under construction

After nine years (with a couple breaks here and there in the midst of childbearing/raising) of this beautiful blog being my home I've decided to move to a new location... I hope you'll stay with me as I dig in deeper to all the wonderful things I am passionate about.  Connecting with people, creating beauty in this world (through diys, cooking, and learning new things) and yes, even coffee! What can I say? I'm passionate about coffee!

I'll be debuting on my nine year anniversary!

Numbers nine, nineteen, and twenty-nine

Continuing my journey of thankfulness this week...

09: garden bounty (this week we feasted on carrots, lettuce and beets... coming soon tomatoes, more carrots, more beets, and onions)
19: living in a place where people gather (we've been lucky to have friends in and out our door as they travel to Colorado for other reasons! We love having guests!)
29: window seat for reading, people watching, weather watching and praying.

a beginning

Some time ago, I read a book by Ann Voskamp (wrote about it here, here and here) and it changed my life. Changed me so much I got a tattoo to forever remember the heart behind the book.

In a very small nutshell, Voskamp's book is about finding joy in the everyday life (the mundane, if I may call it that) by giving thanks for things in the (mundane) every day.  Seeing piles of laundry as a gift and reminder of loved ones having enough to wear, for example.*  I started counting my thousand gifts but somehow in the midst of babies, life, moving, babies becoming toddlers becoming big girls and another baby I have lost count of my gifts.

So I am beginning anew with fresh eyes to find joy among newborn life and still feeling a bit new in my community... life moments that can lead to self-pity or loneliness, I am choosing to find joy in the midst of my (mundane) life. Wanna join me? Leave a comment with the things you are thankful for today... I guarantee your life will be changed.

01: new curtains billowing in the baby's room
02: voxer and the technology to keep in touch with long distance besties
03: korean leftovers from an amazing cook and friend
04: thick rain showers that kept my garden going when I wasn't able to
05: sweet cries from the nursery that remind me of how precious life is

*Find Ann's book here...
**Join the challenge here...

What is she thinking?

I have gone back and forth (and back and forth) deciding between picking up this ol' blog and leaving it lie.

Writing and words are such a part of who I am.  While I am at home by myself with my kids I write in my head. I write posts and tell stories about what is happening and life lessons I am learning.

I'm afraid to pick up this blog again because I want it to be more than just stories about poopie diapers, tantrums and potty training.  I am not going to lie, I want to be more than those things too.  I want to be hip concerts, microbrews and late nights out with friends. I want to write about things that will make you say, "Wow!"

But in reality, I am not those things. I am late night feedings, sore hips and microwaved leftovers...

I am realizing though... that a lot more people in my life are the latter.

So here I am... hoping to connect friends old and new through the internet and physically together with real life.  This is where I can come and be myself and know that I am okay with who I am.  So I hope we can all connect on my blog, talking, debating and sharing. While I feel okay with who I am, this is a place where you will always be welcomed to be who you are.  In the words of Mark Darcy "I like you very much. Just the way you are."

So despite the fact that I am a tired but blessed mummy (I feel like I should use British here now that I've referenced Bridget Jones) I have decided to pick up this ol' blog, blow off the dust and share with you in hopes that my (un)fabulous stories of poopies and microwaves will inspire not only other mothers but anyone in life to live fabulously wherever they are in life.

So "what is she thinking, is she crazy restarting her blog?" I guess the answer to that is... we shall see!

Better than before

Something about leaving made me want to bless the next tenants. My cynical mind went right to, "managers just gonna rip 'em out!" because its been an uphill battle trying to leave with good graces between our manager and us. That story shall be told another day. Anway, I persevered and decided that no matter what the managers decide to do I have a responsibility to God and to my own well being. 

So I took my beautiful and beloved mums which have thrived and are soon to bloom and planted them along the fence. I wish I remembered what colors they were so I could attempt to landscape them properly but alas, they'll be beautiful no matter what. 

And with dirt under my nails and sweat on my brow I leaned back and thought, "I should have had these here when I lived here. " and that is EXACTLY how I want to leave. 

With things better than they were when I moved in....

In this moment (take 2)

When I was young I made the mistake of thinking things never changed and that goodbyes weren't necessary. I never said goodbye because in my precious little world goodbyes weren't a part of them. 

I left my childhood home and never said goodbye. I didn't take my beautiful best friend and lifesaver in so many ways face in my hands and look her in the eyes and say, "I wanna thank you. Thank you for helping to shape me for who I am. Thank you for laughing with me at life and into life. Thank you for being by my side through thick and thin. For crying with me in break ups and being loyal when no one else was. Thank you for sitting by me in junior high when no one else would and lets be honest I didn't deserve anyone too! Thanks Sarah for being my best friend. And things are about to change and we're gonna change but I'll always love you and I'll always consider you one of the most influential people's in my life. Thank you." 

That's what 18 year old Joanna would say. But 18 year old Joanna thought life and people would stay the same. 

So now I am taking the time to appreciate and love the little things from California. I'm taking California's face in my hands this week and looking into it's eyes and telling it that things are gonna change... But that I'll always love it and be grateful for the time we had together. 

Here's part of how I said goodbye to Japan... I always thought I'd go back and maybe I will... But here's the goodbye I wrote the night before I left. 

http://joannakay.blogspot.com/2008/06/in-this-moment.html

Leaving

I really don't like goodbyes.

I'm terrible at them. I either don't cry or I cry too much.  I either am laughing and making it seem like it won't tear my heart a bit to leave OR I'm blubbering too much, snot dripping down my face and people are wondering if I'm going to be okay.

I do not like goodbyes.

There is so much to say and to do... so many last moments and before I know it they have all passed me by and I didn't relish in the beauty of those moments.

Life....

Life has not happened like I thought it would.  It has been harder in ways I couldn't have predicted and a HUGE blessing in other ways.

I have lived in California longer than any other place minus my childhood home.  Isn't that crazy?  It's a bit sad to me to be honest.  I didn't think I would be in California for a long time and I had a hard time adjusting so I pretty much rebelled against putting down any sort of roots for the first two (maybe more) years.  But then life happens. And babies happened.  And plural amounts of babies were not part of my plan.  Thank the Lord because I am forever changed and blessed by them.  But in the unpredictability of said plural amounts of Love Bugs I was in a good way forced to put roots down and appreciate the little roots that had grown in my heart without my knowing.

And I prayed at the beginning that I would cry leaving this place because although I couldn't see it and didn't think it would happen, I wanted to be sad to leave the place that was so hard to get used to.  I've never felt like such a foreigner in my own land and never so out of place and out of sync and like... a nerd in a place quite like I have living in California.

California has dug up the ugly parts of my heart and for that I hated it.

But now I am sad to be leaving it.  Weird, how that happens huh?

California, thank you for changing me.

i'll admit it

Okay, so I'll admit it. There are days when I'm a "better" mother than other days.  Days when I rise early, get showered, dressed and cleaned... make pancakes from scratch with blueberries, bounce up the stairs to get my rising babies while birds are chirping alongside me and woodland creatures folding the laundry downstairs....

Side note: they should make a disney princess who's married and has a kid. I'd love to see her whistle while she sweeps up cheerios for the 16th time that day. ;)

Anyway, I do have the days where I am thankful and grateful and my God-cup is full so full that I am overflowing and spilling all the blessings onto others.

I hear ya sister. Some times we do better than others...

...

and then. there are other days. Days where I can't sing because I'm selfish and I don't want to sing. :) 

Days where I feel like I'm a performer at a dinner and show kind of place because no eating will be done unless I am doing "wheels on the bus" with full motions...

Days where Baby Beluga turns into 30 verses instead of 3.

Days where mommy says, "blah blah blah" because it makes her feel like a little victory after having read the same book forty-two times. ha ha ha take that! I'm reading the book but I'm reading it MY way, suckers!

Days where I can recite all of winnie the pooh and baby einstein rhymes because I've read them forty-two times.

Days where I drive laps around the pike in downtown long beach because they're taping my favorite show and I am hoping for a sighting of a star (yup, true story) and babies are crying in the backseat because they should be napping and I respond with, "Don't you know how important this is to me?" Baaah! (just airin' my dirty laundry people!)

Days where pigeons attack my stroller because I've let the snacks spill all over and I'm too scared of catching fleas so I try to combat the pigeons with a coffee cup.

Days where poopie diapers are like nuclear bombs, destroying everything in their path and making it seemingly impossible for new life to grow there ever. again.

Days where snacks explode all over the car.

Oatmeal gets rubbed in hair.

Days where I feed my Love Bugs cookies for breakfast lunch and dinner because... well, because there's oatmeal in there?!

Days where I lay my head down for a sweet night's sleep and Elmo's song runs through it to lull me to sleep... and Lord love me, I can't keep my toes from tapping.

Days where I think Elmo is passive aggressive and manipulative...

Days where I think Elmo is so stinkin' cute and I wish he were real...

Days where I can't remember the last time I showered... and come to think of brushed my teeth.

Laundry sits in the basket till I'm forced to empty it on the bed so I can put the next full load in.

Blueberries wind up in ear canals and Love Bugs trying to pick their boogers or clean their own bottoms during changings...

life is messy.

but life is also loads of fun.

I'm never going to end up on a magazine cover or walk a Hollywood red carpet ... but I'll admit it. I'd take my cheerios-ground-in-and-accident-stained rug any day over that fancy shmancy carpet, anyway!

As my good friend Jamie hashtagged, "good play makes a good mess" and I couldn't agree more.

Invite some mess into your life. Let your little ones discover and adventure and yes, probably rip off the cover off a book (or two).  But let them know they are more important than whether anyone else thinks I look like a good mother or not. And this goes for all you married with no kids and singletons too! Enjoy the freedom to make messes and learn from them or just live in them. Life isn't perfect! Enjoy it!

How do you invite "good mess" into your life? 

a conversation

"Whoever is slow to anger..."
Oh?! See now, You got me right there.  Slow to anger? Slow?!?! Sloooow to anger? Are you sure you meant slow, Lord? What about quick to apologize after being angry? Is that the same thing? No?

"Slow to anger" is not a phrase people would use to desrcribe me.  Slow?!

I'm more like the "sons of thunder" with my "righteous anger" and lightning quick judgement! BOOM!  You mess with Jesus? Boom! You aren't feeding the hungry? Boom!  You called that person a naughty phrase while driving? Bo... what?! Oh, that was me?! Oh, yeah, that was me!

Okay, Lord, so maybe my anger isn't righteous. Okay, so it's rarely righteous. But that's okay cause its something between you and me, right? We're "working" on it, right?

What do you mean by planting seeds? The Love Bugs? Oh, no! They're too young to learn about anger. I'll wait till they're older to start implem... wait, what? Oh, that?!

Yeah, I saw that when Love Bug threw out a full out tantrum and did a "Godzilla" through Grandma's Christmas village.  Yup, I saw that.  I remember saying it was "cute" but thinking I didn't know what to do with her.  Or when the other Love Bug didn't get her toy and smacked her sister in the face.  When one of them takes the book and the other one resorts to pulling her down to the ground.  I can see what you mean by self-control or lack there of but what does this have to do with me?  I haven't hit someone since the last time I saw my brothers.  Oh, so it's my words? They're snappy and full of pain.  And the expression on my face when I yelled at the lady who cut me off?

The Love Bugs saw that?

Wow, now I see what you mean by fruit of Eve.  I see little seeds of anger popping up in the Love Bugs lives and they're still so young.

"Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty,  and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

Lord, forgive me for setting an example of what not to do, thank you for showing me how to love others and help me rule my spirit so that I can show the Love Bugs how to rule theirs.

Today

After yesterday's post I couldn't help but feel like I did a lot of whining and not a lot of solution finding.
Thank God today His mercies are new and that I can start afresh.
So here's what God reminded me of. Thankfulness.
When I feel itchy in life I need to remember all the goodness God has lavished on me. Starting with His Son Jesus and the reconciliation that was offered on the cross.
Oh, Lord, help me not to lose sight of all that I have.
I'm so humbled that even Jesus didn't consider Himself equal to God but became a servant. Man! How I need this mindset in life.
I'm thankful for three awesome years with our neighbors and the way A brought beauty to her backyard. That woman was amazing with plants! I'm thankful for Long Beach and the church friends, neighbor friends and friends I have. I have so many!

So here are just a FEW of the things I am thankful for....

 five years of friendship and three of those being married to the best man on this earth. Seriously love this guy!!

 nature! I am so refreshed and revived when I get into God's creation!

 family

 homemade soup

 friends who know you and know what makes you smile!

quiet mornings, friendships, and the simple pleasures of things like pumpkin pie bagels.  Who knew those could make me so happy?

babies who love each other and are so sweet.
(and who are currently chasing each other in my curtains! Their giggles are more than I deserve in this life. Ah, Lord! Thank you!)

It's the simple things in life and sometimes I forget that.  Don't be afraid to knock me upside the head next time I forget. :P

*sigh* well, if I never learn to be content, at least maybe I'll learn to be thankful while yearning for the things yet to come!

the 7 week itch

I've heard reports that a lot of couples after seven years of marriage feel an "itch" to get out and experience something (and sadly sometimes someone) new.

Well, this has nothing to do with marriage but I definitely get the itch.  And even more unfortunate it's probably more like a seven week itch.  Every so often I get this claustrophobic feeling that everything is closing in around me.  I start purging from my closet, my desktop, my recipes.... everything! Everything must go! I'm like a liquidation sale, I suppose.

It's happening again.  I am feeling so claustrophobic in life right now.  I feel a bit stuck in life, in my walk with the Lord, in my closet, in my personal space, in cooking, etc.

Can I be honest about something? I feel like I need to come clean.  At the beginning of the year, I came out with my word for the year, "contentment"... and although I definitely need work on this word (read above again if you disagree) I chose that word thinking that God would move us out of our current situation at the end of spring.  New house, new jobs, new.... something!

So while I chose contentment, I was really thinking, "I want to be happy where I'm at cause it's all gonna change soon."

And it didn't.

And that's ok.  But now I'm really struggling.  This is where the rubber meets the road, per se.  Where I'm feeling the itch, have been feeling the itch and I've already rearranged the rearrangement of my furniture, have purged my closet twice in the last three months, and have purchased a new cookbook hoping for some sort of light at the end of the tunnel.

itch. itch. itch.

My sister in law says this is because of my upbringing, that I moved around so much as a kid that I can't stand to be in anywhere too long now.  Hubs' company says, "this is who you are" because I ranked "change and variety" as a high value.

Maybe its because things around me are changing.  Our neighbors moved two days ago.  They told us they were moving, they packed their bags, Hubs helped with heavier items... but then when it came for them to say goodbye, "last box is packed" and actual "see you laters".... do you know what happened?

They just left.

Gone.  Without so much as a goodbye.  Over the course of the last days I've asked Hubs, "Are you SURE they're not coming back?"

After three years of being neighbors, sharing talks, food, and drinks... they just left. The. End.  And I can't help but feel.... itchy!

Well, I feel a lot of things.  Sad... for one thing.  After three years that was what our friendship amounted to.  Nothing.  No goodbyes.

I think my itch that needs scratching comes from the feeling that perhaps things will be better.  If we lived overseas with a close knit community of friends, I KNOW they wouldn't forget to say goodbye to us.  For example.  I start thinking about how green the grass is on the other side.... and in walks discontentment like an old (but most certainly unwelcomed) friend.

I'm just feeling discontent with life.... and I don't mean that in a way that says I'm not blessed or I'm not loved. I know I am both. In abundance.  I guess I'm feeling things should be different.

In the meantime, maybe the itch is good.  I can downsize our home, donate some gently used items and make room for the girls to be wild and free.  So much to be thankful for and content with... even if I feel claustrophobic at times.  I suppose its good to evaluate what is from the Lord and what is no longer necessary in life.

And even though I tried to be content for just five months of the year, God knew that my contentment journey would need deeper digging and longer steps.

I think I'll choose "adventure" for next year's word. Ha ha!

How are you doing with your word?

Here's some posts on my contentment journey:
Here
Here
And here

30 Random Acts of Wha?!?!

I'm turning the big 3-0 tomorrow.  I'm not sure how to feel. I remember when I was a little girl and my friends' sister turned 16 and I thought 16 was so old and mature... and then my brother turned 21 and 21 was so old.  And little bit by little bit I joined the "old and mature" and didn't feel any differently. When I was 16, I didn't feel like how I had pictured 16 to feel.  And the same with 21, 25, etc.  So when I think of turning 30 I just don't know how to feel or act for that matter.  Am I supposed to dress differently? Be more mature or act a certain way? Because I haven't done any super changing in my demeanor.  I feel, act and lets admit still dress like I did at 21, 25 and 27.

One of the things I wanted to do was chronicle 30 random acts of kindness celebrating 30 years of life. I thought I'd take all of September to do good deeds around my neighborhood and community, celebrating my birthday each day before the big day.

And then I realized something about myself.... just because I was doing these awesome kind things to people, it wasn't necessarily making me kinder.  It was just making me prouder of myself and my accomplishments.  I started making a list of how kind I was and then *poof* I had one of the worst mother/wife/joanna days in my life and I was super unkind and black hearted and seriously almost yelled at a woman in Costco.  No, that's not an exaggeration. I. Almost. Yelled (out loud!). At. Her.  It was the cherry on top of a bad sundae and it took all my strength to turn around and walk away from her.

I'd like to tell you what she did and justify myself but here's the thing~ she didn't deserve it.  Even if "she did" in my eyes.  No one deserves to be publicly (or even privately) belittled.

So I scrapped my idea of 30 random acts of kindness.  I think it's good for people to try to accomplish and even this lady here and her blog about helping people which inspired me in the first place, it's great for them to do it and to post about it because I believe their hearts are in the right place.  But I was being kind with the praises in mind.

So I am going to go stealth mode on being kind and work on my motivations and heart instead of working on doing noticeably good deeds.  And just FYI~ this is mostly for me. I'm not good at doing things "behind the curtain" so if you are than I admire you for that.  I prefer to be the star of my show, the solo act.

But now I see that focusing on the random acts themselves doesn't necessarily change who I am.  Instead I need to focus on my heart within and hope that by changing my heart out of that will overflow kindness and goodness.

So here's to my 30s. Lord willing, years and years of random acts of kindness so random even I'm not aware I'm doing them.

a picnic of sorts

Dang gina it's hot in California.  I'm trying my hardest not to complain because seriously, this weather makes me teary eyed!! It's hotter than hot in our apartment (no ac) and just miserable for the girls and I when we're at home.

When we get the chance to head out, I literally thank the good Lord for the library and other places that have AC.  Thank you Jesus!!

Today to make a hot day at home less miserable and more fun I decided to throw the rule book out the window (who am I kidding, I rarely follow by the rules, anyway!) and have a "picnic" in front of the fans. :)

 This is our picnic... oatmeal & peas.  Two of my girls' favorites, no joke!

When I do "picnics" like this it usually ends up being me... alone on the blanket while the Love Bugs play and drop by for little nibbles every so often.  I actually don't mind and I'm not in a hurry cause I have the fan pointed right at me.  So I know that even though the temperature makes me crabby, if I can just stay cool inside and out, I'll be a better mommy for my Love Bugs.  And who cares anyway, if they're in their seats. 

 my view. "Come here little buddy! I got yummy food for you!"

"all by myseeeeelf, don't wanna be... allll by myself anymore!"

....maybe it's the music that's keeping them away? 

Well, at least they're eating. Sort of picnics can be fun on sweltering summer/fall days!

accessorizing

 Sooo I think I may have to get some play accessories...

 cause diapers, even clean ones can only do so much...

 Belle

 Li Li

 num, num, num

See Mama? Aren't I pretty?

a slight obsession

I love fall.  I have what some may consider a slight obsession with fall but I consider it a healthy admiration for the best season of all.  Don't get me wrong, I like the other seasons.  Winter is fun for snowboarding, spring for flowers & warming us all up again and then summer... well, don't get me started on all the fun things about summer.

But nothing comes close to fall.  Fall is when all my favorite things in the world happen.  The weather starts to cool down, nights become longer, football season, pumpkin spice lattes, jeans come out of closets, snuggling with a cup of hot apple cider or cocoa or coffee or tea... everything just seems to take a long deep inward breath and a slow exhale as it was usually panting and sweating during summer... now, in fall, we can relax.

I love fall.  I love everything about fall.  I love the changing of leaves. I love the crispness in the air. I love that I can wear my favorite thing in the world, jeans and not be sweltering by ten in the morning. I also happen to love beanies.  And yes, I know people wear beanies in all seasons but I'm just not a fan of beanies unless it's a proper temperature outside and I'm guaranteed to not have a sweaty neck.

Fall is the reward we get for not melting during the summer.

Even foods taste better in the fall.  Bountiful harvests start to reappear in the fall.  Apples, pumpkins, tomatoes... and so much more.  So. Much!

I love back to school. I don't even go to school but there's just such an excitement in the air.  I'm all about the new beginnings and possibilities of these beginnings.  The daydreaming is finally starting to bear some fruit and the fruit soon to be ready to harvest.

Don't you remember the excitement of the first day of school? Seeing old friends after a summer apart, making new friends, discovering new classes & the excitement about which ones will be a thrill and which will be a bore.  Cracking open new (used) books.... I get such a rush from thinking about fall.  Yesterday I pushed my babies in a stroller up and down a Staples aisle looking at school products and had the sappiest grin on my face.  I love fall.

And of course, how could I forget to mention the Friday night/Saturday morning rush of a football game... did I mention football?  Well, it's in my top five of fall loves~ along with jeans & pumpkin spice lattes!

For several birthdays I had friends around the world celebrate at a certain time with drinking pumpkin spice lattes and toasting to my good health! It was a fun fall way to connect with people that I love.  See the first year here and second year here and then for some reason I stopped.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe that needs to change? "Meeting" for coffee is such a great way to connect with friends... even long distance friends. And coffee tastes better in fall.  See? It all leads back to fall.

Football, friends, leaves, beauty... I love fall.

And while its true that I live in Southern California where the leaves won't turn till January and we don't have a football team at our nearby school and the "crisp" of our weather is a chilly 68 degrees~ I still long for and love the call of a good old fashioned fall.

I'm off to go google the closest place for hay bale rides.

motherhood mystery #342

#342~ Love Bugs rejecting the food I've served them, throwing said food on the floor then proceeding to eat same said food once I've let them out and about.  Note to self: maybe serving food on the floor will enable Love Bugs to eat more?

little bits of me

There is something so sweet about my daughters' chubby hands.  I love to press down on their knuckles where the sweet chubbiness leaves a bit of an imprint.

I love to kiss their faces.  I love to tickle their nose with wispy strands of my already greying hair.  Their widening eyes as they track the path of a bird or a plane or fluff floating in the air.

I heard it said that children are your heart, running around outside of your body and I believe it.  These are my flesh, my bone, my dreams come true with breath of Life breathed into them and there is something so beautiful about their little noises.

We go in almost every night to look at them and sometimes they wake. Then we kick ourselves for disturbing their slumber and promise we won't do it again but the next night beckons, calls and teases us till we give in and go peek at them again.  We can't stand it.

I giggle and laugh on the ground looking at clouds. I snuggle and hold them tight to my body.  They're warm and soft and smell so sweet.  Sometimes they smell like the leftovers of lunch that they smushed in their hair but even that is so sweet.  It's tender.

They are tender. And they are mine.  My little hearts crawling, standing, daring to walk across to open arms.

My arms will always be open to welcome, to console, to hold these bits of me out here in the world.

Sweet tender little bits of me and my love that we just can't seem to get enough of their joyful existence.  They are His great gift to us and we rejoice!

After all, isn't that what my name means? And so I must do.

eating with spoons

Right now we're learning to eat with spoons...

Mommy said it would be hard but it wasn't that hard to do...

See? Not hard at all! I told my Mommy that we would do our very best and not spill anywhere.  I said, "Look, Mommy! This may be our first time but we're not going to resort to caveman like tactics.  We'll starve before we mess up our beautiful little bodies!"

Right Belle?

Belle?

Belle? What are you doing?

Hmmm... that kind of looks like fun! 

Well, like I said, we are just learning...

Look Li Li, I'm using my spoon too!

cute but not so

Awww... how cute!

The girls have started something recently that I find kind of cute even though I know I shouldn't.  When the girls don't like something we give them to eat they usually throw it off the side of their chairs onto the floor.  We can see it coming so we try to stop it by telling them firmly "no" and they, for the most part, understand it.

But for the past few days after we tell them "no" they've started raising their hands to their mouths, as if they are eating whatever they were about to discard, and then stuff it down by their laps.

Cute... but not really!

I know discipline is for the best because of what the Word says, for the Lord disciplines the one He loves (Hebrews 12:6a) but I think this is rather clever of the girls.  I probably shouldn't be too impressed, this may mean a lifetime of clever disobedience from these two but at least for now we "discipline" in a way that is appropriate.

Wow, development is such an amazing process!! I love watching these two grow and learning through their eyes as they discover life.

babies... er, little girls

It's hard to believe I've been a mother of twinkies for a whole year. The days at times did drag by (what? I'm just being honest) but then in a blink of an eye, they were no longer "newborns" or even babies for that matter.
I read an article that said babies become toddlers either when they start walking OR when they turn one.  The debate is still out on that one.  Either way, there is no use calling them babies anymore.  Especially now as they've started referring to other things as "babies"... and when I say "things" I do sincerely mean things. Just about anything can be a baby these days.
They love saying "mama" "dada" and "baby".  Belle loves making a "mmm" sound when we ask her what a cow says and yes, she still makes the "roaring" of a lion sound when we ask.  Li Li on the other hand loves to "spit" or stick her tongue out whenever we ask her anything.  So we've started asking her what an elephant says and it's just about spot on with how she sounds.
They are HAPPY babies and GOOD babies.  Oops, I mean little girls. They're wonderful and hilarious.  They LOVE playing peek-a-boo, their daddy, being read to and each other more than any other thing in the world.  They love peas, apple juice and chinese food (seriously!).  They're wonderful babies... er, I mean little girls.

We celebrated their birthday by going to the aquarium

and eating apple fritters

opening presents

eating cupcakes,

and of course a party in the park!

Yay for turning one!