What Was I Thinking???

So, giving up iced tea for Lent seemed like a good idea at the time...now...I'm not so sure!

I drink a lot of iced tea. A LOT. We're talking an obnoxious amount. Honestly, if I cut myself it's iced tea that comes out! Pretty much it's all I drink from the moment I wake up in the morning until I go to bed at night. Yes, I can drink a huge glass of iced tea and then sleep like a baby.

It's true that I also drink water and red wine and on occasion I've even been known to drink a beer (or two). But, for the most part, I'm all iced tea...all the time. In fact, when Ryan and Jamie were little they thought they called me Aunt T because of all the iced tea I drink!

I've never been a big fan of juice and I haven't had any kind of soda in over 30 years. I gave up soda for Lent when I was 12. I still remember how hard that was (almost as hard as it just was to realize it's been more than 30 years since I was 12!). I vividly remember being so excited Easter morning to crack open the bottle of cold Pepsi that was in my Easter basket. I couldn't drink it. Too sweet. Too bubbly. Too...yuck! I haven't drank any kind of soda since then.

Strangely, I haven't suffered any of the normal physical symptoms of caffeine withdrawal. No headache, no extreme fatigue, nada. On the other hand, I have been eating myself silly. Are the two connected? I have no idea. All I know is that I better get this eating thing under control fast or I will be as big as a house by Easter morning. When, by the way, I plan to suck down a huge glass of unsweetened iced tea with lemon!

Give Momma some iced tea and nobody gets hurt.

Cousins Playdate - Take Two

It has been over a year since Lily and I have gotten together with Roxanne (my cousin John's wife) and their daughter Quinn for a playdate. Check out this link to see pictures from our first playdate.

Last Saturday Roxanne invited me and Lily to join she, Quinn, and a group of their friends at the Butterfly Exhibit at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.

Lily LOVES butterflies so I thought this would be the perfect outing. WRONG! Lily was way too freaked out by all the butterflies fluttering around to actually enjoy how beautiful they were. She was also not a big fan of the steam that was being piped in the room at regular intervals. I think it was a combination of the noise and the actual moisture in the air that bothered her. However, the icing on the cake was the poor smashed butterfly on the floor. That seemed to push Lily over the edge! No worries. We just left the exhibit a little (a lot) faster than I expected and went to check out all the other fun things to see in the museum.



Quinn and Lily were pretty darn cute together on Saturday...especially considering how long it's been since they last saw each other. At one point as we were walking down the stairs Quinn and Lily were holding hands. Too cute! Of course, neither Roxanne or I could get to our cameras.

After touring the museum we all had lunch together and then went out on The Mall to let the kids stretch their legs. Lily and Quinn spotted a carousel immediately. Roxanne was sweet enough to take them on it. Thanks Rox! I simply can't do things that spin in circles. I just can't. In fact, watching the three of them spin in circles was making me nauseus!



When we got home Tony asked Lily how she liked the butterfly exhibit and she said, "Not at all! There was a smooshed butterfly on the ground." Then she proceeded to tell Tony in elaborate detail all about our train ride and about the carousel. Butterflies notwithstanding it was a great day!

Fun Field Trips

On Thursday, Lily's preschool class took a field trip to the Science Center. Lily absolutely LOVED it. I think she would have stayed there all day...if Mommy hadn't needed a nap!

Here are some cute shots of our little budding scientist:

I Can't Say Lexington, Kentucky

Tony went on a very short business trip early this week to Lexington, Kentucky. When I told Lily that Daddy was going to be away for a few nights she asked me where he was going. When I told her she said, "I can't say Lexington, Kentucky." The funny thing is...I didn't ask her to say it...and she said it clear as a bell!

It turns out that Lexington, Kentucky became Lily's favorite thing to say for about 24 hours. Honestly. I think just about every sentence had Lexington, Kentucky in it. Is Daddy flying to Lexington, Kentucky? Will Daddy sleep in Lexington, Kentucky? Where is Lexington, Kentucky? Can we have a celebration when Daddy comes home from Lexington, Kentucky? Are we going to Lexington, Kentucky? Okay. Enough. You get the picture.

Lily's fascination with those two words (which I won't type again because I'm sure you are as tired of reading them as I was of hearing them!) got me thinking about some of Lily's other new favorite words. Here are a few that immediately come to mind: conversation, actually, prefer, rather, celebration, and I can't forget...terribly sad. Yes, that's right, terribly sad.

The other day Lily was telling me a lengthy story. This is another one of Lily's new favorite things to do. Lily tells these stories that are a hodgepodge of books we have read, songs she knows, and her amazingly active imagination. So, anyway, Lily is telling me this story about when she fell down by a bridge and couldn't get up and that made her "terribly sad" until Thomas The Train came by and picked her up. At first I didn't think I heard her correctly so I asked her to repeat herself. Sure enough...she was terribly sad. I started to giggle. Um...important note to Mommy...when your daughter tells you a story about being terribly sad the expected response from Mommy is not laughter! Oops!!

Lily has also started this silly way of talking and singing. I can't explain it so I will give you a few examples:

Binkle, binkle, bittle bar. Bow bi bonder bhat bou bar...
Zommy, zan zi zave zome zilk?
The witsy, witsy, wider went wup...

Sometimes it's really funny and other times (like when I'm feeling like I did in this post)...not so much.

While I'm thinking of the things Lily says, here are a few helpful reminders for me that I am, in fact, talking to an almost 3 year old and not an almost 13 year old! A recent excerpt from the Lily-ese dictionary:

Surf - What comes before second and third.
Chouch - Sometimes also called a sofa.
Dude - The past tense of do.
Pewter - The piece of equipment you are on right now reading this blog.

Yippee! Yi yuv yice yeam!

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a wonderful Valentine's Day...hope you did, too!

Daddy started the Valentine sweetness by sending Lily and I each a beautiful flower arrangement. Lily absolutely LOVED getting a special delivery just for her (and so did Mommy)!! Tony also left beautiful cards for us to find on the Dining Room table before he went to work.

Of course, I'll be your Valentine Daddy!

Lily was really excited about celebrating Valentine's Day and expected the entire day to be a party. I did my best to oblige. We had some kind of heart shaped food at each meal. Lily got the biggest kick out of it!



When I talked to Mary Beth this morning I mentioned that I was going to go out and buy a fondue pot because I thought it would be fun to have chocolate fondue for dessert tonight. An hour later I got a call from the Thrift Store Queen. Mary Beth had in her hot little hands a traditional fondue pot and a cute little Hershey Kiss dessert fondue pot. Both of the pots were still in their original packaging and had never been opened. So, I went from having no fondue pots to having two. Have I mentioned recently how awesome my siblings are???

After Lily's bath tonight we had the chocolate fondue. I'm not sure of the wisdom of giving Lily a bath before having her dive into chocolate but it seemed like a good idea at the time! Lily was absolutely in heaven!!

How Sweet It Is

Today was Lily's Valentine's Day party at preschool. I loved every second of it and more importantly...Lily did, too!

Days like today are one of the unexpected joys of motherhood. I never knew there would be all these simple little pleasures. Watching Lily have such a great time was so much fun for me. I can't believe how blessed I am!!

Lions, And Oxen, And Monkey Kings....Oh My!

Yesterday we continued our Chinese New Year celebrations and welcomed in The Year Of The Ox in style!

During the day Lily, Christina, and I attended the Families with Children from China (FCC) New Year celebration. The girls did crafts, watched a Chinese opera, saw Lion Dancers, and had a great time together!


To put it mildly Lily is not a big fan of the Monkey King from the Chinese opera or Lion Dancers. Christina, on the other hand, LOVED them! Lily wanted to watch from a distance but Beanie preferred to be in on the action. So, Bean went down close to the stage while Lily and I watched from the balcony. Bean was sweet enough to take my camera along and got these great pictures.





In the evening we had a big family dinner (everyone but Jamie was able to join us) at a local Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was having a special Chinese New Year celebration and we thought it would be fun to check it out. We were right!

Apparently, the restaurant had heard about our table manners and provided us with a private room. We had a wonderful time, great food, and even a visit from a hungry lion.

I think a visit to this restaurant will become part of our family's annual Chinese New Year celebration! It sure beats me cooking!!!

More Lily-isms

It's been a while since I did a post about funny or cute things that Lily has said. So, I thought it was about time for another installment. Here's a random list:

• One of Lily's favorite things to do when she gets out of the tub is to give herself the once (or twice) over in the full length mirror. The other night when she was looking at herself she said, "Look Mommy...I'm naked...just like Adam and Eve."

• Recently Lily and I were at a local bookstore. It's one of Lily's favorite places to go. There are tons of books, a train table, a small stage, and the promise of a blueberry scone. What's not to love? Anyway, while we were there Lily got up on the stage and said, "Hello. Good morning. Thank you for coming. I'd like to get started now." She then proceeded to do a dance that I think can best be entitled, "Fish out of water." It was such a hoot. There were a few women standing in the area and they were cracking up and applauding. Let me tell you...that's all Lily needs...a willing audience...and watch out. I had to drag her out of there!

• Lily loves to listen to music. Unfortunately for me, she tends to want to listen to the same CD over and over and over. So, we are at a traffic light the other day and Lily said, "Mommy, I think it's time to give this CD a rest." Talk about music to my ears!!

• Lily and I were at the store and she was chatting away with the man who was helping us. When we were finished Lily said, "Thanks. I 'ppreciate it." The guy sort of chuckled and then asked Lily how old she was. When she told him she was 2 1/2 he said, "Wow, you're really smart." Lily looked at me and said, "Mommy, I think he impressed." The guy heard that, too...and laughed even harder!

• One morning last week Lily asked if we could call Dad Dad to see if he wanted to go out to breakfast. (Where does she pick up these bad habits??) Lily asked me to dial the phone but stated emphatically that she wanted to "invite" Dad Dad. So, I dialed the phone and handed it to Lily. Here's how Lily's side of the conversation went. "Hi Dad Dad. How you? Good. I'm hungry. My tummy is growlin'. It's saying...FEED ME! Yes, it wants a bagel and cream cheese. Want to go to the diner?" I couldn't hear what Dad was saying...but I could hear a lot of laughing!

• And, here's one last one. Lily was talking on the phone with Tony the other day. When she finished she handed the phone back to me and then said, "Wait Mommy. I forgot to tell Daddy something." I handed the phone back to Lily and she said, "I love you Daddy." I'm sure Tony had a silly smile on his face for the rest of the day!

Speaking of putting a smile on your face...here are a few pictures of Lily playing in the snow yesterday.

Chef Lily

Lily LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to cook! She "helps" me cook dinner every night and loves when we cook treats like muffins, cookies, etc. I put helps in quotes but Lily really stays surprisingly focused. It's just that when she helps it takes a little (or a lotta) bit longer.

Lily loves to "read" the recipes for whatever we are making. I try not to laugh but it is very funny. She will look at the recipe and then scan the table to see what ingredients are set out. Then, she says things like..."It says next we need to add the eggs."

By the way, eggs are Lily's all time favorite ingredient. She has gotten quite good at cracking them, too. As proof, I no longer have to pour the eggs through a strainer to get the shells out!

For Christmas, Lily received a children's cooking set from Charlie. Included in the set were small silicone cooking pans, recipes, an apron, chef hat, and cooking mitts. Lily loves the set!

The other day we made some mini chocolate chip bundt cakes with her bake set. Lily just couldn't wait to deliver one of the finished products to Charlie.

Charlie was so sweet. He took a few bites of his cake as soon as Lily handed it to him and told Lily how delicious it was. She was positively beaming! Speaking of sweet, Charlie also sent Lily home with some chocolate chip cookies he had made. A little impromptu cousins baked goods swap. How cute!!



At Christmas, Lily and I also received a matching apron and oven mitt set from Aunt Lala and Uncle Rich. Little Miss loves having choices in her cooking attire and loves to match Mommy. Lily choosing what to wear when we cook sometimes takes longer than the actual cooking does!



I think you'll agree she is quite stylish!

Potty Training Update

Just thought I'd give a quick update on Lily's potty training efforts. Honestly, there wasn't any "training" involved. One day Lily decided she was going to wear big girl panties and that was the end of that.

Lily has had two accidents since she stopped wearing diapers on the 17th. The first happened the very first day. Lily was playing with Daddy when she wet her pants. The poor sweet thing was so upset (even though Tony and I weren't at all). She told me later that she had just forgotten that she wasn't wearing diapers. Makes sense to me.

The second accident happened several days later when Lily and I were at one of her favorite places...the pet store. Lily loves to go to the pet store and see the dogs being groomed and "visit" the cats. Lily told me in plenty of time that she had to go to the potty. I just hadn't gambled on how nasty the bathroom would be...or Lily's reaction to it.

Lily absolutely refused to use the bathroom and you can guess what happened next. Lily was heartbroken. Through her tears she told me, "I just want to go home." I told Lily that was fine but first I wanted to change her into some dry clothes. You should have seen how Lily's face lit up when she realized I had a change of clothes in my bag for her. It was so sweet. Lily was so excited that she would be able to put dry clothes on and go back and see the animals. In her sweetest little voice Lily said to me, "Mommy, if you ever go pee pee in your big girl panties I will give you dry clothes, too." I know it sounds silly but it was such a tender moment...even in a filthy bathroom.

In fact, the only real stumbling block we've hit with potty training is public restrooms. Lily hates them...even when they're not filthy! She would much prefer to only use the potty at home but when you gotta go...you gotta go!

One of the main reasons Lily hates public restrooms (besides if they're dirty) is that she is terrified of automatic flushing toilets! TERRIFIED! I never realized how many bathrooms have these darn things.

When Lily and I go in a stall with an automatic flushing toilet I either put my hand over the little red sensor or drape some toilet paper over it. Basically, I just try to prevent the toilet from flushing in the middle of Lily doing "her business". That seems to have eased her fears considerably.

We are still putting Lily in a diaper overnight and she finds that HIGHLY insulting. She's been dry every morning so I imagine we'll stop putting her in a diaper pretty soon.

Amazingly, I've restrained myself from taking any pictures of Lily on the potty. Trust me, Lily would not appreciate it! Instead, here is a cute picture of our little snow bunny!

Happy Birthday Aunt Baba!

Today is Mary Beth's birthday. Happy Birthday Aunt Baba!!! Mary Beth is an amazing mother, wife, daughter, aunt, sister, and friend. She is an incredible blessing to our entire family.


We had a great time celebrating Mary Beth's birthday at Patti's this evening. There was a ton of good food and lots and lots of laughter.

Lily enjoyed playing beauty parlor with her aunts and reading books with the birthday girl. Oh, and there was some football game on TV, too. I wasn't the least bit interested until I heard Bruce Springsteen was the half time show. I might be old enough to be Lily's grandmother but I still love the Boss!