laying it on thick

i'm making lunch this afternoon and elias is shouts from the toy room:
"mom, it's so great of you that you're making such a nice lunch! thanks, mom!" (note: i'm making annie's mac n cheese and nuggets. not exactly gourmet, but...)

and then he adds:
"you look beautiful today, mom. absolutely beautiful!"

enter: a running piper, pointing up at me, yelling (because piper, aptly named, mostly yells...everything):
"you a beu-eee, mum! a beu-ee!" (yes. she's calling me...a beauty.)

as we sit down for lunch, my kids actually won't stop telling me that i'm a beauty, and that i look beautiful today. must be the sweatpants and no makeup? i found myself trying to change the topic because the flattery from my nearly 4 and sorta almost 2 year old was, uhhh, overwhelming. and sweet and adorable, of course.

now, you may be wondering where my children got these complimetary notions.
do i vainly teach them to shower me with praise?
have they been watching leave it to beaver?
do i brainwash them as some part of the dharma initiative?

funny thing is? it wasn't me. not at all. i have my husband to thank for teaching our kids to always say thank you to whoever prepared the meal (Lord knows it's not always me; dave cooks a lot), and to tell me that i'm beautiful, which they learned from his example and from him encouraging them to tell me "how pretty" i look every day.

kinda nice for a pregnant lady in sweatpants to have her own personal confidence-boosting team. who cares if they don't really understand it?!
so husbands- teach your children to love and respect mom, but don't forget to teach them to shower her with praise and gratitude, too. it should be like mother's day EVERY day. moms need it wherever they can get it. and teach them lay it on THICK. like it's supposed to be.

that's what I'M talking about.

whoa, baby.

just a little peek at the belly.

please ignore the heinous wallpaper in my bathroom.
(i literally can't even talk about it. it's hunter green and maroon. which makes me want to barf even more than this pregnancy. and that's saying something...)

also note the child throwing a royal fit over not being able to hold the camera exactly when she wanted to.

isn't that face awesome?!

(so are you as alarmed as i am that my belly is this big when i'm 8 weeks pregnant?! or is it just me?)

whoa, baby.

photo booth

me and the kids went to the mall the other day (and every time i get home, i think to myself, "why? why did i ever do that?") to do a couple returns. elias is a big fan of camp bucky, and i am a big fan of shopping alone. we can't, of course, ALL get what we want, now can we? so i told elias we could pack a lunch and play on the slide at camp bucky if he cooperated while mom went to 2 stores. easier said than done since some random nonsense kept me in old navy for an eternity. i feel like the only time i get held up in a store is when i'm trying to just get in and get out. ahhh, the irony. he and piper were SO well behaved (this is not always the case. my kids mostly hate any shopping experience that lasts over 1 hour.) and because they were über-patient in the store (unlike me), i treated them to a photo shoot in a photo booth (after they had run around like wild animals for 10 minutes), which blew their minds. they though it was so fascinating and hilarious, which made for a positive ending to what could have been a debacle of a day.

and now i have the perfect photo to keep in my mom purse to show if for some reason i'm out and about without them (gasp).

hey, it could happen.

right?

what are these big things?

i am brimming with things to write. overflowing. and yet i still am struggling to find time to blog amidst the 12 hours missing from my week, a room above our garage being converted into a studio for our friends matt and beth, a moms group, a couples group, a new unnamed small group, house projects, a home to clean, two children and a husband to love and care for, annnnndd whatever else it is that us mother-type people do (what DON'T we do, really?).

i know some of you are on facebook see my little updates and quick snippets, and i'm glad to have a quick way to connect. but ultimately, i miss my blog, my little place for ramblings, insights, ideas, and anecdotes, amongst other things.

so here i am, for a quick moment to share a funny story. you may have guessed already who the author of the funny is, so if you guessed elias, well...you're right :) i just can't even get over him these days. he is a constant source of joy and laughter in our home, and the wonderment of a 3 and a half year old is just too much.

like today, for example.

he walks up to me in the kitchen, stands right in front of me, looks up, grabs my chest, and asks "what are these big things mommy?"

immediately, i cannot hold my smile, for so many, many reasons. i mean, c'monn- he called them big.

so i look down into his adorable little smiling face and say, "well, God gave girls breasts to feed little babies" to which he replies nonchalantly, "oh, right, so you can shoot milk out of 'em." (now i'm REALLY trying hard not to laugh. did he say "shoot"?!), and i answer "yes, milk comes out of them when the baby is little."

and i show him his chest, and explain about boys and how they can't feed a baby like a mommy, etc. but i was just DYING. the curiosity and innocence of little kids is just too precious.

i have to tell ya, i just love that boy*

*even if he wants to be referred to as spiderman and threatens to punch bad guys in the neck [i tell ya, explaining good and evil to a 3 year old is quite complicated...]!

:)

lovin and a huggin and a walkin

as much as i find myself speaking to elias for not being careful or gentle enough, and pippa for being in eli's personal space and for whining, these two really do love each other to bits. this is a video of elias and piper lovin-and-a-huggin. there's nothing that brings more joy to a mama than seeing her children love on each other. kinda makes you want to melt a little...

although she's taken a step here and there since june, piper started putting 3, 4, and 5 steps together last week. here she is this morning doing her thang. she's gotten very confident with standing, and now i can see in her feisty little eyes that she's dying to run and keep up with elias (which i'm not sure is a possibility, but one can aspire). her little walk is too adorable. between that and her new top teeth, she's suddenly a really big girl to me.

and i LOVE it, but i always miss my little babies...

i know you seen me on the video (true)

since i can't get blogger to upload videos for some reason (blast you, blogger!), i'm uploading them onto facebook. if any of you readers of mine are on facebook and haven't found me yet, friend me so you can watch. these videos are hilarious and adorable, and include:

• elias playing the piano singing "glory God" and "red sox song" (for you, auntie kris). watch his star-quality as he tells me to clap and not to come "too close." just plain hilarious.


• the release of ribbons the mouse and her four babies "into the wild"...some funny commentary on this one.


• piper dancing to "boom boom pow" in the living room. shaking her booty booty. SO adorable.

hope you all have a fabulous weekend!
if you're local, check out the rummage sale going on at our church today from 8 to 2!

updates, edition 1: cutie patooties

edition 1: cutie patooties

let's begin the updates with my favorites- bird (pip) and fish (elias). they're both doing great, both as lively as they ever were, and keeping me on my toes like a stinking ballerina. these are the latest with what they're up to and into:

elias has been cleared by his GI specialist to potty train, and he has already pooped on the potty a few times and even pees on the potty all on his own...well, when he thinks of it. elias was pretty much born independent, and he'll waltz in and be like "mum, i peed on the potty" just like "oh, by the way...". he cracks me up. but i think i'm mostly the one holding him back with this whole ordeal. i'm not very good at even remembering to remind him, so his pull-ups would be much drier if i would pay attention. we're making progress, but slowly. he already got his "goggles and morkel for cooba gyving" for his first poop in the potty. because seriously, this was the kid who cried and got sick and had a belly like a rock constantly, so we've made a lot of progress. i'm beyond proud of him and i am trying to make sure i tread lightly with potty training so we don't end up where we started a year ago.

besides potty training, he's just a hilarious little human, and i just like having him around. A LOT. we just talk and play and i really really ENJOY him. the things that come out of his precious mouth kill me. like the other day in the grocery store when he slapped my butt. i turned around, a bit shocked (as the stock boy stared) and said "what, are you hitting me?!" and he says "no mum, daddy do's that to you all the time." !!!! i almost died. indeed, he does elias. but we're married. so classic elias. he's a hoot. and a love.

piper. let's see, where to begin. well, she's shaping up to be a reallll feisty one, and that's the understatement of the century. i don't know if i should be afraid of her but i think maybe i ought to be. this girl doesn't hesitate to let her opinion be known. little fits of terror, anger and wrath that quickly turn to happy and playful. scaaa-rryyy. i think naming her glory after her grandma gloria was more fitting than i ever could have imagined...because she is one saucy italiana.

right now crawls faster than i can walk, and stands at everything she can, cruising about to get where she needs to go. she falls all the time on her face because she crawls too fast, and i catch her climbing the stairs much too frequently. she can get up them if i am there to spot, so we're onto gates gates and more gates to prevent nutty p from any more falls. she's bled far more than elias has in 3 years, which makes me think maybe she got the bartlett clumsiness. sorry, piper. at least you got my eyes ;) but she really is a snuggly little bug, despite all her fierce and demanding self, so it's hard to stay frustrated with her. she's too smiley and silly. which reminds me, her favorite new things include sticking her tongue out and putting her hand over her mouth like an american indian. that and dancing. she always moves to the beat. she's wild. i think that's the best word for her. she's wild and crazy.

with that, here are some pics of my love doves. enjoy!

mama and piper sunbathing...or maybe shadebathing?

miss p and her ruffle bum. BIG fan.

girl time!

it's still up in the air whether this bird will also be a fish.

you all remember my search for a new baby doll. well, meet option #3, better known as "ruby" (on the right)! i named her ruby because i love that name, and dave hates it so much he won't even let me name a dog ruby. so since piper is too little, i'm calling her ruby until piper has an opinion. funny thing is piper actually couldn't care less about ruby, she like the other little dolly in this picture better. little dolly remains unnamed, but elias calls her piper glory. i mean, i love that name, too, but it could get a little confusing. so i love ruby for piper. and i love her like i'm 10 years old. sooo, maybe i do need to spring for a third. this is getting embarrassing.

isn't she just adorable. (is that weird, since she's not real? see, i'm not kidding, i took pictures of her like she's my daughter...)

and a close-up

here's the kids the other night trying to out-eat each other. hilarious. and one hot mess.

and here's my little pippa-doodlebug.

i also have a couple ah-dorable videos, but they simply would NOT upload, so i'll try them again later. they'll be worth the wait :)

today is the day

it's official.

piper...

...is a crawler.

she has said goodbye to backwards and hello to forwards.

so stinking cute. enjoy :)

a legitimate amount of cuteness.

here's a photo story of the past few days. we've been enjoying this beautiful weather, and our friends and family. it's hard to drag myself inside to write, even though i love to write, but there is a legitimate amount of cuteness to be shared. here we go:

here's elias and pip in their "sunday best." i figured i ought to hurry up and capture them before elias "gets dierdy" and piper drools everywhere. the best of the bunch will hopefully be going out in a spring mailing. before it's...well, summer.

sunday afternoon, dave's aunt carolyn, uncle ted, and cousin daina came by on their way back from daina's apartment in coolidge corner to their home in new york so we could all kiss and hug daina before she leaves for nicaragua with the peace corps. isn't that awesome? daina's cool like that, but elias sure is going to miss her. he loves daina- and elyse (in the video i put in at the end of the post, he sweetly asks where elyse was...cute), so he was happy to play with her, and ran screaming and crying when she left- dramatic and honest, my boy is. we had a nice afternoon drinking iced tea and chatting. here's the kids playing and wrestling. and playing peek-a-boo in the video below.

don't they look innocent? ohh, the lies we believe...

"my co-sinn daina" as elias calls her

daina, piper (mostly her bum, actually), eli, me, and davey

pippa attacking elias- trying to, i don't know, eat his face?

piper's got some wrestling moves, too.

we dedicated our monday to garden planting and preparation. really- gardening is not as simple as it seems. the research to make sure the plants are seeded properly either inside or outside, the planning to know how much light they'll need, how big/tall/wide they'll grow, getting the soil ready, the fence up, the gate made, the layout laid out, the watering, the nurturing. i think i just took on about 100 new babies- except they're plants. i think it will be worth it once i get over the learning curve...i guess i just didn't realize how curvy the curve is. here's dada and elias getting some tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers ready. (we've managed to add peppers, corn, lettuce, and maybe onions to our repertoire. yeah- we may need a farm stand...)

hey eli, you've got a little something on your face, bud :)

my flowers. i love purple, but only in flowers, really.


"big helper"

tuesdays are my friend leelee and i's play date day. ever since elias and cadence were small, we try to get together once a week to escape mommy prison. err, i mean, to socialize and stay connected. here's jaxon and pippa today.

jaxon's like "uhh, what are you doing, girl?"

elias and cadence...playing in the dirt piles. of course.

this is eli and piper wrestling and playing peek-a-boo on sunday when dave's family came for a visit. pretty cute, really.