Do Do You Love Me, Do Do You Love Me?

I was a huge Paula Abdul fan growing up.  I made up a ton of dances to her songs.  I'm pretty sure I still know most of the lyrics.  Straight Up was one of my favs.  Still is apparently.  I've listened to it on repeat this morning.  I'm cool like that.

Where am I going with this?  I don't know.  I was thinking about love...

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  A day we don't celebrate as a couple because it's unnecessary.  I'm not one of those girls who needs flowers or a teddy bear holding a heart.  I need those things on our anniversary, and every other Friday and Tuesday afternoons.  So adding V-day would be too much for the Mr.

But now I have a little girl, and I want to celebrate it with her.  I loved Love Day as a kid.  I loved it until I was a teenager and no boys liked me...then I didn't love Love Day anymore.

Last night Nate told me he wanted Valentine's Day to be a day for he and Andrey.  He wants to give her little notes, flowers and gifts.  He said he wants his little girl to know she is loved on Love Day.  So even if she doesn't have a boyfriend when she's older, she'll know she always has dad.  It was so sweet!  And then I asked him what he got her, and he felt like an idiot and said, "nothing".  I guess he'll start next year.

I love you Nate.  I love you Andrey.  I love you still Paula Abdul.

Powdery White Stuff

We've gotten a lot of snow here.  Not drugs.  They're both powdery and white.  But I prefer the snow to the blow!  Ha!  That's awesome.

You know it's a lot of snow when they close schools and businesses in Colorado.  We love it!  I can't wait until next season when I can take Andrey out in it to play.  But for now she settled for looking out the window, and a few handfuls of the cold stuff.  She she didn't know what to do with.  So she ate it.

The snow covered the deck and Mr. P. had to get out there to shovel a place for the wee little doggie to go potty.  That poor dog.

Andrey was a bit freaked out to see her dad decked in snow gear.  She didn't like his ski goggles.

She did like watching him shovel though.  She was banging and slapping the glass door.  Or maybe she was doing that to warn me.  "Mom, there's a scary man out there stealing our white stuff!"

One last shot of my spooky husband.  He even scared me.

Did you play in the blow snow?

Coming to a Theater Near You

Silly baby.  Crazy mom.

And Then Some...

I rocked my baby to sleep tonight.

It's been a while since I've done that.

She sucked her thumb and nestled in close, and I breathed in her sweet smell.

Her room was dark.  Her lullabies played softly in the background.

A few times I wondered if I should put her in her crib.

No, not yet.  I rocked her some more.

I reminded myself that this day will never come again.  It's almost over now.

There is no place I'd rather be.

I thanked God over and over for her while I rested my cheek on her head.

My eyes filled with tears over the immense amount of love I feel for this beautiful girl.

I told myself "remember this".

And I will.

And then some.

Premature Crayons

I've been struggling with what is commonly known as Imsickofallyourtoys syndrome. It can be a serious condition if it's not treated.  So I've been looking for other activities.  We've been working on skills and coordination a lot.  I thought it might be fun to try coloring.  And she was obviously excited too.

I went out and bought a cheap box of Crayola's.   I taped down some paper and got my camera out.

She didn't care.  She just ripped the paper off.

I showed her how to use the crayon.  And she tried it, sideways style.  Nate said she was working on shading.

Then she would tuck her crayon in next to her hip on her seat.  She does this with food too.  She will hide her food behind her buns in her high chair.  I think she is worried about a food shortage, so she's stocking up.

She liked to pull out more crayons, and then hide them.

It was so cute to watch her not know how to color... I guess she's not old enough for this activity.  Back to stacking blocks we go!

Welcome Emily Lynn!

My bro-hoss (brother, aka: J-Lo, Jas, J) and his wifey had their third baby, a little lady, on January 20th.  She is delicious perfection.  Andrey and I went to visit her when she was only hours old.   I undressed her from her swaddle and checked out her fingers and toes.  She's just beautiful!  I love newborn babes.  They smell so good.  And they sleep...a lot.  I like that part too.

We decided to get a few pics of Andrey meeting her cousin.  Andrey hasn't seen many babies this small.  And she's never been this close.  Maybe this isn't the best idea.

She checked her out, and then attempted to poke her in the eye.  Poor little Emily, only hours old, has already had to defend her peepers against a giant baby.

My bro was kind enough to watch my kid while I held his new one.  It was so cute for him to spend some time with his only niece.

I'm so excited to have another little girl, the third little girl, in our family.  She'll just have to put her safety glasses on next time she see's her cousin.

My First Maternity Shoot!

For two of my friends, a great adventure is about to begin.  One that will change their lives.  They actually allowed me (seriously, me?) to take some pictures of them in anticipation of their little girl.  It was so fun!  We froze our buns and bumps off outside, but it was worth it.  Thanks guys!

(be prepared for a million pictures...)

If you know anyone who wants some pictures taken, I'll do it for free!  Well...I'll do it for a Starbucks.  Spread the word ya'll!