let the madness begin

Last night I was finishing wrapping and realize how many gifts the kids have! A lot of it is practical stuff like clothes, socks, and underwear. There are also several books and art supplies. Then, I have all of these super kind and generous friends who have given them presents. I decided to let them open a couple of presents tonight. My friend Jill made Lillie a bag that holds coloring books and has little pouches for crayons. For Miles, she made bean bags. My friend Linda got Lillie a mirror to decorate and spin art kit. Miles got a super cool wooden car that you build, and it's super fast! Fun night, glad we decided to open some. Sometimes cool gifts get lost in the craziness of Christmas. Although, I am pretty sure that we opened some tonight because I am just as excited about Christmas as they are. It is nice to enjoy the magic of Christmas over again.

ch ch ch changes

I've gone through some personal changes in the last few months. I'm currently gluten and sugar free. What's that you ask, have I lost my mind? Well, yes, but more importantly I'm trying to find the me that I lost so very long ago. Trying to make up for lost time spent in sadness and despair. Life is good now. I'm thankful for everything that I have.

I feel like rambling a lot lately. I hope to remember to come here and just ramble. It's time to kick things up a notch.

water babies

My kids both love water. Seriously. Lillie is a full on fish. She can full on swim. She would be completely good to go on her own, but she's 3 and doesn't quite have a grasp on knowing her limits. What she lacks in form (she kind of looks like she's wiggling through the water, not clear arm or leg movements but I think that comes with more muscle strength and control). She can swim across the width of the pool without help. She can come up for a breath, float, and dive for floating objects all on her own. This afternoon, she dove in, caught a toy that was sinking, swam back to the edge, climbed out and did it again by herself. Too cool. She gets tired pretty quick but tries so hard to fight it. I hope she sleeps REALLY well tonight!

Little buddy likes to put his face in the water. That's "swimming" :) He's much more cautious in the water (thank goodness!). He really likes playing sports in the water (surprise!). Nana and Grandad have a floating basketball hoop, water guns, balls, and all sorts of fun toys. The toys that sink are the best for getting them to put their faces in the water.

when it rains, it pours

Two posts in a day when I didn't even post once in over 6 months? Yes, that's how I roll.

I've had a....well, a....day. I won't call it productive nor nonproductive. It was productive in the sense that I did what I wanted to and took pictures of the kids, rolled in bed with them, played in the RAIN, and generally knocked off. I was nonproductive in the sense that I barely did any house work.

This is ONLY the second time it's rained this year. It poured, and poured, and we played and played. Lillie's still out there. I'm watching her sing to the rain. After a serious 15 minute down pour it almost stopped. She says that she made it come back by singing to it. I'm not quite sure how the song goes, but I did hear "I love you rain". Awww. We talked about how the rain is important for plants, animals, and bugs.

the L

random updates:

Lillie:

• She all about dress up, giving performances, and lots of pretending. She will walk up to you and introduce herself as all kinds of different people (popular names include Vanola, Cherry, and Ariel). I got her a microphone and some more dress up stuff. It's too cute. She dances, sings (her own made up songs!), and tells a joke for her performances. The joke is a knock-knock that consists of whatever she sees. (knock, knock...who's there...glasses....glasses who....glasses with a computer with a handband, with coffee, with a cup...hahahahaha)
• Plays well with M fairly often. They physically fight a lot these days. They really want to cause pain to one another, you can see it in their faces. It makes me crazy. When they aren't trying to kill each other, they laugh and laugh and call each other buddy. They play hide and seek, sing together, watch shows together, and go out of their way to include and be thoughtful to each other.
• She has mad skills at most physical things like riding bikes. She's still completely fearless. Willing to try just about anything, especially if she sees someone else doing it. (yes, I already fear for the teen age years).
• She's incredibly opinionated and isn't afraid to speak her mind. When people tell her to do something, she is not quick to simply just abide. Like if a kid on a playground tells her to do something or pretend like she's something, she usually won't. She either tells them that she doesn't want to or just walks off. The girl has some huevos, that's for sure.
• She seems to do a lot of testing on how far she can push people. Sometimes she tells people hurtful things to see how they will react. We have lots of talks about how our words make people feel and how to be respectful and truthful.
• Favorite color is still red although for a whole day it was pink!!!
• Keeps asking for a telescope for her next birthday. (just told me 6 times in the last 2 minutes, literally)
• Favorite book: Children's book of virtues,
• Other favorites: playing Angry Birds, matching game, playing with people's hair, most things "princess" or "ballet" related,
• Favorite Foods: carrots, pasta, corn, oatmeal, almost all fruit, broccoli
• Favorite songs: Lone Star, Lily (Matt Pond Pa),
• At last check up she is 38lbs and 38" tall. She wears a size 4 in clothes, and a 9 1/2 in shoes. She's REALLY good at any doctor/dentist visit, even LIKES to go.

neglect

I haven't intentionally neglected this blog. I use a tumblr more now to vent and rant. If you want to find me, let me know. I'll send you a link. I will also try and update this blog too. But not now, I have to finish up my summertime mix cd for our exchange today.