C2L28 Part 2

These last few months have been full of fun, laundry, cuddles, and spit up. In other words, it's life with a new baby. Things are going smoothly now that we know how to operate with two kids. John takes one, I take the other, leaving two exhausted parents! But we love it all the same. Somehow I've managed to handle them both when John is at work and still keep my sanity. That might be because Camilla is a model baby. She sleeps, eats, and poops like a pro.  She smiles, gurgles, and laughs when she is awake and is getting so big so fast! To keep her happy all we have to do is talk to her, swaddle her, and give her a paci. She is such a sweetie. Lorelei is such a good helper and is learning to sleep in her own big girl bed.She says things like, "That's delicious!" and "Camilla's smiling at me". She now reads books to me and twirls her hair as she falls asleep. She sings songs to Camilla and is in a dance class this month. John will be working in a new group at Woodward starting in November and this also means he will be in Loveland. We look forward to shorter work days (minus the commute to Fort Collins) and a few lunches a week with us! As for me, the girls obviously keep me busy, but I still have time to see friends and family, and I feel blessed every day that I am able to stay home with the girls during these early years. I'm fully recovered from Camilla's entrance into this world and am focusing on my health, which includes jogging, zumba, and eating not so much ice cream!

Not 30 yet

Today I'm 29. At one time or another everyone has been asked, "Where do you think you will be in 10 years?" It's always a puzzling question that gets a pretty generic answer: I'll be working, married, with kids, or I'll be traveling, opening myself up to new possibilities and adventures. But now that it's been 10 years later, those generic answers have such vivid and real qualities. When I entered the teacher workforce, I had all these ideals and perceptions about what being a teacher would be like. I would create these mind blowing lessons that would open up a world of possibilities and wonder to bright-eyed children waiting to learn from me. The reality was more like hoping every day I would send my students home with at least one new thought or understanding of a subject. I was pretty hard on myself. Always feeling like I was failing someone or that my shortfalls would damage a young person's sense of accomplishment. Looking back, I know I did my best and I hope all my students will look back at their 4th grade teacher with good feelings and respect for what I tried to do each and every day. The next step in my 10 year plan was marriage. I always thought I would marry in my late 20s early 30s, because who at 21 years old knows what they want. Except, when I met (or should I say opened my eyes) to my best friend's older brother, John, I knew we had something special. With John, I've learned to really love myself because he loved me for exactly who I was. Now I strive to be a better person for him and now my two beautiful daughters. When Lorelei and Camilla came into this world, for the first time, I felt like I had done something truly amazing. They are both so unique and special and I hope I can raise them to love themselves the way I love them. That is what a parent's job boils down to. In the end, they will make their own decisions in life, but if they can look back on their childhood for guidance, I will truly feel like I did what I was meant to do in this lifetime. I know as they grow older, I will need to find my place in this world without them or John as the focal points. I hope I find a way to achieve joy by helping others as I pursue a passion yet to be decided. I'm sure there will be many adventures to come and I can write about those after the next 10 years. When I think about myself 10 years ago when someone asked me this question, I don't think I would have believed it possible that I would have made all those generic answers come true in the most beautiful way.

C2L28

C2L28 (Camilla 2 Months Old; Lorelei 28 Months Old) How funny time is. Not long ago I was counting down the days to what seemed like the longest pregnancy of all time (I think all pregnant women probably say this)and now Camilla is two months old and it went by like a blink. A really sleep deprived, joyous, difficult, and beautifully amazing blink. Lorelei has adjusted so well to Camilla, so much so that she thinks she is one of her babies and even attempted, successfully I might add, to carry her and put her in her car seat! She has been in a very healthy, and expected, mommy-needy phase, but still loves to play with her Daddy, Grandparents, extended family, and friends, as long as I am close at hand. I love it and feel guilty about it all at the same time. It's true what they say, you have equal room in your heart for all your children, but you don't always feel like you have the ability to make the equal amount of time for each. And I just have two children. Good luck to the mother on that TLC show that has like nineteen kids. I don't know how she does it, just the basics like feeding and clothing them all, let alone having individual attention for each. All I can do is strive to give them each loving and special attention, teach them right from wrong, and let them become who they are meant to be. Along the way I will try to impart to them some helpful guidance on how to be kind, respectful to others and themselves, and find passion in their lives. As a two year old, Lorelei continues to be make me laugh, push my buttons, surprise me, test me, and bring such fun and love to my life. Every time she says a complete sentence I am taken aback by home much she has grown in the past 6 months. When she tells me things that I know she learned from us, it reminds me how much she has listened and learned. Some of my favorite phrases from her have been: "Put Camilla down and pick Lorelei up", "I wanta more cookie, Mommy", "I love you", and "Pepe is stinky from the skunk, but Ama give her a bath and now she is clean". She plays so well with her friends and family and you can tell how much she loves them when she says good-bye to them with a hug and kiss and then talks about how much fun she had with them. She can sing her ABC's and count from 1-20. She breaks out in song throughout the day. I wonder where she gets that from (John of course!). We go to the park most days and she is such a daredevil. Luckily she is pretty coordinated and is able to climb up most ladders and stairs without help. She also likes to use the teeter totter as a balance beam! I say she has her mother's eye hand coordination and her father's running speed. I still love to watch her play outside and laugh with such adorable giggles and screams. She is so loveable, smart, and beautiful. Camilla has developed so much in just a few months. She is such a mellow, compliant, and sweet baby. I never knew it could be so easy to get a baby to sleep. She loves to be swaddled, given a pacifier, and she is off in dreamland. No jiggling, dancing, swishing, or non-stop movement required. She can hold her head up and smiles at us most of the day. The only crying she does is when she needs a diaper change or Mama's milk. She enjoys her baths and watching her musical mobile. It makes my heart smile when Lorelei and Camilla lay on the play mat together and smile and laugh. I can already tell they are going to be such good friends and close sisters. I cherish the quiet morning hours when I get to rock her and feed her before anyone else gets up. We have our alone time to snuggle and be together. I will always treasure these moments and memories and I look forward to what they will be doing a few months from now. Moreover, I just want to be present each day, embrace it for what it is; whether it is a calm, lazy day around the house or loud, chaotic party with friends and family, because that is really what life is about... I couldn't be happier.