Favorite things

One of my favorite things is to watch my kids explore their environment. I love seeing the excitement in their eyes and the smiles on their faces as they discover something that I see as ordinary for the first time. Or when they understand something that I've known for years. each day bring a little bit of magic. Today Shiloh said, "Side! Mama!" Which always means that she wants to go outside. So, I took her out on the front porch where she saw one of her favorite things. Mr. Fluffybottoms. She LOVES Ashton's cat. And my favorite thing is to watch her with the cat. And take endless photos of the whole ordeal, of course!

Smile!

Shiloh has a new thing that she does. Whenever you say smile, she does this:










She's super cute about it. And I think it's totally funny that she does it on command! She also loves to laugh when anyone else does, too! She's a source of a lot of laughter and happiness in our home...

I finished the invitations for New Beginnings. I mentioned before that we are holding ours on Valentines with the theme Fearless Heart. I'm super excited about and I took a picture of the invites. The photo I created in Photoshop and then I pasted it on scrapbook paper. On the back I added the info for the night. Here's what it looks like:


The word art over the silhouette says, "Fearless Heart: Be Strong and of a Good Courage"

I just love it and I'm going to frame mine and put it on my fridge so I can see it everyday.

Ash is Super!

I just finished a project with one of our new products! I super excited about it! It's our new swatch book. I'll be keeping this bad boy in my purse to show off whenever I can. And yes, I'm one of "those" mothers... Look!

Around the dinner table:

Jenna: Mom, could you pass me some cheese pizza?

Mom: Yeah...

Jenna: Oh! Yeah, give it to the big boss!
Ashton: -beat boxing in the background-

Jenna: give it to the big boss! give it to the big boss

Mom and Dad: -tearful laughter-

I'm thinking that we should start video taping our dinner conversations. They are truly one of a kind!

If you want to feel good...

...see your hairdresser. On Friday I went in to get a new do. The girl next to Mandy (my hairdresser) kept looking at my hair and saying it looks so silky. And Mandy said, "Yep, her hair has always been that way and it feels that way, too." Then the other girl feels my hair and says, "OOhhh! That does feel silky!" Huh. I didn't know that! Really, I just have always thought of my hair as less than fabulous because it's terribly fine and difficult to style for me. So, for years I sat around thinking of my hair as ho hum and blah and I really should have been thinking of it as silk.



This is my hair before.













This is my hair now! I love it! I think Randall was so shocked when he first saw it that all he could say was, "Well, at least you didn't go as short as I thought you were." I had teased him that I was going to cut it as short as Alissa Milano's shortest do. (About 1") He was appalled that I would even think of it. Most people are so attatched to their hair that the idea of having it short makes them sick, but to me, it's just hair. It won't change your character if you cut of a few locks. So, what do you think?

Words: Take 2

"Mama,"

"Yes, Jenna,"

"I love you! You're as beautiful as a summer blossom!"

That's just what I needed to hear today. I think it's amazing how kids just seem to know just what to say to keep you going when you need it the most. After an evening of contractions that were five minutes apart, but not strong enough to keep labor progressing, I was sent home from the hospital to labor at home. I'm feeling worn out now. I continued to have contractions for awhile after I got home and some this morning, but they had stopped by this afternoon. Now they've started again, but there slow. So all this to say, I love my children. They have brought me so much joy, especially at moments when I thought I couldn't take even one more step forward. I know that I'll have even more with another little one here to share our hearts, home and love. (Shiloh, any time you're ready, we want you to come out and see us.)

Babbling

At dinner:

Jenna: "Mom, I love shrimp! What's it made out of?"

Me: "Shrimp"

Jenna: "Shrimp is made out of Shrimp?!?!?!"

Me: "Yes, honey. Shrimp is a kind of animal you find in the water."

Jenna: "EEEEWWWW! That's gross! And we're eating it?" and she shovels another bite in her mouth. "Is shrimp, lobster?"

Me: "No."

Jenna: "Oh, good. I like shrimp."

Ashton and Jenna are fascinated by the falling shows: Dirty Jobs, Will Work for Food, Survivor Man, Man vs. Wild, Food Detectives. Needless to say, there is always something interesting to hear and say in our little three ring circus each day.

What the…?

It seems kids will pick up things from anywhere and at any time. Jenna's new thing is saying, "What the…?" to everything. Sometimes it's almost comical and others it's wearing. Ashton and Jenna have both been stuck on a certain Chipmunk song that I've never even heard. Apparently, their uncle Chris has a tape that he listens to and they heard it and love it. So now it's all Randall and I can do to not go insane when we hear, "Hey, Alvin do you want a banana? All I want is a Japanese banana…." I'm sure that the lyrics are coming out somewhat altered from the original as only a 6 and 3 year old can.

To totally change the subject, have you seen Madagascar 2? Well, Jenna earned enough money by saving from birthdays and Christmas to buy it the other day. Needless to say, the kids were eager to do almost any chore for a solid week in order to earn enough tokens to watch that movie several times…REPEATEDLY. There is this one part in the movie where Gloria, the hippo, is dancing with her potential mate, Moto-Moto. She asks him what it is that he likes about her (typical female curiosity) and he says, "Girl, you so plumpy." I've had that stuck in my head just as bad as the kids and their chipmunk song. And now, that I'm in that final inning stretch before the birth of Shiloh, I'm feeling quite clumsy and voluminous. So, every time that Randall tells me that I look hot or pretty or beautiful, it's all I can do not to say, "Girl, you so plumpy."

Words have power…