Stickers

How do you magically transform an angry, screaming, rage-filled toddler monster into this delightful creature?

Stickers! Give it a couple of stickers and VOILA! instant peace and happiness.

"Whoa." That's a direct quote.



 He likes them so much, he even let me make breakfast in with a minimum of shrieking. Magic.



I'm baaaack!

For now anyway.

I've been stockpiling pictures and ideas for a loooong time. I'm going to work in reverse chronological order and hopefully, someday, I'll catch up.

So. Here goes.

It's springtime in my little Creole town. It's in the high 80s, the field is in bloom, and kittens are pending. I like kittens.  We're spending lots of time outside (I'm sitting at my plastic table under my umbrella right now), and enjoying the sunshine, the cool breeze, picnic lunches, frequent trips to the park, the occasional sprinkler and the more occasional hike.

Here are some pics from a recent backyard picnic.

This is Savannah. We are crazy in love with her. She deserves her own post. And she'll get it. But for now, here's a taste of her adorability. Notice the spots. I love the spots.

How pretty is this baby. He just gets prettier and prettier.

Almost unbearable, isn't it. Kind of hurts your eyes to look at all that prettiness all at once. It's a good thing I don't dress him better or take better care of his hair. Then his beauty would be downright dangerous.

Can you believe this kid is 5 years old? 5 years and 5 days. Sigh. Where does it go?

There are almost no pictures of this kid, because he no longer has any interest is me or the camera. He's far too busy with...whatever it is boys are busy with. After chasing him around the playground for half an hour, he finally gave me this 4 second pose. He's a good sport. 

 And this is me. Doing my best to fight the middle aged mom frump.



The reason I've been away

This guy.

Isn't he cute?

I've been calling him (or her, we don't know and aren't finding out) Lotus Flower.

He is making his mommy very sick, but with the help of lots of strong medicine, we are both getting by.

I'm playing the odds and calling him a him. I don't know if he's a he or a she, and contrary to popular belief, I really don't care.

We like the idea of 4 boys. Keeps the status quo, and no one gets left out.

But a girl would be nice, too.

It's not a line, we really do just want a healthy baby. I'm having some trouble with my own health. My pregnancies are not easy. This baby will be a blessing, and we will not be disappointed either way.

We feel extraordinarily fortunate to have a houseful of happy, healthy, beautiful children. We never truly believed we would be this fortunate. We are working and praying hard each day to ensure one more healthy baby enters our family when it is time.

We are all very excited to meet him. Or her.

The thing about buying a fixer

Here's the thing I didn't think of when we bought this house. It seems obvious now, but at the time, it just never crossed my mind.

We looked at the house, all of it's flaws. We said, "Yes, we can fix this. Yes, we can live with that. It will take a while, but we can do it."

What I didn't think of is that while we work, ever so slowly, on one project after another...the house continues to deteriorate. The list gets longer and longer and longer.

I took out the yucky shower doors and hung a curtain. Yay. Huge improvement. Now the wooden molding at the base of the tub is rotten.

Ew. It's actually not as disgusting as I feared. I've been putting this off for a while. Like...a year. I finally worked up the courage to yank that stuff off of there. It was on there GOOD. Somebody likes their silicone caulk. At least I think it was caulk. It was like caulk, but gooier. Much gooier.

I'll scrub it up tonight and replace it with this.

                                   

We took down the old broken trellis. Uh-oh. The bottom 2-3 feet of the shed is rotten. Gonna have to replace that.

But isn't my little pond cute? I planted lettuce, cabbage and herbs, but they didn't come up. I may very well be the world's worst gardener. I keep trying. I'll pick up some new seeds and try again. Perseverence. That's what I'm all about.

A hurricane rolled though. The roof leaked. The laundry room wall crumbled. It's fixed and repainted now. That was 2 weekends, right there.

My husband, D, replaced the old ceiling tile. How nice. The roof leaked again (guess that patch didn't hold) and the new ceiling tile fell in. Now we're (and by we, I mean D, because I'm too short, even with the ladder and, well, it's icky up there) taking out the ceiling tile and refinishing the wood ceiling.

The roof has now been patched properly.

Isn't that wall paper hideous? That was on the original list. You can see, most of it is down now. That last chunk is lingering still.

Don't get me started on the flat-black-painted-tile on the lower walls. Clearly, this kitchen was not intended for actual food preparation.

D put an AC unit in the spare room. Now the wall beneath it is started to mildew. Sigh. That room needed new paint anyway.

I so underestimated this whole house-fixing-up adventure. I have never dreamed of fixing up a house.

I love old houses. I love the character. Every door in our house is a different size. They have working skeleton key locks. The light fixtures are brass with etched glass. I love that.

But I never wanted to be the one to do the work. I wanted to buy a newly renovated old house.

I have hobbies. I like to paint and make curtains. But ripping out rotting wood? Not a part of my plan. No. Not really.

But you know what I learned about houses? They aren't cheap. Unless you do the work yourself. And so, here we are.

The whole business makes me tired.

My eldest

Don't be fooled. He is not a child. He is a small, uncoordinated man. With very nice skin. He's 7-going-on-35. He is the kindest, sweetest, most impatient guy I've ever known. He is the original Strawberry Baby. He taught me how to be a mom.

I don't have many pictures of him. He pefers to be behind the camera, not in front of it. i'll have a post of his photography soon.

My other baby

This guy. He is awesome. He keeps me laughing. Such a little character. My own little super hero. He's the star of his own Saturday morning cartoon. And everyday is Saturday.

Here's his first big haircut.

Random awesomeness.

The pictures hint at the awesome factor, but to truly appreciate the volume of awesome, you really have to hear him talk. I'll be posting videos as soon as I figure out how ; )

My baby

Disclaimer: I am NOT a photographer. Maybe someday, but not today. I'm just a mom with a little point and shoot camera who likes to take pictures.

My baby. He's so cute. Not just in a regular mom-who-loves-her-baby way. He's really overwhelmingly adorable. I'll let you see for yourself.

 See what I mean? Too adorable, right? Those big blue eyes. That sweet rosebud mouth. Those pinchable cheeks. Those angelic blond curls. And the personality, so big in such a teensy little package.

I love this baby.