Love Song for Eliza

Well, we celebrated/mourned Eliza's first birthday/passing of her babyhood.

Yes, I know the previous statement is odd, a little sad and depressing. Sorry.

Sigh ... the thing is ... here's the thing: In the past, when we celebrate a "first birthday", we are also celebrating (sometimes secretly!) a new Ramsey on the way. It's been a constant cycle. One baby literally walking away from babyhood, one baby on the way. I guess it just makes me a little blue to see a chapter of our lives come to an end. I'm so so so not good with change.

Sigh...

Oh, but folks, what a wonderful, wonderful blessing she is.

When we were telling people that we were having a third daughter, the most hurtful thing people would say was, "Huh. Are you going to try for a boy?" As if, write this one off and try, try again.

If only they knew how AWESOME it is to raise one gender. Sure they may all be girls, but they are three totally different people with totally different personalities. I love how individual they are and I also love when I see something they all have in common.

Eliza is our most snuggly little girl by far, she thinks she is hilarious, she is a sweet little buddha-belly. She'd be an asset to any family, but I am so grateful that God placed her in ours.

10 Things Wednesday

What/who I am thankful for today ...

1. My friendly friend Heather, who lent me some equipment this past weekend. I especially appreciate it since she did all of this from her death bed .....




2. Chris and Polly Harrell, who graciously changed our small group from 4:30 to 7 so that we Ramseys and the Winters could attend.




3. I actually marked off all of the things on my work to-do list for the day. Woo hoo!




4. Visiting with J. Box today. It's just never boring. :)




5. Eliza has a bad case of diaper rash, but she didn't scream in the bath tub.




6. My new sweet cinnamon pumpkin hand soap.




7. I finally got my fall/winter clothes down from the attic. Okay, so I still wore jeans and a t-shirt today, but at least now I have options.




8. Dora's halloween dvd, so I could cook supper in relative peace.




9. We are having beans and corn bread for supper tomorrow night. And fried potatoes.




10. All the encouragement I have received the last few days. May God bless you all as you have blessed me!

3 Busy Days, 2 Tinkerbells, and a Sheep named Larry...

What a busy weekend!

Friday we did the playgroup thang ... one of these days I will actually take a picture of this. These gals and their kids are so much fun and it's just chat, chat, chat, chat, chat, chat until time to go home. That night we went to set up my dreaded booth (that's right I said we. I have the awesomest husband on the planet.) Not the easiest thing to do with 3 little girls. I didn't take a picture because folks, it wasn't picture-worthy. It didn't really matter, though. I'll get to that part in a minute!

Saturday:

Get up at 5:30 to be at church by 6:30. I'm on the board for the Better Life Counseling Center and we had our fundraiser/bike ride. Register all the riders then it's off to ...

Stop, Shop, and Stroll by 8:30! Time flew by. I mean FLEW. All said and done, I did very well. Don't want to talk about it too much, because that's bad manners. But, I will say this - Seeing people decide that something I made from scratch was worth paying for ... gave me a strange feeling. I'm pretty sure it was pride, and being prideful is a sin, so I'm still working this whole thing out. Best-seller? This minky dress:

Then my little bro and his college roommate Greg Kendall-Ball came over. I have raved over Greg's photography forever and a day, so for an early Christmas present Danny asked Greg to take some photos of the girls. They were in rare form (read: devil spawn), but he somehow managed to get some amazing photos. I'll definitely share them as soon as I get them!

Sunday: Church, then Nana and Papa and Uncle Greg come over from the View to celebrate Eliza's birthday (a little early). Great visit and we even went shopping! The girls picked out some toys for Miss Poops and have spent the majority of the last 24 hours playing with the toys themselves. The 2 year old (I won't mention her name) even got frustrated when Eliza tried to play with them herself. Ah... Christmas ought to be fun this year ...

Then the fall festival at the girls' school. Sophie and Maddie were Tinkerbell squared and Eliza was a ladybug. Eliza was completely enchanted by the light-up pumpkin.I don't know what it is, but kids in costumes are just the cutest things. This is the best one with Maddie in it. The camera has been placed in time-out and promises to behave at the church fall festival.

After the fall festival, we ran home, ate a sandwich, and the kids got in their jammies. Then we went to small group! We attempted to do our Bible study while the kids watched a movie and ate popcorn in the playroom. And by kids, I mean all of the kids. I've been finding the aftermath in Eliza's diaper all day. (ooh, Danna, don't talk about such gross things!)

Oh, at Bath and Body Works they were handing out little fuzzy sheep if you spent X amount. Nana and I each spent X, so we got 2 sheep. Sophie named hers Angelina Ballerina. Annnnndddd.... Maddie named hers... Larry.

Need help

This Saturday is Stop, Shop, and Stroll. I am a little stressed and ever-so-slightly behind with the dress-making, but that's cool. This ain't life or death, man.

Here is my delimma - I have a booth. Which means .... I have to set up said booth. Those of you who know me, know that this is my greatest nightmare. I have NO INNER VISION. Never give me a blank canvas, people.
Here is what I have to work with:
a table
some tall things that look like the sides of crates (courtesy of Mrs. A. Barrett)
Aaaaannnnnnnndddd ....... that's it.

Help! What should I do? IF this were you, how would you set it up? I have about 15-20 dresses to show, and I need to display my book of work and take orders.

IF this sounds like so much fun to you, we can have a date! Meet me at Highland Drive Baptist Church on Friday at 5:30, and we can knock this out and then I will pay for your supper. WOOO HOOO!

I'm a little desperate, folks.

Oh, and sorry for saying "ain't", Mom!

10 Things Tuesday

10 Things I'm thankful for!

1. New friend (Cara) who watched my littlest one today.


2. I have now completed phase 2 of Danna's Teeth Make-over.


3. The lipstick that Maddie smeared all over her face this morning came off easily. (did I mention it was picture day?)


4. Running with Ashleigh. It is quite possible that we do more chatting than anything else, but fortunately - she is one of the most interesting people I know. And she talks more than I do. :)


5. Finding super-cute shoes that Eliza will wear.


6. Sophie wasn't feeling her best this morning, but still begged to go to school.


7. I'm going to bed early tonight!


8. Stop, Shop, and Stroll is this weekend!


9. Eliza's love of spaghetti. Look! It's the great pumpkin!
10. This election madness is almost over! Can I get an amen?

You want me to touch what?

Sophie's Itinerary for a trip to the petting zoo:

• Whack the backside of a sheep. ..........Check.




• Snarl in the class picture. ......................Check.




• Throw a bunny. .........................Okay, it was more of a toss, but - check.

Well done, Sophie! Sure, I wish you had petted the sheep, smiled in the picture, cuddled the bunny, but ...it's not easy checking off everything on a to-do list. Proud of you, girl! Glad you had fun! Maybe next year we won't scream and run away from the chickens ...

Oh yeah, you DID touch a sleeping pig!

Eliza had fun, too!

She's part goat, I think

Did you hear the one about the 11 month old who ate the roll of toilet paper?

We'll let you know how it all comes out.

Probably goes real nice with that bath water she's so fond of drinking ...

10 Things Tuesday

These aren't really 10 things I am thankful for, but really just a list of things that I love.

1. I love it when people say nice things about others when they aren't around.


2. I love footprints. It's weird. Don't care.


3. I love Eliza's new habit of backing up to Jeff and I and sitting on our feet.


4. I love the dollar aisle at the Target.


5. I love the ladies in our ladies' Bible study!


6. I love it that some of my girlfriends can look like a million bucks just rolling out of bed. (but I still roll my eyes at them.)


7. I love donuts for breakfast.


8. I love Maddie's new enthusiasm for krunk (sp?) dancing. She has got some rad moves. :)


9. I love it when my husband has the day off.


10. I love new shampoo.

October is for Pumpkins

Today was Pick A Pumpkin Day!

First, the girls picked out the perfect Pumpkin picking outfits. (Hmmm... I wonder who Maddie's influence was ...)

Then we went to the Bennett's to look around.

Sophie got a tall skinny one.

Maddie got a short, really wide, "Cinderella" one.

They each got a baby one, for Eliza, they said.

Maddie informed me her pumpkin's name was Orange.

Sophie informed me pumpkins don't have names.

It was a good day.

7 Random Things

I've been tagged.

Again.

And you know I love it, folks. Just one more reason to make a list!

7 Random Danna Factoids:

1. First thing I wrote on my to do list today was, "write to-do list".


2. I base the success of my runs on how stinky I am when I get home.


3. I love cream cheese so much, I have been known to lick the excess off the knife.


4. I have a phobia about bugs in the sheets.


5. After dropping off the girls today, I was buckling Baby Eliza into her seat and thinking about how we would turn her seat around soon .... and started crying. Right there in the First Pres. parking lot.


6. I wish ... I had a fancy sewing machine.


7. The pregnancies made me belly get poochy and my rear-end disappear.

Now I tag all you bloggers who say you have bloggers' block!

Some photos:

Dancing with the Poops "What exactly are you doing there, girls?" says Eliza.

Playing their new favorite game - "sleepover".

2 Things

Alright, I have a couple of fun things to share today, kids.





Firstly (hmmm....is "firstly" a word? Maybe I should say first off or just a simple first. Why must I be so word-fancy? Now, where was I ....)


I was nominated for an award! I was nominated for an "I love your Blog Award" by my friend Julie. She's a dollface and so sweet for nominating me.

Now, I get to nominate four more! (This is sort of like a big "compliment tag".) It's difficult to just pick four, because I read every single one of the blogs on my blogroll when I get the time. Even though... I am a terrible commenter these days. Sorry, friends!

1. First blog I read a lot was Sandi. Her blog is a lot of things - sometimes funny, sometimes informative ... I've even shed a tear reading it. (And I hate to cry!) It's just a pleasant little blog.
2. Second one I'd like to nominate is Chandra. Our lives are totally different : she is the mother of one son - I have 3 girls; she lives right by NYC - I live in podunkville; she has good hair - you get the idea. But, despite all that, I think we might share a brain. (or at least a personality!)
3. Third is my friend Andria. She posts just about every day. Sometimes it's really goofy stuff and sometimes it's calm and reflective. Just like she is. :)
4. And fourth is Miss Kim. Just to read her "story" alone is worth a look at her blog. It's a good one, trust me!

And speaking of Miss Kim, mother of 3 Harrs, I won a fun game on her blog recently. It's the Pay It Forward game! The first 3 commenters on this post will receive something fun in the mail from me. Then, they will need to Pay It Forward themselves by posting and rewarding the first 3 commenters on their blogs! See, isn't that a fun little game?

Have a great day!