Crashed

Yesterday Lily was a pill. She cried all morning. Nothing made her happy. I mad her mad. She hated her dress and her shoes.

I asked her on the way to school, "honey why are you so upset today?"

To which she SHOUTED, "Momma.....I am soooooo tired!".

Oh honey, I get it!

That night, I crashed on the couch around 9:15p.m. and woke up around midnight with the TV blaring, lights on.

Darn. I had planned a productive evening. Thank you notes will get done another night, I guess.

Today, we slept in a little and started the day feeling refreshed and a tad sassy!

Can't you tell?

Weekend Wrap Up

Had lots of fun this weekend. Pictures say it best.

PS - Lily does have a mom although she never appears in any photos!

Doing It The Old Fashion Way

Lily and cousin Georgia


Lily hurt a friend on Wednesday and had to be punished. No popsicle after dinner. The child was heartbroken and did everything in her power to break my will. Despite many close calls, I held my ground and Lily went to bed with no treat.

Why was this so hard? Because she was authentically distraught over her "bad decisions" and did not understand (or tried to fool me) why saying "I'm sorry" was not enough this time.

The answer was that our poor choices often lead to painful consequences, and that these tough lessons remind us to make better choices in the future ---- translated for a two-year-old, of course.

MY lesson in all this was that consistency, and standing firm really does work.

That night, Lily was devising a plan to get her popsicle back.

"Mum, I be nice tomorrow and I eat popsicle."

The next morning, "Mum, today I be nice at school and I get popsicle."

Two days later, "Mum, Jack made bad choices at school. He gets NO popsicle."

While discipline is hard, hard on a parent's heart for sure, it is the right thing to do for our kids. They learn by the boundaries we set......and motivated by our actions, they make their own plans to right the wrong, and make tomorrow a better day.

Shopping For Four!

What else is there to do when it is raining outside -- ice cream and Target! We strolled out for a little sugar and shopping. What a diverse cart we had at check out:

1 USB port

1 hello kitty sticker book

1 Dorothy/Wizard of Oz costume

1 pair of red sparkly slippers

1 blue blankie

3 newborn onsies, blue of course

2 maternity tops

1 bottle of bath soap

shaving cream, face soap

and a pack of filing folders

So this is what our family of four looks like in a shopping cart! Im in love!

PS - finished up with dinner at a local indian restaurant.....Lily loved it! She is such a character! We all smell like yummy curry! Bath-time!

Oh Boy! What a Blessing!

From the time I took the pregnancy test, until yesterday at 4:04 p.m., I was completely convinced that we were having another baby girl. I only thought of baby girl names and how I would wash and reuse Lily's beautiful clothes and blankets. I only thought about two princesses at Halloween and how I would enforce the "girl code of ethics" with a set of sisters. I was convinced.

I am certain that deep, deep down I was hoping for a little boy. But I did not let my heart or imagination go there. Instead, I created a future in my mind of me and my two girls!

Buck, too.

So imagine our surprise when the ultrasound tech landed right on this image.....she didn't even have to go looking for it. There he was, legs open, proving his mama wrong!

My body started to tremble with complete disbelief. "It's a boy!". No.....show me again, and again, and again.

Buck - a smile from ear to ear.

The tech pulled us in from our gloating and carrying-on to remind us that we had other anatomy to look at -- you know, the heart, kidneys, fingers and toes.....all perfect.

We are so excited that our princess Lily will remain queen of the castle, and that a handsome prince will soon join her! We are so blessed to experience the best of both worlds! Sugar and spice & toads, snails and puppy dog tails!

Slide

Lily's favorite spot is a playground, especially the slide. For those of you who know her well, you know why! These pics are from the new park in Homestead. She enjoyed jumping and climbing and running around....all in a sweet little dress. Dresses are not so great for sliding....too much skin contact.....slows you down! Note to mom!

There was actually a nice breeze....maybe a sign of fall to come?