For Your Enjoyment

As some of you may or may not have noticed I've been trying to find a new look I like. This one isn't perfect but it will have to do for now. At least it's my (and Camila's) favorite color: pink!

Camila has decided this week that she knows her colors. Or at least, most of them. She was having a little trouble with green (as you'll see) but now has it down pat. The downside is that she now is picky about which popsicle she wants.

Catching Up

Well as you can tell I was a little delirious by Friday, but I made it!

Saturday was spent playing catch-up on everything I hadn't been able to do that week AND I thought it was a week later than it was, so I thought my mom's birthday was this Friday. It's not, but I found a present anyway. (It was 6:00 Sunday night before I realized why no one had said anything about it being Palm Sunday...that would be NEXT week.)

Anyway, I may not have mentioned it but Camila is obsessed with the Wiggles (something I myself may have helped along a little). We listen to them in the car, she has Wiggles toys, we occasionally watch videos on Youtube, and she loves carrying around her Wiggles books and Wiggles DVD cases. So when we found out a local theater was going to be streaming a concert/show, her parents determined to take her to it. On Sunday afternoon, I came over after church to keep Emi while they took her to see it.

She LOVED it. They said she kept pointing to the screen and exclaiming to everyone around her, "Wiggles! Wiggles!" She came home exhausted, staying asleep as she was pulled out of the carseat (something she has never done). The next day, I asked her, "Did you see a BIG TV yesterday?"

Her eyes lit up. "Wiggles!"

"You saw the Wiggles?"

"Jeff!" (Sadly her favorite has changed from Anthony to Jeff. I am working on this.)

"And who else?"

"Pirate!"

"Captain Feathersword, the friendly pirate?! Who else?"

"Polvo!"

Not sure of the spelling, but that is the Portuguese word for octopus. It was sooo cute how she remembered it all.

It has been a busy week since then, but fairly uneventful. Today we went to the park with two of my good friends, but I took a chance and invited their mother along (Camila's and Emi's; not my friends'). I like to meet up with them at the park sometimes, but I worry that their mother will think I don't take good enough care of the girls when I'm with them or that she'll worry about who her children are around. These are actually two of my friends from the daycare. They both love kids and one has a 4 month old that I'm hoping can be a playmate for Emi as they grow. (She was also one of the babies I borrowed to try to prepare Camila for Emi's arrival.)

Anyway, I say all that to say I thought it might be a good idea to let her come with us sometimes and see them, get to know them and how they are, not to mention she could talk with another mother that has an infant.

Everybody had a great time. We ate a light lunch and chased Camila around the park and let her feed the ducks. I asked each of them individually how it was since I wasn't around a whole lot...I was too busy sliding down the slide. They all said they enjoyed it and had great conversation. So hopefully things will continue to go positively and Camila, Emi, and Veronica can all be playmates. Not to mention the fact that Camila and Emi are much like my own anymore, so my family and friends would like to be involved in their lives too sometimes. Since they don't have any family in town and all of their friends are moving, they may want to get to know and accept some of "my people". I think it would be good for all of us.

Camila was worn out. She fell asleep on the way home! Overall, it was a great day and I hope we can have more like it as the weather continues to warm up. :)

Long Week

Today has been a good Friday, the end of a long week. We had art class this morning and she did even better than last week (cries less at the beginning and needs less and less help each time). Then we had lunch and a nice long walk before naptime. The dog nearly got himself killed when someone rang the doorbell twice and he refused to stop barking for 10 minutes after they were gone, waking up both children, but they both went back to sleep.
Now I have had two cookies (after lunch; I LOVE Girl Scout Samoa cookies), the house is clean, and in a little bit our neighborhood friend is coming over for an end-of-the week playdate.
Then I get a little bit of rest. I still have several church-related things to take care of, but I should be able to devote tomorrow to getting them done. This has been an extremely long week, with days that I have taken Camila out of the crib in the morning and lifted her in at night. (Her mother is still unable to lift her so I have been staying extra if her dad can not make it home in time.) Which means I will likely miss her a lot tomorrow but I may see her for a few minutes on Sunday. This girl LOVES the Wiggles so her parents may take her to a local theater to see something like a televised concert, and I would keep Emi so they could both go.
All in all though, I have to say I can't complain too much because I love my job, I love my kids, and when it's all said and done, I will be well-prepared for motherhood. :)

Making Cupcakes

Camila has had a slight cold for a few days, so we stayed in yesterday. Towards the afternoon, after her nap, we needed something to do so I grabbed the cupcake mix. I have never let her help me bake them, but thought she might get a kick out of it.

She really did pretty well. I stood her on a stool so she could reach (hence my steadying hand in all the pictures), and let her help mix and tried to show her how to break eggs (I think that may take more coordination than she has just yet).

Obviously, her favorite part was getting to lick the spoon. If you are interested, I posted a video below. (I saw a magazine article once that said you know you're a mom when someone else's kid throws up and you catch it with your hands...I wonder where catching another kid's sneeze falls?)

They may not have been the most sanitary cupcakes, but we were the only ones that ate them. :)

A Few Pictures

I haven't put any pictures up for a couple weeks, so here are just a couple:



Camila's friend in the neighborhood got to come over and play while her mom visited with Emi. They have known each other since Camila was maybe six months old (they are five months apart).

Emi will be a month old on Thursday. Such a big girl! I love her little smile in this picture.

This is our double stroller. It maneuvers extremely well. Sometimes Emi would rather ride in the "kangaroo pack", so I look more like a young single mom of three. :)

Weekend Blues

Weekends have gotten harder and harder. Usually after a 12-day or longer stretch, the first weekend feels weird, then I fall back into my routine of having two days with no tagalong. As I think I mentioned last week, I saw Camila (and Emi) 17 out of 18 days, and I think even the week before that I had only a one-day weekend. So last weekend was strange, but I had a lot of catching up to do so while I missed her, I was very busy.

Last Monday, when I came back, I was so excited to see them, but Camila acted put out with me at first. She has NEVER done this to me. (She has on her parents if they go more than a day without seeing her, but never to me; she's used to me being gone a day or two, but I guess she forgot.) She got over it quickly though and we enjoyed a fun week.

This weekend, even though I had things to do, I found I really missed her. It was a beautiful sunny day yesterday and I drove with the windows down. Camila LOVES riding with the windows down on pretty days. I kept glancing up at the visor mirror to look at her, expecting to see that grin and wind-blown curls and saw only an empty carseat. It was soooo sad! And the car was so quiet without the Wiggles...I was just ready to see her.

This morning, I was a little worried about how she would react again. I was so ready to just grab her and cuddle her, but wondered if she would be standoffish. Nope! As I came up the driveway, I heard a knock on the window, and there she was in her ballerina pjs, all smiles. I knocked back on the window and she ran to the door to try to let me in (thankfully she can't actually open it yet, but she does try). I opened it for her and she grinned up at me. "Hi, Baba!"

"Hi Camila! Can I have a hug?" She practically jumped into my arms and gave me a big hug. I think she missed me too, but remembers that I don't live here.

I used to be so opposed to living in (no getting away from work, your boss knows everything you do so you would feel bad saying no to babysitting if they asked you last minute and you had no plans, you're homeless if the job ends or you get fired), but the more attached I get, the better it sounds. I don't think I ever actually will. Right now they don't have room for me, and I do still have my objections, and my parents really want me at home. But I'm beginning to understand why people do it.

Anyway, I hear Munchkin #2 calling...gotta run! ;)

Busyness :)

So we had a very busy but very productive couple of days. Wednesday we had doctor appointments. Emi is now 8 lbs 3 oz. and doing very well! She is even sleeping long stretches at night (7 HOURS one night!!!!) and overall is an amazing baby, at least during the day. ;)

Thursday (which is technically today but this may not be published until tomorrow), we had pictures made, which entailed driving an hour away. I honestly was not sure how this was going to go. It was our first "family road trip" since Emi came along.

Getting out the door was nothing less than a major production. Diapers, wipes, extra clothes, toys, a whole bagful of clothes for the pictures, food for snacks and lunch, juice, comb and bows to fix her hair, drinks and trail mix for the adults, making sure OUR purses had everything we needed...and last but not least, making sure we had both babies.

Finally, we were all in the car...except for their dad. He was on the phone. Five minutes later HE joined us and we were off. It was actually a pretty nice car trip. It went through some very country areas with cows and horses, so Camila had a lot to look at. Emi did very well, screaming only when we were two houses down from our destination.

When we got there, the photographer was very nice and ushered us all inside. Her studio is at her house, so I think it was a little more comfortable for Camila. She clung and whined just a little at first, but I asked her to stop fussing and just listen a minute. To everyone's surprise, she said "Okay" and listened. I explained we were just going to play and take some pictures for a little while, and that everyone was going to stay there and she would be okay. After that, she was much more agreeable.

To make things better, the photographer asked if she could reward her with candy. Her parents said anything to get good pictures. Since she very rarely gets candy, and has never had M&Ms at all, it worked like a charm. Every few pictures she got an M&M if she listened and smiled, and I think they're going to come out SUPER cute. They took family pictures, some pictures of her and her daddy, some pictures of her and Emi, and some pictures of Emi alone.

The pictures with Emi were slightly hazardous. When Camila was asked to kiss her, she nearly laid on top of the baby, which Emi did not appreciate at all. At one point the photographer was determined to get a picture of Camila holding Emi. We ALL warned her that Camila doesn't really hold her and we haven't pushed it. Holding babies scares some adults, and at 18 months, she's hardly more than a baby herself. But she insisted we at least try, so Camila was positioned on the floor, Emi laid in her lap, and everyone ran. Emi stirred and let out a cry, and was nearly airborne as Camila jumped and tried to fling her off. Thankfully no one had run very far and their mother caught Emi quickly. That was the end of that.

Other than that, though, everything went incredibly smoothly. At the end, their mother offered to let me take a picture with the girls. I admit I had JUST been thinking that I definitely wanted a picture made with them at some point, but had thought there would be too much going on that day and hadn't wanted to ask. I wasn't dressed exactly right, but I had dressed nicely since they would all be dressed cute, and I didn't want to walk into a restuarant as the slob tagging along with all the cute people. I had a pink tank top under a black cardigan and Camila had on a little pink dress, so we matched well enough. They took some of just me and Camila and some of me, Camila, and Emi.

I can not WAIT to see how they turned out. The photographer said it could be up to a week before they were edited and ready for selection.

So anyway, that was the first two days. It is now actually Saturday and yesterday was a bit of a different story, but I will try to tend to that tonight while I am babysitting. :)