Pictures

Here are a couple to go along with the post:

Memories

I really write this as a journal for my girls. I'm actually not sure anyone at all really reads it! Anyway, since this is thiers, here are a few things that I want to remember about them.

Kylie:

• Is an animal. She gets on all fours and moves. Her arms and legs don't move in sync so its not exactly crawling but she get across a room in a matter of minutes. Yes, she is four months old.
• She is obsessed with Kaitlyn. She tries to be everywhere K is and play with the things that K plays with. She doesn't' like to ready board books but she likes paper books because that is what Kaitlyn reads.

Kaitlyn: (sorry she has more things but she does more!)

• She likes to talk about her mose (nose). We have a book called "Whose nose?" and she reads it "Whose Mose?" My mose!
• John is out of town so I let her sleep in the bed with me. It was all fine and good until 3:45 am. I felt something crawling on the bed and I looked up and she was getting cozy at the foot of the bed. She said,"I sleep down here Mommy." I convinced her to come back up to the pillow and she spent the next HOUR singing, talking, saying ABC's, counting one, three, six. Everything but sleeping. At 4:45 I had enough. She went to her bed!

9/11/01

I remember exactly what I was doing the exact moment I saw the first plane hit the tower. Does anyone not remember what they were doing when they heard? I was in my apartment bedroom getting ready for French class. The TV on my dresser was tuned to the Today show just as it was most mornings. I remember hearing Katie Couric scream and they switched to a live shot of the plane hitting the building. I stopped and thought, what the heck just happened? A few minutes later the second plane hit.

Going to class wasn't always a priority for me but that day I went. I think I went so people would talk to me about it. No one said a word. I was thinking, "Why isn't anyone talking about this?" I wish I had spoken up because I don't think most people knew that it happened yet. I wish we had the TV on. I missed the buildings fall. I, like most Americans, was glued to the TV day and night trying to understand why.

That night I was hanging out at my (slightly redneck) boyfriends house, scared to death because nothing like this had happened in my lifetime. There was the first Gulf War but that hardly seemed like a threat. It happened when I was 8 years old. He and his roommates had bought an American flag and counting their shotguns. "Woooooo! We're gonna kill those bastards!!" I remember them chanting.

That one day changed my life and the lives of my children forever. I used to fly to Texas when I was just a small child and my aunt would pick me up at the gate. No more. I never used to question my personal security. To this day, anytime a plane or helicopter from Dobbins flies over our house I get chills and secretly think to myself, "this is what it feels like to be at war."

I pray every day that our leaders are watching out for us. I pray that my kids will only know an event like 9/11 in our history. I also pray that my girls will grow up feeling safe and secure in their home and country like I did for so long. I know people always say this but I will NEVER forget.

School today

I thought I was missing that gene that made moms cry when they dropped their kids off at school but lucky for me, I found it today. I didn't cry at parents night. I didn't cry on the first day of school. I didn't even cry when Kaitlyn didn't run to greet me. But today I cried. I was supposed to go through carpool today but I had to nurse Kylie in the parking lot so I went in to get her. All of the kids in the whole preschool were sitting lined up against the wall and I could see Kaitlyn laughing at whatever her teacher was saying. She was the cutest and most animated kid in her class. I have never felt so proud.

Or maybe I was jealous that her teacher got her to sit still without the TV or a lollipop!

4:45

Something reminded me of this just now and I want to post it before I forget. (Which might happen before I finish typing this sentence!)

Okay... Kylie started sleeping through the night pretty young and then she just stopped. She began waking up every night around 4:30-4:45 and it was so frustrating. She would just eat for like one minute and go back to sleep. I just couldn't figure it out. She didn't seem to be hungry and she was definitely tired. A couple weeks ago John and I went out for the night and I got the pump out of her room so I could pump in my room before I went to bed. Well... at 4:30 in the morning an alarm started going off. I thought it was John's but it wasn't coming from his side of the bed. Wouldn't you know that the alarm clock that I kept in the pump (to keep up with how many minutes) was turned on!!! So Kylie, I'm sorry for this.

This goes down with the zoo trip as one of the dumbest things I have ever done.

Time Flies

Yesterday, sweet Kylie didn't want to nap during our regular nap time. Instead she rolled around on the floor for hours. I began to think that Kaitlyn began sitting up at four months so just for grins I thought I'd try it out. Well she can do it... Her babyhood seems to be going so much faster than Kaitlyn's did. I was in a hurry for K to do everything. I loved each new experience. I remember thinking, I'm having another one so I'll enjoy it then. Now that I'm maybe, probably, dunno done having babies I try to hold on to every minute but it is just going too fast. But Kylie is in a hurry to do EVERYTHING she can scoot/push/roll across our huge den in a matter of minutes. If I would show her how I KNOW she could crawl. Remember she is FOUR months old! I am really thankful for all of the support and encouragement from my friends regarding breastfeeding. That is the only time that I get to admire the little baby miracle. Once we are done with that, I might as well just send her to college.

I have always known that God is real and I have never questioned his presence in my life. If someone were to ask me what proof I have, the proof is in my children. Once you experience the miracle of life you will know that life didn't happen by a mere accident. If that in itself is not enough to convince you watching something like THIS grow into something like THIS should!

Now stop growing up Kylie!!!

School and other stuff

I guess I need to catch up... but I can't think of anything that happened last week. That doesn't mean it didn't happen-it just means I can't remember it.

We have been busy getting K ready for her first day of school and today was the day! Last week we went to parents night and meet the teacher. I've never felt more claustrophobic in my life that going into a preschool classroom with 9 moms and their two year olds but I got over it just in time for Miss Nervous Colon to poop in her pants. Poor kid, I made her finish playing before I changed it. I have been talking to her alot about school in the last couple of days and I think this morning she might have been a little nervous. Here is the picture I tried to take before we left:

She did relax a little bit when we got to school. John and I walked her in and she took off! When I came to pick her up they made all the parents wait in the hall until everyone got there. When they let us in all the kids ran out screaming "Mommy!" I couldn't get too close to the door because I had Ky in her carrier but I waited and waited for Kaitlyn to come out. After literally five minutes, I squeezed my way through the door and saw her running around playing. I don't think she even realized there weren't any kids left! Needless to say, she must have liked it.
I'm slightly nervous about her teachers though. No one really talked to us about how the kids did. All I heard was something from the assistant teacher saying what a wild and crazy day it was and two kids peed their pants because the teachers couldn't get them to the potty...

And here's a picture of Kylie:

That is the EXACT look John gives me when I spend money.