Two!

Lana turned 2 last Tuesday, and of course I’m late getting this post up. But there’s no way I could let a celebration of this amazing little creature go unmentioned.

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I’m sure Della’s 2-year post was filled with measurements and words she was saying and activities she was doing, but Lana just can’t be described like that. Yes, I do have the stats from her 2-year checkup, but everything else about this kid is just felt.

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She’s my little buddy when Della’s at school in the mornings, and I don’t think I could have picked a funnier partner. Her catch phrase of “Help me, Mama?” rings through the house when she’s trying to get her Lego towers apart or get a shoe on or get her beloved Strawberry Shortcake pieces back in their bag or zip a jacket or you name it.

She is the craziest little kid I’ve ever known. Last week the girls rented The Princess and the Frog from the library (my new favorite Disney movie, by the way), and Lana totally dug the music with its bayou flair. She was bopping around playing her air guitar throughout the whole movie, and at one point I looked over to find her standing on her head in a tripod position, bouncing her knees up and down to the music. Literally dancing on her head.

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She gallops and hops around the house like a wild child, and one of her newest moves is putting on her jellies and instantly getting happy feet. Her little feet start flying around so fast she’s a blur. She also does what I call interpretive dance. She slowly spins while waving her arms around her head. You just can’t help but watch and laugh.

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She has the sweetest little heart, and is always giving hugs and kisses and is very quick with a “Sorry!” when needed. Usually. Her independent play is wonderful, and she loves to narrate as she goes. She’s constantly either chatting away or singing some version of something while she plays, and she loves to work away in their play kitchen, brewing up countless concoctions that she always brings to you for tasting.

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Her little snaggle teeth give her the most adorable lisp, and her communication skills are pretty amazing. She talks in all phrases now, sometimes even throwing in what’s pretty close to a full sentence. I got a little princess scooter second-hand from one of our neighbors, and she loves gliding along on it, stretching out her hind leg in the cutest balance pose ever. And everywhere she goes she must run.

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Now for the stats:

  • Height: 35.75″ (93%)
  • Weight:  27.6 lbs. (61%)
  • Head:  48.7 cm (69%)

She wears size 2T clothes, about size 6-7 shoe, size 6 Seventh Generation diapers (size 5 in most other brands), and size 6 overnight diapers. Potty training is nonexistent right now, but I’m not going to push it until she actually shows some interest. She’s really good at singing her ABCs, she can count to 10, and we’re working on learning her colors and shapes.

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What else can I say, besides this little girl is simply incredible. A shining personality would be an understatement for this one. My sweet baby girl is 2 years old! Happy birthday, Lana Marie! We love you SO very much!

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Blessed, with worries

Notice I didn’t title this “Blessed with worries.” Because I’m not just one big ball of worries all the time. That wouldn’t be a blessing. That sounds downright miserable. However, I do have worries, even though I feel like my life is very blessed.

 

Blessings:

I have the most incredible opportunity to stay home with our children right now. Of course it didn’t happen how I ever expected it to, but it has been the greatest blessing imaginable.

I have a beautiful family, 2 members of which just so happen to be the most amazing, wonderful little girls I know.

We are healthy.

We have a good roof over our heads and food on our table. That roof is located in one of the best parts of the state, so we’re doubly blessed.

We are lucky enough to live a pretty comfortable life on really 1 income right now.

 

Worries:

My perfect, dream job income stream from earlier this year is gone, and I have no idea how I’m going to replace it for next year.

Everything I saved up from said job is also gone, thankfully paying some of our biggest bills for the year, but it’s still done. Fortunately we have a solid chunk in savings, but burning through that because I don’t have any readily available cash flow is the last thing I want to do. We’re going to have to use some of it for a little while, but hopefully that will end much sooner than later.

I don’t want to have to go back to full-time work already.

We have a couple looming house projects that will be major. How we are going to finance them is my main concern.

 

So I guess my real question is, who has the winning lottery numbers for me?