spring, spring, favorite things

I haven't written a Friday Favorites post in a while. The days are so busy now that I don't have time to write much at all, but I find that when I begin the week with Friday Favorites in mind, I start to notice good things everywhere that I otherwise might have missed. Here are just a few.

Chunky baby legs in tiny athletic socks.

Flowers.

The hours of work spent clearing the roadside, so the daffodils would have a nice place to live.

Kindling gathered for next fall's first fires.

This boy, and his tiny baby cowlick.

This girl with her infectious smile.

A few touches of spring inside.

And my new favorite picture of Henry. I was going to save it for another post, but how could I? The round, rosy cheeks. The bright eyes! The lashes! I swoon.

Have a wonderful weekend.

friday favorites

Henry's doing really well on his tummy lately. He really gets his chest and shoulders up now.

Celia wanted Henry to get in bed with her this morning.

We're catching a glimpse of spring after the recent snow storm. Yesterday the temperature reached mid-sixties and most of the snow melted. These little gals survived under the snow just fine, we have some other bulbs coming up, and other plants are showing signs of life.

Henry and I went for a 2 mile walk.

When I picked Celia up from daycare yesterday, the kids were all dressed up and having a "tea party" for their snack. It was the first time I've ever seen Spiderman, Cinderella, a flower and a fire fighter sharing a meal together. On top of it, they had green spots all over their faces, hands and feet because a leprechaun had left footprints on them during their naps :)

snowy evening

It took until March 1st for any snow to stick here. Almost a whole winter with no snow. Every time we had a flurry, Celia would ask "Will it be enough to play in?" The snow pants and mittens spent most of the winter in the closet, with a little girl just waiting and waiting to use them.

Yesterday we finally had some. I promised Celia that morning that she could play in the snow later in the day. Late afternoon came, and when we got home it would have been so much easier to just say no. It would have been easier to have her watch a tv show while I got Henry to sleep and made supper. But, I knew how she had been waiting and waiting for that snow. How much fun it would be for her to go out to play, and how much fun for me to watch her. With pasta water on the stove and a tired baby struggling to fall asleep in his stroller, I brought Celia to the front hall. We put on her snow pants, her coat, her boots. She showed me how she can now put the mittens on, thumbs in thumb holes, all by herself. And as evening fell, I let her play in the snow. I knew dinner would eventually get made. The baby, somehow, would nap. The snow wouldn't last long. This was her chance.

She went gingerly down the icy front steps. She looked back at me for reassurance. I nodded. She flopped in the snow, crawled and rolled in it, and made an angel. She stood up, lost her balance, and flopped again. She gathered a handful and tried to pack a snowball. Chris arrived home. We got out the sleds. I started cooking supper and got Henry to sleep. I watched out the window as they played and took sled rides as the evening thickened.

I called them in for supper. Celia was happy, red-cheeked, cold, and asked for hot cocoa with her spaghetti. I let her have it, of course. This was a once in a year event.

celia's friday favorites

Thought I'd link up with Rachel's Friday Favorites today. And this is, literally, just about favorites. It's a rainy/snowy morning, and by some miracle I put Henry down for a nap and he fell asleep and stayed asleep all by himself (still sleeping 2 hours later!!), so I had plenty of time to play with Celia this morning. She found a Toys R Us flyer and wanted to look at the pictures and rip some out, so we got out more flyers and an old magazine and started finding pictures to make a book.

A book of Celia's favorite things...

I'm not very crafty. Luckily, all we need is a little ripping, cutting and glueing and Pita's happy as can be.

She wanted me to take a picture of her reading the book when it was done.

What were some of her favorites?
Chicken
Raspberries
Blueberries
Strawberries
Blackberries
(Yes, she really likes berries)
Orange Juice
Swings
Slides
Sandbox
Tricycle
Markers and Paper
Play Dough

Friday Favorites by Celia, at age 3.

this friday is a favorite

Pita and I had a nice day today. I'd say the entire day can be considered my Friday Favorite. It's not every day that we have a relaxed, easy and fun day. Celia was in a great mood all day and so well-behaved. She slept a little later than usual this morning and also had a long nap, so maybe she was just extra well-rested. We got all ready and went to music class, and stopped for a few things at the grocery store on the way home. When we got home, Pita asked to use some glue. She is really getting into arts and crafts lately, and the simplest little projects keep her occupied for a long time. Today I also took out a little pair of scissors and she practiced cutting a strip of paper, then glueing the pieces we cut onto a large piece of paper. We also tore up pieces of a catalog and she glued them to paper. Celia had a great nap, did even more glueing, and then wanted to watch one of her shows and have a snack. While she was doing that, Chris came home early to take her out to dinner! Blub and Pita haven't been able to spend as much time together as they used to, with him being busy with his new job. So, he decided to take her out on a little dinner date :).

Someone was excited for a special dinner with Daddy.

Meanwhile, I stayed home and had a big plate of salad and homemade vegan mac and cheese while watching the news. It was so nice. Also? This mac and cheese is so good- you would never know it didn't have dairy in it. I'm pretty sure I could fool anyone with this recipe.

And just when you think a Friday couldn't get any better? I made vegan pumpkin pie cinnamon rolls today. These certainly aren't health food, but I really like to make and freeze them to have around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'm glad I found the time to do it today, before the new guy is born.

Oh, yummy! Pregnant girls are allowed unlimited cinnamon buns, right?

Better get some of these in the freezer before they've all been eaten...

Tonight Chris and I are going over labor/childbirth related stuff after Celia goes to bed. Looking forward to getting everything finalized and really feeling ready for the new guy to arrive!

childhood magic

Just a few Friday Favorites today... When one is two and a half, every season brings new and exciting things. So often these days, I have the pleasure of watching Celia's little face light up with joy as she sees or does something different. Life is a magical thing.

Snow
The first snow was last night. It's just a dusting and us grown-ups aren't so excited about it, but somebody was. A little girl stood at the window last night, marveling at the falling snow. She ran back there this morning to check. "It's still snowy!" She ran to find her rain boots, since we haven't gotten snow clothes yet.

I've never seen anyone so excited about a dusting of snow.

Little Girls in Costumes
We have a busy day with two Halloween parties today. This is the first year Celia really understands and enjoys Halloween-related things, and she loves to play dress-up.

The Fabulousness of the Birthday Suit
Celia and I often take showers together. Every time we get her clothes all off she stands in the middle of the bathroom, holds her arms up, and gleefully exclaims "I'm naked!" If I looked that cute in my birthday suit, I'd probably be pretty happy about it too :)

i love her

My hair is frizzy. My clothes are ill-fitting and I feel unattractive. I have a dried up smear of canned pumpkin on my shirt. The mascara I put on this morning (to feel more put together) is smudged under my eye. Every time I look at the kitchen floor, new crumbs have sprung up to replace the ones I just removed. This day will be long and I will spend it all with a 2-year-old. My husband won't be home until nearly her bedtime. There were times this morning that were strenuous exercises in patience and self control. Moments when I had to stay calm, refrain from raising my voice too loud, set an example, and follow through on discipline. We had good moments too: raking leaves and playing in them, having a great time together in music class, making green eggs and ham for her lunch... But my, we are in a trying season right now. Celia does everything she can to push my buttons. I'm prepared that it may get worse before it gets better, with a new sibling on the way.

This is not a glamorous way to live. It's no Desperate Housewives episode. With school age kids, I'll bet this gets easier. But with young kids? Being a stay-at-home mom isn't an easy job. And that's the job I've signed up for, full time for the first time, from November until at least next September. And I'm ready. Despite the challenges of this stage of toddlerhood, I've been a mother for almost three years and finally feel competent and confident enough that I know I can stay home with my kids and do a darn good job of it. I know that every stage is just a stage. None of them last long. And with the challenges come wonderful things at all of those stages. And if I can be the one at home with them, guiding them through, watching them grow and learn about the world? And if they turn out to be happy, well-behaved, smart, well-adjusted kids because of how I've loved and guided them? For me, at this time in my life, there could be no greater accomplishment. If I were working outside the home, our kids would still turn out wonderfully. But this year something has changed, and my job outside of home is not, other than the paycheck, one worth working. There's a very good reason why staying home for ten months is the best decision I could have made. It's been tugging at my heart (and sometimes at my pant leg) every morning as I leave for another job that isn't fulfilling in the least. The reason is in the pictures I had to remove from my office desk, because seeing them just made me sad.

It's because despite the difficult stage we're in and how frequently she tests me, this little person is still the cutest, sweetest, smartest, most fantastic little person in the whole world.

There is nothing better than teaching her, cooking with her, playing games with her, taking her to new places, having a conversation with her. There is nothing better than climbing into her bed and snuggling with her, seeing her eyes light up with excitement when we read stories together, being the person she wants to be with above all others. Feeling her arms wrap around my neck, and hearing her little voice: Mommy, I love you.

No difficult stage could ever make me forget how wonderful it is to be her mother. I have never experienced anything as overwhelming as my love is for her. Now? I get to do this again, for a second time with a second baby. I'm about to be doubly overwhelmed.

I don't plan to be a martyr. There will be long days when I haven't slept, the baby is fussy and crying, Celia wants all my attention, and I want to pull my hair out. There will be days when I long for a break, drop them off at daycare, and breathe a sigh of relief as I arrive home to a quiet house. Hopefully on those days, I'll remember to look back at posts like this one, and I'll regain some perspective. In fact, maybe one of you could send me a quick reminder tonight around dinner time, when I'm exhausted and my husband still isn't home from work and somebody's refusing dinner and throwing food on the floor ;)

So this week, my Friday Favorite is her. The most beautiful, smart, funny, exhausting, exasperating, wonderful little girl I've ever met.

friday favorites again!

Just this week I've started feeling...not so great. I'm tired, big, swollen, my feet hurt, back and hip joints hurt, and my pelvic floor might just fall out at any moment. I've started to wonder how I can make it for seven or eight more weeks like this. I'm glad we still have some time to get more prepared, but it's a little rough right now.

Despite not feeling my best, there are of course good things too. This week I'm glad...

...that even though they don't fit on my swollen fingers, I'll have these waiting for me when they'll finally fit again.

...that there was no school yesterday, so I got a much needed day off from work.

...that while I didn't get the rest I probably should have, I did get more freezer meals made yesterday.

...that I've wanted to revamp the bedrooms before the baby arrives, and got some new bedding for our room yesterday. Our old quilt, which is still perfectly nice, is a nice match for the guest room so I moved it in there. Big improvement from the one I had there before, that I never liked.

...that when I went to the guest room to take a picture of that bed, I found this:

...that next will be hiding the beat up master bedroom windows with some curtains, if I can find some inexpensive ones. We have four windows in there- that means a lot of panels and hardware to buy, just for one room. 

...that our neighbors are coming for dinner on Sunday... and that not only have we gotten to move into this beat-up house we always loved so much, we have lovely people to befriend right next door.

...that after battling to get Celia out of the house this morning (terrible twos at their finest), I ended up with some awfully cute pictures of her on the front steps. She wanted to pretend she was going to school.

I planned to wait until she was four to start preschool, but we may have to start at three instead!

friday favorites

This is the first time I've linked up with Rachel's Friday Favorites. I always enjoy those posts, so why not join in? Here are some of the little things I stopped to appreciate this week.

• That Chris received a strong offer and accepted a new job! He has wanted to leave his job for a long time but he was patient and waited for the right moment, and he's now moving on to a better position with a large and successful company.

•  How sweet Celia is first thing in the morning. When I go in her room to get her up, she's often wide awake, "hiding" under the covers waiting for me. Yesterday I leaned down into her bed, and she put her hand on my cheek and just left it there, gazing into my eyes and smiling. Best moment of the day. 

         Then she wanted to "be cozy" with her blanket while she watched Caillou in her pajamas :)

•  The beginnings of a freezer stash of homemade food for after the baby's born, and having a chest freezer in which to store it all.

•  That I'm home with Celia today, and that we have her music class to go to. The fall semester has started and it's a nice activity for us, especially on rainy days like this one.

• This sign by the scale at the midwife's office. 

• That the baby's room is painted, and I've started washing things and putting them in their places.