A very interesting video was posted on the Internet. It involves a kitten, a police officer, and a driver. This cannot be seen everyday and is so funny.
Keith Urban, a policeman, was doing a routine traffic stop. This is a normal routine for Urban, but this time it was different. When he stopped a car, a nice and friendly cat interrupted the check.
Thanks to the dash camera of the police car we can see this rare incident. For Taylor Daily Press, Urban said:
“I think the driver of that vehicle was laughing a little bit … And the driver even offered to get out of the vehicle and remove the cat.”
As it can be seen from the video, the cat was very friendly. Urban also added that he felt sorry because be had to ‘shoot the cat away’. However, the cat came back again!
Seeing your child for the first time right after they are welcomed into the world is priceless. That’s a moment every parent keeps close to the heart and cherishes forever. The military men, however, don’t always get to see their loved ones giving birth to their offspring because it happens that they are deployed exactly at the time of the due date. That’s really sad, we must say.
Marine Cpl. Brandon Crespo is one of those brave men who missed the birth of his son because he was serving in another country. According to Little Things, the sweet baby was born on June 13, 2018 and the proud father could only listen to the baby’s tiny voice but didn’t get the chance to be there by his wife’s side.
But now, after six months spent away from his family, this father would finally meet baby Noah. He was beyond excited to hold him in his hands and kiss him.
The cute and very emotional video of the father-son first ever encounter was shared online and on Ellen DeGeneres’ site too. It was quickly spreaded around and people agree how it was one of the best family reunions they’ve ever seen. Ellen thought so too and invited them to be her guests on the show.
“It was definitely hard…” Francis shared, explaining that sometimes they only talked once a month while Brandon was on the ship. “Having to go through pregnancy all by myself, it was definitely difficult…”
Our favorite host was as kind and as generous as always and together with Shutterfly they gave the family $20,000. They would use the money to go on the honeymoon they never had.
“When we first posted the video it was just for family members,” Francis told Ellen.
“We’re just regular people,” she added.
Brandon starts crying even before he reaches his loving wife and his newborn son, and we can’t hold our tears back as we are flooded with emotions. This is all so touching.
Being a mom is something most women want to experience in their life. However, many have no idea of how challenging it is to be raising a child. Because it’s not just the baby you take care of. The commitments you had before you even gave birth to that sweet bundle of joy are still there, waiting for you to fulfill them.
A Facebook post by a mother that goes viral speaks of all the pressure working moms, and all moms in general feel every day. Needless to say, many sympathize with the writer of the post and say how they feel completely the same.
Sarah Buckley Friedberg made a list and spoke of everything women are expected to do. And the reality is that they really manage to complete of all the tasks and achieve the unachievable.
“Society to working moms:
-Go back to work 6-8 weeks after having the baby. The baby that you spent 9-10 months growing inside of your body. Go back to work before you have finished healing or have had time to bond with your baby. Keep your mind on work, and not your tiny helpless baby that is being watched and cared for by someone other than you. Make sure to break the glass ceiling and excel at your job- you can do anything a man can do! It is your job to show society this! Show the world that women can do it all. Rise to the top of your career.”
“Also breastfeed for at least a year. So take 2-3 pumping breaks a day at work, but don’t let it throw you off your game or let you lose your focus. -Also, lose that baby weight and get back in shape, as quickly and as gracefully as possible. Make sure to get 8 hours of sleep a night so you can work out, work, and care for your family. But also get up at 5 am to workout, unless you want to do it after your kids go to bed when you also need to clean the house and get life ready for the next day and you know, sleep.”
“Maintain a clean, pinterest worthy house. Take the Christmas lights down. Recycle. Be Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the birthday planner, the poop doula (seriously when will this end), the finder of lost things, the moderator of fights. Be fun. Be firm. Read books. Have dance parties.”
“Maintain the schedule for the entire family. Birthday parties coming up? Make sure to have presents! Ensure the kids are learning to swim, play an instrument, read, ride a bike, be a good human being, eat vegetables, wear sunscreen, drink enough water, say please and thank you. Don’t forget they need to dress as their favorite book character on Monday, and wear something yellow on Thursday. Oh it’s totally your call but most parents come in on their birthday and read to the entire class.
“In case nobody told you, if you have more than one kid you will need to buy new shoes approximately every other day. See also: winter coats, shorts, pants that aren’t 4 inches too short. There will never be matching socks or gloves for any member of the family, ever again. -Remember the dog you got before you had kids? Shes getting old now and needs expensive surgery. She also need walking, a new bed, and she smells pretty bad.”
“Hey! Kids need lots of doctor appointments. Monthly as babies. Every time they are sick. Specialist appointments, especially if any of them have extra needs. At least two school conferences a year. IEP meetings, if applicable. Parents night. Back to school night. Get to know your school night (what IS this). Most parents are volunteering at least once during the year, would you like to come make a craft with the kids? It will only be an hour or two of your time.”
“Sorry, you are now out of vacation time because you used it all for time taking your kids to appointments or when your childcare is unavailable. You should go on vacations though. It’s good to relax and unwind from work. Makes you a better employee. -Don’t forget the kids need healthy meals (and so do you! you are trying to lose that last 20 lbs before swim season right). That requires meal planning, grocery shopping, and meal prep on the weekend. But also hang out with your kids on the weekend since during the week you only get to hang out with them when they are exhausted and angry that you made the wrong kind of spaghetti for dinner.”
“Date your spouse! It’s important to keep your relationship alive and fresh. Try to go out 1-2 times a month. Good, kid free time. Hire a babysitter, they charge 22+ dollars an hour in your area so make sure to take out an extra mortgage and/or work another job to be able to afford this. -Oh hey you should have a hobby too. It’s important to have “you time”. Also be well read, keep up with the latest pop culture and tv shows, and keep an eye on politics and be able to discuss at least one of the above on the small chance you are out in public and encounter another adult necessitating small talk.”
“Make sure to have friends. Social time is SO important. Surely there is an hour or two left in the week after all of the working, appointments, exercising, cooking, scheduling, cleaning, imparting lifelong morals and learning on the kids, the usual. Maybe go out after the kids are down for a glass of wine and a bite to eat. Make it a healthy bite though. And you may regret that wine at your 530 am spin class.”
“Self care though. SO important. See also: getting in shape. See the general doctor, the dentist (TWICE), the lady doctor. Prob need to get your eyes checked. Full body skin checks 2+ times a year (just me? okay well). Mental health too. Postpartum anxiety? But you look fine and your kids are so cute. Everyone should have a therapist. Good luck finding one that takes your insurance and has hours outside of your normal working time (out of vacation time, remember?). That leaves evening time when you want to hang out with your kids. But it’s important, so make time for it.”
“Don’t wear yoga pants and a mom bun or society is going to mock you in numerous witty blog posts. Never mind that nothing fits. Going to have to get up even earlier so you have time to style your hair, wing your eye liner and search for a pair of pants that fits your new post baby (or multiple baby) shape.”
“Get off your phone, turn off the TV, and enjoy your life. Enjoy your kids. THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES make sure to love every minute of life because before you know it all of this will be in the past.
I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to lean OUT. Thanks for coming to my Ted talk.”
The post has reached more than 20k likes and shares from mommy’s from all around the world.
Human cruelty has no limits. A woman from Russia shocked the world after she treated the young boy she fostered in the most inhumane way possible. She starved him and drugged him only to be able to use government’s money which she later spent on luxuries.
This is not the first case of foster parents to be using the system in order to benefit from the poor children they are supposed to treat with love and care. However, this one is one of the most severe we’ve ever heard of. When Lyubov Korotkova took the boy under her wing, she only had one thing in mind. To fool the state and enjoy all the funds she was getting in order to satisfy her personal needs.
Daily Mail has reported how the little boy’s ordeal that took place in her home lasted for long eight years. Not only she starved him, but she also drugged him and gave him different medicine in order for the sweet boy to look ill. She then claimed how he suffered from a rare and inexplicable disease. Looking at the child, he really appeared as he was suffering from something very serious as he was skin and bones.
When her mean intentions were finally brought to a day light, the court sentenced her to six years in prison and she was charged for “special cruelty, humiliation, and torture.” During the years Valery Kondourov, who’s now 11 years old, was living with the wicked woman, she was able to claim around £50,000 in state handouts. Despite serving jail time, the court ordered for her to pay all the money back. She is also expected to pay young Valery £8,000 in ‘moral damages.’
We are so lucky this monster ended behind bars, although we believe her sentence is mild considering the damage she caused to the boy she was supposed to love.
Korotkova not only fooled the doctors, but the whole community too. She collected the sympathy from the people of Magadan, the city where she lives, who hailed her a hero for fostering such an ill child. No one could ever imagine Valery was in fact perfectly healthy and she was the one who neglected him and starved him in purpose. Svetlana Petrenko, of the Russian Federal Investigative Committee said, “The malnutrition was so severe that the 11-year-old boy had the weight of a four-year-old child.”
“For eight years she deliberately was not feeding her fostered child in order to register him as disabled and receive benefits and sickness payments. During all these years the woman was seeing many different doctors with her child, asking them to check him for multiple diseases, including cancer. As a result, the doctors – who were cheated – could not pinpoint the right diagnosis,” Petrenko said. Luckily, one of the doctors found the whole thing suspicious and detected Korotkova’s fraud.
After Valery was taken from the hands of the foster family, he underwent a thorough medical check-up and it was determined how he didn’t suffer from any illnesses. He was just malnourished and at eleven years old he was only 3 feet 5 inches tall, which is what a five year old should look like.
Korotkova’s husband Andrei claimed he didn’t take part in the mistreatment as he wasn’t aware what his wife was doing to the boy they both cared for.
In order for teachers and other people not to realize the boy was in fact healthy, she refused to let him go to school and home-schooled him instead. Regarding Valery’s case, the investigative committee said, “Having cheated the doctors, she managed to register her child as handicapped… and started receiving financial assistance, compensation and other allowances.”
Her neighbors and those who believed she was an angel for taking care of Valery were left in complete shock and couldn’t believe what was happening behind closed doors.
Some members of the community who didn’t want to believe Korotkova was guilty for what he was charged with staged a public campaign asking for the child to be given back to her. Kremlin children’s ombudsman Anna Kuznetsova prevented this from happening.
Korotkova pleaded not guilty for the gruesome act but she was still convicted with “intentional infliction of a grave injury, to a minor (leaving him) in a helpless state.”
She could be seen crying after hearing the verdict.
Luckily, Valery got a second chance in life and is now living with a family who loves him unconditionally. His current foster mom Svetlana Suleimanova is taking great care of him. This woman who has five children on her own has raised eight foster kids. Speaking to The Siberian Times, Svetlana said, “Doctors invited me to inspect the boy. They said they did not find any illnesses but registered strange behavior. The boy quickly ate everything as soon as his mother left the room, but when she was present, he was naughty and said that he was not hungry. He confessed to me later that his mother forced him to say he did not have any appetite. She punished him if he did not obey. She was also giving him some pills and he was always vomiting afterward.”
We pray for sweet Valery to be able to overcome the consequences of the ordeal he was forced to go through.
War veterans deserve all the gratitude in this world for their sacrifice was huge and must never be forgotten. Sadly, many of these people experience hard life once they return to their homeland. Many suffer from PTSD and other stress related conditions. The number of those veterans who fail to get used to the life home and can’t find another job is also huge.
Air Force veteran Ron Hyde didn’t have it easy in life. He was now home, but his health condition was poor as he had cancer and decided to end the chemo treatments he was getting. Living all by himself in a tiny apartment, with only a mattress, didn’t break this man’s spirit. Although he had no furniture and no money, he was still thankful he had a place to call a home.
One event, however, changed Hyde’s days and brought a little happiness in his life.
Hyde visited Goodwill in hopes of finding a nice chair for his place. He purchased a pink one and he loved it, but the thing was that he didn’t know how to get it home as he couldn’t find anyone with a vehicle large enough.
That’s when a woman from Ramona posted online, asking for a good Samaritan to help Hyde transport the chair to his El Cajon, California, home. Although she hoped someone would come across her plea and offer help, neither she, nor Hyde ever though so many people would step in.
Just two days after the purchase, Hyde spotted a large U-haul in front of his home. He had no idea it was full with brand new furniture, and that it was all for him. As he saw people from the neighborhood bringing all that stuff in, he couldn’t contain his excitement.
He just knelled at the kitchen’s counter and shed tears of joy. This veteran’s faith in humanity was restored.
“Who knows how much time he has left?”
one person asked, knowing Hyde was battling cancer.
“But we can at least make it comfortable — he doesn’t have to live on a mattress in the corner.”
Hyde says what he experienced was “a real miracle.” He can now call his place a home. We wish he recovers completely and spend his days in happiness.
“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we cannot eat money.” This Cree Indian saying gives humans a lot to ponder over, but looking at all the deforestation that takes place all around the world, it seems we are not concerned for our planet’s well-being enough in order to act and stop its destruction.
The global warming is a real issue, and it results in increased average of temperatures and temperature extremes, higher wildlife extinction rates, increased levels of the seas and the oceans. The consequences really are devastating, but if we all work together, and if we start acting right away, maybe there’s still chance to save our planet.
A couple from Brazil has done the impossible. They started saving what’s left of our shared home and we should all learn from them.
Sebastião Salgado, a photojournalist was reporting the genocide in Rwanda back in 1994 and the experience left a huge impact on him. He got back to his homeland of Minas Gerais to rest from the traumatizing events he was covering while on the job, but what he stumbled upon was a barren land. The forests he once loved were gone and lots of animals were endangered.
“The land was as sick as I was – everything was destroyed,” Sebastião said. “Only about 0.5% of the land was covered in trees.”
What this man and his wife Lélia had in mind seemed like a pipe dream, but they were willing to give the idea of replanting the entire forest a go. Believe it or not, that’s exactly what they did.
It all started with the purchase of an abandoned cattle ranch and strong determination. The spouses called for volunteers and secured funding for their plan to turn into reality. After funding their non-profit organization, Instituto Terra back in 1999, they planted the first tree.
The results of 20 years of hard work are more than two million trees of 293 species, 1,502 acres of tropical forest, dried water springs brought back to life, and more than 172 species of birds, 33 species of mammals, and 15 species of amphibians and reptiles living in the area. The amazing forest is now considered a Private Natural Heritage Reserve.
This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen in my whole life.
It’s really incredible what the effort of these people resulted in. Now imagine if every single person is as devoted as this couple and the volunteers.
Salgado is very proud of what they were able to achieve. He says:
“Thanks to this increase of the trees I, too, was reborn – this was the most important moment.”
Sebastião and Lélia hope their actions will encourage others to do the same and help this planet become healthy place again.
“We need to listen to the words of the people on the land. Nature is the earth and it is other beings and if we don’t have some kind of spiritual return to our planet, I fear that we will be compromised,” Sebastião added.
We can all try to make a contribution. Our personal goal should be one tree at a time. Let’s save this planet!
Take a look at the video below and learn more about Instituto Terra.
Easter is that special time of the year when we celebrate life, but Jimmy Kimmel, our favorite face on television, had another reason to be extra joyful on that day. His youngest son Billy turned two.
Billy was born with a congenital heart condition and had to undergo surgery only three days after he was welcomed into the world. Those were tough times for the family, but the brave little baby managed to overcome the condition. He had his second surgery when he turned 7 months, and he’s now doing fine and brings happiness in his family.
Back in 2017, Jimmy opened up about his son’s condition in a monologue in which he made a plea for the government to continue financially covering the health care of children with preexisting conditions, especially for the families who weren’t able to cover the expenses on their own.
He also used the opportunity to publicly thank the doctors who treated Billy, as well as the rest of the medical staff who were devoted to his healing.
A yr ago today, God gave us this tough little boy. Today, we thank the nurses & doctors at @CedarsSinai & @ChildrensLA who saved his life & those who shared thoughts & prayers. We cannot stay quiet. Please wish Billy happy birthday by REGISTERING TO VOTE! https://t.co/vp1QTi4h9Hpic.twitter.com/DXCalxIs94
Now, as he wished his son a happy birthday, he again spoke of the effort made by the doctors and how they were the reason his son is now one happy child.
The photo he posted on his Instagram account melted the hearts of people from all around the world. Smiling and holding a carrot in his hand, little Billy made our Easter a bit more special as he reminded us how brave he is.
Jimmy’s wife, Molly McNearney also took it to social media to wish her boy a happy birthday and to thank all the nurses and doctors at Children’s Hospital LA for saving Billy’s life. She wrote, “Sending love and prayers to all the families in the hospital today and always.”
God always finds a way to remind us how miracles are everywhere around us; all we need to do is to look and embrace them.
Naomi Bakker’s parents were the happiest people on Earth when they learned Angela was pregnant, and they couldn’t wait to meet their sweet daughter. However, the baby girl entered the world earlier than her mommy and daddy expected her. Born 15 weeks premature and weighting only one pound, tiny Naomi’s chances to survive were slim.
She was one of the smallest babies born in Reno, Nevada. Naomi needed round the clock care, and the staff at Renown Regional Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit were there to provide her with all the love, care, and devotion possible. They worked really hard to keep the baby alive and healthy, and never left her side.
However, both the doctors and the nurses were aware how the most important of all was the affection the little baby would get from her parents. They were certain that if her mother Angela was given the chance to hold her baby daughter, it would facilitate the process of recovery a great deal. So they did something very uncommon. They let the mother embrace her daughter, and it was a moment to remember.
The main reason why the staff decided to let Angela and Michael hold the baby was because the benefits of skin-to-ski touch are numerous. Once the little bundle of joy feels the mother’s presence and touch, it feels more relaxed and calm. Plus, this contact helps the babies better adapt to the life outside the womb, and regulates their heart rate and breathing. It also stimulates digestion, provides protection against infections, and regulates the body temperatures. The advantages are countless, really.
Naomi, however, was so tiny that eight nurses helped transferring her from her bubble to her mother’s chest.
Angela couldn’t hide her happiness and excitement. She was finally able to hold her baby. It was obvious she’d been waiting for this precious moment since the day Naomi was born.
The look on her face says it all. She simply can’t stop smiling. This is just a proof that nothing really beats mother’s love, does it?
Angela and Michael were allowed to hold their daughter every single day during her long stay at the hospital, and that gave them strength to fight for her life.
Thanks to the parents and the dedicated staff, Naomi is now four years old and she’s one happy and healthy young lady. Looking at her now, we would’ve never assumed she was once lighter than a can of beans.
