In like a Lion

It seems like it only snows here in March. My friend Kath had invited my dear girl over to her house for a sleepover with her two darling children. G loves to go to Kath's house because Kath does things that I don't do, like throws tea parties for the stuffed animals. She is excellent and creative with the children, whereas right now the most creative I get is some watercolors and printer paper.

Kath brought G back home this particular Sunday morning and lo and behold it was snowing. Big, wet, sticky chunks of snow. The previous Sunday it had been 72 degrees outside. Crazy weather.

Something about snow is so magical, especially when you only get to see it once a year. The kids had so much fun making "snowballs" and trying to catch the flakes on their tongue. G got frustrated when she couldn't catch enough flakes n her tongue, so she pied a nearby branch of a tree and just licked them off of it...when she thought no one was watching, of course. Silly kid.

The snow melted by the next day. Because this is Atlanta, and in Atlanta snow is a calamity, G's school had a snow day on Monday. The snow had melted, but they still had a snow day... because there potentially could possibly may have been might have had a chance of ice on the road in the wee hours of Monday morning.

One of our neighbors had built a 3 foot high snowman. That snowman remained intact for about 4 days. It was really odd to see this random snowman sitting in a patch of green grass on a balmy 65 degree day. Thermodynamics ROCKS!

Evolution of a smile

Good Genes

On February 23, 2009 Gene Huffine was inducted into the Chattanooga Sports Hall of fame. Why is this important to me, you ask? Because he is my children's grandfather. They've got some good genes.

Appreciate the now

Today one of my friends' friends husband passed away. I saw the news on her status update on facebook. He was a young guy, had 2 little kids. Tragic.

It made me think about my own family. Now with three wee ones running amok, if something happened to Mister, or to I, would they even remember who we were later on in their lives. I know they would know who we were, but would they remember us? Would they remember me reading them stories on the floor in their bedroom while the rainbow nightlight slowly flickered through the spectrum of colors? Would they remember crawling gin bed with me in the morning to watch cartoons while I nursed the baby? Would they remember going out in the yard with their dad to pick up sticks after the rain made the yard all soppy and green? Would they remember what we smelled like? The way my skin feels so soft or the way their daddy's stubble prickles their faces when he nuzzles them on the weekend when he doesn't shave. Would they remember? Will they remember?

The Shot

I have been trying to get this capture since Little L was born. Every time she'd be asleep and I had my scene set, I'd place her gently down and she would immediately wake up and push herself right off of the beanbag chair... even when she was only a few days old! Strong baby! Finally, at 3 am on Monday morning, with the heat cranked up high and and exhausted baby, she let me catch it. I was only able to get 2 frames of it, but I am thrilled I finally got it at all! And will you just look at those cheeks!! Makes me want to just gobble them up!

Maybe one day another baby will let me catch it again... when the sun is up.

Comment away!

Hello all. I've had a few people tell me they try to leave comments, but don't want to create an entire google account to do so.... so I set up the blog to allow for anonymous comments. So have at it! I'd love to hear what you are thinking!

So Happy Together....

I just read in this month's issue of Psychology Today that depression during pregnancy leads to much higher rates of preterm birth. Gaging by the length of my pregnancies, I just keep getting happier and happier.

little dumpling

I equate each of my children with some sort of foodstuff. G is a puddin' pop, the Jell-o Chocolate and vanilla swirl kind that are now discontinued. Bill Cosby must be so disappointed. Little Guy is BBQ sauce, all sweet and tangy and sticky. Little L, she's just a dumpling. Soft and warm and squishy.

It's weird, I know, but sometimes they are just so delicious looking you kinda want to give them a wee nibble.

pretty in pink

The night Little L was born, after she'd had her first bath and was all snuggled up in that nest of receiving blankets that turned her into a little baby burrito, my midwife Kay came over to admire her wee face up close. The first thing Kay said was "Ooh, look at those cheeks!"

These were taken on her first night home, January 27, 2009. Just look at those cheeks.

bits & pieces {3 days old}

I can't believe how quickly she's growing. Looking back at these first pictures I realize how hungry she was, poor thing. Constantly sucking on her hands. Now, she has plenty to eat...

Brown Sugar

One time, G asked me if she could have something to eat. I was busy editing a session at the time, so I told her to go ahead and get whatever she wanted to eat from the pantry. 20 susipicously quiet minutes later I found her in front of the TV eating chunks of brown sugar straight from the bag.

"But you told me I could have anything, Mommy"

Oy vey.

Hangin' with Gran

My mother in law graciously came to spend the week with us after Little L was born. She was such a big help to me, constantly dusting and vacuuming and doing the dishes and the laundry. She even spot cleaned the furniture while she was here. Every speck of dust and floating Zoie hair was magnified to my hormone crazed eyes immediately after I returned from the hospital, so it was quite a relief to have her here banishing all the specks so I could recover peacefully.

Being here served her well also...she got to hold the baby tons. And who doesn't like to hold a baby? :)

Homecoming {jan 27, 2009}

I wanted balloons. Ms. Ruth from across the way had given me a little helium balloon on a stick that was a pink smiley face, which she instructed me to put on the mailbox when next baby made her appearance, so she would know. Ms. Ruth called me several times wondering if I had lost that little pink balloon since she still hadn't seen it on the mailbox.

When Little L finally did arrive, I told Mister where to find the pink smiley faced balloon (it was stuck in the basket where we keep hats and mittens) and I told him to put it on the mailbox. I also told him I'd really like some pink, purple and white balloons inflated and tied to the mailbox, also. Little Guy had a stork in the yard when he got home, Little L should at least have some balloons. In preparation for the big day, I had purchased a helium tank and a bag of mixed color balloons from Walmart. It also worked well since Little Guy's birthday was earlier in the month and so it saved some money on his party decorations... you know frugality is where it's at.

When Mister came back to the hospital after attempting this assignment, I was sad to hear that he was unsuccessful at inflating and placing the balloons. I mean really, it isn't THAT hard, right? He IS an engineer, I would think he could handle at least a clown task. Apparently, the balloons I had purchased were only 6" balloons and would not hold enough helium to keep them aloft. Who knew balloons had a minimum surface area to helium ratio? I asked him if he'd at least stuck the pink smiley face balloon on the mailbox. He said that it wouldn't inflate either.

Whaaaat?? Yep, he had taken a perfectly good balloon on a stick, snipped it off of the stick, then tried (and failed) to inflate it with helium. Oh my.

The only solution for this balloon-tastrope was to hit the dollar store on the way home from the hospital to score some inexpensive Mylar swag. Luckily, it was before Valentine's day so I was able to get pink and white heart shaped ones, supremely appropriate for our new baby love.

Once we got home, Zoie sniffed the newest member of her pack, as she always does. Then we celebrated Little L's homecoming with the only kind of cake I really like....king cake. Next year, we are SO getting chocolate and cream cheese filled king cake from Gambino's for her birthday. She seems like a king cake kind of girl, too.

And thus we started our life as a party of five.

Hello world

Eyes wide open at the hospital.





Don't worry, she doesn't have nipple confusion even though she got the pacifier early in the game. She was a thumb sucker from the start and we wanted to give her an alternative that is easier to take away than one's thumb.