Easter is coming!

I had to cancel an outdoor photo shoot for today because the weather has been awful (boo, poor me -I was looking forward to it all week)! ;-) I still had portraits on my mind, so I decided to get a head start on promoting an Easter Portait shoot I'm doing at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Festival in Portland. I can't believe how fast the girls are growing. :-)

Growing Together as a Family

I follow a blog called the Nienie Diaries & it is fantastic (the link is on our blog). Anyway, one day the author, Stefanie, wrote a small piece about family that really struck a note with me. She wrote that while growing up, her parents always made sure she & her siblings were together, spending time with one another. That that is the reason why they are so comfortable with each other as adults (like they actually know each other!). Every time I see Bronwen, Ava & Cate playing together, I totally get was she was saying. It's easier to grow roots that intertwine with your siblings when you're seedlings versus starting the process when you're already mature [trees].

With that said, staying home with the girls has been one of the best investments that I have ever made in my life, for their life. Bronwen & Ava are attached at the hip, & it is awesome when I see the same thing happening with Cate & her big sisters. Today, when I went to get Cate from her nap, this is what I found: Ava & Cate jumping in the crib, then Cate playing peek-a-boo with Ava. I LOVE it! :-)

A Funny Day

Today is one of those days that will go down as one of the funniest, wackiest days in our household.

Let me start by providing some background information...

On Saturday I saw one of my girlfriends at the gym & she mentioned she hadn't worked out in a week because her kids had been sick. I told Conrad, "Wow, we've been really lucky this year. No one has been on antibiotics or been really sick." Mistake number one: opening my mouth. Mistake number two: forgetting to knock on wood.

Sure enough, on Sunday Bronwen came down with a fever of 103, which lasted until Monday. On Tuesday she said her ear hurt & was diagnosed with an ear infection (antibiotics -ack!). I kept her home on Wednesday, as she still had quite a bit of congestion & ear pain. Then, Cate started coughing & was fussy (full-blown major cold).

Fast forward to today, Thursday... Bronwen went to school & I went to the gym. It felt like a regular day. I came home, showered & got dressed & was just relaxing with Ava. Cate had gone down early for her nap since she was feeling so miserable. I looked at Ava & said, "I'm hungry. Are you?" She says, "Ya." We go downstairs & I put some chicken nuggets in the microwave. Suddenly I look at the clock. It says 1 pm. I realize the girls have dental appointments at 1:30. Oh no!!!!! I put more chicken in the microwave, cut up apples, run & get Cate, & load up everything & everyone in the car. I called Bronwen's school to let them know we're coming. We get Bronwen & hightail it to the dentists'. We made it!

After a perfect exam, I decided to take the girls to Ross to pick up some jeans. We were all in the dressing room, & I had just taken off my old pants & turned around to see Cate's baby butt crawling out of the dressing room from underneath the door. Ahhhh!!!!!! I grabbed my pants to hide myself & said, "Bronwen! Ava! Get Cate!!!!" Bron got Cate & we all began laughing hysterically. It was such a funny moment!!!

I got dressed & we went up to pay (in the very long line). Ava then exclaims, "I forgot my sticky hand (a toy she got at the dentists') in the dressing room!" I told her forget it. It's gone. She cried. I had to go back to get the poor kid her toy (it's really sad when she cries). :-) Toy recovered, goodies paid for, off to eat.

I pull up to the new Panera Bread near our house, unload all of us (Cate is super fussy at this point). Somehow I wasn't paying attention to the construction going on in the restaurant, or the sign that said the grand opening was tomorrow at 5 am. We walk in, the lady looks at me all sad & says, "We're not open yet!" I'm like, "Oh no!!!" She goes, "But you can come back tomorrow!" Ya right hahahaha!

Anyway, we made it home safe & sound, had some snacks, Conrad came home & we had a lovely dinner.

At least I got to hold my baby as she fell asleep in my arms, & I have my three other best friends in the living with me, in our jammies, watching TV.

What a day!!!

Imitating

Lately Cate has been on a kick of imitating almost everything she sees. She began walking almost exactly two weeks ago while watching her sisters dance in the living room. Bronwen and Ava were twirling around and suddenly Cate stood up and started walking in a circle. A few nights ago she put her little hands next to the lotion dispenser and then rubbed them together. It was so incredibly cute and humbling to watch. Humbling because up to that point I never really thought of how much my children pay attention to and copy things that I do. I will always remember this simple, yet profound lesson in everything that I do.

Lazy Saturday

Today has been one of the coziest Saturdays we've had in a while. Our little alarm clock (Cate) woke us up at 5:15, but believe it or not, Conrad and I both felt refreshed. We chatted and watched the news while drinking our hot coffee, then our big girls came downstairs to join us and drink chocolate milk. Since we were all up, we decided to get a head start on the day and got ready for the gym.

While working out, a man in his 60's decided to talk to Conrad about a certain male medicine, to which Conrad responded, "Man, I need to stay away from that stuff; I have a hard enough time already. That's why I am 44 years old with a one-year-old." It was hilarious! I got an awesome workout with my good friend Hong (my arms were like jello for the rest of the day), and the girls got to play with some of their friends in the kids' club.

Back home, we had a quick lunch, then hopped in the car to take the girls to ballet class.

By that time Cate was ready for bed, yawning and rubbing her eyes with her little hands. Conrad rocked her in our bedroom while giving her a bottle, and she looked as happy as a little lamb. He put her in her soft crib, where she took a long nap. Conrad and I showered, then got back into our jammies. We've been hanging out all afternoon (after Conrad ripped out the carpet in our bathroom), with lasagna cooking in the oven and sunlight filling our home, making it warm and happy.

I love days like this. :-)

Valentine Week

Bronwen is sitting in our front room right now, playing Heart and Soul. She is such a good girl and we are so proud of her. On Friday she informed us that she would be getting a new reading teacher this week. On Monday, we read a letter from the school informing us that she would be reading with the second graders! She forgot to mention that part. :-D

She is kind to her little sisters. She reads to Ava and helps her with projects. She chases Cate when she crawls up the stairs. She helped me with a speech today.

It is such a priviledge to be her mom.

Goals

One of my friends wrote a post on her blog about her little baby giving her a pat on the back. I thought it was interesting because Cate does the same thing to Conrad and me, but I don't remember Bronwen or Ava doing this. It's almost like she's saying, "Good job!" or "Hi Buddy!" Then I began thinking, it is such an odd thing for a baby to do, and the timing is intriguing.

Right now, we have a lot of changes going on... Conrad got an amazing promotion leading a new group, Continuous Improvement Analytics (very high profile and high impact to the company), and I've been busy getting MichelleDouglasPhotography running. I'm proud to say I'm getting clients! Anyway, both endeavors are scary and challenging.

Thinking about that pat on the back, from a baby; maybe it's God's way of telling us everything is going to be okay and to keep reaching for those goals.