Tune In

For those of you who follow the blog, I wanted to present the newest blog for you to follow:

www.dynge3.blogspot.com

I will be documenting Will's first year just like I did for Lilah and probably not updating this blog very much.  I do still hope to be able to update this blog occasionally but I know it will be hard enough to stay on top of one.  So feel free to move on over to Will's Take as he introduces himself to you.

Lilah's New Room

As the pregnancy progressed we slowly went from two kids, one room to two kids, two rooms.  Our light sleeper of a 2 year old and a young infant that we are pretty certain we don't want in our room for three months (before he is sleeping through the night hopefully!) just didn't feel like a good mixture for overall family happiness.  So the plan progressed to moving Lilah into the spare room and downgrading the spare bed to a futon for company.  Then I met Pinterest.  And I couldn't seem to stop myself.  The result is an adorable, exciting "Big Girl Room" for my big girl that makes me feel like I am spoiling her on one hand and jealousy on the other.  After all, I was in high school before I got my "Big Girl Room."  And now our little guy will start to get the attention he deserves for his arrival.

This is our remodel journey in pictures.

Our spare room, already slightly modified after the purchase of the second crib.  Good bye exercise equipment, hello world revolving around kids!

Day 1: painting preparations.  I bought some stencils to "make the project easier" for a fun design on a feature wall.  

I knew Lilah would not take well to painting going on without contributing so I made sure she had a painting project of her own to tackle.  Her project was much quicker than the one in her room, but she loved every second of it. 

Oops, moment of realization that we should have put on disposables hit when we sat in on the paint cup

Doesn't everyone take a break from the artistic process to practice their golf swing?

Day 2: Tedious paint process still underway....  Lilah kept very busy helping, and I kept very busy trying to keep her entertained with other fun things.

Skip to Day 4: Almost done...dark outside...Oh please let this be over soon!  And by the way Lilah - you are never changing this wall!  She seemed to still be having a good time maintaining constant watch over the progress.

Lilah trying out her almost finished Fort.  Complete with pillow mattress, lots of throw pillows, fun lights and of course, books!  

And here it is - the finished product, projects complete...for now.  

One awesome fort. 

One toddler bed.

One refinished nightstand and lamp.

One beautifully painted 'L'.

One futon (Please still come visit!) and wall for future artwork and masterpieces.  

The big picture

 And here is the Big Girl, taking her moving into her new room very seriously.  

So by the time I got this blog together I am happy to report that the "Big Girl" is sound asleep in her new room for the first time.  It will be interesting to see where she is actually sleeping when we sneak in there to take a peek later.  Boy does this feels like a monumental moment.  Lilah is one amazing girl and we are so in love with her right now, even her constant limit pushing.   I know that I should be better at capturing the day to day moments because she never ceases to amaze us with how much she grows everyday.

Growing Quickly

Today we went in for a growth Ultrasound.  They said I was measuring bigger and wanted to check it out.  This will not influence my decision on whether to be induced or not (NOT!) but I will let them try and talk me into it.  So far this "little guy" is already measuring around 5 lbs 3oz and has a head in the 70th percentile.  Yikes!  Here is a couple 3D pictures we got and the bottom one is Lilah for comparison.   I don't see much resemblance, except for the cheeks, so I am thinking he is taking after Shannon - big head and all!  He was crazy active and wouldn't ever sit still enough for her to get a "great" shot.  For most of her tries his foot was up in the way of his face.  A kidder already.  Shannon says this first shot is his "power to the people" shot.

Baby Boy at 32 and a half weeks along

Lilah at 35 weeks along

Exercise, or lack there of

Who would have thought that this one little word has such a huge impact on my life.

I know it has been a long time since my last post.  We were in the groove before the holidays and it just passed us by.  We had a really nice Christmas week vacation in California, even with some sickness mixed in.  It was relaxing and nice to have a whole week with Shannon around.  Seems like we hardly have him home lately.  But the driving did me in.  Not only did I get sick as soon as we got home, but I also aggravated my hips.  I tried Stroller Strides one week after we got home and it was terrible.  I was ready to go back to the level I was at before Christmas and combined with already sore hips, I pushed myself past pain to injury.  I literally couldn't walk, sit or sleep for several days after.  The pain would just escalate the more I tried to stretch or move them, so rest was truly the best thing for me.   Faced with idea of not being able to do Stroller Strides or any "true" exercise besides walking, I went into a funk!  It's January, and by the time I get the postpartum clear to exercise it will be June before I am back.  That brought moments of panic.  Add to that a whinny, defiant 2 year old, and I slipped into downright gloom.  The tipping point was a terrible awful moment in the library.  Yes, public...gasp!  Lilah wouldn't come and kept running the opposite direction.  I tried quiet reasoning, louder yelling, treats, bargaining.  I got no response but giggles and more running in the opposite direction.  I snapped.  I felt intense anger.  I almost injured my child.  I went home and cried...for the rest of the day.   I had to get back out there and burn some energy, get out those pent up emotions, be around somebody else besides Lilah!  I knew something had to give.

So I headed back to Stroller Strides this week.  It is now three weeks later and the hips are feeling better.  If they start to hurt, I just stop what I am doing, take it easy for awhile, and protect them.  I have stepped the activity level down to below "low impact."  Very little running.  No serious strength exercises with the legs and no twisting moves.  But I made it back.   In a few short days, my whole attitude is shifting again.  It is impossible to pinpoint what it is exactly.  But life is just better.  I got a project done for Lilah's new room.  I am feeling less resentment...towards everything, including myself.

So how is it that one little thing, albeit important, can have such an impact on my life?  And how did I survive all those years while I pushed exercise aside for "more important" things?  I think back on some rough patches in my life and wonder how it might have been different.  But there is no going back.  Only moving forward.  And I choose MOVING!

Daily Pictures 2011 - boring version

While we appeal to EMI that we aren't using our Lilah videos with their songs for monetary gain, here is the silent version of the video for those that had trouble viewing the previous post.  

Daily Pictures 2011

We continue our mission to take a picture of Lilah everyday.  It doesn't seem like much each day when I whip out the camera but when we take a look at our results for the year it is truly amazing how much she grows and changes in a year.   We managed to get 328 pictures this year.  So enjoy this look at Lilah.  I think it clearly demonstrates ALL her many moods!

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We found out!

This morning we found out.  We found out that everything is looking great.  We found out that this baby is right on schedule.  We found out....

IT'S  A BOY!


I am in a little bit of shock.  But I guess it was a 50/50 shot.  Now that you all know, we will keep you guessing until the arrival of this little one before you find out the name.  We have to have one surprise!   Oh and Lilah says that she wants "her baby brudder to come live at ours house!"  Ok, it's a deal :)

Seriously?

This one needed a post.

At 3:30 this afternoon a suggestion that we needed to clean Lilah's carpet turned into this:

AAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

That's a stack of suitcases and box springs in front of the door (don't call the fire department)

Yes, my child is eating a crayon.  Yes I am too distraught to do anything about it.

That's a changing table in the kitchen

That's a bookshelf in front of the pantry - but all I was supposed to do was cook dinner.....

6:00 P.M.  Lilah's crib

Um - where exactly are we supposed to lay down?

The carpet looks pretty though

It's now 8:40 and all is mostly back together.  I think he could sense I really needed him to fix it.  Hopefully the faint odor of urine from Lilah's room will also be gone.

Lilah's Birthday Weekend

My little baby is 2!   And acting like it.  But I digress.  We had quite a weekend celebrating with Grandma Miaja, Auntie Michelle, Peyton and Rylee.  Their coming really made the weekend and was such a treat for Lilah.  This post will really be mostly pictures but I will give a quick recaps.

The weekend started a little rough  with a stomach bug, Lilah had it Wednesday and I got it Friday.  Luckily just a 24 hour thing, but rough nonetheless.  Shannon whisked the company away as soon as they pulled in the driveway to head over to a birthday party for our dear friend Savannah.  The girls all had a great time in a bounce house and I got some more time to try and pull myself together.

Sunday we debated what we wanted to do for the day and settled on the zoo.  It was a good idea because all the girls had such an amazing time and it is so fun to see the excitement over the animals.  Grandma spoiled the girls and they got to feed giraffes, ride camels, and just enjoy what the zoo had to offer.  Both little girls left the zoo asleep in the stroller.

We couldn't get enough of the hand holding.  

In or Out?

Carving pumpkin fun with Aunt Danielle (can you spot her?)

Monday was the big day.  Halloween, Lilah's Birthday, FUN FUN FUN.  I had decided that with all the other parties going on and the excitement of having family around, that we would not hold an official birthday party this year.  I am glad in hindsight based on the fact that I was bed ridden for 24 hours and it would have stressed me to no end to pull a party off.  Instead we decided to celebrate with all our Stroller Strides friends at the Halloween themed class and bring cake to the potluck after.  Then we topped off the night with Trick or Treating, of course.  Lilah's best buddy, Madeleine joined us and the babies were amazingly adorable; walking right up to the doors, yelling trick or treat, inspecting each piece of candy, saying 'Thank You' and looking precious in their costumes.  We only walked around the block, but it was plenty for the girls.  We had some pumpkin rolls/bars/cake (didn't quite turn out like planned, but still yummy) and opened some gifts.  The girls played and played that night and didn't get to bed until late, but I just didn't have the heart to break up Lilah's "It's my Birthday Party!"

Enjoying the Birthday morning surprise...a new play table,  just their size.

Pebbles

Not sure what Megan is doing in the background, but love it!

Parading

Costume off, cake time!

"This looks good"

She is a serious eater

Family swim time in chilly waters

Who else gets to swim on their Halloween Birthday?

I love my backpack Gram!  I wore it to open my presents.

Pre- Trick or Treating

Lilah had a hard time staying on the path

Her new "Glasses" (it's a tiara)

Wilma and Pebbles

Cat in the Hat, Thing 2 and Thing 1 (and a half)