Something Fishy

So - this is actually from about a month ago during my blog sabbatical...but I still had to share. Dad came and gave me an afternoon off.

Sooo...Lilly and Papa had their first fishing adventure. As you can see..Lilly LOVED the worms. She pulled them, stretched them, squished them, chased older boys around the pier with them and eventually shoved them all through the cracks of the pier so the adventure had to get cut short due to Lilly throwing all the bait away.

BUT...she did catch her first fish. Here is the neutral Lil, and proud Papa.

alligators, mosquitos and other random crap...

We had a good weekend - went to a friend's wedding reception (we skipped the wedding - I didn't think she could make it through both). Cute pics to follow in a few days. Friday was dad's bday, so we headed to a local beach to have a picnic dinner and swim. Not sure who had a better time - dad or Lilly.

Today pretty much hung out at home...actually...we never got in the car or even walked off the lot. But, we were busy! We did "art" in the garage most of the morning, and then Lilly "helped" mama shovel and spread mulch all afternoon. I got 3 yards delivered on Tuesday...and I am proud (& exhausted) to say that it is all done as of this afternoon! Yea mama! I mulched this whole area where grass never grew anyway and I had given it over to be toyland...so now there is a nice mulched area with a playground look. I am quite pleased.

As for the title"alligators, mosquitos and other random crap"...I warn you...this is all about poop. Lilly is definitely potty trained. She wears a pull up at night since you all know I am NOT ready to encourage her to get up and go potty in the middle of the night when I just got her to sleep through the night a few months ago. But, during the day she is always in "big girl panties" - even during nap. She has some accidents here and t here, but heck - she is only 26 months.

The little training potty we have is in the tv room (a little icky, but I am now used to it - and it made her want to sit there - and my bathroom was too small to keep it in anyway). Lilly is always proud when she uses it and announces what she has done "Mama I tinkle" "Mama I poop!" "Mama I poop and tinkle!" Very exciting. But the REALLY funny part is when she announces what her poop looks like. "Mama - I poop alligator!" This is a common phrase when her poop is - uh - long like an alligator. During a recent bout of near-constipation when all she could get out was these little poopettes, she announced "Mama, I poop mosquito!" I laughed so hard I just about wet my pants. Guess that wouldn't send the right potty-training message.

Hope everyone has a great Monday....

mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa...

...and I thought those 3 years of Latin would never pay off!!! (Translation: I am really, REALLY sorry!)

I know I have been MIA for a long time now. And, many of you have called me on my disapperance (it always surprises me how many people seem to actually be reading my random musings). So...I apologize for my hiatus, and I hope to get everyone caught up. This first pic is from brunch on Father's Day...and I just love this picture! I can't decide who is more enchanted with who!

Its been a busy month...Lilly, unfortunately, has ended her 6 month healthy streak. We went from January to late June w/ no doctor visits. But, then in the past three weeks: strep throat, ER visit for stitches on her head (scroll down for the story), doc visit to get stitches out, and now some sort of UTI or other issue (we had one visit last week, and go back again tomorrow).

Part of the reason I stopped blogging was that the small ac unit that cools my upstairs (where my computer is) had broken...making it WAY TOO HOT to think about using the computer. But, now the old gal is working (and I mean OLD...the ac repair guy said it was installed in 1987 - the same year he started his career.) I was releaved to hear he had seen the model before. I guess it goes without saying that it isn't exactly up to today's energy star standards...but I am trying to make it to winter before replacing it.

OK...story on the stitches....it was 4th of July and Lilly and I had gotten up to "run" a local 5K (we didn't come in last out of the 900+ people...but it was pretty close). When we came home, Lilly was all excited & ran into the kitchen, promptly tripped on her own feet, and slid face first into an air conditioning vent on the floor of the kitchen. There was blood EVERYWHERE. It took me a minute to realize she hadn't actually cut her eye because the blood was flowing into her eye and then looked like she was crying blood. yikes. But, I got the gushing to stop, found the cut above her eyebrow and tried to hold pressure. After hemming & hawing about whether or not to take her for stitches...I decided to take her in. I just couldn't hold her down to really clean it out, and I knew that since it was the 4th, I needed to get there as early as possible. Amazingly...we were in & out of the ER in about an hour and a half. Good thing we went, as the gash turned out to be really deep...and continued to bleed even after the 2 stitches.

She came back, slept for an hour or so, and then woke up (pillow case covered in blood) and only wanted Jackson. And, actually, that worked well, since Jackson was in teh back yard waiting for her to wake up so the 2 of them could be in the local parade. She rallied back and they won a blue ribbon in the "float" category (who knew there was a float category?!?!?!?). RIght after all the company left, the power went out. I got her to bed at 8, and I was asleep in my bed by 8:15. When the power came back on in the middle of the night, I got up, turned off lights, and went back to bed. We were exhausted!!! Her stitches are now out and the scar is fading.

OK - I promise more later...but I need to go to bed. Sorry I was MIA for so long! (This last pic isn't great - but the only one I have "post stitches." Or...as Lilly tells me "NO MO STITCHES!"

My Little Girl is Wearing Big Girl Underpants!

Ta DAH!!!! She wore big girl underpants to "school" for the first time yesterday, and she stayed dry ALL DAY LONG! I am so proud of her! We got dinner from "Old MacDonalds" to celebrate by eating Happy Meals on our front porch. Very cool. She is in big girl pants again today...here's hoping for 2 in a row!

And...she seems very committed to the Curious George underpants. At first I found this - well - curious, as she doesn't really watch Curious George on TV, and we don't read the books that often. But, then I realized that the Curious George underpants were the only ones with ruffles. The rest (Dora, Winne the Pooh, etc) just have pictures...George has yellow ruffled ribbons all around the waist. Guess that explains that!

LETS HEAR IT FOR LILLY'S POTTY TRAINING!!!

Recent Ramblings...

We have been busy this spring....

Spent time at my parents' house...where Lilly's new favorite pasttimepast times are using my dad's shredder and riding Hannah Banana - my toy from the 70s that would come no where close to passing a safty inspection today but is still great fun.

We've played at the local beach w/ Jackson & family...

Went to Relay for Life this past weekend....

and overall being 2. Very, very 2.

This last weekend, I was THAT WOMAN in Target...you know THAT WOMAN...the one who can't control her kid, and the kid's britches are stinkin up the aisle, and who tries on tack Dora teh Explorer sandals and loves them so much she refuses to take them off so runs around the store with the price tag flying on her feet, and everyone changes check out lanes to avoid the circle of chaos. Yup...I was THAT WOMAN. I came home, finally got her to bed, and totally sat down to a big ol plate of cake and ice cream. I know you're not supposed to do that...but come on.....

One minute a Tasmanian Devil...the next minute, an Angel.

Party, Party, Party

So - here are the very overdue (sorry) pics from "THE" party. The delay is 100% my fault...just hadn't had time to download from everyone's emails. So...enjoy these.

Then, Lilly enjoyed the party so much that "playing party" has become a new favorite game. She sets up an elaborate spread of plastic food for her entourage (which includes Baby, Elmo, Bear, Tiger and "Digi-toes" aka the seal). I hadn't gotten around to taking the case of Corona off of the porch since the party...so Lilly enjoyed "serving" it to her friends. I think the pull ups add the perfect touch to this scene.

What A Weekend!

Where to start? Potty Training? Lilly locking mama out of the house? Playing with Jackson? More anniversaries??

SInce the morning after her birthday, Lilly has insisted on wearing Dora Pull Ups to school instead of elmo diapers "NO DIAPERS MAMA, I wear Dora!" SO...I knew she was ready to start the potty training thing again. Friday night I pulled out the potty, and what do you know...she pooped almost immediately!!! Crazy - as I always read how kids tinkle first and then sort of work up to pooping...so I thought maybe it was a fluke. NOPE...since Friday night the child has only pooped in the potty (4 times!)! No poopy diapers!!! YEA!!! She seems to be moving more gradually to mastering the tinkle function...though she has done it a number of times...but still using the diapers (no, excuse me...I mean DORA pull ups!) for that. We shall see how she does at school...but so far...she is doing AMAZING! How funny are this pics...sitting on the potty, pretending to do her nails all in her Georgetown shirt! Mom says we should save this and send it in with a college application in about 16 years!

OK...then comes Saturday..... My birthday is Tuesday, and Mom is going to be out of town, so we were going up to their house Saturday to spend the afternoon and then have an early dinner celebration. Now that Lilly is growing up..it seems there are a TON more things to take with us every time we go anywhere...Saturday included the booster seat (no longer likes the high chair since its for babies), the potty seat, a soccer ball, changes of clothes, etc etc etc. So, in my attempt to be efficient, I was loading up the car before getting her into it. And...to be careful, I made a point of flipping the lock on the front door so that if she closed the door on me I wouldn't be locked out. Good plan. However, my genius child flipped the dead bolt on the storm door with me outside and her inside. That would be the one lock I don't have a key to. For a few minutes she thought it was funny as I tried to get her to flip the lock back, but then she realized I couldn't get in and she couldn't get out. So - she started getting really upset. She kept trying to follow my instructions and change the lock, but she never got it. She kept crying, pointing to my key rack in the hall and saying "KEYS MAMA!" in this pitiful crying voice. I went out to the garage and tried to pop the lock with a screwdriver, but it didn't work. I was getting close to freaking out when I asked her if she thought she could open the back door. The sliding door is on my main key, but I had already slid the safety bar into place, so it still wouldn't open. Through her tears she sniffled "yes" and headed to the kitchen to try and open that door. I ran around back and talked her through it and she DID IT! YEA! She removed teh safety bar, and I was able to use my regular key on that door. Phew! Definietly an adrenaline rush for both of us. She was pretty upset and we just snuggled for a few minutes before we headed off to my parents' house...I am getting that lock changed asap!

Today Jackson came to play for a few hours while his mama took his daddy out for his birthday dinner (his bday is Monday, mine is Tuesday...lots of spring bdays in this bunch!). They had a great time and definietly wore each other out. Took several pics...but these were my favorites, and I think they say it all.

Finally, one year ago today I brought my amazing daughter home from Guatemala. (See picture of her meeting Didgy for the first time) I can remember that day like it was yesterday - I remember being in awe if how calm and brave she was. If someone swooped in and took me from my home and flew me off to another country and another language, I would be a mess...but she just seemed to know I was her mama, and this was her home. I think about all that lay ahead of me this time last year...and how far she has come. She is finally - really in the past 3-4 weeks - sleeping through the night (PRAISE GOD!). She has been healthy since her ear tube surgery in January. She is talking a mile a minute, using the potty, as opinionated as her mama, sweet as an angel, and as non stop as a tasmanian devil. One of the wonderful things about adoption is that there are lot of anniversaries...first day we met, day we were reunited for good, day we went to the embassy, day we came home, and each one gives me a chance to stop, reflect and praise God for the incredible gift of motherhood...and for the miracle that is Lilly!

Great Weekend & I'm on the Mend...

May 10th is always Mother's Day in Guatemala, so we called Amarillis to wish her a Happy Mother's Day. It was touching, bittersweet, wonderful and hard all at the same time, but I know she was really glad we called.

Sunday was just one of those special days I will always remember. It was Lilly's 2nd birthday, Mother's Day, the anniversary of us being together, and the day that marked the point as of which Lilly has spent more of her life with me than anywhere else. Sooooo...naturally I had planned a big party. I had planned that long before throwing out my back and being unable to do anything by myself. But, back or no back, there were going to be 40+ people in my backyard. Luckily I have amazing family and friends who swooped in to the rescue. Jerry put together the new climbing/slide toy, Jeff & Christine came and helped with the yard, and mom continued her week-long marathon of being superwoman.

The party was great...weather held out for a good hour and a half before the great downpours that had been predicted, so the kids were able to be outside some. It was a wonderful mix of people who all gathered to celebrate with us. Being in ridiculous pain with my back and running around with the party, I took zero pictures....but Kendra, Maren & Dad all assure me that copies of their pictures are on the way soon. I promise to share as soon as I get them!

There were lots of special moments that I will remember...but the most classic Lilly moment happened at the end of the night. Jackson & his parents had stayed to help straighten up, and then after they left, I was laying flat on the couch to try and help my back. Mom, Dad & my friend Sara (who came in from FL for the weekend) were all sitting half dead on the sofas. We could see Lilly playing in the dining room. Then, she very quietly crawled up on one of the dining room chairs, and bellied up to the trough! She just started helping herself to more cake, chip dip, veggie dip (& in those two cases...she went straight for teh dip and didn't bother with a potato chip or a veggie). I said something like "Lilly, what are you doing?" and she just looked at me, and turned back to her grazing. It was hilarious, and I knew I needed to get her, but I really could hardly move. FInally, Sara picked her up and Lilly had icing, chip dip and veggis dip EVERYWHERE on her neck, arms - and most especially a full mouth of dip and face showing the evidence. It was so funny, and so Lilly. She saw what she wanted, figured out how to get it, and didn't let it bother her that we were telling her to stop - or that we were laughing at her. SO LILLY!

Yesterday we were all like zombies from being so tired....but today is the first day my back is actually doing a little better. I was able to sit at my desk for a few hours straight this afternoon before the pain kicked in, so that is definietly a good sign that things are headed in the right direction. Phew! I am really over this whole experience!

I promise to share pictures soon....c

Fun Pics

I am still pretty much out of commission - but I am improving. Mom is still living with us, though, since picking Lilly up off the floor & putting her in bed is just not a move I can do right now!

Thought I would share this pre-injury pic from the two of us at the 5K by the Bay on Saturday...she was soooo pleased with her medal!

Then here are some pics from last night. She was playing with this buzzer / light up toy that our friend Amy had given her...and she was sooo pleased with herself!

Biomechanics Lesson 101 - the Hard Way

Yup...threw out my back this morning - at church of all places! Lilly was starting to fuss, so I leaned over to pick her up and instantly felt that brutal twinge in my lower back. Pain was really bad....sweaty, faint, the whole shebang. Tried to get up to get communion and just about passed out. Luckily some friends were there, as well as a friend who is a local family practice doc. They looked after Lilly & I...and even drive us home in our own car since I was still too faint to get behind a wheel. Mom has moved in for a few days thank God. Have no idea how I am going to get everything ready for our big party on Sunday! Hurts to sit, stand, lay down, roll over....goodness gracious this stinks!

Sleep (& other important catch ups since my last post)

The big news to report is on the SLEEP front. Last week I decided it was time to just cut Lilly off cold turkey. She had managed to get it down to waking up once a night, usually between 4 - 5:30, at which point I would get her out of her crib and throw her in bed with me until we got up. But, she was increasingly thrashing about in bed and taking 1-2 hours to go back to sleep (just in time to wake up) - and not to mention, leaving me exhausted and bruised from her kicking in bed. So...despite the fact that she loves it, and that I loved waking up with her, it had to be done.

So...(drum roll please...) it has been almost a week and she is doing great. The first few nights were rough, and she was NOT pleased with the new scenario (& not shy on sharing her thoughts). But, she slept from 8 p - 6a last night and didn't wake up once!!! HURRAY!!!!! This is so HUGE I cannot even begin to tell you how much better this will make both of our lives!

Other tidbits....

• She started swimming lessons (adorable) at the local community center. I don't have any pics, but you have to take my word that she is so darn cute in her pink suit with a turtle on it.




• Jackson turned two! I remember last year at his party when I was there without Lilly it was like a whole world was just waiting to open up...now this year the two of the played together nonstop. Well..they did stop to enjoy the AMAZING cake that Jackson's dad made...I told him he was setting the bar WAY too high. Abby was there too...so great to have all three of them home!



• Going through the homestretch of some home rennovations. Turning the garage into a craft room and redoing the bathroom (had to do both, before the garage fell down or the bathroom floor fell in, so I am trying to make the best of it by doing what I want - within my budgetary limits anyway). Lilly adores Chuck & Matt (my friend/contractor/hubby of a friend & coworker). The funniest though, was when he had taken the toilet and sink out to install the floor and had to leave the toilet in the tub over night. Lilly marches into the room and says "Potty, where ARE you?!?" Then when she found it in the tub, she declared "NO, NO, Chuck!" Hilarious.

And - for those of you outside the area - the area hit by all the terrible tornados is about 30-40 min away. The hospital there even got hit by it! But, amazingly it is seemeing that people were very lucky and most got out unhurt. Amazing.

Our Trip To Orlando!!!

We just got back from visiting our dear friends in Orlando. It was Lilly's first big trip since getting here last spring...and she did great! She slept on the plane going down, and entertained the passengers on the way back home. We went to Sea World Friday with Farzana and Zaki, which Lilly LOVED. Saturday we saw Zaki's soccer game and splashed in giant neighborhood puddles. Lilly is still talking about the "big puddle."