LIFE Ins't Fair! Throw a Temper Tantrum!

Imagine a 2 year throwing a temper tantrum.  Come on, you know you have seen or been part of one in your life!  It turns on like a faucet and turns off just as quick.  In fact, when it's done, they are back to their sweet self and you stop and think, "What just happened and where did this kid come from"?  Call it schizophrenia if you will, it is seriously that quick.  

I equate the temper tantrum to tsunami!  The giant waves of destruction start quickly and before you know it you are left in the wake of destruction and shaking your head in wonder, if you are lucky enough to survive!  

There are so many theories on how to deal with a tantrum, you have to think, does anyone really know what they are talking about?  They don't know my little natural disaster!  It may have worked for them, but they really need to see this to believe it!

When wanting something as simple as a crayon can trigger the event, you have to wonder how we all have survived these to be the patient, caring and loving people we are today?  Don't you?

We have to learn lessons along the way and curb that emotional tug of war going on inside us.  Does it always work? No!  But, more often than not, when we learn how to stare down our emotions, we can control them and hope and pray that we don't stomp on them too much and still grow into a loving and compassionate adult. 

Let's face it, Life is CHALLENGING!  Yeah, a good tantrum would feel great right about now, but will it help?  This week, I was told that two of my immediate family members have a mass on some internal organ or another.  In the case of my mother, she has one on her parathyroid and in the case of my brother, he has a mass on his kidney.  My mother is awaiting a doctor visit, while my brother has to have his removed in a couple of weeks and it is cancerous.  I will pray for them and ask that everyone join me in a giant prayer chain.  Faith really does get you over the hump!

For just today,  I feel like having a 2 year old's temper tantrum.  But, I think that I will just be thankful for the day!  Life is not FAIR! I just want to cry.  But, I am willing to share my crayon with GOD and let him draw on my life the way he will.  I have to accept that, with or without the temper tantrum, he will draw a beautiful picture on my heart and give me the strength to understand.  

However, tomorrow, when Mariah is having her temper tantrums, do you think anyone will notice if I join her for just one of them?  I want to run through the house screaming and throw myself on the floor and cry, cry, cry!  I promise when I get up I will be a different person :)

Love you Mom and Tony.  No matter what life has done to us, it does not have to power to take away LOVE!

At Last, Everything is in it's Place!

What an eventful weekend this was.  Mariah's 2nd birthday party brought out the "rush and get ready" in all of us.  As we all hustled to pull together a decorated home for the little Missy's birthday, we knew it was going to be fun for her.

There was a giant Piniata about 17 of her friends and family and their parents. It was relatively a calm party with little bundles of energy flying around! Wrapping paper and tissue was everywhere and so was Mariah.

She enjoyed her beautiful cake so much that we had a hard time prying her away from it when it was time for the opening of presents.  She never eats nearly as much as she did of that cake and the ice cream.  In fact when her friend Shaylee left to put her attention elsewhere, she moved in on her cake too! It was perhaps the single most amazing thing for her parents and me!

Overall the day was a blast and Nana is happy she had a great day.  All the mess is put away and the leftovers in the fridge! Now if I could just find my drink and the remote, I think I will veg in front of the TV until she turns 3!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARIAH!

Tiny little baby, I remember the day you were born! January 5, 2010 she joined our family! She was a miracle baby and truly meant to be here.

While her Mommy was pregnant, in the first trimester, Mommy had severe morning sickness and lost 25 pounds. It was terrible. She then had to be put on a feeding tube and after about a week or two it dislodged and she had to have it reinserted. Shortly after, they found that she had gal stones so bad that surgery was necessary. So, Mommy underwent surgery to have her gal bladder removed. After she came home to recover, she ended up back in the hospital with pancreatitis and during that incident, while on medication, she stopped breathing and had to be revived.

After all that Mommy bounced back and made it through the first trimester to have an uneventful rest of her pregnancy. There was no damage done to Mariah, except for some ear issues that she will deal with for a few more years. It truly is a miracle that we are blessed with her presence. She is meant to be here and to teach us lessons we thought we had already learned!

This picture was taken nine days after she was born. She is dainty and precious and we all feel

immediately in love! Who wouldn't?

It was a day I will never forget and one that her Mommy and Daddy will never forget either. Papa had to be at work, but I stayed home and was able to be present for her entrance into the world, for this I was sad.

Looking at her tiny little face as they put her on the scale, I could only see one thing, DAVID! Sorry Kellie, I know she looks like you too, but that day, only David came through along with tons of tears!

Each day, as she grows there are tons of things that I learn from her! I know that sounds funny, since she is the one growing and learning, but I feel as though I am too. Happy Birthday Dear Mariah! ♫.•**•.¸♥♫♥¸.•**•.♫.• **•.¸♥♫♥¸. •**♫.•**•.¸♥ ♥ I sing this to you, as I learn how to Dance like no one is watching, I don't care who hears me sing! (And trust me, it is bad, LOL)!

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday Dear Mariah

Happy Birthday to you!

Seeing Life In Purple!

Do you remember the song "Purple People Eater" What a strange name to a song and strange lyrics. But it was catchy and you repeated it over and over. To this day, you remember it don't you? If not, watch this video!

Many people live in color! I love that. There is no better expression of yourself than that of color. That being said, why do we fear it when we look at each other? After all, skin is just a color, isn't it? It may make us different, but that is what we strive for every day, isn't it? Too many questions, I know.

Children seldom fear color. They seldom see colors unless it's ones they love. Purple! Yep, Mariah's self proclaimed favorite color. How do I know this? We are learning colors and the first response when you ask her what color something is, yep, PURPLE! In fact, ask her what just about anything is and her response is purple. She is color blind, except for the purple she loves. I think that is awesome to love a color.

I just pray that as time passes and she begins to see all the colors of the rainbow, that she remembers how much she loves them all, especially purple.

I think that seeing life in colors makes perfect sense! In fact, we adopt that already in different things that we say. For instance, "feeling blue" or "Green with envy". We associate colors to our feelings in ways that are too commonplace. Time to stop and think about that.

So let your creative juices flow, let your colors show and never forget to just be yourself, whatever color that is and love everyone as though they are PURPLE! Love you Mariah, just like Purple!

Dance Like No One Is Watching!

I remember feeling like a child when I played games with my son. I remember enjoying letting him win, but teaching him the value of losing. There was nothing like teaching your child something new to make you feel alive inside.

As a grand parent, it is not different, but it is even sweeter! I don't know how? I thought about it long and hard, and the only conclusion I come to is the fact that we are getting older and are more appreciative of those milestones and teachings because we have more patience and we don't care anymore who is watching!

Take for example this weekend. The first day of the new year and I found peace and pleasure in playing in my front yard with my grand daughter. We wrote on the drive way in chalk, making designs that I made when I was a kid doodling on my notebook in school. We made a hopscotch board on the driveway and Mariah jumped from square to square feeling like she knew exactly what she was doing. She drove her car and we shot the basketball in the hoop.

Our neighbor was leaving her house and she drove up to the driveway and stopped. Looking at Nana, Papa and Mariah playing and said, "I can't believe how much she has grown! Look at that little cutie." I simply said, "She keeps us young!" I meant it!

At two years old, I am learning more lessons from this little bundle of energy and emotions, than I have learned in years since my son! She literally makes me feel a live again.

We went to the park to snap some photos of her wearing a hat and flower that she was modeling and she was so playful it was hard to keep up with her. She was EVERYWHERE! But, there was nothing more amazing than her sitting in the big girl swing and swinging back and forth! The smile on her face was so big, I just know my smile mirrored hers.

Later that day, her favorite song came on in her favorite show. It was called Jump In, Jump Out. Upon the first musical bar, she was jumping all over and turning around and raising her hands, etc. She smiled and she danced and she pulled me up to dance with her and I did. I know I looked like a complete idiot, but truly, I was feeling alive! I want more, I want to live my life like that, alive!

So, today, the 3rd of January, 2012, I write this blog and raise a hand to make an oath to Live Like No One Is Watching! Don't worry what others think, because if you do, you just may miss feeling ALIVE!

Thank you Mariah, for the wonderful lessons! Nana Loves You!