January

Suddenly, I looked up and it's February tomorrow. Then, I looked again and my baby is going to be 9 months old next week. Even further still, I looked and Lila sounded out a word on a billboard. Maybe if I keep my eyes closed time will freeze, even if just for a moment. Actually, I could even handle it slowing down quite a bit if only it would.

I also noticed that I went on sort of blogging run and then hiatus all at once. Sorry for the inconsistency. I've only been a tiny bit busy.

This month I turned 32. And what a month it's been! I've already covered the Orlando trip and Disney. Here is about the most concise rundown I can give of the rest of it even though concise isn't really who I am.

The weekend after Orlando was to be my birthday. I was excited to stay home, relax, and do a whole lot of nothing with my family. Thursday rolled around and Seth asked if we could get a sitter for the day on Friday. In my head I thought, men are so silly. Doesn't he know that if I could get a sitter at the drop of a hat on a weekday I would do it? Like a lot? Apparently he does not know this. So I chuckled, called the one person I could think of to call (hope you are feeling better Anna!) and went on my merry way. He then says, "Ah, that's ok. The girls can just come with us". I'm thinking, what on God's green Earth are we doing on a weekday that could or could not involve two small children?

Seth comes home that night and tells me we need to be up at 6:30 in time to leave. We get up and he tells me we are going to Chick-fil-A. The whole morning was pretty frantic. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why we were in such a hurry to go to breakfast. Fast forward a few hours and I am sitting in a parking deck at the airport with papers that say I am going to NY in complete disbelief that this is the route the day is taking. Seth tries to take a video of my reaction to his carefully orchestrated surprise, but you could say I was a little shocked. I'm not the most spontaneous person. I like to plan things. But let me tell you...once the confusion cleared and Seth started rummaging through what he had packed for me, I started crying. Could it be true? Could he really have done this for me? I know my husband loves to give me gifts. He loves to surprise me and he puts a lot of thought into getting my things he knows I will love. As you can imagine, this one takes the cake. The thirtieth birthday surprise party was amazing, but it was my thirtieth. I was sort of hoping to have a throw down. There is truly something to be said for the completely unexpected, completely shocking, and completely perfect gift. That's what this trip was for me.

I miss my sister more than I have probably missed anyone in my life. Just a few weeks before this trip I was having a meltdownish sort of day and admitted to her that I was sure I was screwing up my kids. There were tears and feelings of frustration in abundance. When I stopped talking to her that night I realized I was still crying. I realized on top of the everyday trials of being a stay at home mom, I just really missed her in an awful way.

As I sat in the airport drinking coffee it dawned on me that I could do whatever I wanted. I could buy a book. Better yet I could read it. I could talk on the phone and only be competing with the loud speaker announcing flight information. I could eat slowly and peacefully. I could even sit and just stare at people if I wanted to. Glorious. I'm not even going to dive into the disclaimer about how I love my children and the fact that I get to spend every waking minute with them. All I'm going to say is when it's been a long time since you've had a little freedom to do whatever you want you value every second of it.

The NY weekend was a blur of hats, gloves, eating, coats, scarves, shopping, eating some more, talking, drinking, and running around. I got to see what Sara's life has been like since the fall. Where she eats, how she makes her away around the big city, and where she hangs out.

Brooklyn Flea Market in a beautiful old bank

Bloody Marys and brunch after the market

 Poetry slam at the Bowery Poetry club!

Monet at the MOMA

Times Square!

Needless to say, Seth outdid himself. I am truly the luckiest girl around.

When I got back from NY my family was sort of in shambles. When I left Lila had a slight cold that turned into a nasty cold for everyone. Within the next week and a half Evie ended up with the cold/cough, pink eye, and an ear infection. We were supposed to go the following weekend to Americus to celebrate Christmas with my mom's family. Yes, we are aware Christmas was a month ago. You do what ya gotta do. Lila and I ended up going with my mom so Seth could stay here and take Evie to the doctor again. 

AND, if all of this wasn't enough, I had originally planned to go the lake with some girlfriends this past weekend for my birthday. This was, of course, before I had any idea about NY. I gave Seth an out and told him I would cancel, but he told me to go! It was a great end to a month of great weekends. 

As much fun as I have had and as much as I appreciate it all, it's nice to be home consistently for a while. I missed my little chickies. Speaking of them, a post is coming soon with gobs of videos and pictures that I am so behind on sharing. Like I said, things are changing so fast I just can't keep up!

Disney...oh and that little marathon Seth ran

Have you ever gone on a trip that was sort of half planned with tons of loose ends? That's what this trip was for us. Sometime after signing up for the marathon Seth asked if we (as in ALL of us) wanted to go. At the time I said "of course!!!". And that was the end of the story. If you don't know, Team in Training (through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) does everything for you. They tell you what to, when to do it, and how to do it successfully. Seth and I did a marathon through TNT while dating. I knew then that we would survive marriage.

The holidays came and we began talking about how we really had no plan. I don't think I knew where we were staying until the week of Christmas when my dad asked me. My dad and his wife Liz live in West Palm Beach. They were planning to come and join us. It was when he began asking me questions that I realized I had no clue what was going on.

So, we got the logistics sorted out. Sort of. The week before we went Seth realized that this marathon was no joke. Not just because it's a marathon of course, but because it's big. LOTS of people go to it. Some super crazy people even run the half on Saturday and the full on Sunday. It's called the Goofy challenge. Goofy indeed. It occurred to Seth that taking Evie might be a logistical nightmare. As you know if you read the previous post, we did not take her.

I have to say for being so loosely planned this was one of the best trips I have taken. Here's why:

1) Gobs of Lila time.
2) Really good quality time with my dad and Liz. Not just for Lila, but for me too.
3) Even with no nap every day, riding buses everywhere, and sensory overload to the max Lila was in awe the entire time. It was priceless.
4) I got to really be a spectator and see how well Seth would do without me. I always knew I held him back in Vancouver and I'm so glad he did this without me (sounds weird, but I have always had remorseful feelings about it).
5) It's Disney for goodness sake!!!

Here's a bit of a rundown via pictures:

Just before the character breakfast at the Polynesian Hotel.

She was so excited that she touched Pluto's nose!

She's not having any fun at all. I promise.

Lila and Liz. This was the beginning of the Animal Kingdom day (Friday). Seth didn't go to this with us because he had marathon meetings and the expo to go to. 

Just hanging out!

This is either right before or right after a hippo swam slowly past us in front of the window under water. It was SO cool. 

This is on the train that pretty much just rides around the outskirts of the Animal Kingdom. Nothing fancy but Lila kept wanting to ride it!

Brushing some sheep at the petting zoo area.

At the start of the African Safari ride...Poppy made sure she didn't get scared. The new Donald Duck doll helped as well.

A little resemblance here I think :-)

This is the start of the day at the Magic Kingdom. Not sure what this face is about. I just think the picture is funny.

This is right before It's a Small World. I think this ride was her favorite!

The beginning of a day full of pointing.

Riding Aladdin's magic carpet ride. 

I'm not really having any fun either.

Funny story. Seth and dad took a break so Liz, Lila, and I got in line to meet Tinkerbell. About twenty minutes in Liz realized we were actually in line to meet Ariel (who Lila has no clue about). Twenty or thirty minutes after that she had her thirty seconds with Tinkerbell. TOTALLY worth it.

It's hard being a kid that gets pushed around in a stroller all day.

This was during the parade where she really got to see everyone she knew. She was either waving, pointing, or staring. This was the best twenty minutes of the whole weekend. 

Another parade before the big dance party...

 ...serious dance moves in the street!

* I need to interject here how the last day of our trip went. It was actually a pretty amusing comedy of errors. Let's back up. Seth had to get up at 2am to eat "breakfast" and then be at the bus at 3:30 am (I think). Anyway, let's just say it was out of control early. He and Lila passed out around 7:30 pm so I spent my night off trying to figure out how to track Seth during the marathon. I read online that 10.5 miles was at the castle at the Magic Kingdom and spectators didn't need a ticket. Perfect! We would get to see daddy running and Lila would get to hang out at the castle one last time.  I set everything up so that I would get a text every five miles (isn't technology CRAZY??) and woke up at 6:30 am to get there on time. Lila was not to excited about this plan. AND, I made the massive mistake of telling her we were going to the castle again. NUMBER ONE RULE OF PARENTHOOD: Do NOT tell your child something really fantastic is going to happen if you aren't 110% sure it will.

The buses at our hotel were running very late so we got off the bus at the Magic Kingdom right about the time Seth was running through the castle. So I asked where the next spectator spot was. The helpful Disney employee looked me up and down (with my angry two year old in her $20 POS stroller) and said, "if you hustle you can get to the Polynesian Resort over there and just past it is the 12 mile stop". Hustle we did! At this point I was simply too proud to give up. I wanted to surprise Seth and maybe give him some extra momentum. I chose not to tell Lila about missing the castle at this point. It was about an hour later that it dawned on her. She handled it as best she could given the circumstances.

As I'm hustling I realize lots of other people were making their way in the same direction. It was crowded to say the least and I couldn't see a thing. What's the point of doing all of this hustling if I don't see him? I made the executive decision to cut through some pretty tall grass along the road, book it around the barriers, and join a "cheer crowd" that I'm pretty sure you had to pay to belong to. Lila and I had so much grass on our pants and the stroller probably needs to be thrown out. BUT, we saw him!!! I think he was really surprised. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture because we were hugging and cheering and enjoying the moment. That's how worth it this was!

Then there was the trick of finding our way back to a bus that would take us to the finish line at Epcot. And guess what? Everyone else needed that as well. I had two hours though. So I got some coffee and hopped on a tram. Well, Disney likes to switch things up when a big event is happening. Signs that say some form of transportation will get you where you want to go nine times out of ten are false. You can imagine how excited Lila was to get off the tram that didn't end up taking us to Epcot only to see a gigantic line for the bus. Enter a much overdue meltdown. I got this brilliant idea to take a bus back to the hotel and then get a new bus from there to Epcot instead of waiting an hour in line where I was (which ironically was the transportation station). The problem with this plan was that the buses weren't running to the hotels. Somehow, with my screaming child I convinced a bus driver to take me to the hotel that he would pass as he took random people to another park. So in twenty minutes I was at Epcot due to either my screaming child or my sweaty, frantic, almost in tears condition.

We grabbed some food and hung out waiting for Seth to reach the finish. Lila pushed the stroller around long enough for the grass to completely fall off. We saw him cross and it was all worth it! SO PROUD OF YOU SETHY POO!

This is our lazy day at the resort after the marathon. Our little sassy girl has been walking around with her hands on her hips these days. Oh and today she put on her Snow White "dress up" and told Carson and I she was Snow White. No like, when I called her Lila she said "no mommy...I'm SNOW WHITE!!!". Carson promptly pointed at the actual picture of Snow White on the costume and said, "no, that's Snow White!". 

And last but not least, this is how we actually know she had a good time.

Alright, sorry this was so long. It really was such an enjoyable trip. I missed Evie so much, but the time with Lila was much needed for all of us. Good times!

Interrupting again!

I can't believe in my list of upcoming posts I left out our trip to Orlando for Seth's marathon...which we leave for tomorrow!!!

It's safe to say that we didn't think this trip out or plan it very well at all. We were like, it's Disney! Of course the whole family should go. Of course it will be magical and glorious. And, even if the whole family was going it would have been those things. But, Evie will be staying behind.

I have very mixed feelings about this. This is the first situation where having two kids has put me on a major back and forth roller coaster. We will be gone from Thursday to Monday which is a long time to be away from your baby. Granted, we went to GA/FL back in October for three days and survived it. I'm not so worried that she will be upset. I'm more sad she won't be a part of this little adventure. Which I decided was a silly reason to take her.

Therefore, we weighed the pros and cons. It became obvious quickly that having Evie stay here would be better than taking her. Apparently the Disney marathon is a massive and very popular one to run. Orlando becomes flooded with people and driving places would be tough. Shuttles are the transportation of choice. Well, Seth will be doing the running and won't be able to shuttle all over the place with me all the time. That leaves me shuttling with two very small kids. This pretty much sounds like a nightmare. Not to mention, Evie does well to sleep in a room in our house with the door closed and a very loud sound machine going. I would imagine that none of us would get any sleep if all of us were trying to do it in the same room. AND, there is the pro of the one on one time. Lila has had so little one on one time with us since Evie was born. We try to do it when we can, but it happens sporadically and for short periods of time. The thought of taking her to Disney, just her, makes me smile. AND, Evie get to have one on one time with both grandmothers which has never happened.

Of course, the mommy guilt is still lingering in my head. She won't remember any of this (and chances are good Lila won't either). But I still feel like Evie is being cheated out of a trip with her family. At any rate, I am very excited to go and even more proud of Seth for this commitment he's made. I can't wait to cheer him on without feeling stressed out and overwhelmed doing it! Wish him luck!

We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

I said I wasn't doing resolutions. But this crazy thing happened. In the past 24 hours I have been making them in my head randomly and really feeling motivated about them. They aren't typical for me. And there aren't that many of them. Why not give them a go right?

1) Go to bed earlier. I am a serious night owl. It would stand to reason that Lila gets this from me! I guess I struggle with having "me time" and letting my mind decompress after chasing after my kids all day. But, lately I feel like getting up in the morning is getting harder and harder and the days are feeling longer. The goal to start is going to bed by ten three nights a week.

2) Send one piece of personal mail...actual mail...every day of 2012 (except today and yesterday). I did some organizing today and came upon my stash of greeting cards. Would you believe I have two birthday cards for my mom? Her birthday is February third but I can't even tell you when I bought these cards. Not recently for sure! All of these cards I have hoarded, along with the random assortment of stationery I have, prompted this goal. I love getting real mail. Christmas is the only time I religiously check the mail instead of Seth doing it because I know there is a chance of getting Christmas cards. Anyway, I have all of these cards in a box all sorted out. The idea is to pick a card every night, pick who I want to send it to, and mail it the next day.

3) Join the 365 project. I just joined actually. I still need to read through the website or whatever. Really I just want to attempt to take a picture every day that takes more effort than whipping out my phone. Joining the 365 project will maybe/hopefully hold me accountable. I want to educate myself more about how to use my camera too. But, it will be the 363 project for me because I'm starting tomorrow! Stay tuned.

Christmas!

Ah, Christmas. It feels like just yesterday we were buying the biggest, fattest tree at Home Depot and now all that's left is a a massive amount of pine needles all over my house. That and Toys R Us may or may not have vomited all over my house as well. Seriously, I should be purging the playroom instead of sitting here writing a blog post. Unfortunately I am horrible at getting rid of things.

Anyway, Christmas was magical. I thought a lot about the effort to impart the reason for the season on Lila and decided I will take this new year to sort that out. Due to a last minute trip to my uncle's for Christmas Eve, we frantically bought Oreos for Santa at CVS and called it a day.

Let's back up. Here are a few key things I want to remember about Christmas this year:

* Our tree. Best. Tree. Ever. Granted, according to Seth it had a split and watering it was useless. But water it we did in hopes of getting it to last through Christmas day at least. The sad part is, due to it's size and prickly, dried up state it became hard to walk past it and not get stabbed.

* Christmas morning. Somehow Lila slept late. Evie woke up at her usual time and she and I sat in the den amidst the glow of the big tree. I whispered to her about how someday she would care about Christmas so much she would lose sleep over it.  I told her someday she would want the gift and not feel the need to eat the wrapping paper. And someday she wouldn't wake up early just to sit and smile at me like this. So for this one hour of this one Christmas morning I got the best present of all...just her.

* Being that Lila did sleep in I took another stab at Christmas morning homemade cinnamon rolls. Last year they were awful. You can imagine that I would then be a little fearful of trying again. But, they were actually pretty good this time! Maybe I will keep the tradition going after all...

* Christmas shopping. Seth and I went on a date to go Christmas shopping. I made a few realizations on this date...my shopping trip planning skills are horrendous, Toys R Us is a hateful place, and I am so excited to Christmas shop with Seth for the rest of my life. I mean, he's easy to find in a crowd, he can rationalize any toy purchase, and he now hates Toys R Us too. We are a perfect match!

* Lila's gift choices. I took Lila to the dollar aisle at Michael's. It's not as big and overwhelming as a dollar store or even the dollar aisle at Target. But, she had things to choose from. She got a massive kick out of this. I tried not to guide her but she would get herself mixed up on who gets what and want to start over. Plus, she initially thought it was all for her. This took some discussing. But, at the end of it all she was beyond thrilled with her choices. She was so thrilled that she spoke about the buttons she got for her uncle Levi for the rest of the day. That too was my favorite purchase. I will never forget her excitement over that little container of buttons.

* The big winner gift. Santa got Lila a train table with lots of Thomas the train accessories. We thought for sure that would be the big winner. Turns out, while she loves trains she is still a girly girl at heart. Mommy and Daddy (actually just daddy) got her two sets of fairy wings that came complete with a tutu, wand, and headband. She has a recent obsession with Tinkerbell whom she has only seen on a pair of hand-me-down pajamas she wears every single day and night. You can imagine how the fairy attire went over...

And, like I said, she loved the trains as well!

* Evie and Molly. Innocent bystanders to the mayhem of Christmas. We did Christmas at Seth's mom's house the Wednesday before Christmas. Evie slept through that. Christmas morning she ate some wrapping paper, tried on her new (way too big) shoes, and then lounged while watching Lila blow through presents (some of which actually were Evie's). Christmas afternoon was more of the same with my mom and Seth's brother. And even the day after Christmas my dad was here and the fun continued! All the while these two could only hang out and spectate. 

My mom (Vivi) and her photo book gift.

Lila's present from uncle Levi!

My dad, Poppy, looking at his photo book with Lila.

Evie checking Poppy out.

* The refrigerator. While I hate that I may think of this Christmas as "the year the refrigerator died", that's just how it goes right? I mean, the ones I can remember growing up were "the year the tree fell over", "the year I got Jem and all of the Holograms", and "the year Granny stayed with us and set up an awful, creepy clown decorated tree". Regardless, the day after Christmas we purchased a beautiful new refrigerator.

* Decorating with Lila. It was a bit of a science to figure out how to successfully decorate our big tree with Lila's "help". Seth got a system going that went incredibly well. What was more interesting though is how well she undecorated the tree. Seriously, I took all of the ornament boxes out and she would carefully put the ornaments in each box, close it, and put it in the storage bin. She treated some of them like they were puzzles due to their packaging. It was quite impressive. All the while she was saying "Christmas is over mommy" like she was getting the closure she needed by helping put the ornaments away.

* Random extras...I will remember Lila's steadfast love of the Charlie Brown Christmas movie...the way she sings jingle bells and asks to start with "dashing through the snow" so she can do the laughing part...the way she now refers to Oreos as Santa cookies...the way Evie watched Lila open presents the way she watches Lila do everything else, with complete adoration.

We are so blessed in so many ways. I hope your holiday left you feeling this way as well.  ;-)