Tacky Shoes Make For a Happy Girl

Sooo...since she has only agreed to wear one pair of shoes, Lilly and I went online and found something else she would agree to wear. She declared they would need to "have people on them." I groaned...I would have to buy some of those terribly tacky shoes you always see kids in and wonder what their parents were thinking. Soo...her "Boy's Diego Fisherman Sandals" arrived today and Lilly was thrilled....

These pics crack me up for a couple reasons beside the tacky shoes...the pirate patch perched on her head like an elastic yamaka and her "summer legs" covered in mosquito bites. Good stuff.

Amusingly - at the other end of the gender spectrum for shoes, the other pair we bought are Max & Ruby sneakers off of ebay that have yet to arrive...sort of a pastel puke of rainbow on a metallic surface with max & ruby slapped on top. Ugh. But, she feels fantastic in her "people shoes" and she will at least wear them...which is more than I can say for the really cute shoes I have currently in her room. To see them...check out ebay soon!

Graduation Party

Tonight we went to the Graduation / 18th Birthday party of my friend's daughter, Kayla. The cutest thing of the night I didn't get a picture of...it was her very sentimental Dad Donnie wearing the "Its A Girl" button that the hospital gave him the day she was born 18 years ago today.

Anyway...it was a really fun party with lots of friends from work and of course Jackson. Lilly and I had quite the argument before we left as I had told he she had to wear a dress. This didn't go over well at all. I put her in this ADORABLE watermelon dress that I had been dying to see her in. You can see her reaction here:

Right...so I didn't want to ruin everyone's time at the party so we later compromised on a skort. I insisted on sandals and lost that argument too, as you can see she is in sneakers in every picture.

My friend has an amazing deck that backs up to a tidal creek - that combined with perfect weather made for a truly enjoyable night. Jackson is a watermelon man...here you can see the pics of him instructing Lilly on the proper technique for fully consuming every possible cell from the watermelon.

And...it just isn't a party until Lilly and Jackson end up on Coop's lap.


Here my friend is showing the kids their 8 year old bunny CoCo.

And here she is expressing her joy in the decision to get a bunny for Easter all those years ago and how excited she is to have such a long living creature that will be here even now that Kayla is off to college. Sandy has taught me many things...add "Cute little bunnies for Easter aren't all that cute after Easter" to that list. ;)

We stayed way too late and I paid for it with a meltdown at toothbrushing time...but we had a great night.

Sick Kiddo Update

Ear Infection.

Strep Throat.

Remnants of whatever virus started all of it.

BUT...as of this morning (w/ one massive dose of abx under her belt) she had no fever and was starting to get her appetite back. So...she should go back to school tomorrow.

The throat thing is a little concerning as she is pushing the level of where they start to recommend a tonsillectomy and I am not sure I want to do that. There is a lot more to that then just the little ear tube surgery - with a 10-14 day recovery instead of the 1 day for ear tubes.

Hmmm....

The pics are from our Ohio trip...

New Take on Weekend Entertainment...

So, Lilly came down with a 102+ fever yesterday. She has been fighting off a cough for more than a week. Then her nose started. Then she complained of stomach cramps and a number of other things. And this afternoon I finally got a good look at her throat and it looks awful. Definietly a trip to the pediatrician's office in the am for us. Ironically, her 3 year old "Well Child" visit is Tuesday morning. Hmmm...maybe they's let me reschedule that and trade in for a sick visit tomorrow ? ;)

Anyway, Mae Mae came and provided entertainment and distraction some today and let me go to the grocery store alone (a mother's dream come true). Then after a veerrryyyy long (and much needed) nap, Lil and I hung out the rest of the day. We definietly played some with the Thomas the Train set Maren gave her for her birthday. One of the trains has a battery in it so it goes on its own around the track....and it COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT OUR CAT DIDGY! It was sooo funny that Lilly and I watched Didgy watching the train for a good half an hour. Call it cabin fever, but we thought it was so funny that we took pictures...enjoy!

Fabulous Ohio Vacation!!!

We had SUCH a fabulous trip back home to the midwest, seeing old friends and having an all around fantastic time. More stories to follow later...but here are some pics to keep those of you (MAREN!) satisfied for now. Lilly followed Francess around like a shadow...I would have packed Francess up and brought her home if I could have!!! Fishing was a great success too. And, brave Lilly wanted to try the zip line like the big boys (really because Diego uses one)...she wasn't quite strong enough, and Mommy and Papa weren't quite tall enough...we'll try again next trip ('cause there will definietly be one!!!)

Trek to throw rocks in the river was a big success...

One day Lilly and I headed to Indiana to see old friends who are currently serving a church in the middle of nowhere...so the farm views were fabulous! Best moment? Looking out my friends' kitchen window and seeing Lilly naked running across the backyard in front of the cow field. Clearly Lilly felt right at home in no time flat! (she says she wanted to go swimming...so we compromised and she wore the bottoms of her suit)...that created my favorite "Naked on a John Deere at Sunset" shot!

Then we headed to the zoo with my best friend from 4th grade & her little girl, which was great...and Lilly and Rachael actually got to feed the giraffes...soooo fun!

But by then, Lilly was tired! Three solid days of play, no naps and late nights caught up with my sleepy girl!

But - seeing old friends and watching Lil instantly love their kids and they all head off to play together...that was absolutely priceless!

Picture Catch Up

Some pics and snippits from the past few weeks...

Lilly actually ENJOYING doing the dishes after an evening making cookies...(check out the cute apron...my mom got Lilly and I matching aprons for Mother's Day...I love them!)

Here are some pictures from her actual birthday...and her "school party" where we passed out cookies at school. The reception in the "new room" was flat, but her old teachers saved the day and brought the entire 2 year old class over and seranaded her and made her feel like a queen.

Here is the dark side of toddler birthdays....the meltdown at the end of two days of being the absolute center of attention....I had told her she actually had to go to bed and stop playing...she was NOT happy, but came around. We were playing outside because the power went out in the middle of making dinner (Jackson and family came for dinner that Monday)...it was out for more than 7 hours! But, it made for great memories as Lilly and I read stories by candle and flashlight on the porch before bed!
Then it was my birthday about a week later (May babies only in this house apparently)...Lilly enjoyed it a lot - especially opening my presents. Here she is admiring a button necklace.

This weekend we headed to the Pungo Strawberry Festival in VA Beach. It was a looong drive, but we split it up and stopped at IHOP halfway. Pungo isn't actually near the beach...its at the very southern tip in the farmland area just north of the state line. It was fun...but sort of standard festival fare...I think next year I will just stick with local festivals without the long drive. It would have been better if Lilly wasn't scared of the parade. I keep thinking she'll grow out of that - and I keep being proven wrong. She cowered in my chest until I took her away from the parade to play in the dirt. But it was a long parade...I mean, any thing that includes a corvette carrying Miss Outstanding Pre Teen Virginia Beach is too long. BUT, after that she started to recover her mood. We headed into an "antique" shop (really just for a few minutes of AC), and she marched up to a stranger and announced "I AM NOT HAVING A GOOD TIME TODAY" The lady started laughing hysterically - as did I. But, then we did some shopping and she perked up. I swear - just when you think she is all tomboy, she will drop anything to go shopping and has MUCH more stamina to shop than I do. Anyway...she had a good time by the end of the day...and enjoyed ice cream w/ Jackson and the standard trio....

What A Day!

Birthday, Mother's Day, 2 Year Anniversary of our Family!!! Quite a 48 Hour Period! We had a joint Mother's Day / Birthday Party at our place last night...and little miss lil had a great time. Enjoy the pics.... She wanted a "Worm Cake" like Max makes on Max & Ruby ("But not real worms, mommy").

We had a slight incident with Lilly running face first into the dining room table. She got a bloody nose, but recovered quickly like a champ - sugar, presents and loads of attention have that effect on kids.

At the end of the night...demonstrating to Papa that she will be THREE the next morning!

Musings...

Work has been rather tough lately, and today I found myself rushing out of work to make it to the day care by 6 to get Lilly. I had thought I would leave right around 5, but then the phone rang and I got stuck in a long and heated conversation. Kendra called on my cell to say Lil looked a little tired and bummed to be one of the last kids there when she was getting Jackson...and man was she right.

They were playing outside on the playground and had just come in when I got there. The big fat tears were still on her hot little red cheek when she saw me and gave me a big hug. They had come inside through the 4 year old classroom (both the 3s and 4s open to the "big kid" playground and later in the afternoon/evening, the 3s teachers are gone and the 4s teachers oversee the combined group), and apparently got really upset. I can only imagine what she thought...man I haven't even been in the 3s a week and now this?!?!? Are these folks out of their minds?? Anyway...she was worn out and very happy to see me.

I asked her if she wanted to go home and have dinner or go out to dinner, and she very quickly said she wanted to go to the local diner for dinner. Now - this diner is OLD SCHOOL. It is an old airstream diner that has been the greasy spoon there for so many decades that my grandfather used to eat there when he was working here...and he retired about 40 years ago (and passed away 12 years ago). I think the diner has been there since the 40s (it fed the folks building the ships for WWII at the local shipyard). Anyway...Lilly and I were one of only 2 customers, so they were making a big fuss over her. She got to watch the chef cook her hot dog, etc and loved it. He was very nice to her and gave her a lollypop. AND THEN HE SAID IT. HE THOUGHT I WAS THE GRANDMOTHER. GRANDMOTHER?!?!?!?!?!? I know I didn't have her when I was in my early 20s, but I am not soooo far off the mark here. Mid 3os! GRANDMOTHER?!?!?!?!? Hmmmm......

Ups and Downs of the Threes

So this was the "Visiting Week" for Lilly and Jackson and the new Three Year Old Class. Basically they both went to the new class for a little bit Monday, and then increasing time each day until they were there almost all day Friday (mostly everything but nap).

Wednesday night Lilly lost it as she was going to bed. She had been unusually quiet all evening...usually she talks constantly, whether or not anyone else is around. I've even overheard her putting her toys in time out for not listening to her. Anyway - there was none of that Wednesday...and then she threw all her stuffed animals off her bed onto the floor, followed by her blankets including her baba (blankie). Then she threw herself on the bare bed and cried. I kept trying to pick her up and cuddle her and kept asking what was wrong...and she finally let me hold her on my lap on the rocker. A few minutes later she cried/whispered "Mommy, I don't want to go to the threes. I miss my friends" I tried to be encouraging and reminded her of how excited she had been, how so many of her friends were already in the 3s, how she had the big, fun toys now...to which she said she missed her little toys and then kept crying. LIKE A KNIFE TO THE HEART!!! Anyway, we talked about being brave, how you can be sad and excited and happy all at the same time. She finally fell asleep. She did pretty well the next day during school and didn't say anything that night. Then Friday morning there was more "mommy, don't make me go to school, please don't make me." Ugh. BUT, Friday when I picked her up she was a whole new gal. She was smiling and running around the playground. When we got in the car all she could do was chatter about all the fun things she had done that day. I asked her if she liked the 3s now, and she said yes...that she was a little sad to miss somethings but was excited. Today on the phone she told Maren all about how she got to go to the 3s and go on the big slide, and how her friends were there. I still think Monday morning's drop off will be challenging, but I am hopeful next week will go much smoother!

Had a great day today playing outside and just hanging out together around the house and a little outing to Home Depot...(thinking of putting some paver stones near the driveway...stay tuned). No new pics, but here are some old ones to enjoy!