I'd Like to Thank All the Little People...

And by little people, I mean the three shortest Pruetzes -- Devin, Faith and Grace. Without them, I'd have no blog. And without a blog, I wouldn't be eligible for the awards that Casey, author of the Quilao Triplets Blog gave to me!

Casey is a mom to three, odds-defying micro-preemies, Makena, Riley, and Alyssa. These girls' fighting spirits and incredible journeys after being born at only 25 weeks and one day makes for some of the best reading around. Combine that with Casey's talent for writing and ability to capture some of the best moments in kid-dom, and you've got one heck of a blog. If she hadn't gotten the "E for Excellent" award and the "Bodacious Blog" award first, I would have given them to her!

And now, it's time to pay it forward and give these awards out to the most Excellent and Bodacious blog I know.

There are certainly a lot of them, as I have established quite a community of friends via blogland. Many of them are moms of multiples and some of them are friends of mine from around San Antonio. All of their blogs are interesting, thought-provoking and even challenging. If they weren't, I wouldn't read them daily.

But if I had to vote, the most Excellent and Bodacious blog that I have the privilege of reading comes not from a mom of twins (or more), a neighbor or fellow parishioner at Holy Trinity Catholic Church.

Rather, I give these awards to a long-time friend of mine. I've known her since she moved to Texas from the Northeast in the sixth grade. She claimed for years that the Yankee way of life was the only way of life for her, but after many years of living in Texas and even moving back to New England for awhile, she's finally seen the light and realized that Texas is truly the only state worth living in (I can hear the groans all the way from Maine, Oregon, Utah and California). She now lives in Dallas with her husband, Matt (also a high school friend of mine) and their son, Travis. They are excitedly awaiting the arrival of their second child any day now!

She started her blog, about her "Zoo," when she was pregnant with Travis. As I become more and more ensconced in her writings, I realized what a treasure a blog could be, with musings, stories, thoughts, experiences, movies, photos and more. Her blog inspired me to start my own, long before I even knew what a huge role it would play in my life.

My blog was originally going to be something only for close friends and family and to share with my kids as they grew up, but quickly became a method of disseminating information about our high-risk twins and recording events I knew I'd forget during the most stressful time of my life.

Since then, my blog has evolved into somewhat of a diary of my life, chronicling the ins-and-outs of my days with Todd and the kids. I love to go back and re-read my posts and I look forward to the day my kids can appreciate the memories that are being preserved right here. I am so thankful that I have kept this diary.

So, for the inspiration that has been given to me to write my own blog, for the wisdom that has been shared and for the incredibly heart-felt and engaging posts, I award Meg Beach at The Beach Zoo with the "E for Excellent" blog award and the "Bodacious Blog" award.