Tuesday, June 29, 2010

4 is not a baby number *sniff*

how did this little infant

turn into this little baby

who turned into this little toddler

who turned into this little girl

who turned into this big girl

who turned into this little lady

who turned into this 4 year old ?!?!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm still asking myself that question everyday.

But I know I have loved all of them

and will continue to love

everything

she becomes

this year and every year afterwards.

Happy Birthday Theia!

Monday, June 28, 2010

ye olde facebook statuses

Theia: "Daddy, there's a very evil spider on our wall, can you come kill it? Its VERY evil."

I am teaching Theia and Eliza how to make their letters. Theia immediately filled her paper with 'A's, but when I checked Eliza's work, I found that she had only embellished the 'A' I had made. "I'm givin' it wings, so it can fly", she explained. Sometimes the age difference really shows.

"twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are. Up above the world so high, like a ......dinosaur in the sky..." Pay close attention when Eliza is singing. It’s always a rewarding experience.

We were reading the story of Jesus' birth yesterday (which is a year-round favorite in this house) and Eliza was looking intently at the picture of the Magi. She pointed to each of their gifts and proudly recited "Gold, um, fishies, and myrrh!" She's probably thinking, at least one of the gifts was age-appropriate ;).

Theia and Eliza's PB&J sandwiches are talking to each other. One is named Jess, and the other Holly, so I gather.

I am so glad that my children like fresh veggies with hummus that I don't even mind the double-dipping. Much.

Yes, we are the owners of those children who sprinted across the dance floor during the bride and groom's first dance at the wedding today. *groan* I picked a poor time to turn my back (for all of 2 seconds).

Fishstick: eng. noun. def. 1. A vehicle used to convey ketchup to the mouth 2. An upright figure used to represent human characters in child's make believe. (from the unabridged dictionary of Eliza's pre-conceived notions).

Every morning Eliza comes bounding up out of bed with the same question, "Mama, can I have breakfast for cereal!" (that's not a typo, she always switches those two words.)

It’s amazing the things we hear coming out of our own mouths at times. For instance, Jessie just said, sternly "Theia, DO NOT call her sugar again. She just told you she's Sleeping Beauty!"

Why do little girs think that going to the bathroom in public restrooms is a recreational activity?

Ingrid climbs up into my lap several times a day just to make her impish little wrinkled nose face at me and rub noses with me, then she climbs down and continues on her merry way. I love it. :)

Theia, of the mosquitos swarming around her head: "They think I'm their best friend, but I'm NOT!"

Theia: "Mom, the wrists of my feet are hurting."

I love that my husband is never daunted by any challenge. He has a "can-do" attitude that constantly amazes me. When I ogled a meal on the front of a magazine cover last week, he secretly studied the picture in detail, went out after I was asleep last night, and after church on Mother’s Day quickly whipped up an incredible lunch of grilled shrimp tacos, complete with mango/cucumber salsa, avocadoes, and green onions. Love you babe!

"Eliza, you need to go potty before you eat your supper." "But I went potty YESTERDAY!"

I flushed a bug down the toilet tonight, then spent the next ten minutes convincing a petrified Eliza that it would not come back up and get her if she sat on the toilet.

The girls are painting, T and E with water paints, Ingrid with water. Surprisingly, Ingrid doesn't seem bothered by the lack of color on her canvas.

I know no greater horror than walking into the bathroom to finish my children's baths to find that the youngest has just discovered the plunger and is trying to plunge the drain of the bathtub. That water couldn't drain out fast enough!

I appreciate that people think my children are so cute and well-behaved. I just wish they didn't always wait till I've taken a mouthful of food to tell me so.

It would be nice to have a meal in which Ingrid does NOT wipe her hands in her hair.

I was trying to quell Eliza's irrational fear of hand dryers in public restrooms; "They can't hurt you, Eliza", when Theia chimes in with "Yeah Eliza, only alligators can hurt you." I interject, "well, they aren't the ONLY things that can hurt us" to which Theia replies, "That's true. Crocodiles can too."

I guess I should be thankful that I wasn't bit by a dragon today; I just didn't think to mention it in my bedtime prayers like Eliza did tonight.

Jessie and I were sharing a little longer "goodbye" than usual when Eliza piped up from the breakfast table "Aww, are you guys gonna get married?"

Eliza: "What are you eating?" Me: "Fattoush and tabbouli." Eliza: (vehemently) "I don't want some tush and belly!"

I am having a sneak peek today at what life might look like in 12 years or so, when my daughters are all having pms at the same time. I don't know what their excuse can be today. Easter candy, perhaps?

I was going to work out, but I am having way too much fun watching my daughters do tae bo in princess dresses.

"We just paid the toad!" proclaimed Eliza, as we passed through the tollbooth before the Skyway.

"Go! Go!" yells Ingrid insistently at every red light. We now officially have three backseat drivers.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

not the reaction I was looking for...

Theia's first words after learning the news of the new baby to be added to our family: "I guess we won't need her (pointing to Ingrid) anymore!"

I'm just going to assume she meant we won't need her to be the baby anymore.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

of party crashing and announcements

A week ago today I went out to dinner with some girlfriends from church. I was actually a party-crasher since I was unexpected by all but one of the other ladies in attendance. As you can see by the picture below, all of these ladies share a common thread... Our church is experiencing a baby boom this year, that is set to begin in October and wrap up in December. There are a total of six pregnant women at our church (one of them was not present with us last week). As most of you know by now, I am one of them. Attending the preggo ladies dinner was my first step in going public with this pregnancy. Up till that day only our immediate family and two other friends knew about it. I heartily enjoyed the shocked and joyful reactions I received when I showed up. We followed that up with an announcement at church on Sunday morning, and of course, the following facebook announcement:

We must ask you all to FOURgive us our lack of FOURTHrightness when it comes to sharing FOURtunate news in our family. From this day on we will FOURward any pertinent information concerning the FOURcast of December 12th. I FOURsee that some of you may have already reached a FOURgone conclusion, but we will confirm anyhow, that this is our FOURmal announcement.

Jessie and I enjoy keeping our special little secrets to ourselves for awhile, we've been keeping this one since we found out on Easter Sunday. But I am definitely happy to be out of hiding. I had a relatively easy first trimester and am fast approaching 16 weeks (on Sunday). I am rather long-waisted, so my babies don't really make themselves obvious till around 20 weeks, but still, I was getting tired of sucking it in! We had our first prenatal on Wednesday, where we heard the heartbeat and filled out about a bezillion medical history forms and such. Everything looks just peachy thus far.

I am going to a midwife here in Florida for our prenatals, but for various reasons, we are planning a trip back to Michigan to deliver with midwives there while staying with family.

We would covet your prayers as we prepare to become a family of six! I have been so blessed with healthy babies and uneventful pregnancies, but it is a blessing not to be taken for granted. We hope that my past pattern of delivering within 24 hours of my due date will hold true one more time so we will be able to keep our plans to deliver in Michigan. We mean to arrive at least a week before my due date. If I do happen to begin labor earlier, I would probably deliver with my midwife in Florida.

The girls are super-excited, and ask me every day if I still have a baby in my belly (Well, Theia and Eliza do. I don't think the news has really made it to Ingrid's radar). They are all campaigning for another girl. Theia insists that she's sure she wouldn't like a boy. I hope she'll change her mind if it actually comes down to that.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

photography again

I just wanted to post some of my favorites from three photoshoots Jessie has done recently. He's soaking up the experience that he's been afforded by friends recently. He still has a lot to learn, and a lot of equipment to obtain before he's willing to hang out his shingle. In the meantime he just enjoys his hobby a lot.

The Agnone Family: a wonderful coast guard family from our church, who just last week picked up and moved all the way to California! (insert sadness here) They wanted some images by which to remember their tenure in sunny Florida.

Justin and Robin Edmiaston: finally got some engagement photos of this lovely couple, who have since been married. It was fun to attend their wedding last week and see Jessie's work adorning the tables at their reception!

The Burket Family: I had already previously posted a link to Leslie's blog where she had these posted, but why not look at them again since they're so attractive ;).

Saturday, June 12, 2010

What could be better...?

what could be better than a date with this guy?
well, how about a double date
with this guy
and these people
in their boat
on the Gulf of Mexico
at sunset?
I can't think of anything either.

Friday, June 11, 2010

staying cool without a pool

Who needs a pool

when you have a sprinkler?

We get just as wet

and there's even a waterslide

Cancel that.
Mom says no more waterslide.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

best buddies

these two are two peas in a pod.
always excited to see each other in the nursery.
sharing toys and cheerios.
hitting growth milestones together.

someday she will find more in common
with the other little girls at church,
who are a little too old, or a little too young
for her to play with now.

and someday he will start thinking

its "not cool" to have a girl for a best friend.

but for now they are best buds.

and someday,
(as their parents fondly imagine)
perhaps they will renew their friendship.

but no pressure.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

I wonder...

I was watching Sleeping Beauty with the girls while folding clothes today, and I was struck with the same question that always plagued me when I was a child: "What was the gift that Merriweather was about to bestow before Maleficent showed up and altered her plans?" I like to think that Merriweather, as the most practical and realistic of the three fairies, would have given Aurora something really useful, like common sense, or a personality. In fact, if she'd given her common sense, the last 45 minutes of the movie could have been avoided, because she would have known better than to follow an eerie greenish light up a dimly lit stairway. Sometimes its just best to stick to the original plan.

Flashback

Yesterday morning Theia and Eliza were playing a make-believe that involved tiptoeing around me for awhile and whispering furtively to each other while casting nervous glances in my direction. Theia paused long enough to explain, with a sheepish grin, "We're pretending you're a big mean lady today." I wasn't really too fond of this idea, but it jogged my memory. I recall my sister and me pretending that our mom was an evil stepmother sort of villian on certain occasions when she made unreasonable demands of us, such as requiring us to fold laundry, or clean up the disaster zone in our bedroom. It was a great comfort to our martyr-like souls at such times.

(Penny and me with our big bro, Pat)

I am continually seeing Penny and myself in Theia and Eliza as they grow up. Fond memories. I'm so glad they have each other.