19 Things we should say to our Children

I read this article today and had to share. These little ears are listening to everything we say!

1. I love you! There is nothing that will make me stop loving you. Nothing you could do or say or think will ever change that.

2. You are amazing! I look at you with wonder! Not just at what you can do, but who you are. There is no one like you. No one!

3. It’s all right to cry. People cry for all kinds of reasons: when they are hurt, sad, glad, or worried; when they are angry, afraid, or lonely. Big people cry too. I do.

4. You’ve made a mistake. That was wrong. People make mistakes. I do. Is it something we can fix? What can we do? It’s all over. You can start fresh. I know you are sorry. I forgive you.

5. You did the right thing. That was scary or hard. Even though it wasn’t easy, you did it. I am proud of you; you should be too.

6. I’m sorry. Forgive me. I made a mistake.

7. You can change your mind. It’s good to decide, but it is also fine to change.

8. What a great idea! You were really thinking! How did you come up with that? Tell me more. Your mind is clever!

9. That was kind. You did something helpful and thoughtful for that person. That must make you feel good inside. Thank you!

10. I have a surprise for you. It’s not your birthday. It’s for no reason at all. Just a surprise, a little one, but a surprise.

11. I can wait. We have time. You don’t have to hurry this time.

12. What would you like to do? It’s your turn to pick. You have great ideas. It’s important to follow your special interests.

13. Tell me about it. I’d like to hear more. And then what happened? I’ll listen.

14. I’m right here. I won’t leave without saying good-bye. I am watching you. I am listening to you.

15. Please and Thank You. These are important words. If I forget to use them, will you remind me?

16. I missed you. I think about you when we are not together!

17. Just try. A little bit. One taste, one step. You might like it. Let’s see. I’ll help you if you need it. I think you can do it.

18. I’ll help you. I heard you call me, here I am. How can I help you? If we both work together, we can get this done. I know you can do it by yourself, but I’m glad to help since you asked.

19. What do you wish for? Even if it’s not yet time for birthday candles and we don’t have a wishbone, it’s still fun to hear about what you wish for, hope for, and dream about.

Welcome Coral Love!

Being that Jason lives, breaths and dreams the ocean, he chose the name Coral for our daughter. When I told him that I wanted a name that had meaning, he reminded me what they told us when we were snorkeling a couple years back in Belize...that the coral reef is what brings life to the ocean, without it, sea life could not live. Her middle name Love, was chosen simply because of the meaning. Especially lately, I have been overwhelmed with the unconditional, undeserved love that my God has for me. Plus, I love more than anything in the world that LOVE is His first commandment. How perfect would the world be if everyone lived by that?!

Here's a couple pictures of our sweet Coral finally saying hello to the world. Happy Birthday little lady. Mommy and daddy sure love you.

Being that Coral had a little bit of fluid for in her lungs, she spent the first 36 hours in the NICU.

At least i got to hold her for a couple minutes. It was super hard going back to my room without her.

I fell asleep.

But after a bit, she was back in the room with us! I wouldn't put her down.

She already has Jason wrapped around that tiny finger...again and again and again.

The view from the hospital room. When Jason wasn't starring at Coral through the camera lens, he was zooming in looking for waves...of course.

Coral's first visitor was her aunt Katy

Grandpa and Grandma

Uncle Tim and Aunt Sandy (my sister who shouldn't be out of the house being that she's in the middle of chemo treatments and is risking herself getting very sick, said she wouldn't miss visiting her little niece. love her.)

my dear friend, Jenn

Our friends and favorite chiropractor, Todd and Elizabeth.

Coral getting her first chiropractic adjustment. She actually wouldn't nurse for me at all until Todd adjusted her and voila...nursing pro immediately after.

One of my very best friend's Kelly and her hubby Johnny

Another dear friend, Kelly Evans

and my old close friend, Teri

Jason and I get pretty antsy having to stay in one spot for too long

This is me and Coral about to walk into our home for the first time together. I love this because my mom has the exact same picture of her and I coming home from the hospital.

David's very first time meeting his little sister. He was only interested for a minute. :)

Even though I was only a couple day's out of surgery, I was excited to go get our family's first Christmas tree together!

I hardly notice the pain i'm in when i'm with these 3 beautiful people.

My little brother was experimenting with our new camera...this pretty much sums up our perfect night together.

Chicago & baby shower

Having my grandma on my heart lately, I left my boys to fly up to Chicago for a weekend to spend some time with her. She is definitely one of my most favorite people in the world but to give you the reason's why would take days, so i'm just gonna sum it up with...because. Being a daddy's girl, having him there with me was the icing on top. I haven't spent a weekend with just my pops since I was a teenager! As soon as I was picked up from the airport, we left to spend the weekend on Lake Geneva in Wisconsin...just me, dad, Grandma & Grandpa, Aunt & Uncle, Sister, her hubby and my niece. Again, to tell you why this weekend was really special and what a freakin blast I had would take days. All I can say is being there made me appreciate my family on both sides (mom & dad) so much! Both sides are so similar yet so very different at the same time. Many times I feel like I fit into my California side so well, but this weekend I noticed how much I really fit into my Chicago side as well. My heart is so full of love for my BIG and undeniably special family...everyone a little crazy, but everyone bringing so much life and significance to our whole bunch. It wouldn't be the same without even 1 person. This weekend is definitely unforgettable.

my daddy

my little grandma

For the last 12 1/2 years I've lived with boys...my husband, and the last 3 1/2 years, my son. I've loved every minute of it and took pride in saying "my boys!" Finding out I was going to have a little girl, I've been a little confused on how to feel, but the more i've thought about little dresses, dollies and pink stuff, i've been getting kinda anxious about meeting this little one. Then, last weekend, 2 very special girl friends threw me a little intimate baby shower that pushed me into this over excited, heart fully pounding, can't wait to meet my daughter stage! Coral Love, mommy can't wait to meet you!

Kelly & Teri, you made the day so special. Love you with all my heart.

my mama. my heart.

missing a few here but these girlfriends mean more to me than anything. we've been meeting every week for a few years now and have become so close. honestly, don't know what i'd do without them.

my amazing niece emily & super hero sister sandy (whom just had a mastectomy days before. look at that smile. cancer doesn't have her, she has it...being an overcomer runs in the women in my family, especially these women. seriously amazing.)

my other beautiful sister and nieces (holly, abby, ellie). wish i could describe each of their hearts. you'd be nothing but privileged to have them in your lives.

my twin in so many ways and favorite little sister katy and sweetest lindsay bobbitt whom i've known since before she was born. best family vacation and holiday memories with these two.

these girls have stuck by my side thru thick and thin the last several years of my life. lots of history and love with these 3. (brit, carissa, laurel)

one of my very best friends kelly whose really been with me thru it ALL. she'll definitely be my sidekick till we're 100!

happy shower. happy people. life is good.

Camping in Malibu

What is it about being outdoors, away from the crowds and concrete jungle, that makes everything in the world okay? This weekend we packed our tent, sleeping bags, cooler and kiddo and head up to Malibu to camp it up down and dirty with some good friends. Between the hiking adventures, mouth-watering camp food and s'mores, constant deer families walking by, fires and conversations, we forgot about everything going on at the bottom of the mountains and seriously enjoyed our families. Our little ones, camouflaged in dirt and sweat, played it up till passing out in the tents. Then it came, glorious adult time, sitting under the stars by the camp fire with a drink in hand and stories to laugh at. I'm grateful for this time before my little family of 3 becomes 4. I'm grateful for the quietness in the mountains, for my last special moments of it just being us and David, and for the friends i get to share life with. God's been pretty good to me.

Camping sign made by the amazing Sarah Petar

Our group, Petars, Kennedy's & Rassmussens

boys at the water hole

my crazy husband

feeling baby move

and little scarlette, stealing my heart and boosting my exciting for my little girl!

morning camp coffee in the cold mountains with this man, awesome

Father's Day

Besides David and I taking Jason to two of his favorite spots for breakfast and dinner...Nick's Deli in Seal Beach for his 911 breakfast burrito and Yard House in Long Beach, sat on the patio over-looking the harbor, I think we scored with giving him a pretty awesome gift...a little girl. That's right! The ultrasound showed GIRL!!! With tears in our eyes and the oohs and ahhs of my parents and niece being present, all I could think about was how this little girl is going to have her daddy wrapped around her finger one day. I can already imagine Jason and David rough housing (boys play rough, Jason says) and then how he'll totally soften as she wants to join in the play, gentle tickles and kisses on the belly. I can't wait!

So for this Father's Day blog, I want to share 5 of my favorite things about my Jason.

1.) The guy doesn't take anything serious in life! He truly lives a joyful life, always laughing and making jokes. When I worry or get too serious about something, it's impossible to stay that way around him. Though irritating at times, I really do appreciate it.

2.) How he makes a point every single day to thank me for being a good mama to his boy, feeding our family healthy home cooked meals everyday, and being an awesome wife. He makes it easy to want to always be a good mom and wife.

3.) How he tells me everyday that I'm beautiful. He calls me his hottie wife. :) Being a girl, there is always something that you don't like about yourself or something that you're self conscious about, but having someone tell me so often how HE see's me, it out weighs the stupid thoughts that I can have in my head about myself. He gives me self confidence.

4.) I love that Jason is always on the go and can never sit still. It definitely makes life with him never boring with all that he does on his days off...bike rides, beach, surfing, bbq's with family and friends, adventures, etc. Not to mention his OCD. You know the deep spring cleaning that you try to get to once or twice a year? Jason does that every day he has off. That one is very close to the top of my list.

5.) And last but not least, besides my dad for his kids, I've never seen so much love in one man's eyes for another like the way I see it in Jason for his son. Nobody makes David laugh and carry on like his daddy!

I took this picture Father's day night as Jason was singing David a bedtime song. He didn't know I was behind him. xoxo

After countless hours of squeezing what seemed like hundreds of lemons, I was ready to wake up Monday morning to start my yearly 2 week detox. For some reason it occurred to me to first take a pregnancy text JUST IN CASE...I wouldn't want to harm my baby with the small chance that I was in fact preggo. With my lemon drink waiting on the counter in the kitchen for me waiting to drink it, I first go to the bathroom and wait for that little "minus" sign to put me at ease with the detox. Except the minus was not a minus, it was a plus...a big, fat, pink plus! I shook my head in a jerk to make sure my eyes were working and saw that it was still a plus. I wake up David, run to the store and buy 2 more tests. Yup, it's a double line and a plus! I was in shock! Waiting till the next day to tell Jason (who worked late that night), I first dropped David off at school, took Jason to Taco Surf to fill my nervous belly, then took him for a walk on the beach to write it out in the sand. Jason's eyes doubled in size and filled up with tears as he ran over to me to hug me and repeatedly ask me "really? really? for real? really?". Two short weeks later we go see my doctor who only confirmed it with a picture of our little bean. Jason and I confessed afterwards that we secretly thought it was too good to be true being that several months ago the doctors diagnosed me with endometriosis and said I might not be able to conceive. I guess God's plan is different! So thankful!!!

I got a 3 year old preschool kid!

From starting his little life with the doctors saying to us that there was no hope, that he hasn't been breathing, that he was bleeding in the lungs and brain, and that his dad and I needed to say goodbye because he was completely brain dead anyway and they needed to pull the plug...to now starting PRESCHOOL, this has been a dream! My God is so faithful in His promises!

I was going to home school David for the first couple years until he caught up. But I was persuaded to start him out in a special needs program with the goal of getting him into regular kindergarten. Man oh man, am I glad we did! This week (after david being in preschool just under 3 months) I walked into his class a couple minutes early for them to show me what he was doing. As they brought out a letter, number, shape and color sheet, my boy pointed to each one as they asked him where it was! I couldn't believe it! Tears were streaming down my face. Mrs. Thompson told me that this was all stuff he learned at home (thanks to Baby Einstein and Youtube) and that they are just simply bringing it out of him. She said that what he knows is more advanced than what she's teaching and that she going to recommend him for the highest learning for his next year preschool class! She said that besides his vision and speech, she can't find any part of him that would be delayed or disabled, that he is acting like a real 3 year old. This mama is probably the most proud and happy mama in the world right now!!!

Here's a couple pictures of his first day at school..

This 3 year road we have walked with David and all the beginning complications have not been the easiest at every moment, but it has definitely been exciting, adventurous, and very humbling. There is a group of girlfriends that I get together with every week for coffee since the time David came home from the hospital. Their support to my family, prayers for David, and friendship to me has been overwhelmingly wonderful. Below is a picture (missing Kelly, Jenn and Heather) of us getting together at Jonne's house for a Frank Sinatra / Grace Kelly martini Christmas party. The picture below that is the husbands doing their thing. :) I'm so grateful for my girls in my life.

my hunk of a hottie husband!