Parade and Parties

Cami's turkey day festivities started last Friday with her Turkey Parade.  She made a turkey using a potato and a float to display him on.  I made sure that she completed the majority of it herself...it was like torture trying to keep my hands out of it, but I was satisfied working the glue gun and letting her do the rest.  She ended up with a pretty simple display since most of her ideas about what she wanted to do were a little out there and I wasn't really sure how she could pull them off.  As she was coloring her turkey parts she said "Hey, mom!  I know!  What if we have like an arch and we can tie some beans to strings and hang them from the arch like its raining on the turkey!"  My response..."Ummmmm?"  Next time I promise I'll find a way to help her make it happen.  Ian, Aidan, Aislyn and I all headed up to her school to watch her drag her creation around the gym to the tune of a recorded marching band.  She was so proud.

Today I went to her school for her Thanksgiving party.  It was great to see some of her new friends and watch her interact with her classmates.  They ate, played games and made a craft...bonus, she got to leave school early with me when I left :)  What a fun day we had!

Aidan's Thanksgiving party was also today.  The kids were sooooo cute!  They made the most adorable vests and feather headbands.  When I got there, Aidan turned around with the biggest smile on his face and called out"My mommy's here!".  I was so glad to finally get to come and do something with him in his classroom.  It seems that since he started pre-school, I have either been too busy being pregnant or volunteering at Cami's school to really put in good quality time at his school.  But now that Aislyn is here and the routine at Cami's school is a little more comfortable I can look forward to spending more time with him at his school functions.

Aidan and his classmates were all so sweet and polite.  They had an absolute FEAST and all of them had good manners, remembering their pleases and thank yous, waiting patiently for the moms and teachers to help them and cleaning up after themselves.  Aidan had a great time and left with a smile and a full tummy.  I left with a smile and a full heart, thankful for Aidan's teachers, his sweet friends and time spent with my little guy.

Growing up

Camryn...my dear sweet beautiful first born baby girl.  You are growing up so incredibly fast.  The things that you say and do have me laughing or amazed most of the time.  You are so smart.  I watch you read and do your puzzles, take care of your brother and sister and play with your friends and I cant believe how grown up you are.  You are a talented artist and gymnast.  You draw and paint the most gorgeous creations and you love to give them away.  Gymnastics is going so well for you.  You love going to practice and I cant tell you how proud of you I feel when I see you on the bars and the beam...so fearless able and mature.  You are bright and creative, always coming up with ideas and plans, drawing maps to imaginary treasures and writing pages upon pages of words just for the sake of writing.  Seems like just yesterday that you were Aislyn's size and now more than ever I see your own individual personality blossoming...adding still another layer to the wonderful person I see you growing up to be.  You and I sometimes clash.  We both have strong wills and are alike in so many ways, but at the end of the day I know that you have learned from me and me from you. 

So Happy!

Aidan has had a major case of the "mood swings" lately.  One moment he's smiling from ear to ear screaming "Im Happy!" and the next minute hes on the floor wailing over something silly like not getting to pick out his own cup.  He absolutely adores his baby sister and his big sister but at times I think he really does feel the middle child blues...not old enough to do everything Cami can do and not the baby anymore either.  Top that off with potty training frustrations and we have the perfect storm.  Well this morning as we headed off to school he sat quietly in the backseat and then suddenly piped up "Im happy today!"  "Im a big boy!"  So before we got to school I pulled over at the park and we got out to play for a little while.  As sour as his mood has been, I couldn't bear to miss out on this bright and likely fleeting moment of happiness.  It was a beautiful day and though I knew he had to get to school (which he LOVES) I realized how much I miss our "just me and him mornings".  I miss taking him to music and the library and to play with his friends.  Im excited to be able to do all of those things with Aislyn, but theres just something different and special about hanging out with Aidan.  Hes the coolest boy I know.  I love you little guy!

Wide Awake

Aislyn has been spending alot more of her day wide eyed, awake and wanting to be held.  She is such a cuddler!  Shes got the biggest dark blue eyes.  Shes constantly looking around so interested in everything around her. She especially loves to watch her brother and sister...and they love to watch her.  If Ian and I hold her facing away from us, she cranes her neck around to see the source of our voices.  Shes so aware and alert, just taking it all in.  She makes the funniest faces too.  I wish I could see what she sees... judging from her expression sometimes, the World must be a pretty spectacular place!

3 Little Monkeys

My friend Eliza recently posted a beautiful new picture of her three kiddos on her Facebook page and it got me thinking that since Aislyn was born I havent really photographed all three together.  The main reason I havent is because Im totally intimidated...like I told Eliza, photographing more than 2 children is like herding cats.  One is always going off some crazy direction and by the time you get that one under control another has gone crazy on you.  Its enough to make a girl with a camera break a sweat.  I finally decided "OH WELL!"  They are who they are...it just makes the photo that much more special.  You capture that moment as it is for better or worse and you find later that the memory of the chaos that ensued from trying to take a perfect picture can be priceless.  Some day when my children are grown and are able to sit pretty and "pose" I'll long for those days when they were just themselves- laughing, bickering, crying and goofing off with total disregard for who would see and what others would think.  Thats why I love Eliza's work- she captures her subjects as they are and no matter the expression on their face all you see is perfection.

So although I will never give up on the perfect all smiles image of my 3 little monkeys, I will treasure all those in between moments of blissful imperfection.

Sunday night Ian and I headed out to Minute Maid Park to see Madonna.  The Sticky and Sweet tour was our 4th Madonna "experience".  We saw the Drowned Tour in 2001 in Vegas, Reinvention in 2004 in Atlanta and Confessions in 2006 in Hartford.  This time around she stopped through Texas FINALLY..the first time she has been here since Blonde Ambition back in the 90's.  And a good thing it was here in Houston, because with the new baby traveling for Madonna was not in the cards this time around.

Now to the big review...of the 4 shows we've seen, probably the weakest BUT STILL GREAT NONE THE LESS!  However, my opinion my have been soured by factors outside of the performance itself.  Lets start with the "ladies" (and I do use that term loosely) that sat next to us.  They arrived stinking drunk...and I do mean STINKING...sat down and immediately started chatting.  They spoke of things that made no sense and asked me to take about 1000 pictures of them with their phone (all of which were blurry because they couldnt hold steady if their life depended on it).  As if sitting next to Drunk and Drunker wasnt bad enough...Madonna was 2 hours, yes I said it TWO HOURS late!  Totally unforgivable.  The show itself was super great.  Definitely not as flashy and theatrical as in the past, but still well done and worth every penny.  Wonderful set list, beautiful video backdrops and as always, fabulous dancers...just on a much smaller scale.  The updated version of Like a Prayer was worth the price of admission alone.

Baby's 1st Bows

My friend Jessica makes the most beautiful bows (headbands, tutus, ribbon boards...she does it all!).  So this morning we went over to her house to pick out some new ones just for Aislyn...I would hate for Cami to have to share her stash.  She had gorgeous stuff in every color I could imagine.  I got a pretty good collection going but really wish I could have had one of everything!  Its so great to have such talented friends!  I cant wait for her to get her website up!  Thanks Jessica :)

B-E-C-K!!

Last Friday the 8th grade cheerleaders from Beck Junior High came out to take their casual team pictures.  These girls were so very sweet, kind and patient.  They happily sat through about 200 team and buddy shots.  They were so much fun.  Their energy was absolutely contagious.  I left feeling carefree, young and energized.  What a great group of girls.  I hope that they will cherish these days and their friendships with each other for a lifetime.

Look What I Did!

Its in the unwritten manual of mommyhood.  

Section 5 Article 2: As a mom you are hereby contractually obligated to fulfill all requests, both anticipated and unanticipated, set forth  by your child's school until said child reaches the age at which he/she can responsibly fulfill such requests independently (which may be never).  These requests may come in the form of a written note home or in some cases through the vague undetailed words of the child herself/himself.  In the latter situation the child may choose to express such requests at the last minute (i.e. 8:00 pm the night before it is needed).  In such cases, that person occupying the title of mom must immediately get her ass in gear and make said request happen come hell or high water.

...and this is exactly what happened last night.  The evening was winding down.  Dinner was in the final stages of preparation and backpacks were being sorted through and organized or the next day.  I gathered a baggy of 50 googly eyes for Cami's 50th day of school.  Thats when I heard it...the sing songy voice of my 5 year old "Oh! and  mom, we are supposed to dress in 50s clothes for the 50th day of school!  You know, like a poodle skirt!"  ACK!  My mind started to race...where did she think I was going to get a poodle skirt?  Was I just supposed to whip it out of some magical Mary Poppins bag?  I quickly started thinking of alternatives but could only imagine her disappointment if her poodle skirt dreams were not realized.  So after dinner we (yep the whole family) made a mad dash for the fabric store.  I came home armed with felt, elastic and a handful of shiny this and thats.  I measured her and sent her to bed.  Then, with a Christmas tree skirt to use as a "pattern", I blew the dust off the old sewing machine and set to work.  By 10:30 we had a poodle skirt!  I rewarded myself with a bowl of Rocky Road, fed the baby and went to bed feeling like mom of the year.

1 Month Old!

Its so hard to believe that my baby girl is 1 month old today!  If she were born on her due date we would probably just now be on our way back from the hospital.  Instead, today I took Aislyn for her 1 month well check.  Aislyn is growing like a weed.  She is now 7 lbs. 10 oz. and 20.25 inches.  She is eating like a champ...still nursing and bottle feeding.  She sleeps 7 to 8 hours at night and is very laid back.  She's not bothered by our noisy household or her brother and sister who cant seem to get enough of her.  She's soooo easy going.  She REALLY likes to be held, so my Moby Wrap has been a life saver.  I can wrap her up and "wear" her and still do everything that I wold normally do.  She is such a sweet addition to our family and I cant imagine us without her.

Happy Halloween

Pumpkins and costumes and candy OH MY!  We had such a fun Halloween this year!  Aidan was a Pirate, Cami was a Ballerina and Aislyn (see below) was a Cheerleader.  We started the week by decorating our porch with painted pumpkins.  Cami and Aidan got out the paint and got a little messy making their SCARY creations.  Cami even took hers to school to mark the end of their Pumpkin Week...they have been exploring pumpkins and parts of the pumpkin for their Kindergarten science unit.  

Thursday we went to a Halloween party and celebrated with friends.  The kids all wore their costumes, had pizza and treats and played until they were exhausted.  The parents all got some time to hang out and visit- a GREAT time had by all!  Thanks Marlene and Rebecca!

Friday we met up with our dear friends so that Cami and Aidan could Trick or treat with Cooper and Bailey.  We had so much fun watching the Trick or Treaters go by, handing out candy, chatting and laughing.  When the kids were finished gathering a healthy stash of treats, they picked through and ate some favorites and played for a while until it was time to go.  They were completely exhausted from all the fun and totally crashed after enjoying a brief sugar high.

Highlights of Halloween this year included having Aislyn here for her first of many spooky nights out, seeing Cami and Aidan enjoy time with friends, and of course Ian and I enjoying our big family of five and happy times shared with friends of our own.