Happy Little Things

I am sitting here typing, hands freezing, listening to the happy sounds of little girls frolicking upstairs. They have tried to go out and play in the snow but it is just too cold for their little fingers. So I entertained them with Brain Pop, You Tube, and Pinterest…. they loooooove Pinterest. Above are some pretty things that caught their eyes, especially that adorable kitten. Gabby wants to make arrows, Amelia wants that doll and to paint her nails. Moira is really into princesses so I am definitely checking this book out from the library along with a few others from this board.

I’ve really enjoyed my girls lately, taking more time to ignore the messes and pay more attention to the imagination. It is a struggle, especially when Moira decides that practicing scooping is way more fun with sugar than plain noodles. But then I catch moments like this and it is all worth it.

This little girl…. she parties hard until midnight, has all these opinions, and has replaced the word “no” with “NO WAY!”. She tells me to go away, insists on watching movies while nursing, and follows her sisters around with big adoring eyes.

We have been enjoying our snowed in days, I can’t wait to tell you all about it!

Stomach Bugs

For the last week we were infest (again) with the stomach bug. We all got it in mid December pretty badly so I figured that we were all good for the rest of the winter… wrong! I woke up to poor Miss Moira throwing up on me (again) and also got a text from Klint that we was also getting sick at work. Yuck! A day or so later and poor Amelia was really ill with it, poor thing. And now it seems that I am hit…. ugh!

I am a fan of the TV show The Neighbors, a cute show about a family who moves into a townhouse community of aliens pretending to be people. The latest episode is one where the humans get a cold and explain to the aliens about getting sick. It is funny when the poor mom, who is also sick, is taking care of everyone and yells at her husband for not being helpful in the caring of the sick kids. It is how I, and many other moms, feel- when everyone is sick we are expected to care, attend to, and help our family. But when we are sick, well the world keeps turning and we must soldier on.

We are typically a very healthy family, rarely getting even normal colds. But this stomach bug sucks! Everyone I know has it or has had it recently, most more than once. Hopefully it will die down as the days get warmer… and I am hoping that everyone is better for my birthday on Monday.

So I leave you with this adorable photo of Miss Moira, who sorely needed a bath after getting sick all over me and chasing me around the halls wailing when I went to get new sheets. =) Here’s wishing you all very VERY healthy thoughts!

I’m A Big Girl Now!

I have to take a moment to sit back and let you all know that I no longer have a baby. Even though little miss is teeny, she is indeed a toddler (aka mini teenager), lol! She has all these opinions, insists on drinking from a big girl cup, imitates me when I am choreographing (she dances around the house saying “step, step, kick” and actually DOES it!!), and is constantly declaring “SEE, I do it MYSELF!”. Aside from the normal milestones Moira is constantly amazing us with her vocabulary, her love of books, and the amazing fact that she knows her alphabet- uppercase and lowercase! (Thank you Super Why!)

One of the hardest things about seeing all these awesome changes is that this is it for us- no more baby phases. Everything that she is doing, that is the last time we are going to get to celebrate those milestones. It is indeed bittersweet. Moira just discovered the joys of pouring from one container into another, using funnels and scoops, and other water play. Mind you, this fascination isn’t restricted to water… keep an eye on your drink when you are at my house, nothing escapes the mini bartender!

I adore watching Moira’s mind work, watching her figure out this strange world, and seeing what mess activity she creates next. (Pay no attention to the crayon marks on the walls… Moira believes everyday I clean the walls up for her to create a new masterpiece on.)
Every day is a new skill for my baby who is not a baby… and I can’t wait to see her little face light up! (The pics below are Moira’s funny faces at the hockey game the other night!)

Oh Miss Moira!

It’s been awhile since talked about wonderful little Miss M. There are not enough words to begin to describe this little firecracker! She is a few days shy of 16 months and experiencing explosion after explosion of words and personality. She follows one step directions, actually she has been doing that for quite some time, and will throw out her diapers or go get toys to play with. It is awesome and really sad all at the same time because it means that she is growing up.

Moira has opinions about everything these days from her clothes to what she wants to watch. Being a big fan of Sesame Street, if it doesn’t have music she isn’t too interested. Luckily she likes the music scenes from Glee and Smash so I am not subjected to cartoons and Muppets all the time! Moira has also developed quite the loving relationship with her sisters. She has always been closer to Gabby, who dotes on her 24/7, but AJ has taken an interest in teaching her things like how to jump on the couch naked and smacking people around. Case in point:

Moira has developed quite the vocabulary from asking everyone “What is it?” all the time. She wants to know the name of everything around her and remembers. Aside from saying all of our names she can name about 10 body parts, make about 6 animal sounds, names her favorite Sesame Street characters, and just discovered the power of “hi” and “bye”. =) I think that having 2 older sisters really prompts her to keep up with them and makes her really interested in the world around her.

There is so much I can say about this little sun spot. She is eating more and more, has a steady no-nap policy, and prefers to sleep in most mornings. She holds her own schedule and woe to anyone who tries to change it! I look forward to the days ahead as Miss Moira continues to grow and learn. She is definitely my little crazy lady!

My Happy Place

{My happy place  is}

watching the sun dance in my daughter’s hair,

taking a bite out of a home cooked bacon cheddar burger,

smelling sand and water,

wearing a well-loved tee, jeans, and flip flops;

chatting with a good friend while we listen to our children laugh,

a feel of a good dog by my side,

planting jelly beans that turn into suckers with the help of pixie dust,

babies giggling in Home Depot buckets,

a stolen kiss in the kitchen while chaos ensues,

green glittery nail polish,

 77 degree weather in MARCH!!!

chilling on the couch watching a favorite TV show,

finally catching up on all my computer stuff and enjoying the quiet.

{where is your happy place?}