Lily-isms

Here are some of the funny things Lily has said or done today. Of course some of these phrases are more funny if you hear HOW she said them or understand the context. . .anyway here are the top 10 Lily-isms for the day.

1. I'm going on the potty train.
2. L: Sister, you have a time out. M:Lily, let ME be the mommy. L: Okay, Sister has a time out
3. Are we going to Grandma's house? (No) I'm so excited! (?)
4. I'm calling Jhonny. (On her toy cell phone)
5. M:Lily, say, "My name is Lily." L: Your name is Mommy! I'm two.
6. M: Do you know why you are in time out? L: Uh huh. I bit Sister's arm. M:Why did you do that? L: Sister bit my cheek. (Yeah, a WEEK ago.)
7. Look, Mom, I got my shoes! (Flip flops on the wrong foot with the strap between the wrong toes - ouch?) I ready to go. We going to Grandpa's house, now? (No) We going to Doctor's house, now?
8. L: We're having a baby, Sister. He,he,he. M: Lily, we already have our baby brother, Gavin. L: We're having a baby brother, Sister. Ha!
9. You are making me nuts! (giggle) You are driving me NUTS!
10. Run, run as fast as you can. . . (As she hurries to get dressed so she can go outside.)

To market, to market to buy a fat pig, home again, home again, jiggity jig

Mom and Dad called in Jhonny for his expertise in remodeling their guest bathroom. He accepted the invitation to help tile the floor. So a dentist appointment and a new battery later, we headed to Houston on Friday. Of course we had to stop at Hobby Lobby and a few other stores along the way since we kind of get starved for such variety where we live.
Mom was waiting with great food and ready hands to play with the grandkids. Jhonny and Dad went to work getting the bathroom ready for tiling on Saturday.
Lily was WAY excited to be at Grandma's house and did NOT want to go to bed. Consequently she's asleep today and I may let her sleep all day to get over her sleep deprived crankiness. Jessica was not far behind her. Gavin didn't want to sleep either, but we all eventually got to bed only to wake up early the next morning.
Jessica and I hit the early bird school clothes sale at Kohls while Lily helped grandma shop for groceries. Jhonny and Dad got the tile layed down and all the appliances built and ready to go in.
Later, Dad took Jhonny to work to get some things done so he could take Monday off and finish the bathroom. Mom took me and the girls to Walmart for a pedicure (our Rockdale Walmart doesn't have a nail salon) and a little more shopping. The girls got their nails painted as an incentive to be good.
Sunday was more fun as we went to church and caught up with good friends in my parents' ward. Mom made brisket for dinner and then I got a nap!! Yeah! Thanks, Mom. We finished up the afternoon with a video of the Pioneer day celebration concert from the Conference Center and some berry cobler. Yum!
Later that night we went over to some friends and visited with my old principal from Venezuela who was back from the Hague for a few weeks. We didn't want to leave, but Gavin let us know we were overstaying our welcome.
Monday, I got a much needed adjustment from my favorite chiropractor, Kurt, and then I took the girls to visit their babysitter, Frances and the kids. We enjoyed catching up there before heading back to the house to rescue Jhonny and take off for home. Of course we had to swing by Nauvoo Books and Chick-fa-le on the way back.
The whole trip was nice and relaxing for me and fun for Jhonny to get to do some home improvements. I think he really had a good time even though Dad put him to work. I'm sure he would rather be doing that than sitting around listening to everyone talk any day.
I reflected as we drove home how perfect the whole weekend was. I found it relaxing, Jhonny found it productive, and the kids had fun just being at Grandma's house. All in all, a perfect getaway for the Marcano Family.

Pattycake

Gaaaaviiinnnn

Progressive Prayer

This morning for breakfast, Lily quickly volunteered to say the blessing. It went something like this:

L: (Clasp hands and close one eye) Thank thee. . .

M: Heavenly Father. . .

L: Heavenly Father, thank thee. . .

M: For the food. . .

L: For the food. (Pause to eat a bite of cheerios) Bless it (reclasping hands and spitting milk). . .

M: To nourish . . .

L: To noursh (chew and smack lips). . .

M: And strengthen us. . .

L: strengthn (swallow). . .

M: In the name of Jesus. . .

L: Amen. (Open eye and take another bite)

You are not expendable

Once upon a time, there was a mother who was suffering from a slight case of post partum depression. She recognized in her head that the feelings of sadness were unfounded, but they came unbidden anyway.

Her happy children went about their daily house destruction with little heed to her voice of warning making her feel even less significant. Her husband busied himself with chores that he invented to keep himself busy and to improve the living conditions of their home - both noble goals.

As she tended to her sweet little newborn, she tried to keep the wave of sadness at bay. How could she be sad when so many depended on her for their livelihood? Look at the blessings all around! She had all she had hoped for. So what could mend this meloncholy?

She knew talking would help, but who to call? She would like to think she could be perfectly happy without the affirmations of others. She knew motherhood doesn't come with thanks except for that one day a year. . . So there's no use in complaining about that reality.

Thinking of no one she wanted to burden with something she had no reason or right to feel, she gave up. She prayed for releif from this ridiculous hormone provoked wallowing so she could go on about her life.

Then came a call from a long lost friend. She caught up with her friend and remembered the good times and the changes made because of that hard won friendship.

The next day she felt better - the mood swing having passed as quickly as it had come. Then a phone call from a lonely sister. They talked about respective challenges. It was nice to be mutually needed.

As she hung up she remembered again the great importance of people in our lives. None of us is an island. We all long for a connection with someone. To be noticed, appreciated, moved, touched, heard, understood, loved.

You are the puzzle piece to someone else's life. You may never know how you fit in, but others will fill the holes of their lives with pieces of you.

~~~

This is something I have tried to remember throughout my life. Usually to remind myself to be there for someone else. But the fact is that there are so many out there that have filled the holes of my life without ever knowing how or that they did. I would not be me if they had not been there.

So on that note, know that you are not expendable in my book. Thanks for being there.

Applause in Primary

Jessica had a talk in primary today. I challenged her to read it for herself. With her help, I wrote it out in words that she would be more familiar with. After some practice yesterday, she got up today and read most of the 3-4 minute talk by herself. I only had to help with a couple of words. When she was done, the whole primary broke out in applause!

It took a minute for even us to realize that they probably shouldn't be applauding a talk, but I'm pretty certain it was in response to her reading more than praising the message. She smiled proud of herself. Good job, Jessica!

Sleep Deprivation

Here's to wishing I could sleep so soundly. . .ho hum.

All mothers have experienced this at some point in their lives. And not that I wasn't warned in advance or that I didn't know it was coming. But in my defense I must say, my first two girls were born a couple of pounds heavier and slept through the night by one month old. They also didn't eat quite so often. The sleep deprivation in their cases did NOT last quite so long. My son would eat nonstop if I let him and cries when he's not eating or sucking on his passifier which I have to reinsert in his mouth about every 5-10 minutes. With the exception of one or two nights of a three hour repreive, I haven't slept for longer than 2 hours at a time. The constant interruption of sleep is getting to my nerves.
Just when I think I can drop off into no man's land after another 6:30am - 7:30am feeding, I hear the pattering of little feet and the sweetest, "Good morning, Mommy!" from my dear little way too happy 2 year old. My 6 year old knows better than to wake me up in the morning when there's no school.
Some day (and hopefully soon) I'll be able to have an equally sunny disposition to reply to my darling daughter. For now I'm just counting to ten and hoping she will take the bait to go find her sister to get her some cheerios so I can try and get in 5 more minutes, pppllleeeaaassseee.
Unfortunately, she's suffering from lack of Mommy attention and rather than listen to my desperate plea, she climbs into bed to "see the baby" and to "sleep, too" next to Mommy.
"I want to sleep, too" is really code for "I want to play in your bed so you won't go back to sleep and then maybe you'll give in and then YOU can get me some cheerios for breakfast, yeah!" For just being 2, she's got the manipulation down to a science. It sure doesn't help that she's so dang cute.

Poison Control

It's a good thing that we got a ton of poison control stickers to put all over the place. Lily was being curious as usual and decided to see what Hydrogen Peroxide tasted like or so I imagine. She came in to where we were with a little foam on her cheek and a wet spot on the front of her shirt. I asked her what she was up to and she admitted making a mess and to come. Jessica followed after her to find out what caused the mess. She brought back the bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide. We still couldn't believe that she could have swallowed any of it, but all the evidence pointed to such. A few minutes later, she vomited all over the floor. After giving her a bath and changing her PJ's, she did it again.
This time after confronting her, she denied drinking the stuff. She didn't want to get in trouble. Too late. I called poison control as indicated on the label and felt more relieved as the expert explained that hydrogen peroxide actually causes vomiting and she was pretty sure Lily had done the deed. Not to worry. . .my baby isn't going to die. We don't have to rush to the doctor. She just had to suffer through about four bouts of regurgitation at last count. Hopefully she's got it out of her system and I doubt she'll be chasing anything down with that stuff again any time soon.
As to why I had that stuff out in the first place? Jhonny sliced his thumb open yesterday at work and with all the grease and dirt he works with I was attempting to clean out his wound that was making me sick to look at. I guess I didn't get it back to the safety cupboard before Lily made her new discovery. Not that I put it in her reach - she's just amazingly resourceful when she wants to be. . .
Life is never boring with an active 2 yr old going on 13.

The Mandy & Mindy Campaign

Mandy 2008

Jeff, Mindy & Margo (2006)

Mandy and Mindy (1992)

Mandy and Mindy (2006)
Cousins Forever

My sister Mandy has always been a pretty girl. Even in the Middle School days the ugly stage skipped right over her. She has never saught recognition for her pretty face and hair, but it seems to come at her anyway. So it doesn't surprise ME that someone would ask her to participate in the Ms. American Beauty Pageant. She has taken on the issue of the physical and/or mentally disabled as her platform. In particular she is in this to try and gain support for the Margo Sears Memorial Scholarship fund dedicated in honor of our late aunt who was the main caretaker for the last sixteen years of her life to our cousin, Mindy, who suffers from a disease that is a form of cerebral palsy. The scholarship is for students who are interested in studying to become Special Education teachers. Margo was always so grateful for those teachers who spent time helping her daughter in the Life Skills classes. This is her family's way of honoring her memory. You can find out more about Mandy's pageant here.

My three kids

4th of July

This has been an emotional 4th of July it seems. We listened to some veterans in our branch at the Branch Breakfast talk of serving in the armed forces and then later in the day we witnessed a ground breaking ceremony for a new chapel in my parent's ward. The ward I grew up in and still call home. You can read more about it here.

Perhaps because we are all pausing to reflect on our Independence and the sacrifices of so many brave men and women who have and are fighting to protect our freedoms, the spirit in our fast and testimony meeting this morning was pretty strong. With such a small branch we tend to get a lot of lulls on these Sundays - but today we actually ran over with no down time. It was a great meeting. I hope you had a great 4th of July.

PKU Research Results

Okay so I did a search and found out that the screening is probably a good idea. For more info go here. But it sure was a hassle to get it done.

2 Week Check

Gavin is growing. . .He was up to 21 inches and 7 lb 5 oz up from 6 lb 8 oz a week 1/2 ago at his 2 week appointment yesterday. Hurray for Gavin. We also got his 2nd newborn screening done. Imagine my surprise when I was informed that I would have to take him to the hospital to have it done. The pediatrician no longer does this lab in the office because the insurance company doesn't pay for it there, but they will pay for it in the hospital.
I looked at this doctor in dismay thinking - no I will be paying for it there. Because you see. . . when it's done in the office it's covered under my co-pay. When it isn't, I have to meet a deductable and then pay 20% after the first $1000. So to say my insurance covers it is a bit mistaken. The reason the hospital gets paid is because it doesn't hurt the insurance company's pocket like it does mine. They seem to think they are doing me a favor by letting me get closer to meeting my deductable. I think NOT!
The other problem I encountered was that my pediatrician is adjacent to the OTHER hospital in town. Not the one I delivered at and I really didn't feel like loading up the kids to drive to the other hospital to have this done. So I asked if I could just walk over there and get this proceedure taken care of. Sure! What they didn't tell me was that I would have to REGISTER the poor boy so he could get some blood drawn. Ridiculous if you ask me. When I got to the admissions desk to do this - my poor boy was already an hour past his feeding time - angry and the girls were ansy. I only brought along my debit card to pay the co-pay so when they asked for my insurance and ID, I groaned. All that was still out in the car on the other side of the building. Fortunately the woman was able to get that all faxed over from upstairs. Thanks. I think she was well aware of my children's growing restlessness.
I really can't imagine how much more inconvenient this whole process could get. For my other daughters I walked across a hall from the doctor's office and the on location lab did the deed within five minutes of completing our session with the doctor. I miss my old pediatrician more and more.
I went to a gathering at a friend's house later in the evening and as my husband's co-workers were oohing and aahing over my little boy, one asked what the screening was for. You know - I don't really know. It's just something I've taken for granted that is to be done. I don't even really know what they are screening for exactly. I've never gotten results back for this screening from any of my girls nor for the first one done on Gavin in the hospital. So with this in mind and considering the inconvenience of the whole experience, the torture rendered to my 2 week old as they pricked his heel and squeezed his blood onto five spots the size of a nickel each as well as the expense that I have yet to see because there's that whole negotiated allowable cost thing that leaves it all very vague until the bill arrives weeks after you've forgotten you ever had the proceedure done, I'm feeling a bit rebellious and thinking if I had it to do over I'd just say - "NEVER MIND!" So if anyone out there knows what that screening is for - please enlighten me.