Today we celebrated Kate's birthday with our family. Rather than post all of the photos, here's a short video of our day:
Thank you to everyone who came out and made her first birthday extra special. She's a lucky little girl to have you.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
My Thirteen-Year-Old Self
My eight-year-old niece Ciara has always been an actress. She has always wanted to perform and has always been the shining star in a crowd.
She recently began taking voice lessons and is showing a huge interest in music. This week she sent me a video performing a song that she wrote (I won't post it because she might want to release it on an album someday) and I couldn't help but smile ear to ear.
She reminds me of me when I was a girl. I loved singing and playing piano. I wrote songs and my family encouraged my talent, always listening, always complimenting my attempts.
When the Oklahoma City bombings happened in 1995 my adolescent mind couldn't wrap my head around such a horrific terrorist attack, and after watching plenty of coverage of the wounded and the dead I wrote a song. I was really into Hanson back then and the chords are pretty much the same as some of their songs, but I felt proud nonetheless and I had big dreams of sending it along to the victims, that maybe the thought that I had them in my young heart would help ease their pain a little.
My grandmother saved the lyrics and somehow I still have this paper half a lifetime later, stowed away in my piano bench.
Embarrassingly, I recorded it this morning in my pajamas so that you can hear what it sounds like.
I didn't go on to write many songs, but I did go on to take eleven years of piano lessons, learn guitar, sing in countless professional choirs, and tour the world performing with some of them.
I can only hope that my niece sticks with it and continues to keep her heart in music. And as for this proud, proud Auntie, I will be there with her every step of her journey, listening to and encouraging her. Perhaps proud is an understatement. I'm pretty much beaming for her.
She recently began taking voice lessons and is showing a huge interest in music. This week she sent me a video performing a song that she wrote (I won't post it because she might want to release it on an album someday) and I couldn't help but smile ear to ear.
She reminds me of me when I was a girl. I loved singing and playing piano. I wrote songs and my family encouraged my talent, always listening, always complimenting my attempts.
When the Oklahoma City bombings happened in 1995 my adolescent mind couldn't wrap my head around such a horrific terrorist attack, and after watching plenty of coverage of the wounded and the dead I wrote a song. I was really into Hanson back then and the chords are pretty much the same as some of their songs, but I felt proud nonetheless and I had big dreams of sending it along to the victims, that maybe the thought that I had them in my young heart would help ease their pain a little.
My grandmother saved the lyrics and somehow I still have this paper half a lifetime later, stowed away in my piano bench.
Embarrassingly, I recorded it this morning in my pajamas so that you can hear what it sounds like.
I didn't go on to write many songs, but I did go on to take eleven years of piano lessons, learn guitar, sing in countless professional choirs, and tour the world performing with some of them.
I can only hope that my niece sticks with it and continues to keep her heart in music. And as for this proud, proud Auntie, I will be there with her every step of her journey, listening to and encouraging her. Perhaps proud is an understatement. I'm pretty much beaming for her.
Monday, February 17, 2014
Generations
My grandmother called and asked if we could come and visit her. She hurt her back a few months ago and told me this morning on the phone that she would rather die than live with the pain she's been having. We drove right over to cheer her up.
Kate said her fourth word--"truck"--while playing with Dylan's toy cherry picker in my grandmother's living room. Grandma was so thrilled that she kept exclaiming, "She said 'truck'! She must love it here!" She beams with joy around the kids.
Here's a sweet video of them together:
We had such a fun time today that Kate made sure to take an extra long nap.
Oh my sweet little angel baby.
Kate said her fourth word--"truck"--while playing with Dylan's toy cherry picker in my grandmother's living room. Grandma was so thrilled that she kept exclaiming, "She said 'truck'! She must love it here!" She beams with joy around the kids.
Here's a sweet video of them together:
We had such a fun time today that Kate made sure to take an extra long nap.
Oh my sweet little angel baby.
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The mega teether (and snow)
The boys have been outside for about forty minutes now, shoveling our not-so-big driveway in blizzard conditions. This is the stuff Dylan lives for: purple cheeks, working hard, just like Daddy. Sean came home from work at 1PM and there was already anywhere from 5-9 inches of snow on the driveway depending on the height of the drifts.
Dylan and I had gone out to measure at about 12:30. His face was covered in Fun Dip, a Valentine's Day gift of glorious sugar from a classmate.
I was thrilled to see Sean pull in, not only because lunch was hot and ready for him and I was happy to spend the day with all three of my loves, but because my legs haven't been working well today and these poor kids were mostly entertaining themselves while I sat or laid down. I just don't understand how I can still have such crippling days a full year after having my thyroid removed. I was hoping to have this figured out by now.
Kate has been a horrible sleeper for the past few weeks, mostly because we've all been fighting a death cold and she kept croup coughing herself awake and we spent a lot of time sleeping while sitting up on the couch together. I knew she was teething, but I was beyond shocked when I looked in her mouth this morning. Look at this poor baby!
She is getting 4-6 teeth in all at once on top and possibly 2-4 on the bottom, although the bottom is half as bulgy as the top set. She spent a lot of the day on the couch with Sam, who is now barely limping from his partial torn ligament and strict bed rest.
It's 2:30 now and Kate is sleeping right through the incessant dog barking as the dogs pant and yelp at Sean and Dylan from the window. Jasmine and Sam have some pretty severe separation anxiety and don't handle the thirty feet separating them from their family very well. Sam is so sensitive that if you don't pet him long enough when you first come in the door he will find something--today it was one of Kate's Little People princesses--to chew until he feels better. Jasmine has been sticking her head in my lap all day because she is afraid of snow plows. Avery is our only normal dog. I sneaked out in my feetie pajamas to snap some photos of the boys.
Mr. Dylan boy just came in with Sean and said he needed a drink. A juice box? "No," he said, "muscle juice." Where does he get this stuff? He found a pudding Snack Pack instead and when I asked him if he was going to behave after having all of that sugar he replied, "Mommy, I'm gonna be wild and so crazy in this house. 'Cause, Mommy, I'm going to be running around and playing and eating and cooking and playing upstairs."
And look who is awake!
Ha. That face!
Dylan is now glued to the front window watching all of our neighbors snow blow their driveways. You know, I'm not even really sick of this snow right now. It's been pretty awesome today.
Dylan and I had gone out to measure at about 12:30. His face was covered in Fun Dip, a Valentine's Day gift of glorious sugar from a classmate.
I was thrilled to see Sean pull in, not only because lunch was hot and ready for him and I was happy to spend the day with all three of my loves, but because my legs haven't been working well today and these poor kids were mostly entertaining themselves while I sat or laid down. I just don't understand how I can still have such crippling days a full year after having my thyroid removed. I was hoping to have this figured out by now.
Kate has been a horrible sleeper for the past few weeks, mostly because we've all been fighting a death cold and she kept croup coughing herself awake and we spent a lot of time sleeping while sitting up on the couch together. I knew she was teething, but I was beyond shocked when I looked in her mouth this morning. Look at this poor baby!
She is getting 4-6 teeth in all at once on top and possibly 2-4 on the bottom, although the bottom is half as bulgy as the top set. She spent a lot of the day on the couch with Sam, who is now barely limping from his partial torn ligament and strict bed rest.
It's 2:30 now and Kate is sleeping right through the incessant dog barking as the dogs pant and yelp at Sean and Dylan from the window. Jasmine and Sam have some pretty severe separation anxiety and don't handle the thirty feet separating them from their family very well. Sam is so sensitive that if you don't pet him long enough when you first come in the door he will find something--today it was one of Kate's Little People princesses--to chew until he feels better. Jasmine has been sticking her head in my lap all day because she is afraid of snow plows. Avery is our only normal dog. I sneaked out in my feetie pajamas to snap some photos of the boys.
Mr. Dylan boy just came in with Sean and said he needed a drink. A juice box? "No," he said, "muscle juice." Where does he get this stuff? He found a pudding Snack Pack instead and when I asked him if he was going to behave after having all of that sugar he replied, "Mommy, I'm gonna be wild and so crazy in this house. 'Cause, Mommy, I'm going to be running around and playing and eating and cooking and playing upstairs."
And look who is awake!
Ha. That face!
Dylan is now glued to the front window watching all of our neighbors snow blow their driveways. You know, I'm not even really sick of this snow right now. It's been pretty awesome today.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Mend
Kate turns eleven months old today. I'm in denial. Wasn't she just born? I have to start planning a first birthday party for my tiny baby? I don't believe it.
She's wicked sick with croup. Her fever is down to 101.3 now and I'm hoping it continues to decline overnight. We spent the night on the couch together last night because she was crouping and whooping. Her cough seemed to improve in the colder temperatures.
We figured fresh air would do us all good today so even though it was freezing outside we went hiking. Kate was overly bundled in three hats and a snowsuit and she mostly slept on Daddy as we walked, but Dylan kept falling in the snow and by the time we walked the mile and a half through the woods he was frozen and having the time of his life.
We hiked on a nature trail and there were these little stops along the way to educate us on which trees we were looking at, what bugs inhabit them, how a forest decomposes, and the like. Dylan loved learning about everything in the woods. By the end of the hike we were really cold and wanted to skip past reading each paragraph and Dylan stopped at each one to attempt to read it.
A friend of mine passed away this weekend from complications of surgery. My grief has taken two paths and I have felt sad as often as I have been furious. This friend of mine lost both her mother and father within the last two months and she has been fighting through visits to the ICU and bile leaking from her stomach, surgeries, suffering. For months. I joked with her that 2014 will be her year, that things had to get better after watching her mother suffer from cancer, only to lose her dad two weeks later to a heart attack. I just talked to her on Thursday night and she was gone by Saturday morning. She's supposed to be hanging out with my cousin tomorrow. I am heartbroken.
So we're sick around here. I just now put down the blog for two hours and went up to the kids' room where I held Kate while she cried and cried until she no longer had a cry in her and she sounded like a baby sheep trying to make any sort of noise to let me know that she didn't feel well. And I want to sit down and pity myself because I've been miserably sick for two weeks with my thyroid stuff and now I'm coming down with the kids' cold or virus or whatever this is, and I haven't truly slept in as long as I can remember. But instead I'm feeling desperate. I want to hold my family close and never ever let them go. Love is fragile, you know. So I'll take baby steps. Tomorrow Kate will wake up feeling a bit better. Dylan will feel better. We will heal. But darned if I don't hold them tighter as I think about my sweet friend.
She's wicked sick with croup. Her fever is down to 101.3 now and I'm hoping it continues to decline overnight. We spent the night on the couch together last night because she was crouping and whooping. Her cough seemed to improve in the colder temperatures.
We figured fresh air would do us all good today so even though it was freezing outside we went hiking. Kate was overly bundled in three hats and a snowsuit and she mostly slept on Daddy as we walked, but Dylan kept falling in the snow and by the time we walked the mile and a half through the woods he was frozen and having the time of his life.
We hiked on a nature trail and there were these little stops along the way to educate us on which trees we were looking at, what bugs inhabit them, how a forest decomposes, and the like. Dylan loved learning about everything in the woods. By the end of the hike we were really cold and wanted to skip past reading each paragraph and Dylan stopped at each one to attempt to read it.
A friend of mine passed away this weekend from complications of surgery. My grief has taken two paths and I have felt sad as often as I have been furious. This friend of mine lost both her mother and father within the last two months and she has been fighting through visits to the ICU and bile leaking from her stomach, surgeries, suffering. For months. I joked with her that 2014 will be her year, that things had to get better after watching her mother suffer from cancer, only to lose her dad two weeks later to a heart attack. I just talked to her on Thursday night and she was gone by Saturday morning. She's supposed to be hanging out with my cousin tomorrow. I am heartbroken.
So we're sick around here. I just now put down the blog for two hours and went up to the kids' room where I held Kate while she cried and cried until she no longer had a cry in her and she sounded like a baby sheep trying to make any sort of noise to let me know that she didn't feel well. And I want to sit down and pity myself because I've been miserably sick for two weeks with my thyroid stuff and now I'm coming down with the kids' cold or virus or whatever this is, and I haven't truly slept in as long as I can remember. But instead I'm feeling desperate. I want to hold my family close and never ever let them go. Love is fragile, you know. So I'll take baby steps. Tomorrow Kate will wake up feeling a bit better. Dylan will feel better. We will heal. But darned if I don't hold them tighter as I think about my sweet friend.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
A new recipe
Dylan is still not feeling himself, I was up all night getting sick to my stomach, and Kate woke up with croup. A relaxing Saturday it is.
Plus it snowed.
We made a new recipe for dinner. Chicken quesadillas. We're loving our Food On The Table app, saving a ton of money and discovering new dinners.
So we really liked this recipe but when we make it again we're going to add some rice for extra filling. But these were so good.
Ours sort of turned into burritos rather than quesadillas. Here are some photos of our cooking adventures.
And everybody--even Dylan--liked it.
Plus it snowed.
We made a new recipe for dinner. Chicken quesadillas. We're loving our Food On The Table app, saving a ton of money and discovering new dinners.
So we really liked this recipe but when we make it again we're going to add some rice for extra filling. But these were so good.
Ours sort of turned into burritos rather than quesadillas. Here are some photos of our cooking adventures.
And everybody--even Dylan--liked it.
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