Beautiful!

I've been wanting to cut my hair for a long time.. but after Maddy curled my hair on Thanksgiving I'm contemplating keeping it long. Why not let the littles enjoy and destroy my long locks completely before chopping off all my damaged hair? If I ever want it to look nice, I can visit Maddy's beauty salon! I'm a no fuss kinda gal and for the most part pony tails, or a quick bush out w/ my fingers is all I care about.

It was a very sad day :(

Alone time

Much needed, and so appreciated! Thanks love.

A person is a person no matter how small

Glad to see I have some company! 

I'm constantly having to ask strangers to reach things for me :(  Or do this..

I hate it when people question my relationship to my teen. And then dare to ask how old I was when I had him!

Dane taught me a trick... lift the toddler up on the counter to reach stuff for you :)

Capri's often times are full length

Ha.. She's got a whole inch and a half more world than I. 

Friends in high school always wanted to see if I fit... .yes I did

I hate walking with others...

EEERRRR!!!!

I've always been the benchmark in the family. "Whoo hoo, I'm taller than Brandy!" This has been all my nieces and nephews goals, and now that they've all grown to heights and considerably passed my own 4'11.5". My own children are but months away from looking down on me.
Maddy at her 12 year check up measured 4'11", she was of course excited to be reaching that family benchmark, but then later was disappointed to hear from her doctor that she would be small like me. All day I spent cheering her up and reassuring her that she would not be super short like me, but would at least grow a few more inches.

Stop and smell the roses?

Captured this yesterday as a single black rain cloud passed over. I loved how the sunlight was magnifying the fat raindrops.
Thought of the saying stop and smell the roses, but some days there are no roses to be had. Beauty in the eye of the beholder.

Longing for Fall

- Bob Marley

An early morning rain made me long for my favorite season...fall. Specifically the first washing of rain that fills the senses with renewal. The smell of rain on the hot pavement, the excitement of a new school year, the cooler refreshing air. Summer filled with memories will get me through the ugliness of weeks and weeks of Oregon rain. I both welcome and love to say goodbye to summer, fall, winter, spring. But by far fall is my favorite!

Thank You Trish!

I think it's important to let people know when they've inspired someone along their path! Blogging, is something that I've always loved! But because I never had much direction on how to blog, or what blogging meant to me, I only added pictures from time to time. Those that know me, know how much I have to say about things. I don't plan on blogging with the intent to push my personal beliefs on others, debate, or post things which have no meaning in my life. No, I plan to blog only for myself. To be able to look back and not only see the pictures I posted, but also the thoughts behind them. Along with digital scrap-booking, blogging gives me the visual creativity that I don't yet posses

So big thanks!

lifeastheirmom.blogspot

monstersandtutus.wordpress

Mornings with Emmalyn

My day starts with this little one twirling my hair around her tiny fingers. I open my eyes to darkness once again! Why does this child have to wake before the chickens? I wish I could say I welcome this and love waking up to my sweet Emma. But regret sets in that I stayed up late to savior some adult time! The hair twirling does not feel blissful. No, it hurts! 

I know from experience that there is no way I can get her back to sleep. Staying in bed will only result in more hair knots. With my other kids at this age, I felt more accomplished! I had taught them to appreciate the moment, fall back asleep, and keep their dreams alive! It's not working with this kid! So I take a deep breath because I've resigned...I HAVE TO GET UP!

Keep in mind the little one to my right is still fast asleep! Therefore, I "ninja" out of bed. I can only imagine how funny this must look. But trust me, he needs to stay asleep! Sam always needs more sleep...his mood depends on it.

Coffee is now my new best friend. I recently discovered how much impact it has on the start of my day. It gives me something to look forward to and makes that trip downstairs seem tolerable. "COFFEE MUST HAVE COFFEE!" I'm sure I must look like a zombie. Picture it...hair all knotted, no makeup, and I walk funny (my body contorted all night because I've been "sandwiched" between two growing kids).

So, coffee in hand and juice in Emma's, we head to the couch for snuggles and "Sponge-Bob." I love my alone time with my last little one! And with the hustle and bustle of busy life, it's nice to be still and enjoy her littleness. 

Yes, waking up sucks big time! But once the snuggles begin, I'm glad we're up. Later, Sam will venture downstairs and join us on the couch. I'll then have snuggles and hair twirling from both of my littles!

Now, if I could get them interested in Grey's Anatomy!

My two plumbers

Nothing is worse than when your toilet breaks and you have only one bathroom! This weekend the tank on our toilet broke while Dane attempted to replace a broken handle. What a pain it was to have a broken toilet for a day and a half! Thanks to Daddy and Emma for fixing our potty!!!

 

A friend of mine wrote this post, and I couldn't have said it better myself! She is an amazing new mom that I met on "Just Mommies"

On Online Friendships

The internet is very much like the real world - a huge global network in which there are many tight-knit communities. Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to develop some amazing friendship online. These are the kind of friendships that let you be honest - wonderfully, terribly honest. It must be the initial anonymity that fosters this kind of frankness. You know you don't have to see the look in people's eyes if you shock, anger, or disappoint them with your honesty, and that eliminates the risk. Plus, online friends often don't know any of your family or friends, which keeps them objective (or totally biased because they have only your side....either way, it works). There is no pressure to meet for coffee regularly, and nobody gets offended if you don't buy a gift for their birthday.

One such group for me is from the message boards at Just Mommies. I joined in my pregnancy upon the insistence of a real-life friend, and soon I was posting each day in my Due Date Club, which is a group of women who were due to give birth in the same month as me. We spent nine months talking about our pregnancies and getting to know one another. Then, after the births of our babies, we turned into a "Playroom". We now have a Facebook group because it's just so much easier to update from a smartphone, and most of us have a baby in one hand and smartphone in the other. As a group, we have experienced a stillbirth, the untimely death of one of our own members, and family, personal and baby illnesses - but also shared our entire pregnancies, the joy of our births and now we are raising our children "together". There have been arguments and internet hugs alike. One thing is for sure, they are true friends. As a group, they likely know more about me than most of my real-life friends do. When I need to celebrate a triumph or cry on someone's shoulder, they are my first go-tos.

Do you participate in any particular communities online? Have you made hard and fast friendships online? How long have you been friends? I have one online friendship that is in its twelfth year already.

Blog credit: Kim at  http://familybirdsnest.blogspot.com/

Fluffybutt

I love cloth diapering babies. With Emmalyn, we started with Kissaluv 0's and Thristie XS covers. At 4 months she's finally outgrown them ;) Now we've moved on to small Fuzzibunz! They fit her perfectly and are oh-so comfy. The insides are a buttery soft fleece, button front closure which allows for lots of growth, and a PUL waterproof outer that comes in lots of cute colors.

The little things in life

Maddy has convinced Sam there is a monster in the closet. Now he always points to the closet and says "monster scary."

Christian has been busy making zombie movie sets with his legos. He wants to make a still animation movie! This week he zombied up some of his lego guys by painting parts of them red (blood).

The first week after vacation bible school is always tough! The kids had been going, going, going all week, and the week prior we were at the beach. So "I'm bored" is all I've been hearing about the past couple of days.

We've been trying to grow grass in the back yard. Daneo our great dane, and our little mutt Lady are not enjoing their dog run! But since they are the reason our back yard has looked like a horse patty they'll have to get used to it. I want my back yard back!!

Speaking of Daneo, I think he has hip dysplasia or arthritis. He doesn't like to take long walks and this gait seems a little off.  Twards the end of our walks he sometimes leans up against me, w/ a 120lb dog it's quite annoying! But he is almost 7 yrs old and great danes don't usually live far past 7yrs. Just makes me sad to think he might not have too many more years left in him :(

Maddy has been asking me to sign her up for horse back ridding lessons, so I think I'll look into that tomorrow. And then in the fall we're back to gymnastics!

The little things in life

Sammy is finally crawling... although we still don't give him much opportunity. I wish we had carpet downstairs for him to have free range of the house. Until he's more stable he'll have to settle for the time we spend upstairs on the carpet, which is usually the time I spend on the computer. 

Maddy is soooo close to having her first visit from the tooth fairy! Maybe she'll lose her tooth on the same day that Sammy gets his first :) Yes...he's 8 months and still has no teeth....just teething misery!

Christian is finally feeling like himself again, and with the tubes in his ears, he has super hearing!! No more whispering around Christian, can't keep any secrets from him!

We are weaning Samuel off of the prescription formula Neocate, onto regular Enfamil. I think it's going ok.. no obvious signs of an allergic reaction like diarrhea or eczema. But he has been very fussy lately and his cheeks have been turning bright red...but that could very well be from teething! We should find out more at his next well-child visit, 9 months old! His last doctor's visit showed him to be falling off the weight charts again. Grow, baby, grow!!!

I miss sleep! I really really miss it! Last Saturday Dane took Sammy for 4 hrs to let me get some sleep. I kept the baby monitor with me just in case Dane didn't wake up to his cry. During that time Dane just popped in a couple of movies. Samuel woke up about 7 times...all of which I heard...WHY oh why did I take the monitor with me! After Dane was done watching his movies, he came into me to come back and sleep with Sam (Sammy sleeps in a co-sleeper beside our bed) Dane had seen how much of a light sleeper Sam was, and knew that his snoring would wake him up. Next time I get another opportunity to sleep for 4 hours I'm definitely not taking the baby monitor... I figure if he screams loud enough I'll wake up!!!

I love cloth diapers!

I need cloth diapers AA! I LOVE cloth diapers! They are so cute and cuddly! A lot of people use cloth diapers because it's more affordable and more "green" than using disposables. But others, like myself love them because they are so cute! I wish it were still summer so he could hang out in just diapers, Here are some pics of some diapers in our stash! The majority I use are Fuzzy Bunz pocket diapers. 

Grandma Lloyd's homemade diaper 

I'm now in the world of blogging!

I've always wanted to start a blog, but after reading other people's blogs I thought mine would be so boring to read. All I ever do is get up in the morning make breakfast, do as much cleaning as I can with a 5 month old, and pick up kids from school. Help with homework, make dinner (if Dane's lucky), then get the kids off to bed. All this just to start over again the next day. 

"I believe I can see the future... Every day is exactly the same"

But then I realized something the other day. Maddy was doing something absolutely hilarious! She was helping her new kitten reach a bug at the top of a window so she could bat it and try to catch the bug. She kept saying "Come on you can do it, I know you can!" She's so stinking cute! I told Dane about it later, but we'll never remember something like that years from now! I enjoy our kids so much and they are growing up in front of my eyes. But those memories just won't stick for us or possibly them! I take tons of videos and pictures, and this will add just one more thing for me to look back on to cry in joy! So this blog is more for me than for anyone who wants to read it. So please don't patronize me for spelling or grammar errors. Remember I was the adrenaline junky that went to the police academy to be a 911 dispatcher and babysit cops, tell firefighters where to go, and help deliver babies over the phone (came so close to this happening to me). I skipped out on the 4-year degree and followed my dream. Then later a whole other dream of having a family became a reality. Dane and I never travel (except for our yearly run to Disneyland), we don't own expensive cars, and our house is tiny and always a mess thanks to 2 and soon-to-be three messy kids. I hardly read, heck the only ME time I get is watching ER reruns thanks to our DVD player! You're very welcome to come and see what's new with our family and all the crazy things my kids are doing! Family is the most important thing to me! I love being my kids' mom!

Night at the Quest

Dane, I, and several friends went to the only club in Portland that allowed minors. This song started playing and I dragged my fellow swing choir friend Eric onto the dance floor.  Dane often reminds me of how he watched me dance with him while watching my every move. He then fell in love with this alternative song...