The Latest

Feels like it's been too long since I've written, time seems to have been flying by lately. The girls seem to just be turning into little kids and not babies right before my eyes. Even though that's a good thing, I can't help to wish them to stay small sometimes. It is fun the older they get though, they play so good together and really like having each other as a buddy I think. When one of them is sleeping and there is only one to deal with, it seems very weird to me. Even Stella seems to be losing the "baby" look and turning into more of a kid. She will be a year old at the end of the month, sniff sniff! So what have we done lately....

We went to Zoo Lights with the girls in the past week and a half. They loved it! We used the wagon that Nanny and Papa got for them and boy did they have a blast in it. Emme was so excited, she helped Brian put it together and was very excited to get "nuggled" or snuggled as we would say, in it with all her blankets and Stella too of course. Emme was super excited to look at all the lights on display this year and Stella sat contently in the wagon being carted around. Great gift Nanny and Papa!

Also, we have registered Emme for preschool for next fall starting in August. I can not even believe we had to do this already but when I called the school she will be going to, they said they had 20 people signed up already and we better hurry since they were filling up. We took a tour this week and we absolutely loved it from the start and knew it was right for her. Emme loved it too right away and wanted to play with all their toys and the kids. We were so impressed by it, even all the kids seemed so well behaved and quiet in the classrooms. I can't believe even preschool costs an arm and leg these days but it will be well worth it for her. She will only go two days a week, half days but I think it will be great socialization for her and something she can do without me. So now we just have to make sure she's potty trained for good by then. She's doing really good for the most part but we still have a ways to go, I think she's well on her way however.

Now we just have to get ready for Brian's parents to visit at the end of January for a month and then my parents and Aunt and Uncle come in March. I love guests so I can't wait for everyone to get here! It will give me a reason to get in gear and get more things unpacked too. This unpacking thing takes awhile with kids and I just accepted that one. One day we will be all done, hopefully that day is soon!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween rolled around fast this year, or maybe I just thought it did because of the craziness going on in our lives lately with moving. It was nice to be in our new house for Halloween so we could go trick or treating in the new neighborhood. Our friends Andy and Leslie and their little girl Lilah came over since they live in the same community as us, and we all went trick or treating. Emme was tinkerbell and Stella was a lion which seemed to suit her quite well, she even gave us a few roars :) Literally, she is a mimic so all we did was say rooooarrrr to her and she had it down pat as was immitating it perfectly.
Emme was pretty pumped since she had been talking about it for a solid month whenever she saw a pumpkin or any halloween decorations. She kept saying door, knock knock, bucket, trick or treat! Ah the communication of a 2 year old. She was alittle hesitant of new people when she walked up to their door but she would stick out her bucket and say thank you when they handed her candy and then she would say trick or treat, as we were walking away from their house of course. I think she just didn't get the nerve to say it to their face until after the door closed. But that was alright :) She really had a blast this year since she knew what was going on this time around. She also liked handing out the candy to everyone that came to the door. All except for the boy with the really scary mask that came knocking, she was all set to hand the candy over to him and then she looked up at his face-realized he had on something very scary- literally jumped a foot in the air and whipped the candy at him and run the opposite direction into the living room-I think that was the highlight of the night for me, too funny. So now I'm just left with all the candy from halloween, trying to consume it all which I feel guilty for eating every day for the fact that I know I will just have about 2 cavities minimum when I go to the dentist next. Great! :)

Our New Home

Needless to say, the word crazy does not describe my life accurately enough lately. We just bought a new home in the past month and it's amazing how fast things fly! Right before we left for our trip to Pittsburgh in September, we made an offer on what is now our new home, and to our surprise, they accepted it! This house was the one we were watching for weeks because they had it priced above our price range originally. We made an informal offer on it right after it came on the market and the realtor said they wanted full price, uh not going to happen! So our realtor wisely suggested we wait it out and they would come down on price, which they did. They actually came down on the price twice before we tried again and they accepted our offer finally! So on our vacation in Pittsburgh, we were quite busy emailing and going over the specifics etc. so it wasn't as much of a vacation as I would have hoped with all this going on.

When we got home, we had about 2 weeks until closing which was filled with last minute things we had to fax over to the lender pretty much every day it seemed, it was a huge hassel. I told Brian I really never wanted to move and go through this again, whew!!! We closed on October 8th and ended up moving on the 13th. We didn't actually get all of our things in until the 15th basically. I actually can't believe that we got all of our stuff and junk out of Yuta street into Gloria Lane. I was feeling very overwhelmed but somehow we did it.

Now I am overwhelmed at the unpacking aspect but that is something I can do overtime at least and am not under a deadline. I will have to put the OCD part of me aside and just take it alittle at a time, especially with two small children 2 and under to deal with. They make it alittle challenging to get anything unpacked. Good news is that we won't have to unpack everything we packed since some things will stay in boxes in the garage such as camping gear, etc. So things are coming along slowly but surely and it's good just to be in the house.

We are still going to hold onto Yuta St. and rent it out so now we are in the process of finding renters. We have had some good response off of Craigslist so hopefully we will have someone in there by December. As for our new neighborhood, we love it here. There are so many nice people we have met and it's really a great neighborhood for kids. The clubhouse and park are only a few blocks away where we can walk which is very convienent. It's alittle farther to stores and shops than Ahwatukee, but I think with time, more businesses will definitely be expanding out here so I'm sure it will have the same feel as far as that goes within the next 5 years or so. I think we will be very happy here and the girls will have a great place to grow up in! We even have a casita for guests to come and visit so uh em hint hint to anyone who wants to come :)

Videos

Here are some recent videos of the girls I have taken lately. We got them a choo choo train you ride around a train and since Emme has been obsessed with choo choos recently, I figured she would really like it. Turns out she really likes having Stella sit on it and she walks beside her and pushes the button to make it go. Emme has been getting on it herself lately too which is good because she was scared of the noise it made at first. Too funny!

Stella has been quite the babbler this past week and she has been saying Mama too. Here's a look at her banter.

This one is of last month when Emme started saying Papa all the time. Whenever I tell her to say Nanny, she just says Papa!!! She knows Nanny and Papa go together but decides to skip saying Nanny for the moment and really likes to say Papa.

Wisconsin Vacation

Yes, I know I've been MIA the past few weeks. We just got back on the 29th from spending two weeks in Wisconsin. My friend Danielle got married and I was a bridesmaid so it was a perfect time to go back for the wedding and to visit family as well. We had such a blast, it was so hard to say goodbye. Which is increasingly hard to do especially since we have the kids now. Emme had so much fun visiting her Great Grandma as well as her Grandma and Grandpa. We could have stayed for another month, or two!
The weather as usual was unpredictable but we did have some decent weather the first week we were there, as for the second week, lots of rain. But that's how the cookie crumbles, it really wouldn't have mattered that much because we were just glad to be there with my family.

Danielle's wedding was a huge success, it turned out so lovely and we had a wonderful time. I felt so honored to be part of it.

We did alot of relaxing, going on the pontoon, riding atvs, getting ice cream, all that fun stuff. Emme loved running around in the grass and exploring my Grandma's house as well. She loved feeding the fish in their pond and chasing around my mom and dad's dog Tucker, who looks like a giant bear. So I don't think she missed out on anything. Stella was great as always and she loved all the attention she got from everyone. We also got to see some of my extended family such as my Aunt and Uncle and my cousins which was great too. I miss everyone already! I can't wait until our next trip back.

Emme and Stella taking a bath in Grandma Peggy's huge bathtub!

Pictures and Update

So I'm definately behind on updating the blog lately, I feel like we have been really busy with things. We got the girls pictures taken finally (about a month later than I would have liked.) I wanted to get them weeks ago but something always came up. It was for sure worth the wait, they turned out adorable! If I do say so myself.

Also, the girls had their 18 month and 4 month check up even though it was more like 19 months for Emme. Emme is in the 50% for weight, about 25 lbs and Stella is in the 97% 18 lbs 6 oz! Holy cow I know! What a little chubby blueberry! They both are getting so old so fast it seems. Emme seems to be saying new words every day and Stella has really started to grab on to everything and play with toys, she rolled over both ways last month, and they are just turning into such amazing girls. Stella's personality is so laid back and happy, I'm so lucky to have such a great baby. Emme is as busy as ever, and it's really nice she is getting to the point that she plays more independantly and will get me things when I ask, or does it without asking too which is a big help.

Now we are just on the count down to visiting Wisconsin the middle of next month to visit my family and friends and Dani's wedding, can't wait!

Easter

Easter was a blast this year! Emme is now old enough to enjoy Easter Egg hunts and all that comes along with it, she had so much fun! Brian and I always say how we love watching Emme having fun and she sure had her fill of fun. We did a pre Easter Egg hunt at our house on Saturday to get her used to the idea and then she had two more on Sunday. She was a pro by the second one, she knew exactly what to look for and was running around grabbing as many eggs as she could. Her favorite were the ones with M&Ms in them of course. I think Easter was like Christmas for her, she got so many nice things from us, Nanny and Papa, and Heidi's parents as well. Stella got a basket too but Emme opened it for her of course. Next year will really be great with both of them running around!


We went to a Easter Parade on Friday with our friends Marie, Alex, and Gavin. Emme and Gavin had such a good time watching the parade and dancing to the music. She was clapping the whole time and would break out into spontaneous dancing whenever she heard music. After the parade, we went to the carnival they had at the community center by our house and she got to jump in the bouncy houses, ride on the rides, and watch our friend's little girl dance.

The Easter Bunny

I had an idea of how the Easter Bunny visit was going to go this year, and I didn't think it would turn out well. Santa Claus was in a word traumatizing this past Christmas to Emme when she got her picture taken with him so I figured the Easter Bunny would go down the same way. To my pleasant surprise, it actually turned out great! We brought both the girls to get their picture taken with him at the mall and no one was there when we went luckily so we had a few minutes to gradually introduce him to Emme and make her feel my comfortable. I put Stella on his lap first, and then I had Emme sit down. I could tell she was kind of weirded out by him which I really can't blame her but she didn't scream or cry, she just gave a blank stare for the most part which was fine by me as long as their wasn't a meltdown. Stella would have been smiling because she always smiles for everything but she was just sleeping before I plopped her down. I feel good we are making progress since Christmas and the funny thing is that now, Emme gets super excited whenever she sees the picture of the bunny and her on his lap, she smiles and points at it and seems really thrilled with him. Easter = success this year!

Nanny, Papa, and Auntie Mo Visit!

Brian's family just left from visiting this past week and how sad we were to see them go. Especially on my part I think, I have a hard time after family leaves. We don't have any family in town and it's always hard to say goodbye after a nice visit with either my family or Brian's. I love having a full house where I can cook nice meals for people everyday, and most of all, I just love having the company and hearing a house full of people. Brian works 1 to 11 pm so for me, it was great having the company since I'm usually by myself a good portion of the day and all night.

We had so much fun with Brian's mom and dad, Jerry and Maureen and we even got Auntie Monica in town for the weekend which was great too. Emme had the best time ever with everyone, she loves company too. I think she gets sick of boring old Mom at times so she loves having people to play with and be silly with. Auntie Mo is just the silly person she needs sometimes I think! Most of the visit we just relaxed and enjoyed each other's company. We did do a few things like go to the park and take Brian's parents up North to look at the area we eventually wanna buy a house around. It was just perfect weather when everyone was here as well which is a definate bonus, we spent most of our time outside relaxing and having our meals. I love this time of year! Now we will be counting down the days until we see everyone again in September for our next visit.

Spring Training 2010

This year was great for spring training baseball. Brian had work off and we took the girls to a Cubs game. Emme loved it this year because she is of course so much older now and could run around up and down the hill on the grass and play around while we watched the game, or tried to watch the game I should say, in between chasing after a toddler and taking care of a baby. Stella did really well too. I just love getting them outdoors to do something fun. We always go every year with my friends Heidi and Robin and their kids who are the same age as Emme and Stella. It's definately alittle busier now adays taking two kids as opposed to a few years ago where it was just us who would go and relax, how times have changed!

Jelly Belly

Jelly Belly is one of the several nick names we have for Stella recently since she is quite the little porker! Some of the other ones are football and bull frog belly, all in good fun of course, we love our little chub. She was two months a few weeks ago and she already weighs 14 lbs! What an oinker, I know! I think she has just gone through a major growth spurt and I have noticed that she has started eating less and I have not had to increase her food much lately so I'm sure she will slow down a bit now. She really is developing her own personality as well. She is the best baby, so smiley all the time, and really good natured. She gets fussy at night for a few hours, but other than that, she is such a mild manored baby. We really are so lucky to have a good tempered daughter since our first is a little high maintence (sorry Emme but it's true! :) )

A Big Girl Bed

It's official, I have a big girl on my hands. Emme is no longer a baby in my book and she seems to assert that fact every day more and more. Recently, we had to move her into a big girl toddler bed since the crib was no longer an option. Every night she would scream bloody murder if she woke up in the crib and we weren't in there. She really put her foot down that she was not taking the crib thing anymore and I was kind of at a loss at what to do. It was either she sleeps with us or her own little bed so I thought I didn't have anything to lose on trying out the toddler bed. It's actually turned out to be the best decision. I kind of fretted over it for a bit because she is still young and they say not to rush your kid out of the crib but since she wasn't cooperating with the crib, I said what the heck, we haven't anything to lose and we will give it a shot.

She has slept really good in her new bed and when she wakes up, we usually just go in there and she goes right back to sleep. She comes in our room here and there but if we just walk her back into her bed, she is usually very good about it. It just goes to show you that when your kid is ready for something, they will let you know and there really isn't any strick guideline you should follow on anything. Every child is different and you should just do what you think is right for your little one. We are on to potty training next because she is telling me now on a daily basis when she has gone potty in her diaper, what a little grown up I have already!

The Children's Museum

Recently we went to The Children's Museum and I must say, it's an awesome place. I had never gone before but it's a huge building with tons to do for kids of all ages. There is a play area for kids three and under which Emme loved. She even met a little boy there that wanted to give her kisses first and was being all sweet and then decided to hall off and smack her in the face, haha. He was too cute so it was hard to be mad at him.

Emme loved the little air vent you stand over and then it blows a bunch of air up for a few seconds. They have the cutest little fake flowers you can pick and pretend plant in the ground. We will be going back there often I'm sure since Emme really had a blast.

My Little Ladies

I definately think we are settling in around here finally and establishing a routine. It was hard for me at first when my mom left after being here for a month. She was such a big help and more than anything, it was nice to have some company at night when Brian is at work, it can get lonely around here. We've had to do alittle adjusting to bedtime etc. since it's just me and I only have two hands. The first few nights by myself were rough when I was trying to put Emme to bed and Stella wanted to be held or was hungry. Finally I figured out to just hang out with Emme on the couch at night and she falls asleep there instead of trying to put her down in her room and then Stella starts crying in the living room, yikes!

Emme has started not wanting to sleep in her crib for the past month or so, so I figured we would try the toddler bed out. It just came today so we will see how that goes, there will be pictures to follow and a story I'm sure! I'm really happy how Emme has adjusted with a new baby however. I was concerned since she can get needy but she is so good with her and really loves her sister so much. I love our little ladies!

Our New Years Present

Stella is here!!!! She decided she just couldn't wait until my scheduled c-section date which was supposed to be on January 5th. Stella Catherine Lilly arrived on December 31st, 2009 at 6:02 a.m. weighing 6 lbs 15 oz, 20 inches long. Brian of course was super happy to be getting a tax deduction for 2009 since she decided to come early. For those of you who know Brian, that is no surprise.

It sounds stupid, but I had no idea what labor felt like because with Emme, I had a planned c-section so I wasn't even sure I was in labor. I always thought it was like the movies where it is supposed to be very painful and you know you are having contractions. Well for me, it wasn't like that. I started feeling lower back pain on Wednesday (the 30th) night and also a cramping feeling. I wasn't sure if these were contractions or not because like I said, I never felt them before. I thought they were supposed to be very painful and it was mostly just uncomfortable for me. So I decided to ride it out and see if it would just go away. Brian came home from work at usual time at 11:30 pm or so and I still didn't feel right. I decided to go into the hospital at 2:30 am since I couldn't sleep and it wasn't going away. Brian's advice was just to go to sleep and it would go away...um, thanks Brian but I don't think labor just goes away if that was what was happening so I thought it would be best not to take any chances. I told Brian to stay at home with Emme since there was no need to wake her up since I thought for sure they would just send me home and say it was nothing. So off I went to the hospital and I told Brian I would call him with any news in case they were going to keep me there. Well, needless to say, my contractions were about 3 minutes apart after they monitored me for a bit and they decided after calling my doctor who luckily was on call that morning, to just go ahead and do the c-section since I was already 38 weeks along. I called Brian and we had our friend Tiffany come over at about 3:45 am to watch Emme and he came to the hospital. They did the c-section at 5:30 and she was born at 6:02 am. I got released on Saturday which actually worked out perfectly since my parents flew in that day. Emme got to visit me in the hospital each day for a little bit, it's hard to keep a toddler occupied in a small room for long but at least she got to see me. I felt so bad since I'm with her 24 hours a day and I know she missed me. Brian said she found an old license of mine and she kept pointing at the picture of me crying. If that doesn't tear at your heart strings, I don't know what does.

Surprisingly Emme is soooo good with her little sister. She's so gentle and she always wants to kiss Stella and touch her softly on the head. I was really worried that she would be very grabby with her since she can be the dogs at times but she isn't at all. She even holds her bottle to help feed her. Actually, she's been more gentle with the dogs now too because we keep telling her to be nice to them like she does with Stella, so I think she understands more now. Stella is just the best baby in the whole world, thank god! Emme is such a handful these days that I'm so grateful to have had a mellow child the second time around. She only cries when she is hungry or cold when you change her outfit. She is so content when she is awake or sleeping, she's a true blessing! Emme is wearing me out more than the newborn! I thought for sure she would end up looking more like me but she looks like a little clone of Brian again. Except she got my temperment I say. She has very light hair, not like Emme when she was born. It's definately very blonde with alittle brown in it. She also has the prettiest blue eyes, so I'm hoping they will stay that way or turn to green. Emme's were alot darker when born and she ended up with brown eyes so it would be nice to have one with brown and one with blue or green. We feel so lucky to be blessed with two beautiful little girls!