30 Days of Thankfulness {Day 17}

Today  I am thankful for
-conversations with a mom-friend at church that blessed and encouraged us both in this hard mothering job of pre-teens and teens.
- getting to surprise our girlies by fulfilling S/R's big birthday request of getting her ears pierced! What a memorable experience for all of us. They both did so well. S/R was 1st  and was quite surprised at how much it hurt to get it done. Thankfully, we had a great girl doing it and she saw the panic on S/R's face and was quick to finish the other ear. O. did amazing! She was surprisef at how little it hurt, compared to what she had anticipated. I'm so glad I was able to be right there to hold their hands and encourage them. My big girls!
I'm still so surprised at how much the earrings changed O. She looks so much older and grown up now. She came to me in the evening and said, "Mommy, I just walked past my mirror in my room and I didn't even recognize myself with my hair in a ponytail and my ears pierced! I look so much older!" And I totally agree. She does. She's such a gorgeous girl, it's beautiful and painful to see her look so grown-up!
It didn't change S/R at all though. She's still just her adorable cute self. I was so tickled by her. This day was the worst day by far of the canker sore in her mouth hurting her. She hadn't smiled or laughed all day and was very solemn faced. So much so that M. and I were starting to get pretty worried about her by the middle of the afternoon. She's such a smiley girl. We had gotten home from the whole ear piercing after church experience and M. and I were cooking lunch for the kids when we heard an ear-splitting scream come from the bathroom. We both stared at each other and M. asked "Is that a good scream or a bad scream? I can't tell." "I'm not sure either," I said. I headed to the bathroom, dreading what I was going to find, and I poked my head around the door and said, "S/R! Are you ok???" She looked up at me, completely solemn and non-smiling, "Oh yes momma. I'm just so excited that I got my ears pierced and you know I've got to just give a little scream of excitement every now and then to let it out." Apparently, it doesn't hurt as much to scream as it does to grin ear-to-ear. :)
- today is the 12th anniversary of M. asking me to marry him. I'm ever so thankful that he did!
- S/R's comment on the way home from AWANA. "Is God going to be there when we get to heaven? Well, I'm glad he is! Cause I'm going to run up and give him a great big hug and tell him how much I love him when I see him!"

30 Days of Thankfulnes {Day 10}

Today I am thankful for:
getting up early
new ideas
remembering 10 on 10
lots of help from my family
cupcakes turning out so much better than I had hoped
getting to take a shower by myself and not having to worry about the kids
a scrubbed clean porch
party details coming together easily
being {mostly}ready for the party before everyone arrived
a birthday party that went off without a hitch
one very happy little girl who's birthday we celebrated early today
polka dots
red, white, and turquoise
striped paper straws
yummy cake
cutely decorated gingerbread houses all lined up in rows
Sadie-Rose's very closest friends coming to spend the afternoon with her
smiles on everyone's faces

3 weeks

So hard to believe that Sadie~Rose has been with us for three weeks now. She has become such an integral part of our lives and I'm not sure how we got along without her before she made her arrival. Never have we had so much joy and love in our household. It's amazing what one little child can do. Not wanting to forget anything, I wanted to write down some of our {her}
highlights from the past three weeks.

~by the grand old age of three days, Sadie~Rose's 1st tooth was already thru and shining. {No, I'm not kidding and I have a picture to prove it!}
~had our 1st bath when she was three days old. She loved it.

~Marmee and Aunt Violet came on day four to take care of us.

~Our 1st outing was when she was 10 days old. We went to the library book sale. And then Christmas shopping at Tuesday Morning. She did wonderful.

~ Also at 10 days old, we put up our Christmas tree and mommy put all the lights on by herself {which put her back in bed for most of the next day.}

~ When our midwife came over on day 10 {yes, Sadie~Rose's 10th day of life was extremely busy!} to do her PKU test, she weighed 8 lbs and 4 oz. She had gained 1 lb and 4 oz in 10 days! I was so proud of her. :)

~Around this time, we started getting to sleep for 4 straight hours at night. Praise God!

~Aunt Violet could get Sadie~Rose to sleep any time, anywhere while she was here. It was amazing.

~Marmee and Aunt Violet went home when she was two weeks old. Leaving Mommy in charge of two little girl's all by herself. {we've all survived!}

~Sadie~Rose had a terrible bout with gas the night that she was 14 days old. Non-stop crying and screaming from 7 pm until midnight. Never was I so glad to hear someone pass gas.

~Meme and Grandpa came to visit us when she was 15 days old.

~We took our first trip to Mount Pleasant and Whole Foods grocery store when she was 16 days old. The child is a born shopper. Just like her sister, her mom, her aunts, her grandmother, and her great grandmother. :)

~We took her to "The Singing Christmas Tree" that night and she behaved wonderfully. Her big sister on the other hand....

~Our 1st time back to church and Sadie~Rose was 17 days old. She slept through the intro, the Praise and Worship, the announcements, and the drama but woke up when Pastor Mike started talking and decided she was hungry. We spent the rest of the service in the nursery, catching up with friends {and feeding the baby of course.} We had a blast showing her off to all of our friends.

~Ate out at Panera Bread and went shopping at Sam's after church. She did great and we even ran into some friends and got to show her off even more.

~We celebrated Christmas with Meme and Grandpa when she was17 days old.

~On day 19 she decided it was time to start smiling. So, now we get smiles, if we talk to her just right. Oh, and she;s starting to "talk" to us as well. So much sweetness in such a little body.

~At 19 days old, we took her out shopping again, yes, again. Earth Fare and World Market. She decided to eat while at World Market. Mommy got to sit in the van. :)

~Her favorite time of the day is early morning, around 7 am. It's usually just her, mommy, and daddy. She'll lay in bed between us and look around with her big wide eyes and wave her hands and "talk" to us. Taking everything in. Smiling. Makes my heart want to burst.

~Three weeks old to the day, we had Meme take our picture for our Christmas cards. Sadie~Rose did not want to cooperate. Neither did Olivia. There are some rough pictures in the bunch, but a few good ones too. {funny little side note: both of my girls wore outfits that Chelle got for them. How cute is that?}

~Three weeks old and one day-Meme and Grandpa headed back to Oklahoma and Daddy went back to work. Mommy is left alone with two little girls...again. {We're doing good!}

Things I love about this little Rose:

~the soft baby fuzz on her ears, her back, and her shoulders

~the way she'll give you a half cocked grin when you kiss her on the cheek

~how she follows her sister around the room with her eyes, you can already tell that she adores her~the way she snuggles with her daddy and cries when he goes out of her line of sight

~watching her "peck" for her dinner {or breakfast, or lunch, or anytime snack} when she's really hungry

~how her chin and bottom lip quiver when she's upset

~her "startle" reflex

~how she likes to rub her tongue on her tooth when she's not finding anything interesting to look at

~how she scrunches up in a ball to sleep on my lap

~the sound of her "purring" while she nurses, the sweetest sound on earth

~her sweet little nose

~how she always gives a little kick at the end of a big big yawn

~how she sighs in her sleep

~the way she looks around, so bright eyed and inquisitive

~when she forms her mouth into a perfect little "o" and you can just hear the thoughts in her brain. Oh! she says.

~her fingers, so sweet and delicate. I love to kiss them

~how she likes to dance to music and bounce on the birthing ball when she has the hiccups

~her looking right up at my eyes while she's eating

~the sight of her little mouth, all milky after she falls asleep and let's go. Once in awhile, you'll catch her with a big grin. So satisfied.