Happy FIVE months Miss B!!!

Miss B ~ aka MC ~ aka Baby Sister ~ aka "Big GIRL" :)

What a little love muffin you are! You are just the sweetest snugly little package we have ever seen! :) You are SO loved by EVERYONE in this house! :)

A sweet moment...just a couple days before your big sis whacked yah in the head with her baby doll...

We did start you on some cereal (oatmeal) this past month and you are now sitting in your sister's big girl high chair... and don't you think you are ALL THAT and a bag of chips :) (Click the link for Minnie comparison pics)

You still have some trouble trying to figure out how to get it all down your hatch but you're getting better and better. One more month before I hope to introduce you to more tasty items and I have some mashed avocado all ready to go! :)

 Overall you really ARE the happiest girl. You are loving your excesaucer, your big sister, eating in the middle of the night and your Mama! :)

Your day TYPICALLY starts around 6:15ish...you eat and hang out with your sister, sit in your bouncy chair so mom can snag a shower and you are ready for your first nap of the day in your CRIB around 8:30-9ish... you're up again around 10:30ish ready to eat and we try to get a dose of oatmeal into yah at that feeding. After that, it's more play time and you and Minnie have been successfully napping together IN.THE.SAME.ROOM. for a couple (3/4 days)... you are usually sleeping long before her therefore UP before her but so far you have not woken her up when you sqwak. The afternoons are a little more challenging... you eat again and then will hang out for a bit but have no interest in sleeping anymore in your crib. You like to be part of the action and thankfully will either just hang out in your swing with your duck and bink or sleep...You're a big fan of the Food Network in the afternoon... oh wait. Maybe that's Mom. :)

You have another dish of oatmeal around 4:45ish, nurse and then hang out until your next feeding around 7:30 when it is bedtime. Lately we've had to wait for you to go "potty" because you've turned into a one a day kinda girl after being an 8 TIMES A DAY kinda girl :) Gotta love cereal???

Usually I can set my clock by you needing a "snack" at 1:30, a bink at 4:58 and up for the day at 6:15... oh how Daddy and I are praying that your "clock" changes soon...

We are all just so enjoying your happy, smile at most everyone, giggley personality coming out! Your belly laughs are infections and your sweet smile is to die for.

We love you baby girl!!! Daddy, Mommy and Minnie!

Semi-Wordless Wednesday

LOVE HER!

Camera Dump...

Husband: "MAN she is cute when she's SLEEPING...I mean, she's cute anyway but ESPECIALLY when she's sleeping!"

 Miss B is a WELL-LOVED little girl but I don't know that I've found one outside her immediate family that loves her more than Pheebs....

 Sometimes... you just gotta have "fancy desserts" on a Tuesday night....

and just because I mean I REALLY never thought it would happen... I just don't get tired of taking pics of her braids :) plus...she likes to see them and have you ever tried to get a 3 year old to master the whole doublemirrorseethebackofyourhair BUSINESS? :)

CAM-MAN!!!!

On Friday night we celebrated Mr. C turning ONE YEAR OLD! Can't BELIEVE it was a whole year ago that sweet Liz finally welcomed her baby boy into the world and I sat on the couch in her room so ILL and sick to my stomach... having JUST left a diabetic RN appt :) 

They invited a few of the "round twos" for some pizza, friend time and of course cake and ice cream!

Speaking of the "round twos"... having a story from one of the "big girls" :)

so the Mama's could snuggle and chat...

Little Miss Rolling Over...

and her big sister...

getting REAAADDYYY!!!!

in the words of Husband "I've NEVER seen a 1 year old who BARELY makes a mess with his cake AND barely needs cleaning up!" :) 

In the words of Liz...."Isn't it GREAT!?" :) 

Happy Birthday Big Boy! We sure did enjoy celebrating YOU!

*Photo courtesy of Liz*

Minnie

I want girls with dirt under their painted fingernails...

and as I watched my girl leave with her Daddy wearing her orange knit hunting hat (of COURSE Fletch right? :) to check his bait traps and I was left in a quiet house I looked around... this is what I saw...

I think I TOTALLY have it... my girly girl that loves her babies, wearing redneck orange and doing ANYTHING her Daddy is doing... :)

Whatcha Readin'?

My Women's Bible study has been on hiatus for a few months... fall was a crazy time of year for most and then going into the holidays we've been "on a break" (I hope my "Friends" fans get that... :)

BUT....Come early this month we are BACK AT IT LADIES... with a new study and rumor mill is a new member. :) I'm excited to start digging again and you all know I love ALL THINGS HUSBAND...and this seems like a perfect fit for me right now. Husband does not care about a clean house, the laundry done or dressed and bathed babies... but he DOES care about a happy and rejoicing wife. Gonna work on THAT for 2013 :)

so... in addition to that I've hauled out One Thousand Gifts again....you might remember we read it for book club back in August of 2011. It seems that contentment, thankfulness and happy are all things that the Lord is putting on my radar as of late... "I hear yah barkin' Big Dawg..." :)

I also want to start pouring through this book again. It has sort of found its way UNDER my bed (Tracy, no judging about there being things UNDER my bed :) and I WANT to finish it...

Also, a book that I've had for YEARS but truth be told, NEVER read it is Love and Respect. I know a lot of my peeps have read this, gone to a conference and/or done a Bible Study with this book and have gotten a TON out of it... I'm hoping for the same....

And lest you all think that I'm all about deep/soul-stirring/growth this year... Please keep in mind that THIS PUPPY shows up once a month and OH HOW I LOOK FORWARD TO IT! :)

what are YOU reading this year??

2012 ~ A Year in Review...

I don't do this every year but more and more as of late I've been finding myself needing to focus on the GOOD on the THANKFUL and on the how things have "worked together for GOOD..." so I thought this might be a good exercise to do just that...

Remember who came into the world 10ish days LATER than we all thought he should? And remember, me in that picture snuggled on the couch with my girl looking just as sick as her but none of you knew WHY yet... :)

But I told yah on Feb 1st publicly here on the blog...and we had so much fun telling the "kids"...

Minnie also got her first haircut and had her first sleepover in Feb!

In March, CountryDad turned 60!!!!!!!! Minnie ditched her bink AND started swimming lessons...AND WE FOUND OUT MISS B WAS A GIRL!!!! We enjoyed 70 degree weather and an hour at the beach in MARCH...unheard of in Northern New England

April brought Track Season again, silly Minnie-isms and loads of doctor appts. A ton of sickies, more warm weather and a Def. highlight... a surprise visit from GA!

In May the "big girls" came home from college, the sick started to go away, Minnie started turning more and more into a little girl vs. a todd-lah :) and we just hung on for the ride... May/early June is a tough time here regarding schedules and being 30ish weeks PG this year was a rough go some days...add in a bunch of birthdays, State track meets and Mother's Day and you should have just committed me to the funny farm...

But... it brought June where we were able to celebrate even MORE birthdays, play outside a TON, go camping and Minnie FINALLY got a battery for her Jeep and the den started to come together into a playroom. We also celebrated the impending arrival of Baby "Nacho" at Laura Jane's baby shower! Who wouldha thought that back in Dec '11 we'd sit across from each other at breakfast and BOTH NOT ORDER COFFEE....:) So happy for that girl who has embraced wife hood and motherhood with open arms and a VERY open heart.

July was just one month away from meeting Miss B and we were nutty busy with Dr. appts in the big city, getting things organized in the house and getting loved on by friends and family. Baby "Nacho" made his appearance, Tamarah and I just kept getting bigger and bigger and more uncomfortable :) and oh yah... Husband got a serious case of TWELVE KIDNEY STONES! We tried to keep our heads above water (pun intended) since we spent most of the month in L&L's pool!

and then.... AUGUST! BY FAR my favorite month of this past year... I cannot imagine a sweeter gift after 9 months of "I.HATE.MY.LIFE." sick, fat, blood sugar craziness... it was time to hunker down, enjoy our gift, adjust to life as a family of four and watch my body just have the pain travel as it adjusted to Miss B's life OUTSIDE it. :) Miss B's friend Baby O made her debut, Husband and I celebrated 11 years of LOVE by staying in :) and he went back to work...much to my chagrin.

In September we enjoyed our friends more with trips to the apple farm, outside festivals and FAIR SEASON. I lowered my expectations of what I could get done with TWO kids that DO feel like 600 children MOST days and Husband coached soccer. Minnie ran another "race", I met Baby O and Miss B met the Walk-ah gals for the first time!

October kept us busy outside with trips to a pumpkin farm and getting back to story hour at the library. We were overwhelmed with love from our friends and Minnie decided this was her new favorite song. Almost 3 months later and it's STILL her favorite :)

In November we had a three MONTH old AND a three YEAR old. The DEN was COMPLETE, we hosted Thanksgiving and got ready for Christmas. We did what we feel is right to try and ensure there will be no more babies and I snuck out for a movie night to finish off the Twilight series and felt like a rebel leaving the house when it was DARK OUT! Laura Jane and I made the trek to see Heidi Bree and so that she could meet Baby Nacho before he started school :) *wink, wink*

And ah... December... filled with parties, family, friends, playing at home, decorating the house and learning about Baby Jesus. Sleep deprivation setting in, Husband had another kidney stone surgery and we all looked forward to Christmas.

Reflecting on the GOOD parts of the past year do help me to see the light in the sometimes dark days when I focus on a little girl that doesn't want to take a nap or gets sassy... a baby that is crying and growing too fast for my liking... and relationships that have deteriorated.

CountryDad often says "I'm only one guy" and I think that this year I'm going to focus a bit more on that for my own family. "I'm only one girl" and though I want to be everything to everyone and do everything for everyone I also need to "protect my bubble" as my cousin Jessie's Uncle says... make some new traditions for my own little unit, and protect what I can of my schedule, my family, my heart and ultimately "my bubble".

Oh yeah, and of course lose those pesky last 15lbs so I can fit into my summer clothes.

Happy New Year Everyone!