Two Months Old . . .

. . . and the reason why I get nothing done around here.  The sweetness incapacitates me.

Twelve

Francie turns twelve today. 

I know twelve may not seem like a milestone birthday, but I like to think it is.  I guess I like to think of every birthday as a milestone birthday.  At least they are for me.

Twelve can be a difficult age.  For Francie, she is walking a fine line as a twelve year old.  She has one foot firmly pointed in the direction of her adulthood, but her other foot lingers longingly in her childhood. 

Sometimes she needs me to relate to her as the young woman she is becoming, and other times she just wants to play with dolls.  I am often not very adept at telling the difference, but I'm learning.

 

She waffles between a burgeoning smart mouth and her still public declarations of familial affection.  Her father calls her "The Tude" (short for "The Attitude") when the sassiness comes out.  She says she hates the name, but she is laughing when she says it.  She knows we've got her back.

Despite all the growing pains, she's a real keeper.  And even when we seem to be driving each other crazy, she is always seeking to help me.  She is motivated by good -heartedness and I can't ask for more than that.

Happy Birthday, Francie! We love you.

And I'll be there for you
When you need me to be
I'll be the sun at your door
I'll be the wind in your trees
If I've nothin' at all on the surface to see
I'll be the ace up your pretty sleeve

"Ace Up Your Pretty Sleeve"

from

Vince Gill's album "These Days" 



{pretty, happy, funny, real}

Whenever anyone apologizes for being away from their blog for a while, I always think to myself "well, it's their blog, they can write when they want.  It's better to live life well and not blog, than to be a slave to a blog post schedule."

But then I get pulled away from my blog, and I feel like apologizing, so I guess I understand the urge.

I won't apologize this time - even if I want to - but I will just say that I have been busy living.  I have absolutely nothing concrete to show for that other than the fact that we are all still alive and relatively happy. 

I feel like I've done nothing this summer but feed babies, carry babies, change babies, break up fights among babies (and big kids), soothe babies, rock babies, and beg!beg!beg! babies to sleep.  It's not exciting enough to blog about most days, but it's important to the babies so that makes it important to me.  

If there is any blessing to having babies a year apart (and I am discovering that there are indeed many blessings), it's this:  

On those hard, hard days and nights, when Baby consumes every second of my time leaving no time for anything else, I look for Mopsy.  And when I find her, I think "One year. That's it.  I was in the same place with Mopsy one year ago and now look at her."

Man, that time is flyin'.

{happy}
The more I look at this picture, the happier I get - and I don't even know who took it!
I love that Bun is front and center, wearing his favorite shirt, while Rob and I, holding Mopsy and Baby, are waiting for him at the front door.  It's the kind of picture that I imagine Bun showing to his own family someday, saying "That's the old house where I grew up."




{real}

I love this -- Daddy is asleep and Baby is wide awake. 

{funny}

The chins! The Mona Lisa smile! The cheeks! 
They keep me going when the going gets tough.

{pretty}

Here's another reason for me to keep having babies - Barbara's baby quilts!  She made one for Mopsy's arrival and this year I received a lovely pink box with one for Baby.   They are really beautiful and I use them all the time.  And I know I'm a bum about the thank-you notes, but one is coming for you, Barbara!  

Head over to our lovely hosts, Like Mother, Like Daughter, and join in the {phfr} fun.

Birth Story Haiku

Jen at Conversion Diary is home with her new baby and she's looking for some birth stories to read.  Here's the catch -- they have to be haiku.  Fun!

I'm totally game, so here are my six trips to L&D in 5-7-5 syllabic format:

Francie:

A week overdue

stalled at 4, epidural.

Three hours pushing, birth!

Fiver:

First induction's good,

'til oxygen with tight cord.

All's well in the end.

Sally:

Induction, part two.

Bum epidural, painful!

Born in six minutes.

Bun:

Induction, part three,

But dates were wrong, too early.

Blue boy, NICU bound.

Mopsy:

Induction the fourth.

No drugs, three pushes later,

Holy Week girl!

Baby:

Induction, no drugs.

Convinced a boy is coming,

Surprise! A lovely girl.



Happy Fourth of July!

Enjoy the day, my friends, and remember what it took (and still takes) to be free.

The whole gang

My four girls