This month’s theme for Create Your Year hosted by the ever fantastic Aimeeroo, is Loving Life. Since I have not been feeling myself lately, I found myself looking at the end of the month wondering how I would express the theme.

Flickr Toys to the rescue! Not my most creative work, but when I think about Loving Life at the moment, I think about my amazing husband and the journey we have been one. Coming the the US has been hard on me. I am a sweet, Canadian girl and California tried to eat me alive! I stood my ground and was determined to enjoy life here. Now with a few good friends and having gone on many amazing adventures, I can honestly say I am Loving Life.

I am so excited that we will be welcoming our second child soon. Becca has brought so much joy and love into our world. I had no idea becoming a parent would be this fantastic. Now last night as we were trying to convince Becca to sleep in her own bed and this morning when she woke us at 6 am, I may have had less to say about being a parent. But those moments are always quite to fade, replaced by special moments looking at the rats at the pet store, explaining that Mommy does not want to live with rats and that they need to stay at the pet store with their friends!

After losing our baby last year and recovering from that, I was determined to get to that point where I was Loving Life again. With J by my side I feel like I can do anything, be anyone and see everything. I know he is totally worried about future work, interviews and getting us back to Canada. Yes, it would be nice to know where we are moving to in a few short months, but honestly I am happy knowing that he will be there, Becca will be there and Ethan will be there.

Loving Life for me is experiencing it with my awesome husband, amazing daughter and soon to be introduced son. Wow. We are going to have a son. That is so totally cool. That is Loving Life.

Pic of the Day ~ Whatever it is, they both are intrigued! ~

Honestly, I am not feeling all that grateful this week. I know. I am a whiny, spoiled brat. I do not like being sick. I get all cabin feverish, feeling stifled and miserable! I NEED to get back on my feet soon or I am going to go crazy (and take all the cute people that live here with me!) That being said, I am glad I decided to participate in the Grains of Gratitude weekly so that I could not wallow in my own, sick miserable self and look at the good stuff!

Grains of Gratitude 

I am grateful that we have Disneyland Annual passes for a few more weeks. Not only was I able to take Becca, with her friends to see the Happiest Place on Earth, we are taking a mini family vacation there this week!

I am grateful that J can take Becca to work with him on occasions that I absolutely cannot have her with me. It is hard to raise your children without family nearby, J is always so amazing at making up for that!

I am grateful that although I am suffering greatly from this terrible flu/cold/plague, no one else seems to have gone down with me. J is still healthy and Becca has a running nose but seems to be good otherwise.

I am grateful that my OB’s office got me an appointment an hour after I called, sick and desperate. I barely had time to make it there at the designated time! We still had to wait over an hour, but it was amazing to see him and get help for this nasty bug.

I am grateful that the baby seems to be completely unaware how miserable I am. Ethan is kicking and squirming in there like a wild child! Becca too has been wonderful despite the fact I am sure she figures her Mommy has lost her marbles!

I am grateful that J has been so wonderful and patient this week. Taking my tantrums and whining knowing full well how much I hate being sick and out of commission!

As I mentioned, I NEED to feel better soon. This is crazy, inhuman torture!! J figures it is the antibiotics causing me to feel so wiped out at this point. I am still all stuffy and foggy, it is dreadful. I try to focus on something and I get all frustrated and have to walk away. grrrrrrrr!

Pic of the Day ~ Snuggle Time! ~ 

I wish I had something exciting and riveting to say. I am sick. Still recovering and trying desperately not to get too far behind on things. My routines are pretty set, and once I get behind on things I am in deep trouble. Since we wash, all dishes by hand (what I would do to have a dish washer!), allowing the dishes to slide only creates havoc in our tiny kitchen. Laundry is a pain, our little apartment washer does not handle large loads, then we have to trek the wet clothes to the laundry room. The more laundry the more trekking.

As thrilling as my chores are, I am sure you get the drift and I will venture on …

J being the sweet husband he is, has planned a family trip to Disneyland next week! Our annual passes are due to expire next month and I really wanted to be able to see all the attractions one last time. Becca and I have a lot of memories and special moments at Disneyland and I want the trip to be special for her. So J used, Priceline.com and got us super good deals on the hotel room, like a third the price! I am totally meal planning so we can go on the cheap (aka bringing at least one of the meals with us each day). I am so excited and so determined to feel better.

In a week, I will be attending my very own Baby Shower!!! Being this is our second child, some of you may wonder why this is so exciting. I have mentioned before that since I was the new kid on the block last time we were pregnant, I did not have a shower ~*Insert Pout Here~* Still being relatively a new kid on the block, I was really nervous asking my friend to host it, but I am really glad that I am receiving a baby shower this time. Not only do I think this will be our last pregnancy (pending huge intervention from the guy upstairs this IS our last pregnancy!), but I also have some amazing friends that I am looking forward to celebrating this little baby with. Besides there is a rumour one gets gifts as well as silly games and yummy food! WEEEEEE! Not that I am in it for the goods. The goods came pouring in (and have already you so sweet people!) after Becca was born … People are UBER generous when it comes to babies. It is sweet. It is wonderful. It is so appreciated!

So there are a lot of events, vacations and the like that I am looking forward to in the upcoming week. UGH! Must not have cold anymore. The horse pills that the OB prescribed I am sure could take down an elephant so I am hoping they will work their magic! Ode to the days of crappy movies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, while snuggled up with comfort food, only venturing from bed to pee and get more food. Yet those days are only craved when sick, being a mom is worth not being in a vegetative state when sick …

Pic of the Day ~ Becca on a Ride at Disneyland ~

Somehow, by a miracle or blind love and devotion, I spent the day at Disneyland yesterday. I think the idea of breaking four kids’ hearts was enough to motivate me to go, what kept me going I cannot say.

It was a wonderful day. Just as I imagined hitting Disneyland with two good friends and their awesome kids would be. American’s and their holidays, made it a tad busier than I would have imagined it would be, but we had so much fun.

Becca was so happy to see her friends and go on a few rides. We did not stay long after lunch since I was not the only one under the weather. Oh my and we left just in the nick of time, my sinuses ached and moaned, making my eyes water in protest the entire way home.

Today I am feeling wretched. Truly and utterly wretched. J took Becca to work with him this morning and I crashed. She came home for lunch and then I crashed again when she napped. I woke up feeling terrible so the OB’s office squeezed me in to see him.

He prescribed some antibiotics if the pain does not cease soon and I am taking some children’s Dimetapp as per the OB’s instructions (actually he said regular but we have some children’s stuff here, same stuff!) The baby is doing awesome though, he did not want to sit still to check his heartbeat and my blood pressure actually went down! w00t!

ugh … I am hitting bed … So hoping tomorrow will bring no pain in head, clear sinuses and a well rested, ready to tackle the world pregnant girl!

Pic of the Day ~ How Many Canadian Toddlers are Swimming in their Pools in February? Becca is so Lucky! ~

Now that I am feeling somewhat better and the feelings of death have dissipated, I want to share with you what I had planned on posting about before the plague hit.

Every week Michelle from Big Blueberry Eyes, does a post on Sundays, called the Grains of Gratitude, it is a weekly meme from Brady’s Bunch. With all the things going on behind the scenes here, I thought it would be good for me to remind myself weekly what I am grateful for and since you guys have decided to join me on this crazy ride called life I figured I would share it with everyone.

Here is my list of things I am grateful for this week (unofficially since I am late):

1. I am very grateful for the AMAZING friends I have made here. It is a risk for people to make friends with the chick that is going to move away. I am so happy that I am surrounded by such amazing women that care for me (and they have awesome kids that Becca adores!)

2. I am grateful that I can still go on hikes with my daughter who despite her previous vision limitations, still pushes herself and tries so hard. Becca amazes me everyday with her willingness to constantly try new things, even when she is afraid.

3. I am grateful for the wonderful Valentine’s Day party at the park that my Mom’s Club put on. Becca and I had a beautiful sunny morning with fun people, great food and crafts!

4. I am grateful for the beautiful weather we have been having. Saturday morning it was so glorious outside Becca was able to enjoy her kiddie pool! She had a blast swimming and splashing around!

5. I am grateful that I was the only one in our household that was attacked by the plague. Both J & Becca remain healthy! I was fortunate to come out with a cold but not the chills, fever, aches and pains that I had.

6. Lastly, I am grateful to my friends that will be joining Becca and I for a day out at Disneyland tomorrow!