Yikes! Stripes!!

These are from the same day...slight outfit change. She's got a thing for stripes (that's a bit of an understatement).





Niiiiiiiice. Reminds me of my sister :) I can still hear my brother when we were kids, "I am NOT sitting by her....I don't care, mom, I WILL NOT sit by her. I am not going to let anyone see me with her."

So far, Emilia's brothers couldn't care less. We'll see how they feel when they're in middle school. With any luck her fashion sense will have matured a bit by then. But you never know, marching to the beat of your own drummer does run in the family!

Oh, and do you like the sharpie half-mustache? She's got a thing for markers, too. I usually keep them out of reach in a cabinet, but you know, every now and then I actually need to use a sharpie...and every now and then I forget to put it back. She's got a sixth sense about them and ALWAYS finds them. Not too much damage this time, just a little half-mustache--to go with the stripes!

{this moment}

This is an idea from SouleMama...A new semi-regular Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

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Not My Best Moment

This morning, Audra was peacefully sleeping BY HERSELF, the older kids were happily watching TV, so I thought, "Perfect! I'll get a few things done while the kids are all occupied." Silly me. I should have known that was a recipe for disaster.

I came back out into the living room to find Emilia playing with a wad of yellowish stuff in her hands. She sweetly looked at me and said,

"Poopy."

No question. It was a statement. She knew exactly what she had.

That's right, my friends, she had gone into her room, dug one of Audra's poopy diapers out of the trash, opened it up, used about half a pack of brand-new-just-opened-this-morning wipes to "clean" (her words, not mine) the diaper (left the wipes scattered around the room) and then played with the poop like it was play-doh.

The good news is that my food processor is a dream when it comes to shredding cheese and we have a casserole ready to bake for dinner tonight.

It's Been One Week

since this beauty entered our world.



One week of baby bliss...



being mesmerized by tiny fingers and toes.



One week Filled with sweet baby snuggles



and more kissy-kisses than I can count.



But how could you not kiss this precious face??



One week of silly baby faces,



goofy expressions that we wonder what they mean,



and cutie-pie smiles that we're pretty sure we know what they mean. :)



One week of cooing and talking and getting to know each other.



One week of being amazed by this newest tiny, perfect part of our family.



One week of not enough sleep



and yet not enough time to remember every inch of newborn softness...



every moment that made me smile...



and everything she did that made my heart melt with love all over again.



It's been one week and it's already going too fast for this momma.



And yet I wouldn't change a thing



because I've loved every second.

The L-O-N-G Awaited Arrival

FINALLY!! Our baby has been born! Wa-hoo! You have NO IDEA how happy I am about this. I am just beyond words at how well everything went, even though not at all as planned. Maybe I'll write about that later, but for now, here SHE is!

Audra Elise Mustaleski
Born February 16, 2010
at 4:32 a.m.
weighing 9 lbs. 15 oz.
measuring 22.5 inches long!