Breathtaking

"They don't happen often but one on one time is a most precious gift. Sometimes in the midst of everyday life, we stop really seeing our children. But whenever I do stop and really look, my goodness, they are breathtaking." ~The Little Mumma (blog)

I just read this quote on The Little Mumma's blog, http://thelittlemumma.typepad.com/the-little-mumma/2012/02/one-on-one.html, and it just hit me as so very true. This happens to me. I'll have a moment in the midst of my crazy day where I feel like I truly see one or both of my girls and it takes my breath away. Both of my little ladies are astonishing. They are sweet, smart, beautiful, loving, silly, the list goes on. They bring me so much joy.

A Night of Firsts

We had two firsts here tonight. First, my little KJ went poopy on her big girl potty seat tonight. It took about four trips in and out of the bathroom. On trip number five when her Mimi took her, KJ went. Oh she was so proud of herself, as were the rest of us. Madeline was very excited to have been the one to help Kaitlyn.
Second, my big girl had her first homework assignment from Kindergarten tonight. Her class is starting to learn about letters and the correct way to write them. Each child will be a letter expert. Today was the first day and the first letter was M. (Sadly, Madeline is not the letter expert for M.) For the first assignment, she had to write a capital M and a lower case m on a movie marquee, trace and write both letters two times and color in the picture on the worksheet. It was picture of four mice going to see a movie. Madeline worked very hard on her homework. She wanted everything written nicely and the picture colored in really well. So proud of my girl.

ABCs of Me

A. Age: 31

B. Bed size: Queen, but I wish so much it was a king.

C. Chore that you hate: Anything bathroom related.

D. Dogs: None right now. Really missing my George. Hopefully in the near future we'll have another dog.

E. Essential start to your day: Kissing my girls.

F. Favorite color: Green!

G. Gold or Silver: Silver

H. Height: 5’1″

I. Instruments you play: None

J. Job title: Mama/wife

K. Kids: Madeline and Kaitlyn

L. Live: Thiensville

M. Mother’s name: Kat

N. Nicknames: I don't really have a nickname anymore. It used to be Doodle (my mom) and Scooter (my dad) when I was younger.

O. Overnight hospital stays: Two. When I had my girls.

P. Pet peeves: Um. Yeah. I have a lot. The biggest one is people chewing with their mouths open. Yuck!

Q. Quote from a movie: Oh goodness. I can't think of one.

R. Right or left handed: Right

S. Siblings: Nada

U. Underwear: FINALLY found some underwear that I like from GapBody. My 50% off discount helps with that.

V. Vegetable you hate: Peas. Gross.

W. What makes you run late: Having to get other little people ready as well as myself.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth. My head. I'm sure I'm forgetting others.

Y. Yummy food that you make: The Marlboro Man sandwich from The Pioneer Woman's website. Madeline says I make the best green beans. Yummy Oreo brownies.

Z. Zoo animal: Like: Tigers and Hippos Dislike: The big goats

My Madeline Started School

Madeline started 'real' school on September 1st this year. That was an equally wonderful and heartbreaking day. I hope to never forget how sweet and excited she was; the way she talked to herself and took deep breaths to calm herself as she was walking into school; watching her cute little self walk down the hallway for the first time; how cute she was hanging up her backpack the hook at her spot; nervously walking into her classroom (Mrs. Smith's class); how attentive and ready to participate she was; going off to her first recess. The list goes on. The nerves finally hit full force when she realized it was time for Joe and I to leave. The tears started falling and it was a battle to hold mine back. We went outside to watch all the kiddos line up and get ready to get on the bus. They had a bus safety lesson and quick ride. When the kids got back, the parents had to be gone. It was painful to watch my baby walk away and up on to the bus. It was pure heartbreak looking at her sad face as she walked away.
That day was a long day. 4:30 could not come fast enough. I needed that bus to bring her home to me. The second greatest sound I heard that day was the sound of the bus coming around the corner. The best sound I heard was "MAMA!" as her bus got close enough for her to be able to see me and Joe waiting for her at the end of the driveway. And oh, that face. Her face coming off the bus was a mixture of so very many emotions. That sweet, sweet girl was beyond relieved to be home. Again, the tears were falling for both her and I. This time they were happy tears. With a few sad Mama tears mixed in.

Talkative Girl

I'm listening to Kaitlyn on the monitor right now. She was put to bed about 30 minutes ago. She is just talking away to her Baby. I heard a "Ha ha ha, coooool", "No, baby", "My daddy, my mama", "Ride Daddy's truck" and a bunch of other babbles that I can't quite make out. It's fun listening to her talk when she doesn't realize she's being listened to. She just chats away. Sometimes I wish I could see her in there talking to Baby. And now Joe just went in there to try to calm her down. It's way past her bedtime.

Ummm...

Kaitlyn's new response to a lot of questions I ask is "Ummm..."
It is so cute (and sometimes a bit annoying)!

She Really is a Princess

I love that when Madeline is finished playing Princess (or whatever it may be on any given day), she stays in her big poofy princess dress for hours afterwards. She is just as comfortable in a princess gown as she is in her regular clothes. That girl was meant to be a princess.