Daddy Love.

Today was Memorial Day. I drove to the cemetery to see all the flags and say hi to my Daddy Don's grave. Then I listened to my recording of the US Army marching band playing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" about 50 times and I cried. It was one of Daddy Don's favorite songs and it never fails to move me.

Nate's crew invited their families to the station for a Bar-B-Q today. Sonnet had a blast running around the station with the other fire babies (until she tripped and smacked her head on the concrete- whoops. I guess if you're going to hurt yourself the best place to do it is in a room full of paramedics. She's fine, BTW). I must say, it's nice hanging out with a bunch of hunky men-- especially when the hunkiest of them all belongs to you.

The engine that Nate works on is the 3rd busiest engine in the entire country. (So, all you people who think firefighters do nothing all day but sit in Lazy-boys and get paid too much, I'd like to see you function after getting woken up 8 times every night for the rest of your life). Nate only got called out three times while we were there this afternoon, but it's kinda fun to watch the engine pull out of the garage with the sirens blaring... and it's even better when the guys all come walking back in feeling good because they've just helped someone else.

Tonight I tried to watch one of those cute shows on TV where the service men and women come home and surprise their families, but after the first five minutes and watching a little girl hug her dad who she hadn't seen in 8 months I had such a crying headache that I had to turn it off.

A lot of people think firefighters are heroes. Of course I agree. It's a tough schedule and can be a very risky profession. But I am so grateful that every other day, my husband comes home. We miss him so much after just 24 or 72 hours (as you can see from the way Sonnet is wrapped around him in the pictures).... I can't imagine what military wives go through.

I'm thankful to all the people who serve our country, to all the firefighters and cops and teachers, and especially to my husband, and my grandpa- who will always be one of my heroes. Happy Memorial Day, from a proud American... and a proud wife.

She's Four.

My Sonnet,

You just turned 4 years old! I cannot believe that it has been four whole years since you were born. Time has gone so fast.

You were a quiet baby, but very active and so strong. You could hold your head up and put weight on your legs from day one. The doctors were amazed. You’ve never liked to sleep much and you’ve been a picky eater since your first bite of rice cereal at 5 months. You’ve always been very observant, very aware of the world around you, and very independent.

It has been four years filled with laughter, exploration, affection, and fun. Speaking of laughter, I will never EVER forget the first time you laughed. You were about three months old and you were lying on my bed. I was blowing raspberries on your belly and all of a sudden you let out a giggle. It was THE cutest sound I had ever heard. I literally thought my heart would explode.

There have been plenty of moments like that along the way. Of course, sometimes you make me crazy too—mostly because you have way more energy than I do and by the time I’ve answered your 50th “how come” question of the day, I get a little testy. You are a chatterbox! But I love you, my baby girl. I love that you ask questions and that you want an answer for everything. I especially love that you listen to the answers I give and that you seem to remember everything I say to you. You’re a smart one, that’s for sure.

You could recognize all the letters of the alphabet and repeat their sounds by the time you were two. You knew all your shapes and colors too and could count to 10 in English and Spanish. At that point, I knew I had a know-it-all on my hands. You soak up information like a sponge, which means it's really fun to teach you new things...

Lately we’ve been learning about patterns, rhyming words, and telling time. The other day we were at the grocery store and you yelled: “Mom, soup and poop rhyme!” I’m sure that made a few customers rethink their Campbell’s purchases.

A lot of your friends went to preschool this year, but I didn’t enroll you. First of all, I didn’t think you needed it. You already know everything that they would have taught you. And honestly, I wasn’t ready to let you go. But we did join a weekly “playgroup” where you got together with three of your little friends and played and had a lesson and a snack. You really enjoyed it and it was good for me to get to know the other kids your age and their moms.

You still have another year before you start Kindergarten and for that I am SO thankful. The thought of giving you up to the outside world makes me want to puke. I’m not a helicopter parent, but I am very protective. In fact, I am very much on the fence about whether or not I will actually send you to public school. Homeschooling is becoming more popular and I think it’s a great alternative in a crazy world like this. But like I said, I’ve got another year to worry about that. Though, I know you’ll be five in the blink of an eye.

You’re a hilarious little thing. You are always making me laugh with the crazy things that come out of your mouth. You are also very caring and affectionate. Several times a day you come up to me and say “I just want to give you a little hug.” Please, never stop doing that. You don’t like when anyone is hurt or sad. If we hear a little kid crying at the store you say, “Oh no, that baby is sad, we need to go help them!”

You are also very stubborn and very bossy. No doubt about it that you know what you want, but there’s a difference between being independent or hard-headed and being a brat. You are not a brat. You’re a very good kid and you follow directions well. You are very much a free spirit, though.

I give you a lot of freedom. I believe that a parent has to pick their battles and I don’t think it’s healthy for children to constantly be scolded or to hear the word “no.” So, unless you’re doing something dangerous, completely disgusting, or rude, chances are I’ll just let you be. We’ve never done “time outs” or anything like that. I won’t stand for whining for one second and luckily, you’re not much of a whiner. You respect me and I respect you and so far, it’s working out.

Of course, I constantly feel like I’m doing everything wrong and that you’re going to grow up and be damaged… or that even if I do everything perfectly, that some awful thing beyond our control will happen… but I think every parent feels that way. I’m sure mine did, and I turned out fine. I just try to do the best I can—you’re well taken care of and loved and you have every opportunity in the world. I know you’ll grow into an amazing woman.

You take a bath every night before bed. And every night when I tell you it’s time to take a bath you run down the hall and hide in your closet. It’s sort of annoying, but a funny little ritual at the same time. I find you, and chuck you in the tub with tons of your toys where you will play happily until you turn into a prune. I love to sit in the bathroom and listen to you while you play in the tub. You seem to forget that I’m there and it’s so enlightening to listen to you talk to yourself and sing. It’s the best window into your world and it’s nice to have a few minutes where you are contained, clean, and content.

Sonnet, raising you has been a blast so far. Daddy and I really feel like we lucked out in the baby department and we simply adore you. I'm so happy that you and I get to spend our days together and that we have plenty of time to draw pictures, have picnics at the park, and learn about words that rhyme with poop. Someday we'll get around to giving you a sibling and I know we'll love them too, but you will always be special to me because you are the one who made me a mom. I love you, Sonnet.

-Mama

A Birthday!

Sonnet's birthday is May 18th, so she turned 4 while we were in Oregon. For months we've been telling her, "When we go to Oregon it will be your birthday." So, as soon as we hit the Portland airport Sonnet started telling everyone it was her birthday even though her actual birthday wasn't for 6 more days. We decided that making her wait would be cruel, so we celebrated her birthday a little early. When she woke up the first day, we'd filled the house with balloons and set out all her presents. She was SO excited!

She's obsessed with the movie "Tangled" and she wanted Tangled stuff for her birthday... so she got a Tangled Barbie, the tower, the dress, the DVD, a beach towel and a bunch of other little Tangled toys. Plus, my aunt gave her the Tangled movie poster that she had hanging in her store. Sonnet was in heaven! She also got some Toy Story toys and some super cute clothes. After she opened all her presents, she didn't want to leave the house because she just wanted to stay home and play with all of her toys. Maybe we should have made her wait. :)








Sonnet wore her Tangled dress every single day of our trip. It was pretty funny seeing a Rapunzel wanna-be prancing down the beach.


Sonnet doesn't like cake.... but she LOVES ice cream. Vanilla, of course. So instead of a birthday cake, she had a vanilla ice cream cone with 4 candles in it.





I tried to explain the concept of setting goals to Sonnet to see if there was anything she wanted to do or learn before her next birthday comes around. But, I shoulda known that 4 year olds are a little short-sighted... all she could think of is that she wants to "play, play, play!" Sounds, like a plan My Little One. That's what childhood is for after all. So play on, Sonnet. And happy birthday! We love you.

Growth.

I'm well aware of the fact that my blog has been boring lately. I have plans to post photos from our family vacation, and write about Sonnet turning 4, and I'm even thinking of creating a separate book blog, but well, I'm tired of staring at the computer so you'll have to wait a little longer. I know, the suspense is killing you.

In the meantime, I did want to share this little beauty:

That's right folks... a white rose, which happens to be my favorite flower by the way, that I grew in my very own backyard! I know it doesn't sound that impressive, but I have the opposite of a green thumb. As one of my goals for 2011, I said that I wanted to grow something...anything... and I did it! I'm so very proud.

In related news, while Nate and I were planting the pine trees and rose bushes in our backyard a couple months ago, Sonnet scattered some seed packets all over the yard. I was planning to help her plant them nicely in a little planter, but she ripped them open and scattered them before I knew what happened. I didn't even know what kind of seeds she had picked at the store so when these hearty green vines started sprouting up everywhere, we didn't even know what they were. Well, while we were gone last week they exploded and we came home to find sugar snap peas all over the vines! Sonnet was so excited! She goes out and picks a couple every day to snack on. It is pretty satisfying to eat something you grew yourself. Sad how I've never had that experience before now. Looks like Sonnet got the green thumb of the family and I'm thinking a goal for 2012 will be to plant a full on garden. That's growth, I tell ya.

Happy Mother's Day.

I love you, Sonnet. Thanks for making me a mom.

6 Years.

Today was our 6th wedding anniversary. (Yes, we got married on 5.5.05. Love it, don't you?!) Nate bought me flowers and we went swimming and took a nap and ate chinese takeout for dinner... just a lovely, low-key, family day. It was nice.

I love being with Nate. I was attracted to him the moment I met him (and I swear he gets hotter all the time), and of course I LOVE him, but more than that... I've always just really liked him.

I like to talk to him. He's easy to be with. There's never any drama... what you see is what you get. He's super honest, so calm and steady, nothing really bugs him... he's simple, but never boring. He's a rock. A very handsome rock.

He makes me laugh and we always have fun together. We have different interests and different personalities, but we are also very similar. We tend to agree on almost everything. Whenever one of us gets on a soapbox about something, the other person usually just says "amen" or "thank goodness there's someone else on the planet who thinks like I do." It's nice to have an ally.

Nate is a fantastic dad. He's soooooo helpful with Sonnet and she just adores him. He chases her around and plays fairy princesses with her just as much as I do. She glows when he gives her his attention and I swear the best sound in the world is listening to them giggle together.

Nate is logical, respectful, and a hard worker. He's always known what kind of life he wanted to have and he just goes about his business, doing the best he can to take care of his family. I'm so glad that the life he wanted is the life I wanted and that we get to have it together.

Our life is very much like our day today... low key and calm and fun. Nate works weird hours, but when he's home, we just like to be together and do simple things. We're each others' best friend and we spend almost all our free time together. We kinda keep to ourselves and we don't schedule a lot of outside things into our lives. I love that we can be perfectly happy watching a movie with Sonnet or going out for ice cream or taking a walk around the block.

I'm thankful that Nate has a job he loves, that I get to stay home with Sonnet, that we own a nice little house, that we have a bossy-pants daughter together, and that we still love hanging out with each other just as much now as we did when we met. Our life is good. And there's no one else on the planet I'd rather be married to.

This was us 6 years ago at the lake...


And this is us today...



Happy Anniversary, Nate. I love you.

Family Kiss.

The three of us do this thing called a "family kiss" where we all lean in and smooch each other at the same time. Sonnet wanted to do it for a picture and I love that we captured the whole sequence...

Family Photos.

I like to get our family pictures taken every May. It's our anniversary and Sonnet's birthday, so it just seems like a good time for an annual update. This year, I decided to be extra cheap and forgo the hiring of a professional photographer. Instead, we drove out to Boulder City (where my parents have a place) and I gave my dad a verrrry quick lesson on my camera and we set to work taking photos. I just love the backdrop of the lake (Nate and I took our engagement photos there 6 years ago!) and we all looked pretty cute if I do say so myself... BUT... the wind was horrible! Sonnet and I spent most of the evening pushing our hair out of our eyes and we all look a little crazy in the photos. I was a bit bummed that the weather didn't cooperate, but we did get some cute shots. And hey, they were free! Thanks, Pop. :)