underwear on her head

so, in one of the old Ocken family albums, there is a picture of me,

on some family vacation, i think, in the backseat of the car,

with underwear on my head.

i think i had pigtails sticking out of the leg holes.

i looked divine.

and my sister looooooooved to point out to me the picture of

me with the underwear on my head.

(why was there underwear just floating around in the backseat?!?!)

anyway. tess likes to go into annie's drawer, extract the

underwear, and walk around with it on her head.

she gets it honest.

why i have chosen this same fate for my daughter, to actually

take the picture, and THEN publish it on the internet....well, I am unsure.

but i did!

I used to carry Tess from the tub to her room, all warm and

snuggled up in a fluffy towel.

Now, as soon as her wet little feet hit the floor, she is on the move.

Wet, naked, and very, very happy.

breakfast with tess

tess this week:

she has a million faces,

and shakes her head "no" to everything you ask her.

she gives kisses, complete with kissing noises.

she is addicted to pretzels, and if i offer a goldfish cracker

instead, she throws herself on the floor in dismay.

if she can't find me, she walks around the house saying

"mommy? mommy? mommy?" and it makes my heart melt.

she torments annie to no end, and tries to take her blankets

and babies away from her. annie does not enjoy this game.

she blows bubbles in the tub.

she's lovely. really lovely.

take two

these were taken on like the one-millionth snowy day in wisconsin.

help us.

we're desperate for spring.

out-takes

the camera on my computer certainly can take some blurry pictures,

but I like these too much not to post.

the first picture makes me so happy.

my birthday

lucky me,

that in my 36 years on this earth,

i will have gotten to be

a daughter once,

a sister once,

a wife once,

and a mother....

five times.

lucky, lucky me.

erin elizabeth

i think four looks good on her.

you've come a long way, baby.

xoxoxo

(almost) four

erin's birthday is tomorrow, but we celebrated with the hemsworths a

few weeks ago.

i love these pictures....that's exactly how she looks when she talks.

kate is always her loyal supporter, at least outside of our home.

i wonder what dan was whispering in her ear.

her due date was my birthday, and she is named after me.

four years ago today, i went to the doctor and they told me it would be soon......

i remember coming home and dancing around the living room with a

baby kate perched on my enormous belly.....

convinced that if i kept dancing, i would start contracting.

(it worked)

funny how i didn't know if it was a boy or girl, but

the only thing i could picture was another dark brown haired,

brown eyed baby, strong in personality,

fierce in nature.

funny how things turn out.

today, we bake cakes, and wrap presents, and get ready

for a day tomorrow to celebrate our blue-eyed,

blonde-haired sweetheart of a girl.

i think it's gonna be great.

at tess's 12-month check-up, our pediatrician suggested that we

have her weaned off of bottles completely by 15 months.

i smiled, and nodded, because I like to appear like a good,

compliant mother.....

but I was really thinking... "omg, lady. that is never going to

happen."

this little peanut, who i fussed and fretted over about a year ago

because I was certain that she would NEVER take a bottle, may

now NEVER give them up. she won't even touch a sippy cup....well,

unless it's to throw it to the floor.

she is a hemsworth, after all. a baby of strong opinions.

sugar cookies

we made sugar cookies yesterday for kate to take to school today.

my facebook status said "sugar cookies stress me out."

they do.

so much pressure.....to get the right thickness,

to bake them long enough,

to get them off the pan....

so they are sturdy enough for 16 little

four and five year olds to manhandle while

they decorate them....

and the girls,

with the sugar, and dough.....

everywhere.

i pray to be a more patient baker.

soon.

kiss kiss

my girl gives kisses.

happy valentine's day!

a couple of my sweethearts on valentine's day.

kate was so excited to go to school for her party.

she had valentines for all her friends, and treat bags,

and heart shaped sugar cookies for everyone to decorate.

(that post to come later!)

dan surprised me by coming home at lunch and bringing me

starbucks and an antibiotic for my sinus infection.....

and then he took kate to school.

if that's not true love, i don't know what is.

happy valentine's day to all of you,

and all of your sweethearts, too.

xoxoxo