We went through a week where you wanted to wear these shorts everyday. We've made some compromises with nice thick tights and boots but this day you weren't having it. Shorts it was and a sun hat to boot. It's been unusually warm and this day turned out to be the warmest out of the week. You always were such a wise soul. I think this spring fever is getting to all of us. I'm completely smitten with you, I love listening to you talk and find you  pretty incredible in every way. It's hard to believe you won't be my youngest for much longer. I know you'll take this big sister role in stride. You're already so good at mothering and this baby brother of ours will be blessed to have you around.

super hero

sometimes i can't stop myself from taking a few pictures of my kids when they are sleeping. i'm pretty sure i won't regret it either. what a good reminder of how perfect they are. the morning i took these she had been running around with her brother dressed up in batman costumes, shouting at each other about saving their babies and the world. i love how kids get so loud when it comes to pretending sometimes. he and she play cars and trains and kitchen and babies and i can't help but take back my wishes of one day having two girls or two boys together. they really do round each other out. but after a morning of  super heroes he went to preschool and she snuggled with me for a nap. she looked just as fair and feminine as can be. she'll be well-rounded for certain. she just turned three and she's showing it. getting so big by the minute. so independent and talking like you wouldn't believe. she really is a little super hero to me, such a life saver in such a real way, bringing so much joy to our family. 

a fan

documenting miss magoo with her very favorite book, madeline. she has the lines down pat. that's all there is, there isn't anymore. i love her to pieces. 

my everyday pick me up

 God was so good to me when he gave me this good-hearted child, my magoo. After so many of her naps (which are still going strong, knock on wood), she looks at me and says, "I slept all night long." She is calm, happy and still drunk with sleep. Most often she lays still, rubs her eyes and is unhurried to sit up. I pick her up and she lays her head on my shoulder, her small weight completely relaxed. This blissful moment falls right at the perfect time in my day, a little escape from the business of the afternoon. Seeing her flushed cheeks and messy hair that never fails to make me smile and breathing in her smell is the best pick me up a girl could ask for.  This happy moment, the ritual that we have made each day,will go down in history as one of my all time favorites. 

miss magoo is two

 two years of firsts have passed. your first smile, your first laugh, those first baby steps and so many others have been counted. after all the celebrating today we put the older kids to bed and you were up having a late snack. you are such a chatter box when you are alone and it is better than christmas morning hearing you talk about your day. i am constantly amazed at the words that come out of your beautiful mouth and just look at you with wonder so many times a day.
my darling, you are two. your soul is as shiny and bright as they come. even in this stage of your life where you are so very two. even with your squeals in defense of your brothers antics and your top notch tantrums that you throw, you are still as cute as a button. as soon as you get frustrated you start stomping your foot. it's all i can do but pick you up and hug you because you are just so darn cute when you are mad.
you love your bath and it takes lots of persuasion to get you wrapped up in a towel. you are a born reader. always will i walk into the play room and see you pouring over a book and you say "read it mommy." i am amazed at your mind. you can do puzzles like a whiz and the way you reason shows how bright you are. you are still a champion sleeper and i am ever grateful to have a child that sleeps. you are trying so hard to keep up with the bigger kids.  you are a full blown independent girl, just starting with the "do it myselfs." right in the middle of your struggles you will smile at me like you know how silly it is but it's just your job right now, to do it without any help. you love hide and seek and to be chased. you love shoes, everyones shoes. you pass them and can't help but try them on.
we celebrated your birthday yesterday. it was fun to see you have something be about just you. you were given a few simple presents and you were so sweet playing with them for hours the next day. you love, love cake. the way you say cake kills me. don't worry i've got it on video so one day you can hear it yourself.  i made you a banana cake and i was reminded how much my little kids dislike frosting.  we did blow out candles three or four times because you were so happy doing it.
i love you so much sweet girl. i am so grateful to share your young life with you. you are more delightful than i ever imagined. i can't wait to witness all of your firsts that are yet to come.

my little lioness

My little lioness, so fierce and spirited lately. It's so sweet to see a quiet moment come across her day.

rise and shine

I'm short on words tonight, heavy on photos. Nothing out of the ordinary, just miss magoo waking up from a nap in a light filled room. Oh and I might have let her brother climb onto the windowsill for a minute while I took these. He is such a good little assistant. 

at sixteen months

 I never got around to bringing the table and chairs back into the toy room after we painted until today. She sat in those chairs the better part of her wakeful day today. Looking at her concentrating so hard on a puzzle, she looked like such a kid.  Soon all the baby will be gone. She's such a quiet soul. Always taking it all in with such wonder. We see bits of her wild, chipper side more and more and I am loving the combination of the two sides of her. I wish I could bundle her up right now.  It's fun to see her evolving and learning more and more. 

These days, she is still most happy in my arms, and I keep her request as much as I can. Towards dinner time it starts to make me crazy and having free arms has become a luxury to me now. This too shall pass and holding my baby is far from the worst thing at all. I wish it was all I had to do all day but still I'm grateful to be loved and needed. I know it doesn't last long. These days, she is into emptying all the cupboards and drawers. In every room you can see traces of her, clothes from a dresser drawer in one, bookshelves cleared of the toys. I could watch her all day, just because she is so certain of her purpose right now. She really is a gem and I adore being her momma.