Twenty. Ten

How do you say this new year we are in? I have heard 20 10 and our cute (not so) little SR in HS friend says '1 0 you know. Where did that last decade go? Whewwww!! Never mind 10 years.....I haven't written a single memory in a year. Awful.

But here we go!

Happy New Year family and friends. At the moment it is a balmy 32 degrees. IN FLORIDA. Some parts saw flurries. Do you believe that? Secretly in my head I joke that perhaps hell has frozen over??? This cold weather is crazy. I longed for a break from 90+ degree days still in November, but this is crazy. AND praise God...short lived. We should hit 70 mid week. THAT I will take. 60 is cold to me now!

We had a good 2009. Bob and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! 10 years! A whole decade. We have renewed our contract for an undisclosed time.

Lina is 6 (and 1/2) in 1st grade. She is having a blast!! What a great year it has been for her....and me. Her teacher is a superstar. We absolutely love her. She is young and has great enthusiasm, ideas, and loves Lina. We enjoy walking up the block...most mornings. The high humidity, rain, and now this cold do make for an interesting walk though. We gave soccer a try. Lina is enjoying the church choir and recently was a "WiseGirl" in the Christmas Eve program. We are entertaining the thought of piano lessons as she loves music. She is a reading fool. We can't keep enough books in her hands. She is still a peanut losing teeth here and there. Lina has great hopes to one day be a dolphin trainer. We have become Sea World pass holders this year- thanks to our dear Amy Schu-vis. Lina would go every day. EVERY day. She loves the dolphins the most and can rattle off every fact there is to know about these amazing sea creatures. I love seeing her light up when it comes to sea life.

Lydia (3) started school in August. She goes 3 days a week for 3 hours. It has been wonderful for her. AND ME. : ) Lyd is a good girl in school and for that I am thankful. She is learning so much and we take that and do more at home. Her teacher is wonderful and the school is just perfect for little ones. Lydia so very much enjoys her princess world and choosing her OWN clothing each day....even if it doesn't match or what I would choose. Lydia would love to be a ballerina, but we are holding off till next school year.

Lila Joy is quickly approaching her 2nd birthday. HOW IN THE WORLD did that happen? She is a teeny tiny still. Lila finally started walking the week before Thanksgiving. Do the math. Yes, she was 21 months old!! Such a joy though, she is. A smiley girl. Giggly girl. Great eater and sleeper. She has A LOT to say. We just can't understand a word of it. Purely adorable!

I am going to be better at this. This will be nothing more than the daily doings of life around here. Feel free to check back in and see what Life with 3Ls is up to!

Every 4 Weeks

Seems that I only update this every 4 weeks. Sorry folks! I just can't find a good time to get into routine. I am trying naptime today....and looking at the clothes I should be folding.

We are experiencing winter this year. Brrr! By no means like you frozen Northerners, but cold still. I always thought it to be funny when people covered their plants when it was getting cold, but having just invested in some nice landscaping we did some covering. It looks like another cold front is heading this way- get the sheets out. Tell you what- anything below 50 this FL girl is ccccccold!

Lina is getting ready for her flower girl gig on Saturday. Amy's wedding is outside. I told her Sunday after church so help me it is 40 degrees Saturday I will slap her! :) Just kidding. We will bundle up.

I am doing some subbing this month on M/W for K-5 PE. I started yesterday. I don't miss teaching. I call it a gift being able to pick out the monkeys in the class- I still got it. How is it that I knew a few names after 30 minutes? It's a gift. I am volunteering for this and Lydia is able to go to child care on campus. She had a blast and used the potty all day. She is in the same room as her cousin. They were cute together. Lila was going also, but I have called in reinforcements and she will stay home.

Bob has work! Yipppppeeee!! He has been pretty busy lately which is so totally welcomed!

Have you seen Lina's new smile...missing tooth and all!

She does have a sweet little smile!

Those baby blues!

PSYCH

No pictures tonight....as my dear Lydia is sitting next to me in bed at 10PM. Poor Lina fell asleep about 30 minutes ago and that is totally not like her. Bob and I have decided that tonight's insomnia is due to Blue Bell Mini ice cream sandwiches. The girls had them over the summer and we had the same problem. I totally forgot that. Not sure what is in them....but two little girls cannot sleep.

Lila just went to sleep also, but that's because she took a late afternoon nap. Lila had a rough morning at the doctor. Huge praise no more ear infection. Still some fluid lingering around and she has ONCE AGAIN picked up a runny nose (although could be from the 4 teeth poking in) and a wicked cough...compliments of Lydia. So hopefully we can ward off an infection. I have salined her nose all day. We had skipped shots at 9 month apt so we had to get them today. Just 3. I say just 3. I didn't have needles stuck in my thighs.....Lydia came with me to the apt and she was SOOOOO good. That girl will do anything for M&Ms. Speaking of doing anything for M&Ms....thinking of boarding the potty train with Miss Lydia.....oh dear.

Lila weighs 15 lbs 11 oz. Not that 16 + I was hoping for.....so little munchkin is holding strong at the 3rd percentile. As my doctor said though...someone has to be in the 3rd percentile. Doc not totally concerned, but if there isn't weight gain come 1 year check then they will check her thyroid. Doc wouldn't really be concerned since Lydia fell on the same pattern, but the fact that Lila isn't doing some things developmentally like she should....just keep an eye on things. Huge praise for Lila...she took 15 oz of formula today!! Wooo-hoooo. That will help with weight gain also.

Ok, so no pictures. I am tired and need to go to bed here....NOW

Oh Dear. It's 2009.

Where did December go?

I have a few New Year resolutions this year. One is to be healthy- eat better, eat less, and get my fanny to the Y. Today I did that. I worked out for an hour and it was like being with an old friend. I haven't spent time taking care of my body for over 2 years. Sure I took care of myself- went to the doctor, ate right, made sure those babies were growing, but I didn't spend time taking care of myself. I have gained some luggage that I am going to shed this year.

Another is to plan a menu for dinner for the week and get that started before going to pick up Lina or putting it in the crock pot by noon. I did that. Whewww. Keeping it simple also. Now is not the time for fancy recipes. Mondays are pasta nights. Done.

Another is to blog. I want to do this so I can print it and add it to scrapbooks and journals. I am also going to learn digital scrapbooking. I need to start my girls' memories....some day. ; )

I have a few others, but I will spare you all that.

Just an update on the 5 of us.

Bob. Wow. 2008 was NOT a good year in the real estate market at all. The last 3 months of the year were TERRIBLE. He has been a little worried and stressed. Bob is also very good at his investments and all that.....and you know how that has all gone. So financially not a good year to say the least, but he remains healthy and still has a job. We thank God for that. We are also thankful that January actually has him pretty busy.

Jenn. I needed that 2 week break from school. It was so nice to just play again and not HAVE to ge out of jammies and go somewhere. I enjoyed having Lina around all day....most of the day. She still turns into a stinker in the late afternoon. I didn't go crazy getting all Christmas decorated. We did the minimum. I did the "12 days of Christmas" with Lina and Lydia also- we did 12 things of fun about Christmas....a parade, making ornaments, painting, watching Christmas movies, making cookies, taking in sights around town...that was a lot fun. I had a friend that did the 25 days of Christmas.... maybe next year?

Lina. Big news today. We have bottom front tooth wiggles! Wow. Seems like such a big girl thing- losing teeth. School at Trinity started off great in December. That fear of the bathrooms has seemed to disappeared. Lina was an angel on Christmas Eve at church and had a line to say. She did a great job "Good news we bring you this wonderful night". She also sang in church the Wednesday before Christmas. I was being a naughty mom and waved. Very serious Lina was- never budged. : ) Lina is a smart little girl. Still loves her books and reading. She did well this Christmas and is enjoying playing with new toys.

Lydia. Oh that girl. One reason I didn't blog last month was probably due to dealing with her and going to bed. Sigh. After an hour of walking her back to her room over and over- my patience is shot. I finally figured her out though. Nap must be early and no longer than 1.5 hours and up by 2:00. It's a lot of pressure. ; ) Lyd pretty much thinks she is Ariel. If she is not wearing the pink dress, her mermaid outfit, her Ariel jammies........she is naked. Well wearing a diaper, but nothing else. Nakkie is how she refers to herself. Lyd keeps me on my toes. I have her all registered for school in August. She will go where Lina went last year for 3 days from 9-12. It will be perfect for her. Lyd's a stinker and yet a sweetheart.

Lila Joy. Getting to be an old lady. Another reason I didn't blog....ear infection that just won't go away. We just did antibiotic shots 2 weeks ago. Off to the doctor tomorrow for a re-check. I am not real optimistic since she is still waking crying 2 or 3 times a night. I did feel 3 teeth poking through tonight though. We'll see. I know the doctor is going to send us to the ENT if it is still infected. I just don't want to do tubes. Lila still a slacker developmentally with not crawling or pulling self up. She does sit up and will stand on your legs, but otherwise content to just sit or lay and play. Silly girl. I think Lila is ready to snub baby food as she is eating more and more table foods. Still loves her peas and Cheerios. I am trying to wean and that's not going to so hot. I am so very ready for that little relationship to come to an end. Hard to believe Lila will be 11 months old this month....time to start thinking about a First Birthday Party. Crazy.

Ok, so there is a little update ; ) I will post pictures of some fun doings tomorrow. I must go to bed. One resolution is to go to bed by 10:30.......it's 11:15. Ooooops. ; )

Lina and School

I have shared on more than one occasion my very unsettled feelings about school and Lina. It hasn't gotten any better. I will spare you all the details, but today was Lina's last day at this school. Tomorrow she will go have lunch and meet her new classmates at Trinity. School is closed ALLLL week next week so it's a good break. Come December 1 a brand new fresh start. It will make life a little interesting with driving now and financially with tuition, but it's better for Lina. Stay tuned for First Day of School pictures Part 2!

Lydia-ness

I call my mom every time Lyd has a funny. I need to share them.

Lydia LOVES to watch the lobsters at Publix. She is fascinated with them. We were heading somewhere and while I was getting the car loaded Lyd is yelling for me to come see the lobster in the street (driveway). "Yes, I see it honey, let's get in the car now" knowing full well- there is no lobster. She continues with the "lobster" bit so I head over......to see the grasshopper in the driveway. Awwww.

Heading out the door to go get Lina from school. Lydia yells- "there's a wurm" Uh, no. That would be a SNAKE dear!!! Then she says, "it's just like daddy". Well, Daddy can be a stinker, but he's no snake so I ask her to explain. "It has bwack hair like daddy". Yup, black snake. : )

We watched the space shuttle the other night. COOOOOOL! We watched it on TV and once taking off we went out to the driveway. "The space shovel is getting the moon" reports Lydia.

One Month Later

Let me fill you in on the last MONTH! Good grief. October and pretty much November have been a blurrrrrrrr.

Since we have last posted.....

My mom, dad, aunt, and uncle came down for a week. We always enjoy this visit. The heat is gone (for the most part) and it's just fun to see family...and I admit they spoil me/us rotten! The girls had poor "Uncle Scott" hiding for a break and Lydia had an audience. Other than a few breakdowns it was a nice visit! They scored with great weather and we scored with skipping school and playing with them for 3 nights. All the girls went to Disney one day and the other days we just hung out and played.

Here is Papa, Grammy, and girls!

The following week was Halloween. Lydia LOVED Halloween....and Lyd doesn't LOVE much. Lina enjoyed herself and loved her costume. Here are my little sweeties....candy corn fairy, M&M, and a package of Smarties. Poor Lila had an ear infection the entire month of October and first week of November. 3 antibiotics later she is finally "all clear".....and now has 6 teeth working their way to the surface.

Let's go trick or treating....with the wrong bags!

Little Pumpkins!

Lila loves Cheerios....and peas even at the same time. Gross.

Now 9 months old! WHA??? Finally sitting up on own, but doesn't get to that position on her own. Still no crawling or pulling up. Seems there is another late walker on our hands. Lila Joy gets "rescued" a lot so I am sure that has a lot to do with it. Why work to get something when it will be handed to you? Why get up when someone will come pick me up (I am guilty of that)?

Well, we tried and we supported. The election didn't go as I had hoped and prayed it would, but that heavy feeling of "oh dear" is slowly subsiding. Although come January I am sure that will surface again. I truly can't believe how people think this is going to be a good move. We'll see...and pray. Here are my little Republicans on Election Day!

We took the girls to the UCF Homecoming parade, tailgating, and game (I left with little girls after 1st quarter. Lina stayed the whole game. Thanks to the Brinks and their help!!) Here we are waiting for the parade. Why, yes. Lydia is wearing red cowboy boots. She loves those things and I chose not to battle that....just brought the Keds along.

It had been a L O N G day. Here we are ready to go in- but wait- the car went dead so Bob called AAA and they came to jump us. Soooo happy we noticed that BEFORE we went into the game. The girls were playing in the car and apparently turned the key....where were the 4 adults that were supervising you ask? Hmmmmm?

I have no more pictures for this month. I have been trying to take more video. I need to learn how to share that here.