photo 10

It's raining, it's pouring...

Gentle, loving, sweet, and kind

(not) Gentle, loving?, (not really) sweet, and (not so) kind

(you didn't see moments before when she had him in a headlock and you can't hear his cries of protest!)

Sad

Happy

Goofy

Serious

Again, not-so-gentle...she has no idea of the monster she's creating!

Sweet!

We initially went outside to get fun pictures playing in the rain. I took some cute ones of Addi when she was around Levi's age and thought that would be fun to do today with my other 2 kids. Not so much. Libby just can't keep her hands off Levi and Levi's not really a frolick-in-the-rain kind of guy! He's more of a dig-in-the-mud-and-pull-found-worms-apart kind of guy, so maybe one day I'll gross you out with those pics. I'll end with a few of Addi's rain pictures. They were taken a few months after we moved to Raleigh and she was about 18 months old.

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Preview of Halloween :)

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Bounce-y Fun

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Groovin' to a little of her favorite music on Daddy's ipod! Can you guess what she's listening to?

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Addi entertained Levi's idea that he was as big as the 1st graders during her field trip this week. She held his hand and let him hang with the group. It made my heart glad.

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*If I could find this outfit in my size (and if I could look as adorable in it!), I'd totally wear it.

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We're going back a year to our pumpkin patch visit last October since we had to postpone our pumpkin patch trip originally planned for today due to the wet weather. Hopefully Friday's picture will be an updated pumpkin patch shot, minus Addi. :( (Unless I let her skip school...hmmm...oh, you know I'd never do that. I used to be a teacher. How, in good conscience, could I pull her out of school to go to a pumpkin patch? Besides, she's skipping next Friday to go to Sea World! I certainly would not entertain the idea of pulling her out two Fridays in a row!)

At least Levi has learned a NEW silly face in the past year!

Look how chubby my Libby Lu was! She's still got some chunk left on her, but I didn't realize she'd lost any! Another sign my baby's growing up and I'm in denial.

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1st Grade Safety Town Field Trip

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UPDATE: Levi's okay in this picture. Bryan wondered if he was crying. No tears...they're all making their best silly faces!

Problem, meet Solution.

I don't know if you've noticed, but I've been a tad irregular and inconsistent with the blog posts in the last few weeksmonths (years?). It just seems as though something always takes a higher priority. First, it was the nausea and exhaustion from my last pregnancy (but, hello!, that was 2 years ago). Then my excuse was our move. It was a big move, a 12oo+ mile move, but that also was 23 months ago. Lucky for me, (that is, if I believed in luck, it would have been lucky for me) we moved in early November, so then I had 4 family members' birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years taking up my time. And then, I was busy preparing for the arrival of Baby P. (Busy buying matching Christmas dresses for the next year when I was positive we'd have 3 girls!) Of course, Baby P/Our Bouncing Baby Boy/Levi was born and that really was an excuse. Many days he's still my excuse!

Clearly and rightly so, my family takes a higher priority than the blog. That is a problem when I wish I could document my childrens' growth and development and our family's adventures on here.

My solution is year-long posts of pictures. Only pictures. Well, if you've seen my Wordless Wednesdays, you know it won't always be only pictures, but, a picture a day for the next year. I think it will be fun to see how my children change over the next year!

The rules are:

1. I post a picture each day of the week for the next year.
2. It will mostly just be of the kids...one kid, two kids, three kids, our whole family, or some variation.
3. I may or may not add a description.
4. I will not beat myself up if I flake out and don't get to it one day.
5. I will not beat myself up if I flake out and never get past the first month.
6. I may or may not, but probably will post other things from time to time.
7. You will not expect stellar photography. It ain't gonna happen.

That's it. Pretty simple solution, don't you think?! And, it starts today or tomorrow...I'll leave you in suspense! :)

wordless wednesday

Rockin' the side pony! Ahh, memories...how I loved a side ponytail!

feels like home

Another reminder we're back in Texas was a story on the news this morning. A small school district nearby closed for the rest of the week to sanitize after lots of flu-y kids. BUT, the Friday night football game is still on!

private talk

Libby and I have had quite a few chats on the same topic lately. I think she gets it and then...

A few weeks ago, as we waited for the elevator at her preschool, she looked at a complete stranger and proceeded to tell her, "I pee-pee in my pants sometimes and then my Daddy spanks me." Then she started talking about when she poops in her pants! What could I do??! The other mom was very gracious and even gave me a little giggle the next time I saw her, but I could have crawled in a hole. Not to mention, she hasn't had an accident in I don't know how long. We went over the talk: some things are private and you don't share private things in public. For days after that, anytime we were in public Libby would whisper in my ear, "I'm not gonna talk about pee-pee and poo-poo 'cause we're not in our house or the car!" Great. We were on the right track.

Oh, but today. Today we went to the Athletic Center which is next to Sprouts. I was looking at the English muffins when Libby came up behind me and started rubbing my behind. (That's not really the "punch line" since I'm used to at least one child touching me inappropriately in public.) No, then she has to (loudly) say, "Mommy! Your bottom is all wet!" Me: [nervous giggle, eyeing the area to see who heard] "Well, sweetie, that's because I just exercised." [then on her level in a whisper] "Remember the things we aren't supposed to talk about in public? Mommy's sweaty bottom is another one!" I don't know if she's ever going to get it.

ww - Daddy's Home!

I am thankful for...

• my girls who sat on Addi's bed with me tonight and giggled themselves silly. I already can't remember what was so funny, but I hope I always remember their laughter.
• the big, beautiful, open Texas sky I gazed at as the sun set tonight. It made a long drive enjoyable.
• my son. He adds such a different dynamic to our family and he loves me and fully expects me to pick him over either of his sisters.
• the cooler weather. I forget how much I love fall every year and then, after a long, hot summer, the temp drops some and I fall (pun not intended) in love again.
• that monstrosity of a football stadium because it made my husband happy since he was able to go to a game there tonight.
• my grandparents who were delighted the kids and I spent the afternoon and evening with them.
• my husband. I'm reading a book set in San Francisco and it's put me in a mood to take a trip there. I emailed Bryan this morning and said "I want to go to San Francisco with you." He wrote back and said we could go in a few weeks. (Except we can't because we have 3 kids and other responsibilities. Fortunately, he travels enough that we won't have to pay for airfare or a hotel, so it really is as easy as finding time. And childcare. :))
• Bryan's traveling job. See previous bullet.
• my warm bed. It's calling my name and I have about 20 pages left in my "San Francisco" book. Good night!
  
  

the boy is breaking us

For the past six and a half years, Bryan and I have enforced a hard and fast rule: Children may NOT eat or drink in the living room.

I get the feeling he doesn't care about our rules.

*Our rules = my rule, but Bryan backs me up on it 'cause he loves me and wants to keep the peace!

His Signature Look

Levi's 18 months old now! I don't want to believe it, but it's true. I took him in for a check-up last week and the poor baby got 4 shots and a finger prick. Levi weighs 24 pounds and 4 ounces, which is only 2 ounces more than he weighed at 15 months. The doctor and I think something was off with his 15 month weight...it was recorded incorrectly, he hadn't pooped in a week, something. We've Bryan turned his car seat around, so he's discovered the dvd screen and points to it when it's not down. :) He's constantly moving and constantly un-tidying things. (I've kind of (much to Bryan's dismay) adopted the idea that he won't be able to destroy anything else if I just leave it all out. The experiment is failing. I see trash bags full of donations in my near future.) Everything was made to throw, according to Levi!...food, coasters, remotes, cell phones, toys, books, sippy cups, spoons, plates, bowls, anything. His vocabulary is increasing and he loves to imitate sounds. Yesterday he was trying to snap after he heard me do it. Outside is still his favorite place, so all this rain we've been getting has been challenging for us. As much as I'd like to ignore it, the fact is he's becoming a little boy right before my eyes. No more babies in this house! :(

What a wonderful age!

Libby came down the stairs ready for the rain this morning. Doesn't she look ready to splash in raindrops? :) She said that big, cowgirl hat would protect her. (I think it provides added protection if worn backwards :) Addi, careful not to hurt Libby's feelings, whispered, "It is going to be sooooo embarrassing having her walk me to school in that thing!"

Of course, she got tons of smiles and compliments on her hat which made me think of all the moms we passed who saw her and were taken back to a time when their children put on clothes with no worries. Like Libby, they hadn't yet learned to care what others thought of their outfit choices. It is a precious stage that I adore. Well, I admit, I don't always adore it because, unfortunately, I worry about what people think of me. I even worry that people will judge my parenting if I let my child go to the library in a Cinderella dress or the grocery store covered in cheap, plastic jewelry or church in a way-fancy flower girl dress.

I don't worry as much now as I did when Addi was in The Stage and that makes me sad. Sad because I wasted energy worrying about stuff that doesn't really matter and mostly because I took a little of that innocence from her. I made her think there was a reason what she was choosing to wear was wrong. I should have saved my energy to fight her when she wants to wear too-short skirts! The good thing is I've learned to be a little more flexible and to consider priorities before I open my mouth. Sometimes. Like this morning. I let Libby wear the hat and fold her ankle socks over and even wear plastic jewelry and I reminded Addi that she won't be judged by her sister's fashion tastes.

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wordless wednesday

HOME SWEET HOME

(thankfully just for one night!)

Preschool!

Reagan, or Elizabeth as she's requesting I call her now :), was so excited to start her last year of preschool today. Her classroom is upstairs this year, which is a big deal to her. I asked her to tell me 3 things she wanted to do today. She said, "Eat, sing, and learn to read!"

This next picture made me laugh because Levi did something Libby usually does to Addi. I brought her out for her "First Day Picture" and he ran to her side and smiled for the camera. Before I could take the picture, he was on the move though. :)

It's FREE!

Do you have a Sprouts in your area? We have one and I love that place. You can go to their website and register for a free 3-month subscription to an online meal planning site, Six O'Clock Scramble. The subscription is almost $20 if you paid for it, so I think that's a great deal. I have no idea if the food is any good, but it's free!

This and That

Libby Lu is all about dressing herself these days. When Addi started doing this, I had panic attacks worrying if I let her wear her "outfits" in public, people (read: other mothers) would condemn me, but if I didn't let her, she might spend years in therapy being cured of her overly controlling mother. I'd like to think I've relaxed a bit over the years, but really I think Libby's just better at wearing me down. I barely batted an eye as we ran to 4 different stores with her in this get-up.
My White-Trash Baby
I couldn't normally post a picture of Levi running around outside because it wouldn't be decent! He would live outside if we let him and makes such a mess when he's out there that I usually just strip him down to his birthday suit and let him run free. Well, free within the confines of our teensy-tiny, fenced backyard. Bryan put him to bed last night and doesn't believe in pajamas for our children, so I didn't care if Levi got his already-dirty-from-yesterday's-food-stains shirt more dirty and he's wearing shoes only because the grass was still wet from the sprinklers running last night. But, normally he's out there nekkid as a jay bird and happy as a lark, especially when he pees all over the yard (or worse yet, the patio!) making one of his sisters scream. :)
This darlin' thing was adorable jumping on the trampoline this morning in her nightgown with her short hair wildly whipping around her face squealing and giggling in delight. Hands down the cutest thing I saw all day. I wanted to run in and grab the video camera, but instead I selfishly soaked the moment up.

It's been so cool in the mornings lately that I've left the back door open for the kids to wander in and out. First, notice how obedient Zoe is. Clearly she's begging for someone, anyone, to play, but she's outside and stays out until we call her in. She's a great, old dog and I hope she's around long enough for Levi to remember her. He is passionate about Zoe. She's part of the outside appeal for him. He still barks more than he speaks.

What about Addison? Well, no pictures of her because she always at school now! I'll get some soon though. She's doing well and likes her new classmates and teacher. Although the other night she told me she wished I would put her back in kindergarten. Her kindergarten teacher was so wonderful and, while we've heard over and over how fabulous her grade 1 teacher is, she just hasn't been in 1st grade long enough to bond with her new teacher. It doesn't help that she isn't as comfortable as we thought she'd be since only one kid that was in her kinder class is in this class. In a month, she'll be glad she's in 1st and has all these new friends, but it's bittersweet now.

I'm undergoing my usual Schedule Changing Issues. In a few weeks, once preschool starts (next week!) and my bible study starts (next week!) and MOPS starts (in a couple weeks!), I'll be able to get my new School Year Schedule down. For now though, I feel like I'm in a long transition. I've never been great with transitions!