Springfield

This last weekend I took the girls to Springfield, IL, to visit a dear friend of mine (W) and her son (X).  W is a friend of my from my online "baby board" and though she only lives about 4.5 hours away, we haven't had a lot of chances to get together.  I last saw her in April and was so excited to visit her where she lived!

We left Friday afternoon and after a long drive (mommy finally got smart with some of Raven's personal effects and clipping them ALL to the car seat so she couldn't toss them and then screech) we arrived and how fun it was to see W and X!  We unpacked and then took the kids out to eat... though the name of the restaurant is blanking me... kids eat free!  Heh!

Saturday morning we spent time in downtown Springfield seeing the sites such as the Lincoln Memorial Library, the Old Capitol, and a beautiful park/train station area that contained some really neat Lincoln statues.  (It turns out that Julia was EXTREMELY frightened by the statues, which is hard to see in the pictures.)  We also took a trip to Peese's candy shop to buy some gifities for Daddy.  On our way to lunch, all three kids fell asleep in the car, so we opted for a driving tour of the military cemetery and home to Lincoln's tomb.  We saw a lot of really neat tombstones including those of past governors and President Lincoln.  (Well, and you know me... I like a good cemetery... I'm weird that way.)

After the kids woke up, we went to the Irish pub for a late lunch and a horseshoe.  Umm, yum!  After lunch, we took the kids back to the house because W and Mommy were up VERY late talking and the kids were up VERY early to start the day.  We had a lot of fun watching the kids play and interact, watched movies, and I made W some gluten-free fried cheese curds (YUM!) and fried pickles (YUCK!  ha!  W liked them!.  Raven went down early and we let Julia and X play a little bit longer before sending them off to bed and watching the latest episode of Glee.

All three kids slept in X's bedroom and they did WONDERFULLY sleeping in there for the weekend... yay!  So glad that they did so well together!

Sunday we got ready and went for lunch at a local Mexican recipe (YUM!) and then spent a good bit of money at Friar Tuck's picking up Oktoberfest and Pumpkin beer and Unibroue for Adam (well, and me too!).

Such a fun weekend!  So good to see our friends again!

erin

Mommy's Doll

So... today I let Julia pick out her own outfit, but yesterday I dressed her in what I wanted her to wear... :)  I love her little clothes and can't help but pick out outfits that match and convince her it is the best thing in the world to wear.   (Yay for consignment shop deals!)

It is hard to believe that Julia will be three in less than two months.  I can still remember her birth like it was yesterday, so it seems funny to me that she is technically old enough for preschool (2-year-old - though she doesn't go), dance classes, and Sunday school.  Even though the first couple of weeks of Sunday school were rough, she seemed better the last time she went and really seemed to enjoy herself.

Julia is a mother and mothers her babies with care and love and always makes sure they have clean pants on.  (I had no idea a baby could "poot" so many times in one day; takes me back to Raven's early days.)  Though it's possible that Raven could really enjoy dolls, Julia doesn't give her much chance, but occasionally will give a baby to Raven.  I'm quite certain Julia can make ANYTHING a baby... even a flamingo, as she did this morning.

Julia's vocabulary and pronunciation has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few months and for that I am thankful.  I can understand most of what she says now, or at the very least, I can figure it out.  I remember that she cannot really say "L" at the beginning of words, so "lion" becomes "ion" and "light" becomes "ight".  She can even say her full name now (well, when prompted and as separate words), which I tried one day after talking with my online mommy friends.  What she is capable of amazes me and each day I try to think of something new.

Colors she knows seem to be blue, white, and pink, and who knows about the rest or when they will stick except she DOES know that yellow is a "ducky" color.  (Ssh, don't tell her that ducks come in A LOT of colors.)  We work on hair color too, which is a lot of fun for her, and colors that are the same.

Julia is definitely entering a more... defiant... stage in her life and she experiences a lot of timeouts and has been sent to her room to calm down a few times too.  It seems her favorite words are "No" and "Now" (instead of "please") and while she is normally a happy child, there are those moments in the day when she will get the bug and start spouting off.  This always seems to be perfectly timed with Raven going from "content" to "squawky" and goodness knows why all of my hair isn't gray yet.

It is amazing, though... I think that you can see that the girls REALLY do love each other and while they squabble now and again, more often than not Julia is protective of Raven and Raven loves to be around Julia.

Julia enjoys getting in and out of her carseat on her own and also likes to shut the car door (but she has trouble opening it).  A few times we have found her outside looking for daddy in the garage and it seems that for now she has learned that she isn't supposed to do that without asking first.  It scares my heart a little bit to think that is okay to let her walk from the house to the garage by herself as I watch from the deck while she searches out her daddy in the garage.  I've sent her on little missions now and again such as telling daddy it is time for dinner, and while the communication doesn't always translate or even make it to him, she still finds him... and then I am left to go and fetch both of them.  However, I know that in time she will remember to tell daddy why I sent her and to think that time is soon coming...

 

Physically she's becoming more able and can run well now, and jumps like a rabbit or a frog, and swings on the big-girl swing.  I don't mind that she isn't a daredevil; I think we have one of those coming up quickly behind Julia... hee.

Just a little update on the big kid...

love,

erin

Family Time

We had much needed "family time" last night, during which we whipped out our video cameras to capture the craziness that is our family after dinner each night. Adam and I shared a lot of great laughs watching the kids dancing and run and play together.  Oh, yes, and for once, I left the kitchen in a state of "unclean" and played and danced and laughed instead.  Ah, sweet life.

It Starts Young

I apologize for being lax in blog updates... sometimes I simply don't feel like it... sometimes life is so busy that I don't have time for it... and sometimes the busy-ness is overwhelming and I have 500 pictures I haven't sorted and I have anxiety and don't blog about ANYTHING... so, I'm attempting to get back on that horse. 

To kick it off, I'm posting a picture of Julia from this morning.  I'll have you know that side from the shoes, which were my addition, Julia picked this outfit out ALL BY HERSELF.  After much deliberation.  And, after trying on many different things.  Pants.  Skirts.  Shorts.  Tights.  Long Sleeved. Short Sleeved.  What she REALLY wanted to wear was a tank dress, but it was only 44 degrees outside and I vetoed it because she doesn't have much of anything to wear under it.  And so ensued quite the dressing fiasco this morning.

This morning was a reminder that my little girl isn't a baby anymore and that she wants to make decisions and have influence on her own life.  Even if it's simply getting dressed in the morning, she wants more and more control, and as a parent, it's my responsibility to know when and how to give her control so that she is learning how to make good decisions but yet not allow her to be overwhelmed by the decisions before her at such a young age.

And, this morning was also a reminder that Julia is 2 going on 30.  Ha.

(The Converse were a gift from a dear friend; SO CUTE!  If you can't tell, they are black with sparkly purple stars.  If anyone is looking for gift ideas for Julia, she would also love some Sketcher Twinkle Toes in size 7.  Wink, wink.  HA!)

erin

First Steps!

This morning Raven took her first steps!  I was getting the girls dressed this morning, and after I buttoned Raven's pants, I left her standing... and, facing away from me even, she took two or three steps and then plopped onto her bottom.  How fun!  It's a start!

Happy Birthday, Raven!

Today, Raven is ONE YEAR OLD!

Here is a quick trip down memory lane... Raven's "Year in Pictures"

Mommy at 39 weeks pregnant (3 days before Raven was born):



Raven just born:



In the hospital:





Sisters meet:



Mommy and her darlings:



Going home:



One Month:



Two Months:



Three Months:



Four Months:



Five Months:



Six Months:



Seven Months:



Eight Months:



Nine Months:



Ten Months:



Eleven Months:



TODAY! Raven's Birthday!



As you can imagine, it was quite emotional going through posts and pictures to find the pictures to post here... what a year it has been and so full of memories!

Happy birthday to my darling girl!

love,
erin

Papa & Grammy Visit!

Earlier this week my parents came to visit (Wednesday to Thursday) to visit Raven and Julia prior to Raven's birthday. We had a lovely time Wednesday evening with a yummy pepperoncini beef dinner, a short walk, and presents.







Thursday morning we spent time uptown, and then we had BBQ beef brisket for lunch from Ulrich. Grammy and Papa bought the girls cupcakes which they both devoured (and they both left a mess).

It was lovely to see Grammy and Papa and Julia has been having (fake) phone conversations with her "friends" telling them about Grammy and Papa and Buscha and Papa visiting. How fun!

erin

A Piano Moving Party Masquerading as a Birthday Party

Oh...! Did you think we invited you to a BIRTHDAY party today? Ha, ha, jokes on you! Today is really a PIANO MOVING party!

This last week, both on separate days, Adam and I saw a piano in the neighbor's garage. Knowing that they were having a garage sale on Saturday, I popped over Friday to inquire about the piano, and learning that it was FOR SALE, I asked the cost. Upon finding out, I exclaimed, I want it! I'm buying it! (WITHOUT CONSULTING MY HUSBAND!)

After Adam arrived home Friday night, I found that we both had seen potential in the piano but hadn't talked about it, so it was fun to find out that Adam was as interested as I was. Saturday morning, so as not offend anyone coming to purchase the piano, I walked over to the garage sale, waited dutifully outside, and upon opening of the garage door, I walked to the table, whipped out my checkbook, and wrote a check. Then I went home and made a SOLD sign for it. Thank goodness I was so quick to do this... I found out yesterday that a number of people came to the garage sale wanting to buy it. Yay!

You might know that we already had a piano. It was Adam's great-aunt Evelyn's piano, and we've had it since 2003. Upon deciding to buy the neighbor's piano, Adam called his siblings to see if anyone wanted Evelyn's piano, and tomorrow Adam's parents are taking the piano home to Sister Claire.

We are excited about our new piano... but it is BIG and HEAVY (and BEAUTIFUL!). Might have to re-arrange the living room again.

Here are a few pictures... it's hard to see the piano being moved... it took A LOT of guys to move it... taking the old piano out only took four people... as you can see, it took a lot more to get the 'new' one in!









A big THANK YOU to all of the guys at Raven's Party (I mean, the Piano Moving Party) who helped moved the Behemoth into the house! It is greatly appreciated!

erin

Raven's First Birthday Party!

Today we held Raven's First Birthday Party in our backyard in the late afternoon. Raven's birthday is tomorrow... how amazing that she will be ONE tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from today's event.

The backyard decorated and ready for the party.



Party favor bags... yes, gender-specific... pink for girls and blue for boys!



Raven's birthday banner.



Chattin' with friends on the deck.



Kids playing on the playground equipment.





Julia and her friend "Gukie".





Julia and Raven checking out Raven's cake.



Getting started...



Whoops, Daddy made her mad!



YUMMY!!!



Treats for everyone!



Presents!







Hanging out with Friend Greta on Raven's flippy couch.



We had Arby's roast beef, beans, and chips, and then we had cake, cupcakes, rice crispie treats, and ice cream. It was so awesome to spend such a special time with so many of our good friends (and family too!), and days like today remind me of how incredibly blessed I (we) am (are)!

As I put Raven to bed tonight, I confess I had a little tear, as I remembered putting to Julia to bed this night one year ago... she was expected to stay the night at Miss Linda's the night of the 13th right before Raven's Birth Day, so I tucked Julia in extra tight and gave her some extra love... and tonight I put my Baby Raven to bed knowing that she would be ONE in the morning... my how precious life and time is... how quickly it all flies by.

Thank you so much to all of you who came to visit this week (Mom & Dad Rischette) and who came to the party... it is so wonderful to have you all in our lives and sharing these special times with us!

love,
erin