Either no time or no energy... or both.
3-weeks-old
And just in case you were wondering... my other 3 children are still here.
Now I'm off to... zzzzzzzzz...
Posts categorized "Ella"
Simple, Sunny Saturday
The kids and I went to the farmers market Saturday morning for some goodies. So excited that it is open again for the summer! I love being handed my food straight from the person who planted it, harvested it, or baked it. Here are just some of the things we came home with...
When we got home it was so nice outside that the kids immediately jumped on their bikes or grabbed a piece of chalk. So, I brought the food in, grabbed my camera, and headed outside. We had so much fun just playing around. I'm trying to just spend time playing with them as much as I can keep up (I'm a lot slower these days) before the babies arrive. I know I will be busy nursing for a while and just getting in the groove of having two newborns to tend to. I'm feeling a little sad about that. Wondering if I will have enough time and/or energy left over for Camden, Ella, and Maya in the day. Let's just not think about that for the moment and share some photos instead.
Can you see the locust on the training wheel? That nasty thing freaked all of us out. Haha! Ella shot off of that bike so quickly when she noticed it. Eek!
We went inside after a while and as I was putting some things away in the kitchen I heard the kids giggling in their room. They were all playing under the blanket in their room with flashlights and I just had to capture the moment. I LOVE those giggly moments and I will remember them forever.
See a few more in my photostream. Soon, pictures of some adorable onesies!!
Everyday Stuff
*Quick note to my Facebook friends: Feel free to comment directly on my blog instead of FB. Just click on the "Comments" link underneath each post. Thanks!
Aside from getting ready for the newest munchkins' arrival (less than 5 weeks away!) and taking photos, not much else is getting done around here. I can list off a hundred things that I WANT to do, but all I FEEL like doing is napping. I've actually been so inspired to start all sorts of projects lately, but I can't possibly get around to it (due to putting off stuff that needs to get accomplished first). I really hope I can at least create some sort of art to go above the twins' crib before they come. Is that too much to ask?
These are from Monday, but better late than never. Right?
The kids and I decided to just have a fun afternoon out of the house, since I'm not sure if I will be able to do much more of that. First, we made a stop for a not-so-good-for-us lunch at Sonic.
Then we set off to fill up on pure sugar at Baskin Robbins. Mmm mm mm.
We went to the library after that to pick out a fun selection of books, CDs, and DVDs to borrow, but I left my camera in the car for that stop. I knew I would be too busy repeating myself the entire time ("we have to be quiet"... "we can't run in here"... "leave the stuffed animals over there") to take any pictures. ;) I sure do love our new library though. The kids' area is so magical! I might just have to bring my camera in there next time.
Well, I'm off to finish my frappuccino and mull over baby names before hitting the sack. I hope you have an inspired and productive weekend!
Coolest People Ever
How awesome is it that I get to hang out with these kids every day? Being a stay-at-home parent isn't something that everyone gets to do, much less homeschool their kids. I'm so blessed to be able to do it. I love having them with me day in and day out, although we have our stressful days. Trust me! I just love that I get to prioritize what they are learning about. They can watch the ins and outs of how to run a business (as I learn myself). They are learning to socialize with a lot more than just their peers. We talk to cashiers at the store, the clerk at the library, other homeschooling kids at playgroup, a grandpa at the book store. They also aren't told when they can and can't use the restroom... that was always one thing that "irked" me about school. Ha! We were met with concern and questions when family learned that we wanted to homeschool, but I think it's pretty apparent as they are getting older that it's working out just perfectly. They are intelligent, thoughtful little people and I can't think of anyone cooler to hang out with every day.
Late Night Adventures
Do you see our little peanut's tummy? Full full full of poop. We knew it because of the problems she's been having for the last few months, but it was confirmed by an amazed doctor last night. She had an x-ray done in the ER that showed the big problem (We were doing the x-ray because our little prankster told us that she swallowed a penny. She did not.) and we did some not so fun stuff to take care of that before leaving. She is being referred to a gastro-intestinal specialist so that we can hopefully get this all worked out.
Here are a few pictures from dinner at Chili's with family the other night.
[Insert Photo of Mommy here... if someone had only thought to take a picture of her]
Today we are headed to New Orleans to take the kids to the Audubon Zoo and the Aquarium of the Americas. Truthfully, I am probably more excited than the kids are! FUN!! So I will be back on Wednesday and will having an etsy shop update before the week is up. I'm working on more fun things!
Have a great week!
Speechless Friday
(pictures from our day yesterday)
Oh my.
This is the face Camden gives me lately when I try to take a quick shot of him. Silly boy! When he's older we may wonder if he had turned into an alien for a year.
My little creature has begun taking piano lessons from the sweetest little lady. He's had two lessons so far and is doing fantastic. He seems to really be picking it up easily! I'm so excited to watch him learn and grow musically now. It's neat to see him interacting with another teacher, too. Another cool thing about him taking lessons is that I get to learn right along with him! I have always wanted to learn to play. Ella is already talking about wanting to learn to play the guitar later on. Makes my heart soar!
Last fall, Ella took dancing lessons for a couple of months before we decided to take her out. The big group of girls (and all of the sensory stimulation that went with that) was still a bit too much for her. Well, she has been talking about going back to dancing ever since November. She finally started again this week and she did so amazingly well! I was peeking in through a hall window and was beaming with pride. My sweet babies are growing up. It's so exciting watching them spread their wings a little.
The Unimaginable: Imagined
A Code Adam was called for Ella yesterday.
All doors in Barnes & Noble are locked. Employees are all around, looking and watching. I am frantically searching the store, calling Ella's name. The music is stopped. It is amazingly quiet in the store. Customers eyes on me. All I can hear, aside from my pounding heart, are the thoughts "she can not be gone." And then I hear it. My friend Deidre on the other side of the store yells, "Laura! I found her!" I, of course, run to her and scoop Ella up. Deidre tells me Ella was hiding underneath the train table. All I can say between my sobs is, "Oh, Deidre." I am bawling, squeezing Ella so tightly.
It's amazing is how quickly it happened. Deidre and I took our kids to Barnes & Noble for a play date. We were sitting in the Children's section, with the babies in the strollers by us and the older three kids running and playing around us. As you can imagine with two three-year-olds and a four-year-old, we were constantly telling them to stay by us as they tried running through the aisles. Well, they all took off yet again down an aisle towards the other side of the kids' section. We both jumped up and yelled for them to come back to where we were and Camden and Deidre's little girl turned right around. Ella, my headstrong child, kept on going. She disappeared behind an aisle, so while Deidre stayed with the other three, I went to fetch Ella. I didn't see her anywhere. I looked all around the section (or so I thought) and asked Deidre if she sees her anywhere. Nope. I run to check the bathrooms, and scan the back half of the store. Nothing. As I make my way to the front doors (my first instinct is to make sure no one is leaving with her), I call to an employee "I can't find my little girl. She's three. If you see her, keep her here." I'm calling her name and start feeling my heart in my throat. I walked back to Customer Service and quickly tell them her name and what color shirt she had on. One lady says to call a Code Adam, so they did over the loudspeaker and you read the rest above. What an incredibly horrible feeling.
I am thanking GOD that my kids are safe and sound. In a matter of seconds, your entire world can turn upside-down. By the way... she said she hid under the table and didn't answer my calls, because she didn't want to leave. Ooooh children! Didn't know if I wanted to kiss her or ground her for life.
I kissed her, of course.
Young Musicians
I walked into the kids' room today (they were being suspiciously quiet) to see this! All three of them had keyboards and were playing together. I was amazingly thrilled, and surprised, and I ran to grab my camera! They do have musical genes, from my side of the family and Jeromy has as much passion for music as I do. They are 4, 3 and 1... imagine us looking at this and laughing when they are in their twenties! Music has always been such a big part of my life. I wrote my first song at the age of 9. So seeing my kids into music in any way makes my heart soar. I'm seeing Camden become more musical, singing a lot and mouthing drum beats, lately. I hope to be able to really nurture that and help them tune into their musical creativity even earlier than I did. Creating and just enjoying music is such a fulfilling aspect of life, even if you only do it at home or in the car. Of course, if music isn't their thing... that's fine, too. Personally, I think music makes life richer for everyone... whether you like to perform it or just listen to it.
Camden, mixing it up a bit
Maya experimenting with sounds
Ella, workin' it out
Get It Straight
This cool little chick is adorable, no doubt, but would look a lot cuter right now if she were sleeping. I snapped the photo above while she was napping today. She's got this thing lately with falling asleep in the late afternoon/early evening and staying up really late. Now you're probably thinking "wake the child up when she falls asleep for her nap!" and it seems like the obvious solution. BUT but but... waking Ella up is like knowingly welcoming a natural disaster into your living room. Cranky isn't even the word for what she becomes (if you can even get her to wake up). It's an indescribable experience that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Um... no thanks! The mental picture of that scenario vs. looking at the sweet angel above always prevents me from being able to wake her. So for now, I will listen to one of my favorite albums while she continues to play with Jeromy's keys and her Care Bear floaties.