Toes

His.



Hers.

Baby Piggies make me crazy. I'm always amazed that those are the same little footsies that kicked me while they were in my tummy! Seriously though, are they not scrumptiously delish?




And don't even get me started on scraped-up-dirty-little- boy-toes.........I'm obsessed.









I take pictures of them all the time as if those ten little toes change every day.










I love you, my Littles.....my Sunshines.....My Rylee-Pop and Punkin Butt.From your top side to your bottom, from your smiles to your pouty-lip cries...I love every bit of you.

A New Addition

It's been exactly 10 months. Ten months since we said our "Goodbyes"....ten months for our hearts to mend. And although they haven't truly healed...there will always be missing parts that she took with her, but they are mending. The hole isn't quite so large.....anymore.

I told Kevin that I was ready. I had prepped myself and sucker-punched my cheeks and yes, I was ready. I was ready to let another in. To invite another outsider in to my intimate family circle. I wasn't ready to replace her.....it still brings tears to my eyes to whisper her name....but I was ready to try to love again.


Let me make it clear that I have never, in my 32 years, ever had to put a pet to sleep. Bentley wasn't just a pet. She was our baby. Kevin and I picked her out, together, nine years ago.....she was "our" baby. She was family. And to replace her, well...that wasn't possible.

But, I was willing and ready to try to mend.



And her name is Harlow. Harlow Jean. And she's perfect. And as much as I wanted and needed her to be and look just like Bentley....she's not. She's her.


You would think that a 3 year old would forget. But he didn't. He asked about her almost every day......for 10 months. We told him that she was sick, that we couldn't fix her, that she went to Heaven.....we tried to keep it blunt. Simple. Jesus is taking care of her now.





No one wants to explain death to a 3 year old.

How is it even possible?

Will he think every time one of us gets "sick" we will leave him??? How does a 3 year old decipher the different types of sickness?






It broke our hearts to hear, "I willy miss hur...why can't Jesus fix hur, Mom?"


It broke me in a million ways to not be able to fix his sadness....to make it better.




I had to heal. We all had to heal. And now, we're starting over. From scratch....a puppy.

A FREAKING puppy!!!


I told Kev I was ready and he surprised me....for our 6th anniversary, he gave me Harlow.

I had all intentions of naming her "Bentley". I truly thought that if she looked just like her, it would make it easier. We asked Gray and he said he wanted to call her Bentley. But when Kev brought her home......she just wasn't.





Yes, she looked just.like.her.

But she definitely wasn't her. She was herself.



Her sweet, sassy, independent, feisty self.



And spending just a few short moments with her, I knew she needed her own name....she wanted to make sure that we knew she was different.

We named her Harlow after the original blond bombshell "Jean Harlow"....I love old, classic movies and secretly wanted to name Rylee "Harlow", but Kevin vetoed it as soon as it came out of my mouth. Jean Harlow's birthday is March 3, which coincidentally, is the same day that Kev brought our "little blond bombshell" home....her death was in June...which coincidentally was the same month that we lost Bentley.

We love this new little priss with all of our hearts!


And she's an absolute mess. A prissy, little mess.

Happy 7 Months, Lovie~Bug!!!

"You are my sunshine My only sunshine You make me happy when skies are grey You'll never know dear how much I love you Please don't take my sunshine away".


Rylee Ann~


You make every day brighter. More perfect than the day before. I can go to bed exhausted, beaten, and wilted and when I see your smiley face in the morning....I'm rejuvenated.

Smiley Rylee.

You're like the $35 eye cream that I can't bring myself to buy.

A soul replenisher of sorts.

You are my joy.


At 7 months, you are quite the entertainer, Rylee-bug.

From the moment you wake in the morning til the last sigh before collapsing in my arms at night.....you are a joy to be around. Always smiling, always cooing...you are pure.fantastic.joy.








This past month, you have blossomed into such a big, little girl! You can sit for hours on end...in the bath....on the floor....in a chair.....you're just sittin' pretty, Love!


You can eat big girl foods, too! You love avocados, bananas, and pears.....cheerios, puffs, and yum yums (rice crackers). You can hold a sippy cup like no-bodies-business and have even been known to hold your own bottle!

Mommy took an overnight trip to Houston again, and you....you rocked it out! You stayed your very first night with Nana and Pawpaw for Mommy and Daddy's 6th anniversary and then you stayed your very first night with Mimi and Pappi for Mommy's 32nd bday. B.I.G.G.I.R.L.


Mommy was SO proud to hear that you slept through the night on both occasions!!

For the last 3 weeks, you have been sleeping through the night! We put you to bed around 8 and don't hear a peep from you until 8 the next morning!! You are still taking 3 naps a day.....the first about an hour after you wake up, the second around lunch time, and the third around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.


You are nursing about 5-6 times a day. I usually give you a 1/2 jar of baby food in the afternoon and you eat rice cereal and the 2nd half of the jar at the dinner table with us in the evening.


You cut your first tooth this month!!! 3/18/11....I noticed it finally popped through while we were out for dinner.....so I gave you avocado to celebrate and you LOVED it!

You are still wearing 6-9 months, sz 3 diapers, and sz 1 shoe.


Can I just tell you how freakin fabulous it is having a girl?!! I love dressing you...I love planning what you will wear tomorrow...what flower I will put in your hair. Will you be preppy or romantic....rocker or chic???? It makes my heart so happy!

Ry....you give kisses and loves like no other! I press my nose to your mouth and inhale your sweet-sour-milk-medicine-smell-breath.....and it is Heaven.

I love how you get me. You know what I need, when I need it. Sometimes, just the sweet touch of your little hand on my face.....oh, it gets me! You, in your own little way, tell me to "Relax Momma, this is it.....enjoy, breathe....bask in the glow....this is what you have always wanted......it's yours now."


I love you Rylee-pop, Button-blue, Lovie-girl......you are my "Ever After"....


~Momma