Here She Is...

Eating her first bowl of rice cereal!  Yay!  I thought about waiting until we get to Guam to begin anything new, but she has been grabbing at our food and following the fork from our plate to our mouth, so I just decided to try it.  And she is a pro already!  She hardly spits anything out and swallows it quickly.  I think she's ready to be eating solids.  What a big girl she is--5 1/2 months already.  She is rolling easily from back to belly, and is getting better at belly to back.  When she gets excited, like when she watches us eat, she kicks her legs and just wiggles around.  

The other night I was putting her to bed and just giving her kisses and telling her how much I loved her, when she pulled her head back and put both of her palms onto my cheeks, and pulled me in for a big kiss!  I was so touched.  She really looked into my eyes and just wanted to tell me that she loved me too.  That's one moment that I will always remember with her.  Just how tender she is.  

And her eyes!  They are so blue and deep--I feel like I know those eyes, like my heart knows those eyes, and that they know more than her little baby self can.  Wow.  I'm so lucky to have my two little babies.   

Pull this thread as I walk away...

If you don't get the reference, it's a Weezer song from the 90's that goes something like this:

If you want to destroy my sweater,

whoa o o o

pull this thread as I walk away,

as I walk away,

Watch me unravel

I'll soon be naked,

Lyin on the floor,

Lyin' on the floor,

I've come undone.

This is the song that represents my life since last Friday.  Sure it happens as soon as I write that life is going great...Analia has totally hit the terrible-horrible-monstrous twos!!  I can't believe she used to be my sweet little girl.  Seriously it was overnight.  On saturday she just went nuts...biting, scratching, and stomping on Maya, screaming not to go to bed, she was up for 2 hours in the middle of the night crying that she wanted to sleep with me in the big bed.  NO WAY.  We had to keep up the fight, but eventually I just laid down with her in our guest bed until she fell asleep.  She whines and cries all the time and nothing we say or do seems to help.  She's stubborn and doesn't forget the thing she's crying for.  UGH.  I am definitely at the end of my rope.   

Any suggestions from you experienced moms??  I need some help here!

A Journey of a Thousand Miles...

This past week and a half, the girls and I have been vacationing in Utah.  We had a blast.  Seriously, this had to be one of the funnest vacations for me.  Even though I was basically a single parent, I loved it still.  Each day was jammed with seeing people and doing things.  We had family reunions, family dinners, play dates, bridal showers, receptions, and weddings.  Whew.  I didn't think I would ever rely so much on Coke to get me through the day -- in a happy mood!  

This trip, in all of its fury, turned out to be much more for me.  It was a proving ground for me as a mother and a woman.  I felt in control of my emotions and my actions.  I felt in-charge of my life.  I felt like I was doing good for my kids.  And this feeling came home with me.  It is so nice to remember what is important--and I've discovered that it's all about my family and spending time with them.  Especially with my kids.  I've just loved each day with them, and now that I'm home, I feel rejuvenated and re-motivated to make each day great.  For instance, instead of watching T.V. after dinner and letting Analia run around us, we play outside, eating ice cream or swinging on the swing set, or walking around the neighborhood.  Now, I know that this energy will run out sometime, but it really feels great--in my guts--to live my life this way.  Not letting things drain away my time--like the T.V. or the computer (my two biggest time wasters!)  

Ahhh.  

The other thing it proved to me is that I'm a strong woman.  I can care for my kids and give them the things they need....for the most part.  They still need their dad like crazy, and I do too.  But it is sure nice to know that when I do it alone, it works out okay.  

Traveling also proved to me that I don't have to have things all planned out.  I basically started with a general game plan, but it morphed and changed as I went along, and I just flowed with it.  Not much else I could do, actually.  But I found that this is the easiest and least stressful way to travel.  It made the vacation fun.  So I hope I can carry this with me as I go across the world in a month.  

This trip to Utah almost didn't work out, but I'm so glad that at the last moment, it did.  And I was able to learn so much about myself and how I want to live my life.  Thanks everyone for making this a fantastic vacation.  Kisses.

(I'll get some pictures posted later...)

An pretty perfect weekend

Us at Montgomery Zoo

Analia watching the monkeys swing.
At the Georgia Aquarium.
At our friend's pool party
This weekend was so awesome! First off, Mike was TDY in Montgomery, AL all week so on Friday we decided to go up and meet him. We spent the day at the Montgomery Zoo, which is totally fun and nice and perfect for big and little kids. Then on Saturday morning, we drove up to Birmingham AL to go to the temple together...which we haven't done since we've been married! We've gone, but we always just had to swap, so one of us could watch Analia, but our friends went with us and so we swapped with them. It was so so nice to be in the temple together. Ahhh.
Afterwards, we spontaneously decided to go up to Atlanta with our friends. Since we were only an hour and a half away, we might as well do it. So we drove the distance and spent the afternoon at the Ikea and then the Olympic Park. It was just so fun to be spontaneous and do things that we normally don't do. Then on Sunday we went to the Georgia Aquarium and packed in there with all the other thousands of people to see the amazing fish and sharks and whales and penguins. Analia had a freakin' blast. She loved seeing the animals. But by the time we were at the last exhibit, we were ready to get out and away from people! We started our drive home and stopped in Auburn AL, just to see the campus and eat dinner. What a beautiful campus and gigantic stadium! We got home late Sunday night, and after a 6 hour drive, we were exhausted. Our girls did so great though! Maya slept and played and hardly cried! This was a breakthrough trip for us--we proved to ourselves that we can do things, like trips and spontaneous overnighters, with our kids. We just have to keep our patience in check and remember to be flexible.

And to top off a great road trip, we had Monday off work for Memorial Day. Our friends had a BBQ and a pool party that we played at for 5+ hours.  It was so much fun and Analia loved jumping in the pool.  Maya stayed and played in the shade and watched us swim.  All in all, we got to see some new things and learn a lot about ourselves, and then we got to play in the sun for a few hours.  It was awesome. I couldn't ask for a better weekend. 

Sprinklers & Splash Pad

So the weather this week has been just fabulous!  We've been playing outside everyday, and I've been getting quite a tan.  It's nice to be in your backyard, where no one can see that I shouldn't be wearing a bikini, but here I am anyway!  Analia has been having a blast.  We have an inflatable pool and a sprinkler that she just loves to play in.  Today we went down to the park and played with her friends at the splash pad.  It's totally fun.  And Maya has just loved watching Analia play!  She is usually napping when we're in the backyard, so everyone's happy!

 

I have also finished the quilt that we gave to our dear friends here in FL.  It's not perfect, by far, but I've really loved making it and hope that they love it as much as I do.  I want to make a smaller one for myself, if I can figure out a pattern!  Don't you just love the pattern, by the way?  It was a little tricky, and after unstitching the pieces until my fingers almost fell off, it worked.  So it's all worth it.  

A Poem

I thought I was full -- like life was fine and dandy --

Then I met you, Mike,

   and I burst open -- like a summer storm --

   electric and exciting --

   soaking me through.

I thought I was full -- like I could take no more

love into my life --

Then I had you Analia

   and laughter soaked with tears 

   exceeded the known capacity of my heart.

I thought I was full -- like what else 

could I ever need?

Then I had you Maya Isabel

   and life grew three sizes so I could

   fit all of my love for you in it.

I think I am full...

Then I see my girls laugh and grow and dance

and run

and cry and learn

And my heart melts into something

bigger

and God smiles.

Baby Maya

Maya in the cutest little headband that my best friend Kristen sent!  Darling, huh!

Here is Mike getting Maya to laugh!  It's so fun to see her smile!

These are the fingers she sucks on to get herself to sleep!  Isn't it cute?!

So Maya Isabel is now more than 3 months old!  Wow.  So far it has gone by so fast...she's sleeping through the night (the last 3 nights), and I know this sounds wierd, but I'm kind of sad that I don't need to get up with her anymore.  Not to mention, my boobs are ready to burst in the morning!  But really, even though I was wasted tired, I cherished those midnight and 4 am feedings.  I feel like the infant time of Maya's life is already gone.  But she is healthy and beautiful and I'm happy that she's growing like crazy!  She loveslovesloves to watch Analia and is actually laughing with her!  These guys are so fun.  My house seriously is full of sounds all the time--crying, laughing, playing, crying some more, then laughing some more, etc.  

I love being a mom.