The Trenerowski's: September 2015 in Review

It's amazing how much life has slowed down. And I have the lack of pictures to prove it!

In September, we again got sick. Being sick is no fun. But we are learning and making adjustments to our lives to keep from getting any bugs in October. Washing hands is a very consistent routine in our house, whereas before we only would wash before eating, or after using the potty. And naps, we tried to catch up on sleep to get over any lingering illnesses.

Also, I decided to take on a lot of miscellaneous projects in September. I decided to reorganize, like completely 100% gut and start over reorganize, our garage. I couldn't get anywhere in the garage, and now it's like a museum because of how neat everything looks. Everything is nicely labeled and has it's place.

I also caught up on organizing all my pictures from when Lily was born. It has been such a painfully long process that I'm debating whether or not I want to go back from before Lily was born. Right now, I've decided the answer is NO. But maybe in a month or two, if things are slow while Lily is at preschool, and Marco is napping, I'll revisit that idea!

Lastly, with all the organized photos I've been working on photo "projects." Some of these include: books, magnets, pictures in frames on walls, and everything in-between being saved on an external hard drive. Looking back, I'll be so grateful I did this, but right now, it feels fruitless because I have nothing to show for it. (It's kind of like when you go to the store and spend $400 on groceries and they have all been eaten at the end of the month, but when you go to the store and spend $400 on clothes you can show them off for months or even years. It's a poor analogy, but that's sorta, kinda how I feel).

In September, we were also grounded for several days because we did some home repairs which required me to be home in case those we hired needed anything. (Here were some pictures of us playing outside to keep busy and get our energy out when we were grounded and couldn't go anywhere).

Doing all these projects has been fun and helps keep me busy, but it has sure got the wheels turning now... what can I do next?

Anyway...

Here are some photos from activities we actually DID do!

We went to the zoo. And this was Lily's favorite part of the zoo!

Katlyn came over and played with us one day. The kids were in heaven (and so was Mommy).

Anna stayed with us for the weekend. While we got sick for the last half of the weekend, the first half was so much fun! We love Anna!

With School back in session, I began teaching Piano lessons again. In addition to the Henderson girls, I am now teaching Chloe and Parker Stimpson. I really thought Piano would be such a drag and I would hate it, but it's been a nice little break from the norm. And I love that my children have someone to play with for an hour while I am teaching. At the Stimpson's home I hear Lily laugh almost the whole time I am there. And the kids fight over who gets to hold Marco. Everyone I teach are such good kids!

Lily continues to LOVE preschool. She goes to bed without a fight and wants to go to sleep so that she can "Go preschool tomorrow."

Speaking of bed...

We upgraded from Lily's crib to her "big girl bed." It was a success and she absolutely loves going to bed. No more night time potty accidents, but we are experiencing her getting up and wandering around during the night.

We were invited over to the McClung household for ribs one Sunday evening. Michal was in heaven, and so was I (except not because of the ribs). I was loving that someone else had us over for dinner and that it was so nice to get to know someone better. The McClung family is really fascinating and has so many unique talents that I love learning from them. And Lily loves their oldest boy Jude. They get along pretty well and laugh and laugh when they are together.

I was invited to go to the Bookmarks Festival in Downtown Winston Salem. It's this festival where hundreds of authors come and you can get all these awesome books for super cheap (or free) and you can hear authors speak about their current (or past) works. I was so excited to go, but it was pretty lame. Since R.L. Stein (Author of Goosebumps) came, everything was sold out, no books were being offered for free. All the children's activities were "out of stock". It just was pretty lame and not that thrilling. Maybe if I didn't have children in tow it would have been more fun, but I went for that reason: it was supposed to be geared towards children and getting them excited to read. But this was not exciting. I don't think that I'll make the rounds here next year.

With us being sick and the last 10 days of September being nothing but rain, it was hard to get out and spend time outside. But when the weather was nice we really tried to take advantage of our time outside. We went to the park several times and I bought a bike trailer at a local consignment sale to use for bike rides. It cost $60 and was so gross it looked gray and black. After taking the whole thing apart and putting it through the wash I discovered that it's actually yellow and navy. (Who knew?) The kids love the new bike trailer and sit in the back and hold hands, squeal, and laugh the whole time they are being towed around. It was such a good $60 buy!

Lily

This month Lily has had quite the obsession with Band-aids on her face. Any time she falls down and bumps her head she believes a bandaid is merited. But to exacerbate the issue, Lily had a sore on her lip and wouldn't stop picking at it. It kept getting worse and worse and showed no signs of healing. I tried band-aids, liquid band-aids, putting her hands in gloves at night, even bribing her to "STOP PICKING AT IT" but nothing worked until she decided she was done picking at it. Her lip looks fine and the band-aids finally came off the last day of the month... and I am grateful to be out of that stage!

Lily has also turned into quite the imaginative child. She finds the most creative ways to play and play.

She even finds ways to wear "bracelets" on her feet. These "bracelets" were called her "Mommy shoes" or "tall shoes." I think that is one creative way to wear high heels!

Marco

Marco has continued to grow and interact with us. He is such a happy happy baby and loves an attention that he can get. Right now he is in a very inquisitive stage and likes to get into everything.

In addition to getting into everything, Marco loves to eat anything placed in front of him. The only foods he hasn't taken a liking to were Avocados and Shredded Mozzarella cheese.

Ever since this little guy became mobile, if there is something he can get into - he will find a way to get into it! He crawls to wherever he wants, puts anything and everything in his mouth, and is already trying to master standing on his own. It's as if he is impatient with how long it is taking to merely crawl. I think that I'm in for some trouble sometime soon!

Lily + Marco

These two are partners in crime.

These two are best friends.

These two have the best camaraderie.

And I just love watching them play and interact. I feel like the Grinch and my heart grows three sizes too big every time I watch them play together.

It makes my heart swell when Lily is so concerned about Marco falling over and rushes to him to give him a hug and kiss his head better.

It makes my heart swell to watch Lily bring Marco a toy so that he doesn't feel left out.

It makes my heart swell to watch Lily laugh because of something Marco did, and then, in turn, he laughs because she is laughing and they both can't stop laughing.

These two just make my heart so much bigger and give it so much more room to love everything else.