all alone

It has been awhile but folks, I am all alone!!!!
my mom got moved out this past Monday (what a surprise for me!)
and Zarah (who has been here helping me with kids and preliminary packing-thanks so much!) is on her way to the airport. jacob took the girls and well I can't quite remember what I used to do when all alone in a home, my home.

Speaking of homes, we are still trying to figure out where we are going to live in a few 10 weeks or so. I feel like a mother bird flying around looking for a nest to land on.

Jacob has 6 more weeks of rotations and then he is done with school. wow..never thought I would say that sentence.

We are all very excited about spring and summer, as so many of our favorite things happen during those months. We will miss living so close to southern Maine's beautiful beaches.

I am glad we will be moving to another great part of Maine. I am happy our kids get to experience various parts of this state.

"Hey Mommy!"

All of you post-partum mothers, please don't hate Heather. When she gets pregnant, she never gains a ton of weight. At 20+ weeks, her tummy is just starting to pop out a little bit - only noticeable to most people in certain clothing and after a big meal, but definitely there if take a "before" and "after" picture.

Most importantly, Liliana has noticed it: We were sitting on the couch the other day and Liliana looked over at Heather and patted her belly, saying "Look Mommy, your belly is big". She then patted Heather's breasts and said "Mommy, your belly is bigger than your breasts!"

baby....names

I always used to kid jacob that he and I would have a car load of girls...we are well on our way...baby # 3 is a girl and both #1 and #2 are excited for that and to be big sissy's.
She looked great in the ultrasound and I pretty much measured right on. It was nice to see her on the screen and see that we for real are going to have another baby, good reminder to have every once in awhile.
So, seeing as we have already had 2 girls we are kinda out of girl names...we are taking suggestions...what do you think she should be called?????

A creative game

I'm usually such a wimp about this kind of stuff. I figure what I have to offer isn't always that super. But with a year time committment, I just might be able to swing this. And I couldn't resist the friend it came from.

So, here's how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift!

Just the thought of receiving something in the mail that isn't a bill is delightful!

Come and play!

Now, remember "ya get what ya get and ya don't throw a fit".

Post Copy Edit : One of my goals this year is to encourage my lack of creativity. This looks like it will provide the nudge I need. So who is gonna play???

More from our daughter's mouth

Don't you just love it when your older child starts trying to implement your favorite parenting technique on younger siblings?  

Liliana got up on the dining room table and started to stand up on it.  Heather told her to get off the table.  Mattie then got up on the table and stood up, sparking the following:

"Uh-oh, Mattie.  Please don't follow sissy's bad example by getting up on the table," Heather said.

"Yeah, Mattie.  I'm tired of you following my bad example.  Don't you know that I'm not obedient?  Now, get down off the table or I'm going to shut you up in your room and set the timer for 5 minutes" came Liliana's added response.  

From the mouth of ....

For several reasons, I love Liliana's age (she's four).  I think the among the top reasons is that she is trying to figure things out and says some pretty hilarious things.  I think all of those who have children, or who are around them quite a bit, have a collection of these.  Here are a few samples that she has said to Heather and I in the past couple of weeks.

On Being Beautiful:

We were sitting on the couch as a family, when I turned to Liliana and said: "You're such a pretty girl".  "No, I'm smart" came the reply.  "So, you can only be beautiful OR smart?"  I ask.  "Yes, I'm smart.  Mommy's beautiful," came the answer.

On why our Bishop was replaced.

"Bishop was getting old and is going to die.  We needed a younger Bishop."

And speaking of the Bishop:

"Is Bishop still going to be Kimball's dad?"

On being left alone:

Liliana and Mattie share a room.  Tradition has it that they both wake up, play for awhile, then knock on the door.  This morning, Liliana decided to leave to go to the bathroom.  She turned to her sister and said: "I'm going to go to the bathroom and you're going to be by yourself, but don't worry.  Jesus will be in your heart and he will keep you from being lonely."

On the other churches:

We pass a church of another faith to get to church.  In the past, we've explained that other people don't believe the same things that we do, so they go to different churches.  This morning, Liliana told Heather as they passed the church:  "Look Mommy, there's that church that some people go to.  But not us, we don't go there because we want to be a family forever."