karaspeak

There are times in life you never want to forget and times in life you wish you'd never remember. I've had my fair share of both in my short 33 years on this earth and today witnessed one of my kids having a moment they might not want to forget but likely will as at four years old I'm not sure how many truly lasting memories you take with you along the journey of life. The awesome part for him is that in today's world we have every type of video and picture memory available in case your brain chooses to forget. Pretty remarkable. But regardless, it was a day for the books.

What a short time he's been on this earth and what more he has to see and learn and experience. I can't wait to walk the road with him - on the good days and bad. Best of times and worst. He's going to do amazing things. Of this I am sure. So best of luck to my little buddy...onward and upward to Kindergarten we go! (A whole other kind of emotions to be had I'm sure!)

It's funny that in my nearly five years of living in Westhaven (wow, five years already!?!) I barely knew people that live within houses of me. While I longed for new friendships, I just felt out of place for some reason. Not sure if it was the fact that I was a stay at home, working mom surrounded by a lot of non-working moms, or that I didn't have a golf cart, or that I didn't have millions of dollars, but I just felt out of the loop. This past fall, I had the chance to meet some girls on my street, and become a little more open with them...not only about my surface level Kara stuff that everyone gets to see, but the stuff that women really need to talk about when they are together - struggles, hurts, frustrations, joys, prayers, pain points, thrills, secrets...you know, the good stuff. I grew up being hurt by girls so often in friendships and learned to keep myself guarded in relationships, only letting a little piece of myself out. But when I changed my attitude and opened myself up to not only possibly get hurt, but also possibly to make some amazing friends in the process, I learned it was possible to move beyond the "out of place-ness" I was putting on myself.

We began having "Bachelor Mondays" where we said we'd watch "The Bachelor" and drink wine, but really just drank wine and talked all night. All of a sudden, we had a weekly forum to vent, get support, get encouragement, while we painted nails, taught each other how to do eye make up, and shared our "sale day" shopping successes. And though some of us really did try and watch the show, most of us just did all the other stuff. But regardless, I learned a lot about these girls, and I loved Bachelor Monday. It was good crazy girly fun, which was good to realize can happen even after you turn 30.

While "The Bachelor" is over for the season, and we don't meet every week, we do get together fairly often, and I think we all look forward to it just as much as we did when it was weekly. We've realized a lot of things about ourselves, about each other, and about relationships. We are able to bear with each other when things are bad, and have a big blow out in celebration when things are good. And it makes a world of difference to feel like there's these awesome women who all have your back when the going gets tough and when the lights start to dim on the parade. From life experiences to love lost, it's on the table and stays at the table.

Feeling so lucky to have gone beyond the restrictions I had on myself and the self-doubt that I was not likable and found these girls. One in a million.

My baby turned two. My sweet baby girl who should still need me like a baby needs her mama turned two. She is not a baby. She's two. Where the past two years went, I'll never know, I only know the years seem to go by faster and faster. Before I know it, I'm sure I'll just be blinking as the years fly past. Teagan Elyse is my precious little girl, full of spunk, laughter, light, crazy curls, funny stories, and so many other things. She is polar opposite of her brother in a few regards - her LOVE for sleep, her curly hair, her non-picky-ness about food, her girly sense of style, and her cute little freckles on her cheeks and nose. Most of these things are just like me.  Some others, remind me so much of Aiden - her independence, her zest for life, her wit, her drama, and her sass. Regardless, she is 100% unique and I am so blessed by her sweet, crazy nature every day.

We celebrated on a rainy Saturday with an Elmo party covered up in pink, red, and orange. We had food, we had friends, and we had fun! Cupcakes, hummus and veggies, cookies, and an assortment of snacks to celebrate my little Elmo girl. We even got she and Aiden matching Elmo outfits to celebrate...the girl was thrilled with her polka dot Elmo. She was showered with toys, covered in cake, and enamored with all of her fans.

Such a fun day full of memories and a few tears of joy. I'm so proud of all she can do at just TWO! I can't describe how much fun she is and how sweet the relationship is between she and her brother. I couldn't have asked for more when God gave me sweet Teagan. A few pics from the show...