my blog is MOVING!!!!!

after lots of problems with blogger i've decided to move my blog, so update your bookmarks, because i won't be here anymore...

CLICK HERE FOR NEW BLOG HOME!!!

posted by mindi11 @ 1/31/2007 06:38:00 AM 0 comments

posted by mindi11 @ 1/29/2007 05:18:00 AM 4 comments

juju and cj

they could be brothers, couldn't they? i was flipping through old pictures tonight, and i found this one of my brother, C.J.
the haircut, squinty eye smile, wrinkled little nose, same chin...
i love these boys.

posted by mindi11 @ 1/29/2007 05:00:00 AM 3 comments

finally, a chance to share a few photos :) yay! still no internet, but i am working on it right now.

this is ezra at 8 days old. he is approximately twice this size now, with a very impressive double chin. if he let me pull him away from eating long enough to take a (good) new picture, i would post it and you would be amazed.

i did find one other little snapshot, from his 5th week, but it doesn't do his chin any justice.


julian turned 3 this week. we had a wonderful night (although bella had a really hard time not having 100% attention focused on her for that one day out of the year). Julian has really turned into such an amazing, loving, fun little boy. he still has a few wild temper flare ups throughout the day, but all in all, he is pretty easy right now. (easy compared to a 4 year old with the emotional sensitivity of a menopausal woman, and a 7 week old baby vacuum) i love him and his creative little mind. i love that he loves to play "dress up", even if that means that he has to be the "little princess" since there aren't cool boy dress up costumes. fortunately, uncle blair and stephanie sent us this little pirate gig for christmas, and he can take off the tiara and replace it with a skull n crossbones eye patch. we also found him an inflatable Superman costume for his birthday and it is so hilarious to watch him try to play in that massive thing. pictures will come soon.


little annabelle. she is such a sweet, perfect girl, but i never would have predicted the mood swings that a 4 year old could have. she goes from affectionate little mommy hen, reading books to julian...to bossy little tyrant, commanding julian to "clean up your mess, or you won't be doing ANYTHING fun again, EVER!!!"
her interests are changing, and she wants nothing more than friends right now. julian, ezra and a couple of hamsters just aren't cutting it for her anymore. every outing results in a new friendship, Samantha from IKEA, Isabelle and Sierra from the mall. but to be honest, Isabelle and Sierra deserved a good kick in the head. In observing their catty-ness toward my little Annabelle, I really started fearing Annabelle's upcoming kindergarten enrollment. are all girls so mean? so bratty? thankfully, annabelle is still so sweet, trying to have fun, rolling in the floor while pretending to be a dalmation puppy. Isabelle and Sierra would NOT play "puppies". they only liked "princesses".
i was so annoyed as Annabelle did everything that they told her to do, playing all of their games. and during a game of hide and seek (after intentionally ignoring bella for 10 minutes) they told annabelle to go hide her eyes and "count to 800 million...plus 40". then they laughed and walked away. little shits. pardon my language, but seriously. annabelle ran to hide her eyes, and then looked sadly at me and said, "mama, i don't know how to count that much." i told her, "count to 10...the blond one is hiding behind the slide".
fortunately, annabelle took it so well and was just grateful to have friends her age to play with. we went home and she said, "i'm gonna pretend that those two girls are coming to my house for a sleepover."
now more than ever, i am praying for annabelle to be a girl that is filled with compassion and integrity, and i am praying for genuine friends for her. friends that love to play dalmation puppies, and pet shop, and other 4 year old girl games. friends that love annabelle for the caring sweet girl that she is. with her personality, i am positive that she will draw the right people to her.

oh, and julian pushed Isabella. apparently she said something mean, and he had heard enough. i reprimanded him...but not too much.

posted by mindi11 @ 1/26/2007 10:09:00 PM 9 comments

i am in austin.
i have no internet.
i have broken into my mother in law's house and have taken over her computer temporarily.
i lied...i used a key.
i have no pictures on her computer.
next week. next week i hope to have my internet back. and then there will be pictures.

family updates:

dustin is a lifesaver, and has taken over morning duty with the two kids that actually sleep during the dark hours. he has also spring-cleaned the entire house, which was no small task. and when i say entire, i'm talking organized closets and kitchen and office...he is my superhero.

annabelle is madly in love with her new hamsters, Kiki and Wendy, and bursts out in uncontrollable tears if we don't let her hold them all the time. she has also perfected a "cooing baby voice" that i have only ever heard her use with ezra. it is precious.

julian is wonderful. he seems so gigantic to me now that ezra is here. everything, his head, his huge feet and hands, his thick little legs. he seemed so small for so long and now he reminds me of a tiny version of my dad, with brown eyes. which is kind of weird to feel like you are parenting a tiny version of your father. he loves ezra too, and the hamsters, regardless of the fact that he almost squeezed the eyeballs out of Kiki's head last night. have you seen "Of Mice and Men"?

Lenny is to mice as Julian is to hamsters.

ezra is beautiful. even when he is covered in yellow poo and spit up milk. he is a big fan of not sleeping when i want him to, but he loves to dance and eat and take baths. he is no longer my tiny one, and is very pleasantly plump, especially his chubby little face. he is far from a gerber baby, but also far from the skinny baby chicken that we brought home from the hospital.

mindi is tired. very very tired. but very very happy.

more fun updates soon, promise.

posted by mindi11 @ 1/05/2007 04:39:00 PM 9 comments

happy feet

mom and i took the kiddos (all 3) to Fort Smith (about 1 1/2 hrs away) this weekend to see "Happy Feet". actually we went with the intentions of watching "Charlotte's Web" and the kids decided on "Happy Feet" at the last minute. It was one of the best and funniest and sweetest children's movies that I've watched in a long time. I really had no interest in it before and now i am so happy that we got to see it.

ezra did beautifully. he slept in his car seat the entire time (until i woke him up for lunch) and that is just amazing to me. neither of the other kids ever slept in their car seats unless they were in a moving vehicle.

julian ate almost an entire medium sized tub of popcorn by himself. the kid can pack away popcorn like nobody i've ever seen. of course, he had a terrible stomach ache by that evening.

we took the kids shopping after it was over, and that was quite an experience. we had to do lots of shuffling around (ezra in stroller, ezra out of stroller, juju in stroller, bathroom trip, bathroom trip, stop for drinks, bathroom trip, feed ezra, etc. etc. etc.) and didn't get too much shopping done, but in the end, i was very pleased with how well we all did, considering it was a nap-free day, plus mucho sugary treats at the movie theater. i always have so much fun shopping with my mom too, and it was great to venture out of the house.

a few more days until all the men are here (dad, cj and dustin) and then we will have christmas. it is very festive here in mom's house, her tree is beautiful and very tempting for my juju, but he is doing pretty well with leaving it alone. a few nights ago, julian came into my room at 2 am needing to use the restroom. we had stayed up late that night wrapping gifts, so the tree was full. julian saw the gifts and said, "Ooooohhhh mama, it's cri-mass day! let's open presents!!!"

posted by mindi11 @ 12/20/2006 06:19:00 PM 4 comments

annabelle loves to eat. if julian and i are home alone, i may forget to feed him for several hours, before finding him picking cheerios out of the couch cushions. but annabelle NEVER forgets to remind me when it is breakfast time, or snack time, or treat time, or lunch time....

yesterday, i was preparing lunch when ezra woke up SO hungry. i stopped to feed him, and moments later, annabelle came into the room expecting to eat lunch. she walked up to me and said, "mama, is lunch ready?" i said, "no baby, i had to feed ezra first." she sighed and said, "Mama, you STILL have to feed us TOO, ya know," and sulked out of the living room.

annabelle also has the best memory. if she sees a commercial for a new movie coming out, she will ask me how many days until the movie comes out and she will count down (on her own) every day until the movie should be out. while in the hospital after having ezra, she saw a preview for Fox and the Hound 2. I told her it would be out in 8 days. on day 8, she woke up and walked into the living room and said, "Mama, where's Tata?" I told her that she already left for work. Normally she bursts into tears at the thought of Tata leaving without saying goodbye. Instead she said, "Well whose car are we going to take to the video store to get Fox and the Hound 2? It came out today, you know"

posted by mindi11 @ 12/20/2006 05:15:00 PM 1 comments

lastone, i promise. i just love ezra's sweet little face in this one. look at his long skinny fingers. 

posted by mindi11 @ 12/15/2006 10:41:00 PM 11 comments

ezra looks weird in this one, but the 2 big kids look so....well, big. i had to share. 

posted by mindi11 @ 12/15/2006 10:39:00 PM 2 comments

my 3 kids. bella, wearing her always inside out and backwards shirt, juju covered in a blanket as he only wears undies indoors, and ezra, so peaceful and sweet in his little hand-me-downs from juju. ezra looks so much like his sister, don't ya think? 

posted by mindi11 @ 12/15/2006 10:38:00 PM 4 comments