no rest for the weary

Let me start by saying that anyone out there with more than two kids...kuddos to you! I have no idea how you do it. I find it hard to get through the week, keeping up with my two. I've got to hand it to those Mom's with more than two children, because I am pretty confident that I would not be able to handle it.

Through all of the chaos of managing our household we manage to have quite a bit of fun. It is important to me that my kids get to experience as many things as we can possibly give them. One of those things recently included taking the girls to Disney on Ice. We went last year and just took Olivia. Cece wasn't even one at the time and we did not think she was old enough to enjoy it. So glad we choose to take her this year.

It was a given that Olivia would enjoy herself. I wasn't sure if Cece would have the patience to sit through the entire show, but she did great. She was fascinated by the skating characters and the Tinkerbell hat she was able to take home that night. I love when we can create fun family memories for the girls, and these Disney shows always deliver!

With the first signs of Spring we began counting down the days until the opening of our zoo. Each year we have a zoo pass that allows us to come and go as much as we wish during the summer. The weather did not cooperate with opening weekend of the zoo, but that didn't stop us. 

It was a chilly, drizzly day but turned out to be the prefect zoo day. All of the animals were very active and friendly. We stared into the eyes of Bill the Lion, Cece fed a giraffe for the first time, we got up close and personal with the oranatang, and of course had a ride on the carousel! There was hardly a soul there which made it even nicer. It was probably the best visit we have ever had at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. Note to self...the chilly, rainy days are the best times to go!

The girls have been keeping us very busy with their activities lately. Olivia has her dance classes two days a week. Her recital is coming up at the end of June and then she will have the summer off. She is also very involved with soccer. She has one practice and one game each week. She loves it and seems to be quite good. Cece realized that it was time to start keeping up with her big sister and started gymnastics lessons. 

She has been going for about a month now, and after a slow start she has begun to enjoy it. If nothing else, being a part of this class is helping her get used to organized activities. She will start taking a dance class in the fall, so this is perfect practice to get prepared for that. And she looks stinkin' adorable in her little leotard!

The first week of May included a few fun activities. The first was Cinco de Mayo. I like to celebrate this holiday because I LOVE Mexican food. We had our own little Mexican feast with margaritas and all. Olivia desperately wanted to try a margarita so we made her a virgin version. She loved it whcih of course made her sister jealous, so the whole family ended up enjoying a nice margarita with dinner that night.

I also celebrated my 35th birthday at the beginning of the month. I had the entire week off of work to get ready for our annual garage sale. On my birthday the whole family went out to dinner. In my opinion as you get older birthdays become less and less important. What is important is that I had my two sweet girls by my side. It was a good day!

As this school year comes to an end for Olivia she is faced with many changes. She has to say goodbye to the classroom where she has spent the past four years and the teacher with whom she has a very special bond. She will be moving into the Elementary classroom next year and things will be quite different. Many of her little friends will be moving up as well which should help to ease the transition. 

The end of the school year also means it time for some hard goodbyes. There are usually some friends that are moving onto other schools, or friends leaving town. In this case Olivia will be saying goodbye to someone she has grown incredibly close to in a very short amount of time. Her dear friend, Vicky. Vicky is from China and she spent the second half of the school year here while her father worked at one of our local colleges. When Vicky arrived at the school she could hardly speak a word of English. In a few short months she was able to speak very well, with the help of Olivia. 

Olivia took Vicky under her wing and taught her everything she needed to know to be successful in the Primary classroom. They have became dear friends and Vicky's impending return to China in a few short days is something Olivia is not ready to deal with. They have exchanged numerous gifts in the past months and have given each other many momentos in which to remember each other. I am not sure how Olivia will handle saying goodbye to hear dear friend, but I know it is going to be hard. Not just for her...but for me too. 

There are always some fun activities jammed into the last few weeks of school. One of my favorites is the Mother's Day luncheon. Each year the school hosts a lunch for the kids and their Moms. I always look forward to this, but not as much as Olivia does. The kids all work hard on their special gifts for us and you could just see how proud they were as they presented their creations!

It was nice to share lunch with Olivia, her friends and their Moms. Olivia has made some very special friends during her time at Peace Montessori and nothing makes me happier than to sit back and watch the special bond they have. Each year there are friends that move on and Olivia must say goodbye. It is never easy and as Olivia gets older I think it becomes more difficult for her. But there are also friends that she will continue her educational journey with for the next few years and that gives her comfort.

With school coming to an end we can start to get into full summer mode. A few weeks ago the temps were high so we busted out the baby pool and sprinkler for the girls. Olivia is a little big to splash around in the tiny pool but she is more than willing to play along with Cece. 

When Olivia was a baby we set up her tiny slide so that it fell into her baby pool. She loved it! Knowing Cecilia we thought she would love it as well. Judge for yourself...

I could have watched this girl play in her pool all afternoon. I had to force myself to put my camera down after catching numerous smiles, laughs and squeals. There is no greater joy than watching the joy in your child's eyes. Nothing compares to it!

The girls have been keeping us quite busy lately, but what else is new? I am not complaining. I love the fact that my girls are busy bees. All of these wonderful experiences will help to make them well rounded, happy kids. Things aren't slowing down anytime soon, either. We are getting ready to leave for California next week to visit my Aunt. It will be Cece's first tip out there, but Olivia's 8th, I think! Should be fun, but exhausting I'm sure! More to come...

twice as nice

I don't think I ever expected holidays to be twice as nice once a second little girl joined our family. Granted,  Cecilia was with us last year as we celebrated Christmas and Easter, but now that she is older, walking and talking...everything is just that much better.

Easter was especially fun with the girls this year. It was the first year that Cece could actually participate in egg hunts, and she quickly became obsessed. Luckily we were able to participate in multiple egg hunts on Easter day. We kicked things off with our church service. I couldn't get over how sweet my girls looked in their Easter dresses. Strangely, Cece did not get the memo that there are usually quite a few photos taken on this day, because she was NOT in the mood to "smile pretty". That is pretty common these days. Although I can easily get Olivia to smile for the camera, the odds of getting them both to look at the camera and smile are pretty slim lately.

After church it was time to dig into the Easter baskets. The girls didn't waste any time tearing into their goodies. Buying little trinkets for Olivia is a piece of cake right now. Cecilia, on the other hand is tough. Finding things that she will enjoy that will fit into a small Elmo basket is a bit challenging. I think I succeeded though. I grabbed a shot of the girls holding their favorite treasures from their Easter baskets. Cece's was her little stuffed Cookie Monster and Sesame Street figurines and Olivia's was her CD of songs from her favorite Disney shows. Seeing their little faces light up is all I need to know that I helped to make it a memorable Easter for them.

Each year we share Easter dinner with our dear friends, The Forte's. I have known them since I was a child and they have been inviting us to share the holiday with them for at least 6 years now. They treat our girls like their own grand kids, and make the holiday so special for them. Each year, right after dinner we head outside for the annual Easter egg hunt. This year Cece could hunt for her own eggs. Olivia needed no assistance finding her eggs, but Cece needed some guidance. With a little help from her big sis Cece found her hidden eggs in no time.

The girls had Easter baskets waiting for them as they came inside from their very successful egg hunt. If you are keeping track, this is basket number two for the day. Can we say blessed?

With two Easter baskets each, and one very successful egg hunt under their little belts, you would think that was enough to call it a day, but no...there was still more fun to be had! After our big Easter dinner we stopped at my Mom's on the way home for one last egg hunt, and of course more Easter baskets! Watching both of my girls enjoy their day full of searching for eggs and opening their treasures made for one joyful Easter. Like I said...holidays are twice as nice with two girls.

Earlier in March my Aunt Sue came for a visit. She left the beautiful California weather to come spend a week with her Great Nieces. We surprised Olivia by not telling her about the visit. My Mom took Olivia to the airport and told her they were just picking up a friend. She was completely shocked to see her Aunt Sue Sue walk off the plane, and completely thrilled! It was a fun week. Olivia hardly left Sue's side the entire week and Cece quickly grew attached to her as well. It's always sad to say good-bye to Aunt Sue Sue after a visit, but in a few short months the girls will get to spend more time with her when we make a visit to California. This will be Cece's first trip to California and Olivia's, ummmmm...I have lost track, but I want to say 7th!

The girls are both very busy with their daily activities right now. Olivia is close to wrapping up her final year in the primary classroom at her Montessori school. There are big changes coming her way next year as she moves into the lower elementary room. Her school work will be a much bigger focus in her daily routine. I can tell she is beginning to anticipate the changes that are on the horizon. One reassuring factor in this transition is that she will be moving up with many of her friends. That should help to make the move much easier for her. She has made some very special friends this year and had some pretty amazing experiences. Seeing this school year come to an end will be hard for all of us.

We are in the beginning stages of potty training at our house right now. It started off with a bang! We had lots of successes at first. I was even thinking I might be able to stop buying diapers much sooner than I anticipated.

Silly me...seems I jumped the gun on that one. After about 3 weeks of going on the potty on a pretty regular basis things came to an abrupt halt. Lady Cecilia proceeded to take a 2 1/2 hiatus from using the potty. Her dry spell ended this past weekend, but she still isn't using the potty on a regular basis quite yet. Hard to say when this girl will decide she is done with diapers, but something tells me that she is going to do it on her own time frame...not mine! Does this look like a girl that is going to do as I say?

On top of showing a slight interest in the potty Cece is changing in so many other ways. She communicates so well with us and is not the least bit shy when telling us what she wants or needs. I hear her use new words daily. She is similar to her sister in that way. Although she is not communicating as well as Olivia was at this age, her vocabulary is still very strong. She continues to be a massive show-off, a comedian and one very loving little girl!

The weather around here is warming up...slowly, but surely. We have been able to get outside on occasion, which makes the girls very happy. Olivia is working to learn to ride her bike. This task is proving to be more difficult than any of us ever imagined. I know my girl can do it, it just may take awhile. Cecilia has been taking on all sorts of new tasks lately. Last year at this time we were waiting for this firecracker to take her first steps. Now we are chasing her as she runs down the sidewalk as we play outside. She is a curious girl and that means all eyes must be on her at all times. I can tell already this Spring/Summer is going to be a blast with this little one. She just loves being, "ow-side". 

I am looking forward to the many adventures we are sure to have this summer. I will try to be better about blogging more than once every two months. It's funny how shuffling two little girls here, there and everywhere leaves me with very little free time to do things like blog. Somehow, I still manage to find time to talk about my amazing girls!