Growing pains

I signed Riley up for 2 year old school with parents because he was an only child with a stay at home Grandma who provides him daycare.  I wanted him to learn how to play with others, to share and see how to put others first, to have fun exploring and learning about himself along the way.  Most importantly I wanted to continue to nurture his spiritual growth and I look back at the last year completely blown away by the progression of my 2 year old.  The explosion of words, understanding and joy that has resulted from his 2 hours a week on Thursday is remarkable and I owe a huge THANKS and a debt of gratitude to my Mom for taking him for 5 months, to Mrs Penny and Mrs Passe for loving him and being so good with him, to all of the cute kids and their wonderful parents who we attended with and of course to my wonderful daughter for being born and allowing this very proud Mama to finally attend and LOVE everything about 2 year old school.  Thursdays at work were always a little blue for me.  I would sit and wonder what he was doing while he was at school and I would anxiously look through his backpack for the cute artwork and announcements that came home with him.  I was so happy to finally be able to participate and I am now the one experiencing the growing pains.

Today was our last day of school.  I am weepy and teary eyed that my 2 year old is soon to be a 3 year old and that next fall he will be walking into a classroom all by himself.  I am so heartbroken at how much growing up he has done this last year.  It makes me so proud to see him counting to 10, reading to me books that I have always read to him and understanding enough to stop asking the numerous why questions he used to ask incessantly.  I know that the best is yet to be but for now in this moment I sit and think that time has gone entirely too fast.

One of the most humbling moments in Motherhood for me was when he saw that Alyssa was sick with a cold.  He asked me to fold my hands and then continued with "Dear Ward, peese help Lyssa feel better cause Jesus woves Lyssa."  I am thankful that he has an understanding of God and knows that he can take all worries small and big in front of Him.  This is a direct reflection on not only us as parents but also on the caring and loving guidance by his teachers.  He lights up with joy when he sees Mrs Penny or Mrs Passe in church and he runs up to them as fast as his skinny legs will take him to give them big bear hugs.  They always bend down to him and give him their full attention, for this I am thankful.  He is always happy and excited to go to school because of how wonderfully carefree and fun these ladies have made it for all the kids, for this I am thankful.  He has a great Pre-K and Kindergarten school to attend for the next 4 years and for this I am so very thankful.

He/all the kids are so much fun to watch and one of the other Mom's told me last week that Riley is one of the happiest and most smiley kids she has ever seen.  She wondered if he was ever in a bad mood...never ; )  One of the Grandma's to a cute classmate told me that the she can't believe how outgoing and talkative he is compared to where he was back in September.

I am sad to say goodbye to 2 year old school but I realize that this is just the beginning and I am so thankful for all the memories and for my boy who has grown up and will continue to do so with me as his Mommy.

Mrs. Passe, Riley's gentle and caring teacher aide.

 Mrs. Penny, Riley's fun, loving, hands-on, not at all afraid of messes and best bubble blowing Teacher for his first year of school.  

Happy Easter 2011

This Mommy figured that her children get up by 7 a.m. and banked on that for Easter Sunday.  Of course they picked this special day to sleep until 7:40 so I was able to get everything just about perfect before having to eventually wake Riley up so we could all get showered and ready for church.

He was apparently expecting the Easter Bunny and or Jesus to be in our living room so he was a bit confused but was pleasantly happy to find the goodies that were in his basket.  He kept asking "where's the Easter bunny Mommy and where's Jesus?"  After a long week of egg hunts, a birthday party for Uncle Kevin and a playdate complete with a fishing trip I was worried he was overtired but he proved to have one more burst of energy for the celebration on what was a gorgeous Sunday!  

We rushed around trying to get out the door in time and Daddy actually had to dress Lyssa since I was so behind (huge kuddos to D for putting on bloomers and a dress with snaps in the back!) but we made it with barely enough time to get a seat!  Easter is always packed at church (Hallelujah!) but that means that we are tightly packed into each pew like sardines so Riley was so excited when he got to break out and usher with Papa for offering and then communion.  He waved and winked to me as he excused our pew but otherwise was a total pro!  Besides a wonderful service we enjoyed an Easter brunch afterwards put on by the youth group and Riley tried and loved his first piece of bacon!  Derrick was a proud Daddy!  Our Lyssa smiled and cooed in her Easter attire and was the cutest little thing with her pink dress and flower headband.  How much fun Easter is when you have twice the amount of Easter blessings to dress!

We were able to relax at home with naps before heading to my parents for a delicious dinner, bocce ball, 31(I was the winner winner chicken dinner of the $24!), an egg hunt and a special scavenger hunt for Riley.  Riley was super excited about his clues that lead to his basket (my Mom always makes things so special!) and he was an eagle eye for finding the eggs outside!

First clue was on his bed, second clue in his cash register and third taped to his big red ball and they lead to his basket in the crib room filled with bunny money, chocolate and playdough!

He LOVES his Twins hat and it didn't come off the rest of the day!

We all had a blast soaking in the vitamin D, eating like piggies and laughing alot (possibly at how 'white' Katie and I are at dancing on the Kinect?).  It was a perfect day and a great kick-off to my last week at home where I am enjoying every last minute with my two beautiful babes.  Happy late Easter to you and yours!

James 1:17

"Every good and perfect gift is from above."

That's the verse I chose for our Lyssa and it is proudly adorned on her name frame.

Sunday April 10th was a proud day for us.  Alyssa Marie was baptized in front of family and friends and it was perfect.  The house was buzzing as we all got ready for the service and when I finally pulled out the same baptism gown I wore and put it on her tears filled my eyes.  She looked so pretty.  Derrick oohed and ahhed over her and in that moment I had a sudden epiphany of how much my parents love me.  It was 28.5 years later but knowing I was wearing that gown in November 1982 and that my parents were probably feeling the same way was a very special moment.

Randy Stroming was the officiant and I have known Randy my whole life.  He was my DCE all throughout confirmation, youth group and during my two National Youth Gathering conferences.  I have been friends with his daughters throughout private school and now into adulthood and his wife was my preschool teacher and is actually 30 years later Director of Mt. Olive Preschool and gets to see Riley enter the same school I did.  To say this was meant to be is an understatement.  Pastor Heiden took a call to go to another congregation this last summer (the Pastor who confirmed me, married me and baptized Riley) and as a result we have three very nice interim Pastors serving but I do not know them very well and they will not be with us for long so I was so relieved to hear Randy was our man.  He knows us, remembers my baptism and will probably be instrumental in our children's faith as the DCE of the youth for many years to come.

The service was beautiful, the music was touching and Alyssa was baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of Holy Spirit in my arms as I fought back tears of JOY.  Kyle and Sheri are her sponsors and I know that she will be prayed over and remembered by both of them as she grows up.  She received a very special blanket from the church and The Beginners Bible which is tradition.  Pictures afterwards were a blur as I felt like I was floating somewhere between 1982 and the present pondering how fast time flies and how very thankful and lucky I am to be part of something so stable and present as my family is to us.  Derrick and I had also noticed a piece of black paper or something float from the ceiling of the church during the service and when we looked at eachother and smiled we both thought it was Papa Bob letting us know he was there, smiling over our daughter and telling us how  beautifully and wonderfully made she is.

We ended the morning with pizza at Davannis, a great cake made by my dear friend Jen and a sense of completion.  We were a family of four and it makes my heart sing.

Thank you so much to Kyle and Sheri for accepting Alyssa as your Godchild.  It makes us immensely proud to see her in your arms and we know she is in good hands.

"Let the children come to me and do not stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."  Mark 10:14

She is so precious in His sight and ours.

Just the 2 of us.

Riley always needs to be included in the picture taking and he is such a natural in front of the lens that I don't usually fight him about it.  Here's a few keepers from today.

Yep, he's picking his nose.  Nice.

They are crazy about each other.  

Lyssa Lu: 2 months old

This last weekend our little Lu Lu turned 2 months old!  She is such a joy to be around and lights up when you talk to her!  We are truly enjoying everything she does including her first big giggles (of course she was laughing at Daddy because he is the funniest says Riley) and her sleeping pattern...

She has finally started going to bed a bit earlier like 10:30-11:15ish and then she is sleeping through until about 6:00-6:30 when she gets up to eat quick and then goes right back to sleep until about 10:00-11:00.  Now that she is a bit older she doesn't take so long to eat, doesn't poop every diaper and her melatonin has kicked in regulating her sleep pattern which has been glorious!  I should mention that she has been sleeping in her carseat in her crib though because of colds and well because that is what has worked to get her to sleep for 5-6 hours in a row and you will do just about anything to get a few hours of sleep!  She saw the Dr on Monday though and he recommended that we do what we need to do but to also start seeing if she would adjust to sleeping without her carseat and last night after she couldn't fall asleep I decided to see how she would do and I was shocked when she feel asleep on her back and slept until 5:55!  Yay baby girl!  Your somewhat rested parents thank you enormously!

So at 2 months her is a look at Lyssa.

She is wearing size 1 diapers.
She is starting to laugh and giggle.
She is eating every 5-6 hours a good 3-4 ozs.
She is sleeping through the night, hopefully without the help from her carseat!
She is now 11 lbs 11ozs.  (Riley at 2 month was 12 lbs 9 ozs.)
She is 22 1/4 inches long.
She is almost always chewing on her fists which is usually a trait of 3-4 month old babies but she has gnawing away for weeks now and it's probably cause she isn't a huge nuk fan.
She is still struggling with an eye infection and the tail end of cold she inherited from Riley.
She will follow you around the room and smile brightly at you when you look at her or talk to her.
She loves to be outside.
She will sit contently while I do housework as long as she can see me.
She is super happy in the morning when she finally wakes up and all the wants to do is kick her chunky legs and smile at you.  She doesn't even need to eat right away cause all she wants to do is coo and smile.

D joked that she has made him 'soft.'  I gently reminded him that he has never really been hard but it is true that having a little girl has made all 3 of us a little 'softer.'  I could just stare at her all day long, Riley melts when she smiles at him and Daddy's heart breaks when she is sick/crying/or gives him the big lip.  D has always been a little over-protective when it came to Riley but I think we are all going to see a whole new level of protectiveness now that Lyssa is here!

Riley and I took her to the Dr appt on Monday and she did great but was so sad about the shots.  For a good hour afterwards she would spontaneously stop smiling, look at me, give me a huge sad lip and then start crying the saddest sobs ever.  Eventually she feel asleep but woke up flushed, hot and seriously unhappy.  She then proceeded to cry almost non-stop for a good 3 hours and I felt horrible for her.  You could tell she was seriously uncomfortable and I couldn't do anything to help her until I discovered taking her outside where she finally fell asleep and slept off the icky shot side-effects for a solid 3 hours.  Poor baby, poor Mommy and poor Daddy who fretted all afternoon about her.  Tuesday morn she woke up after 9 hours of solid sleep like a new little lady and she has been fine ever since.

Happy 2 months Baby Girl!