Season of Motherhood III

And then our third, Margaret. My season of changing diapers and wiping noses was not going to end too soon! This is my absolute most favorite picture of her this season. Again, it was taken and edited by a good friend while we were visiting family over Fall Break. She is beautiful. In her school photo this fall she smiled with her mouth closed.
My husband told me that she didn't like her teeth so before these pictures were taken I BEGGED her to smile with an open mouth -- that her teeth make her who she is!!! In the summer of 2001 Tom and I had just moved to a larger house for our growing family. I not only had a 2-yr-old and a crawler (Thomas & Marie) but I also watched my niece full-time who is just 3 1/2 months younger then Marie. We were a happy, busy family. Since I already "had" three kids full-time I said that I would really like to have another baby. I should back up to our wedding in 1995 and the pre-marital discussions we had on children. I said 4, he said 2. I figured this was something I *might* be able to change his mind on so I agreed to 2 and walked down the aisle. Now, let me tell you, if we would have stuck to two we would have been blessed beyond all reasoning but our life would be so EMPTY without Margaret!!! We were pregnant right away and when my other children were 1 & 3 Margaret made her entrance. At that point I was DONE. Done, done, done. My body was done and I said "done". Remember that.
Today Margaret is a cuddly, sweet, girly-girl type of daughter. She likes to have her nails painted, hair up, wearing shoes with heels. She's soooooooo "not me" in that department. . .I don't remember caring about those kinds of things at her age!!! She has an innate sense of style. . .sometimes she'll say to me "Mommy, this is how a fashion girl walks" or "Do you think a fashion girl (model) would wear this?" As far as I'm aware she has never been to a fashion show, definitely never seen a Top Model or any type of show like that (we don't have television), and although we do have magazines around the house it's just funny to me that she understands all of this and yet doesn't. I love the innocence of it all.
Margaret tries many things. First it was ballet. Then soccer. Then ballet and tap. Then gymnastics. Now we're back to ballet. Maybe cheerleading with Upwards this winter too. I'm still thinking about that. And possibly swimming down the road. She has a hard time focusing but again, she's ONLY 7. I'm glad to be able to give her these opportunities. She can waterski!
And decided this year that going "crazy" on the tube wasn't too bad either.
And went to horse camp this summer. Aaaaaaaaah, she'll keep us hopping for YEARS! She loves, loves, loves animals but that is one thing we can't give her. . .I just can't keep up with everything and pets too. I'm sorry for that.
Her blond hair and brown eyes. . .she looks most like a Bell, like I imagine Tom's sister looked at that age. She's the only kid without dimples. And the most "annoying" on a poll taken any given day by her siblings. She's definitely her own person. That is the best thing. She's smart and fun and makes friends easily. Girls, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! (They are 19 months apart.)