Everybody bumbo!

Adelaide used the bumbo for the first time recently. She is not quite big enough... but she really liked it, and her head control is good for someone her age. She loved it and was content for a few minutes. Then she held her first toys: megablocks! We handed her a block and she sort of held it accidentally, but it still counts.

Simple town

So we like to build with megablocks. We usually make a bridge or a tower... but sometimea Elizabeth has a special request. This picture shows our town with a church (big structure) and a Zaxby's (little structure). I asked her if our town needed anything else. She didn't seem to think so.

Walk a mile in my shoes

There is an adorable little girl who lives in the apartment a few doors down. She loves to say hi to Elizabeth when we are getting out of the car. She has given Elizabeth a banana and 2 balloons. She seems like the sweetest thing. Just the other day, she gave Elizabeth 2 pairs of her old shoes that she had outgrown. Elizabeth always wants to wear these shoes. I love this little girl but I can't tell her that because she doesn't speak our language (and it might be awkward). I would love for Elizabeth to have a friend of a different background, but this one doesn't speak any English as far as I can tell. I love that they share things despite the language barrier. It is like they have a quasi-frienship... there is love of neighbor there for sure. I want to have Elizabeth give her something so that she and her family know that we appreciate their kindness, but I'm not sure what... maybe a My Little Pony.

What do you see?

Elizabeth sees a car and a boat. We will probably have a plane sometime soon. Oh and throw pillows? those are car seats. She always remembers to pantomime buckling and unbuckling. The set up is, of course, also good for flipping. Inevitably, when the cushions are a boat, there will be an alligator coming. One of the baby dolls or stuffed animals will fall into the water. I will have to swim like a crazy person to save the day. All in a day's work.

Turn around bright eyes

My husband came home from work on Monday and said that he didn't have the best day. I don't think it was incredibly awful... just not very good. We had a nice, normal family dinner and he did the dishes for me. We watched the Republican debate together in our room over the computer (he loves/hates politics) and laughed and joked about things (like Wolf Blitzer's name...seriously?). By the time we were about to go to sleep he said, "today was a pretty good day." I couldn't help but smile because I knew the majority of his day, the part spent at work, wasn't good. That means that a couple hours with me and our girls managed to turn everything around. I always want to be able to do that for him.


(P.S. It reminded him of The Office when, even though Jim lost a really big account, he had a good day because of Pam... how sweet!)

But I can't sit next to you now

So I took the leaf out of our table and moved two chairs to the closet for the first time. I thought it would be good to have a little more space in our small apartment. My husband isn't used to it yet.

Donut Face

Elizabeth used to love pictures, but I have been taking so many lately that she has taken to covering her eyes.

I wanted to take a picture of her messy face (from her donut) after Mass on Sunday. When she saw the camera, she covered her eyes like the above picture. I said, "That's fine, Mommy wants a picture of your messy face anyway." She then did this.

She ended up saying, "cheese" anyway.

On a related note, I don't know what to do about these donuts. She doesn't like to go to daily Mass because it is at a different church and there are no donuts. She calls our Sunday church, "Donuts church," even though she knows it is Immaculate Conception. After Mass, a lot of people go downstairs and eat donuts. Elizabeth only gets one if she is good, and I don't want to take it away from her. On the other hand, it bugs me that she associates church with donuts even though we try to explain the importance of Jesus. I guess it will all come in time. She tells Him she loves Him and genuflects and apologizes to Jesus when she misbehaves in church so I think she is still pretty good. The idea of God and the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is hard for adults to understand so I will try to forgive my two year old daughter for being excited about donuts.

My Little Pony

It is so sweet when they play together. I love when I can hear him trying to get her to think about what she is doing. "Here is a corner which has two straight sides. Can you see where it goes?" 

It is especially sweet when he does girly things with her, like work on this My Little Pony puzzle. It's not like he actually enjoys My Little Pony... right? It's not like he watched it when he was little... ehem.

And now for something completely different:

Adelaide has such a sweet face... and look at those rolls!

Matching/Coordinating

I want to preface this by saying that my husband does not want our girls to wear matching outfits. They are not twins and he doesn't like it. He doesn't mind if they coordinate with each other but they must not match. Cue a gift from my former employer. Two matching/coordinating dresses. 

Oh my goodness! How cute are they? Don't answer... keep looking.

Answer: really cute!

I don't want to match them all the time or anything, but every once in a while, I think it is sweet. How did I get away with this matching cuteness? Well, Patrick considers it coordinating because the dresses are not exactly the same... E has two horses while A has one in the middle, etc.

Pretty much, they match... and I love it.

Saturdays

On Saturday, we went swimming at my mom's house. (Btw- this swimmie thing is awesome... like water wings only better.)

She wants to climb the ladder all by herself, and she is very good at it.

She loves to swim. Grandma taught her how to "doggy paddle" kind of. We will probably be spending most Saturdays until December with this lady.

My husband is taking a full course load at FSCJ this semester (hopefully his last before he gets is Associate's) while working full time for Merrill Lynch. His Saturdays are spent with his head in a book or glued to a computer while we go have fun.

After swimming and dinner, I cleaned out our car while Munga (that's what Elizabeth calls my mom; I kind of hope it sticks) held Adelaide and made sure Elizabeth didn't get into too much trouble. No pictures of that-me cleaning out the car I mean... you're welcome. 

But she isn't even fat...

One of those kids' gyms did a little demonstration at our library and offered everyone there a free class. So we went.  

 

Bad idea. Elizabeth had a great time, and, of course, it was the last day of their labor day special where they wave the enrollment fee. So we signed up.

 I later thought about the price per month and our budget.

We are going to cancel as soon as we are allowed.

I think that this place is really cool, but the price they ask is more than I am willing to spend right now. I also don't appreciate the music that they play for children. There was Miley Cyrus which I didn't like but it wasn't that big of a deal, but then there was a chipmunk (or something) version of "I'm too sexy for my shirt" among other things. I don't know if it is better that she had this fun for a while or if it would have been better if she never knew what she was missing.

We went to the park a day late

We were supposed to go to the park yesterday after Elizabeth's nap... but alas, she wouldn't nap so no park for her. We decided to go today before her nap in the hopes that it would help wear her out. 

Today, she learned about getting an underdog for the first time and she loved it... we only did that in the baby swing though.

She also likes to hang out on the big girl swings and slide on the little slides.

She climbed up to this slide and sat down before deciding it was too big and climbing back down.

She said this little area was her house and got a little sad when other kids would climb up into it. However, when we left, she wanted all of the kids to come home with her.

Adelaide slept almost the whole time and after we got home and ate lunch, she decided to sleep some more.

The Ducks

Yesterday, we went for a walk to feed the ducks in our neighborhood. Elizabeth almost always walks ahead of me. Clearly, Adelaide is beyond excited.

Usually some of the bread is gone by the time we get there because, even if she just ate, Elizabeth decides she must nom on some bread on the walk.

So we fed the ducks.. there are no pictures of this as I was holding Elizabeth because she has been scared of the ducks since one bit her finger...we named that one Charlie. Then she got distracted by some words in the sidewalk.

Then I look up to find the ducks chasing us for more food... which we don't have. 

I warn Elizabeth that the ducks are coming (This is not the first time this has happened... these ducks are bold) and this is what I see.

Then we sit at a picnic table and take a picture all together.

Then Elizabeth hides behind a tree.

The End.

Work it!

Elizabeth sporting her first pigtails. I can't handle it. She is so grown up. These only lasted about 30 mins in case you are wondering... and that was a surprisingly long time.

Adelaide is 2 months old.

Wednesday was Adelaide's 2 month check up. (There she is sneezing) She is huge! 97th percentile in weight (13lbs 11.5oz) 95th in height (23 3/4in) and 90th in head size (I am surprised her head is not bigger-Elizabeth's is off the charts). So Adelaide is growing very well but the doctor noticed a little something that I can not get out of my head now. She tilts her head to the right all the time. She can turn both ways but always keeps her head tilted. The doctor said to try to encourage her to move her neck and maybe see a chiropractor. After researching this, I am pretty confident that she has torticollis and I am going to look into physical therapy. Hopefully, it will be easy to correct. I am a little obsessive about things at times and now I am constantly trying to move her head around... it is good fun-not. 

The best parts about this age are that she still sleeps on me a lot and she has the sweetest smile. She is a better nurser than her sister, which is nice. It was hard work to get Elizabeth to nurse sometimes even though she was hungry... we stuck with it, but it's a little easier with Adelaide. She is also a really good night sleeper, or was until she caught a runny nose from her sister. She is still sleeping well, but she wakes more to nurse now. She is a cozy bundle of squish, and I love her sweet cheeks and her warm milky smell. and her thigh rolls.

Following the crowd

I am creating a blog... clearly. It seems that everyone and their dentist's cousin has a blog these days, but I don't care. I think that you shouldn't do something just because everyone else is doing it, but I also think that you shouldn't not do something just because everyone else is already doing it. I want a blog so, darn it, I will have one. I figured today was a good day to start posting as it is the birthday of our sweet Blessed Virgin Mary. So what can you look forward to on this blog? Another mommy blog full of pictures and stories about the cutest blessings I have ever received. Yeah... I only expect family and friends to read this... or maybe just me. I am okay with that, because mainly, I want to use this blog as a way to document these years that will fly by way too fast while I enjoy the ride.

Oremus!

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance wherever I go.
Flood my soul with Your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of Yours.
Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul.
Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!
Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.
The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine.
It will be you, shining on others through me.
Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me.
Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,
the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.
Amen.