The moments to not forget

I realize I haven't done a great job keeping up on here. There are so many moments that happen every day that I want to remember....but have already forgotten most of them. This one I want to remember, for it brought much laughter from myself and daddy....

We occasionally eat dinner "picnic" style in the living room. Tonight is spaghetti. I lay a hand towel down to set Amelia's plate on. I walk in the kitchen to get her dinner and here she comes following me, carrying the towel. She thinks she needs a bigger towel (or so she says). So I put down all the plates I had just balanced in my hands and change out her towel. I walk back into the kitchen, rebalance the dishes, approach the living room to see Amelia holding the towel again. This time, I tell her that she is pushing mommy's buttons and to leave the towel alone. Success (or so I think) and dinner begins. As we are chowing down, Amelia continually keeps picking up the edges of the towel...even knocking over my cup once. Exasperated, I ask why she does it again and again. She looks at me so innocently, and says in this very sweet voice "I looking for mommy's buttons".

I can only laugh.

Thank you Lord for the innocence of a child....and for putting a mommy in her place :)

A Not-So-Sweet Kiss

Who wants to compare days?????
After having a slightly rough start to my morning, I purposely decided (oh yes I did) to have a nonproductive day. I retired my super mommy crown for the day and have done nothing but play with my girls and watch tv. For all you mommies out there, you know how rare a day like today can be!

My favorite time of day finally approached....nap time! As luck would have it, the girls are on opposite schedules today (which goes perfectly with the rest of  my day). So while Amelia has thoughts of sugarplums dancing in her head, Abi is wide-eyed and bushy tailed. So there I was, sitting in the floor watching a girly show, while Abi explored the living room. She approached me and used my leg to pull up into a standing position (my little baby is not so little anymore). Without a second thought (or a second look), I lovingly reached down, wrapped my arm around her bottom and kissed her forehead. Mmmm....why was that kiss a little mushy and why is my arm warm???

Oh yes, if you haven't guessed it by now my darling daughter....my sweet baby girl.....had a huge mess of not-so-sweet stuff oozing out of her diaper and, in a way I cannot explain, it had worked its way to her forehead. Definitely a Not-So-Sweet Kiss for mommy!!!!!

For those concerned for my health (and her safety), both mommy and baby are super scrubbed and clean! Now who has a story to match that???????

Thank you Lord for my babies and all their kisses....preferably sweet ones though, not mushy

A healthy, bad habit

Upon baby dedication at the church, each child receives a small white bible. Ty and I filed both of the girls bibles away to give to them when they are older. Yesterday, I dropped Ty off at the door of walmart and sat waiting for him along the side of the building. Outside of Amelia's window were the coke machines and a table that I'm assuming is for the workers smoke breaks. All of a sudden, Amelia, with hands on her face, starts crying hysterically and mumbling "baby talk". I get her to calm down long enough to catch "B" and "bible". I'm very confused until she points out her window towards that table. Sitting on top, all by itself, was a pack of Marlboro cigarettes. Amelia thought that small white box was Abigail's small white bible from dedication. I was able to mask my giggles to explain that Abi's bible was at home. Upon hearing that, she finally removed her hands from her face and simply asked "Mama, sing?"

My daughter is going to grow up thinking that everyone standing outside with a small white box is reading their bible!

Thank you Lord for the innocence of a child!!!

Vacations & more Vacations

Kansas City, Fort Worth, swim parties...OH MY!! Summer has officially been kicked off.

Our first stop....Kansas City. What a fun place! It being our first vacation with just the 4 of us, we took it easy...just taking in some close-by sights. Ty's must-see was the Ranger vs Royal game. We had only an hour after arriving to eat something and make it to the ballgame. It was Amelia's first game of the year but Abi's first game ever.

**Note the jackets...it was COLD (and yes, mama forgot hers)!

My must-see was the local Farmers Market Saturday morning. So much to see and take in. If I lived there, that is a place I would be hitting weekly for fresh produce and goodies.

Of course Amelia had a must-see as well....and as many of you could guess, it was the zoo. Though a zoo is a zoo...the KC zoo had one animal in particular that we thought was pretty cool....

All in all, I would definitely recommend Kansas City to my friends as a cool "close-by" vacation. One thing we learned about Abigail on this trip....the car allows her to fill (and overfill) her diaper :(

Stop #2....Weatherford/Fort Worth Texas.

Yay! We love getting to see aunt Katie and uncle Josh. This was a "fast-get-everything-in" trip. Our favorite part, of course, was just visiting with them. We also got to see...wait for it...another zoo!!! lol. This one was pretty cool! We went swimming, saw cousins, and finished the trip off with stopping by lake Waurika on the way home to visit Grandpa's family (who we wish we got to see more of). A fun, busy weekend....

This is just the beginning of our summer vacations. We still have lake trips, water park trips, not to mention all the play dates!!! We love summer!!!

Thank you Lord for hot summer days.

1820 Days

The beginning.....
A first year teacher, feeling the tug on her heart, surrendered her summer days to touch lives at a church camp.
A guy fresh out of college feels called to return to the church camp he previously served at.

The meeting.....
During introductions the first night of work week, the girl thought the guy was one of those sports-crazed fan (she later learned that she was right). The guy thought the girl had to only be 15 years old.

Work week.....
The girl was assigned many different tasks, all of which was supervised by the guy. Not a coincidence.

That summer....
Working side by side for weeks, the guy gets the nerve to ask the girl to the blob tower to watch the evenings firework show. Minutes turned into hours as they talked about life. This late-night-date resulted in numerous night chats that always led into the early morning hours.

The question....
After a year and a half of dating, the guy asks the girl to meet him at his house so that they can go on a double date with his friends. Girl shows up late (not uncommon). She walks into the living area and finds herself surrounded by roses and candles. Music plays from down the hall. She follows "their song" into the master bedroom, which is now empty of everything except roses, candles, poster-size pictures of the two on the walls, and one big, red, satin heart in the middle of the floor. On that heart lies a heart box. She opens the box to find another box. On and on it goes until she is left with the final small box. Inside....a watch. She looks up confused. The boy, who had been watching from across the room, steps into the heart, asks her to stop the watch (to freeze that moment forever), then continues to pour out his heart, followed by the big question.
The watch is now framed and sits on the mantle.

1,820 days ago.....5 years to be exact.....this girl married the small town boy that stole her heart.

Thank you Lord for leading our paths together and creating this perfect match.

Sunshine and bubbles

So thankful that the sunshine has decided to reappear with its warm glory. I'm also EXTRA thankful for the Easter bunny bringing Amelia a new bubble machine! My precious toddler has a slight obsession with bubbles, which results with numb lip syndrome for mommy and daddy.
I snapped a few pictures of Amelia enjoying this passion of hers. Can you just feel the joy radiating off her face?

She quickly learned what would happen if she stuck her head in the top of the bubble machine....

Even Titan joined the fun.

And let's not forget about little sis. She got a kick out of watching the bubbles blowing in the wind.

Until she finally passed out...

eggs, flowers, and personalities....oh my!

We had a lot of fun at Easter this year. Amelia understood the concept of egg hunting....and she didn't pass one up. Our first stop was grandma and grandpa's house. It was a nice day so the Easter bunny left a number of eggs out in the front yard. Amelia enjoyed the hunt....until she got dirt in her shoes. The dirt took the joy of running to each one away. She began slowly walking to each egg. When she had to cross dirt to reach one, she turned to aunt katie to get them. Poor aunt Katie!!! At home we run around barefoot and the dirt never phases us. Not sure who this girl belongs to at times.
Egg hunt number two was at our church. Since it had rained hours before, they had moved everything inside (thank goodness since I wasn't sure how she would handle wet grass). Hundreds of eggs were laying in the floor of the old sanctuary. Everyone circled around the room (ages 3 & under) and on "go" the hunt started. With so many kids and parents, you had to act fast. Amelia was able to gather up a handful and proudly showed them off. After the hunt it was time to move to the inflatable room. Sounds like fun, huh? Amelia thought otherwise. She cried and cried, clung to her daddy, and begged to leave. "Loud" she kept crying. She wouldn't even try to get inside the bounce. Again...not sure who this girl belongs to at times.
Our third and final egg hunt was actually on Easter day. After church service, we headed out to Grammy and Poppy's house. Of course it was a cold, rainy day....ALL DAY. We decided to eat and nap before hunting, hoping it would give time for the rains to pass. Nope. So the Easter bunny left the eggs on the front porch. The hunt itself took only a few minutes....Amelia moved really fast to beat Laney from getting them. Poor Laney. :)
Overall the girls had fun. It was a good Easter weekend. The following weekend was my brothers wedding. It was at a gorgeous golf club in the city. The days leading up to the wedding were very warm and dry. The wedding day.....cold and rainy (with a little hail). So the outside wedding was moved inside. It still worked out very well. Amelia and Laney were the flower girls. During rehearsal they did great walking down the aisle with their baskets. The wedding day, of course, was a little different. Amelia was in an "amelia mood" all day. She didn't want anyone to look at her or talk to her. Finally, with just a few minutes before showtime, bubbles saved the day. We sat in the hall and blew until it was time to enter the room. At first both girls saw me on my knees at the end of the aisle and both headed my way. Once they reached half way, Laney decided that the petals on the ground should be picked up. Amelia waited a couple seconds and then gave up and headed my way. Laney, on the other hand, could care less about everyone watching her or me waving at her to come on. So I ran down the aisle and carried her the rest of the way, while the onlookers chuckled. It was a "cute" flowergirl moment. The reception for Amelia was too much. She cried when the music played and when mommy and daddy danced. Thank goodness that grandma and grandpa were there to save the day. They took both Amelia and Abi across the hall to play and blow bubbles. ! I wish Amelia would have relaxed and enjoyed it, but once again.....I'm not sure who this girl belongs to at times. The wedding was beautiful and the flowergirls were cute and perfect.

Thank you God for the resurrection, weddings, and personalities.

Mother Hen

Oh, my little mother hen! And this has not just started. It began from day one when we brought Abigail home. It started small....giving her the binkie or calling for me EVERYTIME Abi cried (as if I wasn't right there hearing it). Slowly, Amelia has grown from being a "helper" to being a "mother hen". The first bold move took place when Abi was just a few weeks old. Yes, she was still a newborn. With Abi in the swing and Amelia watching me, I opened the garage to start the car and get it warm. As I reached in and put the key in the ignition, my eyes glanced through the windshield to the open door of the utility room. There was Amelia....with Abi in her arms!!!! My heart about fell out of my chest. As fast as I could move, I ran over and gently took her into my more secure arms. I didn't want to yell in that moment (I could just see Amelia dropping her) so I found myself thanking her for being mommy's helper....then explained that only mommy should pick her up. Still to this day, I have no idea how Amelia was able to get Abi out of the swing (and so quickly). Lesson learned.
As Abigail gets bigger, so does my "hen". She is constantly giving her toys (none of which Abi cares for yet), still shoves the binkie in, and is always at her side. Today, Amelia was sitting on the couch watching cartoons. I layed Abi down on a blanket with a few toys. Both were absolutely content so I went in the kitchen to work on my grocery list. After just a couple minutes, here comes my hen announcing that Abi pooped. Big surprise. :) I said I'd be right there and off she ran...I assumed to finish her show. I finished writing my list (which took an entire 5 minutes) and made my way to the living room, prepared for a blowout. There was my precious 3 month old right where I left her....but completely naked!!! Thank the Lord above that there was no poop afterall!!! My hen decided that she needed a diaper change. So off went the clothes and diaper. By observation, it looked like she attempted to put a clean diaper on but then got distracted. No big deal, right? Except for the fact that Abi went potty everywhere!!!! No worries though....I cleaned everything up, threw it all in the washer, and once again, thanked Amelia for helping....then explained that only mommy should change Abi's diaper.

Awww.....my mother hen. Abigail has no chance.

Thank you Lord for Abigail's sister that loves her so much.

Spring is here!!!

It's one of my favorite times of the year....the time when the windows are open, music is playing, and we are running around with barefeet. I treasure this time since it seems the blazing sun heats up faster and faster every year.
Today we spent the morning at the park with a group of friends from church. Amelia is ever-so-slightly obsessed with the slide. Up the steps we go, down-down-down, then repeat the cycle about one hundred times. Not only is she slide obsessed, but she thinks all her friends should be too. If she isn't tugging at them, she is in their face telling them to go down the slide. It's so cute watching her get excited when she knows we are going to the playground.
Almost as exciting as the park, is our new thrill of walking around the house naked. Not necessarily completely naked, but with our bottom exposed. Lucky for me, we have mastered the potty training. Not so lucky for me....Abigail has not. Yesterday morning, after heating up my breakfast, I enter the living room only to find Abi sitting in a puddle of poo. Oh, did I mention she was propped up on the couch??? After a long process of stripping and bathing her, I managed to strip the couch and throw those cushions in the wash. So thankful they are machine washable!!! I think at 3 1/2 mths old, we are moving up to size 1 diapers!
Abigail has become quite the talker. She has the sweetest little voice and she wants the world to hear. She is still the most calm, easy-going baby. She loves Amelia and loves watching her play. Don't worry though....Amelia is equally in love with Abi and is constantly giving her kisses. My personal favorite is watching Amelia attempt to play patty-cake with 'B'. Even though is sometimes is rough, 'B' thinks her big sister is hilarious. Her laugh is contagious. :)

Thank you God for slides and patty-cake

Gas

Have you ever seen a pic on the internet and thought, 'mmm...what kind of person would do that'? Well now I know from personal experience....it's a person that is on lack of sleep and taking cough medicine.
Yesterday, even though I still wasn't feeling good, I was determined to do something to get out of the house. After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, I stopped to fill up the tank before returning home. After a couple efforts, I realize that pump 9 wasn't reading cards so I ran in to pay. The very kind worker said the pump was jammed and told me to hurry and move to pump 8 before someone else pulled in. Well, I trotted my little hiney to my car as fast as I could without looking foolish....because heaven forbid I look foolish! I jump in, put my car in drive, and make it only a few feet before hearing a loud thud. I drove off with the pump hose still in my car!!!!! It completely dettached from the pump and was dangling down the side of my car. I jumped out, took one look, and couldn't stop laughing! The lady at the pump next door also started laughing. The worker had to come out and place an "out of order" bag and sign on the pump. After apologizing over and over, I get back in my car and pull up to pump 8, where I get my gas. And yes....I managed to get there before anyone else pulled in....I just failed when it came to not looking foolish :)

Thank you God for a car to put gas in.

Where art thou February???

Seriously....I know exhaustion knocks on the door of my life a lot lately, but did I miss February? I must have blinked or something. I canNOT believe that next week will welcome March. Don't get me wrong...I am very ready for the warm spring weather. These past couple weeks with the weather bouncing up to the 70's then back down to 40's has been a complete tease. I am ready to pack away the big winter coat and replace it with a light jacket!
The girls are growing so much and so quickly. Amelia is 2.5 going on 10. We had quite an experience the other night. While enjoying her snack of Kix cereal, she discovered the comedy of sticking one up her nose. The first time was funny so, yes, she had to do it again. The second time was not so comical. As she laughed, she inhaled and UP the kix went. In panic, she kept trying to "sniff" it away....which resulted with it going further and further up her nose. I was laughing so hard that Ty had to help me hold her down so I could preform emergency tweezer surgery. As soon as it was out, she returned to her happy-go-lucky self. Yes, I was the mom that, instead of getting worried, I almost couldn't get it out because I was laughing so hard. :)
Abigail is a WONDERFUL baby. She is so calm and happy. Where does her joy in life come from???? Pooping!!! I cannot count how many times we have had blowouts. From interrupting Papa's funeral with loud "music" for all to hear, to filling her bouncy chair with a full mess....we are always pooping! The other day we met my parents at a local restaurant for dinner. Ty took Amelia in and I stayed out in the car to feed Abi. Not but 5 minutes into her eating, she started "making music". Before I can even think about changing her, my lap starts getting awfully warm. I lift her up and I am covered in poop! To make matters worse, I had sent the diaper bag in with Ty because I didn't think I would  need it. So I picked up my phone with my only free hand and called him. No answer. I called my mom, dad, and sister....no answer. They couldn't hear their phones. FINALLY my dad answers and I simply yell "SEND TY OUT HERE NOW WITH THE BAG". Together we mananged to strip Abi, clean her up, and dress her in clean clothes. However, I had no such luck. After attempting to clean my own clothes with wipes, I finally gave up and went inside to eat with a HUGE poop stain on my light gray pants. Oh the joys of motherhood!!!
I'm looking forward to all the "stories" I will have once the weather is warm and we can go outside more. Who knows what Amelia will come up with for entertainment....with Abi watching close by :)

Thank you God for poop and tweezers

Roles

Lately I have been thinking about all the roles in life that we, at some point, wear. Every major role in my life allows me to wear smaller roles...some of which are enjoyable and others that are, well, not so enjoyable.

There is the "child" role. This is a role, that, no matter how hard we may try at times or how far we run, we will never lose. Our parents will always "parent" us, give advice, and call us multiple times a day. I have learned that the older I get, the more important this role is. Perhaps its not the importance, rather, its the respect I have for it.

Another role would be the "spouse" role. This is a role that I have proudly worn for 5 years now. He is my absolute best friend. This role enables me to wear a handful of roles within it. I am a comforter, listener, encourager, cook, partner, and cleaner....and lets not forget laundry machine. :)

My newest role in life would be "mommy". I'm sure all the moms out there would agree that no matter what I say, words cannot express the joy that comes with this role. Sure there are frustrating moments. Moments in which sanity is thrown out the window. Its during those moments, when I'm covered in spit up & poop and surrounded by crying babies, that I sit back and just have to laugh (or cry).

I have to wonder...is there a "true" role...one that entirely defines who I am? I think each role has had a very important part of my life. They have made me who I am. One has opened the door for yet another role to enter my life. I find myself sometimes wondering where one specific role might have gone. What happened to that girl I was during that time? Well I have decided that, though I move forward, each role is still there...just buried perhaps. So instead of missing parts of "that girl", I just have to look for her and bring her out from time to time. I have to wash off the spit-up, change out of my mama sweats, and find a way to mix the roles I am missing with my current roles...until the next role of my life knocks on my door :)

Thank you God for allowing us to wear and experience different roles in life :)

Uterus on the street

The rule is to take it easy until 6 weeks after giving birth. My feelings on that....apparently the rule-makers do not have a toddler at home. Seriously, they expect me to not lift Amelia, not play outside with her, and to just relax for an entire 6 weeks??? As blissful as that sounds to many women, I am not one of them. At 3 weeks, I started running again. Maternity clothes fill my closet and haunt my dreams. I don't remember the time it took to get "back to normal" with Amelia. However, I am determined to make it sooner than later with this pregnancy. So....day one of running concluded with me struggling to catch my breath and crawling back to the house. I probably shouldn't confess that I barely made it a block from the house before feeling like death. Day 2 was a little better. I was sore after that run. Not a day or two later I received an interesting facebook message from a good, concerned friend. Her friend was advised by her doctor not to start running prior to 6 weeks because it could result in her uterus falling out!!!! What!!! Though I greatly appreciated the heads-up, I had to do some investigating on my own. Seriously...could you imagine enjoying the day, jogging down the street when, oops...there falls out the good ol' uterus. The image is hilarious!!! Long story short---found out that even though it is false, other damaging things could happen as a running result. So goodbye running for another couple weeks and hello fitness videos in my living room. :)

Thank you God for legs to run and friends who care

Farewell holidays...

Well, its official....the holidays are over. Has anyone else noticed that they older we get, the faster they go? I look forward to the lights, sales, and music; yet, it seems as soon as I start enjoying them, they are over. As I gaze around my living room, I can't help but think it looked so much nicer with all my Christmas decorations up.
The holidays this year were extra special with the addition of Abigail. Though she slept through the meals and gift-giving, it was still her "first Christmas". It was also the first Christmas that Amelia knew and understood what was going on. It was so fun watching her open her gifts. Santa brought her a kitchen with a table and chairs. She was tickled when she saw it. Once it was revealed, she didn't care about anything else. Now whenever guests come over, she immediatly takes their hand and pulls them to her room. She wants everyone to play kitchen with her.
Having a newborn in the house is again, is like a new experience all over. I have changed a lot of diapers in my life....HOWEVER, I have never been pooped on as much as I have been in the past 3 weeks. I keep telling Abi that she was born with no manners. I think she is slightly confused....the poop is supposed to be released when the diaper is ON.....not when I begin changing her. :)
I also have forgotten what it was like to breastfeed. Between nursing her every 3 hours and pumping, I feel like I should be walking around moo'ing. Despite the cow-like feelings, I do love the special bond that is formed. I love being depended on. Amelia has handled it well too. Although I did catch her the other day trying to get Abi to nurse on her (she was holding her with no shirt on). Luckily she couldn't figure out how to get Abigail to reach her chest. I have to admit, I laughed pretty hard at the sight of her trying. :)

Now that the holidays are over and things have calmed down, I will get back to my blogging. I'm sure there will be many things to laugh with me...or at me...about. :)

Thank you God for a daughter who loves her little sister...poop and all.