iii.

OK, so I said I would post about the girls at the end of last week...well, we've been busy. :-P

Anyway, Lily is large and full of sass, which is nothing new. She's the size of the average 4/5 year old and intellectually at that level. She's still a brat, though. Almost every day she's in time out more than once before noon. *sigh* It's been a struggle with her behaviour but we are working on it. It feels like there is just constant whining and back-talk from her. I am super happy when she's behaving, but lately those days have been few and far between. :(

On a different note, a private preschool up the street from my house at the Lutheran church is willing to take Lily early this school year. I usually have to wait until she is a certain age, but they said as long as she is not a disruption to the class, she is allowed to start with the four-year-olds this year instead of the three. She's super excited. Lily has been asking me for the past year if she could go to school, and for the past year I have tried everything to get her into Head Start or other similar programs for preschoolers. But since she is not developmentally challenged nor handicapped in any way, they didn't want to take her early. It was frustrating for all of us. I understand the "no child left behind" but because of it, it is hindering the progress of the children who are above the average. It's great that these programs are helping children with disabilities reach the proper level by a certain age, but what about the children who are like Lily who need more to satisfy their thirst for knowledge? *sigh* Oh well, at least I finally found a place who would take her, even tuition is a little over $100 a month.

On the Iris month, she hasn't been a big pain behaviour-wise like her sister. She does have her days when she's in a mood, but those are few and far between. I just wish Lily's moods were, too. LOL. She FINALLY has teeth. Her first tooth came in on the 9 of last month, while her second one just cut through today. I've been impatiently waiting for her teeth. LOL. She doesn't care less, considering it was never a problem for her. That kid has razor-sharp gums made for eating...and she loves to eat, that's for sure.

All in all the girls are happy and healthy as well as incredibly brilliant. They had a developmental screening last week on Thursday and they mastered everything for their age and above, Lily the 3-4, and Iris the 1-2. ;)

We've been spending a lot of time of family time during the weekends. Justin's been taking us out and about on Saturdays and so far we've been to the aquarium at the Doorly Zoo and two days ago we went to the Children's Museum. They had such a blast. I feel bad with the fact that their only friends are Mommy and Daddy, so I want them to interact with children as much as possible. Justin just absolutely loves the way their faces light up when we take them somewhere.

Anyway, it's snack time and the girls are asking for food. ;) It's amazing how quickly they grow...

ii. Lily the photographer

So I haven't updated on the girls in a while, I know, and I'll get to that this week for sure. However, this post is about Lily's latest hobby: picture taking!

In December her father bought her a Fisher-Price camera; those large, cushioned ones that are made specifically for toddlers. She absolutely loves it and I think it's cute with its pink and pretty flowers. Last week she finally filled up the camera memory (400 pictures!!) and I decided to upload them to the computer.

She now has her own personal web album for her to share her "art work." Yes, she's 3 and 90% of her pictures are either blocked by her hand or sleeve or of random things, but there are some picture of her sister that she took that are AWESOME. So go to the website and check it out!! DO IT!!!

http://toddler-photog.blogspot.com/

The site is still a work in progress. There are 400 photographs that she has taken the couple of times she used this camera (we misplaced it for about a couple of months) and I've only been able to upload about 50 or so. :/ But enjoy what we have; I'll be updating the site with more of her pictures soon. ;)

i. updated pictures

Photos of the girls have been updated
http://lilypix.blogspot.com/
http://pixofiris.blogspot.com/

ENJOY!!

07: Baby on the way

Some of you know this, some of you don't. I haven't told many people, and I have not mentioned it at all to my family. And no, I do not plan on telling family any time soon. I want it to be a surprise, and some family members tend to nag and ruin things for people.

If you missed the title of this post, I am pregnant again. According to my last menstrual period, I'm due July 14, 2009. I went to the doctor December 3 for a dated ultrasound--due date was set to July 21, 2009. I have another appointment coming up in a few weeks; we'll see what it says then.

We were *hoping* to wait a couple of years before having a child, but the Gods had other plans. I somehow miscalculated my cycle (again) and well, the rest is history. :) I'm happy though. Even if I do feel like utter shit 90% of the time. Doesn't help that the entire family has been sick with something nasty for the past two and a half weeks.

Anyway, I think it's another girl. We're naming her Rose Amelie. (That is NOT pronounced Emily) I won't find out for another month though. I'm only about 3 months along... (12 weeks) I'll be keeping updates here under locked posts until I finally tell everyone, which probably won't be until it's to hard to hide it. ;)

I hope everyone has a rockin' new year's eve, and a kick-ass 2009.



Mary, Mary,
Quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?

06: Pictures

I know it's been almost a year since I last posted pictures of the girls, but Lily's has been updated. :) (and Iris's as well...there is a link at the site.)

http://lilypix.blogspot.com/

05:

Lily and Iris's abuelo (my dad) came to visit for a few days last Friday. He left yesterday morning and Lily has been asking for him ever since.
"Where Welo go?"
"He went home, Lily."
"But we ARE home. This is home."
"This is our home, sweetie, not Abuelo's."

He took us to the Omaha Children's Museum on Tuesday and the girls had a BLAST! Absolutely loved it. Word to the wise: bring extra clothing. LOL. Lily was soaked from "putting out a house fire" in the "Fire Department." We saw the dinosaurs, which weren't as great as they made them sound, but Lily didn't care. And then dug in the sand for excavation. Doodled, played instruments... There was so much to do and we didn't even get to do it all. The only downside is that you have to pay 7$ for anyone 2 and older.

There was going to be more to this post but my mind just shut off....

04: Conversations with Lily

Sitting on the floor playing with the girls.
LILY: Mami! You're chocolate milk!
ME: confused Um, ok.
LILY: grabs my arm and proceeds to "drink" me from shoulder with slurping sounds. Mmm, ah!

Iris, Lily and I sitting in front of the opened front door, enjoying the cool breeze, the lovely day, and a bag of popcorn.
ME: taking bits of popcorn that were not burnt or too crunchy and setting them aside for Iris. Take a peice and place in my palm. I'm going to save this for Iris.
LILY: Takes a peice and places in her own palm. I'm going to save this for Lily. stares at it, proceeds to eat it.

LILY: on her potty after urinating I'm done, Mami!! I'm done! I'm done!! I'mdoneI'mdoneI'mdone!!!!
ME: also on potty Okay, Lily you'll have to wait until I'm done. You're such a dork.
LILY: No I'm not, I'm a girl!
ME: Yes, Lily. That's correct. I know you're a girl.
LILY: after a short pause of concentration. What would you do if I was a boy?
ME: confused I don't...know.





This kid amuses the hell out of me. ;)