hangin' with my girlies...

we like to start our morning off with a bit of yoga.

yes, even mimzy has surpassed me in my enlarged state and can put her leg up higher than i can.

girlies like their hair brushed at the "salon." mims is quite the professional.

girlies need snack breaks. the apple was gigantic enough to share between the three of us, but a certain someone wanted to hog it all. 

girlies like their nails done, especially if they turn out to be painted cupcakes with cherries on top.

even the littlest of girlies like pretty pink, shimmery toes.

girlies like multiple poses of their cutesy toes.

mak had her hand and feet done. lucky girl. ;) 

me and the girlies.

curious bystander.

after a relaxing mani/pedi, girlies like to "shop."

girlies like to be creative. i love their little feet in this photo.

the masterpiece.

one on one time with mak. we decided to make homemade body wash scented in lavender. the house smelled heavenly. 

this girlie was a super great helper.

the finished product.

after a very fun and productive day, we met back up with our boys for a nice dinner out.

thank goodness for netflix.

thank goodness for apple juice.

thank goodness for sippy straws.

...and thank goodness for art day with my girlies.

sleeping in? what's that?

sometimes, isaiah will come into my bedroom in the wee hours of the morning, asking questions about life - i'd give an example, but my brain doesn't usually remember anything at 5:30 in the morning.

other times, he just wants to cuddle. cuddling - good. talking, wiggling, singing, AND cuddling - not good.

most times, he is a loud and stumbly boy even when he is trying his hardest to be quiet. turn on the bathroom light and fan. put toilet seat up. toilet seat falls back down...etc. all these things put together will usually wake little mims up. and then i HAVE to get up. 

i have fond memories of sleeping in. nowadays, if i can get to 7am - that is a miracle. i shouldn't complain. the kids do sleep through the night. if only i went to bed at 8pm right after putting the kids to bed, i'd be getting in a good 9 hours. i'm not smart enough to do that.

i don't remember what happened that morning. my memory is a bit foggy. i do know that i didn't make our usual big saturday morning breakfast (a treat of eggs, blueberry oatmeal pancakes, fresh juice, blah, blah - yeah, not happening). instead, i reluctantly accepted help (okay, my reluctance was half-hearted).

breakfast of champions. i'm just glad i didn't have to work the stove or wash dishes in my foggy morning state.

while waiting for our food, isaiah informed me that my lips were "too red." a girl's gotta do something to distract from the preggo beached whale status. 

isaiah's first morning basketball game at the Y. i think he's the cutest, most handsomest kid out there. he likes to play defense...even on offense. ;) it's okay, he has a wicked fast ball. i love this kid.

our friend, james came along to take part in our saturday adventures...or maybe it was just because we were going to costco. ;) it's hard not to go a little crazy at costco. mims got her hands on some chocolate samples and dried mangos, among many other delicious freebies.

after our morning adventures, sam and james went out to a movie. while he was gone, we had these super cool early dinner treats. they were supposed to be the very hungry caterpillar sandwiches, but my tomatoes were too small and my circle sammies, too big. the kids didn't seem to notice and thought i was pretty awesome anyhow.

i didn't eat anything since we had a party to go to after the kids were put to bed. it was our friend, tru's, birthday. she throws amazing parties with amazing food. it was heaven for a very hungry pregnant person like myself. we always have so much fun at their place. thanks, tru.

sunday went, well, kinda perfect. yeah, i was pretty surprised. we were out the door, dressed, snacks packed, all put together at 9am. i know! crazy, right. in fact, i was shocked enough to wonder aloud if there was even church today. i turned to sam and said, "how ironic would it be if we got to church and it was cancelled?"

isaiah piped up from the backseat, "what does ironic mean?"

sam and i looked at each other, stumped. hmm, how to explain ironic to a 7 year old?

sam figured it out and began, "well, it's like rain on your wedding day. it's a free ride when you've already paid. it's the good advice that you just didn't take."

isaiah was puzzled, "um, i don't get it."

sam continued in song.

when we got out of the car, isaiah looked up at me, confusion in his eyes, "mom, i seriously still dont' know what you guys are talking about." sam and i laughed well into the evening thinking back on this one.

here's isaiah's sharing time creation. i thought it was just some monster face he drew - he was putting it over his face and roaring at his sisters. beaming, he gave me a closer look. i laughed out loud when i saw the writing above the monster face. i love it. boys.

we had a lovely dinner with our friends. after dinner, the mommies chatted while the daddies and sons worked on their derby cars for cub scouts. (photos coming soon). it was a great evening for everyone.

mims couldn't resist catching up on all the princess happenings in her disney princess puff book. i love my little bookworm. 

burrito time after bath night. mims does not care for this game one bit.

daddy, on the other hand, thinks this game is pretty entertaining. 

good weekend. i'm ready for a great week.

the ever fabulous little mims

i am completely in love with this little girl of mine. i mean, i love all my children, i don't want to play favorites here. but, i just really love this itty bitty stage of life, the curiosity, the experimenting, the exploring, the little girl giggles. i love it all. and i love that in some strange way, it almost feels like i get to re-do this baby stage of life when isaiah and makayah were this age, like i stepped back in time...if that makes any sense at all. it helps that mimzy looks so much like her siblings. in fact, we have this huge collage of photos of when isaiah and makayah were babies, hanging on our kitchen wall that samiyah will sometimes point to and smile at or babble about. sam laughed out loud the other night asking, "i wonder if samiyah knows that these pictures aren't pictures of her?"

mimzy is 16 months old now. her personality is emerging and bursting through those bright eyes of hers.

she's very "helpful." she likes throwing things down the laundry shoot. sometimes she's an excellent judge of what should go down. and other times, i find the need to tape the shoot shut. once, i found a handful of clean cooking utensils in our basement clothes basket.

she's quite proud of herself. :) 

like her two siblings, she loves books. she'll point, babble, and pretend to read. like makayah, she enjoys gnawing on the books, as well. i found that if i give her something to eat in one hand, the problem is solved!

on the mornings when both kids are dropped off at school, we like to hit up the grocery store for a fresh baked croissant. 

we like hanging out together.

mims also likes to help with groceries.

almost...

got it!

time for the hand-off. 

mims loves to eat. if she could, she'd be chomping on something all day long. however, lately she insists on feeding herself which can become quite messy. she also loves to be naked (with the exception of her diaper, of course). 

naked baby+food = easy clean up. 

she loves her some lentil soup! loves it so much, in fact, that she gave us a little jig while eating.

...and broke out in song mid-mouthful.

mischievous mims. she obviously wanted some cheerios. she felt she could get it down herself without waiting for mom. how did she grow tall enough to reach things on the counter? 

rogue cheerios.

another houdini act of undressing. i'm going to have to duct tape her clothes on. at the same time though, i love how she chuckles right after, thinking she is so funny.

whenever she wants to go outside, or when she knows we have to pick up isaiah or makayah, she'll toddle over to the shoe basket, pick up her shoes, hand me one, and say, "BOOT!"

whenever she wants a hug, she'll scoot herself back enough to get in some running room, duck her head down, and say, "DOE!" (as in "GO!"). then she'll race towards my open arms (or sam's) and bulldoze us over with hugs.

whenever she is hungry and we aren't fast enough in accommodating her request for more food or drink, she can get quite grumpy. she'll give us her "angry eyes" and try to nip us with her little toofers in order to get our attention. she's not joking around when it comes to her food. ;)

whenever it's time to fix her hair, and i begin to gather the mop in front of her eyes, she'll let out a little kitten cry of, "owww." she doesn't fight me on it, she'll just sit there quietly saying, "ow." it makes me laugh.

whenever she wakes up from sleeping, she'll wrap her little arms tightly around my neck snuggling up to my face. this is my favorite.

whether she's sleeping or awake, i can stare at her for hours. i love watching her and admiring the perfect curve of her little button nose, i get lost in her dark, bright eyes. i love the roundness of her plump cheeks that move seamlessly into her tiny chin. i love her baby soft skin, and silky baby hair. i adore her, and if i could, and if she'd let me, i'd cuddle and stare at her all day long. 

the sad part is, she'll never be this little ever again. i wish babies didn't have to grow up. i get choked up every single time i drop off isaiah and makayah at school. it makes my heart ache sending them off to their little life outside of mine. i long for more baby time with each of them, their tinniness fitting perfectly into my lap again. 

somedays, when samiyah is sleeping and it's just me and the quiet, i will get on the computer and click through baby photos of them all, over and over, remembering when they were small. i know, i'm a little crazy. don't get me wrong - i love how smart, witty, funny, and talented my children have become. it's amazing to see them accomplish big kid things, and experience all that life has to offer. but, it's sad letting go, too. if only i could figure out a way to stop time and keep my babies little forever. i'm just not ready for all this growing up business.

lunch date

isaiah didn't have school today. makayah did. i've had plenty of mommy/daughter dates with makayah, only because i see her more often during the week. today was the perfect time to "clear my schedule" and make a date with my handsome boy. ;)

i took my lunch date here, after dropping makayah off at preschool.

i love this place. it reminds me of all the wonderful european memories we made living in a bomb shelter in switzerland when isaiah was only 8 months. when we got inside, he saw a small replica of the eiffel tower and exclaimed, "mom! i remember that - you took me there when i was a baby!" yep, i picked the right spot for our date. 

my handsome lunch date. 

the third wheel. date crasher. at least she's cute, too. ;)

we shared stories of paris and baby isaiah over a croque monsieur. 

we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up as we tore into this sinfully delicious mille fille custard dessert. heavenly.

isaiah's answer: "i want to be a dad and a lawyer when i grow up."

as we continued our conversation, this time about what isaiah's favorite things to do, play, and study - i tried to keep this little snitch at bay and away from my raspberry tart.

isaiah loves to play hockey and baseball, basketball and soccer follow close behind. he love to dance, and wants guitar lessons. he loves science and studying bugs. owen and caleb are two of his closest friends at school.

after we stuffed ourselves with yumminess, we drove over to the mall to play.

i think this is the strangest playplace i've ever been to, but the kids still love going here and are entertained for hours and i guess that's all that matters. ;)

with the help of her big brother, samiyah figured out how to safely go down the slide. big brothers are awesome.

more big brother awesomeness. samiyah simply adores isaiah.

tempting...

it's not really fun friday until daddy comes home.

koala cuddles.

we shuffled things up a bit this fun friday. sam fed the kids dinner and they watched their fun friday movie while i slipped out for a girl's night with one of my close friends for dinner. it was a nice break with much needed adult conversation and great food.

when i came back, i made our fun friday dessert: "dirt pudding" with gummy worms. the kids thought i was a genius. thanks again, pinterest.

messy face.

hooray for fun fridays.

today i am grateful for:

*good health. no more coughs and sniffles. thank goodness!

*time to spend with isaiah. i love our one-on-one moments with us.

*good friends.