Pre-School

Lily started preschool! 

It's a little bit hard for me to believe that I have a child old enough to be going to preschool, but both she and I are definitely ready. Once we figured out where we would be living the search began. I think I wrote an earlier post about the stresses involved in selecting the "right" preschool. Since we started looking pretty late in the season for preschool applications, that significantly narrowed our options. But, my only criteria for choosing where she went were that 1) we could walk to it, and 2) they would not actively abuse her. And we found the perfect one! 

The only required school supply was a backpack that can fit a 9x12" piece of construction paper. Lily had a really cute little toddler backpack that can fit at most a 5x7" paper. So we looked around and anything that was big enough either looked ridiculous on her because she's a peanut, or cost $90 (I'm looking at you Duluth Pack). So I decided to make one. I found this adorable pattern on Pinterest, my new obsession. I looked at the dimensions for cutting and thought "Perfect!". Only I forgot to allow for seams. So... after all that it's about half an inch too small in each direction. BUT, you can fit a 9x12" piece of construction paper in it if it is bowed a little bit. 

Lily picked out her outfit for the first day. She wanted to wear her special Easter dress, made by the fabulous Rebecca Lynn Designs, and flip-flops to "match mama". Finally, she wanted her hair done in a Rapunzel braid. 

Then it was time for pictures. 

Lily LOVES going to preschool. She's excited to play with her friends and check out all the fun things in their classroom. On the first day, we all walked together and we hung out for about 15 minutes in the classroom chatting with some of the other parents. We asked Lily if she was ready for us to leave and she said "Yep! Goodbye!" and ran off to play dress up. No tears were shed on either of our parts. 

When I go to pick her up, she's usually pretty tired on the walk home so we just chat a little bit about what she did if she wants to. I try not to bombard her with questions, even though I have a million. But throughout the rest of the day, usually after naptime, she shares about things they did, who she played with, what she liked and didn't like, etc. We're a week into it, and it's going fabulously. 

While Joe is still at home, I'm trying to take advantage of those precious hours. Joe watches Thomas while I am FINALLY able to really get things settled. We have everything unpacked in that it is out of boxes, but the music room is a mess, our clothes aren't in the right drawers, and a million other small things that just haven't gotten done yet. It feels so good to actually have things settled and arranged and right. I'm looking forward to October, when Joe goes back to work and it'll just be me and my baby boy for two and a half hours three times a week. 

I love September. I love that back to school feeling. There's so much hope and optimism and a sense of starting fresh. I'm going to try to hold onto that for as long as possible. 

Ready

I'm ready.

Ready to send my big girl to her first day of preschool.

Ready to spend some quality time with my not so little baby boy.

Ready to once and for all finish unpacking.

Ready for summer, with all of it's heat and long days and chaos, to end.

Ready for fall, with all of it's apples and chills and order, to start.

Ready for change. Big girl at school, big baby starting to walk, and Joe heading back to work in October. Constantly tumbling forward with plenty of stops to enjoy the scenery. 

And once again, ready to write. This summer I was just too overwhelmed with just how un-perfect my life was I just couldn't bear to put on a happy face and write cute stories about our life. And I couldn't bear to read about how seemingly blissful everyone else's life was. So I withdrew. But now I'm back and happy to be here. 

Run Like A Mother

I went for my first run with the double jogging stroller today. I've been on plenty of walks, but this was the first time trying to move faster than a steady saunter. It went great. I can't tell you how much I love this stroller. It has a really smooth ride, handles like a charm, and isn't too heavy even with the car seat and both kids in it. 

We registered to run a 5k on June 2nd. It doesn't sound like much, but for someone who hasn't run in over a year, it's a worthy goal. I'm really looking forward into getting back to running regularly and doing the occasional race. I really love races. They give you something to work towards, you get fun shirts, the people are great, and it just feels good. 

I'm trying my best not to over do it. I put on my running shorts and my St. Olaf Track and Field shirt and my head suddenly thinks my body is 18 years old again and has been training for both cross country and track. I've always been pretty good at the mental side of running, so I push through a really hard, long run. Then my 28-year-old-mother-of-two body spends the next four days saying 'I told you so' while I audibly groan every time I move. 

It took everything in me to not let that happen today. It was sunny, 70 degrees, a light breeze, on a flat running path. Perfect. I could have just started running and gone forever. But I didn't. Instead I stuck to the plan, and am taking baby steps to getting back into it. While training for the half marathon I did in 2011, I found that doing a run/walk combination was the easiest thing to help my legs get used to the longer distances without making my bones hurt. So that's my plan this time: slowly increasing the running to walking ratio, with the ultimate goal of running the full 5k with the stroller. 

So I did it. I ran some, walked more, and it felt good. It felt good while I was running and it feels good now this evening. I definitely feel like I ran, but I'm not in pain and I'll be ready to do it again on Wednesday no problem. 

Lily even ran with me for part of it. That girl really loves to just run. While I was doing a brisk walk to warm up, she ran along side for a full quarter mile. She can easily walk for a mile or more, but I didn't know she could just run for that long of a stretch. Must be those New Balance shoes I bought her. And don't worry, I'm not one of those crazy parents that forces their kid to exercise to extremes. She wanted to run and as soon as she said she wanted to stop she hopped right back in the stroller. Will I encourage her to do it again? Sure. Will I suggest she try to go a few steps further? Sure. Will I make her do it? Absolutely not. 

So yeah, I'm feeling good. Still got some endorphins from the run and happiness from the sun.

Big Girl

Lily is becoming such a big girl. Talking in full paragraphs, making up stories, helping me with cooking, cleaning, and watching Thomas, getting excited for preschool in the fall, wanting to be friends with everyone she meets, sleeping like a champ, eating a ton, running, jumping, dancing, everything. 

This morning was our last Wiggleworms class ever. Wiggleworms is a kids music class offered by the Old Town School of Folk Music at the HPNC near our house. Lily has been going to this since she was nine months old, and Thomas has been going since he was 5 days old. Miss Shanta has taught Lily to sing, skip, hop, dance, play the mbira, and to sit still and listen to music. She has seen Thomas go from a sleeping through class newborn to a wide-eyed baby wiggling on the floor and playing with the shakers. It was more emotional for me than I expected. I was actually a bit teary at the end. As we're getting ready to move there will be lots of 'lasts', lots of things I will be very sorry to say goodbye to and they're all making me realize how fast my babies are growing up. 

We all know Lily is a girly girl. She loves all things frilly, flouncy, and purple. She is also obsessed with wearing slippers, as in Cinderella slippers. Basically, these are fancy little girl shoes. Unfortunately, those kinds of shoes just don't hold up to running in the park, hiking, or walking around the zoo all day. So I bought her a pair of big girl New Balance gym shoes. I think brand name shoes are ridiculous for little kids because they fit for three weeks and cost a fortune. But my experience with cheaper ones is that they just fall apart. So I got these a half size to big, and I'm hoping they last through the summer. They're super comfortable, really well made, and of course extra girly. Lily calls them her beautiful shoes.  

And finally, this is probably the cutest thing you will hear all week. Lily frequently sings You Are My Sunshine to Thomas when he is crying to help him calm down. And he almost always does. I've been dying to get a recording of it, but she has been camera shy and Thomas is usually crying in the background. Today I asked her to sing but kept the phone on the table so she didn't know she was being recorded. I love it so much. 

Beach Day!

Thanks to the new jogging stroller, I was able to take the kids to the beach this afternoon for the first time this Spring! For the first time since Thomas was born! For the first time since the last time! Ah! Beach! 

Can you tell I like the beach?

This will probably be the thing I will miss the most when we move. I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to just up and go to the beach on a whim. 

Tiny gnome and beach towel. 

Baby toes in the sand!

Big girl digging.

I love the beach.

March and April Resolutions

I'm only writing this post for house-keeping purposes. Basically I've just been treading water on these. I've been thinking a lot about my 'last year of my 20's' resolutions and even getting some things going with them. The weather has been crappy, I've been in kind of a funk, and these were just really place-holder resolutions anyway. 

1) Exercise 5 times a week. This did not happen. Between bad weather, bad colds, and just general laziness it just didn't happen. I've also come to realize that it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to work out at home with the two of them. Lily wants to copy everything I'm doing and if I'm not watching out super carefully she's likely to get smacked in the face during jumping jacks or she'll crawl under me doing pushups or she'll try to do squats/curls holding Thomas. Just general chaos that usually ends up in me shouting and one or both of them crying. 

So I gave in and bought a double jogging stroller. I was really opposed to getting one at first. Personally, I believe kids Lily's age should be walking or riding a bike or something more active than just sitting and riding in a stroller. But Thomas is getting too heavy to carry for a long time while she walks or is on the push bike. There are times when we just need to go faster or she has been walking for a long time and is legitimately tired. So I caved. It came last week and now I can just strap them both down and go for a walk/run without either of them crying (much). So far I love it. I'm looking forward to nap time walks instead of drives, going to places like the zoo where Lily walks most of the way but can crash after a while, and being able to walk to farther places again.

I absolutely hated the double wide ones I tried, so I searched and searched for a tandem. I finally decided on the Hauck Freerider. It came with a rain cover and a car seat adapter. It's too heavy to run with the car seat on it, but Thomas only needs that for 2 more months. I can walk with him just in the regular stroller seat, but he's still a little small for running that way. Lily loves it. She calls it riding in her fort. 

2) Keep up with the housework. Eh, this is fine. I freak out about once a week and demand that Joe take the kids SOMEWHERE ELSE while I manically clean for a couple of hours.  

3) Cook dinner once a week. This is also just kind of eh. Mostly we tag team dinners. I get things going and then Joe finishes things up. So we both end up doing some cooking. Probably my favorite thing we've made in a while was the Irish Soda Bread. This is a non-traditional version from Ina Garten with currants and orange peel and is absolutely fabulous. And really easy to make to boot. 

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/irish-soda-bread-recipe/index.html

For Easter I made a lemon lavender cupcake bouquet. This is so easy to do I would highly recommend trying it the next time you need a pretty, baked good. The icing was getting a little warm, that's why the leaves are droopy. 

http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/lavender-frosting/

http://cakecentral.com/a/rose-bouquet-cupcakes

Let it be.

Several times I've started and abandoned a long, wordy post about all the turmoil in my life recently and just haven't had the heart to post it. I'm tired of dwelling on all of the negative things. In short, it was finals, we're trying to plan for the summer, we were all stressed, we were all sick, and we all survived. Now that it's Spring Break the world is a much sunnier place. So this one is mostly photos, fewer words, and lots of fun.

When you put Thomas in the high chair his chubby little legs sometimes get stuck and he looks like a little baby Buddha.   

Our Irish feast: bangers and mash, soda bread, roasted root veggies, and of course some Guinness. 

My two Irish babies: Lily helping make soda bread and Thomas desperately wanting to help.  

Cold weather cabin fever has led to some interesting imaginative play. 

Happy Birthday turtle cake for my father-in-law made entirely out of supplies I already had and Lily helped quite a bit.

It's a bit hard to see, but Lily has set Thomas up quite nicely. She wrapped him in her panda towel to keep him "nice warm", laid out a book for him to read, and positioned the mirror so he could see his face. She loves being a little mama.

We visited the Adler Planetarium and I was pleasantly surprised by the number and quality of little kid activities. I'd like to go back with just Joe to look at some of the more detailed exhibits and catch a show. 

This morning we went to the Chicago Easter Eggstravaganza at Soldier Field. Lily got some candy and climbed all the way through one of those inflatable obstacle courses. Joe got to stand on the grass on the field. And I got to take pictures. 

Lily got a haircut! She said she wanted short hair just before bath time so I grabbed the hair scissors and hacked off a hunk. I needed to trim it a little to even it out, and we'll see the final results in the morning after it dries. 

So that's some of the good in our lives of late. And the rest, well, we'll just let it be.