Butterfly Girls

The birthday party of the day: pure crazy fun. Jilli had wings and butterfly face paint and Rory rolled with the theme on her shirt. (Ok, the theme was actually Clowning Around and was AWESOME what with the magic-doing-bunny-toting-face-painting-balloon-artist clown, but our girls opted for butterflies)

The Rory Report- 6 months

My Grammy, your Great-Grandmother Luecking, used to give me cards and wish me a happy half birthday. I miss her so much and I know she would have just loved you all up. But I thought of her all day today because today, I got to wish you your very first happy half birthday.

This month has seen you talking more, and smiling all the time. You can traverse a room quickly with a combination of rolling and some scrunchy commando type crawling moves. You generally tend to travel sideways and backwards but just in the past few days I have seen you make forward progress on your belly. You amaze us with your rapid approach to getting on your hands and knees. I wonder if the next Rory Report will have pictures of you crawling.

I think everyone was excited for you to finally get some food. You loved your cereal the very first time you tried it. The look on your face when we put you in your highchair...it was like you had been waiting months for this moment and you knew exactly what was coming next. Its only been about two weeks since you started food, and we have also tried some apples and bananas. Your reaction to those surprised us a bit. You were less than impressed and made some pretty funny faces. I think they'll grow on you.

You are a happy, happy baby. You laugh and talk to us all the time. If I look at you and laugh, you laugh back, if Jilli talks to you, you laugh, if Daddy airplanes you around the house, you laugh. Josie and Sketch have even gotten a few chuckles from you. This makes me deliriously happy, the sound of your sweet voice, your twinkling laugh and knowing that you are perfectly content.

In honor of your (half) birthday we broke out the you tube videos and danced around the house. Your smile engulfed your face and I sang you your first happy (half) birthday song. The year is speeding by Little Bear, and you are taking it all in stride.

Love,
Mommy

Jilli Report- 34 months

Jilli,
2 months to go until 3, and one of your favorite bedtime rituals is to wear one of my t-shirts as pajamas. You had my Class of '95 one on (it completely swallowed you) and you yelled "I am the biggest! Now I can drink iced coffee!" For a moment I wondered if I should reign in some of my vices, but iced coffee? I can handle you aspiring to that when you are grown. You aspire to grow all the time. I, of course, want to slow everything down, review it frame by frame and relive every moment a few more times before going on to the next. In some sense that's why I started writing here. I want to remember for myself and I want to remember for you and Rory.

This month saw plenty of activity. We went to a horse show and you gave a beautiful gray horse a treat. We saw a flyball tournament and you were mesmerized by the racing dogs (until snack time). We attended the Fall Carnival at your school and your dad and I watched as you jumped with unrestrained enthusiasm, hot pink cotton candy in one hand, screaming at the top of your lungs to Ms. Kelly playing her guitar and singing Old McDonald. After each animal she asked you and your friends what should come next and at every single refrain you shouted, "Sheep!" (definitely a sugar high that night). We camped and picnicked and hiked and played at parks. We saw friends and snuggled at home.

You need lots of band aids right now. You fall down and get banged up at about the same rate as every other kid I know, but every night before bed you ask for another band aid. You tell us they make you feel all better. This morning we were getting ready to leave for the museum and I multi-tasked a cool pack in the shape of Tigger (meant for first aid) into a lunchbox ice cube. You took it out of the box and held it over your heart. "This makes my heart feel better." There are days here and there I need a band aid too, but you are my Tigger ice pack. No matter what else is going on, you make my heart feel better.

Love,
Mommy

Soccer Season

Rory attended her first soccer game last weekend. Between keeping my eyes on her and making certain Jilli wasn't swallowed by a monster in the mud pit, I am afraid I didn't see a whole lot of the action. Jeff tells me ScoreMore (his usually aptly named team) did not quite live up to their moniker, but that it was worth it to come off the field to all of his girls.

I asked Jilli to smile and she burst forth with, "Actually, I'm drinking right now."

The mud pit...see it in the background? Jilli had a fabulous time throwing things in it and fishing things out (she fashioned a pole out of a stick and presented me with the leaf she caught-- the anglers in our family should be proud). As the evening went on her desire to be caked with mud and bugs and who knows what else grew until she stood in the very middle of the pit, shoes completely submerged, face splattered and reeking of muck. When she walked back to the blanket I could smell the earthy sludge. And for just a moment it was me at the river, shoes submerged, fishing for minnows with solo cups, having the time of my life. Reliving my childhood is undoubtedly one of my favorite things about parenthood.

10 Camping Lessons Learned

1. Packing and setting up camp are a LOT of work (pack an Eagle Scout if you have one).

2. No matter how deep the forest is, and how little sunlight breaches the dense canopy, if there is a major airport nearby, you WILL hear plans taking off and landing (often and very loudly).

3. Glowing magic wands (purchased by the great friends brave enough to trek out in the woods with you) make excellent nightlights for the 2 year old set.

4. Smores made over the campfire taste even better than you remember (and marshing the marshmallows is a fine after-breakfast treat as well).

5. You should check your air mattress for leaks before leaving home. (The hissing sound when you lay down is not a good sign).

6. Rorybears are natural campers.

7. Despite a long genealogy of hunting dogs in their past, beagles may be skeptical of the whole nature concept (particularly ones named Sketch who prefer couches and a/c).

8. Speaking of a/c, 90 degrees and 150% humidity is a tad hot and sticky for camping.

9. Trail maps lie. Plan for a hike that appears to be an hour long to take twice that But the aforementioned dense forest will be thick with multi-colored mushrooms, wildlife, a cool lake and the crunch of leaves under your feet and that will make it worth the trip (in hindsight).

10. Even with the bugs (did I mention those? kudos to your friends for bringing strong kid-friendly bug spray) and the flight pattern and the hot, family camping is good.

10.5 And your own bed? It feels amazing when you arrive home.

Fashionista

Project Runway has nothing on Jilli. Ms. Marsha said she insisted this was the right way to wear her shorts after her nap at school (for the record, I am reasonably certain her shirt is on backwards as well).

Food, Glorious Food

I think the picture tells the whole story of Rory's first (semi) solid food...

Grateful

On a morning where I woke up to a feverish Jeff and Rory had an appointment for a vaccine that I had to get her to, and then I had to go back home to get Jilli and load both girls up and take them out into the driving rain to drop them off at school and finally head to work arriving at 11 am.....

I saw three fire trucks and several ambulances heading in the opposite direction of me and was quickly reminded of all I have..a partner in everything I do, health care for both preventative care and sicknesses, a safe and loving home for my girls away from home, a car to shelter me from the rain, a job that allows flexible work schedules and gives me the latitude to both do my job and take care of my family, and iced coffee from McDonald's to make it all just that much easier.

School Report

I know I am in the vast majority of parents who agonize over sending their child into the care of others. After all, there are major issues of safety, security and influence at stake. We are fortunate to have our girls in a place that is nurturing and loving and safe and secure and exposes them to things we do not (Spanish lessons! a garden with actual produce growing! organic stone ground flour anyone? baked into scones by a professional chef!) So my worries tend to be replaced with the other kind. The, will they know how lovely my girls are- will they appreciate their uniqueness- will they love them for their sweet personalities- type of concerns. Tuesday as Jeff picked up Rory he was stopped by two teachers who just overflowed with their fondness for our little bear.
"She is so sweet!"
"She laughed and smiled and giggled all day!"
"I just love her!"
Exactly!

Keepers

Michele (as Jeff reads to Jilli), "Daddy likes to read books to you. He loves you."
Jilli, "Yeah, you love me too."
Michele, "I sure do, I love you very much."
Jilli, "I need to keep you guys. I am going to keep you guys."

Fall

The air is so crisp this morning. As I drove to work the breeze gave me a little shiver. I love the changing of the seasons and the feeling of movement that life takes on when we walk from summer to fall. I can almost smell the old books in the library at Stetson on the first day I returned each year. These days I look forward to golden leaves and the smell of outdoor fires. I wait for the State Fair; the frenzy and food and excitement I feel on first seeing the lights go up at the fairgrounds. I roll down my windows on my way home from work as I drive by and inhale deeply the smell of fried fair food. I love choosing Halloween costumes and pumpkins and carving their silly faces. I look for the round balls of mums on neighbors' front porches. This year I hope we'll get to pick apples and bake pumpkin bread. I can not wait....