Shelly...

* mowhawked (um, not a real verb) her infant son's hair and headed out to enjoy Amelie and Maeve's Christmas program at church. It was delightful--especially the part where Maeve took over the microphone and said, "ahh maaa leeee" =)
* is making a list of all the home improvement projects I want to tackle over Christmas break--can't. wait. (A trip to Ikea is NEEDED!)
* is so excited that we have a whole room/floor of our house we never use. Can't wait to turn it into a fun space--our Craft room/toy room/Wii room/NAP room etc.
* desperately needs a haircut. beyond desperately--def. doing it over break! ack!
* called a few places about holding Amelie's birthday party and was rudely rebuffed by the sales associate who said, "we don't do parties for less than 10...well, we do... but we'll charge you the same." ick. annoying.
* still hasn't gotten Maeve's 2 yo pictures taken--so not like me. You'd think I moved and had a baby a few weeks ago or something.
* wants it to be summer tomorrow. or now.
* tired. long nights. etc. so on. so forth. I kind of forgot or blocked out what it's like to have a newborn--just barely getting regular chores done and letting the "real" cleaning/organizing/cooking slide. It hurts my type-A sensibilities.

there is more but all of the sudden I'm too tired to finish.
G'night!

STOP THE FREAKIN' PRESSES

I just realized my baby is 6 weeks old now.

I am going to work on freezing time for the rest of the day.

That is all.

Santa Baby

The husband was away Saturday judging for All South Jersey band and lucky for me, the Grandparents of the East were more than willing to take the girls on a special outing!

Our favorite local-kid-friendly-delicious-coffee-establishment was celebrating Christmas with a visit from Santa and crafts!

The girls were thrilled and think I'm full of nonsense for telling them that Santa doesn't exist since they see him everywhere they go =)

Here's Amelie telling Santa that she wants a scrapbook.

Here's Maeve exhibiting her hat fetish.
We have a smiley picture of them on Santa's lap but I'm too lazy to scan it at the moment =)

The girls had a wonderful time with their Grandparents!

And I had a wonderful time taking an uninterrupted shower.

It's the little things that bring the most joy my peeps!

*J*O*Y* ((No Such)) Luck Club

I tried taking pictures of the munchkins today.

Ezra was very cooperative =)

The three of them together?

A little bit of a hot-mess-situation going on here. =)

Amelie loves to pose!
Maeve isn't into being photographed at the moment.
Doesn't she look beside herself?!
It's tough being 2 =)
Maybe next week!

Family Pictures--Cause Who Doesn't Love The Chance To Be Completely Color-Coordinated!?

I like to get our family picture taken every year and somehow--started the tradition right around Christmas-time when Amelie was 1.

Christmas is such busy season at portrait studios but thankfully Target started opening their studio at 8 AM!!! this year.

Woot! No long lines for us!

They got us in at 8 on the dot and in about 5 minutes we had two pictures to choose from-

-I feel as though that was a major victory =)

(cause I would have been happy with just *most* of us looking at the camera with *mostly* pleasant expressions-)

I'm sure if you've tried to take pictures with more than one child you understand what I mean!

The girls aren't wearing their Christmas dresses (which are on back-order and will hopefully arrive for Christmas!!) but luckily I had a red and green dress for them and a little red shirt for E-boy. Also, as luck would have it--I now have enough children that only my face needs to show in a picture--good planning on my part! =)

Peek; Sleep; Flex

Baby Gap Cute-ness

If I Could...

If I could I would bottle these moments up
I would freeze these fleeting days
spent with my three little ones.
The time is flying already
I want them to be babies forever
(um, but just not at night)
Every time they
do something
say something
look
precious
I want to burn the image into my mind and never ever forget it
like:
when Amelie was 5 months old and I was rocking her in my parents living room and the sun was shining just right
or
when I was holding baby Maeve as Amelie prayed to Jesus and asked to live in Heaven as we were tucking her into bed
or
when Maeve was holding baby Ezra for a solid 10 minutes and just kissing him and saying, "baby ehhhhzzzrahhh"
or
when Ezra gazes at me as long as his sleepy little lids will allow
I'm holding as many memories as possible
hostage
in my heart
I want to bottle these days
Save the time
Remember and cherish these moments, minutes, months
Forever.
There is joy all around me and I am thankful for it.

Amelie says....

"Mama! Your hair is sooo pretty today! Just.....not your face!!"

Wowee--thanks Amels! Ha!

(In her defense I think she meant that I was making a face as I was struggling to buckle her car seat. I think...possibly....probably....hopefully.=)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

This is my favorite picture of my Grandma Rose and my Mother.

(She's the baby in this picture, and the other little girl is my Aunt Debbie)

I just wanted to post this picture and to say Happy Birthday Grandma Rose!

I miss you and

I love you so much!

xoxo

Shelly Rose

*E*

The thing about Ezra is...
his time is his own.
Also-my time is his own.
Also-my sleep.
Also-my everything else.
He runs my days.
Also-my afternoons.
Also-my nights.
It is mostly pretty wonderful.
Also-tiring.
Also-sweet.
Also-stressful.
My hands are always full.
Also-my heart.

Question/Answer

"Amelie, what do you want for Christmas?"

"A Pillow Pet!! And the TV even says that they are washable! Isn't that so exciting?!"

Someday When I'm All Grown Up (And Working Again) I'm Going To Buy All My Clothes From:

Anthropologie!!!

Just thought I'd share...=)

The Girls Wanted Their Picture Taken In Front OF The Tree And...

these are the faces they made...=)

(and yes, Maeve is wearing a fireman's hat from the fire drill she had in Sunday School that morning!)

Speaking of Birthdays...Amelie Says:

"So...just how old is Jesus going to be this year?!"

The View From The Top

1 Day; 1 Month

Feeling Snippy

* Amelie has been on dance hiatus since the spring and has finally started up at a new dance class for big girls and such. I'm excited for her--I hope she continues to love it. I'm also excited that at least one of my children didn't inherit the genetic propensity for clumsiness passed from my Mom to me. =)

* Maeve is in big girl Sunday School now--she does crafts and projects and has story time--it's killing me ((in a good way, mostly--but where did the time go?!)).

* Ezra is huge. He's holding his head up well and is awake for longer periods of time. Also lately, awake from 5 - 7 am....Thank GOD for Mr. Wonderful and the fact that he says, "I'll just get up early with the baby so you can sleep." What did I do to deserve such a husband as he?!

* Is seriously thinking about taking Amelie out of preschool just so I don't have to do drop off and pick up--it's like a three ring circus with the babies--I don't have enough hands and there are FAR too many stairs. ((Also, every time I go I get the, "Wow! You have your hands full!" comment)). Praise the Lord for an extremely helpful friend and husband who have been doing most of the work for me. I feel guilty when they do pick up and drop off but honestly, I'm such a wimp that I'm just going to go with it. =)

* "Cyber Monday" is kind of awesome--there were so many fabulous free shipping/% off deals I almost lost my window-shopping little mind. Unfortunately neither Gymboree, nor Crazy 8, nor Target or Gap had anything that really tempted me. I did, however pick up a few winter odds and ends for Ezra at Old Navy. Love free shipping!! I also spent a few hours (eh) finishing up our christmas cards and some digital photo albums. It took a while to get it all done but was worth it with the money saved!

* There was more but my sleep deprived brain is unable to recall it all.

Shh....

...they're all sleeping...

This thing is

AWESOME.

That is all...