Oh NO!

Don't let this sweet lil face fool you. Cause this girl is fierce! In the past few weeks she has gone from very agreeable, answering every request with a softly-spoken, eager, "Kay!" to showing a bit of her inner rebel. Last night it culminated at bedtime when instead of her usual run to the stairs at the announcement of 'night-night time' she hugged her arms tightly across her chest shook her head back and forth with utter commitment and declared with unmistakable defiance, "No!" What?! Not that I should have been surprised, she has after all been shaking her head no for some time now, but it has never been accompanied by the verbal declaration. She'd never even said the word, "no" before tonight. It simply wasn't a part of her vocabulary yet. But, I guess I should consider myself lucky as "no" wasn't her first word, nor her second, or even anywhere close to being in her top 20. I think more than the word, is what inevitably comes with it, the acts of disobedience, stubborness, etc. Another, less inocuous, new vocabulary word for her is "car." She says it with a heavy New England accent, like she was a Jersey girl or something. That, unlike "no" is quite cute. The other day as we were walking through the YMCA parking lot after swim lessons she pointed to every vehicle we passed and pronounced, "Car. Car. Car. Car. Car." The Girl and I were cracking up.

Budding Beautician?

The Girl has a penchant for doing her own hair lately and I'd have to say that she does a pretty darn good job. With one exception, the combing. That part I still have to do and man is it painful...for both of us. More so for me I think as I have to put up with whining, wailing and the occasional scream. Anyhow, the Girl loves to pull all of her tresses back into one ponytail in the back, or just a handful of hair into a

small ponytail on the side or sometimes in the top middle of her head. Other days she adorns it with clips and barettes. This evening after her bath, she came downstairs with a host of small clips arranged on either side of her head with the rest of her hair pulled back into a ponytail. I thought she looked so darn sweet and was tickled that she has such an interest in doing her own hair. As a tween and teen I loved doing my own hair as well as that of others. I remember styling my friends' hair for formal dances at school on several occasions. Now if the Girl can just master the perfect blow-out, I'll have her up early every morning doing my hair!!

Swim Lessons

This past Thursday, the Girl finished up her first session of swim lessons. She made huge strides over those eight lessons.

The focus of each class was to work on a handful of basic skills (bobs, kicking, floating on their stomachs and backs, jumping off the side into the water, etc.) and while the Girl didn't master all of them, she did improve drastically in each skill. The bobs though, now those she absolutely owned by the last session of class. On the very first day she would bob down barely far enough to get the tip of her nose in the water

and the instructor would gently tap the top of her head as a subtle reminder that she needed to go all the way under. With each lesson she allowed more and more of her face to go under and would increase the quantity of bobs that she did. By the last class she was dunking herself under with gusto in rapid succession, always making sure that the top of her head was covered by water and that she paused just below the surface for good measure. At that last class I lost count of how many bobs she'd done after 17. As for Baby Sister, she was just itching to get her little toes into the water so, as with t-ball, we made sure to bring plenty of snacks.

Mine

Last night, as I do every night, I checked on my sleeping beauties before heading to bed myself. Upon reaching Baby Sister's crib and after my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I saw this. She just looked so sweet, innocent and peaceful that I couldn't resist it. I went in search of my camera, found it and snuck back into her room to capture her in this state of pure angelic innocence. Especially as it was in stark contrast to her recent attitude and favorite new bit of vocabulary. Earlier that afternoon, at lunchtime, we were all sitting at the table eating when Baby Sister reached for the string cheese wrapper near the Girl's plate, snatched it between her fingers looked at the Girl and very clearly stated, "That's mine, (and then for added emphasis)miiiiine." Since that incident, 'mine' has been a staple among Baby Sister's repertoire of words and it is usually accompanied by folding her arms across her chest in a show of defiance. Must've got that from her Daddy. But when she's sleeping so sweetly she's mine...all miiiiine.

Play (T)Ball!

Saturday was the Girl's first t-ball game (if you could call it that). She has been looking forward to the start of t-ball for some time now and come Saturday she was all too ready to get out the door. Her and J showed up at the field early as J is jointly coaching her team with the dad of another player. When they arrived they got their shirts and found out that their team name is the Lions. She put her shirt and glove on and

was excited to play. That all changed when her little teammates arrived (2 other girls and 7 boys) and the Girl discovered that as coach her Daddy was going to have to spread his time and attention among the other kids as well. She was a tad bit jealous. As for Baby Sister and I we arrived just before start time as I knew that there are only so many snacks one can pack to occupy and keep Baby Sister in one place for an hour. As

it turns out, Baby Sister wasn't thrilled about J coaching either as once the snacks ran out she kept pointing to him on the

field and began to scream hysterically when I wouldn't let her run out to him. Speaking of running, here is the Girl walking to home

plate. Hmmm, she doesn't quite seem to grasp the urgency of base running yet. I guess that is why she is playing, to learn all of these things or as much as she can in one hour of play. This one hour of play consists of practice with her team the first half hour and is immediately followed by a 30-minute game with another team. This so-called game is just long enough to allow each team to bat through their entire roster once and then field the balls hit by the other team's players. They are doing good if just a few players go after the ball rather than the whole team dog-piling on top of it and fighting over who has it...that is if the batter doesn't go after it himself and get to it first which was the case with one little guy from the other team who hit it off the tee, dropped the bat and went right after it. There is no base throwing, just throwing the ball back to the other team's coach. We are talking the very basic fundamentals here. And of course once the game is over there is a snack and drink for all the players. How else did you think we could get them to stay out there for an hour?! Go Lions!!

Riding in cars with girls

If you were to ride in our car with us these days, you would know that Baby Sister finds it quite enjoyable, thrilling even, to ride with the windows down. She loves to feel the wind in her face and as we were riding in the car this afternoon, with windows rolled down, I was taken back to another time. Just three short years ago when another Baby Girl I knew also loved to drive with the windows down.

I just had to unearth the pictures and my memory served me correctly. The Girl discovered

the joy of riding with the wind in your hair at just about the same age as Baby Sister. In these photos she

is 3 1/2 months older than Baby Sister is right now. I was tickled to see the physical resemblance

(and differences) and astonished by the similar facial expressions and body language.

The Farm

Today we went to 'the Farm' with the Girl's preschool class. While overcast, the weather this year was much warmer than when we went last year. Last year's trip was bitterly cold and wet. The kids started out finding their way through the hay maze in the barn, up to the loft and sliding down into a pile of straw. Next up was the animals. Both Girls loved the baby chicks that were clustered in a fluffy

group under a heat lamp at the bottom of this bin. Despite the cuddly kittens, the woolly baby lambs and the mischievous kids (of the

baby goat variety), Baby Sister was much more interested in the resident farm dog. Not sure what his name was but we took to calling

him Bingo as he looks just like the dog in one of the Girl's favorite books, 'Ladybug Girl.' Anyhow, Baby Sister would've followed Bingo to

the ends of the earth and very nearly did traipsing after him through gravel, tall grass and fresh plowed soil. Bingo plopped down in the

field for a brief rest and Baby Sister spotted her opportunity to finally capitalize on her arduous journey and get close enough to reach out

for a pet. That's about as long as it lasted too, as right after I snapped this picture Bingo got up and was on the move again. After planting a couple of pumpkin seeds in the soil near Bingo's resting spot it was off to pot a marigold seedling to take home. Then the much anticipated highlight of the entire fieldtrip...

the creamsicles! The other two cuties in the picture (besides my own of course!) are our sweet little neighbor girls. They live just three doors down and Miss E is 6 months younger than the Girl, while Miss G is 6 months older than Baby Sister.

Goodness

Yesterday was as near to perfect as a day could get, you know, since there's no such thing as perfect. It was wonderful and leisurely, spent with my sweet little family. As I sat outside soaking up the sunshine and watching the work and play I spent a fair amount of time reflecting on the absolute goodness in my life. Seriously, it saturates my life and oozes out of every nook, cranny and crevice. From the sparkly, ruby-red, Dorothy-esque shoes I received for my birthday

to the good old fashioned Quaker oats that have replaced pancakes as the breakfast favorite in our household. Nearly every morning it's requested...plain with a sprinkling of brown sugar for the Girl, with blueberries and banana chunks for Baby Sister and me.

Goodness in a sunshine-y day, blue skies and fluffy white clouds. A day that was warm. Warm enough for the Girl to don a bathing suit and play in a shower of sprinkles. Goodness in the unexpected rainbow captured by the sun's rays on the vapor of water.

Goodness in the garden box so lovingly built for me by an amazing man, the love of my life, with a lot of help from the Girl for Mother's Day. And it doesn't stop there, nor did it find it's beginnings in my adult years. I have been blessed with goodness in my life from childhood. Goodness that began with parents who have always loved and supported me. Who took me and my brother and sister to church nearly every Sunday so that we would know where goodness comes from. Parents that have been happily married for 30+ years. Goodness in growing up in one house, the same house that my Girls now know to be their 2nd home. Goodness in countless wonderful memories. Goodness in childhood friendships that have stood the test of time. Goodness in friendships created more recently. Friends that love my children completely. The goodness that arrived in my life

very early on a Monday morning in August nearly 5 years ago. The goodness that she has brought me every single day since.

Multiply that goodness by the 6 1/2 pounds of goodness that arrived three years later early on a Sunday morning in late September. And add to that...

the tiny bit of goodness currently residing in my belly. Come mid-November the goodness will be increasing exponentially.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. -Micah 6:8

Why is your Mom special?

With Mother's Day rapidly approaching, the activities at preschool have been focused on all things Mom. This morning when I dropped the Girl off, I peeked through the window on my way out as I normally do, and noticed that the day's question written on the dry erase board was, "Why is your Mom special?" Of course I was curious to know how the Girl would answer that question but I continued on my way as she gets quite disgruntled if she catches me lingering at the window. My curiousity was satisfied that evening during Mom's Night at the preschool when her teacher sought me out and told me how the Girl answered the question. She answered, 'My Mom is special because the lets me wear whatever I want.'" I smiled because it's absolutely true. For the most part. Of course I insist on at least a little bit of weather appropriateness when she puts together an outfit in the morning, but other than that I leave it all up to her. It wasn't always this way. There was a period of time when I initially resisted her attempts to select her own clothes but soon I came to realize that it was making both of us unhappy. Me because I hated the arguments that would undoubtedly ensue and her because she didn't like what she was wearing. It finally dawned upon me that at this stage in her young life she doesn't have much say in what goes on and that picking out her own clothes is one way for her to have a bit of control and it's a way for her to express herself. So why not?! Apparently her teachers appreciate her unique sense of style and are always eager to see what she'll be wearing. They love her light-up Cinderella glass slippers (pictured above) as much as she does and got a real kick (no pun intended) out of the soccer shinguards that she accessorized her outfit with last week.

Like Big Sis, Like Lil' Sis

As previously mentioned, Baby Sister loves to parade around the house wearing the Girl's dresses. So just imagine how much she adores having her own dress that looks just like Big Sis's. Fortunately, these Girls are blessed with a Gramma who loves to sew charming dresses for little girls. Especially when those little girls happen to be her granddaughters. Thanks Gramma!!

Cupcake Love

This evening we went to a wedding reception for my cousin. It was held in a charming little red barn that was adorned with white twinkling lights, hurricane vases holding flickering candles, and tons of beautiful orange flowers. It was for a cousin that I hadn't seen in at least 10 years, maybe longer. It was fun to see family members and catch-up. But if you asked the Girl, the party was boring. Thank-goodness for the

cupcakes! They were the redeeming factor for the previous few hours of otherwise boring grown-up conversation and socializing.

I'm pretty sure that Baby Sister (among others) would agree!!