Mothers:

Happy Mother's Day to my dear mother, mom-in-law, stepmom, and Omie! And also to all my friends and momrades out there. (mom+comrades=cheesy made-up word) I'd like to devote this pretty poppy arrangement to you. I hope you're all putting your feet up today, at least long enough to catch up on the many new posts on this here blog.

What Have You Done With Willa?

I think I've mentioned before how Rebekah sometimes kidnaps Willa and returns her to me with a frilly new Beulah's outfit, complete with a Minnie Mouse bow atop her head. My friend thinks it's so funny to clothe Willa in things that are nauseatingly sweet and overtly girly...pink, floral, ruffled, and trimmed in lace. She expects me to loathe these ensembles, but I always LOVE them! Not a love that makes me whip out my wallet, but a love that makes me smile, and laugh, and tear up, and grab my camera, and take a zillion pictures. The other day, I was in serious work mode, trying to juggle customers and about nine different projects I had started. Willa was being her typical nap-refusing, lively self, tearing through the shop, rolling the clothing racks around, leaving a trail of deconstructed displays behind her. In an effort to help, Rebekah whisked her away and then returned a few minutes later with a different child, a demure, proper, genteel little lady. The transformation that occurred in Willa's demeanor by the simple change of an outfit was un-be-lievable. And it's no coincidence, either. I've seen it happen on a number of occasions. I unfortunately do not have any pictures of the before, but here is the after... Ah, here's my girl...

Dragonfly

After much anticipation and a long wait, a little horse named Dragonfly was born. We headed out to the ranch last week to meet the gangly foal. Willa loves to help Paula tend to the horses. I think it's safe to say we have a future equestrian on our hands.

Extreme Play-Dating

A week or so ago, Willa and I spent the afternoon with some friends for what I expected would be a low-key, rainy day play-date. It turned out to be quite the contrary. The multitudinous activity and corralling efforts, multi-tasking and multi-conversing made for a mental and physical challenge reminiscent of the day I first met Willa. (More specifically, the grueling hours of childbirth that led up to our magical meeting.) The girls slid and swung, and played in the mud. They splashed in the puddles and cruised in the Escalade. They finger painted and showered in the water hose. And eventually, they all made it to the communal tub for a good scrub before their long, well-earned naps. I don't know if it was the range of ages between the girls that made it so exhausting, or if it had something to do with the humidity in the air restricting my breathing... but it took me a couple of days to recover. I guess I should consider it a taste of my not-so-distant future, if things go according to plan and we multiply Willa by 2 or 3. Yikes! I will definitely need some more practice.

{Camden and Willa are messing with the radio controls. Notice Willa's hair dryer. This makes me think about the two of them carpooling to high school} {So Charlie's Angels...Don't you think?}{Camden was dying laughing at Harlie splashing in the puddles. And it soon became all an act for the camera.}{We checked the label...It's non-toxic.}{Oh, how fast they grow! The photo below is the same gang just 8 months ago. Click here for the full Breakfast With The Girls post, from September '08.}

Bathing Beauty

I have to share these pictures of Willa in her new bathing suit. It's from Beulah's, of course, and by Pink Chicken, which is one of my favorite lines...I love all of the graphic prints and cool color combinations. It's SO Willa. But even better than the sweet frilly suit on her wee little bod, is the boundless personality within that is so evident in these photos. Willa never ceases to amaze me with her vivacious spirit and around-the-clock antics. There is never, ever, a dull moment in our house. And this fake laugh of her's still gets us every time. She puts her whole body into it: eyes squinted, nose scrunched, back arched. It's my favorite!

The Hunt

Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny dyed some eggs, but the results were a little disappointing. Hopefully by next year, they'll get their you-know-what together and turn out some real works of art. Willa enjoyed hunting them, regardless. After spending the morning at home, we made the rounds to Chris and Wanda's and then my mom's house before attending a BBQ lunch with a whole heap of Heeps at Sean's brother, Dean's. By the afternoon, I was miserable with a fever and chills, and headed home to put myself to bed. For the next 10 days or so, Sean, Willa, and I were all sick with some kind of nasty virus. I don't even remember the last time I was sick - so this hit me pretty hard and I've been running behind ever since. I'm starting to doubt that I'll ever get caught up. But this bright Sunday morning, I'm concentrating on the blogs. I just uploaded more than 500 photos from the last couple of weeks, so you'll soon understand what has kept me so busy.

Here I Go Again With My Feelings...

So this is what they meant when the economists warned that things would get worse before they'd get better. My little shop is holding strong, but it's taking everything I've got, like working overtime, carefully pouring over orders to ensure that I have made the best buys, spending most of my time on the sales floor, and keeping my payroll to a minimum by doing as much as I can myself. I go to work with a smile on my face because through it all, I thoroughly enjoy what I do, but times are tough. My sales this year have been relatively good, considering the retail closures that abound, but I am still struggling to recoup from my fourth quarter overshoot. Every penny counts, as does every potential customer that walks through the door, and that pressure is draining my usual upbeat spirits. The worst part is that I worry night and day that I am cheating Willa and that annoying maternal guilt has resurfaced. I wonder if this guilt is normal, common among all mothers. My closest friends who are mothers describe having the same feelings, but maybe we're just all same-feathered birds that have naturally flocked together. As I discussed a new scheduling arrangement with Billie Jean today, I reminded myself for the umpteenth time, just how fortunate I have been to have had so much time with Willa, more than most working moms could ever dream of having. And I hope that once that perk gets replaced with the necessity of work, I will only be grateful for having had the experience and the pleasure. It's probably silly, but I often think about the way her experiences are shaping her. I hope that in exposing Willa to my work, I am somehow, in a very early sense, instilling in her a strong work ethic, nurturing a drive for success and an appreciation for business and the value of a dollar. Even though she can't comprehend it yet, I hope that she will eventually, fully grasp and seek out the dream of doing what she loves every day and appreciate the sweet fruit of her own labor. I expect that her outgoing nature will keep blossoming and she will enjoy meeting new people throughout her life, like she is already doing in her retail experience, alongside her mom. So for right now, I am going to keep up the hard work and try to put a lid on this guilt. I'm going to try to lighten up and stop trying to have it all and do it all, to the point at which it's just not realistic, or enjoyable. Wouldn't it be great if I could channel all of that energy into shear appreciation for life and start taking it day by day? I'm going to work on that.

Let me share one more thought before I call it a night. Blogging is fantastic. I mean, where else can a person vent and whine to their heart's content, without ever having to worry about annoying their audience, because if they are truly annoyed, they'll quit reading it. Comments from readers are a fun surprise and often provide well-meaning encouragement and advice. And if ever a spoilsport drops a negative line, the blogger always gets the last word, with the power of the delete key. Putting yourself out there, emotionally, to the world, via the Worldwide Web, is liberating and satisfying. And then, of course, there is the benefit of journaling and documenting life's daily occurrences, which mundane as they may be, are still our own histories in the making. I like to think that this blog will be an entertaining read as I grow older and wiser and can look back and laugh. And for my children, this blog will serve as a collection of family memories more detailed, personal, and real than any baby book or fill-in-the-blank journal could ever be. So that's what this is all about, dear readers. Love this blog or leave it. I'll never know the difference. Blogging's a beautiful, therapeutic thing. And I highly recommend it!