One of the best friends a girl could ask for. Auntie S2 took my day, which started out dark and tired and cranky and sick and made it bright and happy and so very thankful. There’s something about this…
the note…the thought…the friend. Everything about this made me smile. It is amazing to know that when I’m sad and lonely and haven’t slept in way too long…Auntie S2 is thinking of me & reminding me that I can get through it!
Thanks for the goobers of flowers. I love you!
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With a little bit more time to plan, and with Mr. LK home to occupy A, I was able to do a little more crafting & decorating for our last night of Hanukkah party! It was my first full on tablescape and I am pretty proud of how it came out!
Sparkly dreidel tree centerpiece tablescape
3D dreidel place cards
dreidel straws
Expect these sparkly dreidels to come out again year after year….SO time consuming!
We had lots of family & the cutest girls in the whole world!
Gramma & her 2 girls!
B, Sh & J
AF & SF
Cousin A2 dancing!!!
it’s not a party without a pinata!!!
A figured out the bat very quickly!
Candle #1 went to Miss A & her Daddy
Cousin S & Uncle LK getting candle #2 lit!
J had a turn!
Auntie Sh got one too!
Gramam’s turn!
Auntie H did her part too!
A real Hanukkah miracle at our house was AF petting Ty!
Happy first Thursday of 2012 everyone! It has been faaaaaa-reezing here in NY the past few days. So cold that all the tires in my car needed air, we can’t leave the house without full winter gear, and I certainly can’t leave the house with wet hair – so we’re keeping this short so I can shower & dry my hair before dance class this morning! Here we are, smiling before we jump in the car to warm up!
but AFTER the bath…..well that is Mommy…..all the way!
Every night, we give (or try to give) A a bath. That has turned out to be Daddy’s special time with her. I listen to them from somewhere else & it melts my heart. He’s teaching her some letters, they play with her toys, and she has so much fun with her Daddy who she misses all day long! Then…the water drains, he wraps her up in a towel, and like clockwork…”I want Mommy” begins. I’m not sure why she prefers me to dress her for bed, but she does, and I really don’t mind! I miss that naked tushy when I don’t get to diaper it….at least when its clean & dry from a bath!
We are starting renovations on A’s bathroom this week (possibly tomorrow even!) and I’m so excited for the change. Reminder of what it looks like now. Pretty for 1972…but we’re in 2012 now and I think I’d like to go a little sleeker & less…well…tealandblackfloweroverload! This is going to seriously change our bathtime/bedtime routine…I might even have to shower with A in the evenings. Imagine that! I’ll get a shower every day! This might be a nice change after all!
Anyone ever live through a bath renovation with a toddler?! Survival tips?!
Ahhh…the first post of 2012!
Yesterday I resolved to find more balance in my life. I also had a good talk with my friend about being positive & not letting this toddler-thing get the best of us. Then this morning, like one of those “signs” you see people have on tv…this came to me in my blogreader. Advice that seems so simple, but that is based on MY feelings! (and my friend’s!)
If you are a mother of young children & are reading this, or if you want to see what will motivate my 2012 fight against the depression of toddlermom…check THIS out.
I have never read her blog before, but she’s fantastic! She’s got lots of kids & a great perspective. If only she lived on Long Island and we could have playdates in real life! I guess I’ll just settle for being a blog admirer!
We can do this A!
Happy New Year!
Wishing everyone a year of health, happiness & prosperity!
2011 has definitely been a year that I will remember forever! There is nothing like buying a house and raising a 1 year old! So much of the year has been crazy busy…I thought it would be fun to jump on the “year in review” bandwagon…at least to remind myself of all we’ve done this year!
January: 2011 started out slow on this blog since my beloved laptop died & I had to wait for a new computer. Once it got here, I had to write everything down from A’s 7th month so that I wouldn’t forget among the chaos of moving into the new house! Uploading photos from our move revealed some super cute photos of A helping! We also found some photos of Cousin A2…our phantom baby! We got a great ETC post at Grampa’s Hanukkah party! We said our final goodbye to A’s first home. Over at the new house we got a beautiful new sink! We celebrated A’s 8th month, got to see her huge smile for Yo Gabba Gabba (not much has changed with that last part!), and figured out how to handle a baby who wouldn’t sit still! I made my first plea with the 10,000 ants invading our house to GET THE HECK OUT. We remembered how pretty A looked at Thanksgiving dinner in another ETC. We posted pics from our New Years Eve taco dinner. I became an Ikea Hacker. We got new windows in the dead of winter! A’s nursery got some personalized art. I put together some inspiration for our master bedroom. A’s Aunties were the star of the final ETC post of January! Finally…A showed me that nothing I buy is ever really for me!
February: A started feeding herself. I embraced the camera with my 2 debils. Birthday madness starts. We celebrated cousin S’s 2nd birthday! We celebrated Cousin A Mash & Grampa with a little fun in the snow. Then Grandma’s birthday! We Embraced after a girly photo shoot! I took our Living room from navy to black. A made a boy cry. A started holding her own bottle!!! We hosted a superbowl/Glee party! We had a very sweet Valentine’s Day. We went to Cousin S’s school for her Yo Gabba party! Daddy pompom’d A’s ceiling! We played at the Children’s Museum of Paramus. We wished our future husband M a big Happy Birthday! We started swim lessons with PD! We reviewed A’s 9th month and wished a happy birthday to Auntie E! We visited our awesome family in Chicago! We ETC in bathing suits! A had her first bubble bath! We compared A to our baby pics to see who she looks like!
March: We wished our best friend PD a very happy 1st birthday! We had a visit from AG&M where we went to the aquarium, played in A’s playroom, checked out the park in Brooklyn, and went to PD’s birthday party! A also got her first stomach virus. We documented A’s 10th month. A went to Grandma’s house & gave Mommy a much needed day off, we had lunch with all the girls, we wished Cousin S good luck getting her tubes in her ears, we played a little ice hockey with friends, and I confessed my stress! Finally – I got snuggles from an 11 month old…best feeling ever.
April: I went down to Maryland for a visit with Auntie S2 and left A home with Gramma. We wished Uncle P a happy birthday. I embraced the camera on a bad day. I found a glider that ALSO reclines and was sad I didn’t find it before I bought the one I did. I was given an amazing gift by Auntie S2’s Daddy. We took A for her 1 year photos!!! We started celebrating A’s birthday early with Grampa & B, and then we had the main event. A’s 1st birthday extravaganza! Then she actually turned 1. Holy Hell How’d that Happen! We didn’t get much reprieve before Passover came!
May: I turned 31! I celebrated with 2 of my favorite girls. We celebrated Mothers Day with a vacation to the Florida Keys with the G Family…did it have to end? We celebrated Aunt D’s birthday between traveling. We celebrated 2 years of wedded bliss. I found out that when some people google “pregnant young girl” they get “lksquared”! I turned to my first parenting book for help! I suffered from mommy-brain 🙂 I updated some of Cousin A2’s milestone’s!
June: We went to Florida with Mister LK’s company for Memorial Day but it took me a while to get the posts up! First we hit up Disney, then we spent a day at the hotel. We came home to play on the beach here with PD. We wished happy birthdays to Uncle B & our great friend E! A started to get a little loose with her kisses! We embraced the from Epcot. We had fun and kept cool in the yard. We welcomed baby CJ to the family! We found our cat M in the closet. We celebrated Father’s day. We went to A’s first dentist appointment! I thanked an amazing mother for being an amazing friend. We reviewed Duke Falcon’s Restaurant in Long Beach. We celebrated Auntie S’s 30th in NJ. We embraced on a very busy day!
July: Happy Birthday Great Grandma A! We celebrated July 4th with munchkin CM! We packed up our good friend SB to move to Buffalo. We wished baby CJ a happy 1 month. We headed to Sesame Place with Grandma & to a country style family reunion, where we also ETC! We welcomed home baby CJ! A created her very first painting masterpiece! We embraced A’s 15 months with a list of her crazy big vocabulary! We wished a happy birthday to Grand Aunt G! We posted Baby CJ’s nursery mood board. We wished a happy birthday to Uncle C! We prayed to find Daniel Bobis. We ETC at the beach with Auntie E!
August: A started wearing Mommy’s shoes! I reached out to other free rangers. A got her first fever. We visited the R Family for a weekend in Connecticut! We added Elfa to the laundry room. We spent a very rainy day playing at PD’s house! We sent Daddy a pic while he was away in Vegas! We replaced the siding on the house & reviewed Built Right Renovations. Gramma bought A a Howdy Cow bouncer! A ate 4 cobs of corn at 1 dinner! We felt the east coast earthquake! We ETC & started a search for 20 minute recipes! We documented our house in photos in preparation for Hurricane Irene!
September: We evacuated Long Beach with the whole family & headed to Auntie H’s in Brooklyn. We came home to a tree on our house! I noted how different grocery shopping is now with a toddler. A & her forever friend held hands on the boardwalk. We wished baby CJ a happy baby naming. We took down the pear tree & cleaned out the crawl space. I missed my Grandma like crazy. CJ & A met for the 1st time. A tried on my baby sweaters! We ETC on the cool fall beach! A spent the weekend at Gramma’s, and we remembered the sweet moments between M & A from their visit! I entered the Paper Mama photo challenge with “Young Love” & was a favorite! A got sick and slept for 48 hours straight. We wished AG a very happy birthday! We celebrated Rosh Hashana & had our first dance class!
October: We removed the pear tree stump & had A’s first 20 minute tantrum. I entered the Paper Mama Photo Challenge again with “this is the life“, “toes in the sand“, “all the street cred, no boobs“, “face“. We wished a three way happy birthday to Cousin A2, Auntie S2 and puppy B. A got super sassy & obsessed with Cousin S! We ETC in the pumpkin patch. I started to get my photo albums put together. I found a really funny video! We had a family photo in the orchards. I pulled my back out right before our Halloween dance party. Finally, and most insanely…we got our new fridge!
November: Mommy & A had their very own dance party! A went on a weeklong vacay with Gramma & we wished the G’s a very happy 3rd anniversary and a happy birthday to Daddy! We reminisced on our trip to the City Hall pumpkin patch while A was not with us. I prepared myself to go back to work after a week off! Leading up to Thanksgiving there were 7 days of thanks. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7. I ended November with a special wish for A.
December: We embraced the camera on a 65 degree day! I entered A’s sandy toes into a new photo challenge on Iheartfaces.com. A unpacked from Florida herself. I was offended by the neurotics who wrote that cry-it-out makes you a bad mother. We ETC from the Long Beach, Cali airport with the birthday girl & from Legoland! I laid out why Santa doesn’t visit our house. Mommy & A cleaned up our lawn. We wished a happy birthday to Miss O. We spent Christmas Eve at the tree, which is where we ETC from!!! We had 2 Hanukkah parties & I got to recap 1 so far!
And here we are! ready to ring in 2012 and see what adventures lie ahead of us! Every year with A is going to be crazier and faster than the last. I’m buckling up. As far as resolutions go…I want to be a more patient mom. In an effort to do this, I’d like to find a better balance between momLK and personLK without sacrificing A’s wellbeing. Will be difficult, but I’ll keep my hopes up! I had dreams of what I would be like as a mom. I thought it would be so simple to keep my life what it was & not let “mommy” takeover happen. While she was an infant, this was super easy…she was easy to tote around and quiet or napping most of the time. Then I started navigating toddlerhood. Boy has my life changed, but when I sit back and think about how this happened to me, I realize, there’s nothing more important than her happiness and well-being. This year I’m going to try to work in some time for myself to do the things I love and hopefully…I’ll be more settled with the idea of my life coming 2nd to hers! I had my chance to be #1…it’s her time now! I’ll just make being #2 the best it can be!
Happy New Year!!!
This holiday season brought lots of parties to the LK house. Perhaps it was a result of the fact that 1 year ago we were living with my mom while the house was undergoing some updates. Perhaps it was a result of the fact that once we moved in, we were terrified that the ants were going to carry everyone away if we invited them in. Whatever the reason, this year was the year of the PARTY!
We had to have 2 parties. Party #1 was on night #3 & was soooo much fun! Here’s a look. Warning…this post is crazy full of photos & might take a really long time to load!
Lots of friends and family! (and this isn't even half of them!)
A playing with Uncle C! How happy does she look? Silly girl!
1 phone isn't good enough....she's hoarding Auntie E's phone in her pocket too!
PJ Time! Just lounging in her new sleeping bag from Cousins J,D,I,R,&B while checking out her new coloring placemat from Auntie E!
A's sitting on Mommy's Hanukkah present from night 3! Love my new stool! Thanks Daddy!
Best pre-bedtime ... belly laughs with Auntie E!
Party 2 photos coming soon!
Lots of party photos coming soon, but today its all about A & Mommy!!!
We’ve been having such a great week! The house is clean…A is happy with all her new presents…and a happy A is a happy Mommy!!!
This Christmas Eve day we decided we were going to brave the cold, grab our family & head in to NYC to see the giant Rockefeller Center tree! We figured the crowds would be plentiful, but there would be a whole lot of people home eating their Christmas Eve dinner too…
We were right! It was busy, but NYC at Christmas is always insane. Rockefeller Center is a zoo of epic proportions at this time of year…so when we were able to walk through the crows WITH a stroller…we considered this a success!
We picked up Auntie E on the way, and met up with Uncle C at the tree! (I sound like Dr. Seuss!)
LK Family making our way to the tree!
Auntie E & A by the tree!
A...taking it all in!
fun close up!
Loving all the lights!
In awe of all the lights & angels...and the fish fountain in the pond behind the trees...
Uncle C & A photoshoot!!!
A sandwich!
1 minute countdown to the bubble show!!
Watching the bubble show on 5th Avenue!
Off to get some dinner!
Finding dinner was an adventure! First we decided that we would not be going Chinese…that is reserved for today! Tradition! We started walking to Patsy’s. No table for 5….hmmm….now to find another restaurant! We ended up getting a table at a place called “Nocello”. We walked in…sat down…A started having a meltdown. I was calming her down & taking my coat off…and the manager more than implied that we should not stay! We were getting dirty looks from most of the other tables…so we decided to re-dress & keep the search for dinner going! (I guess this is what happens when you go to NYC on Xmas eve with no plan!) It was their loss – A is the cutest girl in the whole world & any restaurant that gets to see her eat is a lucky one…
Turns out that we were right near the 55th St location of Seraphina & they were more than welcoming! It was loud & delicious. A ate like a pro & enjoyed pizza, tomatoes, and most of my risotto…and all the dessert. We had a great meal with my great family & were able to end the night full & happy!
LKSquared wishes everyone who is celebrating a very merry Christmas!
Dear Little Miss O,
You are so adorable! Now you are not a baby, I guess I will not be rocking you to sleep anymore, but I promise to try to always be gentle with you anyway! I hope that in this next year I can come to more music classes with you & you can show me the ropes, and that we get to play in your new house & backyard because that seems like fun! Thanks for inviting us to your birthday party! It was lots of fun & the building has a great lobby for running like a lunatic! I know how 1st birthday parties can be…very overwhelming, and I hope you had a good time at yours! And that the cake was good – my mommy didn’t let me eat any since I’m a nutjob and didn’t need any more sugar that day!!! Lets eat cake together soon k?!
Love,
Miss A
Model O!
Birthday Girl!!!
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