Molly Moo

Last month, my baby girl turned four.  Proof that they really do grow up.  Somehow Isabelle getting older is different than Molly getting older.  I am more sad and reflective about Molly.  I will never have a baby girl again.  Girls just have a sweetness about them that boys do not.  And I will miss Molly's sweetness as she gets older and realizes it isn't super cool to give your mom a million hugs and kisses a day.

I am continuing my tradition of interviewing the girls on their birthdays.  Here are Molly's answers.

Favorite color?  Pink

Favorite TV show?  Care Bears

Favorite movie?  Toy Story 3

Favorite food?  Stroganoff

Least favorite food?  Hamburgers

Best friend?  Hannah

Favorite toy?  Buzz Lightyear and Woody

Favorite snack?  Goldfish and candy

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A big kid with a dog

Favorite song?  Let it Go

Favorite book?  Toy Story

If you could change your name what would you change it to?  Melanie

Coolest person you know?  Grandma Deborah Jill

What does mom do all day?  Fold laundry

What does dad do all day?  Work

From my perspective......

Molly loves playing with her sister no matter what they are playing.  She gets bossed around quite a bit and doesn't usually mind.  She is an outdoors girl and loves playing in the sandbox, riding her bike and playing with chalk.  Her favorite food is stroganoff, but she also likes spaghetti, crunchy chicken, bean burritos and pizza.  She also loves salad which is pretty weird to me!  Molly has just started to show real interest in school work and is getting very good at writing her letters and numbers!

Molly is the funniest kid ever!  Almost daily I text Jason something funny she has just said.  She tells us daily that we are "hilar," even though she is the one who is hilarious.  She is super affectionate and I'm pretty sure her love language is touch.  She is the generous one also.  If Molly has something super delicious to eat, she will give you her last bite.  If she gets an awesome toy for her birthday she wants to give it away.  I struggle with encouraging her to be generous and trying to get her to keep her brand new birthday/Christmas presents!

Molly's dislikes.....her brother chasing her around and pulling her hair, going to bed, being ignored, washing her hands, and doing chores.

Molly is such a fun, sweet, funny, generous and crazy child.  She doesn't really have a middle or an medium to anything.  She goes from running around like a crazy person to instantly asleep, never just sleepy.  She is either super happy or super unhappy.  Crying or laughing.  You get the point.  Always one extreme or the other.  She makes me laugh and then tear my hair out every day.  I love her so much.  Molly is a wild one and I see lots of adventure in her future.  I am so incredibly lucky to be her mom.  She brings such joy to our family.  Happy birthday, Molly.  Now stop growing up.

Pictures from Our Trip Part Two

Here are a few more pictures from our trip to the lake.  

Lawson wanted to drive the boat!

Captain Lawson

Molly at Ha Ha Tonka

Trying to get a group picture is near impossible

Look!  The girls are getting along and smiling!  

This is what it looks like when Molly and Isabelle go fishing.

Jason caught quite a few fish while we were there.  This was not the largest but I think it was the first!

Again, group pics aren't always super easy, but this was the best of the trip!

I love my family and I love having time to get away together and do family things.

pics from our trip, part one

these are just a few of the pictures we took while on our "vacation" to the lake over memorial day!  

moll loves sleeping on the boat

my girls on our last boat ride

lawson sporting his new hat and swimming trunks

fun at ha ha tonka state park

isabelle and dad fishing together

i think she looks about 16 here  

despite the fact that the water was freezing, both girls swam

j is a great dad to be in that water with them

my kids love the lake.  it is hard driving there and back as they aren't great travelers, but to hear them giggle and see them high five each other when we get there makes it worth it (mostly).  we fit a lot into this trip so i will have some more pics tomorrow!

Molly's Noodles

Last Thursday, Molly and I had the fun experience of going to urgent care for her to get stitches.  In my experience with kid traumas, here is the where stitches stack up against the others (number one being the worst).

1.  Concussion for Lawson

2.  Stitches for Molly

3.  Molly biting through her tongue

I am not counting the two surgeries (Lawson's and Isabelle's) in this list because they weren't really "traumas."

So, here's how it happened.........

pre-stitches at the urgent care

Molly and I were playing in the living room.  I needed to go make lunch so I told her we were done playing for a minute.  She decides to start running/spinning around the living room.  I had not got up off the floor before I heard a loud CRACK and see Molly's head colliding with the corner of our stone coffee table.  Honestly, I was not the least bit concerned that her head was going to split open.  I thought, based on the sound her head made hitting the table, that she was going to have a concussion.  As soon as it happened, I scooped her up and looked at her head.  Within a second, her and I were both covered in blood.  I started yelling at Isabelle to find my phone and call Jason while frantically getting something to cover the gash in Moll's head.  After yelling repeatedly at Isabelle, I realized the phone was plugged in on the counter.  I grabbed the phone, called Jason and yelled at him to come home, then proceeded to call the Dr. who said I needed to take her to the ER for stitches as their office was too busy.  At some point I thought, "hey, maybe I am overreacting," so I took off the washcloth and looked at the cut.  I was NOT overreacting.

Fast forward to Jason coming home and confirming I was not overreacting and Molly and I leaving for the urgent care.  Once we were there, we got in fairly quickly (praise God that her cut stopped bleeding pretty quickly at home).  The doctor and nurse were very sweet, but Molly did NOT enjoy her time there.  For starters they wrapped her up in a thick fleece blanket to prevent her from moving around.  Molly h.a.t.e.s. being confined or restricted in any way so this made her VERY mad.  It also made her extremely hot.  Then they put a paper with a hole cut-out over her face which only served to infuriate her more.  She was scream-crying for me to make them stop before they even started with the lidocaine shots.  Those apparently hurt like the dickens because just when I thought Molly couldn't scream any louder, she was.  She kept asking me to make them stop the poking and telling me she was ready to be done and go home.  When they started the stitches, Molly must have heard the word needle, because she then started calling her stitches, noodles.  If she hadn't been so upset, I would have thought it was much funnier.

right after they were done she asked to see her "noodles"

After we were all done, and Molly was mostly calmed down, I took her to get lunch at her favorite place, Chick fil A, and all was right with the world.  By the time we got home she was back to her old self.

We have to go back to the doctor on Tuesday to get her four stitches out, and until then we have to keep it nice and clean.  She is doing great and it looks like it is healing very well.  I am praying for no scar or one that is barely visible.  I would hate for my beautiful daughter to have a scar right in the middle of her face.

she has done great leaving a band-aid on and keeping it clean

I am not at all surprised that Molly was my first kid to need stitches, but I am hoping this is a one time deal. I don't think I can deal with any more noodles for awhile!

How we Celebrated

Here is a little recap of how we celebrated Easter this year!

1.  Saturday night we attended our church's Easter services.

best family pic out of like 10

handsome hubby

my bff, my sister

2.  We had Easter tacos for lunch on Sunday (a tradition for our family).

3.  The girls ate a ton of candy from their Easter baskets and then proceeded to act like crazy people the rest of the day!

4.  We had an egg hunt in the front yard.

another great one of the hubby

most of the fam

5.  Molly was finally able to fly her new kite.

6.  After a full day of family, food, and fun everyone in my house was asleep by 9pm!

Molly is Three (well almost three)

When Isabelle turned three I did an interview with her and then did it again when she turned four.  I decided to do the same with Molly Moo.  Her birthday isn't for a few more days, but in her mind since we had her party, she is three.  Therefore,  I have just pretty much accepted that my baby girl is three and she is growing up and someday she will be 18 and move out and I will be so, so, so sad.  Moving on.  Here is my interview with Molly at age 3.

Favorite Food:  Stroganoff

Least favorite food:  Soup

Favorite Show:  Phonics Farm

Favorite Movie:  Toy Story 3

Best Friend:  Isabelle and Mom

Favorite Toy:  Big Jessie (her new Jessie doll from Toy Story)

Favorite Book:  Cat in the Hat (her real favorite is Pete the Cat or Everyone Poops)

Favorite Snack:  Fruit Snacks

What do you want to be when you grow up?  Police man

What does mom do all day?  Clean dishes and hang stuff up (amazingly accurate)

What does dad do all day?  Clean dishes and hang stuff up (totally NOT accurate)

If you could change your name, what would you change it to?  Baby

Coolest person you know:  Mom

Favorite Song:  I love my friend, Jesus
This is a song she learned at church.  The song says, "He's always with me, and I'm so happy.  I love my friend, Jesus."

 Here are a few things about Molly from my perspective.

Loves: stroganoff and spaghetti, playing with Isabelle, watching the Toy Story movies, doing things on her own, helping me out around the house, giving hugs and kisses, sitting on laps, calling herself by different names, calling us by different names, "helping" her brother, grammy's big lake (lake of the ozarks) and spending time with family.

Does not love:  being told what to do, going to bed, taking a nap, waking up, sharing, sitting still.

Molly is so different from her siblings.  She really doesn't have things she loves or hates, she just likes to be a part of the action.  She will try new foods and is a better eater than Lawson and Isabelle combined.  She is wild and crazy and loud and strong willed, but she is also sweet and sensitive and kind and loving.  She is hysterically funny and incredibly smart.  Molly makes me a better mom, constantly forcing me to seek God and His help in parenting.  It would be easy to think I had it all figured out if not for Molly!!!  Haha.  Molly is almost always involved in the best and the worst parts of my day.  She is such a blessing to our family and I can't imagine how boring my days would be without her!  My little NICU baby who seemed so fragile when she was born is by far the most resilient of all my children and funny enough, has the least amount of issues when it comes to her health.  She is a go-getter and get-upper.  She is tough, like seriously tough, and she will go from 0 to 100 in the blink of an eye.  I am so thankful I get to be her Mom.