A Room for Big Girls

The Big Girl Room.  Oh, the Big Girl Room.  This is perhaps the most talked about room in all the rooms I have ever had a hand in planning and decorating.  Why?  Because it's taken over a year to plan and convince the big girls that it was a good thing.  Actually, convincing them that a big girl room is fun was easy.  Convincing them that big girls sleep in their own room was a whole different story!  Finally, it is finished and easily my favorite room in the house.

At dinner the night it was completed, Grace decided she wouldn't sleep in the big girl room that night.  She proclaimed that she would sleep in it when she was four.  Well, since 4 was a mere 7 nights away, I agreed to her plan.  It has now been a week, and the big girls are actually doing it!  After a bed time song, prayers, and kisses, Grace and Emma Kate discuss the important things in life such as clothes and flip flops (I mean, they are my daughters) while drifting off to sleepy town.

I wanted their room to be feminine without being too "theme-y"  After 2 coats of pixie dust pink, pink tutus on the wall, and pink tulle bed skirts, I'd say we definitely achieved feminine. :)

The bedding on their little twin beds were the first thing chosen and were a gift from Mimi.  The girls love the sweet little fairies on the sheets.  I wanted wall letters for their name, but didn't want them simply painted, so I recovered them in fabric.

The hard working Daddy sanded, refinished and added new drawer pulls to the dresser that sat in my childhood bedroom.

This little tree might be my pride and joy of the room.  I sketched and painted the trunk and limbs, and adhered fabric leaves.

Emma Kate's favorite color is orange.  She has been saying for weeks that she wants an orange room, so since I can't bear the thoughts of 4 orange walls, I came up with this little idea of a way to remember my itty bitties the way they were when the room was created.  Hand prints in each girls' favorite color.

Hopefully it's normal that they've slept better than I have this past week.  Even though it is way past time they were sleeping in their own beds, I have to admit that I miss having them at my finger tips throughout the night...

Celebrating Turning 4

Dear Grace,

When you said you wanted a princess party (again) for your birthday, I wasn't surprised in the least.  When you allowed me to talk you into a mermaid party with little effort, I was definitely surprised!  I love the way your fourth birthday party came together, and I loved getting to celebrate another year of you, my sassy princess!

Many thanks to Briana, owner of Rockin Cali Girls and mom to 4 beautiful girls for creating the birthday shirt.  The day it arrived in the mail, you were holding it over your head, jumping up and down, and shouting "Woo hoo, woo hoo!"  I consider that a win.

My friend Suzie of Zo-Mak Photography created the invitation for us.  Thank you to Makena and Zoe for sharing their mommy's talents with us. :)  When we picked these up from being printed, you oh so nonchalantly showed all the other shoppers.

The sweet mermaids that adorned your party were created by Toadally Cute Products and were just what I had in mind, right down to the dark hair that matches your's.  

For food, we went with "submarine" sandwiches and chips, "fruit of the sea," "treasure dip," and "mermaids in a blanket."  Yeah, your mama can be corny.  Get used to it.  And since your favorite food group is still sugar, we overloaded the dessert table with cupcakes, brownies, fish shaped cookies made by Southern Girl Bakery, and candy including Swedish fish and octopus sour gummies.

When I decided real goldfish would be sweet centerpieces, I forgot about why I'm not responsible for the pets.  Thankfully, only one goldfish found out why this is true, and Kayla the animal lover took the rest home where they are receiving proper care.

As a thank you to your guests for coming, we put together personalized pails with shovels, goldfish snacks, bubbles, bath toys, squirt guns, lip gloss, and lotion.

My sweet little big girl, I am so proud of you for remembering to thank everyone for the gifts.  

And, thank you for humoring me during picture taking.

I will always remember your mermaid birthday party with a smiling heart.  I hope you had a blast and made fun memories as well!

Four

Dear Grace,

As I sit here staring at your sleeping face, I realized that when you drifted off to sleep you were 3.  Tomorrow morning when you wake up you will be 4.  FOUR years old.  I know it's just a bigger number, and in reality it's only one day older than you were today, but there seems to be something different about turning 4.  Maybe it's because your little mind has grown by leaps and bounds over the past year.  Or maybe it's because you have really grown into your role as big sister.  Maybe it's the conversations we have that make you seem wise past your years.  Or maybe it's the compassion that I'm witnessing develop in your little heart.  You are learning to be empathetic and to give.

When you were born, I couldn't stop staring at you.  You were so beautiful, and I wanted to memorize every curvature, every dimple.  It's like that now too.  I stare at you, amazed at the little lady you are becoming.  It is pure magic that escapes your eyes when you get excited.  Over the last 1,460 days of staring, I've learned so many things about you.  I know the shape of the dimple in your chin.  I know how your hair falls across your forehead.  I know that you bite the inside of your lip when you're in deep thought.  I know the way you clench your jaw when you're about to stomp your foot.  I know the sound of your belly laugh, the feel of your hand in mine, and the smell of your hair.

When I look at you, I see excitement, possibility, and innocence.  I see love, diligence, and independence.  But most of all, I see my baby.  For no matter how many birthdays we celebrate, you will always be my baby.  I love you to the moon and back.

Happy birthday, Princess Grace.

Love,
Mama

I've been MIA from blogging, the kitchen, and the cleaning cabinet.  But, I promise at least part of me has been busy - the part that grows a baby!  Right after Christmas, we learned that Baby #3 will be joining our family in early September.  Symptoms appeared even before we got confirmation via a pregnancy test, and since then, they have continued with a vengeance.  The sickness that has joined me for every pregnancy showed up 2 weeks earlier this time than my 2 previous pregnancies.  Thanks to enough Zofran, I've managed to keep some food down and be able to function.  And I do use the term "function" loosely.  Cooked meals have been few and far between, house cleaning is all about perspective, and my bedtime has often been the same time as (if not before) Grace and Emma Kate.

Right after we found out our little miracle was on it's way, I began reading all about the baby's development.  I was 4 weeks pregnant at the time, and at that point, the baby is the size of a poppy seed.  A few nights later, I made poppy seed chicken for dinner.  As I poured in the poppy seeds, I began looking at them, examining them.  It is nothing short of amazing that God, who spoke the universe into existence formed the little poppy seed of a baby in my tummy.  Created him or her for His glory.  All of his or her DNA, his or her personality, his or her soul is contained in a package that starts out smaller than a poppy seed.  Nothing short of amazing.

When we told the girls they would be getting a little brother or sister, we got a "No boys allowed!" from Grace.  She and Emma Kate love to kiss my belly and talk about all the things they will get to do for their sibling.  I still haven't managed to convince them to take care of the dirty diapers.  

We had our first ultrasound at 9 weeks to make sure the dates were correct and to see the little heartbeat.  It was so reassuring to see the little flicker on the screen and hear the gallop of the baby's heart.  

We had another ultrasound at 12 weeks.  It is incredible how much growth takes place in 3 short weeks.  The baby was flipping all over the place, showing off, and even seemed to play peek-a-boo.  At 12 weeks, the baby is a little over 2 inches long.  

Now that we're at the end of the first trimester, I'm getting a little energy back.  And, the alldayallnight sickness is easing up as well.  I feel so blessed that God has given us the opportunity to welcome another little one into our family.  My prayer continues to be that I will be a Godly mother and teach my children about the joy of a relationship with Christ.

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." 

Psalm 139:13

Guilty as Charged

Walls, base boards, rugs, doors, windows, floors, tables, couch.  These are a few of the places I've used a magic eraser on to remove, well, anything the girls choose to use as art medium.  One evening not too long ago, we found a new canvas for a Picasso-in-training.  As I was walking by the refrigerator, I noticed artwork on it's side.  Not a large mural, but just enough for my eye to catch.  Not too far away from the crime scene lay the weapon of choice - a blue Sharpee.

CSI meets NCIS commenced upon our house.  We gathered Prime Suspect #1 and Prime Suspect #2 for questioning and an experiment.  The suspects were given the Sharpee (with the cap on), and told to pretend to draw on the fridge.  Lo and behold, one of the suspects "drew" at the same height as the evidence.  The other suspect "drew" too high.  Prime Suspect #2 became the only suspect.  She denied it, "No, I did not dwaw on the fwidge."  She passed the buck, "Gwace did it."  She adamantly shook her head.

Now, at this point, I had a flash back to my childhood when, as we were putting up the Christmas tree, my parents discovered where someone had written "WWF" on our bathroom wall.  We couldn't continue with the tree until the guilty party owned up to it.  Everyone knew who had done it (and it wasn't the fru fru girl child).  We begged my brother to confess.  Finally, after what felt like 4 months, my brother either confessed or my parents decided it wasn't worth leaving Christmas tree limbs and decorations all over the living room floor.  Either way, this event has been ingrained in my mind.

Fast forward back to the present.  After many interrogation techniques, getting on an eye to eye level with her, and using our disappointed tones, Emma Kate threw her arms around my neck and through tears cried "I'm sowy!"  Apparently, she's not as much of a hardened criminal as she tries to portray.

The Guilty Party:

A Bramlett Family Christmas: From Angel to Zoo

A is for Angel.
No, I'm not making any wild claims, Grace and Emma Kate only portrayed angels in our church Christmas Play. Many, many thanks to the hardworking ladies who directed the play.  They had to work around snow, ice, Christmas events, and not to mention a gaggle of unpredictable children.

B is for Baking.
My granny is known for her baking skills.  Especially around Christmas time.  She allowed the mini chefs and I to bake her awesomely yummy chess squares this year.  I may have taste tested the batter despite warnings of salmonella from Grace.  And, the first batch may have gotten burned due to a hair appointment with the mini chefs turned mini beauticians.  I will say though, that the second batch turned out well.

C is for Cookies.
For Santa of course.

D is for Decorating.
The house, ornaments, packages, cards, furniture (that was not intended for foam stickers and glitter glue).  You name it, we've decorated it.

E is for Eve.
Christmas Eve.  Food, presents, baking cookies, making reindeer food, reading stories, and anticipating Santa.

F is for Family.
Only at Christmas does an entire family try extra hard to all get together.

G is for Granny's house on Christmas Eve.
My mom's side of the family gathers together on Christmas Eve fellowship together and celebrate Christmas.

H is for Home.

I is for Ice.
Ice that covered our walkways and roads on Christmas and stuck around for days.

J is for Jesus' Birthday.
He IS the reason for the season.  Without God's gift of his perfect son, there would be no reason to celebrate.  Without the birthday of all birthdays, there would be no hope.

K is for Kindness to others.

L is for Luke 2.
If you don't know the true story of Christmas, the Bible tells us of Jesus' miraculous birth in Luke 2.  Every time I read it, I marvel at the perfection with which God worked out every detail.  God became flesh and was born into the most humble beginnings so that w all, regardless of background, social status, ethnicity, or imperfections could receive Jesus as our savior.

M is for Mimi and Papa.
Christmas morning after we check out the gifts from Santa and open gifts from each other, Justin, the girls, and I load up for breakfast and present opening with my mom and dad, brother, sister-in-law and nephews.

N is for Nana.
Getting together with my Nana (dad's side of the family) is always fun and interesting with 15 kiddos under 15 years old!

O is for Ornaments.
Baked ornaments, paint, craft glue, sequins.  Need I say more?

P is for Pop and Nanny.
Our Christmas get-together with Justin's dad and mom allowed us to come away with babies who get sick and need to be taken care of.  They even have a portal on their backside where the doctor gives it a shot!

Q is for Quiet night.
Hypothetically that is.  Christmas eve night turned out to be filled with children who wake right in the middle of Santa's visit and stay up coughing most of the night.  Silence and sleep are overrated.

R is for Reindeer food.
Santa's reindeer need nourishment as well!

S is for Santa.
This is the first year that both girls have really been excited about Santa, wanted to see him, anticipated his visit, talked about him, and waited up for him.  The excitement came to an abrupt halt for Emma Kate when she was afraid he was still in our living room on Christmas morning. :)

S is also for sledding!

T is for Twas the Night Before Christmas,
A tradition that started when I was a little girl and we have carried into our little family.  We read Luke 2 and Clement C. Moore's Twas the Night Before Christmas on Christmas Eve night.

U is for Us.
Our Family.

V is for Visiting.
Visiting with loved ones, visiting stores for last minute gifts, visiting Santa.  Of course, in the south, a white Christmas makes visiting very difficult.

W is for White Christmas.
Christmas 2010 welcomed a once in a lifetime blanket of snow equaling over 5 inches at our house.

X is for eXcited little girls.
They are mine.  All mine.

Y is for young at heart.
There is nothing like seeing the magic of Christmas through the eyes of your children.  Everything is sparklier, more magnificent, and more special.

Z is for Zoo.
Our house is a zoo.  A zoo that I'm oh so proud to call mine.