Bye Bye Baby

Yesterday, we celebrated a milsetone in our house - the first birthday of our baby, Scout. You'd think that because I have already done this four times, it would be easier. NOT SO . . . I am still not accustomed to the way a year passes so quickly.

Piper and I were having a discussion the other day about time passing. She wanted to know why when you were testing at school, waiting in the doctors office, or looking forward to an upcoming vacation, it seems soooooo slow. But on the other hand, weekends pass in the blink of an eye, vacations are lightning fast and birthday parties seem to last mere minutes.

We talked about perception, and the fact that time passes at an equal rate in all those situations. My logical adult brain knows that to be true, but I feel like Piper in saying, it sure doesn't seem that way!!

For instance - we planned a family trip for Disney World over Trace's and my birthdays. We planned this trip only about 5 weeks ago, but according to Carter, it's been 900 years. The boy's got something here!!

In the same way, it feels like I was just awaiting the arrival of Miss Scoutie (never mind that I felt pregnant with her for 900 years.)
I feel like I can close my eyes and smell her, yes we still use the oh-so-delicious pink J & J baby lotion, but this is a different smell. Its like new car - but SOOOOOOO much better. That newness that is so very fleeting, so amazing, that you are afraid to risk missing it by not holding that tightly wrapped baby burrito for every second of those first days.

Believe me, I don't particularly enjoy sleepness nights, post-partum weight, sibling rivalry or projectile vomiting. . . but I LOVE newborns. Sleepy smiles, froggy legs, tinier than tiny diapers, the way this little bundle fits perfectly into the crook of my arm and the curve of my hip, as if God perfectly matched us (which for the record, I believe HE DID!)

How that newborn transforms so quickly is always a miracle to me. Scout has become the funniest little roly-poly sweetheart!! She may go to bed with sore cheeks some nights from all the nibbling, kissing and smooshing she endures - and its not just me. She has captured the hearts of four kiddos and two parents, and we are all smitten with her! One look at her "scrunchy face" and her chubby little hand waving at you, and you're a goner!

Though the newborn days passed much too quickly, they have been replaced with days full of laughter and smiles brought on by the little character she has become! Now, talk to me six months from now and I'm sure I'll have something to say about the trials of toddlerhood. But for now...she is nothing but sweet!!

Soaring Spirits

We have all felt the warmth of the sunshine on our backs, warming our hair, lifting our spirits.



We have dusted off the scooters, bikes and rollerblades.




We've played baseball. We've learned that searching for a baseball in a snowdrift brings a new degree of difficulty to the game.



We've discovered that pails and shovels are great for building snowcastles too.



We have played outside until our cheeks are rosy, our noses are runny, and our legs are wobbly.



Life is good.

New Year, New Decade

Daddy and Scout on Christmas Eve

Uncle Ryan building LEGOS with the boys

Scout is always so amused by Ollie

Piper modeling her pink bday extensions with Auntie De and Dom

Scoutie's 1st Xmas

Can't believe my baby is 9!

Piper carrying Scout down on Xmas morning

Finley's standard Apres-PreK wear

Here we are in 2010, not only a new year, but a new decade. It got me thinking about all that has happened over the last 10 years.

Here's my breakdown

I have been pregnant for 45 out of the 120 months of the decade.

We have used somewhere in the ballpark of 21,600 disposable diapers costing roughly $4,320.

(Based on 5 diapers a day costing 20 cents per diaper) (And yes, I do know about what this does to our landfills and in a moment of eco-weakness made a very unfortunate journey into cloth-diapering which I'd rather not speak of...)

We have lived in 3 different homes.

We have painted 32 rooms.

We have been through an SUV, two minivans and now a Suburban.

We have had 33 well-baby checkups.

I've played for countless hours with Barbies, LEGOS, and Little People.

The tooth fairy has visited our house 11 times.

We have made 4 ER visits with kids.

I had my tonsils taken out (after a winter with a combined total of roughly 24 cases of strep in the family...good times!)

I'd list all the things we've been lucky enough to avoid, but there's not enough wood to knock on here . . .

I've had people email me to make sure I haven't dropped off the face of the earth in light of my blogging absence. I'm here, though I'd much rather be somewhere tropical, given our string of really yucky weather. But in the meantime, I am taking advantage of my cabin fever and organizing like a madwoman. Maybe if I do it now, I'll be so organized that I will be able to spend every waking moment outdoor once it gets nice! Wishful thinking I'm sure, especially since cleaning the house with kids around is like shoveling while its still snowing.