Going back to Kaz!!!

Looking at this sad picture of my sweet Leeza Grace fills me with so many emotions. It's hard to fathom that the smiley, happy, spunky lil 28 month old that is with us now is the same child as the one we met almost a year and a half ago.





The differences between Leeza then and Leeza now are too many to count. The little girl who I just didn't think "was cuddly", now is openly affectionate and holds my face in her hands and gives me kisses, and is quick to kiss any "boo boo's" that mommy gets. It's something that is sweet, but not that big of a deal for most kids. However, for kids who spend their first 11 months in a baby house with no family to show them what love is, it's something that warms my heart EVERY DAY Leeza is home.

When Two Hearts for Hope announced the mission trip, I REALLY wanted to go. I just didn't think it was possible. I had no idea who would watch Leeza for a week, as Joe's work schedule is too intense for him to take a week off and take her to all her activities. :) However, the more days that went by, the more it kept coming into my thoughts. I was on a run with my BFF Jill, who started encouraging me to go. I emailed Kim and Stacy, to find out details,and found out they only had a few spots left, and then it was full. I called my BFF Laura, to tell her about it, and she volunteered to watch Leeza while I was gone. I just felt like God was telling me.."YES! YOU NEED TO GO!"


The more I thought about it, the more I also realized I wanted to take Sean. He loved his time in Kazakhstan, and he was really amazing with the kids. I told him about it, and he was so excited. I made Joe his favorite dinner,and presented our case. :) He gave us his blessing, and wished us good luck in our fundraising. :)

Due to laptop/printer/Vista issues, I had Joe print out the Mission trip application paperwork at his office, and we swung by to get them. Jillian had read over them and asked if she could go too! SO, NOW! ALL 3 OF US ARE GOING!



I am REALLY proud of Jillian. This is certainly NOT a vacation. We will be building a playground in Almaty (digging holes, using saws (yes, scary!), and visiting the special needs orphanages. I know it's going to be heart wrenching, and most certainly, LIFE CHANGING.

When I was asked to serve as a board member of Two Hearts for Hope, I was honored. Certainly, they are "my charity" and I support them financially as much as I can. However, I knew I wanted to do more, a lot more. I know that this is my chance!

I hope this is the first of several trips we'll be able to take to give back. The children that we left behind will never be forgotten. I have witnessed first hand the difference that love and a family makes for these children. If Leeza's paperwork hadn't been in order, she would be one of the ones left behind.

If you'd like to make a difference, please visit www.twoheartsforhope.org! All donations are appreciated and will make a huge impact on the lives of these precious precious kiddo's!

Look who's hair is growing!!

I haven't had anyone think Leeza is a boy in months!! It's growing!!

I love this outfit. Isn't it SOOO cute? It was a steal...$15 ...for all 3 pieces. I saw a similiar outfit for $99. Yeah, she still has too many clothes but at least I shop for bargains. :) Ebay rocks!

My funny Valentine

Bring on the Valentines apparel! Who cares if it's only January!

I love this outfit on Leeza. She looks so sweet, so innocent, so DARLING!

You'd never know she was a real PITA today. She wouldn't take a nap, kept getting up out of bed, had a hard time getting her to stay in bed tonight too. I MISS THE CRIB!!!

SHE IS LUCKY SHE'S SO CUTE!!!

She's Electric!!

Leeza was goofing around "jumping" on the couch, well, trying to jump until we made her stop, and the more she moved, the more static electricty built up. I had to grab my camera,and they turned out hilarious.

Leeza was a bit of a pill today. My other purse was in my room, and it was on the end table next to my bed. I was cleaning the kitchen, Joe was watching football, and Leeza disappeared. I figured she was in her room. Well, she comes running out with RED ALL OVER HER HANDS. I FREAKED! I thought it was blood. She said "Mommy's chapstick!". She climbed up on my bed (which is high, we have a huge bed frame), grabbed my purse, and got into my lipstick (which I never even wear). It was ALL over her hands, all over my mattress cover, and all over a load of whites I had just folded earlier. THANK GOODNESS my sheets and comforter were off cuz i was doing wash. I coulda killed her, but what can you do but laugh? My mattress cover needed washed anyway.

After bath tonight, we're putting on her new Pooh jammies. She tells me 'Mommy, Pooh is my best friend!" I'm like, um,ok, I didn't even know you knew who Pooh was. I got out a Pooh video that Sean had when he was 2, and she didn't show one iota of interest. I guess Elmo is still safe. I fear for her future boyfriends....she changes her mind on a whim. :)

Here are some more fun hair pictures. :)

28 months today!!

Momma loves her ebay finds....(the Curious George outfit was a 3 piece one , with another pair of pants, and matching bows (not shown)






Ahhh Leeza Grace, today is your 28th month birthday. I really hope you appreciate this chronicle of your life thus far, because it's REALLY time consuming. :) However, I hope that as you get older, you will enjoy looking back and realizing what a spunky lil girl you're growing into!

As I type this, you are asleep..IN MOMMY'S BED! You woke up at 4 am,and after putting you back in your bed 3x, I was too tired and just put you in bed with me. Daddy is in Dallas, and Sean sleeps with mommy too when Daddy's out of town. You took FORVER to get back to sleep, so I was also wake from 4-6 with you. The alarm went off at 6:30 to wake up Sean so we could get him back to school today.

So we both won't be big scary crabby girls today, we went back to bed when we got home, and you are still asleep. I am taking this quiet precious time to update you on what you're up to at a mere 28 months.

The thing I notice most about you is that EVERYDAY you are talking more, and more, and more, and more. You love to sing,and you are HILARIOUS and you get mad if Sean or I try to sing along too. You got some Sesame Street cd's for Christmas, and one has Elmo singing to LISA, (they didn't have Leeza) but you don't know the difference. Whenever we get in the car,you request "Elmo songs". You still have mad love for Elmo,and all your friends "on the street"

You are getting taller-your Elmo 2t jammies are now highwaters. However, don't worry, cuz we were at Target yesterday and you spotted some more and quicker than lightening, you threw them into the cart. You have amazing Elmo and friends vision.

You love to narrate everything I do. You follow me around with a constant narrative. You feeding Momooo now mommy? (the way you say Miles) You giving Momooo water?

You delight in going into your brother's room and stealing his Christmas candy. You knocked over his powerade last week and he got really mad. You came running out asking for papertowels and singing the "clean up clean up" song. It was pretty cute, even though you are annoying your brother. I got Sean a bank for his room, in the shape of a football. When you drop money in it, it says TOUCHDOWN! You love it, and now you are always going thru my purse to find "Money" to put in Sean's bank. {sigh}

Your brother has taught you to say "mean" because he would always tell you that "Mommy is mean to Sean" as I would hit him in the car for doing disgusting things like picking his nose. Now, if anyone looks at you the wrong way, or tells you NO, you come running saying "Mommy, Sean mean to Eeza" or running to Sean saying "Mommy mean to Eeza". It's pretty funny.

You LOVE your brother "Sewey" as you call Joey. He came home in August for Nana's birthday, then again for Thanksgiving, then again for Christmas. You follow him around and love to hang with him. It's very sweet. Yesterday in the car you said, 'Mommy, Daddy, Sean, Gigi,and Sewey"...yes, you know who is on your family now.

You love Jillian and Sean,too, of course. It's just nice that you now know who Joey is, since he lives in California and you don't get to see him all the time. :)

In Dallas, I was impressed that you remembered who everyone was. When I was putting all the pictures in an album (Go Mommy go!) you loved pointing to everyone telling me who they are. You are a smart lil cookie!

We found out in Dallas that YOU LOVE GODIVA CHOCOLATE! You found all Mimi's candy bowls and would take some at every opportunity. I have to say, you have great taste.:)

Last night, I put you to bed around 8:15. Around 9, Sean and I kept hearing this sqeaky sound. I opened your door to your room, and IN THE DARK, you had put on your squeaky shoes OVER your feety pj's. I took your shoes off, and put you back in bed. Your beloved elephant was missing, the one I gave you Oct 3rd, when you came with me out of the baby house, the one I slept with for 6 months. I asked you where it was, and you said you didn't know. Sean finally found it, buried in your "baby pack and play", at the bottom, under a ton of other stuffed animals. I have no idea why you did that, in the dark, after we put you to bed. YOU ARE SUCH A WEIRDO!

I packed all your "gay apparel" away and put it in a container under your crib. You have dragged it out a few times. Don't worry...I have Valentines apparel on the way. Yes, your mother is beyond addicted to ebay, but girl..you are one well dressed lil lady. Even in Dallas, you looked just as precious as all those fancy Dallas girls in their expensive clothes, while donning your gay apparel. :)

You are really fun playing with your toys. The other night,you were playing "babies" with Daddy, and told him to to sleep, then you'd scream "wake up daddy". I had to take a couple pictures cuz it was pretty darn adorable.





Here are some of my favorite pictures of you that we took with Karen in December. You were pretty much a pain in the butt at our Christmas card photo shoot. You kept running off, you would not sit still, or look at the camera. However, because Karen is amazing, and fast, she was able to capture a few shots.

I was told in the grocery store by more than a few people that you should be on tv cuz you're so cute. However, you would never make it because your listening skills are POOR. I love you anyway, sweet girl. :)

Christmas part Deux...Florida style!

We left Sunday morning for a 10:40 flightout of Dallas Love Field. I was fully prepared for the possibility that Leeza may very well act like a maniac again. This time, I wasn't taking any chances on getting peed on either. I put her in a pull up. She didn't like it either! "No mommy! Eeza wear panties!" but it wasn't worth her pride to save me from pee. :) Of course, since she did have a pull up on, OF COURSE, she didn't pee it once. Oh well...BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY! In fact, she was a complete ANGEL on the flight. She colored, she slept, she ate her peanuts and drank her apple juice like she was a seasoned traveler. Zero meltdowns, nary a cross word....THANK GOODNESS!

We got home right at 5, and I had to run go pick up Miles. Sweet Jillian had prepared the Serra tradional Christmas eve dinner (for the SECOND TIME) for us....Spahgetti sauce with squid, and, zaplas (fried dough), and Joey made a KILLER salad with romaine, red onion, apple, and other yummy things. Nana and Papa came over at 6, and Jillian and Joey helped me set the table with my mom's china. :)

We had a very nice dinner...Jillian did an AMAZING job!! She cooked for 21 people on Christmas Eve, and has taken over this very tedious task to help Nana out. I am so proud of her! In fact, she gave me one of MY favorite Christmas presents. She (and her boyfriend Kris) cleaned my car....(which was a scary mess) and even shampood my carpets! It was AMAZING and smells good too! It took them 4 hours!

Anyway, after dinner, I told Leeza that SANTA HAD COME to Florida and she should check her stocking out. She was SO MUCH MORE ANIMATED in her own home than she was in Dallas. She was SO PRECIOUS and VERY EXCITED about EVERYTHING! Santa left her some sweet stocking gifts...a purse with her name on it, a whole PACK of chapstick, 2 Elmo cd's, and a couple of new Elmo movies, plus a bunch of princess stickers, and some fun flash cards.









After exploring stockings, we moved into the room that held the tree. Leeza was really sweet helping pass gifts to everyone. She kept saying 'More presents for Eeza mommy?" It was so cute!







I got her her own lil laptop (hoping she'd play with it so I could play on facebook and keep her blog updated), and several fun Elmo things...2 bath toys, a coloring thing, some magnetic stickers, and her BIG PRESENT..a pink vw bug.




She is still kinda scared of it, but I think as she gets used to it, she'll like it. I bought it on impulse on KMart at 5 am on a killer black friday sale. :)







Sean's big present was "extreme room makeover" as he needed to "pretween" his room. We got rid of the bunk beds, and let him pick out a new bed at Ikea, and moved his xbox into his room, and he got a new flat screen TV. (brat!!) He also got a laptop, but it was recycled one. :) The laptop was a surprise, as he had an ooooold terribly sllllllloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow computer in his room, that his new laptop replaced. I started realizing that big brother needs "his own space" and "lil sister" LOVES to go in his room and wreak havoc.






It was so nice to have Joey and Jillian home. Leeza really loves them. It's so funny..she is now grasping who is in her family. Joey is now back in California, but today in the car she was saying "Mommy, Daddy, Sean, Joey, and Gigi"....YAY! She knows who her family is.

I feel so blessed to have adult children,and a tween child, and a wacky, crazy, precocious, sassy, precious 2 year old. Joe is a wonderful, generous man and I am proud to be his wife.

I was told recently (from a family member, no less! however, but by marriage) that was a self absorbed diva, and my facebook updates were the rantings of a diva. I got a good laugh out of that, especially when she told me "How do I get anything done because I am too busy kissing myself in the mirror". Um, I get up, run, take a shower, and never look at a mirror the rest of the day. I am pretty absorbed with my children, my family, and my friends, but I am happy that way.

Cheers and Happy New Year to all the "self absorbed diva's" who love their families. It's the only way I want to be!