Letter Month 26

Dear Sena,
As I'm writing you your letter (a week late- yes), I'm anxiously waiting for you to wake-up. I'm fortunate you're such a good morning sleeper (it's 8 a.m.), but I'm also worried because yesterday you had a fever and felt awful. You've only been sick a couple of times in your two years of life, and each time it shakes me to my very core. It's hard to describe to anyone who isn't a parent or mother for that matter- but when your child is feeling bad your entire being breaks. You'd do anything to help them feel better. So I held you and rocked you, and kept a cool washcloth on your head.

Meanwhile, I think your baby sister (YES another girl for the Williams' clan!) could feel you resting on my belly. She proceeded to kick and squirm more than ever. My thought was that she was telling you 'hello'. Or perhaps she needed more room.. both will be quite likely once she arrives this fall.

I have to say honey that you are the most adaptable child/human I've ever seen. Our house is in total disarray as we gut the entire main floor, revamping everything from the paint to the floors to the entire kitchen. We've moved your play toys from room to room as we move around the house, and each time you just find it interesting where your toys will end up. You don't mind that you can't go in certain rooms (i.e. construction zone), nor do you find it odd that all of our meals have to be cooked outside. While your papa and I struggle with the chaos, you seem to thrive in any environment. Something we need to learn from.

This month you've been busy in gymnastics- your favorite thing is the rings, which surprises me, but you love hanging there! You're still very into singing and have started making up a lot of your own songs about things you see around you. For instance:
Kona & Cash were playing in the back yard- like dogs do (biting, nipping each other).
Sena: "Kona's eating Cash again, Cash again, Cash again. Kona's eating Cash again- early in the morning."

This was followed by:
Mama drinking decaf coffee.
Sena: "I'm having coffee. No, no, no. I'm having coffee, no, no, yes!"

We'll get these recorded soon for any future auditions you have.

Honey, we love you. I hope you feel better soon.
love,
mama

A few pictures..

Having dinner with Will.

Moving.

So, I've missed my 25 month letter to Sena, and I promise it will come shortly, or at least before month 26. The thing is, after our Easter festivities (or during I should say), I dropped the camera, flat on the lens and yes, the camera is useless. So in addition to moving tomorrow and painting and getting a new house ready, I'll be shopping for a new camera.

Tomorrow at 8 we will be signing papers on both homes- moving into our new home and moving out of this one by Sunday. For the most part, I feel quite excited about the new space and all of the possibilities. It's wild to think we'll have TWO kids in the next house, and what sort of chaos we'll be living in and growing in. Steven's already purchased the new hardwood floors and install is set to begin in a week.. in the meantime his preggo wife will be trying to get rid of half of the yellow walls in the house while organizing and trying to create some sense of order. Oh, who am I kidding, when was the last time I truly felt my home was in order??!

So, we'll be off-line for a few days.. wish us the best as we pack up our lives into a truck and haul our stuff about a mile down the road. Much easier this time.. the last two moves involved crossing multiple state lines.

Letter Month 24- Happy Birthday Sena!

Dear Sena,
I'm really just in shock that it has been two years since the day you came into this world. And my has our world changed since you arrived. While we no longer can determine our own schedules, we also fill our days with more laughter and smiles than we knew possible.

You've got an amazing sense of curiosity. We can just see the gleam in your eyes as you're processing something new, or watching something intently to figure out how it works. You're generally up for anything- whether we're going to the park or having to stay in because it's a snow day on your March 24th birthday. And you repeat EVERYTHING we say.

Your favorites for your 2nd birthday?
Elmo
The Beatles- yes, you can name them by name and recognize when they come on the radio
Speaking of the Beatles- favorite song- Love Me Do. This is your new go-to bedtime song.
Orange. Yes, this one is sticking around. You've asked for an orange bathroom and bedroom in the new house. We'll see.
Going "out to eat"- you don't care if it is breakfast, lunch, or dinner. If you hear "out to.." you want to go. And we love taking you- you're great at restaurants, you flirt with the waiters, eat all of your food, and sit while we enjoy our meals, too. I can only hope your baby brother/sister is the same way.
Speaking of which- you're convinced you're going to have a baby brother. I think it is a boy, too, but no offense love, I thought you were a boy until I was corrected at our 20 week appointment.
Reading- you have memorized most of your books, and you have a lot of them. I love how you love books, you clearly are our daughter.... but I'm also realizing I need to teach you how to play sports, too. (Or papa does to be more accurate.) You still hand balls to people instead of throwing or kicking them. You play gentle, but your friends are all boys and really don't get it.

For your birthday, we threw you a birthday party and lots of friends and both sets of grandparents came over to celebrate. You spent the first half pretty quiet; you get shy in large groups.. but once the presents came out you were pretty thrilled with the gifts you received. Lots of art supplies, books, an Elmo camera, clothes...

I love you honey and can't wait to have more adventures and see what new things you'll fall in love with this year.
love,
mama

March- A Month of Change

I realize I'm very behind in Sena's birthday post. I promise it will come shortly. Things have been pretty crazy in the Williams' household....
In January, we found out I was pregnant. I'm now about 15 weeks and we're expecting this little one to arrive late September. The news was first received with pure joy, and then a bit of panic- how are we going to fit another baby and all of their "stuff" into this house? So..
We decided we'd put our house on the market on March 28th. And that night we had an offer! So, over the past week we've been negotiating and finding our next house and signing contracts! It appears by May 1st, we'll be saying so long to the Dahlia home and hello to a larger, but not updated home in Louisville.

We're very excited but also sad to say goodbye to this house. It has been a wonderful home- it is our first "home" that wasn't a rental, and of course the first home Sena will ever know. We've put a lot of love and sweat into this house and have updated everything to our specifications and now we'll walk away giving someone else that work. I'm having a little bit of a hard time with this aspect, even though I know we'll do the same thing with our next house. There are a lot of things I'll miss. (A lot I won't too, i.e. the stairs or having dinner parties where people sit on the stairs because they don't feel like they're supposed to go downstairs.) The new home has a wonderful floorplan perfect for kids and for entertaining. But it has no personality right now and is straight out of the 80s- brass fixtures, white carpet, you get the gist.

Everything is happening so quickly that I just know it will feel like we'll blink and we'll be in a new house, trying to get settled and make it our home just in time for our fall arrival.

As things progress we'll post pictures. And I'll be back to fill you in on Sena's birthday celebration. Until then... a glass of wine would be great, but I guess I'll settle for some juice ; )

My Budding Artist

Sena is definitely very into her art. Whether paint, stamps, dot art, or just mama's pen, she takes her art very seriously...

Letter Month 22

Dear Sena,

I'm sorry honey that this is so late. Time just seems to fly by, especially when you're so busy that when I get a moment of downtime I don't even know what to do with myself.



So, this month is going to be more of a pictorial of the last month. You've had a very fun month, getting your first big girl haircut... which didn't go badly at all. You were pretty excited to drive the car (although from these pictures you can't tell), and hardly noticed you were getting your hair cut. You didn't really make a big deal of it until we got home and you started shaking your head side to side, feeling your hair hit your face. You thought that was pretty cool.







You've really been amping up your vocabulary to the point where you're generally saying complete sentences.. and really SPEAKING your mind. The funny thing is that your expanding vocabulary has made it quite obvious the words your father and I say on a regular basis, including (from me): seriously? really? Yes, you now say these two words quite often- not really in context however. "Really" means "double yes" to you.. which is quite comical.
You: Go outside and play in rocks.
Me: It's too cold.
You: Really. Go outside.
Me: Really? It's too cold!

Two has come early in our household, but we're doing our best to embrace it. We love you honey.
Love,
Mama

Help Haiti

It is difficult to watch the news and feel so powerless, especially when we're all warm and comfortable in our heated homes. It is incredibly frustrating to see all of the debris from the Haitian earthquake, the debris that covers those that are still living, and know that if they only had more money and more equipment those people would have a greater chance of survival.

It's easy to freeze when we see such tragedy. So far away, what can we do? I turned to this blogger who recommends six things to help Haiti, including learning more about their culture (and poverty) to begin with.

I also send my love and prayers to my friend Molly who is in Haiti now. I know she is safe, but I know her heart breaks for those she has lost.