A Little Perspective

One could say I was spoiled, but not in the traditional way. I took the "forbidden", untraditional approach. I let my babies sleep with me and it worked out great for us. I know it's not for everyone, but for me it was the perfect thing. Nursing all night was "self serve" for my babies and meant great nights of sleep for all of us. Totally not the norm.

About a month ago, it was time. Time for both of us. Our cuddly experience started to head south and Addison found a new home in her crib. The funny part is that this welcomed the least amount of sleep for me. Now that she's in her crib, I get up to feed her (yes, I know I don't have to, but I do). It interrupts my sleep a lot more and even when she's in bed with me, it feels foreign and uncomfortable.

Last night, the crib wasn't quite working for her. She got up at 11. She got up at 3. By 5:30, we had both had enough and she was snuggled with me in bed. However, I couldn't sleep. It was no longer easy to sleep cuddled with her and I pouted. Until I got some perspective. I was cuddled under mounds of covers warm and snug. By baby was pretzeled around me safe and content. Whether asleep or awake, what better moment could there be? So I laid there for an hour or so watching her sleep. I stroked her hair and took it all in. How spoiled am I to have such an amazing life with amazing kids. Someday I'm going to miss this. Today, I'm taking it all in.

Long Awaited Update

It's been forever since I've blogged, but as they say, "no news is good news." Both kids are doing great and daily bring smiles to our faces.

Addison turned 9 months in February and is full of spunk. She was almost 28 inches long at her last appointment (55%) and 18.13 lbs. (50%). She is really becoming her own person. She crawls like a pro and cruises all over the house (holding on to furniture). She even knows how to climb to the top of the stairs (to Mom and Dad's dismay!!) She has a killer smile and knows how to use it whenever she's in trouble. She waves and claps and loves to pull her sister's hair while shaking her head "no". She's also a bottomless pit when it comes to eating "real" food. She loves it!

Lily is getting so big! She loved the snow this year and playing in it with her friends, Drew and Sam. She also loves gymnastics and is a pro at somersaults, back flips (off the couch when at home) and the balance beam. She is quick to tell you she gets to do gymnastics on Tuesday (holding up 2 fingers) with Miss. Angela. She also loves to read stories like Ms. Joyce at the library and do crafts. Cooking still remains one of her favorite activities, especially with "Wanie", our cousin that we've gotten to spend more time with lately and she constantly keeps us laughing with her anecdotes.

 One last update... Addison finally got to meet Grandma Juanita! She went right to her and loved her immediately! We went down to Dayton to stay with my Aunt Teresa and Uncle Pat and "Wanie" and had a great time. We're so lucky to have such wonderful family!

Remembering the Joy

This morning started out like any other. "I need milk. Are you getting me milk? I need to go potty. I don't want to drink my milk. Snuggle me. I don't want to go potty." And morphed into something so beautiful.

Lily's starting to shower with me and it's become a much easier way to accomplish the task. So today we jumped in the shower hoping Baby Addi would hold out for a little bit.

She didn't. She screamed. She cried. She pooped. Everywhere. On the floor. Up her back. In her hair. While we were in the shower. (My stories seem to always have a poop/shower theme, don't they?)
Lily was mid shower, I was mid shower, so the only solution seemed to be to strip
Addison down and let her join our party.

I was terrified it would be even more of a disaster. Addison hates baths and she was screaming. Hard. I peeled off her clothes, rinsed off her body and magic happened. She curled up close to me, skin to skin, and nuzzled her head into my chest. She closed her eyes and hummed as the water dripped down her back. And I remembered.

I remembered bath after bath with Lily when she was small. I remembered the way wet baby hair smells and the way chubby little moist cheeks feel nestled against mine. I realized in all the craziness, I had neglected this precious ritual with my beautiful baby Addi. And I felt such a feeling of joy holding my little baby.

This joy ignited a fire in me for more precious moments today. Playing tag with the girls around and round the house with a dog bouncing behind with his ball. Cuddling on the couch taking funny pictures. Sharing a snack patiently instead of hurriedly. Remembering the joy.

Detroit Christmas Magic

Life is filled with moments of awe and wonder and at Christmastime, it seems, these moments take on an even more magical feel. Even a somewhat gloomy town like Detroit feels special and new under the glow of glittering lights and an aura of enchantment fills the air.
It's Christmas in Detroit.

So in love with my girl

Lately, liking her has been a challenge. The 3 year old "I don't love you!"s have set in and always right when her sister's screaming... but boy do I love her.

I love her when we sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and she asks me what a spout is. When I tell her it's a long tube that carries water down from the roof, she looks at me with sass in her eyes and a hand on her hip and says, "why don't you just say that?" I love that sass and I love that brain always working.

I also love when she tells me over and over that Santa Clause shouldn't come down the chimney. "You should just open the door!" Well, duh! Why didn't I think of that?

I love that when Papa put a butter carton on her head, she told him it "doesn't go with my outfit!" (Insert snotty scrunched up nose and hand on hip here.)

I love that after yesterday's "I don't love you"s came today's, "Mommy, I love you. We make a great team."

And even though sometimes I don't like her... Boy, do I love my girl!

Holiday Catch Up- Halloween

This year's Halloween was building up to be either a huge success or a huge disaster. Lily was jumping from costume to costume and was quite assertive in her choices.

She started out with this. We all loved this outfit and the whole idea.




Then she had to have this. And it was awfully adorable, so I was okay with it.




But then, every time Halloween was mentioned, Lily would angrily announce that she was not going to be a firefighter. She was not going to be a dragon. She was going to be a COWGIRL!!

Let me mention, Lily had no exposure to cowgirls. I was astonished when she brought me a catalog and correctly picked out the cowgirl as her costume choice. I dragged my feet about buying another costume clearly not wanting to spend our life savings on every costume out there, but finally gave in hoping for the best. She was adorable.




Lily loved everything about Halloween from making decorations to carving the pumpkin, zoo boo to trick or treating. She even loved giving out candy.
















Papa even dressed up!




We had an adorable little strawberry, too!




Halloween was a lot of fun this year and definitely a success!

Slowing down

It's that time of year. The time when I focus on replacing hurried errands with puzzles on the floor. Instead of forcing my girl into adorable outfits, we've been lounging around in pjs most of the day. We're trading in granola bars for homemade pancakes (a new favorite pastime Cousin Lanie brought to our house). I'm striving to allow quality time to replace the normal productivity I crave. And it's working so much better.




I'm enjoying my girls instead of trying to mold their moods to fit my to do list. I'm drinking my whole cup of coffee while we snuggle and watch movies. I'm making being a stay at home mom what I want it to be instead of the "clean this, cook this" expectations I had been putting on myself and it fits so much better.




There will be no spotless home for us for a while. Dinner might be grilled cheese. My yoga pants are making a comeback along with wavy hair that's a little frizzy. But I'm loving it again. We're doing crafts, watching movies, taking walks. Lily and I are chatting away while Addison sleeps. It's so wonderful to feel good in my own skin and content in the coziness that is our home.






The weather is getting crisp begging us to slow down and stay home. The holidays are reminding us to be thankful for the blessings behind our own front door. The Oneskos are slowing down and we're loving it.