Japan's Next Top Model

Check it out, its Uncle Al on the posters displayed at a store in Japan.....he's big there with his "nice American body".....

Caught in the act!

My innocent little cherub.....



This is the same child that is usually fused to my leg, she is pretty resourceful when I am not around!

Pics

The Family shot

My girlies

DJ on his scooter

Uncle Al enjoying the scooter

Avery Grace

Emerson Mae

BFFs

Emmy-doodlebug and Baby Bella

separation anxiety

My baby girl loves me and I love her so much, but it is getting exhausting. She is almost 2 years old and there is not a moment in the day that I can be out of her sight for any reason. I try to slip beneath her radar to do something fun like grab a load of laundry, clear out the dishwasher or brush my teeth and she freaks. She screams full strength, her face beet red and tears flowing.....this is without an anticipatory buildup of course. I know that she just wants me to comfort her (which I do) and feel secure ....I get it....but it gets rough for both of us at times.
So my day has many moments of racing against Emmy's need to be with me incessantly and getting the basics done. I do include her in many of the tasks and I spend hours playing with and entertaining her and her sister.....but is it too much to want to blow through a couple of chores without a toddler clinging to my leg?!
Nothing seems to break her concentration on me, not her sister, not her brother, not her Daddy.......hell, even the TV fails to divert her awareness of my whereabouts, she is an unwavering little bean!
I though this would get easier......yeah, not happening.

This too shall pass, this too shall pass, this too shall pass.........

Reflecting

baby-girl can dance!

Faith

I truly believe that we are never far from our loved ones who have passed, I believe that their spirits stay close and we are either open or closed to the notion of communication.
Faith is strong if you trust in it.....to some it is an enigma.....I simply believe.
In stating that, I want to share a strange occurrence that I experienced.......
Friday night, I was getting Emmy ready for bed and playing with her in her room when a familiar scent passed by me, it was my Memere's perfume......she has been gone for 3 years. It was a concentrated, not subtle aroma that passed by me, and I immediately recognized the scent.
Initially, I was confused and looked to see if there was something that would have produced the smell and there was nothing, nothing.
I tried to make sense of it, but my belief is that she was there at that moment, letting me know that she is with me.
The smell of the perfume did not linger in the room, it did not diffuse away, it was just gone after a few seconds....but I felt peace knowing that she was there.

lol

Bring it....

A Multitasking Mom's Observations

4 year olds never, ever stop talking......neverrrrrrrrrrrr.

Almost 2 year olds have the ability to produce deafening sounds regardless of the basis.

One teenager requires more attention than a 4 year old and almost 2 year old.....together.

I have completely surrendered to the fact that I no longer have any personal space.

An almost 2 year old is capable of peeling off large strips of time-consumed, meticulously applied wallpaper, while this multitasking Mom thought child was napping quite nicely.

Never trust a calm, quiet moment....especially if the location of the children is questionable.

Laundry is an infection and I am the antibiotic......daily........forever.

Little kids are sooooooooo very bossy.

I can love, love, love these small people and at the same time want to auction them off on eBay.......

Goldfish and Cheerios laying dormant for months under the couch, (as they have eluded the the Dirty Dyson) to be found by an almost 2 year old, seem to be appetizing and luckily, not harmful to consume.

What takes me hours to clean and organise, takes the small people in my home minutes to happily conquer and destroy.

Children eat and poop nonstop.

Teenage boys eat every, single, thing in the house....I swear, even socks.

Sleeping in to 8:30 a.m. is a decadent luxury that is afforded to me by my loving husband, who is kind enough to sacrifice Sunday morning sleep.......which he does without any complaints.

My calendar is my lifeline.

I hate 5 pm.....witching hour.

I love 6:30-7pm....little ones' bedtimes.

I melt into a puddle after 8pm and become one with a blanket, the couch and mindless reality T.V.