It's my birthday, and I'll sit in the Starbucks parking lot if I want to!

Yes, here I am again, in my favorite place, the Starbucks parking lot!

Since I discovered that Austin will happily sit and watch a movie in his car seat, while I happily sit and enjoy the free WIFI with my laptop, life has unleashed never before seen possibilities!

Okay, maybe that's the caffeine talking.

But it is GOOD!

Anyway, so today is my Birthday!

And I put an exclamation point on that, because it is a beautiful day!

My grumpiness is gone. It's amazing what a great haircut, an hour yesterday afternoon ALONE in my house, a fun little shopping trip with my oldest daughter, a dance party with my kids in my kitchen, a decent nights sleep, Starbucks, and some free WIFI time, will do to my mood! :)

I mean, what more could a girl ask for?

Well, since you asked...

Lunch today with my Mom, Dinner tonight with my Husband, and Lunch tomorrow with my Friends! Not to mention another lunch next week, and a girls night out in a couple of weeks. All for me.

What in the world was I thinking, being all grumpy? I am blessed, truly blessed. Remind me of that when I get grumpy again, okay?

So, I'm off to shop a little more, with my sweet boy by my side.

Or running 15 steps ahead of me.

And I wouldn't have it any other way.

:)

For Lauren.

So, I was just talking to my cousin Lauren, who kindly asked me when the heck I was going to put something new up on the ole blog. She nicely pointed out that it's been WEEKS since Ellie turned seven.

So...What to blog about.

........?

And that's why I haven't been blogging!

I guess I have bloggy block or something.

The only thing I can come up with is randomness...

Like...Here I sit, in my car, in the parking lot of my daughter's swimming lessons place, with Austin strapped in his car seat (that's always a good thing) drinking a coke, and watching the clock so I'm not late to pick them up. I was thrilled when I discovered this place had free WIFI!

Or...I turn 32 on Thursday. I'm totally fine with that age, there's actually been times lately that I've thought I was already 32, which in itself shows acceptance I think. HOWEVER, I think I have a problem with my birthday in general. I'm not sure why, but the last few years, I get really cranky right around my birthday. I think it might have something to do with feeling like everything should be all about me, and then it's not, and then I get all whiny in my head. Sad, but true. This year I get to work the book fair for Ellie's school on my bday, and take Austin to the ENT. Yay. Okay, pitty party over.

Facebook...has sucked the bloggy life right out of me. It's just so EASY to come up with a line or two or three about the crazy happenings in my daily life. Much easier than a whole blog post!

I have 7 minutes left.

Seriously, I am sorry Lauren, but that's about all I've got right now. Larry the Cucumber is singing about a great big squash that sat upon his hat, and that's all that my brain can comprehend right now!

I'll leave you with my facebook update for the day...

Shelley is on a beach, somewhere sunny and warm, with just my husband, and a good book, and a nice drink...at least in my dreams!

Oh, and I already lost those 30 pounds.

Preschool Helper Day!

Sweet Annie celebrated her Happy Half Birthday and had helper day! She got to have her super fancy (read EXPENSIVE!) purple flower cupcakes that had been in the freezer since last August! (because I forgot to pick them up in time from the bakery!)  They still tasted pretty good, good enough for preschoolers at least! Annie also did a wonderful job preforming in her first preschool show!

Ellie is SEVEN!!!  Happy Birthday sweet girl!  

 

 

Seven Years.

Today is my first baby's birthday!

I cannot believe she is Seven.

Wow.

Here are some of the thoughts running through my head...

Ellie, our life was forever changed when we found out about you. I was so thrilled to find out you were coming! I was so thrilled to find out you were a girl! I craved jalapenos while I was pregnant with you, and I've often wondered if that's one reason you've always been such a "spicy" girl! I wanted you here SO badly! When our doctor wanted to induce, I jumped at the chance. You barely made it on Valentine's Day, you were born at 11:37 pm, after 16 hours of labor. I will never forget that. You were perfect. 7 lbs, 14 ozs, beautiful and healthy. I loved bringing you home. You sent me on quite the hormonal roller coaster though! I couldn't wait to take you somewhere! I finally took you shopping when you were 8 days old. I bought a nursing bra. I couldn't get enough of you, and I loved every day of your babyhood. I loved dressing you up. You were a very strong baby. You loved tummy time. You did everything early, and I often wished you'd slow down. I knew even then that time was going too fast.

And now, seven years later...I was right. Time has gone too fast. I love being your mother. Even through the challenging times, you bless me. I pray that this year is your best year yet! I pray that you find Peace. I pray that you are happy. I pray that you realize just how loved you are, by so many friends and family. I pray that THIS year is the year that sets you up to have a brilliant childhood.

Happy Birthday Ellie! You will always be my baby.

Love, Mommy

Da Girls!

SuperBowl Sunday at our house! Da Girls!

Little moments.

There are little moments, when life slows down, and time just seems to stand still.

It gets a little crazy at bedtime at my house. Three kids, all who still need to be tucked in, read to, cuddled with, let's just say it takes awhile! I find myself rushing sometimes, partly because I'm tired, partly because it's gotten too late and they need to get to sleep. But there's one of them, who can always make me slow down.

Annie Grace. This girl, this second daughter and middle child of mine, completely captures me at night.

She only has a handful of books she wants to choose from, and she usually chooses the same two every night. Goodnight Moon is almost always picked. She has it memorized, and so now, she reads it to me. She's so proud of herself for "reading"! After we read, we snuggle, and then she starts telling me things...

Stories about her day, or things that happened last week. She'll think of things from our vacation, and we'll re-live our Disney days (only the good parts :). Sometimes she'll pull something completely obscure from the depths of her memory, like a play and exercise class we attended once, a year ago. She will just talk and talk. I usually have to stop her, and tell her it's time to be quiet, but sometimes it takes me awhile. I love hearing her sweet voice, I love finding out what's in that little brain of hers. Often I come out from her room to see that I've been in there for 30 minutes!

She does the same thing with her daddy. We take turns tucking her in, and on his nights, I love standing in the hall outside her room for just a few moments, and listening to her talk to him. It melts my heart.

In the midst of our very busy life, she slows me down, and makes me listen. I thank God for her, she is the calm between the two tornadoes. :)

She'll be four and a half on Sunday. So, happy half birthday Annie! I have loved seeing your personality shine this year!

And thank you for these little moments at night, they are precious to me.