Summertime is HERE!

I know that no body much reads my blog any more since I made it private. BUT I keep reminding myself that my main purpose for blogging is to document my children’s lives so that they can go back and read about their childhood. Yes, that is why.

Yesterday was Olivia’s first time in a kiddie pool and even though it ended up being a disaster in the end thanks to her older sister not being able to handle the fact that is was going to be a little different this year in the fact that they couldn’t fill the pool up, Olivia enjoyed her self immensely! I did give them the option of jumping in the sprinkler but she was just fixated on filling that pool up so we eventually went in and Audrey ended up going to bed early and getting a long talk from dear old mom about having to put Olivia’s needs before ours sometimes. And how it’s not always going to be like this. That pretty soon we wont have to worry about Livi being to small because she is growing so fast. Even though she was in trouble, we had a good talk.

Like I said, Olivia enjoyed her self. The water was chilly but that didn’t stop her!

In case nobody has noticed, I’ve been behind on my blogging these days. Really behind and even though I’ve been sure to keep up with Olivia’s monthly letters, I feel a little guilty  for not documenting more of her first year the way I did with the twins. I know, I know, my life is way different now then it was with them and it’s very hard to find time to do much these days. Well, to do it all any way. But, in the fall when the kids start preschool *sniff* I hope to carve out some time and get back to blogging on a regular basis!

For Mother’s Day weekend, Jon’s parents and grandmother came to visit. It’s become a tradition actually for the 3 of them to come on this weekend. They have done it 4 years in a row! Hope they keep it up! We had a great time, as usual. They got in late that Friday night and about 30 minutes later than they should have. They were driving right along, deep in conversation and they drove right past the road to turn on off the Hwy from Tallahassee and ended up in Bainbridge. Ha! But they got here nonetheless and we had a good laugh about it! We went to church the next morning, out to eat lunch and then Audrey and I jetted to the dance studio for her recital pictures. Now THAT was a crazy time! It’s sort of a small place and there were so many people in there! Some of the older girls were practicing  in the studio part and Audrey and some of her little friends stood at the door and watched in awe while us moms waited to see and order our pictures. Audrey did not want to leave. I think she’s gonna get totally into this ballerina stuff! She had her last regular class for the year last Thursday.

Jon and I are going on a little get away down to Orlando next week. Just the two of us. For 3 whole days. AND we are going to Epcot. Yes, with out the children. Don’t judge. You know you are jealous. Anyway, my dear sweet mother in-law is coming to keep the chirren. Audrey’s recital is next Saturday and she was coming for that any way so we figured she wouldn’t mind coming a few days early. I am so glad she doesn’t mind! However, I am new to this whole kids in activities things and it never crossed my mind once when we were planning our trip that Audrey would have a dance rehearsal before a recital. Not once. How dumb am I? Her rehearsal is on Wednesday so SuSu will be in charge of that. I’m a little bummed that I wont be there but my consolation is that it will be a sweet memory for grandmother and granddaughter! especially since they don’t get to be together that often.

11 Months

Olivia,

11 months already. Man this month has flown by! We’ve been so busy lately and since Summer is upon us we wont be slowing down any time soon. You finally cut another tooth today (or during the night). Top right chomper. This time it really bothered you. You have been way more fussy, ran a fever for about 72 hours and did not sleep well at night. And it took almost a week for it to finally push through. But, I still love you.

Your little personality has really started to shine this past month. You have always and I believe will always be very loving, very affectionate. You don’t mind letting us love on you and kiss you and snuggle you. Me and daddy that is. You are about over James and Audrey and all their shenannigans and quite frankly I don’t blame you. I was over it about 6 months ago! You will give us kisses (sometimes) when we ask you to. And you have a wonderful sense of humor. Which will bode very well for you in this crazy family! You crack us up all the time laughing at James and trust me, he loves every single second of making you laugh!

You are not only loving and sweet and have a great sense of humor but you also have a little temper. And I’m not sure where in the world you could have gotten it from. You do not like it if we take something away from you. No ma’am. And you have this little screech. It’s like a monkey. And it’s loud. But, we wouldn’t trade you for anything in the world. And we are all very sad that you are growing up so fast and are no longer our tiny baby.

Today while I was playing with you, I was stacking these little books to make a tower for you. You sat and watched and when I was done you patiently took each one off till they were all down. You didn’t knock it over like most babies your age. And you did this every time I built the tower.
I love you, Olivia Ray Mizell, to the moon and back.
Mama

Reflections

Sunday evening I was sitting out on my front porch enjoying the light breeze and taking in my surroundings. You see, I’m a porcher. It's one of my favorite things to do, just sit out there and swing gently. It reminds me of my child hood and sitting out on the front porch with my daddy. He’s a porcher too; I reckon that’s where I get my love for it.

Any way, I was just sitting out there reflecting on the wonderful Mother’s Day I had just enjoyed with my family and it struck me that the coming week is the last week of school before Summer and that means that the week was going to be the last one with James and Audrey at home with just me all day, all week. And that, dear readers, was a little hard to take.

Where oh where did the time go? It just evaporated, so it is true that time is but a vapor. In so many ways it seems like it was just yesterday when Jon and I were starting out on this magical journey of parenthood. Starting out in the most high stress way that two parents can. It seems like just yesterday that I was going stir crazy during the day and that going to the library for story time twice a week was a must for holding on to what little sanity I possess. (We went to their last weekly story time yesterday.) And now, all of a sudden, they are ready to start school. I am ready for them to start school. I feel a peace about it that I did not feel at this time last year when we were thinking of sending them to a 3 day a week program.

It’s amazing how much of a difference you can feel and see in your life when you listen to the Lord’s direction. At the time I kinda felt like maybe it was just my raging pregnancy hormones that made me freak out and with draw their name from the list. Especially after I gave the woman such a fit up at the school about making sure they had a spot. And since keeping them home when I had a new born proved to be one of the most challenging times of my life, for a while I thought that I had made a huge mistake because it was so hard. But one day it struck me that just because it was hard didn’t mean it was the wrong decision. That gave me great strength to press on and even though we have not followed a strict schedule, it has proved to be the best decision that I have made in regards to their well being.

My Mother’s Day

For quite a few years now I have been wanting a better camera. Something that would take better pictures over all, have so many more capabilities than a point and shoot so that I can capture a shot how I envision it in my mind and also something that would not cost an arm and a leg. My dear sweet, darling husband finally made my dreams come true last week for my 5th Mother’s Day present. By far the best MD gift I’ve received to date. Ok, pretty much the best gift I’ve eveR received! However, he is currently missing an arm and a leg.

I have so much to learn and even though some of the info can be a little mind numbing at times, I’m excited to finally be learning more about photography. For the innate love I have for photography, I’m far less educated than I should be about it. But that’s going to change and I am looking forward to it. My Nikon D3200 is a far cry from that first 110 mm camera I bought when I was 10!!

Minnie Mouse

Funny how one little stuffed animal can cause so many emotions. I mean it’s just a stuffed animal! But after all the kids were in the bed the other night and I was cleaning up play land, aka the living room, this little stuffed animal almost caused me to have an emotional break down. Seriously. I can barely stand to even look at it now. It represents so many things to me. The most cutting one being that my baby is quickly growing into, well, not a baby. And that just means my other two are growing just as fast. You never know what the Lord has in store for you but more than likely Olivia Ray will be the last baby to join our family. There are so many different stages in life and when you are young and just starting out, I think that fact gets lost on you. I know it did for me. For so long it felt like things would always be the same at our house. That we would always have crazy wild babies that caused you to have monumental stressed out moments at the end of each and every day. Bath/bed time with the twins used to be the most horrible time of the day. That lasted for a little less than 3 years and then all of a sudden, the kids can bath themselves, dress themselves for bed, and brush their own teeth. Basically stress free! Bath/bed time with Olivia isn’t so stressful but she does require a lot more attention at that time of the day, she is super fussy so I usually end up playing with her until it’s bed time. I am glad that I do that too because before I know it her days of crawling around on the floor playing with Minnie Mouse and her piano and me digging random little objects out of her mouth will be a thing of the past. Before too long, it will be time for Olivia to give up the bottle. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? This past year has flown by to incredibly fast. It feels like I was just big and pregnant and having a hard time breathing outside because it was so stinkin hot. And now my baby is fastly approaching her 1st birthday. I don’t like getting older for the simple fact that time seems to slip away faster and faster. And soon my children wont want to be right up under my arm while I am sitting on the couch writing about them, making it very hard to move. And they wont end up in the bed with us in the middle of the night only to wake me up and say “mama you keep taking my spot. move over.” I must admit though that I might not miss that part so bad. James and Audrey will be attending preschool this coming August and even though we (me and the twins. their daddy aint so happy bout it, makes him sad) are beyond excited for this new chapter in their lives, it’s the beginning of the end. Once they start school, there’s no going back. Before I know it they will be graduating. *sniff sniff* See, Minnie represents so much!