sisters

So even though I think that you get what you get and that's your family, I was secretly hoping Maren was a girl. That may have been because I thought Maren was a boy (thinking I am having a boy makes me wish it were a girl and thinking I am having a girl makes me wish it were a boy so I guess I am always happy or never happy depending on how you see it). You see, I have a brother and a sister and I know Michael and I are close, and we are far apart in age. So it is OK for Annie to have a brother that was much younger (someday); they will still be tight. But she needed a Meghan too. Not sure how much sense I am making, but these miniature sisters that live in my house are cute, cute, CUTE.

Annie loves Maren, completely and totally, in a be still my heart sort of way. There has been very little jealousy, very unlike the stories of Harper lore:

Me: "NOBABYNOBABYNOBABYNOBABY!!!!" <throws doll>; (2 years, 3 months apart)

Nana: "Meg, do you like your new brother?" Meg: "Yes Nana, I don't even bend his fingers back anymore." (4 years, 3 months apart)

Well, my mom says I loved Meghan, but that story gets told a bit more. I literally don't have one about Annie (yet). This is more of an Annie story:

Me: "So do you want to go on a Big Girl Date with me to get Rita's Italian Ice?" (sounds like something you do with an older sibling, right?)

Annie, excitedly: "YES! Let's bring Maren too, OK?"

My favorite pic of the two of them:

And Annie loves to match with Maren. For Halloween, she doesn't want to be matching/themed outfits; e.g. lion/lion tamer, two different kinds of flowers, Yoda and Princess Leia, etc. She wants them to be the same thing, like both Snow White or both Tinkerbell. TBD - stay tuned.

And Maren - well, I do think she might like me the best :) but she loves her Annie. And her dad. And Grammy. And they guy behind us in church tonight who told me that, "she is the happiest baby ever or else I am hilarious." She is just a little love monster, but I will say with certainty that Annie makes her feel happy and secure. I really think she sleeps better in her crib because she knows her big sister is in there.

I am glad for them that they have each other, that they already have a best friend and a maid of honor for their weddings. Sisters are special.

Lastly, my favorite story: Annie stopped sleeping in her bed a few weeks ago and started building a little nest on the floor so she could be next to Maren. (Since then, we have rearranged their room so they are right next to each other but both sleeping in their beds.) I went in because Maren was crying one night, and Annie said, tearfully, "don't bring her out. I can't sleep without her." (This cute story led to several nights of screaming crying in her room when she woke up and Maren was in bed with us which is totally not cute but we've nipped that in the bud and she just tiptoes in and climbs into bed too so we're one big happy family thankful for a king-sized bed.)

Good night. (Sorry for all the parentheses but I love them and if there were such as thing as parentheses within parentheses I would use them.)

not-my-words Wednesday

Mother, O'Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth.

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due,

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek - peekaboo.

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew,

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo.

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow,

But children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

busy days and why girls are so fun

It's been blog lite lately, both in substance and frequency. Busy days. But I was just thinking that girls are so fun. People always say, oh girl clothes are so cute!!! I wish I had a girl because of the clothes! Not me. I see at least as many cute boy clothes, and, even if you have cute clothes, it's not like they* want to wear them. They* would rather wear purple tutus, shirts with Dora on them, and too-small sparkly shoes on the wrong feet. The fun part about girls is their HAIR for sure! I just have to share these pictures of when I straightened Annie's hair a couple months ago. I told her she looked like a Barbie doll, and she told me, "I don't look like a barbeque."

*And by they, I mean Annie.