The Summer is Coming to a Close

The worst thing about the summer is that it has to come to an end sometime.

For us, this summer has certainly been an adventure! It's been THE hottest summer I can ever remember and we had the most beautifully hot child for it. Cate has been everywhere and then some, much more than we ever did with Kiera, but we definitely had to limit our outdoor activities because of the oppressive heat.

I feel so blessed to have had this time with the girls and am looking forward to next summer even more. I go back and forth with feelings of sadness to return to work and feelings of excitement. I love and NEED my job for us to stay afloat and therefore, there must be some feeling of excitement or I'll go crazy. My very wise friend, Molly, said that she thinks it's important for me to stay true to myself and that it's great for the girls to see a strong working mom who does things not only for them, but for herself as well...and I add, to stay sane. As usual, she's right. Besides, being stuck in these four walls all days makes me kind of kooky...and I get stressed that the house isn't clean or that the laundry isn't done. When I'm at work, I don't care. And when we all come home at the end of the day, I still don't care! I just cherish the time we have together in the evenings and look forward to the weekends.

Anyway, onwards. Cate is three months old already and just the sweetest child there is. I'm nervous about her commitment to the bottle in the next few weeks, but I'm sure, just like Kiera, she'll get the hang of it...or starve...we shall see :) She's the happiest, most content, loving child with this soul that I can only hope came from the best parts of my mom up there. When she looks at you it's like she's looking into you. She's amazing. She's just started rolling over and she constantly wants to sit up. When you have her on her back she lifts her neck as far as it can go as if to say, "I'm missing something, I know I am!" We're in trouble there! She's a great sleeper and most nights gives me the whole night...last night was an 8-6 night! Woo Hoo! She has her doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so we don't know how much she currently is, but she seems to be getting longer rather than chubbier...but still has THE best thighs! *Squeeze* I don't know what we ever did without her!!

Kiera is a canon and most of the time I LOVE IT! She definitely has her moments of defiance, but is generally such a sweet, good and fun fun fun two year old! My favorite parts of the day are when she comes up to me and gives me a hug and a kiss and says that she loves me; when she's so sticky sweet to Cate and gives her hugs and kisses...and also says things to her that I say to her which makes me laugh. The things that come out of her mouth in general are hysterical! The other morning she sat on the couch, looked at Sean and I dancing around each other in the kitchen trying to get everything ready for the day and said as serious as can be, "Ummm....waffles?!" Like we were not meeting her needs and she needed them met immediately. Too much.

The sleeping situation with the two of them has proved to be brilliant. If I need to get Cate while Kiera is still sleeping, she may wake up for a moment, but goes right back down. Naps are still sort of tricky because they're not on the same schedule yet...but right now they're both up there snoozing away.

Potty training is going, but not going as fast as I had hoped. All I can say, again, is that I think she's just not ready. She LOVES to go on the potty and gets SO excited when she does...her face lights up like fireworks! But then she could sit in a wet diaper, underwear or puddle all day long and think NOTHING of it. Ick.

Yesterday I began thinking, again, how much my mom would have loved these girls. It's such a shame and puts such a strange damper on things almost daily for me. Having your mom die at such a young age inevitably makes you think of your own mortality and I find myself praying to a God that I don't even think I know since she died and hoping that "he" doesn't take me too early too! Because I could really really really use my mom every day...if not for just a ten minute conversation here and there...*sigh* False hopes. It also makes me think how lucky the girls are right now to not know that there is such sadness out there...they have Mommy and Daddy and they feel safe. If they cry, we're there, if they fall, we pick them up. I would imagine it's a wonderful feeling to have. One that me and many of my friends don't have anymore. I was talking to my friend Lozelle last night and we were chatting about some of these things and she said that she sometimes has to ask, "what is the lesson that I'm supposed to learn from this?!" And she's so right. What is it that the heavens are trying to teach us by taking away someone that we love so deeply and NEED so very much?! I'm NOT a stronger person because of this and my children's Grandma was taken. It sucks. Period.

I just let my thoughts and fingers do the writing my friends...sorry :)

Anyway, my family of four is doing stupendously. I'm so excited to see what the future holds in store. Every time Kiera slams the door in play I wonder what it will be like in 12 years when I'm taking the door off the hinges after she slams it in anger :) I'm so in love with my husband, beautiful girls, and life. We are certainly blessed.