I do have a son

I feel like I haven't posted anything about my Sammo in a while. Here is a funny from my 6 yr old old man. We have a little girl in our neighborhood that is a little wild and a does things that don't always have an explanation. This of course baffles Sams logical brain. When we drove past her and her little brother outside, she was wearing goggles and holding a large fishing pole. I thought it was odd, but Sam took it a little further. saying,
"what is Grace doing with that fishing pole?! And why is she wearing goggles? Since she is holding that pole she is more inclined to poke George (her brother) in the eye than poke herself in the eye. She should really give those goggles to George"
         
Yes, Sam, I guess that would be the way to make goggles and a fishing pole make logical sense. And Yes, he actually used the words "inclined to"

Sophie is tha-reeee!

 My little girl prefers her hair down and tangled. She will choose pink over just about every color but for some reason seems to like brown clothing. When someone tells her how pretty she is, she says "I know" with a giggle. She prefers to dance to punk rock over pop. 

 She likes eggs for breakfast and will never eat cereal. She will almost always take gum as a bribe. She loves friends but freaks out if an unfamiliar adult comes near because they "might look at me." 

 She loves to do things on her own, this outfit is one of her own creation (notice the inside-out leggings) She says things like "my hair is so pretty, I can't even believe it!" She especially thought so with the leftover pink and purple hairspray she had put in her hair at sam's school carnival. 

For her Birthday she got her fave, scrambled eggs and heart shaped toast.

 Here is my feeble attempt at a ballerina cake. The doll needed to be a bit bigger I think. She thought it was great so oh well for my ego right?

 Dutch and Soph enjoyed sampling the frosting "sophie"

 I love their sweet little toddlerish fingers.

These girls are best buddies and too alike sometimes. They both are incredibly girly, stubborn as all get-out and have an intense flair for the dramatic.

Sophie loved her Birthday this year. She got a little pink trike and a pink mic....raphone. She enjoyed being queen for the day. I we were all a little worn out by the end of it but she's worth it. I get my payback in hugs and kisses and "I love you"s"

The Many Looks of the Soph Monster

Clothes Monster that is. Sophie insists on changing her look 

sev-er-al times each day. Each look generally goes with a change of shoes and accessories. Today I thought I would chronicle her changes. Today was a bit of a calm day for her standards. There were no tutus and headbands and sunglasses. For example, the other night she insisted on wearing a tutu, mittens, snow hat, and boots to bed. She is such a little free-spirited fashionista 

The first outfit of choice was a purple and green striped shirt, floral skirt, with striped leggings and be-jewled flip-flops

After hanging out with her friend Dutch, and seeing that she had on a pink doggy shirt that matched one at home, she just had to  wear it too. Then, on goes these 18 Mo size denim shorts, she always digs out of her "too small" box and a change of shoes also.

Then her swimming suit. Here she is, digging in her drawers for her next outfit. if you notice on the bottom left, she keeps her stool there for ready access to her top drawers to find her tights and such.

This princess shirt is often one she comes back to. She calls it her "Tiana shirt" -also, new, bigger denim shorts

Then a skirt

Then a pair of bermuda shorts and a sparkly tee. Which is fitting because when she is asked what her favorite color is, she says, "spark-a-lee"

I have had a struggle to know what to get this girl for her birthday. When I asked her if she would rather have toys or clothes, can you guess what she said?

On Motherhood

   This is something that fills me with so much emotion that it is hard to breath sometimes. I have always, always wanted to be a mom. I feel silly calling it a privilege, as if I did something to earn the chance to be a mother. But I most definitely feel privileged and ridiculously lucky to have my babies.  Those tiny arms that wrap around my neck at bedtime are as good as any mood enhancing elixer. When my little girl pats my cheeks and tells me I smell nice and then with a big goofy smile on her face and a giggle in her voice parrots my nighttime farewell, "goodnight babycakes"... "na-night baby cakes,"
   My whole body just fills full of gratitude, even though 10 minutes before I was wishing I could just be off duty and wondering why my children  would not give up and go to bed. "no sam you can't have ramen noodles right now... because you just had a snack and it's 30 minutes passed your bedtime....  and mama is just so done."  overwhelmed is so often in the mix of my motherhood emotional cocktail.
   Then there are the nights that I come home from work to a quiet house. In a way, blissfully quiet. My kids are asleep and Steve is at work. I get the rundown of the days activities from Grandma... happy that I got to avoid Sophie's tantrum over not getting to wear a fancy dress and purse to bed, and relieved that Sam's homework is done. I go to check on Sam and he, in his deep slumber doesn't flinch or flicker at my smooch on his warm cheek. I wonder how his day went. I start to feel guilty that I wasn't home when he got home from school that day... guilty that it's not my signature on his homework... guilty that I may be doing this all wrong and that I may in fact be setting him up for a life of him wondering why his mom wasn't there. I think Guilt is an emotion that every mother carries with them almost always. The gratitude and the guilt and the feeling overwhelmed and just the intesnity of love and responsibility is a lot to make any "my mom's the best" mug runneth over.
  Not only did I grow in pant size and bra size after becoming a mom, I think I grew some extra tear ducts. I can get choked up at the craziest, tiniest things especially when those things involve my kiddos, or any random person's kids on television. I just need to remember to take deep breaths, so my body can keep up with these very tangible, incredible feelings.