Giver

I've noticed Charlie giving us things lately. Giving me a cookie from her little snack trap bowl. Giving Ty his drink when she finds it. Giving Joy a toy when I haven't even asked her to. Yes there are times when I HAVE asked her to and man is that nice. She gives Sean a glance that she never gives me. It's the classic Daddy glance. The "Don't you think I'm cute?" glance. You know the one.

She gives Max things. Usually food from her plate, which she knows not to do. She gives Ty the toy she's playing with if he wants it. She gives Joy food too. Remember when I (thankfully,) pulled four cashews out of Joy's mouth? Joy has already learned to be quiet when she's doing something she's not supposed to and now that I'm on to her I've retreived whole grapes, (I'm terrified of grapes around babies-you should see how small I cut them. It's one of my unnecessary obsessions), Bobby pins, pretzel sticks, and the remote off her high chair tray: all put there by Charlie.

She's a giver.

Giving me grief when I try to leave to run errands while Sean is home. Giving Ty his drum sticks even when he isn't allowed to play his drums. Giving her Daddy half-eaten apples that she gets tired of, (almost every day she begs for the whole apple to carry it around, then gets tired of it.) Giving pats on the back when I pick her up and hug her. Giving squeals at the pet store every time EVERY TIME the bird looks her direction. Giving Elmo his own blanket in her bed so he won't get cold. Giving Joy her bottle when she gets fussy.

She's a giver. And I'm so glad God made her just the way she is.



This is how I found her after her nap. I'm not sure how that ties into anything but I couldn't NOT share it.

Let's go shopping

If I lived in a world where money was constantly flowing and I had at least one great nanny, I would make my way out of the house and buy all of these things. Then I'd buy you all the size you want too. Some for Joy, some for Charlie.

Mixed in with the little girl stuff is my most wanted skirt and then this last thing-a compact. How cute is that? It's a little bit Valentine a little bit practical and since it's from Forever 21 it costs $2.99. It might be the only thing on my shopping list I'll actually buy because we all need a little Valentine beauty inspiration don't we?

If you don't already read McMama's blog, go read her post about how taking her kids to Target makes her feel like supermom. It's as if she took the words right out of my mouth. Except she has FOUR already and is expecting another baby. Super Super Mom is more like it.

A bit of a circus intermission

How long has it been since I wrote anything besides captions for my terrible pictures?

Don't answer that.

It's been a long time. I'm not sure why. Maybe I'm not giving myself enough time to think? Maybe there hasn't been much to write? There's never a shortage of crazy circumstances at my disposal but maybe since it feels a little bit normal I think you wouldn't care? Hmmm.

Maybe God is working and some of my ranting would truly be interrupting what He's telling me?

I think it's that one. Or probably a combination.

I have a few interesting facts to share with you today and then I'm off to bathe/clothe everybody, (with their Daddy's help-he's home yippeee,) including Joy who just started eating banana bread for breakfast, mac n cheese/ravioli for lunch, and little pieces of what we're eating for dinner along with her formula. What a milestone for us as a family when the smallest person eats big people food. It's been a long time coming. She eats lots of baby food too but seems much more excited when she can pick up her food and feed herself. If you've been around here for any amount of time you remember that Charlie didn't feed herself until around 14 months. Which might explain my excitement over Joy's newest trick. I thought Charlie would never even like real food much less feed it to herself. And now she eats her grilled cheese just like her brother without batting an eye. Time marches on. They learn new things and before long they're all in Kindergarten.

Well time hasn't gone that fast. For the first time in about three and a half years, I'm not counting down the days until they all go to school. I'm enjoying the days around here much more than I used to. Not feeling as overwhelmed and in awe of how much more energy one has when one is not growing a new baby. When Joy hits nine months in a few weeks, I will hit a milestone too.

Nine full months is the longest I've been married and not been pregnant.

Yesterday Ty learned how to set off the alarm on the house. It was pretty funny. And pretty loud so I'm guessing he won't do it again. I think it scared him to death that he was responsible for the blaring noise for those few minutes before we realized what had happened and turned it off.

One more thing-we're thinking about taking the big kids to the rodeo this year. Thoughts? Suggestions?

I'm all ears.

The weekend in pictures

Spur-of-the-moment trip to Nattie and Popeye's house





learning to drive





taking a walk





practicing his smile on command





popeye buckled her in. Hmmm. Ah yes and the new violin-a gift from Popeye that he has yet to put down. Even to sleep.





I did a double-take when I walked by the monitor tonight. I asked Sean to look and see what he thought Ty was doing.





But then we heard him. "Reading my Bible...I love the Lord. God this is Your day."

And I will now melt. I've totally succeeded at being a parent.

Until tomorrow when it all falls apart again. Like Emmy often says, "It's like the movie Groundhog Day." Every day we just start over and they have no recollection of the day before. In this case I hope she's wrong.

Nobody tell Ty

Nobody tell my brother I have these okay. Thanks. Love, Joy






Me too. Okay thanks guys.

He's got a big stick so we are trying to keep him happy with us.





See. He already hit mommy between the eyes with it and she didn't even do anything with his sunglasses. He's a little (a lot) crazy about his sunglasses. Daddy took him to pick them out so they are his favorite thing.

Okay we're done.

Love,
The little sisters

Playdate and that poor chicken

This morning Carley and Cody came over to play for our normal play date. Jennie and her boys didn't come today (we missed you Jennie, David and Joshua!) so we tried our best to put on a show for Cody. They had a good time and nobody needed to go to the hospital. Victory! Yesterday was a good reminder of how lucky/blessed we are that the kids haven't gotten hurt much and that is by the grace of God. Really. They have me for their mother. It's a miracle no one has broken a bone.

Cody and Joy played together which means they played and were in the same vicinity.
Oh look. A friend.

"Hi I'm Joy. You know that's my toy, right. Good. As long as we're clear."

I made a new recipe last night to celebrate the fact that Charlie was okay since I had technically already bought everything before the fall. Mom has made this a few times and I have eaten it at her house. It's from a cookbook called Mad Hungry. Martha featured the chef on her show I guess-is that right, Mom? Anyway, I included a link to the recipe. It's really tasty and made my house smell like La Madeleine.

We tore that poor chicken to shreds. I made a salad and green beans and that is all--the chicken was so good you don't need much else. I ate some of the chicken for a snack last night and it was even better after soaking in the fridge. Yum. The ingredients are easy to find and with the green beans, (which were free I forgot to mention that) the meal cost about $10.00. Sean's mom brought green beans on Sunday when we ate lunch to celebrate Joy's dedication so that explains where they came from. I didn't find them on the street or anything.

Not sure why I felt the need to clear that up. Sorry. Here's the link:

Mad Hungry Chicken

It was fantastic. And cheap. My favorite combination.

This is never good

UPDATE: She is doing well. They told us to let her nap and to check on her every 15 minutes to see if she would stir when we poked/prodded. This goes against all we've done for sleep for the kids so I think she was like, "What the heck are you doing mom and dad? Can't you see I'm trying to sleep in here??" What a joy it was to see her annoyed with us instead of laying too still and ignoring our attempts to wake her. Apparently the way she moved around and woke up (not fully,) was just what she was supposed to do. We felt much better once she woke from her nap at around a normal time and asked for candy.

Our girl is just fine.

Asking for candy in response to the many times we offered it earlier, (that she turned down which proved a trip to the ER was necessary,) is a totally normal thing for Charlie. She'll eat just about anything for a candy bribe. Medicine? Check. Vegetables? Check. Well not really. But she loves candy. The apple fell right by the tree, God love her. We love some good Smarties and we do just about anything for SweetTarts. It's in our blood.

Thank you for the well wishes. This was the most afraid I've been in a while, (about three months since Joy's surgery!) and we were so glad the hospital is as close as it is--they opened a new Children's branch a few years ago that is about ten minutes away. Could that be any closer? We debated taking her to the hospital that is actually even closer, (I know, I know I'm lucky,) and it's a Baylor hospital but we felt like it would only help Miss MOMMY DON'T LEAVE ME OR LET A STRANGER TOUCH ME Charlie to have people who deal with kids all the time. I think it did. She seemed to warm up to the nurses and doctor fairly quickly. She was understandably excited to see Nattie and Popeye. Danced a little bit in the hospital room. Said, "Bye bye, see you next time..." to the doctor.

I doubt I'll go more than an hour at a time without checking on her tonight so I'm hitting the hay now while Sean is still up to do the checking/poking/prodding for a few hours.

Feeling grateful, M

Normal morning. Bonnie (you know her by now, right? beloved babysitter) came over with the little boy she babysits. Normal lunch. Until Charlie flipped backwards out of her chair and hit her head on the floor. She cried pretty hard and wanted to go to sleep so we started packing a bag to take with us to the hospital just in case. When she started vomiting I sent Sean with her to the ER and called for reinforcements. As soon as they (Nattie and Popeye) got here I went to the hospital and by that time things were winding down. One toddler with a mild concussion and four worried adults later, we are home. Grateful. Cleaning up. It's only 2 o'clock. Geez.

I'll update you later on but we are assuming she will make a full recovery!

I feel like lately all I have time for is pictures

I've got tons of things in my head but by the time I can write at night I am too tired. It's after 9 people! All I have energy for is pictures. All from this last week. All taken with my phone.




It warmed up enough to pick Ty up from school in the wagon. I forgot to factor in how hard pulling 37 pound Charlie + 41 pound Ty with 18 pound Joy strapped to me could be. I felt like I was on the Biggest Loser competing in a challenge.


We went to the park.


We practiced sippy cups. This one is her favorite.


We finally got an antibiotic to combat the sinus infection this one has dealt with for a month.


Oh and we gave the big kids popcorn.


They shoveled it in so fast I couldn't get a still picture.


We went to Sonic and Max got to go. Almost every day.


I went to Target like this. I didn't know I still had the bow in my hair until I looked in the rear view mirror once I got into the car. See, when I bathe Charlie I often put her bow in my hair at the last minute so it doesn't get wet. Usually I put it on my bathroom counter for safekeeping.

Usually.


This one got to swing. Not just sit in the swing but really swing.


These two alternated swinging in the big swing but somehow managed to talk me into putting their way-too-big bodies into the baby swing too.


We dedicated Joy at church today and posed with our pastor. I'll have more pictures soon and I'll also give a play by play of the ceremony. It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.

The End.

Happy Weekend to all

And to all a good night.

Especially those of you wearing pink dresses in this picture who have yet to nap today.

Her first leaf

"Mom have you seen this? I found it in this beautiful place called OUTSIDE!"

The closet makeover results

Now if you remember we went from this













To this















And since I have the camera out, (on my phone which explains the poor quality,)I thought I'd show you the great denim skirt of '09.



In this picture I was trying to decide between boots and shoes and sent a picture to Emmy. She never got the picture but I went with the shoes. Not that you asked.

Ten reasons why I love Costco

1. You can find an 18-pack of Easy Mac, a box (a big one) of wipes, your contacts, and fresh flowers all within a ten foot radius.

2. The lights always entertain a baby who is otherwise trapped and forced to look at blank ceilings in their car seat.

3. They have cupcakes that are twice the size of regular cupcakes.

4. They also have those cinnamon crunchy things that they have at Taco Bell. But they're much much bigger.

5. The playground equipment goes up in January to remind you that one day, your children will play outside again.

6. There is never a shortage of good people watching specimen(s).

7. Their pizza. Got me through three pregnancies.

8. The chickens. You didn't know they have chickens? Oh yes, yes they sure do.

And these two hoodlums want to see the chickens first thing when we pull up in the parking lot. Want to see the chickens?
There they are. It's like Disneyland I tell you. They spin and everything. Man that's some good entertainment.

9. They sell Carter's sleepers for $7.99 but be sure to buy them when you first see them or the next time they'll be gone. Speaking from experience.

10. They sell Baby Lulu outfits.

This one...
or this one...


11. I couldn't end it with a picture so my final reason to love Costco is that no one makes you feel funny about buying a jumbo pack of feminine products. After all EVERYTHING THERE IS A JUMBO PACK.

The best things in life are cheap

It goes without saying that the Pioneer Woman knows how to cook. Almost everyone at my table at bible study on Friday had heard of her cookbook. So she knows how to cook. Love her book, love her blog, love her in general.

Folks, I am about to testify that she is now my cooking hero. Her recipes are easy, she includes pictures for almost every step of every recipe and they are so...well...good. Fresh off Nutrisystem, guess which recipe I tried.

Of course.

The cinnamon rolls. It's only natural to want to jump right into the deep end of cooking goodness.

Look at all the pictures! Every one is right on--exactly how mine looked.
Here are some of my ingredients. Did I clean up and make them all look organized for you? Um well no. Sorry about that. I made these on the day that Joy learned to move from the play room to the kitchen and I almost tripped over her multiple times. When I had the chance to snap a picture, I took it.
This is one of the first steps--adding the yeast to make the dough. That yeast stuff is like it's own animal. I felt like I was doing a science experiment.
There's a semi-organized ingredient picture for you.
Rolling the dough. The kitchen already smelled good by this point.
The icing is, in my opinion, what sets these cinnamon rolls apart in their own galaxy. I may or may not have licked the bowl. I may or may not have also licked the pie plates that I took the rolls to bible study in when I got home. I like to keep the mystery alive for you.
If I had scratch-n-sniff stickers for my blog I'd put one right here. And you'd love me and the Pioneer Woman for life.
Oh look. Now, I admit that my icing looks darker than the pictures in the cookbook and I have no idea why. I probably did something wrong but I promise they still tasted like they were supposed to. Pure heavenly goodness.

And you know, the ingredients are so cheap it's a no-brainer. You know when you find a good recipe somewhere, (usually in a Martha Stewart magazine if you're my Mom,) and you start trying to find the ingredients they are only made in countries you've never heard of and are so dang expensive by the time you find them you don't even care anymore?

This is not one of those recipes. Butter, flour, milk, powdered sugar, butter, cinnamon, butter, well you get the picture. They were not a pocket book threat at all.

And my oh my are they tasty! Not that I tried a whole roll, mind you, I worked too hard the last few months to actually eat one.

If I'm being honest, (which, at this point, what do I have to lose with you people,) I know I would've polished off at least three they were so good. Licking the plates/bowl of the icing seemed like the easiest thing to do so that I could testify to the recipe. And if I'm being honest some more, the icing is always my favorite part anyway.

The end. Go find the recipe and make these.

That's all, folks.