Big Brother

Ellie is looking at her big brother here. He is always doing something interesting. He looks for bugs and colorful rocks with her. He swings her around and she laughs and laughs. He plays chase with her around the kitchen island. (So safe) He rescues her from the desert when she goes too far from the patio. He lets her run up the drive and check the mail with him. He is her Bup and she loves him.    

Eating Rocks

Our rocks are tasty here in Arizona. They bake in the sun all day and taste like summer rain if you lick them.

Flashback Friday: My Family 1970

My Mom, Dad, little sis in pink, big sis in the dark blue, me in the pigtails.

I remember thinking how beautiful my Mom was that night. She must have been just 30 years old here. Her dark hair was always such a contrast with her bright blue eyes. She wore her sparkly clip-on earrings that night (as you can see).  I loved when she wore jewelry. She looked so fancy. She also had a fox fur collared and cuffed, cranberry red coat she wore when she was being fancy. The fur was so soft . I remember her wearing it in the car and I would lean forward out of my seat and smoosh my face into it before she could catch me. I am sure we did lots of face smooshing that night until she wanted to smack us. We liked when she was all dressed up and fancy because she usually waited to smack us when we got home. Love you Mom.

A Collage for the Grandmas

Ellie's Grandmas live far away from us. My Mom was just here for a few days and Ellie loved every moment with her. My husband's Mum will be visiting from New Zealand in May. We can't wait for Ellie to meet her. If life was perfect Ellie would get to live by both Grandmas. But, who's complaining? Life is sweet.

Momma Vacuum Hands

We have three kitty-cat hairballs that shed all the time. We let them play outside in the desert. They bring in stickers and cactus needles and lots of dirt and dust. If we leave the sliding glass doors open by accident they have been known to bring in rock squirrels, pack rats, and rattle snakes. (They have never gotten a rattler clear into the house, just up to the patio).  Once the two female cats had a small milk snake they were both carrying; one on each end. The only reason they didn't succeed in getting the snake into the house before I caught them; they tried to go through the door at the same time but the snake kept getting in the way.

Now that we have a family member that is so close to the floor, the cat hair and dust has started to drive me flipping crazy. So, I purchased this puppy the other day. (Braved the crazies and the pervs at Walmart because they had the best price). I cleaned our hard flooring yesterday. We have about 2,000 sq. feet of that new fangled stained concrete. It looked so beautiful when we first  moved in to our new home. Then reality set in. I have been tortured with it ever since.  Guess what? You have to wax this flooring and buff it. What the? I am cleaning challenged at the best of times and I am overwhelmed with the amount of hair and dust the cats produce. I told my husband the other day that if reincarnation exists I am coming back as Momma Vacuum Hands. So this big arsed machine sucked up all the dust and scrubbed the floors bright shiny clean. I am so happy. The other great thing about it is: it cleans carpets too. So I am shampooing the carpets today. Who knows, I may suck up a few cats along the way.

Flashback Friday: Living a World Away 1969

My husband is about 5 years old here; living in Auckland, New Zealand.
His childhood seemed ideal. His Mum was a stay at home Mum.
She sewed cotton lining into his itchy wool school uniform sweaters.
She drove him to school when it rained. 
He says, he never remembers her being sick. 
When I first met him, he said his Mum could double for the Queen.
When I met his Mum, I believed him.
She was so gracious and had a certain calm and self assurance about her.
Maybe this should be a picture of his Mum.
But I think a picture of her happy, well dressed kids speaks volumes about her.

Limelight

Going out to lunch with Ellie is what I would imagine it would be like to go out in public with a celebrity. We went to Mimi's for lunch with my Mom and Dad on Monday. The lunch crowd there must have just been waiting for a little smiley girl to ooh and aww over. Our lunch was pleasantly interrupted about every five minutes with another group of ladies coming by to say hello to her. Next time I will come armed with signed photos. (Just kidding). I wonder, when the baby cuteness wears off if she will miss the limelight? My Mom said I hated the attention I got at restaurants when I was a little girl. I would often ask if i could go eat in the car. (So happy Ellie is more outgoing than that). I still like eating in the car. I love Sonic for that very reason. That, and their lime cream freezes.

Flashback Friday: Trip to Scotland 1988

My sister and I drove a borrowed car from Southern England to Scotland. It was quite the trip. I remember we had a lot of fun on no money. I think we could afford to eat like once a day.  I would do it again in a heart beat. This is Dugan by the way. He was looking after Edinburgh Castle while we looked after him.

Late Afternoon Sun

Oh My

If I look at this photograph too long I forget about all the sleepless nights and want another one of these babies. Shhhh, don't tell my husband.

Linking up with Sweet Shot Tuesday.

Poster Child

It seems as though Ellie and I are the poster children for those who hold out hope of having a baby in their forties. We were at Philip's dermatologist appointment Thursday and the forty-something  Esthetician and Nurse had a little convo (after they found out how old I was) that went something like this: "See, there is still hope. You could still have a baby. Look at her. She is so cute". And I added sarcastically, "Yeah, I am not tired at all. Go ahead, do it". 

Fifteen Months Old

I Need More Sleep.

I am not complaining, but I seriously need more sleep. It has been three weeks since she has slept through the night. It started with a mean cold and she just didn't sleep well. Then, before the cold was done she started trying to grow molars. The teething thing has been brutal. She was waking up and crying in the middle of the night. The only thing that consoled her was ibuprofen and Olivia. Yep, we let her watch television in the middle of the night. I thought only lame parents did that. (I guess we have joined the lame parent club). When she is finished growing those molars I am sure we will be able to break her of her waking in the middle of the night habit once again. Yep, pretty sure.  I will once again know what it is like to think clearly and get shitz done around here. All will be right with the world and we will all wake up singing the Hallelujah Chorus or the Olivia theme song that I can not get out of my head. (Thank you Nick Jr.). Until then...I need sleep.