Don't blink

Today I realized in more ways than one that my precious baby girl.... is no longer a baby girl. The kids and I had to run to Wal-mart for a few things, and I always browse the baby's section for clearance items. They had little girl's shirts on sale for $3, so I thought I'd sift through them and buy a few for Hannah. Hannah is pretty tall for her age, and her 4T's are starting to be a little tight on her, so I made a mental note to buy 5T's. After searching for several minutes, I realized I couldn't find any 5T's. Why? Because Wal-mart's 5T's are in the "little girl's" section, not the baby section. (Cry!) I can't believe how fast the past four years (and 3 months) of her life have gone by.

Fast forward about fifteen minutes as we're waiting in line to check out. I hear the inevitable "Mommy, I need to go potty." I got out of line to take her to the bathroom, with my buggy full of unpurchased items, and- of course- Austin. There was a clerk standing outside the bathroom who told me I wasn't allowed to take my cart into the bathroom, and I didn't want to unbuckle Austin and try to wrangle holding him still while Hannah when potty. So... I stood outside the bathroom with the baby (and the buggy) while Hannah went by herself inside. She came out a few minutes later, and in her very best big girl voice told me that she had pottied, wiped, flushed, AND washed her hands ALL BY HERSELF! I looked down at my sweet grown-up girl, and it seems like yesterday that I was still changing her diapers.

Fast forward to later in the evening, after Daddy made it home from work. We were standing in the kitchen discussing our days, when Hannh came up behind me. I hear this little voice say "Excuse me, mommy. Can I have a drink?" Somewhere along the lines, my precious baby girl has grown up to not only wear "big girl" clothes, go potty by herself, AND practice good manners.

I am so proud of the little girl that she has become. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful, smart, little girl in my life. I can't wait for her to get older, so we can continue developing our mommy-daughter bond. And at the same time, I'm saddened that the time has already gone by so fast. I can close my eyes and vividly remember how my heart swelled so much it hurt the first time I heard her take her first breath. I can still feel the teeny little grip of her hand around my fingers while I fed her. And yet, I've blinked and the time has flashed by so quickly. My tiny baby has become an independent little girl, and I'm proud to know her.

It's the little things.....

Since my husband and I both work forty to fifty hours a week, we find it hard to spend good "quality" time with the kids, doing good "quality" activities. I carry a lot of guilt with not being able to do arts and crafts, library story time, playdates with friends, art museums, and a whole plethora of other fun things with my kids on a daily basis. Last weekend, we decided to have an impromtu picnic at a local park. Hannah excitedly helped me pack our picnic basket. She was given the important job of labeling the sandwich bag of each sandwich so we would know whose was who's. (I LOVE watching her make her H's and A's. And let's not forget D-for daddy, and M-for mommy! ) I packed grapes and wheat thins, napkins, and drinks, and off we went. We spread out a blanket in a grassy area that just happened to be in the shade, and enjoyed our little dinner. Afterwards, we let the kids play on the playground. We happened to be the only ones there (SCORE!), so Hannah and Austin had full reign of the playground. Yup-I let my one year old climb UP the slide.

All four of us took turns sliding down the slides, chasing eachother around, and swinging on the swings. And I realized, you don't have to visit museums, go on nature walks, or schedule elaborate craft activities to spend good quality time with your children. It's the little things that count. It's the little things that they'll remember. It's the little things that make me realize how lucky I am to be blessed with such a wonderful family. And it's the little things that make me feel like I really am a good mom.

Rawr!!!!!

We're awfully goofy, aren't we? :)

Today I was a mom

I saw something similar to this on another blog I follow, so I thought I'd adapt it and make it my own.


Today I Was a Mom


*I am woken up at 7 am by my children.
*I fixed two bowls of cheerios.
*I added extra cheerios to Hannah's bowl, because she said they weren't "even" with Austin's.
*I referreed a pillow fight.
*I kissed boo-boos as a result of the pillow fight.
*I actually used the phrase "Don't put that in the dog's butt!"
*I let the kids entertain themselves in the backyard by taking turns pouring cups of water on me.
*I folded a load of towels.
*I re-folded the load of towels after my kids UN-folded them.
*I re-folded them AGAIN after my kids un-folded them. AGAIN.
*I got to listen to my four year old say "I'm not your friend anymore!" after I told her she could NOT unfold said towels again.
*I picked up the living room. Twice.
*I went grocery shopping by myself for a change, and actually enjoyed my few moments of solitude while standing in the middle of Wal-mart.
*I sat down to indulge in a good book.
*I read three pages before interrupted by my wonderful sweet babies who wanted to play playdough.
*I separated the different colors of playdough and made sure each had a lid on it so they wouldn't dry up, after my kids got bored with it.
*I explained, once again, that there is no such things as monsters.
*I listened to the most precious sound in the world, my sweet children saying prayers with their daddy and me.
*I made sure everyone went potty.

*I kissed two sets of lips.

*I realized that I'm officially old, when I went outside and yelled at the kids next door to "turn it down before they wake up my children!"
*I sat down and relaxed for the first time today, at 9:30 tonight.


I love being a mommy.

Check out this website

Not much time tonight, as I'm completely whipped from working out, but I want to share this website.

http://www.givesmehope.com

Read it. I'll elaborate later.

It's so peacful in my house right now!!!!!!!!

It's 2 PM and it is completely silent in my house. The only sound is me hitting the keyboard. Why is it so quiet? Check out what the rest of my family is doing....

So, why am I the only one awake? Let me share what I've been doing for the past hour: I've picked up the random toys strewn around my living room, did some dishes, sorted some laundry, started a new load of laundry, picked up the random toys strewn down my hallway, consoled the dog (Austin has been picking on him all morning), picked up some toys that managed to find their way into my bathroom (do you see a pattern here?), picked up the dishes that my wonderful husband left on the coffee table after his lunch, drained the kiddie pool in the backyard and refilled it, picked up the toys in the backyard so we can cut the grass later, and put back the stuff that Austin decided to drag off my desk in the bedroom.

I guess I could try to take a nap now, but I'm kind of content to just sit here and enjoy the next hour or so of a quiet, clean house. I guess it's because I know that as soon as everyone wakes up, it'll just be messy all over again!

Our puddle walk today

See? I'm starting off on the right foot already! Here are some pics of the puddle walk we went on earlier today. Daddy wasn't with us, because he decided to go scuba diving this weekend. But, we had a blast anyway! Bonus- I got in about a mile of walking before it started raining so hard we had to come home. Of course, exercise wasn't the real reason I took the kids outside. I'm not gonna lie- I was purely looking for a way to run off a bunch of their energy so they'd nap extra long today. I really needed a nap. Hey-at least I'm honest!