1st Birthday Party for ME!!!

ME=Maggie and Ella.....of course!

Unfortunately we were unable to get a pic of Maggie covered in cake - she was very tired with all the commotion that day!

Aren't their hats cute?  Grandma Juannelle made those for them...each one slightly different.

Here is Maggie.  AKA Mags, Magpie, and Maggie May. 

She said, "It looks good, but it's too hot and why are people staring at me?"

Here is Ella.  AKA Ella Bella, Ella Lou, and as Karlie says constantly...Ellwa!!!!  Usually followed by "stop it."

Yep, that's a big shiner...her 2nd to be exact.  That one is fearless. 

She never has a problem eating cake...or anything else you put in front of her.



So, it was extremely hot that day, and yet we did most of the partying outside.  Lots of baby pool action, and of course, the redneck slip and slide.  Not sure who had more fun on that one - the kids or the hubs.  Yes, those are vinyls from bill boards, and yes the posts are part of our old electric fencing.  The best part was that it was crazy slippery b/c of the dish soap!  Can you say REDNECK!

All in all, I am still in shock that the babies are a year old.  I am SOOOOO glad we are at this point though.  Can't wait to see what this next year will bring!

Venting

I just got off the phone with a woman at the doctor's office, and she made THE comment.  THE comment that I hear every time I go anywhere with all the babies from total strangers.  THE comment that everyone loves to laugh and joke about at family gatherings.  THE comment that makes me want to scream in my head - "Shut the hell up, and just think for 2 seconds!!!" 

What is THE comment?  WOW, all girls.  Don't you know how to get a boy?.......or some variation of the same.

We had a boy.  Our second child was a boy.  He didn't make it.  Liam.  Liam Friedrick was 100% boy and didn't live long enough to even know what it was to take a breath in this world.  He didn't live long enough to know pain, loss, humiliation, frustration, etc. 

He knew he was loved, and that is how you deal with that loss. 

I don't blame strangers, but for those who do know, it tends to bother me.  I understand that people forget things, but for goodness sake....do we have to have the same conversation every single time?

I'm not "hung up" on our loss - for lack of better words.  God blessed us multiple times with our children.  They are happy and healthy, and perhaps they wouldn't all be so if I had 4 children aged 3 and under.  Maybe they would.  We will never know. 

I'm just tired of THE comment.  I don't need to be reminded, I think about Liam all the time.  Maybe I should remind other people. 

I don't know how to handle it.

Let Them Eat Cake!

The twins had their first birthday party this weekend.  No, this is not a post about their birthday (that will come in a day or two when I have all of the pictures), but about their cakes!  I wanted both girls to have a birthday cake of their own, but REALLY didn't want to pay for two cakes.  So, I searched and searched and found what was supposed to be super easy birthday cakes at Parenting.com.  Maggie, my Curious George lover was to get a monkey cake; Ella, my Clifford lover was to get a red dog cake.  We are talking about miles beyond my normal "open the cake mix" element here.

Saturday was cake making day - Sunday was the party.  I have never in my life felt so uncomfortable in my kitchen than I did on Saturday.  I was petrified that I was going to mess them up and ruin the whole point of having two different cakes in the first place!  Yes, I know this sounds a little extreme for some, but you other Moms out there know exactly what I am talking about.

All this stress and worry, and I get halfway through the monkey cake and it is a breeze!  It was unbelievable!!  AND, both cakes turned out EXACTLY the way I wanted them to! 

Here is baby Clifford:

And here is the Monkey:

 

How cute are they?  So, for anyone that needs a cake any time soon, check out http://www.parenting.com/birthday-cakes.  I'm talking about step-by-step directions and at a fraction of the cost of a store bought cake!  And for goodness sake, if I can do it, then ANYONE can!

Our Dinner Garden

So it's finally begun.  Last night I took a basket out to the back garden to cut enough for salads for the hubs and I.  I even snuck over to Karlie's garden and picked a few pea pods to throw in there.  By the weekend, I know I'll be planning meals around what is ripe. 

Satisfaction is setting in. 

See the okra coming up on the left?  See my big beautiful tomatos?  There's also cabbage, peppers, yellow squash, zucchini, acorn squash, cucumbers (they are trying to take over!), lettuce, salad mix, spinach, and green beans.  Yum, yum, yum. 

See the big flowers in the back?  Yep, that is my sunflower patch that stretches about 150 feet - mixed with okra of course.  Who needs a privacy fence?

This is Karlie's garden.  It stretches the length of our back porch, maybe 3ft deep by 10ft.  We've already done 3 rounds of radishes for her, and here you can kind of see her pea plants and carrots coming up.  Nope, we don't really get peas - she picks them too fast for them to actually grow peas in the pod.  Such a hardship when your child wants to go outside and pick her own healthy snack, isn't it?

Tomato patch on the side of the house.  I've only got about 6 big plants now, but there are 12 more that are struggling to catch up.  Last year from this little patch alone we had tomatos until the end of October.  My fingers are crossed that they keep going!

My pitiful attempt at an edible landscape.  It just doesn't get enough light here!!!  Actually, parsley, peppers, squash and cucumbers are doing great.  Too bad that is only half of what I put in there!  I think that I'm going to go ahead and start more lettuce here, and see how it does.  No use not trying, is there?

So, now that I've shared what I've been woking on, I'd like to share what I've learned this year.  First, never plant cabbage seeds directly in the ground (well, it doesn't work well here), start them in something first.  Second, and most importantly, keep and boil egg shells with water to make your own fertilizer.  It is just as good, if not better than MiracleGro.  I know the hubs and I have never had results like we do in the back garden before!!!

Mommy's New Song

All my girls have a song.  Of course this started with Karlie, and in the pursuit of distraction, Maggie and Ella's songs developed as well.  The best part about everyone having their own "song" is that eveyone knows their own and feels super special when we sing them.  Here they are:

Karlie Bea, Karlie Bea, Karlie Bea's ......a......bumble.......bee......BZZZ(of course at this point she gets pinched).

Maggie May, Maggie May, you woke up bright eyed today...

Ella, Ella, you've got something to tell us.  Ella, Ella, you're going to wup all the fellas...

So, Karlie, being the musical little thing that she is, made up a song for me:

Mommy, Mom.  Mommy Mom.  Mommy Mom sings us songs.

How great is that????

Where's Aunt Suzie??

My Aunt Susan on my Dad's side came to visit recently.  She is one of those fearless people who travels all over the world, with no permanent address, following her hearts desire.  Luckily for me (and my wonderful husband) her heart's desire was to come to my house for a week and help with the baby train since she was not able to do so when they were born.  Lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky, lucky ME!!!!!!!!!!  So, I make a list of things I'd like to get done while she is here and anxiously waited her arrival.

Here she is with the twins.  As you can see, or may know, 2 active babies can be quite a harrowing experience.  Throw in the almost 3-year old and it can be down-right impossible to get anything done.  Karlie, who was introduced (again) to her Aunt as Aunt Susan, right away decided her name was Suzie and she was Karlie's friend.  Now of course, after hearing "Suzie, Suzie, where's Aunt Suzie" for a week, she will be forever coined Aunt Suzie at our house.  I may be wrong, but I think we were a little overwhelming those first couple of hours, but by the end of the day Aunt Suzie was the one all my girls wanted to impress, not Mommy (you other SAHMs know what a relief that is!)

ANYWAY, the point of all this story-telling is Aunt Suzie gave me a new found energy I realized I had been sorely lacking.  She re-newed my energy, my patience, and most of all, made me feel like a grown-up again.  Just having her here for those couple of days not only allowed me to finish putting in the gardens and the numerous other things I wanted to do for spring, but showed me to slow down and really take the time to enjoy our time now.  On top of all of that, it made me realize how very alike we are - strange how that can be when you only see someone a few times a year (if you're lucky). 

So, Aunt Suzie, I just want you to know that laundry and dusting were on my list today, and since I vacuumed too, I put that on my list and crossed it off and thought of you.

We miss you so much!!!

Updates

So, I finally have a computer that works.  Been some trouble in that department.  I have to say that it was incredibly frustrating to keep paying that internet bill too, when it was absolutely not being utilized.  It did make me realize that I am overwhelmingly happy when I do not have to do some spreadsheet for my husband or any of the other ten million things that we all use a computer for on a daily basis.  I think that technology is great, but wow it adds an un-needed stress to life at times.

The girls are all doing wonderful.  Maggie and Ella are BUSY!  They clap and blow kisses, play peek-a-boo, try to take that first step and get way too excited and fall.  Maggie loves music, dancing, singing and playing on her piano.  Ella is my athlete - she will chase a ball for hours, and she pushes herself to the limit physically as much as possible just to see what will happen.

Karlie is in the "Why" stage.  I have to say that this is the best stage yet.  I know people get annoyed with this one, but it is absolutely my favorite.  You can control the direction of the conversation, the baby is learning, and you don't have to hear "no, I don't want to!" all day long.

My gardens are all planted.  For those of you that don't know, I have a horrible aversion to staying inside all day long, and now that the weather is beautiful I am in heaven.  I have been waiting and waiting and waiting to get them in.  I have an edible garden in front, my tomato patch on the side of the house, a large garden out back, and another small one beside the porch for radishes, carrots, peas, etc.  Actually, we are already on the second batch of radishes which I continue planting all summer because Karlie eats them so fast.  And I think that I've decided to do another sunflower patch along our back fence just because.  But finally, I can come inside with dirt on my hands and sore muscles and know that I've actually accomplished something.  Plus, what it is about making things grow, and more importantly growing your own food, that is so satisfying? 

All the babies are so happy too.  They eat grass and dirt and love exploring eveything they see.  Karlie has always been an outside girl, so she jumps out of bed ready to go outside every day.

Life is good at our house.