New Playground Agreement

On the way home from church and lunch today, we passed a store that sells playgrounds sets that look pretty similar to the one we have at home. Lily noticed them and we had this conversation:
L: Oh Mommy, look at all the playgrounds! Can I get a new playground for our home?
M: No, you have a great playground at home. You don't need a new one.
L: What if ours breaks? Can I get a new one then?
M: Your playground isn't going to break. It's really strong.
L: Well, what if a dinosaur comes to play and breaks it? Then can I get a new one?
M: Okay, if a dinosaur is playing on it and breaks it then yes, you can have a new one.
L: Okay, that's a good deal.

3 Year Old Logic

Ryan and I went to a wedding this evening, so our friend Nancy kept the girls. Nancy used to babysit me, so I know she's great! Lily asked her to help put together a puzzle, so Nancy got everything out, followed Lily's directions on where to sit and what to do. After a few minutes Lily asked to do something else, and Nancy said "we haven't finished the puzzle yet." Lily said "Miss Nancy if I do too many pieces, my tummy hurts." In other words, "I'm done with this puzzle!"

Nastics

Wednesday was Lily's first of Gymnastics, or "nastics" as she calls them. We have a Little Gym in Downtown Smyrna that has always looked like so much fun. I happen to drive by the other day and saw a sign that said "Now Enrolling for Summer Camps and Classes" so I stopped in to have a look. It looks awesome! My niece, Molly, had a birthday party there a few years ago, so I knew it had all sorts of fun, supervised activities for kids, but I have never looked into their classes before. However, at 3, the kids start doing classes without parental involvement. So, each Wednesday through the summer, Lily will go to her gymnastics class; her age group (3-4 year olds) is called "Funny Bugs."

As soon as I told Lily she was going to go to gymnastics, she was resistant. I tried convincing her it would be so much fun, and she already loves to tumble and jump, but she wouldn't get on board. You know she gets nervous with new situations, and she had no idea where I was talking about taking her. I could see why she was nervous. I asked Ryan to take her to the first class because I thought she would be less likely to cling to him than to me. Ryan said when they got there (and they arrived a few minutes early so she could take it in for a bit), she asked to sit in his lap; they sat there and talked about all the fun things to do. But then, right at 10, the teacher came out and said it was time for class to start. Lily slid out of his lap, took the teacher's hand and walked right in. One whole wall is glass so parents can watch, so Ryan stayed for a few minutes to see how she did; she did great! He ran an errand for a few minutes, then came to see that she was still doing great. This first class was mostly about how to safely do things, but they also rolled over balls to do somersaults, and they walked across low uneven bars. She got a stamp on her foot as she was leaving which she thought was great too. When class was over, she walked out and immediately told Ryan, "I love nastics!" She was so excited!

Since The Little Gym is just a few minutes from my office, they came by afterwards so we could get lunch together. Lily ran up to me, gave me a big hug and wanted to tell me all about it. I am so excited that she is so excited! She asked me several times today if she gets to go back to nastics tomorrow; next Wednesday can't get here fast enough. I am planning on taking her next week so I can see her in action. The other reason I am thrilled she loved it is because we signed her up for a couple of the day camps. They are 9-12 a couple of times a week, but she won't start for a couple more weeks. They have a different theme each week (princesses, beach, wild west, outer space, etc), and I think Lily will love it. It looks like this is going to be a fun-filled summer for Lily!

Mia's Check Up

Today was Mia's 18 month check up. I can't believe it! She did pretty well too. She really liked climbing in and out of the chairs while we waited; getting down from a chair is certainly a new task that she is mastering. Dr. White and I were both a little surprised that she weighed in at 24 pounds, 4.5 ounces which is the 50th percentile; we both thought she was a little bigger. I will say that Mia was putting up a little bit of a fight sitting on the scale, and I am wondering if a foot and part of a leg didn't get fully counted. She is also 31.25 inches tall which is the 40th percentile, and her head is in the 60th percentile at 18.5 inches. All of these are consistent with her growth pattern which is great. She passed her autism screening with no concerns. She appears to be hitting all the markers for her age which is great; her speech seems to be back on track after getting the tubes in which is such a relief too. She is saying about a dozen words which is right where she should be, but she understands so much of what is said, and she can follow directions well (when she wants to!). She loves to imitate people which is a good sign at this age. She also had to get the last three of her baby immunizations which was not fun. I will say though that she immediately put her head on my shoulder when I picked her up from the table which is just so sweet. Overall, Dr. White said she is a healthy, beautiful little girl.

Mia is such a precious little girl who we adore. She lights up our world when she gives us hugs, blows us kisses or even just smiles. Her big blue eyes sparkle when she sees us, and she has such a great laugh. She wants to attempt anything she sees Lily doing, and most of the time, she imitates pretty well. She makes us laugh as we watch her happily dance and try to jump up and down. It's sweet that to calm herself down, she presses Glo-Worm's belly to make her sing, then immediately starts sucking her left thumb while holding Glo-Worm's ponytails with both hands. Mia is such an amazing, precious child who we are so blessed to call our daughter. We simply can't get enough of this little one!

Two Lily Stories

For about a week or so now, Lily will ask "Are you happy?" if she senses you are frustrated, tired or anything but happy. I am trying to help her understand these emotions by saying something like "I am frustrated that Mia made such a mess, but otherwise, yes, I am happy." When you say "Yes, I am happy" she will immediately reply "Well then let me see a happy face." You can't help but give a big smile with that!

Finally, after weeks of holding her poop in until she put on a Pull-up at nap time or a diaper at bed time, Lily has gone poopy in the potty again! Knowing that she needed to go, Liz pretty much forced her to go in the potty on Saturday. As soon as she pooped, they turned it into a celebration. I am so glad that she did this because I kept thinking "if she would just go once at home, she'll be okay." This morning, she still put up a fight, but Ryan got her to go on the potty too. That's twice! I think (knock on wood) that we're making progress here!

Weekend Getaway

Ryan and I feel it is very important for just the two of us to get away together for a few days each year. Between work, kids and life in general, our energy is drained, and we feel it takes getting away to recharge, reconnect and refresh. We are so fortunate that our parents are willing to take care of the girls while we're gone. This time, especially, my parents were out of town, but Liz was willing to save the day (and weekend!). We could not have done it without her willingness, so a huge thank you to Liz! A big thank you to my parents too for donating Marriott reward points so we could stay for free! That was a great birthday present!

We went to the JW Marriott Grande Lakes in Orlando, Florida. We absolutely love this hotel. It is beautiful! We got in about 5 on Thursday evening. Knowing we were using reward points, we figured we wouldn't have the greatest view, so we asked if they had any pool views available. They said they did for a small fee, but we decided not to pay that. So, we unpacked and decided to just walk around the grounds a bit. As we were walking we decided it would be worth the small fee to overlook the pool, gardens and lakes instead of the parking lot. We went up to the front desk and spoke to Conner, the same person who checked us in. He said it was no problem to move us up and as a birthday present, he would waive the fees. We were so excited! We went back up to the old room to pack up and when we walked in, we saw this in our room:

While we were out walking and before we asked about upgrading, Conner had sent champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to our room with a note wishing me a happy birthday! I thought that was so kind!

We were so glad we ended up with the nicer room (especially for free). Instead of a big parking lot, here was the view from our room:
We overlooked the hotel's lazy river and many pools, gardens, lake and golf course. In the distance are the Disney properties where we could see the firework shows at night. It was an awesome room!


On Friday, Ryan got up about 7:30, got dressed and went to Epcot for the day. He had a great time wandering around, people watching, show watching and sampling lots of fare from "around the world." He picked up some great presents too. He found a cute Minnie Mouse doll for Mia, little giggling Charlie and Lola dolls, plus a sticker book for Lily and Twinings iced tea for Liz. He also gave me the most beautiful Sworovski crystal tennis bracelet; I was truly surprised and moved by this gift. What a great husband. Here are just a few of the great pictures he took.

Watching "The British Invasion," a Beatles cover band in England.
I love the way they cut their trees, plants and flowers. Look at Beast and Belle!

A beautiful spot in Japan.

The big golf ball in front.

While Ryan enjoyed his day at Epcot, I had an amazing day at the spa. The Marriott and the Ritz Carlton share their spa facilities and it's awesome. I had a 75 minute hot stone massage which was incredible. After that I was escorted to the ladies lounge where they had these super comfy over sized chairs and blankets; they encourage you to take a nap while the soft music is playing. I stayed there for about 30 minutes, and even though I didn't nap, I was able to spend almost the whole time in prayer which was wonderful. I can't remember the last time I was able to get that kind of time in peace and quiet. After that, I showered and changed into my swimsuit and cover up. I went down to their cafe where I enjoyed a blue crab and asparagus salad; yummy! After that I spent the rest of the day reading magazines by the pool and floating in the pool. I felt like for the first time in a long time, my head was clear. It was wonderful. I stayed there until about 5, and then went back to the spa to shower and clean up for dinner.

At 6, my cousins, Jason and Jill Howell, picked me up and we met Ryan at The Boardwalk for dinner. We went to Cat Cora's Greek restaurant called Kouzzina, and we enjoyed a delicious meal trying lots of new dishes. Jason and Jill are some of our favorite people to hang out with, so we were so glad they were able to get a night out themselves while we were in town!

Saturday, we slept in a little and then went down to their awesome breakfast buffet. More fresh fruit than you can imagine (I tried gooseberries...didn't even know these were real; I thought they were only in Snow White!), delicious pastries, waffles (with tons of toppings), pancakes, omelets, sausage, bacon, potatoes, scrambled eggs, grits, bagels, yogurt, deli meats and cheeses. Seriously, this is amazing. After breakfast, we went down to the pool and stayed there all day enjoying some tropical drinks, the lazy river and reading by the pool. Not surprisingly, we ended up a little sunburned by day's end.
We went back up in late afternoon to get ready for dinner. We had reservations at Jiko, an African restaurant at The Animal Kingdom Lodge. We wanted to try something different, and this fit the bill. We started out with a cheese plate which had five different cow, goat and sheep's cheeses from around the world. They were delicious and went well with our South African wines. For dinner, Ryan had the highly recommended filet mignon and macaroni and cheese. I had a pork loin that was encrusted with herbs and spices and was served with polenta. It was definitely different, but I'm glad I tried it. We thought about going to Downtown Disney to get dessert, but it was so crowded we just decided to go on back.
On Sunday, we enjoyed the wonderful breakfast buffet again. Since we were still sunburned, we decided to spend the day relaxing inside. We dozed in and out of naps all morning, watched the French Open, read books and magazines and worked on my digital scrapbooks. We decided to go to Giordano's for dinner. This is a famous Chicago pizza restaurant that has a location in Orlando. Ryan got their famous deep dish pizza while I had their thin crust Hawaiian. It was wonderful. We got back and walked down to the pool to enjoy some tropical drinks again. After that, we wanted to get back to the room in time to watch all of the Lost wrap-up, finale and Jimmy Kimmel. It was great!
On Monday, we slept in and took our time packing up our things before heading out. We went to The Grand Floridian Cafe to enjoy one of our favorite sandwiches: turkey and ham on focaccia bread with melted Boursin cheese. Oh my goodness, it's awesome. From there, we went to Downtown Disney to visit their dessert shop. I love their peanut butter cups while Ryan favors their pretzel sticks dipped in white chocolate. Ryan was also kind enough to stop by Wal-Mart so we could pick up a converter for the car, so I could work on our scrapbooks all the way home while he drove. Thankfully, we made it home safe and sound around 10PM; of course, this was after the girls had gone to bed, so it was great to see them this morning. We missed them!
This was such a wonderful trip, and we are so thankful that we had the opportunity to get away for a few days. We just may return next year!

Lily's Graduation

Today was Lily's graduation from Parent Morning Out. The funny thing is she will be returning next year because of her age. The school cut-off is September 1, and with an October 4 birthday, Lily cannot enroll in Pre-K this Fall, so we decided to send her back to PMO for another year; we love this program! Around Christmas, they combined the "Young 3s" class with the "Older 3s" class into one larger class. Lily and a couple of other kids will be returning next year because of their birthdays, but since some of the kids will be going on to Pre-K, they held a graduation service at school. It was a sweet little ceremony, and here are some pictures from it.

Here's a picture of Lily before leaving for school this morning. She was very excited to get to wear a pretty dress to school instead of play clothes. She asked me "Why do I graduate in a dress?" She also told me she was so glad we were coming to her "show." She called it her show several times during the day which made me smile.

There were about 10 kids graduating today. They were all sitting so patiently in their chairs at the front of the gym. They were all wearing little graduation caps which was adorable to see. To pass a little time while waiting on all the parents, they sang a song they learned about the months of the year and then one about the days of the week. Then they sang a song using each child's name, the letter it starts with and the sound that letter makes. It was really cute to watch them sing these songs. When everyone arrived, the director, Mary Jane, spoke for a minute and then Ms. Mollett, the teacher, said a few words. Then Ms. Mollett called each child up onto the stage where she said a few kind words about the individual and gave each one a certificate. She said how Lily knew all her colors, letters, shapes, how to write her name and how to cut when she joined the class. She asked Lily "Did your parents teach you all these things?" to which Lily confidently replied "Yes." She also asked Lily if she had fun in school; Lily again replied "Yes." For those that read this blog often, you know how shy Lily can be. I have to say, I was so proud of her for answering confidently and where everyone could hear. Then, they shook hands and Ms. Mollett gave Lily her certificate. Look at this adorable picture.
We managed to get this picture of Lily after the ceremony. How precious is she in the little hat?!

After the ceremony, they had juice and cookies for everyone which was a big hit. Then Lily gave Ms. Mollett a big hug, and then she took us to her classroom to look around and see all the fun things there. Next we picked up Mia from her room, and the four of us went to Chick-fil-a to get milk shake treats. What a fun day!

The Old Bait and Switch

Lily is such a little negotiator. She loves the new Scooby Doo gummy snacks that we bought her at Publix; she calls them Scooby Dooby Gummies which cracks me up. At most, we let her have one pack a day as a treat, but she would eat them all day every day if she could. On Monday, Ryan picked her from school, and in the car, Lily asked "Daddy, when we get home, can I have a snack and milk?" Ryan agreed and asked what kind of snack she wanted. Lily replied "How about goldfish?" Ryan said that was fine, and then Lily said "I think we're out of goldfish. How about Scooby Dooby Gummies instead?" The old bait and switch trick at work. You gotta watch this one!

Fun Times with the Hooks

Today when I came home from work, Lily had made me a card; she loves to make cards for people by putting on stickers, drawing hearts or rainbows and writing names on them. She pulled it off the refrigerator and handed it to me so I could admire it. After telling her how lovely it was, and how much I appreciated the card, I handed it back to her because she wanted to put it back on the fridge. It didn't stay when she put it up so I thought the magnet must have fallen on the floor. Lily however said "I'll just put more glue on it so it will stick." She was quiet upset when I told her we couldn't glue things to the fridge!

I typically use this blog to post about things the kids are up to, but I had to tell you that Ryan and I went to see David Copperfield at The Fox tonight. Granny gave us these tickets for Christmas; what a great present! He puts on a great show! We have seen him twice before, but we always love to see his show. You know, you absolutely know, there is a logical explanation for his illusions, but most of them, I don't have the first clue how he does it. I mean really, when you have several people in a big circle and in the middle of the circle on the floor, how do you make a car appear above them in just a matter of seconds? Also, how do you play with a tiny piece of tissue paper for a few minutes, then set it on fire and a long-stem red rose appear? How did he do it??? We left the show feeling so incomplete, but it was so much fun to watch and wonder!

Other fun times around our home lately...

The girls sweetly hanging out together. Aren't they cute?

Lily was so excited about her new hat, and she thought it looked perfect with her Snow White dress. When I asked if the hat was her princess tiara, she replied "Mommy, I'm not a real princess. I'm just tendin'. I'm just Lily tendin' to be a princess."
Mia loves corn. After giving her several helping of it, I finally just handed her the cooled off pot and let her go to town. This made her very happy!
Ryan has been working so hard for about a week and a half on tearing down our big back deck which is no longer structurally sound. Mia was fascinated by this process. She would stand at the window for long periods of time just watching him. She kept repeating "Da da!" and pointing out the window. Lily also enjoyed watching, and they both loved it when we would open the window to hand Ryan some water and chat for a minute.

Lily loves her new paints. She has always used Color Wonder or Paint With Water sets in the past, but I recently bought her a Thomas the Train real paint set that she begged for. She has had so much fun with it. She has probably made 6 or 7 pictures a day since getting this last weekend. It's so fun to see her creativity come out!

Happy Mother's Day

I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Sunday was a wonderful Mother's Day. Since Mia was recovering from a cold, we decided not to take her to nursery. Lily and I went though, and it was a great morning. Lily's class put sunflower seeds in a Dixie Cup of soil and made a flower that said "Mom" to put in the soil too. She was so excited to give it to me! We called Ryan when we left, so he and Mia could meet us for brunch. We had a couple of places in mind, but they were all absolutely slammed, so we ended up at Varner's where we had a nice time.

When we got home, I was very surprised to see several very nicely wrapped presents on the kitchen table. For a few days, I had seen a little green-wrapped box sitting on the fireplace, and Lily had told me she couldn't tell me what color she had colored the animals inside, but that was the only gift I was aware of. By the way, it was a very cute mug where you can change the lining to have different pictures; Lily had colored a picture of animals that was inside of it, and I think it's adorable. Lily and Mia were also very kind to also go by Williams-Sonoma and pick up a few other great gifts: a Cooking Together cookbook (because I already love cooking with Lily and I have big dreams of cooking together in the future), a crepe maker with mix (because we all love crepes), a really cool ice pop maker (because I think this is a delicious treat and a sneaky way of giving the kids healthy snacks) and a cookbook on different ice pops to make. There was also a wonderfully sweet card that the girls had helped make which I loved too. I really appreciate how thoughtful these gifts are, and I look forward to making lots of memories using them in the future!

I was treated to an afternoon nap too which I loved. After nap time, we went over to my parents' house where my dad was grilling out. It was such a beautiful day outside, so we all had fun playing on the back patio. Dad had bought a tricycle at a garage sale the day before, and Lily couldn't get enough of it. Wayne's family and Meme were there too, so it was fun to hang out with them. It was a delicious dinner (with ice cream, chocolate sauce and huge chocolate covered strawberries for dessert - YUM!), and we all enjoyed it. I always enjoy time with my family, and I am so glad I was able to spend part of Mother's Day with mom. She is one of my very best friends, and the best mom I know. I love her so much!

All this to say, I had a wonderful Mother's Day, and I truly believe I am the luckiest mom in the world!

Lily's Dreams

I often wonder what Lily and Mia dream about at night. I will ask Lily if she had a dream, and she usually replies yes. When I ask what is was about, she will tell me something that can typically be explained by a recent activity. For example, on Monday morning she said she had dreamt about Jesus which I attribute to being at Sunday School the previous morning; she has also recently said she dreamt about fairies which is probably from watching Tinkerbell. This morning though, Lily came into our room about 7 and fell back asleep between Ryan and me. About 8, we heard her singing "a,b,c,d,e...." and so on all the way to p; then she just stopped and was obviously still very asleep. When she actually woke up a few minutes later, she seemed very confused when Ryan asked if she had been dreaming about alphabet soup. I wonder what she was thinking about in her dream though to make her sing the alphabet. Was she in class, on a stage or reading a book? I guess we'll never know!

Recent Lily Stories

1. This morning, Ryan and Lily went to run a few errands which included a brief stop at the office to pick something up. Lily asked Ryan if she could type on the computer, and Ryan agreed. First they typed out everyone in the family's names because Lily loves to spell them. Then, they decided to make a list of animals that Mommy likes at the zoo. Of course, flamingo, giraffe, sheep and meercats were on there (actually, Lily listed out 21 animals), but I was a little surprised when she showed me the list and "dragons" (maybe a kimodo dragon???) and "scary monsters" had made it on there!

2. Lily loves to make "projects." I remember when we were still expecting Lily, and I told Ryan I really looked forward to the day that she would be able to color and paint because it's something I love to do. Every day now, Lily wants to do some type of project, and it's so much fun. I think a lot of her ideas come from Bama which is great. Today while I was making dinner, she ripped some paper up into different sizes and then glued it down to make "our house and our flowers." We also have a great time with the Color Wonders sets; they are special markers and finger paints that only go on the Color Wonder paper...it's awesome because there is no mess! We will color several pictures each day, and then Lily will usually give them to Ryan as a present. She likes to wrap them up first in a placemat, so he can actually open the present. Of course, she also likes making things with stickers, pipe cleaners, crayons, etc., so we have lots of fun with her daily projects. I love seeing her creativity and imagination!

3. One of the projects Lily often undertakes is making cards for people. She will get paper, draw a heart, write Lily and put stickers on it. She is very proud of her cards. Today though, we were playing in the playroom and she picked up a toy and said it was a card. I asked her what the card said and she replied "It says Dear Mommy, this card is for you because I love you and I love to play with you. We have fun. The end." A few minutes later, she made the same type card for Ryan (i.e., gave him the same toy) and when he asked what his card said, she replied "This card is to Daddy. You are a good man. He loves everyone especially his friends. The end." We both just about melted when we heard this; what a precious little girl!

New Pictures

Here are some new pictures of what's been going on around our home.

Sweet sisters!

Mia loves spaghetti. She shovels fistfuls at a time into her mouth!
Those fistfuls lead to a mess like this, but she thoroughly enjoyed her meal!

Mia is such a happy little girl!

Parker and Macey came over to play on Friday evening. We enjoyed some playtime and pizza at home and then a quick trip to Chuck E Cheese. Here's a picture of Lily, Mia and Macey playing together.

Lily was pretty excited about all the new toys she received for going poopy in the potty...a Little People Circus and Ferris Wheel set, a Look and Find Disney book and a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse book with figurines. Her poops since this have been while she has been sleeping. While this isn't going in the potty, it's at least not intentionally getting a Pull-up on. Small steps...

Mia in one of my favorite dresses. Grandpops and Grandma Jan gave this us this dress while I was pregnant with Lily. In fact, it was the first baby gift I received! It is a beautiful pink and green seersucker. I love that Mia can wear it now!

Lily dressed Dusty up. In case you can't see it all, he has a necklace around his nose, Clifford ears stretched across his head, a purple tiara, Cubs hat and the purple cat neck pillow on his head. Lily was thrilled with the outcome of how he looked and asked me to take a picture of him.

What a sweetheart!

Mia loves the slide at the playground!

One of our little chefs. Mia loves to play in the toy kitchen.

I absolutely love this picture of sweet Mia.

Mia enjoying her lunch at Figo.

Unfortunately, no picture for this, but we planted flowers in our flower garden. She talked about putting the "blanket" (aka soil) over the seeds to help them grow. We have been watering them, and in the last few days, the flowers have begun to bloom. Lily loves seeing them! She goes to the window each morning to check on them and see if any new ones have come up. Maybe someday she can make the gorgeous garden my Dad had at the house come back!