Wordless Wednesday - Christmas Card 1984

Yeah, and you thought I was exaggerating about the glasses?

Um, no.

The Photo That Went In My Mom's Christmas Card
circa November 1984
Jenny 8 years, Matt 7 months

The Lily Craft Making Christmas Show

I could seriously watch this video 100 times over. It makes me laugh SO hard.

Lily got a new camera for her birthday. It has a video mode. She is so taken with the video feature. I guess it reminds me of what I did laying around on my tummy propped by my elbows, with a tape recorder, pressing play and record at the same time and making commercials, talk shows, learning that if you clap in a circle around the recorder, then it sounds like audience applause. Singing and playing it back to myself. Putting it up next to the tv to get Saturday morning cartoon theme songs. JOY.

So kids these days can do it with VIDEO. I can't imagine what I would have done with this technology, but it definitely would probably be similar to what Lily does in her one hour of quiet time per day. She is in there crafting up gifts to clutter under the tree, comes down daily with a new handful wrapped and ready. When she was three, she did this too. She'd wrap up post it notes or old business cards for any and everyone to open. And you tried not to laugh when you opened yours. But now, at 6, she's getting better. Her gifts (although always 3D and impossible to store in a useful fashion) are well thought-out and orchestrated.

The night before Bryson's birthday party she asked me to charge the batteries and empty her card so that she would be all set to record him destroying his cake. WELL. Let me tell you, I was in for a treat. I laughed until I cried watching the videos that she had made on there.

As you will see she has adopted a theme much like a cooking show (which is one of her favorite things to watch on TV), where she shows you what she'll be using and talks to her camera like she has an audience of faithful viewers. Had to make that happen for her. So thanks Blogosphere.

Disclaimer: I got Lily's full permission to post these videos to my blog. However, she asked me to wait until after Christmas to do that, because she doesn't want the people who she is making the gifts FOR to see the video of her making said gifts. So Julia, please don't watch these videos, lest you spoil the Christmas surprise for yourself! :)

Hear that Julia, if you are reading STOP now. Come back on Dec 26!

I love how she fills in the dead air, and how she KNOWS exactly where she is with the camera, and how she says she is getting it "focused" (she is getting a little mini tripod for Christmas which she will LOVE).

There are so MANY things to love, I could add an add.



Okay, I was only going to post this first video, but she she refers to this second one so I HAD to include it. It's more of the same, but it makes me laugh so hard.

"Sorry it was quiet at the beginning, I was getting the video set up"

"Snippity Snip"



What is your favorite part?

Kicking off the week of Christmas

I'm going to attempt to do a Christmas related blog all week. We'll see. Usually when I try to kick something off, I announce it to the world and then queue cricket noises for the next week. But I'm gonna try. Because there is a LOT of good stuff to blog about. Not the least of which is this coffee complete with it's candy-cane-mocha-french-vanilla-sweetie-grossie-creamer. YUM. Tastes so good with my 5 hrs of sleep!

It's hard to imagine that LAST year, we were still waiting for Bryson when I mailed out our cards. He was kind of in our card, in the cutest way ever, in my opinion.

MAN! I was so on the BALL last year. The week of Christmas was the most peaceful, non-busy week ever! Gifts and tree bought a month in advance, cards mailed, no work or worry of the 4 million dollars left in orders left to process in the week before year end. No thoughts of an impending audit. Just porn star bleeding nipples and up all night wake up calls with my sweet newborn. Ahhh, but that was last year, snap back out of dream world, Jenny. You are flat now. Heh. Well, almost. Hey, it's it weird how you get on to blog your family Christmas card and you end up talking about your boobs. Okay so maybe this candy-cane-mocha-french-vanilla-sweetie-grossie-creamer is getting to me. Or maybe it is the 5 hrs of sleep. Why did we go to bed so late every night this weekend? I mean, I don't remember accomplishing anything. Crap. Maybe I will be horrified later that I said boobs on my blog. I don't know. Probably not, I mean, they are just boobs. Barely. I guess we'll find out. I forever love to compare year to year and sometimes I'm funny, sometimes I'm weird. I'm guessing this blog will fall into the funny category, but you just never know. (eyeroll, who is the weird girl?)

Oh, and disclaimer. My card was created by Sara at Less Ordinary Designs. I found her on Etsy, she did my friend, Shawna's baby announcement for me. She was so awesome to work with and for $15, really, who can beat that, I used her again for our card this year. She did one million revisions for me and treated me like I was totally NOT annoying. Photos were taken by the photographer from Bend who took our pictures in Sunriver, Devin Miller. If you haven't used Etsy to create holiday cards I strongly recommend it. It is so cheap and easy, and you can get some really cool designs that are customizable pretty much any way you want!

Without further ado, I'm off to work, and the first of 4 super duper busy days before 6 days off! YAY!

Happy Holidays from The Herman Family and Julia! We wish you the best!

Sorry, but my 3 year old is FUNNY

Addie wakes me up by crawling into bed with me WAY too early and spooning, facing me, and then starts talking about something random at full volume.

Addie: (sniff sniff right in my face) Mommy, did you toot?

Me: (Surprised, awake, annoyed, turning away) No, Addie that's probably my breath...

Addie: (after a few minutes of consideration) Why yo breat mell like toots?

And that, my friends, is the best way to wake up ever.

Wordless Wednesday - This Year

Bryson this year...

One Year
Eleven Months
Ten & 1/2 Months
Ten Months

Nine & 1/2 Months
Nine Months

Eight Months
Seven & 1/2 Months
Seven Months
Six Months
Five Months
Four Months
Three Months
Two months
One Month
One week
One hourThe most precious moment - meeting you

One

Photos by Christina Gilchrist - www.christinagilchrist.com

He's one. My youngest child is already a year old. How can it be? Insert all cliches about where the time is going, my baby is growing up, etc.

I adore this little man. How is it possible that you can have enough love in your heart for each of your children? I don't know. And to love each one more than the next? It's something I think about daily, because sometimes I honestly can't fathom how there is enough love to go around, but there just IS. And it's amazing.

I was standing in my living room this morning with my early waker on his big day, and looking at the Christmas decor and Hanukkah banner and Birthday cards cluttering up the mantle. And I just soaked in all that we have to celebrate this month. Who cares about the stress and the busyiness and the gift buying. We have SO much to celebrate! And so it will be for us every December and we should be nothing but filled with gratefulness.

Since I have been such a slacker about Bryson and his accomplishements over the past two months, I'll give a run down on all his newest tricks. He is full on walking now. He started taking steps around 10.5 months and by 11 months was stepping consistently. He's always barreling forward so he was falling a lot because he didn't take the time to get his feet under him. But now, he has his balance and he walks everywhere. Still full steam ahead. I call it the monster walk because he puts his hands above his head and is usually babbling or shreiking and waddling like a little monster! It is so precious. I know the days will be here soon enough when he had steadier footing, so I'm soaking in this wobble monster.

He has four teeth. Two tops, two botttoms.

We MADE IT!! As I nursed him this morning I thought, OH. MY. GOSH. I made it to a year. Now, disclaimer that we've been supplementing with formula since 2 months old and in the last month I've stopped pumping at work and only nurse when he wakes up and goes to bed. Add the recent cold he's had where he can't breath and such at the same time so he has to stop every 2 seconds to breath, and I'm pretty shocked that we got here. About 3 weeks ago I told Lawrence I thought I was done. He said, for the record, he would still "call it" a year. He knows me too well. I was happy with that, and have been actually really at peace with being done or not. I mean, given that at 5 weeks old this time I thought I couldn't do it any more when he had colic and RSV. Then at 6 weeks when I gave up dairy until 6 months (how in the heck did I do that! seems like another life time, honestly!) I just never, ever imagined I'd make it to a year this time, and even though I supplemented him with formula more than my other babies, this is my hardest accomplishment. So I'll be proud of that. I don't know why one year is so important to me. I know lots of moms who go longer or less or not at all, and I have NO judgment about them, but when it comes to myself, I think it gives me a sense of being my best for him, or being tied to him, needed by him. I'm not sure, but it was important to me, and I didn't think I would make it, and I did. So woo-hoo!

I'll report back later today with his stats from the dr:

October was by far Bryson's worst sleeping month since newborn. I don't know what was up but HE WAS. Then November has been like one night a week he wakes up for no reason. He is always up for 2-3 hrs. It's kind of brutal after 8 months of sleeping through without exception. But I won't complain. He still takes two naps, usually a long morning and a shorter afternoon. We enjoy it, but since he and Addie are on opposite nap schedules, we DEFINITELY look forward to one nap by both of them at the same time and the oppotunity to leave the house occassionally without worrying about somebody being cranky for missing a nap! Although I will admit, I love to volunteer to stay home while Bryson sleeps, and the rest of the family goes out to do something fun. These are my occassional peaceful moments.

The big question everyone asks: So is it a lot different having a boy than a girl? Those of you out there with 3 boys are just drooling with delight to hear stories of destruction and broken limbs. Waiting for us "all girlers" to cross over into boy land. Well I hate to disappoint, but so far, not much different. He doesn't even pee in my face. Maybe because he is so fat he has a hidden penis. Sorry buddy, (he asked me not to blog about that). He is a lot more adventurous but actually less so than Lily was at this age (she, I was told behaved more like a boy in her early years, as a no fear climber).

One of my friends writes a great blog thread called "my girls never did that". She has 3 girls and a boy as her youngest. And she photographs and notices the cutest thing her now 5 year old does, so different than her daughters. I love the idea, and most definitely can't wait to start notices the differences. I think most of the differences are because he's the 3rd, and not because he's a boy.

His big fat padded feet are so kissable. I still dread that one day these will become man feet. And that day is closer now that he is walking. IF I could stuff his feet in, he would be in a size 5 or 6 shoes, but so far he hasn't worn anything but Robeez, size 18-24 mth. This is also his size of clothing. I have a feeling shod-ding him is going to be an issue.

We had a birthday party for Bryson on Saturday, we just invited 2 families and Lawrence's parents were here. It was a house full, but just perfect. My friend (and photographer) Christina came over to capture the day, and it was AWESOME for me not to even pick up the camera. She sent me the sneak peak pictures above. (www.ChristinaGilchrist.com).

I made Bryson a giant cupcake, idea from my friend, Nancy, and it was perfect. I'm glad I have the mold, though I have a few ideas of what I would do better next time. Nancy said that would happen! :) Bryson loved playing in the frosting and eating the yellow cake. Since Addie had a milk allergy, and I didn't know about cake mixes with no milk, she didn't get the first birthday cake smashing. SO I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS ONE. I just love it. I know it's a mess and it's hard to clean up, but seriously, I love it, something about a first birthday cake being devoured and making the ultimate mess just makes me happy. :)

The girls love their little brother. Lily is so good with him, she could be a little mommy. It reminds me of a certain someone I know and her sweet baby brother, Matt. Just wait Bryson, when you are getting ready to go to college and you have 3 mommies telling you what to do, and watching out for what is "best" for you, you are iiiinnnnn trouble! :) Anyway he and Lily have a special bond, and anytime I feel guilty about things Lily could be missing out on because she HAS TO STAY AT HOME ALL DAY FOR HER SIBLINGS TO NAP, um, I just have to look at all she has gained by getting to be his big sister, and any guilt or doubt about what is best for her just melts away. Addie still commits random acts of violence against Bryson but he is starting to hold his own. She is genuinely a lot more loving to him and even this morning said, "Happy Burstday, Bwyson, you are one today" when she saw him. Then she kissed his back. The three of them have moments of all playing well together and it is just awesome. Bryson looks for them, adores them, cries when it is time to say good bye before they go to school.

Bryson and our AuPair, Julia have a very special relationship as well. She is so at ease with him and he took to her right away. It has been nice for me, at this age when separation anxiety is sometimes at the max, for me to have someone else that he feels so comfortable with. I realize that isn't something I had with the girls and it has been a source of comfort for both me and for Bryson. He definitely loves her, and when she comes downstairs in the morning, he says good morning to her with the sweetest hug.

At one year Bryson has more words than either sister did at a year (hows THAT, for a BOY!?). He says, "nigh-nigh" (my favorite!), "ba" (ball), "ba" (bottle), "bu-bu" (bye-bye), "ma-ma", "da-da", "ad-da" (all done), "Mo" (more), "ha" (hi-said into his hand or any other object as a phone). We do more and all done in sign language, but he would prefer loud screaming and yanking off his bib to get his point across. So far he doesn't have much use for the sign language. :)

He knows where his belly is, he does "so big" and "touch-down" with his hands when you say it. He points at any and everything he can. He says "da" as to show you where and what he means. He claps when you start singing "If your happy and you know it", or if you say "Yay!" to anything. He LOVES to clap. He knows how to hug and kiss. He likes to pull hair and glasses. A LOT. His go to cute move is to put his head down on someone or something, your shoulder, the floor, a pillow, a stuffed animal. It ALWAYS gets the same genuine response from everyone in the room. "Aaahhhhhhhh".

Bryson has made our family complete. He has set us all in a tailspin of unbalance and craziness. The little guys outnumber the big guys. We've had to put our priorities in order in more ways than I can describe here. We changed our entire thinking about how "things are supposed to be" in order to make way and room for this son in our family. I am forever grateful for all those changes. I believe in God's grace more than I can ever describe because I go to bed each night with it cloaked over me. I thought I had a few things figured out before Bryson came along. In fact, before each of my children came along. And I was reminded of who isn't in charge. That would be me. Thank you, Bryson, for showing me that my ability to give love is multiplying, that I can do anything I set my mind to, in the name of love, and for making me giggle with delight each and every day.

My friend, Sarah, the infant chiropractor and LLL Leader in Florida who helped me get to where I needed to be to "fix" Bryson's colic (thus giving me the second half of my maternity leave back for which I will be forever grateful!), sent me this quote the day after he was born. I forgot about it and found it yesterday while looking for something. It's so very true. Bryson's laugh and smile touches me deep inside and I do feel grand because of him.

‎~If one feels the need of something grand, something infinite, something that makes one feel aware of God, one need not go far to find it. I think that I see something deeper, more infinite, more eternal than the ocean in the expression of the eyes of a little baby when it wakes in the morning and coos or laughs because it sees the sun shining on its cradle. ~ Vincent van Gogh

If you wonder why you are tired...

Lawrence's mom and dad left last night. His mom was here with us from New Jersey for 12 days. The kids were over the moon to have her here. His dad was also here for 6 days - we love Gpa too (he DOES get all the photo credits), but this is a post all for Gma. It was a great visit and a lot of help. When our parents are here, it is always validating for us that we have every right to be exhausted all the time caring for three kids. Yes, it is a lot of fun. Yes, we love it. Yes, we are 30+ years younger than they. But. YES, it is exhausting! :)

This time while Grandma was here, she... (in no particular order because that would take more time than what I have to organize the photos)

Fed many small children, particularly often an almost one year old boy...
Taught Kindergarten...


Held friends' babies...


Taught Lily to knit...
Made foam menorahs...
Bathed babies...and other assorted sizes...
Baked a $hit load of mondel brot...
Perfected Lily's knitting (see she's holding both needles now)...Got our annual photo taken at Hayden's ( 6 months late! I like the July ones better!)
I'm not sayin' Grandpa didn't pitch in too...he did...
But Grandma worked her little tail off...and seemed to enjoy every minute of it...

Activities Not Pictured Above: Helping in Addie's preschool class, Giving Julia a day off-childcare, Laundry & Dishes (x100,000 loads), Grocery shopping, Sewing several saved for her projects and rips and tears, Carefully cutting out tags, Cooked meatloaf and chicken and matzo ball soup and more dinners that I can't remember, Preparing and brewing coffee for me (and her) every morning, Washing bottles, Changing Diapers, Reading Books, Playing Educational Games, Reading with Lily, Organizing the Pantry, and Junk Drawers (MUCH my horrified dismay!), Cleaning the fridge, Stuffing and un-stuffing the garbage disposal, Making beds, Wait, did I mention laundry? Or Dishes? And Dishes? And Dishes?

I'll admit that any time long time company leaves, there is a small sigh of relief, whether it be your bestest friend in the entire world or your most loved family member, there is just something nice about having the house to yourselves again. Thinking only of yourself and not worrying about others.

But then. I look at that list of things above and remember. Shoot, I'm gonna have to do all those things now again! Except for the sewing. And the knitting. :)

All kidding aside, we really do appreciate all the help and the kids having that priceless time with their Grandparents, each visit allows them to create their own special memories as they come to know and love them more.

MCT - Take one

Me and Lily - Oct 2010

A month ago you VOTED for me writing this blog, I started on November 7 and am finally posting now - backlog unload - SCORE one for me!

If you follow my facebook feed, you would know that a few weeks ago, Lily was cast in the Missoula Children's Theater's local production of Alice in Wonderland at her school. Since MCT was a real life changing organization for me as a kid and a young adult, I was both excited and nervous for her to audition. I didn't want to be a bossy stage mom, but at the same time, I REALLY wanted her to get a part, and I knew how the audition process would go. What if I got her all excited about this show that I so wanted her to be a part of and then she didn't get a part? What if she never got to experience the wonderfulness that is the MCT tour? I had butterflies the entire day at work and then held my breath the entire audition, as they lined up tallest to smallest, in true Jim Caron fashion and said their names with loud and clear voices, big and expressive bodies, all the while - and most importantly - following directions and paying attention. She was the second smallest.Lily is 3rd from the right

Before I get ahead of myself I should probably go back a little and talk a little about my own MCT experiences. This could probably be a whole series of blogs on it's own, and maybe over the years it will be. Memories flooded me the last few weeks. FLOODED me. My love and admiration for Jim, Michael, and Melanie - three important people in the organization - as well as for my little community growing up and the Wallowa Valley Arts Counsel for bringing tour actors to my little home county year after year.

I was seven years old, it was March and I was in the second grade. I had big glasses and short awkward choppy hair. I'd started to experience the rejection that comes with looking the way I did and dressing the way I did and ACTING the way I did from some of the kids at school. I was nearly a year younger than many of the kids in my class, in those early years it made a big difference in maturity- but I was more advanced than most academically, plus what with the big glasses (the next year I'd get tri-focals-to call them coke bottles would be an understatement), the lack of any sort of fashion or style, the non stop talking, and the pestering of those who pestered me...I was quite lonely. I had a few good friends, but I definitely knew at that young age that I was different from most of the kids at school. I was aware that there were birthday parties I wasn't invited to, I got left out of 4 square games, didn't get to jump rope with the "cool" girls, and the year before some of the kids had been in a play that I knew nothing about. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

The auditions for this year's play, were today. But my (very pregnant) mom had to work, deadline day at her newspaper was tomorrow and she couldn't come get me after school to take me to the audition in our neighboring town - 6 miles away. So after school I called her at work and pleaded one more time. She finally agreed (enter mom guilt) but it would take her 15 minutes to get to Joseph and back to Enterprise where the auditions were being held, so I'd be a half an hour late. That sounded okay to me. She came and got me, I was SO happy. I still remember pacing circles in the small road by out house as I waited for her car to appear. It was a chilly March or April in Wallowa County - but it wasn't freezing as it sometimes was that time of year. It's it funny the specifics you remember when things really matter to you.

When we got to the audition, I was more than a half an hour late, Val M, the local person in charge of setting the whole thing up, putting me in a line of kids who were already chosen for a part, so they took down my name and got in, I didn't really have to do anything to audition. I LOVED it. I was a Pleasure Isle Kid in Pinocchio. I can never thank my mom enough for getting me to that audition. Late even, so that I didn't even have to chance the rejection there.

Growing up in Wallowa County, there wasn't much as far as extra curricular activities other than sports, and I wasn't very good at those. So MCT showed me that I had talent and there was a place for a hard working, memorization expert, loud talking, kid like me. The louder the better? AWESOME. Big expressive bodies? Loud and clear voices? Following dir....well, two out of three weren't bad. And as it turns out, I COULD listen and sit still when my most important one week a year depended on it! At that young age, acting gave me value.

Me in my first "lead" as a brat in Johnny Appleseed, I'm the one sitting with glasses

Years later, I would be invited to go to an exclusive camp outside of Missoula, Montana on Flathead lake that I could audition for after the recommendation of the tour actors only. 1-2 kids per town were referred, if any, and then there was a lengthy audition process. I will NEVER EVER forget the day that I got the phone call to let me know I got in. In fact, I'm friends on FaceBook now with the camp director and I emailed her the story recently. What I wouldn't do to get my hands on that audition tape. I sang "That's what friends are for", sitting on the floor of my bedroom with a tape deck. (Okay must remember to copy and paste that email for another blog for sure!) I went to that camp for six years for two weeks every summer. Some of my dearest friends to this day I met at MCT camp.Me in MCT PAC show 'Growing Pains; Rockin' a Hard Place' circa summer 1990 (front & center)

Ultimately I ended up going to college at University of Montana in Missoula because the place held such amazing memories from my youth. And then Missoula was filled with college memories and friends, and many of my camp friends who I reconnected with there, became my college friends instead of my camp friends. And, well, I sort of forgot the deep impact that Missoula Children's Theater had. Or I hadn't stopped to think about it for a while.

Until this year when the flier camp home for volunteers needed at Lily's school in the fall with MCT on the list for the last week of October. Until Lily's audition. Until she was cast. Until I watched her run out on stage during dress rehearsal and I burst into tears at the sight of it. She was a little Lobster who teaches Alice a Lobster Quadrille. I was so excited and PROUD of her and so was she.

She's center among the five on the first row, silly faces

During the week of auditions, the tour actors were selling copies of The Little Red Truck, and I bought one, not believing that I hadn't watched it yet after wanting to for so long. The next day I mentioned to Kaitlyn, our tour actor, that I cried as I watched it, thinking how lucky I am to have been directed by Jim Caron (founder of MCT) and Michael McGill. The other actor, stopped what he was doing and said, "You've been directed by Jim and Michael?!". It's a pretty big honor that's for sure, though it's hard to explain (to people who don't know them) that such a big theatrical mecca could really be located in unlikely Montana. Unless you've been to Missoula, then you probably get it.

We found our Little Red Truck in the parking lot upon leaving the audition and I had Lily get a picture next to it.

 

If you aren't familiar with what MCT does, you MUST click here. But the jist of it is 2 tour actors come to a school on a Monday, cast a show in 2 hrs, and then start rehearsals on Monday night, and have 6 days to put on a full scale production with 60 or so kids. They do a 2 shows on Saturday, then pack up their Little Red Truck and head on to the next town and change more lives of more little kids.

Lily will never understand how and why MCT meant so much to me. She lives in a city filled with opportunities and arts (plus she seems to be pretty good at sports and her vision is 20/20!) But that doesn't matter, it matters to me that I got to see her take part in something so special to me. I wouldn't say I'm living vicariously, just seeing her have fun doing something that I loved so much, means more to me that I can describe. The flood of memories that came back to me that week over a month ago, they mean so very much to me, as do all of my valuable experience with Missoula and it's Children's Theatre. Thanks Jim, Michael, and Melanie. You changed little Jenny and gave big Jenny the gift of watching her daughter sing "Will you, won't you, will you, won't you, will you join the dance?"Lily has on the brown shoes and is 4th from the right...

Dress rehearsal


Performance one


Performance two


I'll close with this quote from Jim just says so much:

JIM CARON: To this day, I don't exactly understand how it works. But, I mean, Mom and Dad are cheering for them, and so are all the friends, and, you know, the kid that made fun of them on the playground last week, they're all cheering for them. And you can see the light bulbs going over their heads. And they relate this experience and the elements of this experience to other things in their lives.

Sister, don't come looking to me for all the answers...

On the way to her 6 year check up last [edited to add TWO WEEKS AGO] Tuesday (side note: she is 45 lbs/45 inches, that puts her in to percentile 50 & 50. Here eyesight for both eyes is 20/20, yes she is a squared child.) Lily told me a funny story about a conversation she and Addie had the night before at bedtime.

We could hear them giggling up there for almost a half hour, they were both excited about an upcoming trip to Grandma Lanie's house. The talked about all the pillows and guys they would pack. I'd limited them both to only 2 guys, a blanket, and a pillow. Lily chose her penguin (no brainer) and after much consideration decided on her Uncle Matt doll. Addie took a LOOOOOOONG time to mull it over and decided on 2 bear - bears. This was a huge shocker to us all, since she needs her 2 bear-bears to do nearly everything. haha. Lily has skirted the system by sleeping on her Sammy the Pup stuffed animal as a pillow, thus that is her pillow. Since Lily isn't bringing a regular pillow, Addie wants to be aloud another guy. Instead she settled on a pillow that Bean-Bean's parents sent her for her birthday. So it's all set. Or you'd think. But actually AFTER this discussion, there was a long bout of giggling and talking. I love the sisterhood. I'll admit I have moments of hating it, the arguing, the whining, the comparing. But mostly, I LOVE it. Each time I think one of them is getting cheated out of their own room, I think how special it is to go to sleep with a friend each night...

Okay so back to the conversation:

Me: Lily, can you take your hands out of your mouth, we are about to go in to the doctors office and there are a lot of germs there, you are finally not sick, so let's keep it that way.

Lily: Mom, last night in bed I was coughing in bed. But it only lasted for a minute, so it must have been allergies.

(perfect logic since we spend much of the spring time figuring out if daddy is getting sick or if it's just allergies).

Lily continued: I was coughing really hard and Addie said, "Lily I hope you don't throw up. If you throw up, I promise you, I won't know what to do."

(Insert me laughing which caused Lily to laugh - so the next part was through escalating giggles).

But I said, "Addie, if I throw up, I don't expect you to know what to do, I would run to the bathroom and go to the toliet, I WOULD NOT ask you what I should do!!

Addie said, "Okay, that's a good idea, because I do NOT know what to do"

If you know Addie you can hear her cute squeaky voice, pronouncing in ALL seriousness and importance to Lily who is barely coughing, that if she barfs, do no look to her 3-year-old self for all the answers, because she'll tell you right upfront, she doesn't have them.

I laughed until I cried. My cutie. Cuties. Plural. Lily LOVES it when she makes me laugh. She can't get enough. She laughs when she says anything that makes anyone laugh and then she spends the next two days asking why so many times you'd think she was 2 years old again. "Why did you laugh when I said...." "Why did Addie say...." trailing off into a fit of hysterics as she lavishes at the memory of your and her laughter.

Sometimes it drives me crazy, and I'm like, "Okay, Lil, I don't know why so and so said this or that," or "Because it was FUNNY!" (Now that you've tried to get me to describe it 100x and three days later, not quite SO funny, but still...funny and now a little bit annoying.)

But other times I think of how good it makes you feel to make someone else laugh. That belly laugh that makes your cheeks beam when someone really gets you. Or thinks your story is funny. Or thinks YOU are funny, in a great way. That does feel good, and you do want to relive the moment. So I get that when you are six, you just want to remember how it feels and why you want to get your mom to keep recreating it.

Just so we are clear, though. If you do have to vomit, do not go to Addie, she simply does not know what to do in such a predicament.

Wordless Wednesday - Winter Wonderland

Joseph, Oregon - Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm so excited about NEXT week's Wordless Wednesday that I almost forgot about today!

I know I'm really spreading out trip to Joseph out, but...it really is amazing there.

There was a Jingle through Joseph parade. If we didn't have to worry about driving home 8 hours in it, it would have been the most magical peaceful place on earth.