tuesday without grammy

My mom had surgery this morning. Nothing major, just an in and out procedure. She is home now, resting and healing. I talked to her several times, but I missed seeing her.

We are lucky enough to see her almost everyday and the girls love going to visit. I know she loves my girls equally, yet differently because they are very different little people, and miss Mia holds a special place in her grammy's heart. Mia looks most like my mom's baby pictures (I don't have any right now for comparison, you'll just have to take my word for it). After having three daughters that look nothing like her (maybe Beth looks a little like her), I think she feels pretty special having someone with her rosy cheeks.

As the first grandbaby, Laci has carved her own special spot as well. We had family dinner at our house the other night with a little after-dinner dance session. I told Laci more than once that she would get too dizzy if she didn't stop twirling. She didn't listen and ended up getting pretty sick. Not puking, but definitely pale and not feeling well. Grammys know how to make those things feel better.

Grammy says she is up for a visit tomorrow. We'll see how long it takes before she throws us out. Ha!

best bedhead ever

Mia woke up a whole twenty minutes before her sister this morning. She's usually the one who sleeps longer, so it felt special to snuggle with her on the couch under a blanket. Just the two of us.

It was extra sweet because she is extra snuggly in the morning. She hugged her baby doll and patted her. We talked about ears and eyes and noses and mouths as she pointed to each one. She didn't have to share me and she wasn't into wild Mia mode yet.  She is in wild Mia mode a lot lately.

 

These pictures aren't from this morning.  No, it was still dark outside while we were cuddling on the couch.  But this is typically how she looks in the mornings.  She likes to eat dry, crunchy spaghetti. She learned that from her sister. She also likes to roll herself up in the rug and find "treasures" underneath, like old Cheerios.  She likes to eat those, too.

And she has the best morning bedhead hair ever.

lately...

I did, in fact, clean my house Tuesday as planned. For three hours, I vacuumed and put stuff away, and even cleaned one of two bathrooms. Country life brings with it about a jillion bugs and two jillion spiders and all of them like to come inside my house and build homes for themselves. As of Tuesday, they were all cleaned up. I'm not so sure I can say the same today.

Of course, cleaning with kids running behind you is a somewhat pointless task as they are a bit quicker at making messes than I am at cleaning them up. And just to add to the chaos, Mia climbed onto the vacuum cleaner, turned it on, and scared the crap out of herself. Oh, and I flushed a rag down the toilet. It was an accident! I thought the toilet was done flushing and I set the rag down for a second and then, Whoosh! it was gone and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. All seems to be well with the plumbing so far, let's hope it holds up.

So, that was Tuesday. Wednesday was another home day. The sun was shining and it almost felt warm and I sent the girls outside with their dad as soon as he got home. I made dinner without any helpers hanging off my legs. It felt weird.

Mostly, we have just been playing a lot and reading books. It's pretty bad when cleaning the house creates a headline in your life, but really, that has been the highlight so far this week.

Today was gloomy and rainy mostly...boo.  Lots of inside time.

Am I the only one who likes to take pics of their kids when they're mad about something?

Or even just mad because I'm taking their picture?

My poor kids. Always with that stupid camera in their face. Well, not really. It's really out only about ten minutes a day, but you would think by the way they react that it's always pointed at them. Little do they know what fun it will be for them to look at these pictures years from now.

They'll ask, "Why was I so mad?" And I'll tell them it was because of something terrible and mean I did like tell you "No more M&Ms," or "Yes, you have to get dressed now."

It's such a rough life they lead.

How is your week going?

wyatt

Today I reconnected with an old friend, my horse Wyatt.  He hasn't appeared much on this blog in the last few years because my time has been spent taking care of little human babies.  Now, it's time for my horse baby to get at least a little of the TLC he deserves.

This is a terrible phone picture of a terrible-looking horse.  He has his shaggy winter coat, is super sweaty and dirty, and a bit thin, and well, he hasn't been pampered as much as he used to.  I'm hoping that changes in the next few months.  Only time will tell if I really follow through.  I have the help of my little partner Laci who is so in love with horses it isn't even funny, while Mia prefers to keep her distance.  I'm sure I'll change her mind eventually.

As always, I have tons of pictures to share and stories to tell, but just not enough time.  Tomorrow is a stay at home and reconnect with our life day.  I'll be catching up on laundry, scrubbing a couple toilets, and hopefully getting a quiet minute or two to sort through some pictures.

Hope you all have a happy week!

mia at eighteen months

My baby is a year and a half today. I can't believe it, and yet I can. Her "birth" day feels like it was a million years ago, part of another life even. I am so, so grateful she is here today because oh my goodness is she is something. She's healthy and happy, and most of all, sassy.

Eighteen things about my sassy-pants girl, one for each month she's been with us:

1. She loves her babies. Loves to wrap them in blankies and feed them and hug them and carry them around everywhere.

2. She loves books, mostly the ones with cats. She points to all the cats on the pages and says "kitty" and meows with a big emphasis on the "ow" part. Her mouth ends in a perfect little "O" at the end of each meow.

3. She calls most people "daddy," including me. She will pat your cheek or arm or leg and repeat, "Daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy, daddy," a jillion times when she wants your attention.

4. She wants to be just like her big sister and copies everything Laci does. She also likes to wreck Laci's toy setups, or Laci's coloring, or anything else Laci is doing. We call her Baby T-wreck. She know exactly how to push her sister's buttons.

5. Several times a day, she lifts her shirt, points at her belly button and says, "Belly!" She is also obsessed with finding everyone else's belly button, even if you don't want her to.

6. She is very, very loud. Almost all of the time. Except, she recently discovered whispering and likes to whisper animal sounds. And then laugh loudly at her ability to whisper.

7. She is still cutting teeth, several at once. Her gums have been a red, swollen mess for over a month and we are both ready to be done with teething for a while.

8. She is terrified of horses, but loves to ride her rocking horse at home. She has even started trick riding by standing on the pony instead of sitting.

9. She has started to act shy around new people she doesn't know very well. She looks down and then tries to peek up through her eyelashes all covert-like.

10. Other than horses and strangers, she is pretty fearless. She will climb anything and use whatever is available as a stool to climb higher.  And she is busy, busy, busy.  I swear she never stops moving unless she's asleep.  For example, all these pictures were taken within a window of ten minutes and involve multiple locations, props, and activities.  All of her own choice of course.

11. She still loves spaghetti most, but bacon and sausage are close behind.

12. Her hair is crazy and getting so long but she hates having it done. So, we stick to the sprout on top of her head most of the time. It's easy and just fits her crazy little personality so well.

13. She loves music and loves to dance. Her signature move is to bob her head up and down and then twirl in circles. I have no idea where she got it.

14. She loves to make us laugh by being cute and silly. And she's pretty good at it.

15. She's become quite dramatic when she gets hurt and when things don't go her way.

16. She's obsessed with my phone, and technology in general.  I set a password on it and she broke the code this morning. Granted, it was an easy password, but still...she likes to delete apps and send gibberish texts that look like this, "dgjuyrfhjljhgskkjgdf."

17. She is completely attached to her blanket and bottle and even though the pediatrician recommends getting rid of her bottle, I have absolutely no plans to do so in the near future. When she wants her bottle, she says, "me me me" and pats the refrigerator door.

18. She is stingy with her kisses but gives a good high five and fist bump.

I could probably go on for days about her.  We sure do love our little girl with the big personality. I love her cute little baby body and wish she could stay this age forever. She is mostly tons of fun, with just a little bit of difficult thrown in for good measure. But I also look forward to seeing her grow and getting to know the little person she is becoming.

Happy half birthday little one!