it was totally worth it, probably...I think.

In retrospect, I suppose we should have seen it coming.

The alleged culprit on the day in question

It's not like we didn't notice her little runny nose and those sweet puffy baby eyes.
We saw 'em, and promptly blamed every bit of it on the pollen swirling around.


It was a convenient reaction as we trekked downtown to the Food Truck Festival(!) amid the swirling masses of humanity.  A perfectly logical conclusion to hold onto as she and I pretend-danced and she played with my eyes & nose & mouth with her sticky little fingers.


However, it has become clear to all who were with her on that fateful Saturday evening, that we were just fooling ourselves.


And now I'm sorry to report that I am, in fact, back on the DayQuil/Nyquil combo that I know so well.

...So here's where I'd like to say that I'm super thankful for quiet apartments and lots of tissues.

And DayQuil/NyQuil combos.

And precious baby girls with sticky fingers :)


XOXO

sunday six, weekend recap edition

(Editor's Note:  Should I acknowledge my lackadaisical approach to this blog in recent months? Do I apologize for my apparent slothfulness? Do I pretend we visited just yesterday? Do I go on and on, ad nauseum, trying to excuse myself while simultaneously convincing us both that I'll do better hereafter?  Sigh.  
I vote no - let's just jump back in & call it a win!)

Pure swoonylicious, is what he is

1.  It hit 80 degrees on both Saturday and Sunday.  Also, the sun was shining, it was breezy, and no humidity.  I do love me some spring.

However, all the warm did remind me of a couple of things:  First, a warm sunny day heats up the inside of an un-air-conditioned car considerably.  Second, little rids the neck of kinks and the stomach of knots like a ride down the highway with the windows down & the radio up.

...aaaand thirdly, riding down the highway with the windows down and the radio up renders one's hair a "little crazy," which was the assessment of the five-year-old.


2.  You just know it's going to be a good spring when you kick it off by attending a Food Truck Festival(!) downtown with the littles in tow.  That's right... food trucks stretched out over a city block (or more, who really knows) (it's not like I got past the designated littles area to actually measure) (it seemed like more).  Frankly, it was too crowded for me to delight in the actual dining possibilities because I'm immediately rendered non-hungry when lines wrap around for a sweet forever.  No lie, I ate nothing at said Festival, save the Pepsi we picked up on the way downtown.  However, it was still Big Fun for perhaps no reason other than it was clearly supposed to be.  As I told Kate, any time music is blasted through very loud speakers on a 79-degree evening it's an instant party.

I might have awkwardly pretend-danced a little with Norah while not one person paid me any mind at all.  Owo happily demonstrated his award-winning (not even kidding, he's a bonafide winner)  (I'll tell you sometime) booty-shaking skills for me, and I giggled more than once from the sheer happy of warm spring & crazy surroundings.


3.  Ironically, after eating absolutely nothing shifty and/or shady at the Food Truck Festival(!) I awoke with a stomach bug.  Seriously.  You can't make this stuff up.  


4.  Speaking of Owen, it's possible that I allegedly taught, encouraged him to engage in some problem-solving behavior that turned out to be new to him.

It took him approximately 30 minutes to get me into all kinds of trouble.

Which led me to shamelessly beg the little mister to please forget all he'd learned from me that day, before it was no longer funny & I landed in BIG TROUBLE with his mama.  He found the whole situation delightful and that's all I'm going to say about that.


5.  Audrey and Owen belting out "Let it Go" with no theatrics whatsoever (ha!) with Norah occasionally adding her two-cents.

Amen.


6.  Kari sent me the above sweet picture of Peyton at the Easter egg hunt after church today...You know, the Big Fun I missed because of stupid aforementioned stomach issue.  A big shout-out to my girl...receiving the pictures helped just the littlest tiny :)

sweeter than the sweetest tea

Norah likes her mama!

Wednesday Katie & Kari brought all the littles by for the afternoon.  I like to think they just love to spend time with me, but truth be told they were in it for the poppy seed chicken.

Whatever. 
I'm not proud...I'll take what I can get :)

Noodle likes her Doc McStuffins!

It was a really nice day.  The kids were all overtired and overdone what with their holiday hangovers, miscellaneous maladies, and the previous night's sleepover with Kate.  Kari kept apologizing for the mayhem but honestly I just laughed my way through it. 

What else is one to do when you have toddlers marching around announcing to anyone who will listen that there will be NO HUGS - or manners (ha!), naptime accidents in Naynay's bed, multiple episodes of spitting up coupled with at least one wretchedly foul-smelling diaper situation, in the course of one innocent afternoon?

They ALL really like making messes!

Well.  I say you too would laugh your way through the madness, you know you would.

Peyton likes...everything!

Sadie likes her paci!

  

And if you ever doubted the day was a success,
when your daughter tells your grandchild that it's time to go home, you might just overhear her say, ever so wistfully, "I just wish we could stay here forever and ever and ever."

Audrey likes making eggs!  After rejecting lunch!

 ....and then, just for sheer fun & comic relief, a few hours later it's possible you'll receive an urgent Facetime invite from the nearly-two-year old, who is tragically and hilariously calling Naynay to tattle mightily on his mama, who has made an unacceptable pronouncement of no sweet tea before bed. (The horror!)

Apparently Norah now likes falling asleep in the middle of bedlam!

...and as you fall asleep that night, you'll thank God for every minute of this life that is oh. so. sweet.

xoxo

i wish to slow down all the days

Sadie-Pie at about 2-1/2 months.  She's 3 months old today!  (Photo taken by Kari)

I know I should be using more than a few words to try to catch up on...well, everything, but mostly I just want to take my now-routine dose of the NyQuil and sleep the sleep of the oldish. 


(I fear for all of us once I find the time to actually sit down and start with all the updating of all the things)

(But that's for another day.)


For now, let's all just take a moment to enjoy these current-ish pictures of our two littlest littles ;)

Norah is already six months old! (Photo taken by Katie)

Sigh.

It's hard to handle all this yummy, but I do the best I can ;)

the 31st of october

Kate took this picture at Kari's before Trunk-or-Treating. 

So I might as well admit it, Halloween has never been my thing.  Whimsy sometimes escapes me as I'm mostly creativity-impaired, and no matter how hard I pretend otherwise I've never been a fan of dressing up.  It's also true that I was a terrible mom when it came to costumes for my little girls.  Even Crazy Hat Night at Awana stressed me out!  The one notable exception would be Kari as Pocahontas on book report day. 
She rocked the whimsy that day. 


Anyhoo, I might feel completely inept at most things creative, but now that I"m not in charge and
the pressure's off I'm finding plenty to smile about :)

Owen refused to cooperate, choosing instead to watch Toy Story of Terror for the 40th time. 
No judgment here, mister.

Audrey, on the other hand, was all about being a bee, scoping out the treats, and hugging on the neighbors.  She might have allegedly attended the neighborhood party, come home for a quick break, and then re-attended said party, scoring enough cookies, soda, and candy to keep us twitchy until Thanksgiving.

Norah wasn't interested in any of the silliness, so Puppy partied in her place.  

We can't be sure, but I think he had a pretty good time.

Kate made dinner, which was a taco pizza (YUMMO!), and there was all manner of loud and snuggly and messy and mad and sweet to go around.  It was a good night, is all I'm saying :)


 

sisters

Is solace anywhere more comforting than in the arms of a sister?
~Alice Walker

untitled because TIRED

So I'm pleased to report that all of Kari's kitchen shelves are properly dressed with pretty green paper and I can sleep the sleep of knowing it was a job well done.

WHATever.


In spite of my stellar shelf-covering skills, my great-with-child daughter still has TOO MUCH to do before baby arrives, and you just know I have every intention of helping her further, but today my plans are simple. 

Let's just say they include a bit of wall-staring and laundry. 


It's going to be a wonderful time of rest, relaxation, and dare I say, recuperation.



ps - Just look how Norah has grown!

Happy Wednesday :)

sunday six: stuff that happened this weekend

So here's the thing.  Things have been on the hectic side around these parts recently. 


(How many times have I said that in the last couple of years?)

(Eleventy-hundred, would be my guess.) 

(Saying it a lot doesn't make it less true.)


Anyhoo, here's some stuff that happened...


1.  I spent a chunk of Friday with Audrey, Owen, & Peyton, and by chunk I mean a lot of hours.  There might have been some bickering and snuggling and Mickey Mouse, sprinkled with some snacks and sugary beverages.  Peyton was completely cooperative with his nap routine because, well, he's Peyton...and several hours later Owen announced he was "ti-werd," tossed a pillow on the floor, grabbed his GWEEN bwankie, and fell fast asleep right in the middle of Doc McStuffins.  He was so yummy all sprawled out in the middle of the crazy I could barely leave him alone except for I'm not completely insane.

2.  Also on Friday, Jeremy was in a car accident on his way to work.  We're so thankful he has only seemingly minor-ish injuries and no other drivers were involved.  The car was totaled and he's really sore & banged up, but it could have been so much worse!


3.  It rained so hard and was so foggy on Saturday that it looked snowy from my window.  It was creepy and crazy and cozy.  I might have taken a tiny little nap right after my turkey sandwich & tomato soup.   Also, in stark contrast to the crazy that was Friday, it was virtually silent :)


4.  I rediscovered Toaster Strudel.  I fully understand this might be in the category of stupid stuff, or perhaps even nonstuff, to most, but I say it's BIG FUN.  Frankly, I found them so delightful I'm contemplating buying the littles some black cherry Kool-Aid just because I can.


5.  Today was in no way silent.  Not a little quiet.  Not even a tad peaceful.  There was no wall-staring, no strudel-eating, and no House Hunters-watching.

(None.)

(AT ALL!!)


6.  Audrey got stung by a bee this afternoon.  (SEE NUMBER FIVE.)  

She cried.  She cried a lot. 

Norah also cried because of course.  Norah also cried a lot.

Owen did not want to miss out on all the tragic fun so he also cried, and a lot, because he's a team player. 


It was very loud. 
The end.



Sooo...any stuff happen in your 'hoods this weekend??



XOXO

sweet abstraction

Owen has been full-on smitten with Norah since the moment they first met.  He can torment his big sister without breaking a sweat, but when it comes to his baby sister he's all oohs & aahs & head rubs.


Seriously.  It's the sweetest thing ever.


I just hope he remains enraptured when she starts destroying his towers & stealing his green blanket.

It's all fun & games until the baby swipes your stuff.


Anyway, right around the time Norah was born our neighbor gave the littles some dry erase markers.  A questionable choice to be sure, but fortunately I had small dry erase board, so Owo went to work.


...and he worked all. evening. long.


Behold,

"My Whole Fam-i-wy"

 

(swoon...)



Y'all have a great day!

something to say

Hello friends!

My name is Norah.

I hopped (hijacked?) on over to AB! today because it came to my attention that my Naynay has barely strung two posts together about me yet and well, we need a proper introduction, you and me.

Plus I just have things to say.

You understand, right?

I'm six weeks old now and when I'm not eating I can be found filling the role of a strawberry.

Which is fitting since my Naynay thinks I'm yummy.

My big sister and brother tend to be Naynay time hogs but nevertheless she and I have persevered and gotten in a few snuggle times much to the Big Kids' chagrin.

(But not too many snuggles. Don't tell anyone -because I like to do it myself by screaming my head off to anyone else who finds me 'yummy'- but I much prefer my Mama. We're BFF's, she and I.)

Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Don't come between me and my Mama is all I'm sayin'.

BUT, if someone HAD to, I think I'd like it to be Naynay. She tries hard.

She also cooks yummy food and lets all of us kids destroy her amazingly clean and yummy smelling house and takes Big Sister to a birthday party and brings fountain Pepsi on ice and has a DVR filled with Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse.

Yep, she's pretty great.

So I guess we'll let her off the hook for the lack of bragging blogging about me.

Thanks for all the chaos-embracin' you do, Naynay!

Love, Norah

(for Audrey, Owen, Peyton, & Sadie, too!)

excuses, excuses

I know it's been a sweet forever but I have a good excuse.


Christmas was last week, and this week I have been at Kari's loving on Peyton while simultaneously eating m&ms & working for a living.  So there's that.


Yesterday Kate & Company drove up to visit and eat pizza and help restore my sanity :)
(Just kidding, Peanut, you know I love ya!)

She also brought this.  


Needless to say, it was a good day.


Sadly, I now have to go because see above, but I leave you with the following picture in an effort to make things right...

Happy Friday :)

trust

"Return to your rest, my soul, for the LORD has been good to you.”

(Psalm 116:7)

coming up empty

Honest to goodness I logged on tonight with not one idea of anything to say.

So I decided to just start typing because I always manage to come up with a fair amount of drivel when I give myself the chance and yet still nothing.


Nada.

Zilch.


See?  Even when going a step further and typing a few more futile words I'm coming up empty, so I think I'll do us all a favor & call it a night.


But first, I leave you with today's snapshot of our sweet Norah.
  
She's such a bundle of precious I can hardly think about anything else so why even try?

Here's another one, for good measure.
 

ps - All of my Baby Norah pictures have been from my phone & are not great (even by my standards!), but I haven't been able to access the pictures on my other camera.  
Unfortunate timing, to be sure, but there you have it.



May we all sleep like, well, babies tonight :)

general miscelleny in the form of a list

Where I haven't been in weeks, not that I'm complaining or anything

Okay, so I'm tired from all the recent wonderful. 
Therefore, all I have for you is some scattered thoughts in listy form.



1.  I'm so, so sorry to report that the car AC started to "run warm" again just two days after spending money I mostly didn't have to get it repaired.  Upon further discussion with The Guy, he informs me it'll only cost 500 million fountain Pepsi's to get her up and running, as if fountain Pepsi's grow on trees.  As tempted as I was, it seemed like proceeding would be a poor decision because I think we all know I can't live that long without another fountain Pepsi on ice.



2.  I've been sweating more than I'm comfortable sharing on the worldwideweb.

I have also been fussing and griping and getting all mad as I zip down Highway 52 at 70 miles per hour with all my windows down, and I"m just going to tell you straight up that you could not pay me enough to divulge the crankiness that is me when sitting in traffic.

(Unless, of course, you offered 500 million fountain Pepsi's...)



B.  I saw Norah and the littles today and it was worth every bit of hot and cranky I endured to kiss those little fingers and cheeks and sniff her baby-head a few dozen times. 

Audrey took her away from me because she is a poor sharer, but as soon as she caught a whiff of a certain little something Norah had deposited she quickly offered to give her back, ha!




7.  Just this.

 
Amen.



a.  I recently rediscovered the glorious wonder that is sweet tea, as opposed to the mostly sugar-free stuff I've resorted to over the past couple of years.  I feel kinda bad for the sub par stuff I've been serving my family in recent days.  They'll be relieved to know I've rejected the folly of my unsweet ways & am now back on track.



4.  Owen has started a new thing since two whole days ago when he spent days & days with me.  He walks up and cocks his head and says "huh?" whenever he's surprised.  For instance, today he came out of his room where he was supposed to be napping to find me in the living room, and proceeds to cock his head to the side and exclaim "huh? why are you here Naynay, this is not your house?" 

I try not to take such things personally.



D.  Audrey is now concerned about me living alone.  I don't know when or why the light bulb went off but suddenly she's all worried about me being lonely and wants to send someone to stay with me. 

(Little does she know of all the delighted wall-staring I do when I find myself sitting in silence.)



c.  (Please don't tell her about all the delighted wall-staring I do when I find myself in blessed silence.)



12.  Finally, there is this...

(You're so welcome.)




XOXO

norah

She arrived on a Thursday in June at the end of a very long day
that suddenly felt not long at all.


She's all pink and tiny and a-little-bit-big, and cuddly and warm, and full of new.

 


She's eight pounds and thirteen ounces full of precious and nearly two feet(!) long, 
yet she fits in the crook of my arm like it's been waiting for her since forever.

She scrunches up her little face like she means business and then settles right back into 
a peace I only wish I could remember...

She's a bundle of pure joy, and potential, and hope, and love...
 

She's my second granddaughter, my fourth grandchild.  

She's my, fills-my-heart-right-up, where-on-earth-have-you-been-all-this-time, 
Norah Grace, 
and I'll be forever thankful for every bit of her :) 

XOXO