Moments to remember.

Carrying Jeannie in the sling and watching her sleep with her head tilted to the side looking down at her cute, fat little arms, shoulders, neck and face all relaxed on me.
Holding Liesl at dinner with her arms and legs wrapped around me cuddling and letting me carry her to the shuttle stop.
Watching Liesl riding piggy back on her Oma edging her head and cuddling.
Waking up to Jeannie nuzzling me and making little grunting noises all curled up with Liesl spooning her.
Seeing my oldest in her new Dirndl and how proud she was to wear it 2 days in a row. Seeing how adorable she looked with her braids down her back.

Bavarian festival day two.

I can't believe I survived. Grandad really helped out today with taking Liesl where she wanted to go. He was her sanctuary when she didn't want to do what momma wanted to. She did really well for what today had in store for her. There was only the little bit of a meltdown at dinner when she was falling asleep in my lap and wouldnt let me eat until she did fall asleep. I don't know what it is but when she does take a nap these days it is not to be called a nap or spoken of if it happens.....which it is a severe rarity in the first place. We visited the carnival and the beer tent to dance today as well as swimming. She was doing very well with swimming under water....big step for her at least in the paddling part. She had yet to put a few of those skills together until today. There was not much dancing unfortunately....she eventually went back to the room with grandad at that point to wind down. There was quite a bit of carnival thought and she made friends with a girl slightly older than her to ride with. Quite proud of her although she was so tired she was a little zombie but still trudged on. She had fun riding this kiddie whale ride over and over which was ok with me until it wore her out. Oh and I almost forgot the put put golf! She had a blast with that. Jeanie had fun being cuddled by all today and was my constant companion as opposed to her sister who seemed to be grandad's other than when she fell asleep on me. Again....that binkie is a god send for my littlest. Boy we miss daddy. Can't wait to see him tomorrow. Hope the road home is not too crowded.

Bavarian festival weekend at Frankenmuth

This weekend the girls and I went up with Oma and Grandad to Frankenmuth to the Bavarian festival. There are all kinds of fun things to do here along with all the regular fun things like thier crazy cool pool in the bavarian inn and the kinder playland. We spent most of the day in the beer tent listening to mom's favorite German band play and spent a little time letting Liesl ride the carnival rides. She enjoyed them a lot and was very independant going on them herself. She is auch a brave girl and didn't ask me to ride once. A good thing too because I was busy with her sister. There was a nice dress vendor in the beer tent and I was salivating over a pink Dirndl for myself but sprung for one for Liesl that she should be in for a couple years. I will use it as a pattern to make another for her possibly more elaborate and one for myself.....Heather please help. Liesl and Jeannie ended thier day abruptly both knowing at 930 that it was time to go to bed, which is what they told me. Good girls.  They were both very easy on me today. Liesl really liked being rough-housed in the pool too today. She doesn't get scared at all being tossed around in there. Jeannie also got her first taste of swimming today too. She enjoyed it I think kicking a little with Oma and momma
Mom got a sewing machine this week. I am going to have to try hers out. She had to one-up me and get more stitches on hers. I would love to try it out. Maybe she has some more interesting embroidery on hers for our dirndls. We have been working on quilting Ota's old clothes into blankets. They are really turning out nice. It is nice in her basement working on that kind of stuff. Lots of room to spread out and Liesl now has all her toys in the basement there so self contained.
We visited IKEA this week to pick up some bookshelves and Liesl got to visit Smalland which is thier one hour day care. She really enjoyed it and is very independant not worrying about where Oma and I would be. A big change from earlier when she broke my heart when we were trying to leave her home and she gave me devastating tears to please go with us.
Mommy and Daddy had thier fiat date since Jeannie arrived last night. We went to see Snow White and the huntsman. Awesome flick. I loved the beauty of it....kristen Stewart could have been better but whatever. Charlese Theron carried her. When we got back to Oma Ronnie's 3 Hrs later Jeannie was cradled in Opa's arms in the lazyboy with her binkie just looking at me happy as could be. I was so proud of her. She even took a walk with Oma in the double stroller and a nap in the bed.
Liesl is getting very good at coloring in between the lines, working on bigger puzzles, helping momma out with putting together bookshelves, swimming and is getting way better eating out. I sometimes get so frustrated with her thinking she is much older than she is when she has a meltdown or acts like a normal 3-4 yr old then try to catch myself. She asked for her first hair cut the other day when age saw me cut Jeremy's and Daddy's hair. I just trimmed it but it makes it more manageable especially when it is brushed. Sometimes I threaten her with cutting it all off because age makes such a big deal about brushing.
Jeannie is now very interested in her mobiles in her bed, her play mat, loves her swing, is doing great with neck strength and holding her head up, tummy time is her favorite and she is pushing up on her arms for short periods, she sleeps for long periods and is slowly having more awake time but not much, at nightime she has been sleeping in her bassinet from about 1030 to about 7 in the morning. That is a pretty big deal. I am wondering when she is going to grow some hair.
We are hoping to do some camping on the west side soon before daddy goes back to school for summer session. Maybe Lexington on father's day. Jim had a great birthday at mom's bbqing. I don't know if I mentioned but Barb came and suprised him playing the pipes. It was fun.
It was great to finally find out Melisa and Scott's baby's sex. Can't wait for the cousin! The house is coming along great, can't wait to see that when it is done too! Stoney creek has a new play structure that we have been frequenting since the holiday. It is pretty amazing and the kids never get bored there. So happy for the metro pass and to be so close to our park! So many things to be thankful for.
We also recently visited Dow Gardens on the way down from the cottage. Liesl loved all the freedom of running around and looking at all the flowers and running through the mazes. She is getting very good at identifying plants, trees and flowers and can from us what a lot of them are. She does very well at one on one learning that way. The gardens are beautiful and I would love to go back and visit the children's gardens more as they were being painted when we were there. Liesl had a great time with everything especially the bubble wands in the huge pans.

The beauty of the binkie

<p>This week we discovered Jeannie likes to soothe with a binkie. Thinking this might cut down on the spitting up. Wednesday we had a big family day at the zoo for the second time this week. Of course the part I enjoyed most was the ape house. The babies were busy playing together and rolling around in the grass. We managed to sneak Jer in through the members entrance and met up with aunt Gloria. It was a beautiful day out and there was everyone and thier brother out at the park. We all shared some half pb sandwiches and then headed out to the WAB for lunch. Liesl was kind of crazy with Colton on the patio and took off upstairs and hid from daddy in a photo booth. Jer,Scott and Mom came back to the house and hung out for the afternoon and slept through some kids movies with us trying to recouperate from the day. It was fun hanging out with Jer until the wee hours talking. Always an interesting and insightful story from him. Mom and I went up to the cottage with the girls yesterday afternoon. Aunt Barb's handyman is working on renovating the cottage bathroom. Looking forward to that. Jeannie sat in her car seat on the beach with her binkie while Liesl swam and I mucked the lake. She had an awesome time playing in the lake with Oma and I but seriously needed a bath or should I several after being in there. We are on our way to west branch to go to the lumberjack for lunch. Looking forward to seeing daddy again when we get back.

Jeannie is 6 weeks. Can't believe it

Mom and I and the girls have been going to the cottage a lot in the past couple of weeks so Jim can get the house all painted and carpeted and a new couch moved in. We got a lot accomplished up there and it is getting a face lift. Hoping to go up there more and the renovations will be nice. Liesl even has her special toys up there and Jeannie her pack and play. We visited Sturms and Dee and Grady this weekend and had fun at the farm in Blanchard with Grady and Dee. After an overnight at the cottage and a sleep in and a wonderful walk in the woods we headed back. Liesl was treated to a carriage ride by Oma and she really loved it plus the chicken dinner. We waited up for daddy watching the wizard of oz and Alice in wonderland on our new couch with our new paint job. Can't wait to show our "new house" off. Jeannie has been very vocal lately and spent a lot of time giggling at aunt Gloria on daddy' s birthday. Daddys birthday was great. He even got a piper games and tons of friends and family and fun. Jeannie sleeps a ton still but when she is awake she is so aware and her neck is super strong. She can scooter herself forward and lift herself on her arms very easily. Liesl has been getting a little more normal since everything has been slowing down. She is very glad for summer to be here.

Life changing events

Liesl has been through a lot of life changing events this past month. She rolled very nicely with the birth of her little sister at the beginning of April but mid month we lost Ota in a terrible accident. Liesl asks about him almost every day because he was so much a part of her life and they loved each other so much. She asks if she can wish on the evening star and says that she wishes that she could see Ota again. They had an amazing week before he passed, playing all day one day together. The day of the accident he saw almost everyone because it was Jeannie's coming out party. He had a very good day with all of is and got to hold little Jeannie and told Samantha how much he loved to hold her because he loved the way she smelled. He also said that Liesl was his beautifiul angel and Jeannie was his other angel and was going to be as beautiful as her sister. We all miss him terribly and it has been rough for all of us to explain to a preschooler the events that have come to pass. They have left Liesl clingy and on an emotional roller coaster that everyone can't help but notice.  We fight for finding normal every day. Thursday we had a family picnic at stoney and I sat back and watched daddy with liesl on the swings. They looked so beautiful and happy I saved that moment in my mental pictures. More followed during our picnic and I appreciated the beautiful day and company. It was a very healing time.

Jeannie is a very good little baby. She sleeps a bunch and is not hard to put down.......yet. let's hope this keeps up. She does a lot of spitting up though and I wonder how she is gaining so much. She is mommys little piggy. Most of the time I can't even keep her in clothes she spits up so fast. I have been using cloth diapers and wipes still only have 7.....waiting on another 36. Hope they come soon. She is very alert when she is awake eyes wide open and watching you... Studying you. She props herself up on her elbows a little. She has had her first bath too now. Yesterday I took her into the shower with me and it was probably 30 minutes before she got spit up all over again. I have been wiping her down with the home made face wipes and some exima cream because she is breaking out so bad. Today she had her first bottle from Oma. Oma took her for an hour while I ran home for something. Good thing I was prepared and pumped earlier in the week. We have new carpet now and soon paint so have not spent a whole lot of time at home. Looking forward to some family time with the barbeque and swing and planting my garden. Liesl loves gardening. Let's hope that keeps up

Jeannie's arrival our Easter Lily

Last week I went into labor. It was a really slow one I think because I relaxed through the contractions. Thursday about 5 pm they started at 3 minutes apart and stayed that way until she was born Saturday at 12:57 am. Thursday night, thinking that she was ready to come, with the contractions only 3 min apart we called the on call doctor and went into delivery. Although the contractions were steady and getting more powerful they weren't progressing to delivery so the nurses sent me home to get some rest at 1 am...uhhhhgh. When I had my appt in the morning the ob told me to maybe wait a couple hours and go back. well I waited until 9 pm.....after a long day of contractions and hanging out with Heather and Gavin I had had enough and decided to go back in. Liesl was all ready with her overnight at the Perrys. Thanks guys. I had made some progress but still had some work to go. After the doc came in and broke my water dialated only to a 6 it all went out of control and I was exhausted. I still only had about another 30 min to go and delivered her at 12:57 am Saturday April 7, 2012. She was 7 lb 7 oz and 20 inches long, Jean Lily Tierney. I only spent Saturday in the hospital and was released on Easter Sunday in time to go to Easter dinner at Melisa and Scott's. It has been an easy week for us with this little one having done it before and my recovery has been easier. She had her first bath on Sunday the 15th and lost her umbilical cord stump around the same time. I have been using cloth diapers....still waiting for more to come in. She does much better with those than the pampered which give her a red bottom. Liesl is very excited to be a big sister and every chance she gets to hug and kiss on her she is all over it. I am so happy to finally be with both my girls. Thank you to everyone that visited in the hospital!

Since Jeannie was born on Easter Saturday we didn't get a chance to hqve our Easter egg hunt with Liesl and Gavin. This past Sunday we had brunch with Heather and Gavin and went outside to see what the Easter bunny put in the yard for them. The kids were so excited about the egg hunt and to hang out with each other. It was nice to do it when things had settled a little. I am suprised that liesl has taken so well to overnights at Oma's house and with Gavin. My big girl is getting so big and independant. She is also doing awesome in swim class. What a great April.