Miss Blue

 Chloe Blue, guess who loves you?

This little girl of ours turned 6 last week. She got a bike, a jump rope, and some fun barbies. 

I love her testimony. She is so inquisitive. She wants to be a volcanologist and is so intrigued/mystified by volcanoes. She loves hearing you tell her stories. She has the most amazing memory. I love hearing and watching her read. She is so confident and can sound out anything. She loves routine. She loves to be with me. She likes to be the center of what we are doing or talking to.

She has very small feet but is pretty tall for her age. She could jump on the tramp all day if we'd/i'd watch her. She loves carrying Lola around. She loves getting Lola when she's awake. She "understands" so much of what we say and don't say. She has such a kind heart.

 She is also practical. She decided rather than buy a 6 year old crown, "we should make one because you're just going to throw it away in a few minutes".

 I made the Rapunzel cake this year. I wanted it to be all things "hair" so a 9x13 cake was dedicated to the yellow hair and then you can see the rest. She loved it. And always love how much Brad loves the cakes.

Happy Happy birthday sweet Chloe Blue.

My birthday!

Good Morning Birthday. I awoke to Ez's little face right in front of mine saying, "come out here." Then he took my hand and led me to the kitchen where all my favorites were. A tray full of delicious gourmet pastries, chocolate milk, gerber daisies, new pink running shoes, new bracelets from Chloe, a homemade birthday card and my 4 favorite people. So then we ate and I may or may not have sampled every one of those pastries. Brad knows me...can't make up my mind and I love all things breakfast and sweet.

 I just think this picture is so funny. This was Chloe taking a series of me with my guy. Plus take a closer look at her birthday card to me hanging on the wall. I just love her creativity.

 Ahh...that's more like it.

 Then they made me a redvelvet cake and we indulged after a dinner of sausage and peppers.

 My cute friend decorated my van while I was in church. She is the best.

 we have had a lot of sickies around here. This was how we found Lola one night after she wouldn't stop crying and we got her out of bed, she just kindof passed out with her eyes open right on the floor.
EZ thought it was really fun to take everyone's temperature.

 

She felt much better on my birthday so we did the "cake thing" again.

So, I made this bag to help me organize stuff in my purse. This bag is for snacks so EZ can just grab it and choose something while i'm talking to the doctor or driving or on the phone or picking Chloe up from school. I made it out of the hood of an old lightweight hoodie sweatshirt.

I also have this blog that I basically posted a jillion pictures of projects or cakes we have done over the years. It is by no means a "craft blog" but maybe you'd find some sort of inspiration over there. www.22bluestars.blogspot.com

Lots of Lola Love

Happy Birthday Miss Lola Belle. 

 Look at all your teeth you sprouted during your 11 months of life. We started to wonder if there were any teeth in there at all. Your smile is getting even bigger with those new teeth.

Lola loves to be snuggled. She rests her head on my should all the time. She reaches out for dad when he is around. She doesn't like milk or juice very much but we're working on it. She doesn't love bows in her hair like Chloe did. She always yanks them out. She has tiny feet. She still wears those 3-6 month slippers. She can say "mama, baby, dank you," and various other words. It's so funny that we don't just sit and recount the words she can say, but I do know she says "mama" and I love it. She has an ity bity waist which I love to squeeze. She can cruise around the furniture and seems more confident in her ability to one day walk. She stays away from the stairs. Thank goodness. She loves to hold a marker in each hand. She loves to throw things down the toilet. The bathroom is now off limits. She loves tubs when she is with her brother and sister (in the middle) She loves her pink soft blankey and her new monkey. She has the sweetest personality and is quite a charmer as she smiles and tilts her head in a flirty fashion.

We love this little lady so so so much.

 This is actually what you looked like on your real birthday. We did a redo the next day and you were much much happier. I love how tender Chloe is. She takes her role as big sister very seriously.

And I take my role as momma very seriously, too. Love these 3 with all my heart.

 I am pretty pleased with with how this cake turned out. It was 5 layers and decked with beautiful pink roses. Chloe helped with every detail of her day. All things party around here.

 I'm going to have to say, her reaction to her cake with way lame. There were others who seemed to actually care about the cake and ice cream so we just gave this to her and moved on. Atleast I got a few photos.

 It wouldn't be a one year old party with out some friends.

Eating pistachios

 The other day, EZ and I sat down and ate a bowl of pistachios together. It was so fun to just sit with him and "talk". The next day we bought some more at the store. When he woke up from his nap he said, "i'm ready for some statues. After having him take me around the kitchen, in and out of cupboards, he finally said, "the things with shells." Ah ha! pistachios! This boy LOVES to be with me. He loves me sitting right next to him doing anything. My special boy!

 B-rad is such a romantic at heart. He makes Valentine's Day so special. We woke to a cute set table with little gifts for each of us. He is the BEST.

 I love a plate of valentine's sugar cookies. We decorated these and doorbell snitched some friends.

 Valentine's morning.
And Chloe had been busy in her room each morning "getting her surprises ready for Valentine's Day. Last night we went to bed with special hearts on each of our pillows and this morning she had layed out a special handwritten card for each of us (including EZ and Miss Belle) Mine is pictured below in front of my new cake stand.

100 triangles for 100 days of school. I love that she did this entire thing on her own. She just wanted me to sit and watch her.

I've been training for a half marathon and Brad snapped this of just the girls.

We started a new tumbling/pom class.

Dear Residency

Dear Residency,
I am really glad that January is almost over. Really, really, glad. It has been a long month, i'm not gonna lie. Nights are not my friend. Are there 60 days in January. It seems like it. January started pretty good and then January 2nd came and EZ got the worst sickness of his life. He called about 30 minutes after he had fallen asleep, which is a treat only reserved for me when Brad is gone for the night. I went in and he was covered in throw up. Red throw up because we had crystal light for dinner. I picked him up and we ran down the hall to the bathroom. During the run... he was throwing up. All down the hall. So we had a rough night. I layed out towels all along the path incase it "happened again" but it never happens again right where you lay the towels. EZ thought it was day so he asked to sit in my bed and play ipad. I explained that it was still night but he didn't get it. So it was a long night and pretty much that set the standard for the month of nights. I remember a few other things that happened this month. Our tree in the front yard broke and went sailing to the sidewalk, almost knocking Chloe out, the dishwasher broke, there is a burned stamp of the hot coils from the stove on the kitchen floor, the garage keeps breaking, and I think the car needs new breaks and an oil change.
So, residency I have to blame someone and you are the one that gets the blame. Husbands are needed at home at night. And daddys are needed at home at night! For the next week or so all 3 kids were very sick and mamma got a little sick, too. Lola decided she'd get all 6 teeth at once. Residency, really, couldn't you help her out and give her teeth one at a time? And why did you have to cause the weather to be so freezing cold and never send snow so that we could play outside in the "winter weather". And by the way, it is kind of hard to contain the noise level of an energetic 3 year old and a "talking" almost 1 year old. And way to stick it Brad by giving him the worst cough of his life and some freak fluid that covered his knee after his one chance to exercise and feel good. Nice one, Residency. Nice one!
But, atleast you made it so that Brad worked with some great people for his month of nights. Atleast, he got to eat some late night pizza for free and get his carbonated beverages for free. Atleast he wasn't stuck with having to pay for his food. That's be a real slap in the face at 3 am. And atleast during nights he gets his weekends off which made it so the wife could go out and run her long saturday runs with some cheerful faces. And thankgoodness, Residency, you pay for a YMCA membership that i take full advantage of every single morning at approximately 8:37. You do have some good points, but I can't see them when I am up at night by myself with 1,2 or 3 kids who can just sense that "something isn't the same".
But Residency, I guess I have to tell you something. Last year, I pretty much had not relationship with your or concept of just what you were or had to offer. I was busy cooking a baby and that is where all my energy went. You were in the background and really got a lot of the blame back then as well. But, you have taught me a lot. I kind of thought this Residency training was just for Brad to learn all about becoming the best and smartest doctor (which you have done a good job at. Thanks.) But you have also shown me that I am really pretty strong. I can do a lot of things effeciently and effectively. You've taught me that I am pretty smart and I am way more capable than I sometimes think. I feel like I am being stretched but also strengthened. This experience is very much "one of a kind". It's pretty hard to explain to anyone and most of the times I don't even bother trying. You and I have a pretty good relationship most of the time, don't we?!
And then Residency, just when I think that i'm really done with all of this and can't take it a moment more,  I look at the calendar and see that, Residency, we are halfway done with you. It's been nice getting to know you this last 18 months but I'm really gonna start saying my slow goodbyes as each month we tick off is one more notch down the hill instead of up it.
Well, I was just checking in. It's been real!
Mel

Mothering

I love my kids. I really do. I love being their mom. I don't use this blog to complain or rant or do much anything other than post pictures so my family can see how the kids are changing and growing and what we're doing. But I am happy when i blog as my thoughts drift to my missionary friends who's memories have meant so much to me in my life, or to my high school friends who I reconnect with every once in awhile, or to my med school friends who were there with me from the "beginning" of this doctor journey, or to my illinois friends...all of them...who are my family now. I think that I blog to capture MY little world and put it out there into THE world. It makes me happy if you read it and it makes you smile or wonder what we're doing or makes you remember our friendship or makes you wish we lived closer. I love reading your blogs. I even read a few strangers blogs, though I swear everytime I am wasting my life, but in some strange way it's like reality tv. I love looking at people's pretty pictures or things they do together as a family or their whitty writing. I do know that it doesn't do me any good to compare myself to them or to you because we are all just us trying to make a go at what we've got. That's why if I do read a craft blog I have commited to making a craft from said blog, or if I read some advice on a blog than I talk about said advice to someone so that I have used that time spent for good. So today, I'm really just glad that I'm a mother of these 3 amazing kids. 

And here is a summary post of our life:

 After several months of telling EZ that "poop in your diaper is disgusting and it stinks" he finally decided that what we were saying was true and he just potty trained himself. I was worried because Chloe was so easy and he really was easy too once he actually got on the toilet. I think this picture is so funny. Even now I am laughing at it again.

 The cute undie bum picture.

 Brad has been working nights. (more on that for a different post) and the kids and I have been so sick. So with Brad gone I am the sole supporter of the sickies at night when it's the hardest. EZ has had the worst cough of his life and i'll be honest, I hate the sound of coughing. It gets under my nails and I want to scream. Ironic, considering my Brad lived with me for about 2 years with super bad misdiagnosed asthma and i coughed each and every night for hours. He's much better than me. But anyway, EZ is finally getting better. I took this picture to display the bow crown on Blue's head.

 And this one. She turned 11 months, though you'd think she was 6 months. She's a petite little spitfite who knows what she wants. She shakes her head at food when she's done. she closes her eyes if she doesn't want what you are giving her. She finally got one tooth on the bottom. One day I was looking in her mouth and discovered she had 4 more on the top. Yay. I'm pretty on top of this "parenting-child-number-3-business" She stands now. She loves when I put my head on her tummy or tickle her neck. She still loved to hold my hair and suck her fingers but has resorted to holding brad's hoodie sweatshirt tie in place of my hair.

 And she finally did "so-big" with her arms in the pic below.

Miss Bluebird. Only she would quietly go in the bathroom, alone, and then come out and casually say, I pulled my tooth out, and resume what she was doing! I screamed and shouted and got the camera. At which point she started crying and said, "dad is going to be so sad." I asked her why and she said,"because I am growing up."

 

Tonight, EZ and Miss Belle played naked for about 20 minutes while Bluie and i read a book. She is reading so well now and I am in constant awe of her accomplishments (as I know all parents are of their kids)
And just so you know, I have walked over the same hoodie sweatshirt on the floor about 10 times today and pushed the same stack of books around the counter and not put them away. Just keeping it real.
But...i have commited to have a spotless kitchen table each night and making each day better than I found it. Also keeping it real!

This guy.

9 years ago. We were married on one of the iciest, coldest, dreamiest days. I love my Brad for many many reasons. He does so many small things for me. He is good and kind and I know I am so lucky and probably take him for granted all the time. I am so blessed and the kids are so blessed.

This is our first Christmas together. Ahh. I think right after this picture was taken I threw away this beautiful art print he gave me. So begins Melanie's problem with throwing things away (remember: 2 gifts cards to Sportsman Warehouse, all of his clothes when we moved, his brand new birthday shorts, my new sports bra, my belts, yikes...it's a real problem)

Just a few days ago. 9 years has been sweet. Very, very sweet.