Can we keep her?

It was the cutest thing ever! Estelle just woke up from her nap and Camille heard her, so she ran into the bedroom and jumped into bed with her. I soon wandered in and jumped into bed between my two girls and Camille reached over me and patted her sister on the cheek. "Ohhh, how cute sissy. Can we buy her? Can we buy her, mama?" Camille asked. It was so FUNNY! I was like "Ummm, buy her? You mean you want to keep her?"
"Uh huh" Camille said
"You like having your sister around, Camille?"
"yup". And she jumped off the bed, and that was that.
It was pretty cute.

sparkly shoes

Okay, so I have this dilemma. I don't want to fight with my children over frivolous things, things that don't need to be fought over. I also don't want anybody to laugh at my kid! At what point to you draw the line? Sometimes Camille thinks she looks real hip - I think it's cute. She LOVES these sparkly shoes and wool black and white checkered pants. Summer, winter, too hot, too small, who cares? I've fought with her all summer about wearing these pants because it's been so hot but finally the weather's cooled down to the point where I can't use that excuse anymore. She "lost" these shoes for a while because they are completely too small for her, but now she's really excited that she found them again.

How do you say no to an over zealous 2 and a half year old? She's not bothered by too-tight shoes, as long as they look good. And she thinks she looks pretty hot. Which brings me back to my original dilemma...

nailpolish

I am so excited that I was blessed with the gift of having girls. Or I suppose I could have put nailpolish on a boy. At this age he wouldn't have known the difference, right?

The joy that painting tiny fingernails gives me is unsurpassable. The chubby fingers and plump, sticky hands grabbing at the bottle, the toothy smiles and the squeals of delight just completely fill my heart with a sense of contentment that I've not found in anything else. When we first had Camille, I was in love but I had a sense of guilt. I watched her play in the middle of the rug, alone, and it tore at my heart. I felt so bad that this little playful angel of a being was alone! I mean, I was there with her but I had my own stuff to do and couldn't play with her all of the time. She never really complained, she just sat and read her books to herself and played with her toys, but it made me so SAD! I couldn't wait to make her a little sibling! I grew up in a close-knit fairly large extended family group and I loved having other souls to interact with all of the time. I grew up knowing that nothing was as important as family and that nothing could come between blood, when it all came down to it. So we HAD to make Estelle, and we did. So this picture brings me complete joy.

It's been amazing watching them interact. Estelle turned 1 in June, which makes her about 15 months old now. It's only been recently that they really are interacting like sisters. I mean, they have always been aware of each other and tried to play with each other but they were at such different developmental stages and lately Estelle seems to be catching up to Camille. It's really cool and really fun to watch their interaction as they become playmates instead of just siblings. They are growing into friends.

I guess that's really why I wanted to start this blog at this moment. I feel the desire to capture their interaction now, before it's lost and forgotten to time. I know that there are always ups and downs with siblings and that you can't force them to get along if they don't want to. I know that just because they are sisters doesn't mean that they will be best friends. From the beginning, my biggest prayer and hope has been that they will have that connection, that I could give them the best gift in the world - each other. I hope above all else that one day they realize that. I know that the only thing that I can do is try to be the best teacher I can, to facilitate and to nurture and to try to show them how important this connection and the connection of all family is. Unconditional love and acceptance and help and growth within it. Family is what you've got left when it all comes down to it. It's ALL you've got left. And sisters - pshhh - you've got a built in best friend right there from birth.

yogurt monster

It was just for a second, I swear! I guess that's all it took. Check out this pic. and see what I've had to put up with while TRYING to unpack and get us settled into our nice new home. Yeah. I suppose I should have known better considering that something like this happens, umm, all the time! It's moments like these that I wish I would keep track of better and take more pictures of. Yes, for the intrinsic value of the photo, for the joy of being able to look back upon the times that passed so fast and to laugh at the hilarity of it all, but also for a reason that many of you may not be thinking of... for the shear purpose of defending myself.
Okay, okay, I know it's kind of silly, but photos like this need to be taken and stuck away as PROOF, proof that I, as a stay-at-home mom, really do have a lot of work to do all day. Something to show to Jeremy when he comes home at the end of a long day of work and asks, in disbelief as he looks around at the remnants of a house that was semi-clean when he left in the morning, "What did you do all day?" Those six little words that I'm sure every stay-at-home mom has heard at some point in her stay-at-home career, those words that make you cringe and begin to boil and lash out at the poor, aloof and unknowing hubby. Those words that every man soon learns NEVER to say, especially after you decide to leave him home all day to cook for, clean-up after and pacify children all day without even a warning to beware the yogurt monster.

MOVING

Sucks. Other than that, it's pretty fun to clear out the crap and start anew. Sorry I've been away for so long, but I decided to start a blog at the most inopportune time since we just bought a house and I think I disconnected my computer the day after I first blogged :). I am finally up and running again and even though times are hectic I will try to make the time to get on here atleast every other day. I have a feeling that things never slow down. Two girls, man, they keep you running.
More on that later, though. I'll post pictures soon too!