The Cicadas

I'm sure everyone has heard or seen something about the cicadas that are everywhere this year. They only hatch every 13 years, and this happens to be the year.

Brody is terrified of them! We don't have any at our house, but he will not even go outside to play at my in-laws' house.

Poor little guy.

Don't Be A Dummy! Do Your Research!

You are the #1 advocate for your child(ren). Do your research before you turn them forward facing in their car seat!! I cringe every time I see someone who has turned their baby too soon.

Although the "law" is one year AND twenty pounds, that is NOT the safest option. The longer your baby rear faces, the safer they will be!

People give so many lame reasons for turning their babies around. For example:

* They are much more content when they can see what is going on around them.

* I don't like to see their legs bent up. They don't have room to stretch out.

* It's just more convenient to put them in a forward-facing seat.

I've even heard people bragging about how advanced their baby was due to forward facing before age 1. How uneducated can one be???

Come on, people. This is a little LIFE you are responsible for. Why in the world would you not research these decisions before you make them?

You can watch a video here that explains why you should practice extended rear-facing.

The "REALLY IMPORTANT STUFF"!!!

Two posts in one night? Yes!

So, if you've been reading my blog, you know about the "really important stuff" going on in our lives that I haven't been able to openly discuss. (Not on the internet, anyways!)

Well, now that the "really important stuff" is over, I can pass the good news on to everyone!

Robert has "officially" adopted Brodyman!

Isn't that great? As of May4, 2011, Robert is his legal father. We even sent off for his new birth certificate. I can't wait until we get it back!

I can't even describe how relieved we all are that it is over. Now we don't ever have to worry about anyone trying to hurt him in the future. He will be happy and loved and never put into any danger by his parents.

Of course, Brody doesn't realize what happened. He doesn't even know that there is anyone absent from his life. He was that young when everything transpired. He has always thought his last name was the same as ours, and now it really is! :) :) :)

One day we will tell him the truth. I think he deserves to know, and I definitely don't want him to ever think we've lied to him about anything. He can form his own opinion about all of this when he is older, but no matter what, he will know who has been there.....and who hasn't.

I could rant for hours.......make that days.....about absent parents, but I won't. I just wonder how some people even look themselves in the mirror.

Things change....people change......

Does anyone ever notice how your circle of friends grows (and diminishes) throughout your life?

It's really just a cycle, ya know? It's good and it's bad. You meet new people and acquire new life interests and sometimes it's just plain hard to remain friends with the people who have been your friends in the past.

I know people think that I don't make enough effort to keep up with old friends, and truth is, I really don't. I wish I had more time to do just that, but I have TWO little people who depend on me for everything. I have a house to keep up, and with four people living in it, that's nearly a full-time job on top of the full-time job of being a mommy. I'll admit, I'm usually behind on this house-keeping task. I also keep up with and make sure all of our bills are paid on time.

I also like to make a few minutes a day for me, whether it be computer time, or gym time, or park time, or just watching TV. Let's not forgot my poor husband. Gotta squeeze him in there somewhere.

It's exhausting!

Thinking about all of this makes me SO thankful that we are financially stable enough for me to stay home with the kids for another year. Adding a job into the middle of all of that responsibility makes my head hurt just thinking about it!

Therefore, don't hate on your friends if they no longer make their friends a top priority. While it's awesome to have friend time every once in a while, family comes first! Well, in this family anyways.

Only Times for Pictures....but they say it all!

This is where my husband has been doing search & rescue since Wednesday night.

A refrigerator magnet stuck in a tree.