ROAR, ROAR, triple fricking ROAR

i have two girls. two.beautiful.girls. two girls that i cannot get enough of. two girls that i tell of my love for them with every breath. two girls that i live every moment for. two girls that have tugged, pierced and filled my heart with more love and joy than i ever knew existed. two GIRLS!

for the first 28 years of my life, i never felt feminine. i was a girl, but i'd rather play with whatever my brothers were playing with. i am a woman, but i sit like a dude, hate to look in the mirror and any make-up i own is over 3 yrs old. i've always hated getting my hair done, i have the mouth of a sailor and i'd much rather toss a football or frisbee than get my nails done. for most of my life i have heard that i am "like one of the guys," that i can "take a joke like a guy," that i can "hang with the guys," etc and they were meant as compliments. which is great. two girls. feeling life from within made me feel feminine. for the first time, i.felt.feminine. i am blessed with two girls. two girls.

since having adelyn, i hear "are you going to go for the boy?" "i bet jason wants a boy." "you'll have to try for a boy next." two girls. we WILL be blessed if we ever have a son. we will be just as blessed if we have 12 more girls. why would we care? they are OUR children. two girls. we.ARE.blessed.

i am sure that nothing is meant by these silly statements. they certainly can't believe that not having a son is somehow less than ideal. ANY child is a blessing.

and when the focus of my daughter's baptism is fathers and sons, i may get a little peeved. what about fathers and daughters? i try and remind myself it's father's day. but when it goes on to add that "daughters are blessings too........because they give us sons!!" i get much more than peeved. two girls. i am a daughter. two girls. i am NOT here to just give sons, though i may. two girls. my daughters are NOT here to just give sons, though they may. two girls.

this is not a slam on boys. i love boys, everyone who knows me is pretty aware of that i'm sure. and my daughters and i have nothing but great men in our lives! we also have great women in our lives! it is not a matter of one over the other. i find it devastating as a woman, as a parent of two girls, that our society and other cultures even suggest otherwise. two girls. this girl and the two girls i'm raising will not ever feel like the lesser. THREE girls!

and while i'm on my rant....i am fully aware of what a teenage girl is like. fully. i was one. and trust me when i tell you that i was the coolest teenage girl ever. ever. no, really i was. =P i'm also aware that if my daughters are healthy, safe and talk back - everything will be just fine. and if they are healthy, safe and have an attitude that is too big to fit through the door - everything will be just fine. and if they are healthy, safe and way too cool for their momma - everything will be just fine. and if they are healthy, safe and give me the silent treatment for weeks at a time - everything will be just fine. and if they are healthy, safe and oozing drama - everything will be just fine. just fine. now if their heads are spinning and they're projectiling green vomit, i may just step off my soapbox. who am i kidding?! i never will. everything will be just fine. because i am a woman. and because they are my daughters. two girls.

"Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece." ~Author Unknown

"I am a woman, hear me roar!" ~Author Unknown

adelyn's baptism

sweet adelyn got baptized yesterday. there was quite a bit of drama that sadly has me questioning the faith of our church. not to mention the ceremony was a little too morbid and chauvinist for any baptism, let alone MY adelyn's. but (deep breath) i will not let that take away from my baby's special day. she is baptized and of course as heavenly as ever.

our family really enjoyed my camera, so there are lots of pics...

adelyn's godmother, our dear friend peggy...

sweet adelyn. she is supposed to be going down for a nap right about now. but we were all waiting for her godfather, uncle doug, to go get some water (yes, the required holy water) at the local walgreen's for Father. if we would have known, we could have collected some rain water as we were all standing outside waiting for the church to open. grrrr. but how precious is she?! ok, and tired?!!

elena with grandpa and papa....

us with aunt stephy, uncle e, uncle doug, uncle t-bone and laura....

sweet adelyn....


poor adelyn was overtired and the crabbiest she's ever been....


lanie watchig it all go down with papa....

finally done....



lanie was happily reunited with her bff katie.....their embrace was so sweet.

and adelyn passed out as soon as i laid her in her carseat. poor babe....then she slept through her entire party.

but miss elena heard "party" and waited patiently for food....

and then savored every bite....shocking, i know....

reading with daddy....

and some family pics much later after adelyn woke up and elena needed an outfit change....



i feel so lucky when i look at these.

"A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on." ~Carl Sandburg

happy father's day

the girls and i are so lucky to have him! we love you daddy!




"The greatest gift I ever had came from God; I call him Dad!" ~Author Unknown

blanket concentration

"hey man.....is this blanket tripping you out too?"

they're too cute!!

"An unwatched pot boils immediately." ~H.F. Ellis

slide fun

good times on the slide...

"here's how you do it..."

"or you can climb up it....even though mom says 'no'...."

"oh wait, watch this one....."

"psshhhh, that was nothing...."

"i can even go head first...."

"mmmm-hmmmm. i'm big time now!!"

and now some vintage elena....last june on the slide when the love affair began.

"ooh yes, i think i like this...."

"here i come....i'm clearly thrilled about it...."

“I went to the park and saw this kid flying a kite. The kid was really excited. I don't know why, that's what they're supposed to do. Now if he had had a chair on the other end of that string, I would have been impressed.” -Mitch Hedberg

team sis!

it's pretty inevitable that adelyn and elena will learn from each other. adelyn already has her eyes glued to her and appears enthralled by elena's every move. i wouldn't be surprised if she is already taking notes on the abc's, 123's, colors and shapes she's bound to love. in addition, i'm sure she's taking notes on how to melt down in efforts to get what she wants and to flip it into a tantrum when she doesn't get what she wants too. ;) haha. adelyn is smiling and laughing at miss elena. and elena is certainly willing and ready to entertain miss adelyn. it is already apparent that they are working as a team and compliment each other beautifully.

miss elena is already trying to teach adelyn patty cake...

and gives her animal noise lessons....."adelyn, cow - moo. sheep - baa. dog - ruff. adelyn, ruff, adelyn. say ruff." and so forth. it's extremely endearing.

in turn, miss adelyn is already teaching elena as well...just by being here. how to be more patient (it's a s l o w process), share time with daddy, etc....

and of course put all those nurturing instincts to use.... (wiping her drool)

it's so awesome to watch them together. 2 sisters. i know they're going to be one powerful duo. fingers crossed they take it easy on mom and dad. haha.




i don't have the privilege of being an older sibling. but i do have the privilege of having 2 older brothers. and while some lessons i had to learn on my own.... like scream when they came into the room BEFORE i got my nose shoved in the carpet and leg-laced the length of the living room (we had a long living room too).... they also taught me to stay away from the "bad" boys, to always rise above peer influence, etc. i'm so blessed to be part of our trio. and now i can understand how proud my parents must be to see what great friends we are. cuz among a million other things, i wish elena and adelyn are the best of friends.

"Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply..." ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814

22 months

miss elena is 22 months old today! wow!

with each day we see more and more independence. she wants to do everything herself. she's actually getting really good at brushing her teeth and washing herself, but we still of course help. she insists on carrying whatever i'm carrying, meaning she carries in our groceries...or at least tries. she also wants to care for adelyn as we do. so if i'm holding her she reaches out for her and says, "my turn."

no. it's her favorite word and begins pretty much each of her sentences. it also follows every statement, question, request, comment, concern, etc. we make. you name it. it doesn't matter what it is, we hear "no." when i tell her to be nice, she says, "no thanks."

we're definitely starting to see the two year old behaviors, but with it we also see the imagination. when she plays with her dolls or little people she changes her voice and talks for them. she pretends a lot. she always grabs my diaper bag, puts on my shoes, her glasses and her hat and says, "bye mom. i'm going to da doctor."

elena could live outside. i truly don't think she'd ever come in if given the choice. well, maybe to eat. she is very active and coordinated. her favorite is the slide. and she's really unsure about the swings so far this summer. not sure what that's about, she loved them last year. we'll keep trying. but for now it's slides. she's getting better at 'catch,' loves going up and down stairs without holding on to the rail and carrying something (filling me with anxiety) and continues to jump (both feet actually leaving the ground) whenever possible. she's a definite climber and i hope she never stops climbing.

although she's the reason i take several deep breaths everyday, it's an amazing gift to watch her grow and learn everyday. especially as a big sister. elena has proved to be such a big helper to me and a wonderful caring big sister in the last few months. i'm so proud of her!

"Childhood is that wonderful time of life when all you need to do to lose weight is take a bath." ~Author Unknown

innocence

is a really beautiful thing.

and flipping hilarious too. it looks a little something like this...



elena: "mommy, i tooted. butt says 'toot toot' mommy."
me: "oh that's nice elena. thanks for SHARING!"
elena: "yes, SHARE. now mommy's turn. you 'toot toot' mom."



and yes, you better believe i tried damn hard to fart on command for my little girl through my laughter. god love her. *thanks for listening when i tell you to take turns elena.*

“I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different.” -Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

tea cup laundry basket

what kid doesn't love to play in the laundry basket?! tea-cup-laundry-basket is elena's new favorite pasttime with daddy. makes my stomach flip just watching it.

tea cup laundry basket from Molly Leone on Vimeo.

and some pics.....






"There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again." ~Elizabeth Lawrence