Getting There

Josiah informed me yesterday that he can blow snot bubbles out of his nose. You never knew I had such talented kids, did ya?? :)

Bright and early tomorrow morning we leave for John's cousin's wedding in California. We are all very excited about going! Josiah and Micah have asked almost every day for the last week if today is the day we leave for Holly's wedding. And Josiah has been practicing his dancing, so watch out!

Now the thing about this trip that I'm not particularly excited about is the "getting there" thing. Picture it...Knoxville Airport...two adults, three kids...not 1, not 2, but THREE car seats...one stroller...one diaper bag...enough actvities to keep a 4 and 5 year old entertained for several hours (Yay LEAPSTER!)...and I haven't even gotten to the real travel stuff yet--clothes, toiletries, etc!! Due to all of the additional charges airlines have added for baggage, John's parents are taking one of our bags with them (they don't have to pay to check bags) but we'll have at least one more to haul through the airport. Now, doesn't that sound fun?? Plus we have to keep track of the kids while we're carrying all of this. Maybe those leash things aren't such a bad idea afterall....JUST KIDDING! Well, we'll make it somehow, but if you happen to be at the airport in the morning you can look for us, or rather look for our STUFF because you probably won't be able to see us underneath it all!

Rainy Days

I just thought I'd share some randomness of things that have been going on around here...in no particular order.

Check out my little stair-step gardeners. I know their gardening tools may seem odd, but around here, you take what you can get! And they were happy, they were all playing together, so what kind of fool would I be to point out that swords, bike helmets and sidewalk chalk are not for gardening???



Here is Micah concentrating SUPER hard on this gardening stuff. You can tell he's really thinking about it because of his tongue. It's like a concentration meter. The further out it is, the more he's thinking. And if it's folded over, like in this picture, WATCH OUT because those gears are really turning back there!!



This is Josiah planting 'seeds' in the dirt. You'll get to see later on what these grew into...



Emilia got a book last week called, "Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?" It's a fun book and just about perfect for my little girl! One of the pages says, "Do princesses play in the sand and dirt? If they're wearing jeans and a messy old shirt." Well, Emilia doesn't know the difference between messy and clean, so for her, any ole outfit will do. And apparently she hasn't learned yet not to eat the dirt. I don't know when she'll find that little bit of knowledge....maybe never. I try to look at it as building her immune system. :)



Remember what I said about investing in some bleach? Yeah, I need to get serious about that...



There's nothing particular to say about this picture...it's just cute! John likes her little "dirt beard."



She was so filthy...even her feet were caked in dirt. Our regular bathtime with the kids is every other day, but I can see that going out the window in the summertime because when she gets like this (which is everytime she goes outside) it's straight to the bathtub with her, do not pass go, do not collect $200!! (Ok, if someone wants to give her $200, I'll let her stop...) I don't have pics from the day after this, but the that day she even took a pot of dirt and dumped it on her head, so the dirt was not only all over her body but also stuck in all of her fly-away hairs!



This is what Josiah's 'seeds' grew into that day. He was so proud of his plants. He got mad when Emilia dumped out his pots the next day.



It's always something around here...if it's not the kids needing something then it's the cats. This is Tabbers, my little baby kitty that I raised from day one and bottle fed every 2 hours and wiped his little hiney so he could learn to poop...and this is the thanks I get?!?? MORE WHINING??? :) Just kidding. He thinks I'm his mommy, too...seriously.



Emilia is a full-fledged toddler now. She's been taking steps for awhile, but she'd only do two or three at a time and then plomp on her tush. But yesterday, she flipped the 'go' switch and has been walking all over the house. Yea! Even when she falls she stands herself back up and keeps on going. One of the cutest things is she likes to walk around shaking this football clapper thing the boys have, so it's like she's applauding herself wherever she goes! So sweet. This picture is of another book she got that she is VERY attached to. Micah wanted to look at it, but it took at least an hour before she would let go of it. She would go play with other toys, but she kept this book clutched in one little hand the whole time! What can I say? She's a book lover just like her momma.



Most of you probably know that Josiah and Micah still nap in the afternoon. Well, actually, that should say "nappED" because we have done away with their nap time and replaced it with "quiet time" (I still need a little time of peace and quiet for my sanity, you know). Somedays, though, it's just too much and their eyes drift shut and they saw logs for an hour or so...here's how Micah crashed the other day. It doesn't look quite as funny in the picture as it did in person, but he was face down and hanging off the couch. It looked like he was going to fall and, in fact, he did the first time he tried to readjust. He's so smooth though, he took it in stride, crawled back up and was instantly asleep again. My hero. I wish I could do that!



One of my favorite things about having kids is seeing the family traits that've been passed down to them from parents, grandparents, and beyond. This is a face that Emilia makes that reminds me sooo much of my dad. something about the set of her mouth... It's the face she makes when she's concentrating on something and it's the same face my dad makes when he's concentrating...if you've ever seen him doing grades, maybe you can see the resemblance, too?



Yesterday was our first rainy day in awhile. We'd had nearly a week of sunshiny, beautiful weather. We all like being outside and making the transition to staying in isn't easy for any of us. So, in effort to make the day more fun I thought we'd try painting. It'd been FOREVER since the boys had painted and Emilia never had, but she likes playing in the dirt, so it was worth a try. Well, painting with Emilia was a bust. It was too close to dinner time and she kept wanting to eat the paint plate. She wasn't there more than 2 minutes before I cut her off. Of course, that was plenty of time for her to cover herself in paint for me to clean! :) And then she SCREAMED at me taking her away. Oh well...the boys had a good time! Here is Micah after he abandoned the paint for markers on the floor.



And here is my little artist, Josiah. He loves to create things. He painted for over an hour and went through 2 refills of paint on the plates!



This was the last picture Josiah painted. It's our family. Micah and I are the ones by the heart, Molly is the other purple one, John is the green one in the corner, Josiah said he, "couldn't get him quite big enough" and Josiah is the red one standing on my head. :) And in the middle is "a big super heart that beams you with love whenever you need it." Awwwwwwww! Makes Emilia's screaming fit all worthwhile.



And just so you don't get to thinking we're some super family that has these perfectly great days, I want you to know that yesterday was plenty challenging. In between the fun times I've documented about here the boys kept fighting because, "He wont ever play what I want to play!" and "I said yes, but then I changed my mind and then he hit me!" And Emilia didn't nap in the morning so she was clingy and tired all day. And there was whining. And there was crying. And there were timeouts. But I'd rather not remember all that! I figure everyone knows those things happen when you've got little kids, so I just write down the fun stuff. It's better for my mental health!! :)

Emilia's 1 Year Photo Shoot (Take One)

Here's a slideshow of pics I took today. We took some pictures to print for Emilia's one year pics. These aren't all "portrait quality" and some still need cropping and whatnot, but they're all cute and they all show her personality. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday, My Little Lady

How can it be that my baby girl is already one year old? In so many ways, it does not seem possible that it was one year ago that I was at the birth center waiting, praying, laboring, for the arrival of this precious little one. And exactly one year ago from when I am typing this, I didn't even know if our little sweetie was a boy or a girl. How, how, HOW does time go by so quickly?? I asked the boys at lunch if they thought the day Molly was born seemed like a long time ago or a short time. Of course, they both said, "Oh, a looooong time!" So, I guess a lot of it must be perspective. From mine, I just can't believe it.



In honor of my little lady's first birthday, I thought I'd put together a list of my favorite or most memorable moments from the last 12 months...or more, depending on if I think of anything from when I was pregnant with her. Here goes!



*The moment I found out that my little one was a girl will always stand out in my mind. Not only was I SHOCKED that she was a girl, but also because during labor the midwife had said she would let John tell me what the baby was. So, after the baby is born, they put the baby on my chest and I'm holding her just marveling at her newness and all of that newborn sweetness, how they snuggle in and look up at me, seeming to finally be putting a face with the voice they've been hearing for so long (or maybe they're just in shock thinking, "You made me leave that to come HERE??") and I'm hoping she'll cry out soon and I look at John and say, "What is it? Boy or girl?" And he says, "I-I-I THINK(?) it's a girl?" Everyone laughed! I said, "You think??" He said, "Well, it went by so fast!" Still makes me smile to think about. What a classic Mustaleski way to welcome our new little baby. I think that's they way John and I feel about parenting most of the time. I think we're doing this right. We're doing our best, at least.



*Laying across our bed face down on my stomach letting Emilia hold onto a finger on one hand and rubbing her face with my other hand, sometimes singing, sometimes humming to help her fall asleep...and oftentimes falling asleep in the process.



*Seeing her face light up when she woke up and saw me. And then once she was sleeping on her stomach watching her do a face plant and flap her arms and legs because she was soooo excited!

*My little burrito baby. She slept swaddled for several months--maybe 4 or 5?? She loved to be swaddled. In fact, sometimes I would swaddle her and she would just lay there wide awake looking around at the world, safe in her little burrito cocoon.



*Her grey hair! It got quite long the first time, an inch or more. It fell out and grew back three times. The fourth time, it never grew back. She's probably happy about that!

When she was a newborn she did this furrow thing with her brow. She still does it now when she concentrates, but back then I always wondered what she was scowling about! And she slept with her mouth open...a lot.



*The way she sticks her head between my legs and holds her arms out, not up, OUT for me to pick her up.



*What it was like to have a baby who has four teeth coming in at the same time and two other kids to have to take care of, too. AHHHHHHHHHHH! Run away!


*How shiny bald she was for the first 9 months of her life! I'm still waiting to find out what color hair she will have and when she does finally have hair, I think she is going to look sooooo different to me because I'm so used to her with little to no hair. I think her having hair is what will make me realize that she is not a baby anymore, but has already grown into a little girl.



*Oh, does she love her momma! I will remember the anxiousness of walking into a room and trying to hide from her (isn't that awful?) because if she sees me, she wants me, but if she doesn't see me, she is as happy as can be. And I'll remember those flappy arms and kicky legs that start up with the "Uh! Uh!" and grabby hands after she notices that I'm in the room. And then the mixed emotions of love and exhaustion when she went from full-out screaming fit to happy baby once my hands were on her.



*How drooly she was! She had all these cute little girl clothes and outfits that no one ever got to see because I always had to have a bib on her and several extra bibs nearby because she would drool so much she'd soak through them in no time. And then when she discovered her hands she'd have drool running down her hands and arms all over the place. I never knew a little kid could drool so much!



*She slept right next to me for almost 6 months and when we moved her to her crib, I missed her those first few nights. I know that sounds weird or crazy or something, and I do love my kids immensely, but I try not to be too over the top about it, but I did miss her...just like I missed her last Wednesday when she and I slept in totally different houses. She wasn't even just down the hall. I missed her then, too.



*How she moans when she's falling asleep or waking up. It is so cute. I love it.

*The way she dances to "Twist and Shout"



*The things that make her laugh: the cats, swinging, bouncing, playing basketball, kissing her belly, peek-a-boo (or jumping out from around a corner and saying "BOO!"), and I discovered a new one today--balloons!



*Ever since she was about 11 months old, she's known what to do with a phone (put it to your shoulder and say, "Ooooh?")



and the remote (point it toward the TV and push buttons).



*How she plays with her bows, putting them in, taking them out, sorting them out on the floor.



*When she had her first teeth coming in she would put one of her small stuffed toys in her mouth and just chomp it. Most of these toys are animals and she usually stuck their heads in her mouth. It was really funny because she would let go of the toy and play with something else while still chomping on the animal's head!



*When she would eat and she would hold her toes on her foot, or one of my fingers and flick the edge of my nail.

*That her fingernails grow SOOOOO FAST! And they're SHARP little suckers, too. She's scratched her face more times (especially around her nose and eyes) than I can count because she's got sharp little dagger fingernails. I need to cut them at least twice a week, but that doesn't always happen around here...I wonder why?



*When she first discovered the art of blowing raspberries she would get sooo into it! She'd make this very serious face and tuck her chin under and blow spit everywhere!



*She loves books and for several months now will bring me a book and crawl in my lap for me to read it to her. We don't usually get much farther than a page or two before she starts just flipping the pages around and jabbering about whatever, but she likes to just sit with me and look at books. Ah, yes, she understands my heart!



*She gives hugs and kisses. The hugs don't involve much holding on her part, she just likes to lean into your shoulder and let you hold her and I call them "loves" instead of hugs because she's letting me just love on her. And her kisses are still of the mouth-open, slobber-all-over-your-cheek variety, but they still melt my heart and I'll take one anytime.

*She is my sweet little lovebug, but she is also quite serious. She is determined and stubborn and persistent in trying to learn new things. She thinks whatever her brothers have is waaaay cooler than any of the baby toys she has, except for her stroller which has partially been replaced by the blue chair that she has been pushing around since yesterday.



*John says his favorite part of her first year of life is that about 2 months ago she finally realized she has a daddy. :) She started getting excited when he comes home from work and she likes to talk to him on the phone, although she also frequently hangs up on him!

*Sometimes when she crawls (mostly on the wood floors) she puts one leg up and scootches on the other leg. She also plays a lot with one leg up. And when she crawls "normally" she shakes her booty.



*She LOVES being outside. She'll stand at the sliding door to the porch and pound on the door because she wants to go out.



*The way she used to clank her pacie down the crib bars when she woke up.

*When she's eating and she wants more of something she points at her tray and pokes it with her little pointy finger. That's not sounding right, but she pokes her tray really hard with her finger sticking out and makes this face that, to me, says, "Gimme more. Right HERE."



*She says yucky but it really sounds like this: kee-kee (but she says the "k" sound back in her throat)

*Her silky. She has a couple of "filler" silkies that allow me to wash them from time to time, but her favorite is the pink one, which is actually a hand-me-down from someone. She takes the corner of it and rubs her cheek with it while she's moaning herself to sleep.



Well, that's it. My little lady is now officially one. We rang in her first year with spaghetti and a bowl of ice cream. She's awesome. If you haven't met her yet, I can't wait until you get the chance to! I'm so blessed to have such awesome kids, all three of them. But you, my sweet Emilia, my big little one year old, my precious girl, today I celebrate the gift you are to me, to this family, to my heart. I am so thankful to God for every moment I get to spend with you, for the year that's gone and for all the years to come. Happy Birthday, baby girl.

My Sentiments Exactly

For the past few months, I've been making the boys put away their own laundry. It's a tremendous help to me and it's teaching them responsibility, at least I hope it is. It's also making them learn to work together because Micah can't always get his put away by himself, so Josiah helps him. To date, they haven't complained about it.

But tonight as I call them to put their clothes away, Josiah says, "We're doing laundry AGAIN?!??"

Oh, my boy, you have no idea...

I know I am not alone in the endless battle with laundry. I know that every family that has little kids is constantly surrounded with piles of laundry. But even after 5+ years of waging (and losing!) the war on laundry, I still have that same thought: "I have to do laundry AGAIN?!??"

*sigh*
Yup. Again. But I know how you feel, buddy! I told him that if they would just stop wearing so many clothes...

At first he said, "Oh, right..." Then he said, "WAIT! But we have to wear clothes a lot!"

And then he was smiling again and off to put away the clothes.