Peace and Quiet

Boy, I never realized how much I would appreciate peace and quiet. Here I am, up at just past 6 with no alarm clock, coffee made and not one sound in the house. Even Odie the Reindeer isn't clickity clacking across the hardwood floor, all that there is are the sound of ducks and a prop plane flying overhead. What makes this more amazing is that we even have Ami & Jonas staying over. I'm sure anytime - ahh I hear a whine now - right on cue, better type fast...I should have kept my fist closed.

My little princess loves her tea and kettle set that Darby got her. She tips the spout and slurps from the cups. She is becoming more and more comfortable in her own skin, the sashaying has gone by the wayside, her steps are more determined. She even walked around the pontoon boat the other afternoon. She's got her sea legs! Minus a few spills, even a unintentional trip by Gerdpa that sent her straight on to her face, she survived. The best part of the journey to see Discovery's last launch was Pierce and her at the front of the vessel, huddled next to each other and looking down river.

Daddy's little rocker is still rockin'. His new music requests are Skynyrd's "Freebird" and Styx's "Mr. Roboto". He is like a Tasmanian Devil in a whirlwind, the sound of helicopters and missiles emanating from his vortex. Pierce has been constantly smashing (for years now) his Matchbox cars, Transformers parts, blocks and whatever else into the top of the piano, his bedroom furniture and our butcher block countertops, leaving divots behind everywhere in his wake. It's funny, he's not much of an outside kid, doesn't like playing basketball, getting on the scooter or riding in the bike trailer, but as soon as Harper shows interest - there he is getting involved. I love it, now we spend time in the afternoons shooting hoops, bouncing the ball and learning to pass & catch. He is getting the hang of it.

Harper on the other hand is my little athlete, she is trying to get on the scooter herself and picks up the big basketball and bounces it herself. She loves being outside! She is also my little Ed McMahon and says "Hi - oh!" all the time. It's so funny, she is babbling alot and pointed at Odie the other day saying "O - E". She is very curious and loves to sit & thumb through books (along with everything else in the house).

I marked their heights along the garage door trim Friday, it had been near 2 years since we moved in, that I had done it last. Pierce has grown so much, soon I will draw another line of growth and wish I could have some time back. That they would slow down and not grow up. It is such a paradox, you want them to become independent but you want to hold them and not let go. As I fed Harper a bottle last night as she was falling asleep in my chair, she is almost too big to fit between the arms, her foot was rubbing back and forth on the leather...I realize it goes by too fast.

1 & 4

The only sound in the house is the new Radiohead album and the droning of the coffee maker. It's taken me years to get to this point, to start writing/typing again. My journal entries have become less and less frequent. My family has grown like a yard of weeds, much too fast to keep up and I feel as though I've fallen behind. Who else is writing things down? Will we remember them years from now?

I'm trying to figure out how to place the pictures in just the right spot, still an amatuer blogger at best. Harper is walking and talking now. My mom says she "sashays" around, she holds her arms up and turns her hands at the wrist from side to side. She even grabs the box of chalk we have by the blackboard and slides it on her arm like a purse! So precious! She said things resembling light, outside, juice, and of course Momma and Dadda. Already almost 13 months old. I think I get ahead of myself when I call her just one, you really have to hold on to these short years as long as you can. Before I know it she'll be yelling "No!" and throwing tantrums like the other light of my life, Danielle. Just kidding!

Pierce is a superhero. No other real way to describe him at this point. He flys around at a hundred miles an hour having episodes with his Matchbox cars, which are now either Transformers or Marvel Superheroes at any given moment. Meanwhile, the hundreds of dollars worth of Transformers and Superheroes lay there on the ground in millions of pieces! He has an extensive vocabulary and wide ranging supply of onomatopoeia which he uses quite well. I hear the episodes of Iron Man or Transformers Prime translated into smashes and crashes of metal on the piano or counter.

Now, he has awoken and those very noises I just described are going on around me like a swarm of bees and it's only 7 AM. Soon, the beginning bars of Iron Man will be hummed out, with the Ozzy Osbourne headshake accompanying them. Never was a fan of Black Sabbath or the Ozz-man, my 4 year old has turned me on to the fantastic, Paranoid. Go figure. He even ran into daycare the other morning describing to one of the ladies the album cover, a man with a sword and a helmet on, hiding behind a tree. He constantly makes me laugh. Here he is, fresh from the bathroom, staring and smiling at me, describing how Danielle's hair clips are sea creatures transforming into robot things. I love it. He reminds me so much of Mike as a kid. It's so much fun.

Now I feel as though I'm neglecting him, drinking coffee and blogging about his life. Our life. I was telling my mom the other day that I'm just a stupid kid that got lucky. I truly am blessed. I just hope that there will be another morning I can wake up at the crack of dawn and type down my thoughts again. We shall see....

Another Late Night

How many have I had? Always was a night owl, even in my youth. I was awake.