Feeling The Love

REPOST FROM 2010:

I'm a fan of Valentines Day.

I didn't used to be back in middle school when I was a homely, overweight kid with messed up teeth.

Seriously.

If I wasn't so embarassed of myself, I'd show you pictures. But I'm pretty sure I threw all the evidence of my "awkward years" away.

But braces were good to me and I ended up losing my baby fat. Then when I married my Main Squeeze, I was able to really enjoy the day for Lovebirds.

And now that I have a Mini Valentine, I want to pass all my love on to her!

I saw this activity over at The Idea Room and thought it would be a fun art project to do with Josie.

We talked about the colors and then we painted her little hands.

Then we smooshed them down to make a heart shape.

This wasn't nearly as messy as I convinced myself it was going to be!

And they turned out SO cute!

Josie has quite a few special people that she wants to claim as her Valentines so we made a whole batch of them!

Week In Reveiw

First things first, as you can see I finally got myself a fancy blog!

It was my present to myself for Gabe's birthday.

I'm a firm believer that parents are the ones who deserve gifts on kids birthdays. 

Aren't we the ones who got them through the year?!?!

Comments are now up under the title of the post.  So don't let that throw you for a loop (Mom!).

This past week wasn't much more exciting then the week before, but it was less tramatic.

It seems like our World is somewhat back to normal and all the accusations have been put to rest.

And I didn't eat entire bags of snacks so something must have gone right!

We started our week with lots of ice and some seriously chilly wind.

Well, serious for Georgia.

And ended the week not needing jackets.

Go figure.

Ahh, chilly peppers hold so still.  No blur in sight.  Thank you lone chilly pepper.

Gabriel turned one on Friday! 

I stuck to my guns and didn't let them switch the visit so we had a fun family day.

Josie had Day 1 of her Lemon Loves Lime photo shoot.

The girl is a natural and I love that she is loving this! 

This was for the Fall line so we have to wait a looonnggg time to get to show the pictures, but Jennie Helmuth is a genius and I am in love with the shots she got.  

How cute are my babies in their footie jammies with their sippie cups and blankies??!?!

They are at such a fun age. 

If only Gabe could control his screeches and Josie could refrain from squeezing Gabe they would be BFF.

Oh, who am I kidding?

They are BFF.  

Josie loves his squeal and Gabe loves being squished!

In other big news, Josie got her last Christmas gift this week!

She's been cooking on a tiny kitchen that we got for her 1st Christmas so this is quite the upgrade!

Now that Gabey's birthday is over, I'm moving on to the next soiree.

Josie wants a Fancy Nancy Tea Party and by golly that's what she's going to get.

I'm pretty excited for this party.  She's only having a few little girls from church over so I'm getting to go all out!

Amber and I have been discussing kids birthday parties at length lately.

Is it just us, or are birthday parties rivaling weddings these days?  Amber hit the nail on the head when she said it's the new way to keep up with the Joness.

Which was evident by the stress and guilt I felt when all I gave Gabe was a few cupcakes.  Not a decoration in sight.

Oh well.  He had fun and I actually got to enjoy the party so I'm satisfied!

This is how Josie eats apples. 

She doesn't want them cut up anymore.

Sniffle.

I've taken a liking to fruit and veggies.  They hold still and don't blur.

But pretty soon I'll be able to take pictures this clear of actual humans.

Amber and I are taking a photography class next week AND I ordered a new lens that should help with my low light house.

I guess that will be my gift to myself for getting Josie through the last year.

I finally got around to picking up my 2010 prints.

You know, just a few of my favorites from each month!

I love having actual prints.

I also love a good comparison picture:

Left side is Josie the very first morning she was home.

The right is EXACTLY  3 years later at her Gottcha Day Party this past October.

Same sassy lips.  Same chubby cheeks.

The left one is Andrew's all time favorite of her. 

He says she saying, "yea, I guess this will do!"

And lastly our Big Girl cashed in her allowance for the first time and got to go shopping with her Daddy.

She had saved $5.

Before she left she told me she was going to get a Barbie, a ball, dress up clothes, and an alarm clock for her room.

She came back with a ball and some M&Ms. 

Turns out she didn't like the idea of handing over all of her money! 

WIWW

Let's go ahead and call this, "The Week Of The Cardigan."

I seriously did not notice I wore one pretty much everyday until I uploaded the pictures. 

Poor Andrew.  No wonder he dislikes them so much.  Maybe if I didn't wear them EVERY DAY he wouldn't be so opposed to them!

In my own defense, I love my Summer tops but obviously can't wear them in January. 

Cardis to the rescue!!

Wednesday - Church

Red Cardi - Ann Taylor Loft

Purple Tank - Target

Jeans - Gap

I put this together out of the dryer.  One of my favorite ways to make an outfit!  I felt a little "Red Hat Society" but not enough to go change!

Thursday - Josie's Lemon Loves Lime Shoot

Plaid Shirt - Walmart

Tan Cardi - Target

White Tank - Target

Jeans - Banana Republic

Friday - Chill Day @ Home

Purple Sweatshirt (not a cardi!) - Target

Jeans - Target

We were supposed to have another day of shooting today but the photographer had a family emergency so we got to spend the day at home.  Which was nice since it was Gabe's birthday!

I made a special trip back to Target to get this shirt after I left without it the other day.  I was convinced I needed it.  I don't like it and will now be making a 3rd trip to Target to bring it back.

Saturday - Gabriel's 1st Birthday Party!!!

Navy Cardi - Ann Taylor Loft

Green Tank - Gap

Jeans - Gap

Gotta match the Birthday Boy.  I'm strange like that.

Sunday - Church & Waffle House

Black Cardi - Target

Grey Ruffle Tank - Target

Jeans - Ann Taylor Loft

Is it weird that I felt like the ruffles looked like chest hair poking out the top of my cardi?!!?

Monday - Errands & Darlene's

Printed Cardi - Gap

Red Tank - Target

Jeans - Ann Taylor Loft

Gabe's Birthday Bash

Saturday we threw the lowest key birthday these parts have seen in quite awhile.

Cupcakes, Ice Cream, Out For Pizza.

The end.

Throw in a cute baby for good measure and you have Gabriel's 1st Birthday Party!

I let Josie take total control of sprinkle distribution.

Our kids are so lucky to have so many people love them.  Pastor Alec has been Big Fat Baby's number one fan since the day we brought him home.

Gabe's pretty fond of him too!

Josie was the Designated Candle Blower Outter.

She's been talking about it for weeks.  She told me every night that blowing out candles was a good job for a Big Sister.

And wouldn't you know it?  Big Fat Baby pulled a Fat Mat and refused to tear into his cupcake!

I love this picture of Nana and Gabe.

Because I have a matching one of her and Josie!

Yea, Josie's cake was bigger.

But it was a sugar free apple sauce cake since she wasn't allowed in ingest sugar before she was 2. 

Second children have it way better!

We were only at the house for about 45 minutes.  Then we loaded up and headed to Slices for some loud and crazy pizza eating fun!

I love this place. 

Not only is the food great, but the music is so loud that nobody minds the loud gaggle of children!

Sneaky Boys

Sometimes being a Mom is tough.

I'm not talking about the long hours, the loads of laundry, or the insane responsibility of not forgetting any of your children when you go out.

I'm talking about the moments when your baby isn't treated kindly.

When they get glimpses that not everyone will always be nice to them.

This past weekend we had a little shindig for Gabe.

Josie was so excited for all the guests to show up.

When the first family showed up, their 6 year old started to  play with Josie.

Then another older boy came.

They tried to all play together, but the older boys decided Josie's toys were too "annoying" so they headed outside.

I watched Josie follow them around for over an hour.

They were running away from her and hiding from her.  They went in, she came in, they ran back out.

She didn't seem to realize they were trying to get away from her.

It took everything I had to not tell her to just play with the babies.

It hurt my heart to watch her be on the outside.  Shunned and teased without even knowing it.

Her innocence was almost crushing me.

That night, we were talking about all the fun we had that day and she looked up and said, "Those sneaky boys sure were sneaky!  Running all over and I just couldn't catch them."

She told me they told her she was a bad girl but she knew she wasn't.

All I could say was that she was right, she wasn't a bad girl and that if kids aren't playing nice she might want to just not play with them.

All day today she's been talking about Those Sneaky Boys.

In her mind, it was all a game.  The way she sees it, they were playing with her.

Just a Sneaky game.

But I know a day is coming where she will put two and two together and figure out that she is not welcome in every group.

And that is going to be awful.

I want her to always be included.  I want her to feel free to be herself, as goofy and crazy as that might be.

I don't want her feelings to be hurt.

I went to bed last night thanking God that she didn't realize that the boys were actually being mean to her.

Being a Mom is tough.