And The Smokestacks Come Tumbling Down

Last week we had a very exciting adventure at work when right outside our door, two century old smokestacks were imploded. We knew about the event about a week ahead of time, and while I tried to convince Ahren to take the day off to watch (it was his birthday - cool celebration!) it had not occurred to me to take Lexi. Well, I guess it did occur to me, but I thought it would be a terrible idea. But I went with Janice, our assistant, and tried not to freak out when I looked up and saw my dad standing on top (and on the edge) of Building 9 - to get the best view, of course! My dad did get the best shots, but I took the little camera for the video feature, and was glad I did...although I have been having trouble posting videos to the blog lately.

When Lexi came home from school, I told her all about the implosion and showed her the videos (mine, and some for various news websites). She made me show them to her no less than 30 times and asked me why I didn't bring her. I told her that I would have kept her out of school for the morning if I had known how safe it would be, and that I was sorry I didn't. She made me drive her over there to see the remains, and had a million questions about why they took the smokestacks down, if any of the other buildings were hurt, etc. Then she said to me, "Mom, when they build new smokestacks, and then they get old so they have to come down, can you please tell my preschool teachers that I won't be at school that day because I'm going to watch?" I promised I would. :)

Here is a link to my dad's photos from the day.

And here is a link to one of the videos online...though I don't know how long this will remain available.

A Couple Of Cuties

My kids make me laugh everyday. They are my constant source of entertainment, and sometimes can even crack me up when I'm in the most foul of moods. Here are a couple of examples of their adorableness... :)

Lexi:
Lexi received a couple of hair clips in her birthday party goody bag this week. I promised she could wear them on Monday. So, yesterday we were on our way out to the store and she came running over begging me to put the clips in her hair. I did and when I was done she said, "Everyone at the store is going to think I'm SO beautiful! They're going to say, 'Oh, I wish I had a daughter that beautiful!'" Well, at least we know she has a good self esteem! :)

Zach:
Lexi's juice cup was sitting, empty on the coffee table. Zach had already been told earlier in the day not to touch the juice bottle, but of course he saw it sitting there and made a bee line to the table. He pulled himself up while I watched, not wanting to say "no" until I was sure he was going to grab it. He got this HUGE smile on his face and reached out to the bottle, one hand on each side, but not touching it and looked at me like, "See Mama? I'm not touching it!" and started shaking his head no. I smiled at him and shook my head no as well, and he started to put his hands closer to the bottle. I gave the warning, "Zaaach..." and he smiled again at me, shaking his head like, "What, Mama? I'm not doing anything!"...little innocent face smiling all along. We went back and forth like this many times until he did eventually grab it and try to take a sip. He seems to get great amusement from being told "no". It's very funny now that he really understands.

My cuties...

I could write about them all day but I'm late...again...it's just how we roll in the Lippman house.

Fadia

This is Fadia. Sometimes I just cut short my attempts to describe her and what she has meant to my family because I feel like I can't find the words to do her justice. But today I'm going to try.

When Lexi was five months old we (Ahren, my mom, aka daycare provider, and dad, aka boss) decided that we needed just one full day of "real" daycare a week. I, like most moms, was incredibly nervous about sending my baby, my little, tiny, perfect angel, to spend the day with someone I didn't know, along with other little booger nosed kids that I also didn't know. In fact, the idea terrified me. But my dad knew of a women who lived in town who ran a daycare out of her home. Her name was Fadia, and he assured me that she was wonderful and that I would love her as soon as I met her. It took me days to gather the nerve to call her, but when I finally did she invited Ahren and me to come and meet her and see the daycare. So, we made an appointment and went. Immediately upon meeting her, literally within seconds, I knew she would be wonderful. It wasn't that she had entirely re-designed the entire downstairs of her home to be the most perfect environment for kids, or that she had carpeted her yard so that the kids could play outside without her worrying about them putting grass and twigs in their mouths, or that she told me that every day the children had a classroom time where she taught them colors, letters, numbers and THREE DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, and exercise time. It wasn't even that she told me that she cooked for the children, from scratch, and made sure that every day they ate healthy, balanced meals in her home. All of this stuff was more that I could have asked for, but none of it was why I knew Lexi would be better than okay there. Fadia has a light, an energy, that simply makes you feel at ease. Every single child in her care simply adores her, and she them. She loves each of those children as though they were her own and has dedicated her entire life to making them feel loved, cared for, and protected.

On that day, almost four years ago, Fadia became a very important part of our family, and I know we wouldn't be where we are today if not for her. There has not been one day in four years that I have worried about leaving either of my children in her care - not even when we brought Lexi to her just a few short days after her surgery. I've often joked with the other moms that our kids are better off when they're with Fadia then when they are with us. Picky eaters will clean their plates at her house. Kids who refuse naps will sleep peacefully for her. She just simply has a way with children that cannot be replicated.

Lexi's last day with Fadia (or Yaya, as she calls her) was yesterday. I know that Lexi will still see Fadia all the time, when she comes to pick up, or drop off Zachary with me, and I know that even after Zachary graduates, we will never lose touch with Fadia, but I was sad for them to have to say goodbye to each other. I've always felt as though Fadia and Lexi have a special bond, and I know that Lexi's days with Fadia were some of her happiest days. She loves preschool, and she's happy, bright and ready to move on, but there will always be a place in her heart for her Yaya.

For me, Fadia is part of my village - a very important part. She teaches me a lot about how to raise children, how to relax and sometimes let them take the lead, and at the same time how to guide them in the right direction. We agree and disagree on a lot of things, but we both agree that when my kids are with me I do it my way, and when they are with her she does it her way, and for us it works. We've laughed together and cried together, and I know that she loves my kids as much as I do. Fadia is my friend and without her I truly don't know where we'd be. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.

I've tried my best, but I simply cannot find the words to truly describe Fadia. All I can say is that we are so, so lucky that she is in our lives. For their last day together, I wrote a small poem for Fadia and Lexi decorated a beautiful frame for her. She told me in 18 years it was the best gift she had ever received because it came from our hearts. That, it did, and she deserved nothing less.

F is for the fun I have with you every single day.
A is for always giving me hugs and kisses and showing me how much you love me.
D is for the delicious food you make for me, from scratch, from your heart.
I is for inspiring me to learn and challenge myself.
A is for always – how long I will know you and love you and thank you.
“Fadia” is your name and how most people know you,
But “Yaya” is the name that I think really fits you.
You’ve helped me grow and learn and play
And I’ve felt safe and loved each day.
You’re more like family in my heart
So in my heart, we’ll never part.

Love, Lexi

Zachary Is 10 Months Old!

Zachary has changed so much in the last month. At nine months he had some big leaps - he learned to crawl and became quite good at it very quickly, and he also sprouted his first teeth. Since then he has been a different boy - once content to sit and watch others around him, he is now constantly on the go, and always looking for new places to explore, and more stuff to put in his little mouth! When we came home from our vacation he suddenly realized there was a whole new world in this house just waiting for him to discover, and I think he's covered every inch. Within only days of being home he decided that crawling was for babies, and started pushing my stool around the house. It seems to be a slower process to me, but I think he feels like a bigger kid because he's "walking" like we do! He's had his hands in the cat food more times than I can count, and has a vision for dirt on the floor like no one I know! If there is a small rock, piece of cat fur, or anything else on our floor he will find it in seconds. One day while he was at daycare I swept, vacuumed and mopped the entire downstairs....within three minutes of being home he found a piece of dried up corn on the floor and popped it into his mouth...oh boy.



However, I have to say that in the last few days it seems as though he is beginning to understand what he is not supposed to do. Now when he picks things up he shows them to me (just like his sister used to do) and if I tell him, "No no, Zachary" he doesn't put it in his mouth. Also, at bedtime when I put him in his crib he will now lift his head with a big smile like he's going to sit up and play, but if I say, "No no, Zachary. It's night night time" he puts his head back down and goes to sleep. No...he doesn't always listen to the "no nos"...if he's crawling toward a cat's tail and we tell him "no no" he starts crawling faster....he'll learn.



He's a good boy, and I'm actually anxious for him to get just a little bit bigger so that he can really play with his sister - all he wants to do!

As for little Lexi Loo...she is back to preschool and loving it. She really enjoys New England Montessori, and although she misses some of her friends that are no longer there, she has made lots of new friends and always has great stories to tell about their adventures. She has also started another gymnastics class with her friend Riley on Tuesday afternoons. It's not a mom/tot class, so she's still getting used to going in without me, but I think it's good for her. I'm hoping by the end of the session she'll be completely comfortable with it, and we'll be able to put her into more classes on her own. In a few weeks we'll be doing another swim class at the YMCA...that one I have to go in with her, so it looks like bathing suit season does not end for this Mama.

Last weekend she helped Ahren paint the front steps. She is such a good little helper, so serious about each job she is given, and she really does a good job! It seems amazing to me that a four year old could really help paint, but she did great. I wish I had gotten a picture of her cute painting outfit, but Zach and I were busy doing the grocery shopping.

Breckenridge 2009 - Devan and Jen's Wedding

On the second Wednesday of our beach vacation we left the beach to board a plane to Colorado for Devan and Jen's Wedding. We were very excited for the wedding, to be visiting a state that three of the four of us had never been to before, and to get to spend some time with the Lippman family. The wedding was in Breckenridge which is somewhere around 10 or 11,000 feet up. This meant that we were dealing with both a time change, and high altitude, and while it did affect us all a bit, I was very impressed with how well the kids handled everything. They are always so easy to take along because they handle even the craziest of situations with ease.
We had a few days before the wedding to stroll around and enjoy a little bit of Breckenridge. It was especially exciting because there was a Labor Day Festival going on while we were there, so there were some fun activities for Lexi to do.
The wedding itself was phenomenal! Ahren was the best man and Lexi was the flower girl, and I was very proud of both of them for playing their parts so well! During the ceremony (outdoors) it rained a bit and even hailed for a minute or two and while some of the adults ran for cover, Lexi sat stoically in her seat and listened quietly. Zachary, who I had not noticed had woken from his nap, also sat quietly in his stroller through the ceremony...but luckily for him he was totally covered up! The reception was a blast, although both kids were simply exhausted and Lexi fell asleep far earlier than is her norm at weddings. After holding her in my arms for over an hour, we finally made a bed out of chairs for her and let her sleep next to her already sleeping brother while mom and dad got to have some fun.
Our time in Colorado was fantastic, and we are all simply thrilled to be welcoming Jen into the family! We love her so much, and most of all we love how much Devan loves her. They are a wonderful couple and we wish them the best of luck.
Again, here are just a few of the pictures from the trip. To see the entire album and a video of Lexi as the flower girl, you can go here.

Salisbury Beach 2009

It seems as though the more we do, the harder it gets for me to keep the blog updated, so that every time I sit down to write about our adventures the task seems almost overwhelming. The last two weeks of summer were crazy, with lots of vacation and events. The first "leg" of our vacation was our yearly beach vacation with Gigi, Poppy and Great-Gram. While we were there we had a little party to celebrate Lexi's 4th birthday, and then just did a whole lotta nuthin. It was fantastic! We did have some pretty wild weather with a hurricane and then a tropical depression both passing through on the two weekends we were there. However, the hurricane only made for some wild waves but the sun was still shining bright, making it a better deck day than beach day.

Lexi and Zachary had a wonderful time playing on the beach while we were there. We had a lot of visits from cousins and friends, so Lexi almost always had someone to play with. That child probably ran a marathon on the beach each day, back and forth to the water building sand castles and digging holes. She had a blast and she was such a pleasure to watch as well! Zachary also enjoyed his first beach vacation. At exactly nine months (our first day at the beach) Zach finally mastered crawling, and also sprouted two teeth, so I thought for sure he would be cranky, but he was not and loved digging, crawling in and eating the sand. His favorite part of any day was when someone would make him a pool of water - either with the plastic pool or in the sand at low tide. He would sit and play in the water until he turned blue, just laughing and splashing. Zach even took a beach nap or two...something Lexi has never done!

Our time at the beach was short, as we had to take off early in the second week to fly out to Colorado for Devan and Jen's wedding, but it was a wonderful time, and we're really looking forward to next year. Here are some of the pictures. To see the whole album you can go here (some pictures are missing from the album, but I am going to update that soon).

Happy 4th Birthday, Lexi!

Dear Lexi,

Today is your 4th birthday and while it seems unbelievable that you could be four years old already, at the same time I can't even remember what my life was like before you came along. It's been a big year for you, and I have watched you grow and mature in more ways than I could count. It seems as though everyday you become more courageous and outgoing, and I've seen your determination grow by leaps and bounds. It was just last year that when faced with a task that was challenging you would bury your head in my arms and proclaim that you couldn't do it. But now I watch you try things that I know are hard for you, and rather than giving up when it's tough, you just keep trying and working at it until it becomes easy for you. I am so proud of you for that.

I am constantly told how sweet and special you are, and I couldn't agree more. You have the most pleasant disposition and you charm people wherever we go. Over the last year I have really enjoyed our evolving friendship. We have little looks and sayings that just the two of us share...you give me shopping advice, and share stories with me about what happened in preschool that day, or a funny dream that you had. You have very quickly become my little girlfriend, and together we have a blast.

On the weekend you and Daddy spend lots of time together working on projects. You've become a very good helper and you take all of your jobs very seriously. I know that Daddy really appreciates your help, and having you around makes his household chores a lot more fun.

You have no bigger fan than your little brother, Zachary. I love watching the way his face lights up when you walk into the room, and often the two of you just giggle about seemingly nothing at all. You spend so much time reading to him and playing with him, and he is a lucky little boy to have a big sister who loves him so much.

This morning Daddy and I climbed into bed with you to sing you "Happy Birthday". You tried to push us away and shake your head, but we laughed when we saw the little corners of your mouth curl up in that classic Lexi smile. We got some snuggles and birthday kisses, and I think Daddy and I may have been equally as excited as you were about your big day. I cut your toast into heart shapes for breakfast and later you told me that your only wish for the day was to have all of your food in heart shapes. You had a wonderful birthday at Fadia's house, and then a birthday dinner at Gigi and Poppy's this evening. When I asked you at bedtime if you had a good day you gave me the biggest smile and said, "YES!!"
You are such a joy, Lexi...so pleasant and grateful and fun. I am the luckiest Mommy in the world to have you as my daughter.

Love,
Mama