2010 through February

The new year has been good to us so far. The girls are growing and learning and our love for each other right along with that.

We traveled to California. Steven went on business to Philadelphia for a week. Evelyn and Ivy got their first diagnosis of strep just today, which is pretty much a rite of passage in childhood. I had fun painting an old desk for the girls yesterday. We've had our fair share of colds and stomach flu for both Ivy and me at separate times. We just took down our artificial Christmas tree today, an inadvertent record for us. Our dog is ever faithful and turning white on her face. Our cat insists on escaping out the front door whether or not there's a snowstorm blowing outside.

I am in the beginning phases of night-weaning Ivy and am seeing good results already. She literally was nursing up to a dozen times a night the past few months and I can't put up with that any longer. She's being a trooper about it, if you look past the massive tantrums of kicking and hair pulling that happen in the middle of the night. I am hopeful!

Evelyn is getting really good at writing all of her letters and is liking numbers and addition right now. Playing with her neighbor friends is her biggest daily goal, which she pursues in earnest. We are trying to figure out how to handle her education as she'll be a kindergartner in the fall. Yikes! I don't know how we got here already! We've put in applications at local charter schools and are considering that option or perhaps tackling her education ourselves at home.

I turned 31 this month and enjoyed going out to dinner with Steven and spending time with our girls. I got a great new camera, which I am hoping to put into good use.

Of course there are a million little details, but in all their sum equates a good life, a blessed life with daily challenges and frustrations which are only outnumbered by sweet kisses, goofy laughter, friendship and a good sense of how humbling it is to have this.

2010 Los Angeles

We were able to go to L.A. in January with Steven as he traveled for business. Included were a couple nights at a posh hotel right across from the beach in Santa Monica and free tickets to Disneyland!! We had a great time there, even though it was a very rainy and cold day. Each of us can't wait to go back, though. I was happily surprised at how enchanting of a place it really is.

Another highlight of the trip was being able to spend time with one of our oldest and dearest friends, Aaron. The girls loved him. Even an apprehensive Ivy was won over after a short while. We were delighted to get some hours with him in our presence, but miss him all the more!

Traveling is one of our favorite things by far and we haven't had much opportunity as of late. It was so refreshing to get out of town and see new sights. The girls were great about all of it, too! I am hoping we'll be able to go on a little adventure again sometime soon.

autumn

Life has been good for us this autumn. Busy and full. We've met new friends, we're changing and venturing out to do things out of our comfort zone, which has been really rewarding. I have been feeling more creative lately, which is so refreshing to me. Steven is busy with his job and I am constantly impressed with his work ethic and integrity. And, he's entirely handsome, so I think I have it pretty good there:)
Evelyn has been a joy to be around. I look at her every day and think how amazing she is. She says the funniest things all the time and has a crazy vocabulary for a 4-year-old, if I may say so. Sometimes it really cracks us up. She has made lots of new friends recently and has been a super big sister. I feel a rekindling of our closeness lately, something that having a new baby takes a long time to restore and I am cherishing it.
Ivy is trying out more and more words, which is fun. She is SUCH a little mommy. She loves her 'beebee' dolls and is constantly picking them up and kissing them on the forehead. She's very sweet with them. She gives me a multitude of kisses and hugs and saying, "i yuuuvvv" as an i-love-you. She also mimics many things I do, both good and bad, which is really amusing. I often find her standing next to me with her arms crossed and forehead furrowed while I'm concentrating on something. It's very cute indeed. I am loving motherhood more than I ever have and consider that a tremendous gift. The gifts we have received in this life so far have already exceeded that of many lifetimes.