Liliana

I have never seen anything so beautiful in my life. Words can't even describe the swelling of emotion I feel when I look into her smiling eyes.

I truly understand the scripture: "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy." There is no joy like being a parent.

I would do anything for this perfect being. She is one of the most precious things I have ever been blessed to hold. I hope that she will truly know how much I love her. Sweet Lily.

Girlz Rule!

So, this was my first night out with friends in, let's see.... 4 years? I'm not kidding. I've done a few lunches, and had some evenings where I brought Jordan, but last Saturday was my first night out in ages. It was all to celebrate my BFF DawnAnn who's getting married at the end of the month. We had a nice dinner at the Elephant Bar and then some games at Dave and Busters (I had no idea that place was such a meat market!) It was really nice to go out, meet new people, have a little bit of freedom and hang with other women my age! Alas, after just a couple hours playing skeeball and earning tickets from coin push games, I was wracked by "mommy guilt". The anxiety was terrible, and I had to leave at 10p

Then, to make matters worse, when I got home after being gone a full 6 hours, I got the third degree from my husband who was unable to cope with our children for that length of time. I guess I won't be going out without kids for 17 years, 7 months.

Little Man

Funny Jordan. He can always make me laugh. Even today, when he brought home a yellow slip because he was horsing around in music class. He's great at making other people laugh and has excellent comedic timing, which is wonderful, except during music class. He does so well in all his other subjects and is a model student the rest of the time. It's music that does him in. He doesn't like the songs or the teacher and gets so bored that he goofs off. I believe it's good for him to learn now that there will always be classes he won't enjoy, but must pay attention and respect the teacher regardless. Seven's as good a time as any to learn. I hope he absorbs this reality so he can succeed throughout the rest of his educational career.

100% Organic

My babies ate their first real food! Yummy organic rice cereal. They could not get enough. I think this new addition to their routine is their favorite. I could tell they were ready because they both had began watching me intently as I ate and copied the opening and closing of the mouth. They are doing a great job. V.V. eats a bit more than Lily (though I have to hold her hands cause they go straight in her mouth, full of cereal or not).

Lily is a much more "artistic" eater. She is still so thrilled that she can blow bubbles, she doesn't yet know that eating and blowing bubbles are not really compatible if you prefer your food in your stomach rather than on your bib. I love these awesome girls. I'm so excited to try adding vegetables to their diet in a few weeks. Thank you Safeway for your O line of organics. It is greatly appreciated!

Bored?

Did you ever purposely put glue on your hand as a child, wait for it to dry and then scare your friends pretending your skin was peeling? I don't know if I was attempting to reclaim my childhood or if I was really bored... but here it is. While working on an art project, I intentionally squirted Elmer's glue on the palm of my hand and held my hand really still for 40 minutes until it had completely dried. Does that make me weird? (I accept the fact that I'm weird, but should this behavior be added to the "what makes me weird" list of personality traits?) It was neat to pull it off and see a complete replica of the my skin, the life lines, scars and palm prints in a glue copy. I was thinking of saving it, but that would be borderline crazy!

It's such a blessing to finally be friends with my mom. It simply took a lot of growing up. Our relationship was so tumultuous throughout high school and the years following. I have come to realize that the insight she offers has value and she truly wishes only for my happiness.

Your entire perspective of your parents changes when you become a parent. You are finally able to empathize with them and see where they were coming from and why they demanded so much of you. It's because they love you! When I look at my children, my heart just oozes love. It comes billowing out of me, there's so much there I'm unable to contain how much I care for them. How then must my parents feel about me? And how much more so the Lord?

I'm so lucky to be born into a large family. How neat that I have a brother so close in age to my son. So great that they can be best friends, that my children can be so close to my siblings. I wish that my family could be closer and that my sister will wake up one day to realize how lucky we really were. No matter what happened, we always had each other.

Genevieve aka "V.V."

She wakes up so wonderfully happy. I don't know if it's the full diaper or the good dreams or if she's just happy to be alive and wake up next to mommy. Either way, it's wonderful!

She's talking now, in that just woke up voice. Slightly hoarse from not speaking all night. So excited to start the day and huge smiles for anyone that will wish her a good morning.

I wish everyone in the world was this happy. I've had co-workers who needed 3 cups of coffee before they could even be cordial!