Sares

Today marks the 28th year my sister has been on this earth. 28 years of learning, charming, laughing, hugging, dreaming. 
26 of those years she has spent being the best big sister in the world. I'm not just saying that. 26 years of teaching, protecting, guiding, loving, tickling, surprising. She has always been my closest ally, my comforter and my best friend. I am blessed to have a sister like Sares. 
10 of those years, she has been an aunt. She loves her nieces and nephews to the moon and back. She relishes every picture, every video, every hug, kiss and zerbert. She lives to hear those giggles. (She drove 3+ hours on her birthday just to hear her nephew giggle!) My children are blessed to have an aunt so in love with them. 

Sares has always been the one in our family with a phenomenal memory. She can remember the last movie I saw in theaters (even if she wasn't there), the first trip we all took together (moment by moment) and probably even her actual birth day. She is that good. Sometimes there's an older movie that I tell her I want to see, and she'll tell me I've already seen it. "Oh yeah, we watched that when it came out. You liked it."
My mom, Sares and I have tattoos. Mom has "Live", I have "Love" and Sares has "Laugh". Sares is the laughter in our family. Whether she's the butt of the joke or the sarcasm queen, she always has us rolling in laughter. If I ever need someone to brighten my day, I know who to call.
My sister is a perfectionist. This is not *always* a bad thing. She knows what she wants when it comes to meals, creating things and entertainment. She is always in the kitchen, behind the cook, adding things to make the meal better. Going over and over the things she makes to make sure they are perfect. I send her my blog entries to proofread. I trust every book and movie review she gives me. I appreciate this quality in my sister. It means that everything I do is near perfect too. I want it to be up to her standards. I value her opinion.

We love our Sares. And we love this day that we get to celebrate her. I hope she knows how loved she is and I hope we can show her just a little bit of how much we cherish her.
We adore you, Sares, and we are so blessed to celebrate this day that you came into the world. 

Happy birthday, sweet sister.

What DO You Do All Day?

Cadee was "Camper of the Week" this week. Which means she gets to share things about herself, she took an estimation jar to school (she chose cotton balls to stuff into hers and all of her classmates have to estimate how many are in there. At the end of the week, they will see who was the closest), she will read her favorite book to the class, share a letter written to her by a loved one, and bring treats on Friday! Today, I brought her Chick Fil A for lunch and got to sit down with her and two of her friends. Cadee picks good friends. Sweet, kind, respectful friends. Boy, girls, doesn't matter to her. She picks them based on their sense of humor and if they are nice, not naughty.
As we were sitting there having lunch, her friend, M, was chatting with me, Cadee and Drake. M looks at me and says- so what DO you do all day?
I was totally caught off guard! I felt a little defensive. But then I realized, it's just a 7 year old girl wondering what I do with my day since I don't work. See, her parents are divorced and both work outside the home. As I was thinking through my response, I felt a little bit of heartache for M. I wish she could know the routine and comfort of a stay at home mom, and of a family that is still together. I know that her parents do a great job at making her feel loved. I can tell. I also know that I grew up with a stay at home mom. And it was awesome. I didn't have a CLUE what she did while my sister and I were at school all day long. I figured she napped, did puzzles, watched TV, chatted with her friends...(boy, was I wrong!) I really didn't care! All I knew was that if I needed her at a school event, she was there. If I felt sick and the nurse had to call her, she was always there. If there was an early out, I didn't have to worry about where I would go. My mom was waiting for me at home. I know today that it is rare to have a stay at home mom. And I respect that not every family can make it work. I thank God everyday for letting me have my dream job!
To answer M's question, I smiled at her and said, "Well, it's pretty awesome. I get to hang out with Drake all day and come help at school." She grinned.
It has been 6 years since I have officially become a stay at home mom. I STILL struggle with validation. That I'm doing the right thing, that it's ok that I'm not bringing in any money, that I balance housework and my children well. I know, without a doubt, that this is where I'm supposed to be. (Plopped on the couch, blogging about my life...well, ok, not literally.) I love my life. I love that I can be the one to pick up my son when he cries or when he wakes up. I love that I change nearly every diaper. I love that when my children forget their backpacks after National Walk to School day, I can take them to them at school. I love that I can bring my big girl a special lunch and sit and chat with her and her friends. I love being there when Lili comes charging at me for the biggest hug of my life after school. I love being able to get things around the house done during the day so that I can soak up every second with my family at night. I have the sweetest life.

A Look at Our Weekend

This post is 2 weeks overdue. The girls were flower girls in a wedding 2 weekends ago. Not only is this a special thing as a little girl- to get all fancied up and be the center of attention for 2 minutes of walking down the aisle, and pretty much all night. But I think it was extra special for my girls, because they got to do it together. They did such a great job! We took plenty of pictures and some video to capture the night! The bride and groom were so good with the girls and welcomed any and all of their "feedback". You'll see what I mean in a bit...

The day went so well! And at the reception, Lili requested Baby by Justin Bieber. Not only did the DJ play it, but he also said this was a song from the flower girl, dedicated to the bride (who also has Bieber fever). And to top it all off, he came over in the middle of the song and put the mic to her and she belted it out for all to hear! It had to be in her top 3 moments of her day....week...LIFE! 

It started Friday night with some prep! Memaw (Hubby's mom) took us for some manis and pedis. (I guess the mom of the flower girls gets pampered a bit too!)

  

Saturday, the girls had hair appointments at noon. They did such a great job sitting still while the ladies worked on their thick, luscious locks! 

Then, it was off to the church to get dressed for the big day! These fluffy dresses were so pretty and my girls loved feeling like princesses in them!  

The girls with the Bride

When Lili wasn't in a picture, she was
sitting in the front row, helping
direct everyone else and giving
the photographer ideas. That's
my Lili.

Touching up the lip gloss

My little handsome man in his suit!

We were so fancy!
This was the only picture we got, and daddy
wasn't in it. We planned on taking a picture
all together at the reception, but Drake
had a blow out!

Drake in his suit!

We had a fun weekend. We were all dragging our booties last week. But it was well worth it to see my little girls have their day in the spotlight. (At least in their minds, they did.) Best wishes to the Bride and Groom! Thank you for letting us be part of your special day! 

Drakey Boy

I just have so many adorable pictures of this sweet little boy. I had to share.

Looking cute in his little
red long johns!

Getting sleepy in his
jumper

I love these dimples!

So concerned.
Love those big blue eyes!

Just chillaxin.

Coolest Idea in the World

I am all about being sentimental. I love scrap books, family heirlooms and anything that makes a memory. I would absolutely love to be an awesome mom and have a big ol' scrapbook for each of my kids with memories from each day of their life. "This was your first trip to the zoo." "Introducing: Your baby sister/brother!" "You and your best friend at the football game." "You made it on the dance team!" "Graduation day!". However, let's be real. I do not have A- the time to devote to scrapbooking. I am not the most creative person, so it takes me awhile to create a page or two. And B- I don't have the space to work on a scrapbook without someone begging to help me (COUGH-Lili). And I certainly don't need another mess that needs to be cleaned up by me. 
I love this idea that a friend heard about and passed on to me. I started an email address for all of my children. And every so often, I will send them an email about what is going on in our lives. I am a fast typer. So this seemed like a no-brainer! It's a great way to tuck away those memories and to do it quickly, so I can get back to making more memories with them. One day, when they are grown and can appreciate this time capsule of memories, I will tell them about it, and give them the password so they can read each and every one. 
I hope it makes their life sweeter.

Random Rachel

Big things going down for our family recently! Including me being a part of Des Moines Moms Blog! I am excited for this new adventure in the blog world and the friendships that will form from this. Check us out! We launch October 29th! 
I can't wait to share more of what is going on with us at the perfect time.
Until then... Here's some Random Rachel. 

Target diapers do not work with my son. Good thing I bought a small package! He has had at least 7 blow outs and 4 leaks. 

Cadee has been sick for the past 2 days. I can tell she's feeling better by the hopping around and complaining of boredom. 

I am slightly obsessed with making smoothies lately. Delish! 

We broke out the space heaters the other night for the kids' rooms. LOVE this cooler weather! 

3 smells I love... Grilling, rain and babies. 

Drake is growing, growing, growing! He's in size 6 month clothes...and he is 4 months old. Healthy baby! And, he got this fancy shmancy new jumper! He's not too sure about it yet, but he sure does look cute hanging out in it! 

Lili Logic

Lili had been fighting a cough for awhile. I made a comment about her having a froggy in her throat.
To which she responded, "If it was a froggy, I'd be going 'Ribbit, ribbit!'"