Tuesday, January 25, 2011

How one smell can trigger a memory

One scent-memory I have is very bizarre, but one that is my favorite. It's hand sanitizer. Hand sanitizer?!

Well, when I go to Kaiser to pick-up a prescription or to take one of the girls for a check-up, I always make sure I use their hand sanitizer. Who likes the smell of that stuff? Well, I do.

That smell instantly reminds me of Ava when she was a tiny baby. That one smell brings me back to a very scary time, but a sweet time in our lives. It's weird because once I smell that smell, feelings come over me and I start to cry because that scent reminds me of her. That's Ava's smell. It's her baby smell to me. It was the only connection I had to her at night when she wasn't home with us.

I always wonder if I should ask if I can buy a bottle of that stuff, or if I should secretly take one. But I think I need to save that smell-memory for it would not be the same as it is now if I was able to smell it whenever I wanted.

Monday, January 10, 2011

'hibernation'

And mine are no exception! :)

As picking the kids up from day care tonight, I was instructed to talk about 'hibernation' with the girls since they were discussing it today. Yeah, hibernation. OUR one-and-a-half and two-and-a-half year olds are being taught the meaning of hibernation.

So I was talking about it in the car during the drive home.

Me: "So you were talking about hibernation today at school? Do bears and squirrels go into hibernation?"
Ava: "NO!"
Me: "Do mommies go into hibernation?"
Emma: "YEAH!" with sure confidence in her answer.

I love my kids. Without knowing it-- they made my whole week!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Nesting mama birds

A reminder for both my girls!

When I was pregnant with both of them... we had two birds that nested on our patios. People told me that birds do that when someone is pregnant.

With Ava-- I really didn't believe it and just was trying to protect the bird and the egg from our cat!

With Emma, the same thing happened (note we were at a new apartment) it was even more special because I knew it was Martin's mom, Hilda. She passed away right after we found out I was pregnant with her so I knew it was her little spirit or soul showing me her presence.

A very special tidbit to share.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy 2011!

We actually rang in the New Year together as a family-- all four of us. Two sick, but they made it! We are all hung over today on no sleep, snot, coughing and tiredness... while daddy suffers the same at work.

Happy New Year!!!

And thank you Ava for the best gift of 2011-- second day of dry sheets after a night of sleep! YAY!