise money for March of Dimes:




In January of 2007, we were blessed with the amazing news that we were pregnant and expecting our second child!

Kaitlyn was already 2 when we found out and considering how easy the pregnancy with her was, we expected nothing different. Boy, were we wrong!

At 23 weeks and 5 days pregnant, my water unexpectedly broke (preterm, premature rupture of membranes, pPROM) and we were given the news that survival was not likely since there was no fluid to assist with lung development or growth. We made the difficult decision to continue on with the pregnancy.

After 10 weeks of strict hospital bed rest, that tested our family time and time again, Matthew was born at 33 weeks gestation weighing in at a healthy 4 lbs and 14 ounces. He cried at birth.

Matthew endured a 26 day NICU stay before coming home to his adoring family. He spent the next 10 weeks being loved, spoiled, kissed, hugged, played with and adored before falling asleep on the night of October 14, 2007. Matthew never woke up, he passed away in his sleep and became a victim of SIDS.

Losing Matthew has been a tragedy to his entire family. He left behind parents who love him, a big sister who adored him, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.


In April of 2008, we started walking with March for Babies as Matthew's Team. It is a way we can not only honor Matthew, but we can also help raise awareness to prematurity and raise funds to help research find cures and screenings to prevent more families from suffering through this loss.




Please, if you can, donate to this extremely worthy cause in honor of Matthew and all of the other babies and families touched by the tragedy of SIDS, pPROM and infant mortality.

She Speaks!

So, over the weekend the kids got to hang out at Grandma & Grandpa's house so mommy and daddy could have date night. When we came to pick them up on Sunday, Miss Brooklyn looked right at my mom, handed her a toy, and said "thank you" clear as day! She's been wandering the house all week saying thank you over and over again.... I think she's pretty proud of herself! She's also currently a big fan of "Oohhh," "hi doggy," and of course, "mama" and "dada." Crazy how fast they turn into mini adults :)

The Cake Pictures

"Wait...I'm supposed to grab it with my hands? But then they'll get all yucky!"



"What is this stuff all over my hand? I wonder what it tastes like?"



"What! There's more than just frosting?! Woo Hoo!!"



"I wonder if it will all fit in my mouth at once??"



"Ummm....Dis es gooood!!"

I'm lame.... I know....

My beautiful B's birthday came and went without me blogging about it: Bad Mommmy! Her birthday was awesome, quieter than usual, but still awesome in the same. My sis had one of our friends use this crafty scrapbooking tool thing to cut out Dr. Seuss-ish styled letters in the phrase, "Oh, the places we'll go!" which looked awesome as a backdrop to the food table... She received a ton of super cute clothes as well as a bunch of toys that have been keeping her quite busy for the past few weeks. We took a few photos but I haven't had a moment to download them to post. I promise to get them loaded soon and posted here so everyone can see...

I can't believe she's a year old.... Wow, that went by so very quickly. Now on too wild and crazy wedding prep for my sister's big day in May!!!

DeLurking Day!

Sometimes I forget that the regular old day-to-day of my life probably isn't that riveting of a read.... To me, the trials and tribulations of everyday mommy hood is both a blessing and a curse and it's fun for me to look back to the beginning of my blogging adventure and re-read the day-to-day. So, in honor of DeLurking Day, I'm going to attempt to "out" myself at least once on ALL of the blogs that I follow.... Bear with me that that is a pretty damn big list and it's gonna take a bit... Thanks Lora over at FEVER for hooking me up with the DeLurker Badge.... Luv ya Chic!

Countdown to B's B-Day

I can't believe she's going to be 1 on Saturday.... Where the heck did all 365 of those days go? In the mad rush of planning and executing her birthday after spacing on all of that throughout the holidays (NOTE TO SELF: Next year, don't wait until two weeks before the big day to plan and figure out a theme!!!), I've been a bad blogger and just noticed I haven't posted anything in almost two weeks. I'm going to try to post at least a few more times before the big day....

Birthday Plans:
(Theme)Dr. Seuss' "Oh, the places you'll go"
(Colors) hot pink, lime, teal and violet
(Invites) template designed/ordered, addressed and sent out
(Food) Still not 100% sure, but will probably do a make-your-own sandwich bar
(Decorations/Supplies) Bought and waiting for Friday night
(Cake) Gotta order today, thinkin' maybe cupcakes for party-goers and a mini cake
for Miss Brooklyn
(Prep) Still have to clean off the back porch, sweep, mop and clean the bathroom, but other than that we're good!
(Weather) Good thing we planned to throw the party inside because it's been raining all week and it doesn't look like it's going to let up until early next week




** Wish us luck for a beautiful, fun first birthday for our baby girl!! **

Happy NEw YEar!

Lukey Duke made it to the ball drop this year! Happy New Year all!!!


Hug your spouse, kiss your babies and live in the moment!

Where We've Been....

I am so blessed and there is no other way to say it.... I can't even remember my life before my babies.