Rose Bud

oldest and youngest.
1.24.2012

Our dear little Rosie.

She can now lay quietly on the floor without screaming her head off.

She kicks, wiggles her little arms around, and gives us the cutest little coos. It's magical. The stress in the house has decreased 10 fold.

We put her in the crib so she (and we) sleep so much better at night. I'm thinking someone out there slipped her some kind of miracle baby drug.



One thing for sure is that she has the most incredible hair. Ever.
It makes me think of my brother:

Potty Talk

Today Roo was in the kitchen and I was sitting here at the computer.

She says to me, "Mom, I go peepee."

I say to her, "Did you go in your diaper or do you need to go on the potty?"

She says, "Go on potty."

So, I rush her in there.

I brought out the potty last October. There it has sat in the bathroom as more of a toy for her to play with then anything. She has mostly just sat on it before jumping in the tub and at other random times when her diaper is off for a changing, but really I have not pushed the potty at all.

I accidentally got out the potty books when I refreshed the stock of children's books in the girls' room a few months ago and for the past few weeks Roo has been enamored by them. Today she just decided to do it. It was nothing short of magical. It clicked. Dang. She wore panties almost all day, let me know when she needed to go, went #2, and even stayed dry with a diaper on while running errands with me.

Un. Freaking. Real.

**I used to HATE potty training. It was so stressful and agonizing, but this is perfect. My advice? Don't rush it. They will get it. It will click and they will use the potty when they are ready. And hopefully there will be a lot less tears and a lot less stress by letting it just be.

Now that I said that it will probably all backfire on me tomorrow...




oh, and check this baby out!

Rosie. 10 weeks.

cutest thing ever.

a confession

so, i have a little confession to make.

you know this place that i live in - the northwest corner of arkansas.

arkie.

i'm starting to really like it here. almost love it.

the air is clear here. the people are pleasant. it is safe. we have made great friends and i'm feeling so content.

people have actually come here to visit us! and more are on the way!

don't get me wrong. i miss the desert. i miss the towering mountains, the beautiful valleys, and the amazing sunsets.

mostly we miss our friends and family. the three-day weekends and holidays aren't the same.

but really, this place is turning out to be more than okay.

Look who...

is in a big-girl bed!

A Certain Cookie

We have become sort of obsessed around here.

With a cookie.

And since they are so easy to make and we have a garage full of cake mix samples (thanks to Easy's job) we have been making them pretty often.

I think the girls almost have the batter recipe memorized: cake mix. 2 eggs. 1/2 c oil. bake 8 to 10 at 350.

Click here for more thorough instructions + frosting. Erica says to refrigerate them when done - but ours never make it that far.

Oh, and one little tip. I put the filling into a pastry bag (or honestly, a plastic bag with the tip cut off) then squeeze it on and let my helpers lightly press them together - saves on the mess :)

The Other Day...

I made myself a little shopping/menu template in the hopes that I will remember to actually MAKE a list before going to the store.

 

You want it? Go ahead...take it. 

Your Welcome! 

H

Days Like This

I love days like this.


I love sitting on the couch with Rosie and nursing her. I love seeing her thighs and cheeks fill out and I love that she saves her best smiles of the day for me.

9 weeks.

I love watching the girls create little worlds of their own out of Legos, blocks, Play-Doh, and cardboard boxes. I love hearing their words to each other in their pretend play dialogue. It's all, "Oh, yes dear!" "That is so wonderful darling!" "Sweetie, can I please have that?"

I really do love that I have 4 amazing little spirits that I get to know. I love that they are best friends. I love how smart and creative they are - they are always surprising me with their inquisitions and explanations on every little thing.

I love that Roo insists on wearing her pink tutu at all times. Even over her jammies. And especially with nothing else.

I love that I get to be their mom - that I am the one they want to kiss them at night and the one they come to when their feelings are hurt.


Yep. Hands down. This job rocks.

January Faves and Craves

1. Please tell me you are drooling over these earrings as much as I am. I die!

2. Toms flats for spring. Aren't they cute!

3. Saw this framed on Pinterest. Would make a great gift.

4. Yummy spring colors from Essie.

5. Digging colored jeans. My new pair is turquoise. I've seen them pretty cheap at Target and Forever 21.

6. Loving my new phone case. My 3rd in a year. Whoops. Unfortunately style and protection don't come hand-in-hand.

7. This wreath is so darling for Feb.

8. Wondering if I could fashion a bag like this. I love how cute it is for winter - just not lovin that price tag.

a good man.

i have a good man.

so a few weeks ago Easy messages me asking if we want to go to Blue Man Group. of course we do! his work was sponsoring the event so we were able to score a couple of tickets.

we got a babysitter and then - well, then there was Rosie.

we didn't feel good about taking her (a little loud) and we also didn't feel good about leaving her with anyone (she can be quite fussy in the evenings).

we thought about keeping the babysitter and gifting the tickets to someone else then just a few hours before the show E gets this great idea, "why don't you just take Ava?"

so that is what we did. Blondes and I got all dolled up and went to a show. we ran down Dixon St in our fancy black shoes - holding hands and freezing all the way. then we laughed, hooted and hollered, and finally shook our booties to Blue Man Group.

it was awesome!

i am so grateful for my good man who always puts me and our girls first.

he is brilliant.

We think it's really funny...

when the girls get an owie on their middle finger.

happy weekending!

Listening Ears

As the girls get older, Easy and I are realizing that their little ears are actually quite big ears.

They hear everything. At times Blondes will cup her hand around her ear and say to us, "I can hear you!" Adding her sly little smile.

Yesterday Easy was dropping Mae off at preschool. The dj on the radio mentioned a possibility of snow for last night. Minutes later Mae pipes up, "Dad, I'm going to ask Mom tomorrow if I can dress super warm and play outside."

Sure enough, the first thing she did this morning was see the snow outside and ask for my help to bundle her little body up.

She lasted about 30 minutes in the howling wind gathering snow off the slide and placing it all in a pile around the corner of playhouse.

I lasted 12 seconds taking pictures.

Where my heart lies.

Rosie. 8 weeks.

I'm a little afraid to say it, but I think that the rose bud has turned a corner on the colicky-ness. She is surprisingly more pleasant and friendly.

Over the weekend she did fantastic with her dad as I worked back to back night-shifts at the hospital. This is a serious answer to prayer my friends. I hate leaving her.

I pumped in empty rooms, worried about my baby, worried about my husband, and also worried about my patients. I love being a nurse, but it is hard with littles at home.

Speaking of the chickies. It's so fun to see them all at the same age. These are my 8 week babies:

As much as I love/hate working this is where my heart lies - in chubby cheeks, bright eyes, giggles, screams, wiggles, kisses, and snuggles.

To Motivate

Tomorrow MaeMae is supposed to wear "hog attire" to preschool and naturally, I totally forgot about it until 9pm tonight. Just in case you didn't know - it's practically a sin to live in NW Arkansas and not have hog attire. I could not let her show up to school without the traditional maroon, black, and white, especially since she is so unmotivated to go to there these days anyways (she is a Momma's girl and would so much rather stay home, play with Roo, and snuggle Rosie than go to school). Luckily, there was some iron on transfer paper stuffed in the desk and I was able to whip her up a little something.

Speaking of new attire I got myself some new scrubs the other day thinking that it might motivate me about going back to work tomorrow. You see, I don't want to leave the comforts of my home either. It didn't really work. I am completely unmotivated. I hate the thought of leaving my little Rose Bud and I've actually been agonizing over it for weeks.

Regardless of how we both feel (Mae and I) I'm hoping that we can smile, stand up straight (see yesterday's post), and fake it. She will color and play and learn. I will assess surgical sites, pass meds, and call doctors.

In the end we will both come home to be in our favorite place with our favorite people. Plus we can have some sweet new clothes to show for it.

Starting New

Oh 2011 was tough! Probably one of my most challenging years. I'm so glad to have it behind us! Sure, I got a super cute baby out of it and we moved to a pretty cool new state, but all in all, I kinda struggled through it working full time, being pregnant, and mothering three littles.

I'm so excited that it's a new year! I'm not pregnant (hallelujah!), we have great new friends, I'm only working part-time (another hallelujah!), and I really do have a super cute new baby.

Rosie. 7 weeks.

Do you make goals? resolutions? plans?

I have a few in mind.

#1 Smile more
#2 Improve my posture
#3 Read 10 novels
#4 Enjoy running
#5 Be able to do 50 pushups
#6 Nurse Rosie until she is at least 10mos.

New Years Weekend

Kinda last minute on Friday morning we decided to pack the van and head out of town to Kansas City, MO.

We thought about allowing the fact that we have 4 children stop us. We thought about how hellish a night in the hotel would be with a wild 2 year old and we thought about crazy drunken traffic with the New Year.

The night in the hotel was nothing short of awful, but our 1.5 days there were great and full of exploring, learning, playing, and just being together. It really was quite nice.

Dating Back

12.23

The girls can't get enough of their grandparents and I'm so glad to have my mom help with little-fuss-face Rosie.



12.24



We build the annual gingerbread house from scratch. This years is a replica of my parents house.

We make cookies, scatter food for Santa's reindeer,

have a fancy dinner, open new jammies, watch The Nativity, and discuss Jesus' birth.

Christmas is ready!



12.25

The girls are thrilled. New dresses and bags for church. Pillow pets. Umbrellas. A tent.

Miss Rosie is blessed at church by her dad.

The gift giving continues.

We feast again.


12.26

We visit Crystal Bridges and are impressed by Norman Rockwell's Rosie.



12.27

Our Rosie is left with Grandma and Grandpa so Easy and I can have a night out.

12.28

We start using a 'white noise' app on our phones to help Rosie's colic. It is a life saver.


12.29

We squeeze in last snuggles and playtime with Grandma and Grandpa. Gigi is super sad about saying goodbye to "CampCa" at the airport.



12.30


We go to Kansas City...