Today

Today is Leila's first "extra" day of preschool. Normally (Until October anyway) the girls both spend Tuesday and Thursday at Love-A-Lot, Mondays with Grandma Lori and Wednesday and Friday with me. Now that Leila is in the State preschool program, she needs to be at school an extra half day a week and so Wednesday mornings in September are just for Thea and I. So far this morning I have already given in on my attempt to wean and we have spent a couple of hours cuddling in the recliner and reading books. Heaven on earth, nothing beats a nice long cuddle with a sweet baby. What I need is a memory machine to store this away so when I am spending my Wednesday mornings sitting at my desk at work, I can remember the way she smelled, and her squishy soft skin and that beautiful dimpled smile. *sigh*

2 things

Today we drove by our house after work, like we do on most days, and our new neighbor happened to be coming home at the the same time. We had already met her husband because he is actually one of the contractors that we have been working with. This was the first time that I had ever seen the wife. I had one of those moments where you are too caught up thinking about the possibilities to really concentrate on the now, and not saying something totally stupid to this person you are making a first impression with. I don't even remember what I said to her, I just remember that she looked very normal and very much like the kind of woman that I would choose to be friends with, which of course made me nervous. This lady is going to have to listen to me yell at my kids for as long as she lives next door.

I was picturing us walking across each other's yards to chat, and maybe having a real live friend that lives within 20 miles of me and isn't related. The possibilities are endless, and now that I have built up a potential friendship with a normal seeming neighbor, I can only hope I haven't set myself up for disappointment. I really hope she likes beer and football. I really hope I didn't come off as a total loser.

Thing 2.

This evening after dinner Cory was sitting in the recliner and he said to Leila, "get your shoes on, I want to show you something!" From where he was sitting he could see out the deck door, so I figured he must have spied an interesting animal or piece of machinery that he wanted to let Leila check out, but I wasn't sure. Leila got her shoes on and they were out the door together. I had to know what was up so I picked up Thea and we walked out to the deck. I stood her up on the plastic patio chair so that she could just peak over the wood rail and we stood there as we watched Leila and Cory, walking hand in hand through the grass outside of our building. I gave Cory a look of confusion and he said, "We are going to see how tall the corn is."
Cory and Leila talk in the car quite often about the things that we see on our drives. Here in Iowa, corn is a frequent site. As we have watched the corn grow all spring and summer long we have discussed how tall it has gotten and today Leila got to see up close and personal that the corn is taller than DADDY! and that is tall.
Cory reminds me from time to time when he does something out of the ordinary with the girls that you never know what they might remember, so you should do your best to consider the memories you may not even know you are making. I wonder if they made a memory tonight? Who knows, but I will enjoy remembering the view with little Thea, chocolate-y slobber running down her chin after her chocolate chip cookie dessert. She was watching her daddy with big sister on his shoulders, walking in the grass below us. Leila waved at Thea, and Thea returned the wave, on tip toes to keep her sister in sight for as long as possible. The corn just keeps on growing around here, and so do these big girls!

A rose by any other name...

A family member recently said to me, "You guys sure come up with some interesting names!"

I responded with a smile. Though the word interesting could be taken as an insult, it didn't bother me. It's true, I guess. Naming children is a very hard job. Leila herself asks me from time to time why I named her Leila. The truth is that we found the name in a baby book, and we loved it immediately. I was very close to delivery when we happened across the name, and if we hadn't found it, Leila could very well be a Natalie.

The night that Leila was born we had a a nurse and my OB doctor in the room with us quite a bit. They had asked us what we were going to name our baby and we told them that if we had a boy, we really didn't know yet what his name would be, but if it was a girl, it would be Leila. When she made her grand entrance in the middle of the night the doctor and nurse announced her arrival with, "It's Leila!" instead of the traditional "It's a girl!" That is our Leila, her presence was strong from the moment she entered the world, and when I held her in my arms and looked down at her beautiful dark hair and brown eyes I knew that we were right, as Leila's name is an Arabic/Persian name that means two things. Dark haired beauty, and born at night. Both of which fit our new princess. We capped off our dark beauty with a middle name that means strength and nobility. I can't imagine anything more fitting!

Naming a second child is an even more challenging proposition. Leila's name was right the moment we found it, and it was validated to us the moment she was born. There was no doubt. When our little Thea was born we found ourselves in a familiar position. If it was a boy we had a name that we loved all picked out. If it was a girl...we were going to have some work ahead of us. Cory and I debated names for months. I searched the social security website for baby names that were popular in the late 1800, and ealy 1900's. I did not want something that was made up or new, but I also didn't want anything that was common or ordinary. One thing was for sure though, her middle name would be Dalene, for my grandma.
The truth is, if not for the fact that Cory watched me experience natural childbirth, and had to listen to me cry that I felt like I might die at any moment, Thea's name may have been Maya or Tessa. I wanted Thea. Thea is a Greek name, and it means "gift of God." I don't think a name meaning could be much nicer than that...and in combination with Dalene, I have always kind of thought of Thea as my gift from heaven...my baby that Grandma Dalene knew before I did.

So when I hear that I have interesting name choices, I happen to feel a sense of pride in our choices. Interesting is just what I was going for. Lots of thought went into the decisions to name or girls, and I am very satisfied. It is just too bad we never got to use our boy name.

Leila. Leila, Leila, Leila. The girl is seriously spooked about something, and I can't figure out where it came from. We are starting week 4 of serious crying and carrying on at bed time. She refuses to sleep in her own room. I have heard every excuse from; my bed isn't comfortable, my sheets aren't very pretty, I have bad dreams, I need a grown up to be able to sleep, your bed is more comfortable for me.
So after much crying, whining and carrying on, one of us will lay in bed with her until she falls asleep, only to find hours later that she has woke up and climbed into our bed. My first hint that she has arrived is usually an elbow or a foot to the face.
Thea is the only one getting any quality sleep around here. And I have to say, as much as I adore my big girl, it is getting very hard to be patient with her 24 hours a day with no break. Not even to sleep. Tonight I cuddled her in the chair and read her a book, and for awhile I was able to forget how crazy she is making me, because she is darn cute. But seriously, is this a phase that will pass (PLEASE GOD, TELL ME THIS WILL PASS) or should I be worried?

Bracing Myself

When I started working part time after Thea was born I knew it would be a temporary arrangement. This fall, on my own accord, I set the date. October 4th.
It would work out perfectly...Leila could have a year of full day pre-school before going off to kindergarten. Thea would be weaned in the spring of 2010 and I could have a summer to enjoy hanging out with my daughters without having to deal with nursing in public and the constant hormone high that makes me a crazy person. We would be moved into our new house, and I could slowly ramp up my work effort.

Thea still isn't weaned, because I can't bring myself to turn her down when she cries and whines "mama, mama." So I am still a crazy person on a hormone high from Hades. Our house is now delayed to the middle of October. So I will be working full time, and yet not have earned any vacation time yet to use to settle in. My work load is...well, lets just say that it won't be hard to fill my days come October.
The only thing that is going as planned is daycare, and we pay them a whole lot to go as planned.

I always knew this would come, and there are a lot of reasons why it is the right move, but I am bracing myself for the fall out. I don't know what I will do without my relaxing days at home with the girls watching PBS, reading books, catching up on laundry and housework. My opportunity to take the girls out and see friends and hang out at the library or the children's museum.

Dear Lord, how will I ever catch up on housework?

Work will get easier, in the sense that I will be able to meet expectations a bit easier, not that it will get easier for me to want to be there. Everything else. Everything is about to get a lot harder, and I brace myself, and try not to cry.

Summer time

Yesterday was the first day of school in Iowa City, and lots of other places where I have Facebook friends. I love seeing the first day of school pictures with tiny little kids, full of excitement and wearing their new clothes, standing on the front stoop wearing a backpack that would better fit a child twice their size. I remember my own first day of kindergarten picture. I am wearing a teal dress, standing on the front porch of our farm house in Tabor. It is hard to believe that this is the last year that the first day of school will be just another day for me. Next year, I will surely have Leila decked out in her favorite outfit...I am betting it will be a dress or skirt, and hopefully she will be grinning in excitement for her first day of Kindergarten. Time flies when you're having fun!

We have been making the most of our summer, and this week has been no different. We kicked off the weekend with a trip to the farmer's market and an afternoon at Kinnick Stadium for kids day.

It was very hot that day, but the girls were troopers for a long time...I am sure Grammy's diet coke helped...yeah, I know my baby is drinking is diet coke.





Can't get enough of this view...

Cowgirl!

Have you ever seen anything this cute? I doubt it.

Sisters

One of these days Thea is going to be a master of following directions, and I will have Leila to thank for ordering her around. So far, Thea doesn't resist too much, except for the fact that she is a baby and naturally isn't great at following directions, which really frustrates her big sister. Sometimes it works out, and it is pretty cute.

Changes

I have this habit. A couple of times a year I find myself feeling totally disgusted with myself. Then I decide to make some changes. The list usually consists of: regular exercise, eating more vegetables, getting up earlier in the morning, stop biting my nails, losing massive amounts of weight, watching less TV, spending less time on the internet, eating at home more, not drinking pop....you get the picture.

So that is how it starts. And it usually ends with me being overwhelmed, failing big time at at least one of the above and then saying to hell with it all and returning to the status quo. Which is why I currently don't exercise, weigh too much, eat too much junk, drink tons of pop, wake up at the last possible minute in the morning, watch too much TV and spend too much time on the internet. Oh, and I bite my nails, and yes I know that is gross and immature.

This time I decided to give myself a little break, and see if I could maybe do better just focusing on a couple of items. So far I am on day 5 of not biting my nails, and I though I am not counting every calorie, I am making a true effort to lose weight.

Yesterday, day four, as I drove home from work I was so hungry that I was sure that my stomach was eating itself. All I could think about was this one jagged fingernail that was taunting me to just put it out of its misery and bite it off! It was a torturous drive, running my finger over the top of that nail, thinking about pulling into every gas station in eye shot and buying a huge pop and a oatmeal creme pie. This is hard stuff.

I surprised my weak will power by making it all the way home and snacking on a banana while I walked the dog. That banana sucked. I still want an oatmeal creme pie. And a nail file.

Vacation

Last summer on our annual vacation to Warsaw, MO I spent the week lounging around the sweet cabin that we rented and taking care of my baby Thea. This year was lots of action. Aside from the day that we spent at the outlet mall in Osage Beach, every day was spent on the water. Uncle Randy brought his two Jetskis and we all spent out days floating, boating and jetskiing. It was a great time, but it was one that I am still recovering from!

The highlight of the trip for me was definitely just getting to spend time with my family. My sisters are all such wonderful women, and our families are awesome. I don't know how else to put it. My Morgan family that we rarely get to see, and my Howard family that we all miss from the days that we lived closer are just so much fun to be around. I spent way too many nights staying up later then I should and laughing with my family. I got up too early and was blinded by the bright morning sun coming in the giant picture windows, I got way too much sun but a great tan, I tried out the jetski for the first time, and the second, third, fourth...I kind of liked the jetski. I spent too much money but got some great new running shoes that I have yet to run in, I ate too much delicious food (gained 4 lbs :() and I had a blast.
I also got to mess around with Andrea's laptop and try some different effects with my pictures. This is one that Cory and I both really like of our baby Thea, who also had a great time.


The kids (And their parents) really loved having all of that time to spend with Grandma and Pop Pop. They definitely have a growing fan club. (Can you blame them?)



Thea discovered a love of watermelon.




Leila enjoyed lots of time in her favorite spot on the boat...right in the front!



I got to spend a week away from worries at work, with this guy. I like him.




And he got to play with the toy he wishes he owned.



And I got to take some pictures on our sunset cruise...but with all the beautiful sky, this was definitely my favorite shot.



Though these weren't so bad either...




All in all, a great trip, but totally exhausting, huh Sawyer?

House stuff

We rolled into town after a week in Warsaw to see tons of house progress! We were thrilled to be able to walk into the house and actually see the layout all framed up and to be able to show the girls their future bedrooms. It makes everything seem so much more real!
This is the view from the outside...part of the roof of the porch isn't on there yet in this picture, but you get the idea. The house will have a rail on the front stoop. I could say it is a porch, but it is really pretty small.



This is Leila in the bonus bedroom over the garage. It is bigger than either of the girls rooms, but we are going to use it as an office/craft room for our computer workstation and my sewing stuff...maybe a little table and chairs for the girls to color at. That bedroom also has a pretty huge walk in closet that we can use for storage, and opposite that closet is the laundry room.


This is a picture that I took from the front door. Our downstairs is all open. The small window is in the kitchen.


Our closing date has been moved back and so we are now looking at mid October because of the raining June/July we had. It is disappointing, but we want everything done right...we don't want to move again!

Beautiful

The other day I was driving home from Lowden by myself listening to a Taylor Swift CD that my little sister Dani had given to me. I heard a few songs all in a row that had a common theme...beauty. I thought of Dani, who is most definitely a beautiful girl. I thought about all of the many reasons that I love my baby sister. When Dani was born Andrea and I were old enough to offer a lot of help taking care of her, and I think we have always felt a little bit like Dani was our baby, not just our sister. Maybe that is why I am especially proud of what a wonderful woman she has grown in to. The thing about Dani is that she has such beautiful outsides, that sometimes I forget to compliment her insides, which are equally beautiful. From a painfully shy little girl, she has grown into the kind of woman that goes out of her way to make other people happy. She has a beautiful soul, and a will do just about anything for someone in need. I remember my mom telling me about Dani offering a ride to school to a kid that had a terribly long bike ride in the cold winter without her assistance. That is just Dani.
Now that I have my little Leila people tell me all the time that she looks just like her aunt Dani, and I can only hope that my daughter turns out to be as beautiful, thoughtful and funny on the inside as my beautiful baby sister.

I love you Dani!

House progress!

We are starting to get somewhere now!

The decking for the first floor went down at the end of last week


And today...







The first floor is basically done! There aren't many interior walls, there is a bathroom and a closet, otherwise it is completely open.

The garage floor hasn't been poured yet, so they have not framed the garage. I am not sure if we will see the second floor go up before we leave for a weeks vacation this weekend, but either way, we are so happy to see things moving along and really curious to see what it will look like when we get back into town!

A Success at Trying

Let me first preface this post by warning you that this is not a story of success. Not in the Hollywood sense of the word.

There are a several things that I won't do. They can pretty much be summed up to include:

1. Dancing, unless I am drunk
2. Singing in front of you if you aren't family
3. competing in any kind of competition that I don't think I have a chance of winning
4. Anything that might draw attention to myself and cause me to feel foolish
5. Anything that might result in me becoming the center of attention

Many of these things are really for the best. Particularly the singing and/or dancing. It isn't pretty.

Ever since I was a little kid, we have spent time on a boat during the summer. Sometimes it would just be a time or two out on a farm pond, but the last couple of years have resulted in lots of boat time, now that Dad has his own boat.

This past weekend I confronted what I had avoided for the last 29 summers. As much as I fear lake water, I try my best to put it aside for the sake of my family. I work very hard to give my girls every experience that they show interest in, and then some. They both love the lake, so I deal.

One of Leila's favorite things about the boat is watching Cory and Papa water ski. I love the look of amazement and admiration in her eyes when she watches them, but that is not enough to get me out of the boat.

Last weekend I watched my sister Cassie as she persistently attempted to water ski. I watched from the boat with the kids and I thought about a time, not too many summers ago when Cassie wouldn't wear shorts, let alone a swimming suit.

The Cassie is one special lady. I am amazed by her for a lot of reasons, but on this day, I was impressed with her ability to overcome her own mental road blocks to be able to really enjoy life, and try. Something that I am not good at.

I took a page out of Cassie's page, set my inhibitions and fears aside and sat back in the cool lake water, with my Dad behind me for support (Thanks again Dad:)). The skis felt more natural under my feet than I expected, and the pull of the boat was not as fast and intimidating as I had always perceived while watching this activity from the boat. I sat back in the water, arms straight, knees bent and I yelled to my mom, the boat drive, "Go!"

The force of the water was felt against my legs and arms as the boat took off. I put all of my concentration into trying not to do the splits. Unsuccessful. A nose full of water later I had done it! I had finally tried.

Yeah, that is the end. I didn't get up out of the water, and I may never, but I tried.

When I asked Leila what her favorite part of the boat trip was on the way home that night I would be lying if I didn't say that I had hoped she would bring up my failed attempted to impress her, but instead she belted out, "Watching Cassie Ski! She tried and tried and she almost got it!" I guess I wasn't the only one in the boat that Cassie impressed that day, Thanks Cassie, you rock!

House Update

Looks pretty familiar, huh? The lack of house updates is not due to lack of blogging time, but rather lack of progress. As disappointed as we are that things haven't been moving along, we are doing our best to not worry about it and to trust in our builder. The weather has not been favorable with the excessive amounts of rain that we have had during June and July, and it is making it impossible to backfill around the foundation. We are waiting and hoping that this won't hold us back from closing on time, and we have been assured that it isn't crisis time yet. The builder has built a house from nothing to complete in 70 days and we are currently 61 days from our proposed closing date. Rain Rain Go Away!

The good news is, once they get started, it should come together really quickly to stay on target, and we also built in a couple of extra weeks to the timeline so we won't be homeless if this continues for a bit longer.

There are lots of things going on in my life that are testing my ability to have patience in those things that I can not control, and this is no exception. Serenity now!

Jamboree!

Last week Andrea and I set out on a trip to Walcott to visit Papa Carey and take the kids to see the trucks at the Jamboree. Here are a few pictures from our fun day with Papa. Leila was so excited to go she started asking me as soon as she woke up, "when do we get to go to Papa's work?!"

Now Andrea and Sawyer can both say that they have sat in a racecar!





We all had a good time checking out the trucks...and ourselves!




And of course enjoyed a cool treat on a hot day!



Thanks Dad for slipping away to spend time with us last week!!!

America's Birthday

We had a great weekend, and I hope you all did too! Now that Leila is getting a little older, we are working at helping her understand things, like what it means to be an American. When we were at the Ski show last week the moment came when they played the national anthem and everyone stood quietly, except for Leila. We decided then that we needed to take the opportunity to teach our little lady a lesson.

On the way home we talked about what it means to be an American. I want Leila to feel pride in her country and appreciation for the sacrifices that others have made, and continue to make for our freedom. The problem is, I am generally not a patriotic person. That is not to say that I am not grateful to live in a free country where I have had many privileges, but I do my best to think of myself, and everyone else as equals. There is a fine line between pride and arrogance, and I want to be sure that my daughter appreciates the privileged life that she leads, without believing that she is better than anyone else, or more deserving.

As I tried to explain to her what makes America a special place to live, I was torn. I wanted to point out the nice houses we have lived in, the wide open spaces we have to play in, the abundance of food and the comforts of the western world that we experience every day. But I can't help but think of all of the Americans who don't have those luxuries that we have come to expect.

I spent a lot of time pondering this, and my own feelings about America in the days leading up to the 4th of July, and on that day I was reminded of my patriotism as I watched the 4th of July parade and later as I sat at home with Leila, playing patriotic songs on youtube. Lee Greenwood singing God Bless the USA brings tears to my eyes every time.

The National Anthem now nearly always reminds me of the first football game I attended at Kinnick Stadium after the September 11th attacks. I had stood in that stadium for the anthem countless times before, without giving it much thought. That day I know I had tears in eyes as the 70,000 fans in Kinnick stood in stoic silence during the singing of the national anthem, all of our hearts and minds were in the same place. Independence day takes me back to that place, that feeling of pride. I am so thankful for the privilege to call myself an American. Having lived in a time when our country was attacked has changed the way that I feel about a lot of things, but most notably: I am so proud of the American's who put their country first, and grateful for their sacrifices. 2. I hope that as I age I continue to see American moving towards respect and understanding of those that are different than us.

God Bless America!

America's Birthday, Take 2

On to the fun stuff!

We had a great time at the parade. Leila picked up more candy then she could ever eat on her own. (I personally am very happy that tootsie rolls are such a popular parade treat...my favorite!)
We made a birthday cake for America, and we shared it with our dear friends the Weber's.
I have a couple of pictures from the parade that I stole from Cory's Facebook page...I have been so exhausted I haven't uploaded any pictures myself...not to mention that it is very difficult to take pictures with my new fancy camera while also keeping at least 1 child under control. I have much higher hopes for my photography ability than I probably should. I think I am going to see about signing up for a class somewhere...I could use the help.




After the birthday cake we were able to check out Coralville's fireworks show. I had been looking forward to taking some fireworks pictures but with the view of the fireworks slightly obstructed by hyvee's parking lot lights, I decided to just sit and enjoy the show with our kids. Thea slept through the whole thing, and Leila, Bryce and Eli went back and forth between enjoying the show, and terrorizing each other. I think there were some tired kids out that night!

Sisters

The older they get, the better the playing gets.  Even though Leila is so often guilty of making her sister cry, that this evening when Thea fell and hit her face on the floor, a whole room away from Leila, Leila yelled out, "I didn't mean for her to fall!"  Thea loves her big sister, and is always quick to follow her lead, and Leila is happy to oblige!

And totally unrelated but so cute, and so Leila...She was dancing along to the music at the ski show, loving her new dress from Aunt Cassie! :)