it's almost that time......

here's where I've been spending all of my spare time.....getting ready for the big day!! can't wait to celebrate my two little girls! madeline can't wait either...she's been counting down to her birthday for months....now it's just ten days away and birthday talk is all the rage in our house right now :)

june already?

Wow, May was a busy month for us...Ryan was away on business trips for a lot of it and the girls and I had a ton to do to keep us busy in his absence. I took Madeline and Claire to Orlando for a few days to visit with my family for a pre-mother's day celebration. We went to Epcot and stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel for the first time....Madeline LOVED it. We had breakfast with Spongebob and Dora and spent a lot of time at the hotel's waterpark. Definitely can't wait to go back with the whole family!! Emma wasn't able to miss any school, so she stayed home with Ryan. I thought that she would be devastated to know that we were seeing grammy and pop pop and her cousins, going to Disney and staying at the Nick Hotel without her, but no.....she loved every second of having both the house and daddy to herself for a few days. They went kayaking, out to dinner and ice cream, out to breakfast, on a field trip to the zoo and to a birthday party....they crammed almost as much fun into the two days as mommy and the little girls did! As soon as we got back from that trip, we went to the beach spent an awesome mother's day weekend at The Pink Shell with Ryan's parents. Two days of beach, sun and sand was bliss!!!! Needless to say, I'm dying to go back. I think I could adjust very easily to just living in hotels all weekend long :)

Emma was a rockstar with her teeth today. She does not look nearly as different as I expected her to...I am used to it already. When she smiles, you can't even see her missing teeth (all on the bottom) and I LOVE her new little lisp from having all that air in her mouth!! She was very sleepy for most of the day, but not in pain at all. The dentist gave her a little treasure box to keep her teeth in and she carried it around all day and placed it very gently under her pillow before bed tonight. She was lying in bed trying to force herself to fall asleep and telling me how long she's been waiting for the tooth fairy to come and how she's so glad the moment is finally here. So adorable! Madeline was amazed at Emma's blood and gauze in her mouth and that she got to eat ice cream all day and kept saying that she couldn't wait until one day when she is six and has her teeth come out and has bleed and eats ice cream! When it was time to go to bed, though, she was terrified of having the tooth fairy come into their room and I had to convince her (while winking at Emma) that I would leave a note for the tooth fairy to leave the money on the kitchen counter and not to come into their room. Ok, so I'm a liar, but sometimes you just need the kid to go to bed!!!!

One week from today, Claire will be two. What the heck?!?! This is by far, the longest I have gone without being pregnant in almost seven years. By this time, I am almost ready to pop and here I am with an empty womb! Honestly, I feel that our family is perfectly complete and three is the perfect amount of kids for us...not too few, where I feel unsatisfied, and not too many...we can still really invest in each of them. BUT....it is hitting me more and more every day that my baby making days are behind me and my babies are growing up. Sometime in the next year, my household will be diaperless...FOREVER. To some that may seem like a relief, but to me, it's just one more thing that shows how fast time flies and how they only stay little for such a short time. To think that just a few years ago, I was seeing fertility doctors and fearing that I would never know the joy of being a mom.....and suddenly here I am with three amazing little girls that are growing up so fast. Ok, back to Claire Bear....her personality is really starting to come out....she's hilarious! She has the ability to make anyone who meets her fall instantly in love with her. Her facial expressions are out of control and she's always wanting to put on a show. From the time Ryan comes home at night until she goes to bed, she is constantly performing for him. She talks nonstop...the same way Emma was as a toddler and I LOVE that. I love that this little, tiny pipsqueak can say anything and everything :) She is in love with her sisters....and they fawn all over her. Madeline walks around all day tending to her every need....which equals SPOILED! For as cute as Claire is, she is also a monster....terribly two in every way! I can't dress her, brush her teeth, help her get in or out of her carseat, everything is "I DO IT!!!" and all out tantrums rolling around on the floor screaming her head off. Many times I just leave her there because there is no way I am giving in to her complete brattiness...eventually she gets over it :) I am starting to win a few battles with her (big milestone!) and it's so nice to finally see some progress with her behavior. I can't believe that my baby is gonna be two....didn't she just learn how to walk?! (oh wait, she did ;))

Madeline is all about journaling lately :) She will not go anywhere without a notebook and a pen (I have to pry them away from her at naptime). Considering the fact that she has never been to school yet, she's amazing with her writing. She knows a few key words and names and writes and doodles in her journal and asks me every now and then when she needs to know how to spell something. It doesn't hurt that she has a big sister that she looks up to and sits with everyday when she does her homework! She is a great swimmer...a little fish in the water....she could stay in all day. She, thankfully, has given up her love of "down arms" and now wants to dress in cozy clothes every day...it works out great for me that crewcuts just so happens to make extremely comfortable clothing ;)

Emma has two weeks of kindergarten left (SNIFF SNIFF!!). Her grades are great and her reading is incredible. She read a fifty page book to Ryan last night...it's amazing what one year can do. She has finally hit her stride in school....just in time for it to end. Boo :( Her and her teacher are best buds...Mrs. Johnson has been the best blessing to us this year for Em. Such a fabulous teacher and full of wisdom and she's really helped Emma to come out of her shell. I stopped by the classroom the other day, unexpectedly, to drop something off and Emma was lit up like I've never seen her before. Mrs. Johson walked Emma to the car after school one day last week and said, "Oh, if I could keep her forever!" and Emma was beaming. As a parent, not only is that the nicest thing to hear someone say about your child, but I can't explain how great it felt to see Emma know how much she's loved. While I am looking forward to this summer and to having Emmy around all day, I am not ready for this school year to end :(

Ok, so probably the longest post ever...the end :)

p.s. just noticed that the last picture on the bottom of my blog is of me holding madeline at her 1st birthday party.....was that really three years ago??? can't believe that little peanut is gonna be four next week. either i need to update my pictures or my kids just need to stop growing up!

the first five....

If there is one thing I have learned about Emma, it's that most things in life don't come easily for her. Sooooooooo, in true Emma fashion, she is on her way to the dentist this morning to lose not her first tooth, but her first FIVE! Nope...no loose, wiggly, when is it gonna fall out, first tooth loss here. Instead, she is getting drugged up and having five pulled. Her adult teeth are already coming in and her baby teeth are not even close to being loose yet, so the dentist is taking matters into his own hands :) Her poor mouth is already a mess....it's tiny and there is not enough room for her teeth....the dentist likes to remind me every time I'm in there that we have a lot of work cut out for us and she's gonna need tons of orthodontic work...great! I am waiting on edge to see what she looks like after this morning....kids always look so grown up once they start losing their teeth....it's like a whole new level of "kidness". I remember when each of those teeth came in and darn it, I'm not ready to say goodbye to them yet!!!!! Once again, here I sit, experiencing a whole new first as a mom and wishing that my baby could stay a baby FOREVER. On the bright side, at least I get to play tooth fairy tonight! I'll post some pics as soon as she lets me take them ;)

i love when....

madeline turns her notebook upside down to write a "w", because she knows that a "w" is an upside down "m" and she's not sure how else to make it.

emma picks out claire's outfit in the morning, changes her diaper and gets her dressed for the day.

claire repeats every single thing I say...the combination of big words and a baby voice is waaaay too cute.

the girls go absolutely crazy when ryan walks in the door after work....and feeling that our family is finally complete because he's home.

claire...in a nutshell

Claire has been TERRIBLE this past week. Absolutely, positively terrible. I don't know if she's not feeling well (though I did take her to the doctor and no illness was found!), teething, or just merely approaching two and ready to raise hell. She screeches and screams all day long and begs for something and then once she gets it, she screams that she doesn't want it. She holds onto my legs constantly, crying and whining and then she'll go into flip out mode and bite or hit the closest person to her (or thing for that matter....yesterday the chair in chick fil a got a big chomp from her). She is absolutely insane right now, and I'm just praying that this phase won't be long lived. The good news is that we have a babysitter coming tonight and she gets to deal with it for a few hours....sorry Amber! ;)

sibling rivalry

Sibling rivalry is at it's worst in our house this morning and I want to SCREAM!!! Emma and Madeline both got Nintendo DS's for Christmas. Emma got a cute little plaid purse/carrying case for hers and Santa did not bring Madeline a case...guess he just couldn't find the right one ;) For the past four months, this has been absolutely fine. Emma has loved her case and Madeline has not even thought twice about the fact that she didn't have one. WELL.....yesterday I found a kit for the DS's that had a car charger (huge bonus....never seen a car charger for a DS before and much needed!), some backup stylus's in case the girls lose theirs, screen protectors, ear buds and a NOT EVEN REMOTELY CUTE CASE. I bought the kit for the accessories and the case was just along for the ride. This morning, I divied up the accessories for the girls and offered the case to Madeline as an afterthought...an ugly case is better than no case, right? That's what Madeline thought. Emma, on the other hand, discovered that Madeline's case had a wristlet strap, therefore making it cool, and it's been war ever since. Seriously????? She's had her own adorable little case for months and her sister has had this cheesy little one for five minutes and the emotions are out of control. Ah, this is just a little taste of why everything has to be even steven around here or little girls will lose their minds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the art of doing NOTHING

Life for us is usually crazy busy and I love that. I love always having somewhere to go, some fun activity planned for the kids and great friends to share our days with. That being said, the girls have taken turns being sick for the past week and I have absolutely LOVED every second of the solace. I don't think that my house has ever been this clean, my closets this organized, my laundry this caught up, my fridge this stocked (or my blog this up to date!). I'm like a real housewife ;) Seriously, though....it's been so relaxing to be able to stay on top of the household chores and jusy really enjoy downtime with my girls. We've been swimming, coloring, playing in the backyard, making a mess with playdough....it's been quiet and easy and great. The big girls have been getting along great, too, which is a HUGE plus! It's also so nice in the midst of it all to have some peace and quiet during naptime where I can go outside and soak in some sun and spend some time in the word. I'm sure before long, we'll be back to busy-ness with school, doctors appointments, gymnastics, sparkles, small group, bible study, playdates, beach days, park outings, shopping trips, date nights, girls night out, etc...but for now...I'm doing nothing and I'm loving it!!