Decorating with Toddlers, A How To

First of all, I want to dedicate this post to the innocence lost in this country last Friday morning.  Such a painful loss reminds those of us that are lucky enough today to hold the warm little hands and kiss the soft sweet skin of our most precious gifts that we need to do it more often.  

In honor of the innocence and joy our children bring, I'm going to move on to the point of my post today, which is decorating with several toddlers scurrying about your home.  It's a tough yet creative job, which they truly love to help out with most of the time.

This is our hearth room.  We purchased two very inexpensive leather chairs for the sole purpose of having enough seats for all of us to watch tv.  The leather was intentional as it is fairly easy to clean, and obviously, the inexpensive part speaks for itself.  This is how we choose to arrange our chairs these days because we feel they function so much better this way.  When they face the television, no one even sits in them anyway.  They are only used as a jungle gym and an apparatus to propel oneself to the brick hearth without touching the floor.

Because it is Christmas time, I will also provide a few shots on how to decorate your house appropriately for the season.  This is our tree.  First of all, don't even bother to decorate the lower 4 feet of your tree.  It looks SO much better with about 3 or 4 ornaments on the top half, and maybe a tree topper.  As long as the topper is crystal, like ours, and has about an 85% chance of falling off the tree and poking someone's eye out as they slither under the tree to hide and tear pages out of books.

This photo is a must do.  This is how you must display the ornaments that you did not hang on the bottom half of the tree.  Though, we also had a few displayed at the bottom of the stairs, between the baby gate and the first stair and this is also a fun option.  As long as no one is trying to walk up and down the stairs, because those ornaments could become a safety hazard.

This is our lovely fireplace this time of year.  The fireplace does not function due to some chimney damage, so the previous owner painted it.  We followed suit.  So thankfully, in a way, we cannot have live fires in the hearth, and this cuts down on at least one safety issue.  Though, I think even if you don't have toddlers that climb into the fireplace and play tug of war on the gas pipe that you should always put up a giant plastic baby gate into the space to add some dimension and interest.  Then you should pile as many mismatched pillows as possible along the edge of the hearth to protect the paint job.  Because that is after all what I am trying to protect here (any logical person might buy one of those foamy hearth covers that sticks on, but not this lady - I don't want to jack up my paint job that took many a nap hour to complete).

Now we will move on to the kitchen and dining space and talk seating.  This is how we've decided to use my daughter's ladder, I mean chair, during particularly feisty days.  Its one thing to turn around from doing the dishes and see a 19 month old standing on the table, and its completely another to turn around and see this lovely chair displayed like a work of art.

This one should completely speak for itself.  Dining chairs are so much prettier when blocking a closet and bedroom door.  And the function?  Well who cares when it looks this good!

I am sad to say this is my last photo in the series.  I know what you're thinking: "Do these people really live like this...?  Because its absolutely WONDERFUL?!!"  Right??!  While, I do love having trash spilled all over the floor, (especially when containing my husband's Dr. Shasta can which clearly should be dripping all over the recycling bin instead of my hallway floor), I actually love more what they've done with the highchairs. They moved them around for quite a while finally deciding to place them directly in front of the stove and the sink.  Now all they need to do is learn how to climb the chairs and turn on the burners and the hot water!  Genius!

Now, I hope I'm not flattering myself too much here, but I think this post could be very helpful to a lot of people looking to redecorate, and I will try to have some follow up posts on decorating with toddlers.  Maybe I will concentrate on bedrooms, bathrooms and basements, as ours becomes more complete.  In the meantime, please take my advice for what it's worth and enjoy!

Deconstruction

Our house plans for the winter are to remodel the finished basement.  Winter probably isn't the best time to tear up a completely useful part of your house where kids can play and blow off steam, but the timing was good in many other ways, so we're giving it a go.  Hopefully it will only take a couple of months... 

Before the sad funeral of 1000 cedar trees.  You can't even see them all in this photo, it was BAD.

Basically all I have at this time are "before" pictures and "after the walls came down pictures".  Many people would consider what we had as a very "serviceable" space (to use one of my architect brother's terms).  That's all fine and good, but there is a reason I like hardwood, or hard surface, floors in a house (can you say cat pee?) and the old carpet is going.  I also don't want people to think we are responsible for the massacre of a bunch of cedar trees purely for decorative purposes.  So we decided to strip it down to the studs, have the walls and floors checked out, make some foundation repairs while we can (nothing big thankfully!) and build it all back up just as simply as we possibly can.  We'll see in the coming months how really "simple" its going to be...

One of several built-ins.  Built-ins are great to most people.  I find them annoying most of the time.  In particular, a corner cabinet, made of rough cedar no less.  Can you say WASTEFUL?  With the exception of that beautifully clever girl that has found herself a place to snuggle up.  I love her.

The kitchen/bar area with bath/laundry behind.  All I see is a lot of construction materials used without a lot of thought.  And some very interesting 90's era paint choices.

 

 Bath, with my boy and his purple flower.  The purple goes so well with the pink tile that someone clearly purchased at bargain basement prices because it is found in more than one place in the house.

 

Laundry, just opposite the toilet and sink.  I don't mind having laundry in the lower level (stairs are good for you!), but when the kids occupy the upper level, the laundry chute on the left will be nice to have.  

The fireplace and walk-out.  I cannot wait for next summer when this door will be the most used door in the house.  Look at that tricked-out fireplace with another incredibly useless cabinet next to it.  This is why built-ins bug me...that is the best corner for a tv, but you put a tv there and you can't get to the cabinet.  I know this was finished in a different era, but wouldn't you rather just have a piece of your own furniture to store stuff in and move around wherever you see fit?

Here we are minus paneled walls, carpet, 2 layers of vinyl floor tile, brick around the support beam, a layer of ceiling tile, and a layer of gypsum board from the ceiling.  Yes, when the basement was finished they hung gypsum board on the ceiling, finished it, and then added ceiling tiles glued to the top of it.  BUT, the walls were wood paneling. And the floor tiles were laid in a pattern.  It is clear the people had some money, but their sense is now up for debate.

How amazing will this simple hearth be when not surrounded by needless pieces of wood and cabinetry?

 What used to be the kitchen/bar.  The wall between will go back up with door in the same place as before.  The fridge will move to this position under the stairs with a sink to the left of it.  The wall on the left we hope will house upper and lower cabinets and possibly an oven.  The bath will get all new fixtures.  The door frame seen is a shower that I personally would like to turn into a pantry but I have much opposition telling me its not good to turn a full bath into a half bath (even if its weird).

The view back up the stairs - which are clearly a child safety hazard.  The exposed ceiling and duct work looks so clean that we are likely going to leave it open and possibly just paint it.  The floor also looks good with only 2 minor cracks.  We considered buffing and sealing the concrete, but with 3 small kids and this a future play room/living room we are leaning towards carpet with tile (not pink) in the kitchen and bath.

Overall, the demo went cleanly and once the foundation work is done we can get the electrician in to rough in the lighting and we can start painting the ceiling and hanging walls.  I have anticipated this project since about the day we moved in.  The space is really, really great, especially in the mornings when the sun bursts through the sliding door.  I can't wait for my kids to have a clean, cat pee-less environment with immediate access to a kitchen, bath, and the backyard.  I hope this is where a lot of family memories are yet to be made.

Where did I leave off...

Well, clearly, it's been a while.  We have so much going on, and I have some other creative outlets lately, I haven't found the need or frankly the inspiration to write.  But since we've started getting excited for Christmas, and the boys recently turned 18 months (What the what??!! I know!!) I have to get an update going.

I think I will concentrate on one thing at a time, meaning there will be other posts after this one.  First on the list of updates is Halloween.  Lilli is to the age where she wants to pick her costume. And the princess obsession has begun (I personally can't relate because I was never into it as a kid), so she wanted to be Belle from Beauty and the Beast.

 I found the need to make her costume, as well as the boys.  Will and Sam wanted to be the Yip Yips, from Sesame Street days of old (note mommy and daddy both agreed that this is what they "wanted" to be).  I think the costumes came out ok, however, only one child would wear theirs - this I should have guessed in advance.

Will kept his on at a party for about a minute and a half, until he tried to wander up the stairs in it.  And Sam didn't even really get his on.  This photo is mid attempt at dressing him. At which point he started to get mad and we said 'maybe next year'.  For trick or treating they ended up huddled up in the wagon as 'a house divided' - one wearing a KU sweatshirt and the other a K-State sweatshirt.  People actually guessed this costume quicker than the Yip Yips.  Seriously, did no one watch Sesame Street in the late 70's, early 80's??

So this brings me to an update on the little guys.  The really are not so little anymore.  I LOVE 18 months.  It is the BEST age.  They are little budding personalities full of giggles, spit, and orneriness.  Granted, it is hard still because they don't talk much, they are a little behind (not enough for me to worry too much just yet), so it's not always easy to figure out what they need.  They grunt a lot and cry a lot, but the rest of it totally makes up for this.

Their tiny little bodies walking around just crack me up.  They try to dance and run and do anything their sister does.  And then they try to climb the furniture and pull food off the counter tops and I start to sweat.  But you have to take the bad with the good right?  And there is soooo much good!

Then there is the little girl...She is so sweet.  At almost 3 1/2, I feel most days she is going on 16.  The things she says and does are very mature, maybe that's the nature of the oldest child.  She dresses herself, insisting on picking out her own outfits.  The potty training situation is resolved (other than she still won't go at school all day).  And everyday she seems to grow just a little bit more into a young lady.  I can't even believe she was my baby just three short years ago. 

Next on the agenda: the basement demolition and Christmas excitement.

Little Guy Chairs

So last time I mentioned that I was working on another painting project.  This one was kind of small, in more ways than one.  However, it took me a while to get it done... there is just always so much to get done at nap time, and this took about a month of naps to complete.

Easily one of the greatest pictures we have on file.  Are these not two of the cutest babies you've ever seen?

My neighbor gave us these little Adirondack rockers because her kids had outgrown them.  As you can see they were not in the best of shape.  The red one especially, with peeling paint and loose screws.  I didn't know if it was even going to be saved.  But with a little sanding, priming, and a trip to the local Ace hardware store for a can of $5 "mess up" paint, both chairs look almost brand new.

Not bad, huh?!

I wanted to make the chairs a little more interesting than simply painting them the "Pinstripe Grey" color I found in the mess up bin at the store.  (I used outdoor paint because these chairs will be outdoors most of the year.)  The chevron trend is so prominent in home decor right now that I almost feel it is overused.  However, it makes such a graphic impact for such a very simple application.  I printed off a template on the computer, measured off where I wanted to place them, traced in pencil, and then hand painted.  The blue color is just a mixture of a couple of indoor paint colors we have sitting around.  And there you go, new perfect little seats for my perfect little boys.

Yes, they are always this adorable.  And yes, Will's hair is always this awesome.

Fashion Week

Wow, so I had not noticed that I haven't made a post in over a month.  I know its been a while... I think about the blog all the time, I've just been very uninspired lately.  The kids are slowing down developmentally.  That sounds bad.  I'm not saying my kids are slow, they just get to an age when the new stuff starts to be few and far between.

And we've been doing some projects around the house that aren't that exciting...finishing up some hallway painting, trying to get the main bath a little more our speed (wall sconces with lamp shades are not really our thing), and trying to clean out the basement for a full demo job in the coming months.  I have one furniture paint project I am almost finished with and will post that soon.

So in the meantime, I've just been flat out lazy.  I've been promising an update on the potty training with Lillian.  I don't think I posted about it since she's started wearing pants.  Yes, after a full month of completely commando, we kind of forced the issue a little - but pretty much on her terms.  We did something we really didn't want to do, but it was the only way to get her to cover herself so we were not on house arrest anymore.

Oh, the dreaded pull-up.  I still believe they are glorified diapers.  And a lot of kids treat them as such.  However, I started to get the feeling that my little girl is filled to the brim with integrity and is very intent on not making a mistake.  She resisted even the pull-ups at first, so we had to hold her on our laps in order to get her to wear one for half an hour.  After about 2 days of this, she finally trusted herself and how the process works.  Since then she's been in them with only 2 accidents, one in which she stopped herself, told me about it, and ran to the potty to finish.  The other was today, and a full blown accident as we were playing in the basement.  But three months of training and two accidents??  I'll take it.

But like with every process, it is just that - a process.  One we have not neared the end of yet.  She displays a fear of the regular toilet, and she does not go all day at school.  I kind of have myself to blame here.  When I think back on my early school memories, I am pretty sure I held it all day and was scared of the big toilets.  And about two months ago, in the midst of the early situation and Lilli's fear of messing up in her pretty new Dora panties, I was venting to my high school friends.  They all know me all too well and one said "I have to say, I see a little bit of you in this."  I never wore Dora panties and was potty trained when she met me, so I'm pretty sure what she was telling me was that I am a crazy perfectionist and my own very, very worst critic.  And like a lot of us, I don't want to fail at anything.  The sad thing for me is, my three year old daughter has clearly inherited this from me and learned even more by example.  I don't want my kids to ever be afraid to try anything, muchless be scared of it from the get go for fear of failure.  I can only hope I also pass along a good trait, such as my dry, biting humor.

So to pay homage to my daughter, her perfect little self, and her emerging fashion sense since the onset of the pull-up wearing, I have 6 wonderful photos of the outfits she puts together all on her own.  Enjoy!

Jeggings, favorite T, comfy shoes and just a touch of "pop" color under the animal print shoe.

Quite a well pulled together look.  Getting the hang of matching colors.

Or maybe not...Can't blame a girl for trying something risky and having it not quite work.

Risking two patterns here, but I think it kind of works, especially with the purple striped socks and purple sandals.

A girl after my own heart, putting two things together that were not actually purchased together. And the glasses are genius. As is the favorite accessory.  If only we could all have a Ducky to carry with us.

First day of school and spot on.  My only fear: Are all my school pictures of her going to have the Chandler Bing smile??!

A lot of people might think I am harsh for making an example of my little one here.  But I love her dearly and this is all purely out of my absolute amazement regarding who she is and who she is becoming.  I am enthralled, tickled, and infuriated by her every single day.  I love you Little Girl!

Wake up Duck!!

I doubt this post will be as successful as my first on the same subject, but I think it is time for a Duck update.  If you missed the first post, read it here.  Duck is Lillian's best friend.  He is the sixth member of this family and is involved in almost everything we do.

You will see from the following photos that Duck feels about the same way I do every day.  We'll start with my aspiring photographer taking a picture of Duck as she has made his bed and put him down for a nap.

Now Duck cannot walk yet you see, so the best way for him to get around the house, other than in Sissy's arms, is the twins plastic fire truck seat.  Along with a smattering of blocks, which I think were his snack (if only we all could have snacks as big as our heads!) he is snug as a bug and ready for a ride.

Like I said, Duck must feel like I do most of the time.  This is a perfect example from the twins birthday party.  I looked like this by the end of the night as well, however, my lazy flop may have been due to one too many margaritas.

We purchased a playset for all the kiddos for their birthdays, however, this means the most to Lilli.  On one of our morning swing outings (before she decided to stop wearing pants - update on that later) she tugged Duck along through the yard, but this time he wanted to sit on the ladder and read Curious George books instead of sitting in his normal position at the end of the slide.

So again, after all of this activity, Duck needed a nap.  This time using a couple of mommy's clean dish towels which were strewn about the house by baby brothers.  Oh and a little teeny tiny pillow for his plush little already pillowed head.

So after nap, its definitely time for a snack.  Duck can't get into the chair himself, of course, but Lillian can!

You might think that Duck has had enough sleep, but really I think he might be getting TOO much sleep and therefor all he wants to do is sleep more.  Or maybe its the fact that his bed changes every 5 minutes so he never really gets in good sleep...that's it I bet!  So here he is all tucked in, toes to chin, in Lillian's own bed.  I hope he's warm enough!

And lastly a pic of Duck in his most favorite spot (he has told me himself).  I can see why.  She is such a warm and loving girl, I don't know what he would do without her.  He would certainly lose a lot of sleep.

Grand Island Senior High Class of 1992

How I will break them of this I don't know, but its so cute, I don't really care.

We left last Thursday to drive back to John's hometown for his 20 year high school reunion.  I didn't really know what to expect, I figured I'd have fun, but was really just looking forward to seeing family that I hadn't seen for 6 months.

Other than short naps and a 3 year old still refusing to wear anything on her private parts, the drive up was fairly uneventful.  We got there in good time, about 6 hours for a drive that used to take 4 1/2 for just John and I.  Now we have to stop and get the kids out and eat a meal, which isn't a terrible deal when you haven't eaten out in a restaurant for a month!

The kids having a ball on the trampoline at Uncle Kurt & Aunt Robyn's.

The first and last nights were spent with Grandpa and were great.  The next two nights were event nights so John's brother and wife took all 3 kids overnight.  It was super, but we still woke up at 7am and got going as soon as we could to get back to the kids.  With the help of a Starbucks these mornings were bearable and any excess alcohol was negated with a mocha and breakfast sandwich (did I really used to do that EVERY weekend??!).  Saturday morning with John's brother and wife was particularly great because the weather was nice, and we spent all morning outside with the kids and visiting with each other.

Grandpa and Will, bonding at bedtime.

Friday night the Grand Island Senior High Class of 1992 met at a bar the size of my living room.  We were apprehensive.  However, having been to this bar before, it's one of those places you know is going to entice a good time (like Charlie Hooper's).  It was wall to wall people, which was good because you basically had to talk to anyone who moved passed you.  Saturday night was the formal thing.  It was okay.  The people were fun and we did our fair share of participating, but they had a really loud DJ and it was just too formal.  I sound terribly old right?  But it was like a bad wedding.  I know at my reunion, I'm going to want to talk to people, not scream at them over some crap ass techno shit that wasn't even popular in the 90's, nor should it be now (because it really is total crap).  This was my least favorite part of the weekend.  More positively, my favorite part was Friday night into Saturday morning.  I'd like to relive that again soon.

Note - this is close to the end of the evening.

Like I said, I didn't know what to expect, but I had a really good time.  I know my husband comes from good stock and was raised in a very stable community full of salt of the earth people.  The whole of the people I met were very well put-together and the lot of them looked excellent for being almost 40.  Not that 40 is old, now that I'm only 4 years away, but these people don't look like what I expect 40 to look like.  They looked great.  They came from all over the country - world even - one guy lives in Japan, one London, and one Playa del Carmen.  All seemingly down to earth, good people.

What I learned about my husband through this was more interesting, however less unexpected.  I know John's personality and I always imagined he was the kind of good guy that knew everyone to some extent.  This proved to be true.  Of course his two closest friends were there, but it seemed he was friends with a good portion of the others as well. Not at all surprised that my good guy knows a lot of good people.  All in all it reminded me a lot of my own high school class.  A bunch of great people, living their lives as best they can, still keeping in touch with their roots, but living adventurously in whatever way they deem appropriate for themselves.  It was nice meeting you all GISH 1992.  We look forward to 2022.

Toilet Training part II

Word to the wise - don't dilly dally with potty training.  Either do it or don't.  Don't send your child mixed messages.  Think hard and have a plan before you start.  We learned this the hard way.

So this time when we started the toilet training, we decided there is no going back.  We set a day to start on a weekend day so I had some help.  We told the little one in the morning when taking off her diaper that she was not getting any more diapers.  And other than night time, we've stuck to that promise.  Oh and no pull ups because pull ups ARE diapers, in our opinion.

That was sixteen days ago.  Its hard to remember how that day actually went, but I think it was rough but pretty successful at the same time.  She had a few accidents in the first four days, but hasn't had any since.  She goes poop and potty in her chair really well now.  Some days are harder than others, and we still have to tackle the big potty and potty's outside the house.  She's gone at swim lessons and she's gone at her Uncle's house.  Great right?!  We think so, however, we have a few glitches that make this successful process a little short of normal.

First of all, the child held herself down there until about five or six days ago.  And I mean constantly.  I think she became so used to having a bulky diaper between her legs that having her hand there felt comfortable.  I also think she believes that the diaper, or her hand, was keeping the pee and poop inside.  She would not let go for anything.  Three year olds are notorious for coming up with strange creative things to cling to until one day they just give up on these ideas and move on as if nothing were stopping them.  And this so far is the least of the strangely creative.

Second of all, she has not napped in her bed, sat in her chair at the table, sat on the couch, or sat on my lap in sixteen days.  She sits on her knees in her Daddy's chair to eat, she sits on her knees on the carpet, when she lays to nap on her "floor bed" she holds herself again until she falls asleep.  All of this is due to the third reason we're falling short of fully "potty trained".

And third, the little one WILL NOT put on pants, panties, shorts or anything of the sort.  Sixteen days of bare private parts.  She's cute as hell, but enough is enough.  I've seen enough girly parts to last a lifetime.  Most little girls are so excited to wear panties.  They can't wait to go in the potty so they can wear their Dora pants or Princess pants or Hello Kitty pants.  Not this girl.  She is so terrified of having an accident in them that she chooses to stay inside, naked, when given the option to DO ANYTHING outside of the house because it requires putting on something to cover herself.

We've let her run around in dresses with nothing underneath, and this is fine for a while.  And we've had so many people tell us, just let her go like that, its summer, who cares?!  Well sure, but you don't have to deal with it, nor did you probably have a child that did this exact sort of thing.  As we all know, 3 year old little girls don't keep their dresses pulled down over themselves all that much.  And when it comes down to it, as a society, we kind of require bottoms.  She has to learn how it feels, she has to learn not to have accidents in them, she has to learn how to pull something down when she really has to go.  Naked potty trained is not potty trained.

I realize sixteen days in is really not that long.  This process takes some people a year.  And I feel we might be joining that group.  All I can hope is these little glitches she has will just disappear.  The holding has gone away for the most part.  And I can only hope this fear of underthings will also simply go away.  We attempted to get them on her last night for a trip to her Uncle's house for dinner.  After a 10 minute car ride with Lucifer, thrashing in her car seat, we decided we couldn't do much when she took the underpants off when we got there.  She is 3, and we can't tape them to her.

There are several things I've learned about my sweet Lillian in this process.  One, she has more integrity than any child I've seen.  Not that I've been around that many really, but many other people tell us they've never seen someone care so much about not soiling their pretty under-things.  Second, she has no modesty.  We went to the grocery store naked yesterday, and when starting our walk across the parking lot in nothing but flip flops (her, not me) she wasn't phased.  Finally, after a few strange looks from other shoppers, I picked her up and told her the sign on the door says we have to wear a shirt, bottoms and shoes.  She whined a little, but went back home agreeably to hang out naked while I took a baby back to the store with me.  And lastly, she has a stubborn streak that is bound to break both of her parents.  This does not bode well for us as parents of a beautiful, willfull girl.

She is supposed to start back to summer mother's day out on Wednesday, but since they won't take them naked, I have a feeling we aren't going.  My plan is to load her up and see how she takes it when we get there. (Do I sound like a terrible mother for taking her places naked?  Do I have a choice?)  Maybe I should be more positive, but I think I'm too close to it right now.  I am however starting to find the humor in it, so maybe that's all it will take.  Obviously when I don't care anymore is when she will decide to let this little idiosyncrasy pass.

Two major things I've learned:
One - Three years old is TOO OLD to potty train.  Kids do this much younger with much less resistance, YOU just have to be on top of it.  The whole idea that you should wait until your kid potty trains themselves is total BS.  Sure I know of kids that have done it, but they are exceptional.  Kids are quirky and if you get one that doesn't have any quirks, great (you suck, but great).  But this particular 3 year old was ready a long time ago when we didn't have much time to give her, and it is our fault.  I think our generation is way too into the "let your kid decide" philosophy.  And while I think this is valid for certain things, especially older kids, this is not one of those things. 

Second - People, much like myself, try to give you advice.  Especially when you ask for it.  Take it for what it's worth - someone else trying to help you.  It is likely not going to work, because no two situations are the same, but say 'Thank you.'  I'm not sure I've been great with the 'Thank You's'.  In fact, if one more person suggested to me to offer to take her for ice cream to get her to put pants on (Really? We hadn't thought of that one.) I thought I was going to scream.  So if you've taken time out of your day to respond to me, or help me, or bring me liquor, Thank You.

Lillian turns 3

I've been delaying this post.  I was thinking it was lack of motivation.  But in choosing the photos for the post, I became a little sad.  I now think I might be in denial.  Denial about my sweetest little girl turning 3 years old already. 

Lillian's birthday bunting.

A lot of people told me 3 is more difficult than 2, and in some ways I agree.  But in most ways, this age is awesome.  She talks so much, at least to her parents, grandparents and aunt and uncle, people she is comfortable with.  And the stuff she says is either incredibly enlightening or flat out hilarious and sometimes both.  She is also learning to do and enjoy so many things that you remember enjoying as a kid - riding a bike, swimming, playing ball, playing games, swinging, etc.

The BIG gift.  Don't mind the "landscaping" or the fact that I am "hiding" behind a small child.

All dressed up - and eating.

THE gift from grandma.

Her behaviour is not terrible, like most people have told me it could be.  She is obstinate sometimes, but if I am kind to her and respect her, she does the same for me.  A tricky balance when as a parent you want to remain in charge when the only thing that makes your 3 year old happy is to feel as if they are in charge.  I seem to be able to maintain this balance a majority of the time.  Sometimes I lose it, and we have a little tantrum, and I obviously have over-thought the process when it comes to potty training (we haven't gone back to trying yet - but will be very soon).  But right now things with the little girl are going quite well. 

Which was immediately put on.

And set with wings, ready to play ball.

She is becoming such a little girl too.  I was looking at her sleeping one night and realized she is almost too big to hold.  That is a sad realization.  That your first born, at what feels like the shortest 3 years of your life, is too darn heavy and lanky to pick up on a normal basis.  While parts of me look forward to the days when my boys will walk and no longer need me to carry them quickly from one place to another (because it's really hard with two 19 pounders), the "I want babies forever" part of me tries to quickly bring me back to the present.  These babies get big - fast.  And before you know it you are the mom in that heart wrenching, yet incredibly weird, book "Love You Forever", wanting to rock your 16 year old baby to sleep.  I've got 13 years to go, but I can certainly already understand the book's sentiment.

Sam fielding balls for Sissy.

June 24th three years ago was hot, just like this year.  I didn't realize I was contracting.  I went to a friend's house for dinner, at which point they were 20 minutes apart and I thought, "Um yeah, this is it".  Then the thunderstorm rolled in.  And after dinner, my water broke.  John packed my bag at home in a pitch black house with no power, picked me up, and off we went to the hospital to start our experience with the sweetest, kindest, most amazing little girl I am so proud to call my own.  She arrived at 2:40am on the 25th and surprised us first by being a girl (we did not find out), and second by looking exactly like her 110 year old paternal great grandmother.  She was beautiful.

And Will making sure the new picnic table won't collapse for tea parties.

Since that life changing day, time has flown.  Lilli's been through a lot in a year.  Not only has she had to deal with two more demanding little people sharing her space with mom and dad, but she's gone from full time daycare with kids she grew to love, to part time daycare, to a completely new school only one day a week, and then lastly to a new classroom within that school with all new kids that are all a bit older than she, since she is a summer birthday.  Needless to say, she's not had a lot of consistent friendships over the last year.  That being said, we had another family party.  Next year, after a year of preschool with the same kids, I am sure we will have a big reason to throw the expensive, uncalled for, ridiculous, children's birthday party that she so deserves.

Can you guess her favorite color?

This time we made it a little easier on ourselves and ordered pizza.  But I still made the cupcakes.  And although they were not my best effort, it really doesn't matter when the birthday girl only eats the icing.  She loved everything about the day, as well as the day before and the day after.  And she did as most 3 year olds do and requested more and more presents even after they had long since been opened.  She received phone calls from out of town family and is recently able to hold conversations over the phone, which is so fun for all of us.  Overall, a good time was had by all (including a stressed out mommy with the help of about 3 glasses of raspberry summer beer - highly recommended).

Happy #3 sweet, beautiful girl.

In looking through photos over the last 3 years, it is apparent how much Lillian has physically changed.  But that's not even the fun, or maybe bittersweet, part.  It is the personality, and the talking, and the smarts (we think she is so, so, so bright - of course) and little things she does that actually confirm we are doing something right!

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet, sweet Lillian.  You are as beautiful inside as you are outside.  I look forward to watching you grow each year into the amazing person you are so sure to become.  You are my pride, my joy, my inspiration, and sometimes my reason for an evening cocktail.  There is something so special about your first born.  Little girl, you are my special gift from above, and I intend on being thankful for that every day of my life.  Mommy and Daddy love you.