4 months

riley wells turned 4 months on saturday. i was ok with him being 3 months but 4 months just proved to me that he is growing up way too fast. life with 2 seems to fly by so much faster.

today while laughing with my kids, smiling at them and loving them...i was reminded how lucky i am to be home with them. i am so thankful i get to wake up to them and go to sleep to them. yes the days are often long but i love them. i am thankful for the tired because the tired means i am doing my job as a mom. a job i love.

so buster, at 4 months you are the longest little kid. as aunt sha-sha said, you seem to be able to wrap all around me. you sleep like a champ - from 7 at night to 8 the next morning. i love our little conversations of "coos." loud noises and sudden movements startle the mess out of you...and for some reason your daddy's voice really gets you. your little smile is just like your sisters. i love that you share that. your ears, however, appear to be mine. for that i am sorry. blame the mcpeters genes on that one. your hair hasn't grown much and i am dying to see what kind of hair you will have. you still like to be swaddled when you sleep but you no longer like to be rocked. you love your mama...and i kinda like it that way. happy 4 months sweet boy.

empty wine glass

in case you didn't get that...

there is no wine in the house...and tonight called for some partaking of wine. terry is still at his match, georgia just lost to florida in double over time, the state of the union is on where i should be watching parenthood, and i. have. no. wine.

i do have champagne. but that just seems wrong to drink champagne alone. maybe i will invite henry-dog in to toast with me.

monday, monday

nothing special happening today (except the bachelor...oh how i love the bachelor). more laundry. more shirts - 43 to be exact. i poured sippy cups, made snacks, changed diapers, kissed boo-boos, read books...just another monday. we did decide to have a georgia pep rally in riley's crib. we might live in this state but georgia is being etched into their little souls. along with Jesus, that is. at one point, after she choked the buster, addison decided she was tired of holding riley. and down he went...humpty dumpty style.

monday is also ballet day. it pretty safe to say addison would rather take gymnastics. she likes dance ok but it is often a struggle to get her to go. her comment is always "but i want to go to 'nastics, mom." she is more of a free style dancer...not a first position dancer. she likes to shake her hiney and ballet really isn't for hiney-shaking now is it?

mt laundry

the hubs and myself get one day week together during wrestling. you know what we did?

laundry. loads and loads and loads of laundry.

we had so much laundry, addison's only choice of attire were bathing suits. ok, not really. she just loves wearing them even when it is 40 degrees out.

today

i saw my people. and as usual, my heart is now full.

riley and i loaded up (again) and this time headed to lagrange, ga. i feel like i live in my car these days and i thought car and i needed a pic together. nice.

we went to celebrate the sweet life of audie nixon muse, kel's great-grandmother. better known as bigmama. this gracious southern charm lived to the age of 102...an age that graced her life with not only great grandchildren, but three great-great grandchildren. not many people can have that honor.

i honestly wish everyone could experience the muse/spinks/woodward family. it is overflowing with love. they invite you in and make you feel like one of them. they stuff your belly full and send you off with a goodie bag. they have smiles that are contagious. they have hugs that are endless. and it all started with the tender spirit of bigmama. she taught them all how to love. and she taught them well.

today, us girls came together to support our kel. that is what you do when you have people. you hold each other up at times like this. but i am not gonna tell a lie...it so nice to just see my girls.

quickly after exchanging hugs with kel, shan, haley and i bombarded the nursery to see her babes. it was so sweet to see nat-nat and meet handsome john.

kel's fam was sweet enough to invite us to eat with them. it is almost impossible to say no to mrs. gail. and well there was cake. you can't say no to cake. while eating we got to just watch nat is action. she loves cake, too. and cookies. and chocolate. she is her mommy's daughter, alright. i like to think dave was telling nat "don't you even think about taking a bite until you eat your lunch." and then, well, so much for lunch.

the little guys got to meet each other, too. john is the sweetest, most smile-ly little guy...and riley, well, he is a very serious man. with very serious things to think about. or cry about. what can i say, he is his mommy's son :).

aunt sha-sha got some good bonding time in with the boys. riley was having a blast.

and we arrive at the parting photo (dave didn't tell me i appear to be shielding my sons pee-wee from an atomic bomb). but here we are - another year older. another year sillier. another year just thinking we are still 20 years old.

kel, we love you so much. thank you, thank you for letting us into your world. into your family. we are each better for knowing you, your family and bigmama. xoxoxo

lunching...

...is good in theory.

we mommies have baby brain. and baby brain causes you to make completely insane decisions. like "hey, let's go eat at cracker barrel with 6 kids in tow." yes, good in theory. in reality...well, fun chaos. i don't know what was more fun...seeing addison throw back a biscuit and cornbread the minute she sat down, keeping elly from swiping the forks, brookes little squeals and grins, or trying to have a conversation with every other sentence being "sit down. eat your lunch. i will knock you into next week if you don't obey." or maybe it was the marching and singing around and around the table.

regardless of the chaos, it was just nice to see these girls. it is hard to believe i have been in birmingham for 8 years now. wow. 8 years. when you get older friendships develop differently than when you are in college. but they still happen. and i am so glad they happened with these two women.

even if they are auburn peeps.

small talk

quite a memorable conversation with little miss on day three...

addison, how was school today?

good.

who did you play with?

max. max HARPER.

oh, ok.

we tried to get married.

but you didn't?

no, we di'nt...

why not?

he ran away.

smart man max harper. smart man.

two hours

day two. and two hours.

two hours of a napping sister and brother - at the same time. two hours of a quiet moniter with no buster crying. two hours to meal plan, make a grocery list and gather my coupons. two hours allowed me to save $41 at publix tonight. two hours of non-cartoon tv...a little dancing with ellen might have taken place. two whole hours. to myself.

two hours. one little, priceless miracle.

day one...of 365

my neighbor told me about this blog where the woman (i assume) is posting a picture of her day, everyday. for 365 days. cara said it sounded like something i would do...and the minute she told me i wanted to do it. so here goes. i am 18 days late in getting started but oh well. punctuality has never been my strong suite.

yes, this is quite a big task i am going to tackle but the little buster is almost 4 months old and i already feel like time is running away from me. so....

day one.

hanging and making some tees. ha. i am afraid this might be the scene of many days this year. and i am sure i will look back at this picture one day, when riley is running circles around me, and think "how nice was it to just sit in peace, and work, with my cooing babe beside me." but for today i was productive and the buster was sweet. and addison was at school. if she were at home i am sure she would have made me some tea while i worked. she is kind like that.