Spring Time!!

Last weekend finally felt like spring!  We began our weekend with dinner at Gran's house where Grandpa hid plenty of eggs in the backyard.  Sylvia was a master egg hunter.

Easy.

I think she yelled out, "Look at meeee, Grandpaaaa!" at least three times.  And, "DERE'S ONE!" at least ten.

The boots are back, by the way.  She totally owns it!

We continued our weekend festivities on Saturday with Scarlett's birthday party in Lexington, and Scarlett's marks the first of a SLEW of spring birthday celebrations.  It's always a delight to see our old friends and watch our kids grow right before our very eyes!  Here are some fun pics.

Ben and Emily with the Birthday Girl!

Not sure who the three folks on the left are, but there's Ellie enjoying a cupcake next to Laura.

Sylvia, Clover, and Scarlett.  Just like last year, these three girls found a moment to be together long enough for me to get goosebumps.  It's been ten years since their Mamas lived together on Aylesford.  And John and Ben were there, too.  Crazy town. 

Margot bounced on Daddy's knee for a large portion of the afternoon.

Li'l Alasdair.  Except he's not little at all.  Margot was smitten.

My favorite pic of Scarlett.  Look at that sweet, happy face!

Blixa enjoyed the fresh air and wrapping paper.

John and Clover.

Sylvia pulled Scarlett to the back of the yard, then shouted, "Okay, Scarlett!  It's your turn to pull ME!"

Scarlett was all, "Nah, girl.  I can't pull a wagon!  But my Daddy can.  Hop on in!"

Margot was having a blast on the couch!

On Sunday, we celebrated Easter with all the bells and whistles.  We managed to get ourselves to church for the first time in a loooong time and I was SO WORRIED that the girls would have meltdowns.  Margot slept the WHOLE time and Sylvia played with her new stickers and books from the Easter bunny.  She did a FABULOUS job staying quiet and singing and praying.  I think we'll try to hit that 8:30 mass more often instead of our usual 11:00.  After mass we headed to Grammy's for some Easter fun with Charlie.  Then it was home for naps and on to Grandma Neltner's for dinner!  Phew!  It was a wonderful day. 

The Easter Bunny hid Sylvia's basket behind the couch.  Tell me that's not the cutest outfit you've ever seen in your entire life!

Margot says, "Hey Sylvia!  Open my present for me while I play with these other toys."  Look at the cheeks on that girl!

I said, "Charlie's going to be at Grammy's house!"  Sylvia laughed hysterically and said, "Charlie?!  He's my FRIEND!!!"

Waiting for the indoor egg hunt to begin.

The Easter bunny put pennies in the eggs and the kids had to buy their treats from the Bunny Hop Shop!  Pretty sure Joyce was a primary teacher in a previous life.  That or she's in the wroooong profession!

Fun with Aunt Jenny!

The only child without a sugar rush.

Sylvia: "What do you mean there's no more candy!"  Margot: "Your kidding me, right?"

Racing to find the eggs at Grandma Neltner's house!  The fun never stops.

Phew!  I know that's a lot of pics, but I just couldn't narrow it down and I wanted to get all caught up!  Sylvia's birthday celebrations are this weekend, so get ready for more CUTENESS overload!

Nine Months

Dear Margot,

I'm sorry, baby.  I completely forgot to take your eight month pictures, then I accidentally deleted your adorable nine month pictures, which I didn't take until yesterday.  Long story short, I'm no good at this monthly photo business, so I'm just going to use regular pics of you instead.  It's time that you learned your mama is not Pinterest Perfect!  Luckily, you're adorable no matter what chair you're in, so it's going to be okay.

You've grown so much this month!  Or, I guess these last two months, while Mom's been slacking on the photos.  You are very, VERY close to crawling.  You love to chew on anything you can get your hands on.  And you think Sylvia is the absolute funniest, most amazing creature on the planet.  Your favorite thing to do is KICK KICK KICK!  You love kicking so much that you practice it in the middle of the night and it sounds like someone is breaking into our house!  You like to sing (or yell, really, but I consider it singing).  You are very patient and easy going, especially in giant crowds, which is unusual for a baby.  However, you are suddenly aware that the world is made up of two kinds of people: Mommy and Not Mommy.  Mommy is your favorite.  You hate anyone who is Not Mommy.  I will never complain about this nor try to break you of this habit.  I hope you still feel this way in high school, but I'm sure you won't.

We love you, sweet baby, and we can't wait to see what the next few months will bring.  You surprise us every day (just yesterday you started to CLAP!  Good girl!) and we can't get enough of your squishy cheeks and two-teethed grin.  Thanks for being awesome,

Love you,
Mama

Soaking Up the Smallness

My greatest Mama moments all seem to come to me during the bedtime routine.  More specifically, during the "rock my baby to sleep" part of the routine.  NOT the "sing one more song to my 3 year old" part.  That part stinks.  Tangent: Sylvia will have a wildly successful career as a hostage negotiator.  The skill with which she executes the "one more song" trick is remarkable.  During our nightly standoff, she pulls out all the stops...manners, cuddles, smiles...the girl oozes cuteness because she knows I'm a sucker for the mushy stuff.  Suddenly, I find myself singing "Hush Little Baby" for the four MILLIONTH time in my life and I want to gauge my eyes out.  I collapse on the couch and look around for my medal or my trophy or my giant gold belt, of which there are none, because what I just accomplished really isn't that great.  So a glass of wine will have to be a good enough substitute.

ANYWAY....

I was rocking Margot to sleep tonight BY ACCIDENT because she was so tired that she fell asleep halfway through her feeding.  I promise that I try to put her down drowsy but awake so she can fall asleep on her own.  I also promise that I read her books every night before bed so she turns out super smart and I can't be blamed for her inability to read in kindergarten.  I also promise that I sing her the same song every night to trigger the "go to sleep" switch in her tiny baby brain, but let's face it.  All of this nonsense is completely useless.  I have no idea if this "routine" is helping her or confusing her or turning her into a serial killer.  There's just no way to know!  What I DO know is that SOMETIMES she falls asleep in my arms, so I put her up on my shoulder to burp her, and she STILL doesn't wake up, which means I get to rock and snuggle and soak up every sweet, blessed inch of her teeny tiny body.  I get to put my face next to her soft, round, pudgy, squishy cheek and sway back and forth for as many minutes as I want to.  And oooooooohhhhhhhhh my goodness.  Euphoria.  Rocking that baby is like a drug.  No wonder people do it every night in reckless abandon - routines be damned!

But here's the important thing:

Tonight, I found myself letting my brain wander.  I rambled through my usual daydreams - what life will be like years from now.  I could feel her body growing in my hands and I imagined her dark, wavy hair and her deep brown eyes.  I thought about life's defining moments and all of her firsts.  Steps, words, days of school, and so on.  Then, like I usually do, I remembered what life was like before her.  How every moment led up to HER.  She's here.  Because we made her from us.  Somehow she is a whole being made up of our halves, and somehow she's completely different from the first being we made.  Amazing.  But THEN, my mind wandered in to new territory.  Something I had not ever thought about before, at least not when thinking about Margot.

What would life be like without her?

My heart began to ache beyond anything I've felt in a long time.  Up until very recently, it felt like we were still trying to fit Margot into our routines.  In to our little family of three.  Trying to figure out how to mange two kids at bedtime, or mealtime, or mornings or afternoons...it's been a challenge.  But somehow, between the holidays and illnesses and play dates, she just....fit.  Suddenly, she's here, in her own spot, in her own way, and now I just can't imagine how in the world we would function without her.  What else would I be doing right now?  What did I do before she was here?  How could I ever find happiness or wholeness or peace without her?  And what in the WORLD am I going to do when she's too big to rock to sleep?

I can tell you this - if she gets as good at bedtime negotiations as The Big One, I'm toast.  Too bad this girl can't just stay little.  *Sigh.*  Growing up is so tough.

The Greatest Show On Earth...for real!

Those Ringling Brothers...they don't mess around!  We just tossed two tired girls into bed after a fun-filled evening at the circus!  Mamie Brigitte invited us to go ages ago, but I knew better than to say anything to The Nugget until right before we left.  Needless to say, she was super excited!  She could hardly contain herself on the way there, and for the first time in her entire life, she didn't beg to get out of the car when we dropped off Margot at my mom's house.  I've never seen Sylvia so impatient!  That girl wanted to see DA EL-FANTS!!  And she did NOT want to wait.

We arrived early for the pre-show party, which was CA-RAY-ZEE!!  Sylvia went through the giant bouncy house three times, TWICE by herself while I stood outside and tried not have a heart attack (there were announcements over the PA system about a boy who lost his parents, so I was freaking OUT when she was in there by herself - but she came out!  Both times.  Phew!)

After she had enough bouncing, we ventured to the other side of the floor where we saw an elephant painting (whaa???) and then they took down the barriers and let the kids dance with the clowns and other performers.  Sylvia was in heaven!  I wish I had my other camera so I could have taken video of her dancing.  It was adorable.

We found our way to our seats and secured a box of popcorn, then the show began!  

 I put my camera away during the show because I knew I wouldn't get any good pictures, but let's see....there were people doing tricks on horses, motorcycles on tightropes, dancing ponies, dancing dogs, clowns, a midget, girls dangling from fabric, girls dangling from hoops, girls dangling inside giant clear globes (one girl fell out!), lions and tigers, elephants, lots of smoke, lots of glitter and sequins, lots of singing, kung-fu masters, trapeze artists.....I know I'm forgetting something....llamas!  There were llamas.....aaaaand I think that's about it.  Oh!  Motorcycles in a giant sphere.  Sounds like no big deal, but trust me, it was impressive. 

During intermission there was a clown dance party, so Sylvia got to stand up and boogie. 

After two and a half hours (not including the pre-show!), it was time to go.  Big hugs and kisses to our favorite Mamie Brigitte!  Thanks for a rockin' good time!

OHHH!!  One more big deal: Sylvia wore her Cinderella panties and stayed dry the WHOLE TIME!  I think I'm going to go ahead and declare this child POTTY TRAINED!!!! YIPPEEE!!!!

Busy Day!

I have totally neglected the blog lately what with sick kids, field trips to plan, and the general blah-ness I feel about day to day life around here.  I need spring to come.  I need to overhaul my house and my classroom and get myself in GEAR!  Anyway, until then, here are some great pics from our busy day today. 

First, we had breakfast with the Easter bunny this morning!  I put the girls in their Easter outfits for a "dry run" and while they were absolutely adorable, Sylvia's hat kept falling down in her eyes, so I think it will be replaced with a big red bow on Easter Sunday.  And Margot's bow needs to be bigger, too.  Other than that, I was in LOVE with their dresses and the RED shoes Mom found in Sylvia's closet right before we left.  Score! 

Then we came home and rested up a bit, had some lunch, and headed out to Ms. Jen's Teddy Bear Tea Party!  Jen works at the day care and she's in charge of DA BABIES!  That's why Margot is madly in love with her.  I made the mistake of asking Sylvia what she wanted to wear to the tea party.  "Yellow Party Dress!"  Duh mom.  I packed gym clothes for her to change in to, but she was NOT interested.  I did get her to take off her dress shoes and tights, which was as comfortable as she wanted to get.  She had a BLAST!

She waited in line for EVER and finally got to jump down the trampoline!

 

Margot had a ball, too.  She played on all of the wedge mats.

Nothing but love for Ms. Jen!

This nice lady taught all the kids a teddy bear dance!

Considering she inherited my grace and coordination, she did pretty darn well!

Love this pic.  She's on the move all the time!

It was a great day, even though we didn't start naps until almost 3:30, which means Sylvia was SPENT!  Tomorrow we meet Mamie Brigitte for a day at the circus!  I'll be back with more pics of that tomorrow night.  Don't you want to be three years old again?!

7 Months

Dear Margot,

You are one funny kid.  This month has been full of laughing and giggles and snuggles and bouncing and playing and....you're just the best!  You can finally sit up on your own, which means we can put you down somewhere and you can keep yourself busy!  Phew! 

We keep trying to convince you that the jumperoo is the most amazing and fun thing ever, but you're not buying it.  You jump for a few minutes, you play with the rattles hanging from the top, you flip through the little book, and then you're like, "Wait a minute, they're trying to pawn me off on this giant plastic piece of garbage!  Pick me up right NOW!"  You're too clever for us.

During this month you've battled all kinds of ailments and baby problems.  Just this weekend you finally cut your first TOOTH!  I say finally because it seems that you've been teething since you were born.  You have been busy drooling and gnawing on everything you can get your hands on!  You've also started eating real food and you've made it very clear that you do NOT like the homemade stuff I slaved away to make.  Fine.  You're lucky you're so cute in that high chair or I might get mad at you for spitting out my food!

You're also starting to sleep like a normal person these days.  You've figured out the routine and you love your bed and your dou dou bear.  Some nights you practically jump out of my arms into your crib, and other nights you curl up against me right before I put you down as if to say, "Wait, Mommy!  Just a few more snuggles, please?"  And I always oblige.  Because your baby snuggles are amazing.  When we rock in our chair, you lay your head on my shoulder and wrap your arm around my neck.  Now I know to pay attention to where your knees and your feet fall on my waist.  Someday they'll reach my lap, then my knees, then you'll be too big for rocking and snuggling and I'll be the saddest Mama there ever was. 

One more thing, Muffin - your voice.  I think I've noted this in previous letters, but HOLY COW have you got a set of pipes!  You like to be heard.  I don't blame you.  Your babbling and singing and cooing are precious, yet sometimes just a little bit irritating.  I get it.  There's a lot going on in this house and a girl's gotta speak up if she wants some attention!  Sylvia thinks your loud yelling voice is hysterical so she yells too and....well, let's just say Daddy likes to take a walk by himself when the three of us really get going.  You might not know this about me, but I'm loud, too, and that's probably where you get it.  It's okay.  My hope for you and your sister is that you learn how to be loud when you should be loud and how to be quiet when you should be quiet.  If you think as carefully about what you say as your Daddy does, and if you speak as loudly as I do when something's really important, then you'll be a really great grown-up human.  I can't wait to see that!  Actually, I can.  Don't grow up, okay? 

We love you, sweet girl.  Thanks for being awesome!

Love,
Mama

February - So Far So Good...

Well!  This past week was our first five day week of the new year in which everyone went where they were supposed to go and did what they were supposed to do!  Yippee!!  You know that means someone (probably Margot) will come down with something soon and throw a monkey wrench in this health plan.  Speaking of Margot, she's had a fantastic week as far as sleep is concerned, too!  Four out of five nights she slept ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  She can FINALLY be laid in her crib and left to herself without the insane crazy lady wailing she was doing a few weeks ago.  Now, if we follow the routine (bath, jammies, nursing, book, song, bed), she practically jumps into her crib.  And when she wakes up crying in the middle of the night, it only takes 5 - 15 minutes for her to get herself back to sleep.  That middle-of-the-night crying is so much different now than it was a few weeks ago.  It's gone from "HEEEYYYY!!!!!  COME GET ME BEFORE I DIE!!!!" to "Hey.  I'm awake.  Anybody?  Anybody?  No?  Alright, then.  I'll just go back to sleep, I guess."

Also, I want to write a giant post about how different, difficult, wonderful, insanely exhausting, remarkably brilliant it is to have two kids.  Instead, I'll just say this:  I have to remind myself of two important things every single day:

1.  We are not the first or only people to have two children.  Lots of people do it and have done it before us.  It often feels like there are entirely too many children in this house and then I'm all, "Oh wait.  There's only two.  My grandma had six.  I'm a total wuss."

2.  Margot is not Sylvia.  Margot is a baby, not a toddler.  There are two years between then, so Margot will not be a toddler tomorrow.  I need to let her be a baby and stop waiting for her to grow up.  I need to invest in the high chair and the teethers and the morning nap.  These things aren't going away any time soon, nor should they!  This poor baby.  I feel she may be rushed through her entire life.  I'll do my best to not do that.

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.  I promised myself I'd take Margot's seven month pics in her chair this weekend.  Now that she's almost eight months old.  Ai yi yi!  Poor second baby.  *Facepalm.*

Margot's Christmas outfit from Papi and Mamie in France.  It's warm and adorable and she's worn it OUT since we got it.  Merci, Papi et Mamie!

Getting ready to go outside takes longer than the time we spend outside.

Sylvia will not part with her bouncy ball from Cici.  You'd think it was the only Christmas gift she received.

Our trip to the mailbox included stomping through every pile of snow at the end of every neighbor's driveway!

Sweet li'l footprints.

Sweet li'l house all covered in snow!

Making snow angels!

She got pretty good at it!

Babies make the BEST faces!  Margot has been eating in her high chair for the last couple weeks (instead of the bumbo), and she LOVES it!

Margot's still crazy bald, and probably will be for quite some time, if she's anything like Sylvia or myself when I was a baby!  Sylvia's hair is getting long enough for a braid, so that's a lot of fun, especially since she thinks having her hair braided makes her Rapunzel. She's no longer interested in pigtails, which breaks my heart!

So here I sit, at 8:30 on a Saturday with two girls in beds upstairs.  It feels like midnight and I'm wiped out, but we've had such a good day that all I can do is thank my lucky stars for those two sweet girls.  I forgot how fun it is to be a little girl.  I'm trying really hard to LET them be little girls without my nutty Mama brain interfering.  I'm working hard to relax and count my blessings.  After all, I'm not the first (or the last) person to do this, right??