my beautiful ones

I am going to miss this.

Have I mentioned how much I adore these babies!? They are getting so big so quickly. I can't believe next month Sophia is going to be three and then in October Troy will be one. Time flys. I think back at my life and remember when I was 10, wanting to be in high school. When I was in high school wanting to be in college. In college, wanting to be married. I have my moments, but there is no time or place I'd rather be than right now. I am finally taking my mom and dad's advice- I am "enjoying the moment". I know someday, I am going to miss this time in my life.

I went to lunch with my mother in law today. We were talking about making intentional memories. Planning trips with the kids, traditions, routines, legacies... all things we can look back on and remember.

Some things I know I am going to miss....

Troy's sparkle in his eyes when he is walking towards me, he is so proud.

I am going to miss...

Sophia asking me to rock her in the middle of the night when she has a bad dream.

I am going to miss...

them being together in this house

I am going to miss...

cleaning their highchairs

I am going to miss...

folding a load of their laundry, seems like 9 million articles of clothing in one load

I am going to miss...

their "boogies", "blankets", "Ellie"

I am going to miss...

Sophia asking me to polish her nails pink with "sparkles"

I am going to miss...

Troy attacking my glass of water so that he can have ice

I am going to miss...

having them wake me up in the morning

I am going to miss...

their endless energy.

I truly am enjoying every moment with these babies.

Now that I got myself all emotional thinking about my babies growing up... let me add how bored they are in all this rain! Luckily we did get out and go to lunch and they are taking naps now. :)

Take time and listen to the song "You're gonna miss this" It reminds me of what everyone has told me my whole life and what I am finally doing. :)

more rain...

*I did lots of repeating myself in this blog. I do that when I am overtired. I was wanting to share the pictures of the kids first day but I should have taken a nap. My little Sophia decided she was going to sit in her room for two hours and not sleep though. They are both up now and playing hard. I just hopped online to proof read and relized how silly this blog sounds. Oh well, that's sleep deprivation for ya!? Gotta be real ;)

Here are pictures from the Sophia's first day back to school and Troy's first day of school.

Sophia looks like, "Mom, stop taking pictures!"
Troy says, "Let's go Momma!!"

The kids started school yesterday. They are going Mondays and Wednesdays in the morning from 830-1130. I enjoyed my morning off mommy duty yesterday. I had lots of errands to run and was busy the whole time they were playing. Sophia loved having her bruder with her. Troy loved it! Then Hurricane Faye and no school now in Central Florida until Thursday, which means no school for Sophia and Troy until next week. The hurricane was down graded to a tropical storm and I don't think it will be that bad. Just a lot of wind and rain.. they warned of tornado threats. We have a couple gallons of water, gas in our cars, and I have made sure the clothes are clean, house is clean, dishes are washed... just in case the electricity goes out. A couple years ago we had a storm and it wasn't that bad but the electricity went out and it took four days for us to get it back on so that's my only main concern with this storm. I hate being hot but being hot and stuck in a dirty house is just too much. :) Today, the weather is sunny and windy- they probably didn't need to close schools today, I don't think the storm will get that bad until this afternoon. So- for now, we are just hanging out. Went to the grocery store this morning and have been hanging out at the house. Tony is working today, luckily he is working close to the house today so if it gets yucky he can get home pretty quick. Anyway, that's our boring day! OH- they are now saying the storm is going to flip and come back around and hit Florida again at the end of the week- GREAT! :)

same side sitters

A long time ago... no really a long time ago, but before we had kids, lol, Tony and I went out to dinner with our neighbors. I remember we went to Red Lobster. We were taken to our table and as we sat down Tony and I did our normal, he sat by me and pulled my chair (not in a stand behind it, pull all the way out, I sit down, he pushed it back in kind of way- but a casual pull it out a bit so that the attempt has been made to be polite, I'd prefer that anyway, we always get awkward when he does the "pull and push" rather than just the "pull",this is our 'thing'- over time you get 'things', I like to situate myself in my chair then get back to the table- however, the "pull and push" is something I will teach my son but I don't particularly care for it, it shows great respect and manners, I am so proud of Tony that he always does this). Back to the story, we sat down at the table and our neighbors giggled as they sat down on the other side of the table. I asked what was funny and she said "we were wondering while we were driving over if you guys would be 'same side sitters' or not, I guess you are." I had never heard the phrase 'same side sitter' I never even noticed it before but I guess we are 'same side sitters'. Last night was the first full night away from both children. Sophia usually goes to my mom's house and spends the night (she has a Little Mermaid toddler bed there) and Troy is usually kept by Tony's mom until we get home from where ever we are going, so Troy has never been gone a full night. But last night, my mom offered to keep both kids- whooo!! I was nervous but excited. So, I loaded them up and off they went. Mom called at 9:30 and said everyone was sleeping sound. I am antsy to go pick them up this morning and kiss their little heads. Troy I am sure will be thrilled to see me and I will get the usual "I don't want to go home" greeting from Sophia.
Now that we have two kids it's nearly impossible for us to be 'same side sitters' unless we are at a really long table with a kid on each end and Tony and I in the middle, as crazy as that looks we are devout same side sitters. Last night we went to the Melting Pot again (Tony's favorite new place) and we resumed our normal same side sitting. Funny, I noticed it confused the waitress. I looked around and there were no same side sitters in the place. I know some people, like my old neighbors, like to sit on opposite sides of the table so they can talk and see each others faces but with a slight tilt of the chair you can have the same affect being a same side sitter. So tell me, are there any same side sitters around!??

Troy and his lovey

I am on a roll today. Lots of writing that I wanted to catch up on. I am getting the chance with all this rain we have been getting today.




These pictures were taken in July. Troy will fall asleep anywhere as long as he has his blanket. Sophia calls it his "bwankwet."

Troy has had this blanket since he was about 3 months old. I was shopping in JC Penny and he was so cranky. I walked to the baby section and saw this blue blanket on sale, it was so soft. Troy had plenty of blankets, as it was my major concern having a boy that I didn't want him to use any of his sister's pink blankets, running joke at my shower and I got a ton of blue blankets... but not one like this. It is sooo soft. So I grabbed it, opened it, covered my cranky baby with it and went to the check out with the tag in hand. He was comfortable with it as I finished my shopping.
Troy was never a great sleeper. I would try everything and anything to get him to sleep more than two hours at a time. If you had a non sleeper you may recall the routines that become almost ritualistic. I remember feeding him, holding him in front of the rocking chair for five seconds then taking ten rocking steps towards the crib, holding him for another thirty seconds patting his back while rocking side to side before laying him down. I swore that when I did it perfectly he would sleep and only wake every three hours. Probably didn't happen that way but I was convinced that it helped.
It took a couple weeks but I realized when I was swaddling him in this blue blanket he would sleep better. I thought it was the pajamas. :) Anyway, once I realized the magic in the blanket it was used every night. At 9 months old he still loves me to swaddle him in this blanket. When he is cranky I give it to him and he holds it up and rubs his face into the blanket. He even sucks it like a pacifier. He loves it! It's his lovey.
A couple nights ago I put the blanket on his floor so that I could swaddle him. I walked to close his window curtains and when I turned around he was laying on the blanket looking at me smiling, waiting for me to swaddle him. He has done this every night since. Tonight, I laid the blanket out for him and he crawled over and lay on it waiting for me to swaddle him. He rubbed his face on the blanet and just lay there waiting. It's so cute! Something I don't want to forget.. that's why you are reading it! :)
Good Night!

Hate

*I noticed my #6 hate was "people who manipulate others for their own selfish will" -oh, I should have put "when people manipulate others for their own selfish will"- I should be more conscious about that. So often I feel that I hate the person, but it's not the person it's their action that I hate. Note to self: Hate action, not person! 8/19/08

Hate is such a strong word. I was never allowed to say I hated anyone or anything when I was a child. I remember my mom felt very strong about that when I was a kid. She would always correct me whenever I said "I hate..." my devotional today was about the word hate. Hate is defined as an intense hostility or extreme dislike. The question was asked what things to do you hate? what things do you avoid at all costs? Sometimes things we hate can be formed from past experiences and sometimes they are just something we feel so strong about. Take a moment and come up with a list of things you hate, things that you extremly dislike. Feel free to share if you'd like. An interesting topic and something thought provoking questions. The devotional says that everyone hates something and even the all loving God hates somethings...
"There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to Him:
haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
a false witness who pours out lies
and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers."
-Proverbs 6:16-19
Powerful words! I defiantly don't want to hold any characteristics that the Lord hates. I don't want to be on the receiving end of that! One thing that is common in this list, and is pointed out in my devotional, is that the list includes sins that particularly are harmful to others. Being that we are God's special creation, His children, He is sensitive to sins that cause grief for his babies (us!). In the list of things that God "hates"... he is protecting us. If we hate what he hates we will be protecting ourselves and one another. Also, notice that "the first six sins place emphasis on the seventh. It is bad for you to sin, but it is "detestable" to start a chain reaction- causing other's to sin too." WOW!! I know I don't want to be detestable to God... I don't want those characteristics in my home. I want to hate the same things that God hates. Think my mom would be OK with that!? :)
Hope this creates opportunity for thought. I know it did for me.

Other than the same as God's hates....
The six things I hate and one thing I detest.... (some are serious and some are silly but things I hate!)
1. seizures (think past experience has caused this... )
2. crimes against children and others who can't defend themselves
3. addictions; drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography... anything really that controls people really...
4. illness; cancer, epilepsy, Leigh's Disease... the list goes on...
5. lizards- defiantly a past experience-don't ask ;)
6. people who manipulate others for their own selfish will
7. birds -this topic deserves a blog of it's own

Feel free to share you list if you want....

Randomness

We have been so busy this week. School starts next week and the kids are going to be going two days per week in the mornings to give me a break. I am excited and nervous. Sophia is going on her third year now and I know she loves going to play with the other kids. Last year she went full days, this year since Troy is going to tag along I only want him going half days and I can't pick just one of them up and leave the other so they will being going half days together. Sophia is going to try dance classes again. She really loves dance, as you probably have seen the pictures, last time she was supposed to start she had an emotional breakdown and refused to go inside... the people weren't the most encouraging either though. It was a one month summer program for little kids and I don't think the instructor was thrilled about teaching it anyway. It was probably best that we didn't go, I don't want her first time in dance to be with a grouchy sourpuss teacher. She is signed up to start in September with a really nice lady named Mrs. Valerie. We got to go and meet Mrs. Valerie and she was so good with Sophia. Very kind, soft spoken, she got on Sophia's level and interacted well with her. That is so important with children, to get on their level. Imagine being their size in this world of giants... intimidating to meet new people, when you get onto their level it takes the intimidation factor away a bit and they are able to connect better face to face. Sophia warmed right up to her and she says she can't wait to go back and dance in the big mirror. :) Sophia's buddy, Madeline, the little girl next door, came over and brought Sophia her old tap shoes... oh that has been fun! My little tap dancer has been swirling around our house in those shoes ever since. She even asked to sleep in them. She was out on the patio yesterday standing on the top of her slide, wearing jean shorts, a pink tutu, and a pink shirt, with her tap shoes on singing something about being a princess trapped with pirates waiting for Tater Tot (our dog) to come rescue her. What am imagination!?
We are also signed up for "little kickers" soccer. A soccer program for three and four year olds on Saturday mornings for a 20 minute practice and a 20 minute game. It should be fun and I am sure she will take a great nap after that! We have so much coming up. I love being busy with the kids. My children are not happy to just be. A mistake I made early on with Sophia. Her first word was "go". Most mornings she wakes up asking me "where are we going today?" "put me in the carseat, let's go". Troy has followed suit... I am working on getting them to enjoy peaceful days at home but any more than two in a row we all start going a little batty. They get it from me I know, but I do wish that they were a little more content at home. I occasionally enjoy down time and I know that they need it, even if they don't like it. I don't think we have spent a full day home in over two weeks. We usually get out in the morning or/and afternoon but come home for lunch and naps. They are on a good schedule but love going out.
We are supposed to have some rainy weather the next couple days. I was getting nervous just hearing the weather forecast last night. Sophia and Troy probably spend 80% of the day outside. Playing on our patio, on the trampoline, kicking the ball in the front yard, sidewalk chalk, riding in the Barbie jeep, walking to the swings, feeding the fish- really we are rarely inside. Sophia is miserable when she is cooped up and I am seeing the same traits in Troy now that he is getting bigger. Troy will sit by the door and wave to me now, like he is just going to get up and leave us. Whenever a door is opened in our house they both come running. Don't get me wrong they do play well in their playroom but they don't last long. This morning the weather looked fairly decent so I took advantage and got them out. After breakfast I asked, who wants to go to the fruit stand? Sophia squealed for joy and Troy heard the word "go" and took off the the laundry room (our way out of the house). The fruit stand is very close to our house, maybe all of two miles, we drove over and Sophia sat on the rocking chairs outside the stand while we got some honey, pickled okra, and corn on the cob. The "fruit man" as Sophia so fondly calls him, just gave me the corn saying he thought it might be dry. We came home and boiled it with a bit of splenda and it was great! Thank you "fruit man". The people their enjoy seeing the kids. They gave Sophia a "yiddy pop" (lolly pop) and after stopping for a treat at the bakery.. we got home just in time for the rain. All before 10am... early risers. :) Troy stood at the window hitting it and fussing while it rained. He was cranky this morning.. he has his two bottom teeth and one top tooth and I saw the other top tooth is poking through now. He is taking about ten steps at a time now. He can walk from one end of Sophia's room to the other. When he gets a good rhythm going Sophia always acknowledges him, "Good Job Bruder". He claps back at her. It's his silent speech. It's so cute. He does say "Mum" "Dada" "Bye Bye" and believe it or not "Issy" which I think he is trying to say sissy... he holds his arms up to her "Issy, Issy". He really adores her. When she leaves a room he comes after her hollering. They are two peas in a pod. They do bicker quite a bit now, as Troy isn't content anymore letting her be the boss.. he digs his heels in and lets her have it now. I told her someday he'd be big enough to fight back. They get into yelling matches now seeing who can be the loudest. My crazy, wonderful kids!
Well, I have rambled through a good portion of their nap time. I should go and mop the kitchen... this gloomy day, maybe pajamas and a nap would be nice. Hope everyone is having a good week. :)

Weekend at the Beach

Tony and Troy on the beach...

Troy sitting in the sand...
I thought this was a neat picture...
I have a similar picture of her on the beach in Puerto Rico when she was about 15 months old.
This is one of my favorites... there were a lot of them ;)


We were off at the beach this weekend. Lots coming on that but for now I am exhuasted after a busy weekend and a busy week coming up. I'll write soon but I wanted to share some photography from this trip. I always feel God's strength when I am standing on the shoreline.



We really enjoyed this get away.

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures, click the link below to see the complete ablum from our trip to Ormond Beach.

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?Uc=11qp8sz4.6buta6co&Uy=-j15jix&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0&UV=291996667457_893975759208&mode=fromshare&conn_speed=1

Ellie

This is Sophia's sweet "Ellie".
Sophia has loved her "Ellie" since she was a little baby.
I had to take some time and take some pictures of Sophia with her "Ellie."
Enjoy them.

Ring the Dinner Bell

In my last blog I wrote about how feeding time is chaotic in this house. I was reflecting on what an understatement that was this morning after feeding the kids breakfast. After lunch, chaos is a wayyyyy understatement!
We were in a hurry to get out the door to Troy's swim lessons this morning. The kids get up every morning within 5 minutes of each other. It's like they feel the energy coming from down the hall from their sibling's room. Rarely will one of them sleep in longer than the other. So this morning, Sophia woke up, I got her dressed and we went to the kitchen to get her morning medicine and her breakfast. Somewhere in the process Troy woke up, I got him dressed and in the highchair sitting next to Sophia. I made their waffles and they ate. Tater Tot (our dog) circles the highchairs waiting for something to drop onto the ground. When they are full both kids start throwing food to Tater and laughing at one another. So this morning before 8am, my wild monkeys were screaming, throwing food, and.. it was chaos. As I watched them, while I was loading the dishwasher and laughing to myself.
I got them down and they were waiting in the kitchen for me to wash their faces and hands. Troy was crawling around and Sophia was patiently waiting for me to get my act together. I ran to get a wash cloth and left the kids trapped by the baby gates into the kitchen. (Thank God for baby gates) When I got back my "little controller", Sophia, had Troy and Tater Tot sitting side by side reaching onto her highchair taking pieces of waffle feeding them.. saying "one for you Troy. one for Taty Tot. Now? who wants more? OK Troy. here you go Taty..." So cute!! Maybe I should have her do breakfast more often. She has more control than I do.
Then- lunch time. We got home after running some errands after swim lessons. Troy was starving so he went from the car seat to the highchair and Sophia played while I got lunch ready for her. Sophia was tired and cranky- fussing and refusing to eat everything I offered. While Troy double fisting baby cheese puffs, screeching for more when he would run out of food. Sophia was tossing her food onto Troy's highchair... Tater Tot was catching the food that didn't make it to the tray... ugh! I got Sophia down and she went potty and into her bed for a nap- thank God for nap time! I went back to the highchair to get Troy ready for nap and... AHH!! He pooped! It was everywhere!! Oh my son! Oh my! I will spare you the details but let me just say- oh my! Troy went to the bath, bathed and clean then into his room. I baby gated him into his room while I cleaned the bathtub with antibacterial; then mopped floor, the sink, the toilet. While I was doing this, Troy was standing at the baby gate, yelling and slamming his door onto the gate... Sophia was not able to fall asleep- she was standing on her bed yelling "BE QUIET TROY! SISSY IS SLEEPING!!" CHAOS! While I am knee high in poop! Not literally but it felt that way! :)
Let me just create a visual for you. Coming down the hallway out of the kitchen the first door is Sophia's room. Sophia has periwinkle colored walls with a sunflower and horse border circling the room. She calls it her pony room. The next door is the bathroom, where I was located, knee high in poo, remember? Then, Troy's room is at the far end of the hall, he has blue walls in his room with a barnyard border on the wall. Troy was gated into his room, standing at the gate wearing a camo onesie with his hair spiked in a mohawk. He still wears the battle scar from Sunday school under his left eye. He looked like a holy terror. Being as loud as he possibly could banging his door. Then looking out, laughing seeing if I was watching him. I looked out at him- then heard Sophia yelling in her room. I looked the other direction to see Sophia wearing a pink and blue butterfly dress, with a blue bow clipped into her hair, holding her "Ellie", with "boogie" (pacifier) in her mouth, standing on her pink blankets, yelling "BE QUIET TROY!.."
I quickly finished the bathroom. I got Troy settled down and in his crib, Sophia was able to go to sleep, and then onto the kitchen. Poop in the highchair, on the floor, ahh!! I hate poop! Again, sparing you more details, I then mopped the kitchen, disinfected the highchairs (both highchairs had to be cleaned,sparing you more details- use your imagination). Then off to disinfect myself!
Peace! Now, both kids are sleeping and I am guessing I have about an hour until they wake up. Off to pay some bills, fold some laundry, and make some phone calls. *After spellchecking and adding a few details where I thought necessary.. Sophia is awake. I am laying in my bed watching her on the video monitor as she is talking to "Ellie" and sharing her pacifier with another stuffed animal in her bed. :)
I hope everyone is having a happy Hump Day! :)
Love you all!

Busy Weekend

I am exhausted! It has been a busy time in our lives. I have started printing my blogs in an attempt to keep somewhat of a journal for our family and this time in our lives just seems to fly by. I feel like the second I get used to a routine or some kind of normalcy with the kids something changes. I wanted to write about our weekend, don't feel obligated to read this though, it might be boring but it is a weekend I don't want to forget, so here goes-
Saturday I went with all the girls to see Momma Mia. It was a good movie. I am not into chick flicks or musicals for that matter- but it was really good. I don't recommend seeing it with your husband. Had I gone with Tony I probably wouldn't have liked it near as much. I went with my mom, my sister, my aunt, my cousin, and my grandma. All the girls! It was so fun. Again, a very cute movie but I recommend seeing it with other women.
Before the movie my mom and I met and got pedicures.. it was nice sitting with her talking about life. I never imagined I'd be sitting with my mom getting a pedicure talking about my daughter, my son, my husband... life... it's so surreal sometimes. I really like spending time with my mom- we don't get to spend much one on one time together. She is a nurse- working all the time. When she isn't working she is taking care of her horses, cows, and all the other animals on the farm; including my dad. :)
After the movie my sister and I did a bit of shopping and then I went home. I got home and spent a couple hours playing with the kids and trying to give them some mommy time (I always feel guilty being gone from them).
Then, Tony and I got ready for a night out. My Mom and Dad came to the house and watched the kids for us and we went to the Melting Pot... my favorite restaurant in the whole world!! I love the Melting Pot. If you have never heard of it, it's an awesome fondue place, awesome! We went with my sister, Lana, and her boyfriend, Aaron. What a fun night. I enjoy hanging out with those two. I am glad Tony and Aaron get along so well- it makes it so much fun for Lana and I. I enjoy spending time with Lana as an adult. I always liked spending time with her growing up but we were 5 years apart and there was always that 'kid sister' aspect of our relationship. She really has grown up into a bright and beautiful young woman and I enjoy her now more than ever.
We got home about 9:30 and Troy was sleeping, Sophia was in her bed.. but awake- I sang her a song, said her prayers, and she was asleep moments after we got home. Mom was scrubbing under the highchairs laughing telling me about the adventure she had getting the kids dinner, baths, and bed... it really is chaos in our house during that time of night. I assured her that it is no easier for me- I meant it too. The bathroom and the kitchen have to be cleaned nightly.. there is no clean, neat, and tidy way to feed a bath a two year old and a 9 month old.
Sunday morning we got up and went to church. I love our church. So much life, so many families... I love it! During service the children's coordinator, Brooke, came and asked me to follow her out. At first, my heart dropped, I thought Sophia had had a seizure. Then I saw Brooke's face, she was smiling and whispered, 'it's OK'. So sweet. I knew it was fine. Funny how you form relationships with people, building a trust level. She probably saw my face knew I what I was thinking and just as quick as the thought crossed my mind Brooke smiled and I knew it was fine. I guess Troy had fallen and cut his cheek.. he has a nice little battle scar today. That's a boy for you! I brought him into church with me and he spent the last couple minutes of service sitting on my lap. What a mouth he is! He was drinking his sippy cup then spitting it all out onto his shirt- by the end of service he was soaked. We then headed to lunch at a local BBQ place. Then we got home and all of us crashed out. We feel asleep.... but who has time to sleep!? Not us!! We woke up in a panic- we had so much to go do before our last 'couples personality class' (this is a group couples class we have been hosting at our house that is lead by a couple from our church, more on this later- it was an awesome experience!!) Anyway, running like crazy people until our guests arrived. The kids had to be feed, bathed, and dressed before our company got there, which meant that the bathroom and the kitchen was going to have to be cleaned when that was done. Tony and I are a great team though and we were able to double team/double time.. and we were ready for our company at 7.
Busy day!!! Busy weekend!!!
Today I had to take Troy to his swim lessons. He is going for a refresher course this week, everyday for 10 minutes. He did soo good though. It is always hectic having to get out and take him to swim lessons, totally worth it though. His instructor is so nice, she makes it so enjoyable.
Then we came home, lunch, nap time, then off to the grocery store. When we got home it was cooking time... some of you know how I cook... if you don't know I'll tell you- I cook all of our meals for the week on Monday and Tuesday. Monday I cook all of the side dishes and Tuesday I cook all of the main dishes. It's hectic on Monday and Tuesday but the rest of the week it is so easy when all the meals are prepared and ready. I love doing it this way! Then, dinner, bath, and finally bed!
I am laying in bed typing... I love this crazy, hectic life! But I am exhausted! I am going to sleep!! I hope everyone had a great weekend and I hope you all are having a great week so far!! :) Bless you all!!