Blame Me.

 So, recently (as in, in the last month) Miles taught himself to read.

 It started out pretty slowly with random words on signs and very short books. 

And then suddenly, he was full-on reading. He's four. He won't even start Pre-K here until the fall. His teachers are in for a surprise. He's knocking my freaking socks off. 

So, for your viewing (and listening) pleasure, I present:

Miles SingReads A Book to Libby

 

 Truly. I wish I could take credit for his genius, but I'm pretty sure I had nothing to do with it.

Also, keep your eyes peeled. I have a sweet tutorial coming soon!

Wordless Wednesday: It's Not Even Close to Halloween

3 Months

I'm existing in some alternate time warp over here, because I cannot believe it's been 3 months since my sweet Libby was born. She's still my tiny sweet newborn (and must stay that way forever!) and I am not ready to bid goodbye to her tiny self.

I don't think we really need a picture commentary here, right?

Admit it, you want to kiss on those lips, don'tchya? They're mine. Back off.

Yep, I'll be holding this little one close to my heart.

Clones

Recently, I sent my husband this picture message.

He replied with a common, "Libby is just so darned cute!" And he's right. She is.
One small problem however. This is not Libby.
This is Libby:

The top picture is actually this girl:

And in all honesty, if we got another child exactly like Anna, it wouldn't be a bad thing.

New Series: PFMP

Pictures From My Phone
Tragically, I don't always have my good cameras strapped to me. And I find myself grabbing for my camera phone more and more often. It's not great, but it'll work in a pinch.

So, I present the first in a series of installments of PFMP.

 I just can't help but stare at my baby's sweet Ruffly Little Bottom. Even if she is sporting some homemade Babylegs handed down from Lucas.

 I have recently decided to stop slacking off and actually start DOING my daughters' hair. Enough ragamuffin. I've loved looking at both of these sites for inspiration and how-to.

 Just loving on my baby. I really wish I could infuse a little bit of her sweetness and love into each of your lives. You'd thank me.

 Check it. I finished the other sock! It was so gratifying that I'm ordering some more sock yarn and casting on another pair!

I borrowed a friend's Mei Tai recently to see if I liked it. I loved it. I've been a sworn fan of the sling since I started using one for Miles. But with all the recent recall panic, it's made me nervous. And I don't actually like putting newborns in the cradle carry in the sling anyway. AND, it doesn't matter how big my baby is, after about 20 minutes in the sling, my shoulders and back start aching and the sling actually starts sliding off...
Enough lament. I tried the Mei Tai. I LOVED IT!!! I wore The Libs in it for over an hour and didn't have even an ounce of pain in my back afterwards. My only complaint is that my shirt was covered in baby drool, lol. Libby loved it too! She slept the entire time.
So, I decided to make one for myself. I read quite a few tutorials, but in the end, I decided to just copy the one I was borrowing. I bought some Home Dec weight fabric for the middle and the straps are duck cloth. I added a double layer of quilt batting to the main body and also the shoulders. If anyone wants a real tutorial, let me know and I'll see about taking some pictures, and drawing up some plans.
Let me add this... if I wear a button down shirt, I can even nurse in this thing!

This concludes our first installment of PFMP. Join us next time!

Progress

Ever since learning that Lucas is the skinniest child on the planet, it has made me extremely paranoid about making sure that Libby is growing well.

This just in: she's doing fine.

She's 2.5 months old and I'm starting to get a little teary at her babyness instead of the infantness that I'm used to. She's become extremely interested in the world around her. 

She loves to munch on her tiny fists, and particularly enjoys time in the bouncy seat so that she can be more upright and lookin' around.

She's just about the cutest thing ever. We adore her.

Tangential funny story: I was nursing her whilst lying down on the couch. The boys were watching TV and I was secretly napping. Suddenly, Libby unlatches and starts crying. My eyes pop open and I see Lucas backing away from us. I look down at Libby and her ear is all wet. Pretty sure he was sucking on her ear while I slept/nursed and got a little carried away. Poor girl.

I really do feel badly, though, that I didn't learn to knit earlier. Libby's the benefactor of 99% of my knitting love. Tho, I did make these for my sister's kid. The other day while driving in the car, Abbie passed me a note that said something like, "Dear Mom, I love you soooo much! When are you going to knit me something?" Guilt trip much?

Anyway, I totally made Libby some summer pants.

I seriously can't get enough of this girl... unless it's 3am.

Giving you More.

Hi Everyone-

I know that my blog is really rather scatterbrained when it comes to topic. So, in order to please you, if you could go ahead and click on over to the blog and answer my poll over there on the sidebar, that'd be great...

If you don't, you'll just have to continue to listen to my train of thought!

Wordless Wednesday: Outtake

His Love.

Last night, my husband was snuggling on our dear, sweet Libby when he suddenly looked up at me and said, "I'm sorry. But I'm gonna spoil the crap outta her. I can't help it."

He sure does love her.
We both do.

What I've Learned

I remember a conversation with my father about how each of your children are different and have to be raised differently (he would know, he has 9 of them). What punishment or reward works for one child, will not work for another, etc.

It's pretty much the only parenting advice he's ever given me. And it's advice I've been forever grateful for.

Each of my children has taught me something different. Something invaluable.

Abbie has taught me about Justice. I was a horrific child. My mother is nodding her head right now. I was headstrong and willful. That's my Abbie. I can't even tell you how many times my mother said, "I hope you have a daughter just like you!"  And so I have Abbie. My mom gets her revenge. Abbie's an amazing girl with fantastic talents, but there are times I am sure I am going to have to sell her.

 Having Anna has taught me about Mercy. While I have one child just like me, I also have one child that is sweet as pie. Sure, she's also emotional and sensitive, but she makes up for it with her desire to love you, to be your friend and to serve you. If you've met Anna, you know what I mean.

Miles. I'm certain that Heavenly Father gave me Miles to teach me about unconditional love. The day he was born, I felt my heart explode. I really didn't know that such love was possible. He really is a Mama's Boy and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Lucas has taught me that our Heavenly Father has a sense of humor. This kid is pure comedy. He has the ability to make everyone laugh. And he knows it. The other day, in his extreme excitement over whoknowswhat, he spit in my face. It was the first time he had ever done that so I knew he didn't know it was wrong. He thought he was being funny, and it took everything I could muster not to start laughing. Now, that's talent.

This little girl. Miss Libby. She has taught me about how very much the Lord wants to bless me. Her arrival has brought our entire family to a place I didn't know we could be. Happy. Content. Full. Complete. And perfect.

So, this Mother's Day, I present to you the sixth thing I've learned about God from having children.

He loves me. More than I could have ever thought possible. He has blessed me with these 5 wonderful, amazing and spirited little people. They enrich my life in ways I could never have imagined. I am blessed.

Toofless.

At the moment, Anna has 3 loose teeth.

She did have 4. But last week, one was just too wiggly for me to stand any longer, and I pulled it out.

She carefully placed that tooth under her pillow after the repeated promptings of both her mother and father. And yet, somehow, the tooth fairy missed her that night. *EyeRoll*
Instead of just leaving the tooth under her pillow, Anna decided to play with it. That afternoon, she called to me from the bathroom.
"Mom? I was washing my hands, with my tooth in my hand, and I dropped it down the drain. Can you come get it?"

Thinking Errors 101
- Leave your tooth under your pillow.
- If you need to wash your hands while holding your tooth, put the tooth DOWN, then wash your hands.
- Under no circumstances, am I going to fetch your old tooth out of the drain.

I told her to go ahead and write the Tooth Fairy a letter and explain the situation. She brought me this:

Shall I interpret?
"Dear Tooth Fairy, When I was washing my hands I accidentally dropped my tooth down the drain. Please can I still get money?"

Best letter to the Tooth Fairy, ever. She placed it under her pillow and sure enough, the Tooth Fairy left her some "muny."

Good thing too, you wouldn't want to make this girl cry.

As Requested

This past Sunday, we took the opportunity to have Matt bless Libby at Church. Every other time we have blessed one of our children, my father has been present. Unfortunately, he was unable to be there this time, but that's okay. We had our Ward Family present and Matt was surrounded by a good group of his friends.  I think it was the first time I realized that we aren't a "Young Family" anymore. We have arrived. We are middle aged. Ick.

But this post wasn't supposed to be about that.

A billion years ago (or 8) when we blessed Abbie, my mother made her a very beautiful dress. Anna also wore that dress when she was blessed. But it's been six years since Anna was born and my style has changed drastically.  And my mother's skills have improved dramatically. So, when we found out we were having another girl, my mother offered to make a new blessing dress. I emphatically accepted.

Last week, this dress arrived.

Smocking! What seems like hundreds of French Knots.

Pintucking! Bullion Roses. All lovingly Hand Embroidered by my mother... who has terrible arthritis.

This is the hem. Inlaid lace, more hand embroidery, more rows of pintucks.  This dress is insane.
And I love it. And I love her. Thank you, Mom.
(Better pictures of Libby IN the dress, still to come.)

Some Numbers.

5.6.2000

+ 10 years

+ 8 moves

+ 5 babies

+ an undisclosed number of extra pounds

+ countless sleepless nights

+ the love and blessings of our Heavenly Father 

= 5.6.2010

Happy Anniversary to my Sexy Asian Guy!

If you give...

a mom some knitting needles, she'll need the perfect shade of yarn.
And when she has her yarn, of course, she'll search for the perfect pattern.
And once she's found it, she'll make her sweet baby a gorgeous little shrug.

And then she'll realize that her little girl needs a dress to wear with the shrug.

And being that she's a resourceful type, it'll be a dress she has to make herself.

And of course, the mom will need some material for the dress for which there is no pattern.

 And then the mom will remember the beautiful king sized vintage sheet she picked up at the thrift store, which will match the shrug she knit.

And when the dress is done, the little girl will need a matching pair of bloomers...
Oh wait. We haven't gotten that far.

Contagion

Infection. No, we're not talking about my cold (which, by the way, I'm feeling worse, and not better, thankyouverymuch!)

Instead, we're talking about baby smiles.

Don't they just kill you? I know that for me, I start giggling and can't stop. It actually makes my stomach muscles ache.

Don't even get me started on baby laughter.

Just about the only thing that even compares, would be one of these:

Admit it. You yawned, didn't you?

My Apologies

For being MIA. I've been sick. The flood of snot and subsequent headaches have kept me fairly well sidelined.
I promise to have something pretty for you to look at tomorrow.

Come back then!