"Home"

Last night Matt and I went to the Michael Buble concert and once again it did not disappoint.  We entrusted our girls in the hands of 4 capable college students - Courtney, Kristen, Marcy and Nick.  Apparently it takes an army to care for the girls!  I would have loved to be a fly on the wall during those 5 hours.  All I know is that they were in bed when we got home and slept all through the night so that is a successful babysitting job if you ask me!  THANK YOU C, K, M & N!!!

The real reason for my post however is MB's song, "Home."  I am sure you all know it well.  This was my one of my mom's favorite songs.  The song came out when I was living in D.C. and going through a particularly rough time out there.  My mom said that when she heard that song she would begin to cry as she knew I just wanted to be 'home.'  Fast forward a couple of years when I finally did move home.  Everytime that song came on and her and I were together, she would still get a little choked up as she reminisced about those difficult times, but she would always tell me that she was glad to have me home and no longer had to worry about her daughter.  So when I went to my 1st Michael Buble concert a few years ago, that song came on and I called my mom and let her listen to it in its entirety.  It was "our" song.  Ever since my mom passed I had secretly been hoping that this song would not pop up in a store or a place where crying was completely inappropriate.  Ironically, it has popped up only once since she passed away, and it was in a restaurant on Matt and I's anniversary.  Through the tears I sort of felt that in a way, it was sign that my mom and dad were wishing us a Happy Anniversary.  I had not heard that song since...until last night.  I geared up for it prior to the concert and couldn't help but feel sad that when it came on, I wouldn't be able to call my mom.  Well, you can imagine our surprise when Michael Buble left the stage and walked through the crowd to another smaller stage just 20 feet in front of Matt and I.  And the only song he played on that stage?  "Home."  It's amazing how many emotions one song can bring.  But I have to believe that since I couldn't call my mom during that song, that she was "calling" me.  If you have ever lost someone so close to you, you always find yourself looking for signs that they are with you.  And that was my sign that my mom was with us.  :)

Back to reality...

I managed to survive the 4 day trip to Naples for Mindy's bachelorette party, and more importantly, Matt and his mom managed to survive all 4 days with Lilly and Diana! I cannot thank my mother-in-law enough. She spent 3 nights here, took over all duties (with some help from Becca I understand) while Matt went to work, continuously was sending me fun pics of the girls, and even managed to follow my 2 page schedule to a T. I do not want to begin to think of how many times "refer to Lauren's schedule" were said over the course of the 4 days (in a tone that was probably not of complete enthusiasm.) However, I knew all was well at home when I sent a text message to Carol that asked how she was doing, and her reply was this, "Don't u know it's play time? I will update when it's naptime. Go have another mimosa." And that is why I love my mother-in-law! :)  Thank you Babci Carol!

Also, I am VERY happy to report that little Miss Lilly Bean decided to save her tricks for when mommy got home and rolled over for the very 1st time less than 24 hrs. after I got home! Of course, I was digging in the fridge getting salsa for our snack, so Mindy was the only one who actually caught the whole thing in action. And now that I've had my video camera out every second since, she has not done it again!

Ta-da! I did it mommy! (The aftermath of Lil rolling over)

That's a tough life you have there, L & D.  Swingin' in the buff.

And as for the trip, I think I am supposed to say, "What happens in Bonita Springs stays in Bonita Springs." However, for anyone who has been there, I am sure you know that what happens there is not necessarily R rated. What I find funny is that we (high school friends) made this pact about 10 years ago that the last one of us to get married would have her bachelorette party in Vegas. So, seeing that Mindy was the last one, I think we all got an instant hangover just thinking about a trip to Vegas, which was why we landed on Naples instead. Apparently we are too old and tired for Vegas! Pathetic, I know. But we also had the luxury of using Brad and Debbie's gorgeous condo so had a place to stay for free, and I don't know that there is anything better than having a pool completely to yourselves (to allow Mindy to do her old Jasper High School cheers and "killer cannon balls.") Nevertheless, when you get all 8 of your best high school friends together, a fun time is guaranteed to be had, and that is what matters most anyway. So, thank you Brad & Debbie (and Andrea) for making this trip happen...and to Randy & Beth for allowing us to use your car, even if it did end up in the service dept. at the Mercedes dealership! :)

All the ladies at dinner sporting our cute headbands

The matrons of honor with the bachelorette!

Naples, here I come!

I am taking off my mommy hat and putting on my matron of honor hat and heading to Naples bright and early Thurs. morning (as in 5am, as in less than 5 hrs from time of post) to celebrate Mindy's bachelorette party!!!  4 days...oh my!  I know I can do it, and quite honestly, I cannot wait for the sunbathing, smell of sunscreen, crashing waves, good friends and a frozen strawberry (or banana, maybe both!) daiquiri!!  However, before the mommy hat came off, I had to give Lilly and Di each 100 kisses and tell them I loved them 100 times and then stood in their room watching them sleep for about 100 minutes hoping they were going to wake up and want to play with me!  Well, they didn't.  Booooo.

In typical Dianne Seger fashion I just made my list of do's and don'ts for the 'babysitters' (daddy and babci Carol!)  It's 2 pages long - narrow margins, 11 pt. font.  That's normal, right?  My mom would be very disappointed that I took advantage of the tech savvy world we live in today and typed my list - no index cards and sharpies.  I truly do feel guilty about this; however, I would probably miss my flight if I began writing now, so onward we go...

Best of luck to Matt and Carol!  I will be thinking of you guys from the beach........ :)  And all my love to my baby girls - Lilly, Di & Reagan too!

Happy Father's Day...

...to my wonderful hubby who has proven to be one heck of a good daddy! He is one of the most hands-on dads that I have ever seen (although with 2 he has no choice!) But, he does everything with such ease and is never complaining, moaning or groaning (whereas, I can't always say the same for me!) He often helps me with the morning feedings before going into work and tries to get home at a decent hour after work knowing I am ready to hand over 1/2 of the parental duties, and sometimes he even works from home allowing me to get out of the house during the day.  He makes having a full-time job mixed with being a new dad to 2 babies seem like a piece of cake. He reminds me a lot of my dad...his sarcasm (although Matt's is a little more loose than my dad's), his love of sports (and gambling :), his ability to keep the stress from work at work, his inner strength and determination, his drive to succeed, his laid-back demeanor, and most importantly his devotion to family. Perhaps that's why my dad was Matt's biggest fan??  :) 

Because of the above, I wanted to make sure Matt had as good of a Father's Day as he deserved.  So, since he had been out of town at a wedding in Pennsylvania, we (me, Lilly & Di) were able to surprise him with a home-made cake (YUP, I baked!), and some presents from the girls including a purple golf shirt and tie (their favorite color); and from me - Michael Buble tix and a day where he can go play golf totally guilt-free, meaning no comments, eye-rolls, or complaining from yours truly.  Then Matt got to choose wherever he wanted to go to dinner...not surprisingly he chose Mellow Mushroom.

Also, Happy Father's Day to my dad who kept me awake 1/2 night as I silently reminisced about the good ol' days.  Missing him a lot these days.

A day in the life of a baby Bajorek...

What we've been up to:

PLAYING:  Mary Beth and Brian got the girls these adorable pillow pads and they LOVE them...can you tell??!!  Thank you Turks!

SWIMMING:  The Chins had us over for a swim date!  This was the 1st time Diana 'swam' in the pool...both girls loved it!  Once again I didn't snap any pics of the girls in their suits.  So mad at myself!  I did capture some pics after the swim... (Lil happy as a clam; Di snoozing next to the kiddie pool.  Yes, the Chins have a real pool too! :)

EATING:  Dear Rice Cereal, do you come in chocolate?  We think we would like that better.  Maybe then every time mommy and daddy shove it down our throats we won't gag.  We are doing much better though.  Love, L & D

LEARNING:  Diana's new trick:  turning rattles into shades!  We were inside while the girls were peacefully playing outside in their pack n' play and this is what we walked out and saw.  Diana left the rattle on her face and just kept playing!

Lilly's new trick:  playing with toys!  (Lil, "So if I pull this lever, the fan will move?  Cool!")

AND...almost rolling over!

Mommy's new trick?  Trying to make dirty bottles disappear! (And this pic was taken before the last 2 feedings of the day.  Sigh...)

BEING CUTE, our specialty:

 Lilly

 Diana

Rice cereal

Dear Rice Cereal,

We hate you.

Love,

Lillian and Diana Bajorek

Happy 4 months!

Today marks Lilly and Diana's 4 month birthday! We celebrated with a trip to our pediatrician for some measurements and vaccinations - and also got the go ahead to start rice cereal! We are going to introduce it tomorrow because mommy was just too lazy today to go out and buy baby spoons (yup, we actually have the rice cereal but we don't have spoons!) I figured shots in the leg were enough madness for one day anyway.

Diana is still a tad behind in height and weight compared to her sister, but she went from weighing in at 1% at one month old and now is in the 49th percentile! And Lilly puts all preemies to shame as she hit 75% for both height and weight! As Matt often says, "these girls aren't missing any meals!" And everyone can certainly tell in their cheeks. Those irresistibly kissable chunky cheeks. I just love them!

What are the girls up to these days? Well, after they've slept for 10+ hours (yes, this has been consistent for over 2 weeks now), they will suck down anywhere from 4-6 oz of formula 6 x a day. They LOVE their playgym and now are grabbing at the toys above, they like to grip onto things, they still love to 'stand' instead of sit, and they make a lot of funny noises (as demonstrated in video below!) Lilly seems to be excelling more verbally (she 'talks' more) while Diana seems to be excelling more in mobility (she is scrappy!) They are SO close to rolling over - I know it will happen any day now!  

Lilly (on the left) & Di. Lilly discovers her voice - although it quickly turns to a cry - and Diana just stares at the camera!  (You will need to pause the music.)

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Also, on a more somber note, today also marks 6 months since my dad has passed. It is impossible to explain how much he is missed, especially today. Some of the few things I miss: his smile, his phone calls, the way he used to always call me "doll", the way he made things happen with such ease, his sense of humor, the way he purposely mispronounced words (such as Ofrah Winbags instead of Oprah Winfrey, Boston Baked Beans instead of Black Eyed Peas, Luis Tiant instead of Louis Vuitton), his scrambled eggs, the way he constantly picked on people (I never thought I'd miss those tickle tortures!)...this list could go on forever.  

I also am dedicating the 1st song on my list "I love this bar" to my dad b/c he loved Toby Keith and this song has a funny story to it...in the months before my parents passed we all went bowling (my dad's idea) and Matt put in enough money in the juke box to have this song on repeat the ENTIRE time we were all bowling...it ended up playing like 15 times or something.  But what I remember most was the way my dad kicked all of our asses (excuse my french) in bowling even though he pretty much had no feeling in his hands and was weak from chemo.  That man never seemed to fail at anything in life. 
 

 This picture always made me laugh. It was taken in California right before Chris & Shelley's wedding. 

Suit. Check. Tie. Check. Pink scarf and purse. Check check. 

We miss you, Dad.

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Lilly and Diana's Baptism

L & D
  

Lilly and Diana were baptized on Saturday, June 5! After a week's worth of preparations, I was so happy when this day finally arrived. I think I need to credit my parents for watching over us because Lilly and Diana did a FABULOUS job...didn't even make a peep the entire mass!

More importantly, I need to first give the loudest shout out to Maureen for making our girls the most beautiful baptismal gowns I have ever seen. Lilly and Diana were hands down the most fashionable Catholics-to-be! Maureen spent countless hours on these dresses and I know how busy she already is, so this meant the world to Matt and I (and our entire family for that matter as these will be passed down to future generations.) The sashes were made from the sleeves of my mom's wedding gown and were absolutely gorgeous. The intent is to use these sashes in all special occasions...baptisms, 1st communions, weddings, etc. She also went to such great detail - adding floral accents, collars and covered buttons, and even went to the extent of making booties, bibs and headbands to match! Maureen, you are a creative genius! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making this day such a special remembrance to my mom and dad and for creating one of the first traditions in our 'new' family.

The most beautiful baptismal gown created by Aunt Maureen
 

Lilly & Diana were wrapped in Grandma Dianne's love - sashes made from her wedding gown
 

While I'm dishing out "thank you's", I would like to add to that list: thank you to all who traveled to Indy from Jasper, Columbus and Cincinnati; thank you to all who brought food and supplies; thank you for all the wonderful gifts (of course a formal thank you will hopefully appear in your mailbox soon); and a huge thank you to Chris & Caroline for setting up while we were at church, and to Mindy for setting up AND cleaning up; Because of all the help, I was able to truly enjoy the weekend, which meant so much to me. And despite the noticeable absence of my parents, there was no noticeable absence of love...for that a 'thank you' just doesn't say enough.

One of my favorite parts of the baptism was when Father Bob introduced Lilly and Diana by saying, "This is Lillian Bajorek. There is no one else in the world like her." "...And this is Diana Bajorek. There is no one else in the world like her." What a special moment that was for Matt and I!

I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...