Home is where the heart is...

Home is where the heart is...

Could this be any truer? For me I think it is pretty much dead on. I could be anywhere in the world and be just fine I'm sure, but there's always that one place where you will call home no matter where you are or what you're doing in life. Mine is Massachusetts. It is where I grew up, where my friends are, and most importantly it's where my family is. Eric would agree as well since all of those statements would be just as true for him. It's  like when everything in the world is changing and you're looking for that sense of stability and reassurance, you know you'll find it back home. As most of you already know Eric and I decided to move our family to Northern Virginia last summer after Eric was offered a great job opportunity in Washington, DC. For us it was a hard decision and yet not so hard all at the same time. The funny that about having that one place that feels so secure and normal is that you always wonder what you're missing way out in this great big world of ours. With so many different countries, states and cities to choose from why the heck would we want to be in the same 'ol little place that seems so normal for us? I bet I am echoing the words that so many of you play in yours heads every day. When the opportunity came for Eric's job it was almost as if we would be passing up a once in a lifetime chance to take off and start fresh in a whole new place and at that time in our lives, it was just what we were looking for. And that's just how we ended up leaving our "home" and looking for a new one.

After being here for almost a year now it's been quite an adjustment for our family. Being a stay at home Mom to two little boys and having Eric work long hours with a less than perfect commute has made things kind of exhausting to be quite honest. We have had a lot of fun while here and got to experience some really amazing things, meet some wonderful people and learn some extremely valuable life lessons. I am truly grateful that we were able to have the opportunity to take such a leap of faith and that things worked out well. 

With that being said, being away from everything you've ever known also puts things in perspective. How else would one ever really know what it is that they're looking for unless you tried it right? I guess it's probably like me saying that I hate every single kind of seafood and gag when I even think about being near that slimy, disgusting sea creature type cuisine...ugh, gag me. But, if you want to know the truth I have never eaten seafood. I think I might have eaten fried clam strips doused in sauce as a kid once and had tuna from a can a time or two...that was enough for me. I hate seafood. Now all of you are probably yelling at your computers saying I'm crazy because I could never know unless I try it. Well, you're right I'm sure...but I'll take my chances with this one since I can tell you I will lay to rest without ever tasting a lobster, shrimp, clam or any other disgusting thing crawling on the ocean floor. Yuck. So, if we can just take that really long and drawn out example of what I'm trying to explain here and put it back into the context of this post then that would be helpful huh? Sorry. I told you in my first post that I ramble so to be fair, I warned you. Anyways, it's pretty much the same thing. I was kind of a dreamer and don't think I would have ever really known where I was meant to be unless I stepped out of my comfort zone and tried it. I needed this experience to show me what is important to me and it did just that. 

My family is important to me. My friends are important to me. My "home" is important to me. As I said in the beginning, I'm sure we could be just fine anywhere. We would adjust and our children would grow up knowing nothing else but is that really what we want for our family? We've come to realize it's not. Eric and I have done a lot of soul searching, growing, talking, a whole lot of everything since we moved and what it comes down to is this. We want to go home. Home is where the heart is. It's where our nieces and nephews are growing up without us. It's where our children's grandparents are sitting while they look at each other through a computer screen from time to time, and it's where our friends are sitting around laughing over a box of cheap wine while they reminisce about old memories and plan for new ones. I don't want to miss that and our boys shouldn't have to either. So, now starts the beginning of our journey "home".

We are moving back to Massachusetts!  

They came bearing gifts...

Last weekend we were lucky enough to have family fly in for a visit and we couldn't have been more excited! My in-laws Steve and Laurie, aka Gramma and Grampa flew in for a short trip and brought along our nephew Tyler with them. Tyler is Eric's sisters oldest son whose 8 years old and one of Owen's favorite people so needless to say we were all pretty excited about the visit. Eric and Owen went off to the airport on Saturday to pick them up while Mason and I waited at home for their arrival. When I got the call they were on their way I could hear Owen in the background talking a mile a minute and it was obvious he was bursting with excitement. Once we all met up, Gramma and Grampa had some surprises to share with us. They came bearing gifts! The boys had asked for some new books recently so that's just what they got! Daddy was thrilled with a few new additions to his wardrobe and we got our very first baby gift for our newest little guy, the traditional Red Sox onesie that every true New Englander gets for their child. I'm saving the best for last because that's just the way it should be...I got two of them most amazing gifts ever. First, a new pair of Coach sneakers! Woohoo! Boy, am I glad I have a mother in law with good taste! And the all time favorite thing they brought...Dynamite Sticks from Wholly Cannoli Bakery in Worcester, Ma. If you don't already know I have been craving these for months and to have them shipped hundreds of miles away costs a pretty penny. Luckily, Laurie picked some up the day before and packed them in a cooler in a suitcase after calling airlines and researching to make sure she wouldn't get arrested or kicked off the plane for smuggling Italian pastries into the airport! After going to all that trouble I think it's safe to say it was WELL worth it because they were AMAZING!!! I had four of them all to myself and it took everything in me to hold back from eating them all at once. SO GOOD!

Now on to the rest of the weekend activities! We spent some time going out to eat and to the playground so we could show off some of our favorite spots. Then it was home for a quiet night with some pizza and ice cream while we the boys wrestled and sat by the fire. We spent Sunday exploring the Museum of Natural History in DC and riding the rails of the metro. Of course we forgot the stroller, but luckily we had enough people to pass around the kids when they got too tired to walk. The boys all loved seeing the huge dinosaurs skeletons and got pretty grossed out by the section devoted to bugs. Tyler especially got into this part where he seemed to like looking at everything but not so much as to participate when the scientist decided to pull giant live bugs out of jars for people to hold. He got close enough to see while staying behind some of the more hands on viewers...I can't say I blame him! Then we headed home just in time to beat the rain walking through the city and back to settle everyone in before it was on to one of my favorite parts of the weekend!

My in-laws were also kind enough to surprise Eric and I by sending us off to a hotel on Sunday night so that Mama and Daddy could transform into Lynden and Eric for the night. Gramma and Grampa held down the fort with the three boys and the dog while we went off to the Sheraton for a little getaway. We were so excited to have the opportunity to get some down time for ourselves and have a date night...and SLEEP! We started out by going to dinner at a local steakhouse where we took our time enjoying appetizers and great meals and some drinks for Eric, non-alcoholic for myself of course! Then we were off to a movie where we saw Hall Pass and were able to get back to the hotel by 10pm to call it a night. I think we were both tired from our busy weekend while also exhausted from life in general. Things get so crazy in everyday life when we're working and parenting and raising a family and I think it's important to rejuvenate yourself once in a while. This was the first time we've gone away for the night like this but I'm hoping it won't be our last! The next morning we were surprisingly up by 8am or so and headed down to the hotel breakfast before meeting up with the family. We hung around and did some shopping and playing before having to wrap up our mini-vacation. Steve, Laurie and Tyler headed back to Ma on Monday afternoon and we were definitely sad to say goodbye. We're so lucky to have such great family and appreciate them always. We're looking forward to seeing them again when we make our next trip up to New England! Here's some pictures we took throughout our visit!

Wrestling!!

Ty with his favorite dog, Rocco!

Dynamite Stick!!!! 

Cousins in front of the Washington Monument

Tyler by the Capital Building

Grampa and Mason at the Museum of Natural History

Owen posing with a...bison?

My big boy Masie

The Laundry Family

When life gets too hard to stand...

Tonight I am feeling extremely thankful for my children. I think too often I take for granted just how lucky I really am to have healthy thriving children. I have been so grateful when I have given birth to my beautiful baby boys who were so perfectly healthy and continue to feel that sense of appreciation and relief when going through ultrasounds, doctors visits, viruses that come and go, etc. How can you not? It's natural to think about it when we go through these type of things. I pray daily and thank god for my family and for our health but it's not usually until we're faced with trials in our lives that we truly stop and think of how lucky we are to have our health. Can you imagine what it must be like for those parents who have children that aren't well? I don't think I know anyone personally who is struggling with serious issues with their little one but can imagine it must be an extremely difficult situation. It absolutely breaks my heart at the thought of an innocent little child having to go through any pain or discomfort while they muster every ounce of strength in them to keep fighting. Can you EVEN imagine?

I have come across a family who is in this very situation right now and wanted to share their story with you. I don't actually know these people, which probably sound strange that I'd be sharing their story with you right? Well, here's how I came across them.....I occasionally visit a website that is dedicated to pregnancy, parenting and children. Often times when I visit this website I have seen people writing things about "Baby Scarlett" and how she's fighting, or please donate, or we need to pray. Whatever the case may be, this little girl has that whole stinkin website fighting for her and if you ask me she deserves it. The reason I am writing this tonight is because Baby Scarlett is a four month old little girl who her parents thought was perfectly healthy and then at her two month well checkup she was diagnosed with  a brain tumor. Since then she has battled brain surgery, hospital stays, and chemotherapy among many, many other difficult experiences. This little girl is fighting for her life and she needs all the prayers she can get. Her parents have a blog in which they update regularly on what is going on in their lives and the battle that Scarlett is facing right now. I happened to read through their blog tonight and feel that the very least I can do is to share her story and continue the prayer chain for this little girl. Please pray for Scarlett and help this little girl win this battle. A friend has a sign in her home which says, "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel" and it's time like this that remind us to be faithful and God will come through for us. Jesus said, "If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer." Matthew 21:22. Please have faith for this baby and PRAY! 

Here is the link to baby Scarlett's parents blog. Read through and see what a truly special family they are and the extremely difficult journey they are facing. God bless that baby girl!

http://brandiandchris.blogspot.com/p/about-scarlett.html

Peanuts

Today I had my 18 week ultrasound! Mama and Baby are still healthy and thriving! My peanut was extremely active and gave the technician tons of trouble getting pictures of all the little parts because they wouldn't stop jumping around in there. It ended up taking almost two hours to get all of the pictures taken which left me lying on a hard flat hospital bed that they had tilted the head down on so they could get a better angle...talk about a head rush! Although, I didn't mind too much because how often do you really get to actually watch your baby rolling around inside your belly for two hours?? Not often! Our baby was so cute and spent lots of time curling up in a ball and stretching out to touch their toes. Here is a picture of our little one...so grown up since the last photo shoot! 

Now is that not the cutest little thing you've ever seen? Well, along with my other two children of course! Well, that's all for today...Until next time!

OH.....I almost forgot, our peanut has a peanut! 

IT'S A BOY!!!

Give a little.

Nothing like watching a baby sleep huh? As I sit here in bed typing, all snuggled up and nudged into my side is the sweetest little three year old boy that I have ever seen. He insisted on staying up late and since Daddy has to work his mid-month open to close days, I figured I'd give in a little and compromise. I told Owen he could lay in bed with Mama while I did some work on the puter. He settled for it eventually, especially since the alternate choice would have been tucking him into his own bed. So here we sat while Owen laid his little head on my chest and told me he was starting to get tired. He mentioned hearing my heartbeat and how he wondered if the baby was doing okay in there. Within minutes my little boy was very quiet and rolled himself onto the pillow fast asleep. Sometimes giving a little can get you a lot, don't you agree? I could have easily put my foot down and sent the kid to his room but I didn't, and what did we get out of it? About ten minutes of sweet cuddling, a little boy who thinks he got what he wanted, and me with a happy heart watching my little guy dream about astronauts and firemen. All is right in the world :) 

Giving a little and getting a lot can be a pretty big concept if you think about it. It kind of reminds me of one of my earlier posts, "Be thoughtful." You really never know how much what you do for others really means. It can be big things, small things, or really not doing anything at all. Some of the most meaningful things that I have encountered in life are not things at all, but in fact words and the pure thoughtfulness of others. Deep down in our heart of hearts we all want to be good people, right? Isn't it only natural to want to help others or at the very least wish well upon them? I'd like to hope so anyways. 

Imagine what a world we would live in if each of us decided to give back a little each day. Like the whole "Pay it forward" phenomenon. We should do this. All of us, and yes this means you too!! I have taken it upon myself to volunteer each and every one of you to pledge to do one nice thing for someone every single day. Whether it be your husband, your boss, a neighbor, the lady next to you at the grocery store...I don't care. Go out of your way and do something you wouldn't normally do. I know someone who paid for a womans groceries while she was putting the food in her carriage once. The poor old woman nearly fell over after realizing what had happened and went on her way probably amazed at how good some people can be. Wouldn't it be nice to be the reason that someone out there had a little more hope for the world? Or maybe even to have someone reach out a hand to us so that we might feel so appreciative ourselves? Think about it and I'm sure there is at least one time in your life where you have been taken back and surprised at something good someone has said or done for you...Now it's our turn to return the favor. It doesn't matter what it is, and you don't have to share it with anyone. Sometimes those are the best kind. Just know that you're making a difference in someone else's life and that should be a great reward in itself. 

Now friends, off you'll all go and start making the world a better place...one good deed at a time ;) But first, I've got a cute little boy just waiting to be snuggled so the world will just have to wait until tomorrow.

Until next time...