Zoo Trip

This morning when Lilly woke up she told me she wanted to go to the zoo. We are members and haven't been for a while so I figured what the heck?! Here we are ready to go...

It was such a gorgeous day today. When we first headed out it was in the 50's and in the shade it was chilly.
Her favorite exhibit is the primates. This orangutan didn't really want to be watched.

Stopping for a soft pretzel... yummy!

The best part of the day was the camel ride! Last time we went Lilly rode a pony but today it was the camel. I was so excited and so was she!




We talked about shadows. This is a good one! Lilly loves her shadow.

Our final stop before leaving the zoo. It's nice that we're members so we don't have to see every single animal on every visit. A couple hours at a time is plenty.

Our girls' day was complete with lunch at our favorite... Panera Bread.

I am now paying the price for our morning of walking. I'm in major pain but it was a great time.

What on Earth?

Turkey vultures having a feast on our street...

Stress

I pulled Lilly out of preschool today. It was not an easy decision and I definitely didn't take it lightly (Andy will attest to this) but I had to go with my gut. I ended up making a list at 1:00 in the morning and the reasons to pull her out were longer. She was displaying anxiety at home and that was not our intent when putting her in school. We thought she'd love it and have a great time and I do think she enjoyed it after adapting to the separation but she did not look foward to going back. She woke every morning (even Thurs., Fri., Sat., and Sun. when she didn't have school) telling me she didn't want to go and had started crying at naptime and bedtime telling me she'd miss me and not to leave her room.

I thought long and hard about why I've been so upset. I didn't want to pull her out because of my emotions or because I missed her. And I came to the conclusion that the reason I felt so heart broken all the time was because I didn't feel she was happy and it was my choice to put her there and in turn it was causing her stress. This created a lot of guilt on my part. So once I realized my issues were a result of my gut telling me she wasn't happy, I was secure with the decision.

I was snack mom this week. This week they're learning about apples. I took in cut up apple pouches and applesauce. Lilly was dressed in an apple shirt just in case she decided she did want to stay after all. I stopped to talk with the director and we had a lovely conversation. She totally understood and agreed with my decision. She made it clear that Lilly is welcome back anytime this year (we paid the registration fee). Then she took the snack to the classroom for us and we headed home. Lilly hugged my neck and said, "Thank you much Mommy!" and grinned from ear to ear all morning. She said, "I miss you so much Mommy. No more miss my mommy." And randomly she'd say, "I love you Mommy. I love my daddy."

I feel a huge relief and feel that a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. It is this feeling that reaffirms that I made the right decision. Happy Lilly - Happy Mommy.

What Were We Thinking?

Today, Hope Church, where Lilly goes to school, had a craft show with 60 vendors. Andy is out of town and I thought it would be fun to go with my friend Stephanie and her son Jordan. I have been to plenty of craft shows so I'm not sure why I thought it would be a good idea to take the kids! They were great but there wasn't much for them to do and we were unable to really enjoy looking at the merchandise. Lilly did love playing in the fire truck. They even let her drive.


It was a really nice craft show and the best part is that I saw one of Lilly's teachers and she went on and on about how much she loves Lilly and how Lilly reminds her of her own daughter. Up to this point I still haven't known what Lilly's like in class (3 hours) and only knew that I leave her upset and pick her up fairly happy. Ms. Susan told me Lilly is funny, spunky, adorable, loves to have fun and play, and completely melts her heart. I almost started crying again but held it together. I need to have this baby so I can get some of my composure back. I told her I still am on the fence about pulling her and she started crying and said, "You cannot pull her from this class. I'll be devasated! She's my favorite!" I thought this was really sweet of her and am glad Lilly has someone that cares so much about her when I am not there.

Here are Lilly and Jordan before we left the craft show.

I love this second picture. It's so cute - like they're a little old couple and like they're lost in thought.

For some crazy reason we decided to head to LL Bean with kids in tow. Stephanie wanted to look at winter coats for Jordan and I was along for the ride. In a nutshell Lilly hid under a clothing rack to poop while announcing what she was doing, I took her to the bathroom to change her and she freaked out because she has developed a serious fear of changing tables in bathrooms (she feels like she's going to fall and totally panics) so I changed her on a bench in the store, we lost Lilly briefly and found her on a bike pretending to ride, and finally I took Lilly and Jordan with me to check out and Jordan listened and stayed with me and Lilly roamed. When Stephanie came over I told her Lilly left me and she said (very casually), "Oh she's fine she's in the kayak." Meanwhile the kayak has a large sign on it that says, "Please do not touch or climb on kayak." It is raised about 3 feet off the ground on display and Lilly was in fact inside with the paddles pretending she was headed down rapids...

Needless to say we left... and headed to Friendly's! Two tired and hungry toddlers playing off one another at Friendly's. Jordan screamed Lilly copied him. Jordan drew with crayon on the window, Lilly scribbled all over the glass. Jordan went under the table, Lilly went under the table. I could go on and on. We quickly ate, got indigestion and headed home. Lilly protested her nap but was passed out in minutes.

Guess I should gear up for life with two...

Rainy Friday

Today we kept Lilly's little friend Jordan for the morning. They had a really nice time playing. They hadn't seen one another for a couple weeks. Lilly tried to get him to wear a purple princess outfit and dance with her... He did ultimately dance with her but in his doctor gear.

Jordan checked out Lilly's heart. Sounds good! Andy was home for the play date and then headed off to Seton Hall for the weekend. He has 3 weekends left after this one and a dissertation to write and defend. I'm very proud of his hard work and can't wait until it's over!!

Nine Lives

This afternoon I saw a fire truck in front of our house and Lilly and I went outside to see what was going on. This was the problem...

Our neighbor Wendy's cat Crouton was stuck in a tree. Funny as I walked outside and saw the fire fighters all looking up into a tree I said, "Tell me you're not here for a cat up a tree" and they said, "Yes indeed." Well it was no joke... Crouton was very very high up - think 50 ft. The poor little kitty. He was recently rescued from a shelter by our neighbors and is an indoor cat. Today we are expecting some storms with high winds. When the winds picked up it blew Wendy's front door open and out Crouton went (no one was home). When Wendy got home she heard Crouton crying in the tree.
The fire fighters were not helpful. They said their ladder was only 25 ft high and the cat was approximately double that. They also said they were preparing for the storm and there were wires in the way and they couldn't risk their lives for the cat. Well thank goodness we're raising an animal lover because this is what Lilly had to say to the fireman...

"You climb that tree and get kitty cat!"

That's my girl. The fireman did humor Lilly and called for the cat while holding up food but they were otherwise useless and left.
Well as I'm sure you've figured out if you read the blog or have known me for any amount of time - I have a soft spot for animals (and children) and could not rest knowing we were getting a storm with high winds and this cat was stuck. She was crying and hanging on while the branches blew. I called two tree trimming services to see if they could bring out a bucket truck but no one answered their phones. Wendy (neighbor) called Verizon to see if they could send out a truck but they didn't have any trucks in the area. I then called my neighbor and friend Kristen whom I call with all my animal sob stories (homeless bunny, injured goose, missing bunny babies...). She was cracking up at yet another call but as usual she set into action. She called her husband at work (he owns Ace Hardware) and he called a buddy who has rock/tree climbing gear. I misunderstood and thought he currently climbs trees but was mistaken. Later I found out he's afraid of heights AND it's been 10 years since he's climbed. But he came over and we all went outside for the show. ** Did I mention I was tutoring?? At least I called his grandpop and told him to come 30 minutes later so we could enjoy the action.**

Here is Ray, the crazy tree climber... Notice Lilly and Matt (whom I tutor) in the background - so cute together!

Watching closely...

I think he was getting tired. This is when I found out he hasn't done this in ten plus years. Then I started to worry about him AND the cat.

This cat was very very high up.

If you look closely you will see a flying Crouton. When Ray finally got up to the cat she climbed onto his back and was very nervous and scared. So a few men below held a blanket and Ray dropped the cat. Perfect landing (thank God) right into the center of the blanket. All the kids cheered.

Wendy (with her son in the background running over) was very happy to have Crouton back safely. And Ray made it safely back down the tree. Another happy ending.

Never a dull moment around here.

A Good Day!

Here was Lilly before school today...
...hiding so she wouldn't have to go. Not a good start. However I did know that I had a little trick up my sleeve that I was really hoping would help. The director informed me that Lilly was allowed to take her lovey, kitty cat, and binky to school though Andy and I decided we would not allow binky to go to school (Andy had to push me over on this one). So I told her that she could take lovey and kitty cat and it got her out from behind the tree! Of course she wanted binky too and I explained that Ms. Donna said no binkies and she started to fuss so I said, "You can have kitty and lovey or nothing" and she settled for the cat and lovey - smart girl.

We drove to school while she protested and of course when we got in the parking lot she told me to take her home and I pretended that life was wonderful and in my most chipper voice told her she'd have more fun at school than she would at home and that all her little friends were at school today and off we went.

When we got to her classroom we were the first to arrive. I asked her about some artwork hanging on the wall and asked if she wanted to show her teachers her lovey and kitty cat. She went in the classroom withOUT needing to be pried off my hip and in the blink of an eye Ms. Susan said, "AW! Is that your kitty cat?" and nodded for me to leave and off I went.

NO CRYING. NO SCREAMING. Hallelujia there is a God and believe me I thanked him profusely.

I left feeling like a million bucks. I was so happy and relieved and headed to get a pedicure (which was the plan but I figured I'd be feeling miserable). I also did something that I have never done before... I got a bikini wax!!! I figured if I was going to torture my sweet child by dropping her off at school then I should endure a little torture of my own. Holy mackarolly. I'm so sure this is too much information for Andy and Dad but you are after all my husband and father so I'm sure you can handle it! I just inquired about a bikini wax at the nail salon and with that they swooped me into the waxing room. I was saying, "I'm scared, I'm undecided!" etc. but they didn't care. They like to inflict pain. I had to lie down flat on my back (which doesn't feel good when you're 33 weeks pregnant) and for 15 minutes I endured hot wax, exposed private parts, and ripping of skin... That's all I'll say here... If you want the gory details feel free to call me. Let's just say I'm all pretty for my doctors now. I did enjoy a pedicure after the abuse.

When I picked Lilly up the director approached me and said, "She did fabulous! I went in to see her and she said Mommy peeks on me when I'm in school!" I do tell Lilly this and she thinks it's really funny. So I felt good and was excited to see her. She greeted me with a hug and some artwork and she was happy (requesting her binky but happy). She even had a sticker on her shirt that said, "I had a great day in school!" Here is the little lover...