A sappy quote about mothering children

I found this on Pinterest a while back, and it made my heart ache it was so beautiful.

"No one else will ever know
the strength of my love
for you. After all, you are
the only one who knows what
my heart sounds like from the inside."

Pretty awesome, huh? And amazingly true. I love these little munchkins to the moon and back. And even after a long, exhausting day when they are both testing my patience and sanity, I just have to take a deep breath and remind myself how lucky I am to be able to experience every second with them. Someday, they are going to be grown and gone, and I always want to remember moments like these, where they were young and tiny and innocent and so happy just to be outside in the sunshine drawing with chalk.

Mother knows best

For someone who rocked a baby mullet until she was two, Taylor’s hair had really gotten long and luxurious in the past few months. She has these natural, sun-kissed highlights and loose, beachy waves... It’s beautiful. And LONG. And after battling her every night to brush out the tangles, I finally conceded that it’s time for a hair cut. Not a cut, a TRIM. And that’s what I kept telling her when we walked into our salon last week to get her freshened up – Okay, Honey. If you’re good and stay still for your trim, we’ll get YoLo after. To which she’d squeal and clap her hands... Pampering AND frozen yogurt? Best day ever.

So Taylor sits down in the chair and gets draped by our stylist, Brandlyn, who sweetly asks her, Now what do you want to do with your hair? And Taylor raises her arms up in her classic storytelling pose and says, So there’s this girl in my class, Zyah, and she has really short hair. And then the Princess uses her hands to make chopping motions at her hair right below her ears. And my stomach dropped to the floor and I stood there and looked at her speechless, just shaking my head NO! to Brandlyn. Because while little Miss Zyah does rock the pixie cut, I had no idea it was something that Taylor even thought about. And I was shocked that it was even a consideration of hers to want to cut off all her hair.

And here’s where the moral dilemma comes in. Yes, it is Taylor’s hair which is growing out of her head that sits on top of her body and she has to feel against her neck and face all day. If she wants to chop it all off, she should be able to, right? I mean, it’s just HAIR! It grows back... Right?

BUT. My GOD! Her hair is just so gorgeous. And with a beach trip this month and plenty of pool time this summer, I know that I’m going to want to keep her hair out of her face with ponytails and braids. So I nervously said, Hey Taylor. Let’s keep it long for just a while longer, okay? And she replied, But MOM! I wanna have short hair like Zyah! And I looked at Brandlyn, caught in the middle, and firmly said, JUST A TRIM. So that’s what she got.

Oh, this is so something she’s going to bring up when she’s a teenager and she’s giving me the reasons why I’m the worst mother ever.

Back to the Nature Center

So I know that in the past I've talked a wee-bit of smack about the WNC Nature Center and how lame it is and how I long for a real zoo. Yeah. I get bitter about silly things sometimes. Like how I almost got into a fight at the concession stand at a college basketball game this past weekend because the 15 year old behind the counter only gave me half a bag of popcorn. For THREE DOLLARS! After I stood in line for FIFTEEN MINUTES! Ugh. Still peeved about that one.

And because I’m directing all my ridiculous anxiety at part-time snack vendors, I can proudly say that I’ve bumped my grudge at the Nature Center. Because on a nice day, like the one we had last Thursday, it’s a wonderful way to spend the morning. See:

Bookends

“Time it was, and what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence. A time of confidences.

Long ago, it must be, I have a photograph.
Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left of you.”

Those are the lyrics from one of my absolutely favorite Simon & Garfunkel songs, Bookends. One of my most loved songs ever, actually. Short, melodic and so, so sweet. If you haven’t listened to it, please do. You’ll thank me later.

And I share this with you because right now as I’m thinking about this story, I’m humming the few verses in my head. Because it pertains to something else in my life that is so, so sweet. My rapidly maturing little girl, Taylor. I’m very much in denial that she’s nearly one month away from turning Four. My goodness. That went WAY too fast.
A few months ago Chris’s mom, Sue, mentioned a photo shoot idea that her friend had done, which was having her daughter dress up in her wedding dress and taking a few pictures of her, then saving those adorable images as something to give to her on her wedding day. Yeah. All you mothers of daughters are gasping right now... Because it’s THAT WONDERFUL.

And not as if it was already slated to be the cutest thing you’ve ever seen, I have been blessed with the Girliest Girl in all Girlville for a daughter. One who throws tantrums if she can’t wear chiffon everyday, and hasn’t put on a pair of pants in two months. When she saw the big, white box that held my wedding dress propped on our bed, she gasped and squealed in delight, I CAN’T LOOK! I CAN’T LOOK! MAKE IT BE A SURPRISE! and then covered her eyes with her hands as she took deep breaths in the corner of the room until I was able to unwrap the dress. And then we let her try it on, securing the back with clothespins. And this is what she did:

For real. It was probably the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.

And the next morning we put it back on her and had my sister take the photos. And I would share them with you... But since this blog is Taylor’s babybook, and something that eventually she’ll read, I really want to preserve them until her big day. But just imagine the quality – Libba’s talent paired with my Toddlers & Tiaras-minded Princess. Yeah. Uh-MAY-Zeen. And in twenty years or so, we are going to have a pretty amazing mother-daughter moment. Chills, y’all. Major goosebumps.

34 years old

Last week I celebrated my 34th year of being alive. And first-things-first, let me just let you all know that I am most certainly not one of those people who freak out and get depressed every time a birthday rolls around because I am getting older and older. Nope. I own it. THIRTY FOUR! Woo-hoo! Now feed me cake.

And secondly, this was the BEST BIRTHDAY EVER! Hands down, it was pure awesomeness. Because in my old age I’m realizing that I have surrounded myself with some fabulous people who love me to bits. And I love them too. And with all that ooey-gooey love bubbling up around me, how could I NOT have a super wonderful birthday?

And one of the reasons my birthday was so delightful was because of my amazingly generous sister, who took time off from work to come up from Birmingham for a long weekend to help me celebrate. And on the morning of my special day, we woke up, took Taylor to preschool, checked Luke into the Child Watch at my gym and then Lib and I, and my friends Paige and LeAnn, went on a long head-clearing, heart-pumping run outside in the beautiful mountain sunshine. And as we rounded the final corner of the course, I summoned my legs to kick in to hyperdrive, and me and my 34 year old body sprinted the final blocks. And it felt amazing. And I am proud to say that I am in ten-times better shape now in my mid-30 after birthing two babies, than I ever was in my late-teens and 20s. And that’s a pretty cool thing to say.

The actual night of my birthday was pretty special too, as Libba so generously offered to spend the night with Taylor and Luke so Chris and I could have a fantastic kid-free 24-hours. We booked a fancy hotel downtown, and proceeded to spend our adult-only time doing such coveted things as laying in silence on a bed, taking long showers without children-interruptions, eating Nacho Cheese Doritos without having to share them with little, needy mouths and, wait-for-it... SLEEPING. Oh. My. LORD. It was like we had been whisked away to a secluded tropical paradise. It was amazing. And until my sister has kids of her own, she will never truly know how much Chris and I appreciated her the level of her awesome generosity. I am very blessed to have such an amazing person in my life. Best birthday gift EVER.

And two other people who have serious soul-connections to Libba, or shall I say, Beeba, are Taylor and Luke. And even though Luke gave his one-and-only aunt a run for her money the night we were gone, my son was on major-cuteness alert the entire weekend. And Taylor... Well, you pretty much have to be in the same room as the Princess and Beeba to understand their bond. It’s the most heart-warming relationship ever. And to see my daughter react to my sister with such enthusiasm, adoration and bewilderment, not to mention reenacting scenes from Bridemaids and then doing Toddlers & Tiaras-inspired poses, is the best feeling ever. It’s true love.

And when the weekend was over, we said our sad goodbyes and helped Lib pack up her car with her camera, vintage Barbie collection and homemade Special K bars, and all gave sour faces as she drove away. Because we love her so much. And everything’s a big sweeter when she’s with us. Thank you so much, Libba. It was a birthday for the record books.

Ten months old

Luke is now ten months old, and as I sit down to record the milestones and memories that we encountered this past month, it’s hard not to just get the biggest, cheesiest grin on my face. The kid just makes me smile.

And for the past few weeks, I’ve been mostly smiling at the back of his big, fuzzy head as he crawls away from me. Yep, as you saw in the previous post, Luke has mastered the crawl. And, y’all, the kid is FAST. Meaning last month we went from zero-to-sixty at the Amys house. And while this isn’t our first go-round dealing with a newly-mobile baby, Taylor started off in a extremely controlled environment. Meaning we didn’t have any tiny, shiny, plastic toys laying around back then. And now... Well, let’s just say I’ve de-shoed all of Taylor’s Princesses and Fairies and Barbies for the time being.

But, of course, things get dropped and end up in my son’s mouth. The most concerning had to be last week when I fished an OPEN SAFETY PIN! out of his chubby cheeks. And miraculously he was unharmed, but Whew! that could have been bad. Looks like this Mama is going to have to learn to sew hems so her husband can stop having safety pins hold his pants together, eh?

And other than sharp, dangerous fallen objects, Luke has very much enjoyed putting lots of FOOD, and a little bit of play-doh, in his mouth this past month. We are so over baby food, as he prefers to chomp down on cut up little morsels of whatever we are eating. And while I was pretty obsessed with keeping baby-Taylor on an all-organic, non-processed diet, Luke’s daily plates always include teeny bites of the rest of our meals to go along with his fruits, veggies and proteins. His absolute favorite add-ons are meatballs and quesadillas and pizza. Oh, and the other day I let him have a few bites of my lunch while eating at 12 Bones barbecue. Yeah... Pretty sure he’s NOT going to be a vegetarian.

And I really don’t hesitate giving him all of this grown-up food as he’s got so many teeth now. He just popped his top, front-left this past weekend, and the one right next to it is so close you can see the white line through his sore, red gums. Dudes! I feel like this poor kid has been teething non-stop since September. Look at all those pearly whites he has to show for it:

Luke’s little ears has also been giving him grief as of late. At his nine-month check-up our doctor diagnosed him with his second double-ear infection, and when we went back to get rechecked this past month, he still had quite a bit of fluid in his ears. So our pediatrician prescribed him some baby-allergy medicine in hopes that it would help dry him out, but if he still has the gunk when we go back for his one year appointment, we are going to have to meet with an ENT to talk about the possibility of tubes. And while this totally freaked me out at first, I then talked with enough parents-of-kids-who-already-have-tubes to realize that tubes are super beneficial in keeping their little ones healthy and on-track. So if tubes are in our future, so be it. If that’s the way to keep my little man happy and less prone to sickness, then sign us up. Maybe his ears are the reason we’re still not sleeping through the night. Because it’s certainly NOT him being hungry or unexercised.

And I’m just going to stop right there about the not-sleeping issue. Oh well. Like his ears, it is what it is. I mean, look at this face! It’s pretty hard to complain about being tired when you have this handsome man surrounding you all day.

Yep. It’s pretty hard to be mad about ANYTHING with Luke around. He just makes everything better.

Game changer

Lookie who's mobile:

Oh. And remember how I had been all concerned and complaining for the last three months about how the big guy wasn't crawling? Well, that was stupid. Because it was pretty easy to be able to sit him down in front of a big pile of toys so I could leave the room for five minutes and not worry about him maneuvering himself to another area in the house that has unguarded electrical outlets or teeny-tiny plastic doll shoes. Yeah. This is going to be interesting. Good thing he's got such an overly-loving - read, Smothering - big sister who'll hopefully help keep him in line. Or at least steer him away from her choking-hazzard, Princess accessories.