2010: The Year in Review

After some months (oh, really? Well, I guess it has been few years actually…) away from blogging, I’ve decided to try to get back to it. The kids are really growing and changing so fast, it might be a good thing to get it all documented, with a few pictures thrown in, especially for grandparents and relatives far away. So, by way of a beginning, I thought I might recap the last year or so, and then move on from there. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with it regularly, as much as I can with anything! This is a really long one, so go get a cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable…

2010: The Year in Review
Last year, as you probably know, we had our third daughter. Matilda Jane Willis was born in January (though we had rather expected she would come in December, at least that’s what all those fun little due date calculators said, Dec. 24th. She had other ideas.), so that makes a good place to begin.

January: 2010 began with me pregnant. I had rather expected not to be pregnant by that point, so you can imagine the mood around our house was a little tense. But we rang in the new year and I hoped fervently for some sign that I might someday soon be holding a baby. The first two weeks of the year were spent in what now seems like a rather humorous program of activities to bring labor on. Every few days I went to the chiropractor, the masseuse or the midwife.

My sister and her partner Amy had planned a trip to Michigan to meet our new baby, and it was beginning to look like they would either witness her birth, or just sit around looking at my belly. They arrived on January 15, just in time to be with us for Matilda’s birth on the following day. I will write that story and post it separately for those who like birth stories. I wrote down Rachel and Fiona’s stories, and I owe it to Tilda to do the same. It was such an amazing and precious day, but I am sure it will fade from memory and I should have it written down. Anyway, in summary, she was born at home at 7:29am on January 16, weighing 9lbs, 3 oz and 21.5 inches long. And she’s been pure joy ever since!

The remainder of January and all of February was just a pleasant haze of new baby love. In March, when Matilda was 6 weeks old or so, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City for the weekend. This was a Christmas gift from my mom and we had a blast. The baby slept right through the whole thing, and Fiona was a little overwhelmed, but Rachel was in her element. We are planning to go again this February, so stay tuned for a post on that!
At the end of March we all piled in the car and drove to Oklahoma City for Spring Break. Wow, what a trip! Ben’s dad had had some very serious heart problems during the winter, and was still recovering. It was a particularly precious moment in time because all of Ben’s siblings and their children gathered with us there for Easter. Matilda was a super good traveler, just like her sisters, and we all had such a great time.

After we returned, in April, our friends the Hales visited, and life just kept rolling along. School let out at Memorial Day and summer began. Oh boy, what a summer! It was so hot for so long, we really got a full dose of summer. Lake Michigan warmed up faster than it ever has, and we really swam as much as possible. Believe me, it is not easy to take three kids, one of them a small baby, to the beach, but we did it a lot. Rachel and Fiona were capable enough in the water that I could just sit in a chair under the umbrella, hold the baby while she slept and watch them splash around. It was really blissful.

At the beginning of June, Ben and I got a wild hair and decided to rip out the built in bookcases in our living room (don’t panic, they weren’t original to the house), patch our cracked and bumpy plaster walls and paint the living rooms and dining rooms. We planned to be done in time for houseguest season, which usually begins in July. Well…anyone who has been to our house in the last little while knows just how far that project got. I guess we grossly overestimated what we could get done while caring for three young children. There’s always hope for this year!

In July we took a trip down to Ypsilanti to visit the Hales (who had been up for July 4th), and watch their daughter Kenzie in her first play. She was great, and enjoyed it so much that she was in a fall production as well. Later in July we camped with the Manchester family at Otsego Lake State Park. Ben had to work, so it was just me with the girls for 4 nights. Exhausting! I really don’t have any pictures of that week, just because my hands were so busy with other things. We had a fabulous time nevertheless and hope to make it an annual tradition. The kids are big enough now that they were allowed to roam the campground and find friends – they loved it!

We rolled right from our camping trip to the McKinney family reunion, the first weekend in August. We hosted it in TC, and Beth and Amy came up for the occasion. The, toward the end of August, Ben’s parents visited us too. Bob was still recovering, but was so much stronger and really enjoyed the time with the kids.

On Labor Day weekend, a big wind storm blew in, the air temperature dropped and the lake temperature plummeted about 40 degrees. Good bye summer! School started – Rachel in 2nd grade and Fiona in her second year of 3 year old preschool. The previous year, Rachel had loved school and Fiona was not so wild about it. This year, it was the opposite. Rachel, for the first time in her life, hated school! Apparently, the fun and games are over in second grade! Her teacher this year is very, very good, and runs a very disciplined classroom. It took Rachel a few weeks to get used to her teacher’s style. Also, Rachel’s reading ability was really not up to the task. So she’s been working very hard with reading specialists and a tutor, and her work is definitely looking excellent. It was a real struggle in the beginning, but she is consistently bringing home stars, smiley faces and A plusses. We are very proud of her and how hard she has worked to turn things around. Hooray for Rachel!



Halloween was super fun. My dad joined us for the party, as did my mom, her partner, and her partner’s mom. And Barkley the dog, of course! Matilda wore the same bumblebee costume Rachel and Fiona had worn on their first Halloweens. Rachel was a vampire (I actually made a cape for her on my sewing machine! I know, go figure…) and Fiona was a princess (not a Disney princess – I haven’t fallen that far from my principles! No, we’re talking garden variety fancy dress – Easter, Christmas and the like. I pick them up for next to nothing at Goodwill and then let her wear them to death.). Actually, Fiona has been a princess everyday for several months – she’s in that fancy dress phase. It’s getting kind of old by now, but I’m trying to go with it. She even wears dresses to bed. It can just be a little frustrating, since these phases always seem to happen right after you buy a bunch of really cute back-to-school clothes and then they won’t wear them because they aren’t a princess dress. I guess that’s what I get for letting them dress themselves. Whoever wrote that chapter about fostering independence by letting them choose their own clothes in the Little Kid Manual didn’t have girls! I’m pretty sure the Little Kid Manual was written by someone who has no children, but that is another post entirely.

Back on topic… At Thanksgiving we all piled back into the car and headed to Oklahoma again. And once again had a great time. The girls get to ride horses (which Rachel loves and Fiona endures), and this time we went to the zoo. The weather was unseasonably warm during the first part of our visit, so we got a lot of good quality time outside, at parks, the barn, the zoo and so on. We returned in time to begin preparations for Rachel and Fiona’s birthday on December 3rd. Each of them had a separate party on the day in question, in addition to the cupcakes and such I felt obliged to send to school with each of them. And, to top it all off, Ben selected that week (OK, it was the only one available, but still…) to surgically end our childbearing years. What a stressful week! I think next year we’ll go somewhere else instead. At least, I know I will be going somewhere!!!

The day after the girls’ birthday, Mom, Linda and Gramma Gramma (Linda’s mom) came down for the annual Victorian Sleighbell Festival and Parade in Manistee, as well as to celebrate with Rachel and Fiona’s. While they went to the parade, Ben and I escorted Matilda to the ER for her first ever hospital visit. Poor little thing, she touched our wood burning stove and burned her little hand. She was fine, thought nothing of it, and the burns healed in no time. She really enjoyed flirting with the hospital staff and they put a funny bandage on her hand, which kept her well entertained. Needless to say, our woodstove now has a cage around it.

I hate this @&!% BOW! Pictures for Christmas cards did not go so well...

We stayed in Michigan for Christmas, which was so magical. We had Christmas morning at our house, and then went on to my mom’s for a few days. Uncle Dan was with us, and both Rachel and Fiona felt that getting to spend time with him was the high point of their holiday. We missed the family that we could not be with, and that was the only hard part about the holidays. We rang in 2011 with a little party in the living room. Fiona and Rachel stayed up to watch the ball drop, and we played games, ate popcorn and watched a movie all snuggled on the couch. In a few years, Matilda will be able to stay up and what fun it will be then.

I always love to make New Year’s resolutions, and I’m pretty good at keeping them. We’ll see how it goes, but I hope to a) take more pictures of my kids, and b) blog regularly. Wish me luck and stay tuned!

Words of Wisdom

Last weekend, we went with friends to a minor league baseball game. It was really fun, there were a jillion little kids there so no one noticed that ours were running up and down the steps and rough-housing with each other because all the kids were. After the game (and the girls somehow made it until the end) they had a fireworks show. It was Fiona's first time, and she was completely mesmerized. Overall, we had the time of our lives.

Anyway, at one point Rachel had to use the little girls’ room, so we went downstairs, waited in a long line and eventually got into an open stall. It wasn’t bad, as far as baseball stadium bathrooms go, but Rachel was not impressed. She said, “Mom, this bathroom is ewey.” I agreed but, being a practical person, I replied, “Well, look on the bright side, at least it’s not an outhouse.” Rachel considered this (while still perched on the toilet) and very gravely said, “Yeah, I don’t like outhouses, ‘cuz if you fall in, you have to know how to swim…”

And here's a picture of Rachel, doing her homework on (yes, that's exactly where it looks like she is) the kitchen counter...

Back from OKC and into the big girl bed

We are back in the beltway after our trip to OKC. We had a fabulous time there, as always. Rachel and Fiona's grandparents (these are Ben's parents) are truly lovely, kind, and generous people, and the girls and I just relax and settle in to everyday life while there. Their grandad was struggling with serious back problems, but he has since had surgery and seems to be doing really well. Thank goodness!

While in OKC we spent a lot of time with family, we went to the zoo, rode horses, got cowgirl boots, saw Gramps and Nana (that was a big day!), and had a visit from the Easter bunny. Fiona is still talking about this, and we are still enjoying the proceeds of said visit. The weather was unpleasant much of the time - windy and cold - but the one hot day we had lead to wildfire storms that made national news. They passed just a few miles from us, and caused a lot of worry. Not to mention damage and heartbreak for the people actually impacted by them. Oh yeah, and days and days and days of local press coverage...

While there, Fiona decided to give up her cherished privacy of her own bed (for a day or two it looked like the diapers might be a thing of the past too, but no, one thing at a time), and started climbing out of the pack-n-play and into bed with Rachel and me. What a crowd! I ended up sleeping at the end of the bed for several nights - I think I'm a few inches shorter than I was before we left!

So I called Ben and had him take the crib down and put up the big girl bed for Fiona. The shift is going pretty well, although Fiona insists on lying on my tummy (mine, not hers, just to emphasize) to fall asleep. This has mixed results, as I get really impatient with a 30+ lb. child flopping around on me like a big fish. Rachel also is not a big fan of this new plan as it ends her 6 year reign as the sole recipient of my bed-time attentions. See, time was, I could read a book or two to Fiona and plunk her in her crib. She'd flip through a book and roll over and drop off to sleep. I would then read to Rachel and lie down *next to* her while she fell gently to sleep. So easy. Sigh...

Rachel was supposed to take a walking field trip to the book store with her class today, but it is pouring down rain so I'm guessing they cancelled that trip. Ahhhh, I get to spend the afternoon with two kids who have been cooped up all day. Lucky me!!

Liar, liar, pants on fire

Fiona is fibbing! It's always about the same thing - poop - which, overall is a good sign, I think. Of course, a mom of a toddler in diapers will see anything as a sign that using the potty is just around the corner. But anyway, tonight I asked Fiona if she had pooped (I knew full well that she had - everyone in the house and very likely several of our neighbors knew she had - it was a bad one) and she said, "No." She's been doing this, saying "no" when you ask if she's pooped. She also hides away to do the deed. BUT, she is unable to resist the opportunity to brag about the poop, and her ability to lie isn't all that sophisticated, because if you say, "Is it a big poop, or a little poop?" she always answers proudly, "Biiiig!" But tonight she caught herself. After she told me it was big, she said, "Not 'ere, poop." I let Ben change her...

Health Food Junky
Rachel is taking swimming lessons. Again... She has taken them in the past, usually with disastrous results. The first time, she accidentally lost her grip on the side of the pool and slipped under water. She was never in any danger, and never has been, but from that moment on she has regarded swimming lessons as a death sentence, sure that she will not live through the half hour. We have had fits, screaming, loooots of crying, and plain old refusal to do anything but sit on the edge and watch the other kids swim. Lengthy hiatuses from lessons have had no effect. Until this time. I signed her up for lessons at the YMCA in the neighborhood, and told her that it was her tough luck, she couldn't get out of it so she might as well enjoy it. That was really what I said, and you know, she bought it. She still complains, but she is really having fun (BIG smile on her face the whole class) and doing very well. She is somehow the strongest swimmer in the class and after two classes the aquatics director has suggested that we might just move her on up to the next level. Wow!

Anyway, I am not completely insensitive and have offered her treats after class for a job well done. After the first class we went to the chocolate shop in Del Ray. Mom had more fun there, and it was a bit pricey for a weekly treat. I was casting about for some alternative (and thinking about the cupcake shop in Old Town I'd heard about). But when Rachel made interested noises at the vending machine, I capitalized on it. So, did my dear daughter choose the granola bar? The animal crackers? The baked chips? Oh no, she chose (I can't even believe this) the TWINKIES...

Someday she will be a total health food nut and I will taunt her with this tale. I tried one, they really are ghastly, but she snarfed down the other three in the package. She hasn't popped out with a tumor, but I'm sure it'll happen any minute.

Pictures from Michigan and Other Times

I am such a hippy! I have been in the kitchen all morning, aside from a lovely walk to the playground. It’s very warm, 60-ish today and here’s a shot of Fiona on our way out the door.

Don’t you love the accessories? She insisted on wearing the backpack so I had to tie it up in front so it wouldn’t pull her over backwards. But she wore it all the way to the park.

So far today, since our return from the playground, I’ve made granola, hummus, and baked tofu. Is that some hippy food, or what?? Fiona is getting pretty good at helping with the hummus, but she really got in the way with the granola so I sent her out into the backyard to play with the neighbor’s cat. They were so cute together, but something got out of hand and Fiona came in with a big scratch. But she was just in time to help me marinate the tofu (which I have since baked and it is now cooling. Baked tofu is just super yummy on salads and the kids love to munch on it). Then we ran up to the school with some gloves for Rachel (more, later, on why Rachel needs gloves on a 60 degree day), then came back and Fiona went down for her nap. So now I am taking a crack at getting our pictures of the cameras and into some sort of a blog.

They are so late, but here are some pictures from our trip to Michigan and Christmas.

Decorating our Christmas tree – Ben and Rachel found the LAST Christmas tree in the city of Manistee. It was an unclaimed tree from the Catholic Central tree sale, and they let us have it at no charge.

Reading on Christmas Eve

Christmas Morning – playing with the loot!

Peace on Earth…

Here are a few other pictures of the girls since the holidays...

Rachel at the zoo with some friends

Fiona during the big snowfall of '09 - the 1.5" that closed school!

The girls and their friends at Mt. Vernon on Presidents' Day

OK, time to go start cleaning up from my cooking spree. Then I have to make the whole wheat pizza crust. It’s pizza night at the Willis’, don’t ya know?!? That's after we pick Rachel up from the Environmental Kids' Club, of course. They are going to clean up the playground, hence the gloves for Rachel on a 60 degree day. OK, I have really stopped laughing my head off now. I sound so earthy crunchy! If Ben keeps eating this food (which he actually doesn’t, of course) he’s going to grow his beard really long and start wearing sandals!

Unthinkable! (or, maybe, Unpinkable!)

Today, I was at Costco and they had some really cute outfits at, of course, good prices. So Fiona helped me pick out one for each girl. I passed up a couple of ensembles I really liked for Rachel because they lacked a certain, well, feminine flair that we all know appeals to Rachel. We finally settled on one that was pretty frilly, but not screaming pink - a good compromise, I thought.

Well, I had the outfit hanging up, waiting for Rachel when she got home. She took one look at it and said, "I don't like it. It's too girly." Whaaaaat??????

Rachel has a pet!

Yes, it's true. Last week at church (now, I'm still not sure what sort of spiritual meaning this has, but anyway...) the kids in the 5-year-old class made worm houses. So each kid came home with 2 worms of their very own. I cringed when I saw this, not sure what life would be like with a 2-year-old and a big container of dirt, but I was a good sport and went along with it. My idea of donating the worms to the garden at Rachel's school was a non-starter, so it seems were stuck with these guys for a while.

But it's been fun. Our earthy friends seem to have found a spot in the middle of our dining room table, as the kids love to observe them during meals. The container is clear plastic so we can see them periodically, and once in a while they come to the surface. They say a child needs to hear a word 500 times before they can use it, but not in this case. Fiona took one look at Rachel's new pets and said "MERM!" She's a big fan, and keeps up with them the most. Rachel enjoys renaming them every few days, first "Earth" and "Worm" and then we've moved on to things like "Squirmy" and "Wormy" and other such appropriate monikers. In general I'd say the worms are working out better than our friends' hermit crabs. Santa brought our friend Kenzie a hermit crab for Christmas, which barely survived the new year.

Perhaps it was the hunk it took out of Rachel that poisoned it, or perhaps it was an overdose of love, but it died. And so did the poor guy that succeeded it. My heart goes out to Kenzie though, cuz she is sad about her hermit crabs. Anyway, I wasn't sorry to see the first one go, after the vicious attack it laid on on my daughter. We were at the Hales' for New Year's Eve, and the girls were holding the crab. Rachel had it in her hand and all of a sudden she started SCREAMING at the top of her lungs. We rushed to her, and thank god for Aileen's level head. While I was laughing my head off (OK, this is not my proudest moment, so it's amazing I am confessing it here for all to read, but for some reason when I saw that little crab clinging to my kid's hand with all its might, it just struck me funny. Really funny.), so while I was trying to paste on a straight and sympathetic face and tend to my daughter, Aileen was doing the right thing. She rushed Rachel to the bathroom and put her hand (with crab firmly attached) under running water. This caused the crab to let go, revealing a pretty small but deep dent in Rachel's little hand. We washed and bandaged it, and Rachel milked it for all the sympathy she could for a week.

Aileen has rescued me from these situations before, times when I was busy laughing my head off over some minor injury or transgression. Like, for instance, the time when Rachel was three and she peed and pooped in the shed and then blamed it on our dog. When we discovered the mess, and Rachel very earnestly pointed the finger at Tulo, I began laughing so hard I had to go inside the house while Aileen had Rachel help "clean up" and talked to her about why we don't poop in sheds and blame it on the family dog. Thank goodness for true friends!

OK, so it's time for me to sign off and get Rachel from school. We have a 4-day weekend ahead, since both MLK Day and Inauguration day are government holidays. My sister and her friend are coming to celebrate the inauguration with us. And celebrate we will! Oh, Happy, Happy Day!