Butterfly Princess Gwendolyn

Ballet Costumes

Elle and Gwen's ballet recital is coming up. This morning in their classes Miss Carol handed out their costumes to make sure everything fit. You would have thought it was Christmas morning in that room. All of the little girls were soo excited. They looked adorable. Ballet mornings are fun for the girls but really long for me. It starts early and I have to have Elle also packed for school with her lunch, backpack and change of clothes before we leave. I then sit in a crowded hallway on the floor for 2 hours with Lily who should be napping at that time. As soon as they are let out I then have to race all 3 girls into the car to help Elle change into her school clothes to make it to kindergarten all in under 15 minutes. I know that is a lot of boring info there but it really made me dread those mornings. Seeing the girls get their costumes this morning and their faces light up made me realize that all of those busy mornings have been worth it.

Teething

Lily-pie is teething. A lot. She now has 6 teeth. 3 of those teeth arived in just one week. To say she is miserable is an understatement. I am trying my best to keep her comfortable. Motrin, teething toys straight out of the fridge and of course lots of time in my arms. Her eyes are red and teary pretty much all day. Breaks my heart. This morning she looked so cute watching her baby einstein video with her bottle. Jon took Elle and Gwen to swimming lessons for me today so that I didn't have to strap Lily into her carseat for a miserable hour. Just the two of us at home. I wish I had more time like this. Hopefully we will pull out of this teething phase soon. It is making both of us sad.

Today's Happies

At dinner time or while lying in bed at night...Jon and I always ask the girls to tell us their "happies and sads" for the day. You can learn a lot from their short answers. Well tonight I can report to my family that my "happies" included waking up to to see that my peonies had bloomed and then finding that my favorite bird glasses I had been eyeing had gone on clearance. (Lily smiling in the background from her highchair makes me pretty darn happy too) Happy Friday.

Home

Jon and I spent the last week in Mexico. We went with my sisters Megan and Josie and their husbands and my brother, Jake (we missed you Briar and Ben)! It was a super fun week and I don't have any pictures to show for it. My brother was our main photographer. As soon as I get his photos I will post them and talk more about our fun adventures. Our flight home was delayed (3 hours sitting on the plane only to have to eventually get off) and then cancelled. It took us 32 hours to finally make it home. Not fun especially when most of that time was spent in a mexican airport. I was missing my girls more than anything. We did arrive home however to happy kids thanks to lots of help from family and friends. We were also greeted by a broken water heater and flooded garage. Welcome Home to us! I think I need a vacation to recover from our vacation.

On a side note...this picture of Elle is so cute. I just love this girl so much. As soon as I got in the door last night I walked straight to Lily, Elle and Gwen's bedrooms and hugged and kissed them. Elle woke up and just started sobbing and hugging me. She kept saying, "I missed you so much, mama". She had soo much fun and was such a good girl but finally just broke down when she saw me. Such a sweet little girl. Today she came home from school with a little booklet she had accidentally left last week in her cubby. It was made for me for mother's day. The pictures she drew are priceless and her writing and words are so cute. It is a booklet titled, "My Mom". Here were her answers just how she spelled them in her book...

My Mom

She is: 35 years old

She weighs: 107 pounds

She is: 33 feet tall

Her hair is: blod

She likes to wear: jenz

Her favorite food is: shugr snap peas

My mom works hard all day. She is a: smile macr

She really likes to: help me clein up the goroj

She does not like: scucxs

She stays in shape by: cling up

If I could, I would buy my mom a: crd

I am going to keep this little book forever.

Mother's Day

Yesterday I had a great Mother's Day. Elle and Gwen each made me the sweetest little cards. Elle spent a really long time on hers and when I woke up in the morning it was on our kitchen island. The envelope was in her kindergarten printing and it said "For Momy Love, yor Elle". She then drew an adorable picture of us at the beach together. I loved it. Jon traced Gwen and Lily's hands and had Gwen color it as their gift to me. We went to church and all of the primary children sang songs for all of the moms. So adorable.

We were all dressed up and never got around to taking any pictures yesterday. However, I am almost glad because this morning as Jon was heading out he took this picture of us...the real us. The morning routine of me in my pajamas feeding Lily her breakfast of carrots and rice cereal, Gwen in her bathing suit and favorite pink striped towel getting ready for swimming lessons and Elle in her "cozy clothes" before getting dressed for Kindergarten.

I saw a card a while back in a card shop and loved it. It said on the front, "She designed a life she loved". I have often thought of this card. It rings true to me. I have designed a life that I love. I am living the life that I had envisioned for myself as a little girl. As far back as I can remember I wanted to be a mother. It is so much more difficult than I ever had imagined both physically and emotionally but at the same time it is also much more rewarding than I had ever imagined. And the depth of love that I feel for my 3 little girls I never dreamed even possible. I want my girls to know that they too, through thoughtful decisions in their lives, can design lives that they will love. I by no means have a perfect life nor do I want my girls to believe in perfection but the core things in life that are important to me are intact and that is all that matters.

Mother's Day Program

Today Elle's Kindergarten class put on a Mother's Day Program. They sang a bunch of songs and at one point held up these portraits they each had painted of their mom. After the performance Elle presented me with a paper corsage she had made and a sash that she painted "super mom"on. We had cookies and lemonade and, just as her teacher had instructed, polite conversation. I loved every minute. And for the record...

I LOVE being your mom, Elle. Thanks for making me feel special today.

Lily: 9 months

My baby is 9 months old. Where has the time gone? Two little teeth have popped through her bottom gums and she is working on crawling. I love her more than anything and can not imagine my life before her. It is so funny how that happens with each child. Lily is the sweetest baby...so mellow and happy and just at peace. I often look at her and can't believe how lucky I am that I get to be her mama. A true blessing.

Band-Aid Love

This 3 year old LOVES Band-Aids.

She loves them so much that we bribe her with them.

She also has no restraint when it comes to their use.

And she gets very, very sad when they are all gone.