Bunny in Thailand

Beam and Bunny

Remember Elle's Bunny? Well she made it all the way to Thailand and into the arms of this sweet little girl named, Beam.

When Allyson sent us the pictures last night, Elle and I both started crying.

It is something Elle will remember forever.

The details are on Ally's Blog...click HERE

Lily's Room

I moved Lily's furniture around in her room the other day. I couldn't take it any longer. It's a tiny room and it has function not only as her room but it's also where I keep Gwen's clothing and the closet doubles as our linen closet as well. Crazy. I knew I could rearrange the furniture to make things easier and I was right. I put Gwen and Lily into the crib and I moved everything with them laughing hysterically. They thought me moving the crib with them in it was the best thing ever. I even moved that big armoire by myself. When I get my mind set on something I just have to do it right then. I removed Lily's closet doors...the track and all and decided on hanging pretty draperies over it instead. I think it will look better and will be easier for me to navigate. I found some I love on etsy and am starting to save up so I can buy them. They're perfect. The best part though is how much Lily loves the little windows above her crib. She wakes up, pops the shutters open and is completely entertained. The lens I had on my camera made it impossible for me to get the whole room in one shot but I still thought the view from the hallway looking into her room was pretty. It makes me happy now just to turn the corner in the hall towards her bedroom.

French Toast

Yesterday Gwen was grumpy. I mean, really grumpy. I was trying to get her to preschool and she was just not cooperating. Everything was going wrong in her opinion and she was completely irrational. She hated her outfit, her shoes were itchy, the lunch I packed was gross, she thought Lily was being mean, it was just one of those days. I put her into the car and she was still crying. I finally pulled the car over, turned around and said, "gwenners. what's going on today. you can tell me." She crossed her arms, rolled her eyes and said, "you really want to know? are you sure? cause i'll tell you." I reassured her that yes, I REALLY wanted to know. She looked at me, started crying even harder and said,

"you NEVER, EVER make me french toast!"

What?

I couldn't help but smile (which didn't help things) because I had NO IDEA where that thought was coming from. She has never in her life asked for french toast. I would make it for her but it's just never come up. It was so random. So I said, "oh that IS pretty sad. OK, I'll make you a deal, if you calm down and bring the happy Gwen back I'll make you french toast tomorrow for breakfast." It worked. She was then totally fine. Her 4 year old mind was relieved.

And guess what my Gwenners got for breakfast this morning...French Toast.

Perks

There in one perk to having a sick baby. Just one, but it's a good one. When they're sick, they're extra cuddly. Lily is a sweet baby but she's also busy, busy, busy. She's been sick this week (and last) and ALL she wants to do is snuggle. It's super hard when I'm trying to get dinner going or like this morning when I was getting Elle out the door and making her lunch- - Lily just literally sat on my feet and cried. I couldn't hold her and it was so sad. I did get Elle off to school and came right back home - got Lily out of her carseat and back in my arms, hooked a happy Gwen up with all of her "baby stuff" (she's really into baby dolls right now) and headed upstairs to my job - AKA keeping this house organized. It's never ending but at least I have my sidekick.

Pretty Things

I'm a sucker for all things pretty. On the way to drop Elle off for swim team last week, I drove past the flower stand. These pussy willows were out and I knew I had to go back. I dropped her off and swung the car back around. I knew just where I could put them. Having fresh flowers in our home is something I have always done. I go about every other week and it makes such a difference. I don't spend much either. A lot of times the "filler" is prettier to me than the flowers. I'll just see what they have and then load up on bear grass, branches or just plain greens. It's really inexpensive and makes a HUGE difference for me in our home.

The pussy willows made it home and I love how pretty they look in our front room.

Our home is small and so I have to make every room multi-task. Yes, I had to put a computer in my front room/entry way (not ideal) but I've tried to make it as pretty as possible. The best thing for me is that I have noticed my girls starting to be aware of the pretty things around them. I got the glittery bird ornaments out this weekend and Gwen was fascinated by them. She loved how when the sun came in the window they got "sparkly". Elle asked me to cut off one of the branches of the pussy willows so she could carry it around. I did, and she loved feeling the fuzzy buds on it. I want them to grow up and appreciate the little thing around them that are pretty. I think that's important and it's so cute to watch.

Throw-up and other important topics...

The flu has hit our home. I have escaped but all 3 of our girls have had their turn with it. I have had some awesome experiences with throw-up and carseats and cribs and couches but I'll spare you the details. I didn't spare my sisters the details. I took pictures on my cell phone and texted them to my sisters - lucky them. That's what sisters are for. Anyway, it was unreal. After one episode I was power washing lily's carseat and clothing on our driveway because I couldn't even take it inside to the laundry room for fear of the mess just getting there. A lady I had never met before stopped her car in front of our house and said, "Oh sweetie-- I've been there. How are you holding up?" It was so nice of her. Really nice. I wanted to start crying but just then Lily came cruising down the driveway with crusted throw-up all over her and in just a diaper. All I could do was start laughing and I said,

"they don't pay me enough."

What else can you do but laugh? And for the record--threading, washing and re-threading a carseat 3 times in one week should earn you an advanced degree or at the very least an award of some sort (I'm going to look into that.)

I think we're on the mend but it's been one of those weeks for me.

Gwen and Jon were the only ones that made it to church this morning. Gwen was actually quite excited about that fact. She kept saying, "just meeee and dadda?!" She had Jon all to herself. I was rushing to get her into the car with no intentions of a photo in mind and she said,

"I'm cute! You can take a picture of me if you want to mama."

Jon was in a hurry and already in the car but I told him she REALLY NEEDED her picture taken. So this one's for my Gwenners - heading out the door on her way to church. She packed her church bag all by herself. I think it weighed more than she did. The bag was full of stuff to keep her reverent - books, paper, crayons. That bag always keeps her busy but we're working on the reverent part. You see, Gwen does not understand what the word, 'whisper' means. She does however understand what the word, 'cute' means. And yes Gwen, this morning you looked VERY CUTE.

Lily Grace

My Lily

I took these pictures of her this morning and the cutest thing to me about them are her little shoulders. Who knew shoulders could be so cute? I love my Lily-pie. I love that I'm her favorite. I love that when I'm working on the computer she will walk up to me and put her head on my lap. She does that all the time and it melts me. I love that when I'm holding her all I have to say is, "laaay down" and she will nuzzle her head on my neck and shoulder. When I put her down for her nap or at bedtime, she holds her sippy cup to her lips with one hand and the other hand she holds in the air and waves good-bye to me...every time. I often whisper in my girls ears, "out of all the babies in heaven, how did I get so lucky to get you?" I've started whispering that to Lily and she smiles. And I love her even though I found her in the bathroom this morning playing with my cell phone in the toilet. It's true love.

Circus Girl

Gwen has been on a little bit of a naughty streak lately. She does things she is not allowed to do and then charms her way out of them. Yesterday she was in the shower and she knows that it is a BIG no-no to waste shampoo. Jon and I have both had numerous conversations with her about dumping shampoo down the drain. I went to get her out of my shower and noticed the plastic bowl we have in there that they play with was extra, extra bubbly. I then noticed my shampoo bottle (not the cheap kids shampoo) was laying on the shower floor. I picked it up and sure enough it was empty. I told her she was getting dried off and heading to time out when she replied, "mom, I am trying to learn to be a good cooker! I was NOT being naughty I was just making soup." A good cooker? Where does she come up with this stuff? She still had to go to time-out but she did get a laugh out of me.

Today she got me again. I let the girls ride their scooters and plasma cars in the house. They love to play "freeway" around the kitchen island. It doesn't bother me and they have fun. I do draw the line however with bikes. Bikes are not allowed. This afternoon I looked down into our family room from upstairs and saw Gwen riding like a crazy lady all over the family room on the rug. She was doing dangerous handstands on the bike (it has training wheels) and other stunts. I came down the stairs and told her to get her bike into the garage asap. She then looked at me and said, "Mom, I am practicing to be a circus girl. Circus girls HAVE TO practice and I am NOT being naughty." I kid you not those were her exact words to me. I died. I also grabbed my camera. I then had her explain to me what she was planning on doing for the show. That last picture is of her explaining in detail the dangerous stunt she was practicing. She was dead serious. She then said she couldn't continue talking and taking pictures because she needed to exercise like dad and propped the back training wheels on to the 1 inch thick black granite fireplace hearth. It was enough to get the back wheel so that it didn't touch the ground. Voila...she had a stationary bike. She was peddling crazy fast and was staying in place. Hilarious.

Career Day

Elle's school had Career Day. She has always said she wants to be a teacher like I was. She went as a teacher last year too for Career Day but came home sad because "no one knew what she was". I told her I could figure something out to make it more obvious this year. The apron was full of pencils, post-it notes, a ruler and chalk. She carried a clipboard around and I pinned a name tag on her. The black rimmed glasses were her favorite part. She said her teacher wears clogs so those were an easy choice. I thought she looked adorable. She did too until it was time to get out of the car. She kept saying she was nervous and would NOT open the door. I told her it was no big deal because if she didn't want to be in costume, all she had to do was put the apron and clipboard in her backpack and she was in a perfectly cute and normal outfit. She agreed and hopped out of the car. Watching her walk through all of the kids was painful for me. I thought for sure when I picked her up from school that there would be NO sign of her costume. I was happily surprised to pull up after school to find her still in full costume. She said she had a really fun day. I don't know if she'll continue to want to be a teacher when she grows up but I do know she would sure make a cute one.

Elle's Bunny

Here's My Sweet Ellers and her cherished Bunny before school this morning...

I received an email a bit ago from my best friend Allyson who is currently with her husband and 6 children in Thailand. On what seemed like almost a whim, they bought 8 airline tickets to Thailand and took their kids to help in orphanages over there. You can read about their decision, HERE. They are an amazing family. They are currently still there and I have been showing my girls pictures of their day to day trips to the orphanages. Elle was looking at the photos and she said, "mama, I could maybe mail them a shirt of mine that I don't wear anymore." I told her that was a great idea and that we could talk about it in the morning. About a half an hour later I heard crying coming from her bedroom. I walked into her dark room and asked her what was wrong. Elle sat up in her bed and at this point she was bawling. I still had no idea what the problem was. She then buried her head down into her chest held her bunny up in the air towards me and said, "mama, please take bunny. send him to the kids in the orphanage." To know Elle is to know that this little bunny is HER BUNNY. She has slept with him every night since she was a baby. If we are on vacation, Bunny comes with us. Sometimes in the middle of the night she will come in my room and tell me she can't find her Bunny. I'll go into her room and usually he has just fallen between her bed and the wall. The point here is that this little Bunny is the most priceless possession she has. I tried to give her bunny back to her in between her sobs and she just kept saying, "please mama, just mail him. it's ok. they need him more." At this point I was crying with her. In the dark of her room she had realized that offering a t-shirt she didn't wear anymore was not enough. She wanted to offer up the one thing most precious to her for those little kids in Thailand. I thought it wasn't possible to love her anymore, but sitting on the bed with her last night my heart melted. I have emailed my friend Ally and she said that if we look at the pictures, Elle can choose which little girl she wants to send her bunny to and Ally will make sure to get her name and address. So we're going to do it. Bunny is heading to Thailand. I took these pictures of her this morning so we could add a picture of her with the bunny in our package. I know those little kids need a lot more than one stuffed bunny so we've also decided to sell cookies door to door in our neighborhood to make some extra money to send with our Bunny as well. I think more than anything this will be something my Elle will remember forever and I hope will be a way for her and all of us to do a little more for others.

Lily 18 months

I put Lily and Gwen in the shower with me this morning. Our shower is pretty much the family shower. The girls have their own but it is rarely (never) used. Our master shower is stocked with plastic ducks and turtles and of course kiddie shampoo (family fave...suave's kids orange mango. the best!) The kids smell soo good after their showers I want to just eat them right up. I wrapped Lily up and set her on my bed and then went back to get a shivering Gwen her towel. Gwenners ran off after her shower to choose her own outfit for preschool (always interesting) but Lily was content just like this on my bed. I can't get enough of her! Add her smelling like orange mango and I was a goner. To die for cute.

Boogie Shoes

Ever since Elle was a baby I have put on music in the morning during breakfast. I used to hold her and spin and dance. The same song every morning. Boogie Shoes. Totally random, I know. I don't even know how that song became the McGee Family's official "morning song" but it is. Now that she's in school, we still put on Boogie Shoes during the morning routine. Getting her out the door by 7:45 is a little crazy. There's always homework, papers that need to be signed, trying to remember what day her library book is due, getting her dressed and her hair done, shoes and socks (my nightmare...lots of fights in this department), packing her lunch and getting her breakfast all while I have two other very needy little girls. Putting this song on lightens the mood greatly. I can be completely losing it with the grumpy kids but as soon as I put the music on they are all happy. If there's still a frowny face, I just pick that morning's grump up and start spinning them, it's like magic. Impossible for them to keep the frown. The door was open so she could see when jon pulled up to get her. He leaves super early in the morning but since he works so close, when he can, he'll swing back home to take Elle to school. That's their time. I am usually way too all over the place to take a picture but I did catch this one of Elle this morning when she didn't know I was looking. A little blurry but what could I expect when one arm had a pack of turkey and bottle of mustard in it and Lily standing on my feet with her hands up in the air (her way of saying, 'hold me"). I know I could do a lot of this the night before but I'm just not that organized. There, I said it. So if I can make my crazy mornings at least, fun, I think we're good. I know inevitably this tradition will end some day but for this stage in our lives it works and is super fun. I feel like if I can get them to leave the house happy, that will set the tone for their whole day. How can your day not be great if it starts with a dance party? If nothing else, when they're older and they hear the song Boogie Shoes they'll laugh.

The McGees 2010

photo by ashlee raubach

McGee Christmas Card 2010

Since the year Jon and I were married I have made sure that we've sent out photo Christmas cards. I have been keeping them in a separate book. The main reason I started was to make sure that we have at least one good family photo each year. The deadline of sending out the cards keeps me on track. The book is so much fun for the girls to look through. Jon and I sent out a picture from our wedding day our first Christmas together. The very next year's card I am holding baby Elle in my arms (we didn't mess around). We have one where I am pregnant and puffy faced...I delivered Gwen 2 days after that photo was taken and the cards document it all. The book is and will always be one of my most treasured items. There's lots of empty pages in it still and I look forward to filling them up in the years to come.

All Smiles

Gwen has ladybug rain boots. She loves them but was really, really excited about getting the ladybug umbrella. Well, it arrived and she was all smiles. She said she did NOT want to wear the boots because the rain made her feet feel "tickely". And for the record, her smile under that umbrella was just as big as the one on top.

A Happy New Year

My sister Megan and her family came into town for a visit. We met them at the Terranea Resort for a few days. It was heavenly. A much needed break for all of us. Both of our husbands had to work so Megan and I had 7 kids between us to entertain. Our rooms were overlooking the ocean and the resort made everything easy. The kids had a blast at the pool complete with a waterslide (elle's favorite), sandpark (lily's fave) and kids jacuzzi (gwen's favorite). Megan and I sat with jackets and scarves on while the kids swam. The pools were heated but it was COLD outside. They rode their bikes on all of the trails and just had fun together. I loved hanging out with my sister and that my kids were with their cousins. It was a perfect way to start the new year. Here's to 2011!

Santa Toys

I haven't had time to go through my Christmas photos yet but did spot these 3. Lily with her toy phone, Elle with her doggy pillow pet and Gwen in-charge at the microphone. My highlight was watching them peer down the stairs on Christmas morning and hearing them yell...

" He came! Santa came to our house!" That was the only present I needed.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we tracked Santa on Jon's laptop. We went to the site and a news anchor gave live coverage of santa's sleigh and its whereabouts . When we were tucking our girls into bed he was flying north from Mexico. We told them he was almost to California and that they better hurry and get to sleep so he didn't have to pass our house (he can only stop if they're asleep.) I wish I could use this tactic every night. They were in bed and fast asleep in minutes.

My Christmas Angel

This little one has brought me nothing but happiness this past year. She now says "mama" and if you say, "lily, kisses" she will walk straight up to your lips and plant one on you. If that's not cute I don't know what is.

Santa Sheets

Christmas Room

Elle and Gwen call their room the "Christmas Room". I got them flannel Christmas Sheets with santas and snowmen on them. You would have thought I bought them the moon. They were beyond excited. When I was washing them Gwen moved her little step stool into the laundry room to make sure she was there the minute they were done. The buffalo check duvet covers were an easy switch and I think made it so cute. In January we'll go back to lavender but this has been fun for them for Christmas. Here they are playing, "pass the grinch". The lamp only fell over once and it didn't break. A christmas miracle.

Santa

We took our girls to see Santa tonight. It was crowded at the mall and the line was long. Our girls were wiggly and excited. After what seemed like an eternity we made it to the front of the line. We sat all three girls on his lap and they quickly took the picture. Lily freaked out completely and did the arch-back scream. As soon as they got the picture we rescued her and then Elle and Gwen each got about 30 seconds of Santa one-on-one time. Priceless. I forgot to set my camera's settings before the girls got on his lap and then it was just crazy and too late. The pictures are a mess but I'm thankful I at least got something! You can see Elle explaining to him with her hands the exact thing she wants him to bring her to hold her doll clothes in. Gwen was just as descriptive asking for her very own American Girl Doll.

I love the author Chris Van Allsburg's description of how he felt about Santa as a child. He explains it as,

"an exquisite almost unbearable anticipation of a fairy tale coming to life. a fairy tale that included me."

Just 3 more sleeps!

A First

Elle had a singing performance last weekend and sang her very first solo. Her teacher did all of the girls hair in up-dos before the show. She felt VERY fancy. Elle was so nervous and when we first arrived for the performance she told her teacher she didn't want to do it. We convinced her back into it and then in the middle of the performance she told her teacher again that she was too nervous. I looked at her, gave her a smile and whispered that she could do it. She agreed and stood up and sang Jingle Bells. The best part was her little face so happy with herself when she sat down. It was so, so simple and sweet.

Happy

These girls make me happy. My Lily-pie missed the photo but was much happier taking her morning nap.

Home

I had a party at our home last night. I moved these candelabras into our kitchen and had them lit all night. It looked so pretty that tonight after dinner Elle asked if I would light them again because it made it feel more like Christmas. I have no delusions of thinking I am a great interior decorator or that our house is "all that", believe me. I know better. I do however want to capture the home that my girls will always think of as theirs. The Santa on the island is Gwen's favorite. I caught her on the counter yesterday trying to see what toys he had in his bag. The Elf hanging on the wreath in the kitchen window we named, Sammy. He reports back to Santa each night if they have been good or bad. The Christmas cards hung on our kitchen cupboards hold the faces of the people we love most. I took these pictures on a whim tonight just as I was about to blow out the candles because it looked so pretty and I wanted to capture it for me. I want to remember that when I took these pictures I had my 3 little girls upstairs fast asleep in their beds. This is the home we are raising our girls in and the home they will always remember. That to me makes it special.

Countdown

It's official. Just 9 days until Christmas. My girls ask me every day how many more days until Christmas. I found this cute advent calendar that I hang in my kitchen window. Each morning we turn over a card and they can see exactly how many more days until the BIG DAY. Grandma and Grandpa McGee gave each of the girls chocolate advent calendars but on December 2nd I came downstairs to find Elle and Gwen with all 24 doors open on their calendars and all of the chocolates gone. No self control. And you know who they blamed? Lily. You can't eat these cards so I think we're safe.

Happy 4th Birthday!!

Today is our Gwen's 4th Birthday. Jon woke her up early and took her to the donut shop and then to Starbucks for hot chocolate...just the two of them. When she came home we had her present wrapped and waiting for her. She has been wanting talking Woody and Jesse dolls for a long time now. They have not left her grasp ever since she laid her eyes on them. Can you tell she's excited? We are going to do a little party for her next week but until then she's set!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Gwenners.

WE ♥ YOU!