Thursday, September 5, 2013

These Days...

Hello!

Long time no post. I look back to when Lily was a baby and I see that I posted almost daily, sometimes twice a day. But then...well...life got busy. But out of no where, I find myself with three hours to my self most afternoons. Now that we have settled into our routine, I am committed to posting more often, even if only for myself!

We had a great summer, filled with hiking and exploring, getting to know our new state, going to the pool, and even our first camping trip. Like real camping...no facilities, though there was a nice "potty log". The girls did great and we had a lot of fun. We froze at night! Camping in Colorado is not the same as camping in Illinois in August. In Illinois you worry about whether it will be too stifling in the tent to sleep. In Colorado, as I learned, you need many, many layers of blankets and clothing! At 8500 feet it can easily get into the 30s. I thought I had us well bundled the first night, but I was so wrong! The second night was much better, thanks to extra blankets, an extra layer of clothing, and I think Mother Nature took mercy on us. With that in mind, we are hoping for one more camping trip in the next couple weeks before it is just too cold at night. I love the culture of outdoorsy-ness here! Hiking, biking, camping...next weekend we are hoping to even try our hands at paddle boarding. And I am "training" for the Hot Chocolate 5K that is a month away. I have been running 2-3 times a week for the past 8 weeks or so and am slowly improving. I have no illusions I will be able to run the whole thing, as my normal route is about 2.9 miles and I can't run all of it, but I am getting better. I have good days and bad days. My goal is to run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but honestly almost every week one day doesn't happen. I get up and run before Matt goes to work and I hate getting out of bed. I don't mind the run, just the getting up part! I also go to yoga on Tuesdays and sometimes Fridays and do some upper body strength training on Thursdays. The schedule works pretty well. The weekends are reserved for a bike ride or family hike or just whatever. If I could only kill my sweet tooth, I would be in great shape!

Lily started kindergarten two weeks ago. She is doing the half day program and has afternoons. I won't lie, I totally teared up the first day dropping her off. It is such a mix of emotions. She was very nervous and I was nervous for her. New school, doesn't know anyone. In the end these weren't issues. I picked her up and she didn't want to go home. The only negative thing she has had to say about school is that it is too short. The school does offer an extended day program, but full day costs $300 a month, and that is just not in the budget! She is making lots of friends and learning a ton. Her teacher is very sweet. I went to the curriculum night and then the PTO meeting the other night and I think that is when our new reality really sunk in! I have a child in school! For the next 13 years, Lily will go to school every day. Hopefully she will go to the same school for the next 6 years. The friends she makes, and the other parents I talk to, will be somewhat consistent in the years to come. Lily went to two different pre-schools, and therefore had different friends at school the past two years. She is hopefully making some life long friends. Or at least some good friends that will last through the coming years. I am so proud of my baby! It is hard to let her go, but I know this is how it is supposed to be. At drop off you can tell which parents are dropping off their oldest. We are the ones that hover a bit after the teacher has ushered our babies into the classroom. I'm sure as the year goes on, we will hover less, but for now we all seem to stand there, still slightly amazed at how fast the last five years have gone.
Margie is a month shy of her two year birthday, but already we are well into the "terrible twos"! These are fairly new to us, as Lily never really went through them. I try not to compare my children, but Matt and I probably look at each other ten times a day and utter "Lily never did this!" Between climbing everything, getting into the fridge or pantry, running around, jumping on the furniture, or stripping, I can't take my eyes off her for a second, unless of course Caillou is on. And the tantrums...oh the tantrums. So far they have mostly been confined to home, but I am not holding my breath that will remain the case. She is a ball of energy! She is constantly eating, going into the fridge or pantry and coming back with a snack she needs me to open. She is a pretty good eater, but is starting to be more picky, which is awesome because I can barely get Lily to eat anything. She sleeps pretty well. Her language is exploding! Her newest thing is asking "why?" whenever I tell her to do something. She can count to nine. She is very concerned for others. If I stub my toe or even if she hears me make some sort of noise for the other room, she will come running and ask "K mama? K?" If you ask her something, she is likely to respond with "mmhmm, sure". It cracks us up. About half the time she insists on walking (as opposed to riding in the stroller) on the way to school, wearing her back pack. She charms all the other parents at pick up and drop off. She wants to do whatever her big sister does and just idolizes Lily. She is also fiercely independent, insisting "self!" at the most inopportune times. But she is also my snuggle bug that must be touching me almost all the time! She crawls into my lap often and many times will just walk over and want to be picked up and hugged for a second. But she has no problem going into the childcare at the gym, running in, looking back and me and waving, saying "bye mama, soon!" as in "see ya soon". I adore this little girl so much!
Both girls start gymnastics tomorrow. I was lucky to be able to get them into classes at the same time. The are both in the same area, but Lily's is on her own and Margie's is with a parent. I think it will be great because I can watch Lily's class while also doing something with Margie so she isn't climbing the walls. I don't know how I would entertain her otherwise! Plus she needs to get her energy out somewhere. Lily really wants to learn to do a flip. I have tried to prepare her that she likely won't be learning flips right away. We also start MOPS next week. I am alternately excited and somewhat ambivelant about MOPS. I gained so much from my previous group. And while I don't necessarily need the same kind of support I got from my old group anymore, being in a new area means there are so many things I can gain from joining. And it would be nice to make some mommy friends. I am friendly with quite a few moms of Lily's classmates, and I am also friendly with some neighbors, and I do have a good friend who lives about 30 minutes away and have hung out with or gone hiking with a number of times, but I don't have the same kind of friends I did at home. I haven't had a moms night out or met up for coffee. I don't have a book club. My old friends are still my friends and I do my best to stay in touch. On one hand, I want to make new friends, but on the other I am stubbornly telling myself I don't want someone to replace so and so, I want so and so. I need to remind myself I am not replacing my old friends and just get out there and make some new ones!
And that, in a nut shell, is what is going on these days! Life is good! I am home with my girls, walking Lily to and from school each day, which is really my dream, muddling through running a household, trying not to tear my hair out some days, relishing in this quickly passing time with my babies other days. This is so where I am supposed to be right now!

2 comments:

Jen B. said...

I can't wait to come visit you and go out for coffee! I miss our girls nights too :) The other week I said to John I wanted to go out for coffee and he told me to call someone and I said I couldn't, because she lives 1000 miles away :(

Rachel Coltharp said...

Oh how lovely the girls are! So glad you are enjoying CO.