weekend away

ah. back home after a girls weekend with my mom and sister in houston.












my sweet husband generously offered to watch the littles so i could get away for a bit. no hesitation on my part.














it was great fun. lots of laughing, delicious food, pretty sights and thrifty shopping. nothing extravagant but much needed. just right.















when i walked in, henley went crazy with the "i you soooo much, mommy.
miss you, mommy. i you sooo much" and patting my back nonstop. and mia with the walking/bouncing on her knees while waving wildly. hard to beat that.













in the two days i was gone, hen jumped off the top of the couch and landed on her head. and learned to "shake her hiner" to the music. and mia learned to clap and is now walking ALL the time.













and best of all, my sweet man admitted it was a lot of work watching the chicks and called me the "queen bee" of the house. ah. needed that, too.

well, mia is finally walking around!

she has been on the verge for MONTHS! and over the weekend, was taking four of five steps. but today she's walking all across the living room- NO BIG DEAL!! woo hoo! we've been cheering like crazy around here!

clean girls

i hope i never forget that wonderful sweet, warm smell of my babies after a bath.

admittedly, bath time sometimes is just one more chore and the whole washing soap out of hair while kids squirm and squeal isn't ALWAYS my favorite. and then it's lotion and diapers and medicine and bottle and book and bed and you better make sure all the babies (trudy, janie, blue baby, addie and kiki) are all lined up and covered up. sometimes i just want to skip baths and go straight to bed.

but when i look at the pictures- i think gosh, that smell. those clean babies, all warm and soft and sleepy. i hope i never forget that.

happy birthday, Mia Ruth

Happy birthday, sweet Mia Ruth!

Goodness, I can't believe one year ago, I was recovering from a quick delivery and you were snuggled up in my arms. You were so pretty- some babies are all squished and...well. YOU were gorgeous. Long eyelashes, softest pink skin- just beautiful. I had an instant crush on you. ;)


















You are still gorgeous, my dear. Same lashes, pink skin, big blue eyes. I think you are going to have brown hair, maybe a little curly. You don't have much on top right now, but it's ok. You rip headbands off within seconds so bows don't have much chance anyways.


















You are SUCH a stubborn girl. Gotta be the German side of you. You get so mad if you don't get to go outside- even when it's 35 degrees and raining outside. You get so mad if I am making a bottle and you don't have it in your hands RIGHT THEN. You get so mad if I take something from you, like a bead that you are chewing on and shouldn't be. Your daddy calls you a little bulldog. You are like a little badger- crawling so fast and determined and right over anything in your way.




















And yes, I said crawling. For about 4 months, you have been crawling. You are fast and have this little head swing and it's adorable. We are ready for you to walk. You CAN walk. We hold your wrist and you'll even hold my hand and walk all around the house. You just mostly DO. NOT. WANT. TO. You'll grunt and pull your wrist away if we try when you are not in the mood. You won't do it for a jellybean. You won't do it for your bottle. You just don't want to. Your pants are torn and stained and worn out on the knees from your constant crawling in the dirt and grass.



I love that determination though it sometimes frustrates me. You'll bulldoze right over Henley a she's laying on the floor. You'll pull her whole plate toward you (as she yells, "No ma'am, Mia. No take Henny's food!") and gobble whatever you want off it. That go-for-it quality is going to help you in life.















You also don't say many actual words. But you sing in the car, sometimes all the way from San Antonio. And you'll repeat "Mama" and "Dada". I have a feeling once you get going, you and Hen will jabber our ears off. And you LOVE music and will clap and wave your arms and bounce up and down while I play it.

Mia, you are such a lovey when you want to be. You LOVE Moshi and will pat on her and put your head on her soft fur as long as she'll let you. You want to be held constantly, especially by your daddy and Pop. Both of them walk in and you just light up. You also really love your big sister and in the mornings, she gets out of her bed and plays with toys and reads books and you stand in your crib and watch and sing as she does that. She'll put some toys in there for you so you can play, too. I am sure it won't be long until you use that determination to climb right out. Oh my. That will be something to watch on the monitor!





















I am amazed at your stubborn attitude but sweet spirit. I know you are going to be the best kind of girl- rough and tumble, hanging out with the boys and will probably have a potty mouth, telling bad jokes but being beautiful and breaking hearts doing so. You are such a happy girl, laughing and giggling all the time.
















You make ME so happy. I look back in the rearview mirror and you just smile around your pacifier. My heart melts. I don't know how I'll survive your terrible twos, or six year old antics or worse yet, your teenage years. But I'm sure you'll just bat those lashes and smile that grin and I won't be able to stay mad long.



















Thank you for being my surprise baby. I will always be surprised by you, my love.

not off, OUT

sometimes, what seems so big the day before just gets small the next day, huh?

i was so worked up yesterday and today it just seems a little dumb to be so bothered.

plus, i had to laugh at myself. shake it out WAS just what i needed to hear to calm down and see clearly. BUT....

i couldn't stop thinking my little banner sounded.... gross. especially since i put it in the bathroom. shake it off? hmm. what is weird about that, i kept wondering. i wonder if florence gets any flack for that? shake it off.

oh. OH. that's right- it's shake it OUT. not shake it off, as my banner proclaims. haha.

i might just leave it up so i'll remember what happens when you get all bothered- you start getting song titles wrong.

;)

happy first birthday to my sweetest love, Mia Ruth. birthday letter in the works.

today i feel like a raincloud

a big fat gray one.

ever have one of those days?

i am usually such an optimist. so sunny. i even know i go over the top every so often.

once, i even picked up a dog on the highway. checked it's tag and when i read the name barbara walter got my brain wrapped around the idea that maybe, just maybe (in a million years) this was actually THE barbara walters dog. and she would be so thankful that she would handsomely compensate me for the fact that i saved her rotten dog, who tried to fight my dogs and peed in my car. yeah. of course it wasn't. the real barbara walter barely came to get that dog and didn't so much as mutter thanks as she peeled out of the driveway.

today has been such a drag.

the laundry pile is three times as big as my daughter. HUGE.













the kids ground goldfish and kix into the carpet. again. and every time i turn around mia's bottle is dripping into the carpet.













i just get worked up over little things and can't stop thinking/worrying/getting mad. do you have whole arguments in your head over something said and what you wish you had the nerve to say? i totally do. and this mainly is ruining my day. pray for me, if you will.

mia is into this whole indignant groan/scream thing. buckling her into her car seat. telling her "no" when she is screeching. taking a book away from her because she is tearing it. not allowing her to climb the stairs. each time results in this LOUD arrrrrgh from her. i don't even know what to do about it.

and hen is throwing fits. full out eyes full of tears, jump up and down stomping OR throwing herself on the floor fits. if i tell her it's not allowed to climb on the counter and stuff peppermints into her cheeks. or if i tell her she can't take a toy from mia. or if i tell her to come over and help me clean up all the 36 cookie cutters on the floor. also accompanied by "uh uh, mommy. no ma'am, mommy. no take henny's mints away!" the time out chair is getting a workout.

but we went to costco- a true testament to patience and mothering skills. and thank goodness for florence and the machines. "shake it out" came on the radio. and she's right- it is hard to dance with the devil on your back.

(can't figure out how to put in a youtube video. working on it. click the song above to hear it.)

i made some banners to hang in the bathroom, by the kitchen sink, by my computer. shake it off.