Liliana being... Liliana

The other night Liliana came downstairs like this (after I had already put them to bed). She told me that she was a beautiful princess.

And here she is feeding the chicken a bottle. The first was was before she caught me taking the picture.

Fun with Hair

We bribed Liliana into letting me curl her hair today. Here's the proof :)

Grace got in on the action too, of course.

Is it Christmas yet?

It's getting chilly here so I went through the winter clothes to find Liliana some winter dresses for church. One of them is the red Christmas dress that Grace wore two years ago. Liliana fell in love with it and asked to wear it yesterday. As we were pulling out of our parking space Liliana asked with excitement,

"Are we going to Christmas now?"

Sadly I had to tell her that Christmas wasn't until after Thanksgiving. She is going to be so much fun this year for the holidays!

Five Year Old or Teenager?

Last night the girls didn't get to bed till after 9pm. Grace wanted to do one more thing and I told her no, that she needed to go to bed. She threw the thing she was holding on the floor and yelled, "You HATE me! I know it! You hate me!" and then threw herself onto her bed in defeat.

It's funny how that didn't affect me much since I knew how tired she was. I was able to smile on the inside as I tucked her into bed and prayed with her that she would feel better by the morning. Kaylon did lecture her a bit when he came up about never saying that to her mom, which was very sweet of him. I guess it sunk in, too, since this morning she apologized for what she said last night.

Partners in Crime

We knew when we put the girls together in a full sized bed that there would be some issues- some feet in someone's face, some fighting about covers, so playing waaaay too late. What we didn't know is how much they would love it and how funny it would be.

Last night, about 40 minutes after they were sent to bed they wanted to 'capture' Yoda. Grace bravely delegated the job to Liliana to sneak down the stairs. Liliana peeked around the corner, saw Kaylon standing at the bottom (listening), and booked it back to their room, slamming the door behind her. Grace immediately started convincing her to go back out, ignoring Liliana as she told her how scared she was because daddy was down there. To boost her confidence, Grace dressed Liliana in black (even taking some of Kaylon's socks from our room), and assured her that if she 'hid in the shadows' that daddy wouldn't see her! "You look, and hide in the shadows. Look and hide!" Poor Liliana came out to the staircase dressed in head to toe black, including a black shirt over her head, got scared, and ran back to hallway. She was so scared that she asked Grace for loves. Kaylon could hear Grace patting Liliana's back, but it wasn't quite enough because at that point Liliana ran back to their room. Grace got scared being out in the hallway by herself, so she ran into the room and asked Liliana for loves, and Kaylon heard more back patting.

Kaylon called me up at this point, but I had missed the good stuff and they went back to regular play. We had to laugh at Grace's conniving and Liliana's faithful trust in her sister. And we were both touched at how much they love each other- that they can ask for comfort from each other and that they are willing to give it so freely. We are truly blessed to have such sweet little girls in our home.

Calling Grandma Susie

Friday morning I put Moira down for a nap, and since the girls were playing nicely, I decided to jump in the shower. I'd had a head cold all week and I NEEDED a hot shower. Grace came in just as I was about to get out and told me that Liliana was on the phone. I asked her if the phone had rung, and she said no, so I figured that Liliana was just pretending. I didn't think about it anymore since Grace said Liliana had gotten off.

But I remembered when I got downstairs, and on a whim, I checked the caller ID and saw that my mom had called. I called her back to see if she had in fact talked to Liliana. Turns out that Liliana pressed the redial button on the phone- which lucky for me, the last person I called was my mom! My mom answered the phone and the conversation went like this:

Gma: Hello?
L: HI!
Gma: Hi!
L: What you name is?
Gma: Grandma Susie
L: Oh, Gramma Suuzy? (Lots of jabbering) Ok, bye. (hangs up)

At this point Grandma Susie calls back.

L: Hi!
Gma: Hi Liliana, where is mommy?
L: Mommy in shower.
Gma: oh okay.
L: (Jabbering)

At this point Liliana tried to hang up the phone a few times, but didn't hang up all the way, so the first conversation was repeated a few times since Liliana thought it was a new phone call every time she picked up the phone.

Luckily my mom enjoyed the call :) Still, the phone has been moved so that it is harder for 3 year olds to reach.

Funnies

I have been forgetting lately to write down the crazy things the girls are saying- I often end up telling Kaylon at night and then losing the tidbits as I collapse into sleep. Here are some that I remember...

Whenever Grace is sad she likes us to sing, "I am like a star shining brightly," a primary song. Usually it makes her calm down. Liliana has taken to the song lately, so I thought nothing of it when Liliana asked me to put the song on in the van yesterday. I did, and as the music started, I heard a sniffle in the back. I just figured it was her cold. Then I heard another sniffle, more pronounced. A few seconds later, another one. I finally figured out that Liliana associates the song with being sad, so she made herself sad when the song came on!

Kaylon taught Liliana how to wipe down public toilet seats and put toilet paper on for protection. She is so dedicated to the practice that she does it even for the home toilet.

Grace had a part in the Primary Presentation last Sunday, so we were practicing it with her while we were out and about on Saturday. Kaylon was trying to convince her to do her part in a more dramatic fashion than she needed to (think Shakespearean theater). He kept pressing her, and finally she did it- but in a way that mocked him. It was awesome. And he is in sooooo much trouble when she is a teenager!

And just now, the girls decided that Yoda was sick, so they put a blanket on him, surrounded him with stuffed animals, and gave him some loves. Liliana asked what was wrong with him, and Grace said, "It must be allergies. He'll be ok."

Allergies??? Hahahaha!

Moira "talking"

It's so cute to see the older girls encourage Moira to do new things. Here they are helping her talk.


For those who get this by email, here's the website to see the video: http://shawnaplusfamily.blogspot.com/

At least I did one good thing today

I haven't had the greatest of days- I have a cold; my hormones are whacked- which lead to a small breakdown when I figured out that I mixed up the day that I was supposed to volunteer in Grace's classroom and so missed it LAST week; I literally yelled at Liliana when she refused to put her shirt on to go get Grace; and Grace loves Byron's mom more than me.

But when we got home from school, Liliana asked me to unbuckle her from the stroller. When I did, she said:

Mommy, you saved my life!

At least I did one good thing today.

Spaghetti Face!

Every child has to have a picture of their first time eating spaghetti, right? Well, here is Miss Moira's (and yes, she enjoyed every bite!)

New Pics

Here are the pictures from our recent trip to JCPenny. I won a drawing for 30% and a free 8x10, but it ended up being cheaper to use the normal coupon you get in the mail. Go figure.

A couple notes on this one. Everyone's smile is best in it, except Moira, who totally looks like she's going to tell someone off in a minute- gangster- style. It totally adds to the personality of the pic, so we got it for our front room. I didn't realize until I got home how much Grace is cut off- but only in the smaller picture (the 11x13 is fine). Still, I'm annoyed that I didn't notice it at the store so I could have made them reprint it. Grrr...

Most of you will be getting the picture above.

And this is Moira's 9 month picture. Isn't she beautiful? :)

DC and National Zoo

I find it amazing how after each child I think that I will never be able to do certain things. For instance- grocery shopping with all three girls; I refused for months. Now I do it without blinking an eye. It makes it easier that Moira is sitting up and enjoys the chance to people watch. I guess it just takes time to adjust each time.

Another thing I never thought that I'd be able to do was take all three girls into the city by myself, and yet, that's exactly what I did yesterday. I even voted first! (Yay for Virginia turning red again!) Since Grace is 5 now, she needs her own ticket to ride the metro. She loved putting the ticket in herself and was so proud as she walked through. The older girls loved the train ride. Moira, not so much. That was partly my fault since I forgot to nurse her before we left. We met Kaylon at his office and visited with his coworkers a few minutes before heading out to a creperie. Mmmmm it was delicious!

It was such a beautiful day- probably the last of the season- that we decided to hit the zoo for an hour. It was in the 60s, so a lot of the animals were out, which usually isn't the case. We only did 1/4 of the zoo, but the girls didn't know and had a great time. Moira slept for most of the zoo, which was good for everyone's sanity on the train ride home!

Too bad this near perfect day had to end on a sour note. I decided to try the back roads home in order to miss traffic and ended up turning a 20 minute drive into 1.5 hours. I was on the right road but my sense of direction was all messed up so I went too far in one direction and not far enough in the other. Sigh. I guess I will eventually learn VA maps too...