The army is growing....

I haven't posted in a bit..........to make a long story short, I have been quite under the weather and spending any of my Livi-free time in bed......all of my energy is going to making a person. We are very excited to be giving Liv a little sibling to pal around with. I am about 9/10 weeks pregnant and the 1st trimester has sucked the life out of me. It will all be worth it...... The army is growing......

From the Heart

Long before we met you,
We talked about you, dreamt, and imagined.
But, we had no clue.
What having you would do,

With you we have
A strong, unbreakable love.
A bond of a lifetime,
A family

All that we ever wanted.
And for that, we thank you.

The things that make you laugh....

Noone is more comical than a toddler......If only they could become stand-ups, then everone could enjoy the goofy things they do. Even though for a parent toddlerhood brings on the repetativeness and the true meaning of patience; it also brings on belly laughs that I haven't had since I was a kid myself. Liv's latest and greatest is looking at Ryan's ear and telling him he needs "a new one" (because of the hole his plugs have left). Over and over again, she grabs his ears and says "a new one! a new one? a new one!?" Another extremely goofy nightly ritual we have is to take turns standing at the edge of our king size bed, drum roll, then dive onto the bed ontop of each other (thank goodness we remember to close the blinds,.. the things you do for your kids....)
Halloween this year was fun! Liv wore the same costume I wore when I was her age (my my made it). It is amazing how much we look alike. We may not look alike in our everyday attire, but put on bunny ears and brown whiskers.....WE LOOK ALIKE! For about 2 weeks before Halloween, we tried teaching her what halloween was. When you think about it, it is a super strange concept. She loved saying ," Happy Halloween.....HAHAHAH", but when she said it, it sounded more like this "Happy Hawoween...Muhahaha". I wish you could hear it because it would be so much funnier then I just interpreted.
We are starting to plan Liv's big girl room. This winter we are going to get it all set up and luckily it is going to be in the other spare bedroom we have. So we can set it up but don't have to move her over to it until she is really ready. I am having so much fun thinking of ideas and decorating stuff.

Until next time...much Love and LOTS of LAUGHTER!!!

My Little Mini-Me

Every single day, Liv amazes me. From one week to the next, she becomes more and more like a miniature adult. There really isn't anything that she can not communicate with us. She is saying 3 to 4 word sentences. She tells stories, asks questions, tells jokes (her favorite is "guess what?.....Chickenbutt"), etc. I know it is a trade off because along with the increase in communication she is able to let me know when she isn't happy. the tantrums have peaked (at least I hope). Unfortunately, Liv has visited the "STAIR" as her "TIME TO THINK" SEAT. I began putting her there after her 20th attempt and success at climbing ontop of the kitchen island. She definitely has taken this climbing to a-whole-nother level. The bad news is that the "TIME TO THINK"seat is not successful because she actually enjoys it.....argh. Quick mom, time to think of another tactic.....
Back to all of Liv's Charming Qualities.......after two years of attachment parenting, I feared sending her to a ballet class that did not involve parent particiation. I thought she would be the cling on and the one not wanting me to be in the waiting room. Can you believe, she ran into that room so excited and did not look back once? I guess my instant responses to her needs for the past 2 years, gave her the confidence that I would not leave her. I hold my breathe each time we go, but she has so much fun and has no clue there is a mirrored window for me to admire her through. The pride in her face after the class is priceless and so beautiful. If only I can always be watching her through a mirrored window.......or maybe not :)

On another note.....we just had Liv's 2 year check up this week and we need to celebrate...........she is finally not hanging by the skin of her teeth off the negative charts for her weight. We probably have GPop to thank for that and the morning breakfast dates. Who knows what she was able to get away with eating there? (Dad, I got my peeps at Uncle Bill's watching you....ha) Since we have been playing doctor alot at home to help her cure her fear of the doctors, she did not cry until the very end. And she really was crying because she was tired of waiting for the doctor (and the two shots weren't that pleasant either)

Some super adorable things that Liv does right now that if I don't write down I will forget are: Eating her nose, being obsessed with her mini purse (it is really a diary lock that she thinks is a purse), doing down dog and tree pose, wearing her rainboots ALL of the time (even when she is naked), has a secret stash of binkies in her bottom dresser that I just found....that little sneak, pretending she is sleeping on daddy's side of bed and snoring really loud, brushing her teeth like 20times in a row, only wanting peepeol vitamins (purple), eating trees with daddy's dip (broccoli and ranch), singing the wheels on the bus(loves the horn verse), mooning the entire story time group, walking Crystal around the block in her stroller, the list goes on...........

My life is so fulfilled because of Liv. She is so amazing and I feel so lucky to have her. Even though, at times, we try to push her and encourage her to be a risk taker (For ex, going on a ride at the boardwalk, going up to see dora up close), we am so proud of her personality. If only she keeps it up, we will not have to worry about her being a risk taker and getting into trouble. She may be into extreme sports though,........Ms. I climb on top of ANYTHING. I still can not believe that we made her (from scratch). Even though every day I try to hold onto what she is (in the moment), I also can see that the older she gets the enormous amount of pride I have in her. It has only been two years, I can't even imagine in ten....twenty.....thirty......fifty......seventy. My love for her grows everyday, every hour, every minute......

Even though day in and day out I feel like my life revolves around diapers, crumbs, dirty laundry, empty fridges, constant Uh-Oh spills, messy closets........if you put them all together, you get one beautiful, intelligent, innocent,loving daughter that is cuter than a button. Our life with her is so much fun. It may have taken 12 years of schooling, 4 years of undergrad, 2 years of graduate school, 5 years of teaching raging hormonal kids, 10 months of pregnancy, and 18 months of sleep deprivation to get where I am. I would do it all again just to have Livi exactly the way she is right now. She means the world to me. One day,she will read this.........Livi (Doodle), I know you may not remember these early toddler days being at home with mommy 24/7, but I hope you know how loved you are and how fulfilled you make my life. (Three hand squeezes) ROCK

Liv's Princess Party

Liv had a blast at her 2nd birthday party. We had it at our house and Liv was surrounded by so people that love her. They all made her feel like such a special princess. It started out with the kids making thier own tiarras. Then Cinderella came and had a tea party with the kids and gave them each their own personalized princess cookies. The kids were running around the back yard and playing with all of Liv's toys. They played pin the kiss on the frog to help turn him into a prince. The final activity for the kids was the the pinata. They all had so much fun that there were tears when they all had to leave. None of them wanted to stop having fun.
As far as the adults go, they had such a great time catching up and having a few drinks. Times like these remind you what life is all about. Ry and I couldn't stop talking about how much fun we had for days.
We are so proud of Liv. She is so much fun. We love her more than words can say.

OoPS! Where has time gone...?

I can't believe it has been 8 months since I last posted. I need to get better at this because in 10 years when these toddler days are long over, these memories will be priceless. The only thing about these toddler years, is that Livi doesn't stand still long enough for me to open my laptop let alone long enough for me to think straight and type a complete thought.
I am sad to say that Liv is 7 weeks from turning the big 0-2. She is growing so much and every SINGLE day she learns more and more about life. She can make about 10 animal sounds (monkey is her fave), knows 6 colors, can climb mount everest in less than 1 minute (well not really, but everything else ex. kitchen island). Liv is our little shy one. She starts out every new experience or playdate by being shy and timid but ends it with jumping up and down, squealing, and screaming for C B (ice cream). Liv has quite the schedule and keeps herself very social. On Mondays, we do Mommy and me yoga, Tuesdays and Wednesdays are usually neighborhood playdates and walks to the park. Thursdays are at grandmom and grandpop's with her cousins. We have been heading down to Mimi and Pops in SH every other weekend for long weekends too. This summer is much different than last summer. Liv LOVES going on the boat, walks on the beach, strolls up town, swimming in her pool, swinging in the porch swing, etc. Anything outside! This summer is also different because Liv is FINALLY sleeping through the night. It took 18 months of NONSTOP night wakings, but she finally got it down. She loves her crib and COCO (her lovey).
Liv's favorite toys are her baby dolls. ANything that involves being a mommy. Her newest past time is having all her baby dolls go on the potty.She loves putting diapers on them, feeding them bottles, and putting them in her shopping cart and stroller. We are super excited for the fall because Liv is signed up for dance and art class. She will continue yoga because she loves it. It is so funny watching a 22 month old do down dog twist and tree pose. haha! Even though she is turning two soon and I feel sad, I am also so excited because she truly is my little pal in crime. We have so much fun together and I would not change my time with her for ANYTHING. Everyday I look at her and fall in love with who she is becoming. Even though Liv has become such a little summer babe, we are also looking forward to the fall and winter. We LOVe our walks with Corriah in the woods and Halloween. We are already thinking about what Liv can be for Halloween. We may dig out one of my old costumes that my mom made for me. We will also be going to a phillies game in the fall so that will be fun. We also decided to bite the bullet and go on a plane this winter to Bahamas. She will probably love it because she is obsessed with watching planes in the sky.
I promise not to wait another 8 months before I post again. Until then, much love!
Corinne