Gettin' Jiggly With It

I forgot to mention that I got a special present at Mia's birthday party on Friday.

My dear, dear friend Julie gave me a tube of glitter.  All for me.  She told me she knew how much I loved glitter and so thought this present would be perfect for me.

She's such a gem.

And, I almost had a cardiac arrest when Maggie got ahold of that tube of glitter and started dancing around the room with it.  I tell you what, if ever there was a human being that epitomizes Murphy's Law, it's Maggie.  I just knew that there would be glitter all over the house in moments.

But that didn't happen because I swooped down upon that tube of glitter like an eagle after a field mouse and snatched it from her hand!

Sigh of relief.

There have been several firsts for us this weekend:

Isaiah took his first national soccer coaching licensure.

Mikayla managed to take two steps on the OKWU basketball court after the game on Saturday.  Mia also got wonked in the upper nostril area with a metal fastener at the game.

I let my kids play in our front yard for the first time ever.

I'm always scared that someone will see that we have kids in the house and steal them.  But then I realized that I live in Hometown, Oklahoma and probably anyone who wanted to kidnap them would return them after about 5 hours, 90 potty breaks and 6,000 requests for a piece of chewing gum.  So I went for it.

I gave them the spray bottles of food coloring and let them "finish" coloring the snow in the front yard.  They have to get on it soon because even though it was negative bazillion last week, today we're looking at a balmy 60 degrees.  The snow will not be here much longer.

I sat inside the house and watched them go at it.  Every time they had a question they rang the doorbell, so it was fun and rewarding for everyone.

I've been reading some really lovely things lately and trying to figure out self-esteem and the idea that a mommy is a "woman with a child."  That may sound strange, but it's what I've been pondering (in addition to spending 16 hours a day trying to figure out the best way to cloth diaper and become a self-made millionaire and keep Mia supplied with chewing gum.   Oh, and I must not forget the roommate conflict where one gal held the other one's Ugg boots hostage in return for her phone charger.  The police got involved.  Yep, it's an exhausting life I lead.)

Somewhere in the middle of my identity crisis I realized that the children might actually be part of the problem!

We wait so long for the to start talking - like Mikayla now says "uh oh" and "da! da!" for dog - and then I hit a spot where I wish they'd just stop talking.  Please.

Proof?  Not only has Mia been kind enough to poke my stomach and thighs and announce "You're still fat here and here but your jiggly is going away a little" (which means that the only part of me that has been shrinking post-partum is my chest!) she also announced on the way to church yesterday, "Mama!  Your hair is so curly today!  I don't think anyone will like it."

The kid needs to practice being a mute.  Sigh.  Being a mom means you need to grow some thick skin.  That's ok.  It's worth it.

Who needs greeting cards or Valentine's Day chocolates?!  I'm surrounded with love.