Happy Birthday, Ukulele

Happy Birthday to my precious, perfect, beautiful, blessing, Godsent daughter.

One year ago today, we were sitting in the waiting room at the hospital waiting for updates on how Juno was and trying to control our racing hearts. It was on that date that our lives changed forever. Who knew our hearts could love one tiny little person so much that they would feel like they could burst? This little girl makes me smile so much - every single day. At night I still go in to her room and watch her sleep, with tears welling up in my eyes, and marvel at her beauty, her grace, and the realization that she is my daughter.

She has changed and grown so much over the last year. She is becoming the girl she was meant to be - happy, loved, and full of life. She dances all the time. She laughs constantly. She grabs our faces with her perfect little hands and gives us kisses. She's so loving and kind, smart, curious, and she's our daughter.

Thank you, Juno, for making what was probably the hardest decision I hope you'll ever have to make. And thank you, God, for choosing us to be Ukulele's parents.

We are eternally grateful.

Fertil-ly Ungrateful

Yes, Fertil-ly is now a word.

I just wasted the last hour reading the comments to another persons blog post. Another blog writer posted a question about handling motherhood and how you want your old life back. I scoured over 100 comments looking for one - JUST ONE - from a mother who cherished motherhood even half the time. What I found was over 100 comments from mothers who got pregnant "unexpectedly," or their pregnancy was "unplanned," or their pregnancy was "unwanted." Now, as a caveat, they do all appear to love their children - despite their role of motherhood. But I am appalled at how much these women bitched and totally did not appreciate the absolute miracle involved in being able to create a child.

I wanted to post something so badly about the whole thing, but I was (and am) just too disgusted by it all.

No need to look for the blog link on my sidebar. I've removed it. I seriously doubt my readers would be sympathic to these whining baby makers.

If you'll excuse me, I need to go throw up. That blog has made me sick to my stomach.

Getting Old(er)

On Tuesday I turned 39. On that day I was supposed to do my List of Thirty-Nine. If you recall, I did a List of Thirty-Eight last year, and one of the items was to do the next year's list. As you can tell, that didn't happen. GatorMan could tell, also. So, for my 39th birthday, he has been giving me things to help me complete some of the items on my list (a cork board for my vision board; a journal to start my List of Thirty Nine; three blank canvases for the tryptic painting).

I'm working on that list. I'm going to be more thoughtful about the items I put on it, and hopefully a little more realistic. The seemingly easier things (drinking water, making bed, walking dog) ended up being the hardest. This is definitely a work-in-progress. But after reviewing the List of Thirty-Eight, I think I did alright overall.

One thing I am going to try to work on a little more diligently is writing in the blog. (I obviously still need to change the header to reflect the new blog name....) I really do not have any excuse (except for lack of content inspiration) for not writing. I log in every single day to keep up with everyone else's goings-ons.

So here we go again. Hopefully the older I get, the wiser I will get.... and more disciplined!

Seriously???

Ukulele had a little accident last night. She got into a fight with the tv console, and I think the console won.* Anyway, while going through the "internets" for a little medical research regarding her bruised eyelid, I came across a website called "pedia.tric on.call" (all one word). This is a website maintained by doctors. DOCTORS! However, just because you are doctor does not mean that you are intelligent.

They listed "adoption" as a "childhood ailment." I'm not joking. Check it out yourself here. Just take a gander at the list on the right, and sit in amazement (and bewilderment) as I did.

* She's fine, by the way.... the tv console was appropriately punished.

Whirled Peas

Whirled Peas DO NOT equal World Peace. Or at least they do not equal Night Peace. We have finally realized, the hard way, that Ukulele should not have peas for dinner. Every time she has peas for dinner, we are in for a night of fussing, crying, and no sleep. Last night was no exception. I think they give her heartburn. At 12:30 we finally broke down and brought her in our room, with her swing, and let her sleep there. After a handful of middle-of-the-night cries, I moved her back to her room around 6:15. Poor little thing. Actually, poor little mom and dad.....

One Year Old

Happy Birthday to my little blog. I started blogging about the Ukulele one year ago today. Although my blog has not grown that much - my life with Ukulele surely has. It's amazing how much my life has changed in the last year.... all for the better. Thank you - to everyone - who has traveled along with me. Although my posts have become few-and-far between, I'm still following all of your lives on a regular basis. So thank you - to you - for letting me go along for your rides as well. It's quite the little family we have, isn't it!?!

A Response from Westin!

So... a day after the nasty-gram was sent, here is the response from Westin:

Dear Ms. Ukulele,

Thank you for your inquiry via the Westin.com website. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments on current advertised offer. Please be assured that your input will serve as a valuable tool in the evaluation and enhancement of the products and services that we offer our guests.

I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of this.

Thank you for contacting Westin Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. If you have any further customer service questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at westin@westin.com.

Best Regards,
Ms. So-and-So Specialist,
E-Communications Department Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

GatorMan and I agree that this response seems to be pieced together from various customer-service form response emails. Quite humorous, actually. I cannot say that I was inconvenienced by their promotion, but okay. My guess is that this girl got the email and had no clue what to do with it! Hopefully my email was passed along to someone who can actually do something about the ridicululousness of their promotions in the future.