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23 November 2014

because I think my girls are cute.

Not like I really feel like I need a reason to post pictures of my girls.  Because this is my blog and I do what I want.  So there. 

And since Lily takes after me, half her expressions are silly and half are kind of looking like a grimace...she does what she wants, also.  

pretty girl...half a second before she took off and Lily had to tackle her.
*sigh* I guess I just need Kaylee to learn how to do this face and move on.

"ok, you don't have to smile...what is that face?!"


"cheeeeeeeeeese!"





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Lily isms 27

Emma had an accident in the night, and when I tucked her back into her bed in new jams:
"oh this is so comfy."

Lily: Daddy, where are you going?
Jesse: I have to go to work.
Lily: are you going to bring us pizza for dinner?
Jesse: ....do you want me to bring pizza?
Lily: oh yes, we have been wanting you to.

We have been working on memorizing the presidents of the United States with Lily and Emma and when I introduced James Polk this morning,
Lily: oh, James Hook!  Just like Captain Hook!
Me: ...what?  No, no, Polk!  Not Hook.
Lily: why?  Can we say Captain Hook?
Me: you want to add Captain Hook to our presidents?
Lily: yes!  And Mr. Smee!
-- so now, our presidents go in order until Polk and then we add Captain Hook and Mr. Smee.

Emma brought me a stuffed Curious George:
"look!  George Washington!"

Lily and Emma were playing, and Lily was dragging Emma everywhere while Emma giggled, completely ignoring everything Lily wanted her to do:
Lily: I'm sorry, she's just a little stinker!

Lily: Emma is really bothering me; she keeps talking to me about hawks and birds!

We stuck Lily in the basket of a shopping cart against her will:
"Can you please let me out of the cart?  Please?  I'll give you a dollar!"

Lily was running around with a sheet over her shoulders, like a cape, and it got twisted:
"can you put my cape back on the right course?"

Me: Emma, don't give Zeke your waffle.
Emma: I'm sharing! Zekey wanted part of my pancake.
*note* it was really a waffle.
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22 November 2014

thank you, kind stranger.

I would really like to know where time goes.  As a kid and all growing up, time seemed to drag on forever, and now that I'm an adult...well, chances are you understand.  It just goes so quickly and I don't know how or where it's going so fast!

Somehow, we are on the doorstep of Thanksgiving, and we all know what a whirlwind the rest of the year is and quickly it will be 2015.  Sheesh.

A few weekends ago, Team Hildebrand made a weekend trip to Zanesville so Jesse and I could go to our college's homecoming events.  The girls had a blast staying with Grandma and Grandpa so Jesse and I actually had an entire day to ourselves!  It was fantastic.  I love my kids and am so happy I get the chance to be a stay at home mom, but it's always nice to occasionally get a few minutes to myself, let alone a whole day!  Jesse and I enjoyed ourselves seeing friends, revisiting our old stomping grounds and going to the basketball game in the evening.  The girls did great with Jesse's folks and Lily and Emma were excited to tell us all about it.

Kaylee has hit a rough patch...which I'm antsy to get through.  She is working on a few more teeth, so her sleeping has been off as she's been fighting congestion and the soreness of her gums.  Additionally, I apparently am either feeding her something that upsets her stomach or I'm eating something that I'm passing on to her that is upsetting her, but either way, she's been fussy from that while I try and figure out what is bugging her system.  Of course, I could be completely mistaken and whatever it is could be part of teething, also.  I tend to blame everything on teeth either moving around or coming in.  I'm so highly scientific and probably accurate.

Lily and Emma are doing great.  They have both been extra clingy, which is weird and can be frustrating since I always have little people underfoot, but I'm trying to make sure I hold both of them and love on them as much as I can.  Lily has especially been clingy and moody, bursting into tears if I make her sad or don't return to her quickly enough.  Which is of course precious and I love that I'm so important, but it literally means I can't go anywhere without her trying to follow me or panicking when I'm not right there.  We will power through with lots of hugs and explaining that I will always come back.

The past few weeks have been a real test of patience for me, I think.  I am not the most patient person typically and it is something I have been working on over the years.  The girls just have been crying, whining and bickering an extra amount.  I'm sure it's a bunch of stuff all crammed together that makes it seem that way: daylights savings, teeth, growth spurt...I'm staying up too late so I'm tired and my tolerance level is lower...that kind of thing.  Anyway, with how the past few weeks have been, I am trying to put forth an extra effort to be patient with the girls, hug and cuddle them more and make sure I take the time to drop what I'm doing and play with them.  We are hopefully on the upswing of this frustrating period, but it made what happened yesterday just seem a bit sweeter, when the girls and I were blessed yesterday by a kind lady outside the grocery store.  We had run to town to do some Thanksgiving shopping, trying to beat the probable craziness of next week, and gotten through our list pretty quickly.  As I was loading the girls and groceries into the car, a lady stopped me and handed me a $20.  She told me she had so enjoyed watching how the girls interacted with each other, how well behaved they were and how I handled them in the store that she wanted me to take them to lunch and buy them a Happy Meal sometime.  I was absolutely blown away and didn't know what to say.  Not only was incredibly sweet of her to buy us lunch like that, but it also was such an ego boost for me that hey, I'm not a complete failure!  Not that I really think I am, but it was an effective pat on the back for me that my children are well behaved enough for a stranger to notice in a grocery store.

Anyway, that totally made my day.  She could have just left it at telling me she enjoyed watching how well behaved my girls were and I'd have been over the moon.

That's about it from here for now...


playing with Grandma in Zanesville
cheeeeeeeeese
terrible picture, but this is where I  found everyone one morning: playing in our room in front of a mirror with an umbrella and a pile of play food.
good doggy.
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13 November 2014

Emma Joann

A few weeks ago now, because I'm so terrible at actually updating, Emma and I had a wonderful moment.  She had woken up to go to the bathroom, and as I was tucking her back in, she started crying, mostly because she was tired and confused about what was going on.  I calmed her down, but she asked me to stay and hold her hand for awhile.  Sitting on the floor and watching her doze off was so peaceful, and reminded me what a special little girl she is.  It's amazing how easy it is to see how you should have handled a situation after the fact, and I do look back and wish I had just accepted my fate with her first year of life: with a colicky baby up every hour of the night, for just about the first entire year of her life, I should have just realized I wouldn't be sleeping much and enjoyed the cuddles when they came.  Instead, I was obsessed with trying to get my poor little girl to sleep when I wanted her to, or at all, and would put her down almost as soon as she dozed off, hoping she'd stay down long enough for me to get a few minutes of sleep.  I do wish I had held her more and watched her sleep, but we are making up for that now.  She loves to cuddle and I make sure I always have time to hold her.

While Jesse and I joke that we kept Emma that first year because she was cute-- it was that challenging of a year for us, we were so clueless-- she is such a wonderful little girl now.  She is such a joy.

These past 6 months especially, while Emma has started talking a lot more and being more independent, she is always making us laugh.  She has become more cuddly and loving, trying to interact with Kaylee and following Lily's every move.  Those two butt heads as they both are forming strong opinions about how life should be and who gets which toys, but such is life and growing up close in age with your sister: they are already best friends and just assume that they always go together.  One Sunday morning, I was dispersing the girls to their separate class/nursery rooms before church and we dropped Lily off first.  Emma had been all excited about Sunday school until we dropped Lily off and she realized that she would be in a different room than Lily and had an absolute meltdown.  Another night, as I was holding her hand, she heard Kaylee crying.  Emma looked at me and said, "Kaylee is crying, Momma.  Go hold her."  Such a tender little heart.

Emma has boundless energy, even when she's exhausted.  Her favorite mode of transportation is apparently bouncing and hopping from A to B, and we may need to invest in a good pogo stick or trampoline.  My vote is for a trampoline (and are pogo sticks still a thing?).  She seems to have a low threshold for pain and emotions, definitely a much more sensitive child than Lily was at this age.  While she is sensitive, she is also so adventurous.  Lily is more timid the first few times before she will dive in to do something alone and typically, Emma needs to be shown just once before she's off.  It's so fun to watch how different these two are, and I know it will be interesting to see how Kaylee fits in as she grows older.

She is at such a fun age.  I feel I don't talk about how awesome she is often enough because she is so strong willed and can be such a handful.  I've been wanting to reiterate how fun she is for awhile, but time to blog doesn't always work out with having a desire to post anything.  I always joke that I have "middle child syndrome," and while I don't feel I was ever overlooked as a child, I want to make sure I don't overlook my Emma, either.  Lily had the time to be an only child and Kaylee has gotten a lot of solo parent time, but Emma got tossed in and hauled all over the place with Lily from day one.  I probably am extra paranoid about making sure I give Emma individual attention since she tends to just get shuffled along with Lily.  Jesse had the other day off work, and he was planning on going to the store for a few things while I took Zeke to the vet.  He had originally planned on taking Lily with him, and I would take Emma and Kaylee with me, but when Lily announced she wanted to go with me instead, Emma and Daddy had some special time together.  

Figuring out how to parent is certainly an adventure, and while I wish I had been more understanding and forgiving of Emma her first year, I'm glad Jesse and I have been able to see how special she is and are quickly (ish) learning how different she is from Lily.

And, to emphasize my point about Emma being shuffled along in with her sisters, I went to find some pictures of her to share, and my entire memory card is filled with pictures of Kaylee.  





Once the weather/sun/children cooperate, I will hopefully have some new pictures to share!
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