Girls trip

My sister recently moved from San Diego, CA to Charlottesville, VA. We are super close so this is like heaven for me! The girls, me and my aunt headed over last week for a couple of days. I love having my sister this close! In the next month I will have seen her more than I did in all of last year!

 

My sister has Emma that is only 9 months older than Sophie Grace. They just adore each other which makes my heart so happy! Even though they've lived on different coasts their entire lives they call each other best friends. Ah, I love it!

 

I thought I was going to have to cut my trip short because Elle only slept a couple hours the first two nights. It was miserable. She is always a poor sleeper when we travel, but this was a whole new level. She eventually gave her Momma a break and slept great the rest of the trip. Thank the Lord!

 

We went to Chuck E Cheeses one day. The girls were deliriously happy! My camera was messing up so I didn't get any pictures. Boo! Soph was really trying to act cool for her big cousin because she kept telling me to go away. It really took a lot for this Momma to walk away. So it begins...

 

We had such a great trip! We plan on making another trip next month, but this time Joe will come with us! Yay! Thankfully my Brother-in-law and husband get a long really well! It would be pretty unfortunate if they didn't because they would be forced to hang out a lot :).

 

From a Momma's Heart

I've taken a bit of a break this summer from most things including this blog. Anyone who is close to us knows that the past couple of years have been, well, crazy. We've had one hit after another. It was so bad that there were actually a couple of days where I was scared to go out of my house for fear of the sky falling on me. Because that was the kind of "freak" things that were happening. Not really freak, but frequent, I guess. With the grace of God I just kept rolling with these hits. However this last move did me in. I was exhausted. I was tired. I was not being the Momma that my heart longed to be to my babies. I was disappointed in myself which added to the frustration.

One day it hit me. Quit. Just quit and play with your babies. Don't worry if the house is clean. Don't worry if my hair is fixed. Don't worry about the laundry piling up. Just have fun with my girls. Take naps. Shut the door to the laundry room on our way out to the pool. Embrace my naturally curly tresses. Although, let's be honest, I'm way too much of a Southern Belle to not at least pull a curling iron through a couple pieces.

So, what was my schedule like this summer? Breakfast, Work out, Naps, Lunch, Pool, Dinner, Bed. Every.single.day.

And I loved it. I took more naps this summer than I have in my entire "Mommy hood".

And I got a pretty nice tan.

And made some fun memories.

But most of all I got rest. And time to reflect on the Momma, Wife, and person I want to be.

I got to reflect on the blessings in my life. Things that I am so thankful that God has given me.

About a month ago I was afraid that I would never get out of this funk I was in. But last week something clicked and I felt better.

Having down time showed me where I had become jaded by our circumstances the past five years. I had survived, but not very well.

Having down time also showed me that I'm a uptight. I'm so consumed with making sure that the girls are what people and society think they should be that I'm missing the joys of them. All I can do is love them. Trust God and the instincts He gave me to mother them. And teach them to treat others the way they want to be treated. Every thing will turn out ok.

I've learned to trust myself. I've learned that I'm never going to be perfect and that's ok. The people that I was trying so hard to be perfect for will always find something wrong so stop trying. It's not worth the hassle, stress, or heart ache.

I've seen how good God is. Not because there isn't pain, heart ache, and devastation, but because through these things He is constant.

**I also have to say a huge thank you to my husband for supporting me in my sabbatical from housework. He never complained and even pitched in on the weekends.

Water, Sun, and all that's fun

These sweet girls have been little fishes lately! I'm so thankful to have a fun place to take the girls so they can wear themselves out instead of me, ha! 

Saturday we took the girls to downtown Lexington to check out some of the historical sites. Joe and I have already done this, but thought it would be fun to do as a family. Our poor girls! Joe and I both love history so I see a lot of boring trips in their future.

Sweet Sophie! Look at her hilarious face!

How did I get so lucky to have such sweet babies?!



Life has settled down and for that I am so thankful! The girls are back into a "routine" and adjusted to sleeping in the same room. Every day I am discovering something new that I love about living in Lexington!

Soph is keeping us laughing! The stuff this girl comes up with is out of control! Who knows where she gets it from. I've got to "document" it or else I will totally forget!

1) The other day Soph was calling for Elle and said, "Come here you little meat ball"

2) She was trying to get some food from her plate onto her spoon and was having some difficulties and said "Get on there you lil' feller."

3) Today she locked herself in the bathroom. This is becoming a regular occurrence, but luckily she will unlock it when I ask her to. Well, this morning when she opened the door I saw that she was into my perfumes which she knows she can't do. When she saw the look on my face she immediately said "Excuse me. You're in my space." And tried to shut the door. Nice try, 3-going-on-16 yr old, but this Momma is gonna be in your space for the rest of your life!

I've already forgotten the rest. Boo!

New place, new memories

We're pretty much all settled in our new place! We have a few odds and ends to finish and then all the decorations to put up. But all boxes have been unpacked. Thank the Lord! I hate packing/unpacking.

The girls have been troopers! We have them sharing a room and it's been an adventure. Some nights I considered picking up drinking. We'll figure this thing out eventually. Lots of people do it, right? We'll survive. Right?

This move has made me realize that I'm a city girl. Well, Lexington city girl, not a Tampa type city girl. Lexington really is one of the most beautiful cities, ever. There are rolling hills, beautiful horse farms, and lots of shopping! We literally live with in walking distance to an amazing outside mall. We have everything we could possible need. Literally. It's amazing!

And you may ask what is the very best thing about our location? Easy. Chick Fil A and Target. I can hear the angels singing.

Photo dump and....

We're moving. Again! Boo. Honestly, my mind is so overwhelmed that this post is just going to be a photo dump. I've been promising to put some pictures of the girls up and with everything going on I haven't had the chance. So here they are. Btw, Elle is walking. And into everything!

We went to my Dad's a couple of weeks ago. Most of the pictures are from that time.

Soph got a haircut. Nothing major - just the ends trimmed.

She did so well getting her hair cut that I thought she deserved some Orange Leaf.

Easter 2012

Today was the typical Easter. The girls opened their baskets and I got busy in the kitchen getting ready for my family to come over for lunch after church. Sophie participated in her first egg hunt and we all decided that she takes after her Momma and does not have a competitive bone in her body. She let the other children go first and casually walked around even stopping to go down the slide. She got a few eggs and was content.

My mother is on spring break this week and asked for the girls to spend the night with her. They love staying at Nanny's and I love the clean and quiet house.

It's been a good day!

My sweet baby!

Bless her little heart, she was not happy!

My grandmother, who Elle is named after, my mother, me and the girls

A story like no other

My big girl has started reading stories to us. It's all jibberish. Literally. But it's still makes this Momma's heart proud. She can actually talk, btw. Apparently she was just so overwhelmed with passion for her story that the words just wouldn't come out ;).



Keeping up with the Qs

These sweet babies of mine are keeping me on my toes! Soph never got into things like Elle does. I'm not sure if it's Elle's influence or Soph is just getting more adventurous, but that girl has gotten into some things lately! I'm glad to see Soph coming out of her "comfort zone" though!

I love to see Soph's imagination coming alive! I have to say it's been one of the funniest parts of being a Momma! 

Soph has pretty much stopped taking naps. Which is fine with me. Except that I'm going to have to in force some sort of "rest time". Even if for my sanity only.

Elle isn't walking yet. And she doesn't seem in a hurry to either.

Elle has all of her eye teeth and molars coming in right now. And that makes for a really miserable baby. It's been a tense couple of weeks with her.

We all had the stomach virus last week. Let me tell you, I thought I was dying. It was awful. I would rather have a cold for a month than a stomach virus for a night! I lost 5 lbs over night. Literally. That's how bad it was. However, it was helpful for the weight loss plan!

Sweet baby Elle!

This picture completely depicts parenthood. I told Soph to stay with in the fence at my Aunt's. She literally went to the farthest point on every side and asked, "Dis one too, Momma?" Test the boundaries much?

See? Testing her boundaries.

Is this not gorgeous?

My Aunt's in laws brought their dog with them for a visit. Sophie loves Lady! She followed that dog every where!

And every thing that Lady did Sophie would do. Bless her heart!

This girl loves to shop with her Momma! Even if it's just for groceries!

This was a "snake airplane" that Sophie made the other day. I thought that was pretty clever name for it.

My sweet girls

 

High Points

I'll spare y'all the "I've been really MIA" speech and get right to updating. Lots has happened since I blogged last. Nothing too big, just normal life stuff.

We traded in our car for a minivan. And I love it. Who cares if I'm not "cool", it's convenient! Trading in our car was actually more emotional than I thought. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't fighting back tears while getting all the girl's stuff out. It was the first major purchase Joe and I had made together as a married couple. Plus, we brought both our girls home from the hospital in that car. Once we were there trading it in I wasn't so sure I wanted to let go. I would have totally kept the car but I'm pretty sure that would have lead to my debut on "Hoarders".

Warmer weather is here. Yay! I love seeing sweet baby shoulders and legs in sundresses and shorts!

I had a weekend away for the first time since having the girls. I went to hear my sister speak at the college that we all went to. She was asked to speak for Women's day and did an incredible job! I was one proud little sister.

I did find it hilarious when I walked in to Sophie's class on Wednesday and they asked if I was out of town on Monday. They could tell that Daddy had dressed Soph.

With my sweet daddy!

I always look rather awkward when turned to the side to take pictures. Oh well.

A week in our life

Oh my word, has Soph been a mess lately! It is so hard not to laugh at her sometimes because her logic is just too funny! And smart! She has really been coming up with some winners when it comes to bed time. One night she told me that she had a fever so she couldn't go night, night. Her fever just hurt too bad.

Another night when we were on our way to go rock she just fell flat on the floor. When I told her to get up she told me that she couldn't because she was stuck. The she proceeded to try and "pull" herself off the ground, grunts and all. She said, "I can't do it, Mommy. I'm just too stuck."

She actually has been having stomach problems again, but she is also starting to milk it. Last Monday she vomited at school. I, of course, picked her up and doted over her too much. I also gave her sprite. (I know technically it doesn't help them, but I know it sure seems to help me!) Well, she has had lots of stomach aches since then and every time she seems to think that Sprite would help. Long story short she had a "tummy ache" again tonight. I knew exactly what she was trying to pull but she had been so cute all day that I couldn't resist giving her a tad bit. She finished that and asked for more. When I said no she quickly told me that she was going to throw up, to which I responded like most Mommas and said she was fine. She threw her little arms down and said, "Well, I did throw up at school!"

I'm sure no one else besides me and the grandparents find this stuff funny! Oh well :). If I don't write it on here then I for sure won't remember it!



Sweet baby Ellie




I know that I'll hate her sucking her thumb in a couple of years, but I think it is the cutest thing now!




This child is such a little lover! She always comes over to some TLC whenever she's playing.




Random. I bought these shoes at Target for $7. And I'm in love with them. Not so much the awkward picture though.



On our walk the other day she was just looking up at the sky and laughing away. I would love to know what was going through her mind!



Gnaws on everything!




This is the hill that leads up to our house. I know it may not look like much but trust me it.is.killer. Especially when you're pushing an extra 100 lbs. I'm pretty sure my neighbors have a phone in hand to call 911 when they look out their window and see me trying to get up this beast.




The other night I spent literally 10 minutes looking for this strainer. I mean I tore apart my cabinets. And there it was. The whole time. I tell ya, this Mom brain is something else!

Speaking of Mom brain the other night I was on the phone with my sister when this weird light flicked through my room. I shot up in bed and freaked out to her that this "sci fi" light just zapped through my room. Then it lightning again (that word doesn't sound right, but I'm gonna go with it for now). My imagination is an awesome combination with Mom brain.