37 mini-cards

Facebook is fun for birthdays.

It's like getting lots and lots of mini-cards.

I got 37.

So fun.

And that's been my day, so fun.

Me time in the morning,

(wishing I could make this a Saturday morning tradition!)

naps for little girlies,

then family time in the afternoon.

We hiked out to Calvert Cliffs and played in the water.

We got started a little late and by the time we got out there it was already high tide.

I watched as the water crept ever closer to Frankie's stroller and safe nook by the tall grass, and I thought all about life.

I am now squarely and firmly a woman in her thirties.

And I don't feel a day over 16.

Photo Booth

My kids (even Addie) love to rock Photo Booth!

It's an application on our Mac laptop that takes pictures and adds cool effects.

One day we were all hanging out and they set it up and we took a bunch of fun family pictures.

(and since I have nothing else to blog today, here you go:)

Regular.

Comic book

Squeeze.

Bulge.

Dent.

Mirror.

Frankie the cone head.

Light tunnel.

That's weird, Addie's naked.

Swirl.

Addie asks for pictures all the time.

One day Lexi set it up and we were taking pictures, just me and my girls.

Addie knows how to take the pictures, so she kept hitting the button and outstretching her arms, like she was giving a hug, it was the cutest thing!

Photo Booth fun!

Got motivation?

I'm finding it hard to be motivated.

About anything.

I was going to get the lead out while the girls slept today, but instead I took a nap with Frankie.

Yeah, that's about how it's going.

When Matt got home I flew the coop to have some quality time at 2 of my favorite stores, Rite-Aid and CVS.

And I've got a plan for tomorrow.

Let's see if it works.

I'm still pretty unmotivated though.

Do you have any to spare?

Twilight Concert

When Matt got home from work yesterday he went out to water the garden and found some huge cucumbers we never knew we had. They either grew really fast or we don't pay too close attention to our garden. I'm gonna go with the first one.

After eating some seriously fresh and delicious cukes, we headed out to the Twilight Concert Series at our little college close to our house. We've been meaning to go all summer so it's fitting that we would make it to their very last concert.

The night was beautiful and the weather perfect!
And I was in the mood to take pictures!
Here's Addie's standard lately.
Can't you just hear it...
"NO cheese!"

She is such a sweet lovey girl! I love the way she's hugging onto my arm, like she just can't be close enough. I seriously heart that kid!

And she seriously hearts her dad.
She has so much fun playing with Matt, I just love to watch them!

I love the rapid fire of my camera, so here I am catching Addie running from daddy to mommy.
You can almost see the goofy, kiddy way she runs, just without a care in the world.

In these last three the only difference is her dress catching the wind.
I thought it was cool.

They hung out with Frankie and I until the second half started and then they were off on an Addie/Daddy adventure.

A little hide'n'seek.

After a marathon feeding session Frankie powered down.

Then I started playing with my camera settings. I turned it to ISO and really liked the way the pictures looked until I downloaded them on the computer and noticed they're really grainy.
Maybe I'll research what to do with that setting, orrrrrrrrr someone could just tell me. ;)

This morning I gave the girlies pedi's. It was Frankie's first. At bathtime I tried to get some cute shots of our tootsies. Didn't work out to well.

But couldn't you just eat these piggie's up?

Magic is...

• cuddling with your honey on one half of the queen size bed because a certain 4 month old sickie is sprawled on the other half
• cracking up with your honey about when Addie yelled "Daddy, shut up!" because he was talking while her Wiggles cd was playing
• finally getting ahold of your big (little) boy and hearing that sweet and tough boy say he loves and misses you
• hearing about all the fun Alexis had with Jackie on their girls night out
• talking to your best friends (and sister) every day
• being able to be a mom to 4 of the cutest, sweetest kids ever

Magic is not...

• laying awake for an hour, on one half of the queen size bed because a certain 4 month old sickie is sprawled on the other half
• the moment when Addie yelled "Daddy, shut up!" because daddy was talking while her Wiggles cd was playing
• worrying about your big (little) sweet and tough boy and all the things that might or might not be happening that are completely out of your control
• wishing you were with Alexis and Jackie on their girls night out
• knowing that you might not ever live in the same place as your best friends (and sister)
• what happens to your body after being a mom to 4 of the cutest, sweetest kids ever

Is my cup half-full or half-empty?

I choose half-full thankyouverymuch!!!

4 month check-up

I took Frankie to her 4 month old appt. today. She weighs 15.15 1/2 pounds, 26 3/4 inches and her head is 16 1/2 inches. That's 97th, 97th, and 75th percentiles respectively.
She is a BIG girl.
I thought Addie was big and she was only 13.10 and 25 inches.
It makes me a little nervous that my babies birth weights have steadily increased.
Alexis was 6.2, Christian 7.5, Addison 8.4, and Frankie a whopping 9.11.
Maybe we shouldn't have another.

Addie's getting to be a pretty good photographer.
Especially at the doctor's office.

While Matt was in Dallas he took the time to drive out to Addison, Texas and pick up some memorabilia for Addie.
A few years ago when we visited Joy in Illinois we drove out to Alexis, IL and picked up some fun stuff for Alexis.
Fun fact - Fire engines are made in Alexis, IL.

And guess who got ahold of the camera after we got home too.
She's not a very good sneak.

Did I mention that in the 2 weeks Matt was gone -

*we were infested with ants

*the washing machine broke

*the cameras memory card had a malfunction

*the internet went out twice

(and I had to spend no shorter than 3 hours on the phone with the lovely people at Verizon, who were actually very nice in spite of all the issues.)

Tonight Matt took me out to dinner at our neighbors Asian restaurant, Oga's, which is delicious by the way. We used a Restaurant.com giftcard, which you should totally look up and try, especially if you have a large family.

Just another one of the many reasons we are so glad Daddy's home.

Randoms

It has been so incredibly hot!

Saturday's high temp (according to my car) was 104 with a heat index (accounting for humidity) of around 110. It's been like this for days. Actually, I'm exaggerating, Wednesday only got up to 90.
Only.
In June, 19 days were over 90 degrees. Last year in June, there weren't any days over 90 degrees.
It is way too hot.
They say it will be one of the hottest summers on record.
This past winter was one of the coldest and snowiest on record.
What is up with that?

* * * * *

Matt's flight was delayed a few hours so he didn't get home until after 2:30am. Sicky-poo Frankie woke up at 4:30. I was so glad he was home because after I fed her, he gladly took over until she fell asleep around 6:00.
Then in the morning he kept the babies while I went to a movie. All by myself. :) It seems like whenever I want to go see a girly movie just for me there is nothing good out. The only movie I really wanted to see was Ramona and Beezus, so I did. I went and got my small popcorn and small soda
(there are free refills, did you know that?!)
and enjoyed 2 full hours of quiet mommy time.
Then I went shopping.
It was heaven.
I was having such a nice time with everyone that morning that I almost didn't go, but I've fallen for that before! I knew if I stayed (even though I wanted to and I'm sure it would have been fun) that I would have regretted not getting my mommy alone time.
So glad I went!

* * * * *
The girls are both sick. Like, rivers of green coming from their noses. Frankie hasn't really slept for 3 days now. And on Saturday she wouldn't eat. That is so not like her, I mean you've seen the girls thighs! Finally Saturday night she broke down and ate for about 45 minutes straight. But the sleeping is still bad. This morning after our 2nd night of tag-team 1 hour sleeping, Matt decided to stay home from church with them. Frankie still didn't sleep all day and was getting super fussy. So our home teachers came over and they and Matt gave her a blessing. She cried through the prayer, I stood up with her as soon as it was over and she fell asleep within 10 seconds.
That is power.

* * * * *

I miss Alexis.

* * * * *

I miss Christian.

* * * * *

I'm so glad Matt is home.

* * * * *

I'm so ready for school to start.
School starting and Autumn, it's one of my favorite times of year!

* * * * *

I would like to personally thank whomever taught my sweet 2-year-old to make this lovely face. For about a week anytime I took out the camera she would make it.

* * * * *
She even tried to help Frankie.

* * * * *
Awesome.

* * * * *
PS - I am totally winning over here!

4 Whole Months - By Frankie

This is kind of how this month has gone. It's been so lonely, just my mom and Addie around for most of the month. Just one word to say about that.
Bo-ring.

But now daddy's back and I get to hear Alexis and Christian on the phone so that makes me happy.

I've done a lot of playing this month! I can reach and grab and hold toys. It's so fun!
And then when I don't have a toy, I use my feet.
They taste so good.

Love my baby jungle gym! I spend a lot of time there!

Sometimes my mom even props me up. I feel like such a big girl when she does that!
A big, chunky girl!

I spend so much time on my little jungle gym that sometimes I even fall asleep there.
I'm such an angel!

Checking the caterpillars nose. Is there anything up there?

I really like to explore.

We broke out the Johnny Jump-up yesterday and that was pretty fun.

Even though it made me a little bit dizzy.

I really like playing with babies too.
Maybe sometimes I get a little too excited, but I just love them so much!

I'm such a good little mama!

Sometimes after my mom takes a picture of me I get a really startled look on my face.
It looks like this.

I'm also a great multi-tasker! Busy, busy, that's my motto!

I get lots of tummy time but I haven't rolled over or done any tricks yet. My mom keeps telling me not to, and I'm nothing if not obedient. I am scooting though. I can rotate myself 180 degrees!

Tummy time gone bad.

But then she held me and I ate my hand and it was all good.

My hands are yummy.

I've been practicing my "old man with no teeth look."
What do you think?

My mom says I'm getting her big ears.
Yikes, that doesn't sound good!

I stick my tongue out all the time, I always have, but now it's coupled with lots of drool. I don't have any teeth yet, but my mom says I'm working on them!

I've been taking big girl baths for awhile now.
That means I get to take them with Addie.
Yay for me.
She usually just plays and squirts my feet
(mom tells her that's all she can squirt, although sometimes I get shot in the face!)
but sometimes she wants to get a little too close and she sits on my bath seat with me.

And then sometimes she lays.
Someone needs to tell her to back up and give me 50 feet!
She's always all up in my business!

You know what she did yesterday?
She bit me!
First it was a play-bite but then she got carried away.
I was not happy.

Lately she's been pretty okay to hang out with though.
We like the same tv shows
(isn't that awesome that I like to watch tv?!)
and she even makes me laugh on occasion.

Okay, that's all for now. There would be more pictures but there was some sort of memory card error on the camera so I had to go easy this month and only include 21. Next month I'll go for 40.
Holla!

Love,

Frankie