Mr. Prince

 Some things you may not know about my love:

We got engaged in OKC.  He asked in front of my mom, dad, Aunt Lanette, Uncle Steve, Amanda and Josh.  Brave.  This is the next day at Theta Pond.

He can sleep ANYWHERE.  This is not a pleasant backyard, but the OKC botanical gardens.  As in a park.  He's asleep, not posing.  I'm jealous of this gift he has.

He'd rather ride a four-wheeler up a mountain than hike it, but he will hike with me...yearly.

Goose Lake, Red River, NM

He's a good son.  With his mom...

He likes to hunt.  Poor Coyote.  I think there was army crawling involved this day.  Brother Darin really gets a kick out of hunting with Dan-O.

He welds.  He enjoys welding.  If he wasn't a chiropractor, he'd be a welder.

He likes cake.

He plans the best dates.  Raspberry picking, Mora, NM.

He looks cooler than me in impossible-to-look-cool situations.

He's a kid at heart.

Happy Birthday, my love.  I'm glad you're mine.

Things...

What a week!  (Do I say that every Friday?)  This week we have recovered from travel, recovered from teething, recovered from snotty noses.  We have worked hard to get back on a sleeping schedule.  We have added apricots and summer squash to the babes' diet.  Whew!

Among that "usual" stuff we have some BIG things!!  Sunday, on the way home from Red River, one of Kate's bottom teeth made it's debut!!  Much to Kate's frustration, I have learned that this is an impossible event to get a picture of!!  You know it's not for lack of trying!  The most notable part of this feat is that it's among the first that Kate did before Lauren!!  (Not that it's a competition or anything!!)

Tuesday we had another big event!!  I had left the girls on the floor in the living room - like usual! - and was in the kitchen getting dinner ready.  As I was getting something out of the refrigerator I saw movement out of the corner of my eye!!  Roxie?  Nope, purple movement!!  My Lauren had motivated into the KITCHEN!!! 

I say "motivated", because if I said "crawled" you'd picture the wrong mode of transportation!  It's a frogger type move.  Adorable!  Now, I'd love to try to convince you that the reason that she trekked into this room is because she missed her Momma.  Not true.  She has a deep, deep, new-found love for Roxie.  Nothing lights up her life like the sight of that dog.  Roxie has been nice, if only slightly irritated.  Again, no picture of this.  I'll have Dan help me this weekend, it's a must-see.

Kate can really make some tracks too, but only in "R" so far.  If I could just figure out a way to fashion a rear-view mirror for that girl, she'd be hot on her sisters' heels.  Heel to heel...oh, that makes me laugh just thinking of it!!  Unfortunately, she most often finds her lower haunches trapped under the couch or chair or entertainment center.  Trapped.  And sad.  I have no doubt she'll find "D" soon and join L in her adventures.

They are both sitting up so well, too!  It's just been a big week!!  I'll leave you with one last new trick...Kate's ability to make my heart stop:

This morning (and I use that term loosely, the sun was NOT up, and neither should we have been) Kate decided she was done sleeping.  I tried to trick her into playing quietly in her crib for a while...she started banging on their "adjoining wall".  Nothing strikes terror in me like the fear of one waking up the other at that dreaded hour!  So, Dan brought her into bed with us.  She had a few toys, the remote control...she was happy for about 4 minutes.  Finally, I decided to take her downstairs.  I plopped her on the floor, changed her diaper, laid out some toys, started Baby Einstein, and promised to check on her in 15 minutes...Momma just needed 15 more minutes.  I laid back down in my cozy bed and didn't wake back up for 30 minutes!!!!!!  And when I woke, I woke to SILENCE in the house.  (Well, the irritating Baby Einstein theme music was playing, but I've already mastered the art of tuning that out.)  No baby noises.  None.  I BOLTED down the stairs!!  Had she learned to crawl and left???  Had she backed completely under the couch and...oh my, I couldn't even imagine.  Calm your racing heart...she decided she wasn't actually quite done sleeping either....

Pumpkin.  BTDub, this picture was taken AFTER she fell back asleep from my stomping and running and poking and getting down in her face to feel her vibrato-snoring breath on my cheek.  My heart rate is just now back to normal.  At least they won't have to learn about my crazy neuroses at a later date...it'll have been all they've ever known.

Happy Friday!
E dot P dot

"Oh My Gosh, There's Two!"

This was the first thing out of my mouth the minute the doctor turned on the ultrasound machine when I was 6 weeks pregnant.  (I'm reminiscing, people, slow your roll!!!)  I don't look at ultrasounds, ever.  I was completely prepared for panic when I saw nothing even though my blood said I was for sure pregnant.  I had had a few dreams of twins...on the delivery table, just pushed one baby out, and they said, "Ok, catch your breath and we'll start on the second."  What??!?!!  This would be a terrible way to learn that you were having two!  But I'd also had dreams that we lived in a submarine and Dan delivered the baby 10,000 leagues under the sea.  I wasn't putting much stock in the dream!  But, sure enough, there were two!

I have been wallowing in this memory for the past 24 hours.  A new friend just found out that she is expecting twins.  She's at 6 weeks and our stories are similar, yet very different, as all stories are.  I have thought of the heartbreak of trying to get pregnant for longer than you want.  Of the inability to really believe it.  And of the absolute awe and joy and peace and wonder when you finally accept it.  In the moment, I wanted most any other story than the one we were going through trying to conceive.  In hindsight, I wouldn't have it any other way.

Can you believe that THAT turns into THIS!!

Feeling grateful,

momma

Where There's Smoke...

There's no fire.  At least not in this county, or even this state.  But you can't go outside without knowing there's a fire somewhere.  It smells like there is a campfire in my backyard, there's not.  It looks like Albuquerque is burning to the ground, it's not.  But there is a fire on the Arizona/New Mexico border.  The Wallow Fire of Arizona has been burning for almost a week now.  Last I heard it's zero percent contained.  I cannot imagine.  The fire is over 200 miles away from my house, and I don't feel very well if I'm outside for more than about 10 minutes.

There are firefighters THERE.  There are animals THERE.  There are 300,000 acres of homes and people who have it so much worse.  I just cannot imagine.

Praying today.  Feeling guilty that I don't feel the weight of natural disasters until it affects me personally.  Wow.

There is a mountain the the not so distant distance between those trees that we haven't seen in days.

Poor quality, but that is the sun yesterday afternoon at about 6.  Fuzzy, but the color is accurate.



La Familia

Oh, Red River was fun!!!  It was cool, and familiar, and comfortable, and there was a ton of good food, and some of the best people to spend the weekend with!

The Crew, minus Rusty and Derek who were fishing, and Aunt Jan who was taking the pic.

Right off the bat, let's address some of the negatives of the trip.  We missed 2 of our favorite people!  Papa Eells decided to stay home this year, and Darin had to work.  We missed them both, but I'm so glad that Meme came anyway, and that Shannon made the trip with her tribe without the Daddy. 

This has been Papa's chair for the past 6 years...we kept it empty most of the time in honor of him!

This trip is so special to our family.  We started meeting in Red River in 2004, the year of Papa and Meme's 50th anniversary.  Seven years later, we have added three in-laws and 6 kids!  We have been in the same cabin, playing many of the same games, eating some of the same foods, and sleeping in our same 'rooms'.  The boys fish, we all go for four-wheeler rides, the kids "bloop" rocks, we shop in town, sometimes hike, and always leave with at least one funny story!

This looks like a funny story, but they were just playing!

It occurred to me this year that the construction of a family might be one of the most apparent ways to watch the hand of God move.  I need each of these people in my life.  They all bring something important to the mix.  Would I have become friends with cousin-in-law Hope if she wouldn't have married into the family?  I don't know...but I'm glad God knew that we all needed her, not just Rusty.  (Just an example, I could do this with each and every person!!)  Family is cool!!  One of those things we have absolutely no control over...and thank goodness!!

The babes did great!  They are still teething/have a cold, but they performed well and even slept well one night!!

Pop's stroller was awesome!  They had lots of chats!!

Still doing laundry,

Erin





Judgy Judgerson

Once upon a time, I was a young, cute, single girl whose past-time was to sit around and judge mothers by the appearance of their children.  Dirty clothes, food on their faces, diaper only clad, and especially, dried on boogies.  Yip, I said it.  I judged you. 

Enter Exhibit A:

This picture was taken at 4pm today.  Diaper only, sweet potato in the hair, and more of a nasty nose than I've ever seen!  Things I've learned:  Boogers never hurt anyone.

So, to all you mothers I once upon a time judged, I un-judge you.  Myyyyyyy baaaaaaaad.

Repentantly yours,

E

Because I Can

Because I missed my Monday List, and because I have been a slack-attack on the camera, and because we're back to not sleeping, and because I'm the boss of this blog...it's a list, not Wordless Wednesday.  (I promise to have tons of pictures of all kinds of cute kiddos after this weekend in Red River.)

A Few More of My Favorite Things...

1.  Snapfish.  Do you know about this website?  If you have a camera, kids, and those kids have grandparents, you NEED this website.  My favorite feature has been the photo books.  I am not a scrapbooker.  I love the idea of it, I just KNOW it won't happen at my house.  I also needed an easy way to chronicle the girls months that took minutes instead of hours.  This has been my answer.  I make a photo book for them monthly.  I upload all the pictures from the month to share with family anyway, so making the book is a matter of plugging in my favorites and adding some captions.  I spend around $25 a month on this, but I order 2 books ('cause I have 2 babies), and always a copy of all the prints from that month.  I've also bought mugs and phone covers and key chains, etc.  They are all reasonably priced and sweet little gifts.

2.  Another website that Daisy referred me to recently is Warby Parker.  Since growing these pumpkins inside my belly (it does not get any less weird with time!!  They were in my belly!!?!?!!) my eyesight has been, well, we'll say, off.  Off enough that if you meet me on the street, drive defensively.  I have had a perma-scowl for months...not because I'm grumpy, but because I can't see!  My favorite optometrist, my dear Uncle Max, lives far, far away.  So, I got an eye exam, a prescription, and went on this website and ordered some glasses.  Now, they are a little trendy for my taste, and they really don't have a ton to choose from, BUT when you buy a pair, they donate a pair to someone in need.  How cool is that!  So, win-win...I can see, someone else can see, and I deceivingly look more trendy than I actually am!

3.  Onionionionionion.  Sound it out, say it out loud, now say it with your mouth closed.  This is my favorite noise uttered from the mouths of my babes.  This happens as they are fighting off sleep (why, oh why, sweet child!?!) with a pacifier in their mouths.  Sigh.

4.  Tupperware.  You remember Tupperware!!  Well, you can still find it, even though I haven't heard of a tupperware party in about 30 years.  They have a website, you can get a catalog, you can even become a rep and have yourself a party!  Well, again, this was a Daisy idea - what did I do without that girl!  I keep this dish full of cut up fresh veggies and fruits in the fridge at all times...except for this week, whatev.  I find that, for some reason, I make salads more often, grab a handful of snap peas instead of chocolate chips every once in a while, and have less stuff rot in the back of my drawers when I use this.  Daisy's kiddos also know that if it's in the tupperware thingy they can have it as a snack without having to ask first.  Brilliant!!

5.  Remember when I couldn't find the perfect pink nail polish?  I found it!!  The first I tried was from Tracy's Mary Kay website.  It's called Pink Sand, and it is pretty near perfect.  Then, Daisy got me Essie's Sugar Daddy for my birthday, and it's practically perfect too!!  After many tries, I love Pink Sand on my toes, and Sugar Daddy on my fingers.  It was a long road, friends, but the perfect pinks have been found.  I'd like to thank all those who helped me accomplish this daunting task.

6.  Dressing up babies.

Merry Christmas!  Heeheehee...

Love,

Big Momma