An Update On Us

Back before I decided I wanted to blog big or go home I did quite a lot of posting about my girls. Updates on them were done monthly, and I was on top of it. It dawned on me today that this shifted or changed when my dad passed, as did many other things. That was a little over a year ago now. While this isn't totally the place where those frequent posts feel as necessary as they once did, I do view this blog as a documentation of our lives to some degree. After all, no matter what a blogger writes about it always comes back to their personal lives in some way.

I decided to let the personal updates just happen as they will when we revamped this blog into Isn't She Lovely. I'm not going to say that I have gone big by any stretch of the imagination, but there are some new followers around here. It feels like now's the time to throw out an update. Welcome to anyone who just started reading and thank you for doing so.

My big girl is now four and a half. I don't Carpe Diem, but I would freeze time if I could. I recently did a serious organization of our pictures and videos and was blown away at what I saw. Lila has become a kid. She is not a toddler or a preschooler. She is a kid. Instead of sometimes smelling like poop or spit up she smells like a sweaty, playful little kid. I know that seems so weird to say, but I was not prepared for that smell. When it hit me the realization that the baby/toddler was truly gone really took my breath away. Well and then I got her school picture proof. Have you ever seen a more school picture looking school picture in your life?  Do you know what I see when I look at that picture? I see the future Lila. I'm not sure if that even makes sense, but I see her.

The GREAT
* Loves legos - I think I may put all of the rest of our toys in storage and only have legos and baby dolls in our house. That may solve our problem of feeling cramped in this house.
* Loves to color - Okay, so I would keep some coloring books and crayons too. Lila not only loves to color, but she loves to make crafts. It would help if Legos weren't so expensive and if it didn't seem so wasteful to use tape while crafting.
* VAST imagination - She makes up stories, situations, places, and people constantly while hoping all the while that Evie can keep up with what she's talking about. It's fascinating and inspiring and sometimes insanely weird.

The NOT SO GREAT
* Pre-K adjustment continues - She is gracefully adjusting still to being in Pre-Kindergarten all day. For a kid who never did daycare the long days of "real" school can be so tough. She's taken it in stride and for that I am grateful.
* Sleeps like a newborn - Because of her exhaustion from school, and her age so I've heard, she's having trouble sleeping. I have tried everything from her sleeping with us to me sleeping with her. I use the term sleeping very loosely.

THE AMAZING!
* Cuddles - Being that Lila is in school a lot more now she's even more affectionate than before (if that was possible). She comes home and snuggles with me before Evie wakes up from her nap. It is my favorite part of the day by far.
* Evie - Lila treats Evie like an equal and not like the little sister. If I could shout from the rooftops how aware I am that this is a gift, I would. I pray every day that Lila never changes in this regard.

While Evie is your typical two year old, I think that I am MUCH more equipped now to deal with the tantrums and overwhelming need for independence that come at this age. Evie is everything I wish I could be sometimes. She's fierce yet tender. She can switch from cuddling a baby doll to her horror movie scream in seconds. This is impressive and terrifying all at once some days. She too is growing at a rapid pace. But, she's still hanging on to a little bit of the chubby baby fingers and toddler squishiness. I thank God for that every day.

THE GREAT
* Verbal capacity could rival a four year old - I started thinking about Christmas for the girls this year and I'm struggling with what to get for Evie. She's not really into anything. She doesn't get stuck on one toy or activity like Lila always has. Honestly, she just happily does whatever Lila does. This means that she lives in a world of pretend that she truly does seem to get even though it feels really premature. Her crazy advanced verbal skills seem to be helping in that department. I promise I'm not gloating here. She has the verbal capacity of a four year old. But, as I've stressed before, every child grows at their own pace.
* Desire to help - While she is very particular about what she will help with, she is quite interested in doing the dishes. I hate doing the dishes with a burning passion. So begins my evil plan to get my girls to do all of the dishes every day.
* Baby love - Evie is a baby lover. She is so enamored with them and the one toy she will play with all day is a baby doll. This bodes well for any future baby Burrows. Nope, not pregnant.

THE NOT SO GREAT
* Potty training? - I have decided I will not be potty training Evie. So many people say "they will just do it when they're ready". I'm testing out that theory. We can call it experimental parenting. Also, remember how I just said every kid grows at their own pace? Case in point.
* Tantrums - If I do ever try to do something for her instead of her doing it herself the inevitable tantrum takes off (see the farthest picture to the left up there at Target). I try to look at her and tell her with my eyes that this ain't my first rodeo. She doesn't care and to prove it she lets out her scream. Evie 326, Mama 0.

THE AMAZING
* Singing - I started singing every night to her before she goes to sleep. One night she shushed me, pulled out her passy, and started with her rendition of "You Are My Sunshine". These are the very best moments.
* Lila - If it isn't clear, Evie believes Lila is the end all. To say that I am grateful for their relationship is like saying I am grateful for coffee. The words just don't equate to the actual feeling.

Seth and Jana

Seth looked at me the other day and told me that we needed a five year plan. He works constantly and I have big blog dreams. Beyond those two things and raising our girls we have been trying to figure out what the coming years might look like for us. It never really crossed my mind to look at life like that, but I'm glad he suggested that we do. It's good to have goals and dreams, and we are lucky to be able to envision things together. He has taken up rock climbing and plans to get Lila on a team! I have taken on two different blogging workshops, and I'm beginning to make little transformations to our house. Overall life is just really really good.

Again, thanks for stopping by and checking in!