Watch Out World

How can such a sweet little girl cause so much mischief?

In the last few weeks Antalya has mastered the art of opening every childproof lock on cupboards, turning the hot water knob on the bathtub, carrying a chair anywhere in the house to access higher locations, and unlocking and opening our backdoor (constantly trying to escape). The end result has been an attitude that she can now do anything she wants, when she wants, without any help from Mommy. Boy was I wrong when I thought she needed constant supervision before!   

Can any of you T21 moms out there offer any advice. This sweet little girl never stops moving - we affectionately refer to her as the "Little Tornado" for very good reason. I am grateful she has so much energy, curiosity, and hunger to discover the world around her. But she also seems to have little, if any, concept of danger, boundaries, or a sense of right or wrong - and I am struggling with how to teach her what she can and cannot do. 

Thanks to my good friend Sonja for the great picture above!

Frozen in Time (and a bit more)

What is it about watching your own child sleep that is so mesmerizing? Lately I find myself lingering near Antalya long after she's already asleep, frozen in place by her beauty and innocence. Maybe it's the knowledge that another baby is coming to our home that has me wanting to enjoy these quiet moments all the more. It's amazing to me the transformation that happens when her eyes close. When she is awake there is nothing baby about Antalya. She's my little girl that is getting bigger and more independent with every day, but as soon as her eyes close, she becomes my little baby again - even her features change so that to me she looks just the same as the little bundle I would rock to sleep in the hospital. I wonder if it will always be like that?

On another note, I'm sorry I deleted my post. As soon as I realized that it just made people wonder if I was alright I decided to take it down. Yes, I'm fine. The last several months have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride and some days I feel like I can't take it anymore - yesterday was one of those days. But I felt like it was all too long and complicated to try to put in a blog post. I will try to sum up quickly what has been going on in our little corner of the world. We have been managing a family business for the past 4 years (the storage unit facility). Several months ago the right offer came along, and the family decided to sell the business. The timing was perfect for us, because we were feeling anxious to do something else and move into a larger home (four of us in a one bedroom apartment just seemed like more than I could handle). So although it is a good thing, and I am grateful for it, it has been a crazy ride trying to decide what to do with our lives, since the sale would leave us unemployed and without a home. It seems like as soon as we would come up with a plan and start moving towards it, something would change that would leave us hanging again. We have some things in the works right now, but we are still about a month away from being able to nail down our final plans. So the wait continues. The sale closes next week and it is up to the new owners if they will let us stay on here for a couple more months, or if they want us gone. So, maybe we will still be here when the baby is born, or maybe we will be doing a last minute move into one of parent's houses next weekend to stay until the pieces all come together and we can begin our next adventure. So with my urge to start nesting, I am torn behind the question of should I start packing to move, or should I pull out the baby stuff in preparation for her arrival. I promise to keep you posted as soon as we know what is going on.

What put me over the top yesterday was my decision to transfer my prenatal care from the midwife I've been seeing to an OB. There's no major concerns with the pregnancy, just a few things that have come up that make me feel like I need to make the switch. But the question was how do I find an OB that I like and trust when I am already in my last trimester. After lots of thought, I decided this morning to go back to the doctor that delivered Antalya. I would trust her in any situation, and respect her opinions and finally decided that all that justified the hour drive to her office. So while I'm a little disappointed that once again, my labor and delivery won't be exactly how I want it to be, I feel good about my decision (I'm sure more of my thoughts on this will be coming in a post soon).

An Apostle's Easter Thoughts on Christ

On this Easter Sunday, my heart is full of gratitude to the Savior of mankind who did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He is my light, my example, my friend; and although I'm still a long ways off, each day I am striving to become more like Him.

Happy Easter to us all!

Easter Weekend Part 1

I had a blog post all planned for tonight, but it's getting late and I still have some things I need to get done, so instead of the writing a bunch tonight I will just leave you with some pictures of my cute little angel. She has been so much fun lately. I bought her a little doll and a stroller. She couldn't care less about the doll, but she LOVES the stroller. We have to go for several walks a day so she can push it around outside. We also had our first experience at Kangaroo Zoo. Antalya was in heaven. For those of you aren't familiar with it, it a huge place with tons of bounce houses. And then of course, we have had Easter egg hunts.

Blog Award

I received this blog award from a good friend awhile back, and just haven't had the chance to pass it on. Thanks Strawberry Girl! I enjoy reading your thoughtful posts.



To keep the good vibes going the award is passed from blogger to blogger. You link with the person who sent the award and then pass it to 3 other bloggers...

Plus you must list 5 of your fabulous addictions...

I really only have one thing I can say is truly an addiction, the others are just things I enjoy doing.

1. My true addiction is sugar. My mom will attest that I have always had a sweet tooth. When I was little I would dip my fingers in the sugar bowl. My sugar cravings get even worse when I'm pregnant, sigh. It doesn't matter what it is - candy, chocolate, ice cream, cakes, cookies, punch - I've even resorted to eating something I didn't necessarily enjoy just because it was there and I needed a sugar fix.

2. Exercise. Since as early as I can remember I have always enjoyed physical activity over watching TV. Although, pregnancy seems to put a halt to my aerobic activities, most days I still choose to walk to the grocery store rather than drive if the weather permits.

3. Being outside. But really, can anyone resist a beautiful spring day? I absolutely love it. When I was little I thought that because my name was 'Sunny' it meant that I had to have the sun recharge me everyday. I still that way - the sun rejuvenates me, puts a smile on my face, and fills me with happiness.

4. Dreaming of the future. Where we will live? How many kids will we have? Will we have a forest and stream running through our backyard? Will I have a big garden?

5. My children. I know I only have one right now, but I already am starting to say "my girls". I can't wait for our new little girl to be born. I'm so excited to meet her, and for her and Antalya to become great friends. I love the way Antalya always puts a smile on my face. I love spending my days with her.

Now the fun part, passing the award on to some of my most favorite people.

1. Christine over at The Adventures of Bunsy and her Tumbleweeds. I love reading about her adventures as she follows her husband wherever his schooling takes them. Currently she is raising her three boys in Turkey.

2. Laura over at The Munck's Quiver. I love reading about all that goes on in her busy home, plus she has an adorable boy with Ds.

3. Tara at Living out Loud. Tara is one of my former running buddies. Now she's experiencing live in Hong Kong.