My sweet Lucy

This is my sweet Lucy.

She scowls at strangers, but waves and giggles at little old men.

She mostly wants Mommy, but she always has extra snuggles for someone whose spirit needs it.

She waves her arms when she's frustrated, but she pats my back gently when I rock her before bed and tangles her tiny fingers in my hair when I hold her.

She has the most amazing, high-pitched scream when she's upset, but is the first to follow Milo around, clapping her hands and telling him, "Good job, Milo!"

She's a whirling dervish of energy, dancing and singing, jumping and shouting, "Watch!" to anyone who's near, but I hear at least ten times a day, "I hold you, Mommy?"

She talks in complete sentences, but loves to use one word at a time, always with "ha" in front. "Ha-juice?" "Ha-fip-fops?" "Ha-Mommy?"

She will climb or tackle just about anything, but she'll do it with a purse in her hand.

Her smile is like sunshine.

Her voice is strong and sweet.

She's my little Lucy light, and though she may be tiny, she shines brightly.

Sometimes you've just got to run.

A sick day

My body is officially no good at being still. Want proof? Yesterday I woke up SICK. Like, I stumbled into the bathroom and scared Nate sick. So sick that Nate got special permission to work from home and take care of our still-recovering-from-being-sick little people (isn't he dreamy?) and let me sleep all day. I'm not joking. I slept all day long.

Problem? I slept so long that I literally hurt my back and my hips. That's how long and hard I slept. Now, I realize that part of the sore body was just being sick. But I could barely sleep last night because I was in so much pain. That's serious business, people.

And the way I know that my body was just fed up with being still is that I woke up this morning and got right to work (despite the fact that even breathing hurt). I swept off the back patio, watered and sprayed our little plants, stripped the bed sheets, and started laundry... And every second that I've been moving my back has felt better. Well, the movement mixed with the absolute bliss of IcyHot slathered all over my back. It's going to be a great and productive day. I just feel it.

And now on to things you actually care about, like adorable pictures of my little people.

#1 This face. Is it just me or is she WAY too young to be looking at me like that? #2 Perhaps you could tell that Lucy figured out how to put on Milo's undies while he was in the tub...

Note to self: Next time you give your children a piece of unleavened bread for a snack, don't try to stage a photo shoot. No matter how cute they are curled up in the corner together.

I'll give you one guess as to where DADDY is sitting...

For real, though. Have you ever seen such cute little people?

A Beautiful Mess Documentary

I can't even explain to you how much I can't wait for this documentary to come out...

How many times can you say the word "vacuum" in one post?

Would it be considered animal cruelty if I vacuumed my dog? Just hear me out here...

My backyard is like a pollen factory. We have twenty plus trees, and I'm fairly confident that all the pollen in Lufkin is produced right here. And my dogs love to frolic in it. And poor Bruiser is like a Jerry Garcia-headed brillo pad, dragging in the pollen pods at all times of the day. My floor is covered in them and I'm vacuuming at least twice a day.

And all of a sudden I had a brilliant plan. If I just kept the vacuum by the back door and vacuumed Bruiser every time he came in, problem solved, right?

I know, I know. Not kind. Practical, but not kind. These are just the thoughts I have when I'm trying frantically to keep a clean house and two dogs and two little people have other plans. I read somewhere that in some cultures people clean their homes to the nines before Passover and then just leave and go on vacation. So the house is perfectly clean and no one is there to mess it up. It's a genius idea if you ask me.

Hope your weekend is pollen-free.

Grandma Marilyn

I've been gone a bit. Maybe you noticed? I don't have any adorable little people pictures for you today. I don't even have any funny stories. In fact, I'm leftover sad, and I'd like to tell you where I was.

My grandmother passed away. I know I've mentioned that she was battling cancer. She had been for a little while, and she was so remarkably courageous and tenacious. I honestly thought that Grandma Marilyn would outlive all of us, cancer or not. But when Mom went up to Elgin to help care for her, I knew things weren't good. And then we got a call that things were REALLY not good. And then another call that she wasn't expected to make it through the night. Nate made a quick decision and we packed up these little people and hit the road, hoping we'd make it in time.

And Grandma knew we were coming. And she knew Ann was coming. And Sarah was coming. And Jen was coming with the kids. And she waited. She waited for us to get there and tell her how much we loved her and how important she was to us. She waited to listen to Milo and Lucy sing her songs and she smiled in her sleep as they did. She waited so Milo could sit on the bed next to her and Lucy could brush her hair. She waited to open her eyes, look me right in the face, and say, "Oh, hi, Honey."

And then she couldn't wait anymore because fighting for so long had worn her out. And so, last Monday morning she passed away peacefully as a blanket of snow covered the city. I wanted to feel relieved for her because now she was finally at rest, but I have been selfish and heartbroken and crying at the drop of a hat and forgetting important things and snapping at my sweet husband. So that is where I have been.

I will tell you that Lucy preciously mentioned to everyone who came near Grandma, "Shhh! Gammie sleeping!" I will also tell you that Milo got it into his head that "heaven" is outer space, and mentioned to more than a few people that Grammie was NOT in heaven (That goes over really well with people who are grieving, no?) And I will add that, although our trip was for a sad purpose, we still enjoyed making fantastic memories with our family and my little people have become an absolute dream to travel with.

Perhaps tomorrow I will show you sweet pictures of Nate in the hammock with our little people. Maybe I'll tell you about all the seeds we've planted and the gorgeous weather we're having and how we all smell like outside at all times. For today, I just wanted to let you know that I still exist.

My little girly girl

Just a quick thought, because everything has had to be quick the last few weeks. I'm on overload! I had a few minutes today to sit down at the computer while my kitchen floor dried, so I pulled up one of my favorite fashion blogs - Kendi Everyday. I happened upon a post where she was wearing a floral dress with a striped jacket and spent a minute looking at it (SUCH a cute combo). Lucy wandered up and stopped in her tracks.

"Oh Mommy, pretty! Look! Pretty!"

She had to climb up in my lap to get a better look and continued on, "Look! Shoes. Dress."

And then she noticed it.

"OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH! Jacket!" She literally squealed it.

I've got myself a girly girl.
Thank you, Lord.