In the beginning

There was Eliza.
Firstborn - creative - irrepressible - smart - caring
She is 12 years old today.
I'm in denial.

A belated birthday

Jacqueline's birthday was this past weekend. I can't believe my baby-est baby is 5. It doesn't feel like it was so long ago that she came into this world. That Saturday when I unexpectedly went into labor, water breaking at home and not having an overnight bag packed! And the not-soon-to-be forgotten epic car ride to the hospital, and how Spencer would not run the red lights!! When all was said & done, it was just a little over 2 hours from her deciding to start the show and then make her appearance.

L to R: Jacqueline, 2 1/2 mos; Grant, 2; Mairyn, 4; Eliza, 6.





How did she go from this?



To this?



Happy Birthday, Jacqueline, baby mine!

"Mairyn is 9!" or

"How I'm just one year from having two children in double digits." Bring on the paper bags & lamaze breathing, when did this happen?

How did my little Mairyn-berry turn into a big berry?



I made Mairyn a card for her birthday. She really likes it and may or may not have been carrying it around for the last 2 days.



Mairyn has a thing for pie. Don't ask me why. Or make me rhyme anymore.

Happy Birthday!

I know each parent says it every single year, but here it goes, "I can't believe how old my child is!" Then they turn around & say the same thing about us; so, s'all good. Birthdays bring a reality check that I really don't want to cash. It marks a passage of time and sometimes, I'm not good with that.

Eliza is 11 today. She is my shining star! I could gush about her forever, which I'm sure everyone is *not* interested in hearing about. Eliza is a thoughtful, patient, caring, loving girl that is my sunshine.

We have a bedtime ritual that originated with Eliza. Yes, many things begin when the oldest child was born. It's just a fact of life. (being first born isn't easy, either) The bedtime ritual. Well, Eliza was about 18 months old and sleeping in a 'real bed', not a crib. She wouldn't stay in the crib; kept crawling out & landing on her head. We figured that wasn't good for her, so she moved into a bed at about 12 months old. The transition went wonderfully. For about a month. Since she was so short, she couldn't open her bedroom door on her own. We'd leave it open a crack. She took that crack and widened it to all the way open & discovered a new world of freedom. Where little girls don't have to go to bed when they were put down, making bedtime more of a nuisance to her nighttime partying ways than anything. However, one night, she wandered into our bedroom right before our bedtime and saw that we were already in bed.

"Sleepy?" she said.
"Yes," we both agreed, "We're very sleepy, we're going to bed."
"Oh, I go bed." and she walked back to her bed for the rest of the night.

Spencer & I looked at each other, could it be as easy as that? The next night, I put her to bed {which was obviously far earlier that we would actually be in bed}. I sang her a song and then added new preamble to the 'don't let the bedbugs bite' farewell. It goes something like this.

Mommy: "I love you, a bushel and a . ."
Eliza: "Peck!"
Mommy: "A bushel and a . . "
Eliza: "Peck!"
Mommy: "And a hug around the . . ."
Eliza: "Neck!"

I hug her then pretend to fall asleep on her neck. She was a bit puzzled and said, "Wake up, Mommy!" I said, "Oh, I'm so tired!" She asked if I was going to bed because I was so tired. Yes, I would be. {just not right now, but she didn't need to know that} She seemed satisfied with that answer, I reminded her to not let the bedbugs bite, bite, bite and I left the room. She stayed in her bed the rest of the evening & through the night. I repeated the altered routine the next night, and by golly, it was magic!

She eventually learned to just stay in bed, but it became part of "The Routine". And I say it the same way for the other chili beans. And she still asks for it every night. They asked about why I pretend to fall asleep on them, and this story comes out. The alteration that is sometimes made is trying to beat me to saying, "I'm so tired!" They say, "Wake up, Mommy!" and try to beat me to the punchline and say, "You're so tired!" I think it was Grant that began that.

So a 'Happy Birthday' to my 11 year old girl that isn't so little anymore! {she's 4'9"!}

Happy Birthday, Jacqueline!

My baby is 4 years old. Wow. How time does fly!

On Thursday {her actual b-day} we were getting ready to welcome the movers into our house. To box our life up & move it across a few oceans. But with little kids, they really don't care which day is observed as long as there's cake & presents!

Today, she got to pick our one red raspberry. We planted raspberries at the beginning of the summer. We watered them every day. Then on August 2nd, one little berry decided to turn from green to red. {we have about 5-8 green buds on each cane} So Jacqui got to pick the prized pretty & eat it. I hope it was memorable. We also finished emptying the house of loose crap & trash. It's amazing what you find when a dresser is pulled out! We also had cake, presents & fun with our Jacqueline Ruth today.

*these portraits are courtesy of my dear friend, Leslie. Don't worry, there's more where these came from! I actually have some free time now & can get back to blogging!*

Oh great, Mairyn is 8!

Definition of : Mairyn
Comes from: Irish-Gaelic
Meaning: Wished for child

My sweet Mairyn-berry. My precocious progeny. Ever curious and honest child, you are my beloved angel baby and always will be!

Happy Birthday, Grant!

Well, I can't believe it. My baby boy is 6 years old.

YouTube Tuesday: Remember When . .

So, YouTube Tuesday and my birthday coincide today. Whoop-de-doo. Another year older. I like Alan Jackson's song, "Remember When"; there's a line in there that goes, "Remember when thirty seemed so old, Now lookin' back it's just a steppin' stone," Never were there truer words spoken.



When the big 3-0 happened, a friend of mine said, "Turning 30 just gives you more street cred. Welcome to the Dark Side!" Though I am just barely dipping my toe in the waters of 30-something, I love being "in my 30s". Turning 30 was a big panic attack for me. Not the same as 20. For some reason, at that age, you're more excited to be in your "20s". I let 30 loom at me and kick my trash. 30 stomped all over me and left me huddled in a small ball, humming nonsense to myself. Here's what I told 30.



So bring it on! I'm ready! Hit me with your best shot! (no, I'm not putting up a pat benetar vid)


**that last vid is from 'dr. horrible's sing-along blog'. super duper show. go --> here <-- to start it. it's three acts.

A Milestone

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.
~Mark Twain

This has dual meaning for me today. My oldest daughter, Eliza, is turning 10 years old. I definitely do not feel like I should have a child eclipsing a complete decade on this earth. I remember when I turned ten. I mean, I remember a lot of things. A. Lot. Just ask my family, I have the mind of an elephant (and the body to match! ha)

When I was her age, turning 10 meant reaching a rite of passage for all military brats. Ten years old meant that to gain access anywhere on base, you had to have an I.D. card. How proud I was to have my little own mugshot to flash when we went grocery shopping at the commissary. Or if I spent my hard earned pennies at the BX; though sometimes you had to show it just to get in. Eliza won't be getting a military I.D. sadly enough, but she has had many things I didn't. She had her first passport at the ripe old age of 5. And that's late for my kids, the other three had one before their third birthday!

My Eliza. Do you know how we picked her name? Well, Spencer and I couldn't agree on anything. It was either an old girlfriend or bad association. There was a boy's name we agreed on, but the ultrasound showed a little female in there and we were stuck. Out of the blue one day, Spencer mentioned the name 'Eliza' and I actually started thinking about it. 'Eliza'. I started rolling the name around in my head; calling that name out to the neighborhood, asking her if she wants more peanut butter and jelly. Hmmmm. One evening, we were both watching Little House on the Prairie and this certain episode was about Almonzo's sister, Eliza. We kept hearing it over and over and realized that we loved the sound of it! True, that Eliza was a spinster, but I think our sweetie can overcome that small obstacle.

Also, there was the Battle for a Middle Name. My argument was that since I have one, so will my daughters. Spencer didn't want her to have one because his sister's don't have one and it makes getting getting married less complicated. Just three names. Yes, it's true it may have been easier, but I loved having a middle name. It's your special name that not everyone knows! The kind of thing girls share at sleep overs. And whether they like their middle moniker or not, it's something I found special and wanted my girls to have as well. A friend of ours suggested the tradition of giving the oldest daughter the mother's middle name. Fortunately, my middle name is perfect; for me as well as her. Claire. Our Eliza Claire.

Happy Birthday, Mairyn!

Mairyn turned 7 today! She said it was the best birthday of her life. After dinner, I pulled out a gift from Grandma and she said,

"Oh, it's still my birthday? I thought it was already another day!"

Mairyn's plan for the b-day went as follows: go swimming, go to the Build-a-Bear Workshop, play at the playground and go out for dinner and get sung Happy Birthday by the waiters.

Well, we followed it pretty well. The kids got up and went swimming this morning. Then we got dressed and found a Build-a-Bear Store. She has had her stuffed animal picked out since she spotted it in April. She got a pink Unicorn with a little "unicorn sound" in it. I really don't know how to describe it. Anyway, we were running a bit late (I had a little college get together that day) and so we decided to eat at the mall. The birthday girl picked and we had Burger King. Then we dashed to the Lake Fairfax park for a great afternoon of (me) catching up with old friends while Mairyn & co. played on the playground, blew bubbles, threw the frisbee and tossed the baseball around. After everyone being thoroughly worn out, we headed back to the hotel for a few hours then went to dinner with another great friend, Pam. We knew her from when we used to live here in VA. Mairyn picked Red Robin (burgers again?) for her restaurant and then proceeded to order the spaghetti. Ooo-kay, it's your birthday. She loved it and then the waiter all came and sang their own version of Happy Birthday. It was actually not that annoying. I find most restaurant versions of Happy Birthday irritating. This one they yelled a big announcement that, "Someone has a special day today! It's Mairyn's birthday!" Then they clapped and did this great chant. (And the most of the tables around us joined in. I was surprised.) Mairyn had her dream birthday. It was loud, sparkly, and extravagent (in her words.) Happy 7th Birthday, my Mairyn-berry!



p.s.
it wore Grant out, so the day must have been a success!

Milestones

Well, this is a milestone I've been in a little bit of denial about. I kind of thought the calendar just ended on January 25th, 2009 and that's that. Then I would never turn 30. I don't know, birthdays are weird. When I turned 18, I thought, ok, now I'm an adult. But I didn't feel any different than if I was 16. Then when breached the barrier into the 20's, still no "change". I had a real identity crisis when I was 25 and had 3 kids and a minivan! Yikes. But even now, I still don't "feel" like the adult. Should I? I don't think so. It reminds me of this car commercial. I don't remember the car or anything, all I remember is this guy narrating & saying,

"When did I become the person saying, 'Don't eat that off the floor!' when I'm really thinking, '10 second rule.'"

Exactly. Also, I was a little disappointed that I didn't reach another milestone today. I was trying really hard to make the two coincide. My 30th birthday and 100 posts. I am at 99 posts with this one today. I just didn't have anything to post about and I can't post just for the sake of numbers. I had already named this post & I couldn't think of a better title so it stayed that way. Besides, I wouldn't want to waste all the celebration on just one day!