A reflection on history

Dear Olivia & Emma,

Something truly amazing and wonderful happened two nights ago - America elected its first African-American president. This is a moment in history that I am preserving for you both - by collecting newspaper front pages, magazine covers and news stories about this day. It is the step forward that we as a country needed to take in order to finally put behind us the years of racial divide in our country.

You are both too young to understand why this is so important or why it means so much to so many. To you, Barack Obama was just a man on TV who was running for president - you are too young to understand what that means. Soon enough though, you will both learn the history of our country and will come to know words such as slavery and civil rights - and then you will, I hope, truly understand why this is such an historic moment for the United States.

Knowing (hoping) that this year was going historical, I made it a point last month to take you both to see Barack Obama at a rally here in Toledo. Olivia, you were very excited. You listened to his speech and even picked out a "Kids 4 Obama" T-shirt after the rally. Emma, you were still too young to understand...and ended up sleeping through the rally. But we have pictures to prove that you were both there.

Olivia, you spent the last few weeks before the election writing "Obama" on pieces of paper and drawing pictures of Sen (President-elect) Obama. My favorite picture is when you drew him with a purple crayon and then made him wear a green suit. A classic piece of art. You walked around the house yelling "Obama! Joe Biden!" And on election day Olivia, you said you wanted to vote for Obama. You have no idea how proud I was of you at that moment.

It makes me so happy to know that because of this election it is possible that you will both grow up in a world where race is no longer something we focus on with such intensity. My hope is that as you grow, everyone of every race, gender, creed and sexual orientation will finally be treated as true equals. My hope is that by the time you are both old enough to vote, we will have elected women presidents and Hispanic presidents and openly gay presidents and that FINALLY there will no longer be glass ceilings to be broken or racial barriers to be torn down. I want you to grow up in a world where you KNOW without any doubt that everyone is created equally and where everyone is treated as such.

I want you both to know that I cried on election night. I was the only one still awake at our house and as I sat on the couch, surrounded by my cell phone, laptop and a small pile of Halloween candy, I cried tears of joy and celebration. Joy because I knew that this election brought with it a new world of change and possibility for everyone, regardless of what color state you lived in or what ticket you voted. Celebration because at 11 p.m. EST the American dream was finally realized.

Love,
mama

Funny Emma

Driving the girls home from daycare today I had the minivan windows rolled down -- no a/c today, it's too NICE outside.

Suddenly from the backseat I hear Emma cracking up.

I quickly glance back to see what is so funny and see that she's laughing AT THE WIND.

Yes, the wind.

As it blew through the windows and over her face and hair she found great humor in it all.

It was so pure and so lovely.

I think we should all find humor in simple things that like.

Cedar Point!

An update on the girls...

I realize that I don't post here as often as I should...but the girls keep me busy!

Olivia is 4 1/2 and is turning into such a "grown up" little girl. Oh my. It's amazing to watch her every day. She's so smart and so sweet and LOVES being the big sister. She calls Emma "emmenem" and "pumpkin pie". Love that!


It's hard to believe that in a year Olivia will be starting KINDERGARTEN! Where does the time go? For now, she's in a preschool program at the daycare and decided on Monday that she wanted to take a Phonics class. Her BFF Avery is taking the class and I think that was one of the main reasons Olivia wanted to do it. But, it's going to be good for her -- she's still in speech therapy during the school year for her delay...so any extra lessons will be beneficial.


Olivia and Avery. Apparently they are two peas in a pod at daycare. I love that Olivia has made friends like that - I still feel guilt every day that my kids have to be at daycare and can't be at home with me.


Sometimes I miss being a stay at home mom. I hate that I'm missing important milestones -- but at the same time, I know they are learning valuable things that will help them as they grow. It's definitely a catch-22.


Emma. My little peanut Emma-nem. She's 18 months old today and she's is such a doll. Loves to cuddle. And is getting into everything. No more pack-and-play for her!


Em is a little comedian...always doing something to make us laugh. Her new obsession is throwing things away in our garbage - she picks things off the floor and walks into the kitchen, opens the garbage "drawer" and throws it in. I have to be careful though...she has a tendency to throw out Olivia's toys!


Emma has been suffering from ear infections for the past year. It seems that every 6 weeks or so she was getting sick...and so last week we went to the ENT doctor and he said "TUBES!". So, on August 25th, baby Em is getting tubes in her ears. I just hope that they do their job and make her better.


Em seems to be doing well at daycare too...although Kevin says every morning she screams and cries when he leaves her -- but when he checks on her again she's perfectly fine. Sounds like a future acting career is in the stars for her!


We took a 'staycation' earlier this month -- spent a short weekend at Cedar Point. I'll post some photos soon. We're going to make that our new annual "family trip" -- and make it be part of the girl's b-day presents. With January b-days it's hard to do anything "fun" when there's a ton of snow outside and it's freezing. So, we'll do "half-birthdays" in July!



We're hoping to go to the "beach" on Lake Erie this weekend...if we do, I'll post more photos.

New pics of the girls....

A mini movie

Spring has sprung!

My girls.

Let the teeting begin!

Well, it's not just one, single lonely tooth anymore.

Emma currently has seven or eight teeth coming in. All at the same time.

I think the kid is miserable.

I also think it's a good thing that we cannot remember how painful teething really is.

Baby Motrin is a god-send.

Finally!

Well, it has only taken almost 13 months, but Emma finally has a tooth coming in.

One single, very lonely tooth.

A photo will follow soon -- once I can pry her mouth open and have enough time to take a photo before she tries to bite me.

At this rate, she might be 2 before she has all her teeth.

Bubble Wrap!

As Olivia and I sat at the kitchen table this morning, popping bubble wrap bubbles, she looked at me and said, "Momma, this is so much fun."

It was hilarious to watch her. She popped each bubble individually. Very serious about the whole thing.

And really, it was so much fun.