grrr

my aunt sharon visited san francisco last summer (before we had any clue we might be moving here). i remember vividly listening to her tell me about her trip and thinking that it sounded like so much fun. one story stands out in my mind a little bit more than the rest.


my aunt told me about the san francisco bushman. the bushman is a panhandler that is famous around the city. he sneaks around various tourist hot spots and sits on a milk crate. in front of his face he holds up tree branches and then he waits for unsuspecting tourists to walk by. as they approach him, he pops out from behind his branches and growls at them. in return for his success at scaring them, they give him a buck or two. the other people who catch him in the act of scaring someone usually pitch him some change too.

there is some speculation that he makes a lot of money doing this and that he isn't homeless. but i don't care, i think this is a way more fun way to make a living. it is creative and puts a smile on people's faces, which in my opinion is far more valuable than lots of other jobs this guy could have. i think it shows that he has a sense of adventure and that he knows how to face adversity with a positive attitude, a "make lemonade" kind of guy. i like that.

i was telling scott about this dude last weekend. he didn't believe me.

and then he did.

2 months

somehow poppy went and turned 2 months old. i know we have been burning the candle at both ends, but really, where did the time go?

at two months:

**poppy sleeps from 10ish until 4ish, wakes once to eat and then sleeps until morning.

**has begun to enjoy bath time and daddy.

**is needing to be held a little bit less. although she still prefers for momma to hold her, she also spends a little bit of time each day on her play mat (and tries to eat the dangling ladybug toy) and a little time in her bouncy chair.

**is still on a three hour cycle throughout the daytime hours, but her alert time after eating is lasting a little bit longer. she loves to see what is going on with her sisters and gets upset if she is placed in a position where she can't see the action.

**has some serious head control. although it still "bobbles" she is always picking up her head in an effort to view what is happening.

**poppy is adored by both of her sisters. when d wakes up in the morning and from nap, the first thing she does is find little sister. ellie usually drops in a few times a day for her "poppy time". she coos over her sister, tells her sister how cute she is and rubs her soft head.

**she has almost outgrown all of her 0-3 month clothing and is about to transition to 3-6 months. she is still wearing a size 2 diaper.

the above video was taken today. it is special for several reasons: first, because it is video of poppy being poppy. sweet, gentle and every bit precious. second, because today our second moving truck arrived containing her swing. she is cooing at butterfly-bear who she has not seen for the past three weeks. third, because today daddy fixed my computer allowing me to FINALLY download pictures. I promise, lots of posts coming soon.

missing kate

Dear Ellie,

I really like frogs! And toads and all different kinds of frogs. How is your new school in California? Have you made new friends? What are you going to be for Halloween? I think I know what you are going to be. I am not going to be a dinosaur. Not at all! I miss you! Goodbye!

Love, Kate.

ellie received her first email today. it was very sweet. attached to the email was the picture you see above.

i'm was having a grumpy day, but sweet kate put a smile on my face. it also put a smile on e's face. thank you, kate.

three strikes and you're outta here

although i promised more installments about our move, i wanted to interject this post while it is still fresh in my memory... courtesy of d bugs, the baby of the world.

this weekend scott's boss invited us to their place for a cookout. momma, being a person that likes a full social calendar, welcomed this invite.

i will take a moment to describe their home as it is kind of pertinent... the floors throughout the house are slate, the exterior walls are solid panels of glass, and everything is pristine. it is a stately piece of art with a very frank lloyd wright-esque design style that draws the eye to that nature around the home. let's just say that i could have let my jaw drop when i walked in the front door (but i didn't because, well, that would be inappropriate... but in my head, i had to pick up said jaw and reattach it).

my husband, knowing they had just moved here from chicago as well, asked for a tour. he did this because he is polite... and a tad bit curious. but as the request came out of his mouth, i silently (in my head) let out a huge "NOOOOOOO!" because as a mother of three children under five, one thing i have learned is that when in new surroundings (especially ones with ginormous walls made out of glass) it isn't best practice to show them around. this tends to give them a quick run-down on all the naughty hot spots. children under five tend to find them eventually, but tend to stick closer to mom when they are uncertain about the lay of the land. if you show them the lay of the land, suddenly they feel like they are in their own home and then act accordingly. (not that we act "accordingly" in our own home, but you get the idea.)

within five minutes of arrival to above mentioned home, delaney climbed up onto their square leather ottoman. as momma (using her very best sweet, calm mother voice, hiding all traces of panic because she saw where wee little d was headed with this) cooed for her to come down. when it was clear that she wasn't going to listen (or more likely didn't recognize/hear the voice of the impostor that was trying to play the role of her mother) momma reached out to gently remove her from the ottoman. momma was a little slow in her save because poppy was being carried in the sling. as my arm was about to grab her, my sweet d plunged from the ottoman onto the sofa, and then let out a huge giggle and a "wheeeeeee!". strike one.

about twenty minutes after arrival our family was in the guest room changing into our swim gear. momma was sitting in a chair nursing the baby (hands occupied) and daddy was in the bathroom dressing. d donning her swim gear (floaties and all) climbed onto the guest bed and proceeded to jump up and down. momma, in a loud stern whisper.... "get down, buggy, i'm warning you. stop jumping immediately." my 'lil bug then proceeded to toss the pillows from the bed onto the floor. all 8 of them. while she continued to jump.

after swimming for a little bit, delaney had worked up an appetite. she decided to join momma and poppy on the lawn, very close to the tray of snacks. she carefully checked out the selection and discovered a platter of hummus, veggies and crackers. d is a huge fan of hummus, so she decided to jump right in. momma, having seen this snack ritual before, was right at her side to monitor the dip to cracker ratio and ensure that the "one dip per item" rule was obeyed. buggy was on her very best dipping behavior. she dipped, she tasted, she chewed, she swallowed. momma let out a sigh of relief. at that moment, poppy seed needed some attention. as soon as my eyes were slightly distracted, d decided to go in for a gigantic double dip at the exact moment that her nose began to run. as i lunged for the save, she threw the half eaten carrot onto the platter and took off in the opposite direction. strike two! (bed jumping didn't count against us because we were behind closed doors.)

we made it through dinner without much ado. it wasn't exactly peaceful, but it was absent of any major mishaps.

after dinner brownies were served. the kids were each handed a plate and allowed to choose a brownie. d, after attempting to touch three brownies (intervened by daddy), was escorted to the patio with her brownie on a napkin. the idea of giving her a plate just didn't sit well with me. note, always trust your mommy intuition. you can see where this is headed, right? so our kids and their two kids sat side by side on a patio stair eating the brownies and chatting. it was, if only for a moment, picturesque. after a few moments, d noticed she was the only one without a plate. d, never wanting e to have something that she does not have, went in for the swipe. e, carefully chewing her brownie, was not suspecting that little sister was about to snatch her plate and as a result was not on the defensive. d, ever so thrilled with her successful snatching had not thought through what she was going to do once the plate was in her possession. she was like a deer caught in headlights, unsure of what her next move would be. and so she did what any 21 month old would do. she ran... across the slate patio... and threw the plate... at the glass wall... and smashed it (the plate, not the wall. thank you, Lord!).

momma and daddy = mortified
d = shocked and suddenly very subdued
e = laughing hysterically along with the host's two boys

and as we got down to the business of cleaning up the very broken plate, we overheard e say to the younger of the two boys, "hey, do you wanna play smash plate? you know, for pretend."

sweet home chicago

well friends, we have arrived! the "move" (phase one) is officially over and now on to the business of getting settled. but first, i'll share some details. (it might take a few posts because, ahem, i tend to be a little long winded... not that you mind?!)

our doorbell rang at 7am the day after labor day by a packing crew. scott stayed at the house and managed the crew while i departed and managed the more motley crew. the girls and i headed out to my friend kristie's house to hang for the morning. it was bittersweet. kristie and her fam just moved from the city to a home five blocks from our home. hanging out leisurely with her on our last day in town felt so relaxing and peaceful. i had been looking forward to days of that nature as their condo was on the market for the past year and a half, but alas, it didn't sell until a week before we sold our house. thus, making days like that limited... and by limited i mean it only happened that once. but enjoy it i did. i didn't know it at the time, but it would be the last time i hung with this dear friend before departing. it was probably better that way as i didn't really have to say "goodbye".

as i left her house to head to the city, i drove past my house one last time (again, not really knowing if it would be the last time) and got to witness my car being hauled onto the car carrier. for whatever reason, this is the moment where the hugeness of our move really hit me. seeing my car on top of the rig moved me right to tears- you see not having to pack (huge blessing) allowed me to avoid seeing my stuff packed and ready to go. without the visual, it was very easy to avoid the reality that we were in fact moving across the country. up until that moment, i was just organizing stuff... hotel accommodations, flights, packers, movers and the like. but seeing my car ready to be sent off made it all very real. i digress...

as i tried to hide my tears so that my girls wouldn't see their momma fall apart and follow suit, e's sweet friend zoey walked by on her way to kindergarten. e spotted her immediately and sensed something in the air. she began to cry her little eyes out. and although she had already said goodbye to this amazing girl, e had to do it again. she hopped out of the car and hugged her friend, breaking my little heart all over again as i watched e's heart fill with sadness. but my girl made me proud. she pulled up her bootstraps and got on with it, trying to embrace the unknown that lied ahead. she's a strong one, my little e is.

and on to the city we went, checking into our hotel that would be home for the next few days. we spent the next few days in city living bliss (or at least that is what i am telling myself now... a two room hotel suite with a family of five leaves something to be desired). our days were filled with park play dates and time with our favorite city friends. i must insert that i have the most wonderful bunch of friends- they met me all over the place in an effort to get in some good hanging out time and went above the call of duty in filling our hours to avoid unwanted time in the hotel room.

while i tried to make hotel living the "norm" for our girls, scott drove back to the house to oversee the packers and movers and was met with some challenges of his own. our moving company somehow made some enormous miscalculations in the size of our load. about half way through pack up, they realized this mistake and tried to assemble some sort of solution. their first attempt included a polite call to moi suggesting that i tried to hide a sofa under the rug when they made their bid. after informing them that i don't in fact have a secret attic, they got down to the business of really solving the problem. let's just say that about 35% of our belongings are still unaccounted for and that the solution involved extra trucks, storage units, and a new load that is currently somewhere in texas... or so they tell me. and at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter because it is just "stuff".

and then onward we went... next installment: the airport. stay tuned, as the adventure is certainly not dull.

p-nut

two weeks ago i started a post to highlight my p-nut at one month. somehow, the post got lost in the shuffle. more likely, the post wasn't completed because this little one really likes to be held... a lot. and while i am loving the cuddles, it leaves my arms less free for things like blogging, packing, cooking, cleaning, showering... not that i am complaining... because i am not. it has actually been good- in our current hustle and bustle this one could easily get less attention than she deserves, but because of her love of all things mommy, that isn't happening.

at one month poppy is:
- eating and sleeping on a three hour schedule through the day (eat, wakeful period, sleep)

- going down to bed at 10:30 and sleeping for a 5-6 hour stretch (gasp! momma is thrilled with this amount of sleep and can't believe how wonderful it is to feel somewhat human with such a new baby in the house)

-starting to respond to the voices of her sisters and daddy. she hears them coming and turns her head wanting to be in on the action.

- has a fussy period each night before bed. daddy likes to take her on walks during this time because the fresh air tends to calm her down more quickly than other methods.

- she weighs 12 lbs. and wears size 2 diapers

- she took her first road trip to michigan to meet great-grandma and great-grandpa, aunt merritt and uncle jon. she was such a wonderful traveler and slept for most of the 5 hour drive.

- she also really likes momma. most of the time, i am the only one that will do. she rarely lets other people hold her and wants to be as close to the milk as humanly possible. she spends a lot of time snuggled in the baby sling.

- she really does not like bath time. she cries from start to finish and then passes out in exhaustion (from all the screaming) as soon as she is in her fresh warm pj's.

i get by with a little help from my friends

so my sweet friend veronica (front left in purple) is amazing. she threw a surprise dinner party for lil 'ol me last week. it was beautiful in so many ways. first, she knows that i don't really love to be surprised- so they told me a few days early. i still got the joy of a surprise but was also able to emotionally prepare for such a special night with my most cherished (minus a few who moved away before me) girls. second, the entire menu was carefully created around my most favorite things- cheese, champagne, lemon meringue pie, cupcakes from my favorite restaurant, a cake from my favorite bakery and lemon chicken with capers.

it was such a lovely break from my to-do list. the time i spent with each of them that evening, the memories that were shared and the special things that each of them said to me will play over and over in my head for quite some time.

each of these girls also serve as a beautiful reminder of how God works- how he has it all figured out and blesses us with the exact community that we need when we need it. you see, i am certain that i will experience loneliness in san francisco. it is inevitable. it happened when i moved to chicago, too. and that was difficult, but those days of loneliness drew me to God. and as i drew closer to God, i began to pray for friendships. i did not just pray for people to fill my time, but i prayed for moms that would help me be a better mother. i prayed for women that would show me how to be a better wife. i prayed for girls with common interests that i could "do life with" without competition, without judgement- women that would be able to "mother" my children with a like-minded parenting style.

and as i prayed God answered. He did it slowly, in His time (as is His style- because He, ahem, He is master of the universe and all). but each woman entered my life exactly when i needed them and each of them proved to meet a need that my life had.

and so as i move to califronia, i am certain that i will miss each of them. but i am also certain that God will bless my life again. i know it will be a process and that it won't happen over night. i also know that new friends won't be able to replace the ones that i leave behind, but they will be what i need when i need it.

where did the years go?

well, i promised a replacement camera, but that isn't going to happen for a few more weeks. it is a long story dealing with reward points and best buy and coupons and things of that nature (i'll spare you the details).

but because yesterday was a special day- my girls 5th birthday- i thought i'd post some old pics of her. you'll have to take my word for it- she was as cute as a button in real life yesterday. she danced around and sang the songs to barbie diamond castle all day and couldn't wait for her friend kate to arrive for a family dinner. you'll also have to take my word for it that her party was a hit (thanks to lots of help from daddy and grandpa).

this year the party was at a ballet studio. her former ballet teacher taught them a dance and played ballet related games with them. it was adorable. i loved seeing e interact with all of her favorite friends. and of course there was cake and presents, decorations and party favors. it wasn't my most creative party plan, but with a three week old baby in the house at the time of the party, it was just what the party girl needed.

you'll also have to take my word for the fact that her second "party" (a lunch date to american girl cafe with her bff) was also adorable. i have pretty much waited her whole life for her to turn 5 and take her to american girl. we had such a nice time together- e and payton, momma and payton's momma (and a very quiet penelope who slept the whole time). i will remember it forever and always smile as i recall the quote of the day: "this is the best day of my whole life". said by both girls at various points of the lunch.

we started a new tradition yesterday- courtesy of my sister and her ever so creative brain. when e woke up the morning, the entire family room/kitchen was decorated with pictures of her. she was so cute. she went through each picture and wanted to know the story behind it. i am in love with this new tradition and will be sure to continue it for all birthdays to follow. e felt so special and BIG because of the visual reminders of how little she used to be.

photos above:

1.) e and daddy opening her first birthday gifts- she is holding her first pair of shoes. i still have them and think back to those precious first steps that she took a few short weeks before turning one.

2.) ellie's bff, payton. isn't she the cutest little muffin?

3.) e and the proudest momma. i went a wee bit overboard for the first birthday... it seems to be a trend, but it was one fun party. if you can't tell the theme was ladybugs. my shirt says "momma bug" on the front and scott's said "daddy bug".

4.) and the last one speaks for itself. i guess that is the response you can expect when the momma bug buys a cake big enough for a wedding. e did not touch her first birhday cake. she ate one bite of ice cream and refused the rest- you'd never have guessed from her first exposure to sweets that she would be my lil sweet tooth today!

500 miles

When I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who wakes up next to you When I go out yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who goes along with you

When I'm lonely well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl whose lonely without you

When I'm dreaming well I know I'm gonna dream I'm gonna dream about the time when I'm with you

But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the girl who walked a thousand miles To fall down at your door

When I'm working yes I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who's working hard for you And when the money comes in for the work I'll do I'll pass almost every penny on to you

When I come home yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who comes back home to you And if I grow old well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who's growing old with you

But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the girl who walked a thousand miles To fall down at your door

When I'm dreaming well I know I'm gonna dream Dream about the time when I'm with you

And when I wake up yeah I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who wakes up next to you And when I go out well I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who goes along with you

When I come home yes I know I'm gonna be I'm gonna be the girl who comes back home to you I'm gonna be the girl who comes back home to you

But I would walk 500 miles And I would walk 500 more Just to be the girl who walked a thousand miles To fall down at your door

i was thinking about moving today and was listening to a steven curtis chapman cd. this song came on (sung by him) and made me smile. i love my hubby and feel so blessed to be doing life with him.

honey, this post is for you. thanks for all you do for us. thank you for being the man of God that you are and for sharing your life with me. i can't wait to see what this next chapter holds for us. while it is scary at times, i love walking through life with you. here's to you and to the love that we share, the family we've started and the adventure that awaits us.

thank you for loving me and for being bold in a bar so many years ago. it forever changed my life and has made it worth every step of the walk... i'd walk a thousand miles and more just to be the girl doing life with you.

sticky fingers

today while making a run to tar-jay i thought that i would try to multi-task. e's birthday is this weekend and i have a few little things that i still need to pick up before her big day. one of the items could be purchased at target. rather than making a separate trip back without e (at ten p.m. after everything else is done), i decided to try to slip the item into the cart. last year, this would not be worth writing about, but this year, that girl is like a hawk. she sees and evaluates everything that goes into the cart.

we headed to the movie aisle and e began to investigate each and every movie. i gave myself a personal thumbs up for diverting her attention and began to look for the movie that she so covets (barbie diamond castle, if you must know). i hunted once- i began to feel nervous. i a second time- panic set in. this is what she REALLY wants for her birthday. what's a new mom of three, who is moving across the country in ten minutes, going to do??? ellie began to loose interest in her movie investigation. i almost declared "abort mission", but decided to give it one final search.

my eyes scanned the shelves. suddenly, peering out from behind barbie mariposa i noticed a case of a different color. could it be? was it possibly the one e wanted? i redirected e's attention to the books that were on the other side of the aisle and made a snatch for the cd. AH-HA! it was in fact the only remaining copy of barbie diamond castle. with cd in my hand, i felt a bit panicked. i didn't have a good plan for where to stash it. quickly, i tucked it inside of p's bucket seat under the blanket. it was perfect! e turned around at that exact moment and was none the wiser. hooray.

we then headed off to the storage supply section in search of more bins (because i may, possibly, but not likely have a slight pre-move obsession with organization of stuff that will soon become very unorganized when handled by the movers). as we rounded the corner i noticed a very suspicious man following me. he was dressed in a members only jacket (on a pretty warm sunny day). i have worked retail in the past and am quite certain that this is the standard uniform for the secret shopper (aka security guard). oh-no!

as we turned our buggy down the lane containing my beautiful storage bins, another dude emerged. this one with cuffs handing from his belt loop. did they really think i was going to take the movie? couldn't they do the math and see that this was all a covert birthday operation? i thought about turning to the guys (both who were just pretending to browse the merchandise) and spelling the situation out to them, but decided that was too much effort and besides, my spelling stinks. instead, i played it cool. i picked up my bins put them on the bottom of the buggy (making certain they were clearly visible) and headed to the check-out. i may have also said in a louder voice than necessary, "come on girls mommy needs to go PAY for this stuff".

the men both followed me to the checkout, watched me whisper to the cashier while e was investigating candy treats (this is the first time i've ever been thankful for them being at the register) and slip her my disc.

double hooray! mommy went home with the desired cd and did not in fact get the joy of wearing handcuffs for the afternoon and/or calling daddy to explain why momma needs a bail-out of the county jail.

mission... accomplished?

a funny little story about my transition to motherhood times three:

so this week we needed groceries. up until now, scott has either made the grocery run or i've done it with just one or two kiddos. the thought of three terrified me, but you reach a point where the need outweighs the fear. we were at that point and so off to the grocery store we went.

getting out the door with three can be tiring enough, but on this particular day we all made it into the seat belts without crying, loosing a shoe, pinching a finger (you get the point). we made it to the store, through the parking lot, into the cart (though cramped with a toddler in the back and the baby seat in the front and another one pulling on the side). we made it through the produce department... you get the point. "made it" suggests that we just survived... but it was actually an enjoyable experience. nobody was crying, nobody was throwing stuff into the cart, nobody was demanding snacks. it was pure glory all the way into the checkout line.

as we checked out, i chatted it up with the cashier who hadn't seen me since having the baby. another checkout lady came over and gave the girls stickers. we loaded up the cart with our bags and at that moment i gave a sigh of relief. i suddenly realized that we made it- without abandoning the cart and heading for the door mid-trip, without mommy hyperventilating, without meltdown from the girls. i gave the d and e high-fives and celebrated our accomplishment while walking out the door to head home.

as i walked through the parking lot i suddenly heard, "miss, ma'am, miss!". i turned around to see the checkout girl flagging me down.

"yes?"

"um, ma'am, you forgot to pay for your groceries."