Five Minute Friday: Song

I'm joining up with Lisa Jo Baker and some amazing women for Five Minute Friday. One word. Five minutes. No editing. Learn more HERE.

Today's prompt is:

Song….

GO

These girls of mine, they love to sing. All day long. 

And I love to listen to them.

I love the sound of their sweet little child voices singing the words to whatever nursery rhyme or pop radio song comes into their heads. 

Leia cracks me up when she sings, "Twinkle, Twinkle yittle stah, how I wonda what yee ah."  

And Katie as she sings to Angelina Ballerina's Butterfly song, and instead of singing, 'When I'm swooping' she sings, "When I'm pooking," and I can't help but envision the little mouse ballerina puking all over the place.  

Both girls love to sing and dance. Yes, we often have impromptu dance parties, plastic spoon microphones and all. They will often ask for the radio to be on at home, or to watch music videos of their favorite songs on YouTube. Recently Leia has told me "turn up" the radio in the car, and then this morning that we couldn't get out of the car at day care yet because, "I'm dancin." Current song obsessions include, This Girl is on Fire,  I Want You Back, Gangnam Style, and anything by Taylor Swift, but most particularly, Trouble. 

And if you live around here, you may have even heard Miss Leia singing at the top of her lungs at our local Target, "OHHHHH, Twubble, Twubble!" Or as Katie says, "Fwubble."

It amazes me how many songs they know. 

I will never tire of hearing their little voices as they sing.

Five Minute Friday - After

I sat in the middle of my girls' playroom last night, picking up the never-ending toys scattered around the room. My husband was making dinner (oh thank you, wonderful husband for taking over this task, and being so incredible at it to boot), and the girls were in the living room; one sitting in her kid-sized rocker watching t.v., and the other digging through an Easter basket of little toys. I happened to look up from organizing the toys back in their appropriate bins, and catch sight of my two young daughters. My two young daughters who happened to look too old to me at that moment.

I remembered taking in those last few moments of Katie being an only child. I remember her blonde hair pulled to the side with a barrette, as she sucked on her sippy cup. I remember wondering how it would all be different tomorrow, with the addition of a new child to our family. This was the before. What was the after going to be like? How would it change us, individually and as a family? I had difficulty visualizing it all.

And then, coming back to the present moment, right here before me are my two, beautiful and amazing daughters, growing up right before my eyes and far too quickly. My youngest, Leia, looked more like a little girl, and less of a baby in that moment. I was suddenly shocked to realize that she is the same age now as Katie was when Leia was born. How could this be? It seemed like just yesterday that I held this little girl in my arms for the first time. When I introduced Katie to her little sister for the first time. When our world became entirely different, new, changed. And then I looked at Katie, my first-born, who would be entering pre-school, yes pre-school, in the fall. And again I had to wonder, where did the time go?

Our lives are comprised of so many befores and afters. It's so interesting to see where this journey of life leads each of us along the way. Sometimes we are stuck in the middle of an after, and we so badly want things to be like they were before. It's not until we're truly waist-deep in the afters that we realize why that before had to happen, almost like a little push to help us along this journey, to lead us to where we're supposed to be, right now, today.

This after? I wouldn't change it for the world. It's hard to think about what life was like before little Leia came into it. When we were just a family of three, instead of four. It's even harder to  remember what life was like before Katie.

I love this after.

It wasn't long before Katie looked in my direction, as I sat in the middle of the playroom, surrounded by play food, Barbies, Squinkies, Princesses, foam swords, and goodness knows what else. She caught my eye, and I was quickly snapped out of thought. In a moment, she quietly walked over to me and asked me why I was looking at her and her sister? And why did I look so sad?

I told her because I was remembering when they were little, and how they were growing up too fast, and how I just wanted them to stay my little girls.

Sometimes we find an after that is just so beautiful and incredible that we want nothing more then to dig our finger nails into it, and hold onto it as tightly as we can.

Five Minute Friday - Remember

I remember.

I remember that sweet button nose, and how it was the strongest memory I had of you when they wheeled you out of the hospital room and took you away from me. That, and the soft pink knit hat you wore on your newborn head. The same hat I slept with when I returned home, alone, and had to leave you at the hospital for the first time.

I remember you now, your sweet sparkly eyes. Those same eyes that everyone comments on. Even strangers, the ones who stop me out in public simply to tell me how beautiful you are.

I remember the last moment when you would be our only child, that last moment before we would welcome your baby sister into this world, and into our lives. I remember watching you as you sucked from your sippy cup in your playroom, and I wondered how our lives would all be changing.

I remember the nausea, the room spinning, and then that moment when they held you, my youngest daughter up, to show me. I remember yellow. Which is now your favorite color...

I remember being brought back to the hospital room, concerns about my extremely low blood pressure. I remember how everything else faded away when they placed you on my chest for the first time. I remember just taking you all in.

I remember.



This blog post is part of Five Minute Friday hosted by Lisa-Jo Baker. Please stop by, and join in.

Around here

Recently heard from the littles:


After seeing me pouting during a conversation with the hubs, Leia looks at me and asks, "What wrong?" She then says, "I kiss it," and proceeds to pucker up.

Upon greeting Leia 'good morning,' she smirks and replies, "I faw-ted." 

Katie: "Mom, can you start my movie?"
Me: "Yes, honey."
Katie: "Aww, that's so sweet of you!"

Upon receiving the last squirt of whipped cream from the canister, Katie points to herself and exclaims, "Winner!" then points into the other room where her father is and shouts, "Loser!"

Katie was telling me that she and her dad are awesome. She then gives me a concerned look and says, "well, you are a little bit awesome, Momma" and holds up her pointer finger and thumb together to demonstrate.

And then this...
While in day care, the provider overheard Katie and her friend talking. Katie gave a deep sigh, then stated, "I really wish I had a boyfriend." Said comment was followed up by lots of smiles and giggles between the two girls.

Did I mention that she's 3?

Talk Time

My husband and I take turns putting each of our daughters to bed. Over the weekend, when it was my turn to put Katie to bed, I initiated a new part to her bedtime routine. 

Talk Time

As I mentioned in my last blog post, I stumbled upon this wonderful idea that Rachel over at Hands Free Mama put into place with her own daughters.

When I first mentioned the words talk time to Katie, her eyes got wide and she looked a bit nervous. I had to reassure her that she wasn't in trouble for anything, and then I explained that it would be a time for her to be able to talk to me about anything she wanted, or ask me any questions she had.

She became very excited.

I used Rachel's idea of initiating the conversation with me asking a question.

"Do you have any questions about when I was a kid?"

She thought for a moment, and then asked, "Did you use a paci (pacifier) when you were a baby?"  Which was interesting, because I had to think for a minute. I don't recall ever seeing any pictures of me with a pacifier, so I couldn't say for sure, and I told her so.

Her next question was about going to get donuts in the morning, just her and I.

Then she looked at me and said, "I have a lot of questions, Momma." I assured her that she could ask more, and we could have talk time each night when I put her to bed.

She looked around her bedroom, and spotted her stuffed animals. "Mom, I don't really use Plankton any more. Maybe I could give him away to another girl." 

Her last question that night inquired about having a drink of water.

Last night was round two of Talk Time. Again, she was very excited. And again, she told me she had a lot of questions.

She started with, "I was wondering if maybe we could have a tag sale and I could give all the toys I don't play with to other kids who don't have a lot of toys." My sweet, thoughtful child. We talked about giving to others, and perhaps donating some toys to the local hospital.

She then told me that she doesn't like her (bunk) bed anymore, and she would rather have a bed like Mom and Dad's. She also informed me that she needs to switch bedrooms. When I asked her why, she said, "Because my bedroom is next to Leia's, and she snores really loud." Which made me chuckle. And no, Leia does not snore. Their father on the other hand...

Katie was quite tired last night, and didn't want to ask many more questions. I think however, that this is the start of a great tradition, and a wonderful way to connect with her. I look forward to when Leia is old enough to also have talk time. I lam eager to learn about the thoughts spiraling in their little minds, and deepening our mother/daughter relationships.

Five for Friday

Just some fun sites and links today of things that have been of interest to me lately. Enjoy and happy weekend!

1. The picture above cracked me up. 
2. What Began As a Question - Creating memories and connections with your children. I'm so doing this with Katie tonight.  
3.  Country Girl Home <---- blog.="" li="" nbsp="" this="">
4. ThredUp - An online consignment store where you can buy or sell gently used children's clothing.
5. Rod Works - A wonderful website I discovered that offers fabulous home decor at great prices! I'm totally inspired by these frame rods. 

Girls, Sisters, Friends.

 I adore this picture, fake tattoos and all.

Those two sweet girls in the last post - well, they certainly keep my heart full, as well as keep me on my toes!

Katie is a sweet, snuggly young girl, and while she may have her moments of anger and frustration, deep down she has a big heart. She is constantly telling me she loves me throughout the day. It is the sweetest thing having her big blue eyes look into mine, as her little arms are wrapped around my neck. Just yesterday she told me "you're my love" and she's constantly saying, "that's what loves do" when she does something nice for someone. Katie will be in preschool this fall, which seems so hard to believe. I still remember that day in the hospital when she was born. People always talk about how fast they grow, and it is so, so true. Just when I think about the next thing she should be learning or the next skill she should be acquiring, and how far away that accomplishment seems, she's doing it. Currently she is learning to write her name. She concentrates on writing her letters, and soaks everything up like a little sponge. And talk about proud; she is so proud of herself. As she should be. She created her first "person" the other day. I have been waiting for this moment; I just think little kids' drawings of people are so adorable. I was probably way more excited than I should have been!

Leia is our little jokester. She finds humor in everything, and is always trying to make people laugh. Just the other day she put her lunch bowl on her head and started laughing at our dog, Optimus, exclaiming, "Hat! Hat!" She is constantly testing the limits and pushing buttons. And every time, she laughs about it. Time outs? They don't phase her; she takes them with a smirk. She is our sweet and silly girl. She is picking up more and more words, and really starting to put them together. She loves the "Pad" (iPad), books, babies, her dog, snuggles with Daddy, and music. Turn on some music, and that girl can't resist dancing. Especially if it's Gangnam Style. She is fiercely independent, but lately she won't let Mommy out of her sight. She is usually grabbing my hand, saying, "c'mon." If I'm walking into a different room of the house, she runs after me screaming, "Wait!"

And these two as sisters? They have their moments, but they sure do love each other. They're always looking out for one another, and are playing more and more together. They love to chase each other around the house, and the sound of their combined giggles warms this Momma's heart.

Sisters. They are the best.