MIA?

so, did anyone miss me?  :)  Life has happened, I'm afraid.  Just life, nothing exciting.

Let's see.  Baby E turned 2.  She's still a tiny little pipsqueak at about 22.5 pounds.   Much smaller than either of the other girls.  She's chattering and we're attempting to decipher.  She thinks she's pretty big stuff, though, and does her best to keep up with her sisters.

K thinks that she is ready to start Kindergarten.  Mommy is SO not ready, but that is another story for another day.  She's still a bit of a space-case, but very bright and sweet. 

First grade is going wonderfully for B.  She is a reading champ and soaks in just about every single bit of information that she comes across.  This has been her first year in girl scouts and she's really enjoying that.  Daddy helped her sell GS Cookies last month and Mommy is looking forward to them arriving.....mmmmm, thin mints....

I'm full hog into school right now.  In the next couple weeks I will be applying for two different nursing programs, both of which have a fall start.  We'll see where God wants me/us.  I have found it to be an incredible mixed blessing to have that decision out of my hands.  None of it is up to me, yet I continue to worry about it.  Crazy how we do that, no?

Hubby is in school, too.  Two semesters left - yahoo!!!!  He's also working as a warehouse manager for a chemical company, trying to keep busy.....because 3 kids and a crazy busy wife isn't enough.  :)

We're in the midst of trying to update a bedroom for the oldest and the youngest.  This involves painting furniture (2 beds and a dresser) and much junk disposal.  Unfortunately, the painting is the easier task.

Other than that, life is the same: busy, challenging, rewarding, crazy fun, and we are realizing how incredibly blessed we are.   You wonder why?  Look at this:

the girls

7:30am

It's 7:30 on a Wednesday morning. i'm up. all three kids are sleeping. hallelujah!

Last night was my sister's wedding. it was beautiful. the flower girls (B, K and 3 other little girls cousins) were adorable running up the aisle barefoot yelling "the bride is coming!" as soon as K hit the runner on the way up, it looked like she was going to stop and pick up the flower petals that had already been dropped, but then off she went. k was the youngest by more than a year, so was obviously the last to get done. she got back to me with two handfuls of flower petal in hand and was very concerned about it. i was able to coax her to throw them on the floor right there in front of Rebekah without holding up the works too much. it was a definite highlight of the wedding. very sweet.

there was a scorching 'first kiss' which was quite unexpected from the groom. yummy food made by my parents, with some help from hubby. absolutely fantasticly wonderful wedding cake--almond sour cream. YUUUM! almonds left on all the tables as favors since the groom is an a-mond farmer. (those native to the region in cali apparently drop the 'l' in almond.) the happy couple exited under a shower of bubbles. we were all surprised as he hit the gas to make a hasty exit. his family says that they'd never seen him do that. he's quite reserved and thoughtful in all he does apparently. guess he was ready to get on with it. ;) it was a beautiful wedding. they're headed for a week-long trip back to california to start their life together as a-mond farmers.

b lost her first tooth during the reception last night. we wrapped it carefully and put it under her bed for the tooth fairy. the tooth fairy showed up last night and left her with a sweet little note and some quarters, which i'm sure she'll be absolutely thrilled to discover.

we've been sleeping in our new house for almost 2 weeks now. 95% of our stuff is still packed up. we finished getting everything moved in last sunday. we were home getting a bit settled for a couple days then headed up to church camp on wednesday. decided to come home a bit early from that on saturday, celebrated father's day with both dads, one on sat and one on sunday. then had rehearsal/dinner on monday and wedding on tuesday. it's been a busy couple weeks. i'm looking forward to getting settled and start living a 'normal' life again.

i've got truckloads of pictures. i just have to find the cord to load them onto the computer.

from the mouth of a two year old

K said today, "puke in toilet, not in sink."

You better believe it.


*we've got a bug around here. Can you tell?*

Heard at our house

Trying to get out the door.

Both big girls had been repeatedly asked to get shoes and socks on (as I rushed past trying to gather everything up.)

We were late. Like usual.

I finally sat down in front of K to help her get her shoes on.

"Mommy, " she asks, " you fasting up?"

You bet, kiddo, mommy is fasting up. :)

Heard at our house

Yesterday at breakfast, I looked over to see K licking the syrup straight off her plate. When I asked her to stop she said, "I not licking, Mommy, I dipping my tongue."

In my email this week

Sometimes I wonder why, but at some point in time, I've signed up to get emails about ages and stages. In me inbox this week, I found one about K:

By 30 months, your child can name a few body parts, some colors, and even a friend or two.

I read this in bewilderment. K can name pretty much all the body parts from her pinky toe to her belly button to her eyebrow and forehead. She knows the colors and even recognizes most of them with accuracy. She knows the names of her friends and often those of the friend's parent(s).

As I read, I wondered if this is all we should be expecting of our kids this age. Then I remembered.....ah, she's a second child. That's why!

B can often be found teaching K something that she learned in preschool or from a friend. They are most often together, so of course K will be learning whatever B is doing. It's amazing, really.

When I mentioned this email to my mother-in-law, a preschool teacher/administrator in her younger years, she absolutely agreed with me. She thought that K's verbal skills were about that of a 3 1/2 year old rather than a 2 1/2 year old.

So, there I was feeling all proud of myself for raising such exceptionally intelligent children. Maybe I should have stopped at exceptional.....

Yesterday, in the span of 1/2 hour, K managed to pour half a bottle of nail polish on the floor, spill a bowl full of water onto the bathroom floor and cover herself in my makeup. Before I got the first mess cleaned up she was on to the next one. (Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of any of them. I might find them funny down the road.)

When I told her "no, you can't play with mommy's makeup" and I wiped the powder off her face (and her hair and her shirt and the floor), she burst into tears and threw a big ol' hissy fit.

Yep, I guess she is just 2 1/2 after all!

...drumroll please....

I think K is potty trained.

YAY!!

That's all I have to say.

growing up

As we have prepared B to start preschool and K to become a big sister, I've found myself holding on tight to the precious little people that they are right now. Now wanting to look forward as to what will happen in the future. But just enjoying their sweet personalities, quirks and their absolute adorable-ness.

Today, K fell asleep nursing. It's been months since she's done that. If it weren't uncomfortable with a big belly between us, I would have been tempted to snuggle in and take a nap as well. As it was, I took a mental picture of that precious sight, drinking in every moment because who knows when it will be the last.

B started preschool last week and has been thoroughly enjoying herself.

She comes home telling K that "this is only for 4 year olds, 2 year olds can't do it." Then moments later the two of them are playing preschool together, packing backpacks and finding things to fill their 'lunch boxes.'

Most likely we'll have new little one in our home 8 weeks from now. Another sweet little person to get to know and enjoy watching and snuggling. Both the girls are thrilled at the prospect of baby E coming. We'll see how it is once she's here. ;) They both love to give her hugs and kisses, though, and B constantly talks about missing her. I hope that they love her as much after she's born.

I'm SO sick of puke!

I can't tell you the number of times that K has puked in the last 2 weeks. It's so sad. I think that we've deduced that she has a heat sensitivity. A couple days that we've been in the car a lot, she puked later on that night. We don't have a/c in the car, and we've known for quite a while that she sweats really easily. As soon as we get into the car, pretty much, she's got sweat beaded up on her upper lip and nose, poor girl.

Other than that, she's puked when she's coughing. She's recovering from a cold and just getting to that productive cough part of it. So she can really get going trying to get all that junk up. And it makes her puke.

Or, if she swallows a bunch of water in the swimming pool, she pukes.

Sometimes if she burps, she pukes.

It's so sad.I've been debating taking her in, but I'm not sure what they can do for her. She's doing fine otherwise. She's eating, sleeping, peeing and pooping fine. So, the overall picture is one of a healthy kid.

OH, and she's getting in some 2 year molars. I'm wondering if the cold combined with teething is just giving her an overactive gag reflex.

I hope.

This is no fun.

Heard at our house

Yesterday.

7am.

K cries.

Daddy brings her into bed.

K lunges for Mommy while whining for milk.

Daddy, oh so kindly offers, "K, do you want to snuggle with Daddy?"

K, oh so politely responds, "no tank oo daddy."

We'll just get a new one

This morning I had to drag the kids with me to the social security office to obtain a new social security card. (Kinda scary not knowing where mine is...) After what seemed like an interminable wait (maybe 25 minutes) during which both of my girls charmed one and all around us, we were told that food and drinks were not allowed in the office.

Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to do to keep my children occupied? Other than the two crusty toys that they have there in the office and the flat screen TV that was showing wildlife shots, there was nothing to do.

They climbed on the chairs, moved the chairs, lay down on the chairs, OH and then they practiced 'lipsticking' each other with the Carmex in a tube that I dug out of my purse and have since thrown away since it landed on the floor countless times.

Soon, our number was called and we headed to window "B." I handed the man my paperwork, asked K to stay close and proceeded to listen to B completely and utterly charm the man behind the desk. She chattered about how I lost my card, so we had to come and get a new one; and this is her sister K. K needs to stay close by so that we don't lose her. Then she piped up, "Mommy, if we lose K, we'll need to get another baby for Christmas, right?" Like her little sister is completely replaceable. Like a social security card.

Apparently we need to work on teaching our girls that we have to take care of what we have. There isn't always a replacement able to be purchased--for example: a little sister.

Enjoying the sunshine

feeling sentimental

I feel like time is slipping through my fingers. My babies are growing up.

Tonight during dinner, B spilled her water and then promptly told me that she was "solving the problem" as she grabbed a towel and started cleaning it up.

The past couple night K has opted not to nurse before bed (which used to be a 1/2 hour feeding.) It seems she's now so excited to brush her teeth, she'd rather skip that portion of the bedtime routine. She also has been transitioning into going to sleep all by herself. We give hugs and kisses and plop her into bed. Then we *gasp* leave the room and let her go to sleep on her own. Shocking, I know. This just doesn't happen. ;) It's bittersweet, I have to say.

B is little miss independent. She gets dressed on her own, does her hair on her own, buckles herself into her seat on her own. She helps set the table and clean up after dinner. Tonight she helped me make chocolate pudding for dessert. She's certainly a little girl now. One who brings so much joy. OK, and a few headaches, but mostly joy.

Thank you, Lord, for my wonderful children!

more milestones for K

Here's what K's hair usually looks like:

After a comment that her hair was starting to look like a mullet.....I cut a couple inches off the back. Here's the back last night:

And this morning:

I could hardly keep my eyes/hands off her hair today. It seems like she went from being my baby to being a little girl overnight.

OK, *mushy moment* I love her so much and I'm so proud of the little girl that she has become. She's such a joy and delight. Her smile lights up the day (and sometimes the night.) :) K is into everything and climbs up ONTO everything and investigates enough to drive me batty. But then she snuggles up, puts her head on my shoulder and then signs, 'milk, please' and snuggles in for a snack. My precious baby girl, I love you so much, KG. *Happy 18 month birthday, little one!*

not that I'm biased...

...but, seriously, how many other 17 month old's first word combinations are "no, thank you" and "yes please"??

1183??

1183....That's the number of photos that I deleted off my computer. Photos that I had taken in the last six months. They were all either blurry, had eyes closed, were comletely extraneous or were just duplicates of decent pictures that I had already edited.

After deleting ALL those, I still have more than 1,400 pictures left. For just the last six months.

Crazy. (I must have cute kids.)

rockabye baby

Let me start by saying that as a rule, I'm against CIO. I can never stomach it when it's my own kids and I just feel that it's not necessary. Hubby has been making noises about K needing to be able to go to sleep more on her own lately. Sometimes it takes an hour or more to get her to sleep.

There's been a slow progression this week, though, that has led me to do the dreaded CIO. Tonight she cried for all of 4 minutes (none of which was more than complaining that I left her in there on her own.) She's now asleep.

Already I'm sad that I missed the opportunity to nurse her to sleep.

They grow up so fast. Do I need to rush this? Hubby says that I'm just having a "mushy woman moment." I think it's more of a mushy mommy moment. My baby is growing up. OK, she's obviously ready to go to sleep on her own if it took less than 5 minutes, but she's still a baby. right?

I guess I just need another baby! :)

growing pains...and a date

The other day, Hubby and I made plans to go out for an afternoon date. Usually I enjoy the anticipation more than the actual date (due to no fault of my hubby, but my own.) Here's where the growing pains come in. I'm so incredibly attached to my children. Very attached. Grandma had been (not so patiently) biding her time until I was Ok to allow B to spend the night. That finally happened about a year ago, when B was almost three. I don't know that I ever leave my kids for more than maybe a couple hours until they are close to a year old. That's just how I am. Back to the date. We planned to leave both girls for the entire afternoon and most of the evening. Coming to get K before bed, our plan was to leave B to spend the night.

We dropped the girls off. They were enjoying themselves and we were ready for some time to ourselves. Heading out, we scheduled our time, balancing priorities and expectations. After some time spent browsing books and magazines at Barnes & Noble, we headed to the mall to search out some christmas gift ideas for each other, grandparents and the girls. Our big hunt for the season is finding a bike for B. Toys 'R Us was the next stop, with some success. Rather than spending money to eat out, we stopped at the grocery store to pick up some nice thick steaks for hubby to BBQ and rented a movie. The time spent by ourselves enjoying just being husband and wife was much needed and greatly enjoyed. We were able to mark some tasks off the forever long list and spend time remembering what it was like before kids, sort of. :) In short, we had fun. Feeling refreshed, we headed off to pick up K.

The girls both had a fabulous time, taking nice long naps for G'ma and enjoying being spoiled and doted upon. I got a few extra snuggles but for the most part was reassured that the girls were well taken care of and had enjoyed themselves immensely while not missing me too horribly much. *sigh*

We were off again. Headed home with only one child in tow. I was already missing B and was a bit sad that she's already big enough to be spending the night away from me so easily. K fell asleep on the way home, so Hubby and I were able to enjoy more of the evening just by ourselves.

All in all, it was a wonderfully refreshing day. Hubby and I got some much-needed couple time; the girls got some G'ma and G'pa time and the grandparents treasured the hours that they were able to spend with their granddaughters.

Just one more step. One day closer to the girls being little people of their own. To growing up and learning more; experiencing life while not directly under the protection of their mama's 'wing'.

It was a good day, bittersweet, but good.

Happy 1st Birthday, K

My precious K,

One year ago, I was nursing you for the very first time (as I waited for my pizza.) :) Snuggling your precious little body, still trying to learn what you looked like.....I couldn't stop looking at you. I was kissing all over your beautiful little round head and crying pretty much how I am right now. You are such a joy and a delight, K, a bright spot in our lives and a continual blessing. As I nursed you to sleep tonight, I looked down trying to remember how little you were then, and seeing only how big you are now--walking and trying to talk and bringing smiles to everyone you meet. I still can't believe how happy you wake up every morning, going from asleep to crawling in less than 2 seconds, smiling and talking the whole time. I love that you still like to nurse, and when you get tired enough, you try to lift up my shirt and snuggle in for a snack. It still frustrates me that you refuse to hold still until you are completely asleep, insisting on kneading and pinching, squeezing and scratching whatever skin is available. You have learned that fake coughing gets you attention and you love to make us laugh. I'm not sure if it's you or me that's confused, but you know how to sign "more" and "all done" I just am not usually sure which one you mean. Not only are you a continual motion machine, but since you've learned to walk, you are unstoppable and without fear. Tonight you found a way to climb up onto B's bed--we'd really better watch out now. You have the constant bumps and bruises to prove that you are well and truly a toddler. No longer my baby. But you know what? You'll always be my precious baby girl. Always. My gorgeous K. So stubborn and beautiful, smily and determined, such a gift. A precious, precious gift from God. We're so very proud of you, K, so very proud and so very in love.

Thank you for making me the happiest mommy ever. Happy Birthday, Little One!

I love you!
Momma