In Awe

Wow. Emma turned 4 today. 4. Holy Cow. It seems unimaginable that she could be four. I remember so clearly the day she was born. When she learned to crawl. The first year of her life she slept next to me almost every night. We moved into this house when she was just nine months old. Now she is four. She can be moody and can go from one extreme to another in a matter of minutes...but I wouldn't have her any other way. Her personality is priceless. She loves life. I am so blessed that she is mine.

Emma still loves to retreat into the comfort of my arms when she gets shy, overwhelmed, or is being stubborn about something she doesn't want to do. She loves for me to sing songs to her every night before bed. We sing the same four songs everynight--Twinkle, twinkle little star; I love you; Baa Baa Black Sheep; and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. You have to make sure her closet door is closed all the way before she can sleep. She loves pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on them. My favorite thing she says? "Mommy?" "Yes Emma?" "I love you." It brings a smile to my face, everytime. She is a beautiful girl. I am in awe of her. She is so confident and has so much eagerness. My prayer for her is that she will keep that confidence always. Something I lacked much of my childhood. She recently started gymnastics. She loves trying flips and jumps. I was always so timid to do those things. I pray that she will always follow her heart and do what feels right to her.

Emma is a star. A pink and purple princess. A little sister and a big sister. The best helper ever to me. A great cuddler. A lover of all things of or relating to a doll. She wants to be Fancy Nancy because she loves how fancy the character is. She is an individual. Not afraid to play with the boys. Or tell them what to do. Not afraid to do her own thing.

She's my Emma. And I love her so.

A small request

I have a small request. A small prayer for my sanity. It has happened yet again...I have gone to the dark side again. The place to which I refer to with my friends as..."Lego Hell." They. Are. Everywhere. Seriously. In the garage. In the bathroom. Have fallen in the toilet in the bathroom. On the tub. On the counter in the bathroom. On my bed. In my bed. Under my bed. In his bed. In his sister's bed. In his other sister's closet. On her floor. Under the couch. In my car. In the stroller. On the counter. In the cupboard. Outside. In the play structure. In the basket on his sister's bike. In daddy's car. (Have not yet to be found in the fridge/freezer but am sure that is coming. )

I was just dusting and found Mr. Lego man behind a picture frame. On the floor in the entry way. On the welcome mat. In Emma's purses. (Emma's many purses and what is in them is an entirely different post). In my purse. In the diaper bag. Seriously. Yes, we have Lego boxes/bins/containers. We have asked that they get picked up. We pick them up. He picks them up. He. Loves. Legos. Seriously. Please pray for me to return to sane living once again.

Can you tell?

Which is Emma and which is Carly?












For some reason I couldn't get the numbers to line up by the photos, so just refer to them as #1,2,3, or 4. Have fun! And, I am pretty sure that I have proven my point that Carly looks ALOT like Emma!

A little goes a long way...

Okay, I know--I am just asking for trouble. Asking to be tested. Asking to lose my patience. Asking for my children to misbehave. However, I really needed to head to the grocery store. With all three kids. Fun times. It either goes really, really well. Or--you can guess--really, really bad. We went to Albertsons. A different Albertsons by our house, that we have only been to a couple of times and not really that recently. (There is a closer one I usually go to by my work that I run in and grab things from from work en route to pick up the kids at preschool.)

So I head in. Carly in her infant seat propped up in the front of the cart, Emma in the big/basket portion of the cart, and Dylan riding on the end. I know, I know. He shouldn't be riding on that part of the cart. Gimme a break on this one. He's five and a half and a pretty good boy. He only falls off every now and then. Just kidding.

Anyhoo--we ran in to get a few things. Dylan loves these frozen mac and cheese thingies for his lunch and they were only 50 cents a piece. They had ground beef for $1.87/lb too! Love cheap prices on things we love. Besides...how can you resist a face like this?

The store was pretty empty, a handful of people here and there. Mostly retired people. Mostly retired men. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. THEM. commented on how adorable Carly was and how beautiful my children were. WOW. I was beaming. Beyond. Those kind older gentlemen made my day. Actually a few of my days. I am still happy thinking about it almost four days later. They smiled. Said kind words. Didn't meander or want to engage in conversation. They just said something kind from the heart.

I was feeling so filled up inside that I didn't even mind waiting in line. Emma started to unload a few things onto the conveyor belt, when a cashier came over and said she could help the next person in line. The man behind me said--"You should go. You have your hands full." I thanked him but told him to go ahead since we already started unloading.

A smile. A wave. A "Have a nice day" or a "How are you today?" Can go a long way. Take a moment and let a car out in front of you. Offer to help someone grab something in the grocery store. Just smile. If everyone in this beautiful world just smiled at each passing person...what a different world we would be living in. Take a moment and make someone elses day. A little of this goes a long way.

Easy like Sunday morning...

I. Love.Sundays. Love them. Love them. Love them. They are easy. Ryan is home. The "hustle-bustle" is taken out of the day. I breath easier. The kids leap to watch a "daddy" cartoon with him, usually Wolverine or Star Wars Clone Wars. So funny because Emma knows the names of all the characters just like daddy taught her and D. She's so proud.

Ryan makes breakfast. One more thing for me to check off the list on Sundays. He makes fresh pancakes every morning he's home. And now he's getting fancy. He makes them in the shape of letters...an E for Em or a D for Dylan. Today though they both wanted an A. Not sure, but he obliged. They are so proud and excited that their daddy does this for them. They eat pancakes with peanut butter and syrup on them every Sunday, as if they have never tasted anything so good.

Somehow on Sundays, I feel more light hearted. More energized. Ready for the week ahead. The kids are excited to have daddy home. It's all so easy...easy like Sunday morning.

And this one...she is so fun! So easy to make her smile! Loves. Loves. Loves her daddy being goofy with her. Loves when I talk to her. She is a joy. Laughs at her brother and sister. Is kicking and looking everywhere. Gets SO excited to drink a bottle. Love her to pieces!





And the day continues. Easy. Ryan and I relaxing on the couch while all three kids sleep. Easy. Then off to friends house for dinner. No hustle. No bustle. Just easy.

Park Etiquette

Let's talk about the park. A place that I, like many of you, frequent often. A place that costs no money and brings hours of enjoyment to our little ones. A place that is carefree, close to home, and encourages all kinds of imaginative play. My friend Courtney and I have been meeting at the park for lunch and play time quite frequently. The kids love eating their lunch on a blanket under a shady tree. They love looking in the cooler bag to see what snacks and treats I have stowed away. Carly will lay on a blanket in the shade all day watching the trees move. So relaxing. Courtney and I can watch our older ones play while our two babes stare at each other and scootch around on blankets. Ahh--motherhood at its finest.

Not so much. Two days ago Courtney and I were at our favorite park having our relaxing mommy moments. The ones we believe we rightfully deserve. Our kids decided to put sand on one of the slides so they could drive their little cars and trucks down it. Mind you, there are two slides side by side. We told them not to put it on the other slide so if anyone wanted to actually slide on the slide they could. We were surprised at a father that was "lecturing" our boys on not putting sand on the slide. He told them they had to leave one side open for sliding. As I made my way over to their location, I interjected that I had already told them this. There was only sand on one side still, as we discussed. One of his children was standing there saying that the boys were being mean to her and wouldn't let her slide. Both boys said this was not the case. I gave everyone a gentle reminder and hand them apologize (as a good measure)and went back to my mommyhood bliss under the shady tree.

Would be nice if the story stopped here, right? Not so much. Dylan and his buddy wanted to make a mud pit for the monster trucks and put water on the slide. Now, we all agree this was not a good choice and quickly rectified the situation. Okay, not as quickly as we should have. A little boy did go down that side of the slide and got his pants soaked. Yes, we felt bad. Of course. The mom was so fine with it. She changed his clothes and brought him back to play. The father we spoke to earlier (not the father of the boy with wet pants)was not as kind about it. As we were cleaning it up, Courtney said we better clean this up before someone gets wet. His response? "Too late for that." Thanks. We know. We are trying here. The kids apologized for putting water on the slide. Geesh! Emma walked over to help with the clean up of wet sand and left a few fruit snacks in the sand on her way. The father was quick to point this out, "Oh, someone left candy everywhere. We really need to clean this up." Trying here mister. Seriously?

The end? No. Maybe we should have been watching the boys a little more closely so this didn't happen. We were watching pretty well, but look away from time to time to tend to the other babies. I know--what were we thinking? Said father is now sitting on the bench talking to pretty young lady. His two children, ages 4 and 3 and now running around the park on their own. We hear words being spoken between the children at the slide AGAIN. I head over. The little girl is now putting sand on both sides of the slide. Seriously? Me: "Remember we discussed with all the kids not to put sand on both sides so other friends can slide too?" Little girl--looks at me, picks up a bucket of sand, and pours it on the other side. Seriously. Me: "Why did you put sand on that side too?" Girl: "Because I wanted to." Mind you, I am having this discussion quite loudly and definitely in earshot of the father. However, he was too busy talking to the pretty woman sitting next to him, remember?

A little baffled I walk back to my still somewhat blissful spot under the still somewhat shady tree. We all go over to the swings. I notice the little girl and her brother going towards our blanket area, and now looking through our food bags. Oh yes. I head back over. She wants fruit snacks. I tell her they are not mine but Courtney's. She would need to go and ask her at the swings. Her reply? " I already did." Okay--yeah right. "You need to ask her again then." She eventually makes her way back over there to ask Courtney and we all arrive back at the blanket. The whole time their father is still talking to the pretty lady and texting on his phone now as well. Courtney looks and we don't have any fruit snacks left. They see my goldfish crackers. Actually, truth be told, the little girl walks over to my cooler bag to open it and look in it. I cut her off by opening it first. I was kinda starting to lose my patience at this point. Can you blame me? We give her and her brother a big bowl of fish crackers. The father sees all of this, but continues with his in depth conversation with the same pretty lady on the bench. Seriously. Now the kids are eating, he moves farther away, up on the hill, and starts talking on the phone.

The little girl asks for more fish. Seriously? "No honey, we need to get going." She spots a bag of open fruit snacks on our blanket. "Can I have those fruit snacks?" Courtney gives her some. Thank goodness because then she finally went on her way. As we pack up to leave~the father makes his way towards us. Him, " Oh, did they eat all your food, because they already ate all mine?" Seriously?

A few side notes:
*We did tell the kids to ask their father first if they could have a snack.
*The pretty lady was definitely NOT his wife.
*We watched another boy take down his pants and undies and pee in the sand. Nice.
*We will be trying a different park for our next playtime.

Seriously.

Firsts...

I never, ever, ever imagined before becoming a parent that "firsts" would be such monumental happenings in the Harlow home. All of you moms out there know what I mean...the first smile,the first step, first tooth, first time riding a bike without training wheels, the first glorious night that a baby sleeps through the night, the first airplane trip, the first word...I believe you are all with me on this one. My life is surrounded by "firsts." Sweet, heavenly, "firsts." "Firsts" that make you smile...take your breath away, make you laugh, cringe, cry, hug. I. LOVE. FIRSTS.

Dylan lost his first tooth...


And he started playing t-ball...


Emma got her first brand new big girl bike...


Carly got her first all day lazy day with her daddy napping on him the WHOLE time...




Me? I feel like every day is a series of "firsts" and "repeats." I got my haircut yesterday for the "first" time since Carly was born. (Yes, she's three months old now.) I got my nails done on Mother's Day for the first time since Carly was born. (Yes, she is still three months old). Thank goodness the lady doing my nails, and my friends for that matter, have had pity on my as they have watched the cute little white hearts painted on my big toenails along with the pretty pink polish diminish into indescribable shapes---as I have neglected myself over the last three months. My "firsts" aren't nearly as exciting as my children's...but they are pretty dang exciting to me. Another thing I didn't know before becoming a parent...that my "repeats" would be just as exciting and rewarding with each child. Each time any of my kids reaches a milestone it is equally exhilarating. And each time I manage to get away for a haircut or pedicure....OH SUCH JOY!!! It's the little things my friends. The "firsts."