Monday, February 28, 2011

Cute Kids

Emily and Kye came over one day during my winter break to play.  Emily and I left the room for a minute, and came back in to find the kids sharing a snack.


Don't you just love cute kid moments?  Just goes to show that even though she's bossy, he still digs her.  :)

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Sunday, February 27, 2011

A New Tradition: Family Picnics!

I don't know about you, but I have been LOVING the weather around here lately.  It has been warm (but not hot) and the sun has been out every day!  It has totally been giving us cabin fever and we've been taking every chance that we can get to spend time outdoors.  Late last week, Matt had a wonderful idea for our Saturday: a family picnic! 

Matt and I used to do picnics when we were dating/engaged/newly married (enough to where my mom bought us a really nice picnic basket), but we haven't done any in years.  I thought that it was just a fabulous idea and knew that LL wouldn't disagree!

We headed to the park with all of our supplies and just prayed that it wouldn't be crazy busy with kids.  I figured we didn't have much of a chance of that because it was absolutely georgeous out.  We were in luck, though!  There were a good amount of families out, but it definitely wasn't the craziness that I thought it would be. 

We got there about 10:00 so that we'd have plenty of time for LL to run and play before time to eat.  We knew that would be our only chance of getting her to sit on a blanket and eat.  Have you been around my child lately?  Girl has got some energy!

We swung for a while (her absolute favorite thing to do) on the regular swings...



This is my new favorite picture of the two of them!

....but then she saw her favorite thing in the whole park.  The handicapped swing.  No joke.  She cries if you take her out of this thing!  She LOVES it and I have no idea why!  It's so big!  Mommy no likey.

All of the trees were blooming so she went with Daddy to pick some flowers for me.   :)





She went down the slide a few times, too.  Around 11:00ish we decided to give lunch a go.






First time every trying Kool-Aid.  She's a fan.

After lunch she went on a walk with Daddy while I cleaned up our area. 


We swang a little more, played with some bulldog puppies that were there, and then headed home for nap time.



It was a perfect morning, and Matt and I decided that we would start a new tradition: the first warm, sunny Saturday of every year will be spent with a picnic at the park!



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Thursday, February 24, 2011

Lorelai's Big Girl Room

Matt and I have been talking for a while about what we wanted to do with Lorelai's room when it was time to move her from her crib to a bigger bed.  When we bought her crib, we decided to go ahead and spend the extra money to get her furniture that was really nice.  We also decided to buy her a crib that goes from a crib to a toddler bed and a full size bed.  That way, once we had it, we had everything we needed.

I knew that the time was coming quickly that she would no longer be sleeping in her crib.  I actually got in a kick that I wanted to get her some new furniture and use what she has for the next possible baby.  We did tons of furniture shopping.  We even went to Tallahasse for like 2 hours one Saturday because a big furniture store there was having a HUGE sale.  And we just couldn't decide on anything so we gave up and concluded that we would just talk about it later.  Our plan was to keep her in her crib until I was home for summer break (about the middle of May) so that it wouldn't matter if she was up all night, had problems, kept getting out, etc.  We also decided to that we didn't want to transition to a toddler bed - we just wanted to go ahead and put her in a big bed, regardless of if we kept what we had or bought her something new.


Boy, did she have another plan for us!  We started having MAJOR sleep issues.  I mean HORRIBLE sleep issues.  We have done babywise since she was 2 weeks old.  And while we've never been super hardcore about it, her sleeping situation has always been a different situation.  We have definitely been hardcore about that.  She has been sleeping in her room, in her bed, in the dark since she was 7 weeks old.  She has never slept in our bed with us.  We stopped rocking her to sleep when she was about 4 months old.  Super hard core. 


Ha. 


It was if none of this had never happened.  She screamed for hours on end at bed time.  Woke up at the slighestest noise.  Woke several times in the night screamingbloodymurderatthetopofherlungsandscaringushalftodeath.  Stayed up in the middle of the night for HOURS on end, hysterical if we left her room.  It was awful.  We have only had to deal with this one other time when she was about 18 months old, right after she jumped/fell/climbed out of her crib (the one and only time that happened).  But this was even worse than that.  She cried so hard one night that she threw up.  Not cool.  But it was also different this time.  She wasn't just being disobedient or not wanting to go to sleep - she was terrified.  Scared.  Petrified.  How do I know?  She tells us!  "Mommy, scared!" 


To make a long story short - we thought maybe it was her crib that had something to do with it.  So in one whole day, we changed her room from a baby room to a big girl room.  Bought the whole sha-bang in one day.  This did make one important decision for us: she was keeping the furniture she had.  I've been talking about doing her room in owls for about 6 months now.  It's even where I got the idea for her owl theme birthday party.  We ended up sticking to that, and I absolutely LOVE her new room!  Here's our finished product on her big girl room!




She loves her bed when it's time to play.  She'll play on it for hours.  She loves to talk about her big girl bed.  And she is sleeping in it every night.  She is also VERY good at staying in her bed until we come to get her out - no crazy visits to our room in the middle of the night.  The sleep issues are still there.  They're better - but they're still there.  We're slowly working on them, praying for her, and hoping that this phase will pass quickly. 


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Wednesday, February 23, 2011

LL "isms"

Don't you just love how toddlers come up with their own little language?  For lots of things, LL either comes up with her own words, or she says the words funny.  I want to start keeping a list of the ways that she say stuff so that I don't forget down the road.  I'll continue to update this post and she comes up with more.

-Her sleep blankies = prit
-Pumpkin = cupin
-Santa Clause - Crimwey Cwause
-Lizard = Zilard
-Butterfly = Dawfly
-Ladybug = Lillybug
-The park = swingslide
-Smiley face = doll face
-Doughnut = No nut
-Catterpiller = ta piller
-Thunder = under
-Aunt Laura = Aunt Lola
-Helicoptor = Hotdogger
-Umbrella = Umb Lola 
-Strawberry Shortcake = Strawberry Cupcake
-Strawberry = Strawbee
-Tomato = wa-mato
-Iguana = Wu-wana



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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

2 Year Doctor's Appointment

Lorelai had her 2 year doctor's appointment on February 9th (her due date!).  It went really well!  Here are some of her stats:


Some more interesting information from her visit:
  • Her hemangioma has shrunk 1/2 cm in just 6 months!  Dr. Blache measured it at 18 months and it was 3 1/2 cm.  She measured it at her 2 year and it was 3 cm!  That's great!  I told her that LL was starting to notice it more and pull on it.  She said to discourage her from that because it would bleed more than other areas if it were to get cut.  She also said that if it starts to really bother her, to let her know and she would refer us to a dermatologist (presumably to have it removed).  I don't see this happening.
  • They check her hemoglobin levels and they were on the low end of normal.  Reason?  She gets too much milk!  It sounds backwards, but too much milk lowers your iron.  This means we need to start cutting her back.
  • LL is now on 2% milk instead of whole.
  • Dr. Blache said that LL is very smart and that she reads on a 4 year old level and speaks amazing for her age.
  • She has until age 3 to potty train (yeah right!  We're getting it done before then if I have anything to say about it!).  She also said that "smart kids" have a harder time potty training.  Great.
  • We need to start flossing her teeth.  I've already tried it - it's a nightmare!  But we're doing it anyway!
  • She told me I could use some sites on the Internet to guess at LL's adult height.  It should be somewhere between 5'5" and 5'8".  Not too bad! 
Overall it was a very good visit!  No more appointments until her next birthday - how crazy is that?! 

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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Lorelai's 2nd Birthday Letter From Daddy

Baby Girl,

I'm posting so you know it must be your birthday. I can't believe that it's already time to write your second birthday letter. You've grown so quickly and the time has flown by. I must say it has been a fun year. You've had so many first from your first steps by yourself to your first pee-pee in the potty. You're growing into a beautiful little girl and I see so much of your mommy in you.

You bring so much laughter and smiles into our lives and I love you so much for it. I love spending time with you playing outside or cuddling on the couch just after you wake up. Just always know that daddy loves his little girl and I promise that I'll always be here for you and mommy. I'm so excited for what the next year has in store. I know there will be lots of laughter, tears, and firsts and I can't wait to go through it all with you.

You really are blessed to have a family that loves you like we do and we are all blessed to have you. You make me a better person because I want to be the best daddy the world has ever seen because of you. I promise to keep showing you how much the Lord loves you through my actions so that one day you will know exactly who He is. I know that you are going to change the world.

Remember; I love you right up to the moon... and back.

Daddy

Friday, February 18, 2011

Lorelai's 2nd Birthday Letter From Mommy

Lorelai,

My precious baby girl!  You are already two years old!  It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing you last year's birthday letter.  It is so amazing to me because, if I thought I had a great 1st year with you, then I had an AMAZING second year with you.  You have changed so much in the past year - I can hardly believe that you were ever that small!  You are such an amazing daughter - you are sweet, funny, stubborn, silly, and the joy of my life.  You still look just like your daddy to me, but I see soooo much of my personality rising up in you.

You are stubborn and strong willed.  And I know that you get it honest.  While some people may see this as a fault, I love every bit of it.  It means that you will never settle for less that you deserve and that you will always rise above any circumstances and that you will make something of yourself.  You will never let anyone walk all over you.  I know that, and I love that!

You are also SO funny.  When I tell people this, they sometimes look at my like I'm crazy because you are just two.  But you really are funny.  You crack jokes ALL the time.  Not word jokes, but jokes by your actions.  And sometimes your words. 

You are extremely smart.  It really surprises me sometimes!  Your vocabulary is beyond anything that I can try to comprehend.  You know hundreds of words and can form pretty long sentences.  You can read 50+ words.  You sing songs.  Entire songs.  "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star", "Jingle Bells", "The ABC song", "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", and probably a few more that I can't think of. 

You have two favorite things to do: read books and look at cards (animal cards, word cards, number cards, letter cards, shape cards, color cards, you name it).  I love that you have a passion for learning and you don't even know that you're doing it!  Your favorite things to watch are: Little Einsteins, Dora, and Care Bears even though you only watch about 5 minutes of anything before wandering off to find something else to do.

You absolutely LOVE to be outside.  You don't even have to be occupied - you're satisfied with just running around and chasing your shadow.  Once in starts warming up, I don't see us spending too much time indoors!  You're entire family absolutely adores you.  And you adore them right back.  You and Lola are still best friends and I don't see that bond doing anything but getting stronger over the years.  Pretty soon I can see her abandoning our bed to sleep in yours at night.  And I'm sure you'll love it when she decides to do that.

Lorelai, if there's one thing that I want you to know, it's that I love you.  With my entire heart.  There is no person on this earth that could possibly love you as much as I do.  Daddy loves you, too.  But you and I will have this special bond.  We are linked.  We share a bond that could never happen with anyone else!  I still remember exactly what it was like to carry you inside of my body.  To feel you move within me.  To feel you growing.  And that's what makes it special.  There was a time in my life when my body took care of you before it took care of me.  And now that you're here - I'm still trying to do that.  You and I have a bond that can never be changed or duplicated.  And I love you.  With everything that I am.  You are a loved little girl.  I can't wait to spend the rest of my life watching you grow - that will be my greatest honor!  You are a very special little girl, and you are going to change the world!

I love you,

Mommy

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Lorelai's 2nd Birthday!

This year, Lorelai's birthday fell on a Saturday, so we decided to do her party on her actual birthday!  This year we went with an owl theme for her party, and I actually found lots of really cute owl themed stuff for her party!  For about a million different reasons, the week leading up to LL's birthday turned out to be CRAZY and one of Matt's busiest weeks since starting Aflac.  He was out of town 3 days that week (Brunswick, Thomasville, and Columbus) and was gone completely Friday night.  Not super great timing, but there was nothing we could do about it.

Emily had offered to come spend the night Friday night and help me do lots of party stuff.  I was super excited about it and it kept my anxiety down all week.  Then Thursday Kye got the flu!  I emailed my sister at work upset at my crazy week and having to do practically everything by myself and she agreed to take 1/2 day Friday off and come spend the night with me and help.  I love my sister!  Isn't that what sisters are for?  To help out when you're stressed and in a bind?  Laura and I haven't gotten to hang out just the two of us since before I got pregnant, so I was also really excited to spend some times with her for that reason.

I took 1/2 day Friday, too, to get the entire house clean before Laura got here so that we could just concentrate on decorating.  Saturday morning when LL woke up, Laura and I sang her Happy Birthday and started getting the three of us ready for the day.  We went by Wal-Mart to get last minute stuff for her party.  Then I took her to Chik-Fil-A for her birthday lunch (by far her favorite place to eat) and met Grammy and Pop there.  Matt got back in town about this time and met us there half way through lunch.  After we ate, we let her play in the playground before heading home for a good nap before her party!

Really and truly, everything ended looking amazing and going off without a hitch.  We had several people not come, but most of the people we invited did come.  Lorelai looked amazingly adorable and had a blast.  Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better birthday for her!  Alright, now for TONS of pictures!  Thanks to Mrs. Becky, Meghan, and Emily for taking pictures for me!  Here we go:

For starters, don't you just love comparison pictures?  I do!  Check my baby girl out and how much she's changed in a year!

Aunt Laura helping make the cake on Friday night.

Decorating

Headed to lunch for her birthday!

Loving some birthday lunch!

Her cake

and cupcakes


Party set-up

Me and Meghan!  I love this girl so much!

Awww....boy bffs

Chandler, Jodi, and Coley stopped by for a little bit before the Father/Daughter dance.  I was so happy that they came!

Aunt Laura and Ben

Uncle Bryan and Aunt Missy

Me and Emily

Gentry, Gray, and Ana drove all the way up from Tallahassee just for the party! 

Kevin and Luke

Kye

Grammy



Meghan and Luke


Ben, Opa, and LL

BTW - do you like my jewelry?  I borrowed it from Emily, who sells Stella and Dot.  I'm wearing the Chelsea Necklace, the Clover Key Necklace, the Soiree Studs, and the Bardot Spiral Bangle.  I LOVE Stella and Dot stuff and thought it really looked good that night!


Don't you just love how Gray is about to punch the mess out of him in the background??



Singing "Happy Birthday"!





Time to open (and play with!) presents




I think Kye got a little jealous that another boy was playing with his Daddy!


We also played "Pass the Baby" - haha.



LL's Owl Food (aka Party Favors)

My goodness how things change in a year!

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