Monday, September 28

{271/365} Emily puts on a lot of shows. Although they are quite similar in nature, and usually too long, they are cute and creative. I knew I was in trouble however when she called me down for the "Emily and Liam" show today. Emily demands perfection and Liam at the age of two, is certainly not a kid who likes to play by the rules. In my head I laughed thinking of her trying to "direct" Liam while he ran around in circles, turning the TV on and off. Well, sometimes kids can surprise you. Emily presented her "See, It's My Life Show...The Kicking Butt Show" (don't ask) and revolved it around the fact that Liam doesn't listen. So it didn't matter what he was doing! Apparently that IS her life and she needed to sing about it....while Liam played piano. ;) ;)

Sunday, September 27
{270/365} On Frank's 39th birthday I started thinking about throwing a party for his 40th. About six months ago I revisited the idea in my head, not sure if it's something I could pull off. I wasn't sure where he would be or which show he would be working on. Then in July there was word that Ugly Betty would be going to the Bahamas sometime at the end of September/early October. We didn't know who would go or when it would happen. So, there would be no party considering the guest of honor most likely wouldn't be there. :( We finally did get the trip details and with little notice, I was able to gather our families together for a little birthday celebration. We had a great lunch which ended with my home made M&M cake (a McCormack tradition ) and a very sleepy two year old. Although it wasn't a big extravaganza, we had a terrific time and he LOVED his "40 Things We Love About You" gift. Now if only he could get the day off for his real birthday on Wednesday!

Saturday, September 26

{269/365} On September 30th Frank will turn the big 4-0. I had no idea what to do for his birthday. A big party was out because of his inconsistent work schedule (although we are having a family lunch tomorrow). We have all of the electronic devices that exist on the planet and the beautiful Burberry watch I got him for our ten year wedding anniversary, has been worn twice (we don't get out much). So, it should come as no surprise that I went the sentimental/homemade route. Along with a subscription to "American Cinematographer" magazine and "Wolverine" on Blu-Ray, I'm giving him a "40 Things We Love About You" gift. It contains forty things we love from Emily, Liam, Riley and myself. It's midnight and it's finally done! Since he won't be home on Wednesday, I can't wait to give it to him tomorrow. :)

Friday, September 25

{268/365} I'm not sure if it's Retrievers, or dogs in general, but Riley has probably spent over half of her life on her back. I think she does this on the off chance that someone ...anyone...will scratch her belly! I also enjoy the fact that she will fall back at any time and on any thing. Case in point...Liam and Emily did quite a number on the office floor today, but here is my pooch resting comfortably on a pink purse, two small blankets and a few cd's. The pièce de résistance however is the fact that Liam is dangerously close to stepping right on Riley's head yet she doesn't flinch. Needless to say after taking this quick camera phone pic, I rubbed that furry doggie belly. Yep, there is a method to her madness. :)

Thursday, September 24

{267/365} Each time I go to the doctor with Liam I'm full of such guilt and anxiety. That seizure changed our lives forever, so when I'm faced with deciding which shots to give him, I feel like running out screaming! Today would be different. Today I took a deep breath, camera in hand and just sat there watching my little guy. How sweet he was, running around in his onesie...opening and closing drawers...crumpling up the paper on the examination table...pointing at the cups and tongue depressors that he wanted but couldn't reach. He was especially fascinated with the scale and loved the way it wiggled back and forth. It was like a little ride! Today I would just watch my little guy and appreciate the little, sweet, boy things he does. Today I would concentrate on how lucky I am. :)

Wednesday, September 23

{266/365} Back to school night makes me feel like a fraud. ;) There are moments when I still can't believe I'm a Mom. I still can't believe I have a daughter in second grade. I still can't believe she has to go through all of the school insanity! I sit and listen to the teacher as she explains what the kids do all day...how they have a "working snack", how they are using "new math" and how they shove so much information at the kids that they hardly have time to breathe. I also know it only gets more intense each year. Of course I know education is important but at what cost? I'm a fraud because I have to pretend as if it's all OK when I really just want to scream and say "WHY CAN'T KIDS JUST BE KIDS FOR A WHILE!!" How about a happy medium? On the bright side, Emily loves school and the teacher loves Emily, so it's all good. I just have to take a deep breath and enjoy the "easier" grades where Emily still writes adorable notes full of enthusiasm, kisses, hugs and a great big smiley face. :)

Tuesday, September 22
{265/365} Liam's OT started a couple of months ago. One of the first things she asked was "what's Liam's Stim (Self Stimulatory Behavior)?" Some Autistic kids can flap, rock in a chair or make facial movements. The list goes on, but for Liam it's none of the above. We discovered fairly quickly that Liam likes to jump...jump...jump! He jumps when he's happy, or when he's listening to music or when he just feels like jumping! She suggested we purchase a trampoline so he can channel that jumping energy in an appropriate way. Yeah for us, yet another HUGE item for my already crowded living room. :( I sort of procrastinated until I saw how much he loves the mini trampoline at the play place. My new purchase arrived this morning, he saw the photo on the box and now he's beyond excited. The big problem now is that he won't get out of the frame so I can put the darn thing together!! Looks like I'll have to wait until bed time to finish. :)

Monday, September 21

{264/365} It turns out that the play place I chose for Liam is just fantastic! They jam pack so much in an hour that your head can spin BUT it's all fun and so appropriate for my son. He starts off with "circle time" which of course for most two year olds, lasts about 4 minutes. He then jumps and swings and climbs and slides and dances and has a BALL!! Nicole (his EI therapist) couldn't make it to our session tomorrow so she decided to join us today. He was quite surprised to see her outside of the house but excited as well. She showed me a few things I could do and overall we had a great hour. My favorite thing about this group is that Liam is playing with children who aren't on the Spectrum. It excites me to no end to see that in many ways he is just like your average, typical kid running around like the rest of them! :)

Sunday, September 20

{263/365} This is no ordinary photo of Riley. This is the please-don't give-me-my-medicine-because-it-tastes-disgusting photo of Riley. When Emily was about 15 months old, she was quietly sitting in her high chair, eating dinner. As usual she had the K-9 garbage disposal beneath her, ready to catch any crumb, large or small. I stepped into the kitchen for a moment and heard this horrible, loud sound. I quickly turned the corner and found Riley convulsing violently under the chair. I assumed my almost three year old pup wouldn't survive the night. Thankfully I got her to the vet and it was that day I found out she had an epileptic seizure. Riley is nine now and doing just fine (knock on wood)! She's been taking a liquid potassium bromide solution to control her seizures each night for the past six years. I can only imagine how disgusting this salt based medicine must be! That said, each night when Riley looks down and gives me "the face", I explain that I only do it because I love her and want her to be with us as long as possible. Then I give her a milkbone and all is well with the world. :)

Saturday, September 19

{262/365} Frank is the oldest of four and I'm the oldest of three. For almost 8 years now, we had the only grandchildren in the family. That all changed this week when Frank's sister Michelle gave birth to a baby girl! Grace Olivia was born at 9:18am on Monday, September 14th...the little peanut weighed 6lbs. 3oz! Today Frank, Emily and I went to visit our new niece/cousin on Staten Island while my Mom thankfully stayed home with Liam. :) She is an adorable baby who slept the entire day (I'm sure it won't be an easy night). I sat with her for a while, staring at her little face, remembering when my kids were that little...but there were no "I want another baby" pangs. I've reached my limit on babies but I'm very excited about being an Aunt. :)

Friday, September 18
{261/365} Tonight was the first night of Rosh Hashana and we decided to have a little evening celebration. My Mom brought a ton of food (I made the soup and matzo balls) and my brother and Sister-In-Law came in from Manhattan. Although I'm not the most faithful Jewish girl around, I try my best to celebrate and honor the Jewish traditions. Frank and I decided long ago that our would be raised in the Jewish faith, so I really want them to know who they are and where...at least half of them...comes from! ;) In addition to our Jewish New Year celebration, my "baby" brother Mike celebrated his 36th birthday yesterday. The Landau tradition states that all birthdays must be celebrated with an ice cream cake...and there was no way we were messing with tradition!

Thursday, September 17

{260/365} Emily had an interesting homework assignment tonight. In addition to filling out a family tree, she was supposed to bring in or tell the story about something that was passed down from generation to generation....and will eventually get passed down to her. Since I'm sentimental and the only granddaughter, there were many stories I could tell and many items I could show her. The more expensive items didn't impress Emily. Instead she pulled out a sequin jacket, long black gloves and clip on earrings that belonged to my Nanny Edie and a small, gold purse that belonged to my great grandma , Anna. Emily slipped on a skirt and played dress up with a bunch of items. It was a lot of fun going down memory lane and watching my drama queen pose with items that were once worn by some amazing women in my life. :)

Wednesday, September 16

{259/365} Dieting is exhausting. To be perfectly honest, it's not the food that bothers me, it's the inconvenience of it all! I love veggies and fish and I don't mind avoiding anything "white"...but I'm never in the mood to cook. That said, the time has come to get my huge butt in gear. Years of infertility treatments and then actually getting pregnant did a real number on me...and then there was Liam's Autism diagnosis. I was on a roll last year and then I couldn't concentrate on anything but my son. My head is back in the game so it's back to Weight Watchers I go...this has to be it...I have to get my life back!! I'll be 40 in 7 months, 31 days and I'm DETERMINED to enter my 40's as a thinner, healthier me!

Tuesday, September 15
{258/365} Liam has taken up a new hobby...eating crayons. ;) On the one hand I like to keep a few crayons on the easel just in case he feels the need to get creative. On the other hand, he's only two and at that age, the creative process most likely will involve eating your creative tools! So, tonight Emily marches into the kitchen with the evidence in her hand. "Look on the bright side mom, at least he's eating something green!" Good point Emily, if we could only get him to enjoy a piece of broccoli!

Monday, September 14

{257/365} I always look at life through a scrapbookers eyes. A couple of years ago when Liam was born, The Gap had these great chocolate colored bags with multi colored ribbons for handles. I LOVED those bags and all I could see was a great layout or using the ribbons to bind a mini album! Today I was shopping at Trader Joe's and as usual I forgot my "green" bags. So, I bought a few new ones, including this little work of art. I'm obsessed with the look of this bag and I may have to cut it up to cover an album...I'm not sure if I can resist. I look at it this way, it's just another way to reduce, reuse and recycle. ;)

Sunday, September 13
{256/365} The events on September 11th effected people in different ways. I remember the days and months after the towers fell and how uneasy I felt. Emily was due at the end of November (although she was three weeks early) and THIS was the world she was coming into? I remember each night I would watch the workers cleaning up the site on one of the cable news channels. Each night I would fall asleep watching them, hoping when I woke up they would have found a survivor...or later a body so that person could properly be laid to rest. It was my connection to the process and my way of supporting the amazing men and women working at "Ground Zero". I wrote down some of my thoughts a few years ago and recently finished my notes. I'm currently working on a "Remembering 9-11" book so my children will one day understand what happened on that day. I was hoping to have my book completed but like everything else on my desk, it's still a work in progress. I will finish this soon, I feel like I owe that much to myself, my children and the men and women we lost that horrifying day eight years ago.

Saturday, September 12

{255/365} Emily's brain never stops swimming with ideas. She puts on dance and singing shows, she sets up book stores and clothes stores, classrooms and art galleries, tea parties and picnics. She's always thinking and always pays great attention to detail. Apparently today there would be a "parade". She was in her room for a while and very quiet. When she finally emerged, she had a banner (it's white and has an "HSM" for High School Musical), a flower garland for the steering wheel (I even let her use some Primas for that) and a can which contained "flowers" to throw at the onlookers (they were actually Lego flowers). She set up her "float" and around she went. Unfortunately this entire process ended in tears as the kid riding on the float kept getting up...that's what you get for hiring a two year old Emily! ;) At least I got this shot so she was happy.

Friday, September 11

{254/365} Eight years ago today I was seven months pregnant with Emily. At about 8:50am, I dragged my tired butt into the bathroom and turned on the radio. A silly, loud sports show was on and those bozos were talking about a plane flying into one of WTC buildings. Who would joke about that? Dopes. On the off chance they weren't joking I turned on my TV and all I saw was "snow" on all of the local stations. My heart completely sunk. I then tuned in to CNN moments before the second plane hit. I will NEVER forget the insanity of that day, trying to locate my family via phone calls. I was scared and nauseous and completely in shock, wondering if this was just a nightmare and we would all wake up soon. I couldn't forget if I tried. Today, I'm sitting here as I do each year, watching the names as they are read. It's my way of reflecting on the day and mourning with those who lost family and friends. I have such respect and appreciation for those who protect us, those who ran into the buildings while others struggled to get out. An image burnt into my mind forever. I called Manhattan my home for seven years and part of me will always be the "city girl" I once was. Eight years later yet my feelings of profound sadness haven't changed. I'll cry as I always do and pray that my children will never experience the horror that we experienced that day.

Thursday, Sept 10

{253/365} School annoys me on so many levels. I remember the days when I set the schedule, no one could dictate where I had to be or when. I like life that way...that's why despite the weather I find the summer so appealing. :) Of course that's not how the "real world" works right? Harumph! Poor Liam really gets the short end of the stick. Each day he gets drowsy at around 1:30, falls asleep about thirty minutes later only to be yanked out of bed thirty minutes after that! Time to pick up Emily...I throw him in the car armed with a blanky, sippy and a snack trap full of Goldfish crackers, hoping he won't know what happened. ;)

Wednesday, September 9
{252/365} They have a bunch of "red flags" for Autism. Before Liam's diagnosis, I never had to read them because I just knew...I felt it. Now that we are in the thick of things with six months of EI under our belts, I actually started checking out those lists. While Liam is certainly Autistic, there have been so many changes that if you met him, you may not know. He answers to his name only half the time but points to everything he needs now or takes your hand to show you. Loud noises never bothered him, neither do large groups of people. He's been "sharing sounds" lately and imitating facial gestures...even sounds like "POP" or "BA". He claps when he does something he knows is correct and is matching colors and doing peg puzzles. He's finally found his nose and belly and head. My favorite milestone however is his independent, make-believe play. In January he would hold a car, turn it over and spin the wheels..now my little boy is not only zooming cars across the floor, he is connecting and making his choo-choo trains move. Yes, I know he's Autistic but each day we are connecting a small piece of the giant Liam puzzle. I'm so very proud of my sweet, little boy. :)

Tuesday, September 8
{251/365} I started taking Emily to Gymboree when she was about 6 months old. She absolutely loved it and we continued there through pre-school. I enrolled Liam in a class last August and thought he would enjoy the classes as well. I was wrong. ;) The place was too big and he didn't quite know what to do with himself...he was miserable! This was also around the time when I suspected he had some serious issues. Well, a year has passed and he's already a different kid. I thought it was time to try again and get him out there to play with other children. Today we went to an open house and Liam was in heaven! This place is a lot smaller and the equiptment is easier to use...this slide was his personal favorite! I signed him up and we officially start on Monday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. :)

Monday, September 7
{250/365} Today Emily and I felt like having a "creative day". Of course more times than not, this means I'll help Em with her projects all day, which is exactly how it went down. ;) We decided to add photos to the layouts she made at the convention last week, and work on a few new pages. One of the new techniques Em learned was how to use stencils and chalk. I already had the chalk but of course "sucker" mommy bought a bunch of stencils for her poor deprived daughter! LOL Anyway, Emily had a blast working on her pages today so at least I know those stencils will go to good use. :)

Sunday, September 6

{249/365} Nothing makes me happier than a three-day weekend...go Labor Day! Sunday's usually go way too fast, ending with the normal "night before school" chaos. Since Monday will be like Sunday this week, we decided today would be the BBQ day. Em decided we should have a "picnic" and have dinner outside. By the time I was able to take a photo, it was getting dark...while we do have lights out there I ran into a bit of a problem. Hanging from the light I noticed a GIGANTIC man eating spider...totally gross. If I flicked on the light, Emily would have gone completely ballistic!! So, they sat there in the dark until Frank was able to remove the intruder. ;) Good times...

Saturday, September 5

{248/365} Over a month ago I was roaming around the Internet, looking to see what was new in the scrapbooking world. I decided to check out the new Imaginisce paper lines when I stumbled across a blinkie introducing the new iTop. Curious, I went to their blog and found out that this soon-to be-released tool was a custom brad maker! It turned out that they were running a contest on their blog...post what you would do with the iTop, place a blinkie on your blog and you'll be eligible to win a fantastic prize. I thought, "why not"? Well there were 62 entries and guess who was one of two winners? ME! WOOHOO! Not only did they send me the iTop, they sent ALL of the accessories they had to go with it. I'm having a blast working with this fun tool, I even made brads to put on Emily's back pack. :) OOOh..winning is fun!

Friday, September 4

{247/365} Over a month ago it was 11:30pm and the house was quiet. Both kids finally fell asleep and I was excited to relax and watch a bit of TV before going to bed. Suddenly I heard an amazingly loud "CRASH" and felt my heart trying to jump out of my body! I ran upstairs yelling to see if Emily was OK while turning Liam's light on full blast thinking something fell on him. My Mommy instinct kicked in but then I realized that nothing is above them so nothing could fall on them! I looked everywhere and couldn't find a thing! What the??? It then occurred to me that I looked in the office but I didn't check behind the door. It turns out the wire shelving in my closet (originally used for clothing when it was my bedroom) came crashing to the ground. My office is a complete wreck and with something each weekend and the kids all day I haven't had a chance to even make a dent in this room. I already informed my husband that I will crawl into the rubble during Labor Day Weekend and I won't come out until I can see floor. :)

Thursday, September 3

{246/365} Emily had a fantastic first day of school. I admit I was a bit worried since this is her first year with a new teacher...she had the same teacher for both kindergarten and first grade. Today she came home smiling again and explained that she is starting a "friend club" with two of her friends. She assured me that this is not exclusive and she wouldn't make anyone feel left out. That said, she was busy in her room all afternoon making friendship bracelets, decorating pencils with stickers and making name badges. She bounds out to show me her badge. It says..."Girls Rock" and in the corner it says "boss". She said she wrote that because she started the club so I suggested "President" for the next time. ;) My favorite thing was that she said..."check out my name badge Mom...and look, I inked the edges!" Now THAT'S the daughter of a scrapbooker!!

Wednesday, September 2

{245/365} My baby starts second grade today. I remember the first week of preschool. All of the Mom's left the second day, while I stayed in a little room near the classroom, unable to let my only child go. The first day of kindergarten was tough, I let a complete stranger take care of my child for a full day...A FULL DAY! Wow, I was sick that week! In my head I've gotten used to letting go but my heart still breaks a little. I know she loves school which of course makes me very happy but I do love the time we spend together. Each year she looks and sounds older but I'm grateful that she's still my "baby" and I will suck that in for as long as I can! I had a few photos, a couple of her with her back pack, with her friends at line-up, a beautiful in school photo a friend took...but she chose the one with her brother. She adores him so I'm certainly not surprised. :)

Tuesday, September 1

{244/365} When I was in school I had always been involved in theatre...I was in chorus, show choir and all of the school musicals. This is why the first thing I did in college was sign up for a class on theatrical make-up. One of the requirements was to work on a production, which I did, called "A Servant of Two Masters". In this production I met a beautiful blond named Lainie...a senior when I was a freshman. It turned out she was not only a beauty...she was nice too!! ;) Lainie and I kept in touch on and off throughout the years (we didn't live too far away) but lost touch when she moved to LA years back. Thanks to Facebook we reconnected and we've had a great time chatting for the past year. She recently moved back to the east coast with her family and today we were finally able to meet! We hung out at the mall with our kids and at first Emily and Remi were a bit shy. Eventually we would go shopping at Gymboree and watching the videos apparently broke the ice. The girls went on the carousel together as if they had known each other for years. I'm thrilled we were able to get together, this was certainly the perfect way to end our summer. :)

Monday, August 31

{243/365} It was great to get away with Emily, but I have to say, she must have mentioned her brother a hundred times while we were gone. Today we hung out at home, organizing, doing laundry, etc. before school starts on Wednesday. Emily couldn't keep her hands off of Liam, acting as if she went on a three week vacation. ;) Tonight she decided that she had to dress up and be "fancy". She was disturbed however that Liam was just wearing pj bottoms and a onesie...not very "fancy". So, like a mad scientist, she grabbed her paper and colored pencils and whipped up a little something. She made a pocket with a rose coming out of it and taped it to one of her white, sleeveless undershirts. She then put this on her brother so he could be "fancy" too. Needless to say, Liam was not amused but it was sort of cute and Emily was quite proud of herself. :)

Sunday, August 30th

{242/365} My plan each year is to have a "last hurrah" alone with Em before school starts. Last year we attended the scrapbook convention just for the day...this year I thought it would be fun to stay overnight. Yesterday morning we arrived early, checked into our room (Em was so excited you would think we were staying at the Waldorf) and headed to our 10:30 "Dutch Door Travel Book" class. After class we grabbed lunch and met Kim and Meg at the vendor faire...the girls enjoyed a glittery make and take and experimented with stencils and chalk. We then headed to our cool Basic Grey class at 3:30 then after that, dinner at the hotel. After Meg and Kim headed out, I surprised Emily by mentioning that there was a pool in the hotel...and that I packed her suit...she freaked out! She happily swam and two hours later we headed back to the room. We decided to have a "movie night" and watched "Imagine That" as we munched on popcorn and snacks! This morning I ordered room service, which Emily thought was the coolest thing ever (gotta love kids). Apparently room service eggs and bacon tastes better when it's under a silver dome! ;) After breakfast we headed to the pool again and I watched my little fish swim with a huge smile on her face. Around 1pm we sadly packed up all of our goodies and headed back to the boys...and fur girl...who were anxiously waiting for our arrival. We missed them but didn't want our fun to end. :( This was a fantastic weekend with my sweet girl and if everything works out, we plan on doing it again next year. What a great way to end the summer. :)

Saturday, August 29

{241/365} Years ago I went to my first scrapbook convention, the Memories Expo, in Somerset, NJ. The first year I went with my Mom and we stayed over, the next we went for the day and the year after that I met my friend Kim and we took a class together. Last year I thought it would be fun to bring Emily and take a class...we had a BLAST! This year Kim and I thought it would be great to bring both girls and take a class or two. We were disappointed to find out that the Expo was cancelled in May but luckily another Expo took it's place in August. Yeah! Em & I would take two classes and stay for the weekend. This afternoon Kim and Meg met us for a class and dinner (they live very close to the convention center while we are an hour away). We realized that the girls scrapped just like us...Kim and Meg are very determined and try to get the project done in class while Em and I do what we can, content with finishing later. We had such a great day and didn't want it to end...our plan is to do this again next summer!

Friday, August 28th
{240/365} Liam's eating habits are beyond inconsistent. There was a time where he would eat roasted chicken, mac and cheese, even matzo balls! He hated anything crunchy. One day he decided that none of that would work for him, switching only to the nugget variety of chicken, french fries, pizza and believe it or not, eggplant parmesan! He now devours anything crunchy yet avoids anything cold...until tonight. I'm not sure if it was daddy's influence or the chocolaty goodness, but Liam went CRAZY for Ben and Jerry's. I don't know if this is yet another phase, but I DO wish his daddy was feeding him carrots, or broccoli or something a bit more helpful in the food variety department!

Thursday, August 27

{239/365} Today the kids got haircuts, lunch at Panera Bread, shoes at Kohl's and Emily did *not* get her ears pierced. ;) In June Emily sat me down and explained that she was ready to get her ears pierced. I admit I was surprised. This was the kid who LITERALLY hid while screaming under the counter at the doctors office to avoid a finger prick! I figured she would change her mind yet she brought it up several times throughout the summer. So, while at the haircutting place I mentioned that they also did ear piercing. Emily was so excited and picked out the earrings she wanted. I felt in my gut this wouldn't go well yet there was a little voice that said "maybe she'll actually go through with it". Let's just say my gut beat out the little voice this time around. After 40 minutes of drama and changing her mind, tears and hysterics, I finally threw in the towel. This was an awful experience, one I'm not willing to repeat any time soon. So, for now, Emily decided to wear the self sticking scrapbooking pearls that I bought at the convention in July. No holes required. ;)

Wednesday, August 26

{238/365} In August, 1988 I walked into a dorm room at Oneonta State with my black comforter and Cure posters only to find a pink comforter and "puppies in a basket" posters. Was I in trouble? That's when I met my roommate Joanne and despite our opposite tastes, we clicked right away! Twenty one years later and "Jo and Jo" are still the best of friends! We live about three hours away from each other but try to meet at least once a year (hopefully more in the future). Today we met at my Mom's house where we celebrated birthdays with our kids...Liam is August, Jo's daughter Alicia is September, Anthony is October and Emily is November. The kids...and their Moms... had a GREAT time as always and we can't wait to get together again!

Tuesday, August 25

{237/365} I cannot believe that a week from today is our last night of freedom. :( Back to early morning drop-offs (yanking a sleeping two year old out of bed), pick-ups, PTO, school newsletter, Brownies, homework, projects...STRESS! Funny, I'm not even the one going to school! This year we start before Labor Day which, quite frankly is throwing me for a loop. Too early...I just want to cry. :( Here is Emily's backpack and 2nd grade supplies. I'm sad just looking at it. I'll miss my kiddo and all of the fun we had this summer. I know Emily will be just fine...me on the other hand...that remains to be seen!

Monday, August 24

{236/365} When Emily was little I took the learning process for granted. Yes, I was VERY excited when she learned her colors or said something new, but in my mind it was what she should have been doing at that moment...everything fell into place. The learning process for Liam is a whole different ballgame. I sort of compare it to my infertility issues. I now know EVERY little detail there is to know about eggs and fertilization..blastocysts...things I never knew or quite frankly wanted to know. But, it does change the way you look at things. Liam received a cool gift for his birthday and I loved watching him check the ins and outs of his new toy. I could actually see him learning and exploring. With Liam, nothing is a given but as long as he's learning, it's all good. :)