Through The Eyes of a Two Year Old

There have been many things that have surprised me after becoming a parent. I'm surprised how much I can accomplish with little to no sleep (basically Lilly's whole first year). I'm surprised at all the little things that gave me anxiety (I'm guilty of misusing google). I'm surprised at how FAST she is growing and changing.

But one thing that has surprised me the most is that I learn more from Lilly than she does from me. My daughter teaches me more about life than I teach her. Have you ever seen life through the eyes of a two year old? It's pretty spectacular. It's humbling. It's innocent. It makes big things seem small, and small things seem big. 

Just the other night, I was getting Lilly ready for bed after a long, hot summer day. We went downstairs to let the dogs out and of course Lilly wanted to walk outside too. My inner voice was saying "great, this is going to take longer than it should", but being too tired to fight the tantrum that might happen if we didn't go outside with the dogs, we went and stood on the porch. I told the dogs to hurry so we could all go to bed... And then the sweetest little two year old voice I've ever heard said "ohh look at the stars mommy, they beautiful". And sure enough, there they were. Hundreds of stars twinkling in the sky.. And I saw them through the eyes of my two year old. Magical. Beautiful. Breathtaking. 

We stood outside for a very long time that night, just looking at the stars. 

Life is busy, and life is short, so thank you Lilly Bug for showing me how important it is to appreciate the simple moments in life. Thank you for showing me how every day things can still be beautiful. But most of all, thank you for allowing me to see life through your precious little eyes. 

Every Summer Has A Story

Sheesh...This summer needs to get a speeding ticket it's been going so fast!! We have been having so much fun. Our upstairs palace in my parents house is slowly becoming home for us and everybody has adjusted pretty well (yay!)... Even the dogs have become best friends. 

I spent the beginning part of this summer keeping my nieces while they were out for summer. That consisted of many pool days (yes, I mastered putting sunscreen on 3 kids and myself! Where's my trophy?), golf cart rides through the woods, ice cream, dress up, going to the park, and watching old school Disney movies. Lilly is obsessed with her cousins and they are actually very helpful with her too. They even like changing her diaper (score!!!). The girls started school last week (year round) so now it's just the two of us. We loveeeeee our visits with Ella Charles (aka the cutest baby in the world). Lilly loves her so much that she even tries to act just like her when we visit.. Stealing her paci's and everything... 

We have also spent some much needed time at the beach with our families. Lilly and Cole had a "friendly" competition to see who could pee pee on the potty the most! I think potty training is right around the corner. Oh boy! 

Lilly has really been enjoying her weekly gymnastics class! It's way too cute. They even play the Frozen soundtrack which takes it to a whole new level. She has mastered her front roll and pencil roll! 

Operation toddler bed didn't go over as planned... So Lilly is actually in the big queen bed in the room beside us with a bed rail. Our rooms are connected with a jack and jill bathroom which is the only way she can get to our room since her door is closed off. I have woken up twice to her staring at me in the face, even though the video monitor volume was on full blast. That has freaked me out so we are working on teaching her to yell out to us if she wakes up instead of getting off the bed. 

I spent a glorious girls weekend with my best friends in Wilmington this past weekend. It was so relaxing! We decided to venture out to a roof top bar Saturday night. You know you're a mom when they play "I'm Sexy and I Know It" and all you know is the Elmo version of the song. Such a fun weekend! 

http://youtu.be/dme9clldFts

So now we are just going to enjoy our last few weeks before I start work (teaching 2nd grade at Deep River Elementary!!!) and Lilly starts daycare. Maybe I won't cry this year..!? Yeah right, I'm about to cry just thinking about it. 

Slow down summer!! :)