inspiration

Kate also had her first soccer meeting tonight, which is very exciting. She is a raccoon and has a red uniform, just like Olivia! She is actually pretty good. I know we are biased and do not have much to compare her too.... but she is just really good at it!

We were getting ready to go and I started talking to one of the other moms on her team and discovered she is a heart mom. I was completely inspired and touched by her story. Her 7 1/2 year old daughter just got home from having a heart transplant. She was Hypo plastic left heart, and after 3 weeks in the hospital she is home. When she had her transplant her oxygen stats were at 49, and her heart was so swollen the doctors told her parents she would not have made it till Christmas. After she came out of surgery all her mom could see was pink lips..... I remember that moment so clearly with Claire. I never saw the wires, tubes, and drains.... I saw a pink healthy baby girl.

But she is home and as her mom said, "It has been a long 7 1/2 years, but now we have more long years ahead of us." They are truly blessed and I am reminded how fragile everyday is and how much of a blessing a healthy child truly is.

Day 2

Kate tried again to say goodbye to me in the parking lot. What is up with this? Are we already entering the stage, I am too embarrassed to be seen with my parents? All funniness aside, I think my little girl is now big and independence. By the way, she loves her school. When I picked her up today, her assistant teacher told me that she had a great day and was excellent about following the rules. (Um, are you talking about my Kate?)

After we drop off Kate, we go to the park. It helps with the fact that Stephen doesn't get to stay and go to school too. I can't believe how over a couple of weeks he has gone from a teetering toddler to a strong little boy. For no reason, he will look at me and say, "I lu-loo momma." (I don't think I will get tired of hearing that.) And, he is very polite even in stressful moments with his "no thank you." He loves the dogs! He now refers to them as "the girls" just like we do. Today he walked up to Belle, hugged & kissed her and told me that she was soft. And possibly the funniest..... When something doesn't go right or he gets an answer he is not happy with..... "Ooooh Man!" (Yes, that is also Swiper from Dora the Explorer)

First Day

She came, she saw, she conquered! Today was Kate's first day of 4/5 Kindergarten at her new school Amy Montessori. She was nervous, and I was a mess..... I guess I was such a mess because it was a new school in a new state and she did not know anyone in the class.

We are in the car on the way to school...

"Kate, I am so excited you are starting your new school! You are going to make some new friends your own age."

Well Madeline is 4 and I am four, but when Madeline is 5, I will be 6, and Aubrey will be 7 and we will still all be friends. That's what happens Mom, people grow. That's just life.

(I am laughing and crying at the same time, and then.)

Mom, what is that sound?

"What sound?"

That sound, that sniffling sound?

"I am crying, happy tears."

So we get to school and get out of the car. I help her put her backpack on and she turns around and says, Okay, goodbye Mom.

"Kate I am going to walk you to your classroom sweetie."

Mom, can you please not cry?

She walked right in, with Stephen at her heels. Got to her classroom and talked to her teacher about her school in Virginia and started to walk into the classroom. (Mrs. Danneman had to ask her if she wanted to give me a hug!) I was the one crying, no tears from my BIG girl.

Really, I am thrilled she was so confident. It is just so unlike her! Every year I am "pulling her off my leg" and she is crying for me not to leave. So with all the "new" things in our life, I was expecting the worst. She loved her school and is thrilled for tomorrow. Ahhhh, I can breath again.

a favorite of mine...

Oops, last night I forgot one. It's one of my favorites, "hold you me mamma, hold you me." He says it when he is very tired and can't keep his eyes open much longer. We snuggle and he drifts off to sleep. And of course, Curious George, Elmo, and his blue blankie all go to sleep too....

Happy 2nd Birthday Stephen

Stephen turned two yesterday, September 5th. I can remember the day so clearly... Kate and I, in the car on our way to Ukrops. Kate so excited to see all the big yellow buses going to pick up all the kids for their first day of school. We came home, pulled in the garage, and the first contraction came pretty strong and I knew he was on his way. Even after being told by my doctor that I was in false labor, I still knew that he would be making his way into the world soon. And then about 16 hours later, Stephen made his grand entrance. I can remember being so surprised with his blonde hair, tow headed, as I soon learned was the appropriate term. And, that he was only 6lbs 3oz! (I could have sworn I was carrying a bigger baby!) The moment he arrived he knew his momma and it will be one of the sweetest moments of my life. Gene and Josie arrived soon after he was born to meet him and when Gene was holding him he started to cry. Gene handed him back to me like a hot potato and he immediately nuzzled up and Josie said, "He sure knows who his Momma is!" And it has been that way ever since.

He now goes back and forth between discovering his independence to clutching on to his Momma. He will run into the world for a while, pause, come back to me with those blue eyes and request "pick up momma, pick up!" Sometimes I really don't want to have to carry another thing and then I think to myself, soon he will not want me to carry him or soon he will be too big. Soon is already here too fast, my baby is already two.

Right when Kate turned one, I went back to work 30 hours a week and Kate started daycare. She learned so much from her little school and I loved it. I have enjoyed this time around being home for this age. I love the discovery age and from what my mom says, he is a lot like me. "I do it!" or "I self!" And believe me, he does NOT want your help! If you help him and he doesn't want it, be prepared for a really big temper tantrum.

I am not comparing the kids at this age, but it is funny to see the differences. I am sure it is a combination of exposure, boy vs. girl, and being the younger sibling. Kate before she was two, could count to 10, sing the entire alphabet perfectly, and knew all her colors. Kate could say words when she wanted to and combine them, but not anywhere to the extent of her brother. Stephen can count along to 10, if he wants too, he is not great with the abc's, but he does know most of his colors. However, he is extremely verbal. He tries to say or repeat anything we say and can form sentences really well. Easter Sunday 2008, when he was 7 months old he said momma for the first time. He was already saying dada and he has been talking every since.

Stephen reminds me of his uncle Kirk with his methodical nature, everything has a process and should be done in that process. If you do it differently, be prepared to face the wrath of Stephen. He just likes it the way he likes it! He also knows exactly what he wants.... If he asks for mac n' cheese, do not try to give him eggs, he wants mac n' cheese. If he tells you he is done eating, he is done. But at least he doesn't waffle in his decision making, right?

Some of his recent phrases...

Pick up Momma, pick up!

I self!

I do it!

Kate, Kate, where arrre ooou?

I lu-loo momma - (this one makes my heart melt every time!)

Sumpen else? (aka something else)

What's gonna work, deem-work!

Fly boat, fly boat, da biggest fly boat! (We really like the Wonder Pets.)

So, you can only imagine the cake I made for his birthday..... The Wonder Pets Flyboat. He was so excited! He knew I was making him a cake and he did get to help. He kept saying, "MY cake, MY cake." I warned David, because I knew exactly what he was going to do... He thought the cake was his, ALL his. So, when it came time to cut the cake, he was having NONE of that! - MY Cake! So after some serious Momma convincing, he let us cut his cake. I cut the cake on back of the flyboat, so the front would look the same. He didn't really eat the cake I cut, he just rearranged Ming-Ming, Tuck, and Linny and of course the mast and sail... licking the icing off each time he stuck it back in. He loved it, which was the best part of all.

Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy, you promise me every night that you will always be my boy and I love you more than words can ever express. I love watching you grow and change with your sister everyday. I am so proud of you and I love you.

New Recycling Efforts

As soon as I thought we were in for it, there was a pleasant change. In the midst of Kate's temper tantrum state, I assumed that most of this was due to her age. I guess I should have thought a little more about the fact that moving might have something to do with it too. Thanks to some wise advice from good friends and family.

After a really bad temper tantrum, in a mall with new friends, I carried out Kate kicking and screaming. (Luckily, Robyn was there to push Stephen in his stroller and assure me that things would get better.) By the way, she was throwing a fit because I would not take her to eat pizza and get a balloon, like the girl in the shoe store. Instead of wanting to put her in time out and take away every toy in her room, we came home and had a civilized lunch. She made her own pizza and loved it! I tried to give her back some "control." I told her that from now on I would not take away her toys when she did not behave, however she would go to time-out for 4 minutes and the door would be shut. If she opens the door, she gets an additional 4 minutes and that has really helped in keeping the door shut. (It has also help with some of the "monster in my room" fears.) This has actually worked! Thank goodness! We started this on Tuesday, and we have had some time outs, but no temper tantrums and I think she feels like she has some control in her life.

We have also tried to give her more responsibility. She is in charge of the recycling, and she has taken it on with amazing excitement and new ideas on how this process should work in our household. After all, she is in charge of it now and a great way for her to exercise some control. However it was pretty funny, she insisted that we keep ALL of it in her room. In an effort to let her organize it, but also not having bugs in her room or dangerous materials, we settled on just plastic and paper. For every day she recycles she gets a "leaf" on her tree. When her tree is full we will pick out a real tree for her to plant at our new house. We also got a plant for her room. It is an aloe plant and she is responsible for providing sunlight and water when needed. So, sanity has been reinstated at our household, thank goodness!

September

We are home from vacation and it definitely feels like summer is over. Arriving back in Milwaukee to a balmy 53 degrees and a cool breeze in the air. (By the way Sunday night, it was 38 degrees. Yes, my Virginia family and friends, my kids wore fleece footy pj's to bed, in August.) I don't mind the temperature change so much, except when my mind wanders to think about just how cold it's gonna get. I am ready for Kate's school to start and so is she. We have had a rough couple of days. I am not sure if it is because she is about to turn 5 or because we moved her 880 miles away from everything she has known for the past 4 1/2 years.... or just maybe a little of both. Kate is sweet, kind, loving, artistic, funny, athletic, creative.... stubborn, strong-willed, passionate, controlling..... sound like anyone we know? Anyways, we are working through it and the road, however bumpy, is educating for all of us. I will keep you posted on Kate and my sanity too.

Funny

I re-discovered these pictures on my computer tonight. This was one of the posts I couldn't bring myself to do back in sweet Virginia. I think it was the last night Mom, Dad, Josie and the girls came over to my house on Shadow Ridge for dinner. We ate, we decorated cookies, we took a bath in the sink (yes, the kitchen sink), then we ventured outside to catch fireflies, and there was even dress up too. I typical dinner night at the house with the grandparents and cousins, well maybe minus the bath in the kitchen sink.

It all started with the amounts of sprinkles and icing that was accumulating on Stephen's cookies, Claire was busy eating the icing..... I mean why waste the time to a

pply it to a cookie when all you are going to do is lick it off anyways? I think she was just cutting to the chase, saving a step, just cracking me up.... I miss that funny face. Kate and Madeline however have really grasped the cookie making process and even have their own flair! They like to build up, add layers of icing, sprinkles, cookies, icing, sprinkles.... and MORE sprinkles. Darn, they make a good cookie! And if you look real close, Kate takes a bite out of each one of them as she decorates.

MKE

Yes, we are here! We arrive on July 29th and I know I am terribly behind on posts.... I am back in the saddle, I promise!

In Virginia, I just couldn't blog anymore at home, my emotions with the move were just too raw. The more I thought about it, the more I could let myself break apart. And frankly, I didn't want to cry about it. I just wanted to take this whole situation by the horns and ride the adventure that followed. So, we are riding along?!&%?

Part of being behind on my posts is my personal analness, if that is even a word. It just drives me nuts to see things out of place and know that I need to organize. I have to force myself to let things go and live with them the way they are, until it eats me up again. For the most part, things are in their place. Don't get me started on what to do next, maybe just something fun. The dogs have their fence and the kids got their swing set today. The house is really great. I love living in a ranch style house with a big basement. The yard is nice and flat. A great driveway and cul-de-sac for bike riding. The backyard is level and has thick green grass.... hopefully it will stay that way with the dogs. We have ventured out to a local beach that we keep going back too. And of course, ice cream, all you can eat crab legs, Fat Tire, and local sausage just to name a few of the great finds so far. This weekend The State Fair and Irish Festival..... we are staying busy!

Cowboys & Indians

Tonight Kate, Madeline, Claire, Aubrey, and Sydney all attended their first swim meet.  None of the girls participated in the competition, but we thought it would be a great introduction to what they could do in the future.  Plus, we wanted to show support for our team.  Last week when the girls were jumping and practicing jumping off the diving board, Coach Cary told us about the swim team theme of Cowboys and Indians.  He specifically asked us to dress up the girls as Indians, so we did.  (Disclaimer:  I cannot take any credit for the adorable costumes!  Christy and Josie helped the girls with their costumes this afternoon and they did an amazing job!) 

Josie called me as I arrived by myself to the pool to ask me if there were many Indians.... I saw very few.  However, all the coaches did wear head pieces.  Then walk in our five little Indians....  They were an instant hit!  I think I had at least 20 parents tell me how adorable the girls were and taking pictures of them.  I must admit, they were DARN CUTE!  The girls really enjoyed watching the swimmers compete, they were fascinated.  They also watched their fellow mites compete, even their friend Michael.  I think it was a great experience to get them excited about the next meet and maybe they will be ready to jump in.

The highlight of the evening had to be seeing Coach Cary and showing him their Indian dresses.  The moment Michael told Madeline she could go over to see him, she made a b-line to him.  When she arrived, she literally jumped into his arms.    

Go Michael, go!

I love Madeline's dreamy eyes for Coach Cary.  

3 of the 5 Little Indians