my little trooper

i really have to record her sweet voice.


her first few words....
mommy (my personal favorite)
daddy
no
out
hot
owieeee (my least favorite. although the long iieeee on the end is pretty cute)


love her, love her, love her.  she is my little shadow.  follows me from room to room, taking out everything just as i put it away.  

poolside

yes, it started with him trying to kick her out of 'his' chair, but all ended well.  side by side, brother and sister after their evening swim.  perfect way to end the day, a storm blew in, cooling the hot july air.

landon, you are a little boy of many expressions.  it is no wonder you always have lily giggling.  everyday in the car, i hear her laughing away, i have no idea what he does, maybe its all these silly faces.

strumin' those strings

nothing brings a smile to my face like a sandpaper pic and sashe dance.

kites

my little artist has been busy making and decorating his own kites.  he has even made a few for landon. lets hope for some more wind this afternoon.  

mister brave

it took him a few walks down the plank before he decided to take the plunge.  i am one proud mama.

story time

i wish i could say that my evenings were calm and peaceful, however they are anything but...

bath time ends with bubbles and toothpaste all over the bathroom.  then story time... agreeing on a story is never an easy task with 4 different aged children.  i just start to read hope they come.  apparently they all liked kipper.  we made it through the entire book with no fights, no crying, just good story time.  all captured on camera, amazing.

lovin' me some blue eyes

... and chocolate faces.

First tooth gone

i am a bit behind on my posts.  four lively little ones home, cousins in town, husband out of town, it has been fun, but not a moment to blog.

about a week ago, logan came running down the stairs, tooth in hand.  he could not wait to show me, and he was ecstatic to show his older brother.  instead of putting it under his pillow, he decided to save it for daddy... who was still out of town for a few more days. well, of course in the process of waiting to show daddy, it was lost.  hard to hold on to a little tooth, even in a bag.

a tooth fairy letter was written and she is the kind that forgives one for losing the lost tooth. this dreaming mama was awoken from her much needed sleep at 3:30am to see the coins the tooth fairy had left.  coins and diamonds.  oh my.

love him and that new grin.  suits him well, eh?

monsoon

a little 'hike' down the road for an afternoon adventure while the other littles napped.  amazing how light changes everything.  we rarely get overcast, it makes everything seem so green and bright.

our little adventure ended with a rain dance, in the rain.  and another trip to the park.

today i have so much sadness dwelling deep down for my little girl.  i don't know why, but for some reason i feel it most when i am around other children her age.   she gravitates towards other one year olds, gets as close as she can, fascinated, and tries to kiss them.  it is so sweet.   i just sit watching her interact thinking, why, why, why all of this?  what i would do to go back to early september and be a normal happy family.

not that we are not a normal happy family, but it has created a sadness in us all.  she has been off for two weeks and today i got the phone call reminder of our appointment next week.  i do not want to go back.  just want to pretend its not real.

i know my the boys feel my sadness.  they seem to know and feel everything.  it. is. so. hard. hearing them ask if the doctors have fixed lily yet, hurts. i don't know that she can be fixed.  she is lily.  our lily.  we all love her to no end.  i just want a good life for her.

and we are so blessed.  i am grateful for all the positive things surrounding us... her... its just hard.