Month In Review

January Month In Review

(MIR)

My favorite pictures:

Review of my January goals: Yep, put an ALMOST DONE next to all three.

1.blog book-I have done up to the middle of May

2.pantry-almost done, just putting the finishing touches and organizing everything

3.my notebook-I've developed most of the pages, just need to print

What I want to remember about January:

Lily

-started preschool at Old Donation and L-O-V-E-S it (yay for listening to my mommy gut)

-started to talk so much more, can carry on great conversations and has a wonderful sense of humor

-loves to dance to Mikey Mouse's Hot Dog song and knows all the dances of all the different characters

-her appetite has returned

-her imagination is out of control, in a good way!

Emma

-She has started to become her own little person

-She is getting really brave on the walking front

-is completely different than Lily

-very much a Mommy's girl (a blessing and a curse)

-has begun to discover food that she likes

Everything else

-Revamping our house

-Trip to Nana and Pa's

-Friends moving to Tx

-Family fun

Not Feeling So Good

This week Lily's tummy has been acting up again but we attributed it to being warm, in a stuffy car, and being on a carousel after lunch (whoops...). Today on our way home we had to talk her down and teach her how to take deep breaths in order to settle her tummy. We made it all the way to the 664 split, about 45 min from home. Mike was in the backseat holding a plastic bag and miraculously catching most of her throw-ups. I quickly pulled over on the side of the road to help. This was the last bout and again we're chalkin' it up to a hot car and being over tired.

Since being home the first two days back she took consistent three hr naps, went to bed at 8 and up at 9. Tuesday she woke up as our Lily again and when she sees the picture above she says, "Hmm...I not feeling good there." And, I think I really believe she knows what she's talking about.

Here we are at one of our routine stops and letting the girls stretch and get some of the wonderful springtime air! So cute.

Nana and Pa

We arrived at Nana and Pa's house just in time for dinner on Wed evening. It was a quick drive and relatively painless. The girls loved seeing Nana and Pa and had no time settling right in...

every morning they made themselves at home in Nana's chair to watch Mickey Mouse. I'm not sure they could be any happier.

We had a short but absolutely wonderful visit! We spent a lot of time playing, visiting my grandfather, shopping and taking walks. We, of course, didn't take near enough pictures but I'm thinking that means we were busy having fun. Until our next visit, which Lily insists is in two weeks. We love you Nana and Pa!

What To Do...

So this morning we wanted to do something fun with the girls. We found a place called Monkey Joe's, which of course is a jump house. We thought that Lily would like to get out some energy, bounce and play with Daddy and Nana. BUT, as soon as we parked in front Lily didn't want to go in. Daddy took her to see the place but quickly came back to the car saying that she didn't want to play. They even had a "Huge Batman and a Princess Castle!", Lil said but no luck in going in.

Instead, we went to the outlet mall which we always go to while we are in town. We had lunch, Lily and Nana rode the carousel, and said hi to Clifford. We also found some wonderful deals on books and things at the Disney Outlet Store!! I suppose our day was saved by shopping :)!

Happy Birthday, Pop!

Today we were able to celebrate my grandfather's 90Th birthday! Even though he's been in the hospital a few times and now at a rehab hospital, he still has that spunky sense of humor, twinkle in his eye and mischievous smile. Right now he is trying his best to get back to his assisted living home to be with his bride (what he still calls my grandma, Mimi) of 69 years this spring. We love you Pop!!! Happy Birthday to Poppy too!!! We love you!

Lily's Stool

Lily loves her stool. We originally bought this for the bathroom so she could reach the sink but it's not quite high enough so she has claimed it as her "everything stool". She uses it ALL the time and is sooo funny with it. Most of the time if we're doing something and she wants to help or if we ask her to get something for us and she realizes that she can't reach it, she quickly disappears. We start laughing and shaking our heads because we know that she is on her way to get her stool, it's a way that she can do things by herself and has totally taken it to the next level (without our encouragement).

She uses it to reach all of the light switches, play with Emma in her crib, reach things on a variety of different surfaces (my dresser, the counter, kitchen table, the pantry shelves, on top of the playroom cubbies, etc.).

We love Lily's Stool.

One of Emma's Favorite Toys

This gumball machine is one of Emma's most favorite toys to play with. Since she figured out how to drop the balls back into the top a few months ago it has become even more interesting to her, is out every single day and can keep her entertained for descent periods of time. Yay for toys that have months worth of playing!

Go Fast Daddy

This morning Daddy was able to take Lily to school before heading to work (something Daddy Loves to do) using Lil's new car seat. Thank goodness we were able to buy an inexpensive seat for the second car so that Lily can go places with Daddy. She's so excited and all she asks is that Daddy goes fast, really fast. Luckily she thinks accelerating is going fast :).

Our Little Steeler

Ready for Game Day...

and, drum roll please...nodding yes to things :) Woo Hoo, Emma Girl!

A Sneak Peek

of my art project for the pantry.

...to be continued...

Foto Friday

Guess who needs their hair brushed in the morning! Yay!

Click Here to see more Foto Friday pics and submit your own.

No Fear

Yes, she can climb up onto the chair by herself.

And, this is what happens if we don't strap her into the highchair.

Oh, how Emma has absolutely No Fear.

My Sweet Girl

who is absolutely loooving school. Had to share her cute little school outfit and the joy finally getting her into leggings :) Every time I give her outfit options her question is always, "These leggings or comfy pants?"

HaHa. If she only knew how many pairs of leggings she has for spring!

Our Siren

Our siren is also named Emma Grace. She is really, really loud. We have had to start ignoring her when she does this so that she'll learn that it doesn't get our attention. So far she doesn't squeal often enough that our ignoring her has made that big of an impact on her. Plus, it's really hard not to just look at her and chuckle. Hopefully, like everything, this is just a phase and we won't have to worry about it.

Keeping our fingers crossed :).

Take It Back Guys

This morning we took a break from the pantry and ran A LOT of errands. A LOT. Out of the house at 930 and didn't get back until 2! Definitely broke my two stops and home limit by making a whopping 6 stops!

After nap Daddy tried on his new Cookie Monster t-shirt. It was on clearance at Kohls plus I had a coupon so we thought it would be fun for him to wear it around the house since the girls really like the Street. We had nooo idea Lily would have the response she had. Yikes. She was scared to death!

It was sweet, sad and actually kinda funny how scared of this shirt she really was. I mean she loved Sesame Place and loved seeing all of her Sesame Street friends so we're not really sure what scared her so much. She continued to tell us, take it back guys all evening long and repeated over and over that she didn't like it. So, the shirt was taken back to the store and when the cashier asked the reason why I was returning it I had to say, "My two year old was scared of it". Made a few ladies laugh at least.

Sorry Lil.

So Tired

This is what happens when Miss Emma skips a morning catnap and then lands in Mommy's arms in the early afternoon. She passes right out regardless of how she is held or what is going on around her.

Sprucing Up

The year of the Check House.

We are in need of some sprucing up, painting and some do-overs to make our house work for us again. Nothing like adding another person to make you re-organize and rethink how your house runs.

First up on our list...the pantry. This is how our kitchen looks :)

Hopefully next weekend we can finish it up and get back our kitchen.

Well Visit

This morning we went to the dr for Emma's 9 month check-up. All went well if you don't factor in we were there for well over an hour! Since Miss Emma isn't into eating very much she didn't gain much weight but still hangin' in there. Here are her stats:

18 pounds 10 ounces (+2lbs .2oz) 50th%tile

29 1/8 inches (+~2 inches) 90th%tile

18 inch head (+1.5 inches) 90th%tile

She's tall, skinny, extremely active and doesn't like to eat. Hmm...now I'm into "feed her some food mode".

First Time In 3 Years

That I've been sick. Sick as in having to take NyQuil two nights in a row and Mike having to take a day off of work because I just couldn't get through. Writing this now I am almost back to normal but have had a constant sinus headache for a few days. Ugh. Doesn't seem like it's ever going to end but it will and I am getting through it. Nothing like feeling under the weather while staying home with Lily and Emma. Good thing Mike has another three day weekend :).

Emma is 9 Months Old!

How time flies.

Some lovely things about Miss Emma this month:

~Wears mostly 12 month clothes and size 3 diapers

~Has a love-hate relationship with food

(at the moment does not like food all that much unless she can feed herself)

~Loves her binky, ba-bas, crib music and her blankie

~On most days she only takes one long nap (2-3hrs) and one very short catnap (15-25 min)

~Really enjoys emptying bins and then filling them back up, laundry is her new favorite

~Always wants what Sissy has

~Will win a fight by pulling your hair

~Likes to be chased down the hall

~Squeals like a siren to get our attention or when she is P-O'd

~Loves to use her sippy cups

~Love to cuddle

~We have had to start using the word No, she doesn't like it very much

~Can cruise around a room with absolutely no problem

~AND, the biggest news...she has taken a few steps by herself. The official first step happened on Christmas Day and so far has gotten up to three steps solo without falling to her knees to crawl.

These are pictures taken within a few minutes.

The sad faces and cries are from me not letting her have the camera.

Can you tell that we are going to have our hands full with Miss Emma???

We can. :)

Love you Miss E

Missing You Already

We had the pleasure of watching Miss Lorelei while Elizabeth dropped off their things to the cable company this afternoon. It was wonderful to see them one last time before the headed of on their roadtrip to TX this afternoon. We definitely miss you already.

Lily's Mind

Lily amazes us each and every day. We see how her mind works now and we can only shake our heads and smile. The conversations we have with her, the questions she asks, the connections she makes and the amount she remembers baffles us. Here are just a few that make us smile and hope that gives you a little laugh too.

Conversation:

Setting-We were finishing dinner, I was trying to feed Emma some more and Mike started to clean up and do dishes. And all of a sudden Lily says...

"Daddy, you gay." When we hear this, Mike and I look at each other with blank looks, smiles on our faces and at the same time look at Lily and say, "What did you say?" She responds, "Daddy you gay." Hmm..ok. Mike and I look at each other again and through our looks try to figure out what to say to her. Mike then says, "I'm gay?" "Yes, Daddy you gay. You gay like me." She says this while stroking her legs to show us her GRAY sweatpants she has on. Mike and I both look at him and notice he not only has on gray sweatpants but also a gray shirt. We both start chuckling and agree with her.

We don't have many of these confusing conversations with Lily but more often than not we need her to repeat things so we fully understand what she's talking about.

Questions:

What are you talking about Mommy?, Where are we now? (when we are in the car), What we need? (when she sees me writing a list she wants to write one too), What's the title of this book?, Mommy, can you teach me how to...play this game, write my name, read. She also asks Why? She asks it a lot! Sometimes she means to ask how, who, when but most of the time I believe she really just wants to understand. She also just started to really think about what she wants to say and tells us her complete thoughts. Like this morning we were getting into the car on our way to Lowes and she said, "Daddy, when we get home from Lowes can we put out more bird seed for the squirrels?" Needless to say that knocked our socks off and started clapping which led to the biggest smiles from our girl and her feeling very proud of herself.

Things She Remembers:

*Walgreens, the one we go to and she can point out any other Walgreens we pass while out driving even if we've never been there. The same thing with 7-11s. Why does she know these? Walgreens is where we pick up our prescriptions and 7-11s have slurpees of course!

*She loves to go to Sam's Club and Target because they have pretzels and lemonade.

*As soon as we get into the vicinity of our house, from any direction, she knows that we're almost home. If I were patient while driving she could probably tell me where to turn and how to get there.

*Where her friends live and if we pass or go in the direction of their houses she asks if we're going to see them.

*While shopping, she will ask if she can get something. We usually say no and when we do she gets this look on her face and says, "Then I ask Santa to bring it to me next Christmas".

*If for some reason we tell Lily she has to wait until tomorrow to do something like recently painting with her aquadoodle...she remembers! As soon as she gets up!

Gotta Love Ya Lil!

Feeding Baby

If only Emma would learn to like food herself...

Forever Friends

Have you ever said to yourself, 'it was meant to be'?

Well, we were meant to be friends with the Stahl and Bonfiglio families. We were put into each other's lives back in February of 2009 at our very first Mom's Club meeting and then the Summer of 09 and the rest is history. They will always be forever friends.

Today, the three families got together again at the Bonfiglio house to say farewell to the Stahl family who are finally able to move back to the mid-west, Plano, TX to be exact.

As I look at our children in these pictures I can't help but be eternally grateful for all of the memories. We will always be the three families that began our family friendships. The friendships that got us through all the parenting questions, pregnancy ups and downs and the thrills of watching our kids grow up together.

If it's not obvious enough from all of these pictures, the Check girls are completely infatuated with Makin! There is not one picture that he has his own space :).

I'm excited for the Stahls to embark on their new adventure in Texas and I look forward to friend reunions at the beach. Until our next family get together....

Princess Party

This morning we hosted a Princess Party. Lily, Emma and I gathered our "Princess Gear" and put it all in the den. This included dress-up clothes, dolls, tea cart and tea sets. We made mini blueberry muffins (in hopes they would have a tea party) and Princess cupcakes to have afterwards.

Lily, as Pinkalicious, Lorelei, as Cinderella and Kira, as Sleeping Beauty, played for a few minutes and then they were off playing with toys in the playroom. Although the idea of the party was a good one and the girls had fun dressing up for a bit we all had a lot of fun just being together.

Our Babies

Our Kids

Lily and Emma LOVE Makin. They can not get enough of him. Here while Elizabeth was getting Lorelei ready to go they had fun pushing him in the walker. At four months old, he's already tall enough to touch the floor while sitting in it! He's going to be one tall boy!

New Goals

I have done a decent amount of reading on the blog that I posted about a week or so ago and I love it. I have decided to change my goals for 2011 and instead of making huge goals I have made attainable, smaller goals for each month. I'm pretty sure the reason I most likely stop trying to reach my goals (or resolutions) is because I can NOT withstand them for an entire 12 months or remember them for that matter. Hence the reason why I have made them monthly...I can do it for an entire month, I can.

January

1.Finish our blog book.

2.Create my home management notebook

3.Re-do our pantry

I hope to post my goals for the month in the beginning that way I am way more accountable for them and I have time to readjust if necessary. Here's to carrying out your goals this year!

A Christmas Present for the Trash

We are quickly learning that Emma likes to be like her older sister in many ways, including her own version of "Lily" toys. Christmas got Emma some nice crib friends (Abby Caddabby, Ernie, Tinkerbell), Little People, and mini-kitchen just like her sissy. We also purchased a small bathtub baby. Lily has one that she loves (named her Emma) and has enjoyed countless hours pretending to bath , dry her, and dress.

Well, we missed the mark for the Emma bath baby. As you can see, it had one bath and a trip to the curb. We both found this baby quite disturbing for a variety of reasons.

(and before the trash she lived on the dryer)

1. They apparently ran out of "baby" molds at this Chinese factory and had to use a "Buddha" mold.

2. You can actually see that the baby has rolls. All babies have a little chubbiness, but this baby doll is just plain obese.

3. And drum roll ... the worse part.

You can clearly tell this bath doll is female, the fine manufacturers made it a point to emphasize this fact.

SORRY EMMA!!!

Thanks Daddy for helping with the blog :)

Sisters

A Big Day

To start off, today was a Huge Day for Lily!

But first, a little back story.

In the middle of November we started to really wonder why Lily wasn't adjusting to her preschool like she should. She's smart, outgoing, and really a lovely little girl so we we didn't know why she wasn't embracing preschool like we thought she would. So, we started to analyze. We realized that on our way to school at the same point in the drive every T/R she would say she had to go to the bathroom. As soon as we got to school, we would run in so that she would make it, we would and then go on to her classroom. Her demeanor would change instantly as we would make that turn out of the bathroom to go to her room. :( So, I stuck around despite the, let's say, lack of gracious welcoming by her teacher. Emma and I walked around the school for a bit and then made our way back to check on her and found her by herself playing in the corner while everyone else was playing at the table. Hmm...don't like that.

So that Thursday had Mike take her so he could assess the situation. Same thing. A less than welcoming teacher who pretty much blocked Mike from going in. Good thing he's there for his girl and pretty much pushed her out of the way. It was that morning when he came home that we made the decision to pull her out. We started not to send her and her pukies and the bathroom trips stopped! Although it was a hard decision, this is our church, we wanted to make it for Lily. She wasn't our Lily when she walked into that school.

In the beginning of December I had to make my first "move" as a mom. I went in to talk to the Director to tell her that we were officially withdrawing Lily from their school. I completely went in not wanting to point fingers, place blame but come on...their school made my girl sick and not herself so when she kept pushing me to talk...I DID, nicely of course. And, I felt better.

We continued to tour two other preschools and found a VAST difference! Luckily the one that our friends the Bonfiglio kids go to, plus a lot of other kids from the mom's club, had an opening in their M/W class. We made the decision that we would enroll Lily to start in January.

We also didn't make this decision lightly since we didn't want to put too much onto Lily all at once. But, thankfully we met the teacher, Mrs. Red Bow, and her assistant, Mrs. Baska, and fell in love with them. We were at the school once a week in December and were invited to their school Christmas sing-a-long!

And, today was the day! Her first day of Big Girl School!

Look at that smile :)! This is before we left this morning and she couldn't be more excited! They had library first thing and she got to pick out a book to bring home!! What's better than that?!? Mike, of course, took the day off so he could be there for drop-off and pick-up :). Drop-off went extremely well and we left her playing on the floor with dinosaurs in their playground.

Daddy, Emma and I missed Lily a lot and were there early to pick her up. So lucky that we were since they made pine cone bird feeders to hang on their After Christmas Tree (a book they read in class). So out we went and it was wonderful. Lily was talking up a storm, smiling and so excited. She kept telling us they painted her hand and it tickled, went to library, made bird feeders...a mile a minute Lily. :)

On our way home to help celebrate she got a Happy Meal from McDonald's, or what Lily calls it Old MacDonald's :)

Here's to a much better preschool experience and a very happy Lily Girl.

Oh, and she turned 33 months today...3 months until she turns "tree".

~And I apologize for the HUGE one paragaraph looking post, I promise I separate them as I type but when I publish to post they all disappear. If anyone has any suggestions on how to correct, please help :)~

A Little Glimpse...

...into are our days, playing.

Lily loves pretend play and it's so great to watch how her mind works. Lily plays princesses, little people, puppets, kitchen every single day. She also is getting very into drawing, writing letters to people she loves and filling a page with all different color scribbles...finally.

Emma is at such a wonderful stage! She is so much fun! It seems as though she is understanding a lot more of what we say and responds in her own way. She is loving the horse and only rocks when it's singing. She also loves to play with anything Lily is into. Notice in the video that she seems to be hiding with Tiana, probably so Lil won't get upset and take her away. Pretty smart if you ask me, with my very unbiased opinion.

Happy 2011!

Wow. 2011. Wonder what great things are in store for us this year?

We had a great day and had our traditional New Year's dinner.

Last year, I stated all of my "resolutions". And, I'm not sure if I am a fan of resolutions anymore. I make some and they get broken so I have come to the realization that if I make them more than likely I really don't take them seriously. So, I have decided to make goals instead. To really show how uneducated I am, I had to look up the official definitions of these words to make sure I completely knew what I was talking about and was making the right call. And I think I am. Resolutions are the intentions one makes to do something and goals are results that you try to achieve. Really they're the same thing but...makes me feel better to use the word goal instead. So here are my "goals" for 2011:

1.To treat my girls as individuals and try to remember that they are different girls through and through.

2.To be the best mom I can be every single day, despite maybe losing patience or perspective.

3.To develop and use meal calendars and a house cleaning schedule.

4.For us to keep to our budget...ugh.

5.Simplify our life.

6. Learn to prioritize.

7. Learn not to dwell on things after I have already made a decision.

Luck to all who are trying to achieve their goals in 2011!

**Just stumbled upon this great, great blog and have to share this entry I came across:

Setting Reachable Goals for 2011, I'm thinking I need to reassess and come up with some goals instead of intentions...**