The Beautiful Bailey Girls of November...

November is quickly becoming a true month of 'thanks'-giving for me. Not only the traditional holiday - but also for me it is meaningful because of the 2 birthdays we celebrate, namely Sadie on the 4th and Maelynn on the 7th. It is special to me because they are my only daughters - the only female influence we have around our home - and the hope for many future female bonding moments together!

I was raised in a home with 10 females (and 5 bathrooms)! Although I have not always been the best sister (thanks for forgiving me, Emily), I truly treasure each one of them and all that they offer my life. I always wanted to have lots of girls - because I know what a great blessing sisters can be to each other through the mortal travails of life. But, in the end - we ended up with two times as many boys. I am sure that things will turn out wonderfully in our family - but there is a part of me that feels a bit sad that they won't have a bunch of sisters. Another part of me is just grateful that they have each other. Even though they are 5 years apart, I know from personal experience that when they are older that feels like a day.

It is fun that they have their birthdays so close together (not on purpose - but I think there were some great Valentine's Days in there!) We just celebrated both of their birthdays. Sadie turned 7 and had a group of her little friends over here for some old fashioned fun: namely, treasure hunt (treasure = a pound and a half of Halloween candy for each guest!); apple-bobbing (with the modern sanitary twist of changing the water out each time and only having one apple in there to avoid germ sharing); and an old game called "take a picture with a spoon" that my Aunt Mary Jane taught us. Maelynn turned 12 on Saturday the 7th - and celebrated by going to the local production of "Annie" with 2 of her close friends. It was actually very well done and highly entertaining. I was, however, shocked with one of her friends who had never even heard of Annie or seen the movie. I asked her if she had heard of 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'. 'Oliver Twist', etc. She replied in the negative. Maelynn did her best impression of "Please Sir, I want some more." To which her friend shook her head and then said, "I did read Fablehaven"! =)
I am feeling really old.

Because I am a creature of habit (not all good ones), I am sticking with tradition and listing the things i love about each of my sweet girls.

Sadie is so fun to love because she is:
1. ADORABLE
2. FRECKLED
3. SPUNKY
4. HAPPY
5. GROBERG-LIKE
6. MUSICAL
7. INTELLIGENT

Maelynn is so easy to love because she is:
1. CARING
2. SMART
3. HELPFUL
4. LOVING
5. GENUINE
6. SENSITIVE
7. GROWN-UP
8. ENJOYS SHOPPING
9. FORGIVING
10. OPEN-MINDED
11. BAILEY-LIKE
12. BEAUTIFUL

I honestly and truly could not ask for better daughters than these two sweet girls. I think the world of them and they are the world to me. Maelynn said to me in the car the other day, "Mom, for journal writing today at school our teacher asked us to write about who we admire the most. I wrote that I admire my mom the most because she is funny and she always sings in the car and she speaks in weird and funny accents. Like French or Russian or Spanish."

I hope that they will not wake up one day to find out just how truly crazy their mother really is - and just enjoy the ride along with me!

Thanks heavens for sisters.... mine are the best! And here are 2 of the cutest little sisters ever. (Yes, I am biased!)