Little gestures

My sweet girls,

Today we did something so simple that touched a family. Mommy's friend from work lost her neice, a young girl, to cancer last year.  Today we dressed in purple to honor her and raise awareness for childhood cancer.  I took a picture of the three of us and posted it to Facebook.  My friend, Melanie, and her family were touched and pleased that we joined their cause. This was such a simple thing we did. A little gesture. My hope is that you will learn that sometimes the littlest gestures have the biggest impact. That you can make a difference sometimes by just making a little effort. 

All my love,

Mommy

Mommy and Daddy's Hawaiian Adventure

Sweet screaming girls,

Mommy and Daddy start their Hawaiian adventure today. We mistakenly thought you would sleep through our 6am departure, but you guys have radar for this things and were up and about at 5:30. As much as it was painful to hear you cry as we left, I am glad I got one last kiss to carry me through the next week. And God bless Jordan for holding you extra tight this morning.

Have a wonderful week with Nana & E and Grammie and Grampie!

We love you!
Mommy

First Days

My sweet baby girls -

Yes, yes, I know you are both big girls. I know this even as I wish I could slow you down. Please don't grow up so fast. This week you had your first days of school. Alyssa, you started pre-k (4 yr old) and Anna, you started 2 year old preschool.

In your life, you will have a lot of first days. Alyssa, you have already had 3. There will be your first day of kindergarten, your first day of a new team, your first day of high school, then college just to name a few. My fondest wish is that you will always be as excited as you were this week.

Love,

Mommy

The first day

Dear Jordan,
Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your life. I know it is cliche and overused, but it is true. Tomorrow is the beginning of a new phase, a fresh new start. Take a moment, breathe deep, and enjoy it. Life only speeds up from here.
I have been racking my brain for some sage advice I could offer that will set you off on the right foot. There are lots of things I could say, but I thing this what I want to say.....
Life is made up of moments. Big ones (high school graduations) and small ones (a sister wrapping her arms around you). Some moments you will never forget and some will fade with time. Try not to rush through life - you may miss the best ones. Go out and make your moments. Just remener they don't have to be blockbusters.

Congratulations!

Love, Megan

Little shadow

Alyssa Pearl, your sister loves to follow you around. She is your little shadow. She just loves to be near you. I know it can be frustrating for you sometimes. She can be rough. She doesn’t always follow your “directions”. But when you are not around, she is a little sad. Sometimes she gets up from her naps before you do and Daddy and I have to stop her from marching into your room to wake you up.


Of course, you love her just as much. You always want to know where she is and love to teach her new things. I hope that this stays with the two of you forever.

You will find as you get older that girls can be mean. It is at its worst in middle school, but you will find throughout life that some women never really grow out of it. I hope that you never run into any of these “mean girls”. That, by the time you are old enough, society will have figured out that there is no payoff to meanness. If you do run into these people and you probably will, stay confident and stay kind. There is an old saying: “Kill them with kindness.” I have found this to be true. Taking the high road, staying nice and kind when others are taking the low road (pettiness, meanness, and name calling) has served me well. It is not always easy, because sometimes the low road is easier and can seem more satisfying. But that satisfaction is short lived and the pride in knowing you handled yourself the right way stays with you for long time.

My mission will be to teach the confidence to find the high road. To teach to be strong, to be kind, and to be compassionate even when it is difficult. Having a sister will make you stronger. There is a special relationship between siblings and I think the bond between sisters is the strongest. If you stick together and build each other up, you will both be better women.

I love you, sweet baby girls!

Mommy

Paci no more

Over the last couple of days, we have been working on the de-pacification of our house. You are both much too old to still have a paci. But you are attached and your dad and I have not pushed it. I think every parent has their Achilles heel. Ours happens to be standing firm on the paci thing. Last night, Alyssa, you went your first full night without it. We are so proud. We know it could not have been easy. You have had paci with you every night of your little life. Anna, today is your day. It is almost like you know it is coming. You have been clinging to that paci with all your might for the last couple of days.


Fun stuff you are saying:

Alyssa, you taught Anna to say “Poopyhead” and she says it all the time.

Anna, you say “What’s that?” about a million times a day.

What you like?

Baby dolls, baby dolls, baby dolls. We have about a thousand of them and they are all in Alyssa’s room. You love to arrange them all over the place and say they are sleeping.

Books. Anna you haul books all over the place and ask us to read them.

Time Flies

Dear Jordan,


It seems like only yesterday, you were 5 and crawling under the table at Texas Roadhouse to sit next to me. Now you are a senior in high school. You are always on my mind and you have been on my mind even more the last few weeks. What should be such an exciting time for you has become a little f----d up. It sucks.

I am not going to pretend to know this exact situation is like. I have no idea, but I can empathize with you. I know it is a hard situation. I will say this….I have been disappointed and hurt by family. In my experience, the people we love often do thinks that scare us, embarrass us, anger us, and sadden us. It may make us feel guilty. It may make us look at ourselves to see what we did wrong (nothing usually as the decision was theirs, not ours). And our love for them does not take away our right to be angry with them. We can be upset and we can set boundaries. You are only responsible for your own actions. You are not responsible for the actions of others. You do have to work to forgive. If you don’t, it will eat you up inside.

These situations should not make the decisions we make for ourselves any different. Over the next year, you are going to making lots of decisions – not the least of which is what you want the next chapter in your life to be. Seek the advice of those you love, listen to all viewpoints, but ultimately the decision of your future has to be made by you. Ultimately, you are the one who has to live your life. Make it a good one. And remember, your dad and I will always have a room in our home for you.

As you start your senior year, my only advice is stop and breath. It seems like one minute I was a high school senior, then the next breath a college freshman, and then in the next breath I was working in the “real world”.

Love to the son of my heart,

Megan