12 Months as a Lewman 3.0

Happy Birthday to YOU

Family shenanigans.

As I sit here and write this - I am sipping on coffee on a lovely veranda in Laguna Beach as the sun rises over the canyon.  I am reflecting back on the past 12 months and how much life has changed- and I am only 35, we're just getting to started!  Having Delaney has been like eating dessert after every meal.  She's just the extra special slice of pie after having an amazing full entree (that entree being Emmy and Hayden...and Tye).  I love how she has changed each person in our family in some way.  She's like a baby therapist.  Hayden is SO gentle with her.  So protective of her and constantly needs to be holding her.  Emmy is learning to share the limelight and embrace having someone she can play with.  I think it's also inadvertently forced her to discover playing independently. Tye has always had a soft side for Emmy but it's a little softer now with Delaney.  I think he enjoys those snuggles a bit more knowing they are his last baby snuggles.  I don't know how she does it but she's a lover.  She seems to be the calming factor in our lives even as she's practically running now and only wants to get into things she's not supposed to.  What I love most about her is the look that she gives to each of us.  She is enamored.  There isn't one of us she prefers more, she absolutely loves us and I just want her to hold on to that through her teenage years  :).  

The tiniest belle of the ball.

Delaney Rae is 29 1/2 inches and just sitting pretty at 20 lbs.  They claim she is 50th percentile (although I've never really focused on the percentage assessment) but she seems so tiny to me!  I feel like if I look at pictures of her from 4 months and 12 months - she looks the same! Always so youthful, that one.  She eats everything now.  EVERYTHING. I have pulled 1/4 crayons, bark chips, rhinestones and paper out of her mouth. She has adventurous tastebuds. I even gave her some grilled onion and mild peppers and she loved them. There is something so funny about when she's eating.  It could be the combination of cave-man hand feeding with the nom-nom sounds she makes and the level of focus she has.  It's hilarious to me and I love feeding her!  It is so hard to articulate how special the baby months are but transitioning into the little kid stage is almost more exciting in some ways.  I think the constant fear for me (with a baby) has always been "what will she need to eat and will I have enough of whatever it is".  So now that they are all eating food, the same food we can eat - it's a bit of a relief.  I haven't introduced her to Burgerville yet but it's on the horizon.  Speaking of horizon, it is stunning here in Laguna Beach.  How do people live here??  Amazing.

This is 1

This is 4

This is 35.

This past month we celebrated Emmy's 4th birthday, my 35th birthday and Delaney's 1st.  Emmy had the most amazing princess party with 3 of her gal pals (Sadie, Presley &Laura).  We did hair sparkling, nail painting, little make-up, crown decorating and coloring.  I am not quite ready for those big parties yet because once they happen - that's all they'll want!  But the big gift was Emmy went from a toddler bed to a big girl bed, thanks to Gramma & Papa Lew and Grandma Judi for the sheets and comforter.  Poor Hayden slept in a twin bed from 4-11 and Emmy got a full size bed at 4.  Sorry Hayds! No need to worry for Delaney though, she'll probably always just be in our bed.  Yay - we might actually save money!! I didn't get anything as lavish for my birthday but I did get ridiculously drunk with my friends singing at the top of my lungs?  So SUCCESS!  My Mom and two sisters, Traci & Tiffany brought their families to the Oregon coast to spend time with my family.  I have never had the chance to spend a weekend with them (as an adult) and it meant the world to me.  They live in Everett, WA so we don't get to "drop by" when we want.  Thanks to my Mom, we watched old home movies (even the long boring ones with camera pointed at me playing in the sand for 45 minutes) to the fun ones of them riding that little motorcycle up and down our street to videos of my Dad's 40th surprise birthday party...and the piñata.  And of course my grade school talent shows that never disappoint. Cold hearted snake anyone?

We have had a full year with Sweet D.Holidays, birthdays, flooding, playing, sports, broken bones, learning, doctor visits, snoozing, lots of kisses - and I

3 LLs

mean lots of kisses.  Learning to parent the two girls at these ages has been challenging.  Dividing my attention and trying to focus on both of their similar/different needs is/was emotionally exhausting.  Sometimes physically. But things change and we learn and grow and I understand this is a short period of time - I am never complaining of the situation I am in just expressing that this time has been...an achievement, if you will.  We're all going different ways but doing it together.  I love these people and I am so excited to learn more about them as they get older and which circus we'll join this year.  Thank you for all the kind words and enjoying the blog. Thank you for being part of our extended family and obviously if you start missing the blog - you can always follow me on Instagram...I like the photos.  

Different strokes.

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10/11 Months as a Lewman 3.0

Happy 2016!

I think I will always remember this month when I look back at the “younger years”.  It was my most emotionally strained month as a Mother.  Between repeated child illness, broken legs, house flooding, work stress and not having any time to myself while making a home open to family for the holidays…it nearly broke me.  I didn’t really know it at the time because I was just focused on getting through the next hurdle but once the tree was down, the kids were healthy, the basement was unoccupied and work calmed down, I realized how hard it was on me.  Then 2016 happened and it was sunny, then snowed, and like that I snapped out of it and moved on to enjoy the daily annoyances and smiles of the ups and downs of life.

Sums them up.

December was a hard month on Delaney too.  She had two colds, a bronchial infection and pink eye (on Christmas).  She wasn’t eating well, cried a lot and was irritable most of the time.  It was so disheartening looking at her wondering when she would be healthy again and I had a hard time remembering what that looked like on her.  Emmy was having issues sleeping – would wake up with night terrors or have an accident or need to go to the bathroom or want to be with us.  It was so difficult to watch these little people work through these normal things on their own.  I will say that Christmas was magical though.  This year was certainly all about Emmy.  She had the big haul with a handmade 4 ft repurposed jewelry box made with perfect sized, barely adhesive choking hazards for Delaney, a scooter made for a 12 year old {boy},  a Rapunzel dress when she wanted an Aurora dress,  and all kinds of jewelry and clothes that she has already broken and/or ruined.  Hayden, graciously let her take the spotlight on Christmas morning and Delaney just ate tissue paper.  She truly is the middle child struggling to keep the attention.  So, we obliged. We got to see the kids in their crazed, twitching with excitement bodies for hours.  For whatever reason my Mom and I tag teamed Tye’s birthday/Christmas presents theme as “Builder Bob”with a new drill, drill bits, and a tool belt.  He made the comment (in true Tye hilarity fashion) “I don’t think you guys know what I do, I am in sales – not a contractor!” Then we had mimosas and momentarily forgot about all the illness and wet flooring we had in the basement and enjoyed the day.

The Lewman Five

Because of the unwanted water in our basement - we had to move Hayden upstairs and cut off access to the play room and the main TV of the house.`And I have learned there are a lot of frustrating things about compacting 5 people into 1,300 square feet of living quarters, mostly all congregating in our room 80% of the time.  Every day I have to figure out where I am going to get dressed and which toy would be the least painful/most quiet to step on.  It is either one of three things on the TV; football, The Odd Squad or The Great British Baking Show because 1/5 of us is always trying to go to sleep.  The bed sheets now have marker on them.  There are umpteen thousand mismatched socks of all sizes strewn about. There are snout marks on the windows, I am still not sure who's DNA it is.  And Delaney’s room is stuffed with a full size bed and 12 year old boy with his shoes/clothes/socks/books/laptop cords/headphones/homework papers/boysmell…it’s now Haylaney’s room. I think by her 1st birthday she should have ownership again.  With all of that said, I love that all of us are together and on the same floor.  At the end of the day when I lay down and close one of my eyes – I feel like all is right in the world.  We are all safe and I can hear everyone breathing and when they get up to pee in the night ☺ Looking forward to having our play area back but will be slightly sad Hayden goes back downstairs to his room.

Oh, the snuggles.

D weighs about 20 lbs and reaching 29” – she’s wearing 12 month clothing and just starting to wear shoes.  I cannot wait to see what that little figure looks like in a bathing suit this summer!  She’s already bikini ready.  Delaney has been hitting so many milestones now that she’s recovered from her 3 month ailments.  She’s smiley and happy and loving again.  She’s still struggling with being held by anyone but Mom and Dad but we’re pretty good at passing her to family when we need a break!  I was concerned that she wasn’t interested in baby food/solid foods or even PUFFS but then one day – BAM, she was into it!  She loves them all!  Now we are finally giving her bigger chunks of soft food, she's eating like she’s angry and killing the puff game.  Still nursing but now that she’s exploring more food we will probably start weaning in the next couple months.  It will be nice at work to not make two trips down to the basement anymore.  She has the most adorable nod that she’s sporting these days.  “Can Mama have a kiss?!”… no, with a fast shake of the head and a smile.  She's not a real belly-laugher.  Maybe it means she will be one of those people that only laughs at super hilarious material…and doesn’t have time for the day-to-day giggles. Although she does go into hysterics with Emmy fake spitting in her face - which then makes me think she doesn't understand humor at all...only time will tell.

And finally – my little lady is walking.  She is officially – not a baby anymore.  Heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once.  I love to watch her advance and hate to see her grow.  With Emmy I would look at everything as firsts, with Delaney I look at everything as lasts.  Which is no way to be but that’s just how it is.  That hair just doesn’t want to grow either.  She’s got a strong party in the back and not much on top.  Which was the way I was as well and now I have tons of hair - so I am sure we'll see it come in within the next 35 years.  I’ve already been sworn to not give her the famous “Emmy bangs”…I thought they were cute!!

 Miss Delaney Rae will be 1, a month from today which means only 1 more blog!  Bittersweet.   Here’s the last two months of  photos in a nutshell.

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