change

via: astrongaesthetic

public health career

My daughter Danielle has a career in public health and most people {including family} aren't sure what she does so I thought I would explain it here. My niece Meredith is majoring in it {i believe} and has been talking to Danielle about what she does and her experiences in the field. Currently Danielle works for Health Systems 20/20 in Washington D.C. They work with developing countries in helping them improve their health systems. They asses different programs to see which ones are most cost effective and help improve the health rate in such diseases as HIV-AIDS or in improving outcomes in maternal and child health. It is interesting to hear from Danielle how they go about working with these developing countries, the different and varying governments and what turns out to be the most effective. She does quite a bit of traveling on the job, which she loves and will be leaving on Sat. for Jamaica for 15 days. She will be working with the government there in helping them asses if the aid they received to implement programs has helped to bring down the cases of HIV/AIDS in Jamaica. Danielle has worked really hard to get where she is and I am glad she has had this opportunity to do this work as part of her career path. I know from talking to her this job can be very stressful at times but I can only imagine helping other countries learn the best ways to stop the spread of diseases and improve their health care must be very rewarding work.
image: health systems 20/20

cherry blossom bloom

I was so happy yesterday when I opened my e-mail and saw this beautiful picture of my daughter and her boyfriend out to see the Cherry Blossom Bloom in DC. Danielle is on her way to Jamaica this Sat. for work. Traveling season has begun for her!

britt 7 months & baby quilt

Less then 2 months to go until the baby is here! I took this picture of Britt a few days ago on our "superfun" girls day out {probably the last time without kiddo's for awhile}. Anticipation is growing since we are getting close and we don't know the sex. The picture of the pretty fabric is material my sister-in-law is using to make a quilt for the baby-to-be. She has been making quilts for so many of us in the family for years. She is so thoughtful to spend all the time and money it takes to do this. She made Britt a nursing quilt when she got her LVN, Andy a fireman quilt, since he is a fireman and Noah one when when he was born. She made my oldest daughter one too and they are all unique to the person and just gorgeous! Britt gave her the colors of her nursery and then she went and found all this fabric that we are just in love with. As a matter of fact it has become the inspiration piece for the baby's nursery that Britt is working on now.

white dress

Love everything here.
via: pinterest

4d ultrasound

All I can say about this is when I saw Brittany's ultrasound of her baby it literally took my breath away....it was so clear! Noah had one done but it wasn't near this clear. The technology just keeps on improving all the time. This Wednesday I will be taking Brittany's 7 month photo, so we are getting close. It has been a long road because of her hyperemesis for the first 4 months but we are coming into the home stretch now and are super excited to meet this little one. Also this Wed. we are having a girls day together alone {so excited about this as it has been awhile}. We will be doing all things girlie, shopping, eating out, sleepover at my house, looking for last minute baby things, hopefully a Easter outfit for Noah and just hanging out and having lots of laughs. We usually have Noah with us but he will be spending a fun-filled day and night with daddy. This will probably be the last time we will be without kiddo's and soon when we are together we will be taking two little ones with us. So a celebration and a breath before things start getting a lot more lively!

st. paddy's day green & white

I just had to get this out there even though it is so late. This is my favorite look for St. Patrick's Day. A beautiful white dress and sparkly green earrings. Love, love, love!
dress: neiman marcus earrings: here

st. patricks's day fun & crafting

Noah in his St. Patrick's Day shirt from me, looking so grown with his new haircut.
Getting his hands all painted up for St. Patrick's day handprints.
Looking good!
He seems to be worried he lost his technique.
Cool he found it again!
Noah finished the pot on the left and Brittany painted the two on the right. Tomorrow Brittany will be helping Noah plant seeds in the pots so he can watch them grow.
Noah and Daddy
and lastly a new green blanket for the baby to be!

friend

There is one friend in the life of each of us who seems not a separate person, however dear and beloved, but an expansion, an interpretation, of one’s self, the very meaning of one’s soul.


~Edith Wharton

via: {whimsicalities}

japan

You can't help but feel a lot of pain and heartache for the people of Japan seeing all the destruction and tragedy coming from the earthquake. So it made me smile when I saw these sweet children in a photo from Hideaki Hamada's flickr stream. The caption below it reads:

"from Osaka Japan, we're okay. Thanks."

via: happenstance

decorating tips

The March-April issue of Lonny magazine is out and as usual there is tons of great stuff in it. One of my favorite things was these rooms decorated by Daniel Pafford. I loved his decorating tips and how beautiful the rooms turned out. You can scroll through it all here.
images: Lonny magazine

manners

Wow, one thing I have really noticed lately is a lot of parents don't seem to be teaching their children manners anymore. I guess I'm aware of it more because my parents were really strict about it. It seemed annoying at the time but when I went to raise my own kids I was glad they were. My mom was really good about teaching us what to say, how to share and to be respectful to those around us. We would always ask my Dad why he was so strict with us in our own house. He told us then it would be easy for us when we visited our friends and played with them that we would automatically do the right thing because we had too at home. He was right of course, so I took his lessons and raised my children the same way. He also said he didn't want to live in a house with spoiled bratty kids and I totally got what he meant when I was raising my kids. Part of the reason I know more parents don't do this is because it is such hard work! You have to be on your kids all the time, watching them and disciplining them. In this day and age so many parents are stressed out with their work and all their activities that it just isn't a priority or they are too tired and just don't have the energy. I've been glad Brittany believes it is important to spend the time and energy to teach Noah manners. That has definitely not been a simple feat for her because Noah is not exactly your easy child and is constantly testing her limits. I can witness now how much her hard work has payed off as you can see the progress in Noah. When he plays at the park or with his friends he shares his toys most of the time or he doesn't get to play. One of the manners I love the most is when Brittany and I are talking and he wants to say something he will always come up and say "excuse me" before talking. It is the cutest thing and I can feel my Dad smiling from above.
image: here

brittany 6 months

I'm a little late getting this up as she is now 6 1/2 months. This photo was taken at 6 months when I was staying at her house. While I was there we shopped, visited, made dinners together, figured out the last decisions on the nursery and which baby items to buy. She is a lot more organized this time since it is her 2nd and she knows what she needs. Noah was a crack up too with all his funny little antics {a post about that soon so I won't forget}. Today she had her 4D ultrasound. She was on a high seeing her baby so clearly, making her realize it won't be long until she can hold this sweet little baby in her arms!