Another month has brought about changes and good news... I am going to be staying at home with Lia and Grace as full-time mama! There are plenty of good reasons to stay home, none of which I needed to justify this big change. It's just been increasingly fun to be a mom and having 2 is certainly a full time job with OT. It is so awesome to be mom the second time around where nothing is a big deal; it feels so easy to take care of a baby. Its more a matter of coordinating the needs of both of them so that both don't culminate at the same time with 2 screaming children. Second and subsequent child(ren) personalities must come pre-programmed to be more laid back. Lia is so pleasant, calm and happy. It takes alot to get her fired up (and woken up). Don't worry, I'm not saying its easy to take care of a 2 month old and a 2 year old, let me tell you! Yesterday, the only thing that I was able to accomplish beyond taking care of Grace and Liana was getting dinner made but you should have seen the kitchen aftermath that had to wait until 9:30 to get cleaned up. Back when I was still pregnant with Lia and planning to return to work, I thought I would have so much time on my maternity leave, and of course I was going to keep Grace out of school so I could spend more time with her... that perspective changed quickly and there was no protest from me when Dan said Grace was going back to school! Now that I'm officially staying home, so is Grace and that returns us to the disaster zone kitchen...
Anyone that has successfully raised a child past 2 years old, feel free to weigh in, but there are times when I want to hang Grace by her toenails because she's so defiant, mettling, needy yet independent ('my got it') and moody. But that's just being 2, right? Then there are other times (which luckily outnumber the afore mentioned modes) that she is SOOO incredibly sweet and loving. When Lia started fussing because it was time for a nap, Grace was instructing me to snuggle with Lia, knowing that's what she wants when she is crying. Later, Grace found something on my shoulder that she thought was a boo boo so she kissed it and then grabbed a burp cloth and gently dabbed it and then hugged me- too sweet! Then, I was getting settled in the chair to feed Lia and my hands were full; Grace hopped off the couch and handed me the boppy pillow, 'Pillow, Mom.' And then whenever Lia wakes up crying and is hungry, Grace quickly suggests, 'Go check Lia?' partly because there's a chance she might get to watch Elmo or Curious George, but that's alright.
Lia has become quite the conversationalist this week. She has been coo-ing up a storm and flashing cute, dentureless grins. Her eyes are quite captivating, but what mom doesn't say that about her baby?!
my sheiky-sheik
'What's in there?' Grace was not interested in touching the slimy insides of the pumpkin- at all!
Grace got to trick-or-treat in the freshmen dorms on Southwestern's campus on Wednesday. She made a killing! Every 5 steps more candy was dropped in her bucket. Grace was all ready to say 'trick-or-treat' and 'thank you' but turned incredibly shy under pressure :)
There's that smile...
I was in search of a magic wand for the witch's costume and we got a little carried away...
Looks like the tooth fairy
The real Halloween trick-or-treating
'Hi Fonda'- Grace's favorite neighbor
Lia came along for the ride and slept most of the time
Little Pumpkin... 
