My View of Heaven

Yesterday Clementine hit a big milestone! She rolled over for the first time. Yay Clementine!!!

If you're a savvy facebook follower of mine, you might remember a few weeks ago when I claimed that Clementine rolled over. I was mistaken. What happened was she was sitting next to me on the couch, and when I stood up, she rolled into the dent I created as I stood up. Oopsie! But *this* time she really did roll over!

Ok, so here's the crazy part.

Clementine rolled over exactly 8  days before she turned 4 months old. Lily also rolled over for the first time exactly 8 days before turning 4 months old. Crazy, huh!?

This story kind of does Tummy Time a disservice because, here's the thing. I was religious about Tummy Time with Lily. I only had one kid... what else was there to do with my time!? We did Tummy Time at least twice a day, with tons and tons and tons of blanket time in between. I left Lily laying on a blanket on the floor about 75% of the time so that she could just kick around.

With Grace, we did Tummy Time and Blanket Time less, but we still did a fair amount of it.

I can count on one hand the number of times I've done Tummy Time with Clementine. Literally. One hand. I can probably count on two hands the number of times I've just laid her on a blanket on the floor. I mean, seriously, with Goo running around it's kind of dangerous for a baby! This poor kid just does not get blanket time. The closest thing she gets is often when I'm sitting on the couch, I'll set her next to me on the couch or lay her between my legs. In fact, right now she's sitting next to me in her usual position, and it appears she's fallen asleep! Right on! (just a sec, I'll take a pic...)


Awwwww.....

This is also just about the exact place she was laying when she rolled over for the first time yesterday. I guess you just have to work with what you're given!

So anyway, the point is that Lily the Tummy Time Queen, and Poor Neglected Clementine rolled over at the exact same age. Take THAT Tummy Time!

Oh, and in case you forgot, Grace rolled over for the first time when she was 6 days old. She's a weirdo.

Here's a video of Clementine's achievement.



P.S. The title "Clementine Rolls" makes me think of Vonnie's delicious orange rolls, and now I'm excited to go to camp and eat some. YUM!!! (Orange rolls are the only food I've found that Jim doesn't like... oh and cooked grape tomatoes. He doesn't like those either. Weirdo.)

P.P.S. When I was looking back at the pictures and videos of Lily when she was the age that Clementine is now, I thought, "Oh. My. Goodness. Clementine is Lily's twin born 4 years later!" If you think Clementine looks more like Goo, I will let you have your opinion, but besides their size difference, Clementine reminds me SO much of baby Lily!

My Goo baby is turning two next week. TWO! Years old. My goodness baby! You just keep a-growin'!

We're going to be at YBC next week on her birthday, so I decided to wish her an early happy birthday on my blog. What I really want to write about is what a perfect toddler Grace is.

One aspect you need to be The Perfect Toddler is to be irresistibly cute. Grace has a whole lot of Irresistibly Cute, and she has it in spades. The perfect little cherub face, the cute little girl bangs, with the curls in back. The huge toothy grin with a dimple up at the top of her cheek when she really gets to smiling. Perfect little pouty lips and long curly eyelashes. Not to mention her fat little feet and chubby fingers. And oh, her sweet little chubba belly that is perfect for blowing zerberts. I love how thick and solid she is. I love her baby fat and her strong limbs. Everything about her little toddler body makes me want to hug her and kiss her and pinch her and tickle her. And I do. Often.


Another thing you need to be The Perfect Toddler is to be crazy. Grace has truckloads of Crazy. When something is funny, she screams. So. Loud. That kid is loud! She throws her head back and laughs with gusto. She dances for all she's worth when she hears music. She throws herself to the ground in fits of despair when she's upset and throws the most magnificent toddler fits. The kind where you know you need to make them stop and whatnot, but you're in awe of force of nature you're beholding. She laughs, she screams, she goes from 0 to 60 in two seconds.


A spirit of adventure is another must-have toddler quality. Grace has always been my climber. She is perfectly capable of climbing on anything she wants to, and 99% of the time she can get back down on her own, too. Some babies, when they learn to stand up in the crib, go through a phase where you're constantly having to go lay them back down because they can stand up, but can't get back down. That was never a problem for Grace! She can get up and get down wherever she wants. She's our little honey badger. She goes where she wants, she does what she wants, and she is eternally resourceful. She has no problem moving the furniture to get where she wants to go!

The Perfect Toddler must also be playful, and Grace is nothing if not playful. She loves to play with toys and color and do crafts, but her greatest love is playing outside. She loves swinging, running, roller skating, and riding her trike. Oh and playgrounds. It used to be that when we would approach the church building, she would start to yell "BIBLE CLASS!!!" over and over. Now Bible Class has started playing second fiddle to "Playground." As soon as we get close to the church, Goo starts up with, "Playground, pease, playground, pease, playground, pease..." all the while she's rubbing her chest, doing the sign for "please", which she only does when she really wants something. Whenever you tell Grace that she's about to get what she wants, she yells "YAY!" and claps her hands and jumps around. Grace also loves to tickle you. She'll wiggle her fingers under your chin and say "teek-owe teek-owe teek-owe!" and giggles.


Last but not lease, The Perfect Toddler must possess a large amount of sweetness, which Grace absolutely does. For all her eye-poking and nose-squishing, Grace is really quite sweet to her baby sister. And for all her hitting and biting, she's also pretty sweet to her big sister. She loves to love on people and is always ready with a hug and a kiss. When she does injure one of her siblings (or parents for that matter) she's quick to apologize with a hug and a kiss and a "sai-oo Pie!" ("sai-oo" is Goo for "sorry", and "Pie" is Goo for "Lilypie") She has endless friends because she has yet to meet a stranger. She'll happily go sit on just about anyone's lap and try to make them smile. She's kind of a ham (ok, kind of is an understatement... she's a HUGE ham) and she loves nothing more than playing with her buddies of all ages.

So there you have it! Goo is absolutely the perfect toddler. She's loud, she's sweet, she throws crazy fits, she loves deeply, she's fun, she's active, and she never fails to put a smile on my face.

Happy birthday Goo baby! We love you!

P.S. A couple of videos



This one is a little long, but what a cutie!

This weekend I went to Portland! The whole thing came about when  friend mentioned that she was going to The Temper Trap concert in Seattle, and thought I should come with her. That sounded great since I've wanted to see TTT perform live for a while, but have never had the opportunity. I also knew that my cousin, Britni, was going to be in the states around the time of the concert, so if I went, I may be able to see her. So I talked to Britni and she said that she would be in Seattle, but wouldn't have much time there, but if I wanted to see the show in Portland, that she would have an extra day there that we could hang out. At first I thought I would drive there with all three girls, but then I found that a plane ticket was about the same price as gas to and from, and 7 hours in the car alone with 3 girls may have just driven me batty (and Jim's work has been crazy lately, so there wasn't a chance of him coming with). So Clementine and I flew to Portland, while Jim and the big girls stayed home to hold down the fort.


Here's a pic of Clementine and I at the airport. It was her first plane ride! Also, her new favorite thing is chewing on my knuckles. I remember Grace doing this all the time.


I win the prize for eating the world's largest apple fritter. Seriously... it was huge. And delicious.  


Then on Saturday afternoon, Britini got into town, and we met her at her hotel. Stella and Clementine became fast friends.
You know, friends who hit each other in the head with their shoes.

When we finally found a restaurant (we ate at Saucebox, which was delish), Clementine was zonked out, so I plopped her down on the stroller, and she had a little nap.

The garnish on Jonny's dish was a flower, and the waitress said that it was edible...

...so Jonny ate it! He said it wasn't bad at all. Flowers... who knew right?
So after a nice yummy dinner, Britni (who wins the Best Cousin award for the year) watched Clementine at her hotel, while Sarah and I went to The Temper Trap concert! Woo hoo! The concert was fantastic! I really like their new album (which was released earlier this month, so if you don't have it, get it!) and of course it was fun to sing along to their "old" songs. In case you're interested, my favorite song off of their new album is Trembling Hands, which was a-mazing live. The song they were playing in the picture was Down River, which was a song Jonny wrote for their first album.

After the concert, I picked up a snoozing Clementine from Britni, and Sarah and I headed back to her house for the night.

But I was in for one more adventure before leaving Portland.

Sarah's church started their VBS Monday morning, so she wouldn't be able to get me to the airport for my 9:00 flight, but April had volunteered to bring me. The more I got to thinking about it, however, the more I realized I didn't want to impose upon April's hospitality. It was about an hour from April's house to the airport, and then back again with her 3 kids. That's a big job! So I asked Sarah if I would be able to take public transportation to the airport, and we figured that she could drop me at the train station and I could ride the train to the airport, and save everyone from having to drive that far. As soon as I got settled on the train, I got out my phone and there was a text from Britni asking me where the car keys were. I'd parked their rental across from their hotel the night before, and I was pretty sure I'd given Britni the keys when I saw her, so I did a quick check of my purse, and didn't find them. So I told Britni to check in a bag I'd given her. But then I got to thinking that my train was going right through downtown, and I'd better be sure I didn't have them before I got to the airport. So I dug a little deeper, and guess what? I had her rental car keys! YIKES!!! So I quickly texted her and told her I was about 7 stops away from Oak and 1st (her hotel was on Oak and 6th) and that she could book it and meet me at the stop. So when we got to Oak and 1st, the door opened, I handed Britni her car keys, and the door closed again. WHEW! I kind of felt like a secret agent. I'm also super glad I took the train instead of having a friend drive me!

Me to Lily: What do you want for lunch?
Lily: Hmmm... I don't know.
Me: Do you want blueberries or mac and cheese or a hotdog or what?
Lily: I don't know. Just make me a surprise.

Me to Grace: What do you want for lunch?
Grace: Macky cheese!!!

So I made Mac and Cheese. Lily came into the kitchen and asked for a snack.

Me: I'm making your lunch right now, so you can't have a snack.
Lily: What are you making?
Me: Mac and cheese.
Lily: Awwww I didn't want that! (pout pout pout)

(I did point out that I'd asked her what she wanted, and she hadn't made a decision.)

Grace came into the kitchen and asked for a snack (basically because Lily did it, and she is a copycat).

Me: I'm making your lunch right now, so no snack.
Grace: What Mommy cook?
Me: It's mac and cheese.
Grace: YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!! MACKY CHEESE!!!!!!!!!!!! (clapping hands)


Moral of the story:  Don't play the martyr and be wishy washy, and then get mad when you don't get what you want. Pay attention and speak up for what you want and you'll be a happy person.

My sister is going to have a baby. Any day now, actually. Could be happening as you read this, you  never know! I'm so excited for her! This is her first baby, and I just can't wait for her to hold her own little baby in her arms. The anticipation is killing me! Before you become a parent, you really don't know how great it is, even if you've always wanted to be a parent, you're still amazed by how much you love your little baby. So waiting for someone you love to have their first baby makes me giddy. It's kind of like when you watch your favorite movie with someone who had never seen it before. You keep saying things like "watch this part!" or "pay attention here!" or "here comes the good part!" You laugh extra loud at the funny parts (in case there were any question that that was the funny part) and you repeat the good lines, so that you guest gets the full effect of Your Favorite Movie. And it's just the same with waiting for someone to become a new parent. You want to do everything to give them The Full Effect of Parenthood. (As if parenthood itself were unable to impart The Full Effect.)

Anyway, to this end I recently made a mixed CD for Shyla and Itty Bitty (that's my soon to be new niecephew). For Grace's first birthday, my friend Katrina gave me a mixed tape of baby love songs, and I loved it. Sure it made me cry (You Are My Sunshine... BAWL!!!) but shedding a motherly tear is healthy, I think. So I decided to make a similar mixed CD for Shyla, and it turned out pretty good. So good, in fact, I think I'll share my playlist with you! There were a few songs I had to cut for space purposes, and if I knew Itty Bitty's gender, I may have edited out some of the gender specific songs. But on the whole, it's a pretty great baby love CD, if I do say so myself.

1. Baby Baby- Amy Grant
2. My Front Porch Looking In- Lonestar
3. Baby Mine- Alison Krauss
4. I Won’t Give Up- Jason Mraz
5. I Hope You Dance- Lee Ann Womack
6. Godspeed (Sweet Dreams)- Dixie Chicks
7. Sing For You- Tracy Chapman
8. I Loved Her First- The Heartland
9. The Best Day- Taylor Swift
10. Baby- Dave Matthews Band
11. In My Arms- Sarah McLachlan (which I can't link to, because if you search for Sarah McLachlan and "in my arms" all you can find is Angel. Sigh. But I'm not talking about the song "Angel". That song just makes me think of abandoned dogs.)
12. It Won’t Be Like This For Long- Darius Rucker
13. Fathers and Daughters- Paul Simon
14. Sweet Child O’ Mine- Guns N’ Roses
15. When You Dream- Barenaked Ladies
16. The Long Day Is Over- Norah Jones
17. Never Grow Up- Taylor Swift
18. Always Be My Baby- Mariah Carey

Some other suggestions (that didn't make the cut for my mixed CD) would be:
You are My Sunshine (by anyone, really)
Arms Wide Open- Creed
Lullaby- Jack Johnson (serious Ukelele action!)
Kooks- David Bowie
Butterfly Kisses- Bob Carlisle
Cinderella- Steven Curtis Chapman





P.S. If you don't like country music, this may not be the playlist for you. It's a little heavy on the country :)

We're doing Father's Day a little early this year since I'm going to be out of town for Father's Day weekend. I'm going to Portland! I'm sure I'll post more of the details of they why's and how's in a later post, but basically I'm going there to see friends, to see my cousin, Britni and her baby, Stella, and to finally go to a Temper Trap concert! Hooray! So since I'm going to be out of town that weekend, we decided to do Father's Day stuff today. Jim has had some crazy hours at work recently, and for a few days this week, he's working a swing shift, which means we have all morning together and then he leaves when the girls go down for their afternoon nap. So this morning we went out to breakfast at the Garnet Cafe (yum!!!) and I gave him one of those picture frames with three frames hinged together, filled with three pictures of his girls. Here are the pics:



Get it? It spells "DAD"! So cute! I just bought a D and an A from Michael's and did a little photo shoot in our front yard. It was cloudy, so the lighting was perfect for an amateur photographer like me! My plan is to "refill" the picture frame every year with new pictures of the girls spelling DAD. I guess we can't have any more kids... or we'll have to add an exclamation point or something. :)

Oh, and don't you LOVE the pillow case dresses they're wearing? My friend, Melita, had them made for the girls when Clementine was born. SOOOO CUTE!!!

So anyway, if you have three kids (or I suppose you could do it with 2 kids and make the third picture of the both of them together), you should definitely get yourself to a craft store and do one of these picture frames for the special DAD in your life!


P.S. The Temper Trap's new cd comes out this week, and they're going to be on Letterman this Wednesday night (June 6th). Also, their new album debut at #1 in Australia.

A couple of weeks ago, I painted Clementine's name to hang on the wall. If you recall, I was actually pregnant with Clementine when I got around to doing this for Grace, so I'm pretty proud of myself for doing it before she's even 3 months old! Hooray for me! I posted a picture of it on Facebook, and someone requested I do a tutorial. I'd love to, but unfortunately I didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the actual process. I do have a few pictures of the letters along the way, so I'll just kind of muddle through and tell you how I do it. It's nothing terribly fancy, but it's fun!

 So here's my super artsy fartsy Instagram picture of the letters before I started painting. I bought them at Michael's. Michael's has several different sizes and styles, but of course I liked the giant expensive ones, and at $4 a pop, a 10 letter name like Clementine can be a little pricey. It's twice as long as Grace's name! Anyway, pick the letters you like and then pick your paint. I used Martha Steward craft paint. I loved the colors, but wasn't totally impressed with the coverage. I did a couple of coats, but to get a smoother look, you'd need eve more. When I painted Grace's name, I just used the paint we used to paint her walls, and it worked really well. So if you're going to do this project, my recommendation would be to go to Home Depot and get those little 1 or 2 oz paint samples that you can buy. You'll get the coverage of wall paint, without having to buy a whole bucket.

Also, pick great colors! I definitely lean toward bright colors, but make sure you pick 3 or 4 colors that you really like. Make sure they coordinate, but contrast a little too. I picked two shades of orange; a deep tangerine and a light peachy salmon, and two shades of pink; a bubble gum pink and a super bright fuchsia (it's almost red).

My first step on these was to paint the edges. I didn't want to seal the letter to the paper towel, so I got little match boxes and put a couple under each letter as I painted the edges. I've also seen people use thumb tacks. Just use a little something to lift it up off the surface so that you don't paint it to your drop cloth or paper towel or whatever. After painting all the edges, I painted the tops a different color. My rule was that I wouldn't use the same color combo twice. In other words, if I had two letters with a light pink edge, I'd make sure the tops of each were different colors.

Next came the designs. I'm not terribly artistic, so I kind of stay in the realm of stripes and circles. For these letters, I had vertical, horizontal, and slanted stripes. I tried to make them all a little different, and didn't put stripes riht next to each other in the name. I also had a couple different sizes of circle. I used one of my craft paint bottles for the small circles and the bottom of a mug for my big circles. When I decide on a design, I trace it with a pencil, and then just free-hand paint it in. I think this works way better than trying to use a stencil. When I did Grace's name, I traced my biscuit cutters. They were perfect because they were perfect concentric circles, and I could make a "hoop" style of circle easily. I forgot about my biscuit cutters until I was already finished with Clementine's name. Oh well. Also, for the stripes I just trace something straight. You could probably do a better job of keeping the lines perfectly straight if you measured, but I'm waaaay to lazy to measure. I'm also waaay to lazy to wait for things to completely dry. I did this whole thing in about 6 hours. Six straight hours, in fact, with only breaks for feeding children and such.

For the dots, I use the end of the paintbrush dipped in paint. I dip, make 2 or 3 dots, and dip again. They aren't all the same size, but it ends up looking good. 
This is the almost finished product. I went back and added a little to a few of them.
This is the completely finished product. No matter what I do, Blogger will not accept this photo turned in the correct direction. Sorry. If you look at the colors, you can see that I tried not to use the same color combination. Like, if I had a light pink top, I tried to use dark pink accent on one, and a light orange accent on the other. Actually, most of the letters have all 4 colors. If you look at the stripes, I'd do the stripe in one color, and then outline it in another. On the M, I made stripes in one color, and then filled in between every other stripe with dots of the other two colors. The two letters that are most alike as far as colors and patterns go, are the first two E's. They're both E's, and they both have the same size circle. When I hung them on the wall, I switched the second E with the last E to spread them out a bit more. Also, notice with the L, I traced big circles, and then filled the outsideof the circles with dots. It was really fun to be creative and to try and make them all a little bit different.

I was a bit nervous about how it would look on the wall, since the colors in the nursery were two different colors of pink, and then green. But it doesn't look too bad!

Anyway, I hope you learned a couple of tips and tricks. I'm not terribly artistic, but I do enjoy painting, so this project was really fun for me!

I'm going to skip all the background pictures of Mother's Day this year. You know, the millions of pictures of little girls crying and squinting and trying to run away, and I'm going to cut to the chase and show you the best picture of the bunch. This is it. One isn't smiling, one is looking at her sister, and one is holding a very naked Barbie. Happy Mother's Day!



Holiday #2! Jim's Aunt Mary sent the girls outfits for 4th of July, but I figured we should get as much mileage out of them as possible, and they wore them for Memorial Day! Do you like Lily's new bangs? I got so tired of her pushing her hair out of her face, and chewing on her hair, and having to put her hair up before every meal. So snip snip, and now we have bangs!


Last night I was cooking diner and trying to do about a million other things, so I sent the big girls out back to play. After a few minutes, Lily came in and said, "Gracie is playing in the dirt!" (have I mentioned she's really into tattling lately?) I thought about it for a second, and figured, meh, who cares? And continued to do my chores. But I did take a few pics. Have you ever seen a cuter kid? I haven't!


They wuv each other!