Our two beautiful girls

Santa breakfast

2010-12-11T07:36:00.000-08:00

We went to Riley's school last weekend for her Santa Breakfast- you pay $5 and get two little pancakes and a sausage patty- and then the kids can have their picture taken with Santa. Riley was excited about it, and talked about it nonstop last week, so Annie was all about eating breakfast with Santa!

We walked into the cafeteria and no one with with Santa, so we decided to do the picture first. I didn't think Annie would do it, but we decided to try anyway. She had even rehearsed what she was going to ask for- TOYS- so off we went....BIG mistake...she wanted nothing to do with him. She wanted me to carry her (the kid weighs a ton now!), and Riley went right up to sit on his lap but Annie shoved her face in my chest and that was it!

So, we got this great picture of Riley with the big guy, but none for Annie! I am really tempted to go to the mall and get one of those screaming pictures of Annie with Santa, but not really all that excited about paying $20 for it!

Santa is watching....

2010-12-09T06:45:00.000-08:00

When we visited Santa’s Village with Grandma and Grandpa Buckley this summer, at the end of the trip, I bought a Santa Letter for Riley….it was all computerized and I selected a few things that we did when we were there, and they would mail a letter to the child before Christmas. And then I forgot I did it!

Yesterday, Riley received it in the mail and she was THRILLED!!!!! It was on Santa’s Village paper and said how much Santa enjoyed their visit this summer and some of the rides that were her favorite and who she visited with….she brought it with her to school today and was going to show all of her friends.

I am so glad that she still believes. I am not sure how many more years she will- probably a few more knowing my child- but I am treasuring each and every wonder through her eyes….

She is all WOMAN!!!

2010-12-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Riley's school does a Santa shoppe for the kids in December so that they can buy gifts for their family, which I think is a very nice idea. I can't remember what she got us last year- just small little trinket things, but she has fun doing it!

So, we sent her off with $10 to buy for me, Todd and Annie. Her class went to the shoppe yesterday and she brought the bags home and put them under the tree. But, there were 4 bags. So, Todd and I asked her about it this morning...turns out she had some extra money so she bought something for herself and had the wrap it!!! It is now under the tree!!! Haha! Not sure if she learned that from me, but she is certainly a woman-in-training with that move!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She is very much TWO

2010-12-07T06:36:00.000-08:00

Annie has been…ummmm…asserting her independence lately! She is two. She is very strong-willed and certainly knows her own mind. She has very strong opinions about what she wants (or does not want) to do. And she has subjected us to some massive tantrums of late….wow!

They started off small. A refusal to put on her coat. Wanting to wear a different pair of pants. Things I could either work through or make concessions for. I am a mother who believes in picking her battles. So, if she didn’t want to wear that shirt or those shoes, it was fine. As long as she eventually let me dress her, I didn’t really care what she wore.

Then she started fighting us about dinner time. Dinner is always a rough time I think, for most children. We had fights with Riley when she was this age. I know she is tired, and hungry and just done with the day by that time (and so am I). Couple that with not much attention from me since I am trying to get dinner on the table ASAP- well, it is the perfect storm. But- she now refuses to sit in her seat most nights and if she does (if we make her) she screams and cries the whole dinner and ruins it for the rest of us. We have tried everything, and now I am hoping it is just a phase and it will pass eventually….one can hope!

Mornings are also rough. She gets up ok, but all she wants to do it watch TV! We have a rule that says no TV in the morning downstairs when it is time for breakfast- it distracts them both and then neither of them wants to leave for school. So, Annie pitches her fits and I have to bribe her to eat some breakfast most mornings (today, however, she actually ate some cereal), and then pin her down on the floor to put on her coat, which she never wants to wear (this did happen today!)….then I have to buckle her into Todd’s car, kicking and screaming and he drives off with them….

She is like a little schizophrenic- you never know what you are going to get from one moment to another….I just have to keep reminding myself that she is 2….it is normal….it will pass, right???

Randomness....

2010-11-10T08:39:00.000-08:00

So much has happened since the last time I posted, and much of it is boring and really not important and to be honest, I really can't even remember :)

I went on some trips- CT and Washington DC. Annie had a cold- not a bad one, but enough that her sleeping schedule is all messed up again...child does that to me every.single.time she gets a cold! Halloween happened- will get some pictures up here soon. We had a small party with a few friends- painted some pumpkins and decorate some cookies and had some food! I went to Annie's school to do trick-or-treat. Riley had an awards ceremony at school and then I went back for lunch one day- that was...uh....interesting!

Here are some random Halloween pictures to tide you over until I get my sh*t back together enough to post more!

2010-10-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

October is ALWAYS a very busy month for us...here at home with the girls and also at work. It is right in the middle of our fall travel season at work and while I do not travel as much as I used to anymore, I do usually pick up a few things that either no one else can cover or that I really want to go to- definitely a perk of being the boss :)

So, this weekend I am traveling to CT for a chiropractic convention (because the person we asked backed out) and then the weekend after I am in Washington Dc (mostly because my boss wanted me to go), and while I am looking forward to both trips, I am sad to leave my girls. They will be in their Daddy's very capable hands...hope they don't drive him batty!

Riley also has a bunch of things going on both at school and after school and they both have a few days off this month because of teacher conferences and mandatory furloughs, so we had to arrange for other care....Todd's birthday is at the end of the month, Halloween and our Halloween party (just decided to do that one) and miscellaneous other things and that makes me a bit of a controlled- schedule freak....think I have it all under control- at least at this minute!

Showers

2010-10-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

Riley has decided that she is too old for baths so for a few months we have been taking showers. I say we because at first I had to get in there with her. She does not do well at all with water in her eyes, so I had to do everything for her while she stood there with a towel over her eyes. A few weeks ago I decided she was old enough to start to do some of the showering on her own, so for a while, I stood outside the shower and did everuthing while she stood there with a towel over her eyes but I ended up getting just as wet!

So, I told her that was it- she was learning to do this herself and after some nashing of teeth and a bit of histerics, she is doing pretty well. I still have to tell her what to do, but she pretty much does most of it herself.

Well, last week, Annie happened to notice that Riley was taking a shower. Before, with me in there with her, I guess she just wasn't aware of what was happening. But this time, she noticed and she wanted to get in there with her!

So, I put her in and she played a bit and just got wet....but tonight she decided to take a shower with Riley again and this time I did wash her hair and her body and got them both clean in one shot. I have to say, while very cute, it was also quite convienient and I hope that Annie will continue to want to do this....even though she does love her baths, too....we will see what happens....

The potty training chronicles

2010-10-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

As I write this, Annie is walking around, sans diaper and pants as we continue to work on the potty training! Not sure if my memory is fuzzy from time or if I have just blocked it out (probably a little of both), but I just don't remember doing this with Riley. I know that we had issues with her early on, and then we backed off and she essentially trained herself.

Annie is actually doing pretty good, for all of the complaining I do! We bought her a little potty seat for the toilet downstairs since it is too far to run all of the way upstairs when she needs to go. She picked it out at Walmart last weekend- a Thomas the Train seat since she likes trains so much.

Today, Todd took Riley to the church where she does her Upward Cheerleading for a celebration service and I stayed home with Annie (we joined them later for lunch). Annie was watching some Wiggles while I emptied the dishwasher and she was singing and dancing for a while, and then I realized she was quiet. I looked and she wasn't there anymore, but I found her in the bathroom...she had pulled down her pants, taken off her diaper and climbed up on the potty seat ALL BY HERSELF! Now- her pants were wet, so I am not sure if she had an accident or just missed, but either way, this is an excellent development!!!!

You can probably look forward to many more stories since I have a feeling this will be a long process, but regardless, she is progressing so I guess that is all that matters!

Pottys and alarms

2010-09-27T08:05:00.000-07:00

So, the potty training continues. It is a slow process :) Annie is doing pretty well at night- when she doesn't have a diaper on....as soon as I put a pull-up or her big girl underpants on her, she goes in them. If she is nakey- she does fine! But, she is learning and that is all that matters- I can deal with the diaper thing for a while longer (not that I really have any choice in the matter anyway!).

Riley is doing well- she got her interim report card last week and got ALL A's on it...of course! She has quite the busy schedule lately- and that means so do I!

This morning Todd woke up at his regular time- around 6 am- and Riley was sitting up in her bed, with the light on, completely dressed. Her alarm doesn't go off until 6:35...when Todd asked her what she was doing, he learned that she had woken in the middle of the night- she claims around 2:30 when she supposedly heard her alarm go off. She got up, got dressed and then realized what time it was! Poor thing must have gone back to sleep with her light on and never woke us! She has done this once or twice before- claiming to hear the alarm go off- but never that early and she has never gotten dressed before....I feel so bad- she is going to be tired tonight!!!

Oh, well...that is about it for now :)

Let the training begin....

2010-09-13T12:27:00.000-07:00

You might have noticed on my Twitter feed that Annie used the potty intentionally the other night. Most nights I strip her down before putting her in her pj's and she sits on the potty in front of the TV until she goes. Doesn't really count because she is sitting there anyway! But this night, she was naked and just walking around...playing...and all of sudden she yelled- PEE-PEE and sat on the potty and went!! Of course, we have a big celebration and she gets a few M&Ms! But it got me thinking about spending some more time and energy to really get her moving ahead towards potty training. I know a little girl who is just a few weeks older than her who is trained already, so I know it is possible.

So, when we were at Walmart, we bought some big girl underpants- she chose Tinkerbelle over Dora- and some rubber pants that go over them (the rules at her daycare- no pull-ups because they are too much like diapers). I have some Pull-ups from some friends, so we can still use them at home and when we go out maybe- but we will start trying....and we will see how it goes!

Weekend

2010-09-12T12:19:00.000-07:00

So, we had a rough week and I think it pretty much passed in a blur. Riley is immersed in school and has quite a bit of homework each night, coupled with cheerleading practice and piano lessons and spirit nights and football games....plus all of the emotional heartache with Angel....and some well-thrown tantrums by the little one....well, I am glad to see that week go. Hoping that this week will be better, but she also starts her religious education classes this week so she can make her first communion in 2nd grade and I have a few things going on with work in the next few weeks- well, such is our life :)

We have had a nice weekend- Saturday was the football game and Riley had to be there early for her team pictures. It rained a little bit in the beginning, but then it turned into a pretty nice day. Todd went golfing in the afternoon, so the girls and I headed to Earthfare and stocked up on some healthy food and snacks and did our regular shopping this morning. We tried to get Annie's 2 year pictures taken- a bit late, I know- but they stopped using the wooden numbers that we usually use and we really want to stay consistent if we can, so that means dressing her up again next weekend to try another place...just one more headache to deal with.

I have been working hard trying to get this house clean- and most of all- decluttered....I have thrown away bags and bags of stuff and we are planning a yard sale in a few weeks....lots of kid stuff that Riley is too big for and Annie seems uninterested in....and lots!! of clothes!

Oh, well, that is about it....Annie should be awake soon from her nap and we are thinking about heading to the pool while we still can.....later!

R.I.P. Angel

2010-09-09T17:02:00.000-07:00

You might remember, or not, that we have had some ongoing health issues with Angel for a long time. A few years ago, she had a few bouts with bladder stones and on and off since then and then this winter we almost lost her when she stopped eating and lost a lot of weight.

Well, for a while now Todd and I have assumed that the stones are back. She was urinating everywhere...she would do it for a while and then be ok for a while and then do it again. She also started eating an unusually amount of food.

Anyway, it was getting worse and worse and we finally had to make a decision about her. A decision neither of us really wanted to make, but it was time. She had become really lethargic and sometimes would lie down on the table just to eat.

We took her in today to the vet and they put her down. She was 13 years old and lived many, many more than her requsite 9 lives. She wasn't supposed to live at all....we saved her from certain death when she first came into our lives and she had a pampered, great life.
We will miss her. She was a sweet little thing who loved attention from everyone, who liked to sleep on my head and put up with Roxie chasing her around the house. She loved chasing bugs, sleeping in the warm sunshine and hated when our babies (or any baby for that matter) cried.

RIP Angel....I am sure you and Sonny will have a fun time playing in heaven!

The carousel!

2010-09-01T16:57:00.000-07:00

Beach

2010-08-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

I think I posted some pictures from the night Karen and I took the kids down to 1st beach in Newport. We were trying to get there in time to ride the carousel and do the bumper boats but we missed both my just minutes, so we got some dinner and then let the girls run around on the beach. Riley loves the water, but Annie was a little freaked out about it at first...and Sophie....well, you can see for yourself. She is pretty much fearless in the water and one of us was constantly chasing her in and out....they all got so wet and sandy and Annie and Sophie ended up stripped and sprayed down at the hose.

Playing in the pool...

2010-08-30T16:23:00.000-07:00

While we were in RI Riley and Annie, and then later Sophie, had a lot of fun playing in the plastic pool that Grandma and Grandpa bought for them....as you can clearly see :)

Santa's Village

2010-08-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

We stayed overnight at a motel near Santa's Village and headed out after a breakfast at Dunkin Donuts- YUM- to Santa's Village. It was way up high in the mountains and really a pretty drive there.

Annie's very favorite part of Santa's Village- the real reindeer. They were sooo cool....the had huge fuzzy antlers and you could feed the carrots and cookies, which Annie very much enjoyed!

Riley and Annie did this one all by themselves- wasn't sure if Annie would go for it, but as you can see, they had a good time!

View from the top of the Ferris Wheel- very pretty!

Grandma and Annie on the sleigh ride- we waited a really, really long time to get on this one, but it went all around the park, which was nice to see where everything was

Annie loved the carousels!

Riley and the pengiuns...which we found out later are actually trash cans!!!

StoryLand

2010-08-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

When I had originally decided to take a vacation in August to New Englad, the plan was to find a beach house somewhere and spend the whole week on the beach! When that did not work out for us, Grandma and Grandpa thought a trip to New Hampshire to visit StoryLand and Santas Village would be fun! Riley and I checked out the websites and she was quite excited.

So, on Tuesday of our week the 5 of us loaded into the car and drove up to StoryLand- we got there around 3ish and spent a few hours there. For some reason, I didn't take a lot of pictures there- not sure why- but it was fun and both girls had fun. Annie was a tad grumpy when we first got there- probably the reason for the lack of pictures since I was trying to make her happy- but then we took a ride on the Choo-choo and she was better after that!

It was quite warm that day, but not very crowded which was great. Riley rode everything we let her and she had a ball....here are just a few pics I took....

Riley and Cinderella- Riley, Annie and I took a pumpkin coach ride to the top of the hill where her castle was, but when we got there, she wasn't there! On our way out, we were lucky enough to run into her headed back up the hill!

Riley in the pumpkin

Annie loved the animals- think this was Baa Baa Black Sheep....she and I looked at the animals for a long time while Riley and Grandma rode the tea cups

The girls!

2010-08-25T16:11:00.000-07:00

One of the first nights we were there was just gorgeous and Karen, Sophie and Maya were over so Karen and I decided to take the girls down to the water for a walk. We saw a very pretty sunset and walked for a while, until Maya decided she was done and wanted to go home to bed!

Karen was stopped a few times by people admiring the little baby!

Riley and Annie had a good time looking at the boats in the bay

Maya and Sophie in their super BOB!

Riley could not get enough of holding Maya- she wanted to do it everytime we were together....

Beach babes!

2010-08-25T16:03:00.000-07:00

Going to try to get some pictures up here from our latest trip to Rhode Island but it is going to take me a long time to get to them all...blogger is taking a really, really long time lately to upload pics, so I will probably break them up into multiple posts.

We went to the beach a few times during the visit. Annie kept asking to go, but then she wasn't all together thrilled once we got there. I think the waves still scare her a little, but she was better than the last trip, so that is good.

The first full day we were in Westerly we went to the beach with Nannie and Poppie, and then we spent a full morning at the beach in Newport with Auntie Karen, Uncle Carl, Grandma and Grandpa and Sophie and Maya. There were two guys making a really cool sand castle that time but I didn't get a pic of it :(

Here are a few beach pics.....

Riley and Maya, who slept the whole time and woke just as we were leaving....she is certainly a beach baby in training.

The girls and I at Second Beach

Sunbathing beauty!

Now entering 1st grade....

2010-08-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

Riley started school last week....1st grade, wow! It is hard to believe she is in 1st grade, although this year has been better than last year already! I was a mess last year- kindergarten is such a huge step- but maybe because we are already used to the routine, and the fact that she was at the school all summer, too, in Summer Edition...this time it went pretty easy!

Todd registered her for school when we were on vacation, and was able to meet her teacher and see her classroom, but Riley and I did not. So, on the first day of school, Todd, Annie and I parked and walked her in...along with about 1/2 a million other kids and families! Her teacher this year is Ms. Allison- she is young, single, pretty and seems very nice. Her classroom is 115- the very last one on the end of the 1st grade hallway, and only 2 doors down from last year's teacher, Mrs. Graham, who is teaching 1st grade this year.

Riley seems very happy so far, although she comes home from school most days exhausted and is tired getting up the next morning....she has lots more work and homework and even had her very first spelling test, in which she scored 100, of course! She and Todd practice her spelling words every.single.night....he has become the homework Nazi!! ANd thank goodness, because Mama has a lot of other things to do every night and homework seems to always slip between the cracks.

Anyway...I will keep you updated on her progress, but so far, so good!

She reads!

2010-08-23T16:52:00.001-07:00

Annie was sick today so I stayed home with her and we had a nice day together. She was feeling much better after a three hour nap, which started at 11am when she fell asleep on the floor in the middle of Blue's Clues, 2 hours before she usually naps. I got lucky because I picked her up and put her in her crib and she went back to sleep!

Anyway, the whole point of this is not to tell you she was sick (not really sure what her deal was- she got sick in the middle of the night on Saturday night at Grams and Gramps house while Todd and I were celebrating our anniversary, very, very late!! Poor thing...and poor Grams and Gramps), but in spending the whole day together without Riley as a distraction, I realized how much she can do and how advanced she is at this age, much more so than Riley was.

She can totally manage the DVD and VCR by herself. I watched her open the drawer, pick out a movie, open the case, pull it out, turn on the DVD player, open the player, put the DVD in and press play....wild! Sometimes she needs a little help with a step or two, but she can pretty much handle it on her own!

And she is reading books!!!! Now, not really reading, but there are a few books that she has "memorized" already and will sit in her bunny chair and turn the pages and say the lines from the book! This one blows me away because, 1. she can atriculate the words so well, and 2. she REMEMBERS them....seriously, at this point in her development, Riley was just starting to use words together, and Annie is READING (sort of!).....

My conclusion....both of my children are absolute geniuses and will receive full ride scholarships to the colleges of their choice and have wonderful, fulfilling, prosperous lives and take care of Todd and I in our old age....right????? No pressure ladies :)

PS- I am totally joking...sort of.

Annie is TWO

2010-08-16T17:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my baby turned two. It is hard to believe it has been two years....two years since I carried her inside me, trying to get out for weeks and weeks and then when it came right down to it and it was time for her to exit, she stuck in her heels and wanted to stay. Two years since we experienced the trauma that was her birth and nearly lost her. I think about her birth often still....and truly can not imagine my life without this face...it is impossible.
She is my crazy, willful, loving, brilliant wild child. She is the opposite of Riley in many ways, yet she wants to do everything her big sister does. She worships her...and Riley was made to be her big sister. Even when they fight, they make up quickly still with hugs and kisses (and no, I am not naive to think it will always be that way, but for now, it is and it is sweet).

She is so very smart and loves to learn (and in this way, just like her sister!). She talks in complete sentences and most of the time we can understand what she is saying! She can count to 16 and is starting to learn her alphabet. She loves animals, Mickey Mouse and Dora and Elmo, and loves, loves, loves to read books.

She has turned into a pretty good sleeper- she takes a long nap most days when at home, although doesn't care much for napping at school. She goes to bed well, around 7:30 and on the weekends will sleep until 8 or later! She is stubborn and knows exactly what she wants. Her favorite word is NO! She hates to have her shoes on and always wants to take them off, yet loves to play dress up with Riley's shoes!
She is not really the best eater- surprising since she is such a giant. She generally eats one good meal a day and the other meals she just picks at. She likes spaghetti and grilled cheese and Mickey nuggets and fruit- especially bananas. She runs instead of walks and she does not like to sit still in one place. She loves the beach and choo-choo trains and swinging and getting dirty.

She will always be my baby....

Goodbye again!

2010-08-04T16:18:00.000-07:00

So, I haven't had a chance to catch myself up yet on this blog- still have pics from our trip to RI a few weeks ago, and now we are off on another trip up there! This one is a planned vacation- planned and booked before we had to venture up for the funeral- but it feels like I have been on vacation all summer :) We have all sorts of things planned for this trip- a visit with Nannie and Poppie, a trip to StoryLand and Santa's Village in NH with Grandma and Grandpa, catching up with some old, old friends who I haven't seen in 17 years and lots and lots of time with Sophie and Maya (and Karen and Carl!!!).....I can't wait to get my hands on that baby...I might not give her back :) It is kind of sad because I didn't really get to enjoy Sophie as a baby since I had my own little nursling, but this time is different....hope I can convince Annie of that....she thinks she is still a "babbe"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I post this to say "adios" (we are watching Dora!) and I will be back in a week and a half to catch up....oh, yeah, and somewhere in there Annie turns TWO YEARS OLD....and Riley starts FIRST GRADE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, my!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another trip to RI, unexpectedly!

2010-07-30T16:50:00.000-07:00

I think I might have mentioned a few posts ago that Todd's maternal grandmother, Nanna Brennan, passed away in early July, a few days after we returned from the beach. We knew we all wanted to try our best to make it up there for the funeral and to spend some time with Todd's family, but we weren't sure about the timing of it all. And even though it was for a sad occassion, it was certainly nice to be able to spend time with everyone while we were there and especially for Riley and Annie to visit with their cousins Eric, Jo and Cori from Chicago and Kendra and Brennan who live in MA.

Grandma and Grandpa Buckley picked us up at the airport and we had a yummy lunch at Chello's (lobster rolls- double yum!) and then they let us take their car for the few days we were there, which was really very generous of them :)

We ate a ton of food- I had forgotten the Italian tradition of bringing lots and lots of food over for the grieving family....and oh, the food! So, so good....I ate so much...and remarkable still managed to lose 3 lbs while I was there- don't ask- I have NO idea!

AND- I was there for the birth of baby Maya Rose and was able to visit her the next day!

But, it was sad to come back...even though the girls and I knew we would be back in just a few weeks for the real vacation this time!!

We got some great pictures of everyone...enjoy!

Annie with Great-Grandma Hildebrand

All of us except for Don and Irene

The Hildebrand clan!

Siblings!

Dress up! Jo, Kendra and Cori (with red hair!!!)

The girl cousins- Annie is playing dress up, too!
Nannie and Annie at the beach

We went to Watch Hill one night and walked to Nappa Tree Point- we were not dressed for swimming but some children (mine) got very, very wet. And then someone stole Riley's favorite flip flops- she was very upset!

Riley and Cori rode the carousel- Jo is too old now!

Maya is here!!

2010-07-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world little Maya Rose!

Born July 12, 2010

I was lucky enough to be in RI when Maya was born- Karen promised me that she would have her while I was there and she totally came through! Although not the birth experience that she wanted, everyone is doing fine now, a few weeks later.

I visited Karen, Carl and Maya in the hospital the day after she was born and took the video and some pics. The girls and I are going back in August to spend some more time with her and Grandma and Grandpa Buckley- we are really looking forward to it!

Carl and his girls!

Sophie and Grandma Buckley

The new Melchar family!

My two nieces- LOVE them! Sophie wouldn't stop looking at me- Carl couldn't get a pic with her, but I love this one!

More pics

2010-07-23T17:01:00.000-07:00

Just a few more pictures from our Myrtle Beach trip...

Annie and Riley on July 4th

Getting an airbrush tattoo- cost me $10...it came off the next day! I bought a pack of 40 tattoos later for a $1 and three weeks later they are still on!

Love this face!

The girls on the boardwalk...right after this we got ice cream and Annie made a huge mess on her pretty dress!

Me and Annie at dinner...I had scallops and they were some of the best ones I have ever had!

Myrtle Beach

2010-07-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

So, we returned from our trip to RI in June and had a few weeks of normalcy. I was on summer break, so that meant Fridays off, which was really nice because Riley had them off, too. Since we all had a long weekend over the 4th of July, we decided to make a kind of spontaneous trip to Myrtle Beach which is about 4 hours from us.

I found a nice little hotel right on the beach, thanks to Shay, that had a seperate bedroom for me and Todd and the girls slept in a little living room on a matress on the floor. I was quite shocked that Annie slept like that with Riley- the first night we got there really late so they were both exhausted and went right to sleep. The other two nights took a little more work, but they both slept through the night until about 8 the next day, so no complaints from me at all!

We went to the beach and pool each day and had a lot of fun. The girls were great, the weather was perfect and we all had a lot of fun! The only hard part was waiting to hear about Todd's grandmother, Nanna, who had a stroke right before we left. She held on until we made it back home, but we spent some time worrying about what was going on in RI....enjoy the many pictures!

I love this one!

Girls on their bed!

More to come!!!

Old friends!

2010-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

One last installment of the June trip to RI:

Facebook is such a wonderful thing! I have reconnected with so many friends, some I thought I would never, never hear from again- friends from elementary and middle school, high school, college, friends who I used to work with, even friends of Todd since he is a butt and refuses to get on FB! Anyway, one of those friends learned that the girls and I were coming to RI and wanted to get together while we were there, and we did and it was so much fun!

Jackie was one of the first people I met when we moved to Little Compton when I was 9 years old. She lived in our neighborhood for a few years until she moved, but still in town, and we went to the same school until high school, when she went off to Bishop Connelly and I went to Stang. We stayed in touch some through high school, and then nothing until she found me on FB about a year ago!!

My sister Karen actually saw her mom one day at the hospital in Fall River, a few months before Riley was born because Jackie was having her own little girl....so she has a 6 year old just like me!

We met at the old playground in LC and the girls had fun playing and Karen, Sophie and Grams came too, and we got some cute pictures. It turns out the Jackie and I actually cloned ourselves- her daughter looks exactly like Jackie did as a young girl, much like Riley looks just like me!!

Riley and Ashley

Sophie and Annie on the double slide

Our clones!

The LC girls- it has been almost 20 years!!!!

Me and Jackie!

Life

2010-07-19T17:01:00.001-07:00

Shoot- I was on such a roll...guess that is how it is with this blog lately. When I have time I get into a zone and write almost every day. But then life gets in the way and the blog suffers. That is how it should be, though...with us living our lives...I can record all of the details some other time.

Anyway, lots and lots to update on. I think when I last left, I was trying to get up all of the pics from our trip to RI in early June. Since then we have also had a vacation to Myrtle Beach, I went to Minneapolis for 4 days sans Todd and the girls and then had another unexpected trip back to RI. Now, we are home for a few weeks and then another, even longer trip to RI. Oh, and somewhere in there we lost a dear family member, Nanna Brennan, and another was born....my new little niece Maya Rose, who I had the honor of spending time with only a few hours after she was born!

So, while I gather my thoughts and figure out how to get this all down, here are just a few random pics from the last few weeks.

Girls coloring with chalk on a hot day after playing in the sprinkler

All squeaky clean after baths!

2010-06-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

"Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad." -- Anne Geddes

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Jim Buckley, the best father a daughter could ask for!

More trip pics

2010-06-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

We had one really nice day while we were there, so we decided to go to the beach, of course! The girls were very excited and they had a really nice time playing together. It was pretty foggy when we first got there, but it slowly cleared up and then got pretty warm.

Annie was actually scared of the water, which was a surprise, so she mostly stayed on the sand, but Riley and Sophie had a good time playing in the water.

We had lunch- every little one ate an enourmous amount, and then we headed back to Karen's house to hose down and cool off! I attempted to get Annie to nap- she would not- and then I discovered she had a poop....by then she was done with the napping thing and we played in the new sprinkler (those pics coming later).

Grams and Sophie

Beautiful Riley with the wild hair!

Sophie had a cookie!

The girls- Annie was probably begging me to pick her up!

Playing together- we had a few sharing issues but they were pretty well behaved for the most part!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture- one of my favorites EVA!

More pics from the trip

2010-06-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

Some more random pictures from our trip:

Riley, Annie and Grams in the airport during our long delay! We had fun anyway!

Riley showing off her skills

Riley had such a good time with the little ones- she loved Sophie!

Yeah, a little weird, but cute! And look at those eyes- people pay big money for that color!

Riley and Sophie

Note to self: two more posts with pictures- our fun day at the beach and hanging out with old and new friends!

Annie talks!

2010-06-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Annie's language has really exploded over the last few weeks. I noticed she was saying more and more words, but now she is putting several words together at a time, which is just great! I love that she can communicate with us so much better now- I know what she wants, or does not want as the case may be, most of the time. She definitely knows the word "want" and uses it often. Whoever taught her the word no is in big trouble :)

I remember distinctly that Riley starting putting two words together at about 2 years, which is about average, so Annie is a bit ahead, so that is good. I think she will be talking in full sentences by her 2nd birthday, and truthfully, there have been a few times that she has done that already.

She has cute little things she says, too, that I know are mispronunciations, really, but I love them! For example, she calls Riley "Ri-Ri's" and I have tried to get it on video because I know she won't do it forever, but so far she won't do it. She calls Grams and Gramps "Thats" and "Thats"....so funny! But they are happy because Riley didn't call them anything until she could say it. For outside she says something that sounds like "out-dis"...and she screams it at the top of her lungs when she wants to go out and play!

She is a very LOUD child- she is constantly shrieking and yelling- she has no concept of an "inside" voice!

She is wild and crazy....that is my girl!

New bedroom!

2010-06-13T17:08:00.000-07:00

Todd and I got a pretty good sized tax return this year and we have been talking for years about a new bedroom set so we figured this was a good time to do it. It really ended up being almost a spontaneous decision- one Sunday we just decided to go and buy one!

It took a while to get everything moved over and cleaned, but here it is....it has taken some time to get used to not having the bed on the floor- although the dog remembered well and she now lives under the bed again :)

Our trip

2010-06-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

We returned a few days ago from a trip to RI with Grams to visit Auntie Karen and Sophie and to celebrate Grandpa's 60th birthday with a special dinner for him. We had a great time! The girls were well behaved for the most part, the trip was pretty uneventful except for a delay in flights on the way home and we ate some good food and saw the whole family and it was in whole, a really nice visit! But it was quick, so we are thinking about returning again in August to do more fun summer like stuff- namely, for me at least, the BEACH!!!!

We walked down to the small beach at the end of Karen's road the first afternoon and it was a little chilly, but the girls had fun and Annie got SOAKED and I had to strip her down to her diaper! And we should have brought a towel to wipe our feet!

No words....

2010-06-11T17:31:00.000-07:00

Pictures!

2010-06-10T17:22:00.003-07:00

So, since I have been missing from this blog for a while, I thought I might make it up to you 2 readers with some pictures...what do you think?

These were taken by Grams on my birthday weekend- Todd and I went to dinner and Grams and Gramps kept the girls and then we met them at Mimi and Papa's for lunch and cake...they had a good time!

My genius!

2010-05-21T08:46:00.001-07:00

So, please allow me to brag on my child here for a moment- after all, this IS my blog and I can brag as much as I want!

Riley, of course, is smart- we know this already. We have known it for a while. Yet, every time I learn something that shows me how very smart she really is, it blows me away!

Last week she had MAP testing. Don't know what it stands for, but these are the standardized tests that they give here in SC (and other places, too, I think) and they start them in kindergarten. She did them this winter, and we were told she did very well and that was about it. Well, this time they used to scores to show how much they have improved over the year. We started to have some questions when she came home and told us she scored a 200 on the reading portion. I had no idea what this meant and whether it was good or not....then she did the math. And started asking us what "multiplication" was and then wanting to learn what 1x2 was or what 2x3 was....and then remembering it and trying to do MULTIPLICATION in her HEAD!!!!!

Ok, so I posted on Facebook asking for some guidance and the general consensus among my friends, including 2 kindergarten teachers, was that this was DEFINITELY NOT something that was taught in K5, but rather in 3 and 4th grades! So, ok...I emailed her teacher and asked if I could come in and talk to her about all of this and also about the plan for next year.

I did that yesterday. I am still in a bit of shock about it!!!

We talked about the MAP test. It is the kind of test that keeps asking higher and higher level questions as the child answers correctly. Hence, the multiplication questions. It turns out that my darling child is testing on about a 3rd grade level in BOTH math and reading. Without EVER having learned the material....she did indeed score around a 200 on each- the average in K5 was 150, the average in 1st grade was 165 and 2nd grade was around 180.....hence the third grade level of about 200!!!!!!!!

Her teacher went on and on and on about how good she was. How smart, how well behaved, how she wishes her whole class was made of Riley's and how much she is going to miss her next year. Then, she told me that in her 5 years of teaching she has never seen a child like this and is convinced she is the most intelligent she has ever had!!!! Wow!

So, the plan right now for next year is to start her in 1st grade -she needs the social aspect of it, but that she will then go to 2nd grade classes for 1/2 of the day. And once she gets into 2nd grade, they have a gifted program which she will certainly qualify for. Not sure exactly what that entails but I am sure we will find out!

I am just blown away by this little girl. At times I can literally see her mind working and some of the questions she has are amazing....and the best part is that she absolutely LOVES to learn....we are not pushing her, I think, in any way at all (except for making her do her homework!!!)....it is all completely HER.....

Run Lisa Run

2010-05-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

If you come to this blog often enough, you probably see all of my Twitter updates- I try to tweet a few times a day, mostly work stuff, but occassionally I throw some more personal things, just to keep it interesting! Anyway, you might have seen some tweets about my new little obsession- running! For the first time, I am obsessed with something good for me :)

Anyway, sometime last year when we were doing The Biggest Loser at work, I decided to try to do a Couch to 5K Program, and it went ok, but then I lost some momentum and just stopped. I was disappointed in myself, but then winter came and I just didn't really feel like doing anything!

Not really sure when or why I decided to try again, but this time, instead of doing a program, I just decided to kind of do it on my own, and I guess that worked better for me, because something clicked and I reallyn started to enjoy it- well, mostly!

After a few weeks, I was browsing the internet and found a 5K on Mother's Day weekend and impulsively signed up for it (which means I paid the money to do it!!)...maybe the money was my motivation, or the fact that I told everyone I was doing it, but whatver it was, it pushed me to train for it...and I actually did it!!!!

The experience itself was fun...still find it a little hard to believe I actually said that!!! For those of you who know me IRL, you know that I am not a very athletic person- I don't really enjoy sports that much at all. But the race atmosphere was fun- getting my chip for my shoes and my bib with the number and the start and the finish- so much fun!

So, overall I did ok. Not great, but a little better than I thought I would. Really, my only goal was to do the best I could, not die and not finish last. So, I accomplished my goal! The course was much hillier than I was used to, so I walked much of the hills, but aside from that, I ran and ran and ran!!!

Todd and the girls came with me and I was pooped and proud afterwards....and very sore the next day, but now I am anxious for the next one, which probably won't be until the fall....until then- I run some more and try to do better and better.....

She speaks

2010-05-15T16:39:00.000-07:00

Annie's language has just exploded over the last few weeks. I remember this time with Riley- waiting and waiting for them to start talking and (sort of ) understanding what they say...and then it seems like overnight they make sense :) Riley was right around 2 when it happened, so Annie is a little early- not a surprise!

She is really saying quite a few words and starting to put two and three words together- today she said "want watch Blue"- that would be Blue Dog, otherwise known as Blue's Clues! I love when I can understand what she wants- or does not want- but she still continues to get really upset when we do not understand. And then the tantrums...oh, the misery...I don't even want to get into that right now!

Things are really busy, as usual. May is a crazy crazy month- our calendar is full!

Piano Recital

2010-05-03T11:32:00.000-07:00

Riley had her very first piano recital on Saturday. If you haven't already seen it, check out the video below this post. She has been taking lessons for only a few months, but has really been enjoying them. Grams picks her up at school on Wednesdays and they go to her lesson, and sometimes they even pick up Annie for me, which is really nice.

She did so well- she had a pretty new dress and we showered and did her hair that morning so it was extra pretty and curly...the recital itself was nice- not too many kids- and actually went pretty quickly. Then they had a nice little reception at the end- we made homemade chocolate chip cookies and they disappeared fast!

Annie did ok- she had a pretty dress, too, but don't think she really knew what was going on. She didn't yell too much :)

Pretty girl with flowers from Grams and Gramps

Riley and Miss Emily

The kiddos

Me and my beautiful girls!

2010-05-01T11:08:00.001-07:00

Tooth Fairy

2010-04-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

Right before I was leaving for Vegas Riley realized one of her bottom teeth was loose. And then we discovered that the one right next to it was loose, too. I was so upset, thinking that she was going to lose it while I was away....but, we got back and the tooth was still there. It gradually got looser and looser and finally about a week ago she was wiggling it all around, reached in and pulled it right out!

So, we put it under her pillow and the Tooth Fairy brought her two dollars.

The other tooth was loose, but didn't seem like it would fall out too soon, but today when she came home from school, there was the tooth, in a little pink box and she was sporting a sticker that says loose tooth club! She said it just fell out in school and she found it in her mouth! Tonight, the Tooth Fairy will pay another visit to her room....wonder what she will bring this time?

Springtime fun

2010-04-26T11:50:00.000-07:00

The weather has finally warmed up and we have been spending a lot of time outside. We have also been to Grams and Gramps house quite a bit lately because Gramps has been helping Daddy with a project. One day it was really warm so we decided to venture down to the creek to check it out and explore. The water was FREEZING (it comes down from the mountains) so I didn't stay in too long, but the girls had great fun. Think this will be a fun thing to do this summer!

Annie found a rock- she was very excited!
Riley found Daddy's beer!!

Driving the golf cart is also a lot of fun!

Easter

2010-04-25T11:45:00.000-07:00

We had thought about going to Atlanta for Easter this year, but with Todd and I just getting back fromVegas and the fact that we would have to board the dog, we decided to stay closer to home and went to Mimi and Papa's instead. We had a nice dinner and the girls had another egg hunt....

Annie wanted her paci
Much happier!

Tired....time to go home!

Still here, jusy busy!

2010-04-23T16:50:00.000-07:00

Things have passed in kind of a blur the last few weeks....and yikes, it has been 3 weeks since I updated the blog- whoops!

Trying to remember what has happened.....

a lot of working- very busy at work as usual
lots of playing outside....spring is definately here and the girls and I have been taking advantage of it. Every night we are outside until dinner and we spend a good amount outside on the weekends. Riley has been playing a lot with the neighbor, Parker, in both his yard and ours....which makes Annie mad because she wants to play too
Easter was nice- I have some pictures somewhere....we went to Mimi and Papa's and had a nice dinner.
Riley lost her first tooth!!! She had two really loose ones on the bottom. One day, she started wiggling it and just reached in and pulled it out. The other one is still in there, but I am sure it will be gone soon too. The tooth fairy visited and brought $2.
Todd and I went out last night to see Bon Jovi in Charlotte. It was awesome and mostly just really really nice to go out without kids! We were out late and I am tired!
Nannie and Poppie arrive tomorrow for a few days...we are looking forward to their visit- we haven't seen them since August!
And the main reason I haven't been blogging is because I have been spending my usual blogging time (after Annie goes to bed and before Riley does, while she watches a movie) doing something else.....running!!! Still a little in shock myself, but I actually am enjoying it! And, I signed up to do a 5K in May over Mother's Day weekend....hope I can do it....

OK, some pics coming soon.....

Vegas- Sunday

2010-03-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

So, Sunday morning Todd slept a bit later, which was nice! We had to check out that morning, so we hung out in the room for a while and then decided to walk around the casino downstairs and spend some money! We each put a dollar in a penny machine ( I know, big spenders!!!), and I actually won $5!!!!! And on a penny slot, that is a BIG winner! Too bad that wasn't a dollar slot :) Then we walked over to the Bellagio and I won another $3 on video poker!! Todd wanted to play Blackjack but the cheapest table he could find was $10 and he didn't want to lose a lot, so we just watched!

Then we went back to the room and checked out and headed to Serendipity for lunch and a FROZEN HOT CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That I had been waiting the whole time to have....and it was wonderful!!!!

We took a cab to the hotel near the airport since we had an early flight and needed to get out of Caesars, and chnaged into our suits and spent the afternoon at the pool! It wasn't super warm, but warm enough to sit out and we went in the hot tub.

That evening we headed back to the strip and walked a little more! We saw the Sirens of TI Show at Treasure Island, which was hokey but fun and walked around the Mirage a bit, which was pretty cool. Then we headed down to Cabo Wabo, Sammy Hagar's (from Van Halen) bar and had margaritas and beer and mexican food and watched the fountain at Bellagio and all of the weird people on the strip!!! Fun! We watched a little bit of a live band and karoke and then headed back to Harrahs to get a cab back to the hotel.

And that is it, really....we had an early flight home on Monday morning and I was so excited to come home and see my babies.....I missed them so, so much....that was the longest I had EVER been away and it was fun, but hard, too....but I knew that they were well cared for and probbaly had a MUCH better time with Grams and Gramps than they would have had I been home anyway :)

Here are a few more pics:

Shaquille O'Neil's hands

Harrahs

Cabo Wabo

Vince Neil Ink- think it killed Todd not to get a new tatoo

The the Mirage

O.M.G.....YUM

Frozen Hot Chocolate

Catching up

2010-03-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

A few updates on the girls:

1. Riley had strep throat the week before we left for Vegas. We went to Jamboread with Grams on Saturday and then she and I went to see the Wizard of Oz at the movies and when we got home she started complaining about a sore throat. By the next morning she was pretty sick- really high fever and sore throat so we headed over to the Minute Clinic at C.V.S. and sat there and waited for 3 hours before we were seen. She was really sick and slept on top of me on the floor the whole time, which was not easy for the rapidly getting old mama! The NP took one look at her throat and drew back and said it was classic strep. Her fever by this point was over 103 and I thought they were going to send us to the ER, but luckily she talked with the MD and he said it was fine to just give her the antibiotics. She was better by the next day but needed to stay home so I got another day off :) Her fever did come back at one point after the round of anitibiotics, but she didn't need anything else.

2. Annie has discovered how to open doors! Yikes!

3. Riley has three loose teeth- we discovered them right before I left for Vegas and I was so upset because I thought I would miss them falling out, but they are all still there! The two on the bottom are pretty loose now!

4. I visited Annie's school this week for lunch and had a fun time. She was so surprised to see me there, and was so happy to have me. She showed me all around her classroom and I sat while she ate and then read her and a few friends a few books. She had a FIT when I left, but she was going to nap so I hope she didn't give them to much trouble!

5. Riley is on spring break this week- lucky her!! I took Monday off to spend with her- she has a dentist appt in Greenville in the morning and then we are going to spend the day doing something fun- not sure what yet- maybe lunch and a movie? She is spending a few days with Ms Donna and then I have Friday off b/c my students are on break this week, too....should be a nice easy week, hopefully :)

Vegas- Saturday

2010-03-26T17:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Todd woke really, really early (he does not do well with any sort of time change), so he left the room around 6ish, I think, and did some exploring on his own. He didn't go too far, and came back for me around 8 so we could go to eat. And eat we did...we went to the buffet at the Bellagio because we were told it was one of the best- they had so much food and it was wonderful!

After that we decided we needed to walk it off....and O.M.G. did we walk....all the way down and then all the way back and down the other way (Caesar's Palace is somewhere in the middle of the strip). We saw all of the sites and did a few things, too...

The M & M store- 4 floors of M&M stuff....very cool- Riley would have loved it!

The lion at MGM....the male was pretty laid back but the female was playing with the trainers and a ball

The lion statue at MGM

New York New York- one of my favorites to see

Todd and Indiana Jones at Madame Tussards- we didn't go in- maybe next time

Me at the indoor fountain at the Venetian....another of my favorites. The gondola ride was so cool- we didn't buy the pic because it was $26!! But, we kissed under each bridge and our gondoleer sang us two songs!

The ceiling at the Venetian

Outdoor canal at the Venetian- so pretty

One of the fountains at Caesars- there are a LOT of fountains and they are all so pretty

The ceiling inside of the Bellagio- they are all umbrellas

We didn't really do too much that night- we were both pretty tired from walking so much and once we got back to the room, even though we had intentions of going back out- we were pooped! So, I ran down to the casino and picked up some food and we went to bed pretty early! Lame, I know....but we did go out the next night :)

Vegas- Friday

2010-03-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

So, I went out to to Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, but the first few days were pretty much all work, so no fun and no pictures!

Todd came out on Friday afternoon. He made his way from the airport to the hotel ok, and I came down from my meetings to let him in the room and then went back to work! After I was finished for the day, we walked around a bit to look for a place to eat since Todd was starving at that point.

We decided to eat at Mesa which just happened to be in Caesar's Palace, where we were staying, which was convienient! We were there early and had no reservation, so we sat at the bar, which was fine, and had some yummy margarita (mine was white pear and Todd's was cactus fruit, I think), and he had duck and I had pork tenderloin (yummy, but SPICY)!

We walked down through the Forum Shoppes and saw an animated show with Atlantis, which was kind of weird, and then we walked around a bit outside- saw a small water show at the Bellagio right next door, but Todd was tired and my feet were sore from wearing heels for days and walking back and forth to the meeting, so we pooped out and went back to the room for the night!

Paris- the Eiffel Tower outside of Bellagio

Fountains at the Bellagio

The Aquarium at the Forum Shoppes before the Atlantis Show

Caesar's Fountain- see him at the top? :)

Mesa Grille by Bobby Flay from Food Network

Mama's girl

2010-03-13T16:32:00.000-08:00

Annie is a mama's girl, at least, right now she is! I don't remember Riley going through this phase, although I know she did and that all kids do, but, oh, boy....all Annie wants and needs right now is her mama, otherwise known as...ME! She is slowly driving me nuts....she wants nothing to do with anyone else when I am around. And gives Todd a really hard time when I am not around, which is unfortunate. Last weekend, Riley and I went to see the Wizard of Oz at the cultural center on the big screen (and we had a great time), but it meant that Todd was on his own with the littlest one. I put her down for her nap, which in hindsight maybe was a bad idea. When Todd got her up when she awoke, she had what he described as a holy tantrum....she would not get out of her crib and screamed and cried for a while until she realized I was not coming. Then, she did it again today while I was at work (yes, on a Saturday...a beautiful, sunny Saturday and I was working).

I really, really hope this is a phase she will outgrow soon. My arms are sore from carrying her around and I need a break. Timing, though, on this slightly sucks because I leave on Wednesday this week for a work trip (TO VEGAS!!!!), and so Todd is on his own for a few days, and then both girls go to Grams and Gramps house for a few days....someone is going to be miserable, but maybe she will forget about Mama for a little while and let someone else into her life...at least until I get back!

Randomness

2010-03-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

So, I totally jinxed myself with the last post about sleep. I always do that- I guess I will never learn! Really, though, it wasn't too bad. I could hear her moving around and moaning and tossing and turning, and then a bit later, heard her cry Mama...Mama...and then she was crying. I went in there and she was standing in her bed and crying a little bit. I picked her up and rocked her for a while and she didn't go back to sleep, so I put her back down and she cried a few times and then was back out. Of course, then I was awake and freaked out about her crying again or being sick (yes, my vomit-phobia kicked in and I layed awake half the night worrying about her getting sick in her bed)...but she slept through and was a little grumpy the next morning but fine. Oh, well...NO.MORE.POSTING.ABOUT.SLEEP.HABITS!!!!!!!!

Riley had an ice cream party this week for selling 7 boxes of chocolates- 7 boxes of chocolates that Todd and I bought so that she could go to the party. I told her to enjoy that ice cream sundae because it costs us $35!!!! She reported to me that Ronald McDonald visited their school today and talked to them about books- weird! She enjoyed it, though!

Annie is currently obsessed with Elmo! We watch Sesame Street every morning while we get dressed, and she was an Elmo DVD that she likes to watch while I make dinner at night. As soon as I picked her up at school, the first thing out of her mouth is "Mo" (Elmo) and she continues to say it 50 million times on the way home. It mesmerized her...she stands there watching it with her mouth open, gaping. Very cute. Not so cute is the fit she throws when we have to shut it off for dinner. Not cute at all.

Hmmm...can't think of anything else to say. Good night!

She sleeps!

2010-03-03T17:00:00.000-08:00

Sleep. It is so very important to me. I always knew this, and was really one of my biggest worries about becoming a mother- the lack of sleep. I do not function well on no sleep. Not at all.

After a year of Annie not sleeping, I think I am still amazed- in utter shock really- every time she naps well and sleeps through the night. Seriously, at this point I believe she is sleeping better than even Riley ever did. It is impossible to even consider....but it is true. She goes to bed between 7 and 7:30 every night. She is thrilled to go to bed. She knows when it is time, sometimes even puts her head down on a pillow on the floor....guess that is my cue! On the weekends, she sleeps until about 8am. Sometimes 8:30.

She naps for 2 hours. I think she would sleep later if I let her. Today she napped for 2 1/2 hours. She gets so grumpy and then I know it is time. We have our little ritual, and off she goes.

She goes down awake now every single time. I haven't had to rock her to sleep in ages.

It is crazy. But I LOVE it! :)

Snow, again

2010-03-02T16:52:00.000-08:00

It snowed again today. Actually, it is still snowing now- it is almost 8pm. But, there is very little on the ground, so I guess that is a good thing.

If you are following my Twitter feed, you know it started snowing sometime in the late morning, and minutes after that, we started getting the calls from students and faculty and staff about cancellations! Then, the school districts started cancelling. I kept watching the news websites, and sure enough, shortly after that (before anything was even close to accumulating), Riley's school announced that they would be releasing at 11:30. I started scrambling- called Todd to see if he could pick up Riley so that I could go and get Annie before her nap. This was very important because if she even slept a little at school, chances were slim that I would be able to get her back down at home.

Unfortunately, he couldn't pick up Riley because he didn't have her school tag, so I left work early and went and sat in the pick up line, hoping that I would make it to Annie's school before nap time! While I was sitting in line, Riley's teacher called my cell- evidently she (Riley) was all upset because she thought I wasn't coming for her :( No matter how many times I tell that girl I would never, never forget her, she still worries...can't complain too much because, once again, she is EXACTLY like me!!

So, things moved along and Riley came out, we ran to Annie's school and got her just in time- her mat was out and some of the kiddos were already asleep, but I had called ahead to let them know I was coming so they held her off!

She napped when we got home- for 2 1/2 hours- and Riley watched a movie and it was actually a really nice afternoon. The funny part is- it stopped snowing! And it must have warmed up some, too, because all of the snow was gone....started back up shortly after and is still snowing now, but I think it is melting as it hits the ground! Oh, well....just another story to remember about the snow in South Carolina!!!

2010-02-28T16:33:00.000-08:00

A typical night around here usually consists of the following:

1. Rushing home and arriving about 5:15 after leaving work and picking up both girls.
2. Rushing to make dinner ready between 5:30 and 5:45- yup, that is right- I have about a 1/2 window before the natives start to eat their own!
3. Eating dinner, usually with Todd and Riley both talking to me about everything and Annie grumping and wanting to get out of her seat. Occasionally, if I make something she likes, she will eat it, but usually dinner consists of me trying to get her to eat and her saying nah, nah, nah.
4. After dinner, Todd brings both girls upstairs and suddenly they are all happy again because I usually hear screaming and laughing while I get a few minutes to myself to go on the computer.
5. About 6:15 I head upstairs and sometimes do some laundry, set out the girls clothes for the next day if I haven't already and start baths.
6. One or both get baths- this is a fun time because Annie is happy!
7. PJs on and head to the bonus room to watch Yo Gabba Gabba at 6:30. Watch and play, mostly play and then Annie gets ready for bed about 7.
8. She gets a book and rocked for about 2 minutes now, and then I lay her down and she goes to sleep.
9. Riley has her snack and gets to watch her movie until about 7:45, when she then uses the potty, brushes her teeth and goes to bed.
10. Todd reads her a book while I collapse into bed and either read or watch tv...

Here are a few pics from our night tonight:

Forgot about Roxie- she joins us in the family room on her couch. Sometimes she is annoying and tries to play with the girls but she smells and they don't like it :)

Annie watching Yo Gabba Gabba

Riley in her pj's and ready for bed

Ducks

2010-02-27T16:48:00.000-08:00

Annie had a day off of school last Friday so Ms Donna came to stay with her in the morning so I could work. I got home around noon and she was asleep, but she didn't stay that way for long! So, we played in the yard and went for a nice walk around the neighborhood, and then picked up Riley and went to feed the ducks at a nearby park. They weren't too hungry, but we did see a cool bird sweep into the little pond and grab a fish- it was pretty cool. Annie was so excited when we pulled up- she could see the ducks from her seat and she was screaming and laughing....very funny!

I had to hang onto the hood of Annie's coat so she didn't walk into the pond and she had a few little "episodes", but other than that, we had a fun time and it was nice to soak up some warm sunshine after a long time without it. We are really, really looking forward to spring!

Goofy Annie

2010-02-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Riley had a b-ball makeup game from the snow day, but Annie and I stayed home because I had a horrible headache and she was pretty grumpy (usually is on a Monday- Mondays are tough around here), so we played a bit and then put on our pj's. The camera just happened to be up here, so I took some pictures of her since she likes to see them. These are pretty goofy:

Annie and Mama- making a silly face

And this is what she does now when you say smile- Take ONE

Take TWO

Take THREE

Fun outside

2010-02-26T10:42:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was beautiful- warm and sunny and just perfect. We had no plans at all, except for Riley's game Saturday morning, so we spent pretty much the whole weekend outside and it was wonderful. Todd put together Annie's Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa and we played with it and went on walks and played with some neighborhood friends.

Birthday, part II

2010-02-25T16:29:00.000-08:00

So, more pictures from Riley's party. We went to Hearts of Clay, a paint-your-own-pottery place and the girls had a fun time. We decided to just have the girls of my girlfriends from work (and Bryce, but he couldn't come), so it was sort of low-key and relaxed, which was nice. Riley painted a princess box and Annie did a bowl and they both came out really well.

Then they let Riley put her handprint on the birthday wall, which was cool, and we did a handprint plate with all of the other girls (even Annie's) thumbpreints! Cake was good, Riley got lots of presents and both girls were tired when we came home!

Grandma and Grandpa Buckley came back to the house and we all played for a bit, and then off to bed...in all, a very nice weekend.

Riley's new nightgown with Princess and the Frog

Her hand print

Annie's plate- actually came out much better than I thought it would!

Cookies!

The cake came out great! And it was yummy, too!

Morgan painting

More little tidbits on the girls

2010-02-24T17:15:00.000-08:00

Don't have a whole lot of time- life and work super super crazy right now, but then again, when is it not????

Two quick things I want to get down, and then when I get a little more time, I will try to get the rest of Riley's party pics up....

1. Riley has now begun going to the first grade classroom 4 times a week for several hours at a time, at least according to her! Sometimes we get some interesting stories, but I think this is accurate, for the most part! So, we are wondering, is she really a kindergartener anymore...not really sure! Hoping to meet with both teachers at some point to figure out what all of this means. Also- the school participates in something called 100 Book Challenge...the students have to read lines in books each day, and the goal is to read 100 books over the course of the year. Well, we have not been recording lines, but total books instead. So, on every line, she reads a book...anyone want to guess how many books she has read, to date, this year???? 500....YES, 500 BOOKS already read, completely by herself, this year.....WOW!

2. Annie has a lovey! She has attached herself to Nestlee, a dog that is actually Riley's given to her by Grammy (my grandmother). She has taken Nestlee to bed every night for months now. Well, the other night I went out with the girls, so Todd put her to bed. When she got up in the morning, she had Nestlee and another little dog that came with Riley's vet kit. And since then, she has to sleep with both doggies...it is the cutest thing to see her walking around with one dog under each arm! I need to try to get a pic of it! Also, she has started to not want to sleep with her sleepsack (a kind of wearable blanket)- not sure why suddenly she does not want it- maybe she is hot at night? Probably better for her to make this change now, since it is a fleece one and we would need to give it up soon when (if) it finally starts warming up here....

That is it- longer than I liked, but good to get this stuff down.....later!

Riley's birthday party

2010-02-21T16:34:00.000-08:00

I finally have the pictures off the camera from Riley's party. Not sure if I can get them all up in one post...but I will start at the beginning.

Since Riley's birthday is so close to Valentines Day, and we had to wait to do her party until Auntie Karen and Sophie left, we decided to do it on V-day and have a heart party, which made it easy for me to decorate!! She wanted a heart cake and I was lucky enough that Karen already had a pan, so we were ready to go.

We made a heart cake and heart cookies and they both came out great.

This is what Annie did while Riley and I did the cake. She was mad....and shortly after this, we took our eyes off her for seconds and she took a big bite of the heart cake. Luckily, I was able to save it!

Cakes before frosting:

2010-02-16T12:40:00.000-08:00

Here is another installment of Annie at school!

Ready to go outside:

Washing her baby in the sink???

One of her favorite things to do- it is a little ramp with stairs on the other side....she can do the whole thing herself now!

Reading with some friends- the teacher there is her head teacher, Ms. Karina

Weekend!

2010-02-15T12:16:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Buckley, once they arrived! The got to the house about 7 pm on Saturday night- I kept Annie up until after 8pm and then she crashed! We spent the day together on Sunday and had Riley's party Sunday afternoon. It was fun- the girls all did great and Riley had a wonderful time, which is the most important! I have pictures, of course, so I just need some time to get them off the camera and up here- coming soon, I promise!

A much slower week for us this week- Monday is cheerleading, but then Riley is off for a week from piano, so that is it! Even hoping to get a girls night in this weekend!

Good

2010-02-13T11:40:00.001-08:00

We survived the week, a little worse for wear, but all in one piece. Last night, it snowed! Big, fat, pretty snow flakes that amounted to almost 4 inches, I think. And this morning we were even able to make a snowman- well, I made a snowman...Riley watched and Annie ate snow! We played for a while and then came in soaked to the skin but happy!

The cake is made and ready to be frosted. The cookies are baked and ready to be iced...tomorrow is Riley's birthday party!! Yay!

Grandma and Grandpa are still stuck at the airport- they called and said the flight was delayed again, but should be leaving soon so we are just waiting on them to arrive.

I am off to enjoy nap time and read a book...life is good!

Busy, busy week

2010-02-09T16:32:00.000-08:00

We have a crazy busy week this week- more so than usual.
Monday- Riley has cheerleading. Although, she didn't make it last night because she was complaining of a stomach ache, and then was a bit sick, so we decided to keep her home, and I am glad we did because she was sick again before bed, and up twice in the night. So, she also stayed home from school (and me from work) on Tuesday.

Tuesday- Riley and Annie both had chiropractic appts. Since Riley was home, so was I. She was better by the afternoon, so I took her into work with me, and she came to my class with me. She was a bit nervous about it, but she sat there and read her books and the students thought it was cute. She says I am a good teacher :) Then we left and ran to pick up Annie and then back to Sherman to see their intern.

Wednesday- Riley has piano lessons. Grams will pick her up at school, and take her to her lesson. Not such a bad day for me since I will only need to pick up Annie.

Thursday- Riley has a field trip to see Peter and the Wolf at the Cultural Center here in town, and then has a Valentines Day party. We need to finish her valentine cards (probably tomorrow- Wed), and she has to bring in grapes (note to self- buy some grapes!). Then Annie has her Art with Heart Show at the Student Center at the university where she goes to school. Luckily, I do not need to set up this time, but I do need to help breakdown, which means I somehow need to pick up the girls, get to the show and then attempt to clean while I have them with me...not sure how to do that unless Todd can get out of work early to help with them....

Friday- Riley has no school- teacher work day. I am planning to stay home with her in the morning, make her cookies and cake for her birthday party this weekend, and then bring her with me to work. Gramps is going to pick her up at noon and keep her for the rest of the day, and then somehow we need to get Riley back home that afternoon.

We still need to get Riley her birthday present, so I am assuming we will do that on Saturday, and then Saturday afternoon Grandma and Grandpa arrive and Sunday is the party.....

Think I got it all....and, oh yeah, sometime in there I also need to work :)

Snow, redux

2010-02-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

We had snow, again, last week. It started on Friday afternoon- in fact, as I picked up Riley from school about 4:30 pm, they were already calling parents to come and get their kids. Seriously- it had been snowing maybe 30 minutes at that point...

Anyway, it was snow/sleet/ice and not pretty at all. We were stuck in the house all day Saturday (we ventured out for a few minutes to play, but it was cold and we couldn't really do too much with the ice), so by Sunday, the girls and I were ready to go to Grams and Gramps house for some more sledding. After the last "snowfall", they bought some sleds, so they were ready for us!

We left Todd in the house to clean the carpets and off we went. We had lots of fun, ate lunch, Annie took a nap and we headed home. And, unbelievably, the next day, we all three had a two-hour delay....there was NOTHING on the roads...such is life in South Carolina where there are no plows and the world stops when they hear the word "snow"..

Enjoy some pics:

Auntie Karen and Sophie came for a visit

2010-02-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

We had a very nice visit with Auntie Karen and Sophie over the last few days. They arrived on Wednesday and we went to dinner, where all girls behaved themselves and we sang Happy Birthday to Riley, which greatly embarrassed her! Both litte girls behaved themselves, and Annie ate her weight in poppy seed rolls! Seriously, she chowed them!

On Thursday we hung out at Grams house all day, and I went to work for a bit in the afternoon. Annie actually napped (and on the floor to boot), so it was a successful day!

Friday we visited the Children's Museum again, and it was great fun. The girls had a great time, and then we went to the mall and took some pictures of them all, which also went pretty well. Annie wasn't too happy at sititing still and pretty much wandered around while we tried to get her to at least stay still. She did a bit better than at Christmas, so I think we got some good pictures.

And then yesterday we went to Mimi and Papa's house to celebrate Riley and Kaitlyn's birthdays and had a nice time. The day ended with Sophie having a bit of a breakdown and Annie slugging her in the face for playing with her toys....and then it was time to go home!! :)

Here are some random photos from the few days together.

Riley is SIX!!!!!!!!!!

2010-02-03T08:26:00.000-08:00

My baby is SIX! How did that happen? Seriously, I feel like a broken record sometimes because I say it every year, but I really do not know what happened to the last six years!

Riley is truly the daughter I dreamed of during the long struggle to get pregnant and all through the 9 months of waiting to hold her in my arms.

Let me brag for a minute!

- She is beautiful, with the thickest curliest hair of anyone I know. Since she is letting me wash it now, I have let her grow it, and when wet, it reaches almost to her bottom. She gets so many comments on her hair- constantly...I hope it stays that way. She has gorgeous eyes with long, dark eyelashes. She has a beautiful smile and smiles a lot!

- She is brilliant. Seriously, this child is just amazing...she is leaps above the rest of her classmates. She is already reading at a 2nd (and now probably even higher) grade level. She is the only one in her class to go into the 1st grade class during reading time. She received a special mention in her school newsletter (and the only kindergartner) this week for scoring so high on her MAP tests. And it is not only reading- yesterday Todd and I discovered that they are learning graphing in Math class.....wow!

- She is caring and kind. She is an awesome big sister- just the best. She makes Annie laugh better than anyone else. She hugs and kisses her so often that it makes Annie mad, but Riley keeps hugging and kissing. She shares all of her toys with her- even her Barbies. It is the cutest thing to watch them play Barbies together. And she loves to read to Annie, too.

- She is well behaved. The girls at work just roll their eyes, but Riley has NEVER had a time-out in school. NEVER. Of course, she has had them at home, but never in school. She has received stickers on EVERY.SINGLE.CALENDAR. day this year at school.

Now, I know she is not perfect, and there are plenty of blogs I can write about the things that Riley does not do so well....but today she is six years old and it is a day to celebrate her....and so I will!!!

She bops!

2010-01-30T16:17:00.001-08:00

Annie has being telling us now for a while when she has a poop. Not really sure when it started, a few months ago at least. It is helpful, since I don't need to figure out when she needs changing, although she doesn't do it every time, so sometimes I still get a little surprise :)

Maybe a month or two ago, we tried to teach her the word poop, and for her, it comes out bop. So, when she poops or pee-pees, she says "bop", and then we change her. She likes to tell us when Roxie goes out to "bop", or when Angel has a furball on the floor, she also calls that "bop". Unfortunately, for a while, she also called her paci a "bop", too, so that was a little confusing- LOL!

She is also a super helper now and gets me a diaper and her wipes when she has a bop, and then we change her. It is quite convenient! A few times I think she has actually told me before she bops, but I never really believe her...so we don't try to visit her new potty, although I guess I really should start doing that.

But today, while I was finishing putting the dishes in the dishwasher after dinner, she was walking around, doing her own thing, and I could see her over the counter. She walked over to the diapers, took one out, took out a pack of wipes, walked over to an empty place on the floor, laid down and started trying to take down her pants, and said "bop"!!! And sure enough, there was a mess in her pants waiting to be changed!!!

I think I should motivate myself to start this potty training thing, huh? Maybe she will potty train herself like Riley did!

NAH- now with wheezing!

2010-01-28T16:45:00.000-08:00

So, remember when I said that both girls were relatively healthy at the moment...well, even as I was writing that, Annie was getting sick, again....and by Tuesday morning she was feeling icky, and got sent home from school with a fever. I had the forethought to call for a ped appt for the next morning, and I am glad I did, because then her cough got worse and hacking and she starting wheezing, again.

So, I took her in yesterday and the ped listened to her lungs and said she was definitely wheezing so they gave her a breathing treatment in the office and then sent us home with steroids and instructions to do the treatments every 4-6 hours....and said she either had walking pneumonia or RSV or some other virus

I think she is feeling better, now- she seems to be breathing better and sleeping better. Although last night she slept without coughing, she cried out a few times in the night- not sure if the steroids are making her feel bad- I know they are certainly making her grumpy! I am now regretting being happy about her learning new words because everything is NAH- her word for NO!!! Very early this morning- like 5 am- she was yelling NAH....I went in and rubbed her back for a little while, and then returned to bed to lay there and compose blog posts in my head and think about everything I had to do at work today :(

Wondering now if I will EVER, EVER, sleep through the night again.....

More words

2010-01-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

Forgot a few words that Annie can (sort of) say:
No
Fish
Hi
Milk
Juice
Bear
Up
Bath
Bird

Really, with most of them I am probably the only one who knows what she is saying, and mostly she repeats me, although with some of them she says them on her own...I am glad I did this because it makes me feel better about what she really does say....

An Annie update

2010-01-25T12:15:00.000-08:00

My little Annie is growing by leaps and bounds lately. Since moving into the Toddler Room at school, I have really seen a difference in her. She is definitely now a toddler and no longer my little baby....here are a few things she is working on:

*Talking! Finally, finally, I think she is starting to understand that she needs to SPEAK to get things! She is starting to make different articulations, and has a few words now, instead of just "more"! So far, she can say Mama, Dada, more, dog, cat, shoes, fish, bark, socks (although this sounds like shoes, but I know what she means). She can also make the sounds for monkey, horse, dog (bark), cow and chicken. Although many of these words and sounds are recognizable to only me :)

*She can walk down the stairs holding my hand and walk up- sort of.

*She is drinking from a regular cup at school- no more sippy cups- at school, at least

*She is a hand-washing pro. When we get to school, I take off her coat and we walk in the classroom- she goes right to the sink and starts to do it all by herself. She LOVES to wash her hands.

*She is starting to put together puzzles- sort of. I sat down with her this weekend and we worked on a few new puzzles from Grandma and Grandpa Buckley and she can recognize where the pieces are supposed to go- she can't quite get them there yet, but she knows them. And she can identify pretty much every animal and lots of other pictures in certain books.

*She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES certain books and wants to read them over and over and over. I think I wrote about that before. Right now her favorite book is Where is Elmo's Blanket? It is a book with little doors that you need to open....if we only read that book repeatedly all night she would be happy!

*She can eat an entire peanut butter and jelly sandwich by herself, and she has sweet tooth, like her mama!

*She has occasionally let me put her hair up in a pony tail- it sticks straight up! She usually wants it up when she sees Riley getting her hair done. When I put it up, she walks over the mirror to look at herself! And she loves to take a bath and have her hair washed. The only way I can get her dressed after the bath (since she also loves to be naked) is to tell her that we need to blow dry her hair!

*She likes to sit on her new potty, but nothing has come out yet :)

*She still loves her big sister, but sometimes gets upset with Riley when she wants to hug her too much or does something she doesn't like. Then she screeches at the top of her lungs. She does this with the dog, too!

*She is starting to like watching TV- I know it is bad, but it buys me precious minutes of peace! So far, she enjoys Sesame Street, Yo Gabba Gabba and the Wiggles. Yesterday was a rainy, miserable day so we watched the Wiggle CD and I think she made us watch the Monkey Dance about a million times....every time it ended she would point to the remote and say "ah, ah, ah, oh, oh, oh" (that is what a monkey says!).....

Ok- that is all I can think of right now....my little babe is growing up!

Weekly recap

2010-01-23T16:20:00.000-08:00

So, no one else got sick- yay- and aside from some lingering coughing from both girls from some mystery long-term cold, we are all relatively healthy. Now, if only we can stay that way!

We had a busy week- Monday was a holiday, which meant no work for me and no school for the girls. We didn't really do much- it was a really nice day, so we played outside and I made a honey wheat and pumpkin bread with my new mixer!

On Friday I went to "Muffins with Moms" at Riley's school, which was great fun. The cafeteria was packed, and then I walked her to class and talked to her teacher quickly. For those who follow my Twitter feed, you know that Riley will be starting to visit the 1st grade classroom on Monday for their reading lessons. She met the teacher this week and saw the classroom, and I can't wait to hear how it goes. We finally received her MAP testing scores, and I really do not know how to interpret them, or compare, but it does say she scored above average in both reading and math, so that is good!

Today we went to Riley's basketball game- she cheered- we left and went right to Laney's birthday party at the gymnastics gym. It was fun- although we weren't there for too long and missed most of the gymnastics.

Another busy week awaits me next week (they are all busy at this point), and then Sophie and Karen come for a visit- we are so excited!! I can't wait to see Sophie and Annie play together.

Arizona

2010-01-19T17:31:00.000-08:00

I left my babies for 2 whole nights over the weekend! That is the longest I have left Annie, and I have only left Riley for three nights one time! I had a work trip to Arizona, and left early Friday morning, so Todd had the girls Friday night and then Grams and Gramps had them Saturday night. Unfortunately, it was a rough weekend for the Hildebrand girls- Riley wasn't feeling weel the night before I left, so Todd brought her into school a little late...she made it the whole day, but was sick Friday night.

But, she seemed fine by Saturday morning, and they all went to her 2nd basketball game (I missed it- sad!), and then Saturday night, Annie was sick with Grams and Gramps....by the time I got home on Sunday, they were both fine. But....I guess Gramps was sick, and now Todd is sick in bed....hoping it has made the rounds and no one else gets it.

But, we all survived...some of us a little worse for wear....but we did it! Todd and I are trying to plan a trip to Las Vegas in March- me for work, and then he might come out a few days later....hoping that Grams and Gramps aren't too shell shocked and will take the girls again for us!!!

Someone please tell me this is just a phase...

2010-01-15T17:30:00.001-08:00

Annie has been *such* a grump lately...I really don't know what to do with her anymore. She is grumpy in the morning when I don't sit down with her at breakfast....she cries when Todd drops her off at school....she whines and grumps on the way home from school....she throws a fit when we get Riley, sometimes I have to carry her out of Riley's school screaming....she hates when I have to make dinner- she pulls at my legs and wants no one but me.....she screams and cries when I put her in her highchair for dinner and refuses to eat if she is not sitting on my lap. It seems the only time she is happy is when she is upstairs playing or in her bath!

She is driving me and Todd slowly crazy....seriously, CRAZY.....and then she looks at me and walks up to me and gives me a big, wet, sloppy kiss....and for a moment (just a few seconds) I forget all of the screaming and crying....

(temporarily, of course, because then she is screaming and crying about something else.....)

New pj's

2010-01-11T05:06:00.000-08:00

Riley and Annie modeling some new pj's from Nannie and Poppie after their baths:

2010-01-10T17:28:00.001-08:00

2010-01-10T17:16:00.001-08:00

Rah Rah

2010-01-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday was the first basketball game for Upwards...Riley had a great time cheering for the teams!! Games are at 9am, 10am and 11am, and her's was the first, of course, but we made it in time and Annie behaved herself, sort of, and watched the game, sort of! Luckily, there is a room to the side of the gym, so she spent some time climbing the steps and walking on a little stage, but she was good for the most part.

Riley did great- they are so cute, and so are the little b-ball players....enjoy the photos. I have some video, too, that I will try to get uploaded tonight if the laptop co-operates!

Cheerleading

2010-01-07T06:42:00.000-08:00

Did I tell you that Riley is now a cheerleader? No? Yup- she started a few weeks ago, and knows a few cheers now. She received her uniform last week- it is orange and deep blue (she calls it purple) and very cute....she even got pom-poms and a megaphone, which Riley and Annie have both enjoyed over the week! She has practice on Monday nights, although this week her coach was sick, so she has practice tonight instead. Her first game is Saturday- stay tuned for pictures and video!!

What happened to my baby?

2010-01-06T16:11:00.000-08:00

So, Annie has officially moved to the Toddler Room at school. They told us that she would be slowly transitioning in January, so I assumed that meant that she would spend some time in there each day starting the first week, and maybe by the end of the week, stay the whole day. Well, when Todd dropped her off on Monday morning, I guess all of the new babies who were taking her place arrived at the same time and the teachers were a little overwhelmed...and at the same time, there were no kids in the toddler room, so it just made sense to have Annie just start the day in there....and then she never left!

Luckily, she was somewhat familiar with the teachers in the Toddler Room already because she had been playing on the big kids playground for a few months. Todd said the first day, she went right in and started playing and didn't really even realize he had left. The second day, it was a little more traumatic- she cried a bit and wasn't too happy with him!

I was mostly worried about her sleeping- in the baby room she slept in a crib- here, she needed to sleep on a mat! But, I asked the first day and they said she had no problem- she went right to sleep...although she did wake earlier than the kids usually do- seems she only slept about 45 minutes....yep, that is my Annie! Today they told me she slept better- about 90 minutes, so she is getting it!

Now our only problem is the grumpies....she is so tired at the end of the day, she grumps the whole way home...throws a fit in the cafeteria when I pick up Riley....grumps through dinner and generally is driving.me.crazy!!!! But, hopefully this is temporary and will abate as she gets used to everything....please, please, please get better soon :)

Christmas Eve

2010-01-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

I spent much of the day baking and cooking and Todd spent the day cleaning :) We met Grams and Gramps and Mimi and Papa at church for 4 o'clock mass (Donnie- if you are reading this- we went to church!!!)...and then everyone came over afterwards for appetizers. As usual, I made WAY too much food...we just finished the last of it this weekend!

Riley and Annie opened their new pajamas, and then they opened a book from Nannie and Poppie that they recorded for the girls- Twas the Night Before Christmas, which has now been played over and over and over, until they almost broke it and then I had to take the batteries out!

Annie was pooped, so I put her to bed, and Todd and Riley set out some milk and homemade and decorated by Riley cookies and then we all went off to bed to dream about sugar plums.....

Snow!

2010-01-01T15:05:00.001-08:00

A few weeks ago, we actually had a bit of snow here in South Carolina...by a bit I mean about an inch at our house! But, Gramps and Gramps live about 20 minutes further north, and they got about three inches. We happened to be cleaning the house that day, so when Grams asked the girls and I to come up and play, I quickly packed them up and left Todd to the cleaning (he does a much better job than I do, and it is much easier without me and the girls around anyway!!)....we had a good time...Annie was a little unsure at first, but she had a ball. As you can see, we had to improvise a bit with the sled, but it worked just as well!!

Goodbye 2009...

2010-01-01T01:47:00.000-08:00

It has been a good year at the Hildebrand's....Riley graduated from one school and started kindergarten....Annie did a lot of growing! She is now a walking, talking toddler with her own opinions....Todd lost a job and got a new one....I started off the year with a new official promotion, and while it has not been the best year for us at the college, we are starting the new year on a good class (hopefully) and lots of momentum....

I wish you all, my three loyal readers, a very Happy New Year....from our home to yours.....

Cookies

2009-12-31T11:58:00.001-08:00

One day last week, after work, I had the crazy idea that Riley, Annie and I should make some Christmas cut out cookies. I put them both at the kitchen table and we mixed the dough and rolled out the cookies. Riley did great....Annie did not. All she wanted to do was eat the dough (understandable, I guess, for a 17 month old)...but then she got mad when I took it away, she started throwing it everywhere, and then had a fit when I had to remove her from the table.

When the cookies were finished baking, I again attempted to have them both decorate them. Annie did a bit better- I let her eat and play with the icing, so she was happy. I was so busy helping them and trying to prevent Annie from eating everything, I totally burned the burgers for dinner, and had to make new ones.....we still made a huge mess, but the girls had fun and we made some memories....maybe next year it will go a bit more smoothly.

Christmas with the Laube Family

2009-12-29T15:11:00.000-08:00

The weekend before Christmas we packed up the kids and headed to Mimi and Papa;s house to celebrate Christmas with the Laube's. Anna and David are in Sweden, and Lynne and her kids were supposed to come by got struck with Pink Eye (yuck), so it was just us, Mom and Brian, Auntie Joannie and Uncle Steve and Chrissy, Scott and Kaitlyn. It was nice, though. The girls all had fun playing and we exchanged small gifts and ate some yummy food that Mimi and Papa's place catered for us (best macaroni and cheese I have EVER had)....here are a few pics from the fun:

Santa visit

2009-12-22T13:16:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to Riley's school for Breakfast with Santa. It was a fundraiser for the school and we thought both girls would enjoy it. We ate a teeny tiny breakfast of pancakes and bacon, and then we stood in line for the girls to visit with Santa. I was hoping that Annie would sit on his lap, she loves to look at pictures of Santa and say "that" at him....but it was a no go. As soon as we got close, she stuck her head in my shoulder and didn't even want to look. I knew she would have a fit, and really did not want to do that in the middle of the school cafeteria!

But, Riley, of course, had no such issues and up she went to tell him what she wanted for Christmas (an Easy Bake Oven, Barbies and coloring books!), and they snapped this picture, which we received a few days later in her folder from school- for FREE!!!

Annie

2009-12-17T06:07:00.000-08:00

Annie has been sick. Really sick.

It started last Friday- she was fine when I dropped her off at school, but when I picked her up, they said she had been coughing again and was running a slight (99 degree) temp. I figured she was just getting another cold, and she seemed ok that night. In fact, she ate a ton of pizza at dinner, so I was hopeful that maybe it was just a quick thing.

Unfortunately, at about 10:30 that night, she woke up screaming and coughing. When I went in to get her she started choking, and vomited all over herself and the floor. I took her into the bathroom, and she started wheezing badly, and then gasping for air. She vomited again, and was then really, really gasping and she sounded horrible. I ran the shower for steam, and we quickly gave her a breathing treatment...nothing worked. I started freaking out- we talked about taking her to the ER, but I didn't want to get in the car with her like that- by myself, since Todd had to stay with Riley, who was sleeping through all of this. I called my mom quickly to see what to do, and at that point, Todd said- call 911- so I got off the phone- they were coming over to keep Riley- and I called.....

EMS came and they took us to the hospital- my first ride ever in an ambulance- and gave her O2 and another treatment on the way. They took her temp- it was 103.5- and she was pretty out of it....as soon as they got us in the room, they did another treatment, and then another...Todd showed up....they took a chest xray. The respiratory nurse thought she might have croup and talked to us about steroids.....

Finally, the doc said that they thought it was pneumonia and that they would give her antibiotics and to continue the breathing treatments, and they sent us home- without another word about croup (this will become important!).....

So, Todd and I spent the rest of the night holding her upright in the chair to sleep....and the next day, more of the same, and the next night, and the next day....she sounded like a train- her breathing was still so heavy and labored and she wasn't sleeping at all- we were tempted to take her back, but decided to just wait it out.

Finally, Monday morning I called her regular pediatrician and took her in....and in a matter of minutes told me that it sounded like classic croup, not pneumonia, prescribed her steroids and said she should feel better soon.

And sure enough, by that afternoon and the next day, she was much better, and now (Thursday) she is breathing great and sleeping through the night again....

Such a scary, scary weekend for us....I am so grateful that it wasn't worse and that she is feeling better now....

Children's Museum

2009-12-15T08:49:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, right after Thanksgiving, Riley, Annie, Laney and Karen and I made a trip to the new Children's Museum in Greenville and we all had a wonderful time. I knew that Riley and Laney would enjoy themselves, and they did, but Annie had a great time, too. I am so glad that she is walking- she had a ball pushing the shopping carts and in the little farm display especially for toddlers. I can't wait for Sophie to visit in February because we are so going back with her!!

Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera, but I knew Karen would have hers! So, if you are so inclined (and I know several of you will do anything to see pics of Riley and Annie!), you can visit her blog to see the photos, and even a TON of videos, too!! Karen is a much better blogger than I am!

On reading

2009-12-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

Books. I love to read. Really, although I don't have as much time as I once did, I very much enjoy reading. A few years ago, I wrote a post about wanting, hoping, for Riley to enjoy reading as much as I do. I took her to the library, bought her lots and lots of books and read to her constantly. And...it worked! Riley starting reading herself at an early age and now she is a voracious reader. She loves to read. Yesterday I left her in her room for quiet time while Annie and I napped- and she read for 2 hours! Straight!

Anyway...that brings me to Annie. As a second child, she does not get the constant attention that Riley did, unfortunately. With Riley, I read to her as an infant....Annie- well, not so much :( Early on, with Riley, I made books a part of the bedtime routine. We would sit and rock and read some books, and then she would go to sleep. Well, Annie's sleep sagas have been well documented here....mainly, she did not like to sleep so much (this is MUCH better now, but that is another post). So, reading books came later with Annie. But, we do read, and Riley reads to her, and I had hope that it would be enough.

I am pleased to say, Annie has followed her sister's footsteps in this way, even without all of the extra attention to books that Riley had. Basically- Annie is now OBSESSED with books!!! It is constant- all she wants to do is have us read to her. And we read the same few books over and over and over and over and over (you get the point!)....it is hilarious. Sometimes she will let Riley read to her, which is great because it gives me a nice break to get something done around the house, like laundry!

And we have now incorporated books into her bedtime routine, I am proud to say! So, I have high hopes for little Miss Annie, who, even though we started off slow, should be reading, just like her big sister, in no time!!!

Song for a Fifth Child

2009-12-04T09:18:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Karen for making me aware of this...I love it, and not just because it gives me an excuse to why my house is a HUGE mess :)

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

2009-12-04T06:55:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, and I apologize. I seem to have a few new readers so I am excited about that- welcome!! Things are moving along...December is typically a busy month here, as I think it is for everyone, so I made Todd buy me a white board calendar and I put all of our activities and appointments up there and I love it! But it really makes me realize how much we do!

Anyway, here are a few pics my mom sent of the girls from a few weeks ago. We went to visit Mimi and Papa and I had these cute matching outfits, so I dressed them up and off we went!

They were coloring together and Annie was rolling around on the floor and stepping all over the sheet, which did not make Riley happy...but they look cute :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T16:17:00.000-08:00

I have so much to be thankful for...it is hard to put it into words....I have everything I would ever ask for or need....

especially these two perfect little human beings

I am incredibly blessed to be their mother.....

Weekend

2009-11-23T16:18:00.000-08:00

Had kind of a crazy weekend. On Saturday, we went for our annual Christmas pictures-the girls looked so cute dressed in the same dresses from Grams, although Annie was not crazy about having her picture taken so we got some ok photos, but nothing great. Except for Riley- her individual shot is beautiful. We saw three other families there that we know, which was just so weird. Riley's teacher, Mrs. Graham was there with her family!

After lunch in the mall- pizza, YUM- we headed to see Santa. I had a feeling that Annie would not be too crazy about the big guy this year, and sure enough, she wouldn't go near him. We all ended up taking the pic with him, but we did not buy it. I am hoping that she will warm up to him and we can get a better shot of the girls later on.

Saturday afternoon was sunny, so we played outside, but then on Sunday it was cold and rainy and Annie has another cough, so we did some Thanksgiving food shopping and then spent the rest of the day in the house...and I think we are all about to go crazy by the end of the day....I hate those days with nothing to do!

And then Annie was up a lot last night coughing, although she seems better today so hopefully whatever she has is already on it's way out...although I am starting to think maybe it is an allergy??? Who knows....

Nivens Apple Farm

2009-11-16T16:39:00.001-08:00

A week or so before Halloween, we took out annual trip to Niven's Apple Farm to see the animals and take some pictures and buy some apples to make yummy things with! Last year when we went, Annie was just a little baby...this year, it was fun to watch her see the animals- she loved the donkey- and let her play a little bit. I tried to find the pictures from last year, and it looks like I didn't even blog about it- maybe I have them somewhere on the other computer- I will take a look. I did find my blog from 2007, if you want to take a look!

We bought some apples and made homemade applesauce and an apple crisp, and Todd bought an apple fritter there this year...and O.M.G- it was YUMMY!!!

Enjoy the pics!

Fall

2009-11-16T09:27:00.000-08:00

Annie playing in the leaves at school:

Halloween, Part Deux

2009-11-12T07:49:00.000-08:00

So, Halloween day was rainy and cold and dreary and I was afraid that Trick-or-Treating would get rained out :( Fortunately, the mall here in town does a T-or-T, so we decided to go so at least Riley and Annie would get a little bit of candy, and then maybe we would get lucky and the rain would stop.

So, we got the girls all dressed up and we headed there about 4 pm. Thank goodness we got there early (it started at 4), because there were a TON of people and kids there, and as we walked around, stores were already running out of candy. Apparently, the entire city had the same thought I did! We saw Laney there, but she wasn't feeling well, and we were going to get something to eat, so we didn't chat for long.

We decided to get something to eat while we were there, which turned out to be a mistake on my part...not sure if Annie was tired or just cranky or just being a toddler, but she DID NOT want to sit in the highchair, she did not want to eat- at all- and she was just all together a mess. The only time she was happy was when I left the restaurant with her and we walked around the mall- then she was all smiles!

Anyway, when we got home, Annie went right to bed! The weather looked ok, so Todd and Riley decided to brave it, and headed out in the neighborhood and did their T-or-T thing.....until it started POURING down rain on them...and back they came, soaked, but Riley did not care one bit....she had a bag full of candy and she was happy as could be!!

So, that was our Halloween....not perfect, of course, but the girls had fun and that is all that matters....

Funny things my kids say/do

2009-11-10T08:37:00.001-08:00

So, Riley and I were chatting last night- she was watching Barbie as Princess and the Pauper- she is VERY much into all things Barbie still- and she was wearing her Princess crown and talking non-stop through the movie, as usual. And she comes out with this: she has decided that when she grows up, she would like to be one of two things- either a veterinarian, or a Princess. So, I told her that in order to be a Princess, she would of course need to marry a Prince since she was not born into a royal family. And she says.....Well, DUH, MOM!!!
UH.......where on EARTH did she learn that....and how old is she, 16?????? :)
I dropped Riley and Annie off at school this morning (Todd usually does drop off now, but he was up late last night working on a computer, so I volunteered- what a nice wife!). I dropped off Riley first, and off she went, and then I drove to Annie's school. We were early, so I decided to hang out for a while and play with her. Her newest obsession lately is with BOOKS. OMG...she LOVES them!!! She wants to read the same book over and over and over and over, and then she moves onto another book and wants me to read that one over and over and over....well, you get the point! So, we sat down and read a few books and then she must have gotten bored because she went over to the baby dolls and started playing with them. So, I said something to her teacher about her playing with the dolls, because she doesn't do that at home, and they both said that she plays with them all of the time at school. She feeds the babies and burps them and rocks them (and she does- I observed this when I was there- SO CUTE), and even tries to change their diapers!! She seems a bit young for this, but it makes sense because there are a ton of babies in her class....
Annie has also started to notify us when she has made something in her diaper! I remember Riley doing this to, at about the same age (we even have it on video)...she walks up to us and pats her bottom....with a silly grin on her face! Whatever- it works for me, and I know that is means she is just one step closer to potty training....she will be getting a little potty from Santa this year, I believe!!

Trick or Treat, Take One

2009-11-09T11:58:00.000-08:00

Annie and I did some early trick or treating around the campus where she goes to school on the Friday morning before Halloween. Her school does this every year- it is a really big deal for the students and teachers- and last year I went with Riley, and Annie was a little baby, so she was left at Miss Amy's house. So it was fun this year to go with Annie, even though she really had no clue what was going on!

She was pretty good- at least in the beginning. Towards the end, she was pretty restless and wanted OUT of her stroller, but I just kept feeding her M&M's and that made her happy!

Parent Teacher Conferences

2009-11-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

Todd and I had Parent Teacher Conferences at Riley's school last week. It was supposed to be on Monday and Tuesday nights, but I was out of town so we arranged to meet her teacher, Mrs. Graham, at school on Thursday afternoon. Of course, no surprises- her teacher talked about what a great student Riley is, so smart, very articulate, interacts social well with all of the children....and on and on!! She got a "report card", which was really just a list of things that she should be able to do at this point, and scored well on everything, with the exception of knowing her zip code (which she really DOES know, and for some reason did not answer correctly that day).

We also asked about her reading level, because the books she is bringing home are still way to simple for her....she reads them in a matter of seconds. Mrs. Graham actually said that those books were the highest level they have for kindergarten, so she will need to get some new baskets from the 1st grade!! And I have no doubt that she will finish those level books, too....I believe she is probably reading at a 2nd to 3rd grade level, although she has some issues with comprehension the higher she goes....

So, basically, a glowing report....my little genius!!!