Saturday, August 29, 2009

Things are going to pick up soon. Samantha starts school in a week and a half. We're excited and ready for the new year. Today we're going shoe shopping. She's outgrown all of her shoes. A few weeks ago she got to go back-to-school shopping for the first time. She loved all the new clothes. I've had to keep them out of reach for the most part.

We have a new digital piano, which everyone seems to enjoy. I want to start taking lessons and I think Samantha will want to as well. Most piano teachers don't start taking students until they're 5. The new pianos have an LCD display that helps teach you how to play. It's really neat.
We got to visit Kevin in San Francisco last weekend. We had a terrific time, although it was way too short. Samantha didn't let go of his hand the whole time. It was a clear and beautiful day. We can't wait to go back and play some more.
I thought I'd leave you with a video of the girls having a giggle fit. They're dancing to their favorite Ray Charles song Busted.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Alyssa is learning to sing . . . first it started with M-I-C-K-E-Y and now she's moved on to show tunes: Hairspray. She knows the rhythm well and can pick up in the middle of the song. And, not unlike Samantha, she loves those big finishes. Al and I get a kick out of it.

We've finished the arbors in the backyard. Just in time too, the trumpet vine is 9 feet long. Now all major outdoor projects are done until Al gets his built-in barbecue. I'm dying to plant some new flowers, but I'll have to wait until late September's cooler weather.

Samantha loved Vacation Bible School and will be going back every year until she's too old. She loved learning and, of course, the singing. Every day before school she'd pull down the bible that she received from her preschool and "read". She'd find what she was learning about and study it. She has started praying before she goes to sleep each night--all of her own accord. She was really disappointed when it was over.

I'm back to a normal work schedule and that normal work-life thing. I'm enjoying the fact that I can actually prepare a healthy, thought-out meal for my family. Now if I could just stay awake past 9 PM then maybe I could watch a movie or read a magazine.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Teeth and more teeth. Could it get any worse? Now she's started chewing the top of the crib--not the rails. The other day Al came to me with a very happy Alyssa in his arms. There were chips of paint surrounding her mouth and on her shirt, which was covered in drool. We're past Motrin, teething swabs, ice cubes . . . just about everything.

I'm in denial. She's nearly a year and a half, but she's still my baby . . . my last baby. I'm not ready to even think about putting her in a toddler bed. I want to freeze time, except when she whines for food, and keep this tiny, soft brown head on my chest. I want slobbery kisses that taste like cherrioes and tickle fights in the living room. I want peekaboo for hours and "what dat?" every five seconds. But then I find myself wondering what she's going to be like on her first day of preschool. Is she going to cry like Samantha or is she going to run around an introduce herself to everyone? And just like with Samantha, I get to be a fly on the wall in her preschool class and watch her change before me. I get to go through all those defining moments with her, building her memories. And I'll love it even though I'll think back to those days when I used to rock her to sleep--her head on my chest and her ear pressed to my heart--because I was the only cure for a toothache.