Do you ever have one of those moments? You look at your child and suddenly they are not the same person they were yesterday. They not only look different, but they sound a bit older, carry themselves more assuredly. My two year old has done that to me several times as of late, but Seleia has really overwhelmed me lately. How is my baby a young woman already? With her 10th birthday fast approaching, the ear piercing rite-of-passage on the horizon, and plans for no less than a roller skating party, I find myself sitting back and taking it all in. She just got here, and she could be halfway to having a family of her own! I don't want to take a single second for granted. For the next 18 days, I still have a 9 year old. Oh, how I love her.

Buggy Buggy Birthday Cake

For Amarra's Buggy Birthday party she put in a special request for some very "buggy" cake. (I tried to talk her into cake from the bakery, but when the answer is, "But Mom, your cake tastes so much better!", what can you possibly say?) We made chocolate cake for the "dirt" and some green whipped cream/cream cheese frosting with green "sparkles" for the grass. Amarra giggled and giggled as she and I placed the bugs ( two packs of plastic bus from the dollar store) all over the cakes. She then ever so graciously took the time to tell me what each and every bug was. (Mmmm, cockroach frosting.) Some people laughed their heads off when they saw the cakes, a few said, "Ewwww!", but everyone gobbled it up, bugs or no bugs! Amarra was simply in heaven. And really, that's all that counts.

All Gussied Up

For her birthday, Joel's parents took Seleia to see an on-stage performance of one of her favorite movies: White Christmas! She had so much fun, and even got to go for dinner at her favorite restaurant to boot! For a special treat I let her wear a hint of eyeshadow, a touch of blush, and some shimmer lip balm. Suddenly I had a young lady standing in front of me.....wasn't she eight a couple of days ago??

Happy Birthday To You

Seleia Vaughn finished her ninth trip around the sun today! She wore her birthday crown everywhere we went and beamed from ear to ear. My favorite quote of the day...other than the 35 "you are the BEST!" exclamations, of course...was, "I'm just so overflowing with joy I think I'm going to explode!!"

We love you, young lady, more than anything.

Happy, happy ninth birthday, Seleia!! And many more!

Beauty School

OH SO MANY pictures of beaming little ladies being pampered and feeling beautiful! For Emma's 11th birthday (Which I can't get over because I swear just yesterday she was 3 years old!) her mother had a stroke of genius and held her party at Elite School of Beauty. Hairdos and pretty nails for everybody! There were curls and glitter galore by the time these beaming girls were through.  Amarra wasn't sure at first, but then finally consented to getting her hair done if I stayed by her and, and she kept her (security) sunglasses on. By the time they needed to take the shades off she was having a grand ol' time, with 2 girls working on her hair and gushing about how gorgeous it was. Even Dash had fun playing footsie with Elora until Emma decided to take him for a walk around the salon and turn him into a bit of a party mascot. He kinda liked that, too.
For her birthday I made Miss Emma a fun little adjustable apron, and was pleased that it was a hit. She looked ever so fabulous, sporting it for the rest of the party. (And Shonna had fun bonding with Dashiell.  Best way to win over a baby and make him come to you? Give him a bite of cake every time he does. It was terrible and hilarious all rolled into one.)

Happy birthday, Emma!  We love you!

Big D's First Cake

Dashiell's first birthday evening was so much fun. I wouldn't have thought it possible, but apparently one can get drunk off of organic gluten free chocolate cake. Seriously, look at the kid.  He was hilarious. My favorite was the, "No WAY!  They put fire on my food!" Expression as we sang "Happy Birthday" (Thanks, Mildred and Patty Hill!) and cheered him on. Then we all indulged in our favorite pastime for a while: watch the baby. Always entertaining. I can't believe my little man is a whole year old! We love you Dashiell!

Elora and the Slip n' Slide

For those of you who may not know, little Miss Elora can be very....well, enthusiastic. (She will either be President or an aerobics instructor. Seriously.) When she met the giant Slip and Slide at a friend's party recently she could not get enough. She ignored the cake.  She ignored the candy.  She ignored the games. She didn't want to miss one glorious second of sliding down a hill on a giant sheet on 6 ml. plastic. (Note to self: next year don't buy a Slip n' Slide-ours barely got used- go to the Home Depot and buy a roll of plastic sheeting.  Who knew?). She organized slip and slide games and got entire groups of kids going in lines while holding hands. There were tangles of kids all running and going together at her instruction. General hilarity ensued. Ahhh, simple pleasures.

Happy Birthday...To ME!

This has been an amazing year. The last month has, so many times, reminded us of how blessed we are. Thinking about how different this summer is from last one....how Dashiell and I are alive and well, and NOT in the hospital. (And no surgeries so far this year, woohoo!) All of those not-so-little things that get so easily taken for granted in the day to day. Those things are really what matter. Last year was really such a blur to me (they kept me pretty well drugged) but it was basically the longest year of my husband's life. Single dadhood to three little girls, just trying to hold everything together....he has more than once this summer told me how overwhelmed and grateful he is to have us all with him. And really, that is the greatest gift of all, to have my family together. (Though the flowers, presents and tickets are pretty nice, too!)
My goals for 35 were pretty simple: Stay alive. Keep baby alive. Be able to lift own head again someday.
This year I am blessed to be able to want more for 36. My goals?
 Relax. Let the things go that I can't change anyway!
 Enjoy my children more. No more of this stressing over "playing catch-up" from last year.
 Laugh more readily.
 Love more openly.
Go on more dates with my husband!
Take it easy on myself. I'm only human after all. (Though the fact that Joel and the kids seem to think I have a few superpowers is still pretty cool.)
Breathe. Enjoy the journey...I only get to do it once!
So I know I've mentioned I'm not overly thrilled about this being closer to 40 than 30 business, but in reality? I'm just thrilled to be here. So no major introspection, nothing too profound from me this year. Just the simple facts: Life is good. Now I'm going to go live it.

Happy Birthday Joel!

I love my husband! Today we get to celebrate this wonderful man. The girls were so excited...they handmade some gifts and painted some pictures for his locker at work and planned to get up early and surprise him with these while I made birthday waffles for breakfast. (They snuck in early this morning, "Mom, don't forget Daddy's birthday!") Now everyone is working hard to help me make a "turkey feast" for dinner, when we will celebrate with wonderful friends. They cake is ready, the gifts are being wrapped.....the excitement is contagious as the princesses prepare to celebrate King Daddy. Happy, happy birthday, Joel!  We love you!

The Ice Cream Party

Ice Cream is such a fun party theme, I must say!!  Everyone had seconds (some of the parents had thirds, fourths..) from the ice cream bar and we had pretty much every topping you could think of.  Gallons of ice cream were consumed, and nobody was shy about it!  We all had a lovely time celebrating Miss Elora's seventh year!  She loved her gifts, loved her friends, loved her pinata (which she has requested I put pictures of on the blog, so you'll get to see some of the action!). Good times had by all!!!  We love Elora Kay!