Our Latest Adventure

We joined the local YMCA this week. Laina has been taking swim classes at the Y for a while now and Joe and I have wanted to join and we finally did so this week. I've been walking up a storm prepping for the Avon walk in October and I have developed a minor injury so I wanted to be able to use some of the equipment like the elliptical machine and the bikes that would give my foot a chance to recover a bit.

Yesterday was the first day the the 3 of us headed over there together. They have a program called "family prime time" where you can drop off your child to play while you go and use the facility. This was the first time I had to drop Laina off with "strangers" and I wasn't sure how she would do. She's very used to all her daycare buddies since she's been with some of them since she was 4 months old. She and I take a few "mommy & me" classes but I'm always with her. This was the first time I had to leave her in a new place and she just had to trust I would come back for her! I think it was harder on me! She did great. She took a few minutes to warm up which is fairly standard for her and then by the time I came back to get her, Meghan told me she had painted a watermelon, played with the baby dolls, vacuumed a bit (that's my girl!) and had her snack. The staff at the Y seem wonderful and I hear lots of good things about the place so I'm really happy we're members now. There's a real sense of community there and a huge family focus which is great.

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a great Memorial Day weekend filled with a picnic at the playground, a trip to the beach, a treat from the ice cream man, hanging the flag outside, diving into a whole watermelon and best of all, lots and lots of rest and relaxation! Welcome Summer!

Here's a slide show filled with some shots of our fun activities...

Friday Fun!

Laina and I had a fun, do a lot of nothing---but the day is filled up kind of day today. We got up and had breakfast, then we did some coloring and worked on writing letters. Laina is getting really good at writing her name. After that we had fun with Play Doh. She's been asking to play with Play Doh forever but I didn't want the Play Doh on the new dining room table. I finally got her play table set up in the kitchen. It had been in her room and I wanted to move it into the kitchen. So we finally did that and Laina had a blast with Play Doh today. I bought her the new set with all the animal eyes, ears, tails, etc and now she finally had a chance to play with it all!

After Play Doh we headed out to do a couple of errands and then back home for a bike ride around the neighborhood. Laina has recently mastered pedaling the tricycle. We've been working on this for a while at home and a few weeks ago, she got it at school. Her teacher Stephanie told me that Antonio (adorable little Antonio) has been helping her learn how to pedal and that he works with her and says "Laina push this foot...push your foot..." so cute! These are some of the benefits to daycare....friends who are a little bit older and take you under their wing, and being motivated to want to keep up with your friends!

Laina was so excited to show me her pedaling and couldn't wait until Daddy came home from work to show him. After lunch and nap Laina and I worked on our special art project for Auntie Di whose birthday is next week....but no pictures of that here.....shhhhhhhhhhhh, its a secret!

After dinner we showed Daddy her new pedaling skills. There's also a picture of her with a City of Saco drain. Every walk around the neighborhood includes a stop at every drain so she can spell all the letters in "City of Saco Drain". She's pretty funny.

Mother's Day Part 2

Last Sunday was Mother's Day. I spent the day traveling home from Massachusetts where I was visiting with friends. Joe spent the day traveling to Massachusetts where he spent the first half of the week in court in Worcester. We met up in Lowell for lunch. Since it wasn't really the most relaxing Mother's Day, Joe and Laina gave me "Mother's Day Part 2" today. I got up this morning and drank my coffee and watched The Today Show and relaxed. Joe took Laina out for breakfast and for a drive so that I could have some quiet time alone. I read two whole Parent's Magazines (now I'm only about 8 months behind). In the afternoon they went out to buy gifts for me. I wanted the new Barenaked Ladies CD, "snack time" which is BNL's first children's album. I think that's a sure sign of becoming a mom when you're asking for kid's CD's as gifts! After shopping they went to the playground. I sat on the couch and watched two silly chick flicks today. I cannot remember the last time I did that! It was wonderful and relaxing. After Laina's nap we went out to dinner to round out a fabulous day. I really like Mother's Day Part 2!!!

Here are a couple of pictures of Laina from today - one in front of the house before heading out with Daddy and one posing with the flowers that she and Joe bought for me.

When Did I Become A Soccer Mom?

WIKIPEDIA: In North American social, cultural and political discourse, soccer mom broadly refers to a middle or upper middle class woman who spends a significant amount of her time transporting her school-age children to activities such as soccer practice.

When did this become me? The answer....this Saturday at 8:00 a.m.

So I signed Laina up for swim class, music class and dance class. When we started dance class, our teacher, Ms. Nicole explained that there was a recital at the end of the year and we could choose whether or not we wanted to participate. I thought it would be cute so sure, I signed her up for the big show. Well I had no idea what this entailed! Regular dance class ended last week. Now we're into rehearsal mode. We have two weekends of in studio rehearsal, one day of full dress rehearsal at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland and then the big show on June 7th. In the middle of this we're still in swim class and music class.

So this Saturday at 8:00 a.m. we left the house and headed over to the dance studio. We were there for an hour and a half and Laina practiced her dance in front of a room full of people. Once they ran through all the numbers twice, we could go. So from dance class we ran home and packed the swim bag and we were off to the Y for swimming at 10:00 a.m. When we finished swim class and we were walking to the car Laina said to Joe and I, "now where are we going?" We chuckled and replied "home for a nap"!!!

Now obviously I did this to myself since Laina isn't running around asking to participate in all these activities. And seriously we're having a great time and it keeps us good and busy. It's just funny that I need a palm pilot to keep track of my two year old's life!

What A Difference A Year Makes!

Here are a couple of recent pictures of Laina playing in our backyard. What a difference a year makes. Last summer she couldn't climb up the slide by herself and she didn't really know how to hold herself onto a big swing. This summer is much different! She loves swinging and she's learning how to "pump" her legs on the swings. She runs up that ladder to do the slide and at the local playground she's lost her fear of the equipment that she had last summer. My little girl is growing up!

Every morning when I get Laina out of bed, she asks me where she's going today. She wants to know if she's going to Evan's house (i.e. daycare), or to dance class, or to music class, etc. So this morning I told her she wasn't going anywhere and that she was staying home with me and she replied "me no want to stay home....my want to go play with my friends"! WHAT??!???!??! I was heart broken! I had a vision of Laina as a teenager rolling her eyes at me explaining that she'd much rather head to the mall with her friends then hang out at home with daddy and I!!!

Today we're off to meet daddy for lunch in Portland. He has a break between court and visiting clients in the jail so I packed a picnic lunch and we're heading up to meet him in a bit.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

I had an interesting Mother's Day weekend. Laina and I were invited to Olivia's 3rd Birthday Party in Massachusetts on Saturday. Joe was busily prepping for a trial that was starting in Massachusetts on Monday so Laina and I headed down to the party without Joe. We started the morning off with swim class, ate our lunch in the car and drove down to hang out with all our friends at Olivia's party. I was so busy watching over Laina that I didn't have the opportunity to get any good photos but we had a great time and its hard to believe that Olivia is 3 already. Even without a nap Laina was a gem all day and just kept going and going until she crashed in the car sometime after 8pm.

Laina and I spent the night at Auntie Renee & Uncle Mike's house and that went wonderfully. Laina did great again in her sleeping bag and was too cute about the whole thing. Joe was heading to MA on Sunday for his trial and as it turns out he was driving right past Renee & Mike's exit so we met up with him for lunch in Lowell. He then headed his way and Laina and I drove back up to Maine. So my mother's day consisted of a lot of driving and lunch at The 99 but I was with Laina busy being a mommy so I guess that's what its all about. Joe is on his way back up to Maine this afternoon. It's weird to be apart this long and Laina has been asking for him all the time. She'll be so happy when she gets home this evening and sees that he is home (and so will I!!).

One of my mother's day gifts from Laina were these very pretty tissue paper flowers that she made at school. I also received a poem with Laina's hand print & foot print. Its funny because when she was an infant, I got these hand/foot prints and because she was just a baby they ended up as one big smoodge on the paper but now that she's older and can really press down her own hand & foot, they came out really adorable.

To all the moms...and mommies to be....I hope you had a wonderful, peaceful day!

Congratulations To Our Pink Warrior

Auntie Di is DONE with treatment today!!!!! Congratulations to Auntie Di! YOU ROCK!!! You're our pink warrior and you did awesome!!!! YEAH!!! Time to celebrate!!! 7 long months of treatment and YOU DID IT!!!! You're our hero!

Ridin' Around In My Automobile...

Here's a cute little pic of Laina driving the RAV. She is loving it and since this day she is constantly asking if she can drive. The funny thing about it is that she's turned into a bit of a back seat driver. When we get to a red light, she says "GO MOMMY"! and I reply "why can't I go Laina?" and she says "because it's red Mommy" and I say "right Laina". Then when the light turns green she shouts "GREEN MOMMY GO!" It sounds kinda cute...until you've reached your 754th red light and hear "go mommy!"

Writing Her Name

Laina really likes working on her letters. We did a lot of writing this morning and this one was the best of the bunch.

The only letter I helped her with a very little bit was the first "a" in her name. But, left to right, she wrote L - a - i - n - a!

Very cool!

Splish Splash!

Laina and Daddy started swim class today. The last time Laina took swim class was last July. What a difference a few months have made! She was in her glory in the pool. She was blowing bubbles, pushing off the side of the pool and jumping in off the side. She still wants to hold Daddy's hand when she jumps in but I'm guessing by the end of the session she'll jump in solo. Daddy had a glorious time as well! Mommy enjoyed staying dry and taking video and pictures on the sidelines!