June - Lala and Breckin visit!

Whoa, ho, ho. We got Lala and Breckin here for A FULL WEEK at the end of June/first of July. It was so amazing. This trip Breckin and Genevieve were really able to play together and it was so entertaining to watch all the cousins interact together. My kids absolutely adore "their baby b." and couldn't get enough of her.

 

Other than Lala coming to yoga with me, Mimi coming down for an overnight, and our trip to the lake we did nothing but HANG OUT. It was dreamy.

 

 

 

Over the weekend we all headed to the lake. Candy and Brooks even came up for a day! We had a blast.

 

 

The little girls took notes from us big girls and did a lot of porch-sittin'.

They were doing it so much that we just had to pose them. These are cute little wooden antique chairs that my mom bought YEARS ago for her "future granddaughters". My goodness. Lane and I were pretty much laughing AND crying at all the cuteness.

 

Papa took the boys to buy a tube so that was awesome. The boys loved it, but Lala, Brad, and I showed them how to ride it wild. :)

GG totally loves her Lala...especially since Lala gave her "baby b."

 

But it's not just GG that loves Lala!

Polka-Dots!

 

The night before Lala and Breck had to leave we suited the girls up in the matching dresses we had bought them at Walls and took them outside for some pics...These girls are somethin' else.

And then they were off! But we all handled it really well because we were gonna see them again in a month!

Sleepy G.

My tiny tot is growing before my eyes. 

Her 2 year check up was this week. 

She was only 1% in height and .5% in weight but she is perfect in every way.

To say I'm having a hard time with her being TWO is putting it lightly.

I finally got around to writing her 24 month newsletter and I sobbed the whole time.

You can read it if you scroll back to 12/31/13. (I wanted it to be in last year's blog book.)

The way I feel when she sleeps on me is probably the happiest a person can feel. She is still my baby, but she is changing by the second.

I think, wow, she is so big. But even as she grows, she still can seem so innocent, so young, and so precious, like that tiny baby she once was.

And just as I think, well, she's still my baby, I think again of how big she is, how much she does independently, how quickly this will all be over.

And then I return back to this moment. This moment. She will never be as tiny as she is right now. I love her so. 

Pure Sunshine.

There are friends in your life that you love so, so much. You have so many memories with them that mean so much. You respect them, enjoy them, and marvel at them. Josh and Mic are some of these friends for me.

And then I was with them when their daughter, Charlotte Sunshine was born.

And all of that changed. 

Now, they are family.

Here she is just moments old in the arms of her daddy.

And here she is already 3 weeks old with her ever-luvin', over-dotin' Lolo.

I so, so, so, love these folks.

Newsletter: Month 24

Dear Genevieve,

This newsletter, your last, is almost 2 months late. Have we been busy? You bet. But that is not the reason. Not even close. I have avoided this newsletter with every fiber of my being. I have been writing these newsletters for over 6 years. For the last 73 months of my life, I have sat down to remember and record the amazing, hilarious, heart-warming ways my babies have lived. I have included some hardships, like the sleepless nights or sharp-teethed bites. But mostly, I share those moments that truly make me smile. I write these letters for many reasons. My hope is that they will help me remember you, remember your growth, your development, your childhood. I also write them in case there is a time when you want to know about your early years. But what I've discovered in the 6 years of writing monthly newsletters, is that I do it in part to remind myself how absolutely beautiful my life is. You and your brothers make my life worth living. You make me smile. You make me laugh out loud. You make me cry tears of pride and joy and in the next moment you have me crying tears of frustration. You push me to my limits in patience. You teach me lessons in service, empathy, and compassion continuously. Because I'm your mom, I consistently reevaluate my values in order to guide you and teach in the most loving way I can. You take me through the utmost extremes of the human experience...high and low...best and worst...My heart breaks with every month that passes and yet seeing you grow is my life's greatest joy.

You are SO much fun. This month you have grown by leaps and bounds as far as your vocabulary and development. You are talking so much and even though most of it is in that very unique Genevieve language, we often understand full sentences and difficult words. You play so well independently and though you love playing in your kitchen or with your baby dolls, you probably spend even more time playing with legos and blocks. You will sit and color for huge chunks of time and push your stroller around and around the big circle in the middle of our house. You have discovered the joys of the ipad and my iphone this month. You usually just want to watch youtube videos of "moo cows" grazing or videos of yourself but you do know how to turn on a netflix show too. You almost always have a purse around your neck and "blue baby" the carebear and the little dress up minnie mouse are your most cherished toys.

Your days are fairly blissful. Surprisingly you are our earliest riser which is a hard race to win. Usually about 5:30 a.m. you are up and ready to join the rest of us in the big family bed. You nurse for a long while and then you start asking to "git dow! Pay! Os!" (Get down and play! And get me some cheerios!) You and Ben are up first everyday. He helps you out of the bed, gets you cereal, plays with you, and gets out any toys you want. He loves this time with you. Then it is off to get him to school and either you come to yoga with me or stay at home with daddy. You always eat two breakfasts and by 9 a.m. you are asking for cheesesticks or pretzels. You go down for a nap around 10 a.m. and sleep for a good 2 hours. You eat constantly while you are awake and anytime ANYone is in the kitchen you still want to be on the counter. You and Des play lovingly with legos, blocks, and balls. He takes you for rides in the doll stroller, you jump in the crib, you sort through his toys, or make towers out of pete cups. You LOVE to help me with laundry or just cuddle with me and make me worthless. Daddy coming home causes you to SHRIEK with joy. You run to him and then remain on his hip. He loves to sing to you, dance with you, and even wrestle with you a little more gently than with your brothers. You have discovered that you LOVE showers. You beg for us to let you in and then you use 1/2 a gallon of soap washing your "bah-ee" and "hairweh". When it's not the shower, you beg to stand on a stool and wash yourself at the bathroom sink, rubbing handsoap all over yourself. You LOVE to get dressed and will often bring various outfits from your dirty laundry basket for wardrobe changes throughout the day. You are constantly busy, constantly adorable.

You've been interested in the potty, LOVE to paint, and get reallly upset if you don't get to go help feed the chickens. You LOVE cows and laugh so hard at patty and cali. You want tattoo earrings, painted toes, and bows in your hair everyday. You can recognize the colors pink, purple, blue, yellow, and green and sing this lovely melody of nonsense that is supposed to be your ABCs. You ask for "ugh mo" (one more) and hold up one little finger for almost everything but the best is at night when you ask for "ugh mo hong" (one more song). You love bedtime. You love chocolate. You love papa and gaga. You LOVE baby breckin. You love minnie mouse. You love bananas, cheese, carrots, apples, honestly, you love ALL food. You love dinnertime and try your hardest to entertain us every night at the table. You want to be just like your mama but you want to be WITH your daddy. You are pure joy...with your wild hair, your huge brown eyes, your kissable lips, your big belly on your tiny body and your pure crazy personality. You are more than I deserve.

Your birthday was simple and perfect. You felt so special and it made me happy to celebrate my baby girl. It's fun seeing how much you enjoy attention from your family. You may be completely shy and reserved with others, but within these walls of our home, you shine so bright. You perform, seek approval, and really let loose. I love being in the elite group that gets to see your crazy. After all, we all know who you got that from. :) As you grow, I realize how much fun we have together. How similar we really are. This does bring some comfort to know that we will have time for this special relationship to grow and we have so many adventures before us. But for now, I grieve. This last newsletter symbolizes so much change. The clock of time continues to tick. My babies are growing. My youngest is now two. I will soon have no one on the boob or in diapers. Sure there is something to be celebrated there, but it is a definite ending to a chapter in my life. A chapter that I have whole-heartedly loved. My baby turning two was special and I am only sad about what is past, because I so enjoyed the ride. 

I may not write any more of these newsletters, but I do fully intend on capturing you as much as I possibly can. All moments are fleeting. Time flies. This is the only way I know to savor it, slow it, and return to it when I need to remember just how purely perfect it was.

I love you so, so much little girl,

Mama