THREE.

3 years ago today, at 6:03 am, a baby girl was placed in my arms and I fell head over heels completely in love all over again. 3 years ago today, the best big brothers in the world met the sister they'd been asking for. 3 years ago today, our family became complete.

And today, I wish a very happy 3rd birthday to my most favorite girl in the whole wide world!






Pretty sure everyone is sick of me playing the "3 years ago today" game I've been playing all weekend. I'm caught up in all the nostalgia of the past week surrounding the births of my first and my last (poor Logie is all out on his own in September. Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!). Maybe moreso than normal, although I'm not sure why.

Maybe it's because not only does Aidan seem so grown up all of a sudden, but so does Lorelai. Double whammy! MY baby is no longer A baby. She's a legit tiny human with all of her words and opinions. Her do-it-herself attitude. Yes attitude. Her intentional (and unintentional) charm and sass. She has real conversations. She knows and does things now that amaze me. I still see her as my baby, but she tells me "I'm a big girl." Indeed. Sigh.



Most of the words I wrote about her last year remain as true as ever. She's sweet, beautiful, hilarious, smart, cute and even still snuggly (my favorite thing!). She's so full of personality--the "death by cute" count is at an all-time high (see also: Lorelai-isms).


Aidan was so sweet, making sure her glasses were on right and her hair was fixed before we went out for photos.


She's also still quite stubborn. I'm catching glimpses of the terrible threes--very stubborn and often irrational behavior. Hello, bipolar toddler! None of her tantrums have been epic so far, though. So I can only hope she follows Aidan's lead and NOT Logan's. Bless my heart if it's the latter.

She's adored by everyone--family and teachers alike. When the daycare director asked if she was ready to move up to the preschool class (she transitions this week), she said "Yes, but Ms. Kim's (her current teacher) gonna cry."





Some other things about Lorelai at age 3:

• She loves the color purple. The only present she explicitly asked for was purple sunglasses. (Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!)
• She asks to "dribe" the car all the time.
• She loves to wear dresses.
• She's a pro at walking in heels. (Thanks for the gift, Aunt Anna!)

• She like to carry a phone around and have pretend conversations with the grandmas, Raina and Luca (cousins).
• She likes to play hide and seek with the boys.
• The only shows she asks to watch are Doc McStuffins and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I can't convince her to watch anything else in bed on weekend mornings. Believe me, I've tried.
• She loves milk, likes water with ice, doesn't ever ask for juice. Wouldn't even drink the lemonade we made for her party!
• She loves for me to pick her up, and when I do, she gives me the BEST monkey hugs. Legs and arms wrapped tightly around me, holding me close.
• On the more frustrating side, she's still pretty hot/cold with her daddy. But she always asks for "Daddy after" to tuck her in after I do my story/lullaby thing.

We celebrated her yesterday with a simple family party at home, and this morning she woke up to balloons and snuggles. I took the afternoon off to surprise her class with some birthday treats. We went for a bike ride to the bus stop on her new bike, she played in her new tent for a while, then we went to Chick-fil-a for dinner and play time.



Anyway, I just love every ounce of this sassy and sweet girl (all 39lbs of her!) and sometimes I just can't believe she's ours.


(Photo credit goes to Aidan on this one. He was the only one around, and happily took the camera from me. I think I'll start training him on how to use it so he can do it more often! Too bad Lorelai wasn't smiling...)



XOXO, sweet girl!

Halfway to adulthood...otherwise known as Aidan's 9th birthday

Happy 9th birthday to my sweet, handsome Aidan!




I was thinking about it this weekend, and I realized he's halfway to adulthood. What?! How can that be? In as many years as I've had this amazing person under my roof, I'm likely going to be packing him up and sending him off for new adventures without me. Without me. Right now, I can't bear the thought. I'm sure as time goes on, I'll be ready, but that thought kind of blows my mind right now.

****

In what's now an official tradition, we celebrated Aidan's birthday at the beach. This time, a few days early. It was very low-key, as usual. Just the five of us and my mom, with pizza and cupcakes. And this year I didn't even bother with any lame decorations. But that's still just fine with him, and I'm not one to argue with going to the beach or making things as simple as possible. :)


Of course, simple cupcakes couldn't actually be simple. No chocolate for Lorelai--we found out the hard way last year that she won't sleep if she has chocolate before bed. And on the other hand, Logan won't eat anything unless it's ONLY chocolate. So a handful of M&Ms for him. Eh, I aim to please.


I worried about what to get him since I don't really want to buy any toys "just because" I wanted to wrap something. So I became our dentist's worst nightmare (or best dream?) by wrapping up a bag full of treats, so he'd have something to open at his party (ok, and I'm hoping he'll want to share--he usually does!). We wanted to save his real presents from us for his actual birthday.



He's really not that into many toys right now, anyway. He's still into books though, and more recently, into comics. He's checked out numerous Garfield books from the library, so Adam and I decided to run with that theme and get him a monthly subscription of the Justice League of America comic. Not exactly Garfield, but we think he'll like it.

And he and Logan have both talked about wanting to save up for the Lego Death Star, so they've decided that Lego store gift cards would make really nice gifts until they have enough to buy it together. They'll be saving up for a while, but it'll make gift-giving a bit easier until then. :)



Other things I always want to remember about Aidan at age 9:

• He's not nearly as moody as he was last year. Hallelujia! 
• In a school assignment this week, he described himself as intelligent, kind, athletic and awesome. Pretty safe to say he's also confident. :)
• He's so responsible and helpful--he even knows how to fix my Starbucks coffee and actually got my refill and made it for me while I stayed with Lorelai and the shopping cart (we grocery shop at Target so I get Starbucks when we get there and a refill before we leave). I was so impressed that he was more than willing and able to do that for me! 
• He'll also take his brother to the restroom when we're out. (Strength in numbers against pervy bathroom creepers, right?)
• He loves reading and I've caught him with a flashlight and a book after bed time more than once.
• He's read all of his Big Nate books at least twice. Now he's into the Z.Rex series and is also a big fan of the Origami Yoda series.
• He'd be a couch potato if we let him, between TV shows and video games. Thankfully, he does like to play outside as well.
• He loves swimming and wants to learn how to do back flips into the pool. I can't say I'm on board with this...yikes!
• He likes to draw.
• He's interested in Minecraft, but not obsessed...yet.
• When the grandparents took him shopping for his birthday, he picked out a Lego watch, a Lego Chima set, a boogie board and a set of Trash Pack toys. Guess that's his new thing...

To my sweet Aidan Benjamin, the one who made me a mom: I'm in awe of you every day. Of how you continue to be an amazing big brother to Logan and Lorelai. Of how you keep growing and learning and adapting, surprising me all the time. You're so smart, charming, witty and engaging. You're kind, responsible, caring and helpful. You're everything I could have hoped you would be and more. I love you with all of my heart, and I'm just so stinkin' proud and lucky to be your mom.


May all your wishes come true!

Salt in the air, sand in my hair

"The cure for anything is salt water -- sweat, tears, or the sea." -Isak Dinesen

We picked the sea. :) I'm currently vegging out in total vacation mode after a long, wonderful day at the beach with my family.




Not a thought of work is crossing my mind (dreams don't count, right? ugh.), and I'm trying to leave the stress of last week behind me. We leave tomorrow, so I'm just trying to soak up every single second of my time away. The sun, the sand, the breeze off the water. Every wave, every splash, every smile, every squeal of excitement, and every exhausted baby snuggle. And to top it off, every birthday wish for my almost-9-year-old who we're celebrating this weekend.



Life is good.

Full of stress

Ok, so...um? Yeah. I got nothin' but a bunch of complaints. Here goes. And I'm sorry.

I've never been so consistently busy at work where I don't feel like there's enough time in the day to get everything done. For pretty much the past week, I've been in the office for 9 hours working all the way through lunch, and then logging back in at night when I get home to check emails and pull reports.

But at least i still have a job. There were layoffs at my company this week and a really great guy got let go, which was very unsettling for a lot of us. That night, I had a dream that I was the one laid off, yikes. Which leads me to...

Dude. I'm exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well because there's too much on my brain--work and otherwise. Can't shut it off to fall asleep. In fact, I started writing this on my phone at 11:15 at night to get these thoughts out of my head so I can sleep! It only sort of worked.

We're supposed to go to the beach this weekend and I can't even get my brain to comprehend all that we need to pack. And I'm worried I'll get stuck at work on Friday and not have time to actually do any packing.

Aidan and Lorelai have birthdays coming up with very few presents bought and no real parties planned. Well, Aidan will have his "party" at the beach, but with what presents? I DON'T KNOW! And I guess we'll have family over for dinner for Lorelai's birthday, but I DON'T KNOW! Lame.

And to top it all off, Adam had to travel for work this week, and now his flight is delayed and won't be home until after 11.

Whew. There's more, but that's plenty of negativity for one post.

****

So now I'll just leave you with this funny clip of Lorelai "reading" to me in the tub. I can usually understand almost everything she says, so I can assure you she was speaking legit gibberish for half of this. I hope that's not what she hears when I read to her. ;) I definitely heard something about a spider and a frog, and then advice on how to put your face in the water. "Yep! You did it." "Oh. Wrong page." Silly girl.
 

And now, with a smile on my face courtesy of my funny girl, I'm going to attempt to go to sleep. Wish me luck!

1st and 4th

After a fun but always too short 5-week summer break, it was time to head back to class today for Aidan's first day of 4th grade and Logan's first day of 1st grade. (Insert cliche but oh so true comment about how time sure flies...)



We went school shopping yesterday (nothing like waiting until the last minute!) and packed their backpacks full of supplies. What is it about fresh supplies that's so exciting? I don't know, but we were all excited and ready for the first day.




Aidan was a little upset that none of his friends from last year are in his class this year. Apparently we were the only ones who opted out of looping with his teacher from last year. I'm slightly concerned that we made the wrong decision because I didn't get warm fuzzies from his new teacher. But only time will tell. Aidan did say that she's really strict, so what I'm most worried about is that he won't connect with her. And maybe he'll be resentful that he didn't get to stay with the teacher he loved last year and it'll affect his motivation. I don't know. But I'm really trying not to stress about it yet. Trying and failing, for the record. How could I not stress about it when the first thing he said to me when I got home was that "it was a sad day." Because of the friends thing, and because he dropped his sandwich at lunch and couldn't eat it. Breaks my heart. I SO want him to have a great year and nurture the love of school he's had in the past.

As for Logan, he didn't get the teacher we hoped for—the one who Aidan had in Kindergarten, and who my sister had back in 1991(!). But the teacher he has seems nice, and Logan said he likes her. Plus, he has two friends from his class last year, so that helps tremendously. At least I don't have to worry about Logan (yet...).



And this little girl. Bless her heart, I think she's a little jealous of the boys getting to go to school! From school supply shopping where she had her very own book bag and princess crayons picked out, to first day of school photos, she just HAD to get in on the action. Only two (yes, TWO) years until her first day of kindergarten. Hold me.




I certainly wouldn't mind any positive thoughts for a good school year for the both of them. School is just so important, and they have so many years left of it, so I'd just hate for and bad experiences to change their whole attitude about it, know what I mean?

But like I said, time will tell.

When life gives you lemons...

(Or you go to the store to buy a bag so you can cross an item off your summer bucket list)...you make lemonade!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. fresh squeezed lemon juice (we used 10 lemons, but added a fair amount of pulp)
1 1/4 c. white sugar
8 c. water

Directions:
Combine sugar and 1 cup of water and bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly. Let cool
to room temperature and then chill in the fridge. While the simple syrup is cooling, juice lemons and mix with the rest of the water in a large pitcher. Add the simple syrup and enjoy!


Aidan and Logan were eager to help me make this yummy treat while Lorelai napped. I cut the lemons in half and they used their muscle power to juice the crap out of those lemons.

I even bought a juicer just for this occasion, and I'm SO glad I did. It would have been a nightmare to juice 10 lemons by hand. And now we have a good excuse to make fresh-squeezed lemonade (or limeade, or orangeade) all the time!

When Lorelai woke up, all 5 of us enjoyed a nice tall glass of it. But shhh, don't tell Lorelai--the boys got an extra glass for all their hard work (and because the entire amount was too big for my 2qt pitcher, whomp whomp).

They're already asking when we can make it again. I'm excited to experiment with some other recipes as well. Strawberry lemonade, anyone? Yum indeed. :)

Fireworks on the Fourth

I guess we didn't have a very traditional 4th of July. We didn't watch a parade, we didn't go to the pool, and we didn't grill out. Although that was not for lack of trying--the propane ran out right when Adam put the chicken on the grill. Bummer.

But we did get all decked out in our festive red, white and blue and took the kids to see some fireworks.





I even painted our toes matching red. :)



It was Lorelai's first time watching fireworks, and I was worried that she'd be scared of the noise. But she did so great, clapping and cheering, oohing and aahing--so cute!



We've never actually taken the boys to see fireworks, either. They've seen them from the beach house and from our car in the distance on our way in to the beach a few years ago, but this was the first time we went somewhere to watch them on purpose. We went to a local shopping center, parked in front of Target, and waited. And then waited some more...until well after 9:30.



We passed the time with feeble attempts at sparklers (it was tough to do and nicely photograph in a parking lot, so we'll have to do them another night), and despite being past everyone's bed time, they all hung in there like champs. And I think we'd all say it was well worth the wait. They were in awe!





Logan was pretty much in a trance the whole time. Totally mesmerized.








I love this pic!


The kids didn't get into bed until after 10:30, but thank goodness everyone slept past 8. Lorelai didn't wake up until 8:30. Score!

And who cares if we didn't do all of the quintessential 4th of July things, because the one we did do was pretty awesome. Dare I say, a blast? (Haha, so punny.) Although I'll be sure the grill has plenty of propane for next year because I really wanted some grilled food. :)

Rain rain go away...

...now that my children got to play.



We crossed another item off our summer bucket list this evening, and I think they kiddos had just as much fun as last year playing in the rain.



We've had plenty (waaaay too many) rainy, dreary days lately, but they've almost all been part of thunder storms with crazy wind, thunder and lightening. Not ideal for playing, obviously.

But this afternoon, I cut out of work a little early in an effort to beat the rain (and let's face it--start my glorious 4-day weekend a little early!). As I was driving the kids home, there were no storms, just rain. Perfect for playing, finally.



We got home and they got changed, but it stopped raining right as they walked outside. Total bummer! So we watched a movie instead, had dinner, then went out to play. And just when we thought all hope was lost for playing in the rain, like magic, the skies opened up and the rain started to fall.

They splished and splashed and ran around like crazy, enjoying every second. More childhood memories were made. Even before we were all the way inside, they were asking when it was going to rain again.



Gotta be honest though, now that we've checked this item off our list, I'd be happy to not see another rainy day for the rest of the month! The storms and rain we've had lately are crazy and so not normal for June/July in NC. Rain rain go away! Unless it's at night or a quick, harmless shower in the evening so I don't have to water my plants...