A Hairy situation

I recently started taking pictures off of my laptop (if you heard it churning and chugging you'd understand why) and storing them on some flash drives.  This should free up space and hopefully keep me from losing all the precious family moments, captured by digital technology, so for generations to come they can all huddle around their portable viewing devices and reminisce about Great-Grammy Sierra's family. (Can you tell I have mortality on the brain?)

Man, do I miss film! Photo albums rock.

Anyway, as I was copying, moving and cleaning out these fabulous memories it occurred to me that I need to share the evolution of my daughter's hair with you. Because it's just too amazing to keep on a flash drive.

And so the journey begins. Age 2 (Heat Miser has a run for his money)

"She looks like Annie." And the identity crisis began..Mommy, what is my real name? Age 3

Finally long enough to be in her face, but thanks to one of her preschool teachers we didn't need to worry about that at all.  Age 4

Here come the headbands. Every color. Every day. Very humid day in this picture. Funny, can't tell with her hair. Looks the SAME every day. Age 6

At last! Long enough for real braids. From Afro to shoulder length in 7 years. How quickly does your kids hair grow? I can count on my fingers the number of time she's had a haircut. Age 7

I hope she grows up to love it as much as everyone else does.  Because as a woman with curly - no frizzy hair - there is nothing I love more than to have it blown straight.  Oy vey. I'm in trouble.

Oh Valentine, Oh Valentine how I love thee red hearts

My daughter started singing Santa Claus is Coming to Town yesterday at the eye doctor. I put a kibosh on that right away. I am long over the holidays and have even started replacing snowmen and winter decorations with tulips and flowers.

I know, it's early, but this winter was not really welcome in my home. I wasn't ready to give up the summer and fall months so I'm a little stuck in protest over cold and snow.

But then I remembered I am *so* not a Valentine's Day chick either, so why am I rushing to get to February? I remember dreading it in school, especially when they started the ritual of handing out carnations in home room. White, pink and red. White was from "a friend". Pink was "I think I like you" and Red was "I love you".

At 14, 15, 16 years old the last thing you wanted to do was sit there and not get a flower - at least ONE flower - any flower! And I don't even think it went to a good charity or cause. It was just a fundraiser with huge social implications.

Inevitably my girlfriends would send me a few white flowers, and maybe a pink for fun, but no reds every came my way (ok, that may have changed when I started dating my high school beau, but that was so long ago and so foggy that I'm content thinking I was scarred for life by the carnations and that is why I insist they don't ever enter my house).

So, to help get Valentine's Day on my good side I told my daughter it will be her job to make up a Valentine's Day song since it doesn't have one. A love song for Valentine's Day.

She looked at me with a little head tilt and said, "Ahhh. No."

Well then, that ends that idea. So fresh. But so right. I can't handle another song in my head right now. I'm still stuck with Ma ma oh la la la, ga ga roh ma ma waking me in the middle of the night. Curse you Lady Ga Ga!

For this, I am thankful...

Happy Thanksgiving.

It seems like forever ago when our efforts to have a baby were futile. We were engaged in 1999 and I immediately went off birth control. I was hitting my early 30's and we decided the commitment was already there so if Baby came before wedding, so what?

Then it was years later and there was no baby - the wedding had come and gone. After research and hesitation we began the process of insemination. And that included the pills, and blood work and early, early mornings in the fertility center. A couple of months later and there was still no baby. So we moved on to shots, and pills and early, early mornings doing blood work at the clinic and still no baby. I remember Thanksgiving Day of 2001 and eagerly awaiting the phone call from the fertility center with the news - was I or wasn't I?

I tried to distract myself the night before learning how Mom made her homemade pie crust. I catalogued the steps to making homemade stuffing and custard pie. I hosted dinner that year and went into the center at 6:30 a.m. for my blood work. The roads were empty and my thoughts were full of hope. And then we waited. And waited. And the call finally came around 1:00 p.m. and the results, again, were negative. And I remember the tears and the hugs on my Mom's shoulder. I was tired. And the strength it took to shake it off and feel thankful that day was overwhelming. Still, I counted my blessings and continued on.

It was 3 months and 1 surgery later before I would conceive my precious girl, only to have her brother conceived NATURALLY almost 2 years later to the date - and with the miracle of God, we have two healthy children, born on the same day, 2 years apart. And now, almost 6 years later, I am forever thankful!

Tale of two stories

On the way out to take pictures with Santa tonight - cross that off my list - my daughter turned to me and said,

"Oh Mommy, guess what? Ken at school has a brother Sam and a step-brother Aaron. I did not know that you can have step-brothers - so we should get a step-brother, too!"

What I wanted to say was, "If your father keeps pulling the covers off of Mommy at night, there's a good chance you might have a step-brother some day" but I refrained.

=================================================
After our visit with Santa I noticed my son's bottom lip area is getting really chapped. I told him we'd have to put some lotion or chapstick on it when we get home. He said,

"It's okay Mommy. Miss Jenn puts gas on it at school."

Me: "Gas?"

Him: "Yup. Gasoline."

You guessed it - his interpretation of Vaseline.

How do you see yourself?

I'm having a blast being in kindergarten. Here is why:





This was an exercise in what my daughter likes about herself. A few things to note:

Item #2 says "play basketball" - she's never really played a day in her life. Not one game. There is a net in our neighborhood that she occasionally tries to shoot the ball into but that's it. Maybe that's a subtle hint I should find out if I can sign her up some place.

She took the time to put the roots on her tree. How funny!

Lastly, it's so colorful. Just like my little angel.