Rest of the Thankfuls

Okay, so the weekend was crazy and I didn't get these posted.
Day 26:  I'm thankful for getting together with family and friends and eating lots of yummy food.
Day 27:  I'm thankful for finding some good deals on Christmas presents and not getting trampled at Target.
Day 28:  I'm thankful for Fiona's birthday party going well.  It seemed like she had a lot of fun, even though the pinata ended up terrifying her.  I still can't believe my baby is 2.
Day 29:  I'm grateful that my girls have lots of grandparents/aunts/uncles/friends to spoil them rotten.  They sure do love each and every one of them.
Day 30:  I'm thankful that all of Fiona's new birthday toys kept her and Miss G very occupied all day long.  Ahh, peace and quiet.
Tuesday:  I'm thankful all the things in my life that I still take for granted and anything else I forgot about.

Happy Birthday to my big 2 Year Old!

Dear Fiona,

Another year has flown by.  You are such a big girl these days.  I still remember how tiny you were just 2 years ago. 

We've both learned and grown a lot since this picture of us.  You have taught me as much as I have taught you.  I've learned more patience.  I've learned that if something small is missing the first place to check is the VCR.  I've learned all the words to lots of Wiggles and VeggieTales songs.  I've learned that naps are wonderful and should not be taken for granted.

You have had a busy year learning all kinds of new things too.  You love to dance, run, jump, climb, throw, kick, or do anything physically active.  You especially love to sing and we have used that to teach you lots of new words.  You have well over 100 signs, but are still catching up with your speaking.  Ring-around-the-rosy and the "apple song" are your favorites and we sing them hundreds of times every day. 

You also really love to read books.  Mommy is very grateful for your love of reading because it is the only time of the day when you will sit still for 5 minutes.  Your favorite book for the last few months has been Giraffes Can't Dance. 

On top of all your learning and growing this year, you became a big sister.  You are such a great big sister!  You are very gentle with your "Issy".  You like to give her hugs and kisses and show her toys.  If Callie cries you bring her blanket or pacifier to her.  We had a few bumpy days, but you have adapted to our new normal wonderfully.

You are my silly girl.  I love your sense of humor and you love making us laugh.  You keep us giggling.  You also keep us on our toes.  Mommy is always Fiona-proofing.  Everytime I find something that works to keep you out of unsafe things, you find a way to undo it. 

You love to dress up these days.  Most days you insist on wearing your "kirs" and "i's" (skirts and tights) or pretty "ows" (bows).  Such a girly girl sometimes.

Fiona, this year has been so much fun and you are such a blessing to your Daddy and Mommy.  We love you very much and are excited to see how much you learn and grow in the next year.

Thankful for the Kindness of Strangers

Today I'm thankful for the kindness of strangers.  Yesterday, I was taking Fiona to her 2 year checkup.  I was running late, so decided to take the Honda because I didn't have time to switch the cars around.  I noticed the gas tank was really low, so planned to stop on the way, since the gas station is all but about 8-9 blocks from our house.  As I was turning onto a busy street the car sputtered and died.  I did manage to get it over to the side of the road.  It of course was freezing cold and I was still 3 blocks away from the gas station.  I assessed the situation and basically decided all I could do was grab Fiona, the diaper bag, and try to run up to the gas station.  By that point Fiona was flipping out and it was much colder than I had originally thought.  Thankfully, several people stopped and offered to help.  One nice lady with a carseat loaded us up and drove us the rest of the way to the gas station and then a nice man grabbed a gas can and pumped some gas for me and then the lady drove me back to my car and stayed to make sure that I got the car started and to the gas station.  I could not say thank you enough to that lady who helped me out, even though it made her late to work.  It was a very helpless feeling, but thanks to some very kind strangers the situation turned out just fine.

Day 22 and Day 23

Day 22:  I'm thankful that it was Nathan that was giving Fiona a bath when she pooped in the tub for the first time.  I'm really amazed we went almost a whole 2 years without that happening.  Nathan has come so far.  He used to almost throw up at the thought of spit up, now he cleans poop out of the tub without even complaining too much :)
Day 23:  I'm thankful for 2 healthy, growing girls.  Each girl had a doctor's appointment and are looking great.  Callie is 14 lbs 4 oz, 18th percentile for weight; and 26.75 inches, 85th percentile for height.
Fiona is 23lb 2 oz, 13th percentile; and 33.25 inches, 34rd percentile for height.

6 Months

Wow! It is hard for me to believe that half a year has flown by since Calina was born.  My smiley girl does something new every day.  She is quite the mover now.  Between rolling and scooting she gets exactly where she is trying to go, which is usually wherever Fiona is at.  She's also already getting up on her knees, so I feel that crawling really isn't far off. 

 Callie isn't as good of a sleeper as she used to be.  She's still a decent sleeper though, so I'm not complaining.  She has decided she likes to rub silky blankets on her face while she falls asleep and this is usually how she ends up.

 Calina can now sit up unassisted for a couple of minutes now.  She also got her first taste of real food the other day.  Mommy shared some of her avocado and Callie loved it.  She ate about a tablespoon and screamed when we wouldn't feed her anymore.  She's very ready to eat, but we have held off trying to let her little tummy mature longer.  We'll have to go a little slower with starting solids and be very vigilant about checking labels. 
I love Callie's personality.  She is just such a super sweetie.  I can't wait to see more of her personality as she grows.  Happy 6 months, Callie!!



I'm Thankful for my Mommy

I'm thankful for my Mommy who is doing extra work to make sure that I get to eat yummy stuff on Thanksgiving too.  I was worried that I would be missing out on a lot of the food because it wouldn't be safe for me to eat, but she's going to use safe ingredients and make stuffing from scratch so I get to eat some too.  Mommies are the best :)  Thank you, Mom!  I love you!!

Day 19 and 20

I didn't get around to blogging yesterday.  So today I'll do 2.
19:  I'm thankful that Callie bug seems to be feeling much better after the grilled cheese incident on Monday (Her sister fed her a piece of her lunch when I wasn't looking, which led to tummy aches and tears all week.)
20:  I'm thankful we got to do pictures with Kim again and we got some cute ones :)

Day 18 of Being Thankful

I'm thankful for the little people hugs and kisses that I get every day.  I love all the spontaneous cuddles, even if it only lasts a second or two.

Thankful for Water

Today, I'm very greatful that we have water and indoor plumbing.  Yesterday, there was a water main break 3 houses down.  We were without water a long time.  I eventually gave up and we camped at my parents' house for part of the day.   I tend to forget to be greatful for thing like being able to turn the faucet on and have clean water come out.  Thank God for indoor plumbing.

Naps!

I'm immensely grateful that on most days all 3 girls nap at the same time (hopefully, I'm not jinxing it).  It has taken some work, and it doesn't happen every day, but it is so peaceful for 20-30 minutes.  As much as I love those girls, it is nice to have some grown-up time or to take a nap myself.  You will never appreciate the peace and quiet as much as you do after spending an entire morning with toddlers :)

Little Friends

I'm thankful that Fiona and Miss G have become such good buddies.  They are toddlers so they do have their moments where they don't share well, but for the most part they are so sweet with each other.  They play games together, share toys, and like to dance together.  I'm thankful that they play so well together and that they are learning to share and be nice to others.

(I had a cute video of them doing ring-around-the-rosy together, but it won't upload right.)

Day 14

I'm thankful that I discovered that I really enjoy cooking.  I used to hate to cook and really dreaded dinner time.  I'm not going to lie, we ate out a lot.  Then we figured out that Callie was milk/soy intolerant and I had to radically change the way that I approached meal times.  In the process of figuring out what I could/couldn't eat and reading lots of MSPI blogs/recipes, I found a love of cooking.  I actually look forward to dinner time (well the cooking part, not the children melting down part) because cooking has become a stress reliever for me.  I enjoy reading cooking blogs and trying out new recipes or trying to adapt old recipes to make them safe.  It probably wouldn't have happened (or at least not for awhile) if Callie hadn't been MSPI.  I guess there was a silver lining after all.

Day 13 of Being Thankful

I'm thankful for bedtime storytime.  I'm thankful to have at least one small period of time each day where Fiona likes to sit and snuggle with her Mommy.  The rest of the day she is going, going, going.

Day 12 of Being Thankful

Today, I'm thankful for coffee.  Wonderful, warm coffee filled with caffeine.  It warms me up on chilly mornings and helps me keep up with my early bird toddler, who seriously never stops moving.

Giving Thanks Day 11

I'm thankful Nathan got home safely from his business trip. The girls were both so excited to see him and Fiona was bouncing off the walls.  We love and missed him :)

Giving Thanks in November

I stole this idea from a few other people.  I'm going to try and post one thing I'm thankful for every day in November.  Since, I'm starting a little late, I'll post several today to catch up.

1. I'm thankful for Nathan working hard so that I get to stay home with our girls.

2. I'm thankful for a house to live in, a warm bed to sleep in (when the girls let me), and food to eat.

3. I'm thankful for 2 beautiful, healthy, smart little girls.

(Here they are in their Halloween costumes. I love how they turned out.)

4. I'm thankful for living close to family, so the girls get to see their Nana, Papa, Grandma, Grandpa,  aunts and uncles often.

5. I'm thankful that Nathan does not travel regularly for work, because this week has been very hard.  The girls had colds, were teething, and basically haven't slept in days.  My hat is off to all you single parents and parents who have spouses that travel or are deployed.

6. I'm thankful for good friends.

7. I'm thankful that I'm not pregnant right now, so I can have a glass of wine at the end of a long hard day.

8. I'm thankful that Nathan's business is going really well. Sometimes it's hard to remember to be thankful, since it means he works very long hours.

9. I'm amazingly thankful that the girls slept better last night because I was very close to having a meltdown from sleep deprivation.

10. Lastly, I'm thankful that the window wasn't closed on the side screendoor on Monday.  After putting Fiona in the house and turning to get Callie unbuckled Fiona locked the screendoor and shut the heavy door, locking me out of the house.  I had to punch the screen out to unlock the screen and get in the house.  I'm very glad that the window wasn't closed or that would have been much harder to do.