Little Blessings (Pt. 18)

January 14, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

:) Full-on laughing with (at?) the girl when we caught her in the bathroom looking in her hand mirror and pretending to put on powder, just like mommy.

We LOL’d…totally.

:) A creative streak that produced three new pieces of jewelry this afternoon, one of which I am going to have a very hard time selling. Perhaps I will wear it tomorrow…just once to “try it out”!

:) Snow…and the pretty that comes from looking at it from inside the house.

(Looking on the bright side here…)

:) A fun night out last night with friends.

:) Returning boots today that I don’t need…only to be told that I could rebuy them for 70% off. I totally did.

$15 for a brand spankin’ new pair of too-cute boots that I’ll wear next year? Yes, please!

:) A hubby who is finally not in so much pain.

Thankful for meds but even more thankful that he doesn’ t need

them anymore.

:) Neighbor boys who shovel sidewalks for us just because they’ re cool like that.

(Have I mentioned how much I love my neighborhood?)

:) A bathroom scale that forgave me this morning for the piece of cheesecake I ate last night.

That one’s worthy of two smileys. 😉

:) W atching my d

aughter grow and change a little more every day.

She truly is the sunshine of my day.

:) Sunday tomorrow. I love Sundays.

(And the naps that usually come with them!)

What’s your blessing today?

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, friends, just life, Maelie

Tonight

January 8, 2012 by · 2 Comments

Daddy’s Little Helper

Mommy’s Little Snuggler

Yes, indeed, it w as

a good night.

:)

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, just life, Maelie, Tobin

Maelie’s 1st Haircut

December 27, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Yes, friends…it was another milestone today for our girl.

This milestone made mommy’s heart a little sad, but it’s ok…she’s too cute for me to be that sad about it. :)

Here we are with Aunt Bethany, who did the hair cutting.

(She is actually Tobin’s sister, but she looks like she could be my sister. True.)

Here’s a pic from the front…

… and from the back.

Yep, the curls are gone…but we’re sure they’ll be back!

Definitely a d

ay to remember.

:)

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, just life, Maelie

Always Trying to Help

December 17, 2011 by · Leave a Comment


Sig

Filed Under: just life, Maelie, music

Under My Feet

December 14, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

So this week I’ ve been crazy-busy with baking cookies.

(And trying not to eat them! ;)) We’re having some neighbors over on Sunday… and wh

at better way to celebrate than with a dozen different kinds of cookies

?

Oh, yeah. (And I’m still forcing myself to work out every day.) :)

This morning I was trying to get a batch of a new kind done…and to preface this, I was kind of making up the recipe as I went.

(Thankfully, they turned out amazing.

;))

But since I was making it up and guessing with a few ingredients, I was also all over the kitchen a hundred times, looking for the right things.

And somewhere in the middle of the gooey, chocolatey creation and the peppermint buttercream…

Are you drooling yet??? 😉

I noticed something.

Everywhere I went, I h ad

a little person under my feet.

I was annoyed. I couldn’t move two feet without her following me…and it began to frustrate me that I couldn’t reason with her and tell her that sitting on the floor near me was just as good.

Eventually she gave me a break and resorted to hanging on to the back of my jeans while I created my fabulous concoction.

It made me impatient, and I caught myself raising my voice at her…

And then I stopped.

Thank You, God, that I have a beautiful little girl who wants to be close to me…

Thank You, God, that she is there…that she is this amazing, wonderful blessing in my life…

Thank You, God, that I am so incredibly blessed…

To have the sweetest little girl in the world constantly under my feet.

Just a blessing I thought I’d share.

What blessed your heart today

?

Sig

Filed Under: adventures, being mommy, blessings, just life, Maelie

She Spins

December 13, 2011 by · 2 Comments

She discovered spinning several weeks ago.

She’d turn herself around fast, get dizzy, fall over, laugh…

And repeat.

Over and over.

It w as

a riot w

atching her. (And we totally got it on video ’cause I know you’re all wondering.) 😉

And at the same time, I think I was a teeny bit jealous. Of my daughter.

Yeah.

Because she spins.

She spins with a reckless, carefree abandon, completely giving herself the freedom to be

herself. Yeah, she bumps into things. Yeah, she falls down.

Yeah, she totally looks like a goof.

And some days I would like to do the same thing.

To spin myself in circles until I’m so dizzy that I fall over. To let out some seriously loud laughter, not caring who might be watching or what they might be thinking.

Her spinning that night continued for quite awhile, and she still does it sometimes.

She’ll take a break from building a block tower or giving her “baby” a ride in the shopping cart…

and spin.

I have no idea who taught her how to spin…we didn’t. But it’s almost as if she uses that time to just…be. To say, hey, this block building and shopping cart pushing is getting to be too much…I need to turn myself in circles for awhile.

Just so I can let the world know I’m Maelie.

I’ve had a tough few days…nothing completely horrible, just some realizations and situations that are stressing me out.

I don’t deal well with things like that, and so at times it all makes me want to sit in a corner and cry until there are no tears left.

Thankfully, I have an 18 month old who needs me, and so I can’t do that. :)

I’ve tried a lot…I’ve prayed. I’ve written things that will never move past the draft stage.

I’ve sung. I’ve cried.

And today…I just felt like spinning.

So I grabbed my daughter by the hands, and we turned some circles.

Giggled. Made a memory.

And it felt SO completely good.

Hi.

My name is Mel.

And I spin. 😉

Sig

Filed Under: just life, Maelie, where I am

Monday Funny

December 5, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

So despite a drama-filled, emotional, crazy Monday…

On the part of the daughter, mostly…maybe a little from me… 😉

Maelie started the day off in a super funny way,

and it was really nice to start our morn

ing that way.

I went in to get her up around 8:00 this morning, and as I walked into her room, I saw her head pop up over the side of the crib, and she just watched me as I walked to her blinds to open them and then to her closet to get some clothes for her.

The watching was funny enough, but when I got her on the changing table to change her diaper and get her dressed, the following conversation unfolded.

Yes, a conversation.

On the part of two people.

Me: Ok, we need to put your jeans on.

Mae: No! (kicks legs several times)

Me: (holding her legs down and trying not to laugh) Yes!

Mae: No! (more kicking)

Me: Yes!

We struggled for a minute or so, and three times she kicked the jeans off her legs before I finally got them pulled up, zipped, and buttoned.

Me: Now, are you going to be a good girl

today or a naughty girl

?

Mae: Hmmmmm… (she waits a moment) Naughty!

That did it. I just laughed and laughed.

Whatever it was that she meant, she certainly lived up to it.

We had a very active, ornery day. (Those are nice adjectives.)

I love her…and am thankful for the love and laughter we share together.

But I’m still hoping for a little less drama tomorrow.

😉

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, blessings, just life, Maelie

Christmas Thoughts…

December 3, 2011 by · Leave a Comment

Yikes…is it really December 3rd already?!

Anyway…

Last night we took Mae “downtown” to Dickens in Dundee. (T hat’

s where the UH-dorable photo from yesterday is from.) It was fun…we were only there for about an hour because it was on the cold side, and she refused to wear a hat.

:) But we walked around, stopped for popcorn, got her picture taken, chatted with friends, and listened to some awesome Christmas

music performed by friends of ours.

It was such a fun start to the Christmas season.

Today the parade in Dundee was canceled, so we used our morning to finish Christmas shopping for Mae, realizing this is the last year we’ll be able to do it while she’s with us. 😉

We don’t do huge amounts of gifts for Christmas.

Tobin and I buy each other a few smaller things, and we buy a few things for Maelie, and that’s that. This year my mom and dad and stepmom chipped in and we were able to buy her something bigger…which you’ll have to wait until Christmas to see. :)

No spilling secrets on THIS blog! 😉

As we were walking through Target today, though, I was nagged by thought,

Did we buy her enough

?

We have really tried to keep Christmas about Jesus…and keep the gifts to a minimum.

She’s getting a few fun things, but there probably won’t ever be a huge stack of presents for her.

At the same time, we don’t want her to miss the fun of visiting Santa, of opening gifts… of being a kid at Christmas.

It hasn’t been a hard balance so far, but she doesn’t understand yet, either.

:)

I know the more difficult years are coming…the years when her friends are getting iPads or whatever else is the big thing by then…and we’ll be struggling to figure out what’s appropriate and what’s ridiculous.

I guess that’s part of parenting…we’d better enjoy these years now, huh

? 😉

And on the bright side...I'm done shopping...YaHOO!!! December 3rd could be  a record,  I think.

Sig

Filed Under: being mommy, just life, Maelie

A Happy Memory

December 2, 2011 by · 1 Comment

Sig

Filed Under: just life, Maelie

30 Days of Thanks, Day 29: Words

November 29, 2011 by · 3 Comments

Because I’m a writer, I have a mild obsession with words.

I use them to express who I am, who I wish to be, what I am learning, what kind of day I’m having, what makes me laugh, what makes me cry…the list could go on.

Words are powerful.

It’s been interesting for me to daily observe, for the first time, a child learning to talk.

Maelie really talks…I believe she’s gifted in that area. 😉

Even at the age of about six months, she “talked”. It was really cute…she’d just jabber away, and I loved listening to it.

But around a year old, she started “talking” with purpose. I’ll never forget the night we went to dinner with friends to celebrate Tobin’s birthday. She talked and talked for almost two hours, and the whole time, it was as if she had something important to tell us.

I kind of think there may have been. :)

Now the words are coming faster, and she’s even spoken a few sentences.

And if I’m being honest, I can’t wait for the day when she starts to tell stories…because I want to know what’s movin’ and shakin’ in that brain of hers! 😉

It’s so interesting to see her developing in that way…it really makes me stop and marvel at every detail God thought of when He created us.

And it makes me thankful for little things like words.

Which, really, aren’t so little…

In fact, they’re pretty important.

Sig

Filed Under: 30 Days of Thanks, just life, Maelie
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