Lilly's Art

It's been hectic around here. Ella's been sick. I took her to the doctor on Tuesday and they diagnosed her with Croup. They prescribed a steroid and off we went. By Thursday she was worse. She was having horrible coughing fits that were making me nervous. I went back to the pediatrician (saw a different doctor) who informed me she looked "great". Hmmm, well, I disagreed but quietly left. On Friday she was really suffering but rather than look like a psychotic mother I waited to take her back until today. The Croup is now in her lungs and she has another ear infection (#9). She's now on 5 nebulizers a day and another antibiotic (she finished one less than a week ago for ear infection #8). In the meantime I was struck by the nasty vomit virus that's all over the place for the second time. Oh joy. That was fun. And yes, Ella will likely be getting tubes in her ears after our February 10 meeting with an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist. Poor baby.

We're looking forward to some healthy days ahead and hopefully I'll be losing this morning (all day) sickness soon as it's getting very very old. Very.

One day while I was piddling around in the kitchen Lilly said, "Mommy, look, I drew a bunny." I was very surprised when I turned around and saw that indeed, she did draw a bunny! A very good bunny!

She was working on the eyes and the smile and got upset that the eyes didn't "look right" so she turned them into eyebrows which I thought was very clever. But they didn't satisfy her either so she started coloring the whole bunny in. I quickly got the pictures before bunny was completely filled in. I was impressed!

Ella

Ella is 14 months and has such a big personality now! She is so charming, sweet, and (for now) totally chill. We love the balance we have in our family.

"Where's Ella?" Can you see her?

She is happy, just like her sister. She is only unhappy when Lilly tries to carry her around. She does not like that one bit. The under-the-armpit carry. Not good.

She says "Mama", "Dada", "Cica" (cat), "voom voom" (cars), "baby", and when I sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star she tries to repeat the "twinkle" and it's very cute. She will not give up her favorite comfort of all time (nursing) and is a pretty picky eater unless it's carb(y) snacks. She's all over the board with nighttime sleep but requires a lot of sleep like Daddy. We love you baby girl!

*A Lilly post to come.

Girly

Lilly loves all things girly. She especially loves to paint her nails all by herself. Santa brought her a bunch of polish.

I really like her choice of location for the nail painting.

Nice!

Concentration is key.

Success!

Marcel

This is Marc.

As my friend Jackie likes to put it, he is my "baby boy." I am Marc's legal guardian. Don't ask. It's been a long road and I still have many many miles to travel but for now, things are looking up. Today, Marc came home. He is back in Cherry Hill at an assisted living facility for Alzheimer's patients that I picked for him with the help of an amazing legal team. This day is a day for celebration because Marc can get his life back.

Marc's been living an hour away in the shittiest nursing home on the planet. I do plan to tell them what I think but that will come in time. This is Marc's new digs. His own private room with a window and his own bathroom. Marc has been lying in a bed in one half of a tiny room with a roommate and has only been outdoors once in 10 weeks. He has become frail. He was not taken care of. He was on the 2nd floor and only able to walk up and down a small hallway. Now, he can go wherever he wants on the secure property and can go outside day or night.

Marc's not sure about his new home and is very very disoriented and confused. It is heart-breaking but I know in time, he will flourish and thrive. I moved him into his new room (college anyone?) while he cursed me in Romanian. But it's all good. I can handle it. Plus, I had Lilly to protect me.

I can only hope and pray that Marc finds peacefulness sometime soon and that Lilly has learned compassion and empathy through our journey with Marc. She's really amazing with him and with all of the elderly people that we have been around. I'm so proud of her.

Welcome home Marc.

Music with Ella!

I have been feeling guilty that Ella has never taken a class or been with children her own age. She spends her days at home with me or in the car taking Lilly to school and doing errands. When Lilly was 9 months old we started Music Together with Madeline and Lilly loved it. We did it for over 2 years and I became friends with all of the moms. Eventually Lilly outgrew the class and I was expecting Ella so we stopped. I contacted the teacher, Madeline, recently and she told me to come today with Ella.

It was so much fun!!! Not only was I so eager to see how Ella would interact in this setting I was thrilled to find out all the same moms are in the class with siblings! I got our money's worth in just one class by watching how happy it made Ella. She was very reserved and quiet but she was smiling from ear to ear. She loved the instruments, dancing, Madeline playing the guitar, and the songs. It was so nice to see her having fun with kids her age in a class just for her. And I loved seeing the moms again (and one of the moms is pregnant with twins and we have the same due date).

I look forward to Wednesdays with Ella in music class!!

Happy Birthday Andy!

Today is Andy's 42nd birthday! We had a very nice day celebrating as a family. We gave him a money tree since he's saving up for a doctoral ring.

We also gave him a calendar with the girls' pictures. It's become a tradition since he likes to hang the calendar in his office. I usually give it to him for Christmas but didn't get it together this year.

We were really excited to eat a late lunch at Benihana's. We tried to go on Friday night for his mom's birthday but it wasn't open so we tried again today and were successful! It was really fun.

Peter was our chef and culinary master. He was very nice and Lilly watched in awe. He gave her so much food!

The gang.

After dinner they sang to Andy with tambourines and a fancy song. Ella didn't know what to think. To top off a wonderful birthday Andy had his favorite cake; a cannoli cake. It was pretty good and I don't even like cake.

Happy birthday Andy! We love you very much.

New Year's cont.

I didn't have my camera on New Year's Eve when we stopped by a friend's house for a couple of hours. I have been feeling guilty that I didn't share any pictures of Ella on New Year's Eve since she wasn't at Sweet and Sassy with us during the day. Tonight a friend sent me pictures from New Year's that she took and there was one of Ella! Yay!

She's not exactly smiling, but it's evidence that she was with us!!Happy New Year's a little late!
Love,
Ella

Runway

Here's the video of Lilly walking the runway on New Year's Eve at Sweet 'N Sassy. They announced her name (you'll hear "Lilly D") and then announced all the interview questions she'd answered. I was so proud of her because there were a lot of people there and she was the youngest to actually do this part of the activity. I thought she might back out at the last minute.

It was really over-the-top of course but she had a blast.

Silence

The reason I have not been blogging...

These two babies are making me pretty darn sick. Figured I'd share why there are so many days when I don't blog.

We are expecting (fraternal) twins August 7, though we've been told to expect them around July 7.

And yes, we were shocked to say the least. I am still processing all of this (Andy is thrilled) and I am also worrying that something may go wrong with one of them though the constant nausea is keeping me slightly confident that they're probably alright.

I intend to resume daily blogging (if anyone cares) once I feel better.
Just wanted to share the news!

Baby Girl

This little girl has become quite the charmer! Ella is so funny and sweet and loving. She loves to play with toys by herself and she's always looking over her shoulder to see if we're watching. She's just so lovable.

New Year's Eve 2009

For New Year's Eve, my friend Kristen reserved a spot for her girls and Lilly at Sweet and Sassy for a kids New Year's bash. The kids were treated to hair, make-up, nails, a runway show, and a limo ride! Pretty over-the-top for a 3 year old! And she loved every minute of it.

Waiting to be pampered.

Oh boy, not easy to watch...

Yikes!

Hello darling! This was the only smile she'd give me all day. It's a new one.

Getting her hair done. She was very serious.

Reminds me of my dance recital days.

Getting ready to go on a limo ride with Jessica.

I told the driver he had my 3 year old in there. He assured me she would be fine. I was happy she was sitting right behind the driver.

They finally returned. Shwew!

She was thrilled!

They counted down to the New Year at noon. Balloons fell, kids danced, horns were blown.

They had a runway show where they read things the child liked, looked forward to in 2010, favorite movie... it was really cute. They taught them how to walk and pose. I video'd it so this is a picture after the festivities were over.

This was right up Lilly's alley. So cute and hopefully fun for her. Now if she'll promptly forget the things she's done by the age of 3 I'll be able to rest easy.

Happy New Year!