Willeman

I took this picture a couple of months ago but forgot to post it until now.  Emily is enamored with our pastor's wife, who is sort of the pied piper of the preschool set around here.  She runs a little storytime/playtime once a week at our library called "Romp & Stomp" and it's one of Emily's favorite things.  Having not mastered the "Mrs." concept yet, Emily calls her by her last name, "Willeman."

A Day in the Life

Today was a fairly normal day (after an early start with an 18 month old who wanted breakfast at 5 am).  I dropped Alasdair off at work, brought the girls to music class at a friend's house, played & lunched with other friends, painted trim in my office while Adara napped and Emily did quiet time.  I walked into the kitchen to find Emily sticking tiny pieces of styrofoam into her ears.  After some experimenting, decided I couldn't stick the tweezers far enough into her ear to remove it all without potentially causing damage.  Called the doctor and made an appointment to bring her in at 5.  Emailed Alasdair to let him know not to expect dinner made.  For the hour and a half my mothers helper was here, I caught up on work and raced through another coat of paint.  Let the girls play out front while I packed up some food for dinner.  Comforted Adara who was crying because Emily wouldn't let her walk near the road, and wrangled the girls into the car.

At 4:45 I found myself driving to the doctor, feeding the girls PB&J sandwiches in the car since we'd be there during dinnertime, alternately helping Emily sound out words in her Dora book and singing Old McDonald had a farm with Adara, listening to voicemails for work, and debating whether I had time to stop for gas.  (I decided the gas light had only been on for 10 miles, so it wasn't critical.)  

It was one of those moments that are so typical of this phase of life.  I realized that on another day I could have been frazzled and stressed, but for some reason (probably because the sun was shining and at 58* it was warm enough to have the car windows cracked open!), today it just made me smile.   Our life is busy and full, and so blessed!

[End of the story for the record: the doctor couldn't get the styrofoam out with his fancy tweezers - which made me feel less dumb for bringing her in! - and irrigated her ears. The girls had fun.  We got gas on the way home, only 20 miles after the empty light had come on.:)  Played on the swings & watched A shoot baskets in the driveway. Finished dinner and rushed to get the kids to bed & kitchen clean before A's men's group arrived.  Made a mental note to deal with the ants in the dining room.  Spent the evening painting trim and listening to the Red Sox on the radio.]

Posts I don't write

I somethings think about how this blog is sort of a highlight real of the good or exciting parts of our life, which isn't really a full representation.  Sort of like a photo album, it doesn't capture the bad days.  I think I'm ok with that.  At the same time, I also don't tend to write about some of the really sweet moments, because they don't have a photo to go with them.  I don't tend to take the time to reflect here.  

A couple nights ago was one of those evenings I would have pictured before having children, when I imagined what family life might be like.  Funny how rare those times can be. :)  Alasdair came home from work while it was still light out, and Adara and I were playing outside.  The kids had already eaten, so they were happy, and our dinner was in the oven.  Exhausted from the day, I lay on the couch with my feet up while Alasdair played guitar (at Emily's request:) and the girls ran and danced and laughed together.  

Simple, but so sweet.

(unrelated recent pictures)

Easter in MA

We had a burst of Spring weather in time for Easter last weekend. :)  On Saturday we took the girls to a sheep festival at a local farm/wildlife center.  Adara loved watching the sheep being herded "seep!  seep!  baaa." and all of the kids liked the chance to pet some animals, and generally run around outside together.  Sunday was an Easter egg hunt (set up by dad, who used different parts of the yard for the younger set and the older set - big success), church, and lunch & a walk around Grassy Pond.   More photos in the March album and videoswh on the youtube channel (you might need to scroll down).

 best friends.  
(and why yes, I let my 3 year old out of the house wearing a nightgown as a shirt.)

Adara's language

I am loving this stage: Adara is starting to be able to communicate with us pretty well, but most of it is still her own little language.  Emily likes to tell me (often incorrectly, I think!) what Adara is saying, and will inform me that I need to learn Adara's language.

A few of my favorites lately...

Dat - Granny

Nanul - Daniel
Rolalie or Rolalilili - Rosalie

mahanu - We have no idea what this word is, but she's been using it since very early on to mean something like "I want that"

yak-um - thank you, or you're welcome
piddy - pretty
buhtah - butter.  her current favorite food.
fweet - feet

She's obsessed with pointing out eyes ("ice!"), ears, noses, heads ("het") and fweet, and has a good repertoire of animal sounds.  She talks up a storm when she's comfortable and not on camera... and is pretty serious about refusing to perform on command.

ADDITIONS:
A few things I forgot to include here...
- If Adara hears you say "one" she will add "two"
- Very often when I tell her she can't do something, she will say "why?" even thought I'm pretty sure she doesn't know what that means... but she hears her big sister respond that way!  Makes me laugh every time.
- She calls pizza "peetzy"