Easter

Easter

Being a parent, holidays take on new meanings...

Growing up, holidays start to lose their glamour as you realize the true nature of "Santa Claus" or "The Easter Bunny".  But this glamour is returned when your children are able to experience the magic of the holiday.  As well, Holidays change as you grow up because you start to focus on the real meaning of the holiday (Easter = the Savior's resurrection) instead of the treats and surprises involved with the holiday.

This particular holiday we tried to make special for Lily.  She is still a little young, but gaining a greater understanding for each holiday that passes.  We wanted to really try to make an effort to make this holiday special for her.  So we got her some special treats!

Can you tell what her favorite gift of the whole basket was?  Frozen cereal!  It was a hit!

She liked the little bunny that the Easter Bunny brought also...

But we couldn't go anywhere or do anything until we had eaten our 'Frozen' cereal (or at least all the marshmallows in it).

That was probably a good thing because it was really cold this specific morning and we wanted to wait until it warmed up a bit to go and gather eggs.  However, when she looked out the back window and saw the "eggs" she wanted to go and get them right away.

So we bundled up and gathered eggs as quickly as possible.  At first she wanted to open each egg as she gathered it, but with our guidance, she learned to just gather them and put them in her basket to open for later.

When we came inside to open eggs, she wanted to eat each one right away.  Unless the egg was filled with goldfish.  Those goldfish went to the side and all the other treats were eaten.  Holy cow - she was a good eater today - but of course - if you had treats all morning, you'd be a good eater too!

I think that she grasped the idea of Easter and gathering eggs, because the next few mornings she went to the back window and said "Easter Bunny.  Easter Bunny." Hoping that she could go and gather eggs, and thus get more treats.  This has been a good teaching moment to explain why holidays are so important and why they happen only once a year and how we need to make them as extra special as possible.  As Lily gets older, we will include Michal's Polish tradition of going to get baskets blessed the day before Easter Sunday.  But for now, we are so happy of how Easter turned out for Lily, because she was so happy and excited!

Good Friday Zoo Trip

April 3, 2015

After Michal working so, so hard the month of March... he got Good Friday off of work. I could have had him help me clean the house... or we could have taken it easy (since he'd been working so hard)... but we decided to head over to the zoo so that Lily could see the "animals".

Michal was such a trooper about it, he didn't complain about going - but I think that both of us were glad we went when we saw how happy Lily was at seeing each animal.  (Even though we were worn out when we were done with both the North America and the Africa parts of the zoo).

We found out from the zoo volunteers, that Good Friday is their busiest day of the WHOLE year.  Because many husbands get the day off work and it's usually the first nice day where you can be outside.  We didn't know it would be so busy, so we were only able to see a handful of animals (seals, puffins, bears, elephants, giraffes, and zebras) because the exhibits were just way too busy or there were too many people and we just wanted to get from point A to point B without fighting the crowds huddled around the animal enclosures.

Ever since our zoo trip, Lily has been asking every day to go and see the "animals."  Each time I ask her to put her shoes on, she says, "Animals? Animals?"  It breaks my heart to disappoint her when we arrive at the store, but I went ahead and bought a double stroller so that I can take her on my own... right now I have to have another adult to push Lily (since I am pushing Marco in the Bob stroller we have).  As soon as the double stroller comes in the mail, we will be making it out to the zoo much more often since we bought a yearly pass.  Lily will be so happy - and I will do anything (or spend anything - even the price of a double stroller!) to make her happy!

Marco 2 Months

Marco turned two months old!  He is getting bigger and bigger.  But still in newborn diapers and just barely has switched over to 0-3 months clothing.  I can't wait for our doctor appointment on April 8 to find out his stats and where he lies on the spectrum of his growth development.

Anytime I pull out the camera to take pictures of Marco, Lily wants to badly to be included, so I try to let her be included.  And I also want to document how much she truly loves her little brother. 

Happy two months to Marco!  And a big Thank You to Lily for being such a good big sister and loving your little brother.

nap time

The trickiest part about adding another child to my life has been nap time.  I got into the lazy habit of napping with Lily while I was pregnant, and now that I have a newborn, I try to nap with her again if I can get baby Marco to cooperate and nap at the same time.  

Sometimes I have to sneak away to make sure that his needs are met.  The times I have to sneak away my chances of taking a nap are slim.  On Wednesday's I never take a nap because I teach Piano Lessons after Lily wakes up and I don't want to be groggy while teaching piano.  Other days that I don't nap I find myself reading and editing a friend's book.  It has been a slow and long process and I'm grateful that she's patient with my crazy schedule.

When Lily wakes up from her nap, I never know what kind of mood she's going to be in.  

Sometimes she is happy.  

Sometimes she is cranky.  

Sometimes she is cuddly.  

Sometimes she is goofy.

And sometimes she is all the above.

This specific day we took pictures to document her being cuddly, cranky, silly, scary, and goofy.

 After a while she thought it was a game and tried to kick at the camera with her feet.  Every time she hit the phone she laughed and laughed and was so proud of herself.  I just happened to get some of her attempts on film (not on purpose, but by accident).

But the best part about nap time is how Lily likes to fall asleep on me.  It takes a matter of seconds for her to zonk out once she climbs on top of me and lays her head on my left shoulder.  After about two minutes I can move her to the side and she'll sleep soundly for about 1.5-2.5 hours.  I feel loved, needed, and wanted when she falls asleep and I know that she feels safe and secure enough to go to sleep on me.

You'll read plenty of books, blogs, and newsletters that will probably say I'm a terrible mother for the way that I put Lily down for a nap... and how I should do it differently.  But in my opinion, I look at this tiny little occurrence differently - she is only going to be small for so long - and soon she won't let me cuddle, snuggle, or fall asleep with her.  So for now, I'm going to cherish the naps that we get to take together, because this won't last for long!

Baby Marco - 4 & 6 weeks

Baby Marco ~

You turned one month old today!

And your big sister loves you more than ever!

Thank you for being such a good little boy!

6 weeks

You and your sister are a lot alike...
 ~ You never spit up, and she hardly spit up.
 ~ You both love being held.
 ~ You both smiled at around 7 weeks.
 ~ You both were born with little to no hair.
 ~ You both are such good, good babies!
 ~ You both hated pacifiers, but took them when dipped in gripe water.
~ You both are so strong and started lifting your own head at a very early age.

Here's how you two are different...
  ~ You are a squeaker... big time, your sister was a crier (but not big time).
 ~ At 6 weeks old, Lily only woke Mommy up once in the middle of the night.  You, on the other hand, are struggling with that.  You range from waking Mommy up from 2-4 times a night.
 ~ Big Sister was giving Mommy at least 8 hours of sleep (4 hours interrupted at a time).  Mommy is lucky if she gets 5 with you (2.5-3 interrupted).
~ Lily never had a swing and her favorite places to play were in the bouncing chair and in the jungle toy.  You much prefer the swing and could sit and rock and rock for hours.
~ You have had maybe two blow-outs.  By six weeks, Lily had had dozens of them.
~ Lily was getting outfit changes constantly (thanks to blow-outs), you are content in just chilling in the same outfit all day long.
~ Your diaper rashes go away so much faster than Big Sister's ever did.
~ You are a terrible nurser, your sister on the other hand was great.
~ You are a great burper, but it would take Big Sister forever to burp.
~ You hate to be held upright, you much prefer to snuggle in on your side in Mommy's arms.  Lily loved to fall asleep upright on any chest available.
~ You don't seem to mind the carseat, Lily hated it.
~ You also don't seem to mind tummy-time.  Lily screamed the whole time she was on her tummy.

Even though you two are so alike, and are also so different, Mommy and Daddy love you so, so much and are so grateful that you are a part of our family!

Lily's future career?

Our cute, cute friend Bailey sent Lily a Doc McStuffins play doctor set for her birthday.  And every single day Michal and I get to have all of our vitals checked by Doctor Lily.

She always starts with checking our blood pressure.

 Nest comes our heart beat with her magical talking stethoscope

 Then she always checks our ears to make sure that they are okay.

 Upon concluding our check-up, and getting our diagnosis - she then gives us our medicine.  (It's really a 'play' shot, but she thinks its a medicine syringe... so we roll with it.)

And then the whole process starts all over again (in that exact order).  Our "doctor" visits usually last about a half hour and we feel much better after they are finally done.

Our first snowstorm of the year

End of February, 2015

Do you wanna build a snowman?

C'mon let's go and play!

The first snowstorm of the year was quite uneventful: 1/2 inches of snow (originally called for 3-10 inches) and school was cancelled 4 days... but Lily loved playing in the snow. Michal was unprepared for how long she wanted to go out and enjoy the white, cold, feathery stuff so he made sure that when the next snow storm arrived about a week later, he was much more prepared to go outside and play with little girl.

This time we received about 6 inches of good snowman-building-type snow! Lily loved the snow.  It didn't matter how cold or how long she was out in the snow, she wanted to go "again, again, again."  Since it snowed Daddy was able to take the morning off and make sure she got her fix of snow.  (Isn't Michal just the best Daddy ever?!)

By far, this is my very favorite picture of you.  You wanted to build 'Olaf' so badly and Michal even provided you with a carrot to finish him off with a nose!  That snow man was made entirely by yourself, and I think that it is the most adorable snowman I have ever seen!  Lily's 'Olaf' is perfect, even though his nose is backwards and body not proportionate, it is absolutely perfect in every way.  I'm so proud of her and can't wait for next year's snow storms to see her get this excited about snow all over again!

Mayberry with Grammy & Grandpa

While Grammy and Pa-Pa were here, we took Marco on his first trip: Mayberry (Mt. Airy), NC.

Mt. Airy was the city used to fashion or replicate the city Mayberry on the Andy Griffiths Show.  The Andy Griffiths Show is one of my Dad's very favorite shows and so he was really excited to go up and check out this tired, quaint, little sleepy town.

Since it was off-season... everything was shut down and closed up.  But that didn't stop us from taking lots of pictures and checking things out.

I loved watching my parents up here, it was like they were little kids in a candy shop.  They got so excited to see the scenery, and famous landmarks, of Mayberry.  It made my heart just swell and wonder what would make me this excited to see?

I can't wait for them to come back during a summer so we can go up and tour the different landmarks and go to the museum.  I want my Dad to sit down and get a haircut at the infamous Barber Shop on main street.  I want to enjoy ice cream while walking down the tiny little strip of main street.  I can just picture how much fun it will be.

I just don't know who it will be more fun for: me or them.  I definitely think me because I get to watch them light up and I get to watch them spend time with my kids, which always melts my heart.

Thanks Mom and Dad for a fun outing and adventure!  Let's do it again!