All my love

I have never witnessed a brother and sister so adoring of each other.  

She loves him and he loves her.  They are always watching each other, smiling at each other, or chattering away with each other!

Though its not always a barrel of laughs, there is not much sibling rivalry here. 

The kids are happy to be together and to do things together too!

Ah, with these two...

So much love, 

my cup runneth over!

Got Milk?

One of life's essentials... milk. 

Guess who learned how to hold his own bottle? 

That's right, my little man is becoming self-sufficient already! 

Not to be outdone, Waverly loves her milk too!

She will make sure you put some strawberry flavor in her cup of milk.  If not, she will even go get it out of the fridge for you!  

These kids are too smart.  Watch out, mom and dad!  These two characters are going to be smarter than we are!  

If you're happy & you know it...

What a fantastic smile!!!

 This is one happy kiddo!

He is always so quick to grin and giggle.  

He just amazes me with his bright spirit and smiles! 

And handsome to boot!  

As my Wavy says, "You make my heart happy, brudder!"

Friends and Fireflies!

We love having company! Especially when that company includes Travis and Heather, and Katie and Abby!

Waverly and Abby love playing together!

The girls checked on Wavy's fairy garden and then took a good look at the tomato plants! 

Later after dinner, Travis showed the girls how to catch fireflies! Abby calls them lightening bugs and Wavy called them light ups.  

The girls were tickled to catch bugs! 

Wavy surprisingly was a bit girly about the fireflies!  She loved looking at them and trying to catch them, but when she would get close she wouldn't let it touch her.  She made us all laugh!

Abby turned out to be an excellent firefly catcher! 

She had a whole handful in no time at all!

It was an awesome night!!!  Thanks to everyone for coming over and enjoying the evening with us! 

The smallest baby

Crissy may be the oldest baby at home, but she's still the smallest!

She loves to get comfy on the couch and take long naps.  She loves to say hi to the kids, and they love chasing her and giving her toys.  The best thing is that she has now taken to watching over them at night when they are sleeping in their rooms.  Crissy goes back and forth from sister's room to brudder's room.  Its very sweet, just as she is! 

Walking Together

For a long time, I have wanted to have the footprints from the babies birth certificates as a tattoo.  I finally got the nerve up!

Now, this picture may look painful, but I promise it wasn't!

My good friend Katie was there to hold my hand, but it really didn't hurt much!  We chatted and loved our visit with Tom and Phyllis at the shop.  

Wavy loves mommy's "pictures".  She knows that the top right footprint is hers and that the bottom left is Harlan's.  She will pet Mommy's back just as gently and sweet!  That girl cracks me up!

High 5!

My little boy is growing up too fast!

At 5 months old, he has taken an interest into everything!

He loves to watch cartoons, listen and play with Wavy, grab toys, scoot around in his walker, and bounce in his exersaucer.  He recognizes his mommy and daddy and his grandparents.  

Harlan is babbling away now.  

He's working on perfecting all that baby talk, well, when his big sister lets him get a word in!

Harlan is still teething!  We're waiting on that first tooth, but it might be awhile yet!

Harlan loves to play peek-a-boo and he smiles so big when you appear.  

Waverly is great at entertaining him with games, toys and songs.  

Harlan has been given some baby food now.  He likes it, but I still try to make sure his day is filled with mostly formula and a little bit of rice cereal.  He's a growing boy!

My Flower Girl

Baby Gail made Wavy a necklace from the little white flowers that grow all over the yard.  She loved her flower necklace!

She watched very intently as Mamaw (aka Baby Gail) tied the flowers they had picked together into a long rope.  Then she tied the ends to make the necklace.  

She was so cute trying to make necklaces.  And she showed her new jewelry to everyone!

Reminds me of when I was little, making those flower accessories!  

Hungry Man

Harlan likes his veggies!

Nothing like a little sweet pea!

He is so funny! If you aren't fast enough with the next bite, he will reach for your hand and pull the spoon to his mouth! 

Man, they just grow up too fast!

Little Momma

Mother's Day 2012

My first mother's day as a mother of two!  

I am a lucky, lucky gal!

My baby's made the sweetest little cards for me!

Wavy helped Harlan with the stickers on his card, but he put the big tweety bird sticker on all by himself!  I so proud!

Wavy loves to pretend that she's a little momma.  She takes her babies to the rocking chair, more often mine than her own rocking chair, and rocks and sings her baby to night-night.  She makes sure her little one is wrapped up well, snuggled close to her, and well fed.  

It's so adorable to see her mocking her momma!  

Harlan is a little bit of a mocking bird of his own!

He will smile the biggest of grins when smiled at.

I truly enjoyed spending the entire day with my little ones.  It was a wonderful mother's day!

Swing low, sweet chariot!

Oh my Wavy!

She is fearless!

She loves to swing! She will play and play on her swing set, moving from her very own pink swing to the slide and the see saw.  

She is such a hoot!  She always asks for more, even when she is hot and tired from so much outside play.  She is a country girl!  She just adores being outside playing.  She will take your hand and lead you right to her swing set! 

Fairy Gardens

One of my dearest friends has been working with her three-year-old daughter at home over the summer.  She is teaching her so many new things!  This summer's study program is centered around fairies.  Katie invited Waverly and I to her house to make a fairy garden with Abby.  

We were surprised when we got there that Katie and Abby (and Chris!) had enough supplies for Wavy to make her own fairy garden!  We had been talking abut this day for weeks, so we were very excited to plaint flowers, place the shells and stones, make the pathway, and make a pool for the fairies to visit. 

Katie had prepared for everything!  

And, yes, that is a tiny Bat-girl you see before you.  Abby was playing dress up before we started our gardening.  She was adorable playing fairies all dolled up like batman! 

Wavy takes any kind of project seriously!

She worked hard, placing each shell in a specific place.  We used sand to make a pathway and then shiny blue stones for the fairy pool.  Katie had lanterns and flower streamed for each garden, too!

Wavy's fairy garden...

Abby's fairy garden...

The girls have so enjoyed their gardens!  Wavy waters her every day and we've slowly added other trinkets and toys, hoping to encourage our fairies to visit at night.  

We can't wait to learn all kinds of new things this summer! 

Rock & Roll, Baby!

Guess who can roll over?  

Yep, that'd be my boy Harlan!

I was so lucky to be there, playing with him on his play mat for a bit, when he surprised both me and himself by rolling over from his belly to his back! 

He was obviously pleased with his accomplishment, giving me a proud grin and giggle!

Then he proceeded to perfect his new trick!

Now he's a rockin' and a rollin' all the time! 

Making this house into a home...

We were excited to check out our new home!

Once we arrived, I simply told Wavy that this was Mommy and Wavy and Brudder's house. 

She was adorable, running all over and checking it out!

She was really intrigued by the steps on the porch, and the big tree in the yard. 

We went room to room, brudder in hand, too, so that we could see all the rooms in the house. 

Wavy was excited to tell me where her brudder's room was, and then she found her big room too!

She loves having a big room!  We are planning to paint and then decorate with butterfly's!

Out back, there is a strawberry patch!  Soon, we will plant tomato plants and some new greenery.  

This is the first magnet on the fridge!  A Wavy creation, of course!

Its the little things like this that make a house into a home.  

Just Checking In

After a fussy couple of days, we decided a trip by the pediatrician's office was in order for Baby Harlan. 

He was all fine and dandy though.  Just a bit of teething!

Of course, big sister Wavy was there to keep an eye on him!

Perhaps now is not the moment for kisses, sissy!

But, who's going to forgo a Wavy kiss?  Not brudder!

Handsome As Handsome Can Be

Harlan is a handsome fella!  

He adores being outside.  He is wide with wonder as he takes in his surroundings.  He smiles when a breeze blows by and is just content being in the outdoors! 

The Broken Road

At some point in everyone's life, there is going to come a cross roads, where you must make a choice of how to proceed. Which path to take? What should I do? What is the best decision?
You will face this in many different aspects of your life. This is the story of my cross roads.


Over the past few years, my focus in life has shifted. I have always wanted to become a mother, be the best mommy, and have a happy home. This dream was coming true. With that dream, comes reality. Its difficult to raise children, to be someone's everything all the time. But there is miraculous joy that comes with it.


When Waverly was born, my attention was centered. I was grounded. I love being her mommy, teaching her new things, exploring the world through her eyes. My husband and I doted on her, as every new parent should to a beautiful little girl who lights up their lives.


When Waverly turned one, I began to think of another child. How can you not want more, when this one is so great? It will be wonderful! And it was. Harlan was born in December, when Waverly was just 22 months old. Our two little miracles.


With that, an unanticipated bout of postpartum depression came. It was very difficult. Both children needed my time and attention, my undivided devotion to whatever their current whim was. Harlan in particular needed understanding, as we battled his allergy to breast milk, then formula, then soy. I faced each day and night with trepidation of how I would get through it.


It was during this time that the separation between Dean and I became real to me. We had somehow lost our magic, the connection that had held us together over the past ten years. I also felt very secluded and cut-off from the outside world. Everything was a struggle, and one I faced alone. There was no family support, little understanding or compassion. My perception of my world was my reality.


Once returning to work, things did not improve at home. In fact, it was just as stressful as before and there was less quality time to spend with the beautiful little people in my life. After several months, I found my breaking point.


It was then that I made a life decision. Convinced that there was no love for me in this marriage, I reacted in the only way I knew how. Soon enough, all the cards were on the table and we were officially separated, a day I never had imagined.


The weeks that followed are of extreme difficulty. Leaving the only home I've ever thought of as my own, as my family's, was unbelievably hard. I have lost my family, my relationships with those that I care about.


Though this has been a challenge, the children have fared extremely well. Waverly reacted to the life changes as well as any 2 year old could. She has shown her resiliency, and she has been very happy as of late. Harlan is also doing well. He loves getting to spend time with everyone, as usual, and has been growing so fast!


Dean and I have managed to remain friendly, and expect to continue doing so. We have found the underlying line of friendship that has always been there, just misplaced the past few years. We plan to divorce and co-parent the babies, doing everything in their best interest. We hope to find happiness apart, believing that a broken home is certainly better than an unhappy one.


In time, everything will sort itself out. Life will become normal once more. In the meantime, we just go day-by-day, thankful for the chance to make things better and for the babies that have so enriched our lives.