T's 4th birthday

Happy 4th Birthday to my amazing little girl!

Every day of our lives, we are so thankful that you came into this world and made us a mom and dad.  You were the answer to so many prayers, the peace to so many worries, the cause of great anxiety, and a source of more love than I thought I was capable.

Everyday, you continue to amaze us.  You are brilliant beyond your years.  Your passion and love for learning is astounding.  We are so proud of your many achievements this year: counting to 100, learning to add, drawing detailed people, writing and reading words.  At the same time, we are cautious.  We want you to love life, playing, pretending, and being a child.

You are a cautious child.  You are hesitant to try new things, like your scooter.  But slowly, on your own time, you master these skills as well. This past summer, you took your first swim class and conquered your fears of the water.  By the end, with some flotation assistance, you were swimming, kicking, and scooping.  You love to practice these skills now in the tub!  You regularly do somesaults, head stands, and tumbles, and we see gymnastic lessons in your near future!

Your first ballet recital is approaching quickly.  Once a very tightly kept secret, you have slowly been showing us all that you have learned in your class.  You have a beautiful grace and focus.  We are often told your class is the best.  We cannot wait to see you dance on stage.

You have been an amazing big sister and role model to K.  She adores you and everything you do.  We love to see you play together, hear you teaching her words, showing her how to do tumbles.  We pray that you two will continue to build an indestructable bond and become lifelong friends.

We are so proud of you, sweet T, and love you so much.  Happy Birtrhday my darling!

Happy Birthday K!

My sweet K,

Today you turn 2, and what a vivacious two-year old you are.  This past year has been full of amazing accomplishments for you.  Standing up, walking, starting to talk, these were all things we were so apprehensive about.  You were taking your time, your own schedule.  But you've mastered these skills with ferocity.  You run after your sister, climb everything, jump everywhere, and are every bit the chatterbox, even if we don't always know what you are saying.

You are so tiny, that its hard for me to treat you less like a baby and more like a little girl.  I still want to cradle you in my arms, snuggle you, and smother you with kisses, but you have other ideas now.  There are things you want to do and see, games to play, and dresses to wear.

Oh, the dresses.  Anything frilly, fluffly, ruffled, twirly, sparkly, you insist on wearing that moment, even if you have to pull the tutu over your jammies yourself.  You want fancy shoes all the time and dance around like a ballerina.  Just don't try to put your hair up.  That led to your first haircut, courtesy of mom.  You are rocking those bangs darling!

I love to watch you play, see you creating scenes and conversations with your dolls, words that only you understand right now.  You carry your baby doll around and pat her bum, sing her songs, and put her down for "na-nights".  You get so frustrated when you have trouble changing their clothes because you want to do it yourself so badly.  Its okay to ask for help sweetie, just be patient, you'll get it.

You are the embodiment of two year old extremes, adorably sweet and loving, and then a moment later in full tantrum on the floor because I helped button your doll's dress.  "No Mummy!" is often followed by kisses and hugs, and that sweet dimpled smile that gets me every time.  You love to dance at night and play "DJ" with the toy Weeble house.  We love to dance with you.

When we were anticipating your arrival into our little family, I would worry that I wouldn't have enough love for you too, that my heart was already so full with your Daddy and your big sister T.  Well, I didn't have to worry at all.  You have made my heart one hundred times bigger.  My love for you is so overwhelming.  Sometimes I have to let myself tear up a bit, just to release some of it.  You have completed our family in so many ways.  We are so thankful for who you are and every moment of your life.  Happy Birthday K!

Ninja vs. Mom

Ever wonder how your mom always just knew exactly what you were doing?
Here, I present to you proof that moms are ninjas...

http://www.rottenecards.com/ecards/Rottenecards_98731047_gmbjqhr87w.png

Skill                          Ninja                                                 Mom

Eyesight        Can detect the slightest movement.        Can find lost binkies in the dark.

Stealth          Can sneak up on their opponent.           Can escape baby's room undetected.

Agility          Skilled in hand to hand combat.             Can nurse, change a diaper, and cook    
                                                                                       simultaneously.
Attire            Black shinobi shozoku.                         Black yoga pants.

Strength        Can overpower their enemies.               Can carry an infant, toddler, diaper bag, and
                                                                                       groceries at one time.
Hearing        Ultra sensitive.                                        Knows the second her toddler is out of bed.

Stamina        Great strength and endurance.                Can carry out normal activities on 4 hours of
                                                                                      interrupted sleep.

Clearly, moms have innate skills and intense training to carry out every day activities.  Need further proof? I dare you to sneak up on a mom - if you can...

The Miracle Clean

When I was recovering from labor with T, I spent my 48 hour hospital stay watching HGTV.  I was completely hooked on home improvement shows and loved all the kitchen they featured with granite counters and stainless steel appliances.  Not long afterward, we did our own kitchen remodel that I wrote about here.

We just finished the kitchen renovation of the apartment we rent out.  We wanted to upgrade our stove, so we planned a little switcheroo, our one-year old stove to the apartment and a new stove for us.  The problem is that after one year, our "stainless" steel stove looked like this:

I've tried several stainless steel cleaners and none of them removed the water stains.  It looked terrible.  I felt horrible sending it over to the new apartment kitchen.  A little research on Google turned up some recommendation for silver polish or Bartender's Keeper, but I was home alone with the girls sleeping upstairs and couldn't go anywhere, so my search continued for something I already had.  And that's when I discovered a recommendation for WD-40.

In disbelief, I tried a tiny area first.  I was completely shocked and in an instant, I had removed all of the water stains from the oven door!

Looks amazing, right?!  Like new, you might say?  I went on to remove the grease that had remained on the control panel as well.  Suffice it to say that when the stove went to the apartment, it fit right in with the new fridge and microwave!

All thanks to my new little friend!...

Monday Blues

I've noticed these past few months that Mondays are hard days for my girls.  We've just spent the weekend together doing family things: errands, big breakfast, trip to the playground or zoo.  We really make the most of those two days together.

Come Monday, the fun grinds to a halt and we're back in the zone: get up, get dressed, eat up, get your coat on and get out the door.  T seems especially sad on Mondays.  Sometimes she shows it by being thoughtful and drawn inward.  Sometimes, she's outright defiant and pushing every-single-button.  Most times, she just doesn't say goodbye as we drop Daddy off or give me kisses as I leave her at daycare.

Mondays are hard.

Yesterday, she was especially sad.  Knowing that we have a long weekend and a trip home coming up, I thought I would cheer her up with this good news.  She responded well and seemed much happier.  She loves going to Grammie's house and seeing her "friends", aka her cousins.

A few more minutes into our trip, K started to whine and howl.  Being the amazing big sister she is, T tried to comfort her with this, "Don't worry K.  Just a few days of school and then they won't leave us anymore!".

That was the sound of my heart breaking.

I spent a couple more minutes hugging her yesterday morning, and afternoon, and night, and again this morning.  I reminded her how much we love her and that we miss her too during the day.  I also reminded her how much she loves her teacher Ms. Vecky and how much fun she has at daycare.  Maybe all we need is a good long vacation together.  Maybe I just needed a reminder that I have amazing daughters who love their mom and dad so much.

Maybe, just maybe, I'm doing something right.