My Little Girl Witout Little Curls

I know a little girl,

who's got no little curl,

but she's...

4 months old

almost rolling over from front to back,

wearing sz 2 or 3 diapers,

tipping the scales, weighing 11# 12 oz (but I think their scale is off),

got the yummiest cheeks,

wearing some 0-3 clothing, but mostly 3-6 months,

rockin' her entertainer while lovin' on her sissies,

got just a few spots where her hair is not quite as thick,

quite the talker-- she is a Copeland,

wearing her bangs in her eyes (because, seriously I can't cut my 4 MONTH OLD'S bangs),

rockin' some pretty cute hair accessories,

giving hints at her awesome giggle-- it's jut not quite full-blown,

loving tummy-time a bit more (but still wants to roll over to her back),

sleeping from 7:45pm 'til about 5am (though some nights it's more like 3 or 4) when she wakens to eat,

napping when the house is quiet-- so occassionally if much at all!,

loving her rotating bugs that hang above her swing,

enjoying her reflection,

a total joy to spend my days (and nights) with.

She really is a sweet little girl-- even though she's without the curls-- and I just can't get enough of her smiles, coos, jibber jabber, little giggles, long stares, teensy (sz 1) feet, dipmled elbows, or long lashes!

Thank you, M&M for the sweet blessing you are. I'm so incredibly honored and proud to be your mama!! Let's see where month 5 leads us--I'm sure it'll be an adventure!

Love, Mama

Tattoos and Babies

Disclaimer: The following post is about tattoos. I used to love drawing on myself when I was a child and I have been known to do it as a full-blown grown up. For most of my life I have composed my to-do lists on my left hand. I have drawn on my own children (because we were out of paper, just kidding), telling them that I was giving them a tattoo. I see no harm in this. And for those of you who think that growing up to get real tattoos is crazy/dangerous/stupid/etc... I have yet to go out and get a real tattoo. So, please don't think that just because I encourage/allow self-expression by drawing art on hands and feet, legs and arms, that I am going to end up with crazy tattooed teenagers. Even so, I really have no beef with the art as long as it's done safely. If I end up with tattooed adult children someday-- well, then that was their choice and I'm fine with it! So let's see just how crazy today got!

What you didn't hear or see heard and saw at my house today:

Me to Peach: Sure, go ahead and give yourself a tattoo. Mommy'll help you draw that flower in just a minute.

Brownie to M&M: Oh you need a tattoo, too. It's otay, I tan (can) draw it.


Me trying to hide my laughter when I saw what Peach had done: Tee-hee-hee, that looks beautiful, honey.
Peach to me: Thanks, mama!

Aging

Aging is a process-- I can appreciate that.

It's something that happens over time and causes us to act, feel, function and most obvious, look different. Laugh lines, wrinkles, sun spots, and stretch marks have made their way onto many peoples' skin. Some adults pour money into that non-existent fountain of youth, while others accept these little badges of time and wear them proudly (is that the right word?). After all, they do usually represent many significant memories from years ago.

Laugh lines are memories of good times. Years of hearty chuckling.

Days that turned into nights because the comedy and conversation were so tantalizing you just had to stay up.

Every time your toddler repeated something she shouldn't have and you couldn't hide your snickering.

That evening you spent watching old home-movies with your family.

And how about those wrinkles-- showing all the millions of emotions you've experienced in a lifetime.

When you cried and cried after scraping your knee during a game of tag.

Those late nights you were scared to come home because you missed curfew and you knew mom or dad (or both) would be sitting, waiting on you.

Remember all those late nights in college: whether you were lounging and laughing with friends or rubbing your forehead as you tried to figure out what exactly Orwell had on his mind when he wrote "Animal Farm."

And you can never forget the roller-coaster of emotions you felt upon meeting your newborn baby. Excitement turned into pure joy; smiles sometimes morphed into tears; tears wept over a feverish child in the middle of the night; pride you feel when they walk, talk, wave goodbye to you from the school bus or walk at graduation or maybe down the aisle; and of course when you meet their first-born.

Yes, wrinkles are the road map of our lives.


Don't forget sun-spots--while not the most attractive tan, they represent summers spent outdoors and in the sun.

Pools.

Gardening with Grandma.

Running in the sprinkler.

Cancun or Palm Beach.

Tending to crops.

Selling lemonade.


And how about stretch marks? Women, I'm talking to you.

Some of us have them and most of us would trade them in for that tummy we sported 10 years ago; but I know we wouldn't trade them for those precious 9 months or the prize we got at the end.

I, like millions of women, ignore them when I look in the mirror; while at the same time, I consider them my badge from the war my body went through for 40 long weeks.

Oh, and each time I woke up nauseous, felt the baby kick, saw my belly grow another centimeter, or devoured a piece of chocolate cake just because I could --yes, I know that's how you get stretch marks!

These facts of aging, though not easy to accept, are not as bad when you look at them from a proud, badge-wearing point-of-view. But what I can't seem to accept, nor do I think I ever will, are little, gray hairs on my head.

Think about it.

Keep thinking about it...



See, you can't think of any good reason they show up, can you? Well, neither can I. I HATE them. Yes, HATE is a strong word, but when we're talking about gray hairs I think I can say HATE, HATE, HATE!!!

There's no memory associated with graying. Seriously, the only memory-like quality about gray hairs goes a little somethin' like this:

You're looking in the bathroom mirror while brushing your teeth; and you spot one. You grab the tweezers and inch closer to the mirror (or pull out your super-jumbo, well-lit, crazy-magnified little mirror) looking for that little scoundrel. You find him (because it's obviously a him) trying to camouflage himself with his perfectly-colored and in-tact friends. You pull him out from hiding and pluck him out of your beautiful, young scalp. You hold the tweezers under the light to double-check the grayness-- making sure you didn't just pluck a highlighted or blond hair. And then the truth, or the gray root, is staring at you. You can see where the change occurred; where your natural hair color meets up with the gray. And then you wonder, Why? What happened on that day that made you decide to start growing gray? You scoff at the ridiculousness of it all and toss that hair down the drain (or maybe in the trash), and voila, you're gray-free (or at least you think you are because you really don't have time to check for any more-- but you put that on your to-do list for Saturday right between shopping at Target for hair dye and taking a nap-- HA).

Sound about right-- I'm mainly talking to those of you who are not blond because I heard you blondies don't really notice those gray hairs (remember when I mentioned double checking suspected gray hair to make sure it wasn't blond? ).

Well, I have no love for those gray hairs. There's nothing about them that says, sweet memories helped to build you. I'm sure someday I'll be embarrassed when I have to call a plumber (no one named Joe, though) to fix my bathroom sink, and he comes down to report how the plumbing experience went by explaining, Well mam, it looks like the old folks who lived here before you must have lost a lot of hair while they brushed their teeth because all I could find are huge clumps of little, gray hairs.

I'll comment on how strange that is and he'll leave here non the wiser. And I'll run off to Target!

More Veggie Recipes

Since I know you are all racking your brain trying to figure out some new veggie recipes so you can cook like me (by including one or two veggie recipes in your weekly rotation so that you can a) save money, and b)cut out some of the meat from your diet), I've decided you need to see my most recent tasty and totally, deliciously satisfying veggie ensembles.

I know, this may not look like much (in fact it may be a bit unappetizing); but if you look real closely and suck it up (you know, if you're having trouble thinking about eating this odd looking dish) you'll find some very healthful ingredients. Some of my very favorite foods are in this gosh darn good meal-

fresh-from-the-(no pesticides used)-garden tomatoes {I used 4;chunked}

fresh-from-the (no pesticides used)-garden basil {I used bout 1/4 c, shredded}

red onion {I used about 1/2 an onion, sliced)

fresh mozzarella cheese {I used 1-8oz(?) pkg; chunked}

toasted (at 400, about 10 mins) bread chunks (from 1, day-old french loaf) that were lightly coated with EVOO (about 1/3 c) prior to toasting

and a perfect 2:1 mix (1/4c: 2T) of EVOO and Balsamic Vinegar

***************************************

1) chunk bread and toss to coat in 1/3 c EVOO; toast at 400 for 10 mins

2) meanwhile, cut up cheese, tomatoes, onion, basil and put in large bowl

3)mix up EVOO and Balsamic Vinegar

4) Take toasted bread and add to tomato mix

5)Toss Balsamic mix to coat the bread/tomato mix

6) Try not to eat it too fast!

**************************************************************************

My second new fav is a little veggie enchilada I threw together one day!

You chop up: 1 green pepper & 1 onion (or 1/2 if you're not a big fan), and saute it in some EVOO on medium heat.

Dump in a small (4oz) can of green chilies, 1 (15oz) can of black beans; drained, and 1 can (whatever size you wish) corn (feel free to use mexicorn, pinto beans, a red bell pepper; this recipe is easily adaptable to your tastes)

So you'll have a little something like this in your skillet.

Then you portion out some (however full you like your enchiladas) into your whole wheat tortilla

Roll up each tortilla and lay them seam-side down in a greased 9x13 baking dish. Pour on a can of green or red enchilada sauce and sprinkle some cheese on top.


Here I've put green sauce on the enchiladas and about 1/3 cup of a Mexican cheese blend.

Put it in the oven at 350 for about 20-25 minutes. No need to cover it.

Total need to devour it.

Blog Hop

Here is Brownie just four months ago while she was visiting M&M and me in the hospital. I just asked her what she was doing and she said, "Getting my nose in there."

Okay, honey. As always, we know that you live in your own little world. We sure do love you, though!!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

There's a reason I put both the not me's on the top of the page-- Duh, it's because my life is so full of these moments for me and the babes that I must include them both!

Well, there is quite a lot I so DIDN'T do this week, like--

stay up until 2 am reading The Shack-- you should NOT check out this book!

try out a new recipe for the best brownies, have them come out a little crispy (as in, stuck to the pan), and then eat them anyway-- you know, because I was too embarrassed to share them with company/friends!

When I went with my sis-in-law to her ob appointment, and was totally surrounded by many preggo bellies I DIDN'T start feeling the baby bug sneaking up on me. Goodness sakes, it's NOT like I was just like that, preggo with my big belly, just four months ago.

I really DIDN'T consider using my designated gym time (5pm right after hubby gets home) to shop at some of my fav stores. I DON'T have 3 gift cards left over from my birthday that I'm just dying to use but can't find time for shopping.

Speaking of being awesome about always doing the right thing with my health, I most certainly REFUSED to eat Quizno's twice this week just because I wanted to eat the Turkey Cabo-- yeah, NO need to try this awesome guacamole/chipotle, turkey/bacon love fest on wheat bread!

As for those kids of mine...

M&M really DOESN'T smell like rotten milk-- oops, maybe this one should go under what I DIDN'T do this week. She also DIDN'T take a much-needed nap with me today instead of going to Target for some necessities--oops, that's me again. Sorry!

Bug really DIDN'T refuse to come to me when she saw my friend, Becky. Becky DIDN'T humor us by picking up Bug and holding her for a while. Bug was totally NOT thrilled by this gesture. She then DIDN'T proceed to throw a horrible, awful fit if I even tried to pry her from Becky's arms. And Becky most certainly DIDN'T have to walk us to our car with a cranky Bug in her arms just so we could get out to the parking lot safely.

At the end of the day when I tuck the girls in, I ask them, What was your favorite part of the day? Brownie most certainly DID NOT simply repeat the day's events and claim it all as her favorite part. My favwut part was waking up, eating oatmeal, playing with my sissies, eating lunch, taking a nap, playing outside, daddy not coming home (he was out of town this night), taking a bath, and going to bed. Oh, honey, you win the originality award!

That Peach of mine probably DIDN'T eat so many Peaches for breakfast that she is living up to her nickname (again, since I let her eat these, maybe this should be under my Not Me's).

She also DID NOT put her sister, Brownie, in a strangle-hold because she was just tryin' to tell her somethin' MOM!

And NONE of my children love to dance around our house in their birthday suits. In fact, they despise it so much that when one starts doing it, the others DO NOT immediately strip down and shake what I gave them!

So, what DIDN'T you do this week?

What do these pictures...

all have in common?

If you guess correctly, I may just have to do a give-away.

Leave me a comment telling me what you think the answer is.

If you are the first to guess correctly you will receive your own tasty lip-balm like the one pictured above.

Rain, Rain, (PLEASE DON'T) Go Away!

Summer's in Kansas can sometimes be daunting; the tornadoes reporting for duty on a weekly basis combined with the awful heat + humidity often makes for a not-so-fun time to be had outdoors.

But SUMMER 2009 has been quite mild-- in fact it's been quite delectable. I can't recall (although my husband can recall a few times, but whatever) a tornado siren sounding in our area since...

... well, I'm not sure.

I think we've had only a couple, if any, days over 100 degrees, and that usually included the heat index.

Recently, our little area of Kansas located just east of the beautiful Flint Hills has seen some scrumptious (according to our usually scorched soil) rain. I think the Kansas River might actually have fewer sand bars that could be scrapped across by a paddle boat now. Anyway, with this rain has come a bit of a cool front, and all I have to say is I'm so glad mother nature finally listened to my request:

Please, please, please will you cool the temps so I can open my windows; make sure to eradicate most of that humidity that feels like it's sucking my breath away from me; and for goodness sake please just give us a little breeze-- no strong winds though, okay?

And with this great, though rainy, weather we

pulled on our goulashes

posed with our cute goulashes

explored a drain pipe gushing out a waterfall

got super excited about feeling rain

and splashed in some great little puddles.

So, for the first time in a long time ever, I'm happy to say that I loved our (unusual)Kansas weather this summer.

It sure made for some nice memories with my girls!

A Walk Down Memory Lane

In light of some recent tantrums events, I've decided to take a stroll down memory lane. These past 4 1/2 years have flown by, and there's really nothing like seeing my little girls grow up while going through some of my favorite pictures.



This was taken just a few months ago, like literally a month before M&Mwas born. I can't pinpoint what it is exactly that makes me love this picture, but perhaps it could be the fact that Peach's face is all but completely covered, Brownie is chillin' in her Dora hat and Bug looks as if she's done something ornery and is running away from the scene. That, and I just adore snow pictures.

This picture is not too far back having been taken a few weeks after M&M's birth. I simply love the delicious position she is in. Of course she concocted this contortion all on her own.

Ah, this one tugs at the heart strings. Here is a 13 month old Peach getting ready to lay on on her new baby sister Brownie. True love from the start.

This one just captures that sweet time I had with Peach. This was one of the last days I had as a mom of one girl (ie, I wasn't preggo yet).

This picture says a lot! Taken shortly before or after Brownie's arrival (I'm not sure which) one can see that my sweet little girl, Peach, is eating chocolate, probably late at night--that doesn't happen anymore. That white paper behind her has a recipe on it. When I was new to mothering and being a wife, I used to spend quite a lot of my time on allrecipes.com looking for the most awesome concoctions on the planet. I would then simply print them off and take them to the kitchen to cook. If we liked the dish, I kept the paper in a file-- if we didn't much care for the dish I would simply toss the paper. And this my friends is where I got the majority of the recipes I cook with today-- having tweaked them over time to oficially call them my own now. If you look a bit deeper in the picture you'll see glasses sitting out on the counter--we don't even use those anymore. They might be in our cabinets or we may have sold them in a garage sale. I'm not really sure. The last little thing in there-- you see that slice of orange sitting next to the glasses? That would be a container of Clorox wipes-- which I now know better not to use (very often). OH HOW FAR I'VE COME!!

I just love how Bug looks in these pictures. She's folded and scrunched like she's still in the womb-- and I just love it when babies do this. She was a mere 2-3 days old in these pictures.

Oh, sweet Brownie kissing on her baby sis. Brownie was about 15-16 months old and Bug was the victim recipient of such lovin'.

Another heart strings tugger. A 3 month old Peach sits nestled against her daddy. Doesn't this picture just scream, Daddy is comfort!"

I love how a little newborn Brownie has her head popping out of this sea of blanket. And I love her hair and cheeks.

Peach as a newborn. Brownie as a newborn.

Bug as a newborn. M&M as a newborn.

So for those of you asking, "Did they all have so much hair when they were born?" now you know. Yes, my children came out looking like they were in the wig business while still in utero!

Here we have Brownie and Bug at about 3 weeks old wearing the same outfit. I've always loved posing them in the same outfits at about the same age just to see similarities. And while it's easy to see that Bug is the most different looking among my 4 kiddos (even though she's still very similar looking), here I think there's quite the resemblance.

And here we are with each girl shortly before turning 4 months. While the bookends (Peach and M&M) appear to have not lost an ounce of hair, it's plain to see that the books (Brownie and Bug) hit the 3 1/2 month mark and started to sport the bald look. So I'm guessing that M&M will continue to look like a little Elvis baby with her awesome, dark hair. Do you notice how Peach and M&M have those lines coming down from the bridge of their noses to outline their plump cheeks; yet, Brownie and Bug have smooth skin? How funny-- I've never noticed this until now.

Okay, my mood has improved. My children are totally sweet-- while I know this, I just needed a little reminder. Man, I'm so glad that I'm a compulsive picture-taker of such sweet subjects. How fun this trip has been!

Finding My Inner Debbie Downer

Warning: The following post is intended for mature audiences only-- even if it wasn't written by a mature mama.

Believe it or not, I log onto Blogger just about everyday. Most of the time I catch up on other blogs- totally ignoring the fact that I haven't posted in quite a while.

We have been oh so busy. I have been oh so tired. The kids have been oh so crazy.

July and August brought on a whirlwind of emotions and that alone can tire a gal out. Not to mention that on top of my daily routine of cleaning floors, planning meals, brushing the dog, folding laundry, feeding kids, changing diapers, and tripping over toys; I've also been breaking up fights, listening to scream after scream after scream, massaging my own neck, rubbing my temples, pleading with God to make me strong enough to get through the next minute without raising my voice, and trying to cope and get through the baby/toddler/preschool hood years without any more gray hair.

But I'm tired of just trying to get through. I'm a life is short, don't take a minute for granted kind of gal and I want to be the best mama I can be; right now I feel as if I'm falling short of my expectation and my girls' expectations. I know this happens to nearly every mom, but I just feel the need to vomit it all here in this post.

My life used to be so unstructured and carefree. I took each day as it came and rarely planned a thing. A few years ago I was more than happy to trade it in for a life full of giggles, hugs, kisses, hair-braiding, hand-holding, breast-feeding, and the sweet words, "I love you, mama." I even knew there would be several late nights/early morning--depending on how you look at it- throw-up sessions, sibling rivalry, potty-training, errand-running, time-outs and temper tantrums. But right now I just feel like this season of life is something I never could have imagined.

I have been blessed with four amazing daughters who have taught me more than I ever could have imagined. Each time I've had a baby, I pretty much already knew, though not necessarily decided, that I really wanted another. I mean, they are simply beautiful, perfect, innocent, gems of baby cuteness-- how could I resist?

I was even feeling this way shortly after M&M's birth-- even more so when the doctors told me that I should never have another pregnancy. Oh, there's nothing to make me want to do something so badly like somebody (who wears a white coat, nonetheless) telling me I can't-- I'm a rebel like that. HA.

Even so, once I found out that I was okay health-wise earlier this month, I still thought that maybe in the future another baby we'd have. And I guess I'm still teetering on that side of the fence. But really, who knows what the future holds?

What I never imagined in my wildest dream is what it would be like to have a young infant, a toddler in full-swing of the terrible two's, a very strong-willed child exiting the terrible two's soon, and a smarty pants who's about to turn four but thinks and acts more like a fourteen-year old. Oh, my heavens. It's really created a unique environment for us and I can't say I'm the biggest fan some of the time.

While I wouldn't trade the crazy moments where I'm breast-feeding M&M, shouting to Bug," I said LET GO OF YOUR SISTER'S HAIR," comforting Peach because she was another victim of Bug's acting out, all while listening to Brownie scream in seriously ear-piercing decibels over in time-out---ahem...

...I could use a serious sanity break from it all. I know there are other moms out there who have several young children at home-- how do you do it?

How do any of us do it? I don't care if you are a single mom, a working mom, a SAHM, a retired SAHM, a foster mom, any kind of mom-- how do you find a break to collect your thoughts. Decompress. Take a deep breath. Lower your blood pressure? Sometimes I wonder if all of the other moms out there, like me, think to themselves, Oh man, I hope that when she has kids one day she gets one just like her. You know you do!

I tend to learn as I go, but I guess I'm just too old to learn new tricks. I've tried deep-breathing.
Living minute-by-minute. Praying. Crying. Taking walks. Now I'm trying a tried and true friend, writing. I just feel stuck. That's the only way I can describe it-- just stuck. And yes, I've already considered changing my name to Debbie Downer.

You can judge me all you want, but frankly I won't care. My children's opinion is what I'm most concerned about. I don't want them to look back on their childhood with ill feelings.

I'm sure I'm making a mountain out of a molehill here, but right now it feels like Pike's Peak to me. Lord knows I could never climb that darn mountain unless I took it one step at a time and climbed ever so slowly. I suppose that's how I can live the moments I'm sharing with my children now-- one step at a time. Even living the good and peaceful moments one step at a time or, minute by minute as I like to say, would help one to savor those precious moments.

I love my children for who they are. I cherish all of the moments I have with them, even the bad ones-- because those are still waaaaaaaaaayyy better than not having them at all.

School will start in two weeks as will MOPS. Life will find a new routine with different stresses and different forms of bliss. Three birthdays will come early this fall, followed by football games on t.v., Saturdays at the pumpkin farm, and lots of memories to be made around the dinner table and fireplace. And I know I'll look back on the past couple of months and wonder why I got my panties all in a twist about this little season of life.

Ah, C'est la vie!