Wild and Precious Life

This week:

*I had to buy clothes for Hadley in the little girls section and not the baby/toddler section.

*While in the carpool line waiting to pick her up from school, I spotted Hadley waving, and I began to wave back until I realized she was waving goodbye to her friend. 

Thursday:

*Harper wakes up and I take her out of the crib to change her diaper.  Except, we have no diapers.  None.  Also, it's pouring down rain and so far there have been two tornado warnings.  All we have are Splashers.  Do you know what Splashers are?  They go under bathing suits.  I learned yesterday that Splashers may as well be cotton underpants because that's how much they absorb. 

*The severe weather was really stressing me out.  I was nervous about taking Hadley to school with tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms and flash flood warnings.  It's hard to enjoy my new interest in country music when all that is going on.

But then this happened:

For about 3 minutes it stopped raining.  This happened just as Hadley, Harper, and I were walking outside to go to school.  We walked down the stairs and Hadley took one look at our sidewalk and declared, "Today is a PINK DAY!"

Last night in the Bible Study that I go to we talked about these words: agape, content, and joy.  I said that I have a hard time accepting the idea of agape - that no matter what I do God loves me. And being content is certainly an exercise for me.  But joy?  Joy seems to be present all the time, especially at times when I'm not expecting it.  I shared this story about the girls running in the pink pedals and everything that led up to it.  One lady said, "That's what agape is like: God holds the camera so you can dance in the petals." 

Spring Break '11

I didn't mention to Hadley that she would be on Spring Break this past week because I didn't think it would be a big deal.  Apparently that was a foolish mistake on my part.  She was quite disappointed when she was told she wouldn't be able to go to school due to Spring Break.  The whole way home from school she whined, "Today was my last day.  I'll never see my friends again." 

Oh, the drama.

We seemed to carry on despite the devestation of not being able to go to school.  We went to the park with the GP's from OP.

We had a playdate.

The girls are playing a game called "Bubble Gum."  It goes like this: You put your feet together (see above picture) and say "Bubble gum, bubble gum in a dish.  How many pieces do you wish?"  And then someone says a number.  The number could be 4 or 55,000.  It doesn't seem to matter.  After you say the number you take one foot out of the way (note Harper's position). 

That's it.  Seems appropriate for girls in the 2 - 4 age range.  They have attention spans of gnats.

Goofy and Bear wanted to get out too, so we took them to 2 Amy's for pizza.  I think they had a good time.

And despite the fun filled week we had, school was just too much to resist, so Hadley took matters into her own hands and set up shop at home.  A home school, if you will.

I think Hadley will be thrilled to go back to school this week, although, it makes me weary for what will happen when she learns about summer break.  It could be a long three months.

I'm More Atari

The other day, Hadley and I got into an argument over the lyrics to "Forget You."

She won.

Mama Loves

Working on our letters together.

Working out together.

Witnessing her first homemade P,B, and J.

Having a snack at Whole Foods.

Or Panera.

Going out to dinner with Jesse and finishing a few sentences, and then getting back in the car and seeing the carseats.

Falling asleep before the story ends.

A Post According to Hadley

On Saturday my parents took me and Harper to see The White House.

My Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Mallory came too.

You might be able to tell from the above pictures that Harper and I really didn't care about being at the White House.  What we wanted was one of these:

My dad and I ordered them the night before.  I got to pick out a chocolate one with vanilla frosting and lots of sprinkles.  When you're four, and you have the choice between eating a cupcake or going to the White House, you want the cupcake. 

Last year my mom took me to the White House, and at least this person was there too:

Not this year though.  This year, we were only here to see the grass, I guess.

And then this guy walked through and everyone went nuts but I didn't see what the big deal was.

You're probably thinking the same thing I am: What guy?  My dad tried to get a picture of him but he was moving pretty fast and the crowd was going crazy so it was pretty hectic. (I might be four, but I have been known to use the word "hectic" before.  I can also use "inappropriate" in a sentence.  For example "It is inappropriate to pick your nose at school or in front of your mother.")  Anyway, it's the President. 

Did you know that there's a park on the White House Lawn?  Did you know I was within inches of it and my parents wouldn't let me play on it?  What's the point of having a park if you can't play on it?  I was not happy about this little field trip we were on.

Harper wasn't too keen on being here either.

My parents kept talking about how this would be a great place to take a Christmas picture, but at that point I had had it.  I wanted my cupcake!

I remembered, though, something my Uncle Geoff did when he was a little boy and thought perhaps I could give this tactic a try. (I also use the word "perhaps" all the time.  As in, "Perhaps you could pick your nose if no one is looking.")  You see, he told me once that if you really want your parents to take you where you need to go, when they want to take a family picture, you just frown and maybe even whine a little bit, thus making the experience not so fun for people.  You may have it documented for years, but you'll get to your baseball game, or cupcake, depending on your needs at the moment.

So that's what I did.

Not too impressive?  How 'bout this next one?

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Meeting Baby Otto

On Saturday we went to Baltimore to meet this little guy:

This is Otto.  He is the son of our friends Tim and Angela, and he is so, so sweet.

The girls were smitten.

Hadley even got to hold him.

Otto's thinking, "I dunno.  I heard your Mommy's crazy.  I'm not sure I want you holding me."

To which Hadley replies, "Nah, you can totally trust me."

Seeing the newness of Otto and the newness of Tim and Angela's parenthood makes it easy to remember what life was like four and half years ago.

Or two and a half years ago.

It's quite something to know someone since she was first married in 2000 and to watch her in her first days as a mother eleven years later.  She's a pro already.  At one point during the evening, Otto was letting everyone know he wasn't too happy about his circumstances.  Angela picked him up and their faces were centimeters away from each other, and he immediately calmed down.  I don't know if she realized what happened; I'm pretty sure in those early days of motherhood I would not have been able to recognize it either.  So it was a treat for me to watch it last night.  Which makes me think this:  If there is any advice that you can give a new mom, tell them that their son or daughter knows her voice.  That's what matters. 

The rest of it is a crap shoot.