my little lovies

It's about time for an update, one fit for the grandparents.  If you're not one of the aforementioned grandparents, please feel free to skim or skip until your heart's content.

This little lovie is my constant companion.



She loves to play doll house, draw, cut, and glue, bead necklaces and bracelets, read books, watch her shows, play pretend just about anything, and to make her little sister laugh.  When she plays doll house the mommy, Dalene, sounds very mean and a little too strict.  Sigh. I'm trying to find balance. When she does crafts she makes a huge mess but she loves it and I love it occupying her time.  Her beaded jewelry?  I let her play with it or we "mail" it to family and friends, but then I cut the string and put the beads back in her baggie.  She never chooses to read books, so I will often grab a stack and start reading to myself, and before the end of the first page of the first book she is snuggled by my side.  She loves to watch Miss Spider's Sunny Patch and Team Umi Zoomi and Little Bear and Franklin.  I can't stand Franklin and we're trying to watch less TV.  We pretend our lives away playing doctor/patient or mommy/sweetie or Tangled/Mother Gothel.  I never get to be Tangled.  She is so good at getting Kaia to laugh and helping me with Kaia.  I don't know what I'd do without her.

She loves treats and asks for one every five minutes throughout the day.  She told me today that she wants my tummy to stay big and when I asked why she responded, "Because we don't have any treats when you're trying to get your tummy smaller."  That made me laugh.

She comes into our room twice a night saying that she is scared of the dark.  Half asleep, I walk her back to bed and tuck her in.  She's asleep in seconds and once in awhile I stay and watch her sleep.  I often get emotional, still, at how fast the time has gone with her.  She is such a child now and has very few baby-like tendencies left. I hope we are doing an okay job with her because the end of the really formative years seems to be approaching.

My favorite recent memory with her was sledding in Vermont with Melissa and Maya.  Zoey cried more than she laughed, I think, but wanted to keep sledding.  She's so funny like that.


When we tell her we're going to take a picture she totally poses and it is funny but also a little irritating.  Sometimes I want a nice, normal picture, not her tilting her body one way or another. Oh, well.

She LOVES preschool and church: her friends, teachers, and lessons.  She has grown and changed so much just since September and I find myself overwhelmed with gratitude for the teachers in her life.

I struggle with balance where Zoey is concerned.  I want to document her life while it is fresh in my memory, but is it worth ignoring her for 30 minutes to do a blog post or a scrapbook page?  I want her to be kind and accepting but not too trusting.  She is polite and well-behaved, but are my expectations too high?  I want her independence to grow but I dread the day she no longer needs me.

To say I love this little lovie seems like an understatement.



This little lovie is my other constant companion. Constant as in most of the day and even some of the night.


She loves to climb up and down the stairs, empty out any and all bins, cupboards, and drawers, eat Cheerios and puffs off the floor, dance, jibber-jabber, giggle, and "play" with anything with which big sister is playing. Climbing the stairs is a relatively new interest, so my heart still lurches into my stomach when she decides to stand on a step midway up or down. She's so proud of her accomplishment, though.  While the emptying out is a good developmental skill, I know, it is also maddening.  People tell me I will miss finding stuff all over the house, but I'm just not quite convinced.  Eating off the floor?  Not possible for a child of mine.  Alas, it is done on a daily basis. Dancing is another new talent, and it is the cutest bouncing, twisting, rocking you can imagine. Her jibber-jabber is so deliberate I feel as if she is trying to tell me something important. I can't wait until she says something besides hi. The giggling is so cute and so silly at the same time. We love it. And big sister NEVER complains when Kaia comes to "play" with her toys. Nor does she whine or cry or scream, "Mommy, help me!" at the top of her lungs.

She loves crawling around with something in each of her hands, even though it makes her movement more difficult. A few days ago she latched on to these weird pink balls and wouldn't give them up for several hours. Even during meal times. Just look at her daring me to take them away.

Though not as frequently, she still wakes up during the night.  I tried, really tried, to appreciate that alone time with her. At this point, though, I am so sleep-deprived I am over any alone time that involves anyone besides me, myself, and I.  How's that for selfish?

My favorite recent memory with her was watching her learn how to clap. She focused so hard to put her two tiny hands together and it made me thankful for her mind that works.



She loves people. She stares them down until they acknowledge her presence, and she especially loves her daddy, mommy, and sister. When seeing us for the first time in a day, it is as if she hasn't seen us in weeks. We love it.

I struggle with the heavy guilt of knowing that because of fatigue and depression I missed out on most of Kaia's first year. By missed out I mean it was very difficult to enjoy. Though there is really no way to make up for that, I am trying to be more positive, more grateful, more present.

To say I love this littlest lovie seems like an understatement, too.

friends like these

Do you have friends like these?

It is impossible to describe how blessed we feel to have these people in our lives.  I could seriously write pages and pages about all they have done for us, how much we appreciate them, and why we love them so much. They are ALWAYS helping someone, and it is frequently US.

Remember the very broken car and the very sad little girl? They remedied the situation for us. Let's just say they loaned us something BIG so that we could still drive to Vermont to spend the week with my little sister's family. Do you have people in your lives who would do something like that for you?

I hope so.

Favorite Traditions

Growing up, one of my very favorite days of the year was the Saturday after Thanksgiving when our family of nine would pile into the big blue van to go cut down our Christmas tree.  The best part?  Hot chocolate, treats, and being together.  We're trying to make this a favorite day in our little family, too!

Thankful

We have much, much, much for which we are thankful!  Right now we are especially grateful we were able to spend Thanksgiving in Austin with Rob and Jenifer and Grandmother Christensen.  Lots of good eats, playing, and rest.

out and about in the Fall

Enjoying the BEAUTIFUL weather at the park.

Wanting to get in on the action, too.

Preschool Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

We had SO much FUN!

Seguine's Halloween Party

Another BEAUTIFUL night and SO MUCH FUN!

Pumpkin Festival

Climbing up...

...sliding down.

We've been having a lot of fun enjoying the beautiful, non-rainy days - we just love this time of year in the East! Brian even took a couple of days off work so we could enjoy some time as a family and we've taken advantage of every minute. Happy Fall!

the one where we're finally home

Here are a few pictures from our first days at home with both of our little girls:

This last one is just one of the many ways Zoey likes to "help" Baby Kaia.

the one with some gratitude

Zoey, yesterday (Wednesday) I had my first day off of work in a long time. The anticipation of spending the entire day with only you had me giddy all week. Sadly, when you woke up in the morning you thought it was the "Turkey Party Day" and that you would be spending the entire day with me and daddy. Since daddy had to go to work, you cried all day long - over shoes, over clothes, over every single time I said no, over food, over nearly everything. Your crying had me in tears of frustration. So, for lunch I made a special treat: a chocolate rice cake topped with peanut butter and bananas (thanks, Christie!) and it was the ONLY time ALL day you were happy and smiling for more than 5 consecutive minutes.

After I finished my deliciousness for lunch, I sat and watched you enjoy yours and was overwhelmed with gratitude for you. You try so hard to be good and to listen to mommy and daddy. You make me laugh every single day of my life. You are so, so beautiful and so, so smart. You try to keep everything clean. See how you are drinking your milk because your hands are covered in peanut butter? You have been doing that since you were tiny tiny. You are so precious to me, Zoey. I love you.

And you, Brian. Thank you for spending all your time off doing "stuffs" for Zoey and me. Thank you for painting and putting up shelves and fixing doorknobs and cooking stuffing and baking bubble loaf and cleaning and bringing up Christmas bins and taking down fall bins and hanging lights on the tree and hanging lights outside and buying me ice cream and bending over for me every 3 minutes and playing with Zoey and letting me sleep in and letting me take naps and for everything else I am forgetting. I love you, too.

the one where zoey spills the beans

gratitude...

Gratitude pops up in the darndest places.

Like the Doylestown Emergency Room.

Gratitude for level-minded Ed, caring Jen, and fast-driving Brian.

And mostly gratitude that Zoey's tears finally stopped flowing when the doctor fixed her dislocated elbow (aka boo boo elbow owie).

my little one...

Today at the grocery store I was reminded that I need to appreciate the time I DO have with Zoey and stop crying about the time I DO NOT have with her.

Zoey stands in the front of the shopping cart, holding on with both hands, wind in her hair. Think Kate on the front of the Titanic.

She greets everyone we pass with "HI!" and proceeds to tell them about everything in our cart.

In the produce section she says, "beep-beep-beep-beep," as I type in the produce code and "Oh, wow!" as the label prints out. She loves to put the "sticker" on the bag.

In the bread section I push her right up to the bread and she knows exactly which one to select and put in the cart.

At the deli counter she says, "Cheese, peas [please]!" and "Danks [thanks]!"

She points out the train (that drives around an elevated track around the store) every other minute and each time she is as excited about it as the last.

When we checkout she helps put the items up on the belt and wants to hold the pen attached to the credit card machine.

Today, four people stopped to "chat" with Zoey and left smiling. She makes a lot of people smile.

Today I was reminded that my little one is getting bigger, and I am so grateful for that.

Happy New Year

My New Year's resolution? To post more meaningfully and frequently. Now you can sleep better tonight, having this peace of mind.

Just kidding. I don't have the time to post more meaningfully and frequently. I am lucky if the dishes get done and the house looks somewhat decent. That's just my life right now.

But, I couldn't pass by the opportunity to share a few (dozen) pictures of our past week.

Christmas decorations? Check.

Too much snow? Check.

House clean? Check.

Jen and Rob arrive? Finally!

Table set? Check.

Christmas Eve dinner? Oh-my-delicious.

Stockings? Check.

Santa? Check.

Christmas morning awe? Check.

First pigtails? Check.

Lots of fun? Check.

Dora cellphone? Check.

Cutest little girl? Check.

We are so grateful Jen and Rob came to spend Christmas with us and so happy we were able to spend lots of time together as a family.

Please, don't ask me how I feel about going back to work on Monday.