Reminder of what's important

It's definitely been a rough couple of weeks for our little family. The combination of incredibly bad timing and incredibly bad luck have combined to create the perfect storm of stress. The fact that this is happening during the holiday season seems to make it all the harder. No need for specifics, but I will say that it is taking LOADS of will to keep my holiday spirit in full force. Thankfully, I was blessed with copious amounts of stubbornness, and I absolutely refuse for this holiday to be anything but magical for my two little angels.

The thing about any kind of crisis, though, is that it provides one with an opportunity to focus on the good. Now, I come from a looooong line of pessimists, but even I have been focusing more and more on all of the blessings in my life. Instead of wallowing in all of the shitty things that have happened as of late, I choose to remind myself (daily, hourly, every damn second if I have to) of all the ways I am the luckiest gal in all the world. A short TOP FIVE (certainly not comprehensive) list:

1. The past few weeks my marriage has felt stronger than ever. I have the greatest husband on the planet...everything he does is for our family. He is my hero.

2. My kiddos. Not sure I can say more than that. They are, without a doubt, the single most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I love them more than I ever thought possible. They give me thousands of reasons thank my lucky stars every day.

3. I am blessed to be able to stay home with said kiddos. My days are filled with laughter, hugs, hilarious comments, songs..etc. Yesterday Lila played for several hours wearing nothing but a pair of binoculars around her neck. Classic.

4. My house/neighborhood. I love my house and I love where we live. Every time we hit the community center my kids are greeted by name by lots of the staff. It really is this amazing home-away-from-home where I can get an hour to myself and my kids can get showered with attention by the amazing people in the babysitting room. Win-win.

5. I have the best family. Ever. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am SO THANKFUL we moved back home to be closer to family. Because of my amazing and tireless mom-in-law, I was recently able to go to a sewing class and keep an eye appointment...neither of these things would have been possible without her help. Last week when our car trouble began, my brother lent us the use of his car without blinking. Didn't give it one thought. I am surrounded by the best of the best and remind myself of that every day.

Writing this post reminds me that I am so blessed and lucky. No more wallowing for this girl.

Back in the Saddle Again

For over a month I've been walking past my dark and lonely sewing machine. I think the business of preparing for the holidays coupled with an unexpected lack of inspiration made for a sad little sewing hiatus. But no more! The temps today are supposed to start out in the 20's, so I knew I had to get crackin' on the satin-lined hat I'd always wanted to make for Lila. Not even naps ruin her curls more than a short bout in an unlined hat. Last winter I even had mini-debates in my head as to whether it was really cold enough to warrent a hat...perhaps Lila could just go without and thus save the hairstyle I spent hours creating??? I'm not proud of having had those thoughts, but there it is. I spent a significant amount of time on Lila's hair and it's soul-crushing to see all of my efforts thwarted by a tiny fleece hat.

My first attempt turned out lovely, but too small for my girl. Thankfully, Elijah volunteered to model for me! Isn't he such an agreeable boy?

Tear your eyes away from that gorgeous face to notice the lovely satin lining!

Of course, nobody deserves dino spikes more than my girl.

I did make another, larger version for Lila last night. I hope to get some pics after she wakes up this morning...stay tuned!

Thanksgiving was busy but family-filled, which is just how I like it. Auntie Steph & Uncle John braved the crappy weather to come and run the Flying Feather Four Miler with me on Thanksgiving morning. The most exciting part, though, was Lila running her very first race ever! I ran with her and coached her through her mid-race wall as she exclaimed, "Mommy, I'm exhausted!"

My cousin was in town meeting his new in-laws and we were thrilled that he, his wife and son were able to come over on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Lila followed the two older boys around all evening, thankfully not really understanding that they were desperately trying to avoid her. Nothing is less cool to a 6 and 8-year-old boy than a very excited 3-year-old girl.

Lila requested that I take a picture of her sad face. Awwwww.

Thankfully, she recovered quickly.

Elijah discovered the broom!

Lordy, that face! Those eyes! The drool! Yep, teething is still in full effect.

I was thankful for so much this Thanksgiving, it's hard to put it all into words. There was one moment where my house was completely filled with family, everyong was talking, laughing, eating, kids running around screaming and having fun...my heart was (and still is) full of happiness and gratitude.

She was Born to Run

We spent the past weekend in Philadelphia watching Auntie Steph run the marathon. Although I know she was disappointed to be struck with an injury in mile 21, I hope she takes some comfort in knowing that we are all so insanely proud of her. Both Kevin and I were trying very hard to fight back tears as we watched her run past at mile 18 & 20. I was just completely in awe. She had every reason in the world to not run this marathon, yet she drew on what must be a very deep well of inner strength and DID IT.

We love you and are soooooo proud of you, Auntie Steph!

Not even political ads can dampen this fall fun!

I doubt the ads are worse than any other election year...I think I just get grumpier with each passing year. I am literally counting down the hours until I can sit down, watch a program and not be inundated with "if you vote for so-and-so babies will cry due to the crushing debt they will have by simply being born, senior citizens will scowl disapprovingly, and families will sit around the kitchen table shaking their heads with disgust."

Instead, I choose to enjoy the Autumn with the most adorable of children. Some pictures:



Pumpkin carving fun! Please excuse my crazy-eyes...

 

My poor baby. She was sicky-sick-sick all weekend.


Lila's school had a Halloween parade and I was expecting all kinds of cute. I'm not gonna lie to you, it was more creepy than anything. An eerily quiet forced march of sorts. Didn't anyone think that perhaps a little music might perk things up a bit? Some kids enjoyed it, but most had a rather bewildered look on their faces as they slooooowly  and silently marched around the room surrounded by strangers with cameras. Lila, of course, does not suffer from shyness, so she had a blast as usual:

Lila and one of her most favorite classmates.

Last but not least...Halloween!!! I can't tell you how happy it makes me when my babies are surrounded by family. Mimi, Papa, Ya ya, Uncle John & Miss Stephanie were all there to escort my little tiger around town. Not even a bloody lip could stop Lila from scaring the locals with her mighty roar.

The holiday season is officially upon us! My head is filled with lofty plans of holiday crafting. Stay tuned...



The Eye of the Tiger

She was a lion last year (neighbors are still shaking in their boots from her terrible roar). This year she will terrorize the community as a TERRIBLE TIGER!!

practicing her ROAR on her brother

We headed out to the local Halloween Trail last night. So much fun, it reinforced why I love where we live. There were lots of familiar faces from the Parks & Recreation  department, many who came over to admire Lila & Elijah's costumes.

Elijah was a black & white puppy (it's a hand-me-down, I won't tell him if you won't). At first he seemed thrilled with his costume:

Once the hat was donned, things started to turn ugly:

After 45 minutes of games and great costume-watching, his mood had lifted and we were graced with that beautiful smile again:



There was an adult-sized Lion there to represent the Lions club, or something like that. Lila was FASCINATED. She decided that the two great hunters of the jungle should meet:

Totally unrelated, but I'd like to recognize my amazing hubby. Our backyard patio was a disaster. Kind of bean-shaped, it had another bean-shaped hole in the middle that once had a tree, but was now just a big pile of dirt. The roots from the felled tree had lifted up massive portions of the patio, making it unsafe for little feet. It was also just a huge patio, leaving very little actual yard in the back.

So, hubby dearest redesigned the patio, demolished the old one, and installed a new one using the old bricks. Behold:

Isnt' it gorgeous? Wonderful design, and flat as can be, allowing for our wee ones to play without fear of tripping. See all the dirt area? That will be lovely green grass!!! Cannot wait. How amazing is my husband?!

What falls in the fall...

I do love the fall. I love football season, the smell of the leaves, the crispiness of the air, apple picking, pumpkin carving, and the anticipation of all the holidays on the horizon! Now that I have two adorable wee ones, this season is infinitely sweeter. Watching Lila prowl around her in Halloween costume is priceless (pictures forthcoming, I promise). Her excitement is palpable. All car rides are now peppered with "Mommy! I see red leaves! Mommy! I see orange leaves!" Perhaps Elijah is a bit too young to understand, but that doesn't damper my happiness at seeing him experience his first Halloween with his family.

The perfect start to celebrate the harvest? Pumpkin patches!

I think this smile is 100% Lila.

She won this herself! Threw a ball and hit a flying pumpkin!

Hee.

Lila & Mimi look for the Queen Bee.

Maybe you'll be big enough next year, Doodlebug.

That's more like it!

Look at those curls bounce...

Inspecting a possible pumpkin with Mimi.

Lila with her loot!

This place was amazing. Check it out!

Eli was in the carrier so I realized there were no pics of my beautiful boy! This must be remedied...

Those eyes.

Look out, he's on the move! Seriously, this boy gets into everything.

What? I like mac & cheese.

A simple game of peek-a-boo was all it took...

...to lift me out of this funk. Seriously, it's been a rough couple of days. I've been totally outnumbered by my two little devils angels as of late. And they don't fight fair. Nope, these wee ones fight dirty. They fight with crocodile tears, trembling lips, outstretched arms, shrieks that would curl your hair, and endless whining. Did I mention the whining? I did? Well, it bears repeating.

Yesterday, when I was at the end of my rope, ready to give up and have the sob-fest I so rightly deserved, my babies provided me with this moment of pure joy:

Can you see how much they love each other? I can. It makes my heart go pitty-pat.

My new sewing blog!

I actually created my sewing blog a week or two ago, but finally had some time to write a post this morning! Check it out here!

A week of milestones...

My little girl finished her first week of preschool. Dropping her off that first day was absolute chaos, and I'm embarassed to admit that I cried the whole drive home. I will clarify, however, that said crying was partly due to the fact that, because of a little boy's desperate attempt to escape the classroom, I was only able to say a weak "goodbye" to the back of Lila's head before she was wisked inside and the door was promply shut in my face. The second day of school went without a hitch. And I was even able to give her a kiss goodbye before she headed off to grow grow that big 'ol brain of hers. But you really want to see pictures, right? Behold...

I did her hair in some twists. So easy, but looks so lovely, especially with pink ballies!

One of my most favorite dresses that I've made for Lila. I was thrilled that the day was warm enough for her to go sleeveless and wear this dress.

Seriously, she was beyond excited.

Kevin picked her up and took a photo as she ran out of the classroom to greet him.

Obligatory photo outside the school. Why she is doing the Captain Morgan Rum pose is beyond me. When we saw the picture both Kevin and I blurted, "Got a little Captain in you?"

Other news? Elijah turned 1!!! He decided to commemorate his first year on earth by crawling and pulling up for the first time all in one day. We had a wonderful family-only party...pizza, cupcakes, and lots of cousins made for an amazing day. Some highlights:

His #1 t-shirt made by yours truly. For a last-minute project, I was pretty happy with the end result...UNTIL I noticed a hole in the back of the shirt. So I added a wee something to the back to cover it up:

I know I'm biased, but aren't my kids beautiful??

One of the few moments Elijah has actually had on his new ride-along. Lila has decided she's a much better fit.

I made Magnolia cupcakes. I think he approved.

Clearly being cute & adored is exhausting.