pretty

Growing up as a girl who wished she'd been born a boy, one of the worst things I could be called was "pretty". It was made even worse when "pretty" was used in conjunction with my nickname: "Jenny (ughh), you're so pretty (gag)."

However.

In response to Beloved's recent sport bike purchase (my Christmas gift to him as a testosterone outlet amidst yet another girl), I sent the following text message in the middle of an impromptu morning of dancing at home:
You can have your bike & your testosterone; I have pretty girls who like to giggle & dance & sing & wear pretty clothes with me. Oh, my HEART!

I'd say the acceptance of my femininity is complete.

God does not want me posting pictures

Am I too prideful?
Do I feel a need to measure up?
Have I looked to the blog world to give me a sense of self-worth?

The answer to at least one of these questions must be "yes," or God would surely help me find a way to upload some pictures of my kiddos (especially the rapidly growing, 13 pounder). This was supposed to be a "Wordless Wednesday" post. But alas, He has other plans for me. Plans that do not involve displaying those two beauties for all to see.

The camera is in excellent working order once again, and yet we have no downloads happening. Because... the cord that connects the two is missing. Here sits a perfectly good camera with so many cute pictures, just centimeters away from the computer on which I blog, and yet they are still so far away.

I realize you don't believe me when I say that I have tried, and will continue to try, posting pictures. But I will. Really. And it will happen sometime before they graduate from high school.

worth looking at

I promise I've tried to post a new pic of Lizzie, since the most recent one was sometime before she turned 1 month, but to no avail. I'll keep trying.

However, this website really is worth checking out. Did you know that talking on the phone while driving has the same effect on your brain as 2 alcoholic drinks? And texting is like 4 drinks? FOUR drinks! That's a blood alcohol level of 0.16, twice the legal limit.

We have an informal, grassroots sort of campaign going on at my high school right now to get all of the students and staff to make this pledge not to text or talk while driving.

Granted, I'm still all hormonal from Lizzie, but it only took two stories and a couple of statistics to make me stop watching and call Beloved to establish new family cell phone guidelines.

Will you join us? Take the pledge yourself. And blog about it, Facebook about it, or Twitter about it.

And I'm now off my soapbox. Thanks for listening.

she can try, but she can't win

Said in hushed tones:

"Pink, why don't you go pick out two books for us to read."

"Ummm, but I want five books."

"Go pick out two."

"But I want three books."

"You may have two books."

"But I don't want two books."

"OK, pick out one book, then."

"OK, I'll go get two books."

"You do that."

Daddy: "Pink, do you know how long Mommy & I have been married? 7 years!"

Pink: "Wow, that's a long time! (pause) When I get older are you going to marry me, Daddy?"

Daddy: "Sure."

Pink: "And we will listen to the Sleeping Beauty song while we dance? And then the dragon will come..."

Daddy: "But I will protect you!"

Pink: "No, I'm not going to be Sleeping Beauty at our wedding."

Daddy: "Oh. Who are you going to be?"

Pink: (completely straight-faced)"Pink."

Daddy: "Oh. Well, of course."

3 months already?

Where did the time go? And for that matter, where did the size newborn clothes go? Lizzie, you've gained so much chub already that you're about 3 months ahead of your sister in clothing size. But make no mistake, you're cute as all get-out.

You uttered your first giggle a couple weeks ago and yesterday was your first honest-to-goodness giggle session. You of course stopped as soon as the video was turned on, but it was oh-so-precious. You also seem to inspire me to hyphenate my words. Hmm. Maybe a future book worm?

You adore your sister and pretty much everyone else you see. You still enjoy people and you go willingly to anyone who'll smile at you. You are so willing to let others have a piece of your heart and your love. It's a beautiful thing the way you love on people.

You are learning to stand up for yourself when your sister gets a little bit too loud, or touchy, or grabby. Overall, though, you are relaxed and easy-going. You don't seem to need to assert yourself often, as you are content in just about any situation (except the car; we will need to chat about the car).

You try to sit, stand, and roll over. So far, you're just attempting and not succeeding. Which is good, because you're already growing up so fast anyway.

You must be teething early, because you've been eating your fist more and more vigorously for about a month now and your drool rivals that of a good friend of yours.

You ignored me for the most part when I went back to work, but only for 2 days. Then you seemed to let me back into your circle of trust and I'm so grateful for it.

You are more than we could have asked for.

Happy 3 month b-day, sweet girl.

happy anniversary

So maybe this conversation happened on the phone tonight:

My little brother: "Hey, I just called to wish you guys a happy anniversary. Too bad we aren't in town, or we'd watch the girls for you."

Me: "Oh, that's alright. I'm just picking up broken glass from the Pyrex that exploded on the stove while I was making dinner, leaving butter and glass everywhere; and Beloved is watching the Tinkerbell movie, changing a diaper, and cleaning up spit up."

Little brother (who has been married 2 years and has no offspring): "Wow, I guess anniversaries change over the years."

Me: "Yup. Just a little bit."

But I still wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Thanks for my favorite 7 years & a whole lot of memories.