go big or go home. or something like that

Christopher, being the amazing dad that he is, had this great idea. He wanted to build the girls an indoor play house. He's a genius because its too cold to play outside most days and Lorelei and Addison are at such a fun make believe sort of age. They make houses out of anything they can while taking turns being mommy and baby. They play house together every day and its the sweetest thing.

My only problem with the play house is that it has to be in one of the common areas of the house. I don't know why, but toys in living areas really irritate me. No, I mean, it really irritates me. I'm growing though. Or at least I think I am.. or I think I want to grow. I'm not completely sure yet. However it needs to be said, I decided to just go for it. I'm going to let there be toys and kid things downstairs and I'm going to be okay with it. To show my full commitment to change and get over my ridiculousness, I decided to embrace the concept of 'go big or go home'.

So here you have a few pictures of the enormous house that now takes up a giant chunk of otherwise useless space on the far side of our living room.

Christopher did a great job building the frame so I would have something to base measurements off of

Helping me figure out the best way to sew it together during one of the 'phases' of creation

Finally starting to look like a house!

Here it is basically finished, complete with sky lights and all. Their little kitchen fits inside with plenty of room to spare for little chairs, table, baby doll stuff. You name it.

We had to move the Christmas tree out of the way to set it up where we needed it to go. The fun part is that I am going to have the girls help me make accessories to velcro to the outside, like flowers and bushes, and whatever else they want. Felt is one of the most kid friendly fabrics everywhere and I know they will love decorating the outside as well as the inside with all the fun little pieces we will come up with. I'll be sure to post those pictures as well.

With the freezing temperatures outside, we spend a lot of time indoors. Lately the girls' favorite thing to do is build with their soft blocks. These are the greatest blocks ever! They're made of a really cool foam, and the girls Love them. We got them from Johnny and Catherine a long time ago, and boy have them come in handy. They love for Christopher to build them all sorts of towers and castles for them to play with. Granted, I think they love knocking the blocks down more than anything else.

thanks Grandma Archer!

Grandma Archer got the girls an adorable little porcelain tea set. The best part was that it came with special paint for them to decorate the pieces with however they wanted. The project was a little mature for the girls, but they had a great time all the same.

I wasn't able to get very many pictures because my flash wasn't working well enough. We put the tea set up for a while until the girls are a little older since it was very breakable. But they did a great job painting each piece (inside and out!). Plus, they hardly painted the table or themselves at all, so I was pretty happy. :)

hypothetically...

Chris can't have babies. But for the sake of this post we're going to play the hypothetic game. Hypothetically, let's say he could have babies. And since it's a game, lets go a little further and say he could have them all by himself without using any one else's genetic material. Do you know what that hypothetical child would look like?

(keep scrolling)

Lorelei Jade

She looks just like her daddy, and I ♥ that. When we were first talking about our future and kids, Christopher always said he wanted girls. I wanted kids that looked just like him. God is good.

it's a serious thing

We went to dinner the other night at Chik-Fil-A. Well, Chic-O'lay, if you ask Addison to say it. The girls each got ice cream and I snapped these pics on my phone real fast. I think they turned out so funny. Lorelei wasn't posing and had no idea I was taking a picture. Every time I look at her face I laugh. She's so serious about her ice cream.

This picture was taken with the hipstamatic app on my phone. I pointed my phone in her direction and tried to get her to smile. Instead she burst into tears.

bella bella

you know how there are those dogs who don't realize they're dogs? here's one. she thinks she's Christopher's only love and priority. anywhere he is, she goes. when he's not home, she settles for me. but as soon as he pulls into the driveway, she's at the door, tail wagging, barely containing her excitement. if she had to choose one way to spend every moment of every day for the rest of her life; this would be it.

seriously.. i love them.

Okay, so clearly I don't have many pictures of the girls and I. That's hard to accomplish when I'm the one always taking pictures. We were watching a movie a short while ago, and Christopher grabbed the camera and snapped this little shot.

Know what I see when I look at this? Two really big girls that used to be sooo tiny. I used to carry them both around while I was delivering boxes at work. I could not possibly imagine trying to do that with as tall as they are now!

Even though this was just a few weeks ago, Addison has grown substantially since then. I just can't believe it. I think I'll just go back and look at tiny baby pictures now.

barbie dot com

The other day Lorelei came and sat next to me while I was online. She asked, "Mom, could you please go to Barbie-dot-com? I want to look at all the Barbies."

Tete Becca taught her all about that particular dot-com while she was here visiting. They spent hours pouring over all the different fancy Barbies. Even Addison got in on the Barbie action. Such sweet time they spent together.

Yes, those are underwear on Lorelei's head. Don't ask. I have no answers. :)

snail mail

Lorelei and Addison LOVE getting mail. Their friends across the street always get cards and letters and little care packages from their grandma, so naturally Lorelei assumes her grandma will send her things as well. She couldn't be more right! They feel so grown up when they each get their own little cards addressed to them. When I checked the mail and handed them each their envelopes, Lorelei exclaimed in a much too highly energetic voice, "I just knewwww my Grandma would send me mail. I just KNEW it!"

They keep everything they get in the mail like its worth diamonds. Often times, I'll find them up in their room admiring their cards and pictures together and I just smile because these two little girls are so loved.

so if anyone wants to make their day, just send them a little piece of snail mail.

oh boy.. i mean, girl.. i mean.. whatever.

When first talking about marriage and family, Chris and I differed greatly in one area. Children. Not so greatly that one of us wanted 8, and the other didn't want any. Basically, I wanted two boys. He, on the other hand, wanted two girls.

I wanted boys because I wanted to stay as far away from the prissy girl thing as I could. Dress up and dollies didn't sound fun at all. Plus the hair and bows, shoes and dresses. Then later the PMS and all that glory. Not to mention, girls are generally less tough and resilient than boys are. I wanted kids that could fall and not be phased. I wanted children that could take whatever came their little tiny way. Wrestling, bloody noses, black eyes- all those things were way less intimidating to me than all the 'ish' that comes with little girls.

Clearly, God loves Christopher more than He loves me. Okay, that's potentially untrue. Maybe God just knows me more than I know myself. Either way, clearly we have two very tiny little females running our lives.

I wouldn't have it any other way. Wanna know why? Because very often, I am reminded that God gave me a very comical dose of what I had desired in a family. Sure, Lorelei and Addison, in their slight little frames, are very girlie and enjoy dressing up and playing house with the prissiest of them all. Yet somehow, at the very same time, they are rough, rowdy, competitive, and physical. While the scales of estrogen and testosterone lean heavily towards the feminine side, they are by no means delicate.

I realized this comical little 'gift' from God a while ago when Addison's finger got cut off, and she was left with exposed bone under an entire arm bandage while we waited to see how it would grow back. One evening a couple of days after the finger incident, Lorelei and Addison were running through the house tackling each other. That's right, just running and tackling over and over and over. Of course bumped heads and bloody noses ensued. I still couldn't get them to stop! I felt like I had two teenage boys instead of one and two year old little girls.

Things haven't changed one bit. Another of their favorite games is pulling each other off the couch by their ankles as fast as they can. Lorelei grabs Addison's feet, says "Addison, let me help you!", and goes running the other direction, causing Addison to slam onto the floor hitting not only her little tushy, but her head. They have a good laugh and switch. They run around playing chase. Instead of tagging, they push or punch. They always think all these games are hilarious, and believe you me, we do NOT encourage this.

Today they were playing 'crazy dancing'. They hold hands, jump, spin, and wiggle all around until one of them falls from dizziness or trips, yanking the other down on top of them. Well, today's game didn't end so funny as Lorelei's elbow let out a loud pop and she was suddenly not laughing. She said her arm hurt, so I had her sit on the couch and relax for a while. She couldn't move it without the assistance of her other hand, and each time she tried, more tears would come.

I gave it some time and finally decided to head to the doctors since she was still in tears. At the mention of going to the doctors, she said she felt fine. Clever. I asked her to show me she was fine by doing a jumping jack. Her eyes got big and she emphatically shook her head no. With that, we went to have her checked out. Every time the doctor moved her arm or put pressure on it, her eyes welled up with big tears, but she refused to cry there. She patiently sat there with tears in her eyes, breathing deeply until they were done. She was so grown up.

After X-rays and two different doctors examining her, they deemed her arm just severely sprained. I am so thankful that's all it is. So is she. While there waiting for the X-Ray tech to call us back, she asked, "Mom, can I be done being brave now and go home?". I think she was afraid she'd have to get a shot. When I finally convinced her that wouldn't be needed she perked up quite a bit.

Lorelei is a little trooper. I love this little girl so much.

littlest Little

I know I might say it often, but I really loath that my children are growing up so fast. This little girl was toothless and bald yesterday, I'm sure of it. Now she's tall, talking non stop, and excited about underwear. I can't figure out when she grew up so drastically, but I know I love the little person God has been molding her to be. She is so full of joy and spunk. She is always so silly and weird. I feel like she has us laughing to the point of tears every day. And she knows it.

Since I can't stop her from growing up, I'll just sit back in amazement and look forward to the incredible woman she is destined to be.

This is my little Addison Rain.

never gonna be ready

Lorelei Jade is obsessed with nuptials. In ever way, shape, and form- she is all about being a bride. Not just for dress up. She refers to husbands and wives as 'love you forevers' since after asking me why I wore a wedding ring. I explained that I wear it because Christopher gave it to me as a promise to love me forever, and likewise why he wears his.

She has never been the little girl under the illusion that she will one day grow up and marry her daddy. She's always had a pretty realistic perspective of marriage. Even when she would wrap herself in tulle and call herself a 'bribe'. And when she used to say she wanted to marry Jake Begines and finally had to come to terms with the fact that he didn't want to marry her.

Driving down the road the other day, she sits quietly for a few minutes [which never happens], then says with such sweet sincerely, "Mom... I don't know who I'm gonna marry." She was actually concerned and worried over the idea that she had no idea who she would her groom-to-be is. I explained to her that she was only three and didn't need to figure that out until she was a grown up and to that she replied, "Okay. Good."

Little does she know, there isn't a little boy out there who can grow into a man good enough, smart enough, strong enough, special enough, wise enough, driven enough, humble enough, passionate enough, thoughtful enough, patient enough, successful enough, talented enough, loving enough, to be her husband.

Although, judging by what I've seen thus far, she's going to be the most epic Bridezilla to ever exist. Ever. So, good luck to the man that thinks he's good enough, smart enough, strong enough, special enough, wise enough, driven enough, humble enough, passionate enough, thoughtful enough, patient enough, successful enough, talented enough, loving enough, to tackle that.

This little tiny girl is going to give us a run for our money. I just pray that God starts preparing us now for the day when we have to give her away.

nothing rhymes with orange. ...and sometimes that's okay

So, yes- I painted my living room orange. Well, not the whole room. Just two of the walls. Bold, I know. I am stepping out of the box and being brave with my decorating in a way I never have before. So far, I am loving it. Things are turning out exactly how I want them. Even though this room still has a long ways to go before it's done, I'm confident that it will be great when it's finished. Next up will be window treatments, end tables, new lamps, wall decor, and then some accents.

Boy am I lucky to have a husband who trusts me and allows me to do crazy things like paint orange on our walls.

Be bold. I dare you.

about me:

Hi. My name is Lorelei. I'm three, but I think I'm seventeen. My favorite color is green, I want a cat, I love math, I sometimes like my little sister. When I grow up I want to be a paratrooper-army-girl-doctor. Oh, and also, sometimes I cut my own hair and my mom has to chop it off to fix it.

lorelei jade..

I always tell Lorelei to stop growing. She always [and emphatically] tells me no, that she wants to grow up so she can be a big mom (and live in her own house with lots of cats...yeah, she's 'that' girl). I'm only half kidding when I tell her to stop growing up. I say half because, even though I wish it wholeheartedly, I know it's not possible. However, I am NOT prepared to walk into by bathroom to find this. She got herself dressed, put a self made pink bow in her hair and was putting on make up.

Part of me is glad I had the camera handy, and the other part of me [the majority, in case you were wondering] want to erase this from my memory and put her back in diapers.

time MUST slow down

how..?

.no words. just laughter.

oh sick little girl

Sweet hair, Addison! What type of product do you use that it would stand straight up like that? Snot, you say? Well, that's just lovely.

♥

Addison's Birthday part 2

Addison never liked a pacifier until she was about 10 months old. From that point on, she was hooked. Part of me was very thankful she had something to help comfort her and sooth her, and the other part of me loathed the fact that I knew a battled was impending. I knew the time woudl come to wean her off it, and I dreaded that.

Lorelei was easy; if she went to sleep without it, Christopher would take her for a quad ride the next day. Never one little fuss. It worked like a charm. Of course we wouldn't be so lucky with Addison.

I wanted to take it from her when she turned one, but she was still dealing with her cut of finger, and I felt bad. Then we knew Christopher was leaving for the Army, and I wanted both the girls to have whatever comfort measures they needed as they adjusted to not having him around. Always one thing after another, like chicken pox, ear infections, busted lips, more chicken pox, driving across country, settling in, you name it.

So, the decision was made that when she turned two, she wouldn't have it any more. No matter what. This became an easier and easier decision to make as she suddenly began waking up throughout the night crying because she couldn't find it. "Paciiii! Paciii!", and of course I would have to get up, find it in the dark, and give it back to her. NO thank you.

Our gift for Addison was easy to decide on. It was the very thing Lorelei got for her birthday earlier in the year from Grandma and Grandpa. Build-A-Bear. Addison has been envious ever since. We knew she would love it. It had a twist, however. Much like any good gift should- she had to put her favorite pacifier into the stuffed animal she chose. This way, she still had her pacifier to sleep with, but not in the same way.

She was all prepared. She knew when she turned two she was 'big' and didn't need baby things anymore. We walked into the shop and she pondered the wall of stuffed animal options finally settling on a soft brown bunny with long ears. She willingly placed her pacifier inside and watched as it got stitched up. She instinctively grabbed the bunny, squeezing and smashing until she felt the exact placement of the pacifier inside. She looked up at me with questioning eyes. "Paci inside my bunny?" she asked uneasily. I reassured Addison that she indeed still had her pacifier, and she could hold it, hug it and sleep with it in a new big girl way. She seemed pleased with that answer and was eager to go through the rest of the steps of turning her little floppy stuffed animal into the perfect little friend to take home.

Lorelei was more than happy to show her the ropes of how everything worked. She knew more than I did. Not surprising. She even helped Addison try to decide on an outfit to dress her bunny in.

Even though she had no idea what the computers were for, she and Lorelei were MORE than excited to sit and 'help' push buttons. Addison named her new little friend Paci-Bunny. How very creative, right? haha

Being the great big sister that she is, Lorelei offered to carry it out to the car. Which she did, through the entire mall and all the people, she drug the little bunny and the little house behind her.

Once in the car, Addison was so happy to hold Paci-Bunny and carefully inspect and explore the beautiful princess ballerina outfit she chose. She was so proud of herself. "Paci in it bunny." she said over and over.

The first nap without her pacifier was a tough one. It took me three hours to get her to sleep. I held her and rocked her, sang to her and everything. I ended up standing in the pitch black bathroom, singing and rocking, when she finally passed out from exhaustion. She slept for less than an hour, but it was a success. She fell asleep without her pacifier! When she woke up, we made a big deal about how big she was now. Each time she went to sleep, it got easier and easier, and after day two, she was just fine.

Admittedly, that first couple of days were hilarious as we watched her struggle with the love/hate relationship with Paci-Bunny. She sincerely loved the bunny, but angrily resented the fact that the Paci-Bunny wouldn't give her pacifier back.

I knew that wouldn't last. As soon as she was fine without her pacifier in her mouth, she would love the bunny and find comfort in it rather than the pacifier. Sure enough- she loves her little bunny and often reminds me that her pacifier is still inside because she's big now and doesn't need it.

About a week after Addison got Paci-Bunny, I came downstairs to find both dogs looking very guilty. They were standing over the bunny, just looking up at me like they knew the were doing something wrong. I grabbed the bunny and it was soaking wet with dog slobber. I scolded them pups, put the bunny up on the back of the couch for safe keeping and continued doing what I had been busy with. While the dogs knew better than to get on the furniture, they seemed to have no problem doing so in order to get the bunny down for some more play time. This is what I found...

I knew I had to somehow sew it and wash it before Addison would realize it was missing. If she saw this, she would first be devastated. Then she would get over that real quick once she realized she could finally get her pacifier out. Needless to say, I stayed up extra late sewing, washing, and drying Paci-Bunny to be sure Addison was none the wiser.

The extents we go to hide little things from our children... :) Little things like this make me so proud to be a mother. And I couldn't ask for a more wonderful little two year to brighten my life and bring me so much joy.

To kick of Christopher's four day weekend we took the girls to this great park for a picnic. We had so much fun playing and running around. This incredible weather has been awesome lately, it's great to be able to spend so much time outside.

I finally took my Canon out of the bag for the first time since we moved. I have missed it. Here are a whole bunch of pictures that I thought were too good to pass up. I was going to edit some of them, but I don't care that much. Screw photography or artistic anything, I'm just a mom in love with my kids. Enjoy.

These first few pictures of Christopher and Addison were taken while Addison was in trouble and having to sit on the bench for taking her shoes off too many times. She was supposed to learn a lesson.. I don't think she did. Addison loves cuddling with Christopher.

Addison's birthday part 1

Wow, Addison Rain turned 2!

I can't believe Addison is so big. Not only is she two, she's a very grown up two. I'm not really a fan of this. She tries so hard to keep up with Lorelei, while I wish she would just stay a little baby forever. Every single day she talks more and more. Her unintentional cursing is over for the most part as she is getting better and better at pronouncing words. This, too, makes me sad. She wears 2T and 3T, her shoe size is exactly one size smaller than Lorelei's. She has a red headed temper that is mixing nicely with terrible twos, and is big enough to decide just how obstinate she is going to be.

Amidst all the down side to all this light-speed growing, is a lot of wonderfulness that I am so blessed to witness. Her personality has been evident since she was tiny, but it's been so fun to see her discover it herself. SHe is one of the most dramatically expressive little people I've ever seen. She has a big imagination and loves using it. We spend hours playing in her little kitchen. With everything she 'makes', she warns me that it is either too hot, too cold, or too yucky so I have to give a dramatic show of reaction. She then in turn does the same thing. Her facial expressions for things like hot and cold are incredible. I hope I can capture them on video. Often, she pretends to dump her invisible pancakes on the ground, and then goes into fake mournful tears that last entirely too long. I can't wait to see how God uses these little aspects of who she is.

She is full of hugs, kisses, and cuddles. She is so content to just sit with us. She won't go to bed without some cuddle time. Of course, when she says it, "Tuddle me, mommy.", I can't help but laugh. I will 'tuddle' with this little one until she's a grown up if she'll let me. :) When she hears the front door she always comes running while yelling, "DaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddyDaddy!!!!!!!!"

and nothing could be sweeter.

She loves music and much to my surprise can drum and clap to a beat. If there is music, she inevitably asks everyone to dance with her. She sings along with songs that I don't even know the words to. Music has always evoked such a different response from her than any other child I've seen. I have no doubt it will be a very big part of her life. I can't wait to see how.

She is big enough to have favorite books, songs, colors, and even shapes. She is all about Pirates as she walks around with one eye covered while shouting, "aye aye, Matey!"

She is learning to rhyme and count. She knows her colors, even though she'll intentionally answer them wrong and laugh because she thinks she's hilarious.

She is so smart. So bright. So beautiful. So full of joy.

We are so lucky to be her parents. We are blessed to help her grow up into the woman God has planned for her to be. I look at her, and I am overwhelmed by the task because she is destined for greatness. I don't say that lightly. Addison Rain is just such a unique little girl who has this incredibly ability to touch people's lives even at the little tiny age of two.

Lorelei picked a chocolate cake, white frosting and lots of pink sprinkles for Addison. ♥

Addison is so excited to be two. Being a 'big girl' is the most exciting thing to this tiny person

Celebrating together. They are best friends and it is so sweet.

Playing 'doctor' with the play set from Grandma and Grandpa. Such a great gift!!

More presents from Grandma and Grandpa!