Now She is Three

Three years ago today there was suddenly a pointy-headed screaming pink newborn in my life. I mean, I knew she was in there all along, but there's a disconnect between the squirming creature in your belly and this perfect (to you at least) baby in your arms. The whole process of her joining us out here was completely shocking to me; even so, it was one of the best things I've ever done, creating this perfect beautiful human.

Sure, those early days were not the easiest, but three years later my memories are mostly of the fond, rosy variety.

A year later she was a mobile, smiley, adorable not-so-much-baby. It really is amazing and not quite fair how quick they go from squirming pink blobs to little people.

Fast forward yet another year, and there was a talking, running toddler in my house.

Today. Today there is a three year old in my house. Three is so vastly different from two, which was vastly different from one, and so on, yet, she's still my same girl, one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen in real life, the person who daily makes me glad I decided to become her mom.

Happy Third Birthday to my sweet little Bitty (even if you aren't so little any more)!

I'm freaking out a little

Today is my baby's last day of being two years old! How did this happen?

Also, my actual baby is now mobile. I put her down on her blanket last night, left the room to use the restroom, and came back to find her halfway across the room, pushing against a chair and yelling because she couldn't go any further (she scoots backwards by pushing her feet and aiming with her head).

These two are growing up much faster than the rate with which I am comfortable.

Nice 'Stache

We had a very 'stache-tastic birthday party for Aaron this weekend, and some more photos and details are coming soon, but I couldn't resist posting these really quick while I had almost one second:

Yeah. We had fun.

Party Time

I posted a really whiny post here yesterday that was eaten by Blogger being down, but I'm not going to repost it. I got out what I needed to vent, and it was pretty boring anyway.

In the meantime, we're in full-on party throwing mode in our house and Aaron even took the day off to get the house ready and supplies purchased so we can get down to business and get this party thrown.

Our only complaint? Our anticipated sunny, clear day is going to now be cold and rainy. We had planned on yard games and wearing all the kids out by letting them run around the yard. Instead we had to come up with alternate, indoor activities. So, I ran to the craft store today and picked up a big roll of paper and a few hand puppets. We're going to tape the paper to the wall and let the kids go at it with crayons. (We're about to paint the living room soon, so if they get a little on the wall we don't care too, too much.)

Here's hoping the party is successful, even if it's not going off according to original plan!

How to have an interesting (as in "interesting") month

- Have two people in your family (Aaron and Gabbie) with two May birthdays
- Throw Mother's Day in there
- Have one child totally outgrow a bunch of her clothes right before the weather changes over (thank goodness for capris and sweaters)
- Have another child decide to finally roll over (!) during the one month in which you really didn't want to have to deal with the whole de-swadding training process (I'll take it though. She's rolling over!)
- Have 5 reports due for work, plus a million and five meetings, and throw in a huge grant proposal for good measure; don't forget to work in time for everyone and their brother to review and give feedback, meaning that you have to be done approximately a week ago (but you haven't even started)
- Get news that your proposal for a presentation to a national conference was accepted. Mull over the fact that you're going to have to travel without your precious baby!
- Decide to throw two huge birthday bashes for the birthday boy and girl
- Hear from  your recently-moved-across-the-country sister that she's coming for a visit
- Still have to, on top of all of the above, function like a responsible adult and take care of your family too
- Find out that it's supposed to rain on the day of the first big birthday bash
- Also find out that the 80 degree temperatures are going away soon, to be replaced with highs in the 50s (oh, and it snowed just a couple weeks back)

I think I'm losing my mind, is what I'm saying.

My Kid is Awesome

Backstory: We went to a birthday party for a 2-year-old friend of Gabbie's on Saturday. She received a bag of party favors which included some Dora temporary tatoos.

On Saturday night, Gabbie was playing with her favor bag and took out that tattoos. I was playing around on the computer (Ticket to Ride FTW!) and so wasn't really paying attention. She walked up to Aaron and requested something quietly, to which he responded, "I'm sorry, what?" She repeated her request, at which time I was summoned to join in on the conversation.

"Repeat for your mom what you just said to me."

Sheepishly, Gabbie replied, "Will you put these on my butt?"

And then I fell over and died of laughter.

We couldn't quite get out of her what made her ask for tattoos to be applied to her butt, but we quickly squashed the idea because:

1) Ladies don't put tattoos on their butts (at least 2-year-old ladies don't) (We had been having conversations all day about how ladies don't lift their dresses up in public and sit so their underwear isn't showing, so it seemed like a good way to frame the conversation.

and

2) If we put it on her butt, she wouldn't be able to see it.

Point number 2 won her over, and a tattoo was applied to her hand, where she could admire it the rest of the evening.

So, in summary: my kid is awesome and hilarious.

Getting It Together, All Over Again

So. I got a new haircut on Friday (I still need to take a picture - I got about 7 inches taken off!), and I thought, "Hey! Bloggable Moment!" so I took a before picture in the stylist's chair. This picture will never, ever, ever see the light of day. Ever. Because even though I am at my pre-Sophie pregnancy weight, I still have a new mom shape around my mid-section. In fact, it looked like I was smuggling two of those floaty rings around my middle under my shirt (plus some inflatable somethings in my bra - these nursing boobs are humongous!).

Anyway, that was a definite turning point. I mean, I've been meaning to exercise and eat better, but you know, it's so much easier to not do those things, especially with a full time job and two little kids at home. Easier isn't cutting it any more. I have got to do something because I will be much happier with myself afterwards. I really want to be in a better shape, and with those two kiddos at home it's a hard thing to commit to working out and eating good for me food. In addition to the inspiration from that bad picture, one of the contestants on the Biggest Loser said something a while back that I've been trying to remember in all aspects of my life (and this is a paraphrase because I can't remember the exact words): "You can do whatever you want. You just have to do it."

Wise, wise words. I want to lose weight and get rid of the deflated baby belly, but it's not going anywhere unless I actively do something about it. So, I have some simple steps I'm using to get started. Here are my goals for this week:

1. Eat (at least) five servings of fruit and vegetables every day.
2. Don't eat anything I would be embarrased about eating (i.e. no more fast food, candy bars, soda).
3. If where I'm going is within reasonable walkable distance, walk there!
4. If it's not raining, turn off the tv and take the kids outside.

I'm hoping these simple steps will help get me moving in the right direction. I have a feeling that no matter what, I'll feel a lot better about myself by incorporating these things into my life. Next up: actual work outs. I'm all about easing into this to make it more sustainable, rather than going all gung-ho and then wearing myself out.

Counting My Blessings

Recently a co-worker and I were talking about balance and family. We both decided that we were more work-to-live as opposed to live-to-work type people, meaning work for us is secondary in importance to the rest of our lives. As much as I love my job, my family far outweighs my job in importance and enjoyment.

Later on the day of this conversation, Aaron and I were chatting after the girls had gone to sleep. Even though each of us occasionally gets a case of the “wants,” I realized not long ago that I have everything I ever wanted. And even though I’ve been feeling pretty miserable for the past few months, I also have never been happier, so it’s a weird dichotomy. Talking about our many blessings (as well as recent warmth and sunny days) has really helped my mood.

Every night when I say my prayers, I recount the things I am thankful for:

A beautiful, healthy family.

More than adequate shelter.

More than adequate food.

Good, stable jobs.

Lots and lots of love.

Seriously, what more could I ask for?

(Unrelated adorable baby picture: guess who has found her feet?

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