Happy Belated Birthday, Miss Dakota...

My dearest daughter Dakota,

I am sooo sorry that I missed posting a blog on your actual birthday, but I hope you had a wonderful day celebrating your second year of life!!

There are no words I could say in this letter that would be able to express what you are and mean to me. Meeting you for the first time was, hands down, the BEST day of my life. Nothing ever prepared me for the overwhelming love that I have for you. When I first cuddled you in my arms, I knew I had fallen in love for the rest of my life. You are everything to me Dakota. You are my sunshine, my beautiful flower, the light of my life, my everything!

And even though you are only two, you have taught me so much. And I want to thank you for that! Thank you for being my inspiration. For making me want to do good things; even great things! But most importantly you make me want to be good. Because of you I want to be a better person and make the right choices, no matter how hard, and that means being a strong person and a good mother. Every day I give thanks and am grateful for the life that I have with you and Daddy. At this very moment, I am happier than I have ever been in my entire life!

Dakota there are so many things that I hope to teach you, and that you will embrace as your own. Here are just a handful of those things...

“FORGIVENESS” It’s not always easy to forgive when someone has hurt you, but anger and resentment should not be carried. It will make you bitter and cause damage to your physical and emotional health. At worst, it will kill your spirit. Please do not misunderstand, I do not wish for you to be walked on or taken advantage of but I am sure you will be able to recognize and find a balance. Most importantly, you must always forgive yourself. It’s all right to make mistakes, in fact, it is how we learn and grow. And lastly, never EVER burn a bridge, or hold a grudge. Nothing ever good comes of it, and you will ultimately only hurt yourself. Strive to always be the better person and you'll come out on top every time. I promise!

“BELIEVE, BELIEVE, BELIEVE!" There is a whole universe out there and anything is possible. Believe in God, believe in prayer, believe in love, and even magic. I do believe that words have power and even greater power when spoken out loud. It’s making a wish and believing in it with everything in you. Believe in yourself. That means you should always trust your intuition; your fist instincts are usually right. Believing in yourself means that you can do anything you set your mind to. With commitment and hard work you will get where ever it is you want to be and know that nothing great and worth anything is ever easy. Persistence, commitment and perseverance will take you far in life and you can conquer and overcome anything with those three things!

“FAMILY” Family is the very essence of our identity. Family is the most important and should always be put first. Always be proud of your family, if for no other reason, because they are a part of you. They love you unconditionally and support you. They are your “rock “. They are the one’s you can lean on in life.

"RESPECT FOR SELF" First and for most, stay clear of the nay-sayers. Secondly, don’t follow the pack. In other words, be a leader not a follower. Thirdly, have your own ideas and your own mind. Be careful not to get caught up in other’s gossip and misery. Gossip is ugly and empty. Fill yourself up with joy and surround yourself with positive people. I am sure you will get caught up in gossip and drama at some point in your life, the same as I have, but recognize it and run. It too is draining and toxic to your soul. People who don’t care about or respect themselves cannot possibly care for or respect you. Respect the privacy of others. Don’t worry so much about the way other people live their lives, so long as it doesn't affect you. Put that energy into yourself and the things you want out of life. Be positive! Negativity will close more doors, destroy more relationships, and burn more bridges than you'll ever realize.
I hope that you will not need to compete with others. It is a waste of time and energy. In my opinion, it is not a loving or healthy way to be. I believe jealousy to be one of the weakest character traits, so, LOVE YOURSELF! And have the ability to recognize, accept and even admire the beauty in others.
Stand by your convictions. That means I want you to stand up for what you believe in. Also know that everyone is different and others beliefs might be different from yours. Try to have an open mind and always try to put yourself in someone else’s shoes before judging them. Don’t have the need to be perfect (none of us are). Otherwise, it will be hard for you to see your faults and you will hurt people in the process.

“LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE” "Never ever, shrink or downplay yourself so that others around you will not feel insecure or inferior." You are deserving!

"FRIENDSHIP” As a friend it is our job to listen and support, whether we agree or not. It is not our place to judge the choices that other’s make, even if we love them. Others need to learn on their own so that they can grow and find out who they are inside and what it is that will make them happy. People change because life is a constant process and I don’t think it’s ever good to stay at a stand still for too long. Although it can definitely be scary, change is good! Our friends will need us to stand by them, not “kick them when they’re down” or make them second- guess themselves when they are already confused. Also, remember that not everyone has had a loving and supportive family to guide them. So, be a kind, loyal, respectful, honest, forgiving and compassionate friend.

“LITTLE-BIG THINGS” Give thanks, keep your promises, daydream, sing out loud, dance the night away, surround yourself with beauty, use the saying “And this too shall pass”, laugh hysterically! Help the meek, pick your battles, communicate effectively, see things through, set boundaries, and treat people how you want to be treated. Don’t Smoke and never EVER do drugs. Take responsibility for your actions, make a list of things you want to do in life and work toward them! When people are cruel, “kill them with kindness." Fall in love but never with a married man. Know that when we lose someone we love, they become our protectors, our guardian angel.

There are so many more things that I hope to teach you in life, and I will do my best to show you those things and, most importantly, lead by example! But, whether you become everything that I just described or the complete opposite, I will always be proud of you. The fact remain, your life will be what you make of it. And, no matter which life choices you make, I will love you. You are MY DAUGHTER and I will love you forever!!

Dakota I love you with everything that I am. Happy Birthday sweet girl!!

Love, Mommy

Home SWEET home..

That's right, Dakota is a new homeowner!! Escrow (aka "project backyard transformation") was probably more than a two year old could handle, especially because the disasembled playhouse sat in the garage taunting her everyday to come play inside. I'm happy to report that the stress never got to her (LOL), beccause once the concrete was poured and the playhouse was fully assmbled, we had a very happy and PROUD homeowner!

And of course no homeowner can go without a housewarming party. Not sure when we'll throw her one, but it will definitely include her two best buds, Kylan & Brayden.

She's SO sassy!! lol

She was so excited to finally have the "keys" to her new home.

She kept doing this and saying, "Yay, whoooaaa, Yay-Yay, WHOA"

So proud of her new diggs...

Project COMPLETED...

Yep, our backyard is OFFICIALLY finished. YAY! I am so ridiculously excited to start enjoying the great outdoor, backyard life. Yes, it still might be small compared to most backyards, but we'll take what we can get. I've said it once and I'll say it again, it doesn't take much to make this family happy. Dakota still has a ton of room to run around, and I've already mapped out where everything will go...BBQ, playhouse, play climber, patio set and all!!! Anyway, I took lots of pictures throughout the whole process. Talk about a total transformation, huh??

Before...

During...

After...

I'm a little bummed about the gap between the cement and the fence. No thanks to the builder. They left a TON of dirt in the backyard, so when the fence "guys" came in to install the fence they had no choice but to build on top of all the dirt. Fast forward four years, it has now become our problem. It's not a huge deal since the guy that did our concrete will install some cement blocks to hide the gap, which will also serve as a little sitting area for Dakota. Problem solved! =)

Did you miss us?!

I want to apologize for not blogging these past few weeks. Life got a little busy for us, so blogging ultimately got put on hold. I'll try my best to update all that has happened these past few weeks, which means I have my work cut out for me!! A lot has happened since the last time I posted, including someone's SECOND birthday. I'm so ashamed that I didn't take the time to at least give Dakota a little shout out on her big day. But, to be honest with you, I think she was probably happy that I spent the entire day with her instead of being glued to the computer. So here we go. Stay tuned for lots of posts!!!

Picture of the week...

I took this picture while we waited for choo-choos at the train station. I have more pictures to share of that day, but I'll limit this post to just one ;)

It still amazes me how grown up she is starting to look in some of her pictures. And, I don't mean grown up like she's resembling a three of four year old. I feel like I'm seeing into the future with some of the pictures I take. I swear her face shows so much maturity at times. It's scary!

Under Construction...

Ok, well here they are. Here are the "before" pictures of our itty-bitty backyard.

It might not be all that big, but I know Dakota will still have a blast back there. We don't need much, especially since we find a lot of fun outside of the home. But, it'll certainly be nice for Dakota to have a little play area when we're having one of those nice relaxing days at home, or a place to hang out when we're BBQing. =)

We're still waiting on the weather to cooperate, but hopefully it will be done within the next few weeks. As long as it's done by Springtime, I'll be happy!

I'm also SUPER excited with how the playhouse turned out. I know I said it was in great shape, but after spending about 4 hours scrubbing it down this past weekend, it looks brand new!! I was also able to order some parts that were missing and/or in major need of replacing. When we bought it from the previous "owners," we discovered the skylight cover was missing. I was bummed when I found that out, but luckily Step2.com has them available for replacement since they still sell that model of playhouse. And would you believe the skylight was only $4. FOUR DOLLARS!!!! Omigosh, I wanted to order 10. I don't know why, but I just felt like I should. LOL I'll probably order one more, just in case something happens with the one we have. I also ordered new stickers, since the ones it came with were either missing or nasty! How much were those you ask? $1.25!!!! It felt great to not only find replacement parts, but to find replacement parts at a reasonable price! Anyway, here are some pictures....

A much cleaner playhouse & new skylight cover...

The NEW stickers. Doesn't it look great?!?!

I can't wait to take pictures of Dakota enjoying the playhouse once it's fully assembled. She tries so hard to get in there and play around, but we try our best to keep her away so that it's even more special once it's all put together! We'll definitely be having a "house warming party" once we have it up. I know two little boys that she's gonna love having over to play =)

Picture of the week...

....a little late, but better late than never. I'll have another one posted in a few days (for this week). =)

~Dakota and her new ride, courtesy of Craigslist~

Home away from home...

Thanks to good ole Craigslist, this is Dakota's new crib (figuratively speaking)...

Ya, it might be five years old and slightly faded, but it was 1/2 the price of a new one. I really didn't want a brand new playhouse for two reasons. One, I didn't want to shell out that much money. Two, it's gonna get ridiculously faded in our backyard and I'll be less depressed when this one does, simply because I didn't fork out mad cash for it.

I got really lucky finding this one on Craigslist. It has always been kept in the shade, which is why it still looks great. Now we just gotta wait for the concrete to be poured so we can assemble it. We got the green light through our association, now we just have to wait for the weather to cooperate!

Forecast calls for partly cloudy skies...

How cute are those cloudy skies? I know it's a little cheesy, and probably a little silly that I'm so enthusiastic about it, but I've always looked forward to hanging Dakota's school crafts on our refrigerator. I admit the crafts will be overtaking our refrigerator a lot sooner than I once predicted, but give me a break, she's my first kid! LOL

Well, I'm not gonna go too much into her 2nd day of preschool, but she did have a lot of fun. She is doing really well with directions and listening to what I tell or ask of her while we're in class. She's also very good at doing what other kids do and/or what the teacher asks her to do (helping to clean up, placing her hands in her lap during storytime, waiting her turn, and sharing).

On this particular day, the kids made clouds to go along with the theme of the day. I must say, Dakota did really well making the clouds on her own. I gave her minimal verbal direction and she did the rest. Ok, maybe I put those last two cotton balls on as she frantically scrubbed her hands with a wipe to get all the glue and fuzz off her hands.

Last week it was the kitchen, this week she was all about the cars...

In the car...

Valentine's Day Sneak Peek...

Ok, I guess it's not really a sneak peek, since I pretty much just gave away what we'll be sending out for Valentine's Day. But whatever! I mainly just wanted to share the pictures that were taken during our fun little dress up/photo session the other day. I'm obviously no professional photographer, nor will these pictures be winning any awards, but that's not what I'm going for. Enjoy! ;)

Taken out front...

Taken out back...

Oh, and I betcha didn't know that I've had those babylegs and headband since she was a newborn, and the skirt since she was 9 months old. The shirt and shoes are the only new things. I guess it's a good thing my child insists on staying skinny.

Picture of the week...

I'm sure this comes as no surprise. I took this picture a few days ago. We had a little break in our stormy weather, and jumped on the opportunity to let Dakota run around outside, while I took some pictures. As you can see, she had a blast stretching those little legs of her!

I have quite a few more pictures from this day, but I'll share those on a different post. So stay tuned!

Dakota meets Isabella...

In this modern day, technological world it's really comes as no surprise that two toddlers can be long distance friends. Hehe. Ok, it's really two mommies that met over the internet that made their friendship possible.

Yep, I got to meet another one of my whattoexpect.com mommy friends this past weekend. Niki is from Ohio and her daughter Isabella is a week older than Dakota. She actually has two other daughters, but they weren't able to make it out with her this time. Niki was only in town for four days, but I was lucky enough to get penciled into her busy schedule while she was out here. She actually called me up on Thursday to see if she could borrow Dakota's pack n play. So I got a sneak peek that night when I dropped it off to her. Unfortunately, both girls were asleep and it was FREEZING outside, so it was a very brief visit.

Luckily, the very next day we all got to spend a few hours at Downtown Disney. The girls had a blast running around, splashing in the fountain, holding hands, eating snacks, licking dum-dums, and completely ignoring anything me or Niki told them NOT to do. It's like they've known each other their entire lives because everything one did the other did, and almost right on cue. I guess that's just a two year old for ya.

Anyway, we all had a great time. I just wish we would have had more time to spend with each other. Enjoy the pictures!

They started off at Build-A-Bear....

But apparently the fountain was calling their names...

I can't tell you how much fun they had playing in the water.

They walked away SOAKED!

They loved holding hands!!

These next three are my favorite.

The girls wanted to play ring around the rosies, and Niki was sweet enough to do so =)

They enjoyed their snacks and dum-dums...

The girls standing in front of the "I" at California Adventure...

And of course, we had to get a picture of all four of us!!

I love the deer-in-the-head-light look our daughters are giving. LOL

Niki, thank you SO very much for making time to meet with Dakota and me. You are such a sweet, genuine person and I just love your personality and sense of humor. Seriously though, why do you have to live so far away?!?! As for Isabella, OMG, what a character that girl is. She is such a happy child and her facial expressions crack me up. I'm amazed at how much postive energy pours out of that child, which can only be attributed to one thing...GREAT parents! You and Tom have done a wonderful job. I can only imagine how wonderful Carly and Abby are in person. And Niki, thank you so much for the super cute T-Shirt and postcard you bought for Dakota. That was so thoughtful and sweet of you. I had Dakota all decked out in her shirt so I could take a picture, but the batteries were completely dead, so I'll add the picture to this post as soon as I take it. We miss you guys already!! =(