Ffree Years Old!

My Squirrel, my Squirrel!  Today you are "ffree" years old!  And I love you more and more with each passing day.  

You are a gentle soul - sweet and nurturing.  You take my face in your hands and quietly say, "I love you Mommy.  You're my sweet girl."  You love your little brother and like to whisk him from room to room, "Come on little Cito.  You're my little lovie."  

Your shy to the outside world, cautious and careful.  You analyze each situation before trusting that it is the right move.  I can see your little brain at work, weighing all outcomes before you take each step.  At home you are giggly, silly, and 100% three years old.  You can be so funny!  You spin and twirl, "Look at me Daddy!  I'm spinnnnnnnning!"

You live in a little world of wonder.  I hear you back in your room, lost in your thoughts and in full conversations with yourself.  You will sing and dance, imagine and dream for hours on end.  

Your little buddy T-Rex is still a must have and must be wrapped in Soft Blanket each night to sleep by your side.  You are slowly turning from dinosaurs to princesses but a brachiosaurus or a diplodocus will still catch your eye.  Sweet girl, you would spend hours lost in a pile of dress up clothes and accessories if I let you.  You have a definite opinion about your fashion.  Most days, you insist on wearing a "fancy dress" but you have your favorite Thomas "panties" underneath that fancy dress.  And shoes?  Most shoes these days, whether a flip-flip, a croc or a jelly, are "glass slippers" and your red Mary Jane is preferred over all others.  

There are times I can catch a glimpse of you at 12, at 16, at 21, and I love who I see in your future.  But for now, my sweet girl, stay in your world of fairies and dreams.  Cling to your innocence and your three-year-old self.  These days will be gone all too soon and they make your momma weepy.  

I love you my little Squirrel!  "Do you know how much I love you?"....."Soooooo much!"   Happy 3rd to you Harper Meabon!

Honey Hijacking - Happy Birthday

Today is my birthday so you should all fully expect a Honey Hijacking Post.  And here she goes....

Preface: Brooke is never happy when I write a highjacking post about her. I tell her, kindly, that if I have taken the time to write a post it would be tacky of her not to post it.

Thus, Happy 33rd Birthday Boogie!!!

Thirty-three years ago today I was a mere 26 years old, we had Brent, 19 months and I had gone to the hospital twice already in false labor. Brooke was about 10 days past her due date and finally after about 18 hours of induction my labor began and one, yes I said ONE hour later there she was...TADA, I had a l girl, well I had a 9 lb. 2 oz. little girl!

Boog was such a happy baby. Legend (and it is legend) has it that I dropped her off at Mother’s Day Out on the way home from the hospital. What an exaggeration!  Brooke was 2 weeks old when she entered MDO. I had made sure I was president of our church’s little MDO program just to ensure my precious darlings would have a place to go so I could well, breathe!

So Brooke grew and she grew, mainly because after breastfeeding for about 6 months I put her on formula. I poured that thick creamy formula straight out of that Similac can in to that bottle and down it went. Easy peasy Brooke was sleeping, happy and fat! Then one day several months later I happened to look down and glance at the label...there it was CONCENTRATE oops!

Brooke has always been fearless. We spend most of our summer days at the country club swimming pool. In Midland, many of the young moms were members and we would gather at the pool for hours and hours in the sun. Sunscreen, well no, not really, instead one summer I decided to squirt Sun-In in Boogie’s hair not only turning it white but soon after a lovely shade of green. At two years I looked up one day and found Brooke standing on the HIGH diving board yelling proudly, “Mommy watch me!” Lifeguards and I jumped into place and Boog boldly bounded with a little splat into those deep waters. At 4 years she was standing on her tip toes to make the height requirement to ride the Mine Train Roller Coaster, Brooke was indomitable!

On the other hand, I know it might be hard to believe, but Brooke was a very shy child. Adults at church would speak to my little toddler and she would stick her head under my dress. She sang in the church angel choir and at 3 years would stand in front of the entire congregation not singing but stuffing her dress in her IC ruffled panties. When asked why she answered, she didn’t know what else to do, all those people were too scary.

It wasn’t until Bowie Elementary School in Midland, Tx that Brooke came out of her shell. As hard as I had tried to entice my little girl to be less inhibited little did I know the answer lay in Christie Van Husen. Christie was Brooke’s friend, she was well- mannered, polite like you have never seen polite, her smile lit up the classroom and teachers loved her. Brooke, having a bit of a competitive nature, had an ah ha moment and realized if she turned into a Christie she too might find favor in those who were influential. So overnight Brooke became an outgoing, vivacious, well over achiever, and she did it well. With her Sally Jesse Raphael big red glasses (they were adult size, but she would have nothing to do with the child size version-always a bit of a fashionista) Brooke began winning the hearts of those around her. She would be the lead in a play, she would sing solos in church (I never knew she could sing until I saw her performance), she would write essays and win city contests in the GT program, she was voted queen at Camp Longhorn when she was 12 and wore her crown on top of her backward baseball cap. My sweet girl was becoming a person I could never imagine being. I was so proud of her accomplishments and so thankful for the graciousness of the way she dealt with her failures. It’s an amazing thing when you realize that your children have gifts that are far greater than anything you have within yourself, it’s a wonderful gift.

Fast forward to the present, I tell Brooke often that I’m sorry I was not the mother to her and Brent that she is to Harper and Harris. I am so proud when I see my daughter discipline her children with such firm love and love them so tenderly and teach them the things that they are interested in, instead of the things she finds interest in.

I am thankful that she and Jared have such a sound and fun relationship. Their love and laughter bubbles over into their children, it is a joy to watch.

I could go on and on but I’m afraid if I did Brooke would begin delete my praises, so I will end here by saying I am thankful for my daughter. She has stood by our sides these last difficult 5 years and there is never a day that she is not there for me. God gifted me with two of the most incredible human beings and today I celebrate my baby girl’s life.

I wish you the Happiest of Birthdays Boogie...

With much love, Mom 

A birthday letter

Harris,

You are one!  This last year has flown by and it's hard to imagine life before you joined the world.  You have made our little clan a true family.  With you in our lives, our little world feels more complete.  

You are busy, busy, busy!  You are always on the go and love to get out and explore.  But on the same note, you play hard until you just crash.  You are affectionate, giving hugs and kisses out all of the time.  And you love to be around people.  It's not often that a new face causes you to cry.  It typically delights you to meet new people and be able to interact with them.  When we're out to dinner, you spend most of the time turned around in your chair trying to get the attention of the people around you.

You are a little ham!  You crack yourself up and will do things just to try to get a laugh out of someone.  If you're successful, you'll do it over and over again just to see someone laughing.  

And you are happy - all smiles and giggles.  You know what you want and if you don't get your way, you have perfected throwing your body down on the ground.  But it doesn't last long before something else has caught your attention and you're off again.

You love a toilet.  I think you could drop things in the potty all day long just to see what happens.  And Rooney bears the brunt of your poking and prodding most days.  You're still after that cat but, alas, no success as of yet.  

You are my little snuggle bug and I love you with all of my heart.  Thank you for your joy, your smiles and brightening my day when life gets blue.

I love you sweet boy!

Mommy

Harris Turns One!

 

Harris turned one on Saturday and to celebrate, we had a small group of friends and family over for a monster birthday party.  Harris is cursed with a Spring Break birthday so our group was intimate but perfect for the night.  We celebrated with pizza and cake and the rain cleared off just in time for everyone to hang out on the patio and for the kids to play outside.

Harris LOVED his birthday cake.  The kid really does have a sweet tooth!  

And while I did have fun with the decorations, getting sick the week before his party definitely limited what I did - but it was a good thing.  Overboard is not always better!  But stupidly, I managed to walk away from the night without taking any pictures of the decorations.  Honey was smart enough to snap a picture of the cake just as I started cutting into it.  Oh well!

Thank you to our friends and family (especially Uncle James and Kerry who came in from Pittsburgh!) who came to celebrate our sweet boy's first year!

Birthday Breakfast Extravaganza

So what do you do when you have an August birthday and live in Texas?  You find creative ways to celebrate while maintaining a cool internal temperature.  This year's birthday festivities for the big T-W-O consisted of a birthday breakfast party.  We invited friends over to watch The Lion King, read books, make Fruit Loop necklaces, get their faces painted and stuff themselves full of breakfast goodness.  If you asked Harper who she was coming to her birthday party, she would usually start with "Mommy, Daddy, Honey, Grandy, Grammie, Brent, Katy Perry, Field, Merritt...."  Yes, you caught that right.  Harper was convinced that Katy Perry, the singer, was invited to her birthday party.  Just in case you were wondering, she wasn't invited.  Only room for one superstar at this party and her name was Harper! 

The decorations were rainbows and sunshine

The book nook for reading

Movies and stuffed animals

The breakfast spread

A donut tower for a cake

"Happy birthday to you!"

 

The kids watching The Lion King

Hippy the Face Painter was a huge hit!

Harris invited his buddies William, Hayes and Clark

Harris and Will were showing off their tummy skills for the older girls

Lots of family came in to celebrate - Uncle Brent, Grammie, Grandpa, Julia, Parke and Nathan. As always, Honey and Grandy were there to celebrate.

Harper asked her guests to bring donations for Austin Pets Alive! instead of gifts but all of the family members were very generous.  Harps got some beloved new trucks and construction equipment, a VIA Bus, dinosaurs, books, a Raggedy Ann and Andy, puppets and clothes.  She was so excited about her new toys and we were so thankful for all of the donations made to save the lives of animals in need.

 Happy birthday sweet girl!