Soliciting Votes

Just wanted to pop in for a sec and ask y'all to go vote for Choosing My Own in the 5 Minutes for Mom Summer Photo Contest. She's an awesome blogger with some of the cutest kiddos I've ever seen, and her photos are always soooo good!

So, go on now.

Go vote.

Thanks. :)

Through a Child's Eyes

The other day Little Bit was so excited to show me the kangaroo she found on our back patio. Do you see it?

 

Not Quite the Beach

We had big plans to go to the beach by our house today. Imagine our surprise when we got there and saw a sign that read, "Swimming Area Closed" posted by the Health Department. Yikes! Nothing like a little pollution in the water to spoil your plans.

No biggie...we just moved our party to the clubhouse pool!

Aren't they just adorable. I think they are going to grow up to be best friends and it just warms my heart when they get all lovie with each other. :)

I wish I could have gotten more photos from the pool, but I really wanted to put the camera down and enjoy the cool water.

Look at that form. She's a natural!

After the pool we headed down to the ice cream parlor by the beach, as was originally planned. It's an old-fashioned joint and I just love it.

The ice cream was a perfect end to a fun afternoon. We were barely out of the parking lot before this little girl was sacked out in the backseat.

Success!

Rainy Season

Here in Florida, Summer brings afternoon thunderstorms that dissipate as quickly as they come. The showers are often a refreshing intermission to the overwhelming heat. Little Bit is developing her own appreciation for our weather.

Here are the words to one of her favorite poems from this book:

Brooms

On stormy days

When the wind is high,

Tall tress are brooms

Sweeping the sky.

They swish their branches

In buckets of rain

And swash and sweep it

Blue again.

-Dorothy Aldis

Summer is in Full Swing

Seems like most of my posts lately begin with some sort of explanation for why I haven't been posting. This time, rather than make excuses, I'll just post a few pics of what we've been doing around here.

We went to the park with Daddy, which we really need to do more often. Little Bit spent much of the time flashing her Pull-Ups to everyone while hanging on this bar. Hanging is her new favorite thing. She hangs on EVERYTHING: the kitchen table, Bitty Baby's Jumparoo, the handle for the oven door. If she can wrap her hands around it, you can be pretty sure that very soon her knees will be pulled up to her tummy and she'll be dangling in full delight.

She actually doesn't like looking at the camera, so sweet little shots like this are few and far between. Such a shame.

Bitty Baby spent most of her time on the infant swing before deciding to hang out with me. I was sitting on a bench in the shade complaining about the heat. I wasn't dressed for the park because we were supposed to be going to a museum...with air conditioning...but that's a story for another time.

While we sat watching Little Bit play, this way-to-friendly squirrel came by for a visit. I was slightly paranoid that he would jump off of the tree and climb all over me, so I tried shooing him away. At which point he moved back up the tree a few feet and proceeded to tell me where I could go. I swear he was totally cursing me out.

A few days later we were invited to a horse show close to our house to watch my aunt show her baby...horse that is. We all had a great time.

Bitty Baby sat on her first real horse...

and Grandma helped Little Bit show off her latest freezer paper stenciled shirt.

We even got some behind the scenes action before it was my aunt's turn to ride.

I would say that fun was had by all, but these two tweens, my nieces, were pretty bored until they were given a "job" to do.

Ask a kid to take some shots and they suddenly perk right up!

A Story About A Little Flower

Back in April, we planted seeds as a way to connect with nature in honor of Earth Day.

We watered everyday.

Often more than once.

The stalks grew quite tall.

Then, one sunny day, a little bud popped up and bloomed into a beautiful, vibrant, flower!

The end.

The Sweet Taste Of Summer

For more WW fun, click here.

Wordless Wednesday: Frustration

 

Wordless Wednesday: A Little Crack

***I know it's a little blurry, but I couldn't resist!***

A Day in Pictures

 

 

Memory Book for a Toddler

For this week's Unplugged Project theme of "books," I used our weekend trip to the beach as an opportunity for Little Bit to make a mini-scrapbook. It was a great chance for her and Aunt Patty to have a few more minutes together before we had to leave.

I did most of the prep work like cutting the paper, choosing and printing the photos, and coming up with a layout. Little Bit is usually happy to have the job of "Glue Stick Engineer."

Aunt Patty helped with the gluing and talked to Little Bit about what was going on in the pictures.

Here is the finished product. We kept it nice and short with only 4 pages (including the cover). We also embellished the cover with a few shells that we had collected. Little Bit decided on the placement of each shell. Unfortunately, they are also the first things she grabs for when we look at the book, so we're already missing one. We were going to add some coordinating beach stickers for more of a scrapbook feel, but decided against it since she had pretty much lost interest in the project once we had gotten this far.

Overall, I think the greatest benefit to a project like this is not necessarily the creation of the book, but the nostalgic nature of it. It will make a great keepsake and I know that Little Bit will want to see the pictures of her trip to the beach over and over. It will just be that much more special that she had a hand in creating the book!

Thanks, Mom Unplugged for another great Unplugged Project! If you're interested in seeing what other's did for this week's project go here!

A Glimpse

My brother's daughters were in town last week during their Spring Break. They're 10 and 11, respectively. Smart. Beautiful. All grown up, but still so young. Tweens. Now they're all about, "This guy I like," and, "That's for little kids."

I always love seeing them, but this time was different. Now, I have two of my own and I can draw so many parallels between my nieces and my daughters. Their age differences, their personality types, even their physical attributes.

Every time one would talk about a particular crush, I would immediately imagine myself having the same conversation with one of my own girls. And then wonder..."Why am I having this conversation with such a young girl?" And then hope..."Surely, mine will be older when this happens."

Subsequently, I would start to think about what my nieces would have in store for themselves over the next few years. Middle school, high school. Ugh. I don't want them get older and lose any more of their sweet innocence. I don't want them to see the things that I know they will see. I don't want them to feel the things that I know they will feel. I don't want them to grow up any more than they already have.

The irony is that I spend much of my day thinking about how much nicer things will be when my girls are older and more autonomous. I selfishly long for the days when I won't have to sacrifice sleep for personal time, and I dream of a more simplified existence that doesn't revolve around nap-times and snack-times and bed-times.

Spending time with my nieces this past week has opened my eyes about what is to come for my own daughters. As cliche as it is, they really do grow up fast. I need not rush the precious childhoods that lay before me, as I know the time will come and go in front of my eyes and before I know it my little babies will be big girls.

*Sigh*

 

 

Good Lord, What Happened?

We're going to the beach this weekend...Yay!

We're visiting family with a swimming pool....Woohoo!

I get to buy a new swimsuit....Rrrreeeehh (it's the sound of record needle being abruptly taken off of the record while in play...work with me).

Little Bit was born in June, almost two years ago. We never went swimming that summer since she was just a tiny newborn. Last summer I was about halfway through my pregnancy with Bitty Baby and was sporting a cute little preggo belly. I was curvy, but in a good way.

Here I am last summer on a babymoon with Daddy-O.

 

This is me about a month before Little Bit (BB #1) was conceived.

 

Here I am preparing to paint rocks last week, 5 months after the birth of Bitty Baby (BB #2).

So, this is my first summer bearing my new skin. It's skin that has been through two pregnancies back-to-back. Skin that has been stretched past it's limits from having 8 and 9 pounders on a petite 5'2" frame. And I'm just not prepared.

I don't know what I thought would happen, but it wasn't this.

I remember seeing the I Heart My Body challenge here, and later here, and thinking about how cathartic it must be to just stand tall and bare it all. I commend all of you ladies who posted photos of your beloved body parts.

Alas, I am a coward, so I will resort to using representations.

This sad, partially deflated balloon is pretty close to what you'll find underneath the myriad of baggy shirts I am now compelled to wear.

As for this weekend of fun in the sun...I bought an ill-fitting, hot-pink, paisley one-piece from Wal-Mart yesterday. It was the best they had. I tried it on this evening. It preempted this post.

And so it is.

I have a new body, a new bathing suit, and two babies.

Perspective always helps.

Wordless Wednesday: Learning to Puff

 

Back on Track

The other day I was ready to put in my notice. Babies were crying, Mommy was tired, and nobody was happy. Then, the next thing you know it's a brand new day, and everything is wonderful again. Babies played and Mommy got a much needed reminder of all of the beauty and joy that two little girls bring into her life.