Don't show this to my kids.... Or maybe do.

So about a week or so ago, Matt tried to get me to admit that I liked the smell of his armpits. I was all "omg how is this my real life? I DO NOT like the smell of your armpits, not a little bit, not secretly, you're seriously messed up." Then he tried to get me to say I liked the smell of my own armpits. I was already almost sleeping, but I'm pretty sure I denied that too.

Anyway, in the last.... I paused here for a couple of minutes because I was trying to figure out how many days it had been since Sunday but I kept getting distracted so I never actually counted.

*Ahem* I say again, Since Sunday, I have shared with you a picture of me in bed, terribly hungover, a picture of my barefoot self in a pub dancing on a stool like a.... Well, I don't really want to say what it was like, because my family reads this blog.

 *I SHOULD MAKE A SECRET BLOG!

And then today I posted a picture of my disgusting, teenager bedroom. So in hopes that this isn't too much of a good thing, (the good thing is that I'm keeping it real ok?) I am going to share with you a confession. I kind of do like the smell of my armpits. Like, I don't want a candle made out of them or anything, but I don't find them in any way offensive. I don't know why I am putting this on the internet, but I feel committed to it. I feel like this blog has no apparent purpose. I should change the header.


                                                                   FIN

Haters gon' hate.

Like much else, it's a toss up between those who love and those who loathe Valentine's Day...

So, I'll warn you loathers that you may not be into this post. I'm not a mushy girl, and I don't need a special day to celebrate love or kindness, but it's no secret that I'm a sucker for a reason to decorate my home and to put my girls in a themed outfit...


I mean seriously?!

 Plus, they are just so fun to celebrate anything with. That kind of unbridled excitement and joy simply makes it impossible for me not to go all out. Elise had school all day today so we did some fun, Love themed things yesterday. Some cookie decorating (and eating - someone save me from myself!), and a little project for their Daddy's office. They are so easy to please, I don't know how I could not indulge them!





Elise also proved that the apple doesn't fall far from the dorky, holiday-loving tree when she excitedly hammered out 22 Valentine cards in one sitting the other afternoon! Girl loves to love. Making Mama proud.

Lovers keep on loving!

Grow Slowly

 We had a party, and it was fabulous.

 

Favorite people, favorite treats, favorite colors, favorite activities.

 

 I thought I should blog for her last night, but no words would come. It still didn't feel real. We woke up early for school this morning, she opened her presents and we played most of the day with them. I wished her a Happy Birthday several times, called her my Birthday Girl and took her out for her dinner of choice. The Servers sang and she blew out another candle, this time on a brownie. We talked about the day she came into our lives, how we felt, how her Sister reacted. She loves when we talk about that, we both do. Her Daddy put her to bed and I spent about an hour feeling really restless. Now, I've lit some cinnamon-y candles, put on some mellow writing music, but the truth is, it still doesn't feel real. That she's been here, in her olive-toned and soft body, in my life, for four whole years. And at the same time it feels like she's always been.

 This is the year where she'll lose all her baby, she might learn to swim, she'll go to preschool and make her own friends. She'll start to pronounce more words like a big girl. Her feet will grow. How I wish they wouldn't, that they would stay wide, chubby little baby feet that I would always want to nibble on. Maybe she'll stop being so picky, too, about her food, and her outfits, and her books and her shows. Maybe she won't.

 I think it doesn't feel real because I'm not really ready for it to be real. While I look forward to learning even more about her in the coming months, I'm just a little tied to who she was over the past twelve, the past 48. Good thing she seemed just like my same old girl today.

So here's to taking it slow Baby Girl. Grow Slowly so my heart can take it. Happy 4th Birthday Tessa Winter Jacqueline, you sweet and stubborn baby.