What a difference a day makes

What a difference a day makes.  Today has gone much smoother and everyone has been much happier.  I was a little worried when the first thing Handley said this morning was that she didn't think she wanted to go skiing today.  Thankfully I was able to convince her that she should go because she was going to go with Daddy by herself down one of the big hills, and she'd get to go with Gigi, Papa, Ryan, Heather, and Rylan.  That and the fact that I'd let her pick a candy treat if she did a good job was enough to make her excited to get out the door. 

Harper and I stayed behind and were going to meet them at the bottom of the mountain when she was done.  We had great timing, because just as we were heading out of the condo we saw them coming down the BIG hill.  I couldn't believe she had made it all the way down from the top of the mountain to the bottom and down the big hill too.  She was grinning from ear-to-ear and Robby said that she did AMAZING!!!  I was so proud of her and she really wanted to go again.  Robby on the other hand said that he was worn out from trying to guide her down the mountain the last hour and would rather wait and take her again in the afternoon.  

We sat out by the fire at our condo to warm up and get a snack and Handley was excited to show me her badge.  Yesterday she had a paper pass, but she said today the lady gave her a real necklace pass and told her she didn't have to share it with anyone.

While everyone else went to go ski some more, the girls and I walked to the village to explore.  We found Ripperoo's dog house and also a playground with a few slides that entertained us for a while.

Once Harper falls down, she can't get back up (reminds me of that kid on the movie, A Christmas Story) so Handley and I have to run to her rescue.  

We weren't quite ready to head back to the condo yet so we started walking around a little more.  There are "information" people set up all over and they are so eager to have someone to talk to.  They are mostly older folks, so we spent a while visiting with each of them.  One of them noticed how Harper didn't want to walk and introduced me to the wonderful wagons they have positioned around the village to tow skis, boots, gear, and kids.  It was a glorious discovery!  The girls were so happy to be pulled around and I was happy to not have to carry one of them. I kept asking if they wanted to go back home, but they really just wanted to keep riding so we circled the village a few times before heading in for lunch.

As one last special treat for Handley doing so well this morning (and to make her helmet a little more appealing) I let her decorate it with stickers.  She's so exited about it and keeps showing everyone how "pretty" her helmet is now.

She's getting ready to head back out with Robby for another run down the mountain before we all call it a day.  She is also going to ride a chair lift for the first time and told Robby just before leaving that she wanted to go "really fast" down the hill.

Day 1 and already worn out

This morning we all woke up ready go to.  Since I'm pregnant I'm not skiing this year, but Handley has been so excited to go.  She and Robby went to rent their ski's and when they got back she was proud to show off her ski boots (even though she said it was hard to walk in them).  After what felt like about an hour of getting everyone bundled up, we headed out to meet up with the rest of the family on top of the mountain.  While walking to the gondola, we ran into the Keystone kid's mascot, Riparoo. 

Our condo is right on the mountain, so it's within walking distance to all the lifts.  However, what's considered walking distance for an adult and walking distance for a whining child wearing ski boots and an "itchy" helmet and a toddler who just wants to be held are two totally different things.  Let's just say I was trying to be the best sport I could possibly be, but I told Robby that Harper and I would NOT be making this trek everyday.

Riding the gondola up to the top

Once we got to the top we made our way over to the learning hill so Handley could practice.  She did great, but after one time down the little slope she said she was done.  Because of that, I'm glad we didn't sign her up for ski school after all.  We did convince her to try it a few more times and with each run she did better.

 Thankfully, Gigi and Papa came over to help me keep Harper happy, so I could snap a few pictures of Handley skiing.

Next, we walked over the snow fort so the kids could play a little while.  It has tunnels, things to climb on and a big slide.

Handley went down the slide a few times.

Harper was excited to give it a try too. 

Climbing through one of the tunnels. 

This last picture just cracks me up because the expression on the girls' faces is priceless.  Ha! You can tell that the few hours we had been out were more than enough for them.  They were worn out and beyond ready to head inside.

When we finally got back to the condo for lunch I felt like I'd just ran a marathon.  Between keeping up with all of the gear, carrying one of the kids, and trying to keep everyone in a positive mood, I was ready for a nap!  After lunch Robby couldn't leave quick enough.  He was eager to get back out on his own so that he could ski without the entourage.  Both Handley and Harper are sleeping/resting right now and I'm enjoying putting my feet up for a few minutes.  This evening we plan to make a trip down to the heated pool, which luckily won't require near as many clothes, yet should still wear everyone out again so that we all sleep well tonight and wake up ready to do it all over again tomorrow.

First sleepover and lost in the fort

I'm blogging tonight from Keystone, Colorado.  We are out here for our annual Posener family ski trip.  We arrived in Denver last night and stayed at Ryan and Heather's house before heading up to the mountains today.  They had already left for the mountains so it was just us there.  We didn't plan well enough to have a pack-n-play on hand, so we were able to use a twin-size mattress on the floor for Harper.  It was put in Rylan's room (their cousin) and Handley had planned to sleep in Rylan's bed.  It is a very neat bed.  It's like a bunk-bed with a slide to get out of it and a fort underneath.  The sides of the "fort" are covered with fabric that hangs down.  They were both thrilled about their sleeping arrangements, until it actually became time to go to bed.  Then Handley decided she would rather sleep down low and Harper was not thrilled with the idea of sleeping on a "bed" since this was her first time not sleeping in a crib or pack-n-play. They both ended up on the mattress together and I laid with them until they were both asleep.

It was their first sleep-over and Harper's first time out of a crib so I had to sneak back in and take a picture.

Just as we were getting ready to go to bed I heard Harper crying.  When I went in the room I didn't see her, but could hear her. I lifted up one of the sides to the fort and there she was, just sitting there, looking around and totally confused.  Poor thing had rolled off the mattress and had absolutely no clue where she was. I moved her back onto the mattress and she went right to sleep.

About 3 AM Handley came in my room and woke me up. She was upset and said, "I wanted Harper to sleep with me."  I was confused and told her that she was sleeping in there.  Handley told me that she wasn't there and for a second I panicked.  Handley thought she was lost.  I walked with her back to the room and looked in the fort.  Harper had rolled off the mattress again into the fort, but this time she'd stayed asleep in there.  Handley got quite tickled thinking that Harper wanted to sleep in there.  I moved her back once again and this time she stayed put until morning.  Handley woke up at 5:30 ready to go (which was really 7:30 AM our time), but thankfully she was happy to watch cartoons while I slept a little longer.

We made it the mountains this afternoon and were excited to meet up at our condo with Ryan, Heather, and Rylan.  The kids have already had so much fun playing together and can't wait to get out in the snow and ski tomorrow!

The kids and Gigi reading books before bed

Parker is here!!!!!!

Yesterday, Jen gave birth to her precious baby boy (and my future son's BFF).  Parker arrived at 10:33 AM.  He was 5 lbs. 6 oz. and 18.5 inches long. 

He is a tiny little guy, but the most perfect and precious baby boy.  It was discovered that Parker had stopped growing so they decided to induce Jen just a little early so they could start feeding him and helping him to grow.  We thought he wouldn't arrive until late last night, so you can imagine how excited I was yesterday morning when I got a message from Justen that he was almost here.  I started tearing up just thinking about the amazing feeling of becoming parents for the first time and I was overwhelmed with joy knowing that Jen and Justen would get to experience that.  They are already wonderful parents and I can't wait to watch them as they adjust to their new roles.  

I got to visit this morning and was so excited to get my hands on sweet Parker.  He's a good 2  lbs. smaller than my girls where when they were born, so he seemed like a baby doll to me.  

I was so impressed with how well Jen was doing and how laid back she was as a new mom.  And, not to leave anyone out, Justen is doing great in his new role of Daddy, too.  :-)  

Congratulations Jen and Justen!!!  We are all thrilled with the news of Parker's arrival and the girls can't wait to meet him in person.

Memaw's funeral and Spring Fever

My grandmother's funeral was this weekend and although it was a very emotional day for all of us, it was a wonderful service and tribute to her life.  Her church was packed full of friends and family members.  The entire family was able to be there and it was so nice to have the support and understanding of everyone.  One thing I didn't mention in my previous post was that it was very important for Memaw to know if our baby was going to be a boy or a girl before she passed.  I'm SO thankful that we were able to find out early and that she knew we would be having a son.  Even though she won't be here to meet him, I know she will be smiling down from Heaven watching as our family grows.

After the services her church provided a wonderful meal for our large family.  Talk about true southern hospitality.  They had quite a spread and it was nice for us to all be able to visit and have a little laughter in our day watching the kids play.  We also took advantage of us all being together and took some pictures.

My mom and her brothers

Memaw's 11 grandchildren

All the great-grandchildren

My family

Today we enjoyed the warmer weather (temperatures above 50) and walked to the playground.  The kids had so much fun and it gave me major spring fever.  I miss my daily walks and our outside playtime. I'm hoping the warmer weather will not be too far away.  (Yes, I do realize that it's still January, but I'm still hoping for warmer weather.)  The kids loved swinging, drawing with chalk, playing hop-scotch, and just running around.

Handley and Avery had fun making "bird nests" out of an old hay bale 

Then Dylan and Harper got in on the action. 

Catch-up

It's been forever since I've blogged, so I'm going to play catch-up in this post.  I've been really busy cleaning out what used to be my "craft room" to make room for the new nursery.  Since we moved in our house, this room had just become the dumping ground where I could have a huge mess and close the door without thinking about it again.  I was dreading cleaning it out, but it felt so good to do it and have a totally empty room to start decorating for our new baby!

Before - Such a mess!

Before- Can you say disaster?!?!?

After- the only thing left is that pile with old pictures for me to sort through and organize before taking to the basement.  

The closet was a disaster.  It had everything from my wedding shoes, stationary, wrapping supplies, scrapbook stuff, and old Halloween costumes.  After taking what felt like a million trips from upstairs to the basement, it was finally all cleaned out.  And as a bonus, I got a workout that day.

I moved my sewing and craft stuff to another room and I'm happy to say because of some new furniture it looks way more "decorated" and organized than it did before.  I'm still working on it, but will post pics of that area when it is complete.

The girls have been great and keeping themselves entertained dressing up, playing games, and having their usual fun.  

You can see Harper still loves her bag.

If you are wondering why Handley isn't wearing any tights when it's 40 degrees outside it's because she can't stand wearing them.  As soon as we get home she takes them off.  Today she happened to put her shoes back on and push her sleeves up.  When I asked her why she did that and she told me it was because she was a "summer girl and in the summer you don't wear anything on your arms or your legs."

Sad news to share is that my grandmother (my mom's mom) passed away last night.  We knew her fight with cancer was coming to an end, but it is never easy to accept it.  We will spent this weekend with the rest of my family remembering and celebrating her amazing life.

Talking to Handley about Memaw going to Heaven was an interesting and on-going conversation today. She was asking some VERY deep and thoughtful questions. I'd be lying if I said I answered them all easily, but I'm happy she is trying to understand everything that is happening.

• How did Memaw get to Heaven?  Did she go on a plane?
• Where will she sleep in Heaven?
• What is there to eat in Heaven?
• What is Jesus doing right now in Heaven?
• Can she call us when she is there? 
• What if she needs to go potty in heaven?
• Do people in Heaven get to come back or do they stay there? 
• Will I go to Heaven? (Then she told me she didn't want to go because she just wanted to stay at home with me forever.)

Talk about tough conversations.  

Memaw was a wonderful woman.  She raised 5 children, 4 boys and my mom.  She has left an incredible legacy that will continue to carry on the character traits she taught us all.  I love how close my extended family is and the never ending support and love we all have for each other.  I know it's because she was always the most loving and thoughtful woman.  She will be greatly missed by all of us.  Handley said it best today though when she told me, "even thought Memaw and Bimmie are in Heaven, we still love them."