How to Sleep With One Eye Open

Creepy but still cute, right?

May is My Frenemy

I know, I know, we are all busy people. But for me May is like a second December. I hardly had time to nap! There was our anniversary (13 years), open houses galore, the PTA reading party that I head up, my sweet sister and her family coming up to meet their newest nephew, Elli's birthday & party (separate but equal), Addie's birthday & party, school choral concerts, baby shower, Amelia's preschool graduation (it was a squeaker but she pulled through in the end so we can proudly say she is a Pre-K graduate!) alongside all the other busy-ness like "the battle of the bottle" of which I am the proud victor and the "Finger feud" of which I think I have won, but we are still waiting for the numbers to come in from Florida so Max has yet to give his official concession speech. But it is fun and worth it and I am so glad it is over.

These invite pictures are out of order but what are you going to do? Think of it as a teaser of what's to come, an amuse-bouche if you will.

Our annual Red Robin birthday burgers.

Millie's rainforest open house with her terrific teachers.

Preschool Graduation, Oh, the places she'll go. (but only if I drive her because she can't even ride a bike and she is not allowed to cross the street by herself)

Uncle Trevor getting laughs.

Auntie Yo-Yo giving luvs.

Fi-fi got him to sleep, she's a natural.

Fondue fun for Addie's 9th Birthday

In-n-Out before Pirates for Elli's 11th Birthday, check out their cool t-shirts.

Good-bye May, parting is such sweet sorrow.

My Mother's Day

Because May is a big blur to me, I am finally getting around to journaling memories of my big day. It started with presents and cards. I have impressed upon my children that a thoughtful card is more important than the gift - but I still want a gift. Can't I have my cake and eat it also? So they have become wonderful card makers and this year they I received some fabulous cards.

Adeline's card above was very cute and from her school she gave me a recipe book where they guessed the recipe for their favorite dish of their mom's. Addie picked my strawberry freezer jam and concluded that I made it using jello, creative but wrong.
Elli made me a beautiful painted bowl and gave me a caustic poem with the letters for Mother. My favorite lines:

"O is for Optimistic...You always look at the glass half full. I need to learn how to do that."

"R is for right, and I mean always right. Why are you always correct??? Do you know every answer to every question???"

So young and so smart, and yes - I do.

In Millie's card she lists things I do that she loves, one of them being picking out her shoes, it's the little things I guess.

After I opened cards and presents, we sat down to a charming breakfast of croissants and fresh fruit and I commented what a great morning it was, to which Millie replied "ya - for you."

Playing Dress-up

When Elli was born I loved to dress her up head to toe in outfits, complete with bows, bracelets, full-on ensemble, shoes and socks. As Addie was born I wanted to keep her sweet and precious and comfortable and tended to dress her in soft one-pieces; no more 0-3 month denim skirts or overalls with uncomfortable metal closures. And shoes didn't touch her feet until she was practically walking therefore necessitating them. I was even happier when Amelia came and they had Robeez, a fusion of shoes and socks; perfect!

So with a boy, the only thing that has changed is the overall color scheme, I still prefer the soft and comfortable clothes that keep him squishy and little. So today with the rain coming down outside and a full laundry basket waiting to be washed I thought it was a good opportunity for Max to wear his adorable baby shower gift outfit complete with corduroys and a sweater vest to church. We all gathered around as Jason called us in to see our "Little Man". Though there may not be hairbows for boys, he does have matching dinosaur socks. (and still no shoes)

We had to make some style choices; we went with sleeves rolled up one time and shirt untucked. We don't want to look like we're trying too hard.

Too bad no one really got to see him in his dress-up and good thing we took these pictures before church because as we were sitting in our pew Jason handed him over and the sour smell hit me; as I lifted the sweater vest there was proof of a blow out. So with baby in tow I had to walk out during church, take him home, bathe him, feed him, put him down for a nap, spray and wash his clothes, do a quick wash cycle on hot water, and then another to really get the yuck out. So this is my church for today.

Millie's Mind

While in the car on the way to take the older girls to school today Millie was practicing her math facts. She told me that 1+1=2 and 0+3=3 and so on. She paused for a minute or two and then told me that 5+5+5+5=20 and I was a bit surprised she jumped to higher level math. I asked if she knew how to count by fives and here is her answer:

"No mom, I counted all my fingers and then I counted all my toes."

(She also has cat-like instincts; she likes to lay on the floor when the morning sun shines in.)

Easter

This Easter we spent with our family from Ohio. Mimi "Claudia" always has a way with my babies and she wasn't here more than 15 minutes before she had Max sleeping in her arms.

Easter morning was met with a basket treasure hunt and then off to find the eggs.

We then hurried up to get ready for church, barely having time to take a decent picture.

Good thing we ran into the Easter bunny where we could get a better photo op.

They co-ordinate, but not on purpose, I have rules I hold my family to.

Stay classy, Millie Anne!

I want to eat him up.

We spent Monday at the L.A. Zoo, perfect weather for flamingo posing.

First zoo visit, the monkeys were his favorite.

Good times, thanks for coming to visit.

Male Pattern Baldness

From the front he is 13 pounds of perfection.

Chubby cheeks, smooth skin, smiles on demand.

But alas, my babies always have issues when it comes to their hair. The girls were all born bald/fuzz and when it finally grew, it grew in the back which created the much sought after mullet. Business in the front, party in the back! Max was born with a totally different head of dark hair, and it has starting thinning out on the top, creating a comb over look, and also in the back. He totally rocks it!

(But just for curiosity, when can I give him his first haircut?)

Better Wash Your Hands...

Or you might catch the FEVER!!!

Millie is a closet fan of Justin Beiber and was so excited to see his movie, but with a new baby being born I was out of comission so it was up to Jason. He asked if he could walk the girls to their theatre and then go watch a different movie, um no. But then genius idea - Auntie Cami was coming to town and not only is she an awesome auntie, she is also a fan of children's menus and Disney media. Elli called Auntie Cami and she was game; actually she said she had really wanted to see that movie and her nieces were her perfect cover.

Go big or go home -

they pulled out all the stops, t-shirts, singing doll, hoodies, and face messaging.

I smile, you smile :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

It's still March...

Here are 2 jokes Amelia would tell you if you were here, and if it was her idea - heaven forbid you suggest it:

Why did the chicken cross the playground?

To get to the other slide.

What do you call a bear with no teeth?

A gummy bear.

Not on my watch!

I didn't know that being a finger sucker was in DNA, but it must be since I was batting 1000 with my first 3 children and #4 has shown strong tendencies to follow in their footsteps. And those who know our family well know it is not just a finger or two in the mouth, the other hand likes to be busy also. So the buck stops here! I feel I need to explain to everyone why my 2 month old is wearing mittens that are too small for him; it is because I am trying my darndest to block a habit before it is formed. They only make tiny mittens for baby's first couple of weeks so Max's hands are for the majority of the day balled up. I hope I am not hindering any motor skill growth but I am one determined mama. He is on a merit system and if he has not been sucking on the mittens he can earn a recess where I work with him on grasping, but the moment I turn my back and hear the tell-tell slurp, 2 demerits are tallied and the mittens go back on. I have tried to research "ways to prevent" on the internet but all I can find is ways to "break the habit", so I am flying blind on this one.

But look at his darling smile, does it make you heart smile like it does ours? (Elli wrote that line on a card for me when she was younger and sweeter.)

Luved

We have enjoyed all the family since Max's birth, he is very luved!

First trip to Disneyland, his sisters love him lots!

Grandma Joyce

Jason

Great Grandma Moo-moo

Auntie Cami

Grammi Debbi

Great Grandma Diamond

Great Poppa

Poppa & Linda

Pops

For My Funny Valentine

This Valentine's Day I want to publicly dedicate a verse to a song to my valentine because I know it is his favorite. (& I wanted to share this picture with all of you, a side of Jason not seen too often.)

Once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman,

Once there was a snowman; tall, tall, tall.

And in the sun he melted, melted, melted,

In the sun he melted; small, small, small.