Ten on Ten, September 2011

I was over at Kelli's yesterday, and she had mentioned this great link up, Ten on Ten at A Bit of Sunshine.  It's kind of a "snapshot" of your day ~ one picture, each hour, for ten hours, on the tenth of the month.  It sounded like fun, so I thought I'd try it out.

And then I forgot.  Because I no longer have a memory.

But then I remembered.

So here we go.

Around 10ish it was time for Miss Tay's morning nap.



Shortly after it was time to clean house ~ specifically toilets.  Just keepin' it real, folks.



Around noon, I caught someone sharing her otter pop with Barbie. 
She liked it.



By one o'clock it was finally time for my lunch.  Turkey on croissant with fresh-from-the-garden tomatoes.  YUM!



Around 2ish, I got to sit down for a second to check my email and upload some photos.




Next on the list was writing a couple of Thank Yous.



4 o'clock found me in the laundry room, tackling loads of laundry.


Since Jeremy was at work, and my dad is out of town hunting, my mom invited us over for dinner {at 5 o'clock}.  Our properties adjoin so we walked over, in the 92 degree temps.  Whew! 



After dinner we walked home, and sat down to a Jell-O treat.



And by 7 o'clock, Nana had stopped over to watch a movie with the girls.

It was a pretty fabulous day :)

To the ladies at the grocery store . . .

. . . and the one at Target . . . and, yep, even the one at the doctor's office. 

Listen, please.

Yes.

I am aware that I have four children, and that they are all girls.

Let me interrupt myself by saying, it does not bother me in the least when someone stops me at the grocery store to tell me that I "look like I have my hands full".  I do have my hands full.  It doesn't really take a rocket scientist to see that.  But, I love it!  I love that I'm kept busy all day, every day.  Life would be so very boring {and quiet!} without them.

But I do kinda mind when the comments turn rude-ish.  Especially right.in.front.of.my.girls.

First of all, if you have to start a sentence with, "I don't mean to be nosey", then guess what, you're probably being nosey.  Please don't touch my new baby on the face.  Please do not count {out loud} and announce the number of girls I have.  And then proclaim while shaking your head as if to feel sorry for me, "You tried so hard for that boy, didn't you?"  And then proceed to say to my 2 month old, "Your mama was supposed to have a boy".  And then look at your husband and say, "Can you believe that?  Four girls."

Because, I don't even know what to say to that.  Honestly?  I know what I'd like to say.  But I don't even know how to respond to that in a tactful way.  Mostly because I am completely shocked.  Shocked that people have the audacity to say such things.  And shocked that people really and truly believe that it's any of their business at all.  And, by the way, having four girls in a row does not qualify us for the Guiness Book of World Records.  Mkay?

Would we have loved to have had a boy?  Of course.  Can we imagine our lives without our four, precious daughters?  Absolutely not.  Because from the moment I heard the words, "it's another girl!", I was elated.  A precious, healthy baby girl. 

So, the next time we run into each other, and you feel the need to say something, try this:

"Four girls?  Wow.  You are truly blessed."

Two

I don't know that I love any one age or stage more than another.  There are things I adore about each, and there are challenges that come along with each.  I love, love, love the newborn stage.  The newness.  That smell.  Their little noises.  It is a favorite stage of mine, no doubt.  But then there's 6-18 months.  Oh how I love that time period.  All of a sudden they can sit on their own, then they're scooting, and crawling, and walking.  Oh my.  They're so busy, and they learn so much.  They're putting words together {but not so much so that they can be too sassy!} That stage is another favorite of mine.  And, of course I love it as children grow, and mature, and become their own little people.  It's such fun to watch Sierra and Makenna as they develop their own likes and dislikes, strengths and talents.

But there is something. 
Oh my is there something about a 2-3 year old that just melts my heart.

The silly sayings, the drama, the excitement. 

Seeing everything new, and for the first time. And that energy.
Oh the energy.



This little princess is no exception.

She has me practically rolling on the ground laughing every single day. Now don't get me wrong, she's exhausting. And challenging. Ohhhhhhhh dear is she a challenge. Kameryn is by far my most . . . uh . . . spirited child. Can you just see it? Can you tell?




But she brings me so much joy.



Even on the roughest days ;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few things I want to jot down {because I haven't a memory anymore}:

♥ Kameryn talks nonstop.  Seriously. NONstop.  If she's not chatting at one of us, she's looking at herself in the mirror and chatting to herself.  The only time she's not talking is when she's asleep.  No exaggeration.  {Confession: she may come by this naturally.  Someone else was quite the talker as a little girl.}

♥ She comes up with the funniest things, and I have no idea where she's gotten them.  Example:  If she leaves the room for any reason, she makes sure to warn everyone not to "steal" whatever is hers.  "Mama, don't steal my milk."  This cracks me up because we're not much into stealing around here.

♥ Kam is going through a picky eating stage.  She loves pancakes and waffles, sometimes cereal, and, well, that's about it.  So she requests breakfast foods at all times of the day {and night!}.

♥ Oh, and let's not forget her love of chockit doonuts {chocolate donuts}.

♥ She seriously loves her baby sister.  Kameryn has never shown one minute of jealousy or negativity toward Taylor.  She practically squeals with delight when Taylor wakes up in the morning, and is the first to try to help me change the baby's diaper.  She is such a "big helper".

♥ Which leads me to another of her silly sayings.  Every time that Kam is being a help to me, I gush about it and say something like "Kam, thank you SO much!  You are SUCH a big helper to Mama!!"  So now, if she needs any help, she'll ask, "Mama, you be a big helper to me?"

♥ Miss Kam is severely afraid of animals.  She pretends like she loves them . . . until they come too close.  And then she screams like crazy until someone "rescues" her. 

♥ She would wear a nightgown all day long, every single day, if I'd let her.  She has a couple of summer nighties, but lately has taken to going through my "nightie" drawer.

♥ Kam has a few "best friends".  The one on the absolute top of her list?  Daddy.

♥ Kam LOVES . . . ♥

The color pink
Crowns
Dress Up Clothes
Barbies
Accessories {the more, the merrier is her motto}
Baby Dolls
Having her hair done

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♥ I love the way she pronounces certain words. ♥
  Some of my favorites:

Lee-Lips {Lip Gloss/Lip Stick}
Chickum {Chicken.  Though lately she's been pronouncing it correctly}
Hotbooties {Ha! This is actually her version of Strawberries}
Blue Hotbooties {Blueberries}
Mik {Milk.  Apparently the L is silent}
Ah-melon {Watermelon}
Killie {Kitty.  The other night she actually reached out to pet the kitty!  We're making progress}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oh Miss Kameryn, you bring a smile to my face every day.

Wordless Wednesday ~ First Day

Side Note: When I first had the girls fill out their "favorites" list I didn't do a great job of guiding. I just  sort of handed them the lists, and let them be.  So, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when I got Makenna's back, and she had filled in, Salt for her favorite season.  Oh my.  I laughed so hard I almost cried.  That's my girl!
We've since decided that Summer is actually her favorite season ;)

A Good Weekend.

Saturday afternoon we took a drive toward Mt. Hood to visit with relatives of Jeremy's that we've never met.  An added bonus?  Jeremy's "Tata" made a surprise appearance.  He isn't in wonderful health, so it was so nice to be able to see him, and let the girls give him a big ol' hug.  Plus it was the first time he'd seen Taylor.

{I feel this overwhelming need to apologize for the quality of the photos.  It's not always easy balancing a baby on your hip, a two year old wrapped around your leg, and snapping "good" photos.  But then, lately, I've noticed certain photographers continually apologizing if the lighting isn't great, or some other such thing, and only posting the "good shots".  As if those are the only ones worthy.  So.  Yes, there are blown highlights, and limbs out of focus, but I love each of these pictures.  Because they are special.  And emotional.  And isn't that what a photograph is supposed to be?  Whew.  Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.}

Tata holding his littlest granddaughter :)



Miss Tay took quite a liking to his finger.  Look at that sweet little grip ;)



And then Smarties were handed out.



And someone took a liking to those.



Then things got a little crazy.  Balancing Smarties on the nose and all.



We're kooky like that.

It was a good weekend.  Full of great memories.  How was yours?

Friday Daydreamin' ~ Disney!

I've pretty much been daydreamin' about a vacation since . . . our last vacation. 

When Sierra and Makenna were little, we vacationed pretty frequently.  San Diego one winter, Hawaii the following Fall, then Disneyland a year and a half later.

Then I got pregnant with Kam, had some complications with her, and the following year we decided to start building our house.  All of which resulted in not many big vacations.  And now?  Well, now we can't really afford to go anywhere.  Four children, and a brand spankin' new mortgage . . . yeah.

But luckily, thanks to Becca {RWeThereYetMom?}, I can relive our days of vacations!




Today, I am traveling back to April 2008 . . . our trip to Disneyland!!


Miss Kenners had just turned 3, and Sierra was 5 1/2.  Oh.my.goodness.  Do you see how little they were??  Jeremy and I were a little younger too ;)



We took the grandparents with us, and had so much fun!





Lunch with the princesses was a must!  I think that was a highlight for the girls.



It was such a fabulous vacation, and we want to go back in the worst way!  I can only imagine how much more fun it would be with all four of our girls!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Head on over to Becca's to read about others' Daydreams!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Notice Anything New?

My little "Queen of Accessories" talked Daddy into some brand new sparkle . . .

Found It!

This little sweet pea here . . .

. . . has found her thumb :)

And I'm sorry, but I think it is the.cutest.thing.ever!

Tribute to Summer

Anyone else going to be sad to see Summer go? 
Like, bawling your eyes out, sad?

You see, we don't have a lot of gorgeous, sunny, weather here in Oregon.  So when it comes around, I rejoice!  And when it goes away . . . well, I cry. 

Thank goodness for my beloved camera.  I can capture these brief, Summer moments, and cherish them all year long. 

My tribute to Summer 2011 in photos  . . .

Days of play



Of exploration



Of peacefulness



Of welcoming a new, precious blessing.



Days of change.



Of celebration,



and beauty.


Days of creating,



laughing,



of competition



and true enjoyment.



Days of sculpting,



Splashing,



Jumping,



and observing.



Of truly living life.

We had one of the best summers yet!  How 'bout y'all?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm linking up {FINALLY!} with Alicia's Crazy Days of Summer.  Something I've been meaning to do all Summer, but . . . you know, life just got in the way.