Dear Abby.

My goodness, do I love you.

You with the stories you tell.  Your active imagination.  Your flair for the dramatic.  The joy you find in people, all people. 

 Your quick smile.  And even if it's hard to answer question after question, I love your inquisitive, curious mind.  You are making sense of the world in your own innocent way, and tell me how things work, or why they are a certain way, or why it doesn't matter, so matter of factly that I believe you. 

You know, don't you Abby Jo.  You know how the world works.  And the world is here for you to make of it what you will, and experience it for all it has to offer.  From the worms we find in the dirt to the music you dance to, even when no one else hears it. 

Your joyful heart will carry you far. 

I love you.  I admire you.  I am so very proud of you. 

W.M.O.T.Y. Part 2.

I am an equally bad-mom with both of my children.

See this cheesey smile?

Abby and Jaedyn, BFFs

Abby's doing exactly what I told her to do. Smile big, show her teeth, and keep her eyes open. In my defense, on our way to dance pictures, Abby was showing me how she planned to pose... which involved her version of half-closed "come-hither" eyes and a close-lipped, trying-to-be-coy smile.

So, this is how my coaching was translated. For every picture. The photographer even took extra pictures of her encourage Abby to show her smile (I guess this look isn't an obvious expression of joy?). And I ordered buttons, magnets, and individual shots.

This will be funny at her graduation, right?

Bah.

[Worst] Mommy of the Year Award.

Jett had an eventful weekend.

See what's missing? After a fun-filled evening at Grandma and Grandpa Nuest's, I hauled reluctant kiddos home. We walked into the house, Jett protesting all the while, and, to get him laughing, I started swinging him around, tickling him, and jumping with him on the couch. I tossed him onto the couch cushion, and he proceeded to bounce off the cushion and nail his mouth (with nuk) into the back of the couch. Wouldn't have been that big a deal had we not removed the back cushions to make forts earlier in the day, but, as it were, hard back of couch hit nuk hit front right tooth, jamming right up into his gum.

A panicked call to Grandma Connie, a quick trip to the ER, and I was assured that he was ok, but we needed to see the dentist this week. So that's where we're headed today.

By the way, if you ask Jett what happened, he'll say, "Mommy throw me." Ugh. Guilt trip.

Back at it.

It's been awhile. Months, even.

It's not that a lot hasn't happened, it's just that I wasn't ready to share what was truly on my heart... like struggles with my job, or my mom moving out. I'm getting ready, though. But more on that later.

Can we talk about how beautiful it is for March 24? We're excepting temps in the 70s today. It's been a happy winter! No feelings of being cooped up and stir crazy. I love having the bikes out, seeing the kids play in the dirt, and trips to the park. Our first trip, on a day where it eeked really close to 80, this scene greeted us:

Abby decided, after her first bike ride, that she wanted to make a go of it without training wheels. So, we let her try (Chad questioned it a bit, but I thought that, if she's asking, we should give it a shot!). We took the training wheels off, Chad grabbed the back seat, and off she went. Or didn't.:) Apparently she thought she could ride a leisurely without training wheels as she could with them on... you know, pedal here and there, stop (with feet on the pedals), point out a bug or something, and then move on at a pace not unlike a stroll in the park.

Chad tries to reason with Abby...

Before we give this a go again, we'll need to work on consistent, reasonable speed.



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Even though our month started out like this

We've caught pictures like this

We also welcomed Sundae Mae Watkins, who warms my heart. She looks exactly like Lacee!!

Abby and Vella sporting big sisters shirts... I don't know that Vella's "claimed" her role just yet...

Quotes

One night, Abby was crying at bed time. She wanted to play a computer game/watch a movie/do anything that would delay bed time a little longer. We put her to bed, crying, and not too long after she came to find Chad and myself in our room (we were rearranging).


Abby: What are you doing?


Chad: Moving our bed. Do you want to help? (Abby nods) Ok, you can help us move our bed, then it's time to go to sleep.



Abby: Yay! That's why I was crying Daddy, because I wanted to help you move your bed.



Me: Abby, I think you're full of beans.



Abby: (dead serious) Yeah, I am. Natalie gave them to me for lunch today.



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Me: Abby, Poppa saw your dance movie. He thinks you were so cute.





Abby: I am so cute. (duh)



Me: (trying to think of a way to focus on good character, not just good looks) And you were such a good listener. That's very important too, right?



Abby: (shrugs shoulders)



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Abby: ... Like Bill the Bobber?


Me: You mean Bob the Builder?

Abby: Yep! It's Calvin's favorite tape-on-book.


Me: Book-on-tape?


Abby: No... Colby ripped it and Natalie taped it. Tape-on-book!

One of those nights.

Remember when you were little and you used to picture what motherhood would be like? All those special times you'd treasure forever and ever, because they were so sweet and straight from a storybook? Remember when reality hit you like a sledgehammer and you realized it wouldn't be all peaches 'n cream, and, in fact, the fairytale times would be fewer than the more stressful/obligatory/simply ordinary day-to-day times?

We had one of those evenings yesterday... not the sledgehammer kind... it was a legitimate, straight from the (small town, farm folk) storybook.

Chad and I loaded up the kids and headed to the farm to pick Grandma Connie's garden since she and Grandpa are in Haiti this week. The night was beautiful, the bugs weren't horrible, and the kids were AWESOME in the garden. Not too much mud, lots of fun pickin', and always within eyesight and earshot. That's not even the best part.

As Abby and I were finishing up with the tomatoes, Chad and Jett brought the four-wheeler along and we all hopped on... Jett, Chad, Abby, and me, in that order. We drove around the grove, Kotah sprinting along side to her own personal cheerleaders, and headed to the tree lines behind Grandma Z's house. That's where the magic happened.

Picture a perfectly manicured grove with beautiful trees and the late summer sun beams streaming through as the sun begins to set. Then... you see them. Hundreds of monarch butterflies flying above you as you drive down the row, and you hear your little girl squeal with excitement and your little boy yell and point.

That's when I realized that I made it. I have everything I've ever wanted, and life doesn't get much better.

Here's to the fairytale:).

Turnin' Two.

The little man turns two. TWO.

From a beautiful baby boy...

To a one year old charmer with eyes to melt anyone's heart!

And now officially a toddler.

He's a little boy on his way to manhood. Ok... I exagerate, a little, but it goes so fast! The boy is so much fun. I love to watch him explore, climb, throw, even eat dirt (sometimes). It just goes so fast... I hope I never forget

... the way he runs/gallops

...his "pitching" form

...how my heart melts when he runs yelling "Nomni, Nomni!" when I pick him up from daycare

...the feeling of his head on my shoulders when he's telling me he's ready for bed

...his giggle when his daddy wrestles with him

...his "monkey-see, monkey-do" ways whenever he's with the big sis

...the hundreds of little things that warm my heart that I can't put into words.

I wouldn't change a thing about my baby boy (except maybe get rid of the nuk). Happy birthday Jett-man!