A little more...

I wanted to tell everyone a little bit about my grandmother. My brother and cousin Mary Margaret spoke about her at the funeral. I am not quite as good with words as they are, but the things they said brought back a flood of memories.
Those of you who were lucky enough to meet MeeMaw know how spunky she could be! She always had an opinion about everything and if you wanted to know what she thought, all you had to do was ask her. But if you didn't really want an honest opinion, better not ask her! More recently you didn't have to ask her, she just told you!
I never realized growing up how very lucky I was to have my MeeMaw. I don't remember any event, no matter how unimportant it seemed, that she was not there for. Every holiday, every birthday, every dance recital, every graduation, every violin concert, band concert or competition, you name it, she was there. AND she had to travel from Birmingham to Gadsden for everything! I think she made each one of us feel like we were her favorite grandchild.
I always loved going to stay at her house. She would always make our favorite foods. She made pickles... they were so good but they made your breath smell for weeks! She and I would go up to Vulcan Park because I loved "the man with the popsicle" that would either be red or green. FYI- no popsicle any more, now he has a spear. Before we went, we would go by and get a Subway sandwich, then go eat at a picnic table at the park. Then she would take me around to look through all of the viewfinders and see Vulcan.
She would pay me $5 for every pound I would gain (she thought I was too skinny). She made stuffed artichokes, fried zucchini and cauliflower, and of course, the best spaghetti and meatballs! She used to make "bugs on a log" for me when I was little, have any of you ever had that? I will make it for Margaret Anne when she is older. I want so badly to be able to pass on the traditions that she started and kept going for so long. I remember her and my mom sitting at the kitchen table, talking about all of the people in the family and what they were up to. I would always get all of the Italian last names mixed up , but I loved listening to them talk. They could drink coffee and talk for what seemed like hours.
MeeMaw worked so hard all of her life. I don't ever remember a time, up until she was almost 92, that she didn't have at least one job. She is such an inspirational person. She never seemed to tire. She never made excuses. If something had to be done, she did it. When someone in her family was sick or hurting, she was by their side. Because to MeeMaw, that is just what family did.
MeeMaw has always been there to take care of all of us. She loved it. And, like my brother put it so beautifully in his speech, I think she will always be taking care of us.
I will miss you MeeMaw. Love you.

To My Little Valentine

To my little Valentine,


Today you are 18 months old. 18 MONTHS! The other night daddy and I were talking about how we can’t believe that six months have passed since your first birthday party. We just can’t believe how fast the time is flying by. Just a few mornings ago I was holding you, during that perfect sweet special time of the day, when you first get up and are so eager to be loved on and held. We sat together in the rocking chair, and although I was holding you like a little baby you are SO not a little baby any more. You are a gorgeous, precious little girl. I found myself longing for my little baby again, and then I realized how blessed I am to have you, my angel, in my arms, exactly as you are.

These days you are so much fun. You are walking and running everywhere. Your favorite TV shows are Dora, Diego, Yo Gabba Gabba (eek!), Blue’s Clues and Backyardigans. You love to giggle and dance when you see them coming on and you hear the fun music that goes with them. I think you may be a performer, because you are already inventing some of your own dance moves, and you can turn and jump, and you always take a bow and clap for yourself when you are through.

You say LOTS of words. Mama, Dada, Car, Ball, Bye-bye, No, Keys, Shoes, Light, Hi, Uh-Oh, Nonna, Daisy (more like Dais-, but we are working on it!), Cup, Milk, and you are really good at repeating or trying to repeat words when we ask you to. You are a good eater… sometimes! You have 11 teeth and I think you are working on the 12th one.

There are a few things that you don’t like. You DO NOT like having your teeth brushed. No sir. That is a battle we fight twice a day, and although you hate it, you still lay there and let us do it. You do not like having your beautiful curly hair tamed in the morning time. But let me tell you, it is wrecked when you wake up in the morning, and it makes for absolutely hilarious moments. I never know what I am going to find when I walk in your room in the morning!

There are so many things that I love about you. You are so very, very sweet. You share your toys with anyone that may want to play with them. If one of your friends comes over, you make sure that you give them toys to play with before you get any for yourself. You give such sweet, sweet wonderful kisses and hugs. You have the best little temperament and disposition. I like to think that your personality has something to do with the type of parents that Daddy and I have been so far, but I know that is completely silly and it doesn’t have anything to do with us. You are perfectly YOU, the way our Father made you, and it has nothing to do with Daddy or me.

Oh, my little love. My cup runneth over. Thank you for being the most perfect Valentine.



Love,

Mama

P.S. You didn’t exactly LOVE the snow.

Arrangements for MeeMaw

Visitation for Constance Lorino will be held Sunday, February 14, 2010 from 5:00-7:00 pm with a Rosary Service at 7:00 pm at Ridout's Elmwood Chapel. A funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 am Monday, February 15, 2010 at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Hoover with burial to follow in Elmwood Cemetery. In addition to flowers, the family requests that donations be made to Champions of Hope, SAMC Foundation, P.O. Box 6987 Dothan, AL 36302 or SAMCfoundation.org.

Thank you again for all of your prayers.

August 31, 1916 -February 11, 2010

My sweet grandmother, MeeMaw, passed away yesterday. Thank you for all of your prayers for our family as we will miss her so much. She is dancing with Jesus now, and her brothers and sisters in heaven. Love you MeeMaw.

With a Lump in my throat

I just watched this for the first time. I am sitting here with a lump in my throat. This reminds me that we are ALL broken, but God's unconditional love and grace can make us whole in His eyes.
I hope that if you read this blog, and you are a broken individual like we all are, and you are holding onto something, anything, that is interfering with your relationship with the Lord, that you just pray and give it all to Him. You will be forever changed.



Wow.

Please pray for my Grandmother (MeeMaw). She had to have surgery on Friday for a bowel obstruction and she has not yet awoken and is in ICU. Please pray for comfort for her, my mom, and my aunt, as they have much work ahead of them and many decisions to make.
And, as always, please pray for my sweet Sister-in -law, Sandi.

Giveaway!

My IRL friend Laura at iGriza is having a "VALENTIMES" (her word for Valentine's which I love and have stolen) giveaway! Go over there and check it out. But I secretly hope I win it and not you. Just Kidding! Or am I....?

Pure Barre. UPDATE - Almost 3 weeks later, and 13 classes in...

Ok, I need a professional counselor, because I am addicted. Completely addicted. And I think there are worse things in the world to be addicted to.

The great thing about Pure Barre is that the more you do it, the harder it gets. Because you can make it through most of the warm up. You learn how to do the exercises and doing them correctly means that they hurt more!

My body feels totally different. I haven't weighed myself, but I am sitting here writing this post in a pair of jeans that is 2 sizes smaller than the jeans  I was wearing 3 weeks ago. I can get into SEVERAL pairs of pants that I couldn't wear. I had to buy new YOGA pants because the ones that I was wearing to class were too saggy baggy and I was afraid someone might bring a "say no to crack" sign. Also, I went to a fantastic Old Navy sale and I was able to buy clothes at least one or two sizes smaller.

I will say that it is not all PB, but a lot of willpower and diet changes. But I know the workout is a LOT of it. And I will keep on keepin' on! I have an appointment on Feb 15th at my Dr's office. I will get weighed then, so that will be my true test. However, I still have over a month left to reach my goal of 10 lbs lost and back into all of my pre-pregnancy jeans!

Menu Monday

My week last week went pretty well on the Menu Monday front. We ended up with a lot of leftover chili and I went out to eat on Wednesday night, so Thursday night's meal was eliminated. We will be having the chicken and pasta this week instead. We are very busy this week, so we will see how it goes.

Sunday- Dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. FANTASTIC homemade spaghetti and meatballs.
Monday - "Yoshida" chicken, pasta
Tuesday - Leftovers from Mon.
Wednesday - Chicken Florentine, corn
Thursday - Leftovers from Wed.
Friday - Hot dogs, baked chips
Saturday - I will be OUT, baby and daddy on their own :)

So far, I feel like this has been working out really well for us in several ways. My diet is still on track, I have still been able to go to Pure Barre (post on my progress coming up soon, but I can go ahead and tell you that it is AMAZING, and I cannot believe the results so far after 12 classes) and I feel like it really saves us time and money because there is none of the "what are we going to eat... let's just pick something up" talk.

DO you do Menu Monday? If you do, or have questions, let me know in the comments section! If you want a recipe, be sure to leave your email address so that I can email it to you. Just put it in the soandso (at) soandso (dot) com format so you don't get a bunch of silly spam.

Have a great Monday everyone!