Friday Night Hoedown

I've not laughed this hard in a long, long time.

For It's Root, Root, Root...

She's become quite the sports fan. And singer.

Watching Her Garden Grow

Now that I've got the seasons in Florida figured out (hey, it's only taken 9 years), one of my favorite parts about living here is that we get two true gardening seasons. I always rush the fall one a little bit, but then withering plants will be a small price to pay for the fun that Mary Ellen and I had last weekend. Notice the excitement?

My choice of seed were beans (because they sprout and grow so quickly) and her choice was, of course, pickles (cucumbers). 

 Patience isn't always a virtue that my darling possesses. Hope you like that water, seeds.

A brand-new tool for my brand-new gardener.

Back to School

Big Girl Mary Ellen and Daddy on her first day at her "new school." She's going 2 days a week in the mornings, and she could not love anything more.

Just for fun, I had to include the same photo from last year's first day of school (Jan. 2012). Notice a difference? And of course I notice that I need a haircut in both photos. It's a constant problem around here.

All ready to go inside that big door!!

One of the things I love about this school is that the first thing they have the kids do when they go in the door is wash their hands. What a great habit to start. And now she tells me that she washes her hands to "wash off the germs." Brilliant!

Mary Ellen had no problem watching me go out the door. She has things to learn, you know.

Moving ahead

The following was just said by my two-year old:

Time for snack. Eat a banana. Mama get a banana too. Take the snack to my little table. No open the banana. Gotta say our prayer first.

My daughter is speaking in paragraphs.

Thanks to some gentle nudging from my dear friend Maria, I promise to get back to blogging. We miss you all and I wonder if you've missed us...

Leaps and Bounds

Now this is just sad. It's been well over a month since my last post. Everyone says that the days, months, and (gulp) years fly by, and sadly, I am starting to see what they mean.

I've tried to cherish the little moments. To take note when we we're snuggling on the couch and Mary Ellen says "I love you" without me having said it first. To stare in awe when she identifies B as the first letter in ball. To laugh when she wants me to gallop and then does her own bouncy version of a trot. And these are just the things that happened today!

But it's still going too fast. Way too fast.

We've been on the road for the last 10 days or so, a visit to Barry and St. Louis and then a quick getaway for Brian and me while Mary Ellen stayed with Nana and Papa. We had a fantastic time, but this trip, more than any before, has rocked Mary Ellen's world. Maybe it's the time change, or the fact that she was sick for a good part of the trip, or maybe it's the fact that neither Brian nor I were around for the last few days, but she has been off. Way off.

Mary Ellen was up until 10:30 last night and used every trick in her very little book to try and convince us to rescue her from the crib. I was determined today to get back in the routine full-force. Good breakfast. Lots and lots of play. Good lunch. After nearly an hour of fussing, she settled herself in for a 3 1/2 hour nap. Good dinner. Lovely long walk after dinner. More play. And then bedtime...

With my new-found conviction, I decided to ramp things up a bit for the bedtime routine. We've not been very good teeth brushers up to this point, so if I'm getting serious about routines, why not improve on this one, right? Since water, or more accurately "juice," was the most popular cry last night, I decided to add a cup of water to the bedtime routine, too, just to cut that one off at the pass. And while we were at it, why not try sitting on that little potty before bath time, right? Maybe start slowly on that little endeavor.

Mary Ellen was all for it. She's sat on the potty before (though usually with diaper and pants on). It's no big thing, right?

She did it. She peed on the potty. First time. You could have knocked me over with a feather.

My little girl is growing up.

Happy Easter!

This year's Easter season was memorable for so many reasons. It was the first holiday where Mary Ellen seemed to "get" what was happening. She hopped out of bed on Sunday saying, "Egg. Egg." We'd put her empty Easter basket out the night before, and after having read "It's Easter Duck and Goose" about 100 times, I think she put two and two together. It was so cute to see her run down the hallway and it gave me just a taste of the excitement that will accompany every holiday from now on.

Also, this was the first super-successful season that I've had with my ETSY shop. I sold more than 175 little guy ties for the holiday, along with several dresses and quite a few baptism stoles. I've been so busy that I was worried things around here would get a little out of hand or that I would not get to focus on making the holiday special for my family. I'm so proud to say that it wasn't the case. I actually finished Mary Ellen's dress (and I did NOT have to do anything to it on Sunday morning, which would be the norm). I made Easter cookies with her. We hosted a neighborhood Egg Hunt. And we made it to church as a family (though not in time to snag a seat). It was what I want all holidays to be (minus the fact that all of my other beloveds were spending the day 1200 miles away).

 Our neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt was a huge hit. Mary Ellen did her best at hunting but would have been just as happy with the first egg she found.

  The dress! After outfitting many friends and family members for Easter, I just HAD to make a dress for my darling. I started it on Wed and had no trouble getting it done. Shocking, I know!

 The Easter Bunny brought Mary Ellen her first set of golf clubs. Is this the start of something great?

Brian has been working hard to get into better shape over the last few months and he's looking great! His favorite new pastime is to run around Lake Baldwin, and Mary Ellen was dying to join him this time. She didn't quite make it all the way around (3 miles) but she sure got a workout in!