Bonnie

For the past nine months or so, our family has been blessed with a special young lady in our lives. When I went back to work after having Addison, we decided that we wanted to have her home at least for her first year, if possible. But who could we trust our baby girl with?!?



Enter Bonnie.

She's smart.
She's fun.
She does our laundry and unloads the dishwasher.
She starts dinner for us so we can eat as a family when we all get home.

She loves our kids.
And our kids love her.








She brings me Addie at lunchtime so I can nurse and see my baby halfway through the work day.
She sends us text messages and pictures during the day of Addie.

Here's another one of Kathy and I at lunch with Addie at work - a very special time, which was possible for these past months only because Bonnie was able to bring her to see me on my lunch break.

I'm so thankful for that time.








And now our time with Bonnie on a regular basis is ending.
Addie is starting daycare in another week.
I know Addie has benefitted from the past year with Bonnie on so many levels. She's had one-on-one attention and naps in her own bed.

When I think of the transition from one to two children, I can't imagine it without Bonnie in our lives. Her positive energy and encouragement when I got discouraged, meant so much, especially after a long day of work and missing my kids.
I never worry when my children are with her and I've been blessed to have that peace of mind when I'm at work.

Addie is very sad.

Dylan is very sad.


We are ALL very sad.




What are we going to do without our Bonnie?


Thankfully, it's not really goodbye beyond her being a regular part of our routine.
She's not moving away.
We aren't going anywhere.
Bonnie will still be a part of our lives.
And certainly Ryan and I need a date night once in a while, right? ;)

First and Fourth

Just sitting here sipping a Sangria and reflecting on the kids' birthday party today.

First off, it was a success, but the morning started off with a bit of a snag. There are two gazebo pavilions you can rent at the park. I had reserved Gazebo A from 10-2. And apparently two other parties were double-booked for Gazebo B for the full day. A very crabby lady in gray-sweatpants (who will be referred to as Gray-Sweatpants from here on) approached me to ask for my paperwork, proving that I had the rights to Gazebo A.

Yeah, I had them... at home, on my desk.

So Ryan had to drive back home and get them. And meanwhile Gray-Sweatpants informed me she was calling the police to see how they wanted to divide up the 2 gazebos between all 3 groups...

Talk about stress just as our party was starting.

Later we noticed that her 'party' wasn't going to start till HOURS later. All she wanted that space for was to 'set up' - and Tinkerbell style for a toddler's party no-less. Come on people! 4 hours to setup a party?!)

Thankfully it turned out so we kept our original reserved spot and they duked out the details between themselves. I had a party to get started.

And partying we did. It was a patriotic-themed party (inspired by the fact that the 4th of July is exactly halfway between the kids' birthdays - with Addie's on the first and Dylan's on the 7th of July).
Dylan had a blast with his friends, running around with water guns decorated up with 'Cars' stickers (per his request), throwing water balloons (provided for the kids to toss at their daddys, courtesy of Kathy), drinking juice boxes, eating lots of fruit snacks and hotdogs.







Addie had fun... eating. She enjoyed strawberries, goldfish, and... her first chocolate cupcake! (Seperate post to follow with pictures of her first cake experience)


She also enjoyed the swings and watching her big brother run around with his buddies. Here she is with Christy, just after the water balloon fight.



At the end of the party, Addie was wiped out, shirtless and sticky from cupcake icing, and overdue for her afternoon nap.

Meanwhile, Dylan somehow had energy to spare. So when we got home, he unwrapped their gifts, took his bath, came along with Kathy and I to get my Saturday Flowers, the grocery store, Panera for dinner take-out (all while Addie napped), and continued to play non-stop until nearly 8pm!


That, my friends, is why this mama is drinking a Sangria at 11:05pm. ;)

First Cupcake

Surrounded by her peers, she examines said cupcake and decides how best to tackle.

She decides the frosting looks promising and takes her maiden taste.
Not bad. I think I'll have some more of that.
Is this how you do it mama?

Meanwhile, Dylan decides he'll go for the frosting first on his birthday cupcake. After all, he's a pro now that he's FOUR.

Pause for a brief moment, then back to business.


When it is all said and done, sweet Addie is a... happy, sticky mess!

Conversation With My Preschooler

Tonight after Dylan's Taekwondo class, on our way out the door, Dylan pushed his way past the adults to give his teacher a big hug. He then proceeded to invite his teacher to our house to 'see his stickers', which was pretty cute.
And on the drive home, he and I had the following conversation:

"Mommy, I want Master Johnny to come to our house."

"Dylan, that's fine, we can invite him and his family in another few weeks when we are all less busy, ok?"

"Ok, Mommy. But I want him to come not in his Taekwondo uniform. I want him to come with pants... and a shirt and... underwear."

Underwear? Dylan sure has a strict dress-code for guests at our house.

Taekwondo

Dylan started Taekwondo in an effort to help him build confidence, self-regulation, respect, and an outlet for all that massive preschool energy!

Ryan took him there last Friday and asked him if he wanted to try out a class. At first Dylan was hesitant, but then he saw a 5 year old boy sporting his green belt and Dylan quickly asked if he could do 'that' too. Explanations have been given about the ranking of belts and how it will take a lot of hard work. Dylan was on-board at least in theory.

It's been a week now and he's been to 4 classes and while he's still pretty shy, he's come out of his shell a bit more each class. The teacher (Master Johnny) is a great motivator and clearly loves the kids and his job, seeking to get to know each child and connect with them to help them open up and become both more confident and disciplined (a skill, no doubt). Dylan has become more motivated to 'earn stickers' and earn 'patches' for his uniform, even stating tonight before bed that he's going to say 'YES SIR!' nice and loud tomorrow so he can earn lots of stickers. He began asking to practice his 'tricks' before bed at night and trying out a nice loud 'yes sir' and 'hiya' in the car. He hasn't earned his first belt (white) yet, but if he gets through the first two weeks of trial classes, he'll get that and I think it will help him feel like he's accomplished something.

Last weekend there were a few behavioral issues that Dylan struggled through. It was a tough weekend. But after just a few of his classes, I think he's gaining a sense of control over himself and it's showing in his behavior at home too. With a lot of changes going on at home with Ryan's new job and figuring out how to carve out family-time while Ryan is working longer hours, I understand that some of his acting out is a part of Dylan processing all that and being a preschooler too. Yet, I think that having an outlet for his energy, learning new tools for self-regulation, developing a sense of accomplishment, learning about respect and discipline, and having rewards for hard work and effort outside of our home, is all going to be VERY good for Dylan this year.

Hi-Ya!



Here is a video of Dylan at his first class last weekend. Notice how he keeps looking back to us for direction and reassurance? Poor kid, just didn't know what to do, but wanted to stay in the class. He did a lot of standing there, taking it all in that first day. Another mom told me that her son burst into tears his first class because it was so overwhelming for him. I guess Dylan staying in the class and not running back towards us was a good sign.
He's done a bit more each time he's gone now. I'll post another video when I get more clips.

Aunt Mimi

Aunt Mimi (Ryan's sister) came to visit us when she was in California 2 weeks ago.

These days it's pretty hard to get a good picture of Dylan. This one of him and his Aunt Mimi turned out pretty nice. You can tell he loved having her here.

Gymnastics Boy

Splish Splash

Last time we were down in San Diego, the kids got some nice pool-time in. It's no secret that Dylan loves his grandparent's pool - he asks nearly everyday when we are going back to Football Nama's house. But now the cats out of the bag... Addie loves it too!
I love her little bathing suits (she has two of them). She wasn't too keen on the matching hat, but I was able to keep it on long enough for a picture or two.
Dylan in his own little heaven Football Nama's pool!

You see a bear?

Dylan talked on the phone today with his cousins, Andrew and Dominick. Andrew is just 3 months older than Dylan and their conversation cracked me up. Dylan's comments seemed to be on repeat, because the conversation was circular like the skit 'Who's on First':
______________________

Dylan: "We are besiding if we are going to come to Candyhouse's house or not. We may come and we may not. But we are besiding right now."

PAUSE.

Dylan: "Ohhh! You see a bear?"

PAUSE.

Dylan: "No. I mean, Do you see a bear now there at Candyhouse's house? Do you see it?"
(I have NO IDEA what he was talking about).

PAUSE.

Dylan: "We are besiding right now if we are coming to see you up there. We might and we might not. We are besiding if we will."

PAUSE.
_____________________

All the while, I'm certain Andrew was confused with who this 'Candyhouse' lady is that Dylan kept referring to and what 'besiding' really meant. Poor Andrew. Dylan's new word is 'besiding' despite our correcting him that it is DEciding. And he calls my mom 'Candyhouse Nandma' whereas Andrew calls her Grandma. Too funny.

And during this conversation Ryan and I were searching for flights for the kids and I to visit my parents up in Oregon later on in August. We eventually got some and the trip is set. I'm excited about spending some time up there with the kids again this year. I hear that August is a beautiful time of year up on the lake.

I think that Dylan was pretty confused with our talking about flights and such, because he refused to take off his shoes later this evening, saying he wanted to keep them on for the plane trip to Oregon. And he got his backpack all emptied out so he could start packing up snacks for him and Addie. It took a long explanation with the calendar to convince him to finally take off his shoes before dinner tonight. Poor kid.

Kids. Gotta love them.

Chatty Addie

Addie is definitely a girl when it comes to language.
While Daddy was gone one night at his LSAT class, Addie practiced saying 'dada' before bed.
She was also working on her standing skills as a side act.
And I'm glad she thinks I'm as funny as I do.



Note: those pajamas are 3-6 month sized. At 10 months I am amazed she still fit into them.
With how much this girl eats, you would be amazed too!