Off to Neverland...

Well, just a quick post to say we are STILL waiting. And getting antsier by the minute, I might add. She is moving like crazy but apparently at this point is still quite content to stay cozied up for a bit longer.

We had a nice relaxing weekend here at home, and I totally let myself rest as much as I wanted. I have realized this time that, despite the fact that the house is not spotless and I have some projects yet to do, we will be bringing this baby home, Lord willing, to a MUCH more settled "nest" than ever before, since AG was came one month after we moved into our house and we had dozens of boxes yet to unpack, and then with LL we'd scheduled a major reflooring job for the week before she was due and then she surprised us early, and we came home to most of our furniture and our refrigerator all crammed into our family room. So it's been nice this time to take it a bit easier, though now we are probably even more ready for some action!

Today I went in to let AG know her rest time was over (since it was a "no napper") and she immediately told me she was "playing Wendy" (from Peter Pan) and then gathered up a host of dolls and animals to play all the roles in the story. Then for the entire rest of the afternoon and night she expected to be referred to only as "Wendy" and she did not fail to call LL "L Michael" or "Michael L"continually, as this is LL's assigned role since "Michael has to be somebody with hair." She asked T to be the crocodile and then directed him to get on his "tummy"... he cleverly sought another role and she said, "Oh, you can't be the crocodile because you can't open your mouth wide enough?" This PP theme continued for her without a break. Later when she and T were playing around she accidently knocked off and broke his glasses (which thankfully he was able to fix...). Anyway, LL started chanting, "Daddy broke it...Daddy broke it" and AG said, "I broke them...no, I'm sorry, WENDY broke them!" On and on I could go, but you get the picture. As for my part in the storyline, I was flattered to be "Mommy Tinkerbell"...any help I can get in imagining myself as lightweight and perky right now is welcomed!

Hope you all have had a nice weekend and your week is off to a great start!

Leapin' Lizards

Tonight we had a fun family event... an old-fashioned indoor lizard catching! Just before putting the girls to bed we were all in the family room, and LL exercised her radar for moving objects in high places (previously used to detect the racoon or "doggie," as she called it, in our tree and several planes almost invisible to the human eye, which she is able to spot from inside our van in the midst of many more obvious distractions...) to point out to us a little gecko-like lizard on the wall. So T and I got together a haphazard plan to catch it quickly using a bowl and a grocery sack, and somehow this led to my climbing onto a nearby chair to assist in the capture. Well, this seemed like a fine idea and would have been no big deal, I'm sure, except that I am a total chicken when it comes to little creatures such as bugs and lizards actually touching me. So as we started to remove the bowl/bag with lizard (hopefully) inside from the wall, I am almost certain I felt the lizard on my hand, and I totally freaked out, jumping down from the chair and stumbling around, breaking a beloved but repairable item of the girls in the process (which was regrettable, certainly, but preferrable to my leg or neck). I am sure it was a sight to behold my 9 month pregnant frame descending and dancing around like, well, like someone trying to get away from a wily little lizard. Anyway, this was lost on the girls and T at that moment, as we quickly regained our focus on the escapee. Thankfully, it was probably stunned and didn't go too far or too fast, and T was able to grab it and put it in a jar for observation before letting it go outside. The girls were riveted by this whole event, an emotional roller-coaster ride of sorts, and certainly more exciting than our typical bedtime routine. They seemed to think the lizard was pretty neat, once it was in the jar, and LL must have said the word lizard 100 times at least as I put her to bed moments later.

Baby update: Still waiting! Since LL came 8 days early, I must admit I am kind of surprised to have had no major sign of action just 3 days from our due date. Of course we are trying to be simultaneously patient and ready to head to the (blessedly nearby) hospital at a moment's notice, since surely she will come sometime soon... For the last two days T's been suggesting that I jump around to get things going, so maybe we should just let some more lizards into the house...

We appreciate everyone's prayers in these days of anticipation and wondering, and we'll keep you posted as we have news to share!

Babes in Toyland

AG and LL are really at such sweet stages and do things each day that just melt our hearts. Here they are "co-driving" the cart on a recent grocery shopping trip. Of course they weren't this happy and cooperative the whole time, but the "bumps in the road" of their sisterly relationship are, at this point, blessedly few and easily overcome! Here's LL trying on one of her latest finds, my "ruby red slippers." She is a shoe scavenger, always checking by the doors to see if there's a new pair left for her to model. And when they're about 20 sizes too big, who cares if they're on the right feet?

We went to Sam's Saturday morning and I was reminded again of how sweet this age is. They are so easy to please (most of the the time!) and unaware of so much "darkness" around them. We were walking innocently toward the bakery and meat department when we passed a massive, creepy display of Halloween decorations, complete with about a dozen different skeletony creatures in a big haunted-looking tent. "What's that, Mommy?" AG asked as we approached. I felt fairly certain we could get by it without a problem by explaining it was just some "silly" decorations, and we thankfully did...AG didn't seem too interested. LL probably checked it out more, noticing the "horsies!" and "man" on the other side, a skull-faced grim-reaper character with nothing more than typical 22 month old interest.

A while later we passed a display of dolls in boxes with all sorts of baby accessories. AG showed them to me and said, "I may come back for one of these when I get a mommy." She's been talking about what she'll do and need when she becomes a mommy for a few months now, and it's so sweet to me that when she sees something in a store that she likes, she thinks about wanting it for her own babies instead of asking for it for herself now.

We watched the classic version of "Peter Pan" again this weekend and since then the girls have run in countless circles around the family room (LL actually spins fast while AG circles her) yelling in sing-song voices, "I'm flying, I'm flying, I'm flying!"

So when they are asking for the fifth cup of milk that day and needing to be bathed, diapered, carried, snapped into seats, etc., I will try to remember these and the hundreds of other examples of just how sweet these times are. And I will hope the days of fears of the "dark" things and immediate thoughts of wanting things for themselves will wait a while longer... and that the girls will always "fly" with such delight!

AG's New Endeavors

AG had a great time at dance class last Monday and has been eagerly awaiting getting to go again later today! She is in a class with about 8 other 3 and 4 year olds and really seemed to enjoy getting dressed in her new leotard ("farkly" with a few rhinestones!) and tights and carrying her new dance bag (which went empty, but came home with new pairs of tap and ballet shoes). Here she is, all ready before her first class: And here's a picture I took to put on the bulletin board at her preschool. Doesn't she look like a big girl?

Big Ideas

AG has been telling me about what she wants to be when she grows up lately, and it's not ever just one thing, or even just two, but a series of interesting jobs, like "singer, nurse, doctor, firefighter" or even more fascinating, "bunny, carrot, doctor, princess, king, queen." I'm glad she's setting lofty goals!

She's also been measuring things lately, and reports statistics like, "You're twenty thousand tall" or "You're leg is twenty four." The other day she told me my nose was "one and a half hours."

Last week her preschool teacher came over to meet her and visit before school starts in a few weeks. And today, just a few hours from now, she will go to her first dance lesson! It seems that as my own social calendar is in a bit of a lull, hers in getting unusually full...although I guess at 3, her social calendar is mine and vice versa! So, in these days of 100+ temps and waiting for the baby to come, we are glad to have some diversions! We'll keep you posted on upcoming events and news...

All Dressed Up...

Just a few of LL's latest fashion experiments:

She's not always into hats, but add a cute pair of sunglasses and she even wanted to keep this look inside!

Here she is looking up at one of the many planes that flies over our house:

All that modeling and splashing makes a girl tired...it's good to have a Blankie at the end of a busy day!

Weekend Update

On Thursday, T's mom came to spend the day and night with us and graciously provided some "Nanacare" for the girls which was much appreciated by T and me and much enjoyed by AG and LL! That morning I went out for a pedicure (which is a treat anytime, but at 8.5 months pregnant, it's surely one of the most enjoyable and NEEDED types of pampering possible!). Then that night, T and I were treated to a night of babysitting and a wonderful dinner out. A pedicure and date night within 12 hours? Somebody pinch me! These are a few pictures Nana took before we went out.
Notice that AG can comfortably sit on my tummy with some room to spare!
The girls were not sad to see us leave that night, if they even noticed, as they were watching the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan with Nana. AG has not stopped talking about it since then and gives glowing reviews of it all, along with a pretty thorough explanation of how this movie differs from the Peter Pan book she's read at Nana's and the animated version she watched there before. AG seems to like the fact that Captain Hook was not at all scary in the older movie, although LL has been going around all day saying, "Captain Hook...mean guy!" and while playing her little animal sound game she said, "Alligator say...tick tock!"

This is the scene T came inside to find after spending a few hours working on the yard this a.m.:

He's not usually one to spot a photo op and grab the camera, but he couldn't pass this up! Needless to say, it was a lazy Saturday morning for 3 (or 4?) members of our family! He got a little time to relax with the girls later, too:
We're trying to get a few things done, but mostly just enjoying these last days before things get kicked up a few notches around here when a certain little someone arrives!

Hope you all are having a relaxing and fun weekend, too!

Doodle Bug, Big Sister Lessons, etc...

Here's AG with a picture of flowers she drew this week. She wanted to put it in a frame, so it now holds a place of honor on the counter in her bathroom (her chosen spot!).
Another day, she drew a big circle on her doodle board and said, "This is your tummy" (to me, of course...it was a pretty big round oval!) Then she drew the baby inside, with arms, and my head, neck, and legs. Here's the finished work...(looks familiar to me!):

There's been alot of talk this week from AG about when and why babies need bibs, pacifiers, car seats, etc. Here she is giving LL lessons on how to be a big sister to a little baby:

And here's one of LL being the caretaker of one of her babies...Got milk?

*OK, when I wrote that earlier I was referring to her milky "soul patch," but now as take a second look at the picture I realized that, based on the doll's positioning, you could be taking my question another way... Anyway...

Hope y'all are having a good Saturday afternoon!

Leader of the Pack

Here's our view everytime we've walked around the block for the last week. Last Sunday night I took the girls for a walk, and AG said she wanted to ride her trike, so LL and I strolled along behind her and I wondered how far she'd make it. Well, wasn't I pleasantly surprised when she made it all the way around our pretty big block! No complaints, either...only a comment as we neared our street: "I think getting tired or something....I'm going to need some cooling off when we get home!" and a proud exclamation to herself when we approached our driveway: "Good job!"
We've all gone around together a few more times this week so T could see and appreciate this accomplishment, too. Last night there were a few times when I tried to pass her with LL in the stroller, but NO deal! She only rode faster to catch up and wanted to regain her status as leader, and I must say I thought it wise to go along with this so we didn't get run over. It may be awhile before she takes to the road, but for now we have a sidewalk hog in the making.
Peeking out the window on a lazy afternoon...

Hope y'all have a good Monday!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...

As the realization hits me that with a new baby on the scene, LL will seem to grow up overnight in some ways, I wanted to record some more of the sweet things she says these days. She started talking earlier than her big sister and has surprised me with how well she pronounces most words, but there are several cute "LLisms" that she continues to use. I know these could disappear from her vocabulary any day, replaced by their more accurate counterparts and fully developed sentences. So for now, some things I can't help but smile when I hear:

"bunna"=banana (one of her first words, and she still likes the shortened
version!)
"showoh"=stroller
"Avrace sleeping/nightnight/kiss"= always talking about her big sis!
"colo sheep"= she's always called crayons "colos" but lately has added
a new word to let us know she wants a coloring sheet!
"walla"=water
"rock/swing/play. Minutes"= this is how she let's us know she wants to
do the activity she is currently doing a few more minutes.
"music on"= said about a dozen times a day...it was the first thing she
said this morning when I went to get her out of bed.
"clown nice"= we saw a clown yesterday at the library and she was a little
unsure about it; since then she's reminded herself of these
reassuring words from Mom regularly!
"Daddy/Avrace/Mommy slilly"= letting us know she thinks we're silly
sometimes, too!
"(animal name) say....(sound)"= a current favorite game, she randomly
starts this and her favorites are lions, tiger, and bees.
"drummond"- drum. She used to say "drum" but we got this little book
at Chick-Fil-A about a boy named Drummond, so I think this confused her.
Another cute confusion: Just this morning, I gave her a sucker on the way to Bible study, and from then on she's randomly been saying "soccer ball"...I think she is calling her sucker a soccer ball!

It's so fun to see how quickly she's filling in the blanks on songs she loves to sing, too. She can make it through the ABCs, but this is what it sounds like: "ABCDeeefFG.HIJKOOOOP.QRSTyoufV.WXYandZ." "Frinkle, Frinkle Little Star" is another one she's adding to each day! She's sure to have a good stock of ways to entertain a little sister when the time comes...

"Aunt" Invasion!

OK, we just had one aunt here this time, but she made a grand impression! Last Thursday,"Aunt Katie" (one of my college roommates) came to spend the day with us and we had lots of fun with her! We went to the library, hit the outdoor mall, had lunch out, played outside, and then had dinner (and ice cream!) with T that evening before Katie had to head back home. And Aunt Katie got to read several stories and dance around the family room a few times, too (no visit to our house would be complete without these events, surely)! The girls were glad to spend some time with her, and of course it was a special treat for me to get to catch up with her, also. Thanks for coming to visit, Katie! Pat-a-cake!
Happy hugs!

Keeping Cool in the Pool

We finally got a backyard pool last weekend and jumped right in. Fun for the girls, and a nice way to keep cool for the big Mama! This just may be one of the last photos of them both fitting on my shrinking lap!

LL's New Nurturing Side...

In the last few weeks LL has gotten interested in taking care of her dolls...she rocks, feeds, shushes, strolls, pats backs, assesses diaper status, and wraps them in blankets with great care...well, until something else gets her attention, like the bubbles we were blowing this morning, and then baby got dropped like a hot potato! But this is definitely a step in the right direction, considering that there's about to be a real baby around who needs lots of TLC! And when baby's taken care of, she knows how to take a break and find some refreshment for herself...straight from the teapot! (No, she hasn't seen me do this...not exactly, anyway.)

Hope you have a refreshing weekend yourselves!

Three and One-Third (Almost!)

The weeks seem to be flying by, and we are rapidly approaching some pretty big events in our family! What months ago was going to happen "at the end of the summer" is now just weeks away. Next Tuesday we will reach the 36 week mark for this pregnancy, so we truly are now in the homestretch (and I feel that so literally!), and anticipation is building for us all as wel look forward to meeting this new little sister.

Next Thursday AG will be a third of the way past her third birthday, and she will soon be starting some fun new activities just as she reaches a new level of big sisterhood! She's going to be taking dance lessons starting Aug. 13...we signed her up and met her teacher this week, and AG was excited to try on ballet and tap shoes and said she wanted some "that tap really loud." Then just after Labor Day she will start going to preschool three mornings a week... what a big step! We've been talking about this for months and she seems to be looking forward to it, and I am hoping it will be a good thing for us all since it will give her something fun to be a part of as we are adjusting to having a new baby around. But all of this together, combined with the undeniable ways she shows me each day that she is truly entering little girlhood, make me wonder where the time has gone! This is what I found her doing during rest time a few weeks ago: She was "reading" to all her babies, and sometimes I stand at the door and overhear her giving them singing lessons ("Doe a deer" is her favorite and I'm sure the imaginary chorus is beautiful as all the dolls sing it together!).

Here she is rocking away on the horse my Daddy and Grandaddy made before I was born:
And here she is having a picnic with her dolls just yesterday.

She's one of a kind, just like LL, and we are looking forward to seeing just how this new little one fits into the family picture of personalities, too!

Tenderness Twirling...

"Baby woman, tiny in stature now

But your heart is a treasure

Little princess come follow behind me now

I am reaching for you

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

Elliana, God will conquer my fears

To mother a daughter, to look you in the eye

To know that I had everything, to walk with you in life

To give you to Jesus that He would impart

The wisdom that I’m longing for to mother your heart

Elliana, God has answered my prayers

There will be others to lead and to guide you girl

But only one you’ll call Mother, the honor is all mine

To show you what a woman’s like

I’m so glad you’re mine

Tenderness of God is twirling around

In our living room tonight

Lighten up your daddy’s eyes

And know that he just wants to freeze you in time"

~~These are the lyrics to Watermark's "Elliana's Song." I have seen the line about "tenderness of God twirling around our living room tonight" on another blog I read for several months, but this picture of AG inspired me to look up the rest of it. Even though I haven't heard it sung, it captures so well my thoughts and feelings about being a mom to little girls.

~~Hope you all have a wonderful day as your week gets underway, and that you see God's tenderness twirling around you today!

Final Four Road Trip

Over the weekend we headed out for what, Lord willing, was our last road trip as a family of four. We hit two sets of grandparents for twenty-four hour visits on this whirlwind tour and, as usual, they packed the time with fun and special treats!

The first stop was T's parents, where Nana keeps the Bose hot with a mix of Broadway tunes and "little girl music" (which, until last week, were the only two musical genres AG would listen to...but after attending a performance of a Cinderella ballet, she now also accepts "ballet music," known to us as classical). Here's LL taking a spin on the dance floor with Nana:
We all looked forward to a swim while we were there and thankfully caught a few minutes between sunrise and the expected rain shower on Saturday morning for the girls to hit the pool with Grandpa. Here they are checking out a roly poly with Grandpa after the rain stopped:
The girls loved lunch...pepperoni pizza and fresh strawberry milkshakes! Thanks for a great time, Nana and Grandpa!

Saturday afternoon we went on to Gran and PopPop's house and enjoyed some outside playtime and the usual "parade of trains" that the girls have come to expect there, since they live just a few houses from the railroad tracks. Here they are watching one of the many pass by:

We had a snack on the front porch (see LL's pesto pic below!) and explored and played. We came across a box of my old books, everthing from ones I loved as a little girl to novels I read in my Senior English class, and read a few (see below). LL for some reason latched onto Lord of the Flies...needless to say it'll be a while before we attempt to read that one with her! That night, AG slept upstairs for the first time in my old bedroom! It was quite a step for her and we were all very proud (and glad because this will make accommodating a newborn easier next time we visit!). Sunday after church, Gran and PopPop took us to lunch at the restaurant where T's and my rehearsal dinner was held. This was really special...it was the first time T and I have been back together since that night almost 6.5 years ago, and although the place hadn't changed, it was neat to realize how much our lives had changed since then and to be there with our expanded family!
Sunday afternoon AG and LL's great aunt and uncle came to visit and we all had cookies and homemade ice cream...our first of the summer...what a treat! Thanks, Gran and PopPop, for a fun visit!

So now here we are, back at home, settling in to await the arrival of baby sister sometime in the next 6 weeks. I am hoping the urge to nest will strike me soon, because for now, lying on the couch reading or sleeping whenever the girls are asleep is way more appealing than any of the sewing, cleaning, or scrapbooking projects I really hope and need to get done before she arrives! We'll see... Hope y'all have a good week!

One & Three-Quarters!

Where did this talking, climbing/dancing/running, self-feeding toddler come from? LL is 21 months old today...how time has flown!

We moved almost a year ago with an easygoing "baby" who crawled and tolerated baby food, and now we have a bubbly, chattering, entertainer who wears ponytails, sings entire songs, and constantly reminds us that she can do things her"seff"! In the last few weeks she has started counting out loud, singing the ABCs, and saying a few nursery rhymes pretty well, and her favorite songs include several that the ladies in the church nursery sing every week... which have fun motions that LL really gets into!

Of course her budding independence and will also bring opportunities for a variety of interactions with her sister, and LL seems to like to get her hands into AG's food, toys, and hair (with a pull!) so we are having to referee more squabbles and discipline more these days. Thankfully though, at this point, they both let things go pretty quickly and enjoy having hug fests a lot more, it seems. LL wants to repeatedly go to AG and her Daddy for one "more kiss" throughout our bedtime routine, and, best of all, she still snuggles with us, likes to rock, and seems like my baby!

Here are a few more recent photos:
Reading Curious George to a few lucky dolls and animals...

Trying hard to fill Daddy's shoes...

Discovering a taste for pesto at Gran and PopPop's...

and displaying her picture "smile" for the camera after swimming at Nana and Grandpa's. She smiles (her real smile!) alot, and we absolutely can't get enough of her sweet dimples! On that topic...last week we were rehearsing each other's facial features and when I pointed out LL's dimples, AG said, "I don't have dimples...I just have teeth!" Guess we can't all be so lucky, huh?

Hard to believe our "little one" is about to be a big sister herself! Baby girl #3 will be blessed to have plenty of helping hands and entertainment, no doubt!

A Fun First...

This morning I took the girls out for a big event...their first movie in a theater. I found out they show kids' movies free during the summer a few mornings a week and figured it was worth a shot, even though I didn't expect to make it through the whole thing due to a certain little sister's still-short attention span. Well, we got there early and waited in a theater full of kids for the big moment (with AG asking all kinds of questions about who starts the movie and if it had started yet)... and finally "Happy Feet" came on and of course captured both AG and LL's complete attention for at least 15 minutes. Then LL started to get a little restless and wanted to get down from my lap, sit in the seat beside me (one of about 2 that was open in the whole room), say "PING-ONE!" repeatedly, rock the seat in front of us, sit on the step in the aisle, play peekaboo with me from behind the armrest, walk up and down the steps, introduce the girl behind us to her baby doll...and so after about 45 minutes I made the pretty obvious call that we'd had enough of the movie and needed to get our own little one with "happy feet" out of there. AG liked it but didn't seem to mind making an early exit. Overall, a pretty successful first try, all things considered!

Sunday morning we had a special treat...well a few, actually. Not only did we get to go to church, but Gran and PopPop joined us on their way back from a weekend trip and came to church with us, and then took us to lunch at a place that prides itself on doing ONLY chicken fingers, but doing them right! As you can see, 2 girls + 2 grandparents + lots of yummy chicken, fries, and ketchup (the power of which cannot be underestimated for a toddler!) = 1 good time!LL had an appetite and the mouth to go with it!

AG with Gran after lunch... how did AG end up with such a clean face?

Ketchupy LL models a cap and checks out her own little chicken fingers.

Smiles all around!

"Are they twins?"

This is the question we have been hearing more and more over the last few months. It always kind of surprises me, since I think they look so different, but apparently those who don't know them see a great resemblance, despite AG being much taller and having hair that's at least twice as long as LL's! And though that's the case now, in the months to come I expect LL will catch up in some ways that will make the sisterly resemblance seem more twinlike than ever.

Happy clappers!

And below, checking out flowers in the matching dresses Gran and PopPop brought them from Hawaii.

I took this one this morning during one of the many happy sisterly moments they share. They really are sweet together most of the time...