answered prayers

today our prayers were answered. since mya was a few weeks old, she has had cafe au lait spots on her back and under her left arm. on their own, they are nothing, but they are one symptom of a disease called NF. this is a major disease--cysts form, learning disabilities, vision difficulties, etc. our pediatrician has never been very concerned as mya is doing well and there isn't anything that can be done at this point regardless if a diagnosis is made or not. she did recommend a referral to a pediatric dermatologist to get an initial check, so the monitoring process can begin. after a long six month wait, that appointment was today. dr. burnett was awesome. she was patient, answering each and every question, explaining Mya's birthmarks (which are considered 'segmented cafe au lait macule'), the connection to NF and one other potential disease (mccune albright syndrome). currently, mya shows no signs of either disease and is exhibiting normal growth and development. she basically ruled out both diseases. we will continue to monitor for changes and take her back for a check up in 2 years. if other cafe au laits appear, she will go back in 1 year. today we are optimistic, thankful and truly blessed that our prayers have been answered.

truly a new englander

Claire enjoyed her first fluffernutter sandwich this morning. She was a bit hesitant to try the  New England delicacy, but succomed to it's goodness. It was a hit.

Thankful

I am thankful. Very thankful. As we embrace Thanksgiving, I find myself thinking of the gifts in my life. Life is far from perfect--marriage is difficult, motherhood is trying and successfully blending the two is the ultimate challenge, but I wouldn't change a thing. God has a plan for each of us, which has given me faith to push the bad and focus on the good. I have an incredible family who will tell it like it is, supports me in ways I didn't know I needed, and drops everything and anything to help me. Chris is a great husband and partner. We work hard on our marriage, working to be a team, and maintaining focus on our future goals, Our marriage needs constant checking and adjusting, and although it could probably use more attention than it is getting in the midst of our craziness, Chris and I have successfully established our team. We work hard to provide a united front to our children, make decisions as a couple and prioritize our togetherness as a family. We do most things together and we like it like that. He is loving, supportive, knows what I am going to say before I say it, listens to my complaints, offers advice at the right time, and is an incredible Daddy who is a hero to our children. In our girls' eyes, Chris can truly do no wrong. Of course he is far from perfect (I'm sure he'd disagree ;), but he is open to change. I think that quality is the one I am most thankful for today. However, Claire and Mya are the center of my thankfulness this Thanksgiving. During each difficult moment that we've encountered this past year, our girls have kept me going. Claire was a fabulous distractor when Chris was/is away, she is senstive, loving, funny, gentle, innocent and too darn smart for her own good. It is as if there is a 10 year old trapped inside her little body--ok, maybe not 10 as she can't multiply yet, but you get the point. She is wise beyond her years. As we get to know Mya, she is more of the same. She is laid back, loving, curious, funny, and all things good. Having children fills a place in my heart that I didn't even know was empty. They have given my life purpose. They are the most incredible gift. I love our babies far more than I ever thought I could. Each second, minute, hour, day with them is one I cherish. I could go on and on about my love for my family. I feel so blessed as I know not everyone feels this way about their own. I have a similar love and appreciation for my friends, both new and old. I am not one to have volumes of friends. I just don't roll like that. I prefer to have a handful of great friends from each chapter in my life. Great friends are those who I can talk to everyday or once a year and it is like we've never been apart. I am fortunate to have those friends. They are truly blessings from God. I am thankful for other things...great health, our house, food, my job, Chris' job, our babysitter who loves our children like her own, etc., but my family & friends are my everything. They truly are what makes my world go round. So with that, you know who you are---my friends new and old and my family, I love you. Thank you for all you give me each and everyday.

A week in review.

Chris left for DC on Monday only to head to Ohio on Tuesday and return home on Wednesday. After spending a week and a half alone this month, I am ready for him to be home for awhile. However, I do not have any power as he is scheduled to leave again in a couple of weeks.

I ordered a new blog design. Kathy at the Modern Polka Dot does an amazing job, and I cannot wait to see what she has made just for us.

Claire experienced her first little bout with the flu. It was a long night filled with crying, fevers and vomitting, but she seems to be on the mend after a few hours of cuddling and princess fruit snacks. Behold the healing power of Princess fruit snacks. They are awesome :)

Chris, being the petri dish that he is, has managed to catch another bug. He, for the fifth time this fall, is congested with a sore throat. He is off to get his crazy medicine again despite my urging to get a real medicine.

I am enjoying the smell of sweet potatoes roasting in the oven. I may be crazy, but I am actually going to try making Mya's babyfood. We'll see how it goes as I have a more refined plan than when Claire was a baby.

I guess that is it for the week wrap up. We're looking forward to a weekend of relaxation and hanging out.

who doesn't like a deal??

my recent thing as i try to find that perfect gift for everyone on my list is to do so without sending us to the poor farm. one way i've managed to do a bit of saving is by following a few great blogs.
stretchingabuckblog.com
thefrugalgirls.com
2 great sites that have helped us save a bit...
UP movie for $2--reg. $15
Tag reading system for $19.99--reg. $39.99

i love a good deal almost as much as I like winning.

It's beginning to look a lot like.....Christmas??? Already.

Christmas is huge. It is tied to many, many fabulous traditions and memories from my childhood. I love, love, love Christmas. Everything about it has me smitten for the occasion--sparkly lights, glitter, blown glass ornaments, Christmas carolers, Snow Villages, the angel collection, snow, cold weather to curl up under a blanket, candlelight service, Christmas carols. All of it. I. love. Christmas. We've lived here four years and the ornaments and beautiful Snow Villages that Chris and I have eagerly purchased in anticipation of our future Christmas' together have sat in their boxes, untouched. Let's face it. We have a crazy life. Crazy busy, crazy chaotic. We travel to spend Christmas with my family every year. It is our one holiday with them. I get so excited at just the thought of seeing my parent's BEEEAAUUTIFULLLL tree--entirely full of blown glass ornaments or Hallmark treasures with a TON of lights. It is gorgeous. The rest of the house is beautiful too, in all it's Christmas glory, but the tree is awesome. The part I love the most about the tree are the memories tied to each ornament. ANYWAY, back to my point. With our travel schedule, it hardly seemed worth it to put up the decor for two weeks of enjoyment. However, children change everything. Chris and I have worked hard to develop our traditions and memories as we have purchased our own Christmas decorations (many bought by me before there was an "us," but with the same dream). I looked forward to the day when I could pull out "Our First Christmas" ornament or "Baby's First Christmas" or our first Snow Village we bought when we were anticipating our life as a newly married couple. Sadly, these memories in boxes have stayed tucked away until now. I decided this was the year that we would get the full enjoyment from our tree. We'd have to start early, so this weekend was it. We pulled out the boxes upon boxes of decor, ordered Chinese food (our favorite) and Chris turned on some Christmas music. It was quite a production.Claire was in heaven. She did so well, handling every ornament (not many kid friendly ornaments as each one costs a pretty penny, but she was oh so gentle), occasionally bringing an especially sparkly one over to show Mya. She sweetly said, "See Mya? Christmas." It was perfect. It is done. The tree is up, our Snow Village collection is displayed (we actually forgot we had so many as we've never seen them displayed) and the stockings are hung with the garland. I couldn't be happier. The house is so beautiful and our Christmas tradition has been born. Oh yes, one more thing to remember...personally thank my Mom who kindly bought us not one but two of those singing Hallmark toys. Claire is a huge fan and is quickly learning  exactly what the Santa is saying--"Remember the spirit of Christmas lasts all year long!!" Perhaps an appropriate thank you is bringing one of those toys with us to their house. Hmmmm....

just like....

A flash of white, a bit of skin, could it be--Papa's twin??

claire stripped down to her tighty whiteys tonight. not sure what the appeal, but she enjoyed prancing around in nothing but her little undies and boots. it was pretty much adorable.

6 months

 Wow, I can't believe i am writing this post already--6 months?? really?? in some ways it feels like just yesterday we were snuggling Mya in the hospital and in other ways, it feels as though she's been here forever. she is such a little blessing. mya has had quite an eventful month. she's had her first taste of rice cereal, rolled from her back to her front and not long after that, began to sit independently. she is on a roll. my friend alison told me about her son, who is the same age as Mya, loving the johnny jumper, so i picked one up. mya really likes it too. i think it gives her a sense of freedom being able to move sde to side vs. just up and down. she still likes the supersaucer as well as her baby einstein activity mat. she enjoys sitting in the bumbo for short periods of time, but much less than claire did. mya continues to be in love with her big sister. i mean head over heels, completely smitten with her. in mya's eyes, claire can do no wrong. she can bump her, take her toy, smother her with kisses, give her hugs that make her topple over, whatever it is, claire can do it and mya will love it. claire is truly a great big sister. she talks to mya in the sweetest little voice and is the first to respond to any noise mya should utter. if mya needs her paci, claire is there. claire has even fed mya a few spoonfuls of cereal, which they both enjoy. i am so thrilled with their obvious love for each other. i couldn't have planned it any better. mya is wearing 6 month clothing. she is a big girl, not fat, but just big. she seems much longer and more solid than claire was at her age. they are so similiar but so different. love that too. mya has such a huge smile. it is so adorable. she is beginning to giggle at peek a boo and will uncover herself to play her role in the game. in the past week or so, mya has discovered her voice. she is talking, talking, talking. i guess it is babbling, although the consonants are much fewer than the vowels at this point. she is interested in everything. mya is easily entertained by anything she can get her hands on. she much prefers sitting up vs. laying down. we've been trying to improve her sleep patterns a bit, so we swaddle her. this is working a bit better, although she still is waking every 5 hours or so. it seems to come and go. mya has officially grown out of her bassinet, so is sleeping in between chris and i. we tried to move her to her crib, but decided it was better to keep her in our bed for the time being. we'll make that transition in a few months. i stopped nursing mya at 5 1/2 months and when we empty our milk supply in the basement freezer, she will begin drinking formula full-time. she is a picky one. she doesn't like similac formula, which i happen to have a ton of coupons and checks for, but will drink enfamil. we'll go with that. just glad we found one that pleases her. she is alot like claire in that way. she likes what she likes and wants what she wants when she wants it. mya has already taken 2 airplane rides and will fly again to north dakota over the holidays. she is a great little baby just kicking back and going with the flow. we truly couldn't ask for better and love every minute that she is in our lives. the past 6 months have been filled with their share of hills and valleys, but now that we have each other figured out, the valleys are few and far between. we can't wait to see what the next 6 months bring.

she's only 2...

i knew this time would come, but didn't expect it to be at the age of 2. i am not sure what we expected, giving a 2 year old a scissors. i guess i got wrapped up in the greatness of claire holding the scissors CORRECTLY and even opening and closing them to actually CUT, that it got the best of me. i know, jessica, you are impressed, right?? i mean, she's 2!! pretty good. anyway, we have a mantra of sorts at our house..."we only cut paper, not sophie's tail, not mya's toys, not the wrapper of the crayons. we only cut paper." (all things that she has attempted to trim). obviously, claire failed to receive the message as she. did. it. she cut her hair. i could have died. we have worked so hard on growing out her hair that she has never had a haircut. until tonight. luckily, the damage wasn't too bad. no, there won't be a flowergirl with a mohawk walking down the aisle at jessica and nate's wedding, but claire does have a few little bangs. what a kid. curiosity definitely got the best of her this time, but i don't think she actually GETS it. she is afterall, only 2. i should have recognized the sign from God when the hats I ordered for the girls appeared in the mail today. needless to say, Claire may be looking like this for awhile. still so adorable with or without the hair.

funny stuff

Ok, Chris didn't think I should post this, but this is a journal of our life with kiddos. I am trying desperately to document the cute, funny things, so I must include the following. Chris is pretty private at least in one aspect of his life. From the time Claire was born, he wouldn't change his clothes in the same room as her, let her into the bathroom while he was using it not to mention showering. Anyway, Claire is constantly asking what things are, much beyond basic objects--telephone poles, satellite dishes, etc. She has also asked many questions about body parts. When I nurse Mya, she thinks I use my tummy to feed her. Fine with me. Claire moves on to Chris and points to his nipples and asks what they are, to which he responds, "those are Daddy's nipples." Great. Now she is ever so consistently pointing out "Daddy's niffles." Very cute. She has gone a step further to identify these on Mya as well as herself. She asked me just last night what they were and I responded with "Mya's chest." Nipples. What a gross word....
Onto another Claire story. In her quest of bodily discovery, Claire discovered that her Daddy has "poop" in his pants. Hmmmm. To what is she referring??? You guessed it. Chris and I laughed and laughed. The man who has made it his personal quest to keep his body private, is quickly being disovered by a two year old.

sisterly love?

I have a thing for dressing my kiddos in the same outfits. I love it. My Mom and Dad brought these adorable outfits for our girls when they visited this summer. They are so cute--both the outfits and our girls. Thanks Mom and Dad!

                             eeeww...get away.

                       you. will. like. this.

rolling, rolling, rolling

mya rolled from her back to her tummy on sunday. i noticed for the past few weeks she'd roll onto her side, so i am not convinced that this weekend was in fact her first time. however, we've been so focused on improving her torticollis and the asymmetry of her head by keeping her upright that we may have prevented her from rolling around. oh well. she is making up for lost time. the girl automatically rolls right over, which is kind of funny as she doesn't really like being on her tummy all that well.

best girl

i often tell claire she is my "best girl." yesterday morning we were getting ready for the day when claire leaned over to mya, gave her a kiss and said, "mya, you my best girl." melt my heart!!

moving on

after much deliberation, we've decided to sell our house. chris will be leaving for korea in april and this house is much to much for me to maintain by myself with two little ones in tow. given the current state of the housing market, we were prepared to have it listed for a year or so before an offer came in. we listed it last thursday and much to our shock, received an offer on monday. we countered back a couple of times, but quickly reached an agreement--full price minus a small bit of closing costs. we are thrilled that this weight will be lifted from our shoulders, but the feelings are definitely mixed. i have never worked so hard on something in my life. this house looks completely different than when we purchased it. i am very very proud of our home. it is our first home and the one where we have welcomed both of our children. it is the home where we said good bye to harvest and welcomed sophie. so many firsts have taken place under this roof. it is hard to say good bye. obviously the memories are great and we will take them with us. just as we are sad to leave, we are very excited about what lies around the corner. we've thought long and hard about what the girls and i will do while chris is in korea. we were welcomed with open arms by my parents. they'd love to love on my kiddos each and every day. i know this. however, i think it best that i stay and work in ma one more year, building up my retirement and collecting my salary. the plans are that we will travel to korea in the summer to visit chris and he'll come to the states for 30 days around christmas time. it will all work out and we'll be better and stronger as a result. so, here's to moving on..

mya and i took a little trip to montana for a wedding planning weekend with my sisters and niece. it was fun. although we almost didn't make our flight out of boston due to my miscalculations, we had a great flight. mya did well and we arrived on time. lisa and olivia came a bit later on friday afternoon. we immediately went shopping. mya made friends with everyone. she loved all the attention she received. since i can't post wedding dress photos, i'll post pictures of mya and her aunties and cousin. she made fast friends with olivia. i suggested olivia come and live with us for the summer, but she wasn't sure her daddy would agree to that idea. the offer is still open, olivia. i'd love to have you. we found a wedding dress, bridesmaid dresses, prospective flower girl dresses and a junior bridesmaid dress. it was a success. we also got to check out jess and nate's new house. it is beautiful. we are so glad that we could share this experience with them all. sad to go home, but miss my bubby, claire. it has been hard being away from her. i've never been away from her for this long. it has been hard. i am looking forward to loving on her and of course, seeing chris too.

pumpkin patch

we went hunting for pumpkins last weekend, but all we could find were some little ones. little ones that were perfect for claire. we picked out two of them and decided that we would paint them. claire had a blast and it was a perfect opportunity to work on teaching her about colors. she did great. we have a budding artist.

just like daddy

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

my recent projects

antiques are a plenty in my parents home. i grew up going to my mom's favorite antique guy, daryl and making occasional stops at "the wagon wheel." their presence in our home taught me to value and appreciate those gifts of the past. my mom and dad have given each of their children many pieces as we moved away and found places of our own. my mom and i spent many summer hours stripping, sanding, staining and varnishing each piece. she taught me well, and now i am pleased to say that i am quite good at refinishing furniture. it is a messy and tedious job, but well worth the work. each piece i hope one day my kids will appreciate and call their own. when i moved out east, i was given an antique high chair. claire used it, although i hadn't had the opportunity to refinish it. when they came this summer, they brought a second antique high chair for mya. with our impending move, i knew time was of the essence. i had to get them refinished, so i worked and worked. it was quite the challenge getting these two chairs done. i have been so tired as being a momma of two is tough. however, i did it. yahoo. the chairs are beautiful and my girls will each have a beautiful piece to share with their children.

5 months

Our sweet little babe is 5 months today. Life with her keeps getting better and better. She is so precious. Mya is captivated by everything around her. She is constantly looking around, grasping for toys, faces, hair and anything else she can get her little hands on. She giggles with a deep little giggle at Claire. The best time is bathtime. Claire will splash around and laugh, which gets Mya giggling. She definitely has a love and admiration for her big sister. I think Mya is cutting her first tooth. She has been drooling constantly for awhile now, but she has begun tugging at her ears periodically and chewing on anything she can fit in her mouth. Her sleep patterns have also taken a turn the last few nights. She is awake every two hours or so, tossing and turning. Sweet little Mya prefers to sleep on her side. I put her on her back, only to find her turned onto her side. This happens in bed as well as when she is playing. I am certain it won't be long until she rolls from back to front. Mya is wearing 6 month clothing, eating 5 ounces per feeding (combination of bottle feeding and nursing, but all momma milk), and prefers to sit in her supersaucer or lay on the floor. She has been swinging outside at daycare and loves her birdseye view of the kids playing. Mya talks and talks mostly vowelizations, but a few consonants thrown in. Mya is loved by all. Claire especially loves Mya. She finds great joy in waking her. We've been working on making the greeting "peaceful," as Claire loves to get up close and say loudly, "wake up mya!" She is getting better, but even though Mya is awoken to such a jolting tone and volume, she immediatley smiles. I think it is because she knows it is Claire. Each month is passing so quickly, but it is so exciting seeing this little delight grow and change. She is such a blessing to our family.

a work in progress

i've been tinkering (love that word--tinkering) with the blog. i've got this itch for all things requiring creativity...decorating, creating, designing. not that i am any good at any of it, but i like it. lately, it has been designing blogs. i've found some new backgrounds, uploaded some new fonts, created my very own signature and designed a header. i am loving it. i still have to do a little something special with the posting fonts, but that will come. the problem with this great infatuation with learning blog design (HTML) is that it requires time to tinker (ha. twice in one post!) however, in between rushing claire to the bathroom to pee and dealing with two sick and fussy kids, i have also become a bit under the weather myself and hence have no time to tinker. it is quite the house. let. me. tell. you. mya and i are taking a little trip next weekend. just the two of us. so it is crucial that she or we get well. sleep is in order. the problem with this idea is that we've decided to proceed with putting our house on the market. our realtor is coming tomorrow morning to take photos and complete the paperwork. i wonder what she'd think of our house in it's present state? yeah. i thought so.  i guess i better put my tinkering on hold for a bit and get cleaning i.e. disinfecting. ahhhh. breathe in breathe out. this too shall pass.

i have a lot of pictures to upload and some video too. stayed tuned...