Trying not to forget

The day we took Emma home from the hospital

When we became new parents so many people told us how quickly it would fly by and to savor every moment and try to write things down so we will remember when they're grown all the little things the kids would do.  Well, that's part of why I started this blog.  Since I always wanted to do baby books but really never did a great job at it I figure this is sort of the family scrap book to remember some of our little moments.  It's just easier to type and drag photos than it is to sit with a physical book and have pictures printed to add in, etc. (at least for me)!

So with that said, right now Tony and I are constantly reminded of the girls getting a grasp on the English language.  As goes with being a parent to toddler/preschool age kids they frequently have us cracking up- sometimes with their actual words and sometimes with the way they use their words.  Love it.

Here are some of our current favorites:

Ada
"Kilgren" = children
"Yesternight"= last night
"Sank You" = thank you (they both say this)
"65" = this is the unit of measure that lets you know it's a wicked lot.  Like what a grown up might call a million or more.

Emma
"soor, soor, soor"= sure
"noonoos"= noodles
"all my by self" = all by myself
expressing emotion through her belly button= "that tickles my belly button", "that hurts my belly button"
"how yabout?"= how about
"I tell you someping?" = can I tell you something? (usually followed by a rambling story filled with giggle breaks, or a simple I love you)

Sadly I know there are already things I have forgotten, and some that I will keep just for me, but I try and that's what I need to focus on :)

Family Vacation- Boston

We were fortunate enough to head back to Boston for my sister-in-law's graduation from UMass Boston recently.  

Yay Aunt Megan!

All four of us were able to go and we had a blast!  We made the wicked awesome decision to spend the first night in Massachusetts staying in the city very close to the Public Gardens.  The girls were super travelers and even though we arrived late they rolled with it and even made it through a late night dinner/ dessert and we had a nice night at the hotel.  Waking up in the morning we could simply take a walk through the gardens, see the baby ducklings, take a swan boat ride, and see the iconic statues made famous in Robert McClosky's Make Way for Ducklings, a book we love around here.  It was a wonderful and special family day.  

Counting the ducklings

Happy Emma

Attempt at getting the girls to look at me and smile.

Here's a little video of the girls watching the ducks.  Note Ada's "Quack, Quack" song in the beginning and Emma's excitement towards the end.

Swan boats

Swan boats

Riding the ducklings...obviously

Mrs. Mallard with her ducklings- Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack

It was made more special by the fact it was Memorial Day.  The Massachusetts Military Heroes Fund had planted 33,000 flags on the lawn representing fallen soldiers from Massachusetts from the Civil War onward.  It was impressive and a nice visual for the kids.  I love that Tony was there to talk to Ada about the importance of soldiers and Ada has a pretty good (for a 4 year old) understanding of what Memorial Day means.

Flag garden on Memorial Day

We walked around the Commons too and easily the favorite thing was the huge fountain near the Park Street Church.  They probably could have stayed there for an hour.  There was a guy playing piano and loads of people.  Tony gave them each a coin to throw in and we just basked in the sunshine.  On our walk back to the hotel we treated them (and us) to fresh lemonade, sausage, hot pretzel, arepas, and Italian ice all from street vendors. So much fun!

The rest of the week we spent quality time with our families, notably the members of Tony's extended family that flew in from around the country for a little reunion in honor of the graduation.  Since we so rarely get to see these folks it was truly special.  My folks hosted us the rest of the week so the kids got lots of quality Nana and Grampa time and they even threw a huge party at their house so we could see loads of friends and family all in one place and minimize our driving all over New England.  It was glorious!

Watching "Brave" on the plane.  Notice Jim Bear sitting with the girls.  LOVE!

Nature Center

This is what happens when I ask them to look at me and smile.

I think the heat is starting to get to me already (can't believe we had a foot of snow a couple weeks ago) because I've been very grouchy the past couple of days.  This morning I decided we needed to get out into the woods a little so we went to the awesome nature center near our house and walked around the little pond and up a hill then had a picnic lunch.  A very nice little Saturday morning for the girls and I am feeling more clear headed!

Proud Emma after counting some ducks in the pond. 

The girls found a duck eating some algae and doing headstands in the water.  Just after this we found some basking turtles on a rock. 

Rocking on a little dock and pretending we were on a boat.

Starting out on our walk.

Working hard.

Up up up the hill.

Half Birthdays

I very much enjoy celebrating half birthdays.  Especially since the girls are so young and waiting a whole year to have a birthday can seem like forever it's nice to break it up...and it's an excuse to eat cake!  We haven't hit every one, but for Emma's 2 1/2 birthday Tony happened to be home and it was going to work out that we could celebrate together.  Nothing major, just us, food that Emma likes for dinner and cake for dessert (we almost never have dessert, so that alone is a big treat).

After dinner we sang "Happy half birthday to you..." and she blew out her candle and we enjoyed some cake.  Her face says it all.  Love you Emma!

When sisters are quiet

Now that Emma is older and the girls are starting to play together more interactively I am able to sneak away and put laundry away, or run out to do chicken chores, or cook dinner without needing to worry about their entertainment.  They have been enjoying playing together more especially now that Emma likes to use her imagination and also likes playing the "mommy, daddy, baby pretend-type games" and all the variations.  That said, I am always listening for things like speaking kindly to each other, having patience, bumps and thumps, and most terrifyingly...silence.

All parents will tell you that kids tend to be at their sneakiest when things fall quiet and on this day I was in one of the bedrooms putting laundry away when suddenly I heard no more sounds.  Turns out there were sounds just too faint for me to hear.  When I emerged to take a look at what was going on I found this adorable little scene.  Tony loved Richard Scarry books when he was little and this is his original one that was passed down to us.  It is old and falling apart so we keep it on a high shelf that Ada can reach but Emma cannot since Ada also loves it and will be careful with it, but Emma has a destructive streak in her.

Ada was carefully pointing to each drawing and asking Emma what each thing was, giving her encouragement when she got it right or gently saying things like, "good guess, but actually that's a bubble, etc."  Emma was enthralled   I was able to grab the camera and grab a couple of shots before they realized I was there and it messed everything up.

I know that no matter what the best and greatest thing I could ever give these girls is her sister.  I am so happy they have one another.

Reflections on being a mom (Mother's Day a little late)

Since there are many more articles out there that say what I would say about motherhood in a more eloquent way I am not going to write much.  Perhaps my favorite read recently was by Lea Grover in her Huff Post Parents article, "Dear Less-Than-Perfect Mom".  It's a good quick read and she talks about all the things we do that are not so glamorous and that make us real and human and beautiful.  What I love is that she highlights the things we do that many of us feel guilty about or beat ourselves up about and spins them to show that those are the things that make us better moms.  My favorite quote from the article and something I need to remember on the bad days, "Congratulations, Best Mom in the World.  You're not perfect."  Accepting and even embracing the imperfections is something I struggle with but in the spirit of wanting my kids to embrace the things that make them special and unique and "imperfect" I will try harder.

I had wanted to write something before Mother's Day and post on Sunday, but things got away from me last week and alas, here I am.  Tony was off (which was really the best gift I could ask for) and we had a nice family weekend complete with us each getting to spend some one-on-one time with each girl and have a wonderful Mother's Day BBQ with some friends.

I did want to share the awesome Mother's Day gifts we had made for the grandmother's (and for Mama) by a silhouette artist who came to town a few weeks ago.  The girls have a silhouette of me from when I was 2 hanging on their wall and I've been wanting to get one done of the girls for over a year so this was perfect- I even pinned a DIY silhouette on Pinterest but I doubt I ever would have gotten to it!  I think they came out great- you be the judge.

If you remember Emma's Eric Carle Birthday Party, you will remember that we made a wall collage with clear contact paper.  We saved it and when Ada and I went looking for something to wrap these with she picked this out and it was absolutely perfect!  I wanted you to see also how great her handwriting is getting.  I wrote the message and she wrote her and Emma's names and made a heart.  Just love her.

May 2, 2013

I woke up to the sound of my phone's text alert letting me know that school was cancelled today.  For snow.  I knew the forecast and expected a few inches at most, not the 13+ that we actually got.  It was that super heavy snow that breaks all sorts of branches and knocks out the power.  But it was pretty.

Last night I made sure to mention to the girls that we would probably be waking up to snow today so they wouldn't be surprised.  Ada's reaction when she actually laid eyes on the day were, "No, it's not winter anymore, it's spring!  The robins are here and it's warm, not cold!  I'm moving to Florida forever!"  Did I mention she's 4?

Well, after I went out and knocked some of the snow off the tree branches that hadn't already snapped, Ada and I went out to play and do another hen check/ egg check and took a few pictures of the record breaking snowfall while Emma napped.

Our backyard.

You can see the broken limbs and the depth of the snow in relation to the cozy coupe.

I feel bad for the chickens- they do not like the snow.  They are ready for these Minnesota shenanigans to be over.

Since it had been in the 70s for a few days and we were wearing shorts and flip flops, we put the water barrel back up...apparently a bit too soon!

Ada helped me shovel this pathway to the garage but mostly she enjoyed playing jumping, falling, and eating the snow.

Me and my Ada boo- she wanted to make a silly face.