Life With a Baby on Board: 2022

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

November Update (Lily 9, Clara 6)

At least for our family November seems to be like the entire holiday season in miniature. The month started off slow with not much going on gradually got busier and busier until Thanksgiving. We were able to get together with family and friends, decorated our house and my parent's house for Christmas and the girls have been helping me clean out and organize their rooms, closets and the toys in the basement. I've been introducing them to some of my favorite childhood movies Sandlot, The Mighty Ducks and the Big Green. Not surprisingly they always complain about whatever movie I pick and by the end they love it.

Lily's November Update

This month Lily earned her white belt in Karate and also her first yellow stripe. (I don't know if this is a universal karate thing but she needs to earn 3 yellow stripes before getting her yellow belt). Lily also "tried out" for basketball. Although she didn't make a basket during tryouts she did really well with running and dribbling the ball. When Lily was able to see Santa at Fantasy of Trees she asked for Lego Harry Potter sets and "some other stuff"....she gave Santa her list and he put it in his boot for safekeeping (LOL).

Lily "I only like 3 girls in my class. The rest are too sassy. All they want to talk about is boys and earrings."
Me "What do you want to talk about?"
Lily "Snakes"

Lily "My friend made Ron (leopard gecko) an outfit and Santa hat."
Me "Well you can put the hat on him but I don't think Ron would like to be dressed. He's a delicate animal and that might hurt him."
Lily "....but what if Santa brings him a button down shirt."
Me "Santa does not bring lizard clothes."

Clara's November Update
This month Clara has been excited about the holidays coming up. Lily accidentally dropped a toy on her face so at the moment she is sporting a black eye. Clara asked Santa for a toy cash register and a baby doll bunk bed with a trundle. I'm just trying to enjoy this moment because I know that it won't be long before they're asking for some really expensive non toy items. To my great delight the girls have been spending a lot of time in the basement playing together. When we first moved in the girls were scared to go into the basement by themselves (very unfortunate since that's where their toys are) but now they will head down to the basement by themselves and spend hours playing Barbies, Legos or dolls.

Clara "Mommy why did you change your name after you got married."
Me "A lot of women change their last name to their husband's last name when they get married. Some women keep their last name and others create a new last name." (aka hyphenated the two last names).
Clara (EXCITED) "I'm going to change my name to Clara Scronkenfelt.
Me (sigh) "If that's what you want....sure."

white belt

Matching PJs

the 1st of her 3 yellow stripes

Lily's try out

McFalls lunch

charades

Friensgiving....I promise they were having a good time.

Making mashed potatoes with Pop

Lily was in charge of the sweet potatoes

Fantasy of Trees

a tree for Pop

the worlds largest Rubix Cube

(look at the front door) Pop needs canine supervision to decorate the house

Clara's black eye

Wednesday, November 2, 2022

October Update (Lily 9, Clara 6)

I'm so glad that our whirlwind of an October has finally come to a close. We traveled to Maine for our fall break, had the girls school spirit week, went to 2 fall festivals, celebrated Lily's 9th birthday and enjoyed trick-or-treating on Halloween. The girls had been looking forward to our fall break trip for months and were so excited to see their cousins. Due to our flight being delayed out of Knoxville we missed our connecting flight in Chicago and had to take another flight through Philadelphia (or as the girls called it "Philla-dillia") add motion sickness in an airport that has banned plastic bags and not arriving in Portland until 10:30pm and that pretty much sums up our day. Luckily the rest of the trip was amazing. We went shopping in Freeport (outlet stores), visited the camp I used to work at, saw a moose, went to the Portland Headlight (lighthouse), went roller skating and did a ropes course, went to a drive in and a pumpkin patch. Thank goodness that our flights home went smoothly.

Lily's October Update:

Lily loves October because it's her birthday month. On her birthday she told me "MOM only 4 more years until I'm a teenager".....and I died a little inside. This year we celebrated her birthday while we were in Maine and then had a small family party on her birthday in Maryville. This year for Halloween Lily wanted to be a dead basketball player. I was impressed with how her costume and makeup looked together and she definitely stayed in character during pictures. This month Lily has enjoyed all the of the fall festivals and Halloween activities at her school. Lily's favorite Halloween candy is Twix.

Clara's October Update:

Like Lily, Clara was ecstatic to see her Maine-based cousins and loved all of the activities we did in Maine. This year for Halloween Clara's favorite candies were Reese's and Sour Patch Kids and she dressed up as the character Addison from the Disney Zombies movies. Overall Clara is still outgoing, happy-go-lucky, talkative and silly.....unless she is being woken up for school. If you ever have the unfortunate task of waking her up for school I will warn you....she lives up to her nickname "Claire Bear".