This One's For You, Anna!

Thanks for giving me a little kick in the virtual bottom. It's not that I haven't had the time to post an update, it's that I haven't had the energy to do more than take care of my ladies and myself. Currently, I have 4 baskets of laundry that either need to be put away or folded and put away, and every night I get into bed, look at those 4 baskets and feel guilty until I fall asleep. I trip over them when Sadie wakes me for her middle-of-the-night feeding. I suppose I could ask for some help getting it done, but that would be like admitting defeat. I will not lose to laundry.

**UPDATE** As of 10:15 pm: Gina-1, Laundry-0. I am the champion!

But I'll give a little update right now for those who actually read this thing. I should be better about keeping up because this is about all I'll manage to do in chronicling my adventures in motherhood.

Well, here goes.

Lucy has given up naps for good, I think. This is fine with me, as long as she stays upstairs for the duration of quiet time. This is becoming a rare instance, however, and tomorrow I'll be a stickler for her not taking up MY free time. I don't care that she doesn't sleep--even though she can be quite cranky starting around 6:30 pm.

We've also started back to school, and Lucy is so happy. She loves her class, and I know she can't wait for Kindergarten. She's also been going to the YMCA for a couple of classes, but after this session, I'm planning to cancel her membership and give her (and me!) a little more down-time. I feel that she is way too busy for only being 4.

She's been spending a lot of time drawing lately, and I'll work on getting a few of her pieces scanned and posted for all to see. (I won't promise anything.) She really is an amazing artist for a 4-year-old, and I really admire that because I am not at all artistic. Before you argue with me, let me say that I'm creative--not artistic. But in the meantime, here are a few pictures of Lucy I've taken over the last few months.






Amy gets more darling every day. She's one busy kid, and that makes for a lot of craziness, but she's got such a sweet demeanor that it's hard to get upset with her (most of the time). We can't get enough of her unruly, curly hair and her warm brown eyes and her smile is just infectious. She's so sweet to Sadie, but we have to remind her to be gentle. Amy is full of "scary-love" as we like to say (I think I got this term from my good friend, Anna), but her heart is golden.

We're still working on the potty training. She hasn't regressed with Sadie's arrival, in fact, she's to the point now that she tells us right after she goes in her diaper. Progress, I guess. We'll get there. We still have 16 years before she leaves for college.

In all seriousness, she is able to do things that most kids her age can't do. She's been able to pedal a tricycle since 3 or 4 months before her 2nd birthday. She's known her colors and animal sounds for quite awhile, and she's got a vocabulary that impresses everyone she talks to. I thought Lucy was a smart kid (and she is), but I think Amy will run mental circles around us before too long. I love it!

Now here are a few pictures of Amy.






Sadie is growing like a weed. At her 2-week check-up, she had grown a whole 2 inches, but only gained half an ounce. She'll be weighed and measured again on the 21st, so we'll see how big she is by then. She is so cute! She is sleeping fairly well already. She wakes up once during the night, which is nice since I've been used to waking up once nightly for the last several months. I'm already used to it!

On the 22nd, Sadie has an appointment with a pediatric audiologist. She has failed two previous hearing screenings, so we'll see what's up next week. Chances are that her hearing is perfect. There are a few babies who do fail the first two tests, but pass the third. We are not concerned about the possibility that she may be deaf or hard of hearing. Not only can babies as young as one month old be fitted with hearing aids, but if this is Sadie's situation, we will definitely have her learn sign language, and we will learn as well. Honestly, I don't think she has a hearing problem, but if she does, we don't care! She's perfect no matter what.

And now, pictures of Sadie. I realize she is sleeping in 4 of the 5 photos, but that's when I have time to take her picture! The last one was taken just this afternoon. Can you see how much she has changed in 4 weeks?