:cry: Mixture of tears, excitement, anxiety, wonder and more. I’m leaving Friday to start my new life in Texas with the woman who has not only mended my heart…but shown me what REAL love is. “It was worth the pain and tears”

I will miss each of you and think of you often. BUT I will keep everyone posted on our journey and daily lives. I am blessed not only by this new relationship…..but for the friends that have become my family through the years. The “tough love”, the laughter, the tears, the encouragement…. the shelter. I have so much love in my life!

I love you all.

Michele

PS – Check the soup before you eat it……

Tomorrow is “Free-For-All Friday” which means you can post whatever you want on my blog. I’m putting this up early at the request of a friend. Say what you want to say, share a link, complain about household appliances, etc…all you have to do is login and post!

Here’s how to do it:

• Go to the log-in prompt by clicking here.
• Login/Password: guest/FFAF
• You will be redirected to the dashboard – Click on “Write” on the top menu bar.
• In the categories box on the right, make sure there is a check mark next to “free for all” .
• Type a title in the “Title” field and type whatever you want in the “Post” field.
• When you’re done, click the “Publish” button.

Not sure what to say? It is never too late to say what you are thankful for.

Evie went in for her two month visit yesterday.

Weight: 13 lbs 2 oz – 95%

Height: 23 inches – 75%

Head Circumference: 15 inches – 25%

She’s growing up quite a bit this week. She’s looking around a lot and giving us smiles. We saw her first smile on Thursday (11/22/07 Thanksgiving) last week. I love this part!

I received this in an e-mail today and I can truly relate to so many of them.

1. You finally stop to smell the roses, because your baby is in your arms.

2. Where you once believed you were fearless, you now find yourself afraid.

3. The sacrifices you thought you made to have a child no longer seem like sacrifices.

4. You respect your body … finally.

5. You respect your parents and love them in a new way.

6. You find that your baby’s pain feels much worse than your own.

7. You believe once again in the things you believed in as a child.

8. You lose touch with the people in your life whom you should have banished years ago.

9. Your heart breaks much more easily.

10. You think of someone else 234,836,178,976 times a day.

11. Every day is a surprise.

12. Bodily functions are no longer repulsive. In fact, they please you. (Hooray for poop!)

13. You look at your baby in the mirror instead of yourself.

14. You become a morning person.

15. Your love becomes limitless, a superhuman power.

16. You don’t mind going to bed at 9 p.m. on Friday night.

17. You give parents with a screaming child an ‘I-know-the-feeling’ look instead of a ‘Can’t-they-shut-him-up?’ one.

18. Your dog/cat — who used to be your ‘baby’ — becomes just a dog/cat.

19. You take the time for one more hug and kiss even if it means you’ll be late.

20. You learn that taking a shower is a luxury.

Back in August, I received the e-mail below from my friend, Michele (AKA Ma-hell). Each morning before she left for work, Gabey would run up to her before she left, check out her necklace choice for the day and tell her that it was pretty. This is what she wrote:

I’ve come to the conclusion that Gabey has NO clue what “oohhh pweety” means. My heart would burst every morning when I came out of my room and would see him come to me and grab my necklace and say “oooohhh pweety”. Thought the kid had good taste in jewelry. Until this morning. I came out wearing nothing but my security badge for work and I got the same cute little “oooohhh pweety”. No more spending money on gold and silver. Sticking to the 5 year old plastic badge!

So, this morning Gabe gets his ukulele and a straw. I ask him if he’s going to play the violin. He says, “No, Mommy, it’s a cello.”

Amazing!

While Evie was in the N.I.C.U. it was standard practice for the nurses to take pictures and post some of them around the child’s temporary home. They required a signed waver, of course, and wouldn’t take pictures if you didn’t want them too. We didn’t mind and today we received a CD in the mail with the pictures that they took.

Included were some pictures taken imediately after she was born and cleaned up.

Yes, yes, that was my newborn giant! She looks like she came out walking. That might be why I looked like I was 20 months pregnant. Holy cow!

Remember this?

Gabe loves to repeat expletives.