Flashbacks

I got down a photo album today from 1984. The year I was born. I was looking for a picture of myself in the brown dress Liv wore Sunday. As soon as I opened it, there was the picture! Ingrid says, "Hi Liv!" I cracked up. I turn a few pages and Ingrid excitedly says, "HI MEIL, MEIL!! Mama--Meil Meil and Liv!" Obviously she sees the resemblance between Heather and Amelia and Liv and me. It was so precious. Here we are: Liv in the "Roma" dress and me in the "Roma" dress. Amelia holding Liv and Heather holding me. I was several months older than Liv in this pic and Heather is about a year and a half older than Amelia here. While I was doing some flashbacks, I found a couple more I liked. These flashbacks were from not-so-long ago! Heather holding Liv at 1 week old and Heather holding Ingrid at 1 week old. Liv and Ingrid both in their "Life is Good" princess jammies. Liv is 2 months and Ingrid is 3 months here. Flashback fun!

Being home

I mentioned yesterday how much I've enjoyed being home on this maternity leave. It has been so much different than last time. Last year, my leave was at the very beginning of the school year, which was super stressful. I didn't know my kids that well, didn't have down my routines, and I was gone. But I wanted to be gone with my new baby girl. But my mind was still back at school--wondering how I would survive a whole school year ahead of me without being there to lay the foundation. So, after nine days off, I went back. And I think that was the right decision. This maternity leave is so different. First of all, mom is teaching my class. The best teacher I have ever known is in control of my class and making my kids smarter each day. She is loving them and taking interest in them and doing a first class job. Just like I knew she would. And it's a magnificent class. A dream! I love those kids so much. But as much as I love them, I'm still not ready to go back. I love being here each day with Ingrid and Liv. I love the mornings best. No rushing around. We get up, cuddle a bit, get a drink of juice or milk, and start our day together. It's relaxed, slow-paced, and fun. The total opposite of our mornings when I'm working. Ingrid is at such a fun age. She says and does new things every day. I love experiencing them all first-hand. She amazes me daily with the connections she makes and the new words she says. Liv is able to stay awake and alert for longer periods of time. She's becoming more vocal and cooing with the cutest little voice ever! Ingrid is so much more concerned with everything to do with her sister these past few days. It makes me tear up watching their relationship already grow and change. I say all this knowing I must go back. And I will get right back into my routine as a working mom. But not yet! I still have a few more weeks home and I want to enjoy every last second. I also say this as a huge thank you to my mom. Who gave up her love of teaching to stay home and watch my girls each day. Who selflessly threw herself back into the crazy teaching world so I could have a stress free maternity leave. To my mom who has worked long hours making sure everything done in the classroom is spot on. Who has poured her heart into these kids just like they are her own. To my wonderful mom who has always done everything in her power to help me in every aspect of my life. I hope I can follow in her footsteps and help my girls selflessly and whole heartedly. I love you mom and I've loved being home with my girls. Here are a few pics from our day today. Baking peanut butter chocolate chip cookies. Liv fell asleep with her hand up in the air! Sleeping beauty This pic is from Sunday. Elmo's ABCs. I love it!

2 months old!

Dear Liv Riley,

You are two months old! It is unreal how fast time is flying by. I'm SO thankful that I'm still on maternity leave and can be here with you. It is the biggest blessing I could imagine. Your Gammy is teaching Mommy's class so I can stay home as long as possible with you during these first few weeks of your life. You have already rolled from tummy to back and have laughed out loud several times. You are cooing and making the sweetest noises for Mama and Dada. Your sister loves to help get your diapers, wipes, paci, and blanket for you all day. She makes sure you have your sleep sheep if you are crying. And you definitely cry your eyes out sometimes. You pull your lip down and you cry with everything you have. A lot of times you just want to be held a certain way. I think you might be a little diva doll! You go get your shots this month so we will get an update on your weight and height then. You are still eating good, so I think you will tip the scales towards the heavy end! You took your first bottle from Daddy last week. We are trying to do one bottle a day so mommy can pump milk for you to have when I go back to work. So far, we've given you the bottle four times and you've done pretty good with it from the beginning. You are slowly getting into a sleeping schedule. Up until a week ago I was only getting about 2-3 hours of sleep per night. That was pretty rough on Mommy, so I did a big dance when you slept SEVEN hours straight the other night. I am praying for more nights like that! You are such a doll baby with your big blue eyes and dark hair. I dressed you up in one of my old dresses for church this morning. Your daddy said you looked just like a vintage doll. And I couldn't agree more. You are precious Liv Riley and I love you so very much.

Love,
Mama

They Love Each Other

And I love them. So much.

Happy 1st Birthday Elise Mae!!!

Elise turned one! Days ago, actually, but her party was this past weekend and we had a blast. Heather outdid herself with all the decor. The party was themed "You are My Sunshine" and appropriately so! Elise is every bit a ray of sunshine every day. I got some photos of her cute decorations.

12 month photo wall Sunny candy bar Painting and Yarn pom-pom garland Sunshine cupcakes There was more I didn't capture: a sunshine pinata, yellow scrappy garland from Sunshine by Sara's etsy shop, dowel rod photos on the table scape--it was seriously so cute. I loved it. I would have gotten more pics if I hadn't had to go to the back to feed Livy right when we got there! Elise loved all her gifts. Especially her new chair like Amelia and Ingrid's. Ingrid loved Elise's new backpack. (and the graham crackers of course!) Elise was too busy cheesing it up for the camera to try her cake at first! But it didn't take her long to dig in and love it. All the girls were so good with sharing and playing. We had such a great day together. I love these pics of the cousins in yellow. Next time, we will try to put Liv on Amelia's lap and see how that goes...:)

January Wonder Weather

The weather here has been unseasonably warm. Like in the fifties and sixties! What? Is it really January? I'm definitely not complaining though. We've been making good use of our double stroller with lots of walks around the neighborhood. The other night I got to use our oven for the first time in months! It felt so nice to finally cook again. We've given our old 1952 Tappan Deluxe one last chance. We sent the parts off to be fixed one more time. Thanks to Derek and Daniel, all the parts are back in place and the stove works once again. While I was cooking our dinner, Derek took the girls on a "stwolla yide" as Ingrid says. He took some good pics of my sweet girls. Both are loving the stroller. You'll notice Liv does not have on a hat even though it was a bit windy that evening. I have her so many precious hats, but the moment I place one on her head she screams bloody murder. So, no hat for her! Hooray for this warm weather and spending time outside!

18 months old

Dear Ingrid,

Exactly six months ago today you turned one! How fast time is flying by...It seems like just a few weeks ago we were carefully planning all the details of your party. And yet you have changed so much since your party that it seems like it has surely been more than six months for you to do all this growing! You are getting taller and slimmer since you are on the go from 6 AM-7:30 PM every day. You take one nap in the afternoon to get some much-needed rest. You love to sleep with your blankets that you fondly call big and little night-night. You love your comfort items so much. You still sleep with your paci too. I'm glad you have these things to comfort you and help you sleep tight. I might be in trouble because I think you have a clothes and shoes obsession! You love getting clothes out of the laundry basket, putting them in piles, "folding" them, putting them up, getting dressed, and trying on different shoes over and over. You are talking more than ever. You scarcely stop to catch your breath! You love to play pretend with your dollhouse, barn animals, babies, and stuffed animals. Building towers with your new legos is another favorite game we play. You still love puzzles, but your favorite right now is a matching puzzle game with colors and textures. Since last month you have mastered all your colors except black. You still call it white or brown sometimes. You can count to thirteen and love counting things throughout our house. You absolutely LOVE nursery rhymes. You have one certain book that you love to "read" your rhymes out of. You can sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie, Old McDonald, Hickory Dickory Dock, and The Wheels on the Bus by yourself. You love to help me with Yankee Doodle, Old Mother Hubbard, If You're Happy and You Know It, Jack and Jill, and This Little Piggie. You love drawing with chalk on our chalkboard wall. You pick to draw with the red, purple, and blue most often. And you like for mama to draw the letters E and Y! haha. I don't know why they're your favorites! You are very interested in the potty. You've wanted to sit on the potty chair at Gammy's and Aunt Heather's house and even the big potty at our house. You've never gone in it yet, but you really want to be able to. Mommy isn't really ready to start that adventure with you yet, but if you keep showing so much interest I guess I better jump on board! You are such a loving little girl. You give me big hugs and kisses all the time. You like to give Liv love pats and kisses on her "little baby hand" as you call it! You make my heart swell with pride every day. Happy 18 months.

 Love, Mama See all the clothes in the background you've been playing with? Love it!

Granny Lane's visit

On Sunday afternoon Granny Lane got to come out to Glenda's for a get-together with the family. She was having a great day and we all had a wonderful time together. Ingrid was in rare form and was showing out for everyone. There were quite a few people there so I was shocked at how much personality shined through. She was chatting with everyone. Favorite thing she said was this: She was telling everyone bye-bye and I told her to tell Davy bye. She had been a little hesitant around him all day but she shyly said "Bye-bye Daney." Derek says Davy is so tall (he is! about 6'4" or so) Ingrid tells him bye again with a little something added on the end. "Bye-bye Daney. Daney a giraffe." I thought I would die laughing. So funny. And a great association! Here are a few pics from our great family day. Ingrid and Liv were wearing their matching scottie dog outfits from Heather. I LOVED them on even better than I imagined. They looked so cute. And color-coordinated with Granny. Ingrid got to meet Laney for the first time! KISS!

6 weeks old

Last week Liv had her 6 week check-up with the doc. She was pretty in pink to see our favorite medical staff. Thank you SO MUCH for praying for Liv's heart. The doctor detected no heart murmur this time! I was so thankful. It took him a while to listen because Liv wouldn't stop screaming long enough for him to get a good long listen in! She hates the doctor's office as much as her sis I guess. Her weight and height were in the 50-75th percentile. She weighed in at 10.2 pounds and was 21 inches long! My big girl can no longer wear any of her newborn clothes and her 3 month clothes are plenty snug. I also got checked out and am released to return to all normal activities. Which means my exercise program needs to start ASAP. But I lack any motivation at all....I'll get there I suppose. Derek and I decided to take Liv on her first shopping trip since we needed to exchange a few Christmas gifts. We opted to leave Ingrid with her Nana for her sake and ours. We thought it would be much less stressful on our first time out with Liv, if we didn't have a 17 month in tow also. I think it was a good choice, even though I felt guilty for being there with Liv and not her the whole night. Oh, mommy-guilt--why do we have it?? Anyway, we dressed Liv up in her new tie-dye onesie from her Great Aunt Donna, Gap jeggings, Brown fur-lined boots from Roma and Fern, and headband made by me. She was styling for her trip out! She did really good on our night out. She had two big crying fits but that was it. We went to Tanger, Michaels, Target, and Olive Garden! I ended up having to feed Liv in Olive Garden--that was my first time having to breast feed her in public...Not my favorite thing to do. Or hers apparently. She ate for 5 minutes and got screaming mad. Derek bounced her a bit and she calmed down but did not want to eat anymore. She was fine for the rest of our meal. Liv has been doing really well on her tummy time. She has a very strong neck and can hold her head up for long periods of time. Here she's demonstrating her strength on her daddy. And two nights ago Liv rolled from tummy to back! One day before she turned 7 weeks. What a big girl!