time.

time.
we only get so much.
and we'll always want more.
try to have the time of your life at least a little bit each day in 2011. or a lot.
happy new year!
love you much, t

five.

pancakes with sprinkles and candles and singing.
tea party; paper dolls.
beauty & the beast.
a princess story read by her brother.
phone calls from loved ones. over and over.
twinkle toes shoes that she's wanted forever.
alice in wonderland makeup; finger nail polish. IN MASS QUANTITIES.
pizza and presents and seeing rapunzel.
grandma and pontys and eckbergs and binottos and muellers.
tucked in with mia, snug as a bug.
lips full of glittery goo.

in the blink of an eye.

"it's a girl?!" blink.
smiling. belly laughing. sitting. blink.
crawling. walking. running. CLIMBING. blink.
babbling. talking. saying i love you. over and over. blink.
starting school, making friends, becoming her own little person. blink.
one birthday, then two. three. four. blink.
wishing every single day to lose a tooth, just so she can whistle. blink.
two loose teeth. wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. blink.
(s)nuggling with her all the nights she was tiny, singing you are my sunshine.
changing the words, just for her. making her laugh one more time that day.
my grandma mell rose sang that song to me when i was little.
it just happened one day that i started to sing it to her.
she doesn't need me to (s)nuggle with her every night. she's five now.
but i smile every time i get the chance to.
i don't want to miss what happens between blinks.
i love her so.

happy 5th birthday, court. our little sunshine.

it's the most wonderful time of the year.

no school for two weeks!

more time to play outside.

bake cookies. (weird, i know. but i promise to try.)

celebrate the holidays.
by holidays, i mean HOLIDAYS:
christmas,
court's birthday,
our anniversary,
my birthday,
and new years.

get some rest. (see above)

spend time with friends & family. but only if we can: (see below)

get healthy. it's been one thing after another for the kids.

take more pictures. i haven't taken enough pictures lately.






court celebrated her 5th birthday just a bit early with her class last week.
it's kind of a big deal, you know...
bringing your mom.
being the helper.
wearing a crown.
she's pretty good at being the birthday girl.
can't wait for the real thing.
i've had the song picked out for her video for weeks...




she has an extremely strong fashion sense.

(when i say extremely, i mean EXTREMELY. when i say sense, i mean "sense".)
i do love this outfit, though.
most mornings, it takes everything in me to not pick wardrobe fights.
or put a padlock on her dresser drawer.
i want her to feel like she can be who she is. and love it.
i'm so grateful that she's pretty good at that already.

together.

this year, i was most thankful for togetherness.

it's not easy gathering in one place
when each of us lives in our own corner of the world.

we had a whole weekend to:

share the same bathroom. again. (good times.)
argue over who's turn it is to do the dishes.
"borrow" clothes.
play clever pranks on each other.
tattle.

to see the kids develop their own precious little relationships
with the people we know and love so much. our family.

to be reminded of where they get so many of their traits.

to watch court's eyes light up at the first sight of a real princess.



to realize that hayden was just as upset as i was to leave.
because he gets that it was so special and happens not often enough.

to see my mom & dad with all four of their grandchildren at once.
and take their picture together.



to meet my adorable nephew malaki.
and get to finally be his aunt.
and know sam as a mama. at long last.



to see how my sofia has grown.
and sing her a song. because she doesn't judge.
and make her giggle. and see her mom giggle because she's giggling.
and her daddy cringe over glitter.



to wonder where chris and court have gone off to.
and discover that they went alligator "hunting".
as if it's something they do all the time.





i took a bunch of pictures. (by a bunch i mean, like, 900.)
most of the time, i was frustrated by the light.
it wasn't perfect. crisp. clear. sparkly.
(until, of course, i met a few million fire ants. pretty much ruined the moment.)

i'm so glad i realized how very little that mattered at the time.
we were together.




thanks for vacuuming the fire ants out of my shoe, dad.
(and for making andy rub aloe all over my feet!)

our halls are decked.

christmas tree.
check.

lights on house.
check.

stockings hung.
check.

christmas cards ordered.
check.

pictures of grandchildren posted.
check and check.

up next:
shopping.

(and good intentions for more blogging)