Moving the Memories With You

Tonight we spent the evening as a family, saying goodbye to Grandpa & Gramby's home. It was sad to say goodbye to a home that has brought us all so many wonderful memories, but they are moving a couple of miles closer to us and we know that we will have many fun times and make new memories at their new home. We laughed and talked and reminisced about the past 20(?) years that this home has been in our family. My 8-year-old shared her own memories with us -- like the time that she and Gramby made the gingerbread house for Christmas and Griffin, the dog, ate it! We took some pictures, and walked around the house and the yard one last time. My girl was feeling a little sad, saying goodbye, but Gramby told her that it's not the house that's important, it's the people and the memories that we keep with us. On the way home my girl said, "I'll miss this house!" And I said, "I know, but I bet you'll love their new house!" And my girl said, "Oh, I know I will -- because it will have Grandpa and Gramby in it!"

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Happy 3rd birthday, to my sweet littlest girl, Kenzie! She is a lovely, funny, caring little soul that brightens our days -- of course, I am her mother, I may be biased, but I don't think so... :) We have been having almost a week-long celebration of her birth this year -- a party last Sunday (which I'll tell you about in further detail later), a very exciting big gift from Mommy & Daddy that she has been enjoying (as have we) all week, a fun day yesterday with a trip to the zoo (thanks, Kristin for inviting us!) and a trip to the movies ("Up" -- great movie, she sat contentedly and watched the whole thing!), another special day today, and then celebrating with Grandpa and Gramby on Sunday -- Gramby & Kenzie share the same birthday!

Three has become a "rite of passage" for our girls -- when our first daughter turned 3, we bought her a "big girl bed" and celebrated with a fun pajama party themed birthday party (you know me and a theme!). The kids that came to the party dressed in their pj's and I had our favorite bakery create a cake that looked like a bed -- throw pillow and everything -- too cute! (If my scanner was not broken, I would share a picture -- maybe some other time!) So, in keeping with this tradition, this week we said goodbye to the crib, and hello to a big girl bed for our little one. She has adjusted to it amazingly well! I've been home on vacation this week, and I've been able to get her used to napping in the bed and not the crib -- thrilled about that! We have a baby gate up in her doorway, so that she cannot get up and walk around the house at night -- that's a scary adjustment for parents -- your child who has been in a crib is now able to get out of bed and wander around on their own -- yikes! This at least still keeps her in a safe place -- not going down the stairs in the dark or anything like that! Of course, she still has gotten out of bed a couple of times after we've tucked her in -- the other night I checked on her before I went to bed, and found books, a music box, and a pair of her sunglasses in bed with her -- no idea what type of party she and her stuffed animals had planned! And then the next night, my husband went in to say goodnight after I had tucked her in, and he said he needed to find something else to put her in for pj's -- apparently she didn't want to wear what I put her in, and so she took her clothes off! Very independent, that one... But all in all, it's been a fun adventure for her and we are so proud of her for transitioning so well, so quickly!

So happy birthday to my Sweet Mackenzie -- you've only been with us for 3 years, but I truly can't imagine life without you -- I'm so blessed to have you in my life! Love always, Mommy

It's the Climb

My 8-year-old is CONSTANTLY asking me, "Are you going to put this on your blog?" every time she or her sister do or say anything. Really. Anything. Well, my sweet girl, YES! I'm putting this on my blog! Warning -- Proud Mommy Moment coming up...

My girl loves to swim. We are fortunate enough to have an inground pool in the backyard which she loves to spend time in. In addition, she has been fortunate enough to have grandparents who have not only sent her to swimming lessons at the yacht club for the past 4(?) years, but a grandpa who has spent many hours driving her there and staying around to wait and watch during her lessons. Along with Grandpa, my husband and I have also gone year after year, lesson after lesson, to watch her progress. We have also, all of us, watched her nearly paralyzing fear when she has been asked to jump off the diving board into the deep end. We have, each of us, experienced her agony, standing there at the end of the diving board, looking down at the water, seeing all of the other kids waiting for her to jump in, seeing the instructors swim in front of the board and hold their hands up, trying to help ease her into the water. We have seen her near tears, backing slowly off the board, insisting that she just can't do it -- it's too high, it's too bouncy, and so on. The past three years we have gone through this -- as a swim lesson is part of her sailing lessons that she takes each summer. She is a very strong swimmer and would probably be at the top of her class, if not for this diving board issue. Because of this, she has been stuck in the same level of swimming for the past 3 summers.

This summer, her grandparents enrolled her in a week-long, all-day sailing course with her cousin, and we were hopeful in the beginning that there would be no swim lesson. We were wrong. With a little help from her doctor, we came to the realization that diving is not something that she was going to do. I myself have gone 20 years (since high school swim class) without having to dive -- we need to pick our battles, and this one is not worth it, we decided. If it came up in swim class again, we would simply talk to the instructors and see if they could just accommodate her somehow.

But tonight, we headed down to the yacht club to have dinner with the family - a special treat for our girl and her cousin - and when my husband and I got there after work, our girl was in the pool and she said that she had a surprise for us. She swam to the side and climbed out of the pool, and she walked over to the diving board and with confidence, she climbed up onto the board -- and then she marched out and she jumped right in! I could not have been more proud of her if she had just won an Olympic medal in diving. I cried right then and there, and frankly, the water works are starting again! That's the really amazing thing about kids -- you can never count them out, because they will always surprise you. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly a sports photographer -- I couldn't click fast enough to get her in mid-air, but I have a feeling I'll have more opportunities in the future!

I am so proud of you, Liv -- I love you!

Hooray!!

Oh hooray!! We're back in the 21st century! ;) I took my girls out earlier today, after having done much research, and we bought a new computer! I am taking my time (pretending that I am still setting up the computer) because I know that as soon as I relinquish control of the computer, my 8-year-old will be making up for lost time on Webkinz, Disney, Barbie -- you name it!

I'll check back soon!