bedtime OCD

we definitely have a bedtime routine. with the added element of harper it tends to be a little more stressful. (but that's just me, i seem to make everything stressful as much as i don't want it to be.) i'd love for it to be fluid and not involve raising of voices or crying or hurrying things along. there is going to be a time, riley and spencer, when you are going to be too old to have me involved in the process and when that time comes i know i will long for these days when i read to you and brushed your teeth and picked out your jammies and snuggled.

bedtime prep has been taking place in our bathroom rather than yours down the hall because it's so close to harper's bedroom and i don't want her waking up from any commotion. i usually put her to bed around 7 while you girls watch a show with daddy) then i brush your teeth, you potty, sometimes wash your hands. then into your room where you pick out one book each and we cuddle on the bottom bunk and read our stories. sounds simple but at some point i'm always "come on girls/pick out a book/did you go potty?/what are we wearing to school tomorrow/it's late/etc"

then comes the time when you decide where you're sleeping--top or bottom, alone or together. as of late, it's been together and on the bottom--feet to feet. riley LOVES to cuddle and if it were up to her i'm sure she would spoon spencer all night. it's really sweet, but spencer often complains of riley cuddling and getting too close.

lights out.
riley: "love you as much as i impossibly could. dream about me. sweet dreams. leave the door open a crack."
spencer: "i love you all the way to aunt pam's and to space and over again and over again."

they both must say this before we leave the room or they are calling us back up.

a dentist and a cooker

this is what spencer said she wants to be when "she's a mom" (ie, when she grows up). up until this point she never said anything about what she wanted to be when she grew up and this time i hadn't even asked. we were sitting at dinner at max & erma's and out of the blue she shared this little tidbit.

fast forward 3 years

things that usually happen over the course of several years have hit us in a matter of three. the last two happened within two weeks of each other.

• we are in a new house



• mike has a new job



• we have a new baby



• we lost an amazing mother/grandma.

and of course there is our normal life that is filled with laughter and hugs and face-sucking (thank you, harper) and homework and frustration, etc. some of these happenings have been logged in my handwritten journal that i started when i discovered i was pregnant with spencer but after long days it is hard to record all that i want in a legible manner. my handwriting needs some serious decoding at 11pm.

however, we have experienced so much and the girls are changing so fast i must do something to hold onto these precious moments because as you can see time literally flies by.

this is me playing catch up, recounting memories. for the future though, i intend to add entries regularly--i'm sure at times, daily--in an effort to stop time and let it all soak in.

triangle

yesterday morning the girls and i were walking across the parking lot at riley's school and riley shouted and pointed "that's a big triangle!" i looked down and saw that the paint in one part of the lot was indeed a huge triangle. my heart swelled a little thinking about how smart and observant this little girl has become.

penguin

last thursday was a super stressful work-at-home day for me. well, they're always stressful but with a new project in my lap and not a clue on how to solve the new problems, i was feeling frazzled. riley didn't nap that day and after trying to keep her occupied next to me with coloring and playdough i put on a movie. from the kitchen i would watch her and she was ask me to come and sit with her. like always, "i have to get this work done, then i'll sit with you." i remember saying this a few times and feeling horrible each time. she came over and sat on my lap in front of the computer and i hugged her and kissed her and told her how much i loved her. i tried to explain the whole concept of work and why i have to do it (ie, "i have to work so we have money to live in our house, buy food, go to chuck e cheese"). i was still upset and i asked her

me: what do you want to be when you grow up?

riley: (without hesitation) a penguin.

this definitely put a smile on my face and made me forget about my work problems. it totally brightened things up, and i was no longer sad. i know she was looking at the penguin card she had got me for valentine's day when she said this, but still to say "penguin" cracks me up.

i love you riley. my heart gets all mushy when i look at you and listen to all the witty and sweet things you say.

the boys are back

spencer has been finishing sentences of stories and saying certain words of songs. riley loves the high school musical soundtrack and when the song "the boys are back" comes on she says "back" (or something close to "back") right on time with the song.

just tonite when i was singing "baa baa black sheep" she says "baa baa" then nods her head and scowls on the "yes sir, yes sir" part. she also started filling in the blanks on "twinkle twinkle little star"
twinkle, twinkle, little STAR
how i wonder what you ARE
UP above the world so HIGH
like a diamond in the SKY

she loves nursery rhymes these days. she doesn't have a whole lot of lasting power with real books, but nursery rhymes seem to be perfect. with regular books, we make it about 5 pages in before she tosses it aside and grabs the next one.

riley, however, will read books all day with me and has always been that way. we're even reading stories with not as many pictures and a whole lot of words. miss rumphius was the first that kept her interested. i have a set of Disney books from when i was little and we read snow white and cinderella. those are some long-winded tales and she doesn't miss a beat. i read two in a row this past weekend and she was ready for a third.

pencie lou

first off, we rarely call spencer by her full name. it's always some derivative of it like "pencie lou," "pencerino," "pencer lil." she is getting to be quite the "big girl" and wanted to do all that goes with it. a book or picture of camp rock, high school musical, or hannah montana will stop her dead in her tracks. she gets soooo excited. given a choice between winnie the pooh or sharpay she'll definitely pick sharpay. oh dear!

christmas was quite funny. she had zero interest in opening gifts. the digital camera had her undivided attention, which is strange because we always have the camera out. i was practically begging her to open gifts. i opened half of them, i think. once everything was out she gave a quick glance but wasn't that into it. i think the plastic rainbow-colored jewelry from aunt pam was her favorite. she also dressed up in this leapord-print tutu and wore it all night.

she also thinks she is ready for school. she tries to sneak into riley's class every tuesday and thursday morning. spencer was a hit at riley's school christmas party. they had the "music lady" come and sing songs and play guitar. spencer was shakin' it the whole time, everyone was paying attention to her and laughing. the teacher even took pictures of her. any type of music gets her going. when we play music at home she instantly looks to one of us to pick her up. she'll reach her arms up and say "up," which was one of her first words. she loves to be held while we dance and she wiggle an arm and bob her head.

speaking of words, her vocabulary has blown up this past month. i have to admit i was really concerned about her speech because she wasn't saying much other than "up" or "mama." now, she'll repeat just about everything if asked, or at least try to. my new favorite word of hers is "potty"--or more like "paaaahty." and she says it really loud.

too much time too little posting

five or six months later. . . i really can't believe that much time has passed since my last post and turst me it's not like you girls haven't done anything worthy of writing about. i don't know if i'll be able to bring you up-to-speed all in this one post. i'll try to organize it into a couple. phew--now that that's out of the way. let me tell you about what you crazy girls have been up to!

riley is doing great in school. she enjoys going and tells me everything that goes on. maybe it was last november when she told mike and i about miss beth locking her in a cubby. i about flipped out. she said that after share miss beth put her in a cubby and left her there. well, a few email exchanges with miss beth and i found out that riley put her "share" object back in the cubby, all the kids went back in the classroom and riley was in the hallway by herself. miss beth was there the whole time but i don't think riley saw her. that seems to be the only "bad" thing that has happened. the teachers are great at teaching manners (washing hands, sneezing in your arm, etc) pretend play, and doing crafty things on their own. riley is using scissors and glue and doing all sorts of stuff that i never thought to do at home. she's really independent and has the BIGGEST imagination i could ever think of.
in the dead of winter she insisted on "going to the beach" so she put on her bathing suit, pulled the cushions off the couch, and laid a beach towel across the living room. she designated a spot for the water and sand--and heaven forbid if you accidently dove into the sand or tried to build a sand castle in the water. of course spencer joined in the fun too with sunglasses and hat. playing store is also a big hit. mike even set out a bunch of things in her room like a display and she was the storekeeper. his patience is limitless as he carried his shopping basket through the house, making return trips to her store and creating a whole crazy dialog.

trick-or-treating at each of the doorways in our house was popular too. spencer would just stare at riley and mike when they pretended to give her candy, like "what the heck? there's nothing here." she pretended to eat it anyway!

we've seen big changes in riley and her independence. she is starting to go off on her own and play by herself, either coloring, doing stamps, writing, setting up sleepovers for her stuffed animals, trying on clothes. still not a big toy kinda girl--she has fun with her own thoughts. it's sweet.

preschool

my big girl is an even bigger girl! riley started mother hubbard nursery school this fall and loves it. she doesn't even wait for me before walking into the building. we're still struggling with getting ready tuesday and thursday mornings to be there by 9:30 but we make it. class is from 9:30 to 11:30. they have been doing a lot of painting, learning colors/shapes--which riley is already really comfortable with--and manners, like sneezing into your elbow not your hand, washing hands after blowing your nose (and suck your thumb:), and walking not running in the classroom. some of riley's favorite things are the computer, the climber, the tire swing, painting, and circle time. for as social as riley is everyone else it seems she keeps to herself in school and watches the kids. one day she walked in and all the kids were going ape and playing and she took her spot right on the carpet to wait for circle time. it's all very sweet. i can't wait to see what the year has in store for her.

grandpa

hey babies,

it feels like i can't go on writing without saying something about grandpa, as he was a big part of our summer. maybe riley will remember him but spencer won't even though she gets excited when we see pictures of him or go to grandma's house. right after spencer's first birthday we noticed grandpa didn't feel well or look well. he was yellow. this later became somewhat of a joke because riley would say "your eyes are yellow. you look like a monster." after several doctor appointments without any clear diagnosis other than cirrhosis of the liver, we were told by doctors at U of M hospital that he had cancer and kidney failure. he was sick. he didn't have a lot of energy to play with you girls but absolutely loved it when he got to see you. upon first walking in the house spencer would look directly to his chair and if grandpa wasn't there she'd start the search. both of you would sit with him and pull out all the toys and things he kept in the cabinet drawer next to his chair in the living room. one day we even went outside and fingerpainted, and while i was at work he would go with you and daddy to the park.

it was the end of august when he went to heaven. a few hours before that i took you both to red robin for dinner. daddy was at the hospital. we were driving past their street and riley said "grandpa's tummy is all better. it doesn't hurt anymore. he's at the store getting a band-aid." i've never felt more pain than when i knew either of you would never see him again nor get to know him better--or, for that fact, remember how totally cool he was but you didn't know it yet. we still talk to him even though he's not here and tell you that he sees everything you girls are doing. one day at the park, daddy told riley that grandpa could see her and she looked all over the place thinking she'd see him somewhere. riley still says things like "when grandpa comes back from heaven" so it will take some time before she really gets what heaven is.

he's the only one who could call you "little s__" and i wouldn't mind. he helped us put together the fish tank and he bought a good filter for it. everytime he was over he would check on the fish. he loved going to pet stores with you and seeing your reactions to all the little animals and fish. there was a big macaw at greenwood's that was out of its cage and spencer had never been so excited in her life. he got a real kick out of that. he may have been a grump but he accepted people for who they are. i think that is the best lesson he ever taught us.