Right now, I just want time to stand still. There are moments when my girls make me so happy, I don't want them to get a second older. I don't want Lydia to go to school, I want Claire to stay as my cuddly "Claire Bear", and I want Scarlett to always be a baby, who I can rock to sleep in my arms.
The other night I was rocking Scarlett to sleep, and listening to Josh read
Fancy Nancy to the other girls and put them to bed, and that's when I knew that I didn't want things to ever change. I want my princesses to stay young and happy and innocent.
But that can't happen, and I know that there are great things in the future for us, but for now, I'm just going to take a moment to remember the things that make life with 3 little girls such a joy, at 4, 2 and 4months old.
LYDIA
* Lydia is so full of love. She always says "I love you" to us and her sisters.
* If Lydia is ever passing by a flower garden, she picks a flower for me. I always have flowers on my car dash or kitchen counter.
* Lydia is pretty tough for a girl. The other day at preschool she got a bloody nose on the playground, and her teachers were amazed that she never cried! Yet, she'll cry if she doesn't get the princess plate at dinner.
* Lydia is learning a lot about God and Jesus at her preschool and also at church. When she was sick recently, she said to me "I need to go to Jesus to get better... because he heals people."
* One evening I found Lydia in her bathroom, in her pajamas, brushing her teeth to get ready for bed. It was only 4:00. I asked her why she was getting ready for bed and she said "because I want to make you proud"
* Lydia is very honest, like any 4 yr old. Some Sundays when she sees me ready for church, she looks at me with big eyes and says "Mommy you are beautiful!" ...and only then do I believe it.
CLAIRE
* Claire has the best "chicken run". When she wants to race, she puts her arms up like a chicken and says "Can't catch me!", and then she's off. Its cute when its around the house. Not so cute in Wal-Mart.
* Claire is a menace on her scooter. I've never seen a 2yr old go so fast. See here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IApdSkEzF88* Claire has decided to call us "Josh" and "Cass"...instead of mommy and daddy. Its pretty funny to hear her say "Hey Cass! Josh is home!" But sometimes we feel like we're just babysitters to this kid.
* As Claire falls asleep, her final words are always "..sleep with me". And as long as we do, just for a second, she's out.
* Every Sunday when I pick up Claire from Nursery, she exclaims "Mommy, look what I made for you!!" And it always melts my heart.
* Claire has the cutest pot belly. She is bigger around than Lydia. When people pick her up they say "Man, this girl is
solid."
* Claire exaggerates everything. She takes the "biggest...bite...EVER" and the "biggest..poo..EVER" and if anything is big, its "BIIIIIIG, like TOTORO!"
SCARLETT
* Miss Scarlett has the cutest fuzzy head. I'll never forget that fuzzy head on the day she was born, with a red bow stuck in it. Neither of my other girls had hair like this.
* Scarlett smiles at anyone she makes eye contact with, especially if they talk babytalk with her. The girls at the daycare at the gym tell me they always look forward to having Scarlett there because she is the best baby and so happy!
* Scarlett, unlike my other girls, hates her pacifier, and hates the bumbo seat. I didn't think that was possible! Her favorite thing to do is lie on her back next to her sisters and watch TV.
* Whenever I undress Scarlett, she expects her diaper to be changed, and will stick her legs straight up in the air. It was the cutest when she did it for the pediatrician, who said "Oh!..Do you want me to change you?"
* My favorite part of rocking her to sleep at night is to watch her face, and see her random smiles in her sleep. Then I know she is having happy dreams.
But by far what makes me the happiest is just seeing how much they love each other. I know that may change as they get older, and their affection won't be so "obvious", but for now everyone is happy, and mommy is especially happy.
My girls all ready to go! We got there right as the park opened.
Lydia and Claire spent a lot of time in the "Kiddie Korral" that just had baby hills. Josh and I took turns pulling them around and pushing them down the slopes.
Fortunately Lydia was tall enough to go on the bigger slopes too, so we each took turns riding down double with her. First daddy...
look at that air!
And then mommy...
Poor Lydia had to sit in the back. The guides said that if all the weight's in the back, we'd just spin around.
We underestimated how cold it was going to be! There was still a layer of ice on top of the lake, so we played a game of "who can break the ice" and threw rocks onto the ice to see if they would break through. Lydia got some good-sized rocks that punched holes in the ice, but then daddy had to go and get a boulder and shot-put it out into the lake and crack a whole slab off!
Scarlett was a little restless on the drive home, so Lydia sat in front with dad, and had fun with my pocket camera. She was also perplexed by the vast desolation that is West Texas.
