Meeting Aunt Alicia

OK, so these pictures look a little grainy for some reason. Don't have time to figure that out right now - sorry :) Elizabeth was baptized this weekend. I was raised in the Lutheran church, and so we baptize our babies at my parents' church - the church I grew up in. All 3 of my girls have worn the same dress that I was baptized in, so that is special. We were thrilled that my little sister, Alicia, was able to be there in person for this occasion. You see, I have the coolest little sister ever. And I am ashamed to admit that I wasn't very nice to her when we were growing up. I really took great pleasure in aggravating her and getting her into trouble every chance I got. She pestered me non-stop for years, but now I realize (even though it was explained to me at the time) that she looked up to me and wanted to be like me. (That should have really called her judgment into question - I was kind of a nerd growing up - a rather immature nerd, but it was what it was :) At any rate, sometime around middle school, she became cooler than I was. She has a really hilarious story about being the class dork, and then getting a haircut and instantly being invited to join the "in-crowd."
After I went off to college, I really started to realize how great she was and how lucky I was to have her for a sister. I started to enjoy her company very much and respect her opinions and advice. I also started to feel really guilty for the way I'd treated her all those years! By the time I got engaged, I really wanted to solidify our friendship, so I did what any good sister would do. I invited her on a trip to New York City - just the two of us. And it was a blast - one of my favorite trips ever!! She lives in Miami now, and when I find out she's coming home for a visit, I look forward to it for months!! She is one of my favorite people in the world :)
For a few years, I liked to think that the trip to New York sort of made up for the years of torment I caused her. But then a few years after that, in my adjusting-to-caring-for-two-small-kids-nonstop-fog, I forgot to tell her she was the godmother for Abby Kate's baptism. So I'm pretty sure I owe her another trip :)
After this *small* oversight (she wasn't able to be at the baptism as a result) I clarified that she would be the godmother for any and all future children I am blessed with. When Elizabeth was born, I told her she was the godmother an additional 5 times, and planned the special day around her schedule. It took a small army to find a weekend that both she and Cline could be off of work, but we made it happen this past Sunday!! Alicia flew in on Friday and got to spend 2 days with our family. It was fabulous, and it was also Elizabeth's first time meeting her Aunt Alicia!!

Elizabeth all ready for church (in the baptismal dress I wore as a baby). I am still kicking myself for forgetting to put her bonnet on. All 3 of my girls have white bonnets that convert to handkerchiefs for the "something old" on their wedding day. Christa and Abby Kate wore theirs home for the hospital. I didn't have Elizabeth's when we came home from the hospital, so I told myself she would wear it for her baptism. Then I forgot. So I have to come up with another special occasion for her to wear it. But at least I remembered to tell Alicia she was the godmother :)

Christa is such a great big sister. She LOVES holding Elizabeth and taking care of her little sisters. Most of the time, she is kind, helpful, and loving to them!! I do everything I can to encourage that to continue.

Aunt Alicia holding Elizabeth after the baptism.

Elizabeth being baptized by my Uncle Jack - the pastor at my parents' church.

Our family with Alicia, Mimi, and Pa. Alicia is a bit of a fashion icon and looks like a model. She works for Nieman Marcus and occasionally scores some fun name-brand bags and kids' clothes for us :)


My wonderful family.

Elizabeth tries to roll over on her side/stomach when she's tired. She hasn't rolled over from her back to her stomach yet, but she got about as close as she could in the bouncer :)

Alicia with all 3 of my girls. Abby Kate was pretty bashful most of the weekend. Alicia and I went shopping for a Father's Day present for our dad a few hours before her flight left. While we were at the store, she picked up some birthday presents for the girls since she likely won't be around for their birthdays. Abby Kate warmed up to her very quickly after receiving her Snow White dress-up set :)

Gotta run - screaming babies need my attention. Have a great day!

Dance Lessons

Hello all!! Christa had her Spring dance recital tonight, and it, of course, was nothing less than amazing! I decided that I didn't want to miss a second of her performance, so I got a sitter for the little girls, so that I could focus all of my attention on my big-little-girl's dances. I was not disappointed - she (and the rest of her classmates) rocked the stage!
Christa is learning how to dance, and I am learning something, too. You see, I tend to get a bit stressed out over these types of things - dance recitals, school performances, professional photo appointments, birthdays, family holidays, etc. I just want things to be perfect at these once-in-a-lifetime events each and every time. I'm getting more relaxed and more comfortable with practice, but it does not take much for that relaxation and comfort to turn into stress and frustration. Because I want things to be perfect. For my little girls. And not only do I want these events to go perfectly, but I want them perfectly documented on video and still photos... and on a well-laid-out-blog! So that I can re-live the experience later, as many times as I want. Because I have so much free time to do that :)
I've found over the last four years that this desire and goal of doing everything single little thing right each and every time steals a lot of my joy. My efforts to live every event to it's fullest seem to prevent me from living any event to it's fullest, because I'm distracted by the pressure to not miss out on anything. This Christmas, after a series of exhausting and stressful ones, I told myself that whatever we got to do would be enough. And whatever pictures I took, or video I got - it was to be good enough. I made a concerted effort to be content with what happened, and I successfully resisted the urge to dwell on the great photo-ops that I missed..... and the Christmas lights we didn't go see... and the mall picture with Santa Claus that was never taken. I have to say, this past Christmas was the best one yet. I lived in the moment, documented enough to remember the important parts, and I look back on those pictures and those memories with joy.
Now that Christa is getting to an age where she can "perform," the temptation to watch each of her events through a camera lens is great... especially for this Type A mom who has waited her whole life to have beautiful pictures and video of her children being children. Every single time we have a performance, it's like there's a little voice whispering, "She's only going to do this once, so you'd better get magazine-worthy pictures, while taking Oscar-winning video, while enjoying the live performance as much as you possibly can. Before you know it, she'll be in college, and if you miss out on these photo-ops, you will regret it *forever*!!"
This Spring, I made a compromise with myself. I took my video camera and my trusty Canon Rebel to the dress rehearsal, and got the pictures and video. They are not perfect pictures and video, but they are *good enough.* And I made a commitment to myself that I would enjoy Christa's Spring Recital as it was meant to be enjoyed - LIVE - not through a camera lens. Because she's only going to do this once. And one day, after I blink a few more times, she'll be in college, and I want to remember how much I enjoyed watching her on stage - not adjusting the zoom lens on my camera. It was fantastic - a once-in-a-lifetime event! Never again will she get on that stage, with that group of kids, in that costume, and do those moves to that music. I was there; I saw it live! I may have missed a few great photo ops, but I made a memory that a picture just can't capture.

I am glad that I have this picture, taken right after the dress rehearsal:

I am *super* glad that my father-in-law decided he didn't mind watching the performance through his camera lens, so that I also have these pictures of the live performance:




She really was adorable! They danced to "Going to the Chapel."

Unfortunately, my father-in-law had to leave before her second number, and he left his awesome camera with the really expensive lens with me. I took one teeny tiny picture at the very beginning of the dance, and turned the camera off.....
...but halfway through, I couldn't resist getting this shot:

... and just really quickly, this shot:

... because I only have so much will-power when someone hands me a really nice camera with a really expensive lens while my daughter is dressed like a butterfly, strutting her stuff :)

Stayin' Alive

Hello all!! We have been sooooo busy wrapping up all of our activities, that I'm finally sitting down to document our latest happenings. Tuesday was the last day of pre-k-3 for Christa. The school put on the cutest program called, "Welcome to the Movies." They had movie tickets, popcorn, coke, and candy. It was nothing short of ADORABLE!! Sadly, Cline had to miss it, because he had to work. He'd tried to switch his shift, but that didn't work out. He had planned to leave work and come to see the program anyway, but it was too busy, so he had to settle for the video later on in the day. Christa's class danced to "Stayin' Alive," and her teacher even made the girls matching silver skirts.

Christa's teachers told me that Christa helped choreograph a lot of the program. Christa said that Molly, the girl to her left, came up with a lot of it.

It was super cute!

Christa with several of her classmates: Mrs. Allison, J.D., Molly, Christa, Adeline, and Mrs. Mandy

Christa's teacher, Mrs. Allison, was so sweet and wonderful this year!

Tuesday was a little bittersweet for me. I was so proud of Christa and her class, and we are looking forward to some fun things this summer. But I was thrilled with these teachers and this particular class, and Christa and I both had a blast this year. I'm never a huge fan of change, especially when I like the way things are. Christa will be at the same school again next year, with some of her same classmates, so I am looking forward to that.

Elizabeth is 2 Months...

... and has an awesome big sister!  

Cline is on a more regular schedule for the summer, and we are loving it!! It's been very helpful in establishing more of a routine around the house. The downside is that I have to put the kids to bed by myself a good bit more. I have a pretty good system down, but it does sometimes involve Elizabeth crying for a few minutes while I rock Abby Kate. The other night, I placed Elizabeth in her swing and turned on a movie for Christa while I put Abby Kate to bed. Right after I began rocking Abby Kate, I heard Elizabeth start to cry. I ignored the crying, planning to pick her up as soon as I finished putting Abby Kate to bed. She's a great baby, but if I dropped everything the second she cried all the time, I'd never get anything else done. About halfway through the song I sing Abby Kate at night, the crying stopped. That was a little unusual, but I had no reason to think anything was wrong, so I finished my song, said bedtime prayers, and kissed Abby Kate goodnight. When I came downstairs, I found this:

Elizabeth was warm and cozy and perfectly comfortable, courtesy of:

...the most awesome big sister ever, Christa!! I was so proud of Christa, and made a big deal about it. She had given Elizabeth her pacifier and wrapped a blanket around her, all on her own. It was a very sweet moment.

Elizabeth turned 2 months old on Tuesday. She smiles a lot now, and is very alert when she is awake.

I can't believe how fast she is growing!!

End-Of-The-School-Year-Festivities

Hello all!! Whew!! May has been a super-busy month for us. I'm a little nervous about the school-years-to-come for us, because the end of the year activities for pre-school are already wearing me out! It has been and continues to be a blast, but I will have mixed feelings of relief and sadness when it's all over. In the last week, we wrapped up Abby Kate's Kindermusik class and Christa's pre-school. I will miss both dearly! I am ready for the summer, but we do really well on a routine, and all of our classes and activities have been fantastic this year with awesome people! We will take the summer off of Kindermusik, since it's hard to take all 3 kids. Abby Kate will be going to the same pre-school as Christa 2 days a week starting in the Fall, so I don't know if she and I will participate in that particular activity again or not. Here are some pictures from her last class:

Abby Kate's favorite part of Kindermusik both semesters was the bubbles. It was Mommy's favorite, too!! The teacher turned off the lights and turned on soothing music. She told the Mommies to relax, and made the kids sit down before she would blow any bubbles. Abby Kate would obediently sit down, then jump up to pop the bubbles as soon as Ms. Wendy blew them. She was really cute. Standing with her is Amelia, her "best friend." They seemed really excited to see each other during class. Amelia's mom is one of my good friends, and we leave the kids in the same nursery at MOPS on Thursdays. When Abby Kate was reluctant to go this year, I would say, "Amelia is in there," and she would happily go play.

Popping the bubbles.

Last Wednesday, we went to Christa's end-of-the-year school party at the fountains. We had a picnic lunch of pizza, chips, and "cookie sandwiches" that Christa and two of her classmates made the day before. It was very hot that day, which made the water extra fun for the kids. Here is Christa with her best friend, Ava. They have been classmates for 2 years. Christa talks fondly about all of her classmates, but I hear the most about Ava :) Her teachers tell me that Christa can play with anyone, but she and Ava are good buddies!

It doesn't get any better than running through water on a hot day with your best friend. They were laughing and having a blast!! Sadly, Ava will be at a different school next year, but hopefully, her mom and I can keep the girls in touch. Ava's dad is actually the cousin of one of my closest high school friends! Go figure!

I'm going to miss this group! It was a great one!

Baths, Snuggles, and Family

First baby tub bath...

(This was actually given several weeks after her bellybutton fell off because it always takes that long for me to remember to bathe her on a night when Cline is home and we can photo and video the whole experience)! She seemed to like it!

Christa has started picking Elizabeth up (with or without my permission). Fortunately, she hasn't tried to stand up with her or anything, but I often look over at my infant who is supposed to be lying on the bed or floor to find Christa cuddling her! I try not to scold Christa when she does this, because I want to encourage a love for her sister, while keeping Elizabeth safe. It's a hard balance to strike at this age :).

Christa with her favorite girl cousin, Maggie Beth, on Mother's Day! They don't get to see each other as much as I would like, but they sure are cute together when they do get to play.

My grandparents came to see us all the way from Oklahoma over Mother's Day weekend. This was their first time meeting Elizabeth. Getting a picture of all 5 of them was quite the challenge - this is what we ended up with.

Elizabeth with her great-grandparents.

Sooooo Busy...

Hey!! Just a quick post tonight to let you know that I am planning a real post or two very soon. We have been crazy busy with end-of-the-year activities, birthdays, Spring activities, and just life in general. I have some new pictures and events to share, though, and hope very much to get to that in the next couple of days!
Right now, though, I have end-of-the-year teacher gifts to wrap, a downstairs to straighten, flip flops to find, outfits to lay out for tomorrow, a checkbook to balance, paperwork to put up, dishes to put away, a baby to feed and dress for bed, a husband to talk to, a bible to read, and a bed to sleep in for a few hours to prepare for an early morning.

Hope everyone is having a great week!