Random pics!

Ever have those days when you find random pictures of the kids on your iPad!? Haha! Here's a little idea of a random night at my house...mask and all!

Cheers to living with masked super heroes!
L

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What's in a Name (title change!)

Good morning! I just wanted to let you know that you'll be seeing this blog's title as What's Mom Say? instead of Whatdoyousay?  I know there are only three people who have ever read this, teehee!, but I think it may be time to add a few new readers, hence the less-confusing title!

Cheers to changing, like the leaves in fall!
L

Knoebels or Bust!

I am a mom on a mission...50% rain, pshaw!  More like 100% chance of AWESOME!  Today is pretty much our last chance to get there before school starts, you know, the big KINDERGARTEN?! Yikes, I am milking every last, loving drop of fun and love out of this summer!

Cheers to summer funner than fall!
L

Summer, Lovin'

This summer has been that classic, hot, at-the-pool-and-lake every day kinda summer!  It was my plan all along, you see.  I'm glad the weather cooperated with me!  This year the kids are four and five, and the perfect ages to go to our community pool for swimming lessons and fab afternoons with mama, instead of the kiddie pool in our back yard.  Darby will start kindergarten in just a couple weeks; my mental breakdown has already commenced.

I know we are tucked into this gentle valley of easy childhood comfort, and I don't want to miss any moment of it.  I know she will adore school and it will be an amazing gift being able to watch her blossom.  But I am already missing our days at home together.  Gabe will still be at home with me, which will be a wonderful experience for the two of us.  Then next year at this time, I will be sending my last babe off to school, as well.

Until that moment of true change arrives in our daily lives, I will slurp up all of this extra time and love that's floating around my house.  It's really all I can do, now.

Cheers to Mother's Day!

Here is to Moms everywhere!  Have a laugh on me, getting in some much-needed refreshing WHILE the kiddies are in the bath!  They are so funny talking about doing makeup themselves, all the time I crack not even the smallest smile!

Cheers to Moms multitasking everyday!
L

Sweet Home

I am so grateful to be home with my darlings almost full-time.  I feel like the luckiest mama because I get to have a creative and flexible job outside of the house as well as be able to take care of my home and family!  Things have been so different for us lately since my hubby has changed jobs.  He loves his new role and we are all transitioning more smoothly than anyone could have anticipated!  It is such a nice feeling to see all our hard work and sacrifice paying off, finally!

Just wanted to say a quick hello!  Hope you are having a great day!
L

Life, Immortal

Remember when you were little, how you used to love looking through family photo albums?  The lap you would sit on, eagerly asking questions about your ancestry, one faded print at a time?  Sticky pages, with the plastic films dried out and crackling around the edges.  Photos were anticipated, waiting for that roll to be exposed seemed to take ages.  I remember the thrill of opening the fat outer envelope, with the slender folder of pictures inside, the scraps of vellum separating the clips of negatives...the only way you could reprint those precious memories. 

It is so different with digital.  My husband is almost naggy about getting photos printed off the computer.  "We need to get some pictures printed, you know," he scolds.  I know.  There are thousands and thousands on the hard drive, neatly organized by date, thanks to Sony.  All you have to do is click, and memories unfold before your eyes.  I call the kids over the the table.  "Look!  I'm in your belly," Darby chirps.  "Awww, it's baby Gabe!  He's so cute."  Yes, he is. 

It's still not the same as snuggling on the couch, flipping through our history one page and story at a time.  I need to get some pictures printed.

Biting the Dust...

Um, Darby has her first loose tooth.  I am freaking out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I guess we are about to step off the ledge of toddlerhood.  I can do this, I can do this.

Dollhouse and the Wet Spot...

This isn't your dream house, but it is hers!

So Darby had her tonsils and adenoids removed about a week and a half ago.  It was our first foray into the unknowns of anesthesia for one of our babies.  Yikes!  CJ and I were giant stress balls for weeks before surgery, and only once we had her snuggled on our couch at home did we start to relax a bit.  She recovered quickly and was such a good sport throughout the whole deal.

You probably realize how much I adore being a mama if you've ever read this blog before but for clarification purposes I will say this:  My life became whole once I started growing that first baby in my belly!  That being said, there are limitless lengths we travel as parents to make our children happy, relaxed, comfortable, and untouched by anxiety.  Things we do without effort, and some we do grudgingly because we know how important it is to those little angels.

Like playing dollhouse.  Again.  With the extreme bossy-pants version of my 5-year-old on baby Lortab.  Partly because I know sooner than later, she won't be asking her mama to play with her.  But mostly because it makes her feel so loved and important.  It may take a little more effort sometimes, like on the fourth day without REM-sleep/you can barely stand your body hurts so much from the body-contortions making sure she has enough room in bed...!  We do it because we love our children.

And the wet spot?  Accidents happen, even when you have a waterproof pee pad on the bed.  And making sure she gets back to sleep sometimes means you're the one sleeping on the towel-covered wet spot.  Again.  Because we love our children.  And it's 1:45am.

So think how easy it is to really engage your children.  Get down on the floor with the robots and dollhouse, tune out the other household crises, even if it's only for a little while.  Too soon those toys will turn into coma-inducing video games and Facebook screens, and they won't have any time for you.

New Years, Old Tears!

Seems like I can't make it through a holiday without a few tears.  As New Year's Day comes to a close, we reminisce...blah, blah!  I would love it to seem like I'd been looking back through our trials and tribulations from 2011, but really, I started flipping through some photos of when the babes were still truly "babies."  This week, Gabe was awarded "Star of the Week" at preschool and we are supposed to send in a few pictures of him and his family, special toys to share with friends and a favorite story book to read for the class.  Along with these we (mama!) are supposed to fill out a cute little questionnaire about his hobbies, favorite movies, etc. 

So, we're making dinner (mini meatloaves that said kiddies actually helped make!), I'm flipping through these adorable pictures that really were from just three years ago and BAM!  Crocodile tears, sobs, dripping nose!  The whole nine yards!  Poor hubby was like, "I have no idea what to say to you!"  I'm saying, "They're so big!!"  He tells me that means we're doing our job right, but that doesn't make the pain in my chest loosen its grip.  I am horrified that I still have this hideous panic about my children not being babies anymore, that it is just as strong today as the weeks before I had to go back to the salon after my Darby was born! 

It doesn't matter that I know we probably won't have any more children.  I believe I will always be in denial that it's final.  As happy as I am with each day that passes raising my children to become big humans, I will never stop missing those precious beginnings with them.  Talk about a bittersweet start to the new year.  Here's to you, 2012!