phone blogging...again

I started this post a week ago. It started with a few favorite phone pics from the past couple weeks.  Then, on Wednesday morning, Mia got hit with the stomach flu. Thursday morning, I thought we were in the clear. Then it hit me Thursday afternoon, Laci that evening, and Ryan Friday morning. I use the word "hit" quite literally, since I felt like I was hit head-on by a Mack truck. The illness came and went quickly, but I was left feeling sore and weak and exhausted, with a terrible headache that lasted two days. I sound dramatic, don't I?  Truly, I haven't been that sick in years.  And apparently, I got it the worst because the rest of my family was relatively normal by Saturday.  But me...well, I wanted to crawl in a hole all weekend and just sleep it off.  Ha!  Can you imagine a mom taking an entire weekend off?  Not really possible with a nursing infant.

Today, I was finally back at it full force.  Laundry, dishes, feeding kids, reading books, playing games, wiping crumbs, the whole nine yards. I may have been energized by my renewed gratitude for good health.  So, it is back to our irregularly scheduled program. 

Just some of the many, many phone pics I've been taking the past few weeks. Sorry if there's too many.  No wait, not sorry.  

four and a half

Once in a while, I take a picture that just makes me so super happy.  This is one of them. I mean most pictures of my kids make me happy, but this, this is a special one. 

She's almost four and a half now, and very much a big girl, even though she's pretty tiny. 

A few weeks ago, I decided to try reading a chapter book with her. I loved to read out loud as a kid, and I guess I still do love it. We started Little House in the Big Woods. I figured, if she wasn't into it, we would just put it away for another time. Well, we finished it, and we finished Little House on the Prairie, and now started Farmer Boy. She loves it and it's one of those little things that makes me feel like I'm doing a good job as a momma. Mia is a little young for it, but she'll sit and listen for a little bit before moving on to something more interesting. 

It will be a big year for her. Turning five. Starting school. My heart isn't ready for all that. Truly. It literally makes my chest ache to think of sending my baby out on her own. Maybe I'm over-protective. Maybe I'm hormonal. Maybe I'm a sentimental sap. But I'm also her momma and know her better than any other person in the world. She is tender and innocent and sweet. She is shy and timid. She is sensitive and emotional. She is a tiny me. I know how hard it can be when tears flow too easily. I know she's also smart, and friendly with other kids, and creative. And going to school will help her blossom in new ways. But I don't want her to be ruined so soon. Ruined by mean kids, by being shuffled through a system that isn't flexible to individual needs, by being forced to grow up when I know she's perfectly happy being little. 

This motherhood thing isn't for the faint of heart.

christmas day

Finally, the last of the Christmas pictures. Better late than never, right? And since I just want to get this done, there are roughly a jillion pictures below. Or maybe just a zillion. 

Christmas morning was spent at our house for the second year in a row. I love it, but I have been informed by my sisters that we will be at mom and dad's house next year. Something about needing to rotate or "go home for the holidays," or some other such nonsense. Whatever. 

 

We ate what has become our standard breakfast: biscuits and gravy, and fried bread dough rolled in cinnamon and sugar. The kids opened another round of presents, including us big kids. I'm still super happy with my new Keurig, although my coffee/hot drink intake is reaching alarming levels. 

 

 

 

 

After Mia's nap, we headed to Ryan's parents' house for another dinner, and a few more gifts and stockings.

Laci spent the entire month of December asking for a real Dalmatian puppy. I explained multiple times that we aren't ready to get a real puppy, and certainly not a Dalmatian puppy, but she couldn't be swayed. I was hoping she wouldn't notice the lack of puppy, and she didn't. Or at least she didn't say anything. 

Mia got her own battery operated vehicle, a red Razr style, from Nonny and Papa E. Red, no doubt, because it will someday be Noah's and he might not like driving a pink Barbie jeep so much.  I didn't get her expression with my camera but as we unveiled her new toy, I could tell she was super excited and completely aware that she was the center of the show for a minute. She's an expert at pushing the gas pedal, but she could learn a few things about steering. And while the Razr was a big hit, I think her most favorite gift is the baby cradle and high chair she received from Aunty Beth. We made the mistake of letting her open that gift first, it was difficult to get her interested in opening anything else.  If it had been the only gift of the day, I think she would have been perfectly happy. She is a devoted momma to her babies and has played with it almost everyday. 

 

 

 

I am always so thankful for all the gifts, time spent with family, all the good parts of being together and enjoying life. But I was also thankful to return home to a quiet house. Babies asleep. Calm. I was drained. We spent the entire next day in our pajamas, playing with new toys, and I went on a crazy purging/organizing spree trying to find places for all the new stuff. Now, a month later, it seems Christmas is a distant memory. Laci asks almost everyday when it will be Christmas again. She misses the tree and the decorations and the lights most. She has already asked for her own pink tree next year and has been making snowflakes to decorate it. I'll do my best to make her little dreams come true for as long as I can. 

As for this holiday season, my single greatest achievement is this family picture. Not perfect by any means, but the one and only picture in existence that includes all five of us. 

And that's a wrap.