Beautiful Babies

When E was born I was bit exhausted from all the work and, frankly, relieved to be alive. As my doctor placed E's sweet, perfect little body in my arms I gazed at E and said dreamily, "Oh, Dr. Lish! Don't we make beautiful babies?!"

Flash forward three years and this week we went to Costco and pushed A & M in the cart (their first time) while E sat in the basket eating a cheesy piece of pizza. After E finished, he knelt in the basket so his face was between A & M. This resulted in A & M smiling and giggling non-stop for the 5 minutes E stayed there. During that time three fellow shoppers gawked and gushed about our beautiful children. One person went so far as to call us a "handsome family."

Like all good mothers do, I think my children are beautiful. What other people say or think won't change that, but it certainly doesn't hurt when strangers agree.

M & A

M smiling

M squwonching her face at me. We mirror this look with each other throughout the day.

A laughing while Daddy tickles her.

Look closely and you'll see her 3 top teeth that have cut through in the last 10 days.

AHHHH!!!!

PONY TAIL!

I've died and gone to heaven. I get to do my little girls' hair.

THEY HAVE HAIR!

Having enough hair for me to give them pony tails places them approximately 3 years ahead of their mother. Way to go, girls!

E exploring outside during A & M's morning nap.

He surveyed this pond in our backyard clay site and determined it would "work nicely for planting a Christmas tree."

Observe the young horticulturalist at work. He swirls the mud and water until it forms a uniform slurry, then carefully dunks his weed heads in the slurry and smashes then into the clay with a stick.

Needs more smashing.

I love this picture of E.

Click on it and you'll get a close-up of his exquisite features.

Yes. We make cute babies.

Happy Groundhog Day

Our groundhog agrees with Punxsutawney Phil; six more weeks of winter.

For those of you who notice the discrepancy, here in California NOT seeing your shadow means there IS more winter. It's so confusing. We really need to standardize things with our partners in Gobblers Knob.

8:08 AM - Our House

A is playing with one of her favorite toys.

E was concerned that M couldn't sit without his help so he ran over to stabilize her.

M cried and E left. Once M was on her tummy she became a little happier.

A was crawling around (she started yesterday!) and barfed on the floor.

T cleaned it up.

E went to time-out for screaming, "NO!!" to Daddy when he was asked to put Mommy's cell phone on the counter.

K loved on M because M was having a difficult morning.

T made a new batch of bottles, 96 oz. total, for the fridge.

Isn't he amazing?

E apologized and came out of time out. Of his own volition he is putting away the cereal boxes while A tries to attack him at each pass.

E's bed. He wet it overnight.

Sheets are stripped and in the wash.

T is packing up our inflatable mattress while K entertains A & M.

E took this picture.

Non-photographed highlights:

• All 3 kids awoke at 6:25 AM. E was up early because he wet the bed.
• 3 poopy diapers
• 2 bottles
• Oatmeal with blueberries for the girls, cold cereal for the rest of us
• "Thought for the Day" - our morning devotional
• Dishwasher is emptied
• T & K's bed is made
• A & M were dressed
• E had a bath, got dressed, and brushed his teeth
• K went to the gym at 5:00 AM, came home, showered and is ready for the day

It's now 9:25 AM. A & M are down for naps. E helped K go through pictures of this morning and selected his favorites for this post. T is on a bike ride - I think today's is 20-25 miles. This is a typical morning and though it's busy, I love every second of it. I don't want to forget what it's like, so I recorded it.