Happy Late Birthday Buster!

I just found my dogs paperwork and realized we missed his birthday :( Buster turned 1 year old on April 5th. We've had him since he was about 6 months old and we LOVE him. He's a perfect fit for our family and is such a good dog.

While we were in CA visiting family over the weekend, he stayed at Robert's friends house. His family loves beagles and his wife is a photographer. She took some amazing pictures of Buster and here they are!

Happy Birthday Buster!



Buster runs REALLY fast, I have not met a dog yet that can catch him! LOL...

Go Cody, you're almost there!

I love this picture of him!

Buster can even fly..! Well not really, but he sure can jump! I love this picture, he looks like a rabbit in mid air!

See I told you he can jump!

Here's a close up!

I think he may be getting tired now...

Or not, here he goes. He looks so cute playing with toys!

Isnt he just adorable! We're just so happy to have him, the kids love him to death and we look forward to spending many many years with him. Happy B-day!

Sunset Family Pictures at Nuevo Vallarta, MX 2009

Here are my favorite shots from the pictures we took at the beach right at sunset. Aaaaah... miss it already!

Muuuuuuah I love you!

Dolphin Encounter

WE ARE BACK! And so happy to be home. I have so much to blog about and it's gonna take me some time to capture all the wonderful memories from our long awaited family vacation. We were gone for 2 1/2 weeks and visited many awesome places in Guadalajara Mexico and Nuevo Vallarta where we had our honeymoon almost 7 years ago.

I'm going to start with one of my favorite life experiances, swimming and interacting with Dolphins! We took our kids to Sea Life Park in Puerto Vallarta and it was SOOOO Amazing! Such a beautiful experiace to see these wonderful animals so close, get to touch them, swim with them, play and even kiss them! The boys had so much fun, not at all afraid of them!


The dolphin's name is Triton and he's 7 years old. Here's Ryan holding his fins as Triton dances!


Kisses!!!


Triton wants to dance some more...


With all of us!


Okay I have to say that I love this picture of little Robert kissing the dolphin. He was so ready to kiss him! Triton kissed everybody there and little Robert was waiting for his turn with his hands in place and his lips puckered up just waiting for Triton to come kiss him! It was so funny and so adorable.


He got a kiss on the cheek too cause he was so cute ;o)


Ryan wanted one too! I was so surprised that Ryan was such a sport and not at all afraid of the dolphin being so close to him! There was a 8 year old little girl in our group that wouldnt kiss Triton because she was afraid, and Ryan was going for it! Go Ryan!!!


I love this picture of Robert and Triton, so sweet!


Umm... wait a minute. Those lips are only allowed to kiss me... LOL...

All in all, we will definitely do this again in the future. We Really enjoyed it as much as the kids did. There's also a short video that captured our dolphin encounter and I'm going to try to post it here. Stay tuned a lot more to come!!!!

Anybody else TIRED of shaving????

I am SOOOO excited about something I just found out about that I just had to share it with everyone! I'm taking a vacation next month to Puerto Vallarta (YEY!) and I really dont want to deal with shaving every day. So, I was looking into waxing but it is SO expensive at the salon, well for me that I want to wax Everything! LOL... Anyway, I found a homemade wax recipe that I tried out and it works AMAZING!

Ingredients:
1 cup of white sugar
1/4 cup of honey
1/2 a lemon (just the juice)


Instructions:
You mix these ingredients in a bowl and put it in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. Mix it about every 20 -30 seconds during this time. It will be HOT- so be careful. You will need to let it cool down for a bit. Then use a butter knife, and put some on the area you want to wax (the wax should spread in the direction the hair is resting on your skin). Make sure it is a thin layer, less is more. Dont learn the hard way like me! Take a piece of cloth and place it over the wax. Rub it up and down. Hold the skin firmly with one hand, and then from the opposite side where the hair is growing rip it off- fast. It is not as painful as it sounds. Of course I've given birth twice, sooooo... yeah this is nothing! LOL... It could help to take an advil 1/2 hour before you do this.Good luck!

The "Freedom of Choice Act" / FOCA bill.

I do realize that abortion itself is a very political and controversial issue. But I've been thinking a lot lately about a bill that is SO radical for both pro-choice and pro-life, it is a bill that's called the "Freedom of Choice Act" and I want to share with you how it will negatively affect our country. Many people have never even heard about this bill, let alone know what it is. Dont be fooled by it's pretty name... The "Freedom of Choice Act" is the most extreme piece of legislation ever. It is hard to believe that something so incredibly bold and radical could ever even be considered!

This "Freedom of Choice Act" creates a new and dangerous "right." It establishes the right to an abortion as a fundamental right, placing it up there with the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, etc that are in the U.S Constitution.

It will force religious based hospitals to perform abortions. This means if you are a doctor or a nurse and happen to have morals and a belief in Christ, you will NOT have the "Freedom of Choice" to say NO to a patient that wants an abortion. This patient could be 9 months pregnate, and if the doctor refuses, he can get sued, loose his license and loose his job!!! Where's the Freedom in this "Freedom of Choice Act"???

This bill will overturn EVERY law currently in effect for abortion. Among these, the ban on Partial birth abortion. This abortion is performed between 4-9 months in pregnancy.

Now what exactly is partial birth abortion?

Using forcepts the abortionist pulls out the baby's leg and delivers the baby except for the head. Then he JAMS scissors into the back of the baby's head, and sucks out the baby's brains with a vacume tube... Babies at this stage are sensitive to pain, imagine the pain they go through in this procedure. The Freedom of Choice Act will make this inhumaine and barbaric procedure LEGAL!!!! I dont believe there's anything that justifies doing something this CRUEL to an unborn baby. Research it here:

http://www.nrlc.org/ABORTION/pba/PBA_Images/PBA_Images_Heathers_Place.htm

The "Born Alive Infant Protection Act" will also be overturned. This bill was put in place after the truth got out about what happens to these little pre-mature babies who survive botched abortions. These suffering little babies were wrapped up in a blanket and taken to soiled utility rooms to die-- Without comfort care for those that were just too small to make it, OR even medical care for those babies who COULD if given the required medical help.

Watch this video, it is incredible!

What justifies not giving care to little babies that are OUTSIDE the mothers womb, ALIVE, and suffering for hours until they die??

It is the equivolent of wrapping a plastic bag over your head and waiting until you run out of oxygen.

If the Freedom of Choice Act is passed, it will make this cruel act LEGAL...! Dont believe it? I encourage you to research it for yourself, just google "Born Alive Infant Protection." and google Freedom of Choice Act.

The Freedom of Choice document introduced in House states:

"It is the policy of the United States that every woman has the fundamental right to choose to bear a child, to terminate a pregnancy prior to fetal viability, or to terminate a pregnancy after fetal viability when necessary to protect the life or health of the woman. "

The problem is when they use the term "Health of a Woman," this isnt only applying for cases when the woman's life is in danger. This, applies to almost anything, such as stress on the woman which leads to "it's affecting her health..." See the lOoPhOLeS?

This bill will take away parental consent in ALL 50 STATES making it legal for minors to get an abortion. This means that 13 and 14 year old little girls can get an abortion without their parents ever even KNOWING! And what's worse she could get an abortion by an under- qualified non-physician (YES, that's another one, it will take away the requirement that only a licensed physician can perform an abortion) who wouldnt even have her medical records. This negatively affects EVERY PARENT in the USA. Young teenagers dont think things through clearly and they need their parents to be involved so that they can make a well thought out decision and clearly look at all of their options. Rather than going to secretly get in abortion acting out of fear and not measuring the consequences of their actions, which explains how they got pregnate in the first place.

President elect Barack Obama has already publicly stated that he supports the Freedom of Choice Act and that the FIRST thing he'll do as president, is sign it. Watch the video on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf0XIRZSTt8

So the question is, what do we do? What can we do? Well first, you can sign the petition (Click on the picture below):

This petition is important because it will be sent to congress and to Obama to show them how many american people do not support this bill.

But we cant stop there! The next important step, is to contact our state representatives and express our concerns. It doesnt have to be this long letter, you can send them an e-mail and just tell them in your own words, as YOUR state representative- NOT to support the Freedom of Choice Act. They will listen because YOU are the reason they have their job, you voted for them. And if they get a ton of e-mails like this, they wont ignore them because they want to keep their jobs in the next election.

You can contact them here and send them a direct message:

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

I just want to say that you can make a difference. Please educate yourself and educate others on what this bill is, and what they can do. Tell your friends and family, tell EVERYONE!

A group of friends and I just filmed a video that educates people on what the Freedom of Choice Act is and how they can stop it. We're hoping to have that edited and published on youtube and other organizations soon so that it can begin circulating online. I will keep you posted so that you can watch it and forward it to your friends and family.

VICTORY!

After about a week (that seemed like a month!) of non-stop back and forth from one room to another, Ryan is finally sleeping in his own bed. I was shocked when he did it without fighting me anymore. It's so nice to finally have our bed back, and it feels so WEIRD at the same time! LOL... seriously. What a great way to start the new year!

HELP MOM'S!

This has to be the longest time I've gone without blogging. I got a video camera and now I've been recording all the memories on film and doing terrible at taking pictures.

Anyway, I need some serious help from all the moms out there! Here's my situation:

When Robert moved to CA I was breastfeeding Ryan and his crib was in our room. I had a really hard time getting him to sleep in his crib and so he would wake up and I'd move him to our bed (mistake #1). Since Robert was gone, I didnt mind Ryan sleeping with me.

But, now Robert is back and 3 is not company! LOL...

He's 2 years old now and we decided it was time to reclaim our bed. Well.... it's a nightmare. We just started this weekend and so far not good. I lay him in his bed during naps, and when he falls asleep at night I move him into his bed.

Then he wakes up in about an hour, gets out of bed and goes to my room. I walk him back and explain that he needs to sleep in his big boy bed, etc. But he wont stay! It goes something like this:

I tuck him back in, he immediately gets out and goes to my room, a vicious cycle. I leave the hallway light on and his door open, because I think he's scared. I've tried everything! I locked my room but he cries his head off right outside of my door, I take him back to his room, and again same thing. I felt so bad I opened my door and he just goes to the side of my bed and stays there quiet. I know he's exausted but he'll just stand there next to the bed. It takes everything inside me to not bring him into bed with us. I've tried locking his door too, but he gets hysterical by the door, crying his head off. And I open it because he just seems too scared to be in there alone.

I dont know what to do anymore! He only stays there if someone is in the room with him. I tried the super nanny thing where you sit on the floor in his room and slowly start moving back towards the door, and it worked. He finally fell asleep, but not for long an hour later and he's back in my room standing next to my bed making me feel terrible!

Has anyone gone through this? What did you do? Any suggestions or ideas? I am ALL EARS! My next thing will be to read him a story in bed, buy a night light instead of the hallway light, and reasearch on the internet to see if I find any ideas!

I feel like I just brought home a newborn baby with all this lack of sleep...