Darn the internet!

Always a little too late

This story has happened one to many times now. At least if there were no internet, I wouldn't know immediately that someone else already thought of my idea first. Here is how it typically goes...

I like to think of myself as creative and an idea generator, I mean I didn't choose to be a marketer by accident. I love strategizing about ideas then putting together a plan and carefully monitoring and tweaking the plan until we have a WIN!

The pieces don't fall into place as easily for me domestically speaking. I have come up with some killer ideas over the past one and a half years that I have been home with my kids. I get super excited, start to plan ( in my head) what I will be doing to kick-off this brilliant plan, then I turn to the internet to research and VOILA, some other domestic goddess has already done it!

My latest idea was to have a Pinterest Party, inviting my girlfriends over for a relaxing afternoon filled with home-made spa type concoctions such as this Spiced Sugar Scrub, So you can understand how annoyed I was to see that other women were already throwing these "Pinterest Parties".

In my defense, I have yet to find a Spa Pinterest Party, they have all been for crafting or cooking, so maybe I have a niche here after all!

Simple, yummy snacks!

Peanut Butter Balls

I am all about simplicity these days. These little snacks are packed with protein, goodness and let's not forget about the delicious taste. All of that and you can make them in under 5 minutes!

Ingredients ( ok, ya'll know I don't measure )
- A scoop of peanut butter, it is probably equivalent to 3/4 cup
- Rolled oats ( raw) about 1.5 cups
- Chocolate chips ( I prefer raisins but we didn't have them in the cupboard this week)

You just dump all the ingredients into a bowl and mix until the peanut butter coats the oats and chocolate chips ( or raisins).

Roll them into little balls and place on a plate.

Then move them to the fridge to gel together. Eat and Enjoy! I know my little ones do .

What is your Super Power?

I'm a (former)milk producing, diaper slinging, dream delivering,baby whispering, boo boo kissing, Super Mom...

So I write this as my family suffers with yet another illness. It all started around Halloween and since then there has been at least one sick person in our humble abode.

This weeks germ of choice is Streptococcus!

Now, I know that writing this down on "paper" will only burst my Super Mommy bubble that has kept me safe from all the dirty germs in this house, but  I find it so amazing that through all the colds, viruses, bacterial infections, I am somehow staying healthy so I can take care of the rest of the family. 

I think there is something in a mother's make-up ( and I'm not talking about the stuff we slather on our face to hide the weeks or years of sleep deprivation) that allows us to keep the germs at bay while our family is sick. That's why I think we need to change our name from plain Jane "Mom" and don the title "Super Mom". Now don't get me wrong, Dads. You have your own super powers ( giggle creating, football playing, grill food making, Super Dad!) These are equally important powers but right now Super Dad has the super cold... so he'll resume his heroic efforts momentarily.

However, every mom out there knows the moment everyone feels better and is running around, making a mess of the house, you will notice that all familiar tickle in the back of the throat, the little cough, and as the fatigue sets in the germs take hold of Good Ol', "Super Mom"!

Crayola...oh how I love you.

As a mom of two small children, there are obvious reasons why I love Crayola. Crayola has created little color gems that our kids use and play with for hours. They help give us priceless artwork that covers the refrigerator,( and if you live in our house) the table, doors and walls.

But the reason I love Crayola today is because somehow they just knew our kids ( or husbands) would unknowingly put a crayon in their pocket for one reason or another and that piece of clothing would make its way to the washer and subsequently to the dryer where the red crayon would melt and cover everything that was just newly laundered. 

So Crayola, today I thank you for being forward thinking enough to make your products washable. After a brief freak-out and nearly throwing all the clothes away I thought I might TRY to re-wash all the clothes to get rid of the red stains which laden every piece of clothing in the batch of laundry. 

Well, it worked. I am still in disbelief but I happily threw them in the dryer and vow ( again) to make sure I check all pockets before I do a load of laundry!

-Erin

Don't wake a sleeping T-Rex...I mean baby!

Last night it felt just like a scene out of the 1993 Blockbuster, Jurassic Park. I was sneaking into my baby girl's room because the weather took a quick turn to COLD and I wanted to make sure she was warm enough.

At the start, everything was going according to plan ( like there was a plan, haha). As quietly as a cat burglar, I opened the door, tip toed over to her crib and gently placed her beloved My Blankee  over her sleeping body. She looked so peaceful, so of course I had to take a moment and just watch my little creation in slumber mode. If you are a mom and reading this, you know slumber mode ( my personal favorite) is much different from tantrum mode, "I'm so hungry, I"m not going to stop screaming until you give me food" mode, or I'll do it myself mode. So you try to take in as much peaceful baby as you can.

Anyway, back to my point. So she was now warmly covered and sleeping like an angel as I lovingly gazed at her. Then it all changed in an instant. She jerked up, sitting straight up in bed and I FROZE. I kept saying to myself " stay still, she won't see you if you stay completely still". Those 10 seconds felt like 10 hours. She sleepily turned her head from right to left looking for some type of moment. This must be how T-Rex's prey must have felt back in the Cretaceous period when they were trying to avoid an uncertain fate....just like me!!! Thankfully after a short period she fell back to bed as quickly as she got up.

I took this as a huge hint to get out and I quickly but quietly turned on my heels and high-tailed it out of her room.

I think next time I will just assume that if she isn't up crying then she is perfectly fine, warm and happy in her crib!

-Erin

Grow an avocado tree

I really just wanted to "pin" this to my virtual pin board on pinterest but for some reason an image couldn't be found in the original link, So I will just have to "pin it" here on my blog.

Since we eat so many avocados it would be so much cheaper and easier just to grow our own. I think I'll try this with my next avocado and see if it will eventually bear fruit. If not, it's always a good idea to grow a tree for mother nature!

Here is a great "how to" I found on ivilliage.com on how to grow your own avocado tree!

Image from apartmanttherapy.com

http://faq.gardenweb.com/faq/lists/seed/2002114535011263.html

Fingers crossed that this works!

Mmmm, mmmm, cooking with Quinoa.

I have been vegetarian for almost twenty years and this is the first time I have tried this wonder food called quinoa. This is such an amazingly versitile food. It can be used as a main dish, side dish, dessert, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Not to mention it is PACKED with nutrition. This grain provides nine amino acids, is gluten free, and cholesterol free. Basically if you are a vegetarian or vegan you need to be eating this little gem.

Recently I bought a bag of quinoa at our local BJ's ( I know, but I have to shop there, I have two kids and their diapers are cheap!!!). I have been experimenting with ways to cook and eat this stuff. So far I have enjoyed it mixed with scrambled eggs. I used one egg with a splash of milk and then 1/2 cup of quinoa. Delish! I have also been using it as a side dish. I cooked up the quinoa, cooked up a mixture of veggies then finely chopped the veggies and added it to the quinoa. This is great on it's own or on top of a salad.

However, my favorite so far is the concoction I made this morning for breakfast. Here is the recipe and a picture of the lovely dish.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes

2 cups of water
1 cup of quinoa
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of fresh cranberries ( craisons also work)
1-2 tablespoons of honey ( depending on how sweet you want it)

Directions:
Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil and add in the quinoa and stir. Then add in the cranberries while the water is still boiling. Cover and simmer. When the water stops boiling add the honey ( start with one tablespoon, you can always add more once the quinoa has been cooked).

Simmer for 15 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the chopped walnuts.

Serve immediately, while warm. Use fresh blueberries and raspberries as a garnish.

So there you have it. A delicious, nutritious, quick and easy meal. I hope you all enjoy!

Starting a business

QuickBooks Online Simple Start - Business & Home Office

A Mother's hand

My intention was not to write this for Mother's Day, although it does seem like impeccable timing. Most of my blog postings are sparked from something I see, hear or experience. This is one is no different, although rather than my normal rant, this posting takes a more senstive turn :)

As a mommy, our hands are so incredibly important, they are there to pick up our little ones when they have fallen, prepare food to nourish their growing appetites, play ball or blocks, and they carees their sleepy little faces as they dift off to dreamland.

It's funny how sometimes you go through life and don't realize how you impact others. I'm not sure if this is something I have promoted with my kids or if it's just inate and unique to them but they both love my hands. Let me explain...

I started noticing it with Declan right before I had Katie. One evening during our bedtime routine I was hit with immense guilt that I was bringing this other person into our family and Declan would undoubtably have to share my time. I knew 100% that I would love this new little person as much as I loved my little man but I couldn't shake these feelings of guilt. In hindsight, I should have been thinking more about how lucky Declan was to have a sibling to share his life with rather than feeling guilty that he wouldn't get 100% of my time. Lets add this to the list of "things we have to learn by experience rather than having someone tell us what to do or feel".

Anyway, I digress. So during our bedtime routine, Declan grabbed my hand, pulled it to has face so that my hand cradled his little face. Then I would sing our "I Love You" song and he would sleepily drift off into nocturnal bliss. He still does this most nights, 10 months later minus the driting off bit.

Katie is a little different but equally as sweet. She is a true cuddle bug and as I gently put her down into her crib, she will wrap her little arms tightly around my wrist as my hand rests along her face. I know this is her last ditch effort to keep me close to her as she is trying to go to sleep. I often stay there in that ( slightly uncomforatble but worth all the pain) position until she turns to her side or tummy to go to sleep. Sometimes I have to snake my hand out of her grasp because she just doesn't want to let go. She usually just giggles and turns over to sleep.
These moments are so incredibly special anf I know I will remember them always. I also find comfort that my kids will rember these loving touches as I do from my own Mom. Even as an adult I can remember the soft tickles down the inside of my forearm, the gentle strokes of my hair as I lay with my head in her lap or the fun letters she would mark out on my back when me and my sister were having our bath so we had to guess what letter she was drawing.

It is such a gift and a privialge to be a mommy and I hope everyone can take a moment to remember that on this Mother's day.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!!!

When was the last time you tasted your food?

I know this sounds like a silly question but most Mom's and Dad's will chuckle (and secretly weep) when asked this question.

The last time I recall "tasting" my food was when my husband and I went out for a lunch date OVER 4 weeks ago!! Before that I would say it was probably a good year and a half since I "tasted" my food.

Now, this is not to say that I don't eat. The scale can certainly attest to that. As a mother of two, my main objective during breakfast, lunch and dinner is to get my kids fed. I always have a plate of food in front of me but I have no recollection of actually eating it. Between spooning food into my daughters 9 month old mouth or delivering bites of "gas" to my toddler as he runs/drives circles around the dinner table, my once full plate is now only filled with crumbs and my grumbling tummy has been replaced with a dull ache of heartburn.

I'm sure I will get to appreciate what food tastes like again but in the mean time at least I can see my kids are enjoying it!

New Company

Top 10 reasons you didn't get a birthday card from me in time

Lesley, your upcoming birthday has inspired this post!

10) I write the card, address it a week plus before your birthday but then it sits on the counter until there is no hope in hell the US postal service will deliver it on time.

9) Winston ate it

8) Katie ate it ( true story...well the envelop anyway but how can I send it if she munches the envelop).

7) I take it to the car to deliver it to the post box, get distracted and somehow it falls between the seats. ( I will find it in a few months).

6) No car which means I have to dress the kids, put them in their stroller, walk to the post box a few blocks away and it starts to rain/snow/too damn hot ( whatever month your birthday is in ...fill in the appropriate percipitation).

5) Baby food smeared across the front so the address is no longer legible... delivery status--returned.

4) Filled out the card, addressed the envelop then somehow it finds it's way to the junk drawer only to be found AFTER your birthday. Oh well, I am ahead of the game for next year!

3) Thought you might appreciate an e-card this year.

2) I am fresh out of birthday cards in my bag-o-cards and after I, get the kids dressed, in their stroller... ( see #6)

The number 1 reason you didn't get a birthday card from me on time... That damn postman is so evasive. He is no sooner down the path before I can run out the door to give him the letters I need to post. I think Declan screaming " Mail Time" gives me away!!

New Parents? The early years...

Here is a compilation of things I think all new moms and dads should know:

Part 1: The early years

1) Stop taking/ listening to others advice.

2) Go do bed a a decent hour. Yes, I know the only time you have to yourself is 8-12pm ( usually) but you really should at least drag your butt to bed by 10 ( 10:30 at the latest) I write this at 11:24 knowing my 7 months old will be us screaming for me shortly).

3) Keep a journal of your baby's milestones. You'll want to compare them to your other children and it's really fun to look back at ( and very sentimental).

4) Take lots of video. Pictures are expected and very nice but when you watch a video it takes you right back to when you took the video and brings back so many emotions.

5) As a follow-up to #4, make sure you are in the picture. I'm am admittedly not in pre-baby shape and when the opportunity is there to be in a photo with the kids I often duck out. Here is what I have found. Even before I had kids and I was in great shape, I still disliked myself in photos and as I look back at them know I think to myself " wow, I looked pretty darn good". So just know that you will appreciate being in photos with the kids and more than likely as we age, we will look back at ourselves when we were young ( even with the extra baby weight) and think... " I look pretty good".

6) Know that everything is a phase. If your child isn't sleeping, it will pass and before you know it they will be teenagers and you won't be able to pry them out of bed in the morning!

7) Make the holiday's special. I bet you look back at a particular holiday and remember it fondly. Make sure your kids have those special things to remember. One for me is we always go out and pick out a Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and then spend the Thanksgiving weekend decorating for Christmas.

8) New -v- old: Not everything has to be new. When my son was born, we didn't have a ton of money but we weren't scraping by either. We were frugal by choice knowing we wanted to save money for their college. I loved getting hand-me-downs from others. Most baby items are used so infrequently that even if 1 or 2 kids used them before us they were still in practically new shape!

9) Don't underestimate the power of Natural toys. We can have a million toys in a room and what do you think the baby toddler will be most entertained by... a piece of string on the floor. Make sure you get outside and use what Nature has provided us to entertain your kids. As babies, both my kids were fiercely entertained   by the wind blowing through the trees and the sound the leaves made.

10) Don't forget about your partner. We are so busy raising our kids, working and getting little to no sleep that we forget to pay attention to the person we started this journey with. Remember, your children are priceless but in 18 or so years your kids will venture off to start a life and family of their own. You need to make sure you keep the connection so when you do have time to do things together, alone, with no screaming babies in tote, that you still enjoy the same things...for the most part!


Your kids are only small once and as I see my little ones grow I feel so privileged that I can be home with them and still have the flexibility to work. My days are tiring and often long but I know time time is so special. So whether you work full time in an office or are at home with the kids all day, try to remember how important it is to take 

Kid 2.0, the next generation of kids!

I find it amazing that my two ( almost three) year old can just pick up my husbands iPhone and start playing some of these games. His hand eye coordination is amazing and I hate to say it but I think he is really learning a lot from some of these Kid Apps. He plays memory, train games that test his logic skills, shapes games, color games and those are just to name a few. Now I have also caught him playing some of his daddy's games like Angry Birds or worse, a plumber game where you have to aim and shoot a piece of ice down the plumbers pants ( It's kinda funny actually).

I don't know if anyone else has given this lable to our kids but they are definitely the generation of Kid 2.0. He knows how to use a computer and mouse, laptop, netflix, Wii. He skypes with his grandparents in the UK and even with his grandparents that live an hour away. My, my how times have changed.

I often wonder if my parents thought the same of me and my sister. But we only had things like Atari, speak n spell and lightbrights. Somehow these things seem to pale in comparison to what my son does these days.

It just makes you wonder what this next generation of kids are going to be doing. I hope something amazing and good for society comes out of it and not the alternative...aahemm, the movie Idiocracy springs to mind!

Parenting 101

These last few weeks the word failure popped into my mind on more than one occasion. I have to admit that I thought doing this stay-at-home mom thing would be easy. The challenges come at me daily, dare I even say they come by the minute. But I don't sweat the small stuff. Yes, I occasionally lose my temper which I never did   as a working mom. Mostly because of the guilt I felt leaving my son so often. My toddler doesn't always eat the right things. We have had chocolate or something sweet as more than a dessert ( bribery baby!). But the most frustrating thing I have encountered thus far is no fault of my children...it's us as parents.

We love our kids so much that sometimes it's hard to say no but in talking with my husband we realized in many ways we were just being selfish. My daughter Katie somehow regressed and at 5 months decided she no longer wanted to sleep in her crib. Now I use sleep loosely because her sleeping stints were no longer than two hours but it got so bad that I couldn't even put her down without her screaming. Fast forward to age 7 months and Katie was comfortably snoozing and napping in her swing and then moving to our bed to sleep the remainder of her night away in the coziness of her parents bed. As much as I loved having my precious little girl beside be when I was sleeping I realized this just wasn't a great situation for any of us, especially in a Queen bed ( I'm 5'8 and my hubby is 6'1).

Yesterday evening we decided to let her cry a bit in her crib ( which we had tried briefly twice before). Miraculously after only 20 minutes of fussing, some of which was awful and made me sick to my stomach, my little angle fell asleep in her crib.

At least for the moment I can call this one a success.

Now I just need to re-evaluate our potty training plan for my toddler and get rid of his binky. The next few weeks should be challenging but I no longer feel like a FAILURE as a parent, we just have a longer learning curve :)

Yikes! A Teacher...

So as of Monday, March 5, 2012, I will no longer be just a stay-at-home-mom. I got my first teaching gig 3 weeks ago and I am super stoked about embarking upon this new career.

Do I wish I could just stay at home and not have to worry about working, kinda. But I have also found that I miss engaging, writing, talking to other adults. So hopefully this will help me keep my brain cells working and also keep me employable when I do decide these little munchkins can function without their mommy 24/7.

On that note, I am going to go downstairs and talk to my hubby ( during commercial breaks because tonight is his favorite show).

Here is hoping for the best!!

The perfect neighbor?

I beg the question...Is there such a thing as the perfect neighbor? Chris and I have been ready to move out of our beloved home since, well practically since we moved in, because we have such horrible neighbors. Shortly after buying our house we had several run in's with our neighbors. Their house is less than 15 feet from ours so there is no ignoring them. The house was hopping each night with kids that run rampant with no parental supervision. Drugs, cigarettes and alcohol were being consumed on a daily basis. Admittidly, their behavior was worse in the warmer months but we were over it.

So that is the obvious bad neighbor. To our other side we have the elderly, always in your face, always giving advice, always calling the house to tell us to put our garbage out, neighbor. I'm not sure which is worse. The nosey neighbor or the druggie neighbors.

Why the hell can't we just have normal neighbors. The next neighborhood we move to I will be conducting interviews and doing background checks on our neighbors!

In honor of The Redneck Comedian, Jeff Foxworthy, here is my contribution the the comic world ( although these are true and not so funny when they happen to you!!) :

You know you need new neighbors when:

• You step out your back door and you gets wafts of marijuanna from over 30 feet away
• The cops have your neighbor on your lawn hancuffed
• You get home from a long days work only to have the phone immediately ring with your neighbor on the line telling you "don't you read your calendar, garbage doesn't go tomorrow"
• You find yourself so frustrated that you return from a night out with your father and proceed to scream in the backyard how much you hate your neighbor
• You receive an annonnomous letter in the mail with a news article about your neighbor being arrested for having an illegal firearm.
• Everytime you step out your front door your neighbor "convienently" also comes out to fluff her flag and then you get dragged into a gossip conversation with her.
• 3 out of 4 people that walk by your house are talking to themselves.
• You have a baby and your neighbor stops talking to you ( and gives the cold shoulder) because we didn't call them immediatly to tell them.

From The Hive: preschool - Butterfly day

From The Hive: preschool - Butterfly day: This week we talk about butterflies. I was pretty happy that it was my turn to teach. How fun are butterflies? You can't talk about butt...

dispicable self promotion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q2tjWBIXEc

Discovering our children's personalities

Have you ever sat and stared at your child and thought " what a wonderful and complex little creature I have created"? I am in constant amazement by what my children do and say on a daily basis.

My son, Declan, has always been an observer. When he was a baby in daycare his caretakers would always comment on what a quiet and well behaved boy he was. He would often sit and watch his peers and then, only after careful observation, join them in running round in circles pushing their respective trucks.

Now that I am a stay at home mom to both my kids it gives me more time to watch and learn their behaviors that will most likely be present well into adulthood. Even my own mother will never fail to tell everyone how my inner toddler would come out when I got overtired.

Declan is a very cautious boy. He cannot be pushed into doing anything. One of the things he did today is the inspiration for this blog posting. For Christmas I bought him his first electric toothbrush, which I thought would be so cool ( and they were Tigger and Pooh). Declan loved them, but not to brush his teeth and he would freak out if I tried to turn it on and use it. The Tigger toothbrush has sat on the bathroom counter now for two and a half months and Declan would occasionally pick it up to play with it and sometimes use it to brush his teeth ( but NEVER turn it on) . Today out of the blue he grabs Tigger, turns him on and starts to brush his teeth. AMAZING. And he loved it.

The same can be said for learning. He quietly watches, listens and learns. I though he was a little behind in learning his ABC's until his friend Isla came over for a visit. She already knew her ABC's and she was six months younger than Declan. The two were off in the kitchen playing when all of a sudden I hear Declan belting out his ABC's. He wouldn't do it again when I asked him for another three months. Now I can't get him to stop singing his ABC's.

I have no doubt that I have a really clever little boy and I look forward to each day when I can wake up and be amazed by what he does or says!.

Katie, my sweet girl. I am still getting to know you and all your little quarks. At seven months you are already the happiest baby I have ever seen and somehow have such an amazing disposition on life already. I can already see you as an adult being such a kind spirit to everyone you meet and lighting up a room with your gorgeous smile.

What a lucky mom I am to have such wonderful kids!!

Duck, Duck...What!

Original post date: September 18, 2010

OK, so Chris and I were in Declan’s bedroom doing the normal bedtime routine stuff. I was reading a book out loud hoping Declan was listening while Declan climbed on his dad’s back to play choo choo train. When all of a sudden Declan gets down and starts running around me time and time again. It was really cute, then we told him to run around his dad and he promptly started doing figure eights between the two of us. I don’t know what prompted me but I started to say “Duck, Duck” and before I could even get the “goose” out Declan’s face light up light a light and he started to run faster.

Chris and I both looked at one another. Declan has been taught “duck, duck , goose” at daycare!!!! We were laughing and crying all at once. We know he is learning things at daycare but this is just one of those occasions where it hits home that someone else is teaching and influencing your child. We could see how much fun he was having playing this simple game and I just envisioned Declan and all his little school friends running round and round chasing one another crying GOOOSSSEE!

My little boy is getting so big! He is honestly growing up right before my eyes. Last month we taught him togive hugs and kisses and for 3 weeks that’s all he would do. Now, every time we ask for a hug or kiss he turns and shakes his head “no”. DEVESTATION!

As his dad said…it’s time for another one J

:30 of pure love :)

Original Post: October 18, 2010

Scene: Declan’s room

Mood: sleepy

and ….Action

It was your typical Sunday evening. Declan was running around his room in his PJ’s while his Daddy was reading him his bedtime story. Tonight, Declan decided it was a Curious George kinda of night. So he handed his Daddy the book to read.

I was sitting in the middle of his bedroom floor playing a version of duck, duck, goose! Declan pretty much just runs circles around me until I say ” time to get your binky and blankee” . What happened in the next :30 seconds will be embedded in my mind forever. Declan was circling around me when he came over to tap my head and wait for me to say “goose” . Then, instead running off, he leaned down close to my face and proceeded to press his forehead against mine. Now, not everyone will undstand the significance of this so here is some history. First, this is how Declan started to give kisses which were really more like head butts, I really hope my boy doesnt grow up to be a thug . Second, Declan decided at about 15 and 1/2 months that he no longer wanted to give mom and dad kisses or hugs. Athough the Dog gets both daily!!! So for Declan to even think about giving us a kiss it was monumental.

So back to the story. Declan remained with his head pressed against mine for about :30 seconds. If you are a parent you will understand that this is one of the best feelings in the world and it’s your child’s way of saying how much they love you. So although I realize my little boy is getting bigger by the minute and will soon be too big for any little affections at all from his mom or dad, I will relish in this moment and remember it always.

My hope for tonight’s bedtime routine…Declan plant’s one of his big kisses on his daddy because he may not fully understand it now but he has THE BEST DADDY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!

Mortgage settlement leaves most homeowners to fend for themselves

Mortgage settlement leaves most homeowners to fend for themselves

My facination with Biggest Loser

I have been watching NBC's The Biggest Loser for 13 seasons now. What is my facination with this show? Yes, it can be inspirational, yes the feuding can be amusing, yes I love seeing new workouts that the trainers make their contestants do. But those things alone don't have me tuning in every week or counting down the days until the next season starts. Or ever better, have me wanting to give birth on any other day other than the finale which is exactly what happened on May 12, 2009.

In watching the show tonight I have realized that it is really the personal stories and stuggles each of these people have gone through that have contributed to their obesity. Some of the stories are so incredibly heartbreaking that I wonder if I endured the personal tragedy that some of these contestents have edured if I too would be in a similar situation either with weight or alcohol or drugs.

I feel so lucky to have the life I do. A wonderful husband, who would do anything for me and our kids. Two beautiful, healthy kids that have changed my world more than they can ever know.

I look forward to the many fun years we have ahead of us. Seeing my kids grow up start families of their own and growing old with my best friend. I canm't wait for our little piece of heavin in the boondocks of North Carolina :)