March Madness First Round

Wofford lost = Christian doesn't  have a shot.

Shockingly, Mercer beat Duke today = Mommy doesn't have a shot either.

Victoria currently has 17 points.  Which is double one family member.

They are currently munching on popcorn watching the George Washington team play Memphis.  We all happen to choose George Washington.

This will become a Humphrey Family Tradition!!

March Madness

Fun is: Teaching your 6 & 7 year old how to fill out a March Madness bracket.

My pick is Duke, Victoria picked Virginia, Christian picked Wofford (who may very possibly lose the first round tonight) and Mark pick Kansas.  We had so much for tonight (after ice skating and dinner at Mama Jeanne's) looking up scores and rooting for Wofford against Michigan.

The winner gets to choose a the restaurant for a Saturday Lunch.

This will be an exciting couple of weeks!

Brecken's Birthday Eve

Here it is.  The Eve of Brecken's first birthday.  It is so bittersweet.  It seems like just the other day I was walking out to the car in massive pain on the way to the hospital.  It seems like just the other day we got the shock of a lifetime when we were told an ambulance was on the way to whisk away our baby who was just a few hours old.  

It seems like just the other day I was blogging about how many days old he was and I typed: Soon we will refer to how many weeks old he is.  Then months.  Next thing we'll know he will be turning one.  

Everyone knows that first year flies by.  Every day that little baby changes.  I have, literally, thousands of pictures of Brecken from his first year.  I wanted time to stand still every day.  But he kept on growing and changing and learning.  

One thing that hasn't changed is how much his brother and sister adore him!

I love this picture of him just a few days old and Victoria and Christian are sitting on the floor just watching him.

One year later, and they both still get excited each and every morning when he wakes up.

Usually, all three of us walk into his room to greet him.

They just love everything about him!

I love this picture of the three of them. 

Christian and him sure look like brothers!!

Christian loved that they were dressing as twins.

And I loved it too!

I quickly snapped this behind the scenes picture at Brecken's first birthday photo shoot.

I turned my head and noticed how entranced both 

Victoria and Christian were cheering him on to dig into his cake.

The just adore him!

And he clearly loves them too!!

Brecken is officially a full time walker.

He doesn't crawl at all any more.

A couple trips to Chuck E. Cheese this week turned him into a walker.

He wanted to be like the big kids and run around.

He won't even hold my hand.

He wants to fit in with his big brother and big sister.

This is the picture I used for his birthday invitation.

I love everything about it.

His fine whispy super blonde hair, his eyes shaped just like Victoria's,

 his adorable I Am One Year Old Smile.  

Love, love love it.

This picture is my current All Time Fave.

Not much cuter than a "baby" in a tie.

Oh, he's so sweet!

This picture makes me smile.

Starting tomorrow morning and continuing thru April 5th we will be celebrating this little boy.

The little boy that calls me Nonna instead of Momma.

The little boy that reaches for me when he's tired.

The little boy that I hold and sing to each night while I rub his perfect little eyebrows.

The little boy that crawls under his crib to hide while I call for him and he giggles the entire time,

usually with one foot poking out.

The little boy who gets into everything, everywhere all day long.

The little boy who melts my heart each and every day.

The little boy that showed me I am capable of so much more love than I ever imagined.  

Tomorrow is a big day!

Liv's Birthday Week

My wonderful friend Livi turned the big 35 this weekend!

On Thursday I took all the kids to daycare and then picked up Liv for lunch at Sunsets.

We power shopped.

We laughed hysterically.

We had a great time.

The three hours flew by.

In the parking lot of her work as we were saying good-bye.

But not for long as the kids and I "crashed" her family birthday lunch.

We were technically invited.  

However the Bday Girl forgot to mention to Grandma Kaye that we were coming.

The kids had a blast playing with Liv's nieces and nephews.

For the first time in a long time Mark and I went out to party.

And oh man, did we ever.

Liv is holding one of the gifts we gave her.

A Christian Kane wine glass.

I must say, it seemed like she liked it.  I think the loud gasp gave it away;-)

The night was filled with lots of Liv's friends and her entire family.

We played darts and trivia, took a shot, ate good food and drank (a lot) beer and had such a fun night!

It may go down (in my mind) as my favorite of all of her birthdays.

Well, besides that time we went to the salon and all got our hair done when we were 13.

That rocked too!

I loved that I got to see my favorite person several times the week of her birthday.

HAPPY 35TH BIRTHDAY LIV!

Being a Mommy

Being a mommy on any day is hard.  It's also amazing and incredible.  But very often it's hard.  Like, every single day it's hard in some way.

Today a teacher came back to work after being with her infant son for the last twelve weeks.  We all remember that first day back.  It's painful.  Nope.  It's torture.  It's a day you never forget.  Even after three kids, and a FIVE month maternity leave, it was painful.

Today I also threw a shower for a first time mom.  I wrote her a two page letter about what a magical time this is.  And how difficult motherhood is.  It is magical and amazing and hard all at once.  It seems, forever.  That's pretty much what I've gotten out of this gig I've been living for the last (nearly) eight years.  It's totally awesome and pretty much difficult ever day.  But, after I typed that, I wonder, isn't everything worth really amazing?  It's not easy to get to Playa del Carmen.  My job is hard every day.  Marriage is beautiful but trying.

I listened as moms threw in their advice about what to do with what.  And what their baby liked.  And how they know that book by heart...still.

When I was given baby showers way back in '06 I have to admit, I was annoyed by these moms.  What, exactly, does your baby (who is probably 17 by now) having liked Fox in Socks each and every night have to do with my unborn child exactly?

Now I get it.

I so get it.

It's looking at this woman who's belly is practically out to her knees when sitting and thinking, "You don't know.  You have no idea how your heart is going to grow."

Even though this shower was supposed to be a couple weeks ago at Laura's amazing house, then was rescheduled for the following morning, but school was canceled due to the snow, we finally had it today in the media center at school.

It was not what I envisioned, but it did the trick.  We celebrated that baby.  We ate cake, played some fun games (yes, I created some pretty cute games!!!) and watched J open some very thoughtful gifts.

Every mom in the room reminisced whether they shared or not.  I know several of the ladies there wished they were the one in that rocking chair.  I hope and pray they will preggers soon.

It was an emotional day.  I sped home hoping I'd make it in time for Brecken's before bottle.  I did.  I sang him our songs.  I rubbed his little eyebrows.  I caressed his chubby fist holding his bottle.  I thought of the nights I dreamt of touching him.  I am so very thankful we have him to complete our family.  With his birthday approaching, I often think about where I was one year ago.  I was exactly where J is now.  Two centimeters dilated.   Wondering.  Dreaming. Hoping. Wishing.

One year flies by.  As my friend Amanda told me when Victoria was an infant: The days creep by when they're little, but the years fly by when they're older.

So true.

(A Surprise) Bonus Day AGAIN!

Maybe you're getting tired of hearing this....but I'm not:

BONUS DAY!

Yes, seriously school was cancelled for the FIFTH time this year!

We made one up last week and we'll make another up in April but there is NOTHING like the shock of getting ready in the morning and hearing your husband yell, "Kel!  It's closed again!!"

Totally awesome!  My dad surprised us at 10am with a bag of fruit and donuts and took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese.  It was closed when they got there but I've received a text with a pic of C going to town on a bag of cotton candy.  They've been gone for 5 hours as of now.

I spent the day loving on Brecken.  Now that's he's walking it's harder to keep track of him and even harder to take pictures of him.  They're all blurry.  He continues to be the sweetest baby that every lived.  These bonus days are all about spending unexpected time with my kids (and catching up on laundry).  This winter will be one we talk about for years to come!

Face Painting Mishap

For over a week now Christian is asking if he can use the face paints.  He even asked after he got ready for school this morning.  Every time I say no, he looks so disappointed.  I assured him after school today, he could do it.  We got home and he was first to put his folder and lunch box on the counter and he was outta there.  First time ever, he got his after school things taken care of before Victoria.  He was in the bathroom for a while and Victoria was playing with Brecken while I made dinner.  Christian came out with a face THICK with face paint, mostly black and red.  Lips, eyebrows, he was covered.  We ate dinner and then Victoria wanted to do it.  While they were both in the bathroom applying even more face paints I was having a mini dance party in the kitchen with Brecken.  He's fascinated with the radio right now.  I does a baby gasp when the singing starts and he has to stare at the radio the whole time we're dancing.  He'll bop around and laugh but he'll keep at least one eye on the radio.

Soon both big kids were covered in face paint and V said, "Do you think Christian should have gotten face paint all over your good while towel?"  I went in and inspected and said, "How do you suppose that towel is going to get clean?"  "I'll totally take care of it," he said.  He scrubbed that towel in the bathroom sink with hand soap and turns to me as I'm giving the baby a bath and said, "I like washing towels like this.  I could do them all for you."  How cute is that?

As I got the baby out of the bath I gave them each a darker colored washcloth and gave them the directions to, "Not touch a thing" and get in the bath.  They headed downstairs and I got Brecken ready for bed and gave him his bottle.  I cleaned up the dinner mess and started on the food for J's shower tomorrow.  The kids are able to start the water and they'll play for a while before I go down to scrub hair and make sure they are actually clean.

Just before I was about to head down Christian comes running up and said, "Don't worry Victoria is ok."  Ummmm, that can only mean one thing - something is NOT ok.  I went down there and naked Christian was right behind me.  Victoria saw me and became hysterical and said, "You're going to wish you never had me!"  Talk about dramatic!  I said, "Don't ever say that.  Remember, I'll always love you, no matter what.  What's wrong?"  While literally bawling she said she had gotten face paint on the couch.  I went to look.  There were two small red smudges and I could see she had already tried to wipe clean.  I didn't say anything as I walked back into the bathroom.  They were both crying really hard saying the most dramatic crazy things like,  "What is our punishment?"  Now mind you, neither have ever really been punished for anything.  Time outs here and there when they're fighting but really we just talk things out.  So them being worried about being "punished" was kind of funny.  Christian said, "What are you going to do to me?  I'm so worried I kinda feel like I'm going to throw up!"  All the while crying hysterically.  I just looked at him like - What the heck is wrong with you??  Seriously, they were so worked up, it was almost funny.  I sat there not saying a word and they both kept going on and on and on.  They cleaned the face paint from the side of the tub really well and continued to cry.  They finally got cleaned up (except for the nice face paint stains left on their cute little faces) and out of the tub.

All I said was, "Jammies, teeth, bed."  Off like a shot they both ran.  It was seriously unreal.  They both went straight to bed.  I kissed and prayed with Christian and his eyes were closing at 6:35.  He was exhausted.  Explained why he was so emotional.  I finished making the food for J's shower and then headed down to see V.  She had asked if she could take her new media books down with her, so I knew she was reading.  I walked into her room and she looked so sad.  She asked if we could cuddled.  I got her all tucked in and cuddled up with her.  She said, "Mommy, how are you going to punish me?"  "I'm not Victoria.  It was an accident.  It's over.  No biggie."  (Clearly the guilt of this mishap was enough!!)  She looked at me so relieved and hugged me tight.  We prayed and her "extra" was for a forgiving Mommy and for a Mommy who loves for her.  It was so sweet.  As I cuddled her I could feel her body relax.  She was completely sleeping by 7:00.  Apparently, serving at Culver's last night, wore her out!

The face paint came out of the couch and carpet with a little Shout.  I threw away the rest of the face paint.  I'm predicting both kids sleep hard and (hopefully) past 6:30 tomorrow.  Even though it was pretty uneventful (in my eyes), I bet it's a night they won't forget anytime soon.