{squish}

I'm not sure exactly when this happened. But somehow, practically overnight, my daughter has developed thighs as plump as overstuffed pillows. She has squishy little rolls that cascade down her thighs. And, oh my goodness am I enjoying her wiggle and jiggle. (She is bringing back fond memories of Jack and when I had to get a tub of butter to grease his chubby butt out of his Bumbo.)

Despite appearances, she is not constantly holding her breath......her cheeks are just delightfully chubby. Pardon me while I go and nibble on her some. 

I really wanted to put some of the lyrics to Sir Mix A Lot's song 'Baby Got Back' in this post, but then I realized those words aren't very appropriate to sing about your baby girl. I never really understood how naughty that song was until I started saying the words. But, really, it's also kinda funny. Like the 'you can do side bends or sit-ups,....' line. I  love that 'side-bends' and 'sit-ups' got mentioned in a hip-hop song.

winter

image courtesy of google images

Okay, so it is not THAT freezing here in Florida. But it feels pretty cold in comparison to our typical weather. And if I posted a picture of the beach, it would not have that same wintery feel.

Reasons I Love Winter:

1) Christmas
2) My Uggs
3) My curly hair chills out some
4) Cuddling by the fireplace
5) National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
6) You don't sweat at 7am from humidity
7) My kids get a 2 week vacation from school
8) Christmas Music
9) White Christmas
10) My husband looks cute in his coat (or jacket? what's the difference?)
11)Twinkly Lights
12) White Chocolate Peppermint Mocha
13) Scarves!
14) Elf

Reasons I DON'T love winter

1) It's COLD!!!

2) I'm even later than usual 'cause I have to bundle my kiddos

3) It's COLD!!!

4) My skin gets dry

5) It's COLD!!!

6) I don't like to wear jackets

7) It's COLD!!!

8) Flip flops = freezing toes

9) It's COLD!!!

10) I get pale

11) It's COLD!!!

12) No beach. Boo.

13) It's COLD!!!

14) Runny noses and sore throats

Here are some pictures I took with my phone while at the wing (group of squadrons) Christmas party! 

That's Santa exiting the hangar on a fire truck! 

Tyler with his goodie bag!

Jack found the cookie table. All was right in his world that day.

The 1st time Kaiti has ever gotten her face painted, and she ran out of room :) Oh, the Santa hat makes me laugh.

Me and Evie......by a Christmas tree and a helicopter

it's a black fly in your Chardonnay

irony = me deciding during labor that I wanted to have Tyler drug free and totally natural, and 24 hours later, I ended up having a c-section. wanting to try anew with Kaiti, epidural free, only to be told I needed a c-section again. (now I have 4 lines intersecting across my lower belly)

irony = texting a friend that I was really enjoying my new passion for my exercise bike and proudly telling her that I'd been on it every day for almost 4 weeks without a single hitch, and 2 minutes later, the pedal breaks off (and the tools it takes to fix this are things we need to go and get, not one of that 8,074 my husband has in his tool chest)

irony = feeling kinda cute yesterday in jeans and a sweater I have not fit into since before Kaiti, walking with a little pep in my step, and totally tripping over my own feet walking into Wal Greens and falling pretty hideously, on hands and knees, in front of a long line of shoppers

irony = worrying about Jack's growth and development in light of his organs being all mucked up, and he now tops the charts on weight and height, I have to squeeze his 2-year-old behind into snug fitting 3T pants that are an inch shy of being capris

irony = being super proud of a headband I just made for myself, and then someone asks me if my 5-year-old daughter made it

irony = spending the morning straightening my hair for the first time in many months, and holding Evie like an airplane above my head as she vomited BUCKETS right into my freshly straightened locks

my Tyler

We just celebrated his 7th birthday and I am amazed at how quickly time seems to have passed. I can remember clear as day the first moments of his laughter. Of realizing he laughed hysterically at the sight of our black lab running in reaction to my husband's whistle, which had me saying 'again, AGAIN!' to my husband over and over.

Now, Tyler is a book-loving, dinosaur-fascinated, information-absorbing, never-forgetting, super-competitive, sensitive-hearted, laughter-loving, meat-craving, rules-oriented, amazing boy!!

Yesterday he came home from school and was so excited to share all of his great news. The big news was that he did the mile run at school and did it in a little over 12 minutes!! I was so proud of my boy, and he was really proud of his special 'mile-run' bracelet. He also bumped a reading level in class, and he cannot wait to choose from the new level of books. Finally, he shopped at the school's holiday bazaar and bought every person in his family a gift, and used some of his own money. He said he can't wait to see my face when I open the Christmas present he bought me. I have to be honest- when he said that, I started to cry. I just love my Tyler so much!

And here are some photos of my sweet boy that Angie Testa took!

Giveaway Winner

The winner of the Sweet Hearts & Soles Giveaway was none other than....

#8 (drawn by random.org)

Valerie said...

"Oh, and I did like this on Facebook, have posted about it there, have this Etsy shop as a favorite, AND am following your blog! (lol, I really want a pair of these shoes!)"

Congratulations Valerie!!!! You get to pick out an item of your choice from the Sweet Hearts and Soles Shop!! And for all those who did not win, Teri from Sweet Hearts and Soles is offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders right now! Don't let that deal pass you by :)

Kaitibug!

My sweet Kaitibug. I cannot believe how much she has changed. When she started preschool, she was so painfully shy that she ate her lunch under the table because she could not stand for the other kids to look at her. (Of course, the kids tended to look at her more because she was eating her lunch UNDER THE TABLE, but that was lost on her.)

Now when I go and have lunch with her at school, she is busy chatting up the other kids and it gets lost in giggles with her little friends. She loves her friends! She's really never been a 'toy' kid. She's taken ballet/tap and now tumbling, and is not really over the moon for any of those either. She likes them, and is really having fun with tumbling, but that is not something that just does it for her. Really, all she cares about are her friendships. I love that about her.

I thought I'd share this with you because it cracked me up. Last night on the way to tumbling, it was just Kaiti and I in the car and it felt very quiet. So I asked if she would play the question game with me.....the one where you rattle off questions super fast and the other person has only a second to answer. So I went first with the questions and asked the usual things-- "What's your favorite animal?", "What song do you like the most?", "What's your favorite thing to eat?", "If you could go anyplace where would you go?", etc, etc.  When I was done, she wanted to be the questioner. It cracked me up. Here's how it went.....

Kaiti: Do you like dogs
Me: Yes
Kaiti: Is your hair brown?
Me: Umm, naturally, yes.

Kaiti: Does it bother you when Daddy whistles?

Me: Uhh. welll..

Kaiti: HURRY MOMMY, ANSWER!!

ME: Okay, not that much

Kaiti: Do you like ponytails

Me: Uh, sure. That's all I ev-

Kaiti: Do you like gas?

Me: What? (totally laughing) What kind of gas?

Kaiti: Just ANSWER the question Mommy!

Me: Okay, yes, I like gas just fine. 

Kaiti: Do you like Jack?

Me: Uh, MY SON??? Yeah, I like him. You make me lau---

Kaiti: How many times do you drive?

Me: Like today? Or ever? 

Kaiti: HOW MANY TIMES????

Me: Fine. Eight Thousand!

Kaiti: You like Diet Coke?

Me: Absolutely.

Kaiti: Do you want to play Simon Says?

Me: Right now?

Kaiti: MOMMMMMMYYYYY!

Me: Sure. Yes!

Kaiti: Where are we going?

Me: Tumbling!

Kaiti: Good job Mommy. You won. 

.......and that is my Kaiti in a nutshell! Now for the pictures of my sweet child from our family session with Angie!

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wordless wednesday