March 2017

Almost the middle of April but....here's the March recap!  We started off the month with a BANG...both girls ended up with pink eye (right in the middle of spirit week) so a trip to the doctor was in order to get eyedrops fast enough to send Mila back to preschool for Pajama Day, her all time favorite day at preschool so far.

Amy turned 30 at the beginning of the month and we surprised her with a wine tasting party, complete with a sommelier!  It was super fun and nice to celebrate her.

Nellie is such a little tomboy and is ALWAYS a little dirtball when we pick her up from preschool. I have no idea how she gets so much dirtier than all of the other kids but she is just so cute when she runs up with a dirty little smile on her face.

She had such a great Spring picture this year and she absolutely adored the bunny.

Mila is already looking, and sometimes acting, like a teenager, but is enjoying Nellie being older and the two are continuing their pretend play which is so funny to listen to.

Robert receive an award from the City of Cypress for 10 years with the department, which is kind of like an award for us since we met right around then too :)  Hard to believe he's been there for that long!  He's really enjoying his new position with the Department of Homeland Security and it's SO nice having him at home more during the crazy morning/evening times with the girls.

Mila and Nellie were so excited about St. Patrick's Day, but probably not more excited than Mom, who took the day off for March Madness to watch basketball.

We spent most of the month on the party porch watching basketball; I wouldn't want it any other way....well maybe an Elite Eight win by the Jayhawks would have been a better deal.

Purdue and KU ended up playing each other in the Sweet 16, which was super fun for Garret and I, but me the most ;)

Mila is all about being a girly girl and constantly wants her hair done and to put makeup or lip gloss on. She asks me every day if she can take a shower with me, which at first was so great but now I realize I have NO alone time anymore, there's no safe place in the house!!!  I can't believe how quickly she's growing up though, I guess I better take advantage of all this time she wants to spend with me, even if it IS in the shower!

And if you ever for one second thought that the girls didn't have Robert wrapped their fingers, with one little sweet grin they had him letting them paint his toenails in a sparkly glitter color.

Things are going great over here, I can't imagine how we can ever possibly be busier than we are right now but I know that soon we will have to divide and conquer with the two girls, I'm trying to enjoy us all doing everything together as a family.

We ended the month with a call from preschool that Nellie had bit another kid.  Definitely not the call you want to get; we had to have our first ever "family meeting," in the dining room, with Robert banging on the table.  We had previously bought a bar of soap and had Nellie try biting that so she knows what will happen next time if she keeps this up...we will see how that goes!

Next month we are looking forward to: Camping at Crystal Cove for Easter and then going to Kansas to see the family and go to William's dedication!

February 2017

Such a fun February!  Nellie went to her first KU game watch and was such a little angel, even though you couldn't tell, she had a great time.  Afterwards we went to another bar and she and another little girl sat in a booth and played together for a good hour. It's still so amazing to me the difference in each girl's attitude when they are by themselves.

Nellie is talking much more now and is easier to understand so things have been a little bit easier now that we can communicate more!  I'm not sure where she picked it up but she has taken to calling me Mom Mom :)

Nellie is starting to really show her imagination and Mila is having so much fun with her playing all kinds of pretend games.

Preschool had their first annual daddy/daughter dance and Mila was SO excited to go.  She had so much fun going to the store and picking out a new dress, getting ready and waiting for daddy to "pick her up."  Robert was amazing as well, wearing a full suit to the dance and coming to the front door when it was time to go; he even brought all three of his girls flowers!

Mila had a BLAST at the dance although she spent most of her time dancing with her friends!

There is an old man that lives in our neighborhood, Tom Adams, who goes walking every day, twice a day. He is the sweetest old soul and always stops to talk with us.  He turned 100 this month and there was a party at a neighbor's house that we were all invited to.  I had such a good time taking the girls there and showing them what it's like to be part of a community.

Our friends, Lindsay and Jon, had their first baby, a little boy named Greyson.  I went to the hospital to meet him the day he was born and HE WAS SO TINY.  I am so excited for them and it's truly amazing how you forget how small they are and so many things about those first few weeks.

The next day Whitney arrived for a long visit! It was so great having her here; she hadn't seen the girls since I was on maternity leave with Nellie and they, especially Mila, were so excited to see her (probably not as much as me though!).  Thankfully my parents were still in town during her visit so they helped out a ton with childcare so we could get out of the house and out on the town!

Mila quote of the month, as I am getting ready to go to Pilates..."Mom....why are you taking so long to go to salamis?"  

Other notables this month:  the girls finished their Spanish class and Robert had an awards luncheon acknowledging he has worked for Cypress for 10 years (!).

January 2017

What day when Nellie was picking out of control Mila asked me, "Mom? Can we just have a new one?" and when I asked a new what she said "A new baby person? Let's give Nellie away."  I asked what we were going to do with Nellie and she said she didn't know. I told her we couldn't get rid of Nellie until we had a plan and Mila said "Fine. I guess we can keep her."

Mila loves to sing songs now and will ask me to play her favorite songs and then only she can sing them.  She's really catching on to all of the words!

Mom:  Last one to the bedroom is a rotten egg!
Mila: Daaaaad!  You're the rockin egg!

Mila is so grown up I just can't believe it. I am both excited and scared for what's next if she's already this much of an adult.  She is the morning caring, compassionate girl in the whole world and her first priority is to help others and take care of everyone.  She is such a big help to me and her sister; Nellie has no idea how lucky she is to have her!

They are fast becoming best friends (and enemies!) and I just love their little relationship.

Mila spent Martin Luther King Jr. day at Knott's Berry Farm and had a blast!  Lexi turns 5 this summer and will start Kindergarten in the fall while Mila stays behind at preschool (she just misses the Kindergarten cutoff by 25 days), I am already so sad for her!

While she was there we took Nellie out on a date as well.  It's so crazy how different she is when she is alone and not having to compete for attention!

Mila had a couple of sleepovers this month, one with the Charland girls and a couple with Kira.  She's such a little social butterfly, already having sleepovers at 4!  When she spent the night at Kira's one night Robert asked why and I said, I don't know, no reason other than this is what girls do!

Later that night when we got home we were getting her ready for bed and she had her diaper off; I was having her repeat her colors..."Red....Green....Pee Pee!" as she peed all over her bedroom floor.

Nellie started preschool and, after a little adjustment period and getting sick the first week, she is now excited to go and loves school.  We were so lucky my parents were here and could keep Nellie for a few days while she recovered; after that first little cold she's been perfectly healthy so we lucked out!

The teachers say she is the greeter, running up to all the kids when they arrive and giving them a hug.  Every day when I pick her up and we go into Mila's classroom all the kids know her name, it's so cute.

Nellie has figured out how to take off her pants and know takes them off, mostly her jammies, whenever she wants.  Half the time I come to get her out of bed in the morning and she has taken her pants off and thrown them out of her crib.

She refuses to wear footed pajamas and wants to be naked all of the time and shake her booty while singing "boody boody boody."

This sweet little girl makes my heart so full and also brings me near my breaking point every day.  She can put a smile on anyone's face in an instant and has the silliest little personality.  She is starting to talk more and can count to three and she finally knows to say "I'm two" when someone asks her how old she is.

The girls got a haircut and Mila chopped a lot of length off of hers.  She wanted to go shorter but I said maybe we should stick with this length for now!

The girls started their Spanish class, Amiguitos, this month and they love it! I had no idea that the entire class is taught in Spanish (no English at all!) but the girls are really catching on to it.  The theme for the first half has been Superheroes and Fairies; I was hoping for more conversational Spanish but maybe this is how they learn. I will definitely keep them in this class, or another, going forward as I think it's so important for them to learn Spanish.

As crazy as the days are I try to remind myself that THESE ARE THE DAYS.  I just need to take a deep breath and remember at least one sweet moment from every day and I hope they will too.

Nellie's 1st Day of Preschool

Today was Nellie's first day of preschool!  Mila was so cute beforehand and was working with her on saying all of her friends names "so when Nellie meets them she will know who they are."  Things went super smooth dropping her off and she immediately started playing with Mila and all the new toys, but (thank God) paused for a split second to give me a kiss goodbye.  I have known for months now that Nellie would love preschool and she would transition in to it fairly well and wouldn't have the clingy stage we briefly had with Mila, but I was still sad and found myself crying a little on the way to the car.  Even Robert said after we left that he was sad too (and that maybe we should have another!); these little babies growing up make you so emotional!

I was anxious all morning but my fears were settled when I received an email from the preschool director saying that Nellie was doing really well at school and having a great time.  What a relief!  When I picked her up she was in the sandbox across the playground so I had some time to talk with her teacher.  Ms. Cassie said she had a great first day, although she was a little aggressive (hitting, pushing) with some of the other kids but they just re-directed her and that worked every time.  She said once she starts talking more this should go away because she will be able to communicate more.  I had previously planned to ease her in by sending her Tues/Thurs/Fri but that would mean tomorrow she would stay with my parents; Ms. Cassie recommended sending her again to get into the routine so I may just start her four days now, we will see how this week goes.  They said she did great at lunch and napped really well (she was the last one to wake up!).

By time time Ms. Cassie and I had finished talking Nellie still hadn't come over to me so I went over to get her and as soon as I walked up she said "Where daddy go?" and then "Home." I said you want to go home and she said yes and then started yelling "Mimi! Mimi!" as she ran for the gate to Mila's playground. As soon as we walked it she and Mila ran to each other and then Mila showed her off to all of her friends, and Nellie hugged each one of them. It was too cute.

It may be my imagination but she didn't seem to throw as many fits this evening and has said some more words and longer sentences tonight that I haven't heard before. All in all I think it was a great day and can't wait to see her blossom!