Easter 2010

It's a good thing the girls got their room cleaned by Saturday night, because the bunny almost had to pass right by this house. The girls and I had a fun Easter morning - Daddy was on call at the children's hospital so we hurried and ate all the good treats before he got home.

I guess the bunny found out how much June and Winnie loved the new movie, How to Train Your Dragon, because he hooked them up with dragon capes and giant eggs that hatched baby dragons in warm water.

Aunt Becky invited us to the annual Easter brunch, and it was scrumptious. So began the over- indulgence for the day. I think I set a new record for number french-toasts consumed in under 10 minutes. I'm blaming this baby boy. He has turned into the biggest eater. Is that a boy thing? Because I have never been this hungry in my life!

The girls got to hunt eggs with all the cousins. And the treats just kept on coming.

I waited until the last minute to hunt for cute Easter dresses and missed all the good ones. So we went with plan B. The girls wore these cute, frilly shirts and their new matching church sandals. It is blowing my mind this year that my girls are practically wearing the same size. Even in shoes! June is in an 11 and Winn is right behind her in a 10. In a way, it is driving me crazy that Winn won't get the hand-me-downs anymore, but I've decided to just buy 1 wardrobe from now on and they can trade back and forth.

Following the fun festivities, we hurried home to start Easter dinner. You know, because we hadn't stuffed our faces in over an hour. Plus, we had to get home to welcome Papa to Oklahoma. He finally made the long drive; the kids were waiting by the door.

Kolby made his famous brine turkey with all the delicious sides and we celebrated Thanksgiving-style.

I asked June to pitch in and make some stuffed celery. She seemed excited to do part of the cooking, but here's the face I got when I begged for a smile:

Only 6, and already rolling her eyes at chores. No wonder Winnie prayed all on her own for June to "lose the attitude."

Looks like the long drive and turkey dinner may have been too much for little Papa. He had to take a nap to recover. He's probably going to be needing a few more of these now that he's surrounded by busy grand kids with big plans for fun in the sun!

A Very Merry Un-Birthday . . . to June!

June's Alice in Wonderland tea party finally came to pass. I really wanted to make this a special birthday party for June. It's her first year in school so she was dying to invite her new friends over. Plus, I've struggled so much with morning sickness lately that June has had to take on many new jobs and really pull some weight around here. I wanted her to have a special day and show her how much her dad and I love and appreciate the good girl she is.

We had big plans to party outside on the back porch, but we should have known better. Oklahoma weather can never be trusted! So after a week of working like a dog and a morning filled with chaos trying to pull it all together, we celebrated high tea with the un-birthday girl inside.

Nana Deb and Audra painted all of these characters from the movie and shared them with us. Winnie had to have her picture taken with all of them!

June looked even more beautiful than the real Alice in her dainty costume. We got it on clearance after Halloween, so she's been waiting an awfully long time to try it out.

June has made some wonderful friends in her kindergarten class this year. I think they had a great time helping June celebrate turning 6.

Some snacks and decorations . . .

We enjoyed "lime sherbet tea," Eat/Drink me sweets to help us shrink and grow, and heart-shaped pizzas, thanks to Dad's sweet baking skills.

Leave it to Sofie to show up dressed as the Cheshire cat. This girl always knows how to party in style!

Hailey told me that she may be a little girl, but she had a big smile to share. June loves this gal.

We let the kids paint their own tea cups. Here they are hard at work.

Then we braved the ominous clouds for a bit to enjoy a golf game in the back yard. It was our version of Alice in Wonderland croquet.

We finished up with presents, singing and cake.

We sure love our June Bug. Happy birthday little lady! Can't believe you've been making us smile for 6 years!

Playing catch-up. Again.

The last few weeks have been jam-packed. I'm going to have to just do my best to play catch-up with this post.

We had a special visit from Nana and Papa at the end of February. In a surprising turn of events, my mom and dad have decided to move to Oklahoma. My dad took a job at an airport about 15 miles north of us, and will be starting in April. I'm still pretty shocked by this decision. I figured hell would have to freeze over before my dad ever returned to Oklahoma. His last experience here wasn't so swell - he came to move us out three years ago right in the middle of a heat wave and swore that he'd never come back. I guess the pull of the grand kids is just too strong.

It's a good thing Papa is on his way, because we need a bigger cheering section at the girls' soccer games. June's an old pro after playing last season, but Winn is new to the field. She's on a team with her cousin Amos and her best buddy Sofie. She had a bit of a rocky start in her first game . Things were going fine until she was sent to sub out. I guess she thought she was in trouble and getting kicked off the field. She came running over with tear-filled eyes and wouldn't dare return to the game.

Here's Winnie and Sofie all pumped to play

Kolby and I celebrated our birthdays. He's 33, and I'm now counting down my last year in my 20's. You won't find a picture of me on this blog because I'm turning into an oompa-looma with this pregnancy and am not crazy about documenting it. I'm waiting for that rare shot that captures me at just the right angle and doesn't make me look like a whale.

We also celebrated another special birthday this month. June turned 6! I don't know what it is about this birthday, but it really started to sink in that my baby is becoming a young lady, and it makes me ache.

We were lucky enough to celebrate with Grandma Sara, Grandpa Babe and Yaya Julie. They took us to June's new favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden, and then we got to enjoy the new Alice in Wonderland movie together. We sure wish they could visit every month.

As always, they spoiled us way too much while they were here.

June was also thrilled to bring her grandmas to her special celebrate at her kindergarten class. They sang a silly birthday song, and all of the kids added a picture to a little birthday book for June to take home. She also requested horse cupcakes, and so Yaya and I did our best to oblige. Why is it nothing ever turns out as awesome as it looks in the book? Oh well, the kids thought they were pretty sweet.

I sure do love this little lady. She does her best every day to be helpful to mom, she works so hard in school and is always well behaved, and she always sets lofty goals for herself and doesn't give up until she achieves them. I'm so proud to be her mom. I know she is going to do great things.

And June's birthday wish came true. She's having a little brother! I was certain it was going to be another girl, but June knew better. We are all so excited to finally get a boy in the mix. I just hope he doesn't mind all of the dress-ups, Barbies, and baby dolls that he's going to have to endure. Good luck little dude!

Baby bump and the winter blues . . .

This is my first pregnancy as a blogger, so I figured I had better get around to documenting it. Things have been pretty rough this third time around. I didn't think things could get much worse than carrying June, but this little tadpole is taking it's toll.

So far, I have endured a month and a half of uncontrollable nausea and a wicked gag reflex that keeps me clutching the toilet. Also, the reflux has been murder on my guts and throat. I'm not a big day-time napper, but I don't remember ever feeling this tired with a pregnancy. I think it has something to do with trying to keep up with two little sisters who never slow down. I just keep telling myself that this is my last pregnancy and so I'm trying to focus on the miracle of life rather than the feeling of being at death's door.

Here's my baby bump at 14 weeks. It pretty much just popped out around Christmas time. I guess when your gut has already been stretched to the max twice before, it's pretty accommodating to the third peanut.

We've also been hit by a bad case of the winter blues. Oklahoma has given us some pretty warm winters over the past couple of years, but this year has been just one snow or ice storm after another. In fact, June has been out of school for 4 snow days, and that's not counting the 5 days we were snowed in over the holiday vacation. The kids have made the most of the snow, but we are really ready for spring.

Looks like we're just going to have to hang in there until mother nature gives us a break.

Me and My Buddies . . .

It doesn't shame me to admit that most of my deep conversations these days are with these two goof-balls. June is so full of philosophical questions, and Winnie is always ready with a snappy comeback. So here's the latest conversations around our lunch table:

June: Mom, are you 83?

Me: No, I'm 28, but thanks for making me feel old.

June: So next you will be 29, and then 30, and then . . .

Winnie: You will turn into a dog?

June: Will you die when you are 100?

Winnie: No June, Mom will die in 10 minutes. I will never not die, cuz I will turn into a dog when I grow up.

I'm glad we got things cleared up.

Later, in the bathroom while doing June's hair, we were having a nice conversation about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. I explained what the Holy Ghost is and how he helps us make good choices and be safe. You know, one of those mother moments you hope the Lord witnessed to prove you weren't always a neglectful mother. Then June, with a look of sadness mixed with desperation, said, "Mom, I need to whisper something to you. My teacher at church told me that Jesus knows everything . . . even things that moms and dads don't know. So the other night I prayed that Jesus would tell me when my teeth would fall out, and he hasn't answered me. Why???"

Anyone want to help me out? My answer of, "Some things we just don't need to know," is really not cutting it. And why is she so obsessed with loosing her teeth?

And here's baby number 3. I'm tired just thinking about it.

What to do?

Every blog I visit currently has one thing in common - a list of worthwhile resolutions for the new year. I'm impressed people. Everyone seems like they have set some meaningful goals; good things like showing more love to those around them, eating right, not sweating the small stuff.

And while I'd love to cherry-pick some of these lofty goals to add to my own list, I'm too tired. I tell you, I'm just in a bad way right now. I did set some goals on the day I found out I was pregnant with baby number 3. I didn't want to gain more than 25 pounds, I wanted to work out throughout the entire pregnancy, continue to eat healthy and I wanted to keep up the yoga and meditative breathing so that I wouldn't loose my patience so much with my girls. I should have known that I set my sights too high. Pregnancy has never been a friend of mine, and I am certainly at it's mercy right now.

It is killing me that, all resolutions aside, I am having trouble just rolling out of bed in the morning, knowing full well that I'm going to have bolt to the bathroom for my ritual barf-fest. So I'm cutting myself some slack. I'm going to set some goals that will at least get me through this miserable first trimester and hopefully then I will be on to some greener pastures. So my new, new year's resolutions are:

1. Do a bit of stretching and some deep breathing while I lay on the couch all day

2. Brush my teeth after EVERY time I toss my cookies

3. Eat wheat bread rather than white - even though it hurts a bit more on the way back up

4. Praise my girls for their extra help around the house - even if it still looks like we live at the city dump

5. Read at least one book to my girls every day, and not feel bad that the Disney channel is doing the bulk of parenting this month

6. Get outside at least once a day - dropping a cup of food in the dog's bowl totally counts.

7. Make sure Kolby knows how deeply appreciative I am that he not only endures 3rd year med school, but then comes home to do all the daily chores, make dinner, bathe the girls, play with them, read to them and put them to bed.

8. Send good, loving vibes to this final baby on the way, even though I'm certain it's trying to murder me from the inside.

Thanks Uncle Buck!!!

Not everyone is lucky enough to have an actual "Uncle Buck," but we are. And he never disappoints when it comes to presents! This year for Christmas, he sent June, Winn, Amos and Lyra these awesome rides called Plasma Cars. Of course they were a hit! Even Lyra couldn't hide her excitement behind her usual scowl.

These bad boys are going to be even more fun when it warms up enough to take them out on the open road - the bike path at the park. But for now, our garage will have to do. Thanks U.B. and Auntie Karen, we can't get the kids off of them!