Why God Made Little Girls...

Okay, so there are many other, less superficial reasons, but just LOOK at this outfit:





That is all.

Evidence

I love finding "evidence" of the girls. Abandoned little socks, lone Cheerios, block towers, scattered color crayons. As I walk around the house after they are tucked in and all is quiet, I inevitably will find small reminders that will make me smile.

The bottom of the stairs:


Who doesn't love itty bitty jeans?


Little shoes taken off by the door:


Baby having a snack in front of the coat closet. These warm my heart the most, because they are reminders of Kaitlyn's growing imagination.


These are things that I don't notice until I'm tyding up. Half of the dollhouse furniture has been stacked on the roof. Why? I'm sure it made perfect sense at the time...


Some would call it clutter. I'm learning to accept it as evidence of a house that is lived in. :-)

Happy.

Now that we have our new bedroom furniture (have I mentioned that to anyone yet? ;)), I have been busy decorating. I found the birdies on sale at Target, and got canvases and paint at Michael's. These are hanging above our bed:



I am having a great time with some small projects, and avoiding bigger ones. (Think yardwork, more garage organizing, and others along those lines.) This is much more fun!

Fun With Paige

Travis, Kara, and Paige came over for a playdate this weekend, and I think the girls had too much fun. Paige and Kaitlyn are almost three months apart. It was quite the scene to watch/listen to them all night! :-) There was... Doll-playing:

MISCHIEF! We should have realized that they were too quiet...they emptied every.single.item out of Austen's drawers. Oh well, looks like they had fun doing it!

What I imagine they are thinking: Kaitlyn "Oh, hey Mom." Paige, not having noticed that they've been caught: "Hey Kaitlyn, this looks like it would fit that doll I had earlier."

Kaitlyn: "Ohh nooo...I hope we don't get trouble!" Paige: "Well, this one would be really cute on her, too...what do you think?"

Crib jumping (Kaitlyn wearing evidence from the room-trashing, and they did get in there on their own):

Checking out Toy Story 3:

This next sequence of pictures took place between about 9:30 and 10:30 p.m., when delirium had set in. Shrieking, giggling, somersaults, booty-shaking, circle-running, etc.:

This would be Paige's booty shaking:

Water break:

Jeff dragging them on a sleeping bag:

Kara wanted a turn, too ;-)

And so ends my spring break...can't wait till summer! :-)

Austen's One Year Stats

Height: 29.5 inches (61%) Weight: 22lbs. 10 oz. (74%)

Better When We're Together

****I fully, 100% stole this post title from a good friend...it just seemed so perfect for some recent pictures of the girls. :-) (Thanks, Jenn!) Oh, how these sisters have grown to love each other. They are just recently starting to have more and more fun together, and Kaitlyn seems to have taken more of a nurturing, "Hey, this sister thing is kinda fun" approach to Austen. Yes, of course there is still pushing, trouble sharing, etc., but it's so much fun watching them together. My spring break has been full of girl time, and I've appreciated every minute of it...even when we went into Kaitlyn's room after a nap to hear her say, "I dropped my poo-poo!" I'll leave that story at that. ;-) Here are just a few pictures from our week: This seems a bit backwards, but Austen pushes Kaitlyn around on this toy: Little stinkers like to turn the TV on and off. Riley is usually in on it, too.

Oh wait, Riley is just there for the snacks.

Happy Friday!

It's the Little Things...

Today, my very own little girl sat so still and patient while I braided her hair. I have been looking forward to this for as long as I can remember. :-) I don't know if it's being a mom, or simply silly inspirational quotes that have come my way over the past few years, but I am realizing more and more that life is what you make it. No one, major occurence is what is going to make us all the way happy. I truly believe that the best thing we can do is to learn to find happiness in daily happenings, and in small things, otherwise we will spend our whole life waiting for that "thing" that is going to make us complete. Stop waiting! Embrace what you have, and depend on yourself for happiness, not everyone else. We have one life to live, and we may as well enjoy it. :-) Wake up each day, and before letting the negative overtake you, remind yourself of the positive - it's so powerful (even John Tesh says so! ;-)). Thinking negatively is a habit, and habits are hard to break. Force positivity, and it will become your new habit. Don't worry about what you cannot change, and save your strength for what you can (and then DO IT!). Learn to let things go. Create a balance between housework and what "needs" to be done, and fun and relaxation. I'm not perfect, and I have a long ways to go, but I am finding that the more I let the negative in (venting is my big "work-on" - I can't even let myself start or it gets out of control!), the less I remember about all of the good in life. Anyone who knows me very personally knows that I still need to work on letting things go, but I'm making progress. Disclaimer: This is not in response to anything going on in my life, but only a result of being on break from work and having too much time to reflect. ;-)