Family

Vacation at Home

Posted on by Amy
For the past week, my husband has been on vacation.  Usually when he has time off work, we go somewhere.  We live far away from our families, and think it’s important to see them as much as possible, so we are often traveling to visit someone.  This week, for the first time in a long time, we vacationed at home.  It was wonderful.
We got to spend lots of great quality time with the Daddy.  He was able to come to Miss’s gymnastics class and to the girls’ music class.

 I think he really enjoyed observing both classes.  Miss has really blossomed in her gymnastics class and both girls really get into their music class.  Miss loves to sing and play the instruments and Lass is a total ham.

Today we went to brunch, where we got to carve pumpkins for Halloween.  Miss and Daddy did all the work on our pumpkin.  Last year the Daddy did it all by himself, but this time Miss was able to really participate.

She helped scoop out the guts

and decide what type of face to draw for the Jack-o-lantern.

 Lass enjoyed wandering around and looking at some of the other pumpkins.

 Miss was even able to help cut out the pumpkin face.

 She was pretty happy with the finished product.

We also spent lots of fun time with Daddy at home.  Tonight Miss got to try out her new dot markers by drawing with Daddy.

They drew snakes and faces and lots of grapes and blueberries.

It has been a great week.

It’s a Girl!!!

Posted on by Amy
Yesterday, we had our ultrasound and got to see Baby.  We were thrilled to see a healthy little one, growing and developing right on track so far.  We were also able to be able to find out Baby’s gender.  Though I was pretty convinced that this baby was a boy, we were very excited to see that we are having another girl.  Miss and Lass will be having a Sis!  I’m so happy to imagine how wonderful it will be for all my girls to grow up with sisters so close in age.  Though I don’t have a sister, I’ve heard they’re pretty great.  I love that my girls will have each other.  I’m picturing some pretty fabulous tea parties, slumber parties for which we don’t even need to invite any guests, and lots of great girls’ days out.  They can do each other’s hair and share clothes and be each other’s best friends.  I love having girls.
And just in case you’re feeling badly for my husband, swimming in a sea of estrogen and nail polish… Don’t.  He is thrilled to have another girl, if maybe slightly terrified.  One of the first things he said after our ultrasound appointment was something about needing to build a 20-foot wall around our house.  But he loves having girls too. He’s gotten very good at playing Care Bears and dress up.  And our ladies are total Daddy’s girls, especially Lass right now.  
We may or may not someday have a little boy.  Of course we’d love to have a boy, though we would be perfectly happy with all girls too.  And even if we never have a son, I’m quite certain my husband will never feel like he’s missing out on anything.
Our girls love to watch football with him on Saturday mornings, 

though he is not terribly happy with their choice of teams.  So far Miss has expressed her preference for “Go Blue.”

For the record, when I bought these shirts for the girls, I wasn’t in search of Michigan wear.  I was shopping online for a few things for Miss for school and I happened to see these on Old Navy’s website.  I actually did look for Iowa shirts on there too (I’m not entirely sure I would have bought them, but I did look).  No Iowa shirts at Old Navy.

And in case anyone was wondering, when Michigan and Iowa play each other in a few weeks, the girls will be wearing neutral clothing.  Maybe I’ll just dress them in Maize-colored shirts, since both teams share that color.

We try to keep our rivalry all in good fun around here.  But I have to admit I was very excited that Miss burst out singing the Michigan fight song, completely unprovoked, in Target a few weeks ago.

Whichever team our girls choose to root for (it’ll probably end up to be the Badgers anyway…), we still all love to watch football together.  And they love to be outside with their Daddy.

They don’t mind getting dirty or playing a little rough.  Miss loves to try to climb trees.

Yesterday we were taking a look at a house on the water.  Miss went out on the dock with her Daddy, and when he told her it was time to leave she said, “No, I want to fish.  I don’t want to go!”  My hubby will teach them to fish and even to hunt if they are interested.  Miss had her first archery lesson yesterday.

I was really bothered the other day when Miss was looking out the window, watching my hubby shoot his bow.  She said something like, “If I was a boy, I could shoot like Daddy.”

I was quite upset by this statement, and puzzled, because I have never said anything like this to her, nor have I heard anyone else make such a statement to her or in her presence.  So I don’t know where she came up with the idea that she would have to be a boy in order to shoot a bow, or do anything else.


Right away I told Miss that she didn’t have to be a boy to shoot a bow or do anything else, that she could certainly shoot with her Daddy, she just needed to get a little bit bigger.  My husband was so upset when I told him what she’d said, he took her out the next day to shoot with him.  I guess she didn’t need to be bigger, at least to watch and get the sense that she was doing it.

We will always teach all of our girls that they can do or be whatever they want, if they work hard.

And they will learn to do all sorts of fun things with their Dad.

So definitely don’t feel badly for my husband.  A few people have made comments like, “Oh how exciting that you’re having another girl!  But your poor husband!”  Of course, they mean this with all good intentions and kindness.  But, hell no he’s not poor!  To quote a song by Greg Brown: my husband is “a man who’s rich in daughters.”  Yes, we are very rich indeed.

Happy Fall

Posted on by Amy
Fall is my favorite season.  I love the crispness of the air, the colors of the leaves and their lazy floating to the ground.  I love pumpkins and apples and squash and chilly morning trips to the farmer’s market where all the season’s bounty can be found.  I love open windows through which cool breezes bring the scent of burning leaves.  Fall makes me feel cozy and productive.  Like I want to snuggle up with my Loveys, but also to get out and go do stuff.
Last year around this time, we went to a local farm where they have pumpkins, apples, animals and a big rustic playground.  We had a lot of fun, though I ended up a bit overwhelmed at the end of the day, struggling back to the truck with a newborn wrapped to me, a toddler and a big bag of apples in one arm, and pulling a wagon completely loaded with pumpkins with my free hand.  Thank goodness for the kindness of a stranger who came to our rescue.  Here we are in a photo from last year. 

We went back to the same farm yesterday.  My how things have changed.  We’ve upgraded our equipment,
and the girls have grown so much.  They were both charged with the task of picking out our pumpkins.
Lass took a relaxed approach to the job.
Miss, on the other hand, was all business.
She searched through all the pumpkins and even hauled the ones she chose toward the wagon.
We met up with some good friends, and had a wonderful day.
Back at home in the afternoon, we took full advantage of the glorious weather and the mass of leaves fallen from our beautiful oak tree.
 

The girls had a blast jumping and rolling in the leaves.  Daddy got down in the leaves with the girls too, and even got buried.

And yes, I got buried too.  I don’t know the last time I played in a big pile of leaves. I was a little shocked by how wonderful the leaves smelled and how the scent transported me instantly back to my childhood.  I had completely forgotten that smell.  It’s a fantastic smell!
Happy fall to you!
 

And Baby Makes Three…

Posted on by Amy
Three little ones that is.  You might remember this post around New Years when I said this regarding my happy anticipation of this year 2011: “And my hubby and I agree, that we would like to grow our family by at least one more little soul, so maybe 2011 will bring another tiny bundle our way.”  

Well, we didn’t quite make it in time for 2011 to bring us another little bundle, but March 2012 will do very nicely.  Here is our little bundle at about 14 weeks gestation.

 
We haven’t told the girls yet. Lass is too young to really understand of course, and Miss doesn’t yet understand the concept of waiting months for something to happen.  She’s already talking about Santa like she thinks he’s going to come and bring her more Care Bears any day now.  So, I’m just putting off the inevitable question of “When is the baby coming?” for a little while longer.  I think maybe we’ll wait until after the ultrasound that will hopefully tell us baby’s gender in a few weeks.  Then we can tell them specifically that they are having a little brother or sister.

We are so thrilled and feel amazingly blessed to be expecting a third child in our family.

343

Posted on by Amy
It’s been 10 years since that Tuesday no one will ever forget.
I was thinking today about the moments from that day that hit me the hardest. I’m sure everyone has has certain memories that have stuck with them most clearly. For me, the image, and particularly the sound, that seared my soul and burned into my memory that day was the sound of the distress alarms going off on the firefighters when they began showing footage of ground zero and the rescue efforts. I will never forget hearing so many piercing reminders of all the firefighters and other rescue personnel who were running into the World Trade Center buildings when everyone else was running out. I have a huge respect for firefighters. I have two of them very dear to my heart.

My Dad and Brother (and my nephew!), both professional firefighters (Dad retired).
I think this was the day my brother was made Captain.

A more recent photo of my brother after he ran the Firefighter Combat Challenge last year. He’s on the far left.

343 firefighters and paramedics died in the attacks on 9/11/01. That is well over ten percent of the total number of people killed that day. I am remembering them today.

A Week to Remember

Posted on by Amy
We got back late last night from a long, tiring, yet fun-filled ten days at the Farm. The girls grew so much during the week it seems, with so much to do and so many loving people around to do it with. Both sets of their grandparents, aunts, uncles, a gazillion cousins. They saw cool and interesting things and had new experiences. This bird’s nest is just one example of the treasure trove of nature that is the Farm.

The photo doesn’t do it justice. It’s made mostly of pieces of baling twine, twisted intricately around the branches and woven with grass, and probably other stuff. The general consensus was that it was probably an oriole’s nest. We didn’t bring it back with us, though that would have been a hell of a find for Miss to take to preschool. Miss’s Baba also gave her a robin’s egg, but we forgot that too. Miss saw deer, a coyote, a huge praying mantis, the biggest spider I’ve ever seen outside a glass case, a stick bug, and on and on. She really loved checking out the milkweed pods and walnuts that she found on the ground.
A different kind of new experience came for her in the form of corn. She has had sweet corn many times that I cut off the cob for her, but this week she had her first try at eating it right off the cob. She thought that was pretty cool.


But much more thrilling was her first ride on the “Great Big Mable” float pulled behind my in-law’s boat.



She didn’t seem scared in the slightest.
Just waving and smiling. My little daredevil.
Right after coming in from the boat and Mable ride, she went fishing with her Daddy. They caught several fish, and she had lots of fun with the worms.



One fish broke off their hook, so Miss sat and watched for fish with my mom while her Daddy went to get a new hook.
Then they were back in business.




Poor Lass is too little to get in on lots of the action her sister is getting into now, but she had great fun playing with her cousins. She really started moving with her walking this week too. Though she took her first steps shortly after turning 11 months, she never really got going with walking, and in fact until a few days ago, had almost stopped trying entirely. Now she’s really getting into it, choosing to walk instead of crawling more and more often, and stringing together more and more steps.

After her fishing time with her Dad, Miss got ready to go for a treasure hunt. She got all ready in her boots and headed out to the Ranger. The treasure hunt is one of my favorite things about the farm.
Tons of kids and adults pile on the Rangers and go off to explore and look for treasures of all kinds. I used to love going on treasure hunts when I first started coming to the Farm almost a decade ago. I was always the “City Mouse” to my husband’s “Country Mouse” family, and thoroughly enjoyed going out and being awed by all the finds. It’s a hundred times more fun to do it now with my kids.
We stopped to pick lots of wild flowers, which Lass loved.

Then we got down to the beach, where the kids splashed around and looked for shells and critters.

There were tons of tiny frogs hopping all around and the kids had a blast trying to catch them. Miss got to hold one that her older cousin caught for her. She also found a snake that her uncle grabbed up for her. That girl and her snakes…
Lass enjoyed the beach too.
It was really a week to remember. Every new experience for my girls seems like something new and amazing for me too. I love every minute of it.
Today we savored the trip and each other, happy to be home and back in our routine. Summer is winding down quickly here in the North Country. Today was crisp and felt very much like fall already. Football has started (Go Blue!). And preschool starts this week! Loving every minute.

A Snake and a Cake

Posted on by Amy
We had Lass’s birthday party on Saturday. We are at the Farm, and are so lucky to have such a wonderful place to have a party. A perfect example of how things often happen here is that one of the girls’ cousins found a snake shortly before the party started and brought it up to the house. Everyone was shying away from it, except Miss of course.


She thought it was pretty cool.

It was a dead snake,


but she didn’t care. I love, love, love that my girls can have experiences like this. Miss was not squeamish in the least about holding that snake, and that makes me smile.



Something else that makes me smile is a first birthday party. I like birthdays. I like celebrating my girls’ birthdays, but there is something just a little extra special about a first birthday.


It’s seeing the look on the face of my littler girl, who has never really had cake before, when she sees it for the first time. A special little cake just for her.


It’s feeling her excitement when everyone sings a song all together, just for her.


It’s this look of “Can I really? Really?”


And then the laughter and joy in watching her gradually try it out


and finally dig in.




She spent a few minutes just squishing her hands in the cake, loving the feel of it.


And then she remembered, “Oh yeah, this stuff tastes good too!”






I love this!


Getting ready to dive in…


Yum!!!







Washing it all down.




How many shots does it take to get our little family photo with everyone looking at the camera and smiling? Not so easy with a 2.5 year old, a 1 year old, and a cake sitting in front of both of them. In the first attempt, we did pretty well. Lass had already had her fill of cake. Unfortunately, Miss hadn’t gotten her piece yet, and she couldn’t take her eyes off Lass’s totally destroyed cake.


Second try? Miss stole a pinch of cake, and Lass didn’t like it too much.


Third try? Lass decided she’s better eat more before her sister got it all.
Oh well. They’re great photos anyway. Thanks to my Auntie for taking them (and for coming to the party from 3 hours away… and picking up the cakes…)


Big sister finally got her cake and ice cream.




She even shared with Grandpa.


And the clean up effort.



It was a wonderful day and a perfect party. So many family members came to celebrate with us, and that always means so much to us. Huge props to my in laws for letting us have this special event at their Farm. I know Lass won’t remember this day, but I’m thrilled to have these great photos to show her when she gets older. And the day is indelibly imprinted in my memory, just as Miss’s first birthday party a year and a half ago is. I love a first birthday party.

One Year

Posted on by Amy
One year ago, I was arriving at the hospital, in labor with Lass.


I was excited about her impending arrival but scared and nervous at the same time. I had only been in labor with Miss for about four or five hours before I had a c-section, so I had very little experience and naturally I was apprehensive about my plan to have an unmedicated VBAC.


Little did I know how long that night and the next morning would turn out to be. Little did I know that Lass would be 10 and a half pounds of perfect. Little did I know how much joy she would bring to my life and our family. One year ago, when I got to the hospital, ready to get the show on the road and meet our little Lass, I had some idea about the joy part at least. I knew she would be wonderful and we would love her. I knew it would be amazing to have two little girls and a sister for Miss. But that night, one year ago, in my last few (okay, many and agonizing!) hours as a mommy of one little girl, I couldn’t even imagine how much. How wonderful. How big our love. How amazing.

Tonight I’m reflecting on that night, just before Lass came into our lives and made our happy family happier. I’m remembering being a little scared about how Lass’s arrival might affect Miss. I’m smiling at how it did affect her, and at what a fantastic big sister she is. Tonight I’m choking up thinking that my baby will be a year old tomorrow. I’m cringing slightly remembering the pain of getting her here (who the heck says you forget that, by the way?). I’m reminiscing about how great my husband was and what a great team we were that night.
Tomorrow Lass will be one, and I’m all sappy and sentimental thinking about it tonight. It’s amazing the difference one year makes in the life of a family. I remember feeling like Miss grew up practically overnight between the time I put her to bed on this night one year ago and the time she walked into my hospital room to meet her baby sister.
This is Miss, one year ago.


This is her a few weeks ago.


I love to see how much she’s grown.




I mentioned above how it seemed like Miss grew up almost overnight when Lass was born. Today was another day that made her suddenly seem so much more grown up.

Today she went for a visit to her preschool. Preschool. It wasn’t her official first day of school. That will be after Labor Day. Today she just went to check things out and was only there for about an hour and a half. She seemed to be having a blast when I left (she gave me a kiss and ran back to playing with blocks and toy dinosaurs with another little boy) and when I came back (she was happily drawing a picture). Her teacher said she had a little rough patch, but over all did great. When I asked Miss how she liked school she said, “I cwied because my want you.” Stab to the heart. Twist. Gulp. I have to remember how much fun she seemed to be having for the majority of the time she was there. She was very interested in the science area with the birds’ nests, rocks, seeds, and other various objects from nature (she couldn’t stop talking about the birds’ nests and seeds). She got very excited when we talked about trying to find something at the farm next week that she might be able to take to school to add to the collection. She talked about new friends she got to play with. I know she’s going to love school. She’s so confident and inquisitive. It will be great for her to have her own “thing” to do twice a week, without me. Hopefully her first “full day” (three hours) will be a little easier in a couple of weeks.


Lass and I will stay nearby just in case. Today we went two doors down to a bagel shop and met up with the Daddy (who is on nights this week and came from work) for breakfast and coffee. In my last post I mentioned that Lass was feeling under the weather. When she woke up with a fever again on Saturday I took her to the doctor and found out she had strep throat! I suspect she picked it up on the plane home from Florida. She’s been taking her antibiotics and is back to her happy little self now.


My little almost-one-year-old at breakfast with Mommy and Daddy:



A Photo Tour

Posted on by Amy
We’re home. The trip was tiring, but fun. Here’s a photo tour of the week.
Baby girl – sweaty, but still oh-so-cute.

After attending a few wedding-related events, we went to my in-laws’ to spend most of the rest of our trip with them. My girls loved this little table there. Lass sure thought she was a big deal.

We need to get a little girl sized table, I think.

We traveled all over the state of Florida during the week, from the Gulf coast to the Atlantic and back again.

The girls did a great job.

The crazy traveling was for the purpose of seeing my Grandma and Grandpa.

The girls had a fun visit with their Great-Grandma. She pulled out all sorts of fun stuff for them, from a bin of Easter decorations

to hats and colorful golf balls,

and of course the musical instruments. There’s always music at Grandma’s house.

Somehow I didn’t get any photos when we visited my Grandpa this time, about which I’m quite disappointed. I think it must have been because it was pouring when we got to his place, and we just ran in with the girls, forgetting the camera. I hate forgetting my camera.
Miss really worked on her swimming this week,

and her, eh, use of multiple floatation devices.

She thought this raft was the coolest thing ever, and spent a good bit of time “sleeping” on it,

and sleeping,

and then…

“Tickle me, Daddy!”

Looking for lizards.

No trip to Florida would be complete without a day on the beach

with shelling and playing in the sand.

She loved the sand but longed to try out the water.

It was fun to watch my little one showing her fearlessness in the water,

and my big girl overcoming her initial fear of the crashing waves.

I used a new sunscreen that didn’t absorb into my skin very well and left me looking more pasty white than usual. I had to chuckle when a man and woman walked by Lass and me playing in the sand, and the man said, “From how far North do you come?” That obvious, huh?

The plane rides to and from the sunny state were pretty uneventful. Snacks, coloring books, an Ergo carrier, an iPad, and the magazines and other handouts in the back seat pockets of the plane made for happy little ones.

Tonight I’m snuggled up on the couch with my hubby. He’s watching a really bad movie and I’m writing. It’s chilly here, relative to the sticky heat of Florida. It almost feels like fall is upon us. We’ve got windows open and are wearing jackets in the evenings to play outside. As always, it’s so good to be home.