SIXTEEN

The compromise was that if she wore the dress I chose, she didn't have to get her hair done.

Eyelashes for days. Someone recently asked me if I've now realized how much better it is to have a dog than a cat. I wasn't so sure. Then I went to a friends house with a huge squishy rolly bunny-soft cat and I remembered. I love cats so much. They never poop on my carpet.

2016 week sixteen

I said "No bite!" approximately 1,000 times this week. Frida just cant control herself around princess dresses, and Vera refuses to wear anything else at home. So there's a lot of biting...

Ginger sesame chicken noodle soup with asian carrot salad. 

Vera drew this picture of me. I cried. Not because she clearly thinks I have a jelly-bean body, but because she purposefully put arms and legs and eyes and hair on that jelly-bean body. She is trying to draw what she sees. It's not just scribbles anymore. She is suddenly growing so big. 

Play doh is more fun with friends.

Eggs en cocotte, smashed potatoes, glazed beets and cheese. 

Seriously! Look how big she is! She's more than half my body length. She asked me to carry her around in the baby carrier the other night. It was a little sad to see how long her legs were. Maybe because she is turning 3 in a few days I've become overly sentimental lately. I want to hold her every moment I can. 

Leftover salad is one of my favorite lunches. This one had leftover green beans and grilled salmon tossed with the cucumber red pepper green salad from the night before, tossed with leftover cilantro ranch and a big handful of fresh dill. It doesn't look pretty but it tastes fantastic.

Getting all the wiggles out after church.

Happy Birthday on Wednesday Vera. You are such a lovely little soul and we're so happy to have you lighten up our home.

Quotes:

Yawning and stretching. "Mama, I'm getting all the tired out of my throat."

She CANNOT say elevator. It's like that scene in friends where Phoebe tries to teach Joey French.

"Elevator."

"Velegator."

"EL-eh."

"El-eh."

"Va-tor."

"Va-tor."

"Elevator."

"Elegator. Velevator. Velegator?"

Sigh "I just want to watch that Minnie of the Pooh."

For some reason she thinks the Disney princess "Tiana" is named "Keywell." I have no clue. 

"What's that princess Keywell name?"

"Tiana."

"That's silly I call her Keywell. Is it Keywell?"

"No. It's still Tiana, love."

V, "Mama. Theodore is crying."

Me, "Well, he'll just have to wait a minute."

V, "He's a BABY! He CANT WAIT!"

"Mama. I'm just talking to the dragons outside. Can you make the scary one go away? I just want the friendly ones."

Theo likes to grab two fists full of hair and pull my head toward his open mouth so he can chew on my chin. It's horrible and I love it so much. 

"Can you please not come over here? I'm doing dangerous things."

"Can you please not look at Elsa? Cause I'm Elsa and I don't want you to look at me."

V,"Cups are boys. But green beans are girls."

Me,"Hmmm, are you sure."

V,"Yes."

"I'm a princess called Califoins."

V, "Can I have one to play with please."

Me, "Sure. Yes. You can have one."

V, "Ok! Can I have twenty?!"

V, "Do you want to walk on the giraffe barn ground with me?

Me, "What is special about it?"

V, "It has cats and angry tigers on it! Come feel!!"

Me, "I can push you three more times."

V, "Ok! Then you can push me twenty times!"

Matt's sister, "We were laughing on our way over here because we saw something and it was perfectly 'Classy Lewisville.'"

Matt, "Was it the wig in the street?"

Me, "The bumper on our neighbor's lawn?"

Matt, "The tarp over the car with the broken windows?"

Matt's sister, "No. It was just some guys sitting on the curb on a cooler with a couple cases of beer in front of them. No food, just beer."

Matt, "All those other things were real too."

Then five days later we were startled awake by the sound of gunfire outside around 4:30 am. That's classy enough until later we realized it was April 20th and the gunshots were around 4:20 am. Lewisville. 

Stories:

Because V is turning three this week, I've been feeling so nostalgic and sentimental. She looks so big at points and then so tiny. And I feel like I don't know what I'm doing half the time and I don't accomplish the things I really want to do with her. I don't know where the days go, but I think half of my time is spent wiping up stickiness. At the end of the day I'll think, we didn't read anything today! What happened?! I was feeling sad about this and talking to Matthew about how days will go by where I feel like I wasn't a good mom. Where all I can see are the glaring mistakes or remember how I had no idea what I was doing when she was little and all the things I did wrong that I wish I could go back and do again. These feelings are probably very naturally but truly not constructive. And because my husband is often so wise (and because he's male and readily sees a situation as a problem to be fixed) he suggested I make time to consciously remember the points of the day when I was a good mom. He went further to suggest that that would be a worthwhile family journal to keep. It would give me moments every day to think about all the good things we did do together, I would write those down, and seal up the happy moments memories. The more good moments you write down, probably, the less likely you are to remember the not so great moments. Plus, how fun for our kids to read about the fun games we played or to have a record of the great effort we put into creating a joyful life together for our family. I've been having a hard time feeling motivated to write in a journal as well as a weekly blog, but a quick 5 minute blurb about positive moments in my day interacting with my children is doable and useful. I love this idea of a happy moments family journal.