Sweet hugs

There is nothing I treasure more than sweet hugs and kisses from my babies.  Today, when I got home from work, I had to work from home for a little while, so Ms. Kiersten stayed late and watched the kids while I locked myself in my room to send some emails.  Frankie was so upset that I was home but not playing with him, and he was banging on my door and driving me crazy.  When I was done, I went out and he ran up to me and gave me the BIGGEST hug ever.  Such a nice welcome.  I went in the playroom to say hi to Sistee, and Frank came up and hugged me again.  Lily then crawled over, stood up, and pushed Frank out of the way so that she could hug me!  Ha, it was funny.  She is definitely learning from her brother.

Family time

This weekend was the first weekend in our new house without any plans, so we took full advantage and had lots of quality family time.  We went swimming both days, went for long walks around the neighborhood, and ate meals outside on our new patio furniture.  On Saturday morning we got up super early and headed out to the Plano balloon festival.  It was so awesome!  There were so many cool balloons, including a pig, a monkey, and a pirate.  Frankie and Lily loved looking up at them.  They also had a really cool kids area with slides, jump houses, and art.  Saturday night, Frank and I went to Del Friscos for his birthday dinner.  It was fabulous.  We tried to go somewhere afterward for coffee, and we sadly could not find any place that was open after 10:30 p.m!  So, we just went home.  Sunday morning we went to church.  Every time we go to church, I feel so wonderful, and I wish that we went more often.  It is simply good for the soul.  Today, the message at church completely affirmed some of the recent decisions I have made in my life.  I am so blessed and so thankful for the life we have, and I never want to lose sight of that feeling.

Here are some pics from the balloon fest:

Liliana's first steps!

Miss Lily took her first steps today!  Unfortunately it happened while we were at work, but Ms. Kiersten got it on video.  Lily was so excited.  Kiersten said that she was "practicing" all day, standing up on her own for a really long time, and she said she could see her wheels turning and trying to figure out how she was going to put one foot in front of the other.  Baby girl is six months behind her big brother, who took his first steps on his 9-month birthday.  But she will catch up to him soon enough!

Sooo big!

Liliana is 15 months, and she is seeming much more like a toddler these days and less like a baby.  Since we have moved into our new house, she has mastered going up and down the stairs by herself.  I will blink and she will be halfway up the stairs.  She is very quiet and sneaky, unlike Frankie.  When I catch her on the stairs she cracks up and stands up and waves at me like she is in a beauty pageant.  She is now pulling up on everything, cruising around furniture, and standing up unassisted.  She also loves walking around the house while holding onto our hands.  We did this for 15 minutes straight tonight, and my back was killing me from bending over.  She is eating apple sauce and mashed potatoes with a spoon.   Every morning when I go up to get her out of bed, she is standing up.  She is climbing on anything she can reach, including the fireplace hearth, which she cannot get down from.  It is getting exhausting, but I am so proud of her.  Sooner than later she will be running around with her big brother!

Sweet cousins

First day of preschool!

Today was Frankie's first day of preschool at Chapel Hill!  Chapel Hill is the preschool affiliated with our church, and I applied for Frankie way back when we originally put our house on the market.  Thankfully, after waiting on the wait list for several weeks, he got in.  He has been very anxious about going back to school.  He had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night, and he woke up very apprehensive.  We went and met his new teachers (Ms. Janet and Ms. Kristy) last Friday, and he was incredibly shy.  He is definitely going through a shy phase, and he has also had a TON of change in the last year--new sister, pulled out of school and staying home with a new nanny, a new house, and now a new school.  I hope he will thrive and love school the way he used to.  I already know that I love this school.  It is so much more personalized than day care.  He is in a class with two teachers and 12 kids, as opposed to 2 teachers and 30 kids at his old day care!  I think he will really love the more individualized attention.  He is going to school three days a week, on Monday and Wednesday from 9-2 and Friday from 9-12.  He held on to my hand so tightly as we walked toward his classroom this morning, but once we were inside, he took his teacher's hand and went inside without crying.  I am so proud of my big boy!  Although he was scared and anxious about school, he was super excited about his new "monster dinosaur" lunchbox and the special lunch that Daddy packed for him.

The big move

This weekend we moved out of our old house and into our new home.  I have been so focused on and excited about our new house that I really didn't take the time to properly say goodbye to our old house. I left with Frankie and Lily in a rush early Saturday morning to meet the cable guy at the new house, and in between the madness of moving, I never got to go back to the old house one last time.   Frank called me several times from the old house pretty emotional, and he made me get a little bit sad.  I was so ready to leave our house--I felt like we had outgrown it in every possible way, but, we were there for seven years.  It was the first home Frank and I shared together.  It was the place where he carried me over the threshold.  When we bought it, it was my dream home.  Neither of us had ever lived in a place so nice, and I loved that everything was brand new and luxurious.  It was the place where I learned I had passed the bar exam, where we found out about Monte's injury, and where I brought home both of my babies.  I will always remember walking up those wooden stairs to rock crying babies to sleep.   Giving both of my babies baths in the cramped, tiny upstairs bathroom.  Putting Frankie in time out in the laundry room.  Drawing on his chalkboard wall.  Sitting with Frank out on the back porch and having a glass of wine.  Dancing with Frank out on the back porch, counting our blessings and planning our future.  Going up to the Four Seasons with our neighbors.  Taking walks around our neighborhood with our babies.  We became a family in that house, and I will always remember it fondly.

However, we are starting a new chapter in our lives, and I am so excited about making new memories in our new home.  This house is a bit overwhelming because it is so much bigger, with so much land.   It is also older, which is so different from our last house.  I think it really suits our family.  It has tons of character, and it is set on a huge lot with big, old, gorgeous trees, tons of grass and space for the kids to play.  This is the place I envision as our "forever home," where I see Frankie and Lily growing up.

As far as the actual move goes, my Mom and Dad came up to help us out, and we really made a ton of progress.  I would say we are about 80% unpacked, which is great.  I am very anxious to get everything unpacked and in order!  We went swimming in our new pool on Sunday, and we managed to lock ourselves out of the house.  Frank and my Dad had gone to get some stuff out of our storage unit, and my Mom and I decided to take the kids swimming.  Unfortunately we did not realize that all three sets of french doors leading to the backyard lock automatically when you shut them.  We were only given one key to the house, and that key was locked inside, along with my cell phone, and pretty much everything else.  We had to call a locksmith and ended up stuck outside for over 4 hours.  Other than that incident, we had a really nice weekend with my parents.