Big Girl Britches, Check

They're on.  And they happen to be a bright yellow skinny jean, which can only make a girl happy, right?

Chin up and that sort of thing is what's going on in my world now.  I had my youngest-child-that's-not-fair moment, and now it's over.  Nothing else in my house has really changed except my attitude, and sometimes that's all that needs to change.  No more cussing, no more screaming, and no more feeling sorry for myself.  This too shall pass . . . it still doesn't help to hear it, but I don't doubt it's truth.

Mack is still boycotting sleep.  I started drugging him with melatonin a couple of nights ago (the tiniest dose so no judging, please), and it has helped him sleep a bit longer.  Last night it was about 10:30-5:00 AM, and I'm cool with that as long as he stops waking up at 2:00 AM and wandering around the house.  And he woke me up all happy and cute this morning, and we had a good snuggle.  He smells like lavender lotion in the morning and loves to nuzzle up under my neck and rub his fuzzy head in my face.  He won't stay still long, but the few seconds I get are enough to make me not be concerned about skipping my early morning alone time coffee.

We thought that maybe he hated his crib since he's a bit too big for it, so I finally set up the fancy Ikea toddler bed.  He and Mimi snuggled in it and watched Peter Pan on the iPad for a while last night.  Why I didn't take a picture of all the cuteness is beyond me, but I'm hoping there are more of those moments to come.  I left the crib up in case he needed to crawl into last night, but I don't think that happened.

Hooligans.

On to other news.  I'm waving the white flag and saying uncle to this city lifestyle.  Living in the city the past three years has been sooooo cool.  Like I'm pretty sure I'm cooler than I've ever been in my whole life being in this big, busy city.  We walk to the dentist, my daughter rides her pink scooter to school, I know enough to give tourists directions, and I can plan a vacay for your family better than a travel agent.  So proud of the way we adjusted to Chicago coming from small towns in Mississippi.  The South is unlike any other place in America, and everyone looks shocked when I tell them how much we've loved the big city life.

But the car horns and bikers who don't obey traffic laws and over-priced everything is wearing on this momma.  It's nice to be able to walk places, but when the car is necessary in all this traffic I'm ready to call it quits.  I feel so much tension in this city.  Everyone is in a hurry.  Everyone needs others to get out of their way.  So much noise and lights and impatience.  I have many friends who do it beautifully, but this family is throwing in the towel.

In a couple of weeks we'll head north to a sleepy little village.  I'm excited and nervous but ready once again for change.  Clint will be able to easily hit a few golf balls after work nearby.  Mimi will still be able to ride her scooter to school but without almost every car running every stop sign.  Mack will be able to run free in a yard and not be overwhelmed at crowded parks and restaurants.  And I will be able to sit on my screened in porch and at times hear absolutely nothing but the birds and the wind blowing off Lake Michigan . . . ahhhhhh . . .

Not that we'll live on the lake.  That's saved for retired movie stars and owners of sports teams, but I know the lake is still nearby and that's why I pushed for this area.  It feels like a beach town with families on bikes and little girls in Lilly Pulitzer.  I once turned my nose up at parents who wanted to raise their children in a bubble, but now I'm all for that bubble.  It's about what we expose them to with traveling and reading and volunteering, so I don't mind sheltering them and letting them have a secure childhood for a bit.  Because I'm able to control all of this . . . um, yeah, right . . .  

We're only a few miles away from the city, so coming back won't be too difficult.  Especially for restaurants.  I still only have about 1,000 restaurants I need to try!  We've made some of the best friends of our lives, and moving to Chicago has been such a blessing.  It was divine intervention that we happily moved my 34 weeks pregnant self from all that we've ever know into a big ole city I'd only visited once.  It made sense to no one, not really even us, but my gut felt it was the right thing.

So we'll be rocking out with our blocks out in the burbs, and I'll try to post pics and not whine for the next few posts.  Mimi is already signed up for a safety camp and tennis -- you know, the suburban things to do.  Safety camp sounds kind of nerdy, but she'll get to meet all the village cops and firemen and beach lifeguards along with learning the proper protocol in emergency situations.  Not a bad idea for a sometimes too brave little girl.

Mack is signed up for a fantastic little preschool that knows all about little monkeys like him.  He's not big on change, but I know the slower, simpler life can only help him be happier.

Now on to packing and renovating and drinking coffee on a porch . . .

Spring Sprang Sprung

Whew, it's been a while, so I'll cut right to the chase.  Update time.  No photo editing and no spell check.

Spring 2013.  Or as we call it in Chicago, the second half of Winter 2013.  It's cold and windy and snowy in April.  But the warm 2 weeks of spring will arrive some time at the end of May, and then Chicago will once again be my favorite city in the whole wide world.  Until then drivers and bikers and everybody else who is in a hurry will continue to be grumpy and can just blame it on the weather.  And then they can just be grumpy for no good reason.

St. Patrick's Day consisted of 8 adults, 5 toddlers, and hundreds of drunk 20-somethings crowded into Riverview Tavern with BLARING Irish music.  Just how we like it.

Play dates -- how we survive in the city in the winter.  It's the only way we don't get completely depressed and lonely.  Ring around the rosies . . .

Mimi's preschool teachers are absolutely amazing and take the kids on at least one or two field trips a month.  Get those kids out and get moms to help.  Brilliant.  Macky even came along on one.

I don't need no stinking smock . . . lemme just dive in the water!

Silly rabbit.  Mimi couldn't get enough snuggles.  

Before we left the city for a long (excrutiating) drive south, we hit up the neighborhood park egg hunt.  Mimi found one egg and then it began snowing.

And snowing.  And snowing.  We were the idiots who didn't check the weather and were caught in a blizzard a couple of hours south of the city.  Cars were sliding off the road and stuck in ditches every quarter of a mile, so the Darbys pulled into a hotel as soon as we saw one.  Being stuck in a hotel with two toddlers (one who developed serious diarrhea) wasn't actually the worse thing in the world.  We could have been stuck in a ditch . . . with a toddler with serious diarrhea.  So we're not complaining.

Once we arrived in the Tennessee, the weather was warmer and my children were happier.  They had space to move and cousins to play with, so the long trip was worth it.

Mississippi also treated us well as the days were even warmer.

And they had a Poppaw there to ride them around . . . and around and around and around.

A little golfing . . . 

 . . . and a little Lake Nixon.

Just what we needed to unwind.  I am crazy about my little hometown.  Some smart (and really cool) folks have been working hard to make it an even better place to live.  Over the past few years, great little boutiques and restaurants have been springing up around town.  Liquor was finally voted in (yes, my hometown was semi-dry.  Only beer could be sold), and now several other wonderful restaurants will hopefully be opening.  Many houses are being renovated downtown, and it feels so warm and inviting to be back home.

I spent one afternoon browsing the shops and taking photos of a few of my favorite homes.

My beautiful church.

The youth building at my church where I basically lived in high school.

 And my first bottle of wine to buy in my hometown.

We always try to have a meal at a sweet friend's Italian restaurant, which is soooo yummy.

Clint and I were able to sneak away for a night in our amazing college town, Oxford, Mississippi.  Oxford is hands down the epicenter of Southern culture.  I would visit this town over most others in the South -- incredible restaurants (so many featured on travel and food magazines and TV shows) and boutiques, great music and amazing literature comes out of this tiny town located in the middle of north Mississippi.  It's my favorite small town in America.

And it's amazing to have a drink on one these balconies on a sunny afternoon.  

Old roomies (at different times)

How does just one more drink at the Library turn into several?

And back to my hometown for a Sunday morning Easter service at my beautiful Baptist church.  Oh, how I love an old hymn.

My, don't we clean up real nice?

An after church puddle stomp was in order.

And another Spider Man 4-wheeler ride before going home.

Loved our trip home and made me want my own house with big ole yard . . . more to come on that subject in another post.

Clint's beautiful sister made a trip to the Windy City the next weekend.  Sorry my photos turned out so dark.

 I'm still trying to be a decent mom, and I'm loving the stage we're in right now.  I'm completely worn out and a grumpy thing around 7:00 every night, but most of the time.  We have lots of fun.  Instead of waiting until I can get away during nap time by myself on the weekends to run errands, I love that Mimi is fun to take with me now.  Just this morning she went to an optometry appointment AND the Apple store.  I didn't have to chase her or worry that she was going to break everything in sight.

I actually took her clothes shopping with me one day, and it wasn't a complete disaster at all.  Four and a half is a pretty cool age.

Macky-poo is still the cutest little guy I've ever met.  The bazillion hours of therapies we're getting a week along with our complete changes in the way we treat him are working wonders.  He is actually talking a bit more and isn't throwing uncontrollable tantrums.  His new favorite word is "no."  I kind of wish we could move onto another new favorite word . . .

I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned how flexible he is.  Check out how he sleeps.

The little monkey had begun climbing out of his crib several weeks ago, and I basically thought my life was sort of over.  I had been sewing early in the morning and during his nap time, which were suddenly non-existent once the climbing out began.

This photo was taken veeerrrryyyy early one morning when he decided 3:30AM was an appropriate time to wake.

But about a week ago (after an exhausting trip to Ikea to get a toddler bed), he decided he loved his crib once again.  All of my sewing orders have resumed (although I am waaaay behind and overwhelmed now), and the little guy is happy.

My awesome friend Amber visited a couple of weeks ago.  She and I worked together and I think I spent more time talking with her at that time than my own husband, and I have missed her so very much.  Great to catch up and be a tourist with her.

Take Your Daughter to Work Day 2013 was a highlight of Mimi's Spring.  She packed her backpack with a notepad, an Ariel phone, some snacks, and a stuffed animal and told Daddy she was ready to work hard all day long with him (well, only a couple of hours).

Not every 4-year-old girl can say she worked in the tallest building in the city for two hours of her life.

As the weather has finally warmed above freezing, fun park days have arrived!

 Just holding hands with one of my dudes.

A rainy walk with Iz.

Green grass . . . ahhhhhhh

The seventies are returning to the forecast just in time for my birthday week (and a quick last-minute girl's trip to the beach)!  Fun times are a comin' . . .

Some big shoes to fill

Kids need a mom and a dad.  This I've learned.  

And they need a damn good dad, for sure.  A dad who will throw them on the couch and teach them to laugh at their falls and bumps and scratches.  A dad who will let them eat junk food for dinner and watch too many cartoons when Mom is out running errands.  A dad who has a broad chest for a fuzzy head to snuggle in when he can't quite get to sleep.  A dad who teaches them how to use potty words correctly -- even if they use them at school . . . in every other sentence . . . and song (hey, the teachers need a giggle occasionally, right?).  

A dad who wishes and hopes and tears up when he thinks about his child's first ballet recital or t-ball game.  A dad who is excited about helping with math and history homework.  A dad who knows he isn't perfect but is learning and growing and getting a little better with each stage.  A dad who prays he doesn't disappoint . . .  

I know not every kid gets this.  My children are luckier than they'll ever know.  Because this is exactly what they've been blessed with . . . 

  

And of course this is exactly the man he's turned out the be.  He had a pretty good man to look up to himself.

You better believe this guy did a great job of rough-housing and teaching potty language.  And making his children "act right" and respect their mother.  He's one of the greats.

And then we've got this guy.  If you know him, then you need no introductions . . . and are probably wondering how the four of us turned out to be so fantastic :) He he he . . . remember, behind every man there's a great woman . . . and he was wise enough to pick a mighty fine one.  And he's not too shabby himself.

At every single cheerleading, school, church, and whatever event I got myself into.  He even did a great job with the potty language, too. :)  He's quick to argue . . . but very, very quick to apologize.  This guy's got a big heart, and he totally passed it on to my brothers, who are two AMAZING dads.  Like, blow me away sometimes at the distance they'll go for their kiddos.

So I know that Father's Day was a million years ago, but that's around the time that all sanity and free time for the blog went out the window.  Love, love, love the men in my life -- so blessed to have all of them.  Little Mack has some big shoes to fill . . . thank goodness his feet are huge :)