Family Togetherness

Here is what I believe is the first time my mom's side of the family has all been in a picture together. It's certainly not professional. But this shot represents many things.

First, there are 3 more people in this picture than there would have been last year. Lilian was born first, 4 weeks later, Evan came along. Then just a few weeks ago, Landon made his grand arrival. It's been a busy year for many of us. My grandmother now has 10 Great Grandchildren! I think she's just as happy with each new baby. It just doesn't become "old hat".

Also, this weekend, Thanksgiving Dinner was at our house. I know this was kind of hard on Grandma not to be the "hostess". When all was said and done, I don't see how she did it all. It's a chore having all those people in your house and then cleaning up afterwards. I think all went well, however. Last year, besides being packed into her house like sardines, we ate in the dark. Of course, that wasn't her fault, but oh the memories!

I used to get so crazy hyper nuts when we got together with the "cousins". I can kind of see that in Josie and Nathaniel when they come running because "baby Lilian's here!" I hope they can have good memories like I have.

Here's the family.

First Feeding and DQ

We've officially been given the green light to start Lilian on solid foods. Here's her first feeding of rice cereal. She isn't the most experienced eater, and we are obviously not the most experienced feeders. Poor child. No wonder the 2nd child has it easier. The first child has to break in the parents. We have been giving Lilian tastes of various things, like banana, popcicles, mashed potatoes, cream cheese icing. But this was our first actual feeding. She's already getting better at it. :) And so are we!

And once you start eating, where else? Dairy Queen! I think she's eating some whip cream off daddy's sundae. But I think she likes it!

BOO!

Did we scare you? I didn't get elaborate or creative this halloween. Lilian can't even eat candy yet, but I did find this cute onesie for her to wear once. She needed long sleeve stuff, but it was so warm on Halloween that she probably roasted! Thanks Grandma Tish for taking the pics for us.

Rock-N-ROLLING!

Here she is! The Wonderful Amazing Lilian!

Although Nana said she rolled over last Thursday, she didn't document the occasion. So here it is documented. :) We are so proud of her and so much in awe at how far she's come already.

Box of Memories

Quite literally, most of my memories are in a box. Here’s the story. Last week, my mom was on vacation. She was cleaning out a closet and found numerous things with my name on them. So then the phone call…come get your stuff! Yeah, we’ve been married for 4 years and have a big house with plenty of storage. Really, I’m not a deadbeat kid who never moves out of mom’s. So Jeff and I went over and got the stuff. Which included a filing cabinet, 2 violins, old climbing gear, and several boxes of assorted stuff.

One such box is the point of my ramblings today. It was marked, “Tia’s Memories”. I’m sure the last time I went through this stuff was more than 4 years ago when I was packing before the wedding. And I doubt I’ll look at it again for at least that amount of time, probably longer.
My husband and I are both of the “throw away” persuasion. But some of these things I had a hard time tossing. Jeff would have probably chunked the whole box. But alas, he has put up with me on my road trip down memory lane for 3 days. Here are some lessons learned on my “road trip”:

1. It’s mighty hard to throw away memories, knowing full well, that what I was reminded of, I’ll never be reminded of again. It really is like erasing your memory.
2. Some things you don’t want to remember, so those items were easy to throw away.
3. It’s not just a letter or card, it was a relationship. One that once mattered.
4. Those relationships are over. And really don’t matter.
5. Some relationships are ripped from you before you are ready…tell your family you love them.
6. Some friendships last a lifetime and are worth treasuring.
7. Boy, was I dorky back in the day.
8. Life doesn’t ever turn out the way you expected…it’s better.
9. It’d take me a lifetime to scrapbook all that stuff!
10. I’ve been many places and had many “adventures”.
11. God has been very good to me…and I don’t deserve a bit of His gracious blessings.