pink.

so, usually, i love pink. it's my favorite color... but not when it comes to my eyes!

i was lucky enough to get pink eye this week. and not in just one eye - but both!

fortunately, i don't think jason or emma are going to develop the infection. i was so glad jason had some eye drops left over from when he had it several months ago. they were still good, so i started using them right away, tuesday night, when i figured out i probably had pink eye. i think i would have been m.i.s.e.r.a.b.l.e. had i waited until wednesday to go to the doctor and get some medicine.

i will say that i'm a bit of a whiny baby when i'm sick, so jason was really sweet to give me some much-needed sympathy. ;) but who enjoys enduring eyes that are swollen, achey, gooey, runny, burning, feel like there's sand under the eye-lids, scratchy, and a whole plethora of other gross, descriptive words??

i'm still wearing my glasses (which i hate), and had to throw away a brand new pair of contacts and a brand new tube of mascara, but i'm glad my eyes are "on the mend." hopefully they'll be back to normal, soon.

because you get a lot of stares when both your eyes look like this:

obviously, this is not a picture of my eye, but it is very close to what my eyes looked like this week. mine were, sadly, a little more puffy and goopy than these baby-blues. (p.s. i'm glad this isn't my eye, because i'd be suffering from more than just pink eye, if they were - i'd have some serious eyebrow issues!)

super cute giveaway.

so, i was taking a quick homework break, and stumbled upon this cutesy blog called "a heart for home."

and, i was super excited that "a heart for home" is doing a giveaway from an etsy shop called "mom's blankies." (if you don't know what etsy is, prepare to spend a good part of the next hour browsing all the chic wares being sold by these creative, small-business owners!) i am loving etsy.com right now - very inspiring, and makes me want to figure out what i can sell!

"mom's blankies" is a super cute, online baby boutique with oodles of fun, cutey, chic, handmade blankies, lovies, headbands, burp cloths, hairbows, and (my favorite) "shoopers!" shoopers are these precious little handmade shoes/slippers. get it? shoes + slippers = shoopers!

so, i was really excited to find that "a heart for home" is giving away a free pair of shoopers. i definitely entered... and if you have a cute little one who might enjoy something fabulous to keep his/her little piggies warm, you should too!

click here to find the giveaway.

i personally am hoping for a pair of these pink, brown & green paisley shoopers. i think emma would love dancing around the house in these. :)

heart wrenching.

i can't watch the news anymore. it's too heart-wrenching.

i feel like every other story is of some poor child (always almost exactly emma's age) who's been lost, stolen, abused, or worse... and i can't separate myself from their stories. i always personalize it, and my heart wanders to a place where it imagines life without emma.

tonight i saw the story of a sweet little girl, also exactly emma's age, who was playing in her backyard (in a house her family just moved into) and fell into the 10-inch opening of a septic tank whose cover was missing. her brother and daddy were playing football in the backyard, right there, while she was playing, and then she just disappeared... they reported her missing around 6:30 last night, and authorities found her, lifeless, in the tank early this morning. i don't know why it affected me so much, but i couldn't stop crying.

that poor family is spending tonight without their sweet girl. i can't imagine. i don't think i could breathe.

and although what happened to this precious girl last night was a horrible, tragic accident and not the act of an evil person, i can't help but think: what is it about all our sad news lately? has the world gotten that much worse, that it's now filled with evil people who do horrific things to sweet babies? is our media just buzz-crazy, completely callous to the way that details of these awful stories can affect people? or, because i'm a mother, have i just become much more aware and sensitive to anything that makes me fear the fact that i can't 100% protect my daughter forever, and that life is not promised to us?

i just feel sad now. sorry for such a depressing post...

my heart and prayers go out to the family of alisandra galvan.

sara needs.

my sister-in-law, lindsey, posted this on her facebook, and i thought it was interesting, so i gave it a gander:

the directions:
type in your name and the word "needs" in quotes ("tim needs”) into your favorite search engine (i guess this is the p.c. way of saying "google"?) and see what comes up. list the first 10 and then tag 10 or more of your friends.

1. sara needs...a loving, playful home.
2. sara needs...a lawyer.
3. sara needs...your opinion on parents sleeping in your bed. (seriously - what???)
4. sara needs...twice as nice.
5. sara needs...Rabbis for human rights. (haha!)
6. sara needs...to discover experts in the area. (um, what area?)
7. sara needs...you. (you bet i do!)
8. sara needs...access to files and email stored on local machine under Jamies account. (why?)
9. sara needs...sara time. (haha! how did they know???)
10. sara needs...to drop a few lbs. (haha! again - how did they know?)

and, just for good measure:
11. sara needs...a MeMe. (cute, but jason's meme will do!)

hehe... pretty funny. :)

so, friends, what do YOU need?

correction.

oops!

i totally posted the reyes' baby boy's name wrong...

it's not jacob andrew, as i previously posted - that's the name that our friends, the olsons, chose for their future-baby-boy (due in april).

naomi and matthew's little one is:

jacob david reyes

sorry guys! :)

baby beanbag is here.

we are rejoicing with some of our best friends, the reyes family, today, as they welcomed their little boy, jacob andrew into the world this afternoon!

big sister abby (3) so desperately wanted to name him "baby beanbag," but for some reason matthew & naomi weren't in love with the name. ;)

i don't have pictures of the littel guy, yet, but here are some pics of the reyes family when they were "three." (or at least before #4 was outside of the womb, yet!)

our sweet friends - matthew, naomi & abby at abby's 3rd birthday party. if you look closely, you can see naomi's "baby beanbag" belly! :)

here's a more obvious picture of "baby beanbag" in all his glory before he entered our world. abby, of course, is holding her "baby patti."

we are so excited for matthew, naomi and abby, and can't wait to meet baby jacob! hopefully we'll have pictures soon. :)


jacob, you're one lucky little guy - you have one of the greatest families ever! you're going to have SO MUCH FUN growing up with them! we love you already!

- sara, jason & emma kate

happy valentine's day.

emma is having her first valentine's day party at "school" this year, so she needed valentines to give to all of her little friends tomorrow.

and, of course, i went way overboard.

but this is one of the 10 cute little cards i came up with tonight. jason said i'm trying to make up for something i must have missed out on in my childhood. haha. i say i just like making cute things!

all 10 of them are different. i put magnets on the back of the cards for her teachers, so they can go on their refrigerator. :) too fun.

anyway, just wanted to share.

happy valentine's day!

goodnight, batman.

another emma story for you, but before i tell it, there's a bit of a back story:

thanks to her daddy and nonna, emma is obsessed with batman. that's right, my 2-year-old, sweet little girl who loves big "kate bows" in her hair and the color pink is currently in love with all disney princesses... and batman. she talks about the cars blowing up and the helicopter crashing. she talks in this really funny low, deep voice, and says to her daddy things, like, "i'm batman. you're joker," and "you have to trust me." (on a side note, she also told jason, today while he was tickling her, "no, daddy, don't kill me!" there will be no more watching of "batman.") so, we've established that she's obsessed with batman.

now, onto the story:

in our home, at bedtime, we have this sweet little routine where we brush teeth, get emma's jammies on, sometimes read a story in the rocker, turn on her music, and then cuddle in the rocker until it's "sleepy time."

we also have this bedtime rhetoric (or anytime, really) that goes like this:

mommy (or daddy): i love you, emma.
emma: i yuv you.
mommy (or daddy): you're my best girl.
emma: you my best grill.

it's so precious, and so sweet, and usually i say it over and over again just to hear her say she loves me! :)

so, this is how it went a few nights ago, as we were rocking, before i laid her in her bed:

emma: seet deems, mommy.
mommy: sweet dreams, emma.
:::kiss:::
mommy: i love you, emma.
emma: i yuv you, mommy.
mommy: you're my best girl, emma.
emma: you my best batman.
:::smile:::
emma: goodnight, batman.

what an honor... i'm her BEST BATMAN! does that mean i'm better than batman? or does that mean she loves batman more than mommy?

i don't know... but either way... it made me chuckle a little as i tucked her in bed and kissed my little batman-lovin' princess goodnight.

kiss it.

so, here's your laugh for today:

i was talking to emma today, asking what she did at 'school' (mother's day out). she told me she got a spanking on her "butt" (which i'm SURE didn't actually happen... she's just recently learned how to "tell stories").

when i asked if she really got a spanking, she said, "yes, mommy - it hurt!"

then she so sweetly bent over so her little tush was in my face and said:

"mommy, will you kiss my butt?"

...and... of course, i did.

because, who could resist that cute little tush?

back at it.

school started back up for me last week at TWU. i'm in 15 hours this semester - 4 classes that i attend on tuesdays & thursdays and 2 online classes. i am already becoming very overwhelmed by the workload i have ahead of me... especially in my online classes. this art education class that i'm taking online is a bit ridiculous: a 46-page syllabus, in-depth assignments due all the time, a professor and 2 graduate assistance who all answer the same questions differently & can't seem to get on the same page... it's really stressing me out.

i'm afraid this semester is going to be so much harder than last semester. i feel like last semester was such a blessing, and so "easy" so that i would be able to be encouraged and gather the strength and motivation to finish out the next couple years.

this semester will be a tough one, that's for sure. i know i can do it, it's just frustrating when it seems that some professors are giving work that has nothing to do with our learning to be a teacher, but everything to do with simply taking up my time.

i hope i don't drive jason crazy by the end of may! only 4 more months to go, right? :) then i'll just have summer classes, and one more fall semester of classes, my student teaching next spring, and then i'll graduate may 2010!

so, yes, i see the light at the end of the tunnel, and i'm excited for that... but i feel like it's going to be a long road ahead...

ready. set. go.

anyone who knows me, knows that i am struggling a lot with self-image. especially at the weight i'm at now, since emma's birth. i've cried about it, agonized about it, beat myself up over it, been disgusted, angry, frustrated, depressed - you name it! i've tried to eat better, started and stopped going to the gym too many times to count... and still i'm the same weight i was when i gave birth to emma 2 years and 3 months ago.

well, my wonderful in-laws got me a few training sessions with an IN-HOME personal trainer for christmas! it's pretty much the BEST gift EVER! i had my first session with christina today, and it was amazing. she gave me some AWESOME exercises to do at home, 3 times a week, that should take more than 30 minutes. SO easy, right? and we talked about food, nutrition, drinking enough water, etc... i really feel equipped to tackle this head-on.

i was so encouraged after my time with christina. i feel like for the next two weeks, until i see her again, i can TOTALLY stay on top of my fitness & food plan. i am so excited to conquer this little battle with myself.

here are the tools that will help me win:

1. drinking LOTS of water, 2. dairy (yogurt & milk)


3. snacks like nuts, fruits & veggies
4. eating every 2 - 3 hours


5. weight/resistance training 3-days a week,
6. cardio (usually with my stroller!) 5-days a week

i feel so ready to actually DO this.

and i think i can. no. i KNOW i can.

i am so ready to feel good about myself again, and i'm excited to get started!

so, feel free to ask me how it's going. i'll update here every week or two... just for some accountability and the such. but hopefully, this time next year... there'll be a whole new sara behind this cute little blog! :)

girlies.

this picture makes me so happy. i just wanted to share it with all of you. :)

it's me and my girl, emma kate, with my sweet, dear friend melody and her girl, kate annemarie. melody & joel called us spur-of-the-moment one day at the end of summer and asked us to go to the dallas zoo with them and their two kiddos, grant & kate. we went, and were so glad we did. it was a great time, a perfect day, a sweet time with friends. i love fun memories like this. and its so fun to see our kids have so much fun together. joel & melody started hanging out with/kinda mentoring me and jason when we just started dating... almost 7 years ago! and they are still such an important part of our lives, even now. i love it!

this picture just captured the fun and joy of that time at the zoo. i really love it.

and i REALLY love the delucas.

baby boom.

bear with me while i wallow for just a minute in my own self-pity/wanting what i can't have...

can i just say that EVERYONE is having babies.

to prove my point:
my cousin bess: baby ruthie, born january 7th
missy's sister ellie: baby "jake", born january 10th
naomi: baby boy (baby beanbag, according to abby), due in february
lisa: baby everett, due in march
jerica: baby boy, due in april
kristina: baby (we don't know!), due in may
candice: baby (don't know yet, but she says it's a girl!), due in june

so, every month for the next 5 months, we'll be rejoicing with sweet friends as they welcome a new little life into their family!

sigh. i'm not complaining. i'm just yearning. :)

maybe by this time next year, we'll be expecting our own new little life...

save the date.

my brother cory & his fiancee katie are getting married in 23 weeks!

they came over last night to talk about save the dates and invitations. i'm working on their save the date right now. it's a super fun postcard, and i'm loving it!

click here to see the work in progress.

i'm so excited for my brother. he has found someone who loves him as much as he loves her. they are great together, and we can't wait for their wedding!

ruthie christine cave.

a new baby has blessed the cave family.

my cousin aaron and his sweet wife bess met their daughter today! at 3:22 pm, ruth "ruthie" christine made her grand entrance into our world, weighing 6 lbs. 13 oz.

we are praising God with aaron & bess for the blessing of their girl. we can't wait to meet her, snuggle her and give her lots of hugs & kisses.

until then, here are some sweet pictures, so the world can see her perfection:

mommy, daddy & ruthie at christmas

bess carrying baby ruthie

aaron & bess being their silly selves
(they're going to be such fun parents!)

sweet girl

my aunt debra:::grandma

my uncle doug:::grandpa

fancy toes!

welcome to our world, ruthie christine.

i know ruthie & emma kate will have SO much fun playing for years to come. we are so excited about our growing family.

congratulations, aaron & bess! your girl is beautiful perfection!

all photographs by aaron cave
www.aaroncave.com

they love each other.

they love each other.

one of my best friends, missy, has two of the greatest kids ever - brynn is 7 & aaron is 3. emma and aaron love each other. i mean, they really love each other! we are always joking that we've got to save sweet pictures and memories for their rehearsal dinner slideshow. but i'm serious... they love each other!

aaron is so sweet with emma. he's so gentle and patient with her, and he usually shares his toys. except for when he doesn't... but then, at least he's thoughtful enough to let everyone know that he is not going to let emma play with his toys! :)


missy called me tonight. aaron wanted to talk to me, and the first thing he said was, "sara, i miss emma." he told me he wanted to talk to her, so i went into her room where jason was rocking her for bedtime, and i told her aaron was on the phone. she immediately grabbed my cell phone (which was on speaker phone) and said, "oh, HIIIII, aaron!"

this is the precious conversation that followed:

emma: hi aaron!
aaron: hi emma!
emma: aaron, hi!
aaron: emma, what are you doing?
emma: hi aaron.
aaron: what are you doing emma?
emma: aaron, hi! i'm rockin'.
aaron: hey emma, you want to come to my house?
emma: yeah.
aaron: emma, let's go to target, and we can buy baby toys and big boy toys, and we can go to starbucks, and i will pay my money for you, emma.
emma: ok. i want starbucky's. (emma's pet name for starbucks.)
aaron: STARBUCKS! (as he starts singing at the top of his lungs and running around in circles.)
emma: starbucky's!
aaron: STARBUCKS! (still running and singing.)
emma: ok, i yuv you aaron, bye!

so there you go... let it be chronicled that my 2-year-old daughter, emma kate rains, just might be the youngest girl ever to be asked out on a bonafide date. and by a pretty studly 3-year-old, i might add! if they were in highschool, she'd be a sophomore, and he'd be a senior... that's pretty good! : )

not really sure this counts as a date? well, let's look at all the specifics:

guy asks the girl... check!
plans ahead... check!
target to buy toys... check! (girls LOVE shopping - how thoughtful!)
offers to buy her something... check! (baby toys for emma, big boy toys for aaron.)
out for coffee... check! (starbucky's, of course.)
offers to "pay his money for her"... check!

sounds like all the makings of a date, to me!

so, missy and i are going to start planning now, and come spring of 2028 (when emma's 22), emma & aaron will have the best darn wedding two toddler-sweethearts have ever had!

i'm sure they will be doing this many years from now.

emma berardinelli. i like it. :)

my nightstand.

on the right column of this little blog page, i have a feature that lists the books that jason and i are currently reading. jason's nightstand is filled, with like, a million books. (and yes, he is reading them all.)

my nightstand, on the other hand, holds 3 books right now - figuratively.

since i just finished "call me hope," i decided i would finally finish the last one-third of "the shack," which i have been reading since sometime in the fall! it's a really great book, and i really was enjoying it, i simply got too busy with school and mommyhood to finish it. so... i was really excited to snuggle in bed with the last few chapters of this story... and i can't find it! i think the last time i saw it was when we went to visit the reyes family in san antonio. that was in november. i've looked everywhere. but no "shack." (naomi, is it at your house?)

and since i couldn't find "the shack," but was in such a reading mood, i picked up a book i've been wanting to read for awhile: "change of heart" by jodi picoult. she is my favorite author right now. such a great story teller, and all of her books make me think. i can tell this one is already going to be tough (emotionally) for me to read. it's about a woman whose husband and daughter was killed by their contractor while she was pregnant with her 2nd daughter, claire. the man is now on deathrow, and claire ends up having some problem with her heart and needs a transplant. as payment for what he has done, the killer wants to give his heart to the little girl when he is executed. apparently, while he is in prison, he begins performing some sort of miracles... and people start calling him a messiah or savior. sounds kinda "green mile"-ish. i don't know... you have to read a jodi picoult novel. then you won't even second guess this plot-line! i've read "my sister's keeper" and "the tenth circle" so far. both are amazing!

the other book on my nightstand is "your money or your life" by joe dominguez & vicki robin. i am participating in a "book club" called "sound mind. sound mom." we will be reading 6 books over the next 12 months. the topics include finances, parenting, relationships, keeping a clean/organized home, living green, etc. the first topic is getting control of your finances. i think jason and i are going to read this together. i've read the prologue so far, and i'm excited. it's not necessarily a book i 'won't be able to put down,' but i have until march to read it. i hope this is something i stick with all year, and don't just get the first book, not finish it, and do away with the whole idea all together. so ask me in march. :)

so, when i say there are 3 books on my nightstand, that's just the one on my blog. :) there would be 3, except that "the shack" is lost... so it can't be on my nightstand... but it's still on my mind to be read. there are, however, 2 books sitting on my actual nightstand right now. i put my glasses on them last night, when i was ready-for-bed enough to stop reading. :)

i know, i know. this blog was riveting. i know you're all just sitting on the edge of your seats until my next rant about the books i'm reading.

but now you can hold me accountable to finish what i've started. yes, that was my point in writing this all along...

call me hope.

i have decided to "review" books here after i've read them... and this is the first installment! :)

i read "call me hope" on friday... that's right - in one day. i couldn't put it down. donna lent it to me. a sweet little book that was even signed by the author, gretchen olson. "wishing you hope!" was inscribed on the inside of the cover. i felt like she was speaking straight to me... throughout the entire book.

this novel was actually written for young adults, but it is very well written and an incredible story. it centers around an 11-year-old girl, hope marie elliott, and her struggle to feel loved and accepted by her verbally abusive mother.

this story explores the relationship between mother and daughter, and the challenges that come with it. it explores the confusion and pain of a little girl fighting for her mother's love, and believing that she can't do anything 'good enough' to win that love. it explores a mother's undying love for her child, even when she is so emotionally battered, herself, that she is unable to show it in the most healthy of ways.

hope finds refuge in secret places she creates for herself... drawing inspiration from anne frank's "diary" and the little boy from "it's a beautiful life." their courage and survival skills spurs her on to become not just "another victim."

i loved this book. it was sweet and powerful all at the same time, and it really hit home for me. i was reminded of several struggles from my past, and reminded of the importance of pursuing the ability to love others fully - both as a daughter and as a mother.

this simple story gave me a new outlook on the challenges that my mother faced as i was growing up, and opened my eyes to how easy it could be for me to face the same challenges with my own daughter.

this story allowed me to see beyond my own hurts, and realize that my story's outcome is my "choice." i can choose not to be a victim...

this story gave me hope.

gifted.

well, christmas has come and gone. isn't it crazy, how quickly it is over, after all the build-up and anticipation? i am a bit sad that it is all over, but we had a wonderful christmas this year. emma had so much fun with santa and presents, and having mommy & daddy home to play!

we've had "christmas" with our family, my family, and jason's family (although there is another "christmas" with jason's family next week), and my family got me some great gifts!

i thought i'd share a few with you:

donna & kevin (my wonderful in-laws) got me this fabulous new rachael ray cookware set! it is my first matching set with lids and everything! i love them! (and they're green!)

jason got me a very thoughtful gift this year... since he HATES watching my girlie, romantic movies (especially period pieces!), he so selflessly selected an entire collection of jane austen dvd's! this set includes the classic bbc adaptations (mostly mini-series) of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, EMMA, PERSUASION, NORTHANGER ABBEY, MANSFIELD PARK, and PRIDE AND PREJUDICE! he also got me SENSE & SENSIBILITY (the one with kate winslett) and LES MISERABLES. we watched EMMA (with gwyneth paltrow) this weekend, and we are watching MANSFIELD PARK as we speak. he vowed to watch each and every one of them with me... what a great husband!

jason also has a talent for picking out super cute shoes that he knows i will love! these little peep toes will be so cute with a black dress or some jeans! (don't you LOVE the lacy bow?!)

ok, i think these just might be my new favorite shoes! they are SO cute with jeans (i wore them to church today), super comfortable, and the bright yellow makes me so happy. they come in black, brown & plum, too... hmmm... what is in my closet that just screams the need for plum colored shoes?...

and these... these just look super comfy, and like i can wear them in all seasons! kinda funky, too... great job jason!

my parents got me (among other great things) a fun, slouchy, yellow hobo bag similar to this one. (i couldn't find a picture of the exact bag, so i went for this one!) i love it because a) i love big bags, b) it's happy yellow like my shoes, c) i can use it ALL year, and d) i love big bags! so cute!

and one more noteworthy gift... jason stuffed my stocking with 60 $1-bills! the idea was for me to have cash to get to spend on whatever i wanted. $60... that's some fun spending money, huh? but what i think is so funny, is that he actually went to the bank and asked for $60 in ones... haha! i wonder what that bank teller thought jason was doing later that night?!?! i bet she giggled with her co-workers about it later... oh goodness... i wonder if i could find her and assure her that my sweet husband does not partake in those activities! :)

beautiful girl.

last night, we we got together with some of my daddy's side of the family for a christmas celebration. it was coined the christmas "cave-in." (because my maiden name is "cave"... ha.) anyway, we went to my uncle doug (my dad's borther) and aunt debra's house. their son aaron, and his wife bess were there, along with their daughter gloria, who was visiting from north carolina. we miss glo! aunt debra's mom, dot, was also visiting, from arkansas, i think. another one of my dad's brothers, my uncle kevin, and his wife leslie were there, with uncle kevin's son tyler. my parents and brother, cory, joined us, and we had a great time. of course, there were MANY family members missing (my dad is the oldest of 7!), but we really enjoyed a time of catching up with family and sharing food and fun together!

my cousins, aaron and gloria, are both into photography, and were taking lots and lots of pictures. i don't know which one snapped these pics of emma kate, but i'm in love with them!

so, i thought i'd share. : )

i think she's playing the piano here... obviously concentrating hard on something!

playing aunt debra's piano

being silly

joy

(part of) the cave family

(from left to right)
top row: my daddy & mom, uncle kevin & aunt leslie, dot "me-maw" beck (aunt debra's mom), aunt debra & uncle doug
on the couch: bess (aaron's wife) & baby girl in her tummy, me, emma, jason, gloria
on the floor: aaaron, my brother cory, tyler