Flee

How old are you?

Um, flee.  But Mama? This is not the best day ever. I do not want to be flee. I like being two.

Why baby?

Betuse 2's can have binkies still and I just want a binkie in my mouth.

Liberty Jane is Three

She is Three.

 

How is this possible?

When did this baby girl

fall in love with pink,

spaghetti,

cookies,

and clementines?

When did she 

learn how to spin,

dance,

sing,

and melt my heart?

Where has the time gone?

A few bits and bobs about my Liberty.

Her favorite song is "Hourglass" by Mindy Gledhill.  When she sings, "don't turn around and grow up way too fast" I think to myself that she is doing just that.
She LOOOVES her baby brother more than anything in the world and is such a fantastic big sister.
She would eat clementines and crackers all day long if I let her. (and sometimes I do)
She loves to play family (fa-mil-y) and it is the biggest treat in the world if you ask to play it with her.
Libby is my snuggle puppy. She loves to snuggle and so do I...so we're pretty good with that one.
However, with that sweetness comes SASS! She has an attitude as big as Texas...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree I guess!
She just had her first haircut ever, we cut off about 2 inches and it breaks my heart to see how long it was and how short it is now.
Libby has the most beautiful eyes.  Such a light color blue and the shape is like her Daddy's.  She is just a beauty.
She loves to swim, ride her bike, play any ball game (especially basketball which consists of throwing the basketball to me), and really anything else that her brother and sister do.
And when she is tired (which she frequently is since she wakes with the birds) she plays with her belly button and sucks her thumb.  This started when Elliott was born and she couldn't kiss her brother (my belly button) anymore.

Happy Birthday to my Liberty Jane.  You are an amazing little person and I can't wait to see who you become.

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Torn

It is amazing to me how so much of my heart can be stuck in one place

August 22, 2003...our last picture

And still be so present in another.

 

 

 Oh my heart. I love these people so much and they make tomorrow just a little bit easier.

Letters to my Babies

Dear Elliott,

Oh boy how I love you.  You are such a sweet baby 

(but really, aren't all babies sweet? Wait, no. Your brother wasn't).

I am so grateful to be your Mama.  Your smiles, your laid back personality,

your patience with your brother and sisters...

You are a wonderful baby.

 

But kiddo, you really need to start sleeping somewhere other than the swing.  Because as cute as you are all bundled up in that swing, it is killing me a bit that you will only sleep there.

I love you baby boy...

Mama

*****

Dear Libby,

Oh my darling girl.  You are growing up so fast and are SO hilarious these days.  Just today you helped me make cookies, and it was so much fun.

You love to swim and will "dive" (belly flop) into the water over and over and over.  

You love to sing and dance and do so quite frequently.

You are more in love with your binkie everyday, and I find this quite interesting since you never took one as a baby.  Also, what is up with you playing with your bellybutton when you're tired?

You are so cute that it almost makes up for the fact that you come into my bed every single night and then wail and scream and cry when Daddy takes you back to your bed.

Will you stop doing that please?

Also, please, please, please, please stop pooping in your underwear. You were doing SO good wearing undies, and now not so much.

Also, thanks for being such a great big sister to Elliott.  You pretty much rock his little world.

I love you baby girl...

Mama

*****

My darling dearest Amelia Bedilia,

I love your freckles.  

You hate when I tell you that and then tell me that you don't have any freckles, but you do and they are darling.  It is the one thing you got from me, so I really like that.

You are such a great singer and I love that you have enough confidence to think you 

could go on America's Got Talent and win!  Never lose that ambition sweetie.

You are starting Kindergarten in about a month and I can't imagine what my life is going to be like when you are gone all day long.  Libby and I will be so lonely for you.

But you are so excited. 

So I pretend to be excited too.

I love that you are so creative and talented and have a flair for the dramatics.

This will serve you well in life.

Trust me.

I know.

BUT, right now, you make me a little crazy with your crying over every single little thing.

Makes me not look forward to your teenage years at all.

Regardless, you are my sweet princess and I love you.

Mama.

*****

Bubs,

I am going to call you that for the rest of your life, you know that don't you?

You are such an amazing big brother to your siblings.

I know it is hard being the biggest kid, but you do it so well and really like responsibility.

You are such a huge helper, with laundry, cleaning, playing with the kids, and dinner clean up.

I love how you love your Lego's, putting posters up in your room, and swimming.

You are so competitive and someday that is really going to come in handy.

But right now, when you are in swim lessons and you beat another kid in a race,

it is not so nice to say "I WON I WON I WON!!!!"

No one likes that kid.

You are starting 2nd grade so soon.

Kid, I remember 2nd grade.  I met my 1st real best friend in 2nd grade.  We're still friends.

I can't believe you are that old.

I bet some boy crazy girl is going to fall head over heels for you.

When she does, please be nice and not growl at her.

I love you to the moon and back,

Mama

The Queen of my Heart

This weekend Amelia reached an important milestone in her life.  She had her first dance recital.

As I pulled her hair into a bun, applied makeup, and put her costume on her, I was taken back to my MANY dance recitals. 

The smell of the hairspray, the taste of the lipstick, the costumes, the sequins, watching the older girls, being afraid I would forget something...

But most of all, just having fun.

And that is what she did.  She had so much fun and I loved watching her.

The theme for the recital was Alice in Wonderland.  Amelia's little class were the Queen of Hearts.  She did such a great job with her "grumpy" face at the beginning.  Everyone just laughed and laughed.

The lighting was SO bad that I couldn't get a good picture of her dancing (no flash photography please).  So, this was her grumpy face that Jeremy caught after.  She is hilarious.

For my girls, the highlight of the weekend was having my Mom (Meemaw), Jeremy's Mom (Grandma) and Jeremy's sister (Aunt Sissa) and girls (Carlie and Josie) here.  This picture is the 3 girls after the recital.  Carlie was mesmerized through the entire recital and Libby was doing her own recital.

It was so much fun and we can't wait to do it again next year.  Hopefully next year we will have 2 little girls doing a recital.  That will be fun!

Sneaky

This Liberty...she really stands up to her name.

She is a free spirit.  She is spirited, headstrong, determined and wanting to do it HER way.

Anytime I do something she likes (like throw a lego head up the stairs to her) she says, "AWESOME! You DID it! Rock Chalk Jayhawk Mama!". 

She is full of energy, life, and love.

She likes to do things herself, and in her own time.

This includes bedtime.

Last night she did not want to go to sleep.

About 9 pm, I went out of my room and saw her sitting on the floor outside her door.  I decided to let her be and just see what happened.

Thirty minutes later I went to check on her.

I love this girl.  Everything about her.  She is so sweet and so funny and so loveable.  I mean, just look at that hand on her cheek.  Who wouldn't want to eat her up?

Like Father Like Daughter

This little girl is a bit like her Father.  She can not go to bed at night unless her bed is perfect. 

They are both a little OCD.  And oh how I love it.

Liberty

Dear Sweet Libby,

When you wake up this morning, you will have been 2 for just a few short hours.  Two years ago you came barreling into this world and have made my life so happy.

How is it that someone who loves to snuggle, give kisses and hugs, and cuddle your babies and dolls, be SO full of sass and attitude?  You know what you want and when you want it.  You know how to throw a tantrum, but also know how pull Mama's heartstrings.

You love the sling and ask to be worn anytime we go to the store.  You still love your "Milties" and nurse every morning and if you're lucky once during the day.

You insist there is a baby in your tummy and that you are a big girl.  Don't you know you're still my baby?

Your hair is so long, I love to play with it and you love to let me.  You have the cutest little smile you do every time you see a camera and you are just certain that on your birthday you will be "free"!  When you're sad, you will come to me with big crocodile tears and say, "I so SAD" and when you get hurt you look at me and say, "I hurt real bad Mama".  Melts my heart every time.

 

You are my sweet baby girl and I love you so much.

Happy Birthday baby.

Love,

Mama

Someone Take Away the Scissors

I've gotten a little cutting happy this weekend.  It started with Libby on Sunday.  I was sick of her hair always being in her face.

When I did put it up in a Whale Spout, as I did most days, it just naturally wanted to go forward, so it looked like a horn or something like that.  So...I did it.  I made my baby look like a Toddler with one cut of the scissors.

That was on Sunday.  As you all know, I got Amelia's hair cut about a month ago.  I was tired of the constant fight of doing her hair, so I took her to get it cut short.

But guess what? We were still fighting.  She wouldn't keep her clips in her hair and now it is too short to put in a pony tail.  Note to self: Do NOT cut your daughter's hair short again, do not do this.  Listen to your husband.  Instead, give her bangs.

Totally cute and her hair is out of her face now.  She also might look a little like Ramona Quimby when you do this.  Awesome!

P.S.  Just because I know how much you all LOVE Amelia's fashion sense...here you go.  You're welcome.

And yes, I absolutely let her out in public like this.  What other time in your life can you dress like this and have it be okay?