Why Am I So Lucky? 12/365

Being a parent is so hard. So very hard. But it is also the best thing ever. I catch myself looking at both of my girls every single day and thinking of how incredibly blessed I am to get to be their mom. Even when Annie has been up all night and Lucy has pushed every button of mine possible, I still know how lucky I am. Thank you for our girls, God. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart. Today's pictures really capture their spirit and I love that.

Lucy did great going back to school. She was like an old pro. Made me so proud. Annie is actually going to the doctor tomorrow, so I will give a weight update then. We had Mandy and her fam over for dinner tonight and Lucy was in pure heaven - her sweet Louis was back. She had CLEARLY missed the boy and followed him everywhere and was constantly fighting for his utmost attention. She is not like this with any other child but Louis. She just adores the sweet boy. She was kind of excited to see Anna, but nothing like she was for Louis. Makes me giggle every single time. If Louis even understood how special he is in her life.....

Annie's eyes in all of these are so beautiful. So, so sweet she is.


Quite possibly my favorite picture ever of her. She makes the funniest little grins, but they are hard to catch on film. I normally just catch the huge, open mouth smile. But this is a picture I look at and think, "Yeah, that's my girl all right." Look at her eyelashes.






Please mean teeth, give my girl a break.




Thinking about things.


Giving Dada and quick check up with her new doctor kit from Santa.




Check out her pager.

Home Sweet Home 11/365

It feels so good to be home. We have been gone from home for almost 3 weeks. I LOVE spending time with our families, but it always feels so good to get back home and back in our little routines. I am sure that Lee Lee and PaPa are ready to have some peace and quiet around their house. They say otherwise, but I feel certain that they just sit around for a few days after everyone is gone and bask in the silence. We drove at night last night, and I jumped in immediately after church today to get this place back to normal. Of course, all of our Christmas decorations were still up and that has been just driving me crazy knowing I had to come home to that fun little task. I absolutely hate putting the Christmas stuff up. I pretty much dismantle our house for Christmas, so it takes quite a while to get it back to normal. Justin and I actually knocked it out really quickly. All of Christmas is down and I dusted and vacuumed the entire downstairs. I am just starting to figure out where to put all of the new Christmas toys. That will have to be tackled tomorrow.

Lucy starts back to school tomorrow and I am interested to see how she reacts after such a long break. She missed the last 1.5 weeks before Christmas because she was so sick and then we didn't go last week since we were still in Little Rock. It has been a long time since she was there, but she has been talking about it and seems excited. We'll see. Annie has to get a weight check and follow up flu shot tomorrow and I can't wait to see how much more she has grown. Her thighs are getting some serious chunk on them. She is still struggling with sleep. Some nights are much better than others. One day she will get past this.

We got Annie's certificate of citizenship while we were gone. It is so cute. Of course, her name is spelled incorrectly, which drives me insane! I need to work on getting her a social security number because we need that tax refund!

Here are pics of the girls playing with their toys from home that seem like new because we have been gone for so long. It really will be like Christmas again when I get out all of the new stuff.

A triple scoop for momma!






Such a worried look.

Goodbye! 10/365

Last minute picture to say goodbye to our Lee Lee and Papa. We will miss you guys dearly, especially Miss Lucy Goose who is going to be so sad to not be the center of about 3 people's attention all of the time. Thanks for everything.

9/365

We have a very busy day today, so I had to get my work done early. Shawna, thanks for the sweet lamb. It is perfect for Annie and she loves it.

8/365

Annie and her teeth both listened to my letter yesterday. She got the very best night of sleep that she has ever gotten with us. She was only up 1 time for a quick bottle and right back down!!!!! Here's to hoping tonight goes so well too. It was truly heavenly.

Morning nap - this is the only way she will sleep - on her belly with the blankee over her. She has the green version of Lucy's babies. Thanks Aunt Holly!


My little rubberband.

7/365

I have really been into black and whites lately, which is not my normal style. I think it is because everything outside is so ugly right now and that kind of hides it.





Definitely lost mother of the year today after Annie rolled off of this rock as she jerked to find a barking dog. No worries, no injuries, but still sad that it happened.








PS - Dear Annie - If you decide to not wake up 10-12 times tonight, I will give you a really nice treat tomorrow. I am not sure what that treat is yet, but I promise, I will make it good. At this point, waking up just 5-6 times would be heavenly.

PPS - Dear Annie's Teeth - Please come in and then give my baby girl a break. I am not nearly as good of a mom as I would like to be when I am a zombie all of the time because of you. You teeth are starting to REALLY make me crazy and as we all know, it is not pretty when the momma is crazy.

Sincerely,
Annie's Exhausted Mother

6/365

Annie is breaking her 2 top teeth and they are hurting, but you would really never know - unless you sleep with her. :(



The monkey toes are always pointing at something. Funny, funny. I think she may be flipping me off.






And just as a bonus - this is the girl who used to absolutely freak out if I was not actually in the tub with her most nights.