Lily’s 1 Year Pics
Posted on March 23, 2010
So I finally had time to work on them! Other than her flying pic, I had a look I was going for in the shots, and they came out pretty nice. She had such a great time just waddling around with the balloons! She has got to be the cutest 1 year old I’ve ever seen.
Ava’s Big Day
Posted on March 20, 2010
At our last Hapkido belt testing, Ava decided she wanted to join the martial arts as well. T-USA has a Tiny Tigers Taekwondo class and we signed her up after a lot of debate. She’s very much a girly girl. I wouldn’t classify her as a tough girl at all. At least not before she started taking TKD. She took to it like a duck to water. I’ve never seen her so into something, except maybe Sponge Bob. She loves ballet, but she is fantastic in TKD. At least as much as a 4 year old can be.
Today was her yellow belt test. Yellow belt is actually a pretty big step in the martial arts. It shows a the beginning of a commitment and sets a goal in the mind of the martial artist. Black belt. It starts them on the journey towards that belt, and gives them the pride to attain that future accomplishment.
Especially for the little ones, T-USA is a wonderful martial arts school. Todd and I have gone to T-USA for Taekwondo and now for Hapkido as well. What impressed me the most about the instructors and the masters is their primary goal for the kids is to show excellence at home and at school as well as in Taekwondo. With each belt testing, parents and teachers are encouraged to list on the testing form the child’s accomplishments, as well as areas they feel they need improvement. With that, the masters will encourage and congratulate, or coach and dicipline accordingly. I think that is very important and I’m really looking forward to Ava going through the program all the way to black belt!
So, without further ado, here is Ava’s first belt test!
Don’t you love that face? I think her favorite part is yelling!
Instructor Eddie, possibly encouraging Ava to sit still while the other kids were testing. Master Yun seems to be having a hard time hearing the white belts kiyup (shout). Ava in Cha Ryot (attention) stance.
Doing her one step sparring. Kyun Nae (bowing). Sometimes she bows so deep I think she may fall over, it’s so funny!
Ava and another white belt doing their form with Instructor Jaime looking on.
Ava doing her form and her kicking combination. Check that fighting stance out- you can almost hear her Kiyup!
Master Yun pretending to be deaf again! Ava’s getting ready to break her board. It’s a jumping hammer fist. She has to hold up the hand she’s breaking the board with and say “Focus, sir! Confidence, sir!” and then break the board.
Her little feet jumping high for the break, breaking straight through the board, and a loud and long triumphant kiyup to finish!
Time for the belt! The first and last belts are tied by the parents (guardian, spouse, friend, etc). It’s a special time in her journey!
Master Joe talking to the newly yellow belts about the journey ahead. She has been talking about getting a trophy, look at her eying them! I had no idea she was going to get one, she was more excited about the trophy than the belt!
Bowing to the parents: Kamsa ham neida (Thank you.) Good job Ava! I’m so proud of you!!
A little video of Ava’s board break. She broke the board in such a way that she still had a large piece left. So, Master Yun thought it would be funny if she broke the board twice. She tried pretty hard, but she did it perfect the first time anyway! It was pretty cute. Sorry about the wobblyness. Todd was taking the video while holding Lily and I was taking shots with my camera!
Slacking
Posted on March 19, 2010
I’ve been doing a fantastic job on my Flickr 365. Yea, not really. I was doing a great job. Until I stopped posting my pictures. I have a whole bunch in my camera. And then I missed a bunch of days. And now I’m ticked at myself. I do this a lot. I have something that I’m supposed to do (like dishes, laundry, my 365), and I forget one day. And another day. And then it piles up. And up. And up. (And I know you’re not supposed to start a sentence with a conjunction, but I’ve already done it 7 times now, and I’m not going to stop, I think, ever.) Then, I put it behind me and I pretend it’s not there. But (see?) it’s there. And (haha) it will get worse and worse until I decide to dig in and just get ‘er done. The last 365 picture that I posted was on February 5th. I think I’ve missed at least 7 days of pictures between now and then. Which makes me disappointed in myself. I’m not really sure what to do about it. I could have a few make up shots and post them. Meanwhile, I haven’t gotten up the gumption to actually post the ones I do have. I’ll get to it. Over a months worth of pictures. Ugh. I will do it. Soon…
Lily’s 1 Year Pics- Sneak Peek!
Posted on March 12, 2010
Makeover!
Posted on March 11, 2010
No, not me. Why, do you think I need one?? No, my blog! I’m happy to show off my new layout by portfoliositez.com. I still have a few tweaks here and there that I’d like to do, but I’m really happy with it! Make sure you add the rss to your feed, and while you’re at it, if you havent already add me on facebook and twitter! Cuz I said so!
Enjoy!
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Posted on March 11, 2010
I know what you’re thinking. A sippy cup, so what? Well, this is the first time Lily has drank (drunk, dranken, drinked?) this much cows milk. Ive tried several different sippy cups, bottles, whatever, nothing was working. Even throughout her first year, no one could give her a bottle of my milk. She wouldn’t take it. She wanted me.
You know how Ava has her Gackie? I am Lily’s Gackie. And it’s frustrating. She doesn’t even really nurse. I don’t think I’m producing that much anymore. I can’t even pump. She just likes the comfort of nursing. And, I understand, I enjoy the bond too, but I’m starting to feel worn and abused like Gackie.
I stopped nursing Ava two weeks before her first birthday. It was cold turkey. I gave her a bottle of whole milk and she walked (well crawled) away happily and that was it. She didn’t need me anymore. It was liberating and heartbreaking at the same time.
With Lily, she needs me to fall asleep. She needs me when she is bored. She needs me when she is sad or mad. She just wants the comfort. So, it’s been a little hard. Especially when we started putting her up in her new room and in her crib. She goes down ok, but she wakes up every 2-3 hours still. I have to wean her.
So, knowing that, it’s been dificult with her not wanting cows milk. It’s not that she doesn’t want it. It’s that she doesn’t like drinking out of a sippy cup or a bottle. Well kid, I’m done. Taps closed. And looking at her sippy cup a few minutes ago, I feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Wish me luck!
Happy Birthday Lily!
Posted on March 4, 2010
Warning: The following is a Lily overload. Those who cannot handle too much cuteness should turn away now.
Lily turns one today!! At 10:03 pm one year ago, my beautiful Lily entered our lives and brought more love into our home than we thought possible. She also helped to make our lives a little more hectic, our house a little more messy and our moments of peace few and far between. But, hey! That’s what life with kids is like! I wouldn’t change it for the world. Going back over this year, I’ve learned a lot about this little being God blessed us with. She’s sweet, quiet (ironically, as I type this, she is upstairs crying to get out of her crib),very serious, and incredibly curious. People see her and find her so adorable, they just have to say hi. And usually, they are met with a blank stare. It’s almost comical. She’s not unhappy, or unfriendly. She’s just serious and loves to sit and take in the world around her. Either that, or she has no idea that when someone smiles at her, it’s customary to smile back. Silly kid. She loves music, her face lights up and her legs start jumping as soon as she hears a beat. She’s pretty quick to learn, and she wants to do everything Ava does. Which is why she started walking at 9 months, and she’s already doodling with crayons, and she’s saying and signing words. I think she’s determined to catch up to Ava. She’s my good eater. While Ava eats almost nothing, Lily will eat anything in front of her. Including bugs, plants and small rocks. She’s a bit of a handful in that respect. I didn’t have to chase after Ava saying “No!! Don’t touch!” “Don’t eat that!!” She’s also pretty stubborn too. She likes to pretend she doesn’t understand or doesn’t hear me. Little booger. I believe her favorite person in the entire world is Ava. Ava is the only one who can get her to smile this enormous smile. She’s the only one who can get her to laugh like she does. Todd and I try, and we’ve done it a few times, but really, Ava is the master at getting the giggles and grins out of her. And Ava, the typical Gemini who craves an audience, loves it. Lily is also fearless. She climbs on top of chairs, up the stairs. She’s taken dives off the couch onto teddy bears. Its a little crazy. She’s also a true Pisces and she loves the water. She has no fear of that either. She scares me, she tries to swim in the bath. I don’t feel like having a heart attack at 30, Lily. Please refrain from the extreme baby sports. So, that’s your little window to my one (oh my goodness) year old.
First on my list of Lily overload is a little picture timeline. It’s true what they say. That you don’t take as many pictures of your second child as you do for your first. So there are only 7 bizmillion pictures in this little video, instead of 8 bizmillion. Enjoy and stay tuned.
Last night, because Todd had to work on Lily’s birthday, we had a mini birthday party. Just a little toy from Jewel and a cupcake. We sung happy birthday and Ava blew out the candle for Lily. And Lily ate almost all of that cupcake.
Then today I took the girls to the KidsWork Children’s Museum in Frankfort, IL. It is probably one of my favorite places to take them, and we will be having Lily’s party there in a week and a half. They pretty much run around to every station and try to soak everything in within the couple hours we’re there. And then they fall asleep in the car as we’re pulling out of the parking lot. Love it!
They had a blast, and Lily was just non-stop! I bought her this cupcake/tutu ensemble from Etsy.com and she was adorable! I think she knew there was something special about today. She was walking and talking and just having a good ‘ol time!
Ava put on a show in the theater. She said she was a grumpy guy. I think she was going for Dracula, but either way, it was pretty funny. She kept walking in and out of the curtains, up and down the stage yelling “Who’s in my castle!?”
Lily had a part too. I’m not really sure what it was, but she ended up ditching it for costume changes.
Ava cracks me up… This is the giant pin screen they have there.
After the museum, we walked down to the other end of the building to have some ice cream at the candy shop there.
Ava getting the biggest smiles of the day out of Lily by playing peek-a-boo in the door before we left.
And last, but not least, a video of Ava singing Lily “Happy Birthday” while Lily tries to distract her. Try not to laugh.