09.08.2011:Brave strong Mommy

Today my people started preschool, both of them, for the first time. They were excited, I was sad. It was for sure bittersweet. This is the first time i have no say in what they do, how they behave or what influences them. They get to be who they are, who we've taught them to be and all I can do is pray we did it well. With a short reminder- no pushing, hitting, biting, yelling or being mean( they aren't generally but still nice to have a reminder). Princess' and Super heros are ALWAYS KIND. Have a sweet heart and be friends with everyone- I sent my people on their way. Only after a few gazillion pictures:)

 

Bella Grace- 3

 

 

 We took Pierce first at Bella's request. Rick was away for business so it was just me and the babies.Pierce looked at me, asked " you come pick me up" to which i replied of course and he said " okay bye mom" and went to sit with his new school friends. I cried. Not much though because I needed to let go of my girl too and she's much more sensitive to my tears.

 

 

 She reminded me to be " a brave strong girl" and I reminded her too.

With a short wave I was dismissed. My babies are growing so fast. Once I got to the door I cried. Not because i was sad but because I was happy. Happy my people feel confident enough to enter this new world without reservations. To take on new friends and teachers with vigor to be the light we know they can be. 

 I was a 'brave strong mommy' today and let them go. It is just the first of many times letting them go will be bittersweet.

07.23.2011: Life's a cake walk

 Today is Annelise's day and for the first time in 5 years it wasn't marred by sadness. It's not that we didn't think of our girl but really the first time we spent the day celebrating the 2 little lives we do get to share. So today we partied like rock stars...or miniature rock stars who have to have a nap midday:)

The first party of the day was sweet Sophia! She is so fun and a good calm to Bella's tornado:) She's silly and sweet and her parents share a lot of our same values. It wasn't too long ago Naoma ( Sophia's mom) and I learned that our hubby's were having lunch semi- regularly...too funny. I'm just glad to have sweet friends for the whole family!

 My gorgeous girl:) I love these little rompers...they're easy and fun! Bella isn't such a fan until she decided it makes her look like a mermaid:) 

 

 

 

 

 Look at how HAPPY baby Harper is:) We love her ever though she's not a baby anymore!

 Piercey got to hold Baby Sable and there aren't words to describe this kids face...he was so happy and proud. Such a sweet boy! I hope he can be a big brother one day soon!

After Sophia's bash we headed home for naps then back to Southlake for Angelo's 4th birthday!

 

 Milestone Moment: Piercey can now climb and go down these slides by himself. I kid you not this is HUGE because it means I do not have to drag him up vertical ladders to slide over and over again! YAY!

 

 

and he went up and down pretty much the entire 1 1/2hours!

I'm so glad we decided to not avoid today. I miss my girl terribly but we had so much fun with our 2 crazies got to hold a sweet baby  and see our friends! It was a great day!

07.12.2011: The Little Mermaid and Sibling L-O-V-E!

 I caught this unprompted moment of sibling love just before we headed in to meet Haley, Hayden Claire, Channing and Abby for the play The Little Mermaid. Moments like this totally erases the bad days and the early months where taking care of two babies seemed like an insurmountable challenge. They truly are the best of friends and love each other dearly!

 This is sort of how we all felt about The Little Mermaid. It was so not anything like disney and kind of  beating. Thankfully it was just 45 minutes long and Bella quit asking where Ariel was about 30  minutes into it:)

 It was this little dudes first play! Sweet boy was SO SO good!

 At the end my shy girl took her brave brother to dance on the stage. I love how she'll do anything for him!

At the end we found Hudson and Baby Harper! Love haivng so many sweet friends in one spot!

Rick is out of town this week so the kids and I  ate lunch with our friends, ran errands, had my final altercation with the Viking lady at Joanns which resulted in me calling a manager, the Husquvarna Viking customer service line and a general boycott of Joanns. Those people are HORRIBLE. They are rude and discriminate based on age. I have never set my stuff down and just left a store but I did today. Right at the checkout lane because those woman are MEAN. So no more Joanns for me! I will pay more and plan ahead to order from somewhere else before I deal with that lady again! Then we headed home to play and make it an early bed night!

3 1/2 and 2 year portraits by B4 Photography

 I can't believe how fast time has gone by. Now Bella is 3 1/2 and Pierce is a few days shy of 2 we had Brandi take some pictures to commemorate this season of life. These are SO my kids. From the crazy location to the funky clothes this is them. They are crazy and fun and I am loving this season in life right now. Here's the short list on the kids:

• They are really each others best friend. There are lots of spontaneous hugging and at least once a day i hear " you're my best friend". I LOVE it!
• Pierce has more words than one would think. He speaks in complete sentences ( 4-8 words) and has the vocabulary to rival his sister. It's amazing really. The only downfall is he is never quiet. We often call him chatty Cathy because he can talk all. day. long. 
• Bella is in a super dramatic stage of life. Most of the time its really funny. Her "its the end of the world" attitude over not getting the bigger piece of cheese is pretty darn hysterical. Although i hope it ends sooner than later:)
• Words to describe Lulu right now: sweet, kind, generous, stubborn, dramatic, FUNNY, beautiful, sensitive, strong willed, SMART and extremely loyal. 
• Words to describe Master P: snugly, sweet, kind, thinks about others, funny, silly, CRAZY, smart, obstinate, stubborn usually in the opposite way than his sister, strong willed, loving. 
• Bella can write her name, spell it, knows her colors and claims her favorite color is indigo, can count to 30 and in spanish to 10. She's a book lover like her mama and can be found laying in a sea of books at night:)  Dress-up remains her favorite activity as well as crafts. She can sing and LOVES music. Her current movie obsession is Aladdin.
• Pierce can spell his sisters name ( funny) and identify the letter P in random places. He can count to 17 on his own but isn't a fan of 4 or 13 and to 25 with help. He also loves to sit and "read", play blocks, dinosaurs, cars and with his new train table. He also likes to color and paint. He still loves Barney but Mickey Mouse is his favorite. Cars or 101 Dalmatians is his movie of choice.

Rick and I comment a lot about how easy it has become. I think the initial shock of I have an 18 month old and a newborn made that phase much more difficult. Now they are built in playmates and as long as they're together it is easy. They love each other and are the most fun to watch interact. We're loving having a 3 & 2 year old more than i ever thought we would!

 

Rock on little people, we love you more than words can say!! 

4.5.2011: First day of school "Preview"

 

Since Rick's been traveling SO much I decided I REALLY needed just a minute to myself...or with just one kid:) So I enrolled Bella at a local preschool for the remainder of the year! I REALLY like having my kids around and never saw a huge need for school before the age of 3 it just isnt right for our family. However since single parenting for the last month has taken its toll we were both ready! 

Even better is on Tuesdays I get a mommy break because Sweet P heads to Gateway children's 'school' while I meet with my bible study! It SO rocks!

 So here is the Cupcake princess practicing for her "real" first day of school in the fall! Isn't she a doll baby:)

04.01.2011: Mission Diverted

 Today we spent the morning playing and running errands. I had a doctors appointment scheduled for P then a birthday party. A full day.

Only after the visit to Dr. J where P had double ear infections we were told  to take the boy to Cooks Childrens for a CT scan.

Bella was bummed at having to miss her friend Keiras birthday bash but understood as best a 3 yearold can. Mrs. Cyndi was nice enough to give Bel a goody bag when we stopped to drop off the gift so that made it a little bit better:)

Thankfully there were no broken bones and the CT did pick up a really  bad sinus infection. Apparently his sinus cavities we so full of fluid the DR couldn't believe he wasn't behaving so much worse then just a little bit whiny. He's such a sweet boy:) He is now on  super strength antibiotics for 14 days so hopefully that will knock out the sinus' and the ears!

3.30.2011: He broke his face:(

 My poor boy is literally falling face first into the terrible twos. His sad looking face is the direct result of him throwing a HUGE WHOPPING 2 year old tantrum! Short version is I had a sewing class but Rick was out of town. So I met my mom and sister at the office for them to take the kidlets to B-Town for dinner. I set the kids on a decorative ledge about 3 ft off the ground. Pierce just wanted me to hold him:( but I had to put the car seats in my moms car. Somewhere between all the commotion he decided he had enough and started throwing his little fit. In doing so he flipped off the back of the ledge and whacked his face on a flower pot on the way down.

The gift of hindsight tells us now he had " an impressive" sinus infection as well as ear infections which is probably why he was so whiny and unable to catch himself.

 

 

 

Poor boy was miserable. After a few days the swelling wasn't going anywhere so after a visit to Dr. J we ended up on our first ER visit at Cooks Childrens for a CT scan. 

He was SO good and only when they had him strapped down for the scan did he cry out " help me please...I sorry" it broke my heart and the technicians. It was so sad! I am just glad its over and there were no broken bones!

Let's pray this was our first and LAST visit to the ER!