The Best Pet in the Whole Wide World.

Life has been busy for the May family. I guess it is always busy, but these last couple of months have just been crazy. I used to be really good at keeping a journal and then I switched to blogging and that became my journal. Now I just think about journaling/ and blogging, but thinking about something doesn't really count even if you think about it a lot.
The update for now is that the girls are growing. Growing and growing and growing. Lilia just amazes me with the things she says and does every single day. Two year old children can be trying, but most of the time they are fascinating and hilarious. Lilia has such a distinct personality with very strong likes and dislikes. She likes/ LOVES cashews. If I want her to do something I can almost always coax her with the promise of a nutty little treat. She likes to swing at the park and play "Hide and go Seek." She can count... a little. Usually counts to 10 by skipping numbers 4-7. She has all of the numbers in order... she is just in a hurry I guess. She likes to color and to play in her room. She LOVES to look at/ "read" books and her favorites at the moment are the "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" books and "Curious George." She is obsessed with "Bubble Guppies."
She dislikes dancing. What? What toddler dislikes DANCING? Lilia. That's who. I have tried EVERYTHING to get this kid to move. The pediatrician thinks that Lilia could use some more physical activity so in addition to going outside and to playing at the park I have tried to get Lilia to dance and wiggle around during the day. We turn up the music and I dance around like a lunatic with Ivy watching in awe from her bouncy seat. Lilia isn't impressed and doesn't want to join in. I try ribbons on sticks. What little girl doesn't want to dance around with a ribbon like a fairy or... a gymnast? Lilia. She really couldn't care less. I leap around the house like an idiot and she just watches or worse ignores me completely. I have tried kids' music, latin music, Lady Gaga, and the Scissor Sisters. Nope. No dancing. *Sigh.* If there are other kids around Lilia will at least run and chase around with them, but rainy days are killing us. What kid doesn't like to dance????
In other Lilia news, she is funny. We having been talking about "pets" lately after watching a Sesame Street episode about the "Best Pet in the Whole Wide World." Elmo thought that his goldfish was the best and Telly thought his hamster was the best and Zoe thought her rock was the best, etc, etc. The other day Lilia exclaimed, "Mommy! Baby Ivy is the best pet in the whole wide world!" I guess to a toddler a baby could seem like a pet... As long as she doesn't try to drag Ivy around by a leash.
Lilia has also figured out that we always repeat what she says to us, (just to be clear - sometimes it is difficult to decipher Lilia-speak.) She has taken advantage of this in a funny way. Ex:

Lilia: "Mommy and Lilia go play in my room?"
Me: "Oh, you want me to play with you in your room?"
Lilia: "What a good idea!"

Lilia: "Lilia have a cashew?"
Me: "You want a cashew?"
Lilia: "That's a good idea!"

Lilia: "Daddy hold Baby Ivy and Mommy play with Lilia?"
Me: "You want Daddy to hold Baby Ivy?:
Lilia: " That's a good idea, Mommy!"

Slightly manipulative, no? She's clever. Turn everything around so it's "my idea." I can see her trying this at 16 too.

And finally, the other day I was explaining Santa Claus to Lilia.

Me: He's a jolly old elf that travels around the world on Christmas Eve and delivers toys to good girls and boys!
Lilia: *Puts a finger on her chin in deep though* "Hmm... That's weird."

She keeps me busy and entertained. Lately we have been crafting together. We made a holiday collage the other day and we did experiments with milk and soap and food coloring today. I am always trying to think of new things to do with the kids during the day. It's tough with Ivy being so little and still so fussy, but I am optimistic about the future.
I've been spending waaaaay too much time on Pinterest lately, but I have made some things for the girls and Christmas gifts for friends, so that's not so bad, right??
I wish that Lilia likes to wear things in her hair, but she doesn't. This lasted 90 seconds.
Ivy is getting cuter and cuter, but she is a fussy little thing. She doesn't cry as often as she did a month ago and every month is getting better, but man, when she does cry it's a bloody murder scream. We're talking red in the face, foaming at the mouth, RAGE. Heaven forbid I have to go anywhere during the day. This child HATES her car seat and just bringing her near the thing induces screaming. It's tough to hear, but often I have to tune it out. She is not my only child and laundry and dishes have to be kept in the sanitary "health code" arena at the very least and grocery shopping has to take place eventually. So we strap her in the baby bjorn at home and hope for the best. I'm not going to lie, I am dreading our five hour plane ride to Portland this Holiday Season.

Speaking of Holidays, we went to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and spent some time with my family. It was so much fun! Ivy screamed for at least half of the driving time, but thankfully we split the trip up and stayed in Charlotte on the way down and the way back home to minimize chances of Cliff and I jumping out of our moving vehicle. (We are all alive and well, so I say it was worth it.)
We went to the Georgia Aquarium with my WHOLE family. It was great.
Ivy loved looking at the fish. She is actually pretty happy in the carrier as long as she is facing out and can see what is going on around her.
Speaking of Ivy, she is very attentive to the world around her and she wants to be a part of it! Girl has been wiggle scooting her way across the floor these past weeks and she is STRONG. Even the doctor was impressed with her strength and especially her grip at her check up the other day. She is a feisty little thing. She is in the 67% for weight and height. That's nothing compare to what Lilia was, so I always feel like Ivy is really tiny even though she is actually above average.
She loves to be around her big sister. I'm not sure that the feeling is entirely mutual, but alas, that can be the way of sisters for sometime.... Any time that Lilia shows Ivy any attention at all, though, Ivy's entire face lights up. She just adores Lilia.
Lilia does like be with Ivy for "tummy time." and that is always fun.
Even with all the screaming I just love this little noodle. She has the brightest eyes. So pretty :)


In other non-kid related news, Cliff was officially accepted as a student at UVA! He will begin his Master's Degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in January. Even MORE exciting is that he applied for and GOT the Government Education Voucher (Scholarship.) and ALL of his tuition and books will be payed for! Way to go Cliff!! I am SUPER proud of him. He is such and awesome dad and husband. He is holding Ivy right now while I type this. Marriage is all about teamwork and I have to say he really goes above and beyond for this family. I take the girls during the day while he is at work, of course, but when he gets home he takes Ivy from me and lets me cook dinner and clean and just have some time to myself. I love him to pieces and am grateful that we found each other. Raising kids is the most amazing thing that we have ever done together, but it is also the hardest and I am grateful for his patience and selflessness.

I guess that about wraps up our lives for now. We are still loving Virginia and our neighborhood. We love our Church family and all of the friends we have made here. We had a bunch of people over last night to celebrate a friend's birthday and it was great. I feel really blessed that we have encountered so many wonderful people in our travels and moves.

Hopefully my next post will be sooner than later, but for now this will have to do!

Seriously SOOOOO Blessed

If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. That's what I learned from watching "Bambi" as a kid. I think you can take that phrase in a different direction and also say "If you can't say something positive, don't say anything at all." My lack of blogging has been due to the latter. A huge pet peeve of mine is hearing people complain about every little thing all week and all day long. I can't stand it. Probably because I am guilty of this myself often enough. Don;t we always hate in others what we see in ourselves? Well this year I am making a concerted effort to not complain. I decided that if those people on facebook that update their status with a complaint drive me bonkers - then I had better not be putting any of that crap online either. So there! Now you can hold me accountable!

Most of this new attitude was brought on by the morning sickness, but I had an epiphany this past weekend. Cliff and I got some pretty wretched news concerning his career and our future and I have to be honest - I did NOT take it well... at first. The first night I was angry and bitter and physically hurting. I developed a terrible migraine and couldn't sleep at all that night. I tossed and turned and was physically sick. I prayed all night long that I could be at peace with this turn of events and come to accept God's will and our circumstances. The next morning I had an incredible experience. The sun came through our window and woke me up. Cliff and Lilia were out in the front room laughing and playing and "The Messiah" was playing quietly through our speakers. I usually hate waking up early on Sunday mornings scrambling to get ready for church and feeling groggy and queasy, but this morning was so different. I knew it was the answer to my all-night prayer. I felt lighter than air and OPTIMISTIC! God loves me and my family and didn't want me to worry or be unhappy. I decided right then and there that I was going to follow His lead and choose to look at our situation differently. Did I have every reason to be scared, upset, and angry? Maybe. Was anyone forcing me to feel those things? Absolutely not. It was my choice and I felt powerful. Being miserable doesn't change your situation. It just makes you miserable. You can be the victim all your life or you can take charge. Now does this mean I am never going to get mad or upset again? Uhh... have you ever been the Base Health Clinic Atsugi??? The difference is that where you can change your circumstances, change them! Where you can't, you can't and stewing about it isn't going to help anyone.

So now on to the blessings!! This is where I get sappy and annoying, so if you aren't up for it - move along! Cliff and I have been so incredibly blessed throughout our lives and our marriage. So far in his career we have had literally everything work out in our favor. We got to spend the first year and a half of our marriage living in beautiful sunny Florida relaxing and traveling and loving life! After Florida Cliff got his first choice of station leaving flight school and we headed off to Japan! Have deployments been fun? Not really. But we have traveled to Thailand and Guam and China. I have been to Sapporo Japan and Singapore! We have a GORGEOUS daughter and another baby on the way. Have my pregnancies been easy? Not really. But I can GET pregnant and that in and of itself is pretty amazing. I have loving parents both on my side and on Cliff's. I have wonderful friends. Friends that are truly priceless to me. So what if we end up living in hole in Timbuktu with scabies or something... er... we still aren't as bad off as Job! I guess I am just trying to say that it is all about perspective and with a little "spin" you can paint any situation gray or golden. Now for some pictures!!!!!

Pigtails!!!


Lilia makes me laugh every single day. She is just the sweetest little thing and she has been my angel and greatest gift. Her little personality amazes me. She is talking up a storm and says the funniest things. We have been trying to teach her some manners and she is awesome with "please" and "thank you" so we have been trying "no thank you." The other day I was brushing her teeth and she was visibly growing impatient. She pushed the tooth brush away and said "thank you, NO!" ha ha!! (It was more like "dee doo, NO!" but you get the idea.)

Lilia usually crashes on the way home from Church. This is Cliff carrying her in.
Poor little sleepy! Those pigtails just crack me up every time.
She loves hats and shoes. She has so many different hats, because the Japanese make adorable and reasonably priced hats that I can't resist. I usually get a fashion show every day. A large portion of Lilia's vocabulary is devoted to apparel.

She was teething something terrible the other day. I gave her a tooth brush to chew on and she was happy as a clam.
Eh... happy?
Cute shoes from the "Bunny" store! They were only 500 yen!

I think she just looks like a little kid in this picture. Definitely not a baby anymore.
Ok, so my last preachy rant is on happiness in general. Is it attainable? You bet! Elder Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk in conference a couple of years ago about happiness. We are all supposed to be happy, but we have to actively take steps to do so. He recommended creation and compassion. Everyone of us has the capacity to create something every single day. It may be a fabulous work of art or culinary masterpiece or it may be a room full of laughter or a smile. It doesn't matter. We can all create. I made a diaper cake for the first time the other day and I felt so satisfied. It just felt good to make something where there wasn't something before. I am going to make it a goal to try and create something new at least every week. Even if it is just cookies. And then I am going to share my cookies! I may be pregnant, but a batch of cookies for myself each week might have some serious consequences....
Ok... so I can't remember what else I was going to write or rant about, so I will wrap it up. Cliff is talking to me and honestly I would rather go talk to him now that he is home. Life is good.