New Addition

Jackson has a new sister!!!!! Her name is Jill. It was love at first sight for Zoe and for mommy. Since it was Jill’s first day with us, she got ‘special’ treatment. She joined us for lunch and also went to the grocery store with us. Everyone would stop Zoe and say, “Your baby looks real!” They would say that about Jackson too! Jill’s features are softer than Jackson’s however I love them equally. In fact, I already was asked to babysit so Zoe could play outside.

It’s so sweet to watch Zoe take care of the babies. She feeds them (with bib on), she changes them, she sings to them, and she hugs and kisses them constantly. In the morning, she will say, “The kids keep me up all night!” or “I had to get up in the middle of the night because so and so was sick.” It cracks me up. She sounds like a little mommy.

Dolls are the one thing Zoe has always enjoyed playing with. She has a crib in her room where they sleep at night and she has several outfits that she likes to change Jackson into. She doesn’t have other outfits for Jill yet. I’m sure that is on our ‘Things to do’ list. She loves buying Jackson clothes so, I’m sure it won’t be any different for Jill. Amen for thrift stores!

Stay tuned for stories of Jack and Jill in the future. Zoe is going to have her hands full with these two – ha!

Girl Talk

Last night after Zoe and I got home from basketball we did homework, and ate dinner. Although everything in this house is pretty structured and routine, I still try to multi task the best I can on nights that I’m working. I had just finished everything and cleaned up when Zoe says, “Mom, can you take a break and maybe paint my toe nails?” YES! Of course! There isn’t anything I would do for my munchkin. I move my laptop and all my work junk over and went to pull out the nail polish. I could tell Z had something on her mind and I was ready to hear it. Not to mention Z doesn’t often want her toes or fingers painted. I started painting her little toes, and she started talking……

Here was the list of things that were on her mind….

1) Why does Mimi travel so much for work? (And how many more days till she gets back???)
2) What are we going to do when for Spring break?
3) When is the Easter Bunny coming?
4) Of course after basketball we always discuss practice and all the baskets she made!
5) Jackson has been sick so, she wanted advice on how to make him better. (mom to mom)

After our conversation, Zoe says in her Zoe way, “Thanks for the girl chat mommy!” When I think about the ‘list of things’ that she wanted to talk about, I can’t help but to chuckle. I can only hope and pray it’s this easy when she is a teenager. I would stop anything in the world to have these talks with my daughter.

Work & Trees

My work schedule has changed so I only have to work one weekend a month now and this was my weekend to work. When I work 48 hours with little sleep, no one wants to be around me. I tend to be a little cranky – and that is saying it nicely! Zoe spent the weekend in NJ with Shelli. As much as I miss her when she isn’t here, it’s just easier to work and be productive when she isn’t here.

When Zoe got home Sunday she couldn’t wait to get outside. Her newest thing is tree climbing. It makes me nervous but she seems to have it down pretty well. I wasn’t a tree climber when I was younger. I was the kid that could get up the tree but was deathly afraid to come down. In between work calls and reports, I would peak out and watch her play in the back yard in all her glory. If it were up to Zoe, she would stay outside from sun up to sun down.

St. Patrick's Day

This year, we went all out and made homemade Soda Bread Scones. (http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/10960?section)
Followed by a Shamrock smoothie which was made with kiwi, honeydew, bananas, and a little ice cream. Delish!

Zoe even got a special green cupcake from our next door neighbor, Patti.

We hope everyone had a great St. Patrick’s Day!

Josh

This afternoon, my co-worker Karen came over with her son, Josh. Now that I work from home, I don’t get to see my girls in the office that often. Sure, I talk to Karen daily but, we never get to just hang out and have ‘girl talk’ off the clock so, it was a treat to have her over. We took the kids to the park and let them run around since the weather was simply perfect. Even after the park, the kids came back to the house and wanted to play in the backyard. I can’t blame them. We’ve all got Spring fever and want to be outdoors as much as we can. It was a fantastic Sunday afternoon and I must make it a point to do it more often!

Mimi's back

Shelli was in California all last week on business. While she was out there, she was able to sneak away and make a visit to the Jelly Belly factory. Mimi brought home lots of goodies and Zoe was ecstatic. Zoe is obsessed with Jelly Belly jelly beans, so getting stuff direct from the actual store was a big deal.

As great as the ‘gifts’ were, I think Zoe was happier to see her Mimi. Zoe is pretty well adjusted to the AWFUL travel schedule that Shelli has but sometimes when Shelli is gone, it’s harder on Zoe than others. This time was a hard one, she asked for Shelli everyday. I try to ‘play Mimi’ while she is gone but, for some things, like basketball, mommy just doesn’t do. Zoe wants her Mimi, I get it and I don’t blame her! That is their thing – I just go to cheer her on!

Basketball Diva

Girls just wanna have fun!

Today was a Zoe/Jaylyn day. J came over this morning for breakfast and a little playing before we all headed over to watch Zoe at her riding lesson. The girls shared a bowl of strawberries and some hot gooey monkey bread. It was delish!

When we got to the farm, Zoe was excited to show J around. Zoe went to get Dutchess from the pasture then let Jaylyn help brush Dutchess before tacking her up. Zoe put the saddle on today all by herself for the very first time. Zoe hardly needed any help from Ms. Bridgette, I was so proud of her. It was windy and cold but Zoe did a good job even with J being there. I was worried Zoe wouldn’t stay focused with having a friend there but, she did excellent.

After the farm, we all went for a hibachi lunch. It was J’s first time seeing the ‘show’, so Zoe was trying to give her the run down without telling her too much to ruin the surprises. Zoe always asks if she can go to ‘the place they cook with fire’. It’s Zoe’s favorite, we even shared a sushi roll. It was a fun lunch.

It’s been a while since the girls have had a lunch date so, they enjoyed it. Their eyes were glued to the chef. J wasn’t too sure about the whole fire situation but, she loved all the tricks the chef did. As the chef was preparing the veggies, he would throw a piece of whatever he was cutting into the air for each person to catch with their mouth. I was the only one who caught the broccoli, and J thought I was super cool. Too bad nobody else has such skills as I do, better luck next time girls!!! HA!!