Lil’s first run

This year I have been trying to get into running and have been enjoying it much more than anticipated (surprisingly!). It is still one of those things where I don’t ever want to go run, but once I do I feel great and enjoy the alone time. I have done a few short runs with friends and Lily is always jealous, so my friend and I decided we should do a run with our girls so they could be a part of the action and be proud of their accomplishment. Lily was waiting, and waiting, and waiting for her color run and was too thrilled when it finally came. The morning of the race we had to get up extra early to pick up our gear before we started running and when I woke Lily up she told me “No, mommy. It’s still dark, we’ll go when the sun is up.” Oh, how many times have I had that same thought! We spent a chilly December morning getting ready for the race and meeting up with our friends and had a blast. Lily and her friend Parker were troopers but a few times during the run Lily flat out refused to move because she was tired. We started almost near the end of the runners so for a little bit we were dead last (not that we really cared). It was a 5k but we ended up cutting a few corners since the girls were having a harder time with it. The nice thing, though, about being almost last was that at each “color” station the people had a ton of left over color and we got to throw as much as we wanted on each other. Lil just loved getting to throw colored powder on me and it definitely gave her a little boost each time we stopped to play. Near the end she stopped and said “Mommy, you carry me, and when we get to the end with the flags just put me down and then I’ll run and beat you, ok?” This kid knows how to work the system . After we finished the girls got medals that I made and they felt on top of the world (while simultaneously being very pouty since they were pretty wiped out). I don’t know when Lil will want to do another one but I hope she realized how much fun it can be to be active and do silly things together.

 

(oh, by the way, we put paint on each other’s faces before the race, if you’re wondering about my fabulous make up)

Halloween

You had a blast this Halloween! You and I coordinated costumes and went to our trunk-or-treat and Cinderella and her fairy godmother. It was way more effort than I’ve put into a costume in years but it was so much fun to do that with you. I think I’ll still try to hold off on actually trick or treating, though, for a little while longer if I can.

You also had a great time at our favorite pumpkin patch. You just love running through the pumpkins and we only had to remind you once or twice not to kick the pumpkins :). You made sure to take care of Miles and lead him all around the patch and make sure he didn’t get into any trouble. I am so grateful for the love you have for Miles. You are such a great big sister and such a help to me. I love you!

 

 

How much I do love you…

My dear, sweet Lillian,

You. Drive. Me. Crazy. Every day. At 3 and a half you are really coming into some serious attitude and a fierce independence streak. You get overly excited while playing with Miles and don’t realize how much stronger you are then him. I find you doing things like playing in the toilet water that hasn’t yet been flushed or rummaging through the very expensive container or baby formula. No matter how much time we spend at the park I have to carry you kicking and screaming to the car when it is time to go home.

So many times I find myself thinking “How am I ever going to manage this girl?” But the thing I find myself thinking even more than that is “I can’t believe how sweet and wonderful this little child is.” How grateful I am for your precious, precious spirit in my life. You constantly amaze me with your kindness and love. Every morning I am greeted with the sweetest “Mommy!! I missed you! How are you?” at my bedside. Whenever you tell me that you love me you tip your head to the side and stare at me with so much love I want to burst. At the most random times you’ll tell me that I’m pretty and that you love my hair/face/outfit, usually when I need to hear that the most. You always want to show me things and have me watch you be silly or dance. You are almost as aware as me of your brother’s emotions. When he cries you either make sure I know or you start singing a made up little song to him and sweetly tell him not to cry. Sometimes if Miles wakes up in the night and I am too passed out to hear him you’ll come into my room and make sure I know that “Miles needs help, mommy.” You even gave him a bite of your Oreo the other day when you knew it was the last one. You are almost always willing to get things for me when I ask you to and love to help out when you can. When I do things as simple as putting away the dishes you always make sure to tell me “Good job!! with a big thumbs up and a smile. Your kindness and generosity are endless.

How I desperately want you to know that I love you. That no matter what you do I will always love you. There are so many things I want for you and so much I am already dreading for you to experience. I wish I could do the hard things for you. That I could shield you from pain. I hope I can somehow get you to understand how special you are and how perfect you are. You hopefully have a long life ahead of you and at some point hard things will come. Your feelings will get hurt and your dreams won’t always come true. I just hope I can always bring you comfort and a safe place to return to. I hope I can instill in you the strength that you will need to face the world. I hope that I never do or say anything that will break your spirit or make you doubt yourself.

I am not perfect. I’m far from it. I lose my temper and I get frustrated. Even so, I am always keenly aware of just how lucky I am to be your mother. How lucky I am to get to care for you and help protect and guide you and love you in this life. You will never know just how special you are to me. I cherish every hug and touch from you because I know that someday in the not to distant future you won’t want to be my shadow any more. I won’t be the center of your world and I won’t get to spend every waking hour with you. It breaks my heart already to think about it. I wish I could capture the feeling of your tight embrace and your little arms around my neck. That, to me, is the most precious, most wonderful part of being your mother. I never knew that I could have so much love for such a tiny person. That I would ever be willing to put my needs aside so many times in a day so you can have what you want.

I don’t ever think I’ll be able to tell you enough how very much I love you. Being your mother is the most important thing I could ever do and I am so grateful I get this opportunity. You are amazing. You are perfect. Please don’t ever forget that.

 

Beach Time

I love getting to take you to the beach! It is one of my favorite places  and I know you love to run around in the sand and the waves too. We went with some of your friends and had a blast. You are still a little afraid of the water at this point but love to run in the waves as they come up to the shore. I don’t know how you aren’t freezing in that water! I hope we get to spend lots of time at the coast together

I love my kiddos and I love the ocean!

Gymnastics

 

Lil had 2 months of Gymnastics class this spring and absolutely loved it! It was such a perfect way to let her release some energy while also working on her listening/following direction skills. She was great about waiting in Line for her turn and almost always remembered the instructions from the teacher. I think this went a little better than the dance class but now she’s a little more used to what is going on as well. Lil loved to come home and show daddy what she learned and couldn’t wait until Friday mornings for her class. I just love seeing what this little girl is capable of!  We’ll definitely be doing more classes as the opportunity arises

I love that she had the hardest time doing a V-sit :) Silly girl!

Three years old

I can’t believe that it has been three years since I became your mother. It feels like only yesterday you came into our lives while at the same time I feel like this is the way it’s always been. I Love your sweet little spirit and your kind loving ways. I love your zest for life and your eagerness to learn and grow and be independent. You drive me nuts trying  to help out all the time and constantly wanting to know what I’m doing, where I’m going, or what I’m eating (and if you can have some too) but I wouldn’t have it any other way. You are such a big help with your little brother and you are always so concerned with his welfare. I am amazed every day at the things you say and all the ways you are growing and learning. I just love you to pieces!

 

 

Somebody’s Almost 3…

Last fall I took Lil to see a Disney on Ice production and she absolutely LOVED it. I was thrilled to find out there would be another one in our area the week before Lil’s birthday and that it would feature three princess stories. Knowing that Lil would flip her lid we decided this would be her main birthday present as well as her “party” for this year since we were going with two of her favorite little friends.

Lil was so thrilled to find out where we were going! I got her a terribly tacky birthday hat that she just loved and we even had a Tangled t-shirt to wear to the event, thanks to some very nice friends. I tell you what, I am such a sucker for making my little girl smile from ear to ear!

Part of her present was the train ride to the event. It would have been so much easier just driving down there instead of timing the train just right and waiting around for the train to take us home but Lil is obsessed with getting to ride the train! When we got on this time we were in a car that had backward facing seats and she was so concerned that we were going the wrong direction :). She loved staring out the window and for some reason wanted to spend most of the ride lying on the floor. yuck.

We had some fun with my phone camera making faces to entertain ourselves on the ride as well…

We actually made it on time to this one and we had a blast walking around in a sea of small princesses and tutus and crowns and ruffles. I kept trying to get Lil to open up her sweatshirt to show off her princess shirt but she insists that if she has a jacket on it is fully zipped or buttoned at all times, so…

Waiting for the show to begin…

Here are a few shots from the show. The first was Lil’s favorite part where Rapunzel and Flynn were flying through the air on Rapunzel's hair. Unfortunately this was taken with my phone and is horribly blurry.

Mickey, Minnie, and a sea of royal couples to close out the show.

 

We had such a blast and I am so happy we could do this together! I can’t believe my baby is almost 3 years old. I just love that little girl.

Almost 3 Years Old

LIly, you are just blossoming! I am having such a fun time with you lately. You are so smart and capable and most of all funny! You are becoming more and more independent and are desperate to be your own little person and do things yourself. This is sometimes frustrating but I try to let you do as much as you can and explore new things. The only time this is a real problem is when you want to run away from me and do your own thing when we’re out and about. You seem to know that I’m slower than normal and have at least one less hand while holding Miles and you put up a big fight every time we need to get in the car or leave the park, or church, or the library, or the store…

You are such a good big sister! You love Miles and always make sure I am taking care of him. You let me know when he is crying and always remind me to talk and sing to him. You help out when I have my hands full and will talk and sing to him yourself if I can’t pick him up. You still don’t seem to be terribly jealous of the time we have to spend taking care of your brother and I am so grateful for that. You like to “play” with him in the most amusing ways. For example, in these pictures below you thought it would be a good idea to lay with Miles and put highlighters on your backs. You were cracking up!

You know very well that I am very occupied while feeding Miles and like to take advantage of that. Foe example you’ll go through my makeup bag and try things out…

Or while I’m in the shower you’ll play with the wrapping paper…

Or find my office stamps and decorate yourself…

When I’m smart I’ll set up activities for you like Skype-ing with your best little friend Atlas who moved to Texas. That seriously is one of the cutes things ever since your conversations go absolutely nowhere but you two have the most fabulous time.

You have also recently discovered Play dough, or in your words, Play Toe, and you can’t get enough of it.

Recently you have become much more interested in girly things like ballerinas, princesses, clothes, and jewelry.  You are always complimenting me, especially on my necklaces so I decided to get you a little necklace and bracelet set. You quickly learned that if you stretch them too far that they will break. You were heartbroken but quickly cheered up when you learned that we could fix it. You gave a valiant effort while trying to put it back together and insisted that I not help you. That was very hard for me but once I let you be in control and give it a try you were so happy and eventually you allowed me to fix it for you.

I also found a doll house by the side of the road and brought it home for you and you are in love! You are always asking us to play with your “dollie” house along with you and we have a blast doing so.

One other HUGE milestone is that you’re finally fully potty trained!!! We have not had an accident in a few weeks and almost always stay dry through the night! The thing that finally did it was the promise of watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse videos if you successfully pooped in the potty. You are so proud of yourself and your accomplishments and I am too! My wonderful sweet little girl.