My BIG girls!

This past Spring, we had some professional pictures taken of the girls and I'm finally taking the time to post them. I had to keep them under wraps for a few months because they made great Mother's Day/Father's Day gifts for grandparents! I was thrilled with some of the great photos that were captured. Although I have these three running through the house all day, it doesn't hit me how grown up they are until I see pictures like this.

In the past, I have had the girls wearing matching or coordinating outfits when they take formal pictures, but guess what has happened as they've gotten older? They now have opinions about what they will wear and of course, each have their own favorite color. SO....that just meant I had to back off a bit and let them choose what they wanted to wear. I'm glad I did as their personalities just come through a little bit more in the pictures.

Riley in yellow, Alyssa in pink, Makena in purple

A little 80's flashback


Cute....even with the flamingo pose!

Sisters!

Candid, but adorable

Makena

Alyssa

Riley

Eat, Sleep, Swim

We're very serious about our swimming around here....

Still not a fan

I was sure that this was going to be the year that the girls fell in love with fireworks. They were so excited to go with their daddy to the local fireworks stand and help him pick them out. They each chose their own box of sparklers and couldn't wait for it to get dark to see the show.

Alyssa and Makena loved them.

Riley? Not so much. She refused to sit on my lap so that she could bury her head in my chest like last year. The little rinky-dink fireworks show that we put on at home bothered her more than the big community show.

Maybe next year.

The Alarm Clock That Won't Turn Off

Dear Riley,

It's summer vacation so the 6:23 a.m. wake-up call is soooooooooo not cool or even necessary. Your sisters and I are totally fine with sleeping in until 8-8:30ish. The pool/park/lake/zoo/movies etc....will still be there when we all wake up at a more respectable hour. Please sleep in and give your dear old mom some extra zzzzzzzz's.


Love you,
Mommy

P.S. Keep the early wake-up calls up and they may come back to haunt you in 10-12 years.

Garden Envy

The boys next door have a nice little garden that they share with us from time to time. The girls love to be helpful and assist their Auntie Jessica with all of her watering needs.

I snapped this picture with my phone (totally impressed with the quality) and caught Riley in all her watering glory. She's working on getting more water on the plants and less soaked into her clothes. But, I also caught her with her glasses on...another thing we are working on around here.

Is it me or is she looking all grown up in this picture?

Wordful Wednesday and I Spoke Too Soon

So it turns out that we were only patch free for less than 2 weeks. Alyssa got the all clear, but Riley must now endure the eye patching experience. We had her yearly eye exam yesterday and found out that the vision in her right eye is not as strong as her left eye even with glasses. And getting her to wear her glasses is a whole other story.

This go around with eye patching is not going to be as easy as it was with Alyssa. Riley wore her patch for about 2 minutes this morning before ripping it off her eye. It doesn't help that she is not a morning person...atleast Monday through Friday. I didn't fight her about it this morning and we tried again tonight. She kept it on for 30 minutes. Hooray for small victories. We are supposed to build up to her wearing the patch for 4 freaking hours. The dr. says that patching is only therapeutic after 2 hours.

So I've got my work cut out for me. My feisty Riley will challenge me every step of the way. She has enjoyed challenging people from the get go. When she was 20 days old in the NICU, weighing less than 2 pounds, she pulled her ventilator tube out and made it clear she didn't want it back down her throat.

I better keep my bribing pants on....she worked for a fortune cookie tonight.

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Photostory Friday

Our daily car rides to and from preschool have become filled with details about their day, singing songs and story-telling. The conversations often have me laughing out loud. On our way home today, Riley asked if it was bath night. I had to break the news that sadly, tonight was not bath night. We do baths every other night unless they are too dirty. I often hear "Mommy I'm stinky" in an effort to convince me that they need a bath, even if they took one hours earlier.

So today, when Riley heard it wasn't bath night she said, "When I'm a mommy, I'm gonna let MY kids take a bath every night!" I laughed and said that when she had kids that would make me a grandma, which she thought was hysterical. Then she told me she was going to have EIGHT kids and said, "Mom, you help me wash those kids okay?"

No problem Riley. I can't wait to line up my 8 grandkids in the backyard and hose 'em down. That's how granny does bath time!

Hosted by Cecily and Robyn

Photostory Friday and Sweet Dreams

I can't tell you how many times I've woken up in the middle of the night with Miss Riley standing at the side of my bed staring at me, patiently waiting for me to take her to the bathroom. She never says a word, but rustles around until I groggily ask her what's wrong. Somehow I've managed NOT to scream out in holy terror.

The 4:30 a.m. bathroom runs got really old fast so I have started getting Riley up and taking her to the bathroom before I go to bed. This has quickly become one of my favorite parts of my nightly routine.

Because no matter how whiny the girls might have been that day, all the stress has rolled off my back by the time I lift my sweet girl from underneath her warm, cozy blankets and carry her sleep-heavy body to the bathroom. She always wraps her arms around me and snuggles her head right in my neck just like she did when she was a baby. I get to tuck her back in and give her another hug and kiss and a whisper of sweet dreams before crawling into bed myself. Such a nice way to end the night.

Hosted by Cecily

Wordful Wednesday and A Star Sighting

Elvis is in the building......

And then she goes in for an outfit change and looks like a mismatched tourist.

At least she's keepin' it real.

P.E.A.C.E. Out!


For more Wordful Wednesday

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Halloween Sneak Peek

MEOW!!

Wordful Wednesday

"Is it Halloween yet mommy?" I hear this question many times a day now that Fall has offically started. And since we still have a couple of weeks before the sugar-rush and crash that is likely to follow, the girls are enjoying every single minute of Halloween celebration.

Which includes bumping into walls walking around the house with their trick-or-treat baskets on their heads. Riley a.k.a. "Slugger" gets a good three-feet radius around her when she is swinging her bat cause that girl has got a wicked swing!

Batter Up!!

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GOT SAND?

Wordful Wednesday and What Goes Around Comes Around

This morning I was standing in the kitchen asking the girls to get dressed while they ignored me and just sat at the table and colored.

For the 20th time I said, "Girls, go upstairs and change your clothes."
Riley responds: "Just a minute mama."
Makena says to Riley: "Why did you say just a minute?"
Riley says to Makena: "Because she's driving me crazy!"

Uh huh.....I feel your pain sister. Welcome to the land of crazy! I've taken up permanent residence here.


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Tuesday's Tribute-Comic relief from a 3 year old

Tonight, I was sitting around the dinner table with the girls in various states of undress. Riley (wearing underwear) shouts out "Mama, I'm naked. But I'm wearing my boobies today!"

Then she stretches her arms out and says, "Mama, are your boobies this huge? Or are they small like this (points to her chest)."

Before I can answer she lets out a cackle that makes us all bust a gut laughing. I can hardly stand all the cuteness....I'm a lucky mama!

Photostory Friday and the Troublemakers

Now that the girls are getting older, I can allow them to play safely in the backyard for a few minutes while I get dinner started in the kitchen. We have a huge window that overlooks the backyard, and I open it up so that I can listen in while they play.

Earlier this week, I was elbow-deep in raw chicken and couldn't get outside fast enough to intervene with the mud wrestling that started. Riley ran to the backdoor, very proud of her accomplishments. She was SO happy to rub her muddy hands all over the back door, while I ran to find my camera to document the crime. Her accomplice (Makena) was trying to hide the evidence outside and I found her hosing herself down.

Dirt+Water+ (2)Three-year olds= Troublemakers!!

Suspect #1

Caught mud-handed!!!

The accomplice

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Photostory Friday and The best of both worlds

Sugar and Spice

All girly and pink
Pretty little princess
Playing dress up can't be beat

Dirt and Mud
She loves to explore
Who needs a dress
When there are sticks to look for

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Wordful Wednesday

My poor Riley-girl woke up on Tuesday morning with a fever and upset tummy which kept her home from preschool and mommy home from work. The "barf bowl" was never too far away and she was able to tell me more than once that she needed it. Hooray for small victories!

Poor Riley just couldn't understand why she felt so rotten.

She asked me, "Mama, why I don't feel good?"

And I told her that she had a flu bug in her tummy.

I saw the little squeaky wheels in her head turning and then she says,

"Mama, I want to get the bug out of my tummy right now!"

Although, she wanted to lay in my lap most of the day she didn't want me to touch her, which made laying all over me a little difficult. So at one point, she laid down at my feet and munched on her saltines while I participated in the SITS girls Spring Fling!

By this evening, my girl was feeling much better so I am hoping the other two aren't next in line!

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Photostory Friday and My Brave Girl

Riley has always been the leader of the pack in our house and recently she has added some new acomplishments to her list.

A few weeks ago, the girls had their 6 month check-up at the dentist and I was pleasantly surprised when Riley decided that she was a big girl and she could sit in the dentist chair all by herself. No crying about getting her teeth cleaned or having x-rays taken. She was such a big girl...I hope that when the next 6 month check-up comes around, Alyssa and Makena will be brave enough to sit on their own too!

Two weeks ago, Riley was brave enough to get her ears pierced when daddy took the girls to the mall. She cried a little bit, but the M&M cookie that she got from Mrs. Field's dried those tears up quickly. Alyssa and Makena were too scared to follow her lead. So for now, Riley loves showing off her earrings to everyone she sees!

Riley was the only one who wanted to get her face painted at a birthday party last weekend. She was so proud of her butterfly face and wouldn't let me wash it off that night before bed.

Watching Riley accomplish all these new things reminds me of how fast the girls are growing up. I recently asked Riley what she wanted to be when she grows up and she said "a fireman."

Such a brave girl!

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Say what?

The girls and I were in the car this morning admiring all the Christmas decorations. "Hey look, there's Mr. Snowman. There's Santa. There's the reindeer. And look at those Christmas lights!"

And then we drive by a nativity scene in someone's front yard.

Riley says, "Look mama, it's Baby Cheez-its!"

Writer's Workshop: The last time I laughed really hard...

Is it bad that the last time I laughed really hard was when Riley tripped over something and fell on her face? I know how horrible that sounds, but c’mon? Laughing when someone falls IS one of the highlights in life isn’t it?

Before you start thinking how horrible I am. She was fine. Really. The rug burn on her face healed in just a few days. Kidding. Sort of.

But she thought it was hilarious too. And so did her sisters. We all sat there and laughed at her with her for atleast 5 minutes. And it felt so good to laugh like that.

I hope someone falls today. Gosh darn karma. It’s going to be me isn’t it?


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