I gotta learn about being a mom!

This line is getting a lot of play these days. . . 

 with best friends

look at how she holds her tiny chipped polish little fingers

If Lily wants to get in on what you're doing; whatever it may be. . .yoga, cutting up lettuce, washing dishes, loading a dishwasher, sweeping, caring for Jackie, applying makeup--especially if it's lipstick, wearing high heel shoes. . .what have you. Lily wants to be doing it too and she uses her powers of 'how could I argue with that logic' to get her way. That and she's just about the most freaking adorable thing on this planet.

Lily: "mom! I gotta learn how to be a mom!"

I hear it probably ten times per day at least; it's futile to resist her impeccable logic. Yesterday she also told me that for her birthday (six months from now) that she wants some heel heel shoes. After a few back and forths I understood that she wants high heel shoes: send help!

PAUSE (!!!!!!)

Lily doing some posing during my pantry organizing binge (in a construction paper skirt that girlfriend made herself). Awe-ya.

A hilarious thing that Rubby does every.single.time she watches a movie. Here's the rundown:
1) mom puts dvd into dvd player
2) previews play and homescreen pops up
3) Lily shouts out "MOM, PAUSE please!!!!!

***even the boys won't correct her because she is too darling***

Somebody should probably stop this.

****if you can assist in stopping her from growing up, please contact me****

Notice the pants. Isn't she freaking darling?!?  Lily is about six months old here. I bought this outfit when I was pregnant and sooooo excited about having my girl. It was one of my favorite outfits of hers and I loved putting her in it. When the time came to get rid of it, I just couldn't do it. I thought I'd hang onto it and she could dress her dolls up in it one day.

That or squeeze herself into it. . .

I guess she's entered my world of squeezing into clothing that I shouldn't be wearing. ;)

First day of school

For the first day of school I decided to start a tradition. Have the kids pose next to what they wanted to be when they grew up.

Lily, "I want to be a big girl!"  (she's probably thinking duh mom)

Luke, "I want to be a cashier." Later when asked why it was because he thought he'd be rich that way since that's where a lot of money is at.

Owen, "I want to be a pie." Um, no explanation necessary here people.

Beware, massive cuteness overload.

I know I'm biased but both Chad and my mom agree. . .she is the most beautiful child in the galaxy. I was going to say universe but I fear overstating. Enjoy some Liliness, see if you can spot her on the playground picture.

A blur.

Lily turned five today. Exactly, when did that happen?! This morning at breakfast Chad wondered aloud, "I thought girls were supposed to be calm and play tea party and sit still on occasion?"

This photo perfectly captures Lily and her Liliness. She is C.R.A.Z.Y!!!!! Never stop moving is her mantra and a loud cheery voice is her constant companion. If we let her she would eat nothing but fruit snacks and crackers. She has one daughter, Kona (her American Girl baby doll that Chad bought for her a few Christmas' ago). She has three swimsuits which each make at least one appearance daily. Almost every princess costume she owns has multiple rips and tears in them because she is SO rough. Her spinning, tumbling, running, racing, scooter riding, handstand, rolling, jumping, sliding, swinging, big wheeling is done while in either a princess dress or one of her skirts/dresses. Oh, and usually with some sort of purse. Yesterday she made a purse out of paper--it even had a strap!

I'm sure you can tell how much we just love this girl. Her zest for life energizes our house and we wouldn't have her any other way. She is beloved by her family.

Owen and the girl.

From Coronado beach.

Being the only girl inevitable makes you cool (I'm not biased or anything either, being as I was also an only girl). But, seriously, IT tots does. We may miss out on a lifetime of having a built in best friend who knows you and your story better than anyone and also someone who can give you a little heads up about oh I don't know THAT WHOLE pregnancy and childbirth stuff. Being as we miss out on those gems it's only fair that our consolation prize is that we are cooler.

For instance, just a few moments ago Lily walked into the room and I asked her if she had just used the bathroom. To which she replied, "oh yeah I did. Ha! Just kidding I prank you mom!"

And! When she plays dress up she almost always has some sort of weaponry adoring her princess dress. A light saber, sword, hand cuffs, a plastic machete. . .you know, for safety. My kind of girl; she will look beautiful while delicately hacking her victims to a slow and painful death.

We are carefully preparing her for the dating scene. Delicately placing jewels in her arsenal like, "boys have a special private place where you can incapacitate them with one direct hit."

To which she replies, "what's incarp ac it gate?"

Row row row your boat.

We think this girl is awesome. She is loud, spirited, must always be wearing a dress or skirt and hates having her hair brushed. She has the whole family in the palm of her hand but she has a favorite to be sure.

Jackie.

A few months ago she announced that she was going to marry him. She often breathlessly says to him, "Jackie, marry me. Make me your wif. Kiss me Jackie, oh kiss me."

Then. . .she smothers him with kisses. And no, I do not watch soap operas. But, it does look like something she would have seen on one. And, yes, there is a video of it so that will make the wedding video fo sure.

That is all.

I will make them hate this.

In July we go away as part of a 'mother not losing her mind due to oppressive heat'. We've just returned to a weeks forecast of monsoon storms. . . .somebody's righteous living is finally paying off.

Together with Aunt VV, Ruffy and Chika (the dogs) we took this crew for a family friendly two hour hike. Two qualities I love about Aunt VV: is she is up for anything, and she has a ridiculous level of confidence in those she loves.

We decided to tackled Adams Canyon hike to the waterfall on a Wednesday afternoon. The hike started out rough; there were about a forty minutes of switchbacks under the full sun at a pretty steep incline. We.were.not.deterred.

We tried to make it enjoyable. Stopping and cooling our feet in a stream under some shade.  While eating some apples VV noticed a ton of bees surrounding us. Hastily we got our shoes back on and continued our journey up up up. Minutes turned into hours and our water supply was dwindling.

Three hours in we were out of water. Upon seeing other hikers returning we'd ask "how much farther to the waterfall?" Some were more encouraging than others, all offered praise for doing such a challenging hike with a baby and three little ones. We were spent. Totally exhausted and everyone was getting desperate for water. Looking down at the clock we gave ourselves fifteen more minutes to reach our goal, even if we didn't make it we'd have to turn back.

We raced off with new vigor, determined to not give up. We covered quite a bit of ground and I was so impressed with Owen, Luke and Lily. They dug deep and we pushed on. Twenty minutes we reached a point where it was so steep that we were basically crawling up the mountain, with Jack on my back I knew it was time to stop.

I hated quitting. I sat down on the trail with Luke and Lily, Vicky and Owen scouted out a few minutes up the mountain to see if we were closing in on our goal. I sat there hoping we were. They returned with the news that we were another thirty minutes away and it only got steeper and less of a trail and more gigantic boulders.

Quittin time.

As we walked down the trail I knew it was the right call. We had given it everything but come up short.  Which, in life is okay. Win some, you lose some. Four hours and fifteen minutes and we never saw the waterfall.

On the way down we chatted about when we finally got some water how we were going to drink it, what size glass we would use, whether we'd wait and get cold filtered water or guzzle it from the hose next to the front door.

It was a trying, difficult experience but I was such a proud mama of how tough my little ones were; mentally and physically. They pushed themselves, and that was better to see than any waterfall.

A horse

Lily uses a leather chair as a horse. She stacks up her babies behind her. On different days she adorns herself with varying items. On this particular day she opted for her bunny ears. It's June and she is still talking about Easter. Bring this girl candy and she will.never.forget.

Isn't she great?!

The money hunt, 2012

March wrap up