Is it Jan 5th yet?

Oh my goodness. Life is crazy around here. Lily is home from school for two weeks. It's only the first day and we are already going insane. Terrible two's are definitely named that for a very good reason. Lily is having a very hard time sleeping, ever since we went away for Thanksgiving. That's a whole other blog...maybe I should start from the beginning to catch you up...

We went to St. Augustine, FL for Thanksgiving week this year. I got a small bonus at work, and we decided to use it to get away for a week. We rented a condo at the beach and looked forward to our vacation for a good two months. It was all we could think about (or stress about). We had to buy a big car-top carrier to take all the extra stuff for the babes. Two small children require a LOT of stuff to stay comfortable. I felt like we took our whole house with us! Anyways, the car ride there was actually not as bad as I anticipated. The first night went fairly smoothly. Got the kids to bed around 9pm and slept until about 6:30am. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, that was to be the best night of the following eight days/nights. The second night, Lily refused to sleep in the bedroom deemed as hers. Luke was an angel and slept with no problems at all, so this blog posting doesn't pertain to my angel! However, Lily is a different story. I don't know if the room itself scared her, or if she just realized she had more power outside of her own home. Regardless, we spent much of the evening putting her back in bed. Hence has been our life ever since. We finally wised up and moved the pack-and-play crib into our room and she slept there without too much complaining. We all had to go to bed at 9pm, but we were wiped out anyways! The weather was rainy and cold, so that put a damper on our being at the beach. We still managed to get out on the sand and stick our toes in the water every day. Lily gathered a ton of seashells and really enjoyed the beach. We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Sanalila's house in Jax, which was a feast. Luke watched his cousin Bella crawling and cruising - said to himself "I can do that" and started crawling at the beachhouse! Now, he's an old pro. All in all, it was an exhausting vacation, but I would probably do it again if I could. Yes, I had to get a massage when I got home to work all the kinks and knots out of my shoulders, but we're creating memories, people!! :)

Next is Lily's Christmas Party at school. Oh my, let me just say that a working mother should never volunteer for something that is meant for a stay-home Mom! Lily's teacher sent home a note asking for parent volunteers, so excitedly I raised my hand. Traditionally I love to do this kind of stuff - I mean, I love to plan Lily and Luke's birthday parties. However, this was out of my league. I needed a story, a snack and a craft. Now, I could handle the story (non-Secular, of course - which is cool because LifeWay is my new favorite store), I could even handle the snacks (organized and to be sent in from 5 different students - that was a minor challenge). But crafty I am NOT. I had to think really hard for a non-Secular craft (ie I searched the internet) and came up with bejeweled crowns (as in The Three Wise Men). I looked all over town for gold crowns, finally found some at Party City. Had to drive 20 miles to get them, but hey, at least I found them. Then came the jewels. I wanted self-sticking jewels so we wouldn't have to wait for the glue to dry. This party was held on the last day of school before the Christmas break. I drove to every craft store I knew and no one carries self-stick jewels (that are affordable anyways). So, out came the Elmer's glue. Regardless, I showed up on Thursday morning with my coffee in hand and all the necessary decorations, snacks, story and craft. The kids were cute, they enjoyed making cupcakes and singing Happy Birthday Jesus. They had fun making jeweled crowns like the Wise Men and we all had a good time. The bottom line is that my daughter had a good time with Mommy at school for a day, so it's all good!

Thursday night Lily had her first Christmas show. She was to sit center-stage because the music teacher said she sings the loudest in class! We were all so excited. Grammy, Grampy, Uncle Steve and even Tia Sana arrived to witness our shining star. The two-year-olds came on stage and Lily was right in the middle. The music started, and we were eagerly watching with cameras and video in hand. And, she wouldn't open her mouth. Not one word. Ms. Tami tried to coax her by sitting her on her lap, but that didn't help one bit. Lily had stage-fright! Oh well, guess there's always next year. That night, she spent the night with Grammy and Grampy. They said she sang at the top of her lungs all the songs in the show on the way to their house in the car. Of course she did...of course she did. Where's the video camera then?!

Luke is totally cruising now, by the way. He's mastered crawling, and now he's got an early start on pulling himself up on things, and transferring himself from item to item. He likes to walk behind the same walker that Lily used - a little grocery cart. It's adorable! He's so proud of himself. He's going to be walking before his first birthday, I can feel it!

Finally, Our Christmas decorations have made it up. It went in very slow stages this year. Got the tree on my birthday, got the lights on the tree about 5 days later, finally got ornaments on the tree just last week. It's tough to manage a house with two little ones, especially when it seems someone is always sick. Right now, the bug has Mommy and Lukey. But last week it was Daddy, and before that was Lily. It's just never-ending. Getting extra rest is pretty much impossible, so it takes us even longer to get over being ill.

Well, I guess I'll end this post by saying that regardless of all the complaining in the above statements, I still love my family and my life with all of my heart. If it were any easier, it wouldn't be as much fun to share our stories with all of you! :) Merry Christmas!!

If your happy and you know it

Luke is hilarious. If you say "no", he shakes his head back and forth. If you say "yeah!" he starts clapping his hands. During tonight's bath, he found a toy that just cracked him up! He was in full belly laugh while pulling this suction toy off the tub wall. Mom would put it back on, and he would pull it back off and practically fall over laughing! It was the best sound in the world. Lily is very funny and cute as well. She was supposed to be napping this afternoon, but when I walked by her room, I heard her talking. No, actually, she was singing! She learned this "Puppies, Puppies Everywhere" song at preschool and she was singing it the whole way through several times in a row. I stopped to listen to her with a huge smile on my face. Two incredibly happy children - one laughing and one singing...does life get any better than this?!

Something in common

Just another dull work day for Mom. Working in Macon for the day, I needed a break. On the way home I see a Chick-Fil-A. Something about the cows called to me. I pulled into the parking lot, strategically parked the car so I wouldn't be too obvious. I then climbed into the back seat of my own minivan and proceeded to pump four ounces of breastmilk. I guess the cows and I have something in common. Before getting back on the road to my family, I ordered a nice chicken sandwich and a milkshake to go. I doubt many of my co-workers could say they had such a "productive" day :)

Thank you, Miss Lady!

Lily had her flu shot today. I was prepared for both of us to be crying. We had to get it at CVS this year because her pediatrician is still out of the vaccine for her age group. We got there and were fifth in line, so I knew we'd be waiting a good 20 min at least. We bought some gummy worms at the suggestion of a friend, which turned out to be a lifesaving idea. We were having fun, playing with our gummies, pretending they were Mommies and babies. The nurse called our name, and we headed in the sterile room. The nurse had already given Alfred and me our flu shots, so she knew our little family by now. I kept Lily focused on the gummy worm family while the nurse got the needle ready. While we were playing, the nurse just quickly lifted Lily's shorts on her right leg, cleaned it quickly, and like lightening she got that needle in and out! Lily didn't even know what happened. She looked at the nurse kinda funny, like, what are you doing with my leg, lady? But never a peep, never a hint of hurt, not a sob of sadness. She just went back to eating her gummy worms! As we're leaving, she says "Thank you, Miss Lady!" and off we went. What a truly wonderful experience - thanks Lady Nurse at CVS! :)

I can see clearly now the rain is gone

Oh my, what a hectic morning. Thunder and lightning set the tone and backdrop for a frantic scene. Lily and Luke got up at 7am as usual. Lily didn't want to drink her milk. Finally got her dressed for school and she took a huge poop in her diaper...undress the darling toddler, new diaper, re-dress the darling toddler. Baby Luke screaming a lovely high-pitched lullaby for us as he lays on his back awaiting his Mother's embrace. I just want my cup of coffee. Really, it's that simple for me in the morning. Finally get Daddy and Lily on their way, then Luke is unhappy. Will there ever be peace and quiet in this house? Now it's 10am, Lily is at school, Luke is sleeping, I'm on my second cup of coffee, the rain has stopped and the sun is shining through the clouds. How poetic. Now, bring it on! I'm finally ready to face the day! A friend of mine wrote on his facebook page that his AC went out in his car. Ok, he complained a little, but then he said some things that really put life into perspective for me. He said he was thankful to have a car that he could drive, and thankful that he had the money and ability to repair it. Now, there's a positive thinker! Thanks for the morning cup of mojo, buddy!

First Day of PreSchool

Lily went to her first official day of Preschool today. We took her in at 9am and had a parent meeting for an hour. On our way back to her classroom, we saw her on the playground...just kicking around in a circle, not really doing much of anything. I felt so bad for her! She looked lonely. The teacher came over and took her hand, and she seemed pleased. We didn't let her see us, of course, but we watched her walk back to her classroom. Such a cutie. When I was allowed in to pick her up, she screamed "Mommy" with a huge smile, ran over to me, jumped up and gave me a huge hug and kiss right on the lips. Yummy! Seriously brought tears to my eyes. She was so happy to see me again, that makes a Mommy feel good. The teacher said she didn't want to color today, so Lily brought home a plain black and white uncolored picture of an apple. Kinda pathetic, really. I told her she smelled sweet, like chocolate. She said she wanted more "lemons"...luckily I already knew the teacher had given her "M&M's" so I knew what she meant! You certainly don't want to mistake that meaning :). After Daddy demanded his own royal welcome, off we went back to the car. She wanted to hold my hand in the car on the way home, how sweet is that! So, I offered her the next best thing...a Lilypop (aka lollipop). She was in heaven again. Daddy took her to the park, then to Publix to get a balloon. She came skipping into the house, happy as can be. To top it all off, she went poop on the potty like a big kid, and was so excited about her new stamp and sticker! Wow, all that before naptime! I'm tired just thinking about what tomorrow will bring :)

Shopping with Lily

Mommy and daughter went shopping yesterday after work. First stop, pet store. Needed dog food and cat food (which cost a small fortune these days), but got a whole lot of memories for free :). Lily is a riot. She was adoring the kittens for a good while. Then we went to actually get the food we came in for, and she found the fish tanks. She literally screamed at me "Mommy! I found the fishes!!" and took off running. Then we visited the hamsters and gerbils, and finally the birds. She even got to pet a puppy as we waiting in the check-out line. Who knew the pet store could be like visiting the zoo?! We even took home a couple of mice (furry plastic ones) that she lovingly shoved into her pockets. Next stop, grocery store. Lily declared that she didn't need to ride in the cart - she was fully capable of walking. I told her that's fine, as long as she listens to Mommy. Well, the stores are gearing up for Halloween and they had this life-size monster in the first aisle that talked as we walked by. She jumped half-way up my pant-leg, screaming, and immediately wanted in the cart for the duration of our shopping trip. Hmmm...of course I was laughing to tears, but at least she got in the cart! :). Then, as we were checking out, the cashier was much too busy talking with a colleague to provide us with courteous service. She handed me my receipt, so I said Thank You. The cashier continued her conversation with her friend, and Lily said "Mommy, she didn't say You're Welcome!". I said I know, honey, she's very rude - you should always say You're Welcome when someone says Thank You! Of course, while cute, this simply reminds me of just how observant young minds really are and that I better watch my mouth! :)