Girls

These two

Will always

Make for a lot of laughs

But better yet, a lot of love.

Just Make It A Double

A few weeks ago, my friend Amy proposed a new photo project idea for the two of us to embark on together.  Every day, we post two photos, one from each of us.  We don't show each other the pictures beforehand.  Some days we have a theme, such as a color or an idea.  But generally, it's just two random photos, placed together by chance. 

The results are sometimes surprising.  The other day, we found the subjects of our pictures had almost the exact same head tilt.  Chance is sometimes funny like that.

So check in on our project, Just Make It A Double.  If anything, you'll get to check out some more photos by me and some pretty amazing stuff from Amy. 

Writing in the Sand

Just Beachy

Wow, it's been quite awhile!  We broke away from the busyness and headed off to the beach for a few days.  I'm in the midst of getting back into the swing of things, but here are some of my favorite shots from the trip:

 

 

More soon!

C's 17.5 Month Update

To My C,

You have gone through a remarkable transition in the last month.  No longer are you 100% baby.  Now?  Now you're far more toddler than I'm ready for.

I've stopped trying to get you down off of the dining room table anymore.  You take full advantage of when I'm feeding Sayer to climb up there and I'm tired of telling you over and over to get down.  When you're up there, you fiddle with whatever you find and periodically you look over into the living room at me and grin.  I now have to keep the table clean, which is probably a blessing in disguise.  Hey, call it bad parenting if you want, but alas, I can see you, which means you can't get into TOO much trouble.

But with those "gets into everything" moments, comes the funny ones, too.  Sometimes, when your Daddy comes home, he'll ask for a kiss or a hug.  Lately, you've been saying no.  But your Daddy figured you right out,

"Can I have a kiss?"
"NO."
"Can I have a hug?"
"No!"
"Can I have a wrestle?"
"YES!"

And off you two will go, wrestling and tackling all over the place.  You're a rough and tumble kid.

You've started repeating EVERYTHING that I say.  Including things that I shouldn't say.  The other day, I was changing your particularly ripe diaper and exclaimed, "EW!  STINKY BUTT!"  (For the record, "butt" is a strongly discouraged word in our house).  Without skipping a beat, you patted your diaper and repeated, "stinky BUTT!" clear as day.  And now?  Now you say it every time you need a change.  Lovely.  (But it could be worse).  Some of your new favorite words are "BAP!" (bath), "Geek" or "Gink" (drink), "Petty!" (pretty), "Moo-ee?" (movie or music, depending), "Cogadoogadoo!" (cockadoodledoo), and "Dank Ooo!" (thank you).

You love to dance, sing, wrestle, and run.  But you're also beginning to love reading and coloring, (when you're not eating crayons), and you're slowly starting to concentrate on small projects or tasks until completion, like helping me unload the dishwasher.

This stage of childhood is often the hardest.  You're just beginning to be verbal but not quite enough to be understood all of the time.  You have lots of desires, but sometimes I don't totally understand what they are.  And you often want to do things that you just aren't allowed to do.  But this is also the time of life where you're starting to be aware and to care about others.  You're developing a personality all on your own.  And your likes and dislikes are becoming quite apparent,

You like:
Green beans
Rock music
"Yelly Bees" (Jelly Beans)
"Noooo-Nooos!"  (noodles)
Baths
Outside
Going bye-byes
Your baby brother
Your blankets
Saying "Hold you" and reaching your arms up for a hug.

You don't like:
Broccoli
Being told "no"
Small dogs
Frozen things
Having dirty hands
Needing to stay still

I'd say that's fairly typical of toddler-hood.  :)

Sometimes I get wistful, watching you grow...  your babyhood flew by in a pregnancy induced fog.  Part of me will always wish for a do-over where I could grasp those little moments of you being small all that much more tightly.  But then, when you come over out of the blue to kiss your baby brother or you give something to your sister when she's sad, I realize that our family, while not exactly how I planned it, is perfect, just as it is.

So, here's to hoping you keep carving out your own niche in our crazy bunch.  I don't think you'll have a problem doing that at all.

Love always,

Mommio :)

Sisters

Sicky Mama today...  again.  But while I'm on the mend, here's something that makes me happy:

Love those two.

This Will Gross You Out

I'm just warning you now... if you're easily grossed out by bodily functions, you should probably skip this one.

I've been lucky with all of my children in that I've yet to have a drooler.  The most my kids ever drool is when they're in the very last stages of growing in a molar or three.  Even then, the drool is mostly a chin sheen as opposed to a soaked shirt. 

Granted... while they haven't been droolers, all three of them have been prolific spitters.  So alas, the laundry needs doing anyway, only with mine, it smells strongly of sour milk.  But I don't have to deal with that AND drool.  So that's good.

Well, Sayer's had a touch of a cold...  this has made him miserable and stuffy.  I carried him around all day yesterday and Shaun took over when he got to see him.  Shaun has a unique football hold that I can't manage with our son's ginormous body.  Anyway, he was holding him over his arm and I glanced over to see this:

I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed.  Even in drooling, the kid does things BIG.  Thattaboy 

I Think I Need A Southern Dictionary

"Hey Mama!  Do you know what a heel is?"


"Hmm?  A heel?  Well--"


"No, Mama!  I'm going to teach you!  A heel is like a slipper..."


"Like a shoe?"


"Yeah!  Mommies wear them.  And girls.  And Ladies.  But not Daddies."


"Right!"


"And Mama?  A heel is also something that you can walk or drive on that goes waaay up high and then down again!"


"BEAN!  That's a HILL!"

"No, Mama!  HEEL!  THEY BOTH SAY HEEL!"

At the rate that the kid is picking up the Southern accent, I'm never going to be able to understand a darn word she says. 

Bleh

Sometimes, I feel like doing this to the world:

Today is blah.  I have 2.25 sick kids.  Bean has a cough, but is acting fairly normal.  C has boogers and is cranky as crud.  And I haven't the slightest idea as to whether Sayer's sick or if he's just a bit congested because that's how babies get sometimes.  But he's cranky and fusses through his feedings, so he probably has a touch of something.

On top of that, I'm TIRED.  Very, very tired.  The three kids were up throughout the night, ensuring that I didn't get more than 2 hours of sleep in a row.  (And that might have happened only once).  So I'm going to whine about it.

So yes, today's a blah day.  It would have been massively compounded if I had to make some semblance of order out of this house, but thankfully, that superman that I married cleaned the majority of the house yesterday.  He rocks. 

No, there's no point to this entry other than allowing me to vent and to share a fun picture of Miss Bean that cracks me right on up when I see it. 

Now?  Off to hunt up some ice cream.  Because really, what good is ice cream if not for its mood healing properties?

Sayer - 2 Month Update

Dear Sayer Doodle Boppa Noodle,

Upon seeing you, most people say,

"Oh!  He's so cute!"  This is followed by,

"What is he, like 5 or 6 months?"

Try barely 2.  Yeah.  I think that says it all.  From your 2 week mark to your 2 month mark, you gained 6 pounds and 4 inches.  It's no wonder you sleep a lot.  That kind of growing has to be exhausting.  Your grand total as of Friday is 15 pounds, 11 oz, and 25 inches long.  (For the record, your head is completely proportional to the rest of you.  That is to say, it's large).

Other than your chubbalubb factor, (which, in case you are wondering, I LOVE), you are doing things right on par with the average two month old.  Smiling at people, becoming best friends with the ceiling fan, sleeping sporadically, eating like a champ (as if there were any doubts there), and snuggling a lot.

Your sleep patterns aren't quite as good as Bean's were but aren't as bad as C's were.  So we're surviving.  It's kind of tough for you to get a decent nap unless you're in a sling, mainly because your sisters do not understand the meaning of "quiet" for any great length of time.  A harbinger of things to come?  Probably.  You'll never get a word in edgewise with those two... better get used to that now.

 (On a side note... I'm SO SORRY that I keep calling you C.  Poor kid, between that and the pink pacifier that I sometimes have to use, you're going to end up with an identity complex).

All in all, you're a perfectly plump, fantastically sweet little dude and I can't imagine what it was like before you were here.

Love always,

Mama

In Sympathy

The boy was decked out in his finest blue, but alas, his Daddy's beloved Cowboys were defeated.

So for you Cowboy fans? I offer these, in sympathy.

(And I didn't think I'd have to document the boy in his purple... but apparently, I should have. Bad day for football. Bad day indeed).