Moments with Maelee

My sweet baby is growing up SO FAST. Everyday she talks a little clearer, looks a little taller, acts a little bigger and melts our hearts all over again. She is VERY much a 2-year old {throwing tantrums, pretending to get hurt in an attempt to get extra attention, being a turkey to her sister, realizing she is an independent person and actually has a CHOICE whether she wants to obey or not... ya know, all the joyful things that come with the terrible-two's!!}, and at the same time is such a sweetheart that it makes all the stinker-pot moments worth it.

I wanted to remember her RIGHT NOW, so we got Madi off to school last week and then headed outside to snap some pics of my baby girl.  For some reason she decided that her fingers tasted REALLY yummy and wouldn't remove them from her mouth.  *sigh*  I decided that the whole chair thing wasn't working, so I ran and grabbed her "Binky" {this cute purple blanket Grandma Jonnet gave her for Christmas last year and that Maelee has lovingly nibbled holes in... what is it with kids destroying their lovies?} and a book that ALWAYS makes me cry, "Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born" by Jamie Lee Curtis.  Such a SWEET story about adoption.  LOVE IT.  She perked right up and things got a little easier and definitely more adorable.  :O) 

She got pretty sick about a month ago, and since has been on one. Pushing the boundaries is saying it pretty lightly!! :O) So, I'm trying to be the good mom that my kids deserve and instead of giving attention to the fits, I've been paying extra attention to her when she's being good... I know, pretty basic parenting advice you hear everywhere but sometimes it takes a little more effort to do it than you think!! ANYway, after a good tickle and some "spin FAST, Mom!"'s, we crashed on the couch to catch our breath. I asked her, "Maelee, will you sing for me?" "Uuuuuummmmmmmm, No." "Oh! Ok, will you tell me a story?" "Uuuuuuummmmmmmm... Yesh!! One uh-on a pime... CAT!" "A cat? What did the cat do?" "Umm, walking!" "Cool! Then what happened?" "Um, a fam-ee." "A family? Did a cat belong to a family?" "Yeah! They hode it yike DIS!!" She holds her arms across her chest and starts swinging back and forth saying "oh, kitty!" and kissing her hand. "What happened next, Maelee?" "Ummmmmmm, crying." "Oh no! The cat is crying?" "Yeah." "Why?" "It's sad." "Why is it so sad?" "Dey do DIS!!", she puts her hands on her cheeks and pushes them forward, making the classic "Chubby Face" face. I'm trying not to giggle cuz she's SO sad that the cat is sad, "The cat is sad cuz they did this?" and I mimic her. "Yeah." "How did the cat get happy again?" "The fam-ee hode it." "Yeah? And that made the cat feel better?" "Yeah, dey hode it yike DIS!" and once again she squishes up her cheeks, this time with a happy face cuz the cat evidently is happy this time that it's face got all chunky looking. :O)

I have this lullaby that I have sung to her since she was a baby {the one from "My Turn On Earth"}. She used to scream and get TICKED when I'd start singing it cuz she knew that I wouldn't stop until she relaxed and went to sleep {and, since I'm the mom and make the rules, I always won!}, :O) but lately she actually asks for me to "shing" for her when I put her down. The other day I was "shinging" before her nap and she reached up to stroke my cheeks, poke my eyes, explore my nose, examine my braces... basically try to make me take as long as I can to sing her lullaby. I grabbed her little hands, kissed them and held them down while I continued, feeling victorious. She looked me in the eyes, got this impish look on her face and started "shinging" with me! Not only did she know most of the words, she knew the tune and had herself a jolly good time belting out this song about angels and sleeping. At the chorus, which goes "So sleep, sleep 'till the darkness ends. Guarded by your Angel Friends." she starts singing "Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep! Sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep! Garkness ends! Guard you Angoo Fends!" I kept a straight face and so she continued her beautiful aria on into the next verse and I finally busted up and we giggled our way through the rest of the song. At the end, she hugged me so tight and then said, "Wait! One second, k?", pulled my head back and cupped my face in her hands. She looked me straight in the eye and whispered, "I love you too, Mom!"

I love you too, my precious baby girl.

Walking Zombie

I know it may sound graphic, but you know those Nazi Zombies on that Call of Duty game?  Yeeeeeah.  I know how they feel {except for the whole hatred toward humanity bit.  I may have the episode of road rage now and then but I don't think that qualifies!!}!

It's the busy season for photography and man ALIVE have I been busy!  I have been glued to my computer for an average of 2-3 hours a day.  And luckily Clint doesn't mind when I have to be on the comp at night, he's recently rekindled his love for HALO on XBOX Live with his friends {that was a genius invention I have to say!  I'm really lucky in that Clint plays in moderation and stops even live games to help with the girls if they wake up.  And it's nice because he gets that guy time while still being home.  I get to work without feeling like I'm ditching him and he gets to play without feeling like he's ditching me... works for us!  Don't worry, we're not loner-do-our-own-things kinda married folks all the time!  We still snuggle up and watch movies or our fave TV shows a few times a week... just less frequently during my busy season!  Ha ha}.  It's my own fault for being so overwhelmed with clients - I'm still learning to say "no".  It's just super hard when I have that moment of "but I could use the money for this and this!"  Really makes that "no" word foreign to my vocab.  LOL

I'm shooting a wedding this weekend which I'm kinda stressing over, and so I wanted all my previous shoots edited and CD's delivered beforehand so they wouldn't be hanging over my head.  Well, when you're a total doofus like I am and schedule FOUR SHOOTS in ONE WEEK and only allow 3 days to edit... let's just say that I got on my computer yesterday morning at 8 and wasn't finished until 10:30 last night.  Combine that with being up until 11ish for the previous week and a half working on OTHER shoots...

Enter the walking zombie.

Can I just say that I'm ready for my winter break?  LOL

On a MUCH happier note, Rebecca and her mom came to visit us this last Tuesday and it was a really great day!  They got here right around noon and we grilled some Mango Chicken with Mango and Black Bean Salsa {minus the black beans... I forgot to put them in LOL}, YUM!!  We chilled for a bit and then took them on a tour of our neck of the woods.  Our first stop was the local hamburger and ice cream shop for some much needed dessert {gotta say that having braces really slows down eating the cone}, then around the valley.  Madi had a science thing at the library and Maelee fell asleep so the last hour or so of our visit was relaxed grown-up talk.  I spent all last week painting baby brother's room and had ordered a crib bedding set which thankfully showed up about 30 minutes before they left.  I was SO excited to get to share that with Rebecca.  She helped me pull it all out of the box, set it all up on his crib and hang the curtains.  That was so special for me to get to have her here, by my side putting those boyish touches on our little boy's room.  I took a break from the computer and hung the fun wall hangings this morning that came with it and cleared off the top of his dresser {currently my craft dresser} and the top drawer.  I'm going to wait until next month before I bring in the clothes I have in the shed {no reason to wash them twice before he comes!} then after the showers we'll be having next month I'll know what I still need to be totally ready for his much anticipated arrival!  SO EXCITING!!

The girls are still SO giddy over their "baby brudder" and talk about him ALL the time.  Madi for a while there wanted to name him "James" because she had a crush on a kid named that in her class.  :O)  I nixed that one cuz I knew the poor kid would NEVER live it down if he were named after Madi's temporary Kindergarten crush.  LOL  {She actually has a new "boyfriend" now... his name is Harley and evidently they hold hands while they read books in class during free time.  She came home all grins the other day and told me that on the seesaw she and Harley had decided that they were going to get married when they grow up.  "In the Temple, right Madi?"  "Well of COURSE Mom!"  "So you think he's your prince, huh?"  "No Mom.  I'm not a princess, I'm Madison!  Just Madison!"  Oh, sorry!  My bad!  Kinda surprised she hasn't declared that we name her baby brother "Harley" yet!  Ha ha LOVE IT!}.  No, we don't have a name yet.  Clint hasn't heard one he's crazy about yet.  :O(  Oh well, cest la vie!!  I told him that if he doesn't start liking the names I suggest then I will follow the Little Red Hen's example and "do it myself!"  LOL

Well, life is pretty great - exhausting - but great!