Adventures in Abelingland

First Time Mom

Friday, September 14, 2012

My Sister, a first time mommy! Already a great auntie and now an amazing and wonderful mommy. I'm so proud of Auntie Valerie. She is simply glowing with love and pride. baby Finley is so LUCKY!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Mini Val in P I N K

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Baby Finely looks so much like Valerie

a little mini-me

and I'm loving all the P I N K

Princess Finely is sporting.

{7 weeks old}

Old College Try

14 months and giving it the old college try!

this is about all Luke will do

but hes interested

and he will run to the bathroom if we ask him to go potty

let's see how far we get before 2!

5 years ago, I met my neighbor when I saw her Boston running around in her backyard while I stood on my back porch. They just moved in. I picked up Roxy and she held up Tink and we smiled at each other. We became instant friends. Today both dogs are gone; sadly Tink left us today, Roxy is missing; and my heart is heavy and sad. I hope Roxy and Tink are together, friends forever. {very sappy today..}

3 years ago!

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

3 years ago I sat down to write a little blog called Adventures in Abelingland.

and what an Adventure it has been.

I didn't think I could do it.

You see...

I'm notoriously fickle.

I cant make a decision for the life of me.

I cant commit.

I already quit Insanity after 3 weeks .

I like to flip flop.

I like to wear flip flops.

But I stuck with it and here I am three years later!

Normally I debut a new blog look and feel but I didnt do Family pictures this summer as usual.

{I'll be doing them in the fall for Christmas cards}

Regardless - Happy 3rd Birthday Blog!!

Here is to 18 more years.

Arm Candy

Nicky has new Arm Candy

A super sexy blue cast for another 3 weeks.

He can't contain his excitement.

Do your kids eat?

Do your kids eat?
Because mine don't
Well I take that back - Luke is a bottomless pit.
But for the life of me, I can't get Nick and B to eat.
Well I take that back -they never turn down S N A C K S
and it's official they inherited my sweet tooth.
And so much for a sensible dinner
Sensible + Dinner + Toddler = impossible I suppose.
they have given up on fruit, grilled cheese, pasta, corn dogs...
But I feel like we should have *SOME* success after all these years and consistency
It's a daily battle to get them to eat breakfast & dinner.
We've bribed, we've forced, we've taken away.
We have no clue what they like to eat - it changes constantly.

Today it is....SPINACH. yes. They think they are Popeye, the sailor man.
They will also eat capers, pickles, dried cherries, almonds, walnuts, pistachios.

Oh and salami. Like Mommy and Auntie Alex

Do your kids eat? what do you feed them?
Do you waste as mush money every night cooking dinner that we do?
are your doggies fat because they end up eating all the scraps?
Help me and fill me in!

Chopped!

In 1976 I was born bald...and even after 2 years I had just enough hair that my mom had to dress me in pink so no one would think I was a boy.

Well my hair finally grew and I never had short hair again.

I had some shorter styles, but always long enough to toss over my shoulder and put up on a pony.

After 35 years and many "almosts" I finally chopped 7 inches off.

Poof!

All Gone!

It's time to get Political...

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

It's time to get Political....but not really. I just need to get some things off my chest. I rarely use this as a forum for politics - this blog of mine is a personal outlet to REMEMBER {and obsess}about my kids - the little details and the memories that go by in a flash and are easily forgotten.

To me, just as important as a first tooth or first day of school, is how they become men. And WHO they become. As a mommy, its my job to teach them about love and acceptance, how to lead a good life, have manners, be respectable and always be gentlemen.

After reading a poignant and powerful story, The Help, I was touched by some of the comments. Ive mentioned this before, but I make sure to say three little things to my kids everyday:

You is Kind
You is Smart
You is Important

I believe those words. I want my three little boys to never doubt themselves - to know they are perfect in every way. They will be loved and important and cherished and know they can do and BE anything they want. No matter what.

This isn't the first time, or the last, that controversial topics make news, cause fire storms, political debates, and divide the country on wrong and right, red and blue - its a list longer than I can compose.

But recently, a lot of news worthy topics have come to light: Boy Scouts, Chick-fil -A and now an amazing man who actually created a definition for "legitimate rape". Because there is a difference, right? And that comment from Todd Akin, made me angry. It made me sad too. And a little pissed off. It also got me thinking - about myself, faith, politics, and how to navigate all of this with my kids. Maybe not immediately - but one day.

Its 2012 and we have Politicians, a majority of whom are men (without a vagina), making health care decisions on my behalf. I am pro-choice, but I honestly don't care what you chose to do, nor is it what I would personally do. Its not my business - or YOUR business for that matter. And I also don't want some douche canoe making that decision either.

We have organized clubs expelling children and banning parents from the Boy Scouts because of their sexual orientation. This is so appalling to me - why are we taking steps backward? I've made a personal decision that my boys will not participate or support the Boy Scouts until they change their rules. I do not want to be apart of a system founded on bigotry that supports harassment and seclusion.

We have private companies donating millions to organizations that actively promote and support denying HUMAN rights to people (looking at your Chicky). It makes me sick to even walk into the restaurant.
And I chose not too. Recently I read a blog from Conor Gaughan - and he described it the best that I heard on the subject...

"... teenagers who grow up gay are four times more likely to take their own lives. That stat has nothing to do with our sexuality on its own -- suicide rates are lower where gay kids are accepted. It's because our institutions, and all too often the adults in our lives, tell us we're not as good as our straight peers. In 29 states, it is legal for an employer to fire me for who I am. In 31 states, leaders and voters have told me that I am not worthy of the fundamental human right to marry. You want to marry because you love your Mr. Right; I have no rights to do the same. And, the consequences of this inequality are terrifying and real. For example, I can be denied access to my loved one on his deathbed. There are over 1,100 other rights that I am denied."

This is not the first time there have been dummies in office, or personal beliefs and choices been used against us, and there will continue to be people in the future that will try to create new definitions for the absurd. I'm not trying to make a statement and cause a ruckus - I'll leave it to the brilliant people in office. I'm not looking to start a fight or offend anyone reading this. I'm just doing my best to raise my kids in a world that doesn't always make sense.

I know that I will guide my boys down a fulfilling and important path - one that I am still personally trying to navigate and prepare for. A path that might seem hypocritical at times, but I am working it out. But if its the last thing I do, my boys will be smarter than Todd Akin, more accepting than the Boy Scouts, and less judgmental than Chick-fil-a