Tuesday, February 14, 2012

love bugs

Happy Valentine's Day from the Love Bugs!

Monday, February 13, 2012

seven months

I know I always say this but can't believe it's been seven months.
It's been hard work but it's also had its joyous triumphs and wonderful moments.
We are moving quickly into the crawling stage. Belle moves around pretty easily while Li Li just doesn't seem interested at this point. They both love squash, chewing on books, talking and being outdoors!
I love my little Love Bugs!!

Sunday, February 12, 2012

practices: kissing, reminders and pet names

Through J's post (again, inspiring me!!) about her parenting practices I found out that Sarah over at Emerging Mother is hosting a carnival.  Her carnival is a unique celebration of the "practices" that we parents have to love and instruct our children.  Practices that we think are important for our children as we nurture and love their little souls.  I have loved reading some of these practices and have come to be encouraged, inspired, or even challenged by some of the practices.  Click to find out more about what each Mama said about their own practices.

And like usual, I am not one to want to miss out on carnivals or gatherings of people of any sort. Lets be honest... we extroverts need our people time even though we have Love Bugs and they demand a lot of our attention.  And I lovingly demand that I give it.  I love loving them. But I still need adult human time (does that sound weird~ ha ha)

Anyway, I began to think of my own parenting practices, what I've learned from my own parents and what is already important to me at this point of mothering.... here goes... some things I want to put into practice...


the practice of not believing there is such thing as too many  kisses.  I am constantly kissing my Love Bugs and I don't think I can ever kiss them too much.  They need to be held, kissed and squeezed constantly.  I believe this.

the practice of telling them how blessed they are daily.  While we sit together, the three of us (two Love Bugs and one mommy) for breakfast or lunch I remind them that they are blessed to have each other.  I was inspired to do this by my good friend JK who has twinkies of her own.  She told me she reminds her twinkies how blessed they are and often says, "Other kids aren't so lucky to have a brother or sister in the same class as you..." or other words of encouragement.  So I make it a point to remind them daily how blessed they are to have each other.  And how awesome it is to have a sister.  I never had a sister till my brothers got married.

the practice of pet names.  I rarely call my children by their real names.  They are Li Li, Belle, Bellsey Belle, Belly B, Chi Chi, Monkey, Love Bugs, Lovies, and so on.  I want them to know one thing as they grow up.  that they are most ardently and unconditionally loved.  By me, by their father and most importantly by God. I can't tell them enough how much I adore them and think they are so special and so by practicing the art of nicknames or pet names I hope I am instilling in them how much I love them and how much fun we can have together.

Knowing how loved I am was something my parents gave and continue to give to my brothers and I. I grew up surrounded by love and security at all times and knew that I could never lose that with my own parents.  Oh, sure! I disappointed my parents and they disciplined me when the times called for it but I never worried I would lose their love.  Never.  I knew 100% I was loved by them.

I'm curious what your practices of parenting are or even as an Auntie or an Uncle... do you have practices you pass on to your nieces or nephews  .... take a peek over at Emerging Mother's carnival and J's blog and see what practices they are instilling in their children.  And then let me know what practices you have of your own.  I'd love to hear what you all are doing.

Friday, February 03, 2012

here's to

Awhile back my dear friend J wrote a post about "these are the days" and "these are the days take two". You can find them on her blog here.

I was inspired to do my own "these are the days" and walked around for several days making the list up in my mind.  But instead of starting my list with "these are the days" I inevitably started off with a toast.  I would raise an imaginary glass of something smooth and delicious.  Whatever it was at the time didn't matter and in my imaginary world, my daughters raise their bottles and we all, "toast" to the season we are enjoying now.

Here's to...
*not having a kleenex handy while wiping my daughters' noses, so just wiping it on my jeans.
*having two cups of coffee in the morning followed by a cup of decaf. 
*being exhausted.
*having my heart melt when I get my girls up from napping and they have the HUGEST grins on their face.
*walking out of the house and knowing that I probably have dried boogers, spit up or poop somewhere on me.  And still walking out.
*an abundance of flowers that Hubs keeps bringing home to me.  As soon as one bouquet gets withered and tossed out, he comes home with a new one.  He has never bought me so many flowers even while we were dating.  It's really sweet.
*not having a clue what I will make for dinner, even though I try to plan ahead. I still stare at my fridge and wish I had a dinner fairy.
*crock pots.
*take out.
*the rejuvenating powers of sitting out on the patio and enjoying natures with my girls.
*long naps (may they last and endure till college... or at least kindergarten.  Long naps are God's gift to mothers! Can I get an amen?).
*loving motherhood and God pulling me through a rough time.
*dirty diapers, loads and loads of laundry, and piles of dishes.
*still having fall decorations up mixed with spring decorations mixed with just my own cluttered mess of life.
*stubbing my toes on the exersaucer, the toys, the multiple cribs, boppys, bumbos, rattles, etc. that lay around my house.
*showering before noon.
*getting dressed before noon. (is it sad that I get excited if I'm out of my pjs before noon?)
*pj days.  Still.  I gotta have them.

and finally, for today....
Here's to the house smelling slightly like dirty diapers, food going bad in the fridge cause I can't remember what I've bought, my pajamas not wearing holes in them, my plants ridden with bugs on them (grrr you stinkin' aphids) and joy! In the midst of all my craziness, joy!

Clink!