ONE YEAR IN PICTURES

12 arm chair relocations
11 of which required lugging the chair downstairs from the upstairs
10 headbands
747 pictures taken
90% of those pictures discarded
9 baby smiles
and a whole heck of a lot of yelling and song singing (at an annoyingly high level) just to get said smiles.

Worth it?

 

Absolutely.

Just for the record, I deserved the full 12 smiles.

But in the first few photos she was a newborn and newborns are always blah. They don't respond well to my singing or my jokes... obviously that's a character flaw that they grow out of because soon enough her and I started jivin'.

Then at six months she went through another shady phase. But that one I deserved. We needed to work through some things. That was the month we transitioned her from her safe little baby bath into the real bathtub... needless to say, I forgot how slippery babies can be and she went under a few times during the washing cycle.

My bad.

 



BABY HATING

When it comes to babies, there is one thing I hate more then anything else.

Birth?
Heck no, that gave me warrior status, and I desperately wanted that.

Poop diapers?

Wrong.

Spaghetti night? Oh how I hate spaghetti night.

A poop diaper doesn't even come close; that's only one crack to take care of but with spaghetti night we are talking about a bunch of cracks and crevices filled with pasta sauce and noodles. And not to mention what can be found tangled into hair, shoved into ears and smashed onto every surface in a two foot parameter.... and Harlyn's poop diapers never get that bad.

And no matter how good you clean the kitchen, the next day you'll still find one last covert noodle hardened onto the underside of the table.

Just stop serving spaghetti...

You hold your tongue. Spaghetti has been served in America since the 19th century, what business do I have removing it from the menu? And it's delicious, all piled high with parmesan cheese. A little spaghetti on your parmesan anyone?

So its not the dish that boils my water, its the sudden impulse that a baby gets to flail and fling sticky noodles in every possible direction BUT into their own pie hole.

In Harlyn's spaghetti throwing rage she even flung off one of her shoes.

That has never happened on quesadilla night.

It's acceptable when people's shoes fly off when they get into bicycle accidents but not during dinner.

So from now on, shoes stay on. Noodles go directly into mouth. And red sauce stays off white chairs. All spaghetti induced seizures shall be saved for dinner out at restaurants.

By order of the warrior.

OUT WITH THE NEW

Typically this blog has had a single purpose: document the cute, gross and weird things my kids do. I try and  keep it lighthearted and fun, and I don't want to bog you down with information about me. I just flash you cute pics of my kids and keep you at arms length. Were not best friends, I dont want to make any assumptions... I made that mistake in elementary school once and then that girl stole my jacket. And it wasn't any ol' jacket it was reversal. So really, she stole two of my jackets.

But today I am going to confide in you. Brad and I are budgeting. I'm talking about serious Dave Ramsey live like no one else so later you can live like no one else budgeting. It's intense but we are committed.

Committed enough to trade in my precious iphone for a new phone... and I use the term new very very loosely. It's rickety and akward and it has had a few previous owners, including myself a few years ago.

I know I just lost all street cred.

But Dave is gonna be so proud of me... he's gonna wanna be my best friend and borrow my winter wear and I know he will return it because that's what real BFFs do. So who cares if my phones a little outdated, doesn't receive texts sometimes and I hate it so much that I left it on the hood of my car and drove a few miles because subconsciously I want it die.

It's all for you Dave... you and the millions of dollars I'm gonna have soon enough.

I'm really glad you and I had this talk. Not Dave and I, you and I. I'm talking to you, person on the other side of the computer screen. I feel closer to you already.

But not as close as Dave and I are gonna be. We may end up buying matching best friend bracelets... on sale of course.

MY NEW BLING

I have been wearing this necklace that Khage made me for two days now.

Well, I cant get anything passed you now can I?

Your right it isn't exactly a necklace but a hair clip attached to an elastic headband. Its a little on the janky side but also quite charming. Clearly he didn't spend a lot of time crafting it but when I put it on he said I looked beautiful, and frankly I'm pretty hard up for compliments these days so back off while I ride this sentiment train for all its worth. And at some point he also used the adjective "adorable", and nothing else makes you feel ten years younger then being called adorable. You cant buy that kind of age reversal in a bottle people.

And now I'm anxious for Khage to go to kindergarten. Hello necklaces made of food. I can see me now looking so glam in my jewelry made of fruit loops and dry macaroni noodles, both equally stylish and totally edible. Don't be a hero and say dry macaroni isn't exactly a delicious snack... can you say ramen noodles in junior high? No one was preparing their ramen back then, it was all about the uncooked noodles. That used to be the lunch for champions, unless of course you had P.E after because it was a little on the heavy side with all it's starches and no protein.

But edible jewelry is for later, right now I'm content to wear this little gem and be adorably beautiful in my son's eyes. And don't think I didn't see that lady in front of me at the grocery store eye ballin' my new bling. Back off lady it ain't for sale.

Or maybe it is, try the hair care aisle.     

ONE YEAR OLD

A few special facts about our sweet girl:

Her desire to scream is at an all time high

She just found out she has a birthmark on her belly and she grabs at it all the time

She tries to put on her own clothes

She will cry when we try to bring her back inside the house from the backyard
Out of no where she has started fussing in her bed before falling asleep
She nursed for one day short of a solid year
She refused to nurse the morning before the day of her birthday

She eats the food off the floor better then she does off her own plate
She is cutting her second molar

She loves avocados and cheese

She will not eat apple sauce from the pouch but will eat it fine from a spoon

She is becoming incredible saucy when we tell her no or take things away

She will lean over and give her babies a kiss

But she is all types of stingy when WE ask for a kiss

She has finally started saying Mama again
She calls Khage Dada
She still sucks on her fingers when she's tired or sleeping
One day we asked her to go wake brother up from nap and she knew to go upstairs and into his room to find him
She gets bonked, hit, and falls down all the time but never bruises

and

We cannot believe the first year of her life has already come and gone so quickly, and as much as we look forward to watching her become our little girl we will surely miss our sweet little baby.

MY SPIN ON THE SILENT GAME

Would you guys judge me if I taped my sons mouth shut for most of the day? Of course you would, I would judge me too... but then the room would be filled with nothing but silence and judgment would slowly fade away into bliss. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place over here, and the rocks just sitting there talkin' my ear off. Something's gotta give. Maybe we could make a game out of it.

The silent game? Don't make laugh, that game only buys me a good minute thirty before he's back to talking, I need something more.

I'm seeing our own weird rendition of piñata. But the blindfold wouldn't cover his eyes, but strategically placed over his mouth instead.
And there wouldn't be a stick.
Or a crepe paper covered animal.
And definitely not candy.
So not at all like piñata.

Obviously I'm not fully committed to that idea. I'm pretty open to suggestions at this point in the brainstorming process. And double points if its travel friendly because once I am stuck in the car with Chatty Kathy it only intensifies.  When he goes to gasp for air in-between words I jump at this opportunity to crank up the music and then I think I have finally gotten him. Oh how silly I can be... he's persistent and wont be going out that easily. He refuses to tap out simply because the radio is trying to drown him out... his indoor voice slowly raises with every volume increase until he's borderline yelling at me from the backseat. So by now the radio is blaring and so is Khage, I'm backed into a corner until I admit defeat and turn the radio off to hear him better.

What I need is one of those limo interior windows, you know the ones that separate the driver from the passengers? And their soundproof. Yes, that is what I am in the market for. My problem is solved.

Sorry Harlyn, your on your own.

A LETTER FOR HARLYN

Harlyn,

Tomorrow is your first birthday and as exciting as that milestone is I can't help but feel sad. It's hard to put into words how incredible this past year with you has been. It was your brother who first made me a mommy but it was you who softened my heart. Everything is so much sweeter with a girl and everything with you is just a little bit brighter. You shine my love, oh how you shine. Already I can tell that you will light up rooms and be the cause of so much happiness. You may be our scrawny little thing but your personality is enormous. I beam with pride when I think about all the people who will be affected by your happy spirit. I gave birth to a reason people will smile and nothing makes me prouder. Your sweet grins while you slept and your crazy hair had us smiling from day one, and now I look forward to all the many more ways that you will bring joy into our lives. We are more then blessed to have been given you, and I will never stop thanking God for that gift. You may be a big girl now but my heart will always know you as my baby.  Harlyn, Harly Belle, Missy Mae Mae... I hope you always feel the abundance of my love.

 

Love,

 

Mommy

 

 

 

 

*I don't care if your 12, 25, or 35 when you find this letter buried beneath stories of our family through blog posts, please come find me so on this particular day I will get to hug my baby made of sunshine.

11 MONTHS OLD

A few special facts about our sweet girl:

She has one molar

She can take off her own diaper

She still naps twice a day and refuses to let me eliminate one of them
She got her first freckle on her left knee

She is always trying to share her bottle or feed us food off her plate

She thinks its funny to smack people in the face

She pulls out strands of her own hair and then eats them

She will lean over and kiss her baby dolls goodnight

She uses little moccasin style shoes outdoors and walks in them perfectly

Her drool ruined my phone
She gets frustrated in dresses because she gets all tangled in them when she's moving about and playing

She rarely says Mama and Dada anymore

If you tell her no sternly it hurts her feelings and makes her cry
She walks like a drunk E.T.

She is still wearing some 9 month old clothes
She is such a happy girl... until you tick her off and then she just screams a lot
She loves putting things in containers which makes clean up with this one a breeze
and
I refuse to believe that she is getting any older because she still very much feels like that baby we brought home from the hospital such a short time ago. I don't know if its because we don't want to let her grow up or if its her scrawny size that prevents our minds from looking at her like she's grown at all.... either way this little sweetie will always be our baby. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PHOTOBOMBED

In case you can smell the counterfeit, I will confirm that yes the photo of Harlyn's last monthly pic was in deed tweaked a little. I had to make one slight adjustment thanks to Olaf's photobomb!

If you  don't know who Olaf is by now then you must be blind because he is everywhere, or your deaf because yes he sings too and I wouldn't be at all shocked if his song was on the radio. But I can't confirm that because I don't listen to the radio. And I don't have cable. And I don't read the news. And I practically live under a rock with little access to the modern world and yet I still know who Olaf is. So if YOU don't know the snowman who likes warm hugs then you are hopeless. Completely without hope. He's kinda a big deal. I think by now you can tell that we too have caught the Frozen fever. Hello bandwagon, three seats please with one lap child. We sing the songs, we drop lines from the movie, we tag up our walls with the character's faces, Khage refers to Anna only as Anna the Princess of Arendelle and I have toyed with the idea of buying Harlyn an Elsa doll even though she has absolutely no idea who that girl is.

The point of this post is that I wanted to be real with you so this relationship of ours can remain on the up and up, I wanted you to know that I did photoshop that image but now I fear that I have only scared you. I think now you wanna reconsider being my friend because I went 200 words deep into a post about a Disney character.

Whatever. Conceal, don't feel.

TEN MONTHS

A few special facts about our sweet girl:

She has seven teeth

She is now walking but still prefers to crawl

She isn't talking yet, a few Mama's & Dada's but that's it

If she hears the door to the backyard open, even if she is upstairs, she will head there in a jiff

She screams all of the time, but also hums little tunes

She dances to anything that remotely sounds like music (even if its just the sound made when sanding a piece of wood)

Her dance moves are crazy awkward
She makes sounds with her lips incessantly

When she tries to crawl really quick she adds in a few head bows like she's a pony

She loves to stick her dirty little fingers in mouths

She doesn't care to eat anymore because she cant stand to be confined to her booster seat

She will initiate peekaboo by hiding behind corners or covering her head with a blanket
She loves to love cheese
She poops at least three times a day
She startles to easily
She is beginning to understand the no word no
She will pucker her lips for kisses

and

 really this girl cannot be any cuter. Not even a little bit.