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Today is Dad's 75th birthday.
To celebrate, last Wednesday all of Dad's kids...and their kids...surprised him by showing up at "Irish Night" at a local bar/restaurant. It was nice to have an opportunity to celebrate Dad's birthday with his friends.
Lily is absolutely crazy about her grandfather and had so much fun being part of Dad Dad's big day. Lily danced all night (or at least until 7:30), flirted shamelessly with Brendan (the singer), and even had an opportunity to sing Happy Birthday to Dad Dad using the microphone (as part of a trio and solo)! Talk about a great time!
This morning we continued the celebrating at Dad Dad's favorite breakfast place. Mary Beth and Don had to work, but Uncle Jack and Aunt Pappy were able to join us for a birthday breakfast complete with birthday candles and singing!
Happy Birthday, Dad! We love you so much more than you know!!
I can't believe it's only 8 weeks until Christmas. I also can't believe I've gained 25 pounds in the last 6 months!!!
How can that be??? I'm hardly recognizable to myself!
I would love to be able to blame my weight gain solely on my steroid use, but the truth is that I've been eating like it's my J.O.B.
I have struggled with my weight my entire life, but the last 6 months have been especially hard. I have had the most voracious appetite! Even if taking steroids does increase your appetite...you don't have to act on it. I mean, steroids don't force you in to the kitchen and make you open the refrigerator...and your mouth. Right?? Right!
What has happened to my self-control? I have none. Zero. Zilch. Zippy.
Okay. Here's the point of my post. I want to lose 15 pounds by Christmas. That's all I want and it doesn't cost a thing!
My hope is that by putting this out here in blogland I might actually stay out of the kitchen...and reach my goal.
I'll keep you posted (pun intended) on my progress.
How did we get from here...
to here....
so quickly??
Can someone please hand me life's remote control??
I REALLY need to hit the Pause button!
I wanted to share how well Lily is doing at her new preschool. She absolutely LOVES it!
There were a few tears the first day, but since then it's been all smiles and eagerness to go. In fact, on Thursday as Lily was walking into school she turned to me and said, "Mommy, don't cry while I'm at school. You can miss me but still have fun." It's so nice to see that after only 3 classes Lily is far more comfortable than she was after 3 weeks at the Co-op!
I wish I could say the same about me. No, it's not the new school I'm not comfortable with...it's the time apart from Lily. I know we both need it. I know it's healthy. What I also know is it's HARD. Really, really HARD.
I'm used to pretty much spending all of Lily's waking moments together. Not only am I used to it...I thoroughly enjoy it. Truly. Lily is such a happy, silly, funny, little girl and an absolute joy to be around. She literally keeps me smiling all day long!
Lily has yet to hit the "terrible" two's or three's. I know that doesn't mean it won't happen, but it hasn't happened...yet. I can imagine if I was battling with tantrums and toddler tirades the 5 hours apart each week would be a much needed reprieve...but...what I'm finding is that I'm a little lost without Lily.
How can that be??? I was childless for 40 years and did quite well on my own. I never had a shortage of things to do, places to go, people to see. Now, I find myself wondering what to do with the 2 1/2 hours I have to myself twice a week. Seriously. What has happened to me??
I know one thing that has changed is that I now feel very conflicted about how to spend my "free" time. There are the things I want to do: have lunch with my sisters/friends, read a good book, walk through a museum, to name just a few. Then, there are the things I need to do like E.X.E.R.C.I.S.E. And let's not forget the things I should do: clean the house, wash windows, run errands, and, and, and... Basically, a lot more than I can possibly get done in 5 hours a week!
When I'm not wondering about what to do to keep myself occupied I am realizing that it's hard for me to let go. Yes, I know it's only 5 hours a week. But, I've been used to spending ALL my time with Lily. Up until now if I wasn't with Lily then Tony was or someone else in the family. I basically knew what was happening 24/7. Now, there are other people influencing Lily's life. Don't get me wrong I trust that they are good influences. I also believe it's a good thing for Lily and I to have some time apart. It's just going to take me a while to adjust to not knowing every little detail of Lily's life.
By the way, yes, I know I have MAJOR control issues. But, I'm willing to bet I'm not the first mother who has had a little twinge of sadness when they realized the song their child was singing wasn't something they had taught them. Right?
Hello? Is there anybody there? I'm not the first one. Right?!?
Yes, you read that correctly. Yesterday was Lily's second first day of preschool.
Last week we decided to take Lily out of the Coop Preschool and transfer her to a new preschool. Can I just tell you how I agonized about this decision?!? Seriously. I have a special gift for making simple things difficult and I truly didn't think this was a "simple thing".
I'm embarrassed to admit this, but when I thought about preschools for Lily this year the Coop was foremost in my mind and for very selfish reasons. I wanted to be able to work in Lily's classroom. I didn't give enough thought to what would happen on the days I wasn't in the classroom.
Each day there are 4 Parent Helpers with the teacher. The Parent Helpers rotate each class and no time in the next 3 months would the same 4 Parent Helpers be in the classroom at the same time. Therein lies the problem. Our girl is a consistency/predictability junkie (like mother like daughter). I know that and normally I do my best to provide it. So, WHAT was I thinking????
Lily was experiencing a fair amount of anticipatory anxiety before going to school and then having pretty emotional afternoons after school. I know any change takes a little time to get used to, but what I realized is that neither one of us was comfortable or happy at the Coop. Truth be told, as much as we both LOVED the 2 year old program...I didn't like all the "moving parts" in the 3 year old program and, more importantly, neither did Lily.
With the rotating parents in the classroom there isn't an opportunity to really get to know and connect with each child. That's important to me and it's also important to Lily. I'm sure there are plenty of kids in the class who had no idea what parents were or weren't in the classroom on any given day. Lily is NOT one of those kids.
All that being said, I do think it's a good idea for Lily and I to spend a little time apart (emphasis on little). So, I looked into some of the other area preschools and found one I think will be a good fit for our family.
Lily's new preschool is super structured and has the same teacher and three aides each day. It also helps that Lily knows 4 of the other children in her new class. Oh, and another plus is that Lily will be attending the afternoon session.
The afternoon start time definitely fits better in our life. To put it mildly, Lily is NOT a morning person. Girlfriend normally wakes up around 8:00 - 8:30 and knows only one speed in the morning...slow motion! Having to rush her out the door to get to school by 9:00 didn't make for a fun morning. This way we can spend the morning together, have lunch, and then head to school.
There is a downside. I won't be working in the classroom at all. I can't tell you how sad that makes me. But, as long as Lily feels safe and secure, that is a trade-off I am willing to make.
Oh, I almost forgot the most important thing about Lily's new preschool. She needs to have her own lunchbox to bring a snack. Can I just tell you how excited she was to buy a lunchbox??? Ahh...life's simple pleasures! Just look at how happy she is sporting her new accessory.
I should mention that there were a few tears yesterday when I dropped Lily off. But, when I picked her up she was so excited and happy and had a great afternoon. Today, Lily asked me when she could go back to her new preschool. Ahhh...music to my ears!
I've been told by other parents that your kids will spring the tough/surprising questions on you when you least expect them. That certainly seems to be the case with our sweet Lily.
Today, Lily and I attended another great class at the State Park and then met Dad for lunch. While we were sitting at the table eating this is the conversation Lily and I had:
Mommy, you know what I was wondering?
No sweetie. What?
I was wondering if Miss Erica is my birth mother.
Oh...um...no honey. She's not. Um...what makes you wonder if Miss Erica's your birth mother?
Oh, Miss Erica looks Chinese and so do I.
You're right. I'm sure your birth mother looks like you, too.
Um Mommy, can I have more parmesan cheese?
At that moment time stood still. I tried desperately not to change my facial expression or tone of voice. I failed miserably! I immediately wanted to go back and change my answers. I wanted to take the shock out of my voice. Somehow sound more open, more confident, more something.
With what I can only imagine was a panic-stricken look on my face I looked across the table at Dad. He hadn't heard the particulars of Lily and my conversation, but I'm sure the tears in my eyes spoke volumes.
I guess I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was by Lily's question. Over the last several weeks Lily has been talking a lot about the things that are "different" between us. She has been asking questions about why the color of our skin is different, why our eye color is different, why other people's eyes/skin/hair is different. You get the idea.
I've posted about Erica and her family before. They are second generation Chinese American and live just a few streets away from us. We've gotten to be pretty good friends and we see them quite a bit. In fact, not only is Erica's daughter Sydney in Lily's Ballet and Books class they were also at the State Park this morning.
Simply put, I think when Lily looks at Erica she sees the things that are the "same" and that led to her question at lunch.
Even if I may not always be ready, I pray that Lily will always come to me with her questions and that with time and practice I will become better equipped to answer them.
We spent last weekend visiting our friends Laura, Rich, and their 3 beautiful boys. We always have such a good time whenever we're together and this weekend was no exception!
We visited the beautiful Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens, celebrated the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, shopped in Carytown, watched lacrosse, ate delcious food, played outside, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and talked, and talked, and talked some more!
Lily had so much fun while we were away. She enjoyed every second with her Godparents, the boys, and the dogs...and so did her mommy and daddy!
Laura, Rich, Adam, Ben, and Sam - thanks for opening your heart and your homes to us. We love you guys!!
Yesterday, Lily and I attended another wonderful "Nature Sprouts" session at the state park.
Clare, the woman who leads these sessions, is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Truly. Somehow she manages to keep a group of 3 and 4 year olds absolutely mesmerized with whatever her topic may be. I shouldn't say "somehow". That does Clare a disservice. The fact of the matter is that she does it by being REALLY creative, age appropriate, informative, and fun!
This week's topic was, "From Seeds to Fruit". In order to share with the kids how a seed becomes a fruit, Clare had the kids participate in a play where each of them was either a flower, fruit, bee, butterfly, or moth. At one point several of the kids were "flying" around saying, "I'm a pollinator. I'm a pollinator." It was incredibly funny.
Clare also had the kids try to identify fruits by smell alone. What a hoot!! Speaking of funny, the kids also experimented with what fruits float or sink. You can only imagine how much they enjoyed that!
Oh, I should also mention that the kids did quite a bit of taste testing, fruit juice drinking, and even made an apple stamp craft to bring home...or in our case to Daddy's office! 
