Birthday

We celebrated my birthday (and Greek wedding anniversary) with a dinner out en famille, a birthday breakfast the next day and doing laundry for our trip! We leave for San Francisco today where we will do the real celebrating. Think babysitter, good friends, expensive restaurant and buckets of wine (for everyone else, not me)!

So hard to get a good photo of the three of us!

Guess what?

The international symbol for "HOLY CRAP!!!!"

I know it's still very early to announce this but I can't keep secrets and I've been sitting on this information for more than a week now. Anyone knows me knows that in Julie-time that is forever! So after personally informing all the grandparents and aunts and uncles, we can now publically announce Baby #3 due sometime in early March. Yikes!

We are thrilled, of course, but also in shock and kind of terrified.

The reason for my post now is to ask for your prayers. This is the week in the pregnancy that his/her little face is forming. Because of Zoe's cleft, there is a 1 in 20 chance that this baby will also have a cleft. This is a significant increase when you compare it to the 1 in 700 chance for the regular population.

If we happen to be blessed with another cleft baby, we will manage quite well (been there, done that, got the t-shirt), however I pray we will not have to go through that again.

Can you say a quick prayer with me?

Happy Birthday Baba!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Okay this is kind of long (two and a half minutes) but pretty funny. When hearing that it was Baba's birthday today, the girls last night decided to "go to 'tucky" to give Baba a hug, kiss and a cookie. The mode of travel was a cardboard box, I think most of the cookies were eaten en route.

Blogiversary

It's been one full year since I created this blog and it all began with this inspired post. Urged on by friends (you know who you are), I started it as an experiment, a fun way to chronicle our lives and post photos. I had no idea there was so much to write about our little family. One year and 195 posts later, I have to say, I have surprized myself.

I used to think that blogs were for narcissistic teenagers who believed that their every thought was important enough to be written down. And even though I constantly make fun of myself for "blahhhhging" it's been an amazing journey. Along the way I've gotten closer to distant loved ones, made some good friends and created a truly unique memory catcher that my girls can someday look back on and get a sense of what life was like way back when.

Each day goes by so quickly, tomorrow melts into yesterday and soon my children will be grown. This blog has become my memory. Athena is almost a teenager - she's not quite three and a half - but these next ten years will go by quickly. And as the years speed by, this blog gives me a moment to pause, slow down, reflect on my family and treasure the special moments. I hope you'll stay on this journey with me...for another year at least!

Back in Business

My camera seems to have magical healed itself overnight. Where once the battery was not holding a charge, now it is. Isn't it amazing when that happens? I suppose I should still take it in.

Regardless, Zoe and I went to storytime today, just the two of us. She was pretty disinterested in the actual story - instead she preferred to spend her time leafing through the mystery paperbacks and saying "No pictures!" and then tossing them aside.

Today was the third of our "secret Wednesday" getaways. Wednesdays are suppose to be one of her daycare mornings, to free me up so that I can work. But when she got the flu a couple of weeks back, I kept her out of school and by Wednesday she was still sick but not too sick to stay in. We found all these fabulous Mommy-Baby things to do within walking distance from our house. There's storytime at the bookstore and free children's movies at the theater and a performer who sings kid songs on a guitar by the fountain.

It was so much fun we went the following week too. Now Wednesday mornings have become our special time together. Athena misses out because she's in school, but she also gets exclusive Mommy time every afternoon when Zoe naps. My time with only Zoe is rare. Wednesday mornings are quickly becoming very special to us, Zoe has Mommy all to herself and I prance around like a new Mom who only has one child.

Le Camera Phone

We'll be out of the dark ages soon, I hope. Until then photos of the girls

ala my new Sprint "Simpy Everything" plan.

Stitches

Chris and I reached a new echelon of parenthood today. The one you get to when you are called at work and informed that your child has had an accident and to please get there right away. After a long panicked drive, where you hit every red light, you find your precious girl in the arms of the preschool administrator with a cold compress on her chin. The incident is explained to you, you sign some papers. Apparently there was running and a no-fault account of tripping and falling, her chin smacking on a small bookshelf.

Then there's a trip to Urgent Care, more papers to sign, and you find yourself holding your screaming child while a medical student in scrubs sews two stitches in the open wound on her chin. These are the things nightmares are made of.

Afterwards, when relating your story, everyone has a similar one. It is almost a fond remembrance "Oh yea, I remember the first time so-and-so hit their chin and split it open...ha, ha." First time. Oh crap.

She was a trooper though. Except for some shrill heart-wrenching cries, she suffered through. I told her that when Aunt Mimi was little she got a boo-boo on chin in just the same place. Athena replied, "Unca Stuart too, he got a boo-boo on his chin a couple of times!" How does she know that Unca Stu was the most accident prone kid in the history of world? Not something to live up to. Please.

Family and Fireworks

We were able to get some photos from the weekend off the camera last night. It's still not turning on, so Zoe and I will take the annoying thing to the camera repair store today to see what they can do. Hopefully it just needs a replacement battery.

I have about 2 and a half minutes to report on our fabulous weekend with the family over the holiday. It was such a "blast" seeing everyone and catching up in a relaxed environment. Aunt Barb and Uncle Ron were the most amazing hosts and really made us and the girls feel comfy and at home. We especially enjoyed Matt's BBQing, the pancake breakfast and the amazing collection of Fisher Price Little People toys from the 80's. I told Aunt Barb she could make a killing on eBay.

Driving back, Chris was beaming. I know he loves being able to participate in the great L Family traditions that he has been missing from for so long.

I didn't get that many great photos, because I was trying to do some funky non-flash, night-time shots of fireworks that didn't work. But there are a couple of cute ones of the girls going kitty hunting for Tessa, playing basketball, lighting sparklers with Uncle Dave and a great one of Aunt Teri that Athena took.

Blog Pause

Tragedy. Our camera has stopped working. It won't turn on. Something about the power source. Until we can get it up and running again, the blog is going on a hiatus. Hopefully we'll return soon!

Waiting for Daddy

It's 5:45 p.m.

she sits by the window

waiting for Daddy

when he walks through the door

she will attach herself to his leg

and say "mine."