Randomness on a Thursday...

The sun is shining again.  We've had lots of rain and everything is so soggy.  But I'm grateful we don't have to deal with drought conditions like other areas of the country.  Just have to wait a couple of days for the yard to dry out! 

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Anna has begun throwing fits.  I'm usually pretty good at getting her out of them if I catch her fast enough.  She understands a great deal and can be calmed down with an appropriate word or two.  If I don't catch her in time, though, she makes this terrible face with her mouth wide open in a silent scream and her eyes all screwed shut tight.  Sometimes there are tears.  Sometimes not.  And then there's nothing for her but to wait it out and probably nurse her.  Usually it seems to happen because I can't figure out what she wants.  Or because what she wants is to grab a knife off the counter or swing from the chandelier or something equally dangerous.  (Though secretly, I think swinging from the chandelier might be fun....Shh!  Don't tell my little ones!)

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I have a sticky spot on the back of my shoulder where Sarah kissed me this morning during our pancake breakfast.  :)  And nope: I'm not changing my shirt!  There's nothing in this world I'd rather have than loving children and a sticky shirt.

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I have plants all over the place.  Stuff under my grow lights getting ready to be planted out this coming week, containers out on the back deck that I planted earlier this month, flowers from the store that need a home which were given to me by my children and husband for Mother's Day and my birthday.  Now that the rain has left us for a little while, I can probably sneak some time to go out and actually plant them all!  I didn't do much in the way of edible plants this year, though I did do my usual herbs and some very tasty cherry tomatoes.  Pretty much everything else (oh, and carrots.  I love home grown carrots) is just pretty :)   I don't usually allow myself pretty flowers because I expend my energy on the edible stuff.  This year, I've kind of gone exactly the opposite way.  Maybe my garden will be better next year for the break....

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We're planning a big trip this year which will require more time away from home than we've ever done before.  That means lots of extra planning.  But it also means lots of extra visiting with people we love and miss!  We'll be heading down to Sam's mom (Kissie Gramma) in Myrtle Beach and then out to Kentucky to visit my dear sister on her little farm.  I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this trip. 

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Just a couple more weeks and the kids will be finished with first grade.  Actually, they are already finished in every subject but history.  Somehow, that subject got a little left behind.  Not that we didn't study history this year, it just seems we dawdled over each topic.  Which is good, and I won't push for us to finish the book by the end of June but I will make it more of a daily priority so we can make sure we fit in as much as we can.  The kids get reading time in bed at night now, and they often choose stories about the people we've read about in our history lessons as their leisure reading.  Stuff like that always makes me feel like I'm actually doing an okay job at this whole schooling thing! 

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People keep asking me when I'm going to ween Anna.  True, she's 20 months old now.  And I know many people who work at weening their babies around the year mark.  But I think that comes from the convention of weening them off formula and bottles around 12 months and less from any real wisdom about breast feeding.  Of course you want your baby off formula as soon as possible.  It's crazy expensive.  And bottles are terrible for their little teeth.  But nursing has no such down sides.  And Anna shows no signs of wanting to give it up.

Sarah, my only other real breast feeding experience, weened herself at 11 months because I had to be away for a few days.  When I came back, she nursed once and then never wanted it again!  Anna is an entirely different experience.  I have no problem letting her take the lead.  If she's not ready, I won't push it.

She is looking towards potty training, though.  :)  She often tells me "Potty Momma?"  (I love that she calls me Momma most of the time!) One time she was insistent, but I thought she wanted to play in there so I told her no.  What a missed opportunity.  Ah well.  She sits on a potty seat on the toilet all the time but hasn't done anything there yet.  She grunts and groans and pretends, though, so I have hope that she'll play her way to getting the job done. 

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Thanks for checking in!  Talk to you soon.  :) And thanks, Jennie, for the cute "idea separation" idea!  I love it :)

Here's Anna :)

It's been a while since you've seen her here and my dear momma just emailed me a couple of photos that we caught in front of her amazing azaleas at the peak of their bloom.  So I thought I'd show you my favorite photo from the bunch:

Isn't she pretty?  I love that mop of curly hair on top, and her sweet little green eyes sure do know how to make me melt at just the right moment (you know, like when she's sneakily snatched a second cookie from Grandma's table...)


Well, pretty as this picture is, I couldn't leave it alone.  So I had some fun with it:

Below I've cropped it, played around with the color a little and gave it a vignette :)

Yeah... I'd hang her on my wall!  

Before I continue with the picture fun, I thought I'd brag a little.  She's learning the sounds of each letter (by site, mind you) just by sitting around with us at school time.  We use All About Spelling for our 1st Grade spelling curriculum and she quite happily recites the phonogram  cards right along with her sisters.  She used to echo them.  Now, for nearly all the letters and letter teams represented on the cards, she either leads them or says it with them.  So she knows her letter sounds and I didn't even have to hardly lift a finger. (This is me beaming! :)  Oh, she's also very aware that the printed words in her picture books hold the story.  She pretends to read all the time with her finger following along under the words.  I think I'm gonna have an early reader in her.

Back to the photo:

Then I used a fun little gadget called "60's" that made the photo look all faded and vintage like:

 Another quick aside: whenever I put a dress on this littler girl, her first instinct is to sway her hips back and forth, making the skirt swish across her legs.  Then, once she's satisfied with that, she does her best spin, until she's dizzy.  I just LOVE putting this girl in dresses.  She won't wear a hat, though.  She looks great in them for about 2 seconds, and then she pulls them right off, shaking her head at me with her serious eyebrows on, saying "no, no, mama..."

Okay, back to the photo!

Lastly, I re-cropped the original photo and ran it through a filtered black & white treatment which really made her little face pop out from those flowers, don't you think?   If I had this in Photoshop (which I might play with next) I'd let her green eyes be the only pop of color there.  I just love her eyes!  (Did I mention that?)

So there is our dear little Anna.  Sweetest little 20 month old I know :) 

Oh, and can I just mention one more amazing thing?  She's been doing this for about 5 or 6 months now.  Have you ever met a baby this age who can follow multi-step instructions?  Because she can and does, daily.  Instructions with two steps are simple for her.  Three steps and you have to make sure you have her total attention when you tell her what you want her to do, but she still can.  More than that, and even I have a hard time keeping up, so I figure it isn't really fair to hold her up to that standard yet.  

All right.  I'm done braggin' on my baby for now.  Sooner or later I'll put up a big 'ol post about the goings on of the bigger kids, but today was all about Anna.  Thanks for stopping by!  Oh, and do leave a comment letting me know which variation of the photo you like best.  I'm always looking for input like that!

 

The To-Do List...

"Mommy!" 6 year old Sarah shouted from across the house.  She was staring at my to-do list on the wall by my bedroom. 

"Yes, dear?"

"Don't forget to love your babies while they're still here before the turn into a grown-up!"




Thanks for the reminder, Sarah!  I'll do my best to not waste a minute :)

Our Pretty Daughters

Do try to fogive them for looking cold.... It was chilly out today!
Now, if their birthday had been yesterday, we would have had no troubles. Can you believe it was almost 80 out? :)

And yes..... That's a porch snowman in the background. It is technically still winter, my friends. So I can get away with it. Right?

Katie and Sarah

 

Sarah & Josie

 

Birthday Girls

 

Important Information from our Katie

Yes..... Goop is goopy. I'll never forget it.

Annas Favorite Game

Anna just loves crawling along side or after anyone who is willing to crawl on the floor with her. She giggles the whole way and often has to stop just to finish getting the laughter out. She especially loves to play this game with Sarah, who will crawl past her down the hall and then turn around and zoom right back the other way. Anna happily does her best to catch her, and she never gets frustrated that she doesn't.

It is simply adorable to watch, as she crawls her fastest, sometimes throwing her head back in fits of laughter, sometimes tucking her head down, catching her breath between giggles.

Oh. And she's a breath away from walking, too! Yesterday, while I was cooking dinner, Katie yelled out for me.
"Mommy!" she yelled, excitedly. "You're really gonna wanna come and see Anna and I!" (yes, she used the correct pronoun and everything!)
"What's up?" I called back, stirring at the stove.
"Just come and look!"
So I peaked around the corner and do you know what I saw? There was my oldest daughter holding the hand of my youngest daughter as the walked up the hall towards me, huge smiles on both their faces. I scooped them up in a big snuggly hug when they got to me, much to both their delights. I'm not sure how much a mother's heart can hold, but I tell you, mine was feeling pretty full!

My Very-Nearly-Almost-Gonna-Be-One-Year-Old

or Don't Blink Or You'll Miss It!
















or Don't Blink Or You'll Miss It!

 

A Quick Shot Of Our First Day Of School

 

And, um... Yes. Sarah did her own hair...

Sarah's Joy

I just love this picture.

 

For the Dads In Our Lives

Because it's in my head and I love this song




Enjoy!