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as i reflect on my birthday today, i want to write down all the moments i don't want to ever forget.  these are not in any particular order.

• caleb running into our room this morning wishing me a happy birfday carrying a present that i wasn't to open yet.
• b baking me the most incredible peanut butter chocolate ganache cake.  this was his first time baking a cake and it was one of the best cakes i've ever had.
• getting flowers delivered to my house from my best friend, it was so thoughtful and totally unexpected.
• seeing my sister on facetime and spending some birthday "time" together.
• seeing the almost finished gift that b made for me that just shows how much he listens and cares(more on this gift upon its completion).
• having wayne goss surprise the heck out of me at my birthday- little side joke with the mister about my brush crush.  wayne goss brush here
• going to mass together as a family, b obliged since it was my birthday.
• being able to go out on a nice walk after dinner for the first time this year.
• having my little angel sing happy birthday to me today.

a little scare

i had a bit of a scare when i was sent to the emergency room due to experiencing some chest pains for a few days.  i had the gamut of tests run and nothing came back that was indicating any serious heart issues.  i followed up with my primary doc to be told that it was caused by stress.  really?!  so his advice for better health is to date my husband weekly, go out with my girlies more, find a hobby to do, and get back to doing things that i used to enjoy. 

so i am taking his advice and doing just that, starting with blogging again. 

for some reason i feel guilty doing anything for myself because that means i am taking time away from caleb when i'm already away from him for 8 hours each day.  he is growing up so fast, and i keep being reminded of that all the time.  there were a lot of things going through my brain like, how much i miss him being a baby and that he will be in school in a year and a half,  and then an adult in the blink of an eye... you know all the typical things that moms think about coupled with the every day stressors of working full time, trying not to ignore my husband, the house, eating healthy, making time for exercise, my failures, things that i did not accomplish and how bad i felt about not doing the simplest tasks and the list goes on. 

i found that i would spend too much time doing stupid things like watching YouTube beauty videos each night after caleb went to bed instead of staying up to watch a program and snuggle with the mister and just being together alone.  also, my prayer life was dwindling because i was trying to cram it in while driving instead of just taking a few quiet moments before bed to thank the Lord.  instead i was forcing myself to pray the rosary, divine mercy chaplet, morning prayers and night prayers.  i felt like i wasn't doing a good job anywhere.  meanwhile my dear husband would yet take on another thing onto to his already over flowing plate to help me out and lighten my stress all the while adding more to his.  i am so blessed and lucky to have such a great man in my life and i've taken that for granted too many times. 

what happened to me? to us?  i told myself that i would never be that kind of person that forgets about them self, but yet here i am trying to find my way back.  i am starting slowly by returning to things that make me happy, and this blog is one of these things.

hiatus

i'm sorry that i have been on a long hiatus, but i am currently trying to figure out a new direction i'd like to take with my blog that includes a whole new redesign.

as with all things, this takes time and for me, trying to figure out how to dedicate more time to my blog without neglecting my family, my home, and sleep deprivation.  bare with me.

last supper and some funnies

it's always very hard to say good-bye to my sister after her visit.  we tried to make it light hearted this time, no tears.  i guess we were too chill because she made her flight with 10 minutes to spare!  

 i miss so much what we did together like, burning my arm with her new curling wand,

 looking like we were back in junior high when we used to wear tight rollers to bed with wet hair, and wake up to an afro,

 blog stalking and sitting on our butts talking about how we are going to try out the latest trends and have all these cute outfit posts.

cooking

caleb loves to help out in the kitchen whenever he can.  so, recently my talented mister, has been building up a storm of cute things for caleb to use, including this nice step stool.  it's perfect for caleb to use when he wants to help make us coffee or whatever he decides to do in the kitchen.

new year

 it seems that it has become our tradition to fondue every new years

this was the spread for this year

steak, shrooms, broccoli, and chicken boobs

 b made his magical potion to cook it all in

after a few rounds of using the sticks and waiting for everything to cook, we got smart and just

dumped all the meat in, and let it cook

we also had 2 dipping sauces that b whipped up

 caleb was into the party scene for about 5 minutes 

so we had to take advantage while we could

 oh the horns, give a kid a horn and he could amuse himself all day

 here's a couple blooper scenes, ( don't be mad sis)

yea, don't know what to say about this one, other than i look insane