Birthday shopping for Mommy

Oh where oh where to begin. For starters, Megan's birthday is right around the corner so me, being the highly trained production planner I am, of course wait till the last minute. So I decided to take both girls out to go pick out something for Mommy. I knew that there were 3 things that would make Megan's birthday special.

1. A new nightgown
2. Some nice smelling stuff from Bath and Body works
3. Something the girls picked out themselves, no matter what it was. the simple things in life.

Now since Megan lives and breathes this blog, you'll forgive me on leaving out some of the details. :) So we start our "adventure" at Fashion Bug. I decided to let Lily walk and have Charlotte in the single stroller. Yeah, I hear the "doh's" as I type this. Everything was going great until I start hearing Lily say "Oh, Mommy like this." Interested in hoping it was the Magic #3 of my list, I turn to see what has Lily SO excited. Lily has found a very "pretty" bra and was (i can't make this up mind you) feeling all over the fabric in a very daddy uncomfortable way. Now remember, I am a 30 year old man with 2 little girls, 1 in a stroller, in a Lady's clothing store next to intimate apparel while this was going on. Needless to say, Awkward. So I now am red faced, sweating, and redirect her on looking for a nightgown. So again we are looking. And again Lily finds another "OOO, Mommy likes this one daddy." This one being a even more embarrassing item with her same level of affection for the fabric. Finally, hoping to still hold on to my Man Card, I scoop up everyone, grabbed something that looked pretty, paid, and made a mad dash for the door. Nothing more can I say now, I'll post the rest of the trip after the birthday. But we are home safe, sound, and I still have a piece of my Man Card.

FFF- Silly Smiles

It's that time again FFF!!! This week's theme is Silly Smiles! Enjoy our super silly girls!




Check out more Silly Smiles @ www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com

Have a great weekend!!

AWESOME!!!!

Last night was AWESOME!

Chris and I went to see Alanis Morriestte at the Lyric!

DID I SAY IT WAS AWESOME!!! Oh My!

A little side note: Sign of the times.... Instead of worrying about what I was going to wear, I worried over making sure we left with enough time to stop and get a coffee, so I would be AWAKE! Old, OLd, OLD! sigh... we did get the coffee BTW!

Anywho, once we got the coffee we were on our way. It was in the City (which I dislike- we ALWAYS get lost) I spent the day studying our route. Why I wasted time with that I have no clue.. we STILL got lost. Which always insights tension, loud voices, and sharp exchanges (don't you love how lovely I made a argument sound!). We turned a 26 minute trip into a 45 minute trip.. but thankfully we made it. Harmony is instantly restored...Chris I told you we should have gotten that Tom-Tom thing ;-) LOL

We also found close, cheap parking- bonus! We made our way in and found our seats which were AWESOME!!

The show started off with her opening act Alexis Murdock- he is from Scotland. He was ok, but he was on for almost 45 mins! FINALLY @ 9 pm (our normal bedtime- we are such ROCK STARS!) Alanis came on. It was AWESOME!!! She went for about 1 1/2 hours. This is why I love her, it was all about the music. There wasn't any costume changes, fireworks, dancers, heck there weren't any back-up singers. It was her band and her. AWESOME!! I feel like we got our money's worth out of it!

I was surprised by how diverse the crowd was. we saw dread-locks to bald spots and everything in between. LOL It was an AWESOME time!

When it was over Chris and I got lost coming home (surprise surprise!) LOL but this time we took it all in stride and found our way!

I must say I was a little disappointed in Chris...(this is totally said in jest) he PROMISED that he was going to paint his belly and shout I LOVE YOU ALANIS. But, sadly this didn't happen. He did try to bounce on his knees to have the illusion of dancing. Chris doesn't not even a little bit dance in public. So this was a BIG deal! But seriously Chris, Thank you for taking me, acting like you were having a good time, and making me smile!

Thank you also to our helpers Beasy, and Maina (Tracy and Brianna) for staying with our girls and giving us peace of mind to relax and have a good time! You guys are AWESOME!!

A little side note not to be forgotten... yesterday 13 years ago Chris called my house and asked me to be his girlfriend. We were only 16 years old. I don't regret a day.

In case you were wondering the word awesome was used a total of: 8 times in this post!

BIG GIRL DAY!!

Saturday we took Lily on her very first Big Girl Day! She LOVED getting to see The King and Queen, and all of the Princesses! On the way there she kept yelling out that she was going to see Cinderella's Castle. She also kept telling Cinderella to "hold on, I coming see you." We go there just as it was opening. She didn't quite get it at first.

There are lots of shows there but many are geared toward adults. We did more sight-seeing then anything. We did make sure we took her watch the joust. She did ok, only got a little wiggly at the end. However, once it was over she looked at Chris and I and proclaimed that she wanted a Horse too! Haha Not gonna happen! :-)



She did get to ride a pony and LOVED that, she tried to eat a turkey leg (it was bigger then she is!!), and got to hold our hands in any configuration that she desired. We were there for about 4 hours and she was tired! But, she had a good time. She was still talking about the horse's and the knights this morning.



After we got home we got re-dressed to go out to dinner for Me-Maw's birthday! Lily got a little confused and thought we were going to Church. There are a few of their outfits that are reserved for the sole purpose of Church. She looked up with those big round eyes are asked "we go Rev Rev Cindy's house, we go sing Jesus loves me?" I told her that we were going to see Me-maw for her birthday, but she could still sing Jesus Loves Me if she wanted to. Too cute!

We had a great time celebrating at dinner. The girls lit up the room. I love it when we go out and they are noisy, but with happy noise. Most people enjoy baby giggles. So that was nice.

Waiting to go in!!

Little hambone!!

Taking a BIG BITE!!

Lovin' the pony!
Princess Lilliana

The King riding into Rebel Grove

Go Rdette GO!!!!!

GUESS WHAT RDETTE DID YESTERDAY?!?!?!?!

SHE STARTED WALKING!!!

GO RDETTE GO!!!

Chats with Lily

To set this up a little.. to help celebrate Chris's new position Lily and I made a cake while Charlotte was napping. I was going to ice it tonight while Chris had the girls in the tub. When I cut off the crust the cake fell apart. I have no clue why/how this happened. Chris came in to grab a bite and gave a little bite to Lily. This is what I heard...

Chris: Lily is that good cake?
Lily: yes it is yummy
Chris: What does it taste like?
Lily: Ham and Cheese

ROFL!!!


Have a great night!

BIG HAPPY HENRY NEWS!!

Today Chris was offered a buy out from his contract and is set to become a full-time employee with his current company!!

WE WILL HAVE HEALTH INSURANCE!!!

We bought a private plan for the girls but Chris and I have been flying without a net for 6 months. With Chris's health history it was a huge risk. But we hoped and prayed that everything would hold stable for him- and it did.

Needless to say he is super excited! Lily and I practiced this afternoon saying "Congratulations Daddy!" Then Lily, Charlotte and I called and left him a sweet message telling him Condabulations Daddy! Lily is good at leaving messages, we call everyday after Lily poops on the potty. Chris obviously can't always answer the phone so we leave a message! He loves his poop calls! :-)

Thank you Chris for being a wonderful Hubby, Daddy and provider. I know there are many days you don't want to leave us (then there are others I see your dust!). But, I know how hard you work to for us in order for me to stay home, and I truly appreciate it. I love you!

Lillisms

I am going to have to get video of her saying some of these! This is a list of her newest sayings...

"(insert name) you are prettiful"- complete with baby sign!

"Oh my Noodness!"

If she is looking for something and then find something that might do the job she says:

"yes, this one works better"

"What ya doing Mommy"- this was just today!

"I help you"

Ohh this is a favorite... when we are driving home we have her count the houses on our street until we get to ours. She was doing great with this then the other day we heard:
"one, two, nome on Rdette dount...one, two, Rdette dount with me"

"you miss me?"

"you love me Mommy" - she says this so I will say something back to her. Like, I love forever, and ever, or I love YOU bunches- she really likes that one.

Then she will tell us:
"I love you ever, ever, ever"

She will tell Chris he is being a "silly Daddy gain"

She will hug Rdette around her neck and say "ahhh love you baby" She also like to giggle and call her a "silly baby" when she does something silly.

Weekend Wrap-up

We were some social butterflies this weekend! On Saturday Chris's sister invited us to a crab feast in the afternoon. In the morning we got up and took the girls to the park to wear Miss. L down so that maybe, just maybe she would nap before we went to the feast.

We walked her all over the park from one end to the other. We saw little fish in the water and ducks swimming. She gets so excited about those kinds of things. Then we played at the park for a while. It was a good time, she really needed to run and got to do lots of it. When we got home Charlotte was tired from all that riding she did in the stroller and car!! She doesn't cry much at all unless you are keeping her from her food or sleep. We were late for both and she let us know it! LOL

We got Rdette down for her nap and then we set our eyes on Lily, who came close to falling asleep a few times but never fully slept. Sigh... We have thrown in the towel with nap time and are going to let her have quite time instead. Se was never a great napper and anymore it is just more of a fight. She does get enough sleep at night, (they go to bed @ 7 and get up by 630) and a little rest spot in the afternoon is going well. Plus it gives her and I a little more together time.

Back n topic- the weekend...

Rdette got up and we drove to Chris's sister's house. Who was sleeping by the time we got there... LILY! We did let her sleep a about 20 more mins before we woke her up. We had yummy crabs. Lily and Charlotte did well. There was a ton of people most of which we didn't know. They were the only two kids there so people were on them like white on rice! Rdette right now is really more of monkey right now clings to me as such, but she was ok sitting with Chris's sister as long as she knew we were around.

On Sunday we made to Church- (two weeks in a row- can you stand it!) We got there just in time to get the girls into Nursery. Lily again screamed after me "Mama nome (come) here" over and over. Charlotte also lost it again. It is really hard to leave them, but I also know that it is good for them to have interaction with other children/adults.

Once service was over we went to collect them. Their teach said that Lily did a great job and calmed right down, Rdette took a little more convincing. When we got ourselves together it was clear that Charlotte had enough "new" people this weekend. We heard about that all the way home. We had a sweet moment when I was laying her down for nap. I was rocking her and I swear that she was telling me about Sunday School she just babbled on and on. It was pretty sweet.

Chris, Lily and I all had lunch and a brief quite time and then Lily and I went to a friends' birthday party! It was at Chuck E. Cheese! It was nice for me to have alone with her and give her some Mommy and Lily time outside of our house. The party was for a long time friend of mine. She married the brother of one of very best friends from High School. L and T are the primary reason why I spent the majority of my nursing career working with folks with Developmental Disabilities. L and T are living with Downs Syndrome. They are just wonderful people. We had a great time!

It was a great weekend! This weekend coming up we are starting a new family tradition and taking Lily on her very first "Big Girl Day Out!" We gave her a choice (although we knew what she would want to do) of either the Aquarium or the Renaissance Festival. Of COURSE she wants to see real Princesses!! Chris and I worked there at Ye 'Ol Renn Fest for two years! He and I worked together selling Chicken on Lances. Chris would dance if you bought a Lance! We had such a good time. The second year we worked we had Matthew and when it was slow we would talk about bringing him there. We haven't been back since (little busy traveling to Guatemala then the year later giving birth and such!;-)! It is going to be such a good time!

FFF- What I did on my summer vacation!

This week we were to come up with our own theme. I chose "What I did on my summer vacation!" I am glad for the cooler weather but I will miss our summer. At least we have these great memories!

We spent time with Grandparents!

We visited The National Zoo

We visited the Baltimore Zoo.

Lily got to see the Elephants!Rdette slept!
We ate messy treats!
And took LOTS of baths!

Lily got to meet her idol!
Daddy even got in on the fun!
And Charlotte rode her very first ride!

What a great summer we had!

To see what other cool families came up with visit

http://www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/

Sesame Street or Bust!!

I know what you are thinking- she has lost her mind! Not quite although by Oct 5 that maybe the case! We are in full swing Charlotte party planning! I finally decided on the design of her cake today! Very exciting. Chris is just happy that I have drawn something out, and so far have stayed on course! It is going to be Abby Cadabby themed. I figured that way there is some of all the characters represented! Honestly the hard part has been finding things that DO NOT include your red furry friend and mine Elmo! He is all over the place.

I did score on EBay again the other day and got a Kid Sized Puzzle of Zoe! It is taller then Lily! Chris and I put it all together and glued it. It is so cute. We were going to get the Big Bird but after her party I would like to hang it in their room. Zoe in her little ballerina outfit would fit in much better then Big Bird.

Going back to Elmo for a second... we did go ahead and pre-order the new Elmo Live doll for Lily from Santa. I know it is going to be next to impossible to find it as we get closer to Christmas. We can go pick it up next month. She will love it for sure! I think Santa should leave Chris and I Motrin in our stockings! I think we are going to need it!

Stay tuned as we get closer I am sure knowing us that there are going to LOTS of things to write about! ;-)

First Day of School

OK well Sunday School! We have been on the road so much this summer that we haven't made it to many services. We knew that today was the first day of Sunday School, even though the girls are still in Nursery, it is good for us to get there. It is even better for them because they are used to just being with me everyday, this gives a little more sense of being in a group w/out Mommy and Daddy.

Lily was very excited. We have been talking about her teachers and she know that we were going to 'Jesus house'. When we got there she super glued herself to me, Charlotte burst in tears. I found some toys that I knew Lily would like (Elmo and Big Bird). Then her second teach told us that it would be ok and we should go. Lily melted down, Charlotte was still screaming. We got into the hallway and Lily beings to scream at the top of her little lungs MOMMY NOOME (come)HERE, MOMMY and tried to run out of the door. Chris just kept me walking away. Very sad :-(


Once we got settled in I knew that if they didn't come get us that they had settled. We went to go pick them up afterwards and they we very excited to see us. Lily asked me "you miss me Mommy?" I told her yes, and asked if she missed me, she hugged even tighter and said yes.


After we got home we had lunch then Charlotte napped, Chris Lily and I went outside to remove our storm damage. There was a tree in our yard that we knew had a 50/50 shot of making through the storm... it didn't make it. There was no real damage. It did brush the swing set and the fence. Chris commented on how good we are getting at tree removal. As this was the rest of the tree that fell the night before Charlotte's Baptism. At least it is gone!

Lily was such a good helper. She wanted to help walk the branches down to the pile we were making. So Chris cut a few small ones off just for her. She even got a helper sticker yesterday! We are on an upswing for sure. I don't know if I ever talked about 'helper stickers' here before. They are temporary tattoos. Stickers aren't really an option for us right now because Charlotte likes to eat them once Lily has pulled off all of the adhesive and then leaves them on the floor. So we thought about the tattoos. She LOVES them, she only gets one and then 'works' on earning another one.

Wow, I am a little talkative this morning!! I better get going, Lily has just announced that she wants pancakes for breakfast! Have a great day!!

Lily actually said "you done Mommy?"

Pretty girl!

She had a Pony!!

11 Months

Today is the last time we can age Charlotte in months. Now I know that we will still for some time. Technically in 30 days a chapter will close and we will take a huge step out of babyhood, and into toddler hood. I was reminded of this today when I prepared their sippy cups. Charlotte and Lily for that matter are still babies in many ways, but in many others they are growing into prettiful (lily's new word) little girls. It is a happy and sad event for me because I still remember driving to the hospital to deliver Charlotte, the first time I saw that perfect little face. Lily is no different, I can tell you every minute leading to us having her placed in our arms and the relief it brought to us. Now we are starting to talk about pre-school! Where did the time go?

Charlotte is my greatest surprise. She was given to us, not in our time, but exactly when we were suppose to have her. She and Lily have renewed our faith God. Now I know that sounds deep, but it is true. There is no other explanation, they are our angels from heaven. I feel it every time I look at them, every time Lily hears me drop something and comes running asking "Mommy OK?" Every time I come into a room and Charlotte lights up. I know that I am in the presence of something extraordinary.

In exactly one month we will celebrating her first birthday, and our first year as a family. We don't know if we will have another child or if our family is complete. I am not even going to worry over that. If we are suppose to then we will. Our third child would be heart grown just as Lily was.

Chris and I have always said that we were meant to love Matthew because we were supposed to wait for Lily. Lily was suppose to bring Charlotte. We wonder all the time what Charlotte has up her sleeves! Time will tell.

FFF- Oh Baby!!

This is the very first picture we saw of Lily. She was 13 days old! When I saw her I was at work. We had lost our first referral two days before. Chris had called and told to look at our agencies website. He didn't say anything else other then to call as soon as I got a chance to look. As soon as I hung up the phone I hijacked a co-workers computer and went to look. I pulled up the pictures and she literally took my breath away. I just knew it was going to be ok. We signed her POA within the hour. 12 months and 8 days later she was home forever!

This is the very first picture taken of Charlotte. Our hospital didn't allow pictures during the c-section. She was roughly 15 mins old here. Because I had to have a c-section I was taped to the operating board. I didn't get to see her as soon as she came out because I was losing too much blood. They quickly corrected that and when they brought her to me I was so over come I literally pulled my taped arm up from the table to pull her little hat up. I could see her blond hair. The very first thing I said was "OMG she has blond hair!" Then I made them push her into my face so I could kiss all over her. I remember telling her I love you over and over again. You can see in the picture where her hat is pushed over her ear. That was from me!

To see more great pics go to http://www.kissthefrog4me.blogspot.com/

It's a bird, it's a plane....

It's Lilliana Catherine.....

We went costume shopping on Sunday. This was her pick! Isn't it her!! For some reason she thinks that she has to have her mouth open while she is flying! The best part is because she is on the shorter side the boot covers are more like leg warmers!!

Not to be left out....

Off the cuteness chart right!! This was our second choice for Miss Rdette. The first costume was a bumble bee. I had picked it out weeks ago and brought it home. It was 18 months should have been plenty big enough HAHA!! It was over the moon cute. We were afraid that in eight more weeks it would not fit. So just take it back for the next size right? I (no lie) have been to babies r us hoping that they would have it at least 8 times! No luck. So I am letting the bumble bee go She does through look adorable as a Angel. Only draw back is that can't get her halo to straighten out! She doesn't like ANYTHING on her head. So we will either get it to work or we will cut it off and she will be a fairy instead!

I LOVE this time of year!

Peek-a-boo!

Rdette's new favorite game. :)

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