Balancing Bliss

those were the days...

 anyone with older children will probably laugh at that remark... or anyone over 60... but there was a magic of being a YOUNG mother... everything was new and exciting... not to mention i had the energy to make it just that...

now gav is to the age where it's not cool but okay maybe it is... i will change my mind the day of.. he has worn the same skeleton shirt for 3 or 4 years now... because you know... it's not dressing up.. eli blu entered that phase ... not quite.. and not because he is too cool but because he wanted to be an angry bird... add angry bird shirt and red hairspray...  luci is still foo foo and it's the one time she spends with my mom every year. she comes up with some costume and my mom makes it happen.. it's darling this year and i look forward to sharing.. miss minie HATES hats so it will be interesting to see how i'm supposed to keep her costume on...

one day i will look back at the days i am presently in and say 'those were the days.....' ... when gav was home... when eli blu had class parties still... when luci wanted to be a chubby pumpkin and not a slutty witch (come on now.... halloween is just a reason for girls/women to get away with dressing that way.. we all know it) and our baby was still so new she didn't know what was going on...

but today... i miss being the proud beaming momma of littles in neverland...

my heart was in 2 places...

 this weekend i went away leaving miss mina over night for the first time...

these plans were made 6wks ago... i looked forward to it like you couldn't believe... i had vertigo the friday before and took out my back so bad i couldn't stand, sit or walk for 24hrs... then down and on a heating pad for 3 more days... but did it stop me from leaving? OH NO... i just asked my friend to drive instead ;)

so much fun... unless i let my heart think of my baby... her daddy had her.. she was in the safest place ever.. but i couldn't help but to think what she was doing or what she might do differently by the time i got home... and it better not be walking!  (she did quit saying her favorite word and started standing for extended periods of time in the middle of the room in the two days i was gone) (sigh) ...

then again... i had belly laughs, good eats, and creativity swirling around my mind to keep me occupied...

11mo old already...

although it was a very rough start, the days are just slipping away now ....

just love this girl... every moment is just precious.. i know i stopped and took in moments with each of my babies.. but even more so this time... love her..

right now;

she plays and plays with her toys.. loves to take things in and out.. roll balls... shut open..

she gives the best open mouth all she give kisses and squishes

she says 5 words! 'dadadada' (but appropriately) , ' uh oh' , 'bird'... her first bird sounded just like bambi.. adorable.. she says it if she says one outside a picture of one or the birds in our living room or in her room.. she says goodnight to all of them on her way to bed or nap..  'yay', and 'no' ... her 'no' only happens when you say "do you want to get out of the bubble (bathtub) ?" she yells "noooo!" and then throws herself down and trys so hard to swim away...  

she loves bathtime so much she gets to do it 2-3x a day.. the whole family loves her bath time.. it's fun... her favorite is when the water is draining and she tries to swim away..

she turns the stereo on and off... dances like a crazy girl

she HATES a dirty diaper which is a good sign... my others could have cared less and took Forever to potty train.. i am having some cloth diapers made and hope to have them in them soon..

she is Trouble with a capital T!  she dumps the dog water, tears up or eats papers, crawls away fast enough to make it in the boys room for a nerf bullet, pulls hair, slaps eli blu so hard you hurt for him and just smillllllles, he loves it... sigh...

she slams on the keyboard... like just now..

she has people stop and tell her how  beautiful she is in the cart.. everywhere we go..

she  eats our dinner with us,  is weaning and only nurses at her early morning (4 or 5 a.m.) feeding, crawls into the living room for her morning cherrios while i have my morning coffee..

she is the light of our life....
 

pumpkin patch...

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

weekly something...

i read blogs that do something every week.. such as;   weigh in wednesday for weight loss, embrace the camera where moms GET IN the photo, or a single picture with no words... might have to find my blog worthy something.. i'm not dropping any pounds even though i went back to weight watchers a couple of weeks ago... just not on board i guess... i'm not getting in photos for the above reason.. jk.. have to ponder this one..

until then...  a photo...

 

being pulled back...

(can i first say that this picture had nothing to do with starting out this post but miss mina kicked the keyboard and for the life of me i could not remove it..)

i have felt this need to blog again... even though i didn't make it back for 2wks! i am being pulled back here..  if someone were to say 'what's up with your blog? you haven't blogged for weeks' two years ago i would not have believed them... yet here i am.. 2things.. baby #4 knocked me down so hard i'm still struggling to find balance and facebook.. that damn facebook just robs my blog.. i can share my pictures and thoughts with many so quickly... my blog is more of a place to share our story... i miss it.

so here are some pics to share our fall so far... with so many more to come.. after all fall is my absolute favorite time of year.. always has been..

we wrapped up summer with 'one last bbq' ... then it was 85* the first week of school so we had some more ;) ...

 

kids started school and for the first time ever i did NOT get a picture of gaven.. he was just too cool and left too early..

we transfered eli blu back to our old school... it was like going home.. luci girl got a strong lovely teacher who we have faith in so she stayed.. 4th and 2nd grade already...  

 
 i made pesto when i harvested our basil... hoping to make some sauce with our tomatoes because there are just too many to eat.. huge heirlooms.. we give bowls away every week but we still have a surplus.. looking forward to next years garden..  what we will plant and why... only 1 tomato plant i'm hoping..

 

these two just fill my heart every day.. i'm happy they will forever have eachother even after i am gone...

and my hope is for these two to realize they will want to be friends one day so why not start now.. sigh... they find a reason to fight if there is not one.. their fights are effecting our family in negative ways... they are both good boys.. just not together... hoping this ends soon...

i'm enjoying my yard.. we are trying to get as many things done as we can before the rain sets in.. and before the yard debris bin is full of leaves!  i harvested HUNDREDS of seeds to mix all together and spread ... i also bought 50 tulip bulbs in whites and purples to plant to add to my spring bulbs i have planted for the last 2 years.. if i just keep doing it every fall i will have a glorious spring yard..

 
 
my sister jenny came down to tackle my empty walls that i had plans for when i moved in but never got to... i have mentioned that baby knocked me down..ahem... it's coming along nicely..

 and there are SO many pictures of this lovely keyboard kicking baby... i don't know how to choose .. but for now just one because she is up from her nap and now it's mina time..

 

she; is weaning to a bottle (baba in this house), says a handful of words already.. points out the window saying 'birr' for bird like bambi did... crawls from room to room, pulls up and lets go of whatever she is holding onto.. if she could move her feet she would be running.. is wearing 12mo clothing.. real jeans and outfits.. she looks so big.. is just weeks away from her 1st birthday.. we just can't get enough of her.. every single one of us just loves her beyond reason...