Obidos

Many moms in my Mums and Tots group have encouraged Matt and I to visit Obidos. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from the town in which we live. We got off to an early start; listening to songs such as "Row Row Your Boat" and "Wheels on the Bus" all the way. This had to be one of my favorite locations so far. You can walk on the wall (scary as there is nothing to stop you from falling off the edge if you trip). The shops were cute and, often, you could see local artisans sewing or painting their particular craft. The local cherry liqueur was available for taste-testing and, of course, sale (yummy!). Outside the wall, I purchased local honey and fruit from vendors.

And, of course, I had to add a picture of Olivia bringing her doll, Ellie, to the bathroom. That took up ten-minutes of our time because Ellie had to pee, then poop. It took Ellie a long time to go and after she finished, Olivia had to help wipe her. The face Olivia is in the process of making is because I wasn't giving Ellie her privacy! I was really hoping that the girls would fall asleep in the car on the way back home. After-all, they had had a few hours of stimulation, sun (it was in the mid-70's) and a big lunch. Unfortunately, it didn't happen. Lila whimpered all the way home and Olivia fell asleep about 20-minutes before we arrived home. I was really nervous that it would be a bad evening. Sometimes I start to wonder why we do so much traveling with these young girls. Spending most of the day out nearly every Saturday or Sunday is so hard on them. I thought they would get used to it and they haven't. Fortunately, it wasn't too bad today. Olivia caught up, over the phone, with an old friend from Alaska and, later, Lila joined Olivia in getting her dolls ready for bed.

I think we'll reserve tomorrow for walking on the beach, relaxing and napping!

Sisters

Very recently, the girls started playing well together. And, while I do catch an occasional shove or slap on Olivia's part, they can actually play for quite some time together in the play room. When I say play, I mostly mean Lila watching Olivia play with her dolls or sitting quietly while Olivia uses watercolors to paint Lila's hands and face (I missed a good photo-op yesterday because I washed it off before I realized I hadn't taken a picture).

Matt recently asked me if I thought they would be good friends. Best friends, as many sisters are. It's too soon to tell. And, it's a question I try not to think about too often. Simply because I have three sisters and we did not get along growing up. Especially my sister, Sarah, and I. We are just over two years apart and we fought to kill. Drowning each other in the pool? We tried it. Pulling hair, punching, yelling. As teenagers, she would scream into the phone mean things, and then unplug it if I was on it too long. She once put something clear and nasty on my toothbrush so when I brushed that night, I nearly vomited with disgust. I then did it back to her. After a while, however, we just ignored each other.

So, when I was pregnant with Lila and knew I was having another girl, friends would exclaim, "yeah, sisters!" and look at me a bit appalled when I signed heavily. I would explain that it just didn't go well for my sisters and I growing up. Too much estrogen, yelling, fighting, crying, etc. It was BAD and I was scared of having two girls.

While we all get along now, Sarah and I, didn't really start getting along until we had children. Now, we're closer than, possibly, we've ever been. But, it's been a rough road.

So, when I see my girls playing well together, my fear subsides a little bit. It could all change. In the mean time, I'm wracking my brain coming up with ways to keep them close. I mean, my parents tried hard. We traveled a lot as a family (by the time I was 16, we had been to Europe, Canada, and 46 US States). We ate dinner together every night, had story time before bed with dad, said our prayers together before bed and spent five or more hours a week at our place of worship and engaged in bible study at home.

So, what happened? I don't know. Many would say that it was usual sibling rivalry. But, no, what we had was a little more over the top than that.

I love my girls. As every parent says, "I can't imagine my life without them." I wish I taken the news that Lila was a girl with tears of joy! I shouldn't have, for one second, been disappointed. They bring great joy to our life. But, that doesn't mean I can't fear for their future as friends!

Big Girl Bed Update

As I write this, I can hear Olivia talking to herself in her bed. She's talking to a baby doll in a sing-song voice. Hopefully, she's not turning on her night-light (it's a little brighter than a night-light and she and I have discussed that it cannot stay on while she is sleeping) and taking off her clothes. She likes to sleep in panties only and usually strips as soon as we close her door. However, it is getting a little chilly here and I keep hoping that the crisp night air will break her no-clothes stage.

So, I must admit, I was expecting a challenge. In fact, I dreaded putting her in a bed. I put it off because I didn't want to deal with it. I was being lazy and selfish. Is it a challenge. Of course. In her short life, this is a big event. She's a little confused. Testing the boundaries/rules we've set with her about the new bed, etc. However, so far, even though it's taken significantly longer for her to fall asleep at nap time and bed time, she has slept well once she has fallen asleep. This morning she didn't get up until 9:00am. Lila and I were up at 7:30 and enjoyed quiet time together. I changed Lila's diaper, made coffee, swept the floor, ate breakfast with Lila, checked my email and watched a little TV. All before Olivia awoke. Should I rub it in more (don't worry - I know it won't last and she'll soon be back to her normal self of rising much earlier - in the mean time, I'll enjoy these quiet mornings)?

I have a feeling we'll have some rough afternoon and long nights. But, I'm happy with the switch and not nearly as stressed as I thought I would be.

Blueberry Faces, New Spaces

Since Matt returned home from Iraq, Sunday mornings have been reserved for pancake mornings. I make my own batter; coming up with a combination as I go along. Sometimes I add sour cream, sometimes I add blueberries, other times steamed apple slices and cinnamon. Using my griddle, I can make two large pancakes or three smaller pancakes at a time. I sip coffee, flip on the Food Channel and watch Paula Deen as I flip my pancakes with ease. Matt's usually on the couch or in bed peeling kids off of him. When I'm finished, we all sit down together and enjoy warm pancakes with real maple syrup and butter.

Here, so far, that has not been the case. Since I have unopened packages of flour, baking soda, etc., on their way, I haven't made those purchases here. I've bought mixes. While those are okay, the pancakes aren't the same, especially since I'm only able to make one pancake at a time, in a small, loaner frying pan. I'm always disappointed and frustrated with the outcome. However, my girls are not. As you can see on their faces! It's mornings like this, as we gather as a family and pancakes stifle the cries of hunger, that I am grateful for what we do have - a happy family - even if our "stuff" isn't here yet!

We think our household goods will arrive 9NOV. So, over the weekend, Matt and I decided that we could no longer put off buying Olivia a bed (she's sleeping in a loaner crib that will be taken back when our goods arrive). She's long over-due for a bed anyway and Lila would probably appreciate sleeping in a real crib instead of a Pack & Play. We also needed a new dining room/kitchen table. So, we hired a sitter and took off Saturday morning. We had grand plans of visiting all these great European furniture stores. Then, as we sipped coffee and hashed over our plan at a local mall, we decided to buy what we wanted at Ikea. So much for the trundle bed that I wanted to get Olivia. So much for the Ethan Allen-type dining set I wanted. Ikea furniture it was!

We have been to Ikea several times since we arrived here. We found some pretty decent things. Not the kind of stuff I'd like in my dream house, but what I would call doable for this time in our lives. But, I still wanted to look elsewhere and, possibly, buy some really nice furniture. A bedroom set that would see Olivia through high school, at least. However, when it came down to it, during that coffee discussion, we realized that we've had brand-new furniture dinged, scratched or demolished in just two moves (who knows what we'll unveil soon). A good friend lost her very expensive flat-screen TV in her family's last move. While some military families risk grandma's china with each move, we decided that, for our family, very expensive furniture wasn't worth the risk. After all, we're still about 4-5 moves away from retirement.

So, we bought Olivia a twin size, Pottery Barn-looking bed and night stand (didn't buy a dresser b/c we've been using a closet system successfully and we couldn't find a matching dresser. When the matching dresser arrives in stock, we may buy it then). I threw in a duvet cover, matching rug, sheets, bed canopy, and wall night-light. When Matt went to set everything up, we realized how small her room is. The bed doesn't fit center to the window as I thought it would because the window won't open if we do that. So, we had to push the bed against the wall. Matt had a hard time installing the canopy because the ceiling appears to be made of steel. Just when I was about to hire it done, he figured out what drill-bit worked. As for the night-stand, unfortunately, when Matt opened the night-stand box, we realized we had grabbed the wrong color (oh how we dread another trip to Ikea).

Nap time went okay. It took her about 1.5 hours to fall asleep - but she then took a two hour nap. So far, tonight, all is good with the exception of her normal resistance at bedtime. We can deal with that. Were holding out that it'll continue as is or get better....

We did buy a dining room set. Nothing fancy. Just a country-looking set that we haven't put together yet. Matt has a business trip to Spain this week and when he gets back, he'll put that together.

I also worked on the playroom this weekend (a work-in-progress). My sister, Sarah, is all about "soft corners" and she has been encouraging me to create one for some time (she's an early-education major - the type of person who would be concerned about soft corners!). So, I bought a brightly colored rug, threw in some floor pillows and a box of books and there we have it - a soft corner! The girls, actually, love it! Lila climbs the pillows and Olivia puts her dolls to bed on the pillows. But, when it comes time to read, you'll find Matt and I sacked-out on the pillows with the girls climbing on top of us. Lila will shout, "baaa" as we read "Little Lamb" and Olivia will pull out several books and flip through them as we read outloud.

So, we're almost ready for our household goods. We still have a few things to donate (like extra-large suitcases that take up way too much closet space - space we have little of) to charity and we have to come up with an organization plan (which Matt is trying to discuss as I type this) -but, I feel as if we're wrapping up odds and ends! A huge relief! Soon, our home will really feel like it is ours (though, there's a possibility that I'll freak out when I realize that our stuff won't all fit in this house - but I'll reserve that for another post)!