adventures in eating :: spaghetti squash

So Lou Lou still isn't a fan of food. Which is astonishing to me as food and I are pretty much going steady. These photos are exactly the order they came off the camera. I'm pretty sure if I just gave her some Diet Dr Pepper and a spoonful of Nutella, she'd change her mind about things. But as it turns out, my major food groups are frowned upon in infant circles. Darn shame.

my heart

It seems that there is a lot of heartbreak going on around the world these days. I'm just constantly struck with the intense desire to hold a baby on each knee and hunker down somewhere safe with some Diet Dr Pepper, some chocolate, and of course, some baby formula. Because WHAT ELSE IS THERE? My heart is continually tender, especially when I take a real moment to let it all sink in. How much I have. How full my heart is.

Weeks ago, while trolling Pinterest, I came across this. I'd pinned the quote before, but it really hit me in that moment. The way I carry those that I love in my heart so literally, the way sometimes my heart aches with happiness, because it's so very full. And of course, then I look at my babies. And my heart practically weeps. Sometimes my eyes do. I look at all the hurt that happens in this world, and I know I've had some and will have more, but right now, these moments filled with baby slobber kisses and toddler sentences, they're precious and fragile and I want to box them up and keep them in my heart forever. And so I do. I carry them in my heart. I hope to always carry them - and those that I love so dear - in my heart. And I want them to know that.

I sent this card to family members this year. And Annabelle helped me assemble some simple bracelets made out of felt and jute twine. For Annabelle, inspired by this pin, I made a simple puffy heart.

And I pulled her onto my lap and I explained to her, as I have a million times before, that she and little Lou Lou are my heart. And that when she sees this heart, she can remember that, she can remember how much I love her. She took the heart with big eyes, held it to her own heart, closed her eyes, and squeezed it tight. And I almost cried. She's been carrying it around all day, a simple reminder of how much I love her.

My heart is full. I carry so much loveliness in it these days. And for that I'm so very grateful.

it's been said

I want two braids and two phone-ee tails!

+

{after putting her bear down for a nap}

Okay, she's going to sleep in here, okay? DON'T go in there! And be quiet okay!?

+

Me: Where's Lydia's toy?

Belle: Um...I think she ate it.

+

Lydia! You're a crap up!

+

Me: What did you learn in Nursery today?

Belle: Of eating snaaacccks...

+

Me: Here you go Hon.

Belle: I'm not Hon.

Me: You're not?

Belle: No, Daddy's your Hon.

+

Don't eat this! Don't eat my ganilla bar! {granola bar}

+

{and The Sound of Music interpretation continues...}

...when the dog bites, when the pee stings...

{I die}

+

{after I attempted to retrieve a box of Lydia's clothes that Jess has wedged into a closet}

Belle: Did you get Lydia's clothes?
Me: No, I think we'll need Daddy to get it.

Belle: Yeah. Cuz Daddy is STRONG...And he's tall tall TALL.

{and he rearranges my storage...but that's another story...

and we're actually the same height...}

+

{after snuggling up with me and Lou Lou}

Belle: I wish you could get another sister out of your tummy...

Me: How about a brother? Would that be okay?
{this is by no means an announcement of any sort!}

Belle: Um...if the brudder is a sister.

+

Belle: And when you got married you weared a white dress!

Me: Yes, I had a white dress when I married Daddy.

Belle: And where is your white dress?
Me: My white dress is in St. George at Grandma Lichelle's. I'm saving it for you if you want to wear it when you get married.

Belle: And when I get married my daddy is going to marry ME!!

+

When I get much bigger my head will be BIG. And my tummy will be BIG. And I'll have a baby sister in it!

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Belle: I want jammies that have no toes and are long and dey-re not on my legs...

Me: What do you mean? Like Maria's nightgown?

Belle: YES! LIKE MARIA'S!!

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Look! He's playing the jello! {cello}

+

When I get a bigger head, I be a mom and play the jello?

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When Lydia was little, she had a hat on. And you were at the doctor's....AND YOU CAME BACK!

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{to her dolls, pretending to cross a street}

It's okay! The street's not stressable!

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Me: I love you the most!

Belle: I love you the...toast!

try listening to this just once

In the words of Annabelle: "I wanna listen to the one with lots of jellos again."
And again and again we've listened.
Yum. I love me some cello.

extracurriculars

So in Hawaii, we didn't just sit at the beach. Although we did spend a healthy number of hours there. (And we ain't complaining one bit about it.) We also:

Played at the playground...

Watched big sister play at the playground...

Rode "alligators"...

And toured the "Tangled boat"...

 

Is it so wrong that we're all still pining a little for some Hawaiian goodness?

to my first baby sister

 When you were tiny

and I was just a little bigger,

and we were playing with blocks

or baby dolls

or reading books and books and books,

if you ever looked up at me

the way that Lou looks at her big sister,

I hope that somewhere in the midst of being a toddler,

I let you know I felt exactly the same.

And that even now

this sisterhood that my babies are growing into

is the same one I cherish with you

and the next baby sisters. 

 It has been a magical thing

watching these two love each other.

And then realizing I've already done

just the same.

Three times over.

*These are their Hawaiian matchy matchy outfits. I may have squealed when I found them. And YES it's still winter in Utah. But matchy matchy overrules winter any day.

** While in Hawaii, our external flash died. In other words, a little part of my soul died. And my photos are going to be harsh and weird lighty for a while until we either fix or replace it.

first feeding

it's been said

Me: Do you know you're my heart?

Belle: Uh huh.

Me: And who else is my heart?

Belle: Lydia Lou?

Me: That's right. You're both my heart.

Belle: And you're my heart!

+

{after I tell her there's a dog in the parking lot}

Belle: There's a frickin dog in the parking lot!

Me: What did you just say?

Belle: There's a FRICKIN DOG in the parking lot.

{ha ha ha ha ha ha}

+

{to her dolls before bed}

It's time for you to sleep...don't worry 'bout it....you're stressable!

You are crying in the dark! I hear you talking in the dark! Cuz your mouf is really sad!

+

{all the time}

Oh, it's fine. Don't worry 'bout it.

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When I grow up, I have lots of kids, and I be like Maria.
{from Sound of Music, of course}

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Don't stress about the doors, aright? They're not as stressable.

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When I get big I be on a movie like Annie.

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{after waking up from her nap to my Gilmore Girls}

Belle: Does this have singing?

Me: No...it's Gilmore Girls. No singing.

Belle: Could we watch somefing with singing?

+

{while "lifting weights" with Daddy}

Belle: Lessgo get some water aright?

{gets a drink with Daddy}

Belle: Lessgo lift again okay?

Daddy: Okay. Let me do one set, and then you can.

{this is perhaps the funniest and cutest thing to watch}

Belle: Will you help me snap Caterpillar's pajamas?

{I start snapping}

Belle: Don't mess up, aright?!

+

{She had a strange rash that our pediatrician couldn't diagnose so he went to get his colleague.
After the colleague left...}

The doctor's friend is a baldly!

{baldly = bald, like her little sister}

{also, the rash was a random, non contagious thing}

+

I'n eating one of dose froat drops...day're healthily...for my tummy.

+

Belle: I wanna play the dog game on the Kindle.

Me: How about we eat dinner first?

Belle: How about I play the Kindle while I eat dinner.

{and the negotiating begins...}

+

{singing the alphabet}

L, M, N, O, Pool

+

{singing My Favorite Things}

Raindrops on roses and whispers on kittens...When da dog bites, when the V-strings, when I'm feeling sad, I simply remember my fave-rit tings, and den I don't feeeeeel soooooo DAAAADDDD!

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Oh, you're so crunchily! {to Lydia}

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My butt is showing you!

{when her skirt fell down and she semi-mooned me (her tights were still on)}

+

Are we going on another alligator?

{gets in the elevator}

Okay. What button do I push.

{over and over and over in Hawaii}

+

Oh, the turtles are giving each other back hugs! How sweet!

{while putting our two turtle toys on top of each other in a very awkward fashion}

+

{while describing something from Tangled}

And dis is where Sin Rider sits...

hawaii in five

Click the little YouTube button to view larger in YouTube.

Beware. Watching this movie may cause one to get ridiculously trunky for summer.

Also, it's about five minutes long. So if you haven't five minutes to enjoy paradise, I've included a few more still shots (and explanations) for you.

I love these pictures. Pretty place. Pretty babies. Lovely memories. Including the meltdowns. Because we got over it and just loved the guts out of each other.

Thank you Hawaii.

My favorite faces. In. The. World.

The clouds in Hawaii are kind of amazing. That said, they often block the sunset.
However, the sun through them was pretty fantastic.

Annabelle is generally not fond of messes on her person.
At two years old she still hates to get messy while eating.
But put her in sand? Whole new ballgame.
She could live on the beach, quite literally.

Oh so serious.
This is Lydia staring us down just after her first encounter with the ocean.
Not a fan. Not a fan at all.

So they're not totally sharp photos, but come on!
Jess got pics of a whale jumping!

Most photos you see of Hawaii are all beach and ocean.
But there's jungle too.
This was a little hike we went on to Honolua Bay (a snorkeling hot spot).

Um, yeah.
This photo sums up Hawaii pretty well.

Her very favorite part of Hawaii: the cool, most towels the resort passed around.
She played with them for hours.

Jess said that just before he snapped this photo, this blow hole blew
even larger and soaked those super intelligent tourists to the left.

I think she just looks pretty much beautiful here.
And so very happy.

Sadly, this is how much of Lou's naps happened.

The sun setting on our last day.
We had a red eye flight, so we stayed outside until the last
minute to watch the sunset before going in to pack it up.

we're baaaaack!

So, um yeah. Hawaii. I have absolutely no idea how I'll ever suffiently update ya'll on a week in paradise. It was both the most relaxing and exhausting vacation ever. Taking two babies to Hawaii is not the easiest task. And it's possible that each member in our family had at least a minor meltdown. But we made it work. And we had a lot of fun doing it. Annabelle was our little fish and spent hours -HOURS AND HOURS - at the beach and pool. And Loula screamed at the ocean or sand if we got too close. (No, really. Screamed.) That said, we managed to find a perfect balance of beach and ventures and food and shade (for Lou) and glorious, glorious sun. And my heavens, that ocean air. My skin could drink that stuff for years and not get tired of it.

I'll be spending the next few days sorting through photos. I haven't a clue how they'll end up here, but they will. So for now, a random selection. :)

Things to note:

1. Like I wear makeup in Hawaii. And yes, yes, I am that hot and sweaty. And chubby to boot. Oh well.

2. I managed to keep both children from burning the entire week. That feat alone deserves national recognition. Have you seen their pasty skin? Not to mention Lou's BALD WHITE HEAD?

3. Annabelle's curls were to. die. for. They're popular here, but she practically stopped traffic in Hawaii.

Stay tuned. I feel like a video might be in the works. Because there are dozens of photos I already love. Oh Hawaii, we miss you already.