Amazing Grace

I absolutely love the significance of this time of the year. As a  Christian, I would say that I appreciate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ even more than His birth. It is awesome that He came to the world but the fact that He gave his life so we could be eternally joined to the Father through salvation is even a bigger celebration in my opinion.

I remember being told stories of the journey of Jesus Christ to the cross as a kid in Sunday school. Stories of how he was ridiculed and the painful things he suffered while carrying the cross to Calvary. Back then, I was amazed by those stories but of course my understanding as an adult gave those stories even more power and life. Currently, hubby and I teach the kids praise and worship songs at church before their teacher comes in to teach them their lesson for the day. That has been a lot of fun I'm sure not only for the kids but for myself. Hubby bought a CD that has 125 Bible praise songs like "Father Abraham"and "I Will Make You Fishers of Men" and many other Christian songs we both used to sing growing up. We use the CD to teach and sing along with the children. However, last week Sunday, I changed things up and told them about the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus and taught them two new songs that are not on the CD but I felt were appropriate for what I spoke about. It was such a joy seeing the amazement on their face as I told them the story. One of the songs I taught them goes:

"He paid the debt He did not owe,

I owed the debt, I could not pay,

I needed someone to wash my sins away,

Now I can sing a brand new song

Amazing Grace!

Jesus paid the debt, that I could never pay!"

As we Celebrate this wonderful moment in Biblical history, I hope we all take the time to reflect on the unimaginable LOVE of God and His amazing GRACE that yet keeps us. For parents, I can understand the joys of wanting to have your younger child/children take pictures with the Easter bunny or go on fun Easter Egg hunts. Personally, I'm not opposed to that because I'm sure as MoMo gets older, I would want her to experience those things as well. However, please take the time to explain to your Children the importance of this celebration. 

I hope you all have an amazing time with your families and please say a prayer for the many souls that are yet to find this Love we enjoy so freely. 

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

I found this picture yesterday of MoMo from my friend Phoebe's wedding on her facebook page that I had not seen before. Just wanted to share. She is a daily reminder to me of His AMAZING GRACE!

Mo Booski!

Love From Jamaica

My sisters went to Jamaica for their Spring Break this year and being the wonderful and thoughtful ladies that they are, they didn't come back empty handed. I got these in the mail on Friday!

A shot glass for hubby. 

This pretty cool magnet that already has its spot on our fridge.

This extra cute onesie for MoMo. It says "Born To Be Wild, Jamaica, No Problem"

MoMo wearing her onesie!

Cousin Paulie also got a gift! His dad took a pic and sent this out! Cutie!

My very beautiful sisters in Jamaica. L-R Juliet, Harriet, Annette

Good Stuff!

Brand New Look!

So I've been MIA for about a week. Things got busy around here and I had to focus and unfortunately, that meant not blogging :( BUT... I'm back!!! :)

As you may have noticed, I changed things around on the blog. I have a brand new template, which I just absolutely love. Changes made:


I have a favicon! - That's the little image you see when you type my blog name into your URL. It should show you an "O" which of course is my last name initial.

There are links to my social network pages; Twitter - Mrs_LauretO and Instagram - ediaryofmrso. Plus you can follow me using Bloglovin or connect with me via Email.

You can also follow my blog via email if that's more convenient for you.

Lastly, I have my Instagram pictures showing, and you get to see my world in pictures!

It took me a while to pick a template, as there are SEVERAL out there, but I feel this one is really me. I love the simplicity about it. Special thanks to Carrie for her great customer service. I purchased the template off her Esty shop "Carrielovesdesign". And of course a very special thank you to hubby for supporting me. Love you babe! 

Hope you like the new look as much as I do!

Lets Getaway

Two weekends ago, hubby and I took an impromptu trip to Oklahoma City to see my sister Collette, brother-in-love Nosa, and nephew Paulie. My sister who is currently in Philadelphia finishing up her residency was visiting her hubby and son, so we decided to drive down since they're only three hours away.

We got in pretty late on Friday night, so we didn't do much that night but stay up a while to catch up. The next day, MoMo and I followed them to a birthday party for one of Paulie's friends at school while hubby stayed at home. It was pretty fun. MoMo got her first face painting ever, even though it made her break out later on. When we got back home, we were ready to hit the town. They took us around the city and to their beautiful downtown and to the Oklahoma City Memorial that was built after the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 that claimed the lives of 168 people. Afterwards, Nosa took us around his very cool office building. We came back home to relax and went back out later that night for dinner at Genghis Grill. It's a really cool spot where you get to create your meal how you wish and then hand it to the cooks. I actually enjoyed my concoction this time around. It was so good that hubby wanted us to switch plates! That NEVER happens!

We had such an awesome time. MoMo had a blast with her cousin Paulie and Nosa's dad. They showed us a really good time and we can't wait to have them over in Bentonville too. We left on Sunday after church.

Paulie and MoMo

This past weekend,  I was in Chicago with MoMo. I met up with my 3 of 4 of sisters and my mom. We went for my mom's friends (who is one of my dearest aunts) daughter's graduation from nursing school. I found out my mom and sisters were all going and I wasn't going to be left out. Plus, my brother moved out there a couple of months ago after getting a new job and I hadn't been to visit him yet. We flew in on Thursday evening and left on Monday in the afternoon. I had SO much fun just being around my family and our friends.

I love Chicago so much and this was actually my third time visiting, but it has been a while since my last visit and I think I forgot just how much I love the city. Even though it was freezing cold, my brother was a great host! We rented a seven seater car, which was just perfect! He took us around the city and showed us a lot of cool spots on Friday. On Saturday, we woke up pretty early and got a chance to go to the museum before the graduation ceremony. We saw the Picasso exhibition which was pretty awesome.

The graduation ceremony was fun and afterwards we partied and ate good! On Sunday we all went to church with my auntie's family and had brunch together afterwards. Sunday evening was chill for me. One of my sister's flew out that night while the others went to visit a friend and my mom went over to my aunt's. I stayed at home with MoMo and enjoyed the evening. The next morning the rest of us flew back to our respective homes. I had such a good time but I was glad to be back to my now familiar territory and to hubby!

Outside the Museum

At the museum. My mom and oldest sis stayed at home with MoMo. L-R: Harriet, Juliet, Me, Emmanuel

Have a great weekend!

Morayo Is 9 Months Old!

On Monday Morayo turned 9 months! I can't believe it! My baby is growing up so fast! In just 3 months, she'll be 1! Ahhh!!! I am so happy and words cannot express how much joy I feel every time I look at her. I've said this several times and I'll say it again... MoMo is truly the meaning of her name. Morayooluwa- "I have seen the joy of God". She is such a joy and she brings joy to everyone that comes in contact with her. I've never gone out with Morayo and not gotten several compliments from people coming up to me just to tell me how beautiful she is. It is such a blessing and I do not take it for granted.

So what have you been up to MoMo?!

You are crawling now! You started right after we moved to Bentonville and it happened so fast. It's almost like one day you were dragging yourself with your tummy across the floor and the next day, you were crawling. You move really fast too! I love the fact that you are now independent and you can get around without depending on us.

You can stand up on your own when you are holding on to something. You love standing, and you've started moving around now while you're standing. You love to hold on to the center table in the living room and move around it. We're so proud of you! I try to practice walking with you everyday. I really want you to be walking around on your own before your birthday. We can do it!

You are a serious chatter box, and you can go on and on when you get started. I can't wait for you to start talking. I think you'll be a serious talkative just like your daddy. Lol

You've started trying to say some words. Your dad must be really happy because you say "Baba" a lot. It's his desire that you refer to him as "Ba mi", so starting off with saying baba makes him smile like the happiest monkey in the world. Lol

You get really shy around people when you first meet them. I'm not sure who you got that from. Break out of it... quick. Lol

You LOVE food! OMG! You want to eat and drink everything that you see. Right now, you're not doing too bad with your diet. You mostly eat your formula and I feed you stuff I eat that I know your tummy can handle. You love fruits! Watermelons, tangerines, bananas, cantaloupes.. you eat all. I still give you Gerber foods, but mostly the fruits and sometimes veggies. Your favorites are the strawberry, banana, and apple mix, and sweet potatoes. 

You now know how to wave hi and bye. I can't take the credit for this because your daddy taught you. When your dad is going to work in the morning, he always waves bye to you, and you caught on to it.

You get so excited when your daddy gets back from work these days. When you hear the garage door in the evening, it's like you just know he's home and when he opens the door and you hear his voice, you start bouncing up and down with joy.

Your sleeping pattern has gotten way better. During the week, you go to bed anytime between 9p.m and 10p.m. You only wake up once during the night to eat, usually around 4a.m, but you're always up at 6a.m when daddy is getting ready for work. You stay up until about 10a.m and then you take a nap. You take another nap in the afternoon between 2p.m and 3p.m and another one in the evening at 6p.m. Your naps can be as short as 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours. It varies daily.

I think you are starting to understand words because you come when I tell you to. Also if you're doing something and I say no, you stop. Also when I tell you to say hi or bye to someone, you do it without me doing it first. Look at you!

You're very playful and you love it when I sit you on my legs and bounce you up and down. You also love when your dad hold you up in the air. 

You're now wearing size 9-12 months clothes but you still fit in some of your 6-9 months clothes. 

You love growling! I'm not sure why, but you do. Lol

These days when you're playing with something and I take it from you, you actually get upset! Sometimes, you start crying. 

You really don't have a favorite toy. As a matter of fact, you hardly play with any of your toys. You play with everything but your toys like the TV remote and phones.

You still love shower time and these days when I fill up your little tub with water, you start hitting your hands in the water so it can make a splash. You look up at me and start chuckling. 

You HATE being tickled. You laugh, but I can tell you really don't like it. I think that's pretty funny. 

You hardly ever cry or fuss. You only do when you are REALLY hungry or you want my attention. I am so blessed!

I'm still braiding your hair, and it has grown so long. That's the best way to manage it. I try to do it every two weeks.

You still don't care for TV so much. Sometimes you focus on it and sometimes you don't even care that it's on. Right now, the shows that catch your attention are "Yo Gabba Gabba" and "The Fresh Beat Band Show" on NickJr. I have one particular episode of Yo Gabba Gabba recorded that you absolutely love. I think we've both seen it over 20 times. I can now say the whole show word for word! Oh my days!

You love clapping your hands! You do it when you get excited and when you hear music. You LOVE music!

You can feed yourself with foods like cookies. Your auntie Juliet taught you how to put it to your mouth and take a bite. You can also hold your bottle but most days, you choose not to. When I try to put your hands on the bottle, you bend your hands inwards, that way you clearly can't hold the bottle. I think its the funniest thing ever!

You love pulling on earrings, necklaces, bracelets, rings, watches, and glasses. I try to warn people before they carry you. I have in braids right now, and boy do you just have fun with pulling on them! I don't mind though, as long as it makes you happy. 

You love to FaceTime with my Iphone or iPad. I usually have my phone on speaker and whenever you hear a voice on the other end, you want to grab the phone to see if you can see their face too. I just think that's amazing!

These days when you drop something on the floor, you actually start looking for it, and reach for it when you find it!

You love getting kisses. It makes you smile.

You don't have any teeth yet but we're not in a hurry. Lol

You're still in size 3 diapers. 

When you hold on to things, your grip is so tight! It's a struggle sometimes getting it out of your hands!

You love laughing! Whenever I'm talking to someone on the phone and I start laughing, you do it too. Also if you're watching something on TV that you're really enjoying, you laugh and clap and you keep turning around to look at me. I guess you want to know if I'm laughing too and enjoying it as much as you are, because you smile when you see me laughing. 

By the way, I absolutely love seeing you smile! I can finally now see your dimples! It's the cutest thing EVER!

You absolutely totally love cuddling with your mama and I love it just as much as you do! I try as much as possible to enjoy every moment I spend with you. 

Morayo you bring so much joy to our lives and we're enjoying every single moment watching you grow and reach different milestones. We love you more than you'll ever know!