Birthday Bliss

Chloe chose the Ceramic Cafe for her birthday party this year.

It is a very unique place for persons of all ages.

The kiddos were very excited to chose their pieces and they all created some wonderful art!

 Very Patiently waiting for the paint.

They were VERY ready to get started.

 The birthday girl chose an owl jar to store all her treasure in.  She did an excellent job on it.

 Hattie, Chloe, Ava and Piper.

 Gramma Pam helping Silvie and Gramma Val helping Jocelyn.

 Tristan, Chloe, Ollivia, Shae, Alex, Molli and Ava.

 All smiles.

 BFF necklaces...always a hit.

 The singing animal from Piper.  This was the big hit!  I think the battery may be running low already it has sung the Happy Birthday song so many times already.  I will have to be sure and Thank Kels extra for this one the next time I see her.  Wink, wink.

 Gus asked Aunt Dee to make her cake the Titanic this year.  She is completely amazed by everything to do with the Titanic.  The boat, the history.  The movie. (Yes the one with Leo)  Aunt Dee did an AMAZING job on the cake!  It took EIGHT cake mixes and FIVE hours of decorating!  It was so cool.  The kids and adults thought it was very impressive!  A++ Aunt Dee.

 It was Happy Birthday tune time.  Chloe was all smiles as was sang to her!  She wasn't sure what to do with everyone starring right at her.  So she smiled big and sang along too! 

Happy Birthday Gus!

 Silvie working on her gator.

 Jocelyn's Penguin.

Farrah's elephant.

It was a great party!

Sweet Baby Gus...isn't a baby anymore

 I am already fighting back tears and I am in the first sentence.  Que sappy mommy alert.  

It was amazing to look back through photos of the last seven years and see how much our "little" family has changed.  This picture was taken eleven days before I became a mommy.  Seems now, like I have always been a mommy.  I'm not sure what I ever did before I was a mommy.  I remember this time.  I was so filled with excitement and fear (okay, I admit it, I was scared to death) anxiety and worry and tremendous happiness.  Our baby Gus would be here any day. 

On Thursday February 26th, 2004 we welcomed our beautiful, healthy baby girl into our world.  

As we smiled and cried and laughed and starred into her tiny beautiful face, we fell in love over and over and over again.  We were so blessed by this precious little girl brought into our world. 

 I don't remember sleeping in the hospital at all the first day she was here.  I was exhausted.  So many people to see her.  To welcome her.  I couldn't stop looking at her.  I couldn't believe she was here, in my arms and she was ours.

Proud Papas and Grandmas were teary eyed and excited.  Everyone fell in love with our sweet baby Gus the moment the met eyes with her.  Her charismatic way was apparent from the second her eyes opened.  She was a charmer from day one.  She will steal your heart and keep it close.

 The first days home were glorious delusion for me and for Matty.  We were so tired.  We had lots of cat naps.  We slept when Gus slept.  Which in her case seemed to be any time except the night time. 

I spent the first several weeks of her life dressing and undressing her.  Just to look at her.  So perfect.  So beautiful. 

 She was such a little peanut.  I never put her down.  I was the definition of breast feeding, baby wearing, co-sleeping momma.  Very proud to say that.

Papa and his "punkins"  Remembers when you only had two Poppy?

 Chloe and her BFF from birth OKZ.

 Mommy's girl. 

 Maybe Daddy's Girl?

 Chloe's cousin Molli is one of her best buddies.

Grammy's Girls.  Remember when you only have two Grammy?

 Maybe the Aquatic Center is where she developed her love of the Titanic?  She loved that place as a toddler. 

 Chloe and cousin Haley.  I was pregnant with the triplets at the time and they thought they were pretty funny, which they really actually were the hit of the party with their balloon bellies.

Our little princess.

The birthday girl today.

She has endured so much over the last years.  Mommy and Daddy added three baby sisters at a time.  Which was a huge adjustment for anyone, but as a three year old child, she took it better than anyone I think.  She loves them more than anything in the world.  

I watch her with other children and I am so proud of her.  She is caring and sensitive.  She puts other people first, always.  Even when she doesn't want to, she does.  She is a caregiver.  She is kind and gentle.  She is artistic and creative.  Her imagination sours.  She amazes me every single day.

I am blessed to be her Mommy.

My sweet baby Gus turned seven today.  SEVEN.  I cannot believe she came into my life seven years ago.  

She is smart, charismatic, charming and with everyday that passes I watch my tiny baby grow grow into a little girl and grow into a young woman right in front of my teary eyes.

I love you sweet baby Gus.

I have loved you from the very first moment.  I will love you forever.  For always.

Mommy

Tiger Mom? Not Me.

I follow Joanne's blog and I really enjoyed her last post.

10minutes2breathe: Have You Heard of the Tiger Mom?: "They just don't seem to go together Recently A friend asked if I had heard about the ..."

  Her post touched a special place with me.

As of late, I am struggling with some parenting issues of my own.  How to handle a few things that Chloe is facing as a growing little girl.  She is so smart.  She is so caring and sensitive.  The sensitive part is the particular part that I worry so much about with her.  Her feelings are hurt so easily.  She forgives so easily too, which is a good thing, I know, but I worry that it will damage her self esteem in some way.  I foreshadow into the future.  It is so difficult to be a teenage girl.  It is difficult to learn who you are, who your friends are.  What a friend truly is.  I don't think I REALLY understood that concept fully, until I became a mother.  For example, my friendship with Molly has always been very strong, but when we became mothers, we really and truly understood what we had within each other all along since we met at age 13.  But it never really made sense then.

With Chloe, I feel like she is struggling to find a place where she fits in.  Like she feels like the lost little puzzle piece.  She talks about the groups of girls at school.  She talks about different things that take place each day.  Never speaking badly of other children, but always making me wonder why my child seems to be the one that is left out of the group.  She talks about play-circles and ride-shares and games at recess.  I try not to be the over protective Mommy, but I am at a point where it is literally breaking my heart, because I can see that my child is hurting.  I am at a loss as to what to do.  My thoughts are so scrambled.  On one hand I want her to just be innocent and love and forgive.  But on the other, I want to protect her and tell her the honest truth, sometimes in life, people (even children) can be hurtful, mean, selfish, not think of how their actions make someone else feel.  They can love you one minute, when it is beneficial for them, and ignore you the next minute as if you were a pebble on the ground, if someone more suited to their mood comes along.  They will kick you right out of the way.  Sad fact.  However, a sad fact that is VERY VERY TRUE.  There are lots of people in the world that carry out their lives just that way.  If you look around, bet you know a few.  I know as a mother, as a person, I am doing an excellent job of raising my daughters the right way in this very topic.  We talk about it a lot at our house.  When we do something, how do our actions, our words make those around us feel?  Does it make them feel happy?  Or sad?  We focus a lot on how we treat and respect other people.  Because it is so important.  So at what point do you, as a parent state the unsaid part of the lesson?  That's where I am struggling.  Sure, my parenting is FAR from perfect.  I do not claim to know it all.  I never will.  My kids are not perfect.  I don't wish to have perfect kids.  I know Chloe is too sensitive at times.  But where do you draw the line?  I really am emotionally distraught on this one, so if there are readers out there that can offer suggestions, I am all ears.

Mommy doesn't like snow

If winter wasn't here before, it certainly hit us last night.  With blizzard like conditions starting in the early afternoon and continuing though out the night, the mid west is covered in a heavy blanket of pretty white stuff.  Okay, I will admit, it is sort of pretty.

I have yet to hear an official total amount.  Due to the conditions, the way the wind blew, I'm sure that is pretty difficult to measure.  It's safe to say, that there is a ton of snow.  I don't remember ever having this much pour down all over the course of one night.  Several days, maybe, but this was literally ten hours.  

Our backyard was nearly impossible to get to.  I actually lifted the beauties over the fence.  They didn't even have to walk around the wall, they just walked over it.  

We the beauties played up and down the front hill for well into an hour.  Until Silvie lost her glove while tunneling.  She was not at all pleased to learn what it feels like to have your unbundled hand buried in the snow...time to go in.  Hot cocoa and warm tub time for everyone was a great end to the afternoon.