A little gift for me (via Nessa) on the anniversary of the day I became a mother (by Tami)

Tami Here

Today is Megan's Birthday, but I'm not really writing about that (it would change the focus too much ... but it was a great day in celebration of a GREAT young lady (12!)). However, it was because it was Megan's birthday that Nessa and I were cleaning and then decorating, etc. -- "to get ready for the party." Which really wasn't much of a party except that to a 4-year-old if you have cake and presents, then you have a party. And if you are the mom of a 4-year-old you discover that for a 4-year-old cleaning for a party can be much more appealing than cleaning or doing "chores" at any other time.

So, to set the stage --

Nessa and I worked really well together this morning after I explained how we were getting ready for a party that would happen later in the day after we picked up Megan from her Dad's house at 5 p.m. In fact Nessa was just a total pleasure to work with during most of the day. And it was all that much sweeter because the morning started out a bit rough with Nessa waking us up at 4 a.m., not going back to sleep, and then not being very cooperative through the beginning of the morning ... thankfully when I focused and restarted the day, she seemed to as well.

While getting ready we talked about how it was Megan's birthday and a day to celebrate Megan. Nessa never complained about it not being her own birthday, but did note it briefly. Mostly we were simply very excited about showing Megan how excited we were to celebrate her birthday.

At one point I hugged Nessa and told her what a great helper she was being and how much fun I was having with her as we were getting things ready for Megan to come home. Nessa smiled back and said something I don't even remember, and I hugged her again and went on to tell her how very thankful I am that God blessed me with her.

Nessa rarely misses a beat when I tell her such things. She shows that her mind is always putting things together and processing things we say -- often more than we process them before saying them!

And this time was no different and I could tell those wheels were turning as she started talking, but I was not ready for what she said.

She said, "yeah ... because if you didn't have me, you wouldn't have three girls." [emphasis mine]

I just hugged her and agreed with her, and said that each of my three girls were so special in their own unique ways.

Some of you reading this likely are already crying with me. Others may not understand it at all, so I'll explain just a bit of the whirlwind that goes through my mind when Nessa counts herself among my THREE daughters.

In some ways it is like anyone else remembering that I have 3 girls rather than only the 2 they can see all the time. But then it is so much more than that because Nessa only knows Emily though us. Unlike Megan, Nessa did not go through the experience of Emily's death at all. It is a past that she really does not share. And yet at only 4 years old she has been able to process that she does indeed have another sister.

I guess it was even more profound to me because I have never really heard Nessa mention Emily or refer to her in any way on her own initiative (without us talking about Emily first). So knowing that she does know and remember on her own was really meaningful to me. It was a huge gift on such an important and meaningful day -- the anniversary of the day I became a mother!

Tidbits from the road

Tami here.

I'm online at our hotel in Blackwell, OK doing a bit of research to plan out our trip tomorrow, and thought I would quickly share a few tidbits ... mostly Nessa humor.

Nessa about 10 minutes ago: "I'm going to work at a coffee place when I get bigger."
Me: "Nessa, do you like coffee?"
Nessa: " Well no, but when I'm older I will. And I want to work at a coffee place because it will be fun."
All of us: "Oh, OK."

This morning Nessa informed me that her name is "Fernando." She has continued to use this name, although luckily for us no longer corrected us by this afternoon when we slipped and called her "Nessa." I just asked her if she is still Fernando, and she said, "I'm going to be Fernando every day." When I asked her why she wants to be Fernando, she said "Because I want my friends to say Fernando." Shawn promptly said "because if I was only Fernando every other day, it would be too hard for my friends to remember." :-) After we laughed Nessa explained that when we were in Mexico and she was with Grandma and Max, she watched Lost in the Woods. Well, now we know where it came from. :-)

As many of you may have noticed, especially those of you on facebook or twitter*, Shawn and i have been taking advantage of our smart phones to post status updates, text message, and use GPS (some kudos to NavTel GPS for helping us find places along our route, and taking us to some awesome gluten free restaurants). So this has not gone unnoticed by Nessa (or Megan who is text messaging a lot herself these days, but does think we can become a bit addicted to facebook ... I think it's a vacation thing because it's an easy way to stay connected while away). So just now Shawn was reading a text message and after asking him about it, Nessa proclaimed, "When I'm older I want to get a text message from Aunt Jo." :-)

Other things Nessa did:

• Removed all the threads from a sombrero hat pin one at a time --
  "because I'm hungry" (she didn't actually eat them.
• She sang "rock star larry boy" very loudly for awhile, and we let her because she was happy and not screaming like yesterday! (In fact I think this is the first day she fell asleep in the car without screaming! It was a good day indeed!)
• She watched Monsters Inc about 3.5 times as the road had already lulled us into a parental stupor that influenced us to just say "sure" when she asked to watch it again and again ... besides we already have a floor full of "pretty pictures" colored by Nessa -- if you're family, there is probably more than one that Nessa designed just for you -- I hope you all don't mind if they "get lost in the mail" as I'm sure your fridge can live without a piece of paper with one sticker on it and about 4 squiggly lines and one very nicely written "N."

Seriously, we had a pretty good day driving today, and even though she isn't speaking to me at the moment (only Daddy), Nessa or er, Fernando, has been really sweet. Thank you God. :-)

Megan, has been great as well. She has been having her own movie marathon -- Princess Diaries and Cinderella Story. Megan was not feeling well when we left TX, and I was afraid we were going to have to find a clinic to do a strep test or something, but thankfully she is MUCH better now, and just sounds a bit stuffed up!!! Thank you God. :-)

Shawn has been doing an AWESOME job driving. It allows me to cater to the girls' needs as well as do just a bit of reading, looking out the window, talking to Shawn, and yes, text messaging or otherwise playing on my phone, so I really appreciate it. Thank you Shawn and Thank you God. :-)

So far no adventures or misadventures on the way home, and that is a great thing. :-)

Today we woke up to chilly weather and realized we really did have to go back to jeans and sweatshirts and put away the shorts. But the Sun did come out to play during our lunch and play time -- Shawn found us a great little park in West, TX (as Shawn pointed out it is in Central Texas). We had a great time enjoying our last picnic until summer arrives in WI, and playing on the great playground.

Unfortunately our hotel tonight doesn't have a pool. Or, rather it has a pool, but it's broken. So our plan it to get to sleep a bit earlier than we have been, get up earlish, and hit the road so we can stop along the way at some type of play spot such as a playground, zoo or library. We'll let you know what we find. :-)

Before I forget I also want to do a quick shout out to the Little Aussie Bakery and Cafe (http://www.thelittleaussiebakery.com/) in San Antonio. It's 100% Gluten Free!!!! And it made a GREAT early supper spot for us on Saturday as we started heading back North. They also had some awesome sandwich buns and cookies that we purchased to take with us on our way. The buns have been great for our barbecue pork sandwiches (or rather everyone else's sandwiches as I've been sticking to salad and fruit to keep going and healthy). And who doesn't love cookies for snack time. :-) While we were at the Little Aussie Cafe we all enjoyed yummy food too -- Nessa had GF pizza (sans cheese too but still yummy), Shawn and Megan had great sandwiches and side salad, and I had an awesome spring green salad with the BEST citrus dressing. I HIGHLY recommend the place. And the owner was great to talk to as well. :-)

OK, time to get myself ready for the challenge of getting Nessa to sleep in a hotel room.

~Tami

Signs of Summer

End-of-the-year slumber parties: Megan and a friend had a blast dressing up in the formal dresses that Aunt Heidi gave Megan (rumor has it they played "What Not to Wear" (!) ... I think the dresses were the makeover result), as well as watching movies and spending LOTS of time giggling!
Tired Girls: Busy summer days and nights lead to tired girls ... sleeping peacefully. This was taken the morning after I returned home from Philly (I think) as I can see Nessa tightly clutching the little koala bear that I brought home for her (received from an attendee from Australia).


Swimsuits and Sunburn (!): Hopefully this will be the only sunburn shot you'll ever see of Megan, but she was complaining heavily so I wanted to show it. She did say "Mom, you were right" when she discovered she was burnt and I asked what/when she applied sunscreen during her first outing to the pool with her friends (she didn't) this year.


Last Tuesday Megan was thrilled to spend all afternoon at the pool, and then we all went to the pool as a family as well that night. Megan had a blast, and so did the rest of us. Nessa actually did great in the water, and was excited to get to go down the water slide on mom or dad's lap as well. We're looking forward to more fun days and nights at the pool this year.

Unfortunately not all of our early summer days have been full of sunshine. The region has received way too much rain as well. South La Crosse, is fine, but areas just south (east and west -- WI, MN, and Iowa) have once again been devastated. I really hope raising funds for flood victims does NOT become a La Crosse summer tradition. :-(

Croc hunting...

We are now a Croc converted family. And when Shawn made the croc hunting joke while we were out looking for where to buy crocs in La Crosse (there are several places; the website was useful in our hunt), I knew I had to blog it.





I had been considering getting Nessa Crocs for awhile as I had noticed that many toddlers seemed to be able to take them on and off and they were much better for running and playing that many sandals. And the big one for me, they looked like they would be easy to get clean! So, while on Kelleys Island, and after seeing Max wearing his, Nessa became the proud owner of red Crocs complete with a smiley and cat Jibbitz.

Nessa always remembers: "NO Crocs in bed!"



Kelleys Island unfortunately had a limited supply of Crocs that weekend so Nessa was happy with red and Megan (see below) choose yellow, Shawn and I decided to wait and see what we could find back in La Crosse. Shawn decided to go with blue while we were at the last store during our Croc hunting expedition. No Jibbitz for Shawn (yet).

Above Nessa is showing you her Crocs!



Yes, I finally stuck my foot in the picture as well.

Megan has two lady bugs and a butterfly Jibbitz and looks forward to further decorating her happy yellow Crocs. I'm quite happy with my sunflower, but will have fun looking at more Jibbitz too I'm sure.


Megan , Nessa (and Lilliam) on our front hill as I attempt to take some pics to accompany this post. (Nessa cooperated the first time when I took pics of her with Shawn, but not so much today with her and Megan.)

On a serious note -- we bought them because we find them SO comfortable and well as much as I said I would never give into them as I couldn't get over their "odd" look ... in the end it always comes back to comfort for me. So if they're cool, that's just a fun extra. I have to admit the Jibbitz are a pretty cool addition and I'm so glad that stay at home made out well with her idea. So far we've all been wearing our Crocs a lot and are very happy with them. And, yes, they do clean up easily.

What happens at daycare, stays at daycare

With credit to Shawn for the Title.

Anyone with kids probably knows what kind of response the question, "what did you do in school today?" gets. Well, with a 2 year old there isn't much of an answer at all ... a ten year old will bestow a grand "stuff" on you and walk away. :-) So, of course I ask even more detailed questions about projects and events that I know DID happen and that usually just gets me a strange look unless said project is now sitting in front of us.

One look from Nessa was so strange it inspired the title of this post. :-)

But Nessa does do many wonderful projects at Daycare (by the way we LOVE our Daycare Director/lead teacher and feel blessed to have her in Nessa's life) and thanks to the notes that are sent home we get to hear about some of the small "what did she just say/do" moments there as well. Here are just a few from recent sheets.

• 
  Built with blocks that she could crash over -- she was looking for something to crash, so I suggested the blocks.
• Helped Jen fold washcloths. Nessa is getting very good at it. They look less "interesting" every time she helps. (Hmmm, here at home I think the things she folds still look very interesting.
• Worked on colors and counting using different colored dinosaurs. Nessa did an awesome job! She loves to show off her skills. :-) Also knew what day it was going to be on the calendar.
• Said "may I be excused?" at lunchtime -- good manners! (*this has actually been a problem area so it was especially nice to see this note ... that morning I had reminded her of the table "rules" such as "food stays on the plate" pause "well unless you're nicely putting it in your mouth" or some such jumbled mess of trying to explain table manners in simplistic toddler terms.
• Read lots of books. Nessa is very good at "I Spy" books.
  Had lots of fun playing with the trains and train tracks today. Nessa loves to drive the train and "let people get on and people get off." (It's a line from a Thomas book.)
  Nessa loves to build really tall lego towers. She said "Look at my beautiful tall tower. It's nice."
• Made an antenna headband for art. Nessa loved watching herself in the mirror with it on. she laughed and giggled and shook her head, "Jen, I'm cute." Yep she was.
• Nessa loves to get all the kitchen stuff out and fee us and the dolls. She loves to take the dolls for walks, put them in the swing, and the highchair. Very imaginative play!
  Played with the doctor set again today. Nessa enjoyed hammering the baby (!) and checking its temperature and blood pressure. She was Dr. Nessa Brooks again today. (Once Jen asked her if she was Dr. Brooks or Dr. Nessa and she said "I'm Dr. Nessa Brooks" and since then she has occasionally been Dr. Nessa or Dr. Brooks but she usually uses her entire name and will now tell you what name she is using when she plays Dr. without being asked.)
  
• Built a house with legos. Then Nessa parked the cars in it.
• Nessa was playing house and packed the backpack and purse full of food and then "went bye bye."
• Lots of singing today. We've been teaching all of the songs Nessa knows. She loves to dance and sing!
• Played construction worker and "built" the train table.
• Loved the new sandbox toys!
• Loved the water table.
• Went to Hintgen to play on the playground. Nessa got to ride in the wagon!
• Walked around the neighborhood and talked about all of the trees and flowers. Walked past Nessa's house and she said "that's Nessa's house."
  

Now just because we love Nessa's daycare and Nessa loves Nessa's daycare doesn't mean that Nessa's mom doesn't have pangs of guilt or outright guilt attacks on a regular basis. Now that we no longer live in a true village (you know the extended family and friends that are like family and jobs where kids are welcome and 9 to 5 hadn't been invented) there is no perfect solution.

And then there's Megan who complains about not getting to go to daycare enough (her friends are there, she adores Jen too, and she loves the babies/toddlers too) AND tells me that Nessa should never miss out on the activities at daycare just because I'm not working that day (there is no response that works there with a 10 year old, believe me). So, while we do refer to it as daycare (and write those big ole checks so they can stay in business), it is so much more to us than that...

Nessa's rainbow chair

During summer school in Cumberland Megan painted Nessa a chair ... and here are a couple of not very good pictures of Nessa with her chair.



Nessa really does love her chair -- she loves all of the colors, the "one fish, two fish", the ABCs, the pretty gemstones, and her name on the back of it! She doesn't love getting her picture taken with it though. So

We think Nessa will cherish this chair that her big sister made for her even more when she's too big to sit in it. :-)

Finally posting a couple of Mother's Day photos

So, WAY back when Shawn was out in San Jose last time, I went to my mom's for a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. I received some lovely gifts from my girls too ... but no photos of them which is partly what I was waiting for ... Hmm, maybe some day you'll see me in my apron that Megan helped Grandma make ... until then you can look at the great apron Megan made in school for Grandma Karen.

Here are the girls with my mom on Mothers Day --

Another sign I'm getting old

We went to the pool last night. It was the first time that all of us went to the pool this year...

I just really don't like all the splashing in my eyes and always look for the calmest spot in the pool (hah, good luck) when Megan wants me to spend time in the deep end with her. Yep, I'm an old fuddy duddy now ... although I do manage to keep my mouth shut and not actually say anything to those kids making all that noise and splashing all that water ... I mean what do they think they're doing splashing and having fun at the swimming pool?!? Sigh.

I did go down the water slides though so that made Megan happy. I did not have a chance to take Nessa down the "yellow slide" (much calmer and MUCh slower than the "blue slide") though because Nessa was only interested in standing at the edge (zero depth pool) and splashing her hands in the fountains there for about the first hour we were there. Eventually she went in deeper but never really settled in to "swimming" (and I was worried she would just run all over and walk right into the deeper water like last year).

And in spite of the hot day, as the sun went down the pool was quite cool (we were there from about 6:15 until closing at 7:45) ... Nessa's lips were blue and she was shivering ... eventually I decided she had had enough and dried her off and put clothes on her ... after she was dry and warm she decided she wanted to go back in the water! Instead Shawn took her to the nearby park for awhile so Megan could swim until the pool closed. :-)

Overheard

Yes, it's about time we let you all in on a few things we hear around here.

This morning, Nessa: "Mommy, I want to push your buttons."
Shawn and I looked at each other and immediately broke out in laughter with little jokes about how she already knows how to push mommy's buttons VERY well! Really, what she wanted to do was sit and type at the computer. And when I was willing to let her type for a short time on my lap while I talked to Shawn about the morning that was not sufficient for our independent girl who would only be happy with sitting at the computer chair to push the buttons herself (she never was happy about that this morning).

Sunday, Tami to Shawn: "Little girl dresses always tie in the back."
OK, now that I'm posting this someone will probably show me a little girl dress that has a front tie, but we all know most little girl dresses with those at the waist ties with no purpose other than to look cute when they manage to stay tied, tie in the back of the dress. Oops, we all don't know that. Apparently those of us that were not once little girls do not always know that. :-)


Sunday, Shawn to Tami: " The last time I wanted to know anything about dresses I was trying to get them taken off, not put on."
Nessa was wearing a beautiful blue dress this Sunday (yes, the one in the pics -- a great Memorial Day weekend rummage sale find) and when we were getting into the van to leave I noticed that the little strings/straps that are for hanging up nice dresses on the hanger (do these have a name?) were slipped onto her shoulders ... one had already broken and I mentioned it and Shawn admitted he purposely put arms through there thinking it was somehow part of the sleeve ... then he admitted he still had a few things to learn about dresses and claimed it was because he'd never been worried about getting them put on before ... and I just snipped off those useless little straps that at least on *little girl* dresses just get in the way.

Last week (?) Nessa to Megan: "Excuse me, I would like to be upside down now."
This was in the evening when Nessa was done with supper and had been excused from the table, but Megan was still eating. Nessa walked up to Megan and politely asked to be upside down! Well, except for there not being a "please" it was very polite and a rather complete request. Obviously Nessa loves playing "rough" with her sister and being upside down and tickled. I love hearing them laugh and laugh and laugh together. Seems like every other day I could write a post about my silly girls! This morning Nessa was sharing a muffin with Megan and looked over at her and said, "eat your muffin, silly goose."

I'm sure there have been many more silly and otherwise blog-worthy moments at our home recently, but these are the few I remembered. I'll try to post more of those quick little moments in the future (try being the key word as always!).





And I have no idea why Nessa thought she should lean forward when I was going to take a picture, and yes we've moved into the goofy truly cheesy look when you tell her to "say cheese."

Easter Egg Hunt and Nessa's "pretties"

Saturday was the Easter Egg hunt at church. The rain meant it was indoors. Luckily they also had crafts for the kids to do (and a movie later). These events are great ... and we hope someday Nessa will actually show that she's having fun.

Shawn took the girls over to church while I got some work done ... Nessa said she was having fun, but apparently she never actually looked like she was having fun. I think she still doesn't feel comfortable around lots of other people and noise and unfamiliar situations (even though the church itself is very familiar to Nessa).

Above Megan is working on her art project and Nessa is just kind of looking at hers. Later at home Megan helped Nessa with her project.



This morning (Sunday April 1) Megan had time to put "pretties" in Nessa's hair. Nessa was so proud of her clips and pony tail so she was showing us and we took pictures.

Nessa's "Cheese" in the picture below reminds me SO MUCH of Megan's cheesy look at the same age when we took pictures.



Nessa loved the fact that she had bunnies on her dress today and was hopping around all the time.

Nessa will now also say she's going to be 2 on her birthday. This is great as when we first started talking about it, she insisted she was going to be 3 ("NO, THREE!").

Both of our girls continue to amaze and delight us!

Rainy weekend and bunny cakes and more

As unexpectedly beautiful as last weekend was, this weekend has been damp, cold (in the sense of Spring coldness) and rainy ... rain, rain go away rain ... although when the sun comes out again we should see lots of green grass! Megan said it's the rain that makes it feel like Spring to her. :-)

The rain made it the perfect Saturday for Megan to spend a few hours baking. :-)

After Yoga Saturday morning we heard that there was a need for more items for the bake sale at church on Sunday. I looked at Megan and she immediately agreed that she could make some things. During lunch we talked about what to make. I didn't want it to get too complicated ...

Megan made chocolate chip cookies and then she found a recipe in a kid's cookbook for bunny cakes where the bunny face is made out of marshmallows and I thought it looked easy enough. We actually followed the recipe and made a 9 by 13 cake and cut it into pieces and decorated each piece with a bunny face but if/when I/Megan do it again I will do it as cup cakes instead (or suggest that to Megan). I think they would look much cuter as cupcakes and would be easier as well.

Below is a picture of the bunny cakes in case anyone wants to make some (just make and frost whatever kind of cake you want to use (we used chocolate) and then cut a marshmallow in half and use half for the face and cut the other half in half again to use for ears, and finally draw the face with a toothpick dipped into food coloring).




Here is Megan proudly holding some of the pieces of cake before she took them over to the church!



Megan also spent a lot of time Saturday playing with Nessa and helping around the house! We're so proud of Megan!!! :-)

Something Like Spring

Something Like Spring …

Anyone in the area knows what wonderful weather we’ve been having lately … I was all ready to post a glorious Spring post at the end of last week … and then the last few days have been way above normal high temperatures (“mom, can I wear shorts today?”) … today and the rest of the week it is supposed to return to more normal temperatures and there is a chance of showers for the next several days … and by the weekend it could be downright cold again … ah yes, it is indeed something like Spring here. :-)

I love it. In fact I think spring has become my favorite time of the year. I didn’t want to admit it before this year because I just felt like I was betraying the fall. And while Autumn still has its own glory, especially in an area full of fall color, it is a time of dying and coming darkness and cold … while Spring is a time of life and rebirth …

Friday night we were blessed with the company of a good friend and her new husband. ;-) It was a wonderful night of catching up and getting to know … and Nessa showed us that, like most kids, she knew how to go into prime “show off” mode when someone new comes to visit. It was quite hilarious watching her as she did everything but sit still.

Saturday I spent the afternoon in Red Wing with my sisters and even though that day was much cooler than we had expected, it was still a glorious day complete with a slow lazy lunch and much shopping as we wandered through the small river town. Even the drive was wonderful as the rain held off and I was able to listen to whatever I wanted (much NPR and a Maggie’s Farm CD). That night Shawn and I went to LCT’s production of “You Can’t Take it With You.” It was a full and wonderful day.

Sunday surprised us with glorious sun and record-breaking temps (83 in La Crosse I believe) so I felt a bit guilty as I had to nap a bit when Nessa did to recover from my (food) indulgences the previous day. After we were fully rested we hit the school play ground with the girls and had lots of fun as Nessa followed Megan around wanting to do everything she did and nothing else. We managed to trick Nessa into walking home without the pouting of previous park outings this year by first walking on the sidewalk away from our usual route to and from the playground (mom: “Nessa, where do you think this sidewalk goes? Let’s find out.”) and before we knew it we had gone on an adventure around the school, over a block, and down the street back home. :-)

Yesterday after my Monday appointments and getting a little work in, we decided that having a second day of record breaking temps in a row (I kept checking the calendar to be sure it was really March), deserved a nice long walk down by Riverside Park. Megan and I picked up Nessa as early as we could and headed down to Riverside where Shawn met us after work. We all walked along the river and then Shawn went to find us some food for a picnic supper while Megan, Nessa and I walked a mile or so down the trail. Nessa was actually very happy to be in the stroller and she kept pointing out all of the runners, bikers and others using the trail too. We almost lost the only sun hat the fits Nessa right now while Megan and I were chatting and reading a trail sign, but luckily we found it on our way back. (I’m sure this is similar to how Nessa lost her first blanket.) When we returned from the trail Nessa ran around the International Friendship Garden area a bit and demonstrated her new climbing skills as she went up and down the benches. And then it was time to eat and head back home.

Even at home we couldn’t quite let the day go so at about 7 p.m. we were all sitting in the front yard eating ice cream (or something like ice cream in my case). Nessa kept finishing what I gave her and wanting more. :-) Then Megan rolled down the hill over and over and Nessa watched and played on her own while only occasionally seeming like she was going to try to roll down the hill … by the time summer arrives I’m sure she’ll become and expert at it.

While Megan wasted no time finding her shorts and wearing them to school on Monday … Nessa has had a bit harder time transitioning. At first the spring “watermelon” coat was interesting enough to be exciting to wear, but apparently the novelty has worn off and today she insisted on wearing her PINK coat (i.e. her winter coat AND hat) … yesterday it was challenging to convince her to not wear sweatpants as well and she insisted on wearing that spring coat while we were out walking even though it was sunny and 80! Toddlers are so much fun! :-)

I promise there will be lots of pictures posted before the end of March!

Until then, enjoy a bit of Spring poetry:


Spring is like a perhaps hand by E. E. Cummings
III

Spring is like a perhaps hand
(which comes carefully
out of Nowhere)arranging
a window,into which people look(while
people stare
arranging and changing placing
carefully there a strange
thing and a known thing here)and

changing everything carefully

spring is like a perhaps
Hand in a window
(carefully to
and fro moving New and
Old things,while
people stare carefully
moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything

Pigtails!

I would never have tried it myself ... never thought Nessa had enough hair for pigtails but this Sunday Megan proved me wrong as she put pigtails in Nessa's hair (and Nessa sat still for it!).




Sitting still for a photos was an entirely different matter!



OK, I just have to say "Isn't she totally adorable???"

And, mom, am I dreaming or does that look a lot like my 2 year old birthday picture? I'll have to dig those pictures out!


Nessa loved her pig tails and kept them in most of the day Sunday and wanted Megan to put them in again today (Monday) so at least this morning she had them in again! I wish she would leave barrettes in the same way. :-)

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Groth

Here are a few quick pictures from this weekend.







It was wonderful for the girls to see Grandma Karen and Grandpa Don, and it was also nice for Shawn and I to get out late in the afternoon for an early movie and dinner out.

By the way everything you see in the photos that was knit (sweaters, hats, socks) were all made by Grandma Karen! :-)

Messy Baby

Unlike some kids, Nessa has no problem being messy. She does like to have a napkin by her side, but I think that's more to have something to play with and to be like the rest of us than to stay clean. In fact if you look carefully, you'll see that her napkin (black and orange checked cloth napkin) ended up kind of behind her and on her shoulder because she was playing peek a boo with it at one point.


This was actually Christmas day dinner and how Nessa was having fun with the cool whip on her pie for dessert.


She was calling herself a "Messy Baby" over and over. And of course since I seem to be obsessed with messy baby pictures I had to get the camera out. :-)


Nessa was also having fun playing with Grandma Groth (that's who she's looking at here).

Mmm Juice!

OK, before anybody wonders about us (or reports us to CPS) the bottle was totally empty when we decided to give in to her asking for it.





As an extra funny, can you read the label on the bottle?


These are actually from Christmas Eve night. Nessa at at the table with us and after we had mostly finished, including finishing the bottle of wine, Nessa decided she wanted "juice" and kept asking for juice while pointing to the wine bottle. In true toddler form nothing but getting her hands on that bottle would satisfy Nessa's curiosity and longing for *that juice* and since it was empty we decided to not fight it and let her explore it ... and then of course we had to take a few pictures...

Christmas Day photos -- part 2

Apparently this could also be titled "My Crazy Cranky Sister" according to Megan. That is indeed the title of the paper she wrote at school when asked to write about her holiday, and she was referring mostly to Christmas morning. I haven't had a chance to read this paper yet, but if I get permission to share it with you all, I certainly will! :-)





Megan loved all of her gifts and was thrilled to open them when it was her turn. She got lots of grown up gifts and proved she was ready for them by being the most excited about all of the clothes (and I almost didn't get her any because there were so many other things on the list I wanted for her!)


Megan also always wants things to use when playing school, and she also loves science things so this human body model was a big hit.


Nessa ... well, while I'm now confident that she actually does like all of her gifts, she has NO interest in opening them at all. She was quite interested in everything other people were opening, but in general the fact that we were NOT following her normal routine and their was so much going on left her feeling quite insecure and eventually she went and got her blanket and pooh bear and curled up and nursed with mom for awhile. We eventually opened her gifts and she slowly started playing with them.





Nessa loved all of the food she got for her kitchen. Nessa has spent hours "feeding her babies" with these wooden food toys she got.




Nessa also received lots of books and some great art dot markers that she has used several times.

Tami will never again wrap a toddler's present individually (as in each book) again just in case they really like opening presents!

Shawn and I also had a great Christmas morning but you really don't want to look at photos of us all groggy in the morning. ;-)

We were very blessed in 2006 and had a wonderful holiday season.

Christmas day photos -- part 1 -- Santa

OK, so you've all been waiting long enough ... although we haven't been taking many photos since Christmas so enjoy these (we've been taking video instead but I'm not sure if I'll figure out posting it).

The girls first discovered that Santa had left something special for them in addition to filling their stockings. It was an American Girl Christmas morning at our house as Megan was thrilled to find Felicity was left for her and Nessa found twins (Sam and Sally ... you will be hearing more about them soon).


Megan was thrilled to find Felicity Christmas morning. Nessa thought her dolls were pretty cool too, but Sam was not supposed to be wearing his hat! Nessa tried to put it on herself, but of course it didn't fit. :-)



Discovering all those fun little goodies in their stockings was lots of fun!

Sick days part three

In the spirit of full disclosure we'll continue this on to a part three...

today is Shawn's day to be home sick with an upset tummy. And I'm REALLY hoping that this is the same virus that took me out last week ... enough sick days!!!

SO FAR Nessa has not been sick (hooray for small triumphs ... and maybe I can thank extended breastfeeding for that one).

Megan is better today and was bopping around this morning all happy to be going back to school (her teacher said their were 8 students absent yesterday out of her class of 19!).

Hope the rest of you are staying healthy -- more soon!

Sick days part two

We're home again today. This time it's Megan that is sick with what appears to be the stomach flu. I was up all night with her (got a couple of hours of sleep between 5 a.m. and the time Shawn left for work) and the time around 3 a.m. when I thought I was falling asleep for a bit on the couch with Megan was when Nessa decided to wake up and need me for awhile ... thankfully it was normal wakefulness on Nessa's part and I'm still hoping Nessa won't get sick. I'm also kind of hoping this is the same thing I had last week just so it means that we're done with it rather than the possibility of me getting it as well!

Now, besides being tired, I have TONS of laundry to do because going from "my tummy hurts" to "I need to throw up" caught Megan by surprise.

Stop reading if you don't want TMI ...

We will NEVER order the California veggie pizza from Toppers again! The worst smell ever ... well you know where I'm going with that one ...

Between this and work deadlines ... it may be awhile before I get the rest of the updates done to the blog. :-(

And New Years started out so nice with a fun evening out for New Years (but the fireworks were rained out ... dumb weather) and a nice day playing games with Megan the next day ... it was fun while it lasted.

Hope others are having a healthier new year!!!