finger fives & kitchen dances

love note to my girls:

In a way, spending every single day with my girls is exhausting, draining and at certain moment's extremely frustrating. But there are always moments that make all of this worth it.

Like when I think about the special bond that Hayden and I have. How I can look at her a certain way and she will smile. I look at her a different way and she laughs. I laugh. I have this unbelievable bond that is just so heart warming. We also do Eskimo kisses daily. Rubbing our noses together, and then I say "ok, I want butterfly kisses now" and she will smile and get even closer and blink her eyelashes really fast against mine.

{this reminds me, I have also taught this little lady how to properly ask her father for something -- with full-on "pretty eyes" (blinking them, of course) this was my secret weapon against my step-dad, worked like a charm}

Then there's this new thing that we do. When she does something great in her highchair while eating, whether it be eating all of her food or saying please and thank you {she is really good at this now, with no prompting}.. instead of giving high fives, we do finger fives. We use our index finger and high five it. This was started because her hands would be covered in food. I mean covered. She is the messiest eater around, no matter what you give her. Ha. So, to keep my hands as clean as possible but still show her how awesome she is, we finger five it. Now this is done everywhere, not just in the highchair. It's our little thing. Just like our Eskimo & Butterfly kisses. Absolutely love it.

Then there's Bailey. Since she has been so alert since birth, I've felt such a strong connection with her through her eyes. Now that her little expressions are really corresponding with the emotion that I see in her eyes, it makes it that much more magical.

Bailey and I have this routine now... the past 4 mornings while my coffee is brewing and Hayden is eating breakfast, Bailey and I dance. I put on Colbie Caillat's "Brighter Than the Sun" and dance around in the kitchen. Rocking back and forth staring at my beautiful baby that our Lord has blessed us with. All of my problems and worries seem so meaningless and insignificant. It puts what really matters into perspective. You can take away my car, my house, my money. As long as I have my husband and my babies, life is good.

Dancing with my daughter and seeing her smile. So innocent and happy. No problems that she's aware of. Just happily dancing in her mommy's arms. Her eyes and her smiles are as big as can be. She's going to have a killer smile. Mark my words.

There really is no greater of a bond or love than that of a mother and her children. I am so blessed and I look forward to dancing with my baby every morning for as long as she will allow me to. I pray that Hayden will be older than 7 when she feels it's no-longer cool to give her Mommy Eskimo & Butterfly kisses. I am so incredibly grateful for these moments.

xoxo,
Mama

in other news

I've felt such pressure to keep up with my posting since my daily views have gone up. It's wonderful, but in a way it really sucks. I don't have the time at the moment to post substantial daily posts. I actually have something really great planned for this blog and it's in the works. That is actually what is eating up any free time that I do have. But it's going to be worth it. 

The sky was beautiful today. It surprisingly didn't rain. Not that I noticed, anyway.

 Hayden is coming down with a cold. Her poor runny nose. :(

In other news, I've turned vegan. For reals. Garit had plenty to say...he's hitting the grocery store for his steak and cheese. 

I'll change his ways eventually...one meal at a time.

These are super yummy dried out kale leaves. I'm going to bake these next time and save the expensive price tag. But I'm glad I bought them for a quick and easy snack!

This was so good. It was my dinner tonight. It's a garden veggie patty, with spinach and salsa. 

Easy peasy.

I can't wait to post more about my vegan eating ways!

mother's helper, anyone?

Today I sat at the kitchen table while Hayden ate her toast with jelly and bananas. Bailey slept loudly in her swing. This girl can snore. It makes me laugh, probably 3 seperate times throughout the day. Anyways, I sat at the table and realized that our life has really settled down. We have a routine and I'm not insanely stressed anymore. I do however, feel overwhelmed and I feel as if I can't balance the things I have to do each day: laundry, dinner, grocery shopping, general cleaning, errands, bills...the list goes on. Literally. I sat there and I added "playing and reading with the girls, blogging, reading up on my favorite blogs, photography..." the. list. goes. on.

All of these things may not seem like priorities to you, but these are all things that I kinda have to have in my life. Like on a daily basis. Maybe not the laundry or cleaning or def not the bills (who in the world likes to do bills??) but the blogging and playing and reading with the girls, taking pictures of my little loves...these are what make me happy. They keep me sane. They make it easier for me to be a good mom. If it was all work and no play, then what is the point? I have to constantly remind Garit to keep this mindset. He is all work. no play.

But my issue comes when I didn't get around to doing the laundry. The dishes have been in the dishwasher, clean, mind you...but there for 3 days. The girls no longer have any clothes hanging in their closets, they are all in folded piles with no sort of organization or even relience in size. This is where I get overwhelmed.  I need balance. I feel like I'm constantly behind. I need help.

Or maybe I need to ditch my computer, phone, camera for a few weeks until I get everything under control. I hate feeling like I'm dropping the ball in one or two areas at all times. Maybe it's time for me to unplug for a while. Or limit myself to "free time" like we had in kindergarten, but once everyone is in bed. Kinda like I'm doing right now, at 12 am.

Like whoa. Awesome & Awkward

So, I guess I can't be too upset with the Target lady. I could pass for being pregnant still. : (

6 weeks post Bailey.

Awesome
-It's Thursday. Really? Already? My week has FLOWN by. Like literally, I was thinking it was Tuesday.
-Went to the grocery store with both girls by myself and was able to shop with zero melt downs and a silent, awake Bailey.
-Both girls slept a good two hours at the same time and I was able to do a deep cleaning in our kitchen and living area.
-I was able to increase my milk supply from 5 oz every 12 hours to 5 oz every 3 hours. Woot!
-This Saturday Bailey will be 6 weeks. If you are a mommy, you know what that means...bow-chicka-bow-wooow.
-The mask of pregnancy on my face is almost completely gone. yay!
-Bailey is smiling All.The.Time.

Awkward
-Going to Target looking for an outfit to look cute in so I can feel normal again. Then Target lady checking me in the dressing room tells me that all of the maternity clothes were on sale. Awesome. If I were actually pregnant. Thanksss for that amazing self esteem boost.
-Hayden points out when some one farts. This goes for the sound or even smell. Watch out. You might just get outed with a cute little voice saying "toot toot". You've been warned and I have been reminded. Ha.
-Stumbling on my words like I never have before (at Target with a different Target lady) while trying to explain the stupid water jug I was looking for. She showed no sympathy for my description that made no sense at all, even after apologizing and giving the excuse of working off of 4 hours of sleep for the past 5 weeks. I walked away feeling like a total idiot and no water jug.
 -Letting the dogs out to go relieve themselves while Bailey on the boob and our employee pulls up and has to walk literally 20 feet away. I couldn't dart in the house, I think that would have made it even more incredibly awkward. Breastfeeding is natural, right? Why was it so incredibly awkward?! (our office is in our back yard for the moment. moment=past year and a half. Ugh)
-Seeing an acquaintance and totally not remembering their name but having full on conversations. What do you do? Ask for their name again? Bahahha. No.
-Coming home after running some errands and Garit asks me where the carpet cleaner is. Why? Because Hayden has taken off her diaper in her room while napping and dropped a turd. Garit thought this was hilarious and thought I had to see it for myself. Who do you think ended up cleaning it? Ugh. Not cool.
-Bawling my eyes out like 5 times while watching 50 first dates (for like the fourth time) and Garit looking at me like "what the heck?" Hormones man! Get with it already lol!

Dropping the ball

So I'm totally behind on blogging. I promise there are reasons, which I may or may not going into. But as for right now, the girls are calling for my attention so I'll leave you with a photo from this past week.

Hopefully, I'll have enough energy to blog while Hayden naps...if Bailey is allowing at that time as well, that is. :S

awesome & awkward thursday!!

Awesome
-You know the toast I was toasting this morning? Burnt it. So much for easy [laughs]! Awesome part is Garit walked in the house with donuts. Score.
-I was able to talk my toddler out of one of her world famous tantrums. By bribing her with reading time.
-When I think there is nothing in the house to eat for lunch without cooking a full-blown meal, I find a "cup of noodles".
-My Keurig one-cup coffee machine. 'nuff said.

 

Awkward
-Bailey pulled off my boob this morning causing milk to be sprayed everywhere [laughs] oops. that's something I simply can not control.
-While picking up Hayden's room [MUCH NEEDED], I stumble across a wet diaper. Hayden's response: uh oh. and then pees. yep. on the floor.
-Put on my pre-pregnancy pants. They fit and I can button them. But not without the extra stretched-out skin making my tummy look like a butt. [I'm not the only one that has this problem right?]
-While passing our living room window, my eyes catch our neighbor's horse. in the front yard. just chillin'. [laughs]
-Bailey always passes wind and poos while feeding. so random.

self pictures are always awkward.