Teal Mama

I found Fern like this a few days ago:

It was cold out, we were hanging out at home, and she was bopping around the house. Next thing I know, she's put on her cute suit and gone teal on me. That's the perfect outfit to wear when you give your swaddled baby a bottle, everyone woman knows that. 

This girl loves being a mama. This morning she declared very firmly that she "is not a toddler, I am a mama!" Ok, little mama, whatever you say. You do you! 

As sassy and determined as she is, she comes up with the sweetest compliments. Last night I was putting her to bed and told her how cute she is. She replied, "you're cute too! And happy every time!" Oh, how I hope that she really feels that. She is such a source of joy for me and our family. Mama or toddler, she is a great Fern!

Little Mommy On The Phone

So often being a parent gives us a reflection of who we are. Fern is definitely her own person, but I see her do things that I know she's picked up from me. The other day I heard her pretending to be on the phone, "She's not listening good today. Right now she's dancing on her tiptoes. Oh I'm sorry for your hard things. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know, I know, I know." She's picked up that my phone calls usually involve telling cute kid stories and talking about hard things with my friends.

Another way she mirrors me is being a little mommy. She loves taking care of all her babies. She loves helping with Ridge and loving her own babies. Everyday she's tending to her dolls-feeding them, putting them to sleep, wearing them in a wrap, or talking sweetly to them. 

This week I told her that she's a great mama to her dolls, and she replied, "just like my book, Little Mommy!" She also knows what she's good at and a little proud about it, just like me (eek). This combo makes for several cute moments and stories (and I usually call someone and tell them about her). 

Valentine's Day 2016

One of my favorite parts of being a mom of young children is simple celebrations. At this stage, my kids get very excited over a few little extra things. I thrive on hype and energy, so minor holidays quickly become grand occasions in our house. Burl and Fern still talk about how magical last year was because they got carabiners and bungee cords. This year's Valentine's Day was no exception (and based on my Instagram feed, several of my mom friends are the same way)!

Burl and Fern had incredible school parties. I joined Burl's party, and felt the energy. I stand firm on the belief that there are few romantic gestures that match the excitement of a school Valentine's party. Fern had a big day at first school party. Apparently she was the dancing queen and bell of the ball at her dance party. "Mom, they even had balloons, decorations, lights that blinked on and off, and music! They played Uptown Funk!"

At home we celebrated with a special dinner that was up their alley. Lately Burl has fallen in love with sushi and Fern has fallen in love with egg rolls, so that's what we made. The boys were in charge of sushi, and the girls were in charge of the egg rolls. 

Once we lit the candles and set the table, Fern proclaimed, "this is like a feast in our castle!" It doesn't take much. 

After Ridge went down (baby was so tired by the time is was said and done) and cleaned up, we had dessert. The kids wore their new little gifts (much needed helmets) and ate ice cream out of wine glasses. We talked about the day. A fun dinner + a gift was enough to put our Valentine's Day celebration up there with Christmas morning and their birthdays. 

I treasure their uninhibited excitement and their simple joys. 

Christmas Morning, 2015

Our Christmas break is coming to an end. I cried to John tonight about how sad I am that he's returning to work and Burl to school. "If I'm this lonely feeling now, what is going to feel like when ALL the kids are leaving the house after Christmas break?" Obviously, I'm not one of those "take it a day at a time/cross that bridge when it gets here" type of people. I quickly came up with a plan: girls trip to somewhere warm. Now that I have my future worries taken care of, I can get back to this year's Christmases.

Having kids makes Christmas mornings exhilarating. Burl and Fern were drunk with eagerness on Christmas Eve. In the picture above, they've fallen down in fits of laughter. 

Seeing their excitement reminds me of how I felt Christmas morning. I love that they're getting that rush-it's adorable and sweet. 

Ridge's first Christmas was typical for a baby his age: all about those boxes. He was especially captivated with the strings (and never noticed the mittens I put on his hands).

Christmas morning was full of raging through presents, fun treats (like sparkling grape juice), and more fits of laughter. 

This particular Christmas had record highs and some extreme rain that we loved watching.

The next day and a half were full of family and an obscene amount of presents. 

Burl scored his own handheld electronic (a little on the old school style) and, in my opinion  it's precious how much he's already played.

The rest of our break was relaxing, but those two days were full of presents and excitement. 

Fern's Madeline Costume

This is not a Halloween post. That will have to come later, because Fern's Madeline costume deserves it's own post. She was that cute and I'm that proud of her costume. 

Fern fell in love with the cute French redhead when we read one of the books and especially when she watched the movie. Her Halloween costume was decided a long time ago and we stuck with it. 

 When we did the test run on the outfit, we hid in her room and assembled it all. While I hot-glued, Fern dressed up her doll as Madeline. *swoon*

Once we got it together, Fern modeled it for her her brother and dad. She walked out and said, "look Daddy! It's your little orphan girl!" Then she posed for several pictures and we all doted on her. 

Matching Seersucker

Thanks to my mom's dedication to dressing my children, Burl, Fern, and Ridge looked so snazzy for our first day back to church. The kids were beside themselves with excitement to match each other and show off their baby brother. 

When Burl first saw Ridge's outfit, he exploded into genuine laughter. "It's so girlish," he kept repeating. We all laughed at Burl's shock over his first exposure to baby boy dress up clothes. 

Since we were only a little late to church, I got a took a few pictures of my sweet children. Amazingly, they were all looking at the camera and I love this little picture!

What Does Mama Say The Most?

I've collected a few pictures of Burl and Fern in the depths of their playtime. During this pregnancy, they have quickly and easily become each other's go-to playmates. They're best friends and have quite the adventures together! I love eavesdropping into their make-believe.

Along the way, I heard something that stuck with me-what would our kids say if we asked them what we say most often? While these questions aren't my flavor, I still wanted to know. I asked them what does Mama say all the time? 

Burl: You don't say something all the time. You laugh a lot.

Fern: You say "I love you."

Well, let me just say that was the best thing I could hear right now. While I'm unable to keep up the pace I usually like to do; while I'm resting more than chasing and wrestling; and while I'm passing out more "Mama can't" than I like to; it's nice to hear that I laugh and say I love you more than anything else. 

I hope that's true. 

Valentine's Day, 2015

I've seen some articles about "keeping Valentine's Day for couples" or some weird way of thinking like that. That's just strange. It's a holiday that celebrates love, so I say celebrate it with whoever you can! Kids, spouses, pets, friends, or even yourself. I love a good celebratory occasion as much as the next fanatic, so I don't like any restrictions. Here are the little ways we celebrated with our children:

First off was Burl's school party. We signed up to bring drinks and I bought a bunch of those sugary, poisonous, capri suns. Burl was so proud of his drink contribution. Next up were the valentines. I asked Burl what kind he wanted to get and he said, "we don't need to buy any, I can just make my own." My heart skipped a beat and John said he was his mother's son-I can not tell you how much I felt like I was doing all the right things in my parenting gig right there. 

I offered stickers, glitter, and polka dots, but Burl went simplistic. White card. Red heart. Scraps glued on. HIs name written in the heart. It didn't say anything about Happy Valentine's Day, but he was set on his design and I say more power to him. 

There is nothing, absolutely nothing that can compete with the love and excitement of a school Valentine party. My husband has done sweet things for me every year, but 20 or so kids exchanging sweet cards and having a party-it just can't be topped. From here on out, I plan to re-live those parties through my kids and go completely overboard as a classroom mom. For now, I'll do what I can at home. 

On Saturday, I had a few surprises for the kids at lunch. I made them stay in Burl's room while I made lunch and set up a few surprises. The first things they said were, "Wow! Candies and Capri Suns!" Sweet children didn't even notice their gifts. 

They told me thank you and sat down with full smiles, then we pointed out the gifts. I spent $8 at an army navy store and bought a few carabiners and bungee cords. They're toddlers who like to invent things or whatever, so they can figure out something semi-safe to do with them.  

Lunch was a mixture of eating and hooking things together. My presents were a hit. 

John and I actually went out on Valentine's Day to Panera and the mall...which is NOT our ideal date in the least, but we were both excited about it and had so much fun. In the famous words of Walt Whtiman, "We were together, I forget the rest."  

On that note, I'm going to end and say that I hope everyone had a Happy Valentine's Day!

{Valentine's Day 2014, the year we killed the fish}