ELEVEN

June 28, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comment 1
12 months of Luke / Luke Blane


When he just won’t give you the smile he gives every other minute of the day ;) such is life.


^^Sister always ends up at the end of all these pictures ;)

WHAT THE HECK! WHERE DID THIS YEAR GO!? How is my baby boy almost a year old!? I know he still has a month but my goodness, I feel like eleven months is always more of a shock than twelve. It has just snuck in there somehow and caught me by surprise, both times! Anyways, this kid. I’m just so smitten by him and this month, well, it’s been a total game changer.

For one, I feel like I’m starting to feel normal parent tired rather than woah the walls are swaying tired. When Abbie was tiny, I went to the dentist and the lady that cleaned my teeth told me her son woke up every hour for a year. I remember thinking I could never do that. Abbie had her ups and downs with sleep but for the most part, she was fairly decent. Luke has shown me I can do things I never thought I could! Made me absolutely nuts in the head but hey! I feel like we have turned a corner ;) He’s napping pretty well and sleeping from about 7:30 till 4 fairly consistently till this last week where he forgot how fun 2am was. BUT he’s getting back to sleep pretty well instead of just screaming and needing to be walked around so that’s been nice. Now if only I could get back to sleep too, then we’ll really be cookin wiss gas!

He’s a water boy. I got him and Abbie a little kiddie pool for the hot days this summer and man, if I stick him out on the patio and don’t watch him, he’ll crawl right in, fully clothed, every time. It’s sorta funny, sorta WHY CAN’T I REMEMBER THIS HAPPENS EVETY TIME!?

He’s like a totally different baby! So sweet. So happy. Like, he was sweet and happy before but he’s just kicked it up a notch lately. Which makes me think he was just super tired before and trying his best? He would just zone out but was so sweet and mellow… and now he’s excitedly crawling everywhere, curious about everything, so quick to smile… he’s just the best! Aaaand I feel terrible.

He’s very into food *BINGO* and very into whatever you are eating.

He’s a stair master. I don’t worry about him at all anymore. He looooves going up to sister’s room and is very good about telling momma when he’d like to come back down. I love looking up and seeing his little head peering down at me with a big ol smile :):) FAVORITE.

Still such a momma’s boy! God must have known I needed that :) Abbie climbed into bed one morning and got between where he was soundly sleeping nestled against me …he woke up so fast and was SO mad till he worked his way back over and was immediately content. He makes my heart smile. BUT lately he’s been giving daddy lots of love. Whenever he comes home from work he excitedly crawls over to him, gets on his knees and raises those precious arms for giggly hugs. I don’t think I’ll ever be happier than when I see those babies love on their daddy. It’s the best.

He finally stood on his own for the first time! You cannot force him to do it. He only does it when he doesn’t realize he’s doing it. And he can take his merry time walking too. bemybabyforeverandeverandever

Speaking of walking, my dining room looks like an avant-garde painting all. the. time. Son loves to push those chairs ev-er-y-where. He has the best time causing disorder. Speaking of. Spice jars. Somehow he knows how to get into the cabinet and unscrew the tops. There were a couple days where curry was a very strong smell in our house. Bathroom cabinets are also rarely organized and toilet paper is no longer a friend to the roll.

We have found the choking sound he makes is actually a game he’s been playing! If you make a choking sound, he’ll make one back! Now I know! He also loves to play toss with dad. If Greg tosses a ball up, Luke will do it back. This is all very exciting.

He’s pretty dang mellow but definitely has a dramatic side. When sad, tired, or angry, that head will be laid on the ground in utter frustration. It’s rather dear.

Speaking of that head, he’s the toughest kid I know. For example, definitely accidently flipped the hammock over and all of me landed on that tiny head… he was a little upset but didn’t seem to really mind. Sister lands on it all the time. It almost always has a bruise on either side of it from running into things. He fell and hit his lip on the tile the other day and it was all bloody, plus he had some scratches from momma not keeping up with manicures, and a pretty bad teething rash on his chin… he looked all sorts of abused but he never ever complains. I’ve never heard him cry for more than a minute when he gets hurt and seems quite content to just be snuggled. He’s just the greatest boy. Did I mention I love him?

Dearest Luke, I love how you sit on your knees, and smile so big when you crawl around with really high arms and loud hand slaps. You have serious fears of missing out and hate to be put down for naps but you’ve been doing so good about trying. I love how you dance to music now and fling yourself through the air not knowing if someone is going to catch you. Actually, let’s work on letting momma know you’re about to do the flinging and then both of us will have less bruises. Dear son of mine, I sure love you with all my heart and thank Jesus every day that he put you into our lives. Happy last :'( month :'( of your first year!

Luke gets a room

June 22, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comments 4
home / Luke Blane


Sweetest boy. I don’t know where the time has gone but I realized I started his nursery forever ago and never finished it so a couple of potato stamps later, it’s feeling complete! There is this beautiful wallpaper that I have been coveting, that if your baby is posh and perfectly styled every day, you most certainly will possess. I obviously have a hard time getting these kids completely dressed every day so such extravagance is not for me. Enter potato stamp. That is: a potato cut into the shape you fancy, plunked into left over paint from your stairs and dispersed around the room. It was fun. It was cheap. It makes me happy to go in there now. Plus I still am holding out hope that these two will share a room someday so while I wait for Luke to start sleeping completely through the night, quick, quirky rooms just across the hall are my jam. For now it’s kinda fun to have a bit of a girly room for Abbie and a boyish room for Luke. Like really really fun. This room has been so many things – a storage room, an office, a playroom, a what the heck do I do in here room cause it’s T I N Y and such a weird shape. Supposedly it was built to be a yoga room but who has time for that? so for now it’s the ever morphing space that is currently this kids makeshift nursery. Behold! horrible pictures in a tiny tiny space!


Oh look! The bear I got for Abbie! Oh look! The picture that was up in Abbie’s room! Oh my! Is that my clock from childhood?? Such is the life of a second child :) But HEYYYY a baseball because BOY.

And yes I know girls can play baseball too. THIS WORLD IS SO SENSITIVE ;)

IMG_3565

It was actually sorta nice that I waited so long to do this cause we could really see how we use this space. Currently, still working on establishing good sleeping habits which is going pretty well thankyouverymuch, but Abbie’s been loving coloring and playdough and stuff so it’s nice to have a little table close by that we can pull out when we need to. Also, my biggest challenge with two is figuring out how to keep a clean house. I’m definitely a let-the-house-get-horrifically-filthy-and-then-clean-it-like-a-mad-swiss-woman kind of girl which I’m learning definitely doesn’t work with kids and most definitely not with two + kids. So! I’ve been retraining myself to do a little each day which has helped my sanity tremendously. ANYWAYS all that to say, I’ve been trying to get advice from as many seasoned mothers as possible on how they handle it and one said she just throws all the toys in the kids rooms at night and nap time so their rooms were almost always messy but the house was clean and calm. You guys. This has revolutionized my life. Hence the baskets. Hence hence hence. I could go on and on about cleaning and kids but I’ll just go ahead and stop this right here. IMG_3564That flag is an excellent example of my brain at work. I needed something for above Luke’s crib cause I waited over a month for this antique watercolor to ship from England and it never came so a cool old flag was my next grand idea. I saw the flag. I wanted the flag. I did NOT want to wait again for another shop owner to write me back for dimensions. I estimated. I estimated so wrong. It wrapped around the wall. Thus, this is it’s new home. It looks like it was on purpose. It was not. lukesroom-4I don’t feel like these are showcasing the sheer enormity of this flag. It’s big. It’s rather awesome. I’m proud to be an American. Obviously.

lukesroom-12Oh the mobile :) You know I love to make little things for my kids. There was a storm. There was driftwood gathering. There was this idea in my head. It was much more cute in there. Those dang white sails just don’t show up! One would think, change the color? But no, I think, stick em in my cup o coffee. It didn’t do anything. They remain white and boring. Ah well, I tried. One can only do so much. lukesroom-14

And that’s about it! I think it’s cuter in person but maybe that’s just my excuse for please don’t judge me! I tried. I shoulda coulda woulda found out the gender and finished before baby’s arrival but whatchu gunna do. Little Luke, we sure love you. You deserve the fanciest wallpaper in all the land but thanks for being so cool about mommy’s budget ideas. And sweet Abbie, thanks for continuing to go in here and exclaim “I like it!” over and over again. You guys sure make your momma happy :)

Back when Abbie got a nursery!

Happy Father’s Day!

June 18, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comment 1
family days

This guy. These videos don’t even hold a candle to how amazing of a dad this guy is. I wish I had a record button on my eyeballs cause the interactions between this marvelous man and his babies is simply the best and I always ALWAYS miss it whenever I try to record anything. BUT since I’m a sucker for all crappy home videos and can’t bring myself to delete anything, we’ll just keep em comin ;) cause he’s an amazing dad. It brings me so much joy to see how much he loves our little ones and to see their relationships growing. Sometimes my heart just feels so full it could burst! Happy Father’s Day, beloved. I’m so glad I get to do life with you and this little family of ours. You make us all feel so blessed. We love you!

And if you wanna weep enormous amounts of tears because Abbie was this itty bitty only last year, you may click here.

Ten Months

May 27, 2017
by hillywoohoo
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12 months of Luke / Luke Blane


Haha he is NOT into these pictures anymore. Nevertheless my boy is ten months old today! And what a sweetheart he is. Feed him, clean him, give him the smallest amount of sleep and he is one happy clam. If by some chance he happens to actually be crying, pick him up and all is instantly right with the world. I just love this kid so here’s a month in review:

You know this boy is not terribly vocal. Not much (if any) babbling or cooing or anything of the sort. Just a series of grunts and quiet laughs. BUT THIS MONTH he spoke and that little voice was definitely worth the wait. So so so sweet. Actually last month he said his first word of “Bla” but this month he said “dada” and I’ve definitely made him say it one too many times so that he never wants to say it again but it was really sweet while it lasted. It’s like he felt like he could contribute to the conversation. You’d ask him to say it and he’d get a shy little smile and say dada and look so proud of himself. Best. Boy.

You guys. He sneezed and there was no snot. It occurred to me that this is sorta the longest stretch he hasn’t been sick in a while! Well minus the beginning of this month haha but the last couple of weeks have been so nice!

He got one more tooth and is currently working on another. That little tongue is almost always out feeling the newfound lump. It’s dear.

Loves water. Loves baths. Loves pools. Does not hold his breath like they say he will when you blow in his face. There has been much water swallowing.

Loves to be flung about and sat on. Which I suppose is good because those are sister’s main forms of getting him to smile. This is so funny to me because he’s so mellow otherwise but somewhere beyond that placid exterior is a boy who loves adventure! …or abuse?

He has no intention of learning to stand on his own but sure thinks it’s funny if you try to force him to do it.

He can’t go down stairs but loves to go up them! I never really worried about Abbie going up and down the stairs here cause she kinda got the concept pretty quickly – but Luke, the dear…. he will go up them alright but then you know how he likes to take frequent breaks… he’ll just sit back and down he goes, so the whole stair situation in our house sort of terrifies me right now. Luckily he’s starting off slow so if I ever catch him sneaking up there, he’s only ever made it to the second or third step unsupervised :)

He’s starting to love real food! Another food motivated child! Hooray!

He slept twelve hours one night. I see hope. I know I’m sleep deprived cause my mom gave me a book on a sleep training method and just reading it sorta made me cry happy tears at the thought of getting some rest eventually. Haha! who knew it was taking such a tole. He’s been going down pretty easily. Still cries every time but the duration is getting shorter! The first couple of times were three hours. Three. Hours. That is exhausting and discouraging and those little fast breaths once he actually falls asleep are so heart wrenching! But now we are down to about 20 min max and usually closer to five. So that’s good I suppose. And no rocking or shaking required! He’s been doing a pretty consistent nine to ten hours at night which have been amazing. Now if only my body wasn’t still waking up for the one, two, and three o clock nursing calls. One day I’ll sleep again ;) So nights are looking a bit more hopeful. Naps are still a joke. He takes two twenty minute naps a day and will not budge on that. But the thing is, he’s SO happy all the time. Abbie would definitely get fussy or start running into things or whatever when it was nap time but this kid, he’s just freakishly happy on such a little amount of sleep. So, we are still working on that one. Anyways, all that to say, thank you to those who have been praying for us! I so appreciate it!

He loves when dad comes home, loves his sister, has the goofiest laugh and the sweetest smile, still is the most tolerant kid I’ve ever met and is definitely a momma’s boy. Little Luke, we sure love you. Happy ten months!!!

Just another photo dump

May 26, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comments 8
the daily life

Wouldn’t it be nice if each of these posts didn’t have three thousand photos to sort through ;) anyways, life lately:


^^Ooooh if I could only remember these little details forever… the chubby wrists and dimpled fingers and and and^^

Abbie’s become very interested in painting which, you know, makes my mommy heart soar …and feel all sorts of terror as I look around at my once white house. But I still love to look over at this little site.

There was Easter. We colored eggs. Most of the cups looked like this.

The Easter Bunny actually mustered up some baskets. How sweet of him to stuff them with books and impressionist artist memory games! The kids were thrilled….
But egg hunts were a hit!


That man and his son <3 Luke went through a little phase of falling asleep immediately on Greg. It was the sweetest.

Never did get that picture of them in their Sunday best. So here’s an end of the day shot ;)
There were some wonderful park days with dad


And baking days

And moments where you walk in to this cuteness
There were beach days
And the best days that start with breakfast AND ocean AND dad HALLELUJAH


And days to go look at God’s amazing giant trees
And Grammy days
And lots of days at home


And lots of mischief




Conspiring in action!
But oh look they’re cute. :)

Some days are really hard so we take pictures. And then I remember how much I love being their mom :)
There was that one time I took Luke to urgent care cause I was convinced he had something stuck in his throat what with three days and nights of the strangest cough and looks of pain and struggling …only to have them tell me “he’s fine – he simply has his first cold – is this your first baby??” I’ve become that lady. Sigh. No sleep seriously screws up your judgement and instincts. I’m blaming that. And hardy har har… first ….cold…. ;)

There were days to Callistoga


WITH date nights!!!
And more days at home


And more days at the beach


Hehe I just love their precious scowls :):) But really this is what that particular outing really looked like.
The joys :) I think I horrified an Asian couple by taking pictures at a moment such as this but I found it so amusing :D Greg says I need to work on my humor. One day I will fit in.
Oh ya! There was mother’s day!


Greg let me order two entrees because that was not nearly enough pasta, and it was the most lovely outing!

This was supposed to be my mother’s day picture ;)

There were pool days
And days where your baby is determined to devour other helpless infants.

And then there are days when your husband comes home and says pack your bags, I’ve booked you a room at a hotel and you are going to go get a good night sleep. And you burst into happy tears and get the heck out of there. Because this kid man, I love him I love him I love him but he does. not. sleep. And it is ROUGH. So I just fell in love with my husband all over again with the utterance of the word LEAVE. :)


Naturally I remembered everything for a wonderful night away except my pump. So guess who still had to get up in the middle of the night and early early morning to try to keep those suckers from bursting. Live and learn. Or don’t because you’re too sleep deprived to remember anything anyways ;)
And then there are the sweetest moments scattered about each day and I so wish I could remember them all ^^ does this remind you of the boy version of Abbie baby?? :):)






Life is so full and hard but all sorts of wonderful and I’m just so thankful this little family is mine. So so thankful. Happy WEEKEND!!!

9 months

April 27, 2017
by hillywoohoo
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12 months of Luke / Luke Blane


How does he get cuter every month!? *says his mother* I can’t handle this kid! He’s just the sweetest, most mellow child that ever was and I just can’t believe he’s mine. He slips under the bath water for a bit too long but pops back up with a cough and a big smile! He gets wacked and dragged and aggressively loved on by his sister but returns all these gestures with all the love in his heart and man he falls and falls and falls but just gets back up again and keeps on going. He’s the best. I’ve been neglecting to write down things that have been happening the last couple of months that are distinctively Luke – like how he smacks his gums and just crawls around smacking away. You can always hear him coming because he pants so heavily which you know, the best. He’s excellent at eating out of those baby food pouches – I used to have to squeeze each bite out onto a spoon for Abbie but this kid, you just hand him the thing and he sucks it down in a matter of seconds. Party trick! So anyways, this month he:

Got his first wrist tan! He’s turning the cutest orange color ;) He just loves being outside and with all the sickness that keeps hitting and hitting and hitting this family, a little extra vitamin D never hurt anybody right :)

He loves to pull himself up onto everyyyything and thanks to his dear friend Freddy, he now knows how to go back down from the standing position. Thank you, Freddy. That helped this momma a lot.

He gets so excited when someone says “hi” he has to turn away. He gets so smiley and bashful and danggit it’s cute!

I’ve been loving seeing where he crawls to. He likes going up the little steps by our bedroom but hasn’t ventured up the big ones yet thank goodness. He loves to eat the dirt in mom’s plants. And most of all he loves to sneak over to Bentley’s water bowl and pour it out every. single. day. Bentley is a big dog. That is a lot of water. Rot away, floor! I shall be replacing you one day ;)

He does NOT like being left behind. — like when leaving a room — we haven’t actually left him somewhere in public.. yet.

Momma’s so busy, she sometimes doesn’t hear her poor little baby, crawling as fast as he can after her, crying softly to himself. He’s the dearest slowest crawler :) I think he got my energy level. He’ll take a couple steps. Then sit down, look around. He has a goal – he’s just in no rush to get there. And then right when he’s about to reach it, he’ll lie down and slide in to grab it so as to not waste any extra energy ;) He IS speeding up a little bit but he’s pretty mellow and doesn’t mind taking his time :):)

He is a horrible sleeper.

.
.
.

I’m so tired.

.
.
.

So his saving grace was he was easier (well faster) than Abbie to put down once we figured out how to do it (run in place, violently rock bassinet, or put in swing and get that sucker going to the point of breakage) – he’d be out within a minute or so. BUT now he’s getting too big for his bassinet and starting to pop his head up which throws off the rocking, and he’s eventually going to grow out of his swing (plus it takes up my entire living room and I want to see it GONE) and running in place was fine with a tiny baby but now he’s nine months bigger and this mom is nine months more tired and so all that to say, we’ve been trying a bit of crib training. He is not going for it. Send help.

I’m convinced no one knows how to put a baby down. You either get lucky with a good sleeper or you get lucky with their level of sleepiness. But if you happen to know how to get a baby down quickly and for longer than 20 minutes during the day or two hours at night, LET ME KNOW! ;) Thank you, kindly.

Anyways, despite getting almost no sleep day or night, he’s the most cheerful little thing! I just love him to bits and absolutely love this age. Love love love. Luke Blane, you’re the best. We love you so much!!! Did I mention we love him?

March, you little dickens

April 11, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comments 4
the daily life

How is it already the middle of April? March was all sorts of wonderful so here are a couple pictures to remember her by ;)


There was a lovely trip to Filoli’s in the Spring. I LOVE SPRING. It’s just such an exciting season :):)


Did I tell you, my husband takes every other Friday morning off so I can have some time to myself? Normally I’m an idiot and spend it going through my piles that never go away, but this time I made it out of the house and down to my favorite place and it was so lovely! He’s wonderful that one.

I finally found a great naturopathic doctor for my babies! I never expected to be such a hippie! But here we are and this is what makes sense to me so I’m glad to not feel so lost when I have medical questions :) Both babies fell asleep during the appointment. That made for an interesting exit.. but hey! speaking of NATURE I got my blood results back for my thyroid and guess just guess who is back to smack dab in the middle of normal levels? This lady. So maybe diet does have something to do with it? or at least for me? I do find it a bit alarming that it wasn’t even mentioned as something to look at and that “you’ll have to be on medication the rest of your life” was the only thing that was discussed. Anyways, I had a biopsy done on the other nodule last week so I should be getting those results back soon. Praying no cancer and that it’s definitive either way. Anyways, moving on to this cuteness.

<3

There was a lot of time spent on the trampoline…


I’m kinda crazy about this kid :)

This is a favorite picture because those two were just out there for the longest time giggling and talking about who knows what, that overgrown, lovely yard of ours is GREEN, and that dog, although he’s so close to being able to RUN when we get the rest of our fence put up, is very patiently watching over his babies. I love all of that ^^


She’s exploring self expression…


I surprised Greg with chickens. In my head it seemed like a funny thing to do. I never expected him to be so into them! Kinda makes me all sorts of happy ;) And that little farmhand… can she get any cuter?


More trampoline and that SMILE. He is seriously the best kid. I love him I love him I love him so much. And this was right before those gums let those darn teeth through! OHHHH they look so painful! But still all smiles… that boy…


Trooper. Such a trooper. I know I say this every time but he just loves the heck out of his sister. He lights up so big whenever she comes into the room – just this morning, he heard her coming and whipped around so fast he snorted and fell over but got up so quickly with the biggest smile. They are starting to play together (you know beyond the dragging) and having the cutest little babbling conversations. I CAN’T TAKE IT! So cute.

We had a little surprise summer for a while there! Made me loads excited for it! But Spring has been extra magical this year with all the flowers I planted last year starting to burst. Gardening man. I’m a big fan of you.

Tell me that doesn’t look like they are scheming something….


PAPI!

The babies finally got to meet Diane and Shorty! Who were like my second parents growing up and are quite possibly some of the most lovely humans God ever created. So good to see them :)

This was when Luke used to nap more than 20 minutes at a time.


I think she would pose for me all day if she could. This kid. She cracks me up.


Bentley has been winning at being the BEST dog. The men in this family sure are tolerant. Bless them.


He’s cute. They’re cute. I just can’t stop taking pictures.


This is one of the things I love about kids. I sorta hate those two giant redwoods in our front yard – they are so messy and shady and I never really look at them except in annoyance from the mess… but this girl in diaper and boots loves to go up to them, look up and say WOAH because although this picture doesn’t NEARLY do it justice, they are quite magnificent if you give them a chance, and the light is so magical and I just love how they help me see that. Plus you can see them from the highway which is sorta cool ;)


You see what I mean? BEST DOG.


Oh lipstick. I’ve been looking for that one for the longest time. It’s significantly shorter now.

And March ended with a lovely restorative early morning walk with my boy. And only my boy. And I feel all sorts of renewed. On to the middle of April! ;)

To my daughter

April 4, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comments 2
the daily life


Dear daughter,
I am writing this to you in case you find yourself in a position with your own littles, wondering why it’s so hard and how this mother of yours did it all since the only memories you will recall in moments such as these are those seeped with glowing positivity and love – all memories of screaming, throwing, breaking, knee bending and pleading apologies for being such a darn faulty mother, will be promptly forgotten into your subconscious to rediscover through years of therapy. It’s tempting for me to want to glaze over this challenging time and not write any of it down but then I find myself wondering why am I so horribly tired and where on earth did my brain go? So sweet girl, this one’s for you.

Let me start by saying both you and your brother have been sick again since Thursday because mom had a friend over who warned her her child had a runny nose but I thought, nope there is no way after all the sickness we’ve had this year we could possibly get sick again. come on over! but that, of course, was just fantasy and we are all sick, once more. This caused you to sleep in three different beds last night because sleep just please sleep – your daddy was a rockstar and attended to you every single time because your brother has found that nursing all night every night is the ultimate form of comfort for one side of the party involved. Still boasting about that one {ONE} time he slept through the night. We woke with the smell of a baby blowout that covered the two towels I slept on because you had some of mom’s water whilst you tucked yourself to sleep in our bed and left the bottle on its side, thus causing the aforementioned leakage that soaked the entirety of my pillow and the area where my body lays to rest. I have noticed all liquid experiences only happen on my side. Which really was quite remarkable this time, considering you were sleeping on dad’s side. As I went to get the supplies to clean up your brother, I noticed Bentley had thrown up again, a mere six inches from the hard surface and instead onto the carpet. As I was getting the paper towels to clean up that seeped in mess of chunks, your brother threw up on the bed. This is when the most darling girl came down the stairs in her adorable little nightgown and cheeky smile, declaring GOOT MORNG which obviously made me say yes you may have all the sugary cereal you’d like! and promptly brought your high chair in to our room so we could all enjoy it together from the comfort of our own bed. This is where you carefully ate all your cereal then curiously poured all the milk out on the ground. There was yelling, there was crying, there was a mom that was so happy dad was taking care of it all. I hopped into the shower, Luke pulled over the trash can which apparently had loads of broken glass in it and there sat my boy amongst the shards till mom could come get him. I feel like we are in the time of life of broken glass. I believe we were up to ten glasses in the last two weeks. Nope, I broke one the other day – make that eleven. So, just so you know, when all your plates and glassware and all the beautiful things you got for your wedding are crashing around you, know that this beautiful-things-loving momma switched over to paper for the time being and it is ah-ma-zing. Granted, I hate eating off of paper and would never consider it full term but while I’m currently underwater in every area of my life, being able to throw a dirty dish away and not spend hours and hours doing dishes all day every day while you, my sweet girl, make more messes than I can even count, is just so delightful. Environment-shmironment. And one day I WILL have a dishwasher and cry happy tears each morning. So if you too feel the need to switch over to paper, this momma of yours will not be judging you :) Not to mention I have not broken a glass since! ;) Anyways, dad left for work, I grab the sheets off the bed, pop them in the washer and come back to find that you, ma dear, have poured momma’s coffee all over that naked mattress, the bed, and the carpet. I am trying to see these little marks as sweet memories but I am struggling. One day when you leave me (NO DON’T!) and are off to college or chasing your dreams, Imma look back on that little coffee stain on the bed we surely will still have and I will miss you. You’re just making your little mark on mommas heart and simultaneously, her stuff. SO we cleaned that up best we could, went out to the rest of the house, noticed that too is just a pile of messes in every area imaginable, and left it all behind in search of whales. I could and do spend all day cleaning if I don’t force myself to leave so I’m very thankful I listened to that little two year old voice of excitement at wanting to go to see the whales (which is really just going to see the ocean where the whales live). We got down there, and you went running up to the first girl you saw to have her hold you. And she did. And Bentley was his anxious self with his babies in all different areas, Luke had woken up from his nap, I was stuck with the giant stroller and the jumping dog, calling out to the poor girl that I’M COMING, as she surely was wondering where this girl’s mother was. We had an awkward hand off as your mother is so good at, I was sure every one was judging me for reproducing, then two older ladies came up and talked to you and Luke, one told me she had three kids in three years and she looked like she got her brain back, and I left feeling somewhat encouraged. Bentley got attacked by two different dogs, but amazingly was the calmest dog at the beach (as long as his babies are near him) and we went home rather proud and uplifted. On the way home, I stopped on the sidewalk about a half a mile from our house, to adjust my shoe or something and when I looked over, you had your hands full on in one random patch of poison oak that was sticking out right at your stroller height. You then proceeded to touch your arms, face, rub your eyes and all bad things and I am just praying your momma doesn’t know her plants and I am wrong about that one. How lame would it be to get your first case of poison oak while in a stroller in an urban area?? It’s supposed to be whilst building forts and adventuring through the forest! Nevertheless we ran home and went right into the cold bath. You hate baths. There was much screaming. Oh! but before this I popped some quinoa on the stove for lunch and set my timer. I was drying you off, smelled burning, ran downstairs to find the whole kitchen in smoke. Thick smoke. Like can’t see the picture on the wall smoke. So I popped my burned quinoa outside, opened my little slots of windows, checked my timer that still said I had 5 minutes, and cursed my awful stove once more for ruining yet another simple cooking experience. Then my brain remembered now-crawling-Luke upstairs, dashed up there leaving you amidst the smoke, wailing, we scrapped the healthy lunch for less nutritious options, sat outside and thanked the Lord for our many blessings because this was just a normal day. It wasn’t an especially difficult or unusual one. Just a normal day before noon. So sweet girl, if I ever get out of this phase of messes and crashes and having to say I’m sorry every three minutes cause I’m on such a short fuse, and by some miracle you remember the good and one day think I’ve got it all together, I want you to know that I went through this too and you’re not alone. And I will get through this and so will you. And I love you and all your messes with all my everything.

Love,
Your Momma

EIGHT of the best months

March 27, 2017
by hillywoohoo
comments 5
12 months of Luke / Luke Blane



Imma just put this right here because that boy be so haaaaandsoooome! My goodness I love him. Ahhhh two is infinitely harder than one for me. People kept saying, “it’s ok to say it’s hard” when I had Abbie and ya sure there were difficult or trying times, but overall I felt good about mothering. Granted, she was a pretty easy baby, but I was pretty confident about how I wanted to raise her and felt like I was doing an okay job. And then came Luke. And my heart doubled in size and my joy factor went through the roof but all of a sudden I don’t know which way is up and I don’t know what the heck I’m doing. Things are always crashing about me (hiiiii busy Abbie), all of a sudden I worry about ev-er-y-thing and the mom guilt has hit me like a freight train. Last night I worked myself into an absolute tizzy cause he wouldn’t give me eye contact for the longest time and my very tired brain could not remember a time where he ever gave me eye contact and has he ever smiled and oh no he’s obsessed with ceiling fans and loves being upside down and was like a whole week slower to crawl than his sister and OH MY GOSH HE’S AUTISTIC! But today he’s smiling and happy and my brain is a touch more rested and my tired google diagnosis is seeming so silly. Ohhhhh motherhood. ANYWAYS this month:

He crawls! Oh so slowly and carefully with the highest little arms. He doesn’t have many opportunities to practice what with big sister wanting desperately to help him along through the form of dragging, pushing, carrying, etc but he’s so so cute when he actually gets to move about on his own. I just love the crawling phase :)

He’s becoming a very active nurser but hey! so much less biting so PRAISE JESUS

He loves to sit on his knees or with one leg forward and one behind him… this makes his feet go blue… is this normal? Here is the aforementioned worrying in action.

His favorite thing to crawl to is the edge of the carpet… to look under it… and my goodness I never knew how dirty it was under there!

This months sleep has been h o r r i b l e (hiiiiii top two teeth) but the last couple of nights seem to be turning a corner *she said with all the hope she could muster up*

Hey! he has his top two teeth! Sorta… one is just the tip so he still looks like a proper heart melting hillbilly but so happy it’s finally made it’s appearance. So. Happy.

He’s starting to just sit up in the middle of the night. Which is awfully adorable and awfully annoying to wake up to. But seriously if I was well rested and of sane mind, it would be the cutest thing to see in the dark.

He’s still so freakin mellow! For example, he may have fallen off the couch just now and not made a sound of protest. He’s just laying there lookin around… He goes along with any of his sister’s pillow-piling-on-brother-schemes with lots of giggles and glee. I wonder how long that’s going to last… Sweetest boy. He sure lights up around his sister. My heart is forever a puddle.

He is soooooo quiet. Doesn’t babble at. all. His laugh is still little gasps for breath and you really have to look at his face to see if he’s enjoying something haha it’s the funniest thing!

One thing that I can get him to big laugh for is bear hugs. He loves to be squeezed so tight :) I don’t mind catering to this request. Although, his laugh and cry sound so similar I sure hope he likes it :/ ;)

Ohhhh Luke. You are my little man. I love how you twirl your hair and are starting to reach for your momma. You are growing up way too fast but I love every second of it. I’m so glad you are ours. Happy eight months sweet boy!

Oh, OK, one more cause I think he’s just the cutest :]

7 months

February 28, 2017
by hillywoohoo
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12 months of Luke / Luke Blane

7-months

7-months-2

EVERYBODY DANCE! This boy turned seven months old yesterday! And my goodness he is just as sweet as can be :) He’s currently mustering up all the boy noises (and they are very different than the girl noises) he can and saying a total of zero forms of gibberish. It’s all grunts over here. Sister has been putting him through the ringer this last month but that hasn’t stopped him from having the biggest crush on all things Abbie. He just lights up with the smiliest eyes and wide open smiley mouth when she enters his presence. It’s mighty adorable if I do say so myself.

Ohhhh croup. You were a tough one. The only way I could get him to stop crying was to stick him in the bathtub. He may have even fallen asleep in there. It may have been the sweetest thing I’ve ever witnessed. It also didn’t help that he got his first tooth the very day croup struck. There were many tears and looks of pain. I am glad that is over.

I’m assuming on account of the teeth (oh ya, he has two!), the cold sweat nursing has begun. That boy clamps and will not let go. Not a fan of that business…

Minus today where he is making me eat my words with his desire to not. nap. he actually has been going down pretty easily! Greg was like, we really need to start sleep training – he takes forever! No no dear, ABBIE took forever. 45 minutes MINIMUM. Luke takes five. I’ll take five. But as all wise parents know, this can change in an instant so seven month Luke, thank you for giving your momma a break this month :)

He especially loves his dad and sister. I guess I should be offended but honestly, seeing him light around those guys is all the reward I need. Aren’t I sweet?

The spitting up is baaaack! Except in the form of staining throw up… thick and lovely. And only when I feed him solids. I hope this doesn’t mean he’s allergic to all things solid… we’ll try again next month.

He’s trying so hard to crawl! He gets up on those fours and rocks so hard he actually scootches forward! I just love the rocking :):) So cute and yet still so immobile. A mother’s dream!

Still a hair puller – maybe subconsciously that’s why I impulsively cut my hair ;) He has the strongest grip, loves being upside down and hates being alone. Little Luke, you are so loved. At the grocery store the other day, a lady said “now if I could get one of those, I’d definitely have kids!” We smiled proudly and didn’t dare tell her of the months of fussiness proceeding this newfound cheerful spirit! ;) I sure love you little man. Thank you for being my boy!