for you, my Henley Mayes

oh, my sweet little Henley.

i feel like overnight, you've just turned into a KID. a funny one.

i guess i never did the whole 3 year old birthday letter.  let me say, your birthday coming right before Christmas is so tough.  i am sure you'll know this your whole life.  you kinda get birthday gifts mixed in with Christmas gifts from everyone and i bet when people think they've given you a little birthday money, it was just Christmas money.  and it's hard to get people together, when they'll be coming in for the holidays the next week, so they just wait. i mean, it is cool when you get to go with Mamie to see Santa ON your birthday AND you are first in line to sit on his lap because it's your birthday. that kinda stuff is pretty cool.

you are pretty proud of being 4.  you don't really want to wear anything that isn't size 4 clothing.  even though your skinny little waist is about a 2T but your legs are 4T. lots of leggings and tights for you. your hair is also a mystery, in addition to the skinny waist.  how in the world we got a blondie blonde daughter out of these parents is beyond me.  you have crooked bangs all the time, bless your sweet heart.  once, the hairdresser said "oh, mom trims your bangs, doesn't she?" hmph! they're just right, in my eyes.  thank goodness for them, too, since you wiped out on the skateboard (that we hardly ever bring out) and banged your head on the driveway.  nice bright pink goose egg, but hidden by the bangs!

you say the funniest stuff. this morning, i was working in my craft room and you were playing doctor with lillian.  you asked me to write out lillian's name and  diagnosis.  when you came back in, you had written some "reportments" and "erpscriptions" for her. hilarious.  see the XR XR XR? because I had told you medicine is sometimes called RX.  haha.

i've decided a good description for you would be "emotional". not dramatic, like causing drama... just reacting to things with great EMOTION. you have learned to ride your bike pretty well, using training wheels.  but when you fell down in the driveway, and skinned your knee, you screamed and ran at me instantly and fell again in your distress, which skinned your hands as well.  when you are excited, you are like bouncing off the walls excited. almost obnoxious, which i know sounds horrible to say about your own kid. :)

you love blueberries, hot cocoa, cookie crisp (thanks, david), peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bean and cheese tacos, pancakes, bacon.  you have a super sweet tooth, and thanks to the parents you were blessed with, plenty of opportunities to indulge.

one thing that makes me so happy (and also frustrating at times) is your desire to create and make.  you love to come into my craft room with me and make little projects with fancy scissors and paper.  downstairs, you have some supplies- paper, colored pencils and scissors- and it's an everyday thing for you to make letters and gifts for others, leaving scraps and supplies everywhere.  you get our junk mail envelopes and use those, taping them closed and writing someone's name on them. and heaven forbid if i toss them into the trash at night when i clean up and you see your letter in the morning! i moved your little table upstairs for some space for a while and you have been asking nonstop if i would bring it back down so you have "some space to do your work".  tonight, i promise, dearest!

we saw frozen last week, FINALLY! it was even super late, all of our friends had already seen it. trip and anna kate would sing all the songs and you two poor sheltered things, didn't know the words but bless your hearts, would dance and TRY to sing it all. we bought the DVD and have watched it a couple times already. as i type this, you and mia, are acting out the scene where anna tries to wake up elsa.  you guys know the words, "wake up elsa, the skies awake, so i'm awake, so let's go play" and "i can't anna, i can't control the power". and cue the "do you want to build a snowman" music.  silly girls.

you're still crazy about ballet and dancing- when we meet someone, you get into first position and point your toes and twirl.  maybe coping with being shy?? it's funny.  you slip on leotards and "pointe shoes" every chance you get. here's your latest ballerina picture... see the bun? we need to work on hands...

you aren't BAD at all- but you do get into some mischief.  you are forever taking my shampoos and soaps and adding them to your bath or washing your pajamas in the tub.  yesterday, i came outside and you and mia were smashing up a bag of saltine crackers all over the driveway. but when i made you sweep it up, that was a fun game for you, too. you have been drawing with pens on everything lately.  your first cabbage patch from Santa and your new doll from this Christmas.  when you got in trouble, i made you write (copy) a letter to Santa and "mail" it to him on your Valentine balloon. you seemed to think this was really fun... you kept restarting the letter to "make it look nice for Santa". ;) and then dang if that stinkin' balloon wouldn't float up and then got stuck in the tree in the front yard.  so much for my tactics.

you have switched over to loving on dad again- for a while, you weren't kind to him. it was pretty mean.. you'd move away from him if he sat next to you and cry when i left for tutoring and you stayed with him.  but now, things are good and you are sweet to him. thank goodness- that made me sad!

i sure love you and your quirky and funny and sweet personality. you are headstrong and independent.  while these things can make me lose my patience sometimes, i know i'll be thankful for those traits as you get older. you are smart and beautiful and i'm so glad you're my #1 girl.  keep up the shenanigans, little dearie. i'll miss them, someday!

i love you so!

life.

passing me by?

nah. we're living and loving it.

but- whew!!!!

want to remember our busy, crazy life through this blog so here's a bit of what's going on...

* mia is potty trained! took much longer than henley.  jellybeans. marshmallows. little bear toys. stickers. finally, though, DONE!
* the chicks started gymnastics and man, so adorable.... of course, the bars and beam and trampoline are fun, but the best part? the stamps they get on their feet at the end of the class!!
*  boerne handmade market came and went.  LOVED participating in this fun, local community event again. molly sells her hand painted signs and i sell ruler growth charts and banners and succulents and sheds.  VERY fun.
*  on the way to St. Louis in 2 weeks for MOPS convention. can i just tell you MOPS has changed my life as a stay at home mom?  if you are even wondering if you would like it, give it a try.  new friends, instant play dates, delicious breakfast, a new place for my kids to have fun.  seriously.  i was not sure about it all, seemed hokey and i LOVE it.
*  threw a big ole garage sale and with the proceeds will have new doors installed in our house.  french doors!  yay!
*  hubs is in working in town now and it's woooonderful.  it's so convenient and nice for him to come on home for lunch. 
* took a break from my running but i'm ready to get back on track. something about this fresh fall air makes me think i can get back to it. we'll see. it's the soreness i'm afraid of!!!

leaving you with a couple pics.

project lately: string art tree

hi friends!

sorry- been absent lately... thanksgiving came and went and so did a flurry of delicious food (15 pounds of potatoes to peel and 9 pounds of green beans to snap), sweet sister in town for a week, brothers and extended family EVERYWHERE and i have loved it! plus, working on some big things- big girl beds for the littles and christmas decorating and a nasty bug that won't leave our family alone!

anyway- here's a little project lately. wanted the chickies to have something to play with and leave my big tree alone so i whipped up this string art tree.  

 i feel silly making a tutorial for this so i'll just give some basics....

*  bought the board off the scrap cart at home depot.  uh- 51 cents?  i'll take it.  it is big- 2 feet by 3 feet maybe and is made of pressed wood.  really heavy.
*   painted board with white paint found in the paint cabinet. 
*  using a sheet of freezer paper, made a stencil of a tree and outlined it on my board. 
*  to husband's dismay, nailed my panelboard nails around the outline while duck dynasty played.
*  using brown and green yarn, started wrapping.  i did the little rectangle for the trunk first.  then i sectioned my tree into 4 triangles to sting the yarn.  that way if the girls unravel it, i won't have to redo the whole thing.  when i finished stringing the yarn in the sections, i did some lengths from top to bottom and across the whole thing.  
* to make the oranaments, i just used a circle punch to punch out circles.  smeared glitter glue on them to give a little sparkle.  while those dried, i cut paper clips in half and used some pliers to bend them into a candy cane shape. then i just made a little sandwich; foam, wire hook, hot glue and foam.  
* to make the garland, i used a roll of beaded trim. cut into several short lengths. i glued paper clip hooks on the end using hot glue.
* since the background is white, i used white velcro circles to attach a star onto the background.  you don't see the circle when the star isn't there.  and same for the little bag.  it holds all the decorations when they are off the tree and can just come off to make it easier for the girls to hold. 


they love decorating their own tree. it's pretty cute to just have leaning against a wall-  i didn't mount it or anything.  

after the fact:  i might brush watered down glue on it just to potentially prevent all the yarn from unraveling and make it stiffer.  older kids would be much more careful than my littles.  mia has trouble getting the ornaments off alone.  it would also be cute to let older kids decorate their own ornaments or use real shatterproof ones.   

lots of potential, dears.
take care!

october package pals

doesn't take much to get me in the mood for fun mail!

i participated in jamie's package pals for the month of october. 
we signed up back in september and i was placed with my partner, tanyia of domestic deficit disorder. if you wanna laugh, or see some awesome quilty goodness or fantastic digital scrapbooking, head on over!  she's too cute!

anyway- when my package landed on my doorstep, i was upstairs getting the girls to sleep for a nap.  i could hardly contain myself to wait until they were asleep before sneaking downstairs to open my gift!

tanyia was so generous and must have given a lot of thought to my gifts- especially making sure they would be fun for the chicks!


WHAT I GOT....
wooden ornaments for painting, jingle bells, pompoms, pinecones, stickers, glitter glue, yarn, candles. SO FUN! the ornament painting will be such a fun activity for our advent calendar.  the girls will LOVE it. 

 again, must know about my sweet tooth.... yum. 

 and then THIS made me gasp out loud!! see, i told you she was so talented- she made me my own mini-quilt!! i can't believe she went to so much work for lil old me- but boy, do i LOVE it!! it's beautiful and so well made.  THANK YOU, TANYIA!

WHAT I GAVE....

of course, i took until the very last minute to get that package to the post office.  procrastinating!!

here's what i sent to tanyia:

 some holidayish/ candy fabric (maybe these are called fat quarters?? clueless)

 rainbow of embroidery thread for friendship bracelets with her cute daughters

 some scalloped scissors, a cutting mat and a diamond template for quilting

and Christmas stickers, ribbon and laminate samples for a diy i'll feature tomorrow.

what a fun thing to do!! if you've never participated in a swap, give it a shot! it's a lot of fun to meet a fellow crafter!  thanks so much tanyia and also to jamie for coordinating! 

Gee thanks, pandora radio

Nothing like looking at last night's Halloween pics and hearing "To Make You Feel My Love". Generally reducing me to tears.

There ain't nothing that I wouldn't do,
Go to the ends of the world for you,
Make you happy, make your dreams come true.
To make you feel my love.

The things we do...

I just drove around our block 4 times, windows down, music blaring. Times one and two, a neighbor waved and smiled. The third time, the man started walking toward the street and number 4, well- glaring, hands on hips, ready to report me for suspicious behavior.

You see, after running errands, I had 55 minutes before needing to leave again. And those chickies needed some sleep- trick or treating tonight!

So I let them fall asleep and pulled into the cool shade of a big tree in our driveway. And of course, I had to climb out the window of the car or risk the music turning off.

My neighbors think a crazy lady moved in, I'm sure!

All for this...

books

are you a book lover? 

i am. and now that mia and hen are pretty good sleepers (KNOCK ON WOOD, SALT OVER SHOULDER, all the other things to keep things this way) i'm actually getting to read again!!

i really missed that part of babyhood- but loved almost all the other parts of it- and i'm glad to have some time to pick up books.  

our town built a new library last year. it is just so great.  modern, light flooding through.  many more offerings. 

isn't the whole concept of borrowing books just incredible?? i can take a big pile of wonderful kids books for my littles to look at and to read to them at bedtime.  for free! and borrowing movies and music and books for me.  my bag is so heavy when i walk out.  it's just the best. 

imagine my bursting heart the other day when after loading up the dishwasher, i wandered into the living room to find Henley with a pile of little golden books i had put into the book basket in the living room. half the time these books are just dumped onto the floor but she was paging through, carefully examining the pictures.  love.  

and THEN. we went upstairs to look for mia and discovered her in the playroom surrounded by books as well.  flipping through a sesame street book.  she was surprised to see me at first, but then handed me a few. 

    "book?" she said and plopped herself into my lap. 

ahhh. my heart was full.  happy to see my girls enjoying the beautiful pictures and stories they've heard us read to them.  

a little off the subject, but i am planning to open an etsy shop soon.  too many "treasures" and vintage paraphernalia.  must find new homes for it.  i plan to list these little golden books.  aren't they precious!  how many LGBs does someone need, though? sharing the love.   

Fifth of July

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Made it back from a trip to the coast with my family. It was a quick trip with good food, big winds, and little girls with adorable swimsuit hineys.

Dominoes were played. Laughs were shared. Hot tubs were relaxed in. And and best of all, we were together.

A lady who writes a "social column" in our small town's newspaper would say, "A good time was had by all."

My sister and I took Henley to her first fireworks show. A bath first and dressed in jammies, we left. At 8:30, which is a half hour past bedtime!!! Oh my!

We parked at the high school and sat on the roof of the truck. We named the fireworks- Pink Tipped Lady and Mister Twister were some of the faves. That little girl sure had fun staying up late and seeing her favorite PINK (everything, everything is pink lately!).

I'm loving seeing my girls enjoy these milestones lately. First sandcastle on the beach for Mia, fireworks show for Henley. Goofing around in the backseat of the car together. Pretty cute stuff.

whatshappeninroundhere

feeling as if i'm abandoning my poor little blog. i hate when i check and i haven't written a post in 2 weeks. ugh. just a list for ya to prove i'm somewhat productive some of the time

1. cleaned out the dyson. i mean, not just dumped it out either. took it apart and whoa, it was disgusting. used this guys directions and basically HOPED it would work when it put it all back together. we vacuum almost daily and it would have stunk if it didn't work.

2. worked on handmade Christmas presents. almost 2 year old + acrylic paints = hazardous to my favorite nightshirt/wear it all day shirt. sewing and silhouette vinyl and hot glue and squirt bottles. oh my. will post pics of the final products. feeling pretty good about giving someone something thoughtful.

3. our weather has been so cold at night! i love tucking my littles into bed in fleece jammies. i saw some footie jammies in 5T yesterday! i doubt i'll be making Henley wear footie jammies much longer. but there isn't too much cuter than a clean little girl with fresh combed hair and footie jammies walking to her room.... ah. this growing up breaks your heart, doesn't it!

4. as i type this, a man has been perusing the dvds at the library one by one. seriously, flipping through them and looking at the back of each and every dvd in the section. his wonderful, sweet son just stood by him, patiently, paaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttttiiiiiiieeeeennntly waiting for him to finish up. i mean, seriously, sir. he deserves a dr. pepper.

5. i've been at the library a bunch in the after school and those middle-schoolers. they all walk across the street to hang out and wait for their parents to come pick them up. i hardly even know what to write about middle-schoolers. i HATED middle school. all the hormones and cool kids and pranks and flirting and trying too hard to be cool- trying to fit in or at the top of the food chain or at the bottom... - whew. it's rough. and apparently, still is. it's almost like i am back in middle school with them around- feeling uncomfortable, like i need to watch my back. or that they are talking about me. i always admire MS teachers who can tolerate them. and you know, when i taught my 5th graders, they were almost middle-schoolers. and then they become someone else entirely. ENTIRELY! (rereading this paragraph makes it painfully obvious i have unresolved middle school issues. sorry. carry on.)

6. a church in town had the camels come this week. i drove by them without the girls and screamed "AUGH! CAMELS! I LOVE THEM!!" out loud in my car with a giant grin on my face. then looked over and someone was watching in the car next to me- i felt like a ginormo dork. but those camels were cute.

7. have you seen these grownup "elf on the shelf" scenarios? hilarious. our elf, Lucy, doesn't do anything fun. just hides. these elves are peeping toms, or kidney thieves or makes grilled cheese sandwiches. I love it. people are so clever.

8. needing to leave the library and the super fast wifi. roast for dinner. yum. and then more sewing and drilling and spray painting.

9. having some willpower issues. this about describes it.













dessert picture

p.s. Chickie news: Mia can hold her own bottle- finally! And Henley has graduated from saying "Deedoo" for Dora to Dora Bora (Dora the Explorer). Major news.

Christmas pockets

Advent Calendar (or what we're calling the "Christmas pockets")

In keeping with tradition, I had to have an advent calendar. My mom had one. Hers was from the Current catalog, and she probably might have picked something a little more substantial if she realized how long she would be doing it. It was a chimney and the bricks were made of 24 little paper boxes. Every day, a box was opened and something fun was inside. Christmas socks, candy, a note that hinted to a fun adventure later that day. Since there were 4 kids, we each opened our own box every 4 days. And maybe, just maybe, there were some occasions when Mason and I slid out the boxes to snoop at our upcoming surprise. Mom was sneakier. She didn't do anything the until the night before. (Of course now I see that she just probably had one day at a time figured out- just like me.) We looooved our "boxes" and Mom even continued the boxes while I was in college- either mailing me little gifts or waiting until I came home from break and having a bunch of days for me all in a row. Eventually, we all got older and moved out (and in some cases, moved back) and the boxes got put away. Those little things were squashed and torn and had been loved for years!

I knew I had to have an advent calendar. And there were some precious ones out there!! Pottery Barn had an adorable one a few years back. I was going to make one out of little boxes and magnetize them and have a cookie sheet... Big plans. But with have two littles under 2 and didn't have the motivation/time/energy. Thanks to Pinterest, I was already defeated before beginning- too much inspiration!! :)


During Thanksgiving, my sister, Molly, insisted we make one. We went to Micheal's, picked out the fabric and stayed up late making it a couple of nights. Turned out pretty cute!

Basic steps- sorry, no great tutorial. Uploading pics is taking FOREVER!!! You need to know that we love to craft but our sewing skills, measurement skills- heck, most everything needs work. Our mantra was "That's fine." So- for all you Anal Annies, or Perfectionist Paulas- you might want to skip my directions. (Eww- Anal Annies sounds so gross.)

1. Buy a variety of fabrics. You'll need about a yard for the background and 6-8 different fabrics. The least Micheals will let you cut is 1/8 of a yard, which is enough for 3 or 4 pockets. Our fabric total was about 10 bucks because most was on sale. Most of the patterned fabrics were 44 cents!! The denim background only cost 99 cents, which HAD to have been a mistake but there were 8 people in line for Blanca to cut their fabrics after me, including one VERY serious quilter, and I didn't want to make anyone mad.



2. Iron your fabrics and make the little pockets. I used a piece of cardboard to make sure they were all the same size. We ironed inside out and then folded the top flaps down. The just used the sewing machine to hem the front and back and then zipped right up the sides. Very simple pockets.






3. Lay out all the pockets in the order you want them.... This was kinda like one of those move-one-square-at-a-time puzzles until the picture is finished. Super frustrating to me, because I would get it all arranged and then step back and have a row of all polka dots.


















4. Pin the background to fit with some space around the pockets and hem it up.

5. We added ribbon to the tops of all the pockets. We used fabric glue right on top of the stitching in the front and wrapped it around the back, pinning it until it was dry.

6. The pockets were just tacked on in the top right and top left corners. We figured that was so they could hold something bigger without as much bulging. Plus, it was 11:30 and we wanted to go to Black Friday sales at Wal-mart. Big mistake. Crazyville.


5. I made little tags using my Silhouette machine. Cut out the numbers using the font Impervious onto glittery green vinyl. I cut the circle tags with the machine, too. I used a red stamp pad to make a ring around the tags and added the numbers to each one. (I used Press-N-Seal to transfer my vinyl- it worked great! ) Punch a hole, string it up with yarn. Tada!


















6. I just pinned the tags on the inside of the pockets with safety pins. For one, I'm not crazy about the tags and if I'm out to Micheal's or Hobby Lobby, I'm going to look for something I like more. Just couldn't make myself drive into SA just for tags.... I also added some ribbon at the top, but don't love it, either.... A work in progress.


















Basically, I had to get it up and finished because we start it tomorrow. I have already learned I need to have it up higher. Pocket 23 is full of raisins and #19 is holding Barbie's shoes. I like that I can add more to it later- thinking ric-rac and jingle bells.

Love it for now. And especially love that it's finished.

lunch ladies

I love when people ask, "Are you enjoying staying home?"

Is the sky blue? Are poopy diapers stinky? Do I love bean and cheese tacos?

OF COURSE!!!

Loving NOT waking up at 5:30.
Not missing getting to talk to babies in the mornings.
Not having to write those $300 a week checks to daycare.
Not coordinating who was going to drop off the kids when David was out of town.
Not feeling like an hourglass was draining away each evening from 5:00-8:00 bedtime.
Not ever staying up past 10 on a "school night".

We are having a lot of home staying home. Mostly wearing only diapers. (Them, not me.) Playing outside, watching some Dora, or taking a good nap. Laughing. Making tunnels. Throwing around balloons. Sandbox fun.





















This is my favorite time of the day, though. We crank up music. Dance around in the kitchen while I make lunch. And two little girls gobble up everything I put on their plates. We laugh and chow down. Together. I love, love, LOVE it.


On this particular day, lunch was chicken taquitos, cheese dip, peas and carrots, jello and grapes. And a little Billie Jean was playing in the background.

the day you were born, Mia Ruth

Even though it seems like it was just yesterday that you were born, my Mia, I need to write the details down for you.

For you have been such a surprise to me. A surprise that I was pregnant again, so soon after having Henley. A surprise that your delivery was so easy and quick. A surprise that you were so particular, when Henley was so easy. A surprise that you turned out to be such a happy little baby after months of tears.

I was in San Francisco with Mamie (my mom), Molly and Henley on a big huge, "trip of a lifetime" in the summer of 2010. We had gone to Seattle for Jessica's wedding and drove down the coast stopping at all the touristy stops until San Fran. We spent a week there, having a ball. We ate delicious food, especially the pot roast. And we even went back for it the next night. But in our hotel room, I threw up. Hmm, thought I. This is a funny, somewhat familiar feeling, as I sat down with nasuea in the shower. But I brushed it away. No way. At the airport, I smelled a man smoking a cigarette a long way off. The others hadn't noticed. My mom said, "Bonnie. Are you? Could you be?" No way.

We came home from our wonderful trip and I went to the grocery store. Of course I bought some tests, but felt like a crazy lady buying them with my 7 month old in the basket. And I waited until 4:30 in the morning to take one. And almost fell off the toilet. See, you were a surprise!
I didn't know how to tell your daddy, so I made a slide show of our trip pictures and tossed one in of the positive pregnancy test. I prefaced the slideshow with "I hope you don't decide to divorce me because of one of the pictures." And he said he thought that's what I was up to, with the whole slideshow scam. We were somewhat shell-shocked.

I was sick exactly like I was with Henley. Nothing could go down after about 4:30. I threw up everything. And David was sure you were a girl, since the sickness was the same. We'll see, I said.
I hadn't even gone to my new doctor for a regular visit. I was a bit nervous, during the ultrasound. "Yep! Congrats!" Dr. Gallagher said. I asked if my body was ready for this, so soon. "You'll be fine. You'll be great." she said.

I had to tell a bunch of people, my principal (her reaction: "YAY! I'm so happy for you!! It will all be fine."), my teaching partner (YAY! Excited!), our friends (What?!! Again, already?!). Everyone was surprised. But happy.

I trucked right on through the school year. Your due date was right around Valentine's Day- The 18th. I would have a little Christmas girl and a Valentine baby. Aww.

We went to find out if you were a girl or boy in September. We both were nervous. We even had Henley with us. The technician was so nice and even had kids 11 months apart. (Turns out LOTS of people have close, close babies. So we're all crazy. Or normal. Which is basically the same.) It's a..... GIRL! And we were excited. We knew how to do that. We had all the clothes. And bedding. And girl toys. And a name, Mia Ruth. Mia because David called his grandmother that and I had always wanted to name a little girl Mia. And Ruth because it was my mom's middle name.

I took my glucose test in November and got bad news. Gestational diabetes. Ugh. I was convinced the tests were wrong but sure enough, there were those high sugar levels. I had to attend a diabetes class and change my diet for you, little one. The week of Thanksgiving, no less. I found things that I was able to eat without affecting my levels (spaghetti with meatballs, yummy yum yum) and major no-no's (tortillas , cereal and pizza). No big glasses of milk. I ate sugar free turtles. Ate sugar free popsicles. Changed things up.

And went to the doctor. I went from school to the doctor, once and sometimes, twice a week. I was hooked to fetal monitors and turned in my kick count sheet (which I totally fudged each week, sorry, Dr. Higby) and was weighed ALL the time. The great thing was seeing you move and develop on all the millions of ultrasounds we got to have. You were a mover and a shaker. Sometimes you would move so much they get me to do the fetal monitor and then come back for the ultrasound- you would scoot right out of the way each time they tried to capture your pictures.

I was feeling pretty good all throughout the pregnancy. You didn't look that big in my tummy. The only thing that was killing me was my back! I think backs hurt a lot just being pregnant from carrying around 25 extra pounds. And then, squeezing a 20 pound kid on your hip doesn't help matters. Or trying to crawl around on the floor. Getting up is much.... slower.

As time got closer, you were measuring just great, my blood tests were great and Dr. Higby decided to bump you a week earlier. Just to be sure. We got to pick the date. Everyone wanted you to be a Valentine's Day baby. But we didn't want you to have to share your birthday with your class party every year and not get a day to yourself. The tenth? That sounded good. Deliver on Thursday and be home by the weekend. Perfect plan. Molly was home and Henley would be hanging out with Mamie and Pop while we were in the hospital.

The few days before you were born, a HUGE cold front swept across Texas. It was cold, cold, cold. I loved it because I was always hot anyways, but it put a damper on my wardrobe. I was having to wear Daddy's camo jacket because nothing warm enough zipped around my belly. On the Tuesday before, I decided that would be my last day at school. I hugged everyone and decided to have one relaxing day before being induced. Mamie, Molly and I ran errands at the mall. My diabetes doctor said I didn't have to come into my scheduled appointment and didn't care about my blood reading so we SPLURGED on a huge and delicious lunch at Bravo. I couldn't really wrap my brain around the fact that just hours later, I would be having you!
That night, I hugged Henley tight- we were going to leave around 4:30. I was supposed to be induced at 6:00 am so we wanted to be there at 5:00. The drive down was quiet and the highways were deserted. Plus- it was only 16 degrees! A chilly start for a little one!

Well, we got there and checked into a FULL waiting room. They told us that it was really crowded, many ladies had shown up in the night and were having babies and there were no open rooms. So we waited and waited. A few of the girls waiting were being sent home. They had been scheduled for today but their doctors wanted them to wait until the next day.I was so scared we were going to be sent home. I was READY to get the nervousness over and meet my sweet baby! Fortunately, they called Dr. Gallagher and she said- Nope, has to be today. Whew. So the nurse said to go walk around and we'll call you when we get a room for you. We waited, David got some breakfast while I watched and drooled- no food or water for me. Finally around 11, we got called and we went on up.

Our wonderful nurse got me all hooked up. I wasn't as nervous this go round. I mean, I was. But I knew what to expect. Dr. Gallagher came and broke my water and the show was on! She put me on the pitocin drip around 1:00 and the contractions started up QUICK. I wasn't prepared for how painful they would be, so fast. Larry and Betty were there and I couldn't even talk hardly. I got my epidural and man, that was pure heaven- again. Well, we had called Mamie and Pop and Molly and they were bringing Henley and were running a little behind. Around 4:00, I had to get David to go get the doctor- I thought you were just going to drop out onto the floor- you were that ready to come out. She walked in the door, and within 2 pushes, you came right out. THAT FAST. I looked at David and he was like, NICE WORK! :) Seriously, I was so relieved at the ease of the labor.

Everyone came on in to stare at the beautiful BIG brownhaired beauty. You weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces! No one was expecting such a little chunk. Thank goodness we didn't wait another week!! You were also long- 22 inches! Off the charts for a little lady. You were perfect- big eyes, soft, soft skin and looong feet. Your footprints didn't fit in the space on the page !

You had pretty low blood sugar, which they had expected. Probably because I hadn't eaten anything for a while- you were a hungry one. They had to monitor that closely for a few hours but otherwise, you were healthy and happy.

Henley came but couldn't see you that first night. She was proudly wearing her Big Sister shirt. She wasn't very big, but was so excited to see the "bebe". After all the celebratory drama, everyone went home and we moved into our room for the next 2 nights. We spent those days snoozing, nursing, and cuddling. You were so pretty. I remember David saying "You're so in love with her already." I was. You also loved it when Daddy would carry you around. I wasn't up and about too much and he was good at bouncing you and putting you to sleep.

We were definitely ready to head home. We couldn't wait for Henley to meet you and to sleep in our own beds. We picked up a Chick-Fil-A nugget tray (what else did you expect?) and some dunkin' donuts. We were set for meals for a while! :)

Henley loooved the new bebe in the house. She would wake up every time looking all over for the little one and peek over. "So cute", she would say.

You were a bad spitter upper. We would nurse and I would tip you up and it was like you never swallowed it down- it would just all dump everywhere. Frustrating. And you were hungry, every 3 hours, never missing a beat. After 2 weeks of a 14 month old, and brand new baby and no sleep, I needed some help! We switched to formula. And I felt guilty for a teeny bit- but after some sleep and Daddy helping with nighttime feedings, I was glad for the change. You still were terrible at remembering to swallow the bottle down and we used more burp rags than you could believe for about 3 months. You were also quite a bit more particular than Henley. You didn't sleep for long but wanted to sleep often. You didn't like the pacifier. You needed white noise or you wouldn't sleep. But you LOVED that sister of yours. She would come sit in my lap with you and you would be so happy. I thought my heart would burst sometimes, having my two little loves in my lap. But then Henley would wiggle too much and the bottle would fall on the floor and you would start screaming and poof- back to reality, mom.

Mia, you were not expected. A surprise from the start. But what a beautiful surprise to happen to our family. We love you, little one. You will probably surprise us all your life. And I will love every second of that.

chickie pics

Just wanted to put up a couple cute iphone pics....
One is what I love about Henley- totally girly, wanting to wear a tutu and a teeny blonde (??? where in the world did that girl get blonde hair??) ponytail digging in the dirt and putting rocks and sticks in her pocket. And by pocket, I mean the gap at the top of her diaper.

My chubby Mia- goodness, I always wanted a chubby baby and she is one. Her little thighs are my fave. She's actually over 100% in height so she's not little. She's such a sweet one- rolling around on the bed and singing.

Me and the Meems. I wish she would cuddle up and sleep with me like this but she is a roller when she's sleepy, just like Hen. And that is NOT fun to be in the bed with.

And my faves are these of two girls having fun together. I love that Henley likes to make Mia laugh and wakes up asking "Mia, up?" And Mia ADORES Henley, like even more than she likes her mother. She watches her every move. I love that they'll always have each other to play with, and share clothes with... and fight with. ;)



He=

chickie update

Lately, I can just sit and watch Mia in amazement. All of a sudden, she's cruising around the room- crawling like an expert. She gets wherever she wants so fast and is getting into everything Henley leaves laying around. Goldfish, sippy cups, toys. I have to watch her super close!

She wakes up every morning so early (now that I get to sleep late- I do!!!- we don't roll out of bed until 7:30 or 8) and just plays around in her bed, laughing and talking it up. Not sure where she got her "early bird" tendencies but I love looking over to her crib from my pillow and seeing this sweet baby peeking over the edge with a huge grin first thing in the morning.

In the last week, she went from one tooth to two, from scooting around but not quite crawling to a full out crawl, and is able to push into a sitting position and is so strong and sturdy. She takes baths without her Bumbo and is just otherwise, growing up waaaay too fast!! I love that little sunshine girl. So happy and curious.

And Henley is doing wonderful too- such a sweet girl. Last night, she and I ate some M&Ms for a snack before bed. David asked her for one and she gave him one after another until she only had one left for herself. She then gave him that one too, and our hearts just melted with the sweet sharing. (By the way, he gave them all back and she gobbled them up so fast, probably so her parents wouldn't do any more experiments on her with her candy!!)

She is just totally into Dora and Kailan right now- she thinks Kailan's "cute little monkey, HoHo" is just the most adorable. She crinkles up her eyes when you ask her about him. And as we drive around town, she sings the ABC song, Jingle Bells and the Down, Down song. She'll look at Mia and say "Silly Mia" or "Mia nap" or "Mia awake" which is helpful since I can't see her.



She loves having something to look forward to so every night, I'll tell her something we'll do the next day. And wouldn't you know, I'll walk in, and "feed ducks?" or "PawPaw's ranch" or "blue slide". What a smart girl she is.

I am just blessed beyond words to be getting to stay home with them this year. We take it so easy, enjoying waffles for breakfast and playing at the playground in the middle of the morning and going to the library for a big outing. It's wonderful and I love watching them grow up.