Dante, years 1-3

I don't have nearly the number of pictures of Dante that I do of everyone else, unfortunately.

For anyone that knows the situation, Dante was a secret until after Anthony died.

Anthony had been cheating on me.

And although I welcomed Holden into my life with an open arms and an open heart, I just couldn't do the same for Dante because I feel so resentful about him for so long.

I regret very few things about the past, and this is one of those things.

Obviously, Anthony was sooooo very wrong for cheating.

But I was wrong for holding it against Dante for the first year of his life.

None of it was his fault, and he didn't deserve to be an outcast because of the wrongdoings of others.

I can't ever take back what happened in the past, but I've been trying to make up for it for the past 3 years, and now I can honestly say that Dante is just as much a part of my family and my heart as the other kids are.

It means so much to me <3

Anyway, a tribute to Dante's fourth birthday, tomorrow, here are some pictures of the skinny man, Dante dude :o)

Dante, birth through three years (his fourth year to come later today or tomorrow!)

Dante as a teeeeeny baby, a couple weeks old

Halloween 2007, 8 months old

Christmas 2007, 10 months old

Dante at one year old, Easter 2008

almost 2 years old, Christmas 2008

2 years old!

2nd birthday party!

Easter 2009

summer 09, 2 1/2 years old

3rd birthday

Rayce has decided that he doesn't like wrestling

"because they make you do too much work n stuff"

:-/

Sooo that was short lived.

I'm glad I didn't buy him wrestling shoes right off the bat, woulda been a waste of money!

He really enjoyed t-ball last spring, and he wants to play soccer in the fall.

So I guess for now, I'll give him the chance to try as much as possible and let him decide where to go from there.

*

I bought Brody a few new toys last night, and he LOVES them.

Allllll the toys I bought him over the last few months, he couldn't care less about.

He prefers stuffed type toys, and he doesn't like the rubbery or rope toys.

So I got him a couple stuffed squeaky toys, a rattling stuffed toy, and a 'water bottle cruncher'.

He LOVES them.

And I think that him having more things that *are* ok for him to chew on will help him chew less on things that aren't ok to chew on.

I'm hoping, anyway, cuz I'm at the end of my rope and I don't know where to go from here if we can't get him under control.

*

We're having a sleepover this weekend with Drew and Reni and Drew's little brother Chance, the kids are all really excited.

It'll be nice for Rayce to have another boy to hang out with and play video games with.

Especially since Chance is a couple years older and Rayce really likes to hang out with kids a little older than he is, especially especially other kids that know how to play video games!

*

Last night I also met someone from craigslist to pick up a big playpen for Melissa.

The thing is old.

It was dirty and needed to be scrubbed, looked like it had been stored in a garage or something for the last 20 years.

BUT it's BIG.

Probably about 3-4 feet, hexagonal.

So I scrubbed it down, bleached the mattress pad, etc etc etc.

It'll be nice to have someplace safe to put Missy Moo down to crawl around, someplace where I can be sure the kids and the dogs won't step on her and someplace easier to keep cleaner than the floor, now that she's finding tiny little pieces of *anything* on the floor and trying to eat them.

And like I said, it's big, there's plenty of room for her to move around, crawl, play, and sleep.

It's a win-win situation.

*

Anyway, that's all I've got for now.

Gearing up for a busy weekend.

Boys tonight, Dante's birthday tomorrow (FOUR YEARS OLD!), Amy's birthday luncheon tomorrow, sleepover tomorrow night, laundry and cleaning all day Sunday.

Wish me luck and lots of energy!

*~Bonnie Lea~*

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Crest 3D Vivid White

For anyone interested...

I started using the Crest 3D Vivid White toothpaste and mouthwash about 2 weeks ago.

I have already noticed a difference in the color of my teeth, and the way my mouth feels.

Although I don't really care for the taste of the mouthwash (I got the wrong flavor, soft mint or whatever instead of peppermint, and it's main ingredient is hydrogen peroxide, which doesn't taste very good either), I like what it's doing for my smile more than enough to keep using it.

My teeth look much cleaner and whiter, after only about 2 weeks, so I'm going to stick with these products.

:o)

pics

Rayce's first wrestling practice

Annnnnnd the snowy day.

I'm sick.

I've been feeling it coming for days now.

And it's either really slow moving or it's just not going to get very bad (hoping for the latter, of course).

My ear has been hurting for a few days.

My nose has been stuffy.

And today I woke up with a sore throat and swollen glands.

Not terrrrible, but uncomfortable.

Blahhhh.

The kids are all home today, snowwwww day!

They have not been out to play in the snow yet this winter.

We might have to make it happen today.

There certainly is enough of the white stuff!

Maybe when Melissa naps.

I slept like a rock last night.

Because I got to see Drew for a couple hours before he left for work.

:o)

It still feels strange to be so head over heels in love, to feel so incredibly lucky and blessed, given what I've been through.

But I am.

It feels strange, but it feels right.

If that makes any sense?

=-P

We watched Cake Boss, which Drew had never seen before.

They were making cakes for: Snookie, Ringling Bros Circus, and Rachel Ray.

The circus cake was AMAZING!

When he is next to me, when his arms are around me, when I can feel his breath on my cheek...

all is right in the world.

Terrible, unthinkable, horrific things have happened to both of us.

But when he's next to me, I know that everything is going to be ok.

And that's an incredible feeling.

K, enough for now.

I've got messes to clean up, laundry to put away, children to snuggle and entertain, dogs to let out, and my sweetie to think about.

<3