ten on ten (april 2015).

are you guys falling over in your seats?! i didn't half-ass my 10 on 10! i also might add, that i brewed two extra scoops of espresso in my coffee this morning because a certain tot kept waking every couple of hours and ended up getting her best sleep on mama's chest. so you can see how i needed that extra boost, and it is certainly fueling my brain (still!) for this post.

even though henry and i woke up early, somehow, without fail, it's always a mad dash to make it out of the house to avoid a tardy. while making lunches, audrey insisted i sit and feed her instead, so henry gave PB&J's a shot. he quickly decided peanut butter is way too sticky and just about "the worst substance to work with".  

henry: *playing with halo figures* no booty. why does she always do that? she always takes the gun off? don't take the gun off audrey.

me: honey, will you please let her play the way she wants to play?

henry: but why does she always do that?

me: ya know, when you were three, How To Train Your Dragon was your favorite thing to play. you had this dragon Zippoback, and his two tails would weave together like a braid. and you'd have me snap them together and then you'd pull them apart, and you'd have me snap them together, and you'd pull them apart. and this went on for MONTHS. and i'd do it, everytime, because that's the way you wanted to play...

henry: really? ohhh. here audrey, you can take take the gun off.

my bae foreva. 

these two are BFFs through and through. SAHM envy! but if not me, i'm so grateful it's my other half.  

we wait all week for screen time and hang outs... and pizza, duh. 

mmm, who can resist the amazingness that is sugary covered marshmallow? not us! 

"pay?" yes baby! mama wants to play! she doesn't care about baby toys, bother's got the best loot. 

kisses for kitty. she's not the biggest fan, but she's a good sport. and also, 'merica!

every night while we get ready for bed she points to all the mamas and all the dadas. yes, it's as cute as it sounds. 

book, baba, and goodnight! 

have a lovely april!

audrey's dedication. #fbf

#flashbackfriday to a very special day last march that i unfortunately never got around to blogging until now. i'm so happy i get to share it with you, it's a day near and dear to my heart, forever, it's the day we dedicated our girl to God.

before we could dedicate her though, we had to attend a seven week course through our church. and maybe that sounds a bit much, but those seven weeks of driving across orange county on a weeknight/school night no less were actually a huge huge gift to our parenting and our marriage. it prepared our hearts, not just for the day of dedication, but for the promises and blessings we would speak over her life each day for years to come. it sent us away with tools we use all the time, for both audrey and henry. of a constant effort to create a safe environment for our kids to be open and honest with us, of a daily need for God's endless grace when mommy and daddy's nerves are frayed and parenting is especially taxing, and to always seek and seize redeeming moments with love and affection when they got our curt tongue or short temper. these babes, God has trusted us to raise them for His kingdom, amen to that. and when the "no's" are abundant, and the stressors of the day are heavy and i'm counting down the minutes until bedtime, i just have to surrender and let Him restore me, so that i can meet the emotional needs of these precious little people i mother. it truly rearranged the way we approach those hard or tiring moments and we're completely grateful for a church that supports and nourishes our spiritual parenting.

we had weeks to prepare a blessing to speak over audrey and the moment that got in my head, i stopped thinking about God and started thinking about my audience, my "speech", and saying the right thing, the "godly" thing, and geez, my brain just seized up and for days i wasn't sure what i wanted for our baby girl, what i wished for her life, or what blessings i hoped for her. the pressure of such big things really had me wound. and i just couldn't stand that this "task" was now looming over her special day. this is a gift! a privilege! not a task! it wasn't until the drive to the church the morning of that i realigned my audience to the only One that matters, that i was able to fiercely scribble down what was in my heart for my girl.

we introduced our daughter and our dedication verse:

philippians 1:9-11
i pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. for i want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ's return. may you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation- the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ- for this will bring much glory and praise to God.

this verse spoke loudly to us, in a world where it's easy to desire all the many many things out there, where a high value is placed on what you look like and what you wear, of what you have and what you own, of who you associate with and your social stature... we strongly prayed that God gives her a heart to discern what truly matters in this life, and that she would always find Him at her center.

after all the little babies were introduced our families gathered in a circle around us as we prayed and spoke blessings over our baby.

and it went like this:

Audrey, 

Your dad and brother and I love you. 

We pray that God, through his Holy Spirit blesses you with a humble heart, a generous spirit and a selfless nature. That Christ may dwell in your heart and that you will be rooted and established in love. That in any darkness, doubt, or sin, you will know through and through you are FOREVER worthy of God's love and forgiveness, and may you always find yourself in Him. 

We pray over the course of your life you will be filled with God's riches and blessings and you will bare fruit that is pleasing to Him. We ask God's favor, to strengthen you with wisdom and compassion and that as your parents we will walk alongside Him and show you these truths as we raise you in His will and for His glory.  

We love you so much darling.

Amen!

i look back on this day with a huge happy heart, so thankful we are surrounded by so much love. and so grateful for the time our family and friends invest in our children's lives as we teach them and guide them. 

baby girl, you are such a bright light in our family. a silly, head-strong, bucket of love and you make even the darkest days warm and sun-shiney. i love you and i'm so very happy God gave us you.

ten on ten (february 2015).

it's that time of the month again (oh gosh, no! i don't write about that! bahhaha), i meant... it's the only time of the month i blog these days, 10 on 10!

and because i've become a bit of a lazy blogger (i'm a mere 13 days late), my 10 on 10 is perfect for a photo dump... why is everything sounding so inappropriate today?! whatevs, moving on. so the super bowl party, which i guess was some crazy good game - i don't know, we didn't watch - got cancelled, and we made an impromptu trip to Universal Studios with the hopes that all the lines will be short because America would be watching the big game. and we were right! yahoo! cause we HATE long lines!

it started with a baby & mommy dance down the red carpet to some of our favorite MJ jams. you only get a mental picture, as i was cutting a rug, not snapping pics.

oh wait, back up... it started on city walk, picking noses and playing peek-a-boo.

king nose picker.

boo!

minions are always first and top priority.

what if i told you henry is the minion in this photo?!

and if you know the ride, then you know they spot light people in line who "haven't showered" before they blast you with the giant fart gun... did you guessed it?! joey! henry! yep, spot light! you don't get a picture of that either, i was on baby swap and we were busy in the baby zone doing this!

super silly fun land. 

our very own agnes. 

and snacking #NIP #normalizebreastfeeding plus the stroller next to me had a backpack sporting the nursing mother logo. mental high-five to that dad.

EBF 21 months and counting.

speaking of which, the tram ride is THEE perfect 45 min "sit-break" to nurse and nap the tot. minus holding on for dear life to minimize the bouncing and shaking that is king-kong & a rip-roaring earth quake... it's... still perfect.

i was fully able to appreciate the awesomeness that is transformers this go-around. on our last trip i rode one too many motion rides and was sick as a dog by the time i rode it, all i could do was squint my eyes and hope i didn't hurl. but this time, a bazillion times more enjoyable!

3D!

seriously, it was the best day, full of that good solid quality family time chasing and hugging and tickling our kids around the park.

cheeeeeeeeeeeeeese!

hugs & loves for brother.

"lucy i'm hommmeee"

sidecars kick butt.

main squeeze.

they're pretty great.  they're my favorite. ♥

play!

you know what's easiest for me? getting stuck in mom-mode. ie. cooking, cleaning, homework, baths, schedules, basically anything that is structured. and that is why i continually take my hat off to my husband (my literal yin), who challenges my imagination and pretend play, daily. 

like, it takes real effort to put down my to-do list and pick up a baby doll or legos for longer than 5 minutes. i don't know why... i'm sort of ashamed that i can be so uptight. but it's always completely humbling when i can watch the messes from play time build up around me and my anxiety level doesn't increase with it. when, instead of seeing a disaster in my living room, i see my happy kids babbling endlessly and hanging all over mom. it's so incredibly hard to keep up with chores, but harder (for me, anyway) to sit in the middle of chaos and enjoy myself. tell me i'm not the only one who struggles to be present! *tick-tock-tick-tock* mommy's got a million things to do!

that's where my husband comes in, he is so naturally good at it, i try not to get jealous of how easily he entertains our kids, instead i'm thankful of the role model he is to me when it comes to engaging them. he is my constant reminder of the wonder and horse play our babies THRIVE on. i strive for that, i crave that, and i work SO hard at slowing down so that i can join them in that. 

maybe while i'm chasing the baby back and forth across the house, i'm also picking up socks and sippy cups and last weeks half eaten apple (how does that happen?!) and depositing them in their rightful places as we squeal and make big eyes and continue on with our marathon. but, it's still progress! i would actually call it a win-win. i mean, play time, clean up, and exercise all wrapped up in one! my inner multi-tasker is beaming. 

my mantra: play! play more. play even when i think it's boring. play with every moment of down time that i think "hey, what's new on facebook?" play, because my kids need my attention, and could care less about if that rotting apple ever makes it to the trash. play because i need it too. 

besides... my house is NEVER clean anyway.

ten on ten (january 2015).

get ready for a slew of audrey pictures (mama can't help it). this is what our tenth looked like.

1. morning tickle/wrestle/snuggle routine.

2. COFFEE. husband's unconventional take on a "to go" coffee mug. handmade from clay, i love.

3. we love co-bathing! but when mom's got more to do than just play & wash the baby, we co-shower (holla for the double shower head wedding present! still reaping the benefits).

4. spent a little time re-chalking. 

5. feeding kitty is her favorite. she loves her keety. 

6. rainy day? rain coat! (little pink foxes)

7. the men folk are working the weekend, so the gals are having a slumber party! 

8. ring-around-the-rosey. 

9. snuggle bed. 

10. late night shows in nen-nenies lap.

it was audrey's first sleep-over, and those sweet girls had so many laughs and hugs and squeals (there was also, of course, pushing and yelling and fits). pizza and wine, and movies, and jammies, and babies, it was perfect. we had so much fun, i can't wait for the next one!

swell tenth january, thanks for new adventures.