Happy Holidays

We definitely had a happy holiday and hope you did too! It's been a whirl-wind wonderful week of family, togetherness, laughs, good food and great memories. To say it was a "memorable" first Christmas with Corinne would be an understatement; I don't think I've ever had such a special Christmas holiday. But it's no surprise as she makes everything so much more meaningful!

We were pleasantly surprised with how great Cori did with the traveling, excitement and people other than Mom & Dad (since she is in such a "stranger danger" phase). I think it helped that we spent Christmas day at home which was a true luxury. She is over what-ever ailment was phasing her, and I'm fairly sure it was teething. She's still been clingy and fussy at times but it's nothing some Motrin and extra cuddles can't seem to cure.

Santa and family was extra good to all of us; it looks like Toys R Us has opened a new store on our first floor. Here are some pictures for you to smile over - resistance to the cuteness is futile!

Cori's first sled

Rocking horse from Grandma

First bow in her hair

Our little ladybug

7 months & scooching!

I had to make a quick post - Cori just scooted across the mat on the living room floor! It's slow but steady and she seems to be getting the hang if it. (Going after musical toys... I think I am in trouble!) But I was also lucky enough to be able to grab the camcorder and get it on tape! 3 minutes of first scooches... I am thrilled! What a milestone for her 7 month mark today!!

And on a happy note, we're on day #2 without any intestinal upsets. Other than the clinginess which is normal for this age, I think we're back on track. Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!!

"Baby Weirdness"

I think I may create a new game along the lines of "Name That Tune" and "20 Questions", and it would be called "Diagnose My Baby". Cori hasn't been herself since mid last week. Every morning she has a watery bowel movement / diarrhea first thing in the morning. The rest of the day, totally normal movements. She's been fussier and clingier than usual, but no fever or sniffles or congestion, etc. We've had a harder time than ususal putting her to sleep. And then this past Saturday her slow drinking of bottles turned to flat out refusing to drink them.

When the doctor saw her he said at most, it is a small case of a tummy bug. But he didn't even feel comfortable saying that since she was just having one loose movement a day. The primary concern was the lack of drinking and potential for dehydration. Immediately my thoughts turned to spending Christmas in Children's Hospital with Cori hooked up to an IV. This prompted me to at one point, hold my daughter down, force her mouth open and squirt formula down her throat with a syringe all the while, she is screaming away. There goes my "Mother of the Year" award...

I just don't know. I've been trying to listen hard to my parenting "Mommy-gut". Recently I learned the hard way that I need to pay more attention to that and give myself some credit. And my mommy gut is saying that this is somehow related to teething. She's been drooling a ton, the fussiness and clinginess... the lack of wanting to suck from the bottle? Motrin seems to help a little bit, and she is more apt to drink Pedialite from a cup"like a big girl" than to take a bottle - maybe because she doesn't have to suck? But at times she will take a whole bottle (ususally at night when she isn't playing) and I don't see anything in her mouth so who knows. I guess I have to chalk it up to what some of my blog friends term "baby weirdness". If anyone else would have any ideas or similiar stories, I'd love to hear them! In the meantime, I think I am going to finally go take a shower for today. This feels just like when Cori was 4 weeks old - the uncertaintly, the frustration - agh, memories!

Christmas lights

Recently we took Cori up to Kraynak's Christmas Greenhouse. It's a nice hour drive from our place, past Mercer & Sharron PA. Dave used to go all the time as a kid, and we've gone each year to check out their Christmas trees and displays. We've always wanted to take our little one there, so Cori became part of the pilgrimage this year. Parents of youngsters, I think your wee ones would love it! Best part, it's indoors and it is free!

They even have an upside down Christmas tree!

As part of Michelle's assignment, I'm posting a picture of one of my most meaningful ornaments. It was part of a collection my Grandmother had. Her son lived near the Wendell August forge and each year would buy her an ornament. These are hand crafted ornaments from metals, and really unique. When my Grandmother died in 2002, the collection was split between a few family members. I really cherish these ornaments I have of hers, and it is a sweet reminder of my childhood. The ornament here is from 1989; the little church reminds me of going to midnight mass with my Grandma and how dark & quiet it was outside after mass. All you could hear was the crunch of the snow and the whole world seemed so peaceful.


My second favorite ornament is this one from the very first year Dave and I were together in 2003. It makes me laugh because over the next few years, each year someone would give us a "our first Christmas together" ornament. It's somewhat of a running joke that we have 3 "our first Christmas together" ornaments on our tree. I think one was from when we truly spent our first holiday together, the next from when we were engaged and together, and the third from being married for our first Christmas together. We could've tried for a fourth one but ran out of events! But this one is the true one - self portrait on Christmas morning in front of a tree we decorated ourselves in Dave's old apartment.

Finally, here's our tree from this year. We're all set - the cookies have been baked, the gifts wrapped, and the music playing...we're ready! Are you?

Almond Joy

I've been meaning to post a follow up to my Dr. Oz entry, but it's been really hard to take the plethora of information in his book and place it into one post. There are so many interesting things he says that I could blog about. But I'll try to stick to the topic here, which is satisfaction in regards to food, and what you can do to help turn the tide your way.

Dr. Oz talks about how appetite and satiety are controlled by your brain (your hypothalamus if you want to be specific). You have specific chemicals that drive you to eat & decrease metabolism, and once that reduce your appetite & increase your metabolism. We know these chemicals do what they do because of studies on rats. (Bear with me, this is too cool to not mention.)

Scientists looked at the extremes and saw what happened if they turned the feeding system completely on or off. If they destroyed the rat's eating center, the rat literally forgot to eat. The resulting severe anorexia starved the rats' bodies of nutrients and the rats died. On the opposite end, if the eating center was over-stimulated, the rats always wanted food, and they literally ate themselves to death. Their stomachs didn't explode, but rather the consumption of excess food led to diabetes, hypertension and arthritis which is what killed them.

So it's all about the hunger on and off switch. At the bottom of your stomach and top of your intestines, the food you eat hits a very important traffic signal. It's the red light that tells your brain your are either full (red light - STOP!) or to keep the food a' comin (green light - GO!). A chemical switches this light to "red" when your bowel senses that you've consumed fat. Now while it may seem like you don't have any control over these biological processes and chemicals that coast through your body, you CAN control them through food choices.

Having a little bit of the right kids of fats before you eat can trick your hormonal system into sending the signal to your brain that you are full. It takes about 70 or so calories and 20 minutes for this signal to kick in. This 70 calories can come in the form of 6 walnuts, 12 almonds or 20 peanuts. Once you consume your handful of nuts, you can now eat for pleasure and not for hunger, probably ensuring that you will eat less. But you still want to eat slowly; having food in your gut (and beyond) is required for the longer term satiety signals to be produced and talk to the brain.

Which nuts do you want to eat? Well, walnuts contain the most Omega-3 fatty acids of all the nuts, which help reduce cholesterol, improve mood and fight cancer. Studies are also showing that they may protect against sun damage (but don't skip the SPF just yet). Almonds are also good at reducing cholesterol. What ever nuts you decide to eat, just remember you don't need to eat more than a small handful. With the holidays upon us and all the food you'll be facing, maybe you will find this info useful for now as well as beyond! If you don't believe me, read the book.

Where we've been

Yes, we're still out here. =) It' s been a busy week or two.

Cori has been doing great. I swear she just gets more fun each week. I can't believe she is going to be 7 months on Christmas eve. She is sleeping well for the most part, loving her jarred food, and talking up a storm. Her new favorite past-times include hanging out in her jump-a-roo and exosaucer and doing this phlegmy sounding screech which is really some sort of weird excited laugh. It's hysterical to do with her - back and forth. She goes for ten minutes at a time. My voice hurts doing it, so I can't imagine hers! And she's graduated to the "big girl" bath tub upstairs. She loves to watch things float in the bubbles!

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Today at daycare she had her first accident. Apparently one of the little guys was throwing toys across the room, and one hit her in the mouth. Her onsie and sweater was covered in blood & drool - it was quite a sight to see. Fortunately it didn't seem to do any damage and was an accident. I guess being the only girl with 4-5 boys, she's going to have to learn to be tough. I do admit though that I wanted to cry inside.

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As for Dave and I, we got to enjoy a quick visit with his brother last weekend. We all were part of Molly & Mike's wedding on the 6th. It was a fabulous day full of laughter and smiles and lots of love. Molly looked amazingly beautiful and Mike was a beaming groom. I enjoyed meeting Mike's side of the family (most of whom are from out of town) especially since Dave knows his family so well in the past 25 years.

The snow made for some beautiful pictures but the beauty quickly turned into worry when the roads got slick and guests were delayed. The happy couple had a fairly care-free attitude and delayed the ceremony a half hour to let people trickle in. Unfortunately Shadyside must be absent from the PennDOT list of roads to treat... we got stuck in traffic for an hour trying to go all of 1.5 miles from the church to the reception site.

In the end it all worked out though, and a little snow couldn't stop this party from happening. We even got to see our friend / DJ from our wedding, who was sweet enough to play "our song" (100 years by Five for Fighting) and dedicate it to us. This was enough to cause Dave's family on the dance floor to "aghhhhhhhh" causing me to blush a bit. But hey, it's no secret how Dave's family can cause me to blush at weddings (esp my own!)

Just an entry

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving! We enjoyed two dinners with family this year. Cori did very well with all the holiday travel and "new" faces of family, especially since she is in a "stranger danger" mode these days. Here's her Thanksgiving outfit which summed up the day for all of us.

We are starting to decorate for Christmas this weekend, and everything we put up for display we end up commenting how we probably won't be able to do this next year. Cori seems to be on the verge of being mobile. She is pushing all the way up off the ground from her belly, and I'm betting that by the end of the week she will be on all fours ready to crawl. Mobile or not, we're still enjoying the holiday spirit round here, and looking forward to Christmas a little bit more than previous since out little angel is in our lives. There is just something about Christmas and kids...
We also visited Phipps Conservatory the day after Thanksgiving and saw their winter flower show. Very pretty stuff, and Cori was loving the lights and flowers. If you have a chance, try to make it down to Phipps to enjoy the beauty they have displayed in really neat ways. For those of you who won't be able to make it, here are some photos for you to enjoy.

Can you find the penguin in this picture?

White Thanksgiving

The snow was so pretty this morning that I had to take some pictures of our backyard.

little Turkey

Cori had her 6 month check up today, and the doctor was happy with everything. Much to our surprise, our little turkey weighs 18 pounds!! Yikes!!! She is 26 inches long and got her flu shot along with a few others. The kid is a trooper I tell you.

We're looking forward to Thanksgiving with Dave's family this year. I don't cook which is probably to everyone's good fortune. Side dishes are the extent of my cooking at Thanksgiving. Maybe one year when Cori is bigger I'll venture into that realm.

I'll post some pictures of our turkey then. Until Thursday, enjoy the snow!

Laughable

Last night was a lot of laughs - Molly's bachelorette party was a hoot! I'm just now recovering from laughing as hard as I did, and just thinking about some memories of the night sets me off laughing again. We hit the Improv to see Hal Sparks who was just hysterical! Molly ended up on stage after some funny dialog between her and Hal during his skit. Anytime I hear the Song "Sexy Back" from Justin Timberlake, I am going to crack up thinking about how he danced around Molly in a mock provocative manner. Any description I try to give of the encounter will not do it justice, so I won't try. After the show Molly got his autograph and we got a chance to talk with him a little bit; he's a pretty down to earth guy and was a great sport to all our flirting and laughing.

Oddly enough, last night was that I thought for sure coming home late, I'd be up a lot during the night with Cori. I was happy to be wrong - our girl went to bed as usual at 7 and got up at 10:30 for her feeding, but slept straight until 7:45 AM!?!? Maybe I need to go out more often if this will be the result!

Picking back up

It's been a while! Where have you been? We've been here for the most part, but time sure has been going fast. Is Thanksgiving really next week? I finally had a moment to update the blog while my little turkey and Daddy turkey are asleep in the chair.

Work has been very busy for me; add the fact that our work firewall blocks Blogger websites and now you know why I've not been able to blog as well as comment on friends' blogs. I'm just looking forward to a short work week next week. (And sweet potatoes. I always look forward to sweet potatoes!)

Cori has been doing great - she seems to either have a touch of a tummy bug or jarred apples don't agree with her. Today we took her for her 6 month pictures. She was such a good girl - all smiles and cooperative with outfit changes. We got some great shots, a few of which I'll share below. I'll leave the ones out that will be on the Christmas cards.

She also met Santa for the first time - we weren't sure if he was the "real" Santa or just one of his helpers. She seemed to be okay until she noticed that Santa has a beard. And Cori + beards = crying. We didn't think to bring our camera along because I thought you had to purchase their photos. So we purchased one from the mall - for $26 for a 5x7. Man times have changed.... the economy can't be hurting that badly for the length of the line to see Santa, and at those prices!

Dave is doing well too - he's been trying to run so he can do a Turkey Trot next week, but he's not sure how that is going. I've been trying not to ask him about running another marathon next spring... I think he misses running. It's just hard to fit everything in with Cori and chores and work and such.

We're getting ready for our friends' wedding in two weeks. Mike and Molly take the plunge on Dec 6th and we're excited (and praying for good weather too!) I think Dave is working on doing his best man speech in a haiku. While I play the keyboard. Nice... Klassy! Just kidding guys - but we are looking forward to your big day! Tonight is Molly's bachelorette party. We'll try not to make it too uncomfortable for her! Hee hee heee...

Dr. Oz speaks...

My very favorite speaker at my recent conference was Dr. Mehmet Oz - yes, that Dr. Oz from the Discovery Health show. Yes, the very same Dr. Oz that is always on Oprah's show. His talk was amazing - ultra informative and yet easy to understand. There was enough technical medical information to appease the analytical science geeks like myself, and it was presented in fun, easy to understand terminology with lots of visuals to drive points home. I could have listened to him talk for hours.

I took a lot of notes during the talk about how to better your health emotionally, spiritually and physically. I also purchased his book "You on a Diet" which is just a fascinating read! (Unfortunately I didn't stand in line to have him sign the book since I would have missed most of the conference.) I really recommend this book for everyone interested in losing weight or even better understanding your body.


With this entry I thought I would share some knowledge about ways to improve your physical health.

• Vitamins that he recommended were A, B, C, D & E as well as Calcium, Magnesium, Selenium and Zinc. He stressed B Complex Vitamins as well as Vitamin C: B vitamins are essential for the conversion of glucose into energy. You can find B vitamins in brown rice, dried beans and organ meats. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, which circulates in the blood and lymphatic system. It boosts the immune system and aids in healing.
  
• Other very important nutrients stressed were Omega 3 fatty acids, Green Tea extract, Asprin and Probiotics. Essential fatty acids protect against hardening of the arteries by promoting the formation of good prostaglandins, thinning the blood and reducing the stickiness of blood cells. They can be found in coldwater fish like salmon and halibut and flax seeds. They have been found to decrease depression, and they work wonders for your skin!
  
• The supplement Co-enzyme Q10 is essential - it is responsible for energy conversion. In some studies, CoQ10 improved muscular performance by 10%30%. It also helps protect muscles from oxidative stress.
  
• Important anti-oxidents to consume are Lycopene (in tomatoes), Lutein (in leafy green veggies), Quercetin (in apples, onions, and berries), Tumeric (found in mustard and Indian cuisine), Capsaicin (found in chili peppers) and Resveratrol (found in red grape skin and thus red wine!!)
  
• No eating two hours prior to bed.
  
• Consume half your body weight in water ounces. So if you are 160lbs, you need to drink 80 ozs of water just to stay hydrated.
  
• Count to your age prior to indulging in whatever is tempting you. See if the urge goes away when you reach that number.
  
• Weight training is needed to build and maintain your bones. You lose 5% of your muscle mass every ten years after the age of 35 if you don't do anything about it. In addition, adding lean muscle to your body is very beneficial. Muscle burns 50x more calories than fat ever does!
  
• Exercise 30 minutes a day, every day. No excuses. Nothing fancy - walking will do just perfectly.
  
• Have a handful of nuts 30 minutes prior to meals to trick your brain & hormonal system into feeling that you are full. (More on this next blog entry because this is just fascinating. I've been doing this for 2 weeks and it really works!!)
  
• Stop drinking the soda (or as we say round these parts - pop). Even the diet stuff. Fructose in beverages blocks the fat message to your brain and makes you eat at least 125 extra calories a day. Add that up and you'll see in no time how bad that is for you. Not to mention the spikes in blood sugar and insulin.

I hope you find these tips useful. Our bodies are truly fascinating machines and we owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to take care of ourselves. Time to start putting YOU first - as Dave likes to remind me, I won't be able to take care of everyone unless I make sure to take care of me too.

So Proud!

First off, I have to say I was so proud to be an American yesterday! I wish that all our elections had the turn out that happened yesterday; I wish they all had that excitement! I had this electric feeling when I pressed that VOTE button on the machine, and I cried tears of happiness and hope when they announced that Obama would be president at 11PM. Now let's heal our nation and unify and move forward to be as great of a nation as we know we can be!

I'm also proud of our little Cori. She has been sleeping like a champ - I'm starting to wander in every few hours to check that she is still breathing. At times it's hard for me to tell b/c she is so deep in sleep.

She is also eating like a big girl - we laugh that when we feed her, she swallows (really more of just a tongue reflex) and then immedaitely opens her mouth really WIDE again for more. Tonight she ate an entire jar of sweet potatoes. The girl screams bloody murder when we wipe her mouth (her signal that food is over). Dave is currently giving her a bottle right now to fill her bottomless pit!

Halloween was fun - Cori was certainly the cutest pumpkin in the patch!

Cori's new favorite past-time is to grab at your face. It seems to provide never ending fun for her. Note if you plan to visit - don't wear long jewlery!

On Sunday we visited Cori's great great Aunt Marianne. I'm becoming more convinced that Cori will be a red head. Less decisive is if she will be a cowgirl or a piano player like her mama.

Feed me!!

Just a little update on Cori. I am soooo swamped with work (even more so this week) that I don't even have time to upload all the cute pictures from this past weekend!

Cori turned 5 months this past Friday and is still loving her oatmeal. She is now grabbing the spoon and bringing it to her mouth, with fairly good aim! She gets upset when she isn't holding the spoon and when there isn't food on it. We have great video of it. I may upload it if I can figure out how to do so. Our big girl is also holding her bottle on her own. It is still too heavy when full, but she still grabs it to help out. When it's half gone, she can do a good job all on her own.

Finally, at the risk of writing this and thus making the complete opposite happen, she has been sleeping like a CHAMP! For the past 8 days she has been sleeping the whole night in her crib. She will wake up once to eat but will go back down without much of a fuss. We are amazed and so thankful! (A part of me misses snuggling with her while cosleeping.) We will take the good, as we know the not as good is due to come up, especially with teething. Which mysteriously has disappeared. She is still gnawing away on everything that goes into her mouth, but the fussiness is gone as well as the bloody drool. Odd.

Pictures to come I swear. I just need to find time to pull them from the camera.

LA Times

I spent most of this week in Los Angeles to attend an annual business meeting and then the California Women's Conference. This was my third year attending the conference which I've always enjoyed. It's a day of really engaging speakers and though provoking talks from people. There is also a lot of free swag from vendors which is never bad either!


Parts of the time it was hard - first I was stuck on eastern time, which meant I woke up at 4:30 AM wide awake. (I tried to make the most of it and went to work out in the hotel gym.) The days are long and emotionally intense during the conference (just the clip highlight of Tim Russert from the prior year set me into tears just 5 minutes into the conference.) And of course it was really hard to be away from Corinne.


But I did manage to have a really good time. I got to see my friend / coworker Jen, and I got a lot of uninterrupted sleep and had good food & beverage. The conference itself had some REALLY awesome speakers with powerful and inspiring stories. Jennifer Lopez kick started the morning and Warren Buffet spoke about the economy. I heard stories from Women's Right's leaders Gloria Steinem and Billy Jean King. The talk from Christiane Amanpour was simply awe-inspiring!!! It was probably my second favorite talk of the day.


The very best talk was from Dr. Oz who is THE health expert. I listened to his hour long session and took a lot of notes. I could've listened for hours - the man just has a method of delivering information that is factual and fascinating at the same time! I ended up buying one of his books but didn't stand in line to have him sign it. I can't wait to read it none the less.
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In the afternoon I found myself five feet from Rita Wilson (yes, Tom Hank's wife). She was hosting a session on looking your very best, and while the talk didn't start for about 45 minutes, I saw some people heading into the theatre. I just walked in like I was supposed to be there and I guess it didn't hurt that the security guard has his back to me.... I took a seat toward the back on the aisle and started reading. No one questioned me and I just acted like I was disinterested in everything going on. Well, in flies Rita Wilson (oh so pretty and such a sweet lady!) talking to the world famous hair stylist and makeup guys who work on all these Hollywood Stars - they were speaking too. I just kind of took it all in. And of course ended up buying their book as well - it isn't even released yet and won't be until December. I can always use some styling tips!
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But the star of the day was Bono who, (don't tell Dave) is OMG HOT!!! And even sexier, he has an accent and most importantly, a mind. And he came with a message about helping to rid hunger and AIDs in Africa. It is amazing that children are dying from diseases that can be solved from a $0.20 vaccine. That AIDS patients can turn their life around with a pill a day for 2 months. Bono was articulate and compassionate, funny and sincere. He talked about when even things are bleak both in our own homes, and in our nation, how important it is not to forget those who are worst off than ourselves.


I signed their petition and encourage you to read about ONE's mission and sign if you believe in it as well.

ONE is Americans of all beliefs and every walk of life - united as ONE - to help make poverty history. We are a campaign of over 2.4 million people and growing from all 50 states and over 100 of America's most well-known and respected non-profit, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. As ONE, we are raising public awareness about the issues of global poverty, hunger, disease and efforts to fight such problems in the world's poorest countries. As ONE, we are asking our leaders to do more to fight the emergency of global AIDS and extreme poverty. ONE believes that allocating more of the U.S. budget toward providing basic needs like health, education, clean water and food would transform the futures and hopes of an entire generation in the world's poorest countries.

After the conference, I was really looking forward to coming home. I flew home the next day and couldn't wait to get home to Cori. I actually had tears in my eyes when the plane touched down; it was all I could do to not leave my bags behind and just run home to see my little angel. She was asleep when I got home since it was late, but she couldn' t contain her smiles and excitement when I picked her up from her crib as she woke up. THAT made me feel amazing.

Fast Forward on time

Friday night my friend stopped by with her daughter MacKenzie who is 3 weeks older than Cori - it was fun to watch them play together. They were really interested in touching one another; I think they liked that they were the same size.

Cori didn't seem to enjoy her rice cereal too much so upon a suggestion of a friend, we had her try oatmeal. Well, that was a huge hit! So much so that she cries when we are done feeding it to her. She just wants more!!

No pictures to post of it since it is the same messy situation as the rice cereal - most of it ends up on the bib. But we are now placing Cori in her high-chair which is a big step! She sits there and plays with toys while we eat our dinner, and she's taking her cereal in her high chair.

Today we put some more of her things that she's outgrown in the basement. She's now too big for the bouncer that was our initial saving grace. She hangs out of the little swing we had for her. Time is really going by fast! Not to fear though - the "extra" space in our living room will soon be occupied by the jumparoo and exosaucer. She is just big enough for them but we haven't brought them up again. (Previous attempts showed little interest on her part so we just took them back downstairs.)

I leave Monday for 4 days in Long Beach, CA. While I am looking forward to the trip (imagine reading on the plane, uninterrupted sleep for 3 nights, and lots of wine with dinner!) I know I am going to miss Cori like crazy. I'm only slightly worried about Dave having to handle our high-needs child solo for 4 days. I know he can do it, but4 days may feel like 40!

Baptism

Sunday was Corinne's baptism and it was a beautiful day! The dress turned out beautifully, and she was a real tropper considering we learned the hard way that babies and lace don't always mix well. She had red chaffing marks under her arms and on the back of her neck from the zipper. Naps were too few and far between that day as well. But with all her family and a few friends with us, we were truly blessed!

October 15th

October 15th is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. Please take a moment to remember those angels who are at home with God now, and the families who still grieve for them. Even after having other children, the hole in your heart is never fully filled.

Now I know why I dreamt of my twins last night.

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"An Ugly Pair of Shoes"

I am wearing a pair of shoes.

They are ugly shoes.

Uncomfortable Shoes.

I hate my shoes.

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Each day I wear them, and each day I wish I had another pair. Some days my shoes hurt so bad that I do not think I can take another step. Yet, I continue to wear them. I get funny looks wearing these shoes. They are looks of sympathy. I can tell in others eyes that they are glad they are my shoes and not theirs.

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They never talk about my shoes. To learn how awful my shoes are might make them uncomfortable. To truly understand these shoes you must walk in them. But, once you put them on, you can never take them off.

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I now realize that I am not the other one who wears these shoes. There are many pairs in the world. Some women are like me and ache daily as they try and walk in them. Some have learned how to walk in them so they don't hurt quite as much. Some have work the shoes so long that days will go by before they think of how much they hurt. No woman deserves to wear these shoes.

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Yet, because of the shoes I am a stronger women. These shoes have given me the strength to face anything. They have made me who I am. I will forever walk in the shoes of a woman who has lost a child.

Author Unknown

Wedding dress anew

Today is our third wedding anniversary, and a few weeks ago I had my wedding dress cut up. On purpose. I wanted to make our daughter's baptism gown from the gown I wore on our wedding day. A friend of mine is a seamstress and I entrusted her to work her magic.

And what magic it is! I really don't think these pictures don't do it justice. It is so beautiful, and I can't wait for her to wear it this Sunday.

Here's my gown on our wedding day three years ago

Here's Corinne's baptismal gown

She's our little angel for sure!