Disgust

Edna is now the keeper of all our old digital photo folders. Which means our TV screen is now an instant walk down memory lane.  And last night when this picture popped up onto our oversized rotating photo frame I snort laughed, because it deserved it.

...obviously not the flowers she would have picked out for herself.

Katie’s Junior Prom
03-2006

of love

Spencer picked out, ordered and paid for his own Valentine’s present this year. Some sort of nerdy, computer-y something or another – components to build a computer for the television, err something.  He keeps trying to convince me that it defines awesome and life, as we know it, will never, ever be the same. I’m still unconvinced.

One of his selling points: All of our dvd’s will be stored in a hard drive that can be accessed with the click of a mouse. Meaning, I will never have to put another dvd in the dvd player. Thank goodness, because that was exhausting.

I rolled my eyes the entire time he placed his order. And just in case he missed the gesture, I cleared my throat for added emphasis and then rolled them again. He ordered anyway. It was two weeks before Valentine’s Day and I told him that he could expect to be gifted whatever it was he was ordering for his Valentine’s Day present. He agreed.  And then he threw a full out temper tantrum when the boxes arrived in the mail and I insisted that he wait for Valentine’s Day to remove the packaging tape. Had we not made an agreement?

Needless to say, Valentine’s Day was 12% about me and him and 88% about the nerdy, computer-y something or another that the FedEx man delivered in those boxes.  He named her Edna {the stuff in the boxes, not the FedEx man}. I was even tempted to reuse the ole’ if you love it so much why don’t you marry it line. But I was afraid that it would leave me a single, pregnant mother of two.  And nobody wants to be replaced, especially on Valentine’s Day.

In other Valentine’s Day news: Jace and I spent the morning volunteering at Brynlee’s Kindergarten V-day party and I only had to tell Jace 17+ times that if he didn’t stop wrestling Brynlee we wouldn’t be able to come to her school again. Oh, brothers.

And also, my daughter is a copy cat.

Remember how last year on February 14^th I made this video for Spencer:

Well this year, Brynlee made this video for him:

Is that not the cutest thing ever?

Way back in January she brought me the camera full of pictures she had taken and enlisted my help in making the video. She’d taken the pictures without my knowledge, picked the song, and told me how to organize the pictures to properly create the video. She had me burn the final product to a dvd and then she wrapped it up, tied a bow on top and hid it under her bed until Valentine’s Day without even mentioning as much as a hint to Spencer.

I laugh whenever I watch the video and see the shots with the little flowery piece of fabric in them. That’s her skirt. That she was wearing at the time she made the video. She took it off, took the needed photos, and then put it back on. Cracks me up, like she looked down noticed the skirt and had an epiphany; that was just the prop she was looking for!

And for the record, Brynlee loves Spencer more than she loves me. I was gifted a hand-me-down quarter machine bouncy ball that I believe originally belonged to Jace and an already eaten blue push pop!

Anyways, Valentine’s Day was a success. We decorated the dining room in pink and red, drank sparkling cider in wine glasses and ate cheesecake for dessert. And then we were in bed {asleep} by 9:00 pm.

…well, I was. I’m not sure how late Spence and Enda stayed up.

S+K

367 days + one couple + two letters + 33 different ways, taken on different days

happy valentine’s day, spence.
thanks for being mine.

12 on the 12th [02.12.12]

01.   Snuggle. The kids nestled on the couch waiting for breakfast. Brynlee’s been covering her face lately when I try to take her pictures. Lil’ stink.

02.  O’clock. And we’re off to church.

03.  Conversation Hearts. After our lesson I helped my Sunbeam class make Valentine’s picture magnets for their moms. A hand-me-down idea I borrowed from Bryn’s preschool teacher, Miss Lori.

04. Pile. Dirty dishes, dirty dishes. La la laaa, la la laaa.

05.  Booster. The kids got new car seats for Spence’s car. Apparently new car seats need broken in before officially being used. The kids sat in them all day.

06. Awesome. Spence’s Valentine's gift shipped in this box. Seriously, cool.

07.  Pregnant. I don’t know if I should jump up and down and celebrate because I’m finally 23 weeks, or break down and cry because I’m only 23 weeks.

08. Crafting. Brynlee creating art.

09. Arrangements. A Jake day for Jace. A volunteer day for me. And a mom comes to school day for Brynlee.

10.   Paint. Jace’s palette prior to creating a hand painted masterpiece. Err…something.

11.    Pink. Hanging from the kitchen chandelier.

12.   Storytime. A couple bedtime stories with dad.

Kim on Motherhood:

There are good days.

There are great days.

There are days so perfect it feels magical.

And then there are days when I can’t help but ask what the hell have I got myself into!?

Today was one of those days.

Dear Jace: On Your 3rd (+) Birthday

I failed at getting Jace’s three year old birthday letter written.

I blame it on the whirlwind that is pregnancy. And rightfully so.

Today I make good.

::The birthday boy on his third birthday. September 10, 2011.::

 Buddy-

Oh my goodness kid, I adore you! You make me laugh. You help me define motherhood. You continue to show me what love means. And, on occasion, you make me want to pull my hair out. But you are my boy, and that makes me so unbelievably lucky.

You are growing up so quickly. A few weeks ago you wore the cutest little suit and tie combo to church. You looked so handsome – so incredibly big sitting there in primary. Dad and I couldn’t stop talking about how big you had become. Overnight, we swore. It made me both overwhelmed with excitement and saddened by change at the same time.

If I were to define the three year old you in one word I’d choose: superhero, hands down. Your life is a constant superhero comic strip in motion. You love anything superhero and your superhero knowledge continually astonishes me. You know their names, if they are a nice guy or a mean guy, who their enemies are, and what super powers they possess. You were batman for Halloween, your favorite pajamas are the spiderman ones from grandma, and you will only wear your superhero underwear. You sleep with an entourage of superheroes, and bring them to bath time too. Your little hand is never void of some sort of action figure. You are a superhero junkie.

Your personality is big. So full of life. You are playful and silly and a constant reminder to take time to laugh – at even the simplest of things. My favorite is when you know you are being funny. And I am truly convinced that pure joy is watching a three year old boy get a kick out of his own antics. Last night we talked about what we should name our new baby sister. You thought for a minute then started naming your top choices. What about Hulk, you said waiting for our response. Our laughter was just the reaction you wanted and so you continued…or Thor, or Batman. Maybe Dr. Doom. Your humor is all boy. Farts are funny. Strange noises entertain you and there is never an inappropriate time to act silly. You are a mini me of your dad and your wittiness, like his, always seems to catch me off guard.

You are easy going and content. You occasionally like my undivided attention, but you are more than comfortable entertaining yourself too. So different than your sister at this same age. While she needed constant entertainment, you crave that alone time. Your imagination is huge. Colorful and descriptive. And it’s fed by your time spent alone - developing your very own scripts – while at play. I love to hear your little voice having conversations with itself while I watch from the sidelines.

You are a pleaser and are happiest when others are happy. Sharing comes so natural for you. If you and Brynlee get into a battle over the same toy you are always - 100% of the time - the one that gives it up. You willingly share your treats with anybody that cares to share. The other day I treated you to some fruit snacks while out running errands. You opened the bag, got one for you and handed one to me. I declined. You gave me that pouty look that you do when your feelings have been hurt. Who am I going to share them with then, you asked. Your heart is big.

You can talk up a storm. You don’t wait for a response, for an answer, or even for acknowledgment. You just continue on…talking, like having someone to listen to the one-sided conversation is completely optional. Although you are a nonstop chatterbox when comfortable, you are quiet and reserved when the situation or environment is unfamiliar.

You idolize your big sissy. Wear size 4T clothing and size 9 shoes. You request your corn dog naked {sans breading} and love gogurt and string cheese. You adore babies, and let out an audible ahhhhhh whenever you see one. Buddy is still your nickname and is used more often than Jace around this place. You love cinnamon toast for breakfast and pink juice {crystal light} is your drink of choice. You love jumping on the bed and wrestling dad or Brynlee is also a favorite pastime. You never successfully mastered nursery, but love your new sunbeams class. You love reading books and watching superhero shows makes you happy. You are constantly asking what time it is, although the answer is a foreign language to you. But you do get the concept of one more minute or just a second, and you use the phrases often. Most often when trying to squeeze in a tiny bit more play time before doing whatever it is that mom has asked you to do. One of my favorite things is our one on one time while Brynlee is at Kindergarten. It’s fun for me to focus all of my mothering attention on you. And I think you enjoy it too. You are the best little sidekick and hanging out with you means everything to me.

I love you Bud. You bring so much color into my world. I’m the luckiest mom around.

Happy third year,
Mommy

Baby News!

We celebrated with pink balloons, a pink frosted donut from our town’s newest donut shop + pink strawberry milk.

Brynlee told me all along that she was certain it was a girl. Wishful thinking, I suppose. Honestly though, Spencer and I were absolutely sure it was a girl too. Which means we’re three for three when it comes to guessing our babies gender.  And Jace forgot all about his wishes for a boy and was super excited about the baby girl news. Or he was just happy to get a donut and balloons - either way.

Were you right on your guess?

Oh My Quotable Friday: Writing it down

::For Christmas 2010 my siblings and I scanned, organized and photo albumed
all the pictures that filled my parents cedar chest. 
It was such a great Christmas present.
And as a bonus we ended up with a digital copy of all our childhood photos.

*****

And completely unrelated, my house stinks of Vicks VaporRub. Serves me right, really. Just this week I was bragging to my mom that my little family had hardly gotten sick this winter season. Aside from pregnancy sickness, but that doesn’t count. And then, just to mock me, the very next day we were a sneezy, coughy, watery mess. I’m planning on calling mom today and mentioning that we haven’t won the lottery in a sweet forever {as in never}. Fingers crossed that we are millionaires before the weekends end.

We are taking a sick day today. Aside from an emergency run to the closest grocery store for necessities: children’s tylenol, orange juice and maybe a Redbox or two, we are locking ourselves in. Wearing sweats, snuggling by the fire, eating soup, reading stories and hoping to get our little selves all better so we can carry on with our weekend plans. There’s a party for baby Chloe on Sunday – and we so want to be there.

Just like their dad.

Dear Spence,

I ran upstairs to remake ALL THE BEDS because the kids had taken ALL THE BEDDING off EVERY SINGLE BED {mattress pads included} to create a massive jumping pit at the bottom of the stairs.

And when I finally got all the beds remade I came downstairs and found them doing this:

Seriously, why do you teach our children such naughty things?!

To make up for it, you’re on dish duty tonight.

Much love,
Your wife