My Big Girl!

Today was my sweet baby's last day wearing size ONE diapers!  She is finally over 14 pounds & she has moved up to her BIG GIRL size TWO's!!!!!!!  : )  My little Anibella is 7 1/2 months & she weighs 14 pounds 3 ounces.  She is petite but spunky, adventurous, full of curiosity & so incredibly sweet & lovable!  She does not let her tiny-ness keep her from doing all of her big girl stuff!  Anibella was only 1 day early which seemed late for us since all of our other girls were anywhere from one to two weeks early.  She weighed 6 pounds 7 ounces & she was 19 1/4 inches long.  God knew she needed to bake just a little bit longer & she is absolutely perfect!  Sometimes I worry when people comment on how tiny she is but I am happy to know that she is perfectly healthy (PRAISE GOD!!!!!!) & has even hit most of her baby milestones early.  (Not that it really matters but it is comforting that she is physically able even being so little!)  She started rolling back to tummy AND tummy to back in the same week, the week she turned 4 months old.  She started sitting up & said her first word, "Mama" (which TOTALLY melts my heart!) at 5 months.  She said her second word, "Dada" (which equally melts both Randal & I's hearts!) & started pulling up to stand the first week she turned 7 months.  My Anibella Hope is just a very sweet, content, social & happy baby!  So, our girls & I made a big "to do" about Anibella "graduating" from her size 1's to her size 2's today!  Her size 1's still actually fit her but the tabs don't come together quite as much as they used to.  Her size 2's are much more roomy & comfy!  I LOVE for my babies to look & be comfy ~ it makes me ridiculously happy!  : )  My sweet Anibella baby is growing up!  She is doing new things every day!  She is such a joy to her Daddy, her 4 big sissies & I! 

My Life Today.......Monday 6/7/2010

My life today........

Right now I am...nursing my sweet little baby girl!  (Usually, if I'm sitting down it's because I'm nursing my baby.  That is when I blog, check email or say hi to family & friends on Facebook.  I don't like to just sit down to blog or Facebook unless I have a good reason to sit & if I can multi-task.  BUT.......always, always, always, when I sit down to nurse my baby, she is my priority & I give her my attention!  Those sweet moments are fleeting & I cherish them!  It's Baby & Mommy's special time!)    : )

Outside my window... overcast & stormy. 

I am hoping...that all of my girls get over this terrible cough, runny nose & plain ol' yuckiness very soon!

I am thankful...that my Hubby is going to pick up a few things that I need at the grocery store on his way home from work so I don't have to take my sweet, sick girls out!

I am smelling...my vanilla coffee candle.  YUM!!!!!!!

I just...talked on the phone to one of my very best girlfriends in SC who I miss SO very much!

From the kitchen...taco meat for Scoopie. 

I am wearing...an extremely comfy orange maternity t-shirt & white capri's.  No.......I'm definitely not pregnant but I LOVE my orange maternity t-shirt that I've had since I was pregnant with my little Abby.......7 years ago!  Yep, it's still around, it still looks great (it should for what it cost at Motherhood!), it's SO comfy & oh, it's one of my very favorite colors too!  : ) 

I am creating...a never-ending list of "to-do's"!  

I am going... to try to find some fun free things to do with my girlies this summer!  I'm thinking story time, restaurant tours, free summer movies at the theater & anything else I can find to keep my girls minds & little bodies learning, growing & having fun! 

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.  The chapter I read today is called, " The Blessings of Loving My Children”.  It was encouraging & convicting & reminded me, once again, of the amazing honor & privilege it is that I am called to this precious adventure of motherhood!  One of my favorite quotes is about loving my children tenderly.  Psalm 127:3-5 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.  Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”  Carolyn said, "Our speech and actions are shaped by our thoughts.  Therefore, we must make every effort to think Psalm 127 kinds of thoughts (heritage, fruit, reward, arrows!) about our children.  Thinking of them as a heritage, a reward and a blessing will alter our attitude and provide the fertile soil for our tender love to grow.”  Wow!  Amazing!  .......heart, mind & attitude changing!  I want to love my children more tenderly every day!  

I am thinking...how amazing it is that my sweet baby girl pulled herself up to STAND.......ALL BY HERSELF today!!!!!!!  She was playing happily beside me on her blankie & I felt a little tug & out of the corner of my eye I saw her cute little head pop up!  When I looked at her, she was standing like such a sweet, big girl, holding onto my leg & smiling as big as she could!  She looked so proud of herself & kinda surprised too!  

I am hearing...my 3 oldest girls playing with their sweet little toddler sissy who has such a sad, yucky cough!  They are trying to distract her & make her feel better!  They keep saying, "Mommy, laughter is the best medicine!"  So they're trying to make their sweet little sissy feel better!  SO sweet! 

Around the house...OKAY, this is really another "I am hearing" but I just can't resist!  My baby girl just started saying "Mama" & "Dada" & REALLY really REALLY meaning it this week!  She has been saying "Mama" for a while but I'm not quite sure she knew that *I* am "Mama"!  So, she started saying it when she sees us & wants us a few days ago & OH MY GOODNESS........it totally melts our hearts!  It's so cute, she kinda sticks out her tongue & says, "mmmmmmm........Mama........mmmmmmmm  ........Mama" & "dddddddd........Dada........dddddddd.........Dada"!  SO precious!  : ) 

Some of my favorite things...knowing that out of all of the friends my girls could draw pictures for, they always make their first picture for Mommy!  : )  I LOVE that! 

Some of my plans for this week:

~ our 2nd week of naptime potty training was put on hold since our sweet toddler has had a cold so we're gonna work on it again this week!  
~ look into finding free/inexpensive things for our girls & I to do this summer. 
~ laundry.......again!  : ) 
~ playing outside, running, burning energy, having adventures & letting my kids be kids!
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ putting into practice what I am learning about "loving my children tenderly"! 
 

Our beach day ~ New Symrna Beach

We spent the day at New Symrna Beach last Saturday. It was lovely and perfect and had the feeling of a family vacation even though it was only a day trip. The sky was a bright, almost electric blue, the water refreshing & very splash-able, the sand just right for squidgling little toes in, that wonderful salty beach air all toasty warm with a slight breeze and my 6 most favorite people to spend such a delightful day with........my sweet Hubby & our 5 precious little girls!  We ate at a cute little pizza bistro right off of the beach as soon as we got there.  At the beach my girls loved having time to just run, play & explore!  Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava spent all day in & out of the water, roaming the beach looking for treasures & digging in the sand!  We found some really cool things like 7 "Blue Button" jellyfish, a "Leopard Crab" shell, a piece of coral, a spiral shell with a little snail still living in it & lots of beautiful sea shells!  My big girls dug a huge "hot tub" in the wet sand for their little sissies!  Ava had so much fun running back & forth from the ocean to her little hot tub & she also hung out a lot with Mommy & little Anibella under our huge & really cool beach umbrella!  She loved the having the "freedom" to run around & play & come back to Mommy & Anibella to rest, have a snack or get a kiss whenever she wanted!  This was Anibella's first beach day being able to sit up on her own!  She LOVED it!  She loved to pick up the sand & feel it in her hands & then she would kind of shake her hands like she was trying to throw it & it would go everywhere!  It blew back in her sweet little face a little & she looked a little concerned but didn't even cry then or as I gently wiped it away from her eyes!  She is such a sweet baby!  She loved to squidgle her little toes in the sand & kept getting excited & kicking her little feet!  She was so cute & it was so much fun to watch her explore her little world & love the beach as much as the rest of us do!  She is barely old enough to wear sunscreen so I kept her under our big umbrella most of the time!  The last two times we've gone to the beach I have brought an extra laundry basket that I just stack under the basket we carry all of our stuff in.  I put a soft blanket in the bottom & a bunch of Anibella's toys & it's like an instant portable play area for my sweet baby!  I forgot to get a picture of Anibella playing in her basket but I got a few of her taking a little nap in it!  Anibella's hair is naturally curly & it was especially curly in the warm, humid air!  My amazing Hubby played & played with our girls all day!  He was tired but he loved every minute of it!  Coming out of our extremely busy season of him working 12 hour days in his previous job in SC, online college which took up every spare moment he wasn't working for the past 3 years and our recent whirlwind busy move, it is so fun to see him just be able to play & enjoy our girls!  I am a summer & beach lovin' girl at heart & I really loved seeing my family have fun on our beach day!  Roaming the beach, swimming all day & having little adventures is how I spent most of my summers growing up.  I love seeing my girlies do the same thing & I'm grateful to God that we live where we can enjoy the beach.  I didn't take many pictures but here are a few of my amazing family! 

 

 

My patient Anibella!

I don't know if it's because Anibella is the youngest of 5 little girls or if she just has a super sweet & content little personality but she is so patient!  She loves to play with & be loved on by all of her big sissies & she endures so much of their "mommy-ing"!  Abby asked if she could gently brush Anibella's hair & this is what I saw when I came to check on them!  Abby was so sweet & gentle & Anibella was so happy & patient!  She was smiling & giggling & seemed to love it!  Anibella's hair is really naturally curly but Abby wanted to see how it would look straight!  It was so cute!  I love that Anibella is being so sweet & smiley!  She is such a patient & enduring baby girl! This is one of my favorite pictures!  I love how Anibella is so sweetly smiling at her big sissy Abby as if to say how much fun they were having together!  So precious! 

My Life Today.......Monday 5/31/2010

My life today........


Right now I am...cuddling my sweet, sick little baby girl! : (

Outside my window... sunny & bright with a warm-ish breeze.

I am hoping...& PRAYING that my sweet Anibella baby will be healthy again soon & that her cough won't turn into anything else!

I am thankful...that my Hubby took our 4 big girls out so Anibella & I could have some quiet to nap since we were up all night together. I'm thankful that they brought home Chinese for lunch & a peppermint mocha frappuccino for Mommy!

I am smelling...my delicious frappuccino from my amazing Hubby & our sweet girlies that I'm sipping.....right.....now.....YUM!

I just...helped my little toddler go potty & then layed her down for her afternoon nap. She is doing absolutely amazing & is completely potty trained during the day now! Yay for my Ava!

From the kitchen...I was hoping to make a special Memorial Day lunch for my family but I didn't get to the store yesterday because my sweet baby is sick! : ( I wanted to grill steaks, have corn on the cob, loaded baked potatoes, broccoli & sweet tea. If you don't know, my girls are kinda crazy about broccoli! They have been known to cry over the broccoli bowl being empty or bargaining with a sissy in order to acquire more of said desired veggie! Great "problem" to have! For dessert I wanted to make a white sheet cake with the classic strawberries for red, cool whip for white & blueberries for blue "flag" design! Instead we'll have our favorite back-up meal that we always have on hand, Scoopie! Basically it's everything you would eat in a taco with all of the yummy toppings in a bowl & scooped up with tortilla chips! We'll have our Memorial Day meal later this week.

I am wearing...a cute black t-shirt with gathers around the scoop neck line that my sister sent me from Germany & black, navy & grey striped jammie shorts. (I'm starting to notice a pattern here.......why am I always in jammies when I blog?! I'm just gonna say that I'm still in my jammies at 2 pm today because my precious little one & I were up all night! ; ) AND, I also noticed that I really love stripes & I wear them a lot!)

I am creating...a rotating menu plan that I came across on another Mom's blog. I haven't done this yet but I'm getting myself set up to try it. This is how it's supposed to work. In the front of my little recipe box I have a tab for every day of the week. I have enough recipe cards for every day of the month with new recipes & many duplicates since we like to eat the same things a lot. Even if you have duplicates, you need to have a different card for each day of the month so that you don't have to worry about shuffling them around. So, since we love to eat tacos/scoopie, I'll probably have 2 or even 4 of the same card so that we can have that every week. On each card is the recipe & ingredients for that meal or even just the name if I make it enough to know exactly what it is & what I need. There are 4 recipe cards in each day of the week so that there are enough for every week of the month. On Monday, I will use the first card & then when I'm done, I will rotate it to the back of the Monday section so that the next Monday I will make what is on the card in the front. The idea is that everyday of the month you have a recipe to make without having to go searching for what you want to make. We are trying to eat more healthily & I think having it planned out will help me with my shopping & daily meal making too! On my shopping day I can just take out my meal cards & add the ingredients that I need for the week to my list! The plan is to use this same rotation for several months in a row unless we want to add or take away certain meals. It takes the guess work out of it & lets me focus more on taking care of my family whose tummies I am trying to fill with they yummy, healthy meals! (wow, this one was long ~ SORRY!)

I am going... to make some homemade sweet tea when I'm done with this post! Sweet tea is our favorite thing to drink & I think homemade is the best! I've been told (by my sweet girls!) that our tea is better than Sonic & even.......dare I say it.......Chick-fil-A! GASP!!!!!!! It's true! : )

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... how I need to grow in so many areas that it's sometimes overwhelming! BUT.......God has a plan & is working in my heart every day! I am absolutely sure of it!

I am hearing...my sweet, sick baby girl giggle at her big sissy & oh man, that makes my Mama-heart happy! : )

Around the house...lots & lots & lots & lots & lots of artwork from my girls! I love encouraging them to be creative & to use their imaginations but then I have the dilemma (by the way, I was always taught to spell that word "dilemNa" but since I got that lovely little red line underneath, I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary & it is actually spelled "dilemMa"! Huh.......I've been spelling it wrong all these years?! : \ Oh well!) of what to do with all of their sweet, beautiful, amazing (silly & crazy!) creations! I guess I'm just TOO sentimental (not about knick knacks or furniture or the like! ONLY about my Hubby & girls!) for my own good!

Some of my favorite things...hearing my Hubby talk sweetly about me to our girls from the other room.......even when he doesn't know I'm listening! : )

Some of my plans for this week:

~ our 2nd week of *NAPTIME* potty training my sweet little 2 year old
~ working on the above mentioned menu rotation
~ getting out & moving our bodies at least a little bit every day this week!
~ putting all of our laundry away (I think I should just set this one in stone! It's pretty much an ongoing TO DO! The way I see it.......I have piles of laundry because I have 6 incredible people wearing/using all that laundry! Therefore, I love it in a crazy sort of way!) : )
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ loving my Hubby more passionately & molding my girls more gently!
~ Trusting God all....the....time! Especially when I am tempted to worry, fear & anxiety, like when my sweet little 7 month old delicious baby girl is sick!

11:05 project

My little Anibella reaches her adorable little arms up to me when she wants to be held! Then she looks at me with.......

her sweet hopeful little eyes! I mean really.......who can resist? She is just precious!

This is baby multi-tasking at it's very best! Anibella is sucking on her fingers, trying to blow raspberries, sitting up & holding her foot ALL at the SAME TIME! : ) That's quite an accomplishment for a little 6 month old!

My little Ava found a pink "hawt bead"! It was the highlight of her necklace making activity today!

My little Abby was very focused on sliding her beads onto the string!

My little Ashley was working hard & sweetly tried to not be bothered by Mommy taking pictures!
My sweet happy Anibella!
My little Amy was intently working on her necklace!
This is what happens when you tell a toddler to "look up" for a picture! I love how literal 2 year olds are! Ha!

I love my smiley boo!

This is when Ava first found her special heart bead! I love how excited she is about it!

Abby surprised Mommy with a gorgeous new bracelet! SO sweet!

Ashley made me a beautiful "gold" necklace since, "You can't afford a real one! Do you love it Mommy?"! SO sweet & OF COURSE I DO Baby! : )

Amy led the Sissy team in making jewelry for Mommy! SO sweet & such an amazing example to her little sisters!

I just can't resist these pictures of my littlest Princess!

I love Ava's joy over her little pink heart! If you look closely you can see her two bottom little eye teeth coming in! Precious!

My Abby with her sweet creation!

My Ashley with her sweet creation!

My Amy with her sweet creation!




These are my "11:05 project" pictures. A while ago I wrote a post about taking more spontaneous pictures of my girls without making sure they look "just so". I love having pictures of them playing & just being little girls! Mostly, I started this little project as a way to mortify my selfish ambition (pride) & the desire to be perceived as always having it "together" (more pride & fear of man). I obviously never have it together & it's sad to think that I really care about those things but, if I'm being completely honest, in my heart, unfortunately those things matter to me way more than they should! I need God's grace in these areas! So, as I'm "putting off" these sins of pride, selfish ambition, fear of man & many others, I thought that posting pictures of my sweet girlies would be a fun way of "putting on" humility & selflessness! Besides, I just REALLY love my 5 little girls & it makes me happy to see pictures of them! Amy, Ashley, Abby & Ava were making bead necklaces (for Mommy : ) !) this morning when I took these pictures & my little Anibella was sitting up playing so sweetly & contentedly on her blankie with her toys! I am one very blessed Mama!

My life today.....Monday 5/24/2010

My life today........


Right now I am...fighting for joy even though I have an intense sinus headache.

Outside my window... the sky is bright blue & the Florida sun is shining strong & HOT!

I am hoping.....that I will choose to be selfless today & take my girls outside to play & have fun even though I don't feel good.

I am thankful...that God arrested my heart 20 years ago & He gave me the grace to love Him!

I am smelling...my hazelnut coffee.

I just...sat on hold with the state of Florida for 45 minutes. UGH!

From the kitchen...cinnamon struesel muffins that I made my sweet girlies for breakfast.

I am wearing...a pink tank top & striped jammie shorts.

I am creating...a mess in an attempt to get MORE organized. Um.....how does THAT happen?

I am going... to put lots of clean laundry away today.

I am STILL reading..."Feminine Appeal" by Carolyn Mahaney.

I am thinking... how grateful I am that my 5 sweet little girls bring their Mama so much blessing & happiness every.....single.....day!

I am hearing...my incredibly adorable 6 month old baby girl blow raspberries & make her new favorite sound, "ga ga ga ga ga"!

Around the house...5 little girls that will someday have hubby's to love & respect, babies to cuddle & adore & homes to care for of their own! Talk about a sobering thought!

Some of my favorite things...knowing that God is working in my heart every day, even when it doesn't feel like it, my sweet Hubby who loves me even though I have SO many ways I need to grow & my 5 delicious baby girls who love me just how I am cause I'm their Mama!

Some of my plans for this week:

~ *NAPTIME* potty training my sweet little 2 year old
~ menu planning & grocery shopping
~ getting out of the house & playing with my girlies
~ putting all of our laundry away
~ *STILL* reading my book ~ "Feminine Appeal"
~ putting my amazing Hubby & sweet girls before myself in thought, word & deed. Endeavoring
to encourage, love, serve & ENJOY my family!
~ Trusting God to help me in everything I need to do. Relying on God for His strength & grace
to be the kind of Wife & Mommy that I desire to be.