Isaac Bo-Bisaac

Isaac Bo Bisaac

As you recently read on the blog, Isaac eats fish eye balls.  But he also speaks some pretty awesome Italian.  For the past couple of months I have enjoyed the pleasure of driving Isaac and his Italian friend, Pierre-Antonio, to and from soccer practice every Tuesday night.  I drive down the road like a big dork with this huge, proud grin on my face because I can't stop smiling at hearing my son ramble off in a different language with his cute, chubby little buddy, Pierre.  It's freaking awesome!  He has full use of his sense of humor in the language, his accent sounds perfect (to me) and I love witnessing his total confidence with his friends. 

They frequently play a word game that really gets them tickled.  It goes something like this:  "Che facendo ora?", which translates into something like, "what am I doing now?"  and then the other one has to guess what the asker envisions himself doing.  "Ballaro"(dancing) or "Cantaro"(singing)...even if the word isn't supposed to end with "aro" they put that ending on it anyway and somehow that makes it all so funny to them.  And of course they always choose words like dancing, farting...funny stuff.  Half the time I don't understand what they're saying but even to me it sounds so funny! Another plus: Tonight they rocked out to "Get Down On It"by Kool and The Gang, which has a lot of repetition in it.  I overheard Pierre singing "Gedown a it" in total botched English.  And Isaac was totally giggling at/with him.  It was pretty funny!  

Isaac is completely fitting in at school now (phew!!).  He has his little posse and is happy almost every day when he comes home from school.  MOst of the time he can't wait to get back out the door to play soccer with his friend Alessandro who lives across the street.  At school he plays mostly with a cute kid named Phillipo but it sounds like he plays paper airplanes, makes club houses, has running races etc. with everyone from the three girls in his class to some of the 5th grade kids.  It's a nice change from last year...when we were all jumping all kinds of hurdles.  It's a steep learning curve, but I think he's over the hump.  POor guy climbed a lot last year!  Bravo Isaac!

Anyway, that's our Isaac update!

xoxo

Ash

Juliet: First Day of School

This year, Juliet didn't want to get left out of all this school business!  She started Italian Preschool (Asilo!)at the tender young age of 3!! 

When the school day began she was all smiles!  She had been talking about and waiting for this moment all summer long!  But when I picked her up after 2 hours, she was in tears.  Ahh!!  Be still my heart!!  On our drive home she said to me, "Mom, I like Asilo, but I don't want to go anymore.  Nobody listens to me!"  (Ha!)  I dropped her off in tears ever since until, finally, after 6 days, she was dry eyed!! Yay! I feel quite a bit of mommy guilt sending her to school at the young age of 3, something I never would have considered doing with Isaac, and did only one day a week for Georgie.  But our situation is different here.  Juliet doesn't get much peer interaction otherwise and she has two years to pick up some of the language that her big brother and sister will know fluently.  So, even though the chances of her retaining any of it are somewhat slim, we'd like to at least give it a good old college try and hope that the studies are right, that learning another language at a young age develops that part of the brain in a way that is beneficial for future second language attainment.  It's a prayer and we feel right about it.  

More on our Ju-B:

Juliet still manages to maintain the total and complete adoration of everyone in the family.  I could use the "well, she's the baby of the family" excuse but, sorry folks, I really think it's because she's special;)  One of my favorite things in life is to see Isaac, Mr. Moody pants, get all annoyed with her (or someone else) and turn his back on her with the most extreme of grumpy faces and then, by contrast, watch her, completely unaware or unphased, attack him with the biggest, smiling fat kiss right on the lips or cheek (this happens often, folks).  For a millisecond he looks at her with the grumpy face unmoved but, immediately upon laying eyes on her big chubby smile and shining eyes, he so charmingly and entirely starts to giggle!  I feel all warm and fuzzy just thinking about it.  I love this scene...this total, sudden transformation made by a confident, loving smile.  I could watch it a million times!  Its a good life lesson for us, actually.  Something I hadn't contemplated until now...food for thought;)

xoxo

Ash 

A Georgie Day

Today was a Georgie kind of day so I'll feature all the Georgie action in the following photos!

Every morning that we're home and the neighbors are out working in their beautiful garden (at least 3 days a week) Georgie runs straight out after breakfast, often in her bare feet and PJ's, to work at their side.  This morning Bruno was harvesting potatoes, he raked them up and she sat on her knees and plopped them in a bucket.

They always send her home with something...a cucumber, some tomatoes, lettuces etc.  This morning we got a bucket of freshly dug potatoes:

Bruno said these potatoes are for making patate fritte/fried potatoes.  A couple of weeks ago they harvested little tiny white ones that they store and use throughout the winter in soups etc.  They grow enough to feed the family for the entire winter.  So freaking cool!  And not at all rare around here.  I have been meaning to make a note to myself about how and what they planted this year.  In the bed pictured above they planted one half potatoes and one half green beans in early May.  As they've harvested the potatoes (late July/early August) they've been putting in red and white cabbage.  The green beans are still producing so they haven't pulled those up yet. 

A years worth of food lives, waiting to be plucked.

Zucchini, chard, lettuces, leeks, cucumber, pumpkins, peppers, and tomatoes..ahhh the tons of tomatoes!  Georgie loves being out here with them, chatting it up in Italian!  I wonder sometimes if she is bugging them but they seem to love having her which is adorably nice of an older Italian gardening couple. Juliet joins most of the time too.  Bruno gets a kick out of just watching her toddle around, curls bouncing.  I can tell he really likes both of them.  He has a contagious, cheery laugh and smile...almost enough to make me want to study Italian so I can chat it up with him too;)

This evening Georgie and I went on a "private" date.    

We played BINGO on base!  It was really edge of your seat fun!  We both want to go again, for sure.  Afterward Georgie said, "Can we figure out somewhere else to go because I don't want this night to end!"  Well if that didnt' melt my heart!!  She suggested going for a walk.  She talked my ear off while simultaneously wanting to stamp everything she saw with the pink BINGO stamper.  I reminded her that doing so was called Graffiti at which point we discussed how boring it was to be good all the time.  "Naughty things are fun!" she said, "until you get caught!"  We determined that in the end...it wasn't worth it! (Phew!!)

And who ends a date in Italy without gelato?  Not us!  Georgie chose the "Red Love" Sundae which was a grapefruit sized myriad of pink flavors stuffed into a cone then piled with whipped cream.  

She ended up eating half my strawberry granita while I finished off her gelato.  

She makes me fat:

 

I love this girl.  

She's growing up and I want to squeeze her for it!  

She is such a cute girl with unique passions, thoughts and interests.  

I am proud to be her Mom.

I love you my Georgie girl!

xoxo

The Boy

That's some hair, isn't it.  Bed Head.  And Isaac has it every morning.  His pillow is one of the luckiest in the world.  It has so much to play with at night;)  

For the past couple of weeks I have become keenly aware of how grown up this boy is.  He goes for bike rides by himself in the neighborhood, likes to spend time alone in his room from time to time and hangs out with his friends for hours at a time in the front and back yard and could care less to hear from any of us during that time. Our house has kind of become the neighborhood hang out and all the boys and girls on the street are constantly running in and out of it.  Isaac, sometimes politely and sometimes agitatedly, asks them to help clean up before they go or to please play outside because he has things he needs to get done in his room!  But most of the time (95%) he plays with them.  They shoot guns, dress up in Ninja gear, fight with light sabers or swords and play with his somewhat large collection of Hero Factory guys.  ("Isit's guys" as Ju-B calls them).  He looks after his sister and if ever I need something done or some help with her I can ask him.  If it's something that doesn't involve helping with Juliet he often complains but despite his reluctance he always gets the job done.  

If he's not playing outside he has his nose in a book or has commandeered my Ipod touch and is sitting on the couch seat in his bedroom often with Georgie looking over his shoulder.  Sometimes he reads 6 chapter books in a week.  And sometimes he reads two.  We try not to make reading something of pressure.  He genuinely loves it.  

He and Juliet have a special bond.  There's a real selflessness to Isaacs love for his youngest sister.  She's far enough away to not be of any competition to him.  In every interaction it is obvious that he absolutely adores her.  He sees the humor in her baby-ness right along side me and we have a lot of fun laughing at her together.  He reads her stories at bedtime and she just sits there, contentedly nestled into his side.  Every time I have to cut those two off.  I think they would go on reading for hours.  It's cool to watch.    

The other day I began to notice how often Isaac wants to be a part of Joey and I's adult conversation.  We came home from being out and Georgie and Juliet took off to play.  Joey and I began talking about the people who were interested in buying our home and other uninteresting business stuff.  Isaac stayed around and just listened.  I watched  him get excited when we did, talking about selling the house and the benefits that we would see from that.  Last night he lingered at the dinner table longer than usual listening to us talk about the news or something similar to that.  He's curious.

He still snuggles, hugs, kisses and wants our attention, all of which I am very grateful.  In so many ways he is still such a little boy.  And in others he's very much grown up.  I think there's a fight in him to be both and he's still not exactly sure how to manage the controversy.  I see that fight in him. 

He'll be 8 years old in about a month.  And while it seems like ages ago that he was a baby it feels as if I haven't soaked it in enough...like so much of his growing up has slipped between my fingers.  He's our oldest so in so many ways we anticipate his aging, always looking forward to "next".  Because of that, maybe I've missed some of the "now".  For what it's worth and your reading this when you're 45 someday, know that we love you.  That you're a very sweet, thoughtful, complicated, intelligent little man with a very big heart.  You desire to be good, successful, happy, kind and loved.  I hope you know that you are!

xoxo

Ash/Mom 

Georgie

We were driving home from Houston yesterday, doing our road trip thing.  The kids were watching their movie, way in the back of our mini-van while I drove, always dangerously multi-tasking, in the drivers seat.  I heard Georgie from the back somewhat urgently say:

"Mom, I need to tell you something."
"What's up Georgie."
"I thought that I felt my 15 year molars in my mouth but I reached back there and it was just a goldfish."

"???" and after a few seconds of that, I laughed.  Georgie, you're so wierd!

xoxo
Mom

By the way, we're moving to Italy.....

I Know Perfect, And It Hurts

I have been feeling an intense amount of pain lately at the perfectness of my Juliet.  I love her so much that my heart literally hurts.  I believe I felt this before with Isaac and Georgie and I think I've heard others say it about their children but, now, right now and for several days in a row, I feel it.

A little about her:

Juliet has curly hair, and I'm talking ringlets, dozens of them.  In the back she has tight little ringlets that bounce when she runs.  On the top of her head she has big curls that rise up in big soft waves as much as 2 inches off the top of her head.  It's particularly poofy when she awakes from a nap or a good nights sleep.  I can't bring myself to wet them or matt them down so they usually stay that way all day long.  She reminds me of a miniature 1940's glam screen siren.  This hair adds so much to her charm and cuteness.

Maybe best of all is that Juliet will lay on my chest for as long as I let her before naptime or bedtime.  She just lays there, eyes open and blinking.  I can feel the brush of her long eyelashes on my chest from time to time, reminding me that she's awake and content to just be.  If only time could stand still and I had no other chores to do.  One of these days I will steal that luxury from time and I don't think I'll regret it later, no matter how chaotic the rest of the day becomes.  She also will lay on my shoulder for up to 5 minutes when she cries and when I ask her to "be a sweet baby" she obeys, lays her head on my shoulder and giggles.  I've tried several times to memorize the feeling of her curls pressed against my cheek or her warm breath directed toward my neck.  Only I can ever know how much I LOVE this.  Thank you, Juliet, Thank you.

Juliets speaks with such inflection.  Her voice rises and falls with every syllable showing immense expression of her excitement, anger, joy, anticipation or whatever it is that she is feeling.   Whenever she sees a puppy, a bird, or a kitty cat, her eyebrows instantly rise, her lips purse up, her finger points, her shoulders tighten and she screams outloud, "PU-ppy", usually while running to it...atleast 5 different tones being belted out in a two syllable word.  She was this way even before she could talk, so much inflection in her babbles.    She conveys so much when she says "Isit" (Isaac) and "Geogie" (Georgie) as well...you can hear how much she idolized them with her inflections and the excitement written all over her body.  She has a way of pursing her lips that makes you want to freeze her in just that way and frame it.  I tell Isaac that he needs to find me a stun gun so we can shoot her with it and freeze her at just this age.  He agrees that this is necessary.

And her button nose, oh that cute little nose.  I thought I was the only one that noticed its button-ness until her Uncle Robby said something to us about how cute it was.  And then in the last two days, 3 different people have commented to me in passing how cute her little nose is.

Juliet loves to be outside WITH her shoes on.  She waits desperately at the window much of the day saying, "ouside, ouside", running up to me saying "shoes on", "shoes on".  And if ever you take her shoes off, she cries, "shoes on, shoes on"!  Because she knows her outside moments are over.

She says "tank you" (thank you) always very softly, almost to herself whenever I hand her anything.  But for some reason, she rarely says it to strangers.

This age...oh this perfect little age...and this is where the pain comes in, I think.  Because I know that she's not always going to be like this.  I know that it's fleeting.  And that's has to be okay with me.  She grows up and I get to know more and more of who she really is but it doesn't change the fact that I know I'll always miss this time of her being content to just lay on my chest.  There's something sort of sickly wonderful about fully possessing a tiny little child.  Hopefully I outgrow that sickness at the same rate that she outgrows her adorableness;)  Much love to you my baby.  Because that you will always and forever be, my sweet baby Juliet.

Nicknames for Juliet:
#1. Ju-B   We almost never call her anything else
#2.  money, mini money, my money
#3. bunny

Happy Birthday Mom/Gaga!!!

My Mother, my friend, 

it is your 

BIRTHDAY!!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Aren't we cute!

  My Mom has moves.  And she gave me the love of shaking it too!!  We both love to dance, just in different ways.  My Mom is frequently heard saying that if she could do it all over again she'd be a ballroom dancer.  Anytime there's music playing she is singing and her hips are moving.  As a child I remember her being the one that filled our home with music.  Elvis, first and foremost and then groups like Credence Clearwater, Fats Domino and all kinds of Rock and Roll Oldies, particularly the southern variety.  Anything with a beat.  She's really fun.

Today is my Mom's birthday.  And I'm so bad at birthdays (and time in general) that I completely forgot My excuse is that one time I had a bad bike accident (haha) and because of that, most days I don't even know what day it is (yada, yada...I was kind of like that already but I'll go ahead and milk it...it's nice to have an excuse for being oblivious;).  

Mom, I hope you know how much I love you and think of you.  And how much I wish that I could be with you today.  I wish we could go get a frozen yogurt for breakfast, and then go shopping at TJ Maxx and then Nordstroms.  The older I get, the more I wish we lived close, and oddly, the further I seem to move away.  I wish I could take you and Dad with us to Italy, travel the world together, and then come home together.  I truly mean that.  If I could make it so, I would.   I wish I could buy you those Channel sunglasses that you've always wanted, the food processor that you've never had and the shopping spree at your store of choice.  You're hot enough to sport the greatest of fashions and if you don't believe me, just ask Brandon, my teacher at the wood shop;)  

I love you, Mom.  I hope your day today made you happy, made you feel loved and thought of by all of us (there are 100's I'm sure) that love you.  Hopefully some pulled through more than I...Happiest wishes to the Mom that I am grateful to call mine.  

xoxxo

Ashley

p.s.  More from the littles tonight!!

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!

The Best Christmas Surprise EVER!!

For the past several months my brother Adam and I have been scheming up some big plans. 

 We've been planning a surprise for my parents...a BIG surprise!

 Here we all are on Christmas morning just before the big surprise, wearing our Singapore T-shirts from Uncle Bryant.  After the picture was taken I showed my Mom where their ultimate present had been hiding throughout the morning.

They opened a very large, very light weight box to find a simple note that read:

"Let The Games Begin" 

and explained the basic idea of a scavenger hunt 

and gave them their first clue.

While they spent their time hunting for little slips of paper hidden throughout the house,

 the rest of us got dressed up in these:

Green T-shirts that read "Pettey Family Reunion 2012" 

and an image of a cruise liner and a tiny Tinkerbell waving her magic wand.

We were dressed just in time for them to finish their hunt.  

I think they had no idea what to expect.

And, not to brag or anything;), 

but I think we exceeded their expectations!!

"It's A Small World After All!!" we all sang together

"We're taking you on a Disney Cruise!!"

Their were tears!!

And their were hugs!  

I still kind of feel like we hit a home run with this surprise!  We're all so excited for our big trip in February.  And I hope it made my parents feel honored and let them know how special they are to us and how grateful we all are for all the surprises they've given us along the way.  Because its true. We are and they are...special to us.

xoxo

Ash 

An Epic Summer Day

While our neighbors were out of town this summer they invited us to use their trampoline in exchange for watering their back yard.  Since we've always wished we had a trampoline, this was not at all a problem for us!  In fact, it was an opportunity!  The kids absolutely loved running across the street, hopping over their fence and setting up the hose on top or underneath the tramp for hours of jumping fun in 100+ degree heat.  

As a Mom in the summer time with big kids, a baby and a home to take care of, nurture, entertain, teach, clean, feed, discipline, etc. I often find myself mourning the fact that I don't have more time for FUN with my kids.   I resent having to getting angry with them and I feel guilty about the fact that sometimes, when I do have a minute to spare I'd rather spend it alone than with little people that have been all up in my personal space all day long.  The role I play seems to be too much of, "stop this, do that, no!, clean up, go to time out, no TV for a week" and on and on and on!!  One Saturday morning after a run I suggested that the kids go jump on the trampoline and as always, they asked me to come with them.  Hmmm...well... Juliet was sleeping, Joey was doing the laundry, I was already hot and sweaty and we weren't having anyone over for dinner that night so...why not!  So I went.  I'm so glad I did.  I wish their had been a video camera in the sky somewhere that no one in the world could watch but the kids and I someday in the future.  We laughed so hard that we couldn't catch our breath.  I was being a complete loony person out there, all of us scantily clothed, drenched with water and squinting from the bright sun.    

 We came up with characters on wierd whims like "Wild Nellie" and "Crazy Bill" and we played those parts, shooting each other with water and slipping all over the place.  It's hard to explain and best for our image as sane people that I not explain it in much detail...but it was pretty epic.  The kids kept saying to me over and over again, "This is so fun, Mom!  We're having so much fun together;)"  I kept thinking to myself, "I hope I always remember what this feels like, right now and I hope that they remember me....like this."  I hope that when I'm frustrated or angry over the course of the next year that this fun time we're having together will carry over and soften their little hearts toward understanding and forgiveness.  I hope this epic summer day carries on.  

The dual role that I have to play as a Mom, both disciplinarian, teacher, and example of so many things while simultaneously being a joyous influence in the home and trying to make our house a peaceful place for my family to be has been tricky for me.  I've always hated putting people out, asking for help, or demanding a lot of sacrifice from my friends.  The same has applied to my children as well.  I do it...but I always feel torn up inside about it.  I feel this pressure to always keep my cool, never upset them and make sure that everyone is always happy!  I want so much for them to like me!  I think the view I had in the beginning of my adult life of what I would be like as a mother was unrealistic.  I didn't think I would ever have to be the bad guy.  I believe strongly in giving kids boundaries, a lot of responsibility and allowing (or instigating;) natural consequences to occur as a result of their behavior.  But I didn't take into account how regularly I would feel grumpy, how strong their individual personalities would be or how much kids don't understand about the world and why they have to learn certain lessons.  I remember my Mom saying, "You're can't be your kids best friend."  I'm still working on really accepting that part of my job and its fun experiences like this one, actually, that help me to see that both can be done and both are equally important. 

 It's about finding that balance and accepting that there has to be both sides.   For me, as I accept that, the more gracefully I handle those tricky, grumpy situations because I don't feel the pressure to be or keep everyone "happy".  It's just not realistic.

There has to be both the wise, sometimes stern, teaching Mom that you respect and the friend Mom that you can let your guard down with from time to time.  

It's a tough job but somebody has to do it...I'm glad its me.  Isaac, Georgie and Juliet are like little Zen masters, enlarging me every single day.  And that's what its all about! 

xoxo

Gran

I talk with my children a lot about their Gran, my Grandmother whom I never imagined I would miss and think about as often as I do.  Her name seems to come up every time I talk about my childhood or see a raspberry or make mashed potatoes.  I even watched an episode of Murder She Wrote the other day while I did some sewing.  It was her favorite TV show.  Hearing the theme song brought a somewhat mournful smile to my face.

Tonight when I went to lay down with Georgie after I got home from the gym she asked me to tell her a story from when I was a little girl.  I told her about the time I went to Utah on a plane with my cousin Aly...no mommies to hold our hands.  I told her about how I visited my Gran and played barefoot on her soft green lawn (I'm not trying to sound sentimental here, they had the best grass!!)and picked raspberries and cherries in her back yard.  I told her about how she bought me the silky blue nightgown that Georgie wears obsessively now despite the fact that its 2 feet too long for her.  On Sunday I gave her a necklace that had been my Grans, a dainty gold one with a tiny key dangling from it.  Mid story Georgie began asking me questions about Gran.  "Where did Gran get that night gown?"  "Where did Gran get this necklace?"  It seemed to me that in that moment my Gran became a person to Georgie.  And for some reason tears welled up in my eyes and I smiled.  It struck me that my Gran was living on in us.  I have always known, to some inadequate extent how much a Grandparent means to a child but I never considered, as a child, what they mean to adults...what great lessons and stories they provide for us as parents.  It was a short trip from that line of thought to my own parents who are so much a part of everything that I am.  I'm so grateful that my children have them.  I'm so glad that when Isaac is sad that he has Gaga to call.  That when they grow up and tell their children stories they'll be able to tell them how Papa dressed up in a costume every year for their birthdays.  How they drove an off roading vehicle with PopPop at Christmas time and swam many miles in Mimi's swimming pool.  We're writing each others stories every day and sadly, most of the time we don't even realize it.  It takes moments like this one with G to put it all in perspective.  As I think about my Gran I wonder if she knew, before she left us, what a big part of my story that she was.  I wonder if she knew that she would live on in us.  I doubt I ever told her, past the age of 12, because I didn't even know it myself.  I think it goes to show, that yes, undoubtedly we need to express our love for the people in our lives.  But more than that is that all of this goes with out saying.  It just is.  Good Grandparents are part of who we are.  They are the cozy blanket, the worlds best snuggle, the best present on Christmas Morning, the back scratch and the softest hands you've ever held.  They will always be the smile that arises on the face of a 4, 30 or 85 year old.  They transcend generations!  So for all the thanks you don't get Gaga, Papa, Poppop and Mimi, know it from your own experience.  You are the world to them, to us and to the generations to come.  

A Typical Saturday

On A typical Saturday at our house, you would find:

 Georgie dressed in some kind of princess garb, traipsing around the back yard.  She will have tights on no matter the weather and no jacket, no matter the weather.

 Isaac will be dressed and ready for the day within minutes of waking up and his imagination will be reeling.  He'll have talked Georgie into some sort of Star Wars, magical or futuristic scenario and the backyard becomes their fantasy world.  Here above, Isaac is sitting on their "time machine" that whisked them back to the paleolithic age.  

Both houses on either side of us are vacant so we currently have three back yards partitioned by a chain link fence.  On one side the gates are locked so the kids are constantly climbing the fence via a dog house and playing over there.  

Joey and I will likely be doing some sort of work on the house, him on the outside, me usually on the inside.  On this particular Saturday we were both scraping all the old paint on the trim around the house. It was brutal...I ditched him at the end of the day.  There's tons more to do but...it's his baby now;)

Don't forget the cloth diapers that are always strewn across any semi-clean surface in the backyard sun!!

I wish I had a shot of Juliet drooling all over herself in the Bumbo, whining for someone to give her a bit of attention.   Poor thing;)    

All Is Right With The World

I'm feeling contemplative today and would love to get down some of our thoughts and feelings from our first few days with Juliet.

All Is Right With The World:
I don't remember it being instantaneous that the peaceful, serene feelings came to me.  Rather gradually  happiness seemed to envelope me and the words, "all is right with the world" came to my mind to describe how it felt.  I kept repeating them to myself and trying to relish in the perfectness that they described.   All was right with the world.  That is exactly how a new baby feels to me.  Any hard feelings that I'd held deep within the recesses of my brain seemed forgiven.  I loved everyone and everything.  My baby was with me and she was OURS.  It is an almost cleansing experience.  It wasn't that I didn't feel any sadness at all because I did.  But it was sadness born of love.  Though I had wanted a girl I still mourned, slightly, that my baby boy days were over.  I mourned for myself and I mourned for Isaac.  My heart sat slightly on pins and needles as I listened to Joey telling the kids that we'd had a girl.  Isaac had always said he didn't care what we had but I'd wondered if this was a defense mechanism.  Not one bit.  He was ecstatic to meet her, never making one comment about "boys" or regret.  He loved our baby for exactly who she was.  I think that will continue.

As the afternoon progressed and they kept her away from us for tests, a bath, measurements and screenings I began getting antsy to hold her again.   When we finally got our time with her I couldn't nestle close enough.  I had forgotten how soft a baby is, how sweet they smell and how much I would want Juliets tiny little face to bury itself into my neck and breath her shallow, warm breath.  My heart is a defenseless little puddle held by the chubbiness of her cheeks, the poutiness of her lips, the blackness of her eyes and the flatness of her ears smooshed so delicately against the sides of her head.  To kiss her is to soar.  I can't get off this high that she brings.  It is GLORIOUS!!  Dare I say I want to do this 10X more?  Have I forgotten, already, what it is to be pregnant?  ...Some great love that makes you forget that!!  But we have a little piece of heaven in our home.  And that is a great love.

Her Name:
The name Juliet struck me one day about 4 or 5 months ago and while we vascillated and continued to look for others up until her birth day, it seemed to stick.  I had wanted to use the middle name, Nannette because it would have been more after my Mother since she goes by Nann but Juliet doesn't go with that very well so we settled on Nina.  Nina is my Mom's first name, my grandma's first name and the middle name of my favorite cousin, Jillian.  Juliet is a fourth generation Nina.  I've decided that for giggles we'll have to get pictures taken of the four of them at JC Penney or Olan Mills the next time we're in Houston;)  Wouldn't that be hilarious!!  It seemed strange to call her Juliet at first, probably because we'd never called the baby anything when it was still in the womb...we hadn't had time to get used to it.  Plus, its three syllables and a bit sophisticated...to call something squirmy, and squishy that squeaks by a name that Shakespeare wrote with seems a bit strange.  But its settling on her nicely.  I shorten it to Jet sometimes and she's been called Jules by a few as well.  I like them both for nicknames.


Thoughts on "waiting":
Joey and I decided that if we ever had a third child we would wait to find out the sex because, conveniently, we have all the necessaries for a boy or a girl.  We proceeded with that decision when I became pregnant with Juliet.  I am so glad to have done it that way but wanted to point out the one downfall of that decision.  I didn't feel as connected to the baby while I was carrying her.  I couldn't really imagine her, her name, her interactions with our family, how she would dress, the things we might do together etc. because She was an It.  My imaginations of It were more vague, less reliable, and honestly much fewer than I remember with the other two.  But the excitement leading up to the birth, the curiosity, the discussions/guesses and, of course, the delivery made up for it.  I was concerned a bit by my lack of connection but about two days before she was actually born, it came.  I became MUCH less concerned with "un-pregnanting" myself and obsessed with anticipation of having a Baby again...my baby!  My Mom cut the chord and when Juliet was placed on my chest my heart yearned for my second little girl, instantly.  Once again, heaven entered into the picture.  It was as if heaven came out of my womb;)  (how's that for melo-dramatic!!)  I wanted to kiss and squeeze her but refrained from disscusting the nursing staff by putting my lips all over her adorable cheesy, bloody, grey/blue body.  I let them wipe her down a bit and began planting the kisses on her head and cheeks.  All my MOm, Joey and I could do was smile, laugh, kiss her and make observations about her looks.  None of us could stop smiling.


The kids came for a visit:
The thing I noticed the most when the kids walked in was that the peace was with them too.  They had sincere, calm, pleasant smiles.  Not over excited, obnoxious ones.  They too wanted to be quiet, hold her, look at her, reflect.  Especially Isaac.  "Don't you just love her, Isaac?  Do you feel that in your heart?" He said yes and I could tell he meant it.  They brought her some gifts, a "Thank Heaven For Little Girls" jumper to be brought home in and a soft pink pig that makes oinking sounds when you squeeze its sides. They wanted their pictures taken with her and kept their soft smiles all the while.  They didn't want to leave us and kept asking when we were coming home.  They were going to miss us, they said.  Isaac called us the next day about noon-ish and said, "When are you coming home?  You said you'd be home after lunch and we ate lunch like 5 minutes ago!!"  So cute!  We got home around 1:30pm.  He saw us drive up and must have been waiting at the window.  Georgie "checks" on Juliet constantly.  Every morning since we've been home she comes to my bed as soon as she wakes up to "check" on her and lay down with her.  So sweet.

Joey said to me the other night as she slept on his chest, "I just love her, I'm so glad we had her.  I'm smitten."  And that about sums up how we all feel.  Thank heaven for little girls;)  Thank heaven for Juliet!

It's BIG....

...I'm 30!

On facebook this morning I typed that I was happy today because I did my mourning last year.  You can read about that mourning process HERE;)  And it's true.  In my mind I was basically 30 on the day I turned 29.  So, today, I can enjoy it!!   I'm looking forward to this decade and considering that I almost died twice in my 29th year I'm just grateful to be alive!!  (Biking accident and House fire...more on that from Joey in a few days..ha!)  "Happy Birthday to me" and thank you to all the people that enrich my life.  What would life be without family and friends....NOTHIN'!  Happy Summer everyone!

p.s.  If you read my last years "mourning" entry you should know that I'm over being down on Botox and plastic surgery...bring it on;)

Uninspired

While I used to be a regular blogger, lately I'm having a hard time feeling at all inspired.  Its too much work to lug out the camera, in the evenings I would rather crawl into bed as soon as the dishes are finished, I don't feel inspired by almost anything...even my children (did I just admit that out loud) and blogging seems to be at the very bottom of my ever growing check list.  Meanwhile my children's childhood is passing me by undocumented and the guilt sets in when I remember that there IS an alternative.  So here I am...uninspired and up past my desired bed time doing what guilt is forcing me to do.   And I'm trying so very hard to do it with a smile.  Man, I love being pregnant.  I wish I could stay like this forever!!  Count me in for having 12 more!!!  BLAHHH!

Today we went to the air show.  Our first ever and a big deal for an Air Force family.  Isaac really enjoyed scoping out the inside of an F15 and a B52 bomber.  And when our ears were plugged we LOVED watching the Thunderbirds.  It felt like we were in the presence of Rock Stars.  

Georgie enjoyed herself, relatively, but kept making a bed for herself in the middle of a runway, under a wing or something while Isaac and I stood in line.  I was kind of liking her idea but without Joey around, I had to "be in charge" of our place in line:(  

Here is the current scene in our bedroom tonight.  Joey left for San Antonio today so there will be sleepovers in my room every night!!  Or at least until the midnight awakenings and kicking catches up to me.  Just watching them, I'm beginning to get inspired...sleep, sleep, sleep.  Sweet dreams everyone!

xoxo

Ash

Catch UP!!

It's time to play catch-up!!  Let the games begin...

In February, for Ga Ga's birthday, the kids and I met up with the my Mom and Dad in Dallas.  We stayed in a hotel, ate a birthday dinner at Macaroni's, went to the Aquarium as well as heritage park, where you see us here on the front porch of a 100 + year old restored home.  We had a great time just being together.

You should know that this is mostly what we've been up to lately...adding a room onto our house.  But this is a topic for a whole other day.  But I won't mention it here without giving infinite amounts of thanks to Pop Pop (Joey's Dad) for all his hard work on our behalf.  We're LOVING the extra space!

My great friend Zeffy came for a visit over Spring Break in March.  It was so great to see her.  The kids got along marvelously after almost 2 years of being a part.

We had a GREAT time!  Here's Isaac with Olivia!

After Zeffy left us we drove down to Dallas to meet up with our friend Abby, her little sister Olivia and her parents Mary and Ben.  It was, once again, great to catch up with old friends.  Becky and Trevor Hunt and kids joined us too.  But I'm horrible with a camera so I don't have very many shots.  

We went to Six Flags for one whole day, stayed up way too late at night talking and visited the Stock Yards in Fort Worth.  Mary and I squeezed in some shopping as well...you better bet we didn't skip out on that opportunity!

At Six Flags, the guys karaokied {sp??} your body is a wonderland for us ladies.  We were in stitches watching them make total fools of themselves.  They got really into it and it was hilarious!!

Isaac rode his first BIG roller coaster.  He climbed aboard bravely with Daddy to "test drive" it before Georgie and I went on together.  When the end came he had a grin on his face but advised Georgie of it's begin too scary!!  He didn't recommend it!  But he was a good sport and proud of himself for trying it.  

I had to include the photo of naked jumping on the hotel bed!  woo-hoo!!

Happy Easter!  Here Isaac is with his friend Ben Foster at the base Easter egg hunt.

Georgie and her boys!

Georgie can pump herself in a swing now!!  And she's very proud!

Our favorite Easter gift ever??  Klutz' face painting book.  I would highly recommend it!

Georgie was hilarious with her snow queen persona.  She kept fanning her arms out and gently flicking her wrists in slow motion as she pranced about the house.  She felt so absolutely beautiful!

For Joey's birthday we invited over some friends for a simple taco salad and key lime cheesecake.  Here are a few of our smaller guests, who, by the way, LOVE Joey;)

I'm not sure if this was the end of one of our sleepovers but here I am reading the Bahr kids a story, right before they have to go home one afternoon.  We've had quite a few sleepovers this spring and it has been so much fun!!

Isaac has been scaling up on his chores lately!!  Here he is with the vacuum, wearing a smile!  What a great attitude!

A bad picture because only our zoom lens works right now, this is the twin size bed that I finally finished for the kids.  I'm really happy with how it turned out!  With strict adherence to the "no jumping on the bed" rule, I hope it will last long enough to be an heirloom!  

Okay...now I can begin life as a regular blogger again!  Gee, I've missed it!