Kim

We took Isabel to the zoo for her birthday since she loves animals.  It was nice weather considering it's February.  No one was there so we practically had the place to ourselves.  We then went to brunch and were back just in time for Bella's nap.  And of course there are no pictures of me, but I promise I was there.  Isabel couldn't get over the size of his boonie!  Unfortunately he would not get in the water to swim.  It seemed like all the animals were hungry waiting for breakfast.  I'm sure Bella doesn't realize that she looks like lunch to this leopard  The only time I could get a smile out of her for a picture Isabel chased this chicken around forever.  She was sure that she would be able to get close enough to touch it.

I just read a story about a lady who forgot about her baby who had fallen asleep in her car seat because she was too worried about getting to the next thing and went on auto pilot.  Turns out it reached 100 degrees that day and the baby, being left in the car for 8 hours, died of heat stroke.  Now this is not your every day story of why it's hard to be a mom and I'm sure I won't be forgetting it any time soon.  I can only imagine the horror that mother experienced and I can only hope nothing like that ever happens to me.  That's the hard part about being a mom, though.  All the worry, constantly.  It made me take inventory of my life.  Sometimes I try to have the life I had before kids and this is usually when I get the most stressed out.  I want to fully embrace my life with children and stop trying to "do it all."  The truth is I do have it all. The Mom in the story had mentioned that her daughter was the one who "slipped through the cracks."  My k

The other day I was reminded of how grown up Noah is becoming.  He is starting to grasp the idea that you don't want to be naked in front of other people, starting to use bigger words like "usually" and asking more thought provoking questions. He found a spray scent freshener in the bathroom and after me explaining it to him I forgot about the conversation.  The next time he had pooped I hear him asking me to come and wipe him.  I walked in and he had a huge smile on his face and asked "Does it smell stinky in here?" To my surprise it smelled fruity and then he showed me the spray that he had so thoughtfully used for my benefit. He now uses it every time and loves that he is a big boy. I wondered how many times I have forgotten about how much he loves to take in the world around him and experience things for himself and I forget to include him in things like that.  The other day I sent him to his room after he threw a foam toy at Bella's face when they were

I never posted these pictures of our trip we took to California just before Thanksgiving.  My kids are at awesome ages to travel and make going to places like Disneyland worth it because they are finally excited and get what's going on.  I really wish all my sisters lived closer because having so many cousins around was a treat unto itself.  Kate is the most laid back, easy going hostess you'll ever meet and for this reason, her house has become a semi-hotel for the McHenry's. Kathy, Kami, Karyn, Kate and I all were there.  (Kellie was the only one missing)  Every time one of these trips ends I think to myself I should do them more often.  This time was pretty comical because inevitably one person got the flu and it spread like wildfire to everyone else. You're welcome Kate. Kathy and I were the only ones to escape it.  Unfortunately Jackson got his the day of Disneyland and Kathy couldn't go.  I would have been soooo bummed if that were me.  Luckily, ours hit a hal