Life is Wonderful

It's late, and instead of trying to go to sleep (like I should be) I'm laying in bed writing this post because I am feeling so fully blessed by my family that if I don't write about them, I may just explode! I'm not even sure I know where to begin!
Brendon, he's gotten himself sucked into my "girly" show and now we've been spending a couple nights a week watching "Ugly Betty" on Netflix. I look forward to our evenings together on the couch watching TV. I love hearing his laugh and he cracks me up when something romantic happens on screen and he sighs a big, girly "Awwww!" Honestly, I don't know how I could possibly love this man anymore, and yet it seems I do, a little more everyday.
Sophia has been my little shadow. She wants to be a part of everything I do and LOVES learning new "big girl" activities like how to unload the dishwasher or fold laundry. She's recently started making her bed (and occasionally mine) in the mornings and she loves bringing me into her room to proudly show off what she's done. I love watching the way her eyes light up when she talks and how she'll repeat her sentence using a sign if she realizes she used a word she knows the sign for. We recently purchased a baby sign language DVD to use with Amelia, and Sophia has really caught on to the signs. After just one viewing she could remember all the signs and now she uses them and tries to string together sentences (Baby Eat Mama Milk for example). Tonight I read her two bedtime stories, told her I'd be back to check on her later, I promised to sing her lullaby ("You Are My Sunshine") when I came back. Even though she was asleep when I went in, I sang to her. I'm so proud of how she is growing up and I love the wonderful, caring and kind little girl she is becoming.
Lily. First let me sidetrack a little and say this: Three kids is HARD! I am really struggling with making sure they are all getting the love and attention they need without feeling like I'm letting one slip. Lily tends to be the one that "slips" the most for no other reason than she is so easy going! She plays and listens so well that as far as basic needs and discipline goes she seems to require the least amount of attention. But my Lily is a sensitive Mama's girl and she needs LOTS of hugs, kisses, high fives, and tickles to keep her happy. Its a constant struggle for me to find some sort of balance but I'm working on it everyday. Lily has fallen madly and deeply in love with "Lala" aka Elmo. She found a stuffed animal/backpack Elmo and he has been attached to her body at least 75% of everyday for the last  2 weeks! It's adorable. She has also potty trained in the last 2 weeks! She is still wearing pull-ups or diapers at night but is in undies all day! I'm so proud of her and try to make a HUGE deal out of every successful trip to the potty. She loves to be read to, her favorite book is called "Forty-seven Beavers on the Big Blue Sea" by Phil Vischer. She is such a sweet little girl with a big heart and she feels everything to her core, all her emotions are BIG.
Amelia is 5 1/2 months now and today we discovered her first tooth! She is a lovey baby and I suspect she will have a similar temperament as Lily. She's very laid back and almost always happy. She rarely cries and if she does it's usually because she's hurt or scared. She's been experimenting with her vocal range lately, particularly her higher range. Amelia loves when I sing to her, laughs when I dance and is a big fan of caressing my face at every opportunity.

I wish there was some way to express to my husband and girls just how much I love them but words seem to fall short of being able to capture my feelings. My family is my world, I would do anything for them and I am LOVING everyday we are together and tonight I'm laying here thanking God for blessing me with such a beautiful, wonderful life. I'm so thankful for all the blessings in my life but for whatever reason tonight I felt particularly overwhelmed with love for my husband and beautiful daughters. If you made it this far, thank you for reading!! Goodnight!

A Family Fun Night

Here are my loves enjoying the nice weather (finally) at "Kites in the Park" night last week! Sophia didn't seem too into flying the kite (she had more fun decorating it) but Lily loved it and held onto the kite almost the whole night! Amelia spent the evening hanging out with her Nini, watching the kites and snoozing in Nini's arms.

Oh no they didn't!

Yes, yes they did and this lovely image is what I walked into a couple of weeks ago (sorry for the crappy pic, it was taken on my phone). That morning Sophia & Lily apparently decided that the literally 10 - 15 coloring books, drawing pads and construction paper were just not enough. They needed to spread their artistic talents around and so they took to the dresser with black, green and purple crayons. I had no idea they had done anything wrong until I went into their room later that morning to collect dirty laundry. OH. MY. GOSH. When Sophia saw me notice their "artwork" she immediately blamed it on Lily. Thing is, Sophia has been on this kick of putting x's all over her coloring books, she x'd out a picture of a dog once because Lily is afraid of dogs. So I knew that it wasn't just Lily. I may not have been there but I know my kids coloring "styles" and I saw them both on this "masterpiece". After a stern talk about only coloring on paper I informed them that there would be no more coloring in the bedroom and that they had lost all coloring items for a week. Then we got some Magic Erasers and I had the kids clean up their mess. The dresser is all cleaned up now and Mommy learned an important lesson: Never leave crayons in the unsupervised hands of a 4 year old and a 2 year old.

I Am So NOT Ready For This!

Sophia starting Kindergarten that is! Last week we had "dabble day", where the incoming Kindergarteners get to "dabble" in the classrooms, meet the teachers and enjoy a few fun activities. My understanding or assumption really, was that the parents would be included in this fun as well. Want to know what I spent an hour and a half doing that morning????  I spent my morning sitting in tiny chairs, around a small, kid-sized table with Brendon and about 5 other parents cutting out shapes with tiny, kid-sized scissors. Doesn't that sound like fun????

Anyway, Sophia is seriously excited about going to Kindergarten, it's the focus of many of our conversations lately. She will tell me several times a day how excited she is and tells everyone she sees "I'm going to Kindergarten!!" It's cute and awesome that she is so excited but, as I'm sure any Mom can attest to, it's a little sad seeing my first baby growing up so fast. 

We have also discovered that Sophia has 2 loose teeth! Her two front, bottom teeth are super loose and one of her adult teeth has already pushed through the gums. On Friday I was scolded (by Sophia) for putting apple slices in her lunchbox and instructed not to do that again until her teeth came out.

Belly Bubbles

So lately Lily has been trying to express her needs to me. She still gets her words mixed up though and it's so darn cute! For example she spends much of our morning telling me she's "thirsty" which either means she needs a drink or that she's hungry. She tells me something is cold when she means hot and hot when she means cold too. This morning she stood in the living room excitedly telling me that she had bubbles in her belly button (hence the above picture) which I can only figure she meant her stomach was growling or maybe she had gas, either way it is TOO. CUTE.

Have You Ever?

Have you ever laid in bed at night, just thinking about your day and feeling like the luckiest person alive?
Last night was one of those nights for me. Most nights I lay in bed, say my prayers, thank God for all that He has given me, and drift off to sleep; but last night was one of those nights where I felt truly blessed and I started thinking of all the reasons why:
I have an amazing husband and we have an awesome relationship, my girls are happy, healthy and all around wonderful, we have a home that is filled with love, laughter, and often with family and friends as well, we have jobs, and we have food in the cupboard. All of that alone is enough to make anyone feel blessed and thankful. However,  I have also been blessed with a wonderful family, I have a great relationship with my mom, my dad, my step-mom, and my siblings, I have great grandparents, aunts and uncles and I am close with many cousins (even more now thanks to Facebook and someday I'll write a post about our annual camping reunions). I am also blessed to have an awesome and amazing "in-law family" and I feel lucky that they love me and that we have such great relationships.
As I closed my eyes last night and drifted off to sleep those were the things I thought about and I felt overwhelming happiness.

This Picture says so much. Photo taken by my brother Jay Austin

I May Be Crazy...

For starting a blog now. I mean I JUST had a baby 6 weeks ago, just started working again (which, for me, means watching the lovely Miss E), plus caring for my 4 year old Sophia and my 2 year old Lily, my hubby Brendon, housework...why now? Well, I am crazy, but also because writing is a wonderful relaxer for me, one that I have abandoned for far too long.
When I was a kid I used to write everyday. Sometimes it was a journal entry, sometimes it was a story and sometimes it was a bunch of randomness because even the very act of writing something, anything, helps me to relax.
I am a work-at-home mommy, I spend my days with four pretty entertaining kids, and there must be somebody out there (besides my wonderful friends and family, though I hope they will read this as well) that find them as amusing as I do!
So who are these wonderful little people I hang out with all day? Well, first there is Sophia, she is 4 and could be described as strong-willed and dramatic some days, though mostly she is extremely loving, kind and helpful and she has an awesome sense of humor! Her latest obsession is gardening. I want to know why God gave me a child who loves plants and wants so desperately to grow everything possible when I can't keep a plant alive for more than 2 seconds? Thankfully, both my mom and my mother-in-law are amazing gardeners and so, I will leave the gardening lessons to them and try to learn along with my little girl.
Next is Lily, she is 2 and the sweetest little imp you will ever meet. She has amazing blue eyes, is super friendly, silly and imaginative. I swear this kid can make a toy out of anything, at dinner her utensils become "people" and they talk and sing all through the meal with me occasionally interrupting to remind her to stop playing and eat her dinner. Lily loves life, you can see it in her eyes and hear it in her little voice. She lives in a world of sunshine and rainbows, where she skips along through the clouds, singing a happy song. We call this "Lily La La Land" and I want to live there.
Then there is my daycare darling, Miss E. She is also 2 and her current nickname is "Captain Obvious" as she loves to tell you everything that is happening even if you can see it for yourself. It cracks me up when she comes running up to me trying to tell me all the things that are happening, her eyes light up and she stumbles over her words because she just can't talk as fast as her brain is working. Gosh, it's cute! She loves my girls and my girls love her like a sister! When she arrives in the morning the girls greet each other with hugs, and E's dad is lucky to get a kiss goodbye before they are off playing and giggling together. E is so loving and will run up and give me hugs and kisses randomly throughout the day and it melts my heart when she says "I love you Heidi".
Finally, is the newest addition to the gang, Amelia, or as she known as for now: "Baby Amelia". Each of the girls says it differently: Sophia says "Baby Amelia", Lily's sounds more like "Baby Mia", and E really enunciates "Baby Meeleeah". Amelia is 6 weeks old and is a great baby (aren't they all though?). She sleeps well, nurses well and when she smiles, you just can't help but smile right back.
So those are my girls and they will most certainly be the stars of this blog. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do and I look forward to sharing my joys, frustrations, and everything in between.