Once a Month

I guess since this is the last day of November, I'd better post something. So much has been going on. The new baby is growing and doing well. I, however, am having the same problems I had while pregnant with Lilian. Bedrest may be coming but I'm hoping to put it off as long as possible. I guess it's all ok as long as we get another healthy girl out of it. God is certainly good to us. Lilian is real good about getting a little sister, she hugs and kisses my belly all the time. It's getting about time she'll feel baby kicking. She even tickles baby sister (through my belly button) Too cute!

A couple of great Lilian quotes:
In the car on the way home from church, her pantyhose got twisted at the toes, and Lilian declares, "I need to fix my sock, give me a hammer!" (She is related to her father)

In the truck over Thanksgiving, Nana asks, who farted? Lilian calmly responds, "I did."

You just never know what's going to come out of her mouth! And let me just wrap it up by saying that I am so excited for Christmas this year. As a teen and adult, I've always loved Christmas, but now I've got the giddy excitement that I haven't felt since I was a young child. And I must say, this is better, watching my daughter see things with fresh eyes and great excitement. She may not understand it all, but the pure joy of a child is amazing and contagious. How must our Father in Heaven feel when we are excited about His good gifts? Let's not forget the One who is the giver of all good gifts.

daddy and daughter

my monkey for halloween

just a super cute girl

Life Happens...

Wow, yeah, I'm sorry for being so far behind on here. Little things are happening every day it seems, but internet capabilities and time just don't always allow for documentation.

Here's Lilian enjoying a bubble bath. She looks like daddy with a bubble goatee!


I tried to get some pics while we were camping recently. She just doesn't pose good. This first one is my favorite although I'm afraid you can't see her in detail. In the next picture we found a rock to pose on, still, a natural smile is a rarity on camera. I just can't seem to catch it, although it does happen!
We've recently began doing things, "by myself". Most of which still require assistance. But I'm proud of her for trying! She also got her first real black eye from running into a table. She'll tell you she had to put ice on it and then it felt better. Camping is always fun, especially since outside is involved!
We came home one day and as she was standing in the kitchen, Lilian started counting...not altogether unusual...it's very random, but she counted all the way up to 14! I know I'm the mom, but man, that's seriously genius, right?
Let me just say today that I enjoy having Lilian in my life so much! No one on earth can make me smile like she can. When I'm just at the end of my rope with her, she'll do something sweet and it just melts my heart. What power! And Oh the energy! Besides being pregnant, being pregnant with a 2 year old is doubly exhausting! I'd never trade my life for anything. As Lilian sometimes says, "I love my family".

New Baby Coming Soon!

But not soon enough! ;) Yep! We're having another baby. I'm really glad that Lilian won't be an only child. Do we want a boy or a girl? It doesn't matter, a healthy baby will be just great! A boy would be fun, and I've already got a boy name in mind. But a sister for Lilian would just be fabulous. I love my own sister so dearly, I can't imagine life without her. And a special thanks to Stacy for going with me to the Dr., corralling my girl, and splurging on Red Lobster with me. I LOVED spending time with you.

It's been a fun time telling our great news to all our family and friends. We've been on silent mode for at least a month now. Jeff could tell you, I've been bursting at the seems. I just like to talk! I bought Lilian a shirt yesterday that reads, "I'm the BIG sister!". We put it on her and invited our moms over. They were joyful to say the least, as Lilian greeted them and said, "See my new shirt". She loves to show off new things. Then we hit the phones calling our grandparents and close friends. Of course my facebook has been flooded with congrats, which makes us feel good too! Breaking the news at work has been fun as well. Jeff and I both have been hounded by questions of, "Isn't it about time for another one?". To which we just shrugged them off. Now we are all laughing about it. :)

So far so good, I've not been sick feeling. I am a little pudgier, and I don't think that's all baby, I've just been eating like crazy, even before baby. Oh well. I'm so proud of my family and look forward to meeting the new person. As always, we stand in awe of our most Awesome Creator in the miracle of Life. As if I needed another reason to believe in a Creator God...I had the thought recently, that if evolution were true, mothers would have at least 3 arms by now! Just sayin'...

ok, i'll get a picture up soon!

Day at the Lake

We had an idea while Jeff was taking some days off...to rent a pontoon boat on Rend Lake. The day we wanted to go, there weren't any boats available. We decided to go for a half day (morning) on Tuesday. It was going to be a really hot day, so I was glad we went in the morning. Some good friends went with us and we spend a good bit of time just floating in the water. Lilian had a good time, although it was somewhat challenging when she wanted to "swim" back and forth between us. She had a blast though! She even got to drive! :)

Big Girl Bed

We got my niece's old daybed, since she got a bigger bed too, for Lilian's first Big Girl Bed. She has done really well. She has only tried to climb out twice when she should stay in. As a quick side note-update on potty training-Lilian is diaper free! Our big hurdle of sleeping overnight has been conquered! She stayed dry for at least 2 weeks before I tried her out, but it's been dry ever since. I'm sure accidents will happen...but I'm knocking on wood here...She's done really awesome! The big girl bed is definitely a hit! She's still trying to show people her new bed! People like Paw Paw and Nana who've seen it lots of times now! Jeff and I were just wondering the other day...where did our baby go? She's a big girl and we are so proud of her! I'm excited to see how God will use her. Even as a young child, she brightens everyone's face at church...for example...she will occasionally start clapping and cheering, "YEAH!", at the end of a song. Don't you wish our churches were full of that kind of worshipper?? Another example...we were watching a video series on Sun. nights and at the end of the DVD the man prays. When he says Amen...she responds with her own hearty, Amen! pretty great I think!

Just Chillin'

This is what "cheese" looks like.

Better late than never, right?

I've got several posts I need to make, but we'll try to update a little at a time. First off, Lilian turned 2 on July 3rd. We were glad to have lots of family around and a good time was had by all.
We did have to blow out the candles on the cake 3 times to get a good video. First, she blew them out before I was ready. Jeff relit the candles so I could try again and when he blew out the match, he accidentally blew out the candles too! 3rd time's a charm, I got a video of it. Lilian got some seriously cute dresses, some desperately needed hair ribbons, a Curious George video, a wagon, a stick pony, and a swing set! You don't suppose this child needs more things?!

Here's some pics!

Cute Comments

Lilian has just been busting with outgoing personality here lately. We spent a week at church camp and came back with a handfull of great Lilian quotes. Here's a sampling:

when supposed to be going to sleep, she figured out how to unzip the canvas windows in the camper. With her face pressed against the mesh screen yelling, "Corn! Corn!!". We have a friend she calls uncle corn.

After Jeff made her lay back down, she unzipped the other side and started yelling, "Help me! Help me!". TOO FUNNY!

While a friend of ours was holding a crying baby, lilian was very concerned and commented, "She's dripping".

Another one of her latest cutenesses is that she will grab our faces, turn it toward hers, and say, "Look at me!". I guess she wants our full attention like we want hers.

As usual, I'm amazed at how much I love this little girl. She's amazing!

Lilian has just been busting with outgoing personality here lately. We spent a week at church camp and came back with a handfull of great Lilian quotes. Here's a sampling:

when supposed to be going to sleep, she figured out how to unzip the canvas windows in the camper. With her face pressed against the mesh screen yelling, "Corn! Corn!!". We have a friend she calls uncle corn. After Jeff made her lay back down, she unzipped the other side and started yelling, "Help me! Help me!". TOO FUNNY!

While a friend of ours was holding a crying baby, lilian was very concerned and commented, "She's dripping".

Another one of her latest cutenesses is that she will grab our faces, turn it toward hers, and say, "Look at me!". I guess she wants our full attention like we want hers.

As usual, I'm amazed at how much I love this little girl. She's amazing!

Potty Training update

We've had some ups and some downs. As long as we stay on top of her, she will go accident free for quite some time. But I've tried to let her go until she tells me she needs to go potty, and the results are not as spectacular. Yesterday she went #2 twice and made it to the potty both times! However, she peed her pants 3 times!! AHH! So far today, we are doing better. I'm going on the assumption that this is all perfectly normal. We were playing with an alphabet toy that matches letters with an animal that starts with that letter...she correctly placed ALL the animals. I think she was matching animal pictures, but hey, letters will come soon enough. So while she was standing there recieving praise for being SOOO Smart...she peed in the floor. yup...work in progess...

Potty Training: Almost there...i hope

I think we are about 75% there. The marshmallows are a HUGE success...to a fault. Now Lilian will sit on the potty forever, it seems, and says, "I go pee pee again mommy". Which, of course, nothing happens. But she is telling us when she needs to go. 1 accident yesterday, but it was in a pull up. So far today, we're good. I am not going to post every day because I think we are mostly there.

**quick aside** As I am writing this, Lilian was on the couch getting ready to nap. So I left her alone without distraction. I just heard her come down the hall and she's now struggling to get into her bed. She made it. I only assume she is going to sleep. We'll see. **

ok, so much for that. I guess she'll need some mommy snuggles....I don't mind at all. :)

Potty Training: 1 Week

I decided to wait and see if Lilian would tell me she needed to potty. Yeah, didn't happen. I cleaned up several messes today. We were both frustrated. Lilian sat on the potty and cried while I cleaned up a mess. Jeff and I are both asking her constantly if she needs to go, giving her every opportunity to go on her own accord. Finally tonight, she said she needed to go potty. So i tried a new tactic...marshmallows for a reward. She was thrilled to get a marshmallow! Of course she wanted more, and I had to explain that she would only get a marshmallow when she told us she needed to go potty. A little while later, she said it again! This time she did two jobs! Oh yeah! #2 and #1! Yep, she got marshmallows. Then she was so excited that she did it, I about never got her off the pot! She's get up, look at it, and then say, "I go pee pee again!". She didn't get any more marshmallows. But, maybe I've found a ploy that will work. Credit goes to my friend Jill for the idea...that's what she did with her kiddos. :)

Potty Training: What day is this? I've lost track.

Ok, it's Tuesday, I guess we started 1 week ago from this afternoon. Yesterday would have been day 6. Not too bad overall. 2 accidents. I'm beginning to think my theory of embarrasment out in public is gaining validity. (we stayed home all day) We take her potty about every hour...and I guess I should slow up to give Lilian a chance to tell us she needs to potty. That will likely mean more accidents until she gets it completely figured out. She's gotta learn somehow. So that's where we are, a week into it.

Potty Training: Days 4 & 5

Lilian is doing so well! Let's start with day 4. She was WAY crabby Saturday when she got up. Combine that with a nervous daddy (she went pee on him 3 times on wednesday) who took her potty every few minutes, and you had a situation where no one wins. I left to go do a youth activity at church. During that time, Lilian decided she needed a nap and slept for almost 2 hours! Well, that was good, and she definitely woke up in a better humor, but we had to go to a cookout later and I didn't want a crabby girl for that either! The whole time, she had stayed dry and everything was good. She did head back for a nap in the afternoon, but it was just a power nap...it worked. The only accident was right before we left for the cookout. We had a great time out at mom and Ernie's place, Ernie's daughter, Amy, was there, and my sis's fam all came. Lilian ended up with a couple of #2 incidents, but she did say she needed to go, but didn't give enough warning. Maybe the hotdog didn't agree with her.

On to day 5, Sunday. I was a bit nervous. We spend a good deal of time at church on Sunday, especially Sun. morning. I hesitated to put her in a pull-up because I was afraid she'd think diaper and just pee. But I couldn't risk an accident when it wasn't my carpet and apolstery. We took her frequently and she even told us when she needed to go! We did have a minor #2 incident at home before church, but ended up on the potty to finish that one. Otherwise, she was dry ALL DAY LONG! I'm certainly feeling good about things. I know there will be accidents, and we may have a bad day tomorrow...but for now, I'm so proud of my BIG GIRL!

Potty Training: Day 3

ONLY 2 ACCIDENTS! I am still taking her to the bathroom every 45 min-an hour. If I'm late, accidents happen. What I'm learning here, is trust my gut. If I think, "I should take her potty", I'd better not put it off. Oh the interesting side...we made a quick trip to take some things to grandpa and grandma Dorothy (Lilian says, "Dorfee") and she told us she needed to potty, and went sucessfully! So why doesn't she do that at home? Is she embarrased to think it would happen in front of different people? Who knows. My sister said that Nathaniel potty trained better on vacation than he did at home. HMMM....

Potty Training: Day 2

Day 2 went pretty well! Better than day 1 and that's all you can ask right? We still had 5 accidents overall. After the 1st accident, I put Lilian on the potty while I cleaned up the mess. When I got back to the bathroom she had done a #2 job! So, I had to be proud of her because I didn't have to clean up that mess. All was well until after lunch. She would tell me immediately when she peed, but we still had to conquer the telling BEFORE the accident. We continued on good for a while, and she went down for a nap. She even woke up dry!!!! And went potty when she got up. We had another accident before we left for dinner at grandma's. And one more accident at grandma's. So we put her in a pull up. Of course we were taking her to the potty rather often. We went to look at some progress being made on Grandpa's new barn, Lilian said she had to go pee pee. I figured she had already gone, and there wasn't a bathroom nearby. However, I pulled her pants down and held her in a sitting position. It was quite awkward, but she peed!!!! Whoo hoo! It was a major milestone in my opinion! I know we are a long way from done, but I'm encouraged that she will get this eventually. :)

Potty Training: Day 1

Lilian's asleep signaling the end of our 1st full day of potty training. I am not at all discouraged. I personally cleaned up 3 accidents and had numerous successes. She has yet to say, "I need to potty" or something along those lines. I've been taking her to the potty every 30-45 minutes. However, she was not so good for her daddy tonight. I went to Bible study. I was gone for less than 2 hours. Lilian apparently peed 5 times and 4 of them were NOT in the potty. I think daddy was ready for me to come home! But not before I stopped for some more laundry detergent. And so, we'll try again tomorrow...

Potty Training: Day .5

I took advantage of Jeff being home for the evening to start potty training so I could have some support. After Lilian's nap, we put her in big girl panties. We then went outside to check on the garden and Jeff put Lilian on his shoulders for the walk out there, (a risky move in my opinion), but all was well. We promptly came back to the house to get the tiller since we decided the ground was dry enough and then she had accident #1. All of this transpired in about 10 minutes time. Then Nana came over. Lilian is one serious Nana's girl. All was well for a while, I made supper, we checked on the garden again with Nana, and watched the finale of Biggest Loser. Lilian went to the potty twice successfully and had 1 more "accident". So for day .5 we are 2 and 2. Not too bad. Although, Lilian was SO excited every time Nana suggested potty (she's not that excited for me) that I'm kinda thinking she ought to just stay with us for a few days and we'd get this licked. But we'll see what day 1 holds. I'll keep you posted...for those who care. :)

Jumping on the Trampoline

Lilian did quite a bit of jumping from her face. When asked why we (my sis and I) didn't stop and help her, it was simply because we were laughing too hard! Lilian had a blast and doesn't even have face burn to show for it! What a sweetheart! I can't get over her!!!! It's so fun watching her grow up and have experiences! Thanks Stacy for the fun day!

Picking Strawberries

As I was heading to my sister's house the other day, I noticed a local farm with pickers in the Strawberry patch! I got excited!!! It's still pretty early around here, but the thought of fresh strawberries was too much to handle! Too bad it was windy and 50 degrees, but that didn't deter us! We loaded up the kiddos and went picking! It wasn't good picking (as in, there weren't that many berries ripe), but it was one of the easiest patches to pick in, no mud or straw, just nice wide grassy areas between the rows. Apparently, they stay picked clean with people coming by and advanced orders! So here's Lilian and her cousins, at the strawberry patch!

God's Will for your life...ANSWERED!

After reading Micah 6:6-8 this morning, I about couldn't NOT write about it. Here's the reading..

"With what shall I come to the Lord and bow myself before the God on High? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, with yearling calves? Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, in ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly WITH your God? Micah 6:6-8 NASB

Really? Is it that easy? I've told my SS teens many many times...Scripture is simple, not easy. This just makes so much sense to me, but why do I/we struggle so much with doing what is right? Some of the meanest people I've come across were "Christians" and I just pray that I'm not one of them. Should we take our "burnt offerings/yearling calves" of church attendance and maybe even a little Bible reading outside of church, and yes, even our piddly little offerings and expect God to be pleased? What about avoiding the "big" sins? Yeah, I'm proud that I've avoided those, but it's still not going to make Him happy without a pure heart. Not even giving up our firstborn child would satisfy Him. Which, of course, in our culture would be totally barbaric (for good reason) and personally, I'm rather attached to my firstborn. So I'm glad that wouldn't please Him. But to do justice, I daresay, Mercy would be the attribite left to us and leave the justicing to God. Love kindness, even to the people who deserve it the least...and I'm sure someone just popped into your head! And walk humbly with your God, not walk FOR your God, but WITH Him. It's a delightful relationship with the One who snatched us up from the pit of despair. Our Knight in shining armor!

O Praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead! Jesus!

Easter

Yeah, I know it's been a week since Easter, but hey, at least it's not been a month! It was a busy day. We were at church by 7:30 for an early service. The men cooked a delicious breakfast while the kids hunted eggs. We were lucky to have a beautiful day for the kids to play outside. Kids Lilian's age hunted in one room. It was cute though. I didn't get very good shots of her in her Easter dress, but here's what I got.

Best shot I have of the whole dress.

Lilian getting her Easter basket after church (we didn't have time to do it early!)

Giving daddy a sweet kiss. I love these kind of pictures!

Doing some reading...she's really into monkey's right now. :)

Can anyone resist this grin?!?

Hiking during Spring Break

Jeff took off 3 days during my spring break and we had a blast!!! We went down to the Fern Clyffe area, it was near 80 degrees and just a super fun trip. We hiked and picnicked (SP).


Jeff and Lilian in front of the waterfall.


Glad we didn't step on this guy!


Lilian and mommy. :)


Playing in the dirt is A LOT of fun!

Hawk Cave

Cute Pics

Wants to see what's on the camera.

Cry face

say, "Cheese"

Wearing mommy's house shoes.



Sharing a popsicle with Tiny.

Finishing the Basement: The floor

Well, we finished up the main area ceiling by lunchtime on Saturday, so...rest? NO, start the floor! We/Jeff put down a laminate flooring in the whole area since we sometimes host family dinners. It'll be easier to clean up. The pattern is called tigerwood. I think it looks pretty cool.

Grandma and PawPaw stopped by to see the progress. And PS...Granny, this is the cabinet from your house...out of storage and into the living space!

Tax Refund Spent or Finishing the basement

We've made HUGE strides this past week in working on the basement. We started last Friday with a trip to Menard's. Here's the stuff all boxed up...



And yeah, we had to take every box down to the basement by hand. Well, I helped. Jeff did most of it. Can you say, cardio!? So then, we/he started hanging the grid for the ceiling.



I was behind the scences cutting ceiling tiles to fit. It was cheaper to by the 2'x4' tiles and cut them than to by the smaller size. That was a lot of cutting! But well worth it, a sample was exciting...



But the finished ceiling was so cool! It's starting to look like a room!

Week of Adventures

ad·ven·ture \əd-ˈven-chər\ noun

1 a : an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks b : the encountering of risks

2 : an exciting or remarkable experience

This one is my own definition...inspired by numberous family vacation experiences with our friends the Hayes'...

3: an unexpected happening that is often less than desirable

Monday was President's Day...we were all happy to have a day off...we didn't get to sleep in...it was snowy...and we had to get our taxes done. Nothing adventurous about that. Tuesday was normal up until we got home. Lilian started screaming and saying that her arm hurt. She never acted like that before. We ended up in the ER. 3 hours and 6 x-ray's later we were told she had "nurse maid's elbow" which is basically a dislocated elbow. Good thing for little ones is that the bones aren't hard yet...still a lot of cartilage. Once back in place, she was happy as a little clam. Wednesday was my only night at home, so I skipped Bible study. Thursday was a program with my 2nd grade students. They did fabulous! On the way home, however, I got a major flat tire! I'm so thankful to my wonderful hubby who came to my rescue! In the end, we got 4 new tires. Friday we spent our tax refund on a ceiling and a floor for the basement. Looking forward to having that! And since I started writing this blog a few days ago...
Lilian has been to the Dr. and has bronchitis and ear infections. So she is on lots of drugs. The thing is, she never acted sick. But she is in a very good mood now, acting more like a 2 yr old every day. And we've got 4 months to go. Her latest "trick" if you call it that, is talking. It's getting her to stop that is the "trick". My mom just laughed. Wonder why...
Anyways, I guess that's about all of our adventures for the moment. I have a feeling this "adventure" is far from over. For the time being, here's some more current pics:

Ring Around The Rosie

Hey, I forgot about this one!! Sorry it took so long to post!

This was too cute with my niece and nephew!

New Favorite Picture

Lilian stirred from her nap, I went and got her up. She leaned toward her daddy and promptly fell back asleep. He once tried to lay her down on the couch, but she wanted nothing to do with that. So that's when Jeff switched to the recliner. I'm sure times like these will be over too soon. Until then, what a sweet baby girl with her sweet daddy!