2 years old

To my dear sweet Lily:

I can hardly believe that you turn 2 today. This time 2 years ago you were born in to this world and I immediately fell in love. You were the most beautiful sweet baby girl in the whole wide world - 6 pounds 4 ounces, beautiful dark black hair, and an ear shaped just like your dad's. There are no words to describe the wonderfulness of holding you on my chest for the first time right after you came out. Your dad and I were in awe of the miracle of you!
Lily's 1 Year Picture:

Fast forward to today. You are now our beautiful dark brown haired fun loving little girl! The amount of words you have not only astounds me and your dad but everyone else too. You talk in full sentences all the time and can express love, joy, sadness, hurt. You can count to ten and even know some of your colors. You copy a lot of what we say. You love the park, pizza, carrots, dancing, imagination movers, mickey mouse clubhouse, max and ruby, tickle fights, hide and go seek, chase, tea parties, and dresses. You hate diaper changes and getting your hair washed.

You are independent, caring, shy around strangers, determined, passionate.

You love to sing. Some of your favorites are Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, Tick Tock, and Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

You are perfect just the way you are.
Your dad and I are so incredibly proud of the little girl you have become. You make us the happiest parents in the whole wide world. I pray that God would help me to be the best mom that I can possibly be to you.

Happy 2nd Birthday sweet Lily Madelyn!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Mommy (and Daddy)

conversation

At bedtime tonight...

Mommy: "I love you Lily. Do you love mommy?"

Lily: "I love you all the time mommy."

She melts my heart!

first chosen friend

Cute Lily story...

We attend a storytime each week at one of our public libraries. You have to register for them because they are so popular and they have to keep the numbers down. So each week we see the same few little kiddos.

The week before last there was a little girl sitting next to us whose name was Clara. Lily didn't really pay too much attention to her but when we got in the car to leave she kept saying "i like clara."

Then this past week, we were doing one of our normal first songs. It's this bee song where the teacher goes around and the bee asks each little kid what their name is in the song. It goes "higgledee biggledee bumbleebee, won't you say your name for me, lily, lily, that's your name." Usually the parent has to say their name for them because they are too bashful. So this week Clara and her mom was sitting next to us again and when it was Clara's turn to say her name, Lily shouts out "clara!" for her. It was ADORABLE! And since then she keeps randomly saying that she likes clara.

During the week I try to keep singing the songs we sing at storytime with Lily so she'll get the hang of them (which she can sing a lot of songs now!). Whenever we do the bumblebee song she always inserts clara's name - never her own. Go figure!

22 Months

My little baby girl is 22 months now. My how times flies. In order to prioritize things in my life, blogging has had to take a step back the past month.

But tonight I just have to write about my sweet lily. She is the most amazing wonderful beautiful little girl ever. She makes me laugh and everyday I see more and more of her personality. She is independent, polite, strong-willed, and caring. She has an amazing vocabulary and puts together all kinds of sentences. Everyone comments on how much she knows. She gives the best hugs and kisses and there is nothing in the world like hearing her say "love you mommy!" We got her her first bike/tricycle and she LOVES LOVES LOVES it. She doesn't use the pedals yet but can go superfast even still! She loves to help me with any chores I'm doing - sweeping, laundry, cleaning dishes, etc. She builds things with her megablocks and loves to watch Max and Ruby. Lily loves to color even though she doesn't know how to draw anything yet. She loves to wear dresses, hats, and jewelry. Everywhere we go she has been wanting to take along the purse she has just like mommy.

I LOVE LILY!!!

don't feed geese

Just a warning. Don't feed geese. This is what happens if you do...They come CHASING after you! A big flock of them has been hanging around the park across the street and as soon as Lily and I went out to feed them they come running over to our yard. It was CRAZY!!

our crazy life

I haven't been blogging as much anymore because I feel like the time I have is precious and I'd rather be doing things for my family and others than blogging. Life has been CRAZY lately. And here's just a preview of what life has been like for us lately with a recap of last week.

Last Sunday - church stuff in the morning and then pool party with the youth group kids that evening

Monday - Go over to Mary's in the morning to help her celebrate her birthday and have a playdate. Went to dinner with my family.

Tuesday - Met several old high school friends at the park and had a great time catching up. Cleaned house, did laundry. Then had small group that evening at our house.

Wednesday - Went with a new friend, Sara, and her kids to the WOW kids area at Botanical Gardens. Ran errands in the afternoon. 8:30 service band practice in the evening.

Thursday - Worked from 8-12 since a lady was out for surgery. Pool with the family in the afternoon. Ice cream outing with one of the youth group girls. Then fantasy football draft that evening.

Friday - Worked from 8-2 like normal. Hung out for a bit at the parents house. Went on a date with my hubby.

Saturday - Grocery shopping in the morning. Church picnic in the afternoon. Relaxed that evening.

Sunday - church stuff in the morning, youth group in the evening, and then a cookout at a friend's house.

Having a calendar has become very very important and keeping track of everything. I'm trying to really focus in on what's most important for me and family and using my time wisely. Lily and Matt come first no matter what. And making sure we have quality good family time is the most important thing.

Lily is really growing like a weed. We've been having so much fun together and I'm so glad I get to be a stay at home mom to enjoy her. I have so much fun playing around on the floor and having tickle fights. She thinks it's hilarious when I do "the claw" now and does it herself. She holds up her arm and says "da claw." She loves yogurt smoothies, doing handstands, wearing her backpack, mickey mouse clubhouse, harris teeter driving grocery carts, veggietales, singing veggietunes in the car, walking around in her duck towel, wearing her bathing suit, trying on my shoes, big hugs, playing chase, taking her shoes off in the car, playing hide and go seek, slides, and books. She does NOT like getting her hair washed, messes, suspense, having her hair put in a ponytail. As you can see my list of things I can think of that she doesn't like is much less. Lily is really a happy little girl and loves life. I love her so much!!! I'm going to miss these toddler days when she grows up!

body parts and the potty

Lily has become very interested in her private body parts. Which is normal for those of you who don't have little kids! She keeps talking about how she has a "cwotch" and tonight apparently discovered she has "two boobies." She just kept starting at them and pointing them out to us. It was hilarious!!

Lily also peed in her potty for the first time!! It was only one drop of pee, but hey we'll take what we can get at 21 months. She's becoming more aware of having to go potty and what it's meant for. The other day she knew she had to go poop and said she had to go potty. I took her in there and she would only sit for like a minute and then got up without doing anything. I go to get a diaper to put back on her, turn around, and she has pooped in the living room floor. YUCK! But I praised her for knowing she did have to go poop - just not in the right place!

silly lily

Lily's rapidly growing vocabulary is a good and bad thing. I love that she can communicate her needs/wants much better now but that also means she can communicate her attitude as well.

Some of her new sentences: Lily be right back (telling us she's coming right back when she goes somewhere). I want ____. I need ______. I like _____. I gotcha! I see her (everything is a "her"). And her latest hilarious one today... "I don't like you big bird." We were at Red Robin having dinner and it was a night where the big red robin comes around to all the tables. Let's just say she HATED that thing and that's an understatement. Then she didn't want to eat dinner so that was basically ruined. She had her eyes on that thing like a hawk and if it started to get near her she would freak out. She kept saying "I don't like you big bird." HAHA!! She's putting together sentences so well now.

She's also copping a little attitude the past few days. She looked at me straight in the eyes today and said "NO" to something that I asked her to do. And she's done that several times. Lily is my little independent feisty one! But she's also the cutest sweetest most beautiful little girl ever!

I love my silly lily!!

williamsburg day trip

Here is one thing I love about living in Hampton Roads:Here is one thing I do not love about living in Hampton Roads:And it was much worse than this picture makes it out to be. Thankfully, I don't have to deal with the HRBT traffic everyday! It seems like it's ALWAYS backed up. Love living and Matt working IN Virginia Beach.

This morning we got up and decided mid-morning that we wanted to go to the outlets in Williamsburg to shop for some clothes. So we ate lunch and then hit the road. Lily only took a half hour nap but she did okay. We spent all afternoon shopping (ended up only finding some things for lily, none for us). We got her some cute new converse tennis shoes! They were only $10 too! Then we had dinner at Red, Hot, and Blue.

Finally we headed home for the night. Lily was konked out from the day!! She was a good sport riding around in the car/stroller most of the day. This cute little girl is mine:

throw up and first "sleepover"

Tuesday night at about 11:00PM I hear Lily on the monitor sounding like she's gagging. I go rush in and you probably guessed it... she's throwing up. And it's full fledge throwing up and all chunky. GROSS!! She ended up throwing up probably 4 or 5 more times that night until about 3AM. I guess she finally got it all of her system and then was able to settle down. Matt laid on the couch with her for a large portion of that time since every time we put her back down in the crib it was like she threw up again. It was a long yucky night. Thankfully it was short lived and she's been doing fine ever since!

Yesterday we took the youth group to Busch Gardens. We had a blast despite getting drenched in the afternoon shower. I was SOO incredibly tired this morning though. I have decided I'm no young spring chicken anymore. I only rode one roller coaster too - can't handle the crazy ones now.

Since we were going to be gone all day and get back late that night, I decided to let Lily spend the night over at Grandma and Grandpa's. I was the nervous one. She did GREAT though like I thought she would. When I went to pick her up this morning she didn't want to leave - go figure! It was really weird getting home last night and her not being in her room sleeping. I'm glad I got the first one over with though cause in the future I won't be so nervous/hesitant about it.

singing adorable lily

Lily is just the cutest little girl EVER!

She has really started to pick up on singing songs. I bought this veggietales sunday school songs cd to have in the car for Lily. And she LOVES it. Well today we have it on the car and we hear her singing in the back seat "noah noah." It's to the song "who built the ark? noah noah who built the ark? brother noah built the ark." It is ADORABLE!!! Then the song "this little light of mine" came on and she would sing the "let it shine" part. It also reminded how impressionable little kids are and how much they can take in. I'm so glad I bought that cd. Even those simple litle sunday school songs are telling her about Jesus at an early age.

In the nursey at church on sunday, I caught her singing "rock a bye baby." She was on this rocking horse and she would sing the words "rock bye baby treetop." Oh my gosh - I can't even describe how incredibly cute it is and how proud she makes me. She's so smart and her sweet little sing song voice just melts my heart.

Lily is also really picking up on forming sentences too. She says "I want some more of ____." Whatever she wants at the moment.

When we say the blessing for our food now, she says blessing and then bows her head and closes her eyes!

Everyday she just amazes me at how many new things she is learning these days!

ice cream, sara

Lily LOVES ice cream. Have I said that? She is always asking for some it seems like. Either that or fries!

And she has a new favorite youth group girl friend I think. Today she was loving having Sara James around! In the car she kept asking if Sara was coming with us. And she says Sara in such a cute little sweet voice.

Today we went to the mall this morning while Matt worked on videos for Senior Night. I got Lily these light up flip flops she loves at JCP since they were on clearance for like $4. Then we came home for lunch/nap. This afternoon we went with some of the youth group kids over to the pool and had dinner there. Lily loved eating dinner outside and ate 2 turkey dogs! Man she loved those things!

vbs, worship, aquarium, beach, sophia

I'm glad I take pictures because that's usually how I remember to blog about things going on! The end of July brought VBS. On the last day, Friday, the church had a big cookout/presentation for all the vbs kids, their families, and the church. There was such a HUGE turnout and it was so great to see such life going on in the church. Lily had a blast. She didn't want to jump on any of the big jump houses they had but liked to watch and then LOVED dancing to all the music they performed.Matt has been talking about the 5 different "purposes" in youth group: worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and evangelism. A week ago, he did worship. We pulled out a great out of the box worship night. We had set up several different stations of ways we can worship God. These included a prayer room, worship wall, praise box, and the cross. We set up the small room off the youth room as the prayer room. We blacked out everything with paper and then wrote questions all over the room to get the kids thinking about things they could pray about, talk to God about. The worship wall was a place where they could use paint markers to write down qualities/attributes of God that really struck home for them. We'll continue to use this wall in the future and as more people write it will just get to be an incredible thing! The praise box will also continue to exist in the room. It's a trunk where anytime something great has happened in your life, you can write it down and drop it in the box. Then once each month Matt will read some outloud during worship. And finally, we had the cross. At this station the kids could write down things that they needed to confess/sin, put it in an envelope for privacy, and then tack it to the cross. All in all it was a GREAT night!This past week Lily and I went to the Virginia Aquarium with Lyz and Brooklyn. The girls had a great time and Lily LOVED getting to see all the animals.
Yesterday Lily and I went with Nana and Aaron to the beach. Unlike last time, Lily loved it! We set up camp down closer to the water where the sand was flatter/cooler and she was fine walking around on that. She got brave too around the water and loved me swinging her when the waves came ashore. It was a great morning!In other exciting news, Mary gave birth to beautiful Sophia Claire on Saturday. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and is a cutie!! I'm excited that now when we have playdates with Mary and Abby that I get to hold a cute little baby girl.

busy toddler and worship change

As you can tell by my length of time between blog posts, the life of a wife/parent to a toddler/youth pastor's wife/friend, etc. keeps me much busier these days. I'm so thankful for all of the blessings that God has given me - wonderful husband, beautiful little girl, family nearby, a good job for Matt, good friends for all 3 of us, a church that is striving to meet the needs of its congregation.

Lily keeps me busy as mom these days. She loves to help with everything - cooking, cleaning, doing laundry. Last night she helped me pound out biscuits for my sister's barbecup recipe. She loved doing that! Her vocabulary just continues to amaze me. She picks up words that I wouldn't even think we emphasize or say that much. It's so nice for her to be able to communicate more with me now and tell me what she wants/needs. Whenever she wants me to pick her up/hold her/pay attention to her she says "see me." And she has great manners - please, thank you, you're welcome, bless you. She's also discovered her "private" area and was asking me last week what that was. I was trying to figure out what word for her to use and all I could come up with was "crotch." So she says crotch now. Anybody else want to chime in on what they tell their little girls their private area is called?

And in other exciting news... our church is going to be revamping the 8:30 service. I'm VERY VERY excited and I think that God is really in this. It's a huge next step for our church. I'm going to be playing keyboard for the service along with the normal youth worship band (jon, nate, david, and matt). Plus Ashley (Jon's girlfriend) will be singing as well. Yay!!

sick lily

Lily's still sick. :( I took her to the doc yesterday because she threw up again yesterday morning. The doctor checked her out and said it was just a stomach virus - nothing else was wrong. He said it could last for several more days and she could develop diarrhea too.

The weird thing about this bug is that she hasn't been throwing up a lot with it. It's been once per day since saturday. Saturday was after dinner and the other days have been in the morning after breakfast. This afternoon she had some poop that I would classify as diarrhea for her. I changed 3 diapers this afternoon of mushiness. YUCK! Her farts have been SOOO stinky too. I'm sure my blog readers are just thrilled to know about that.

So I've been taking care of her. I was supposed to be helping out with VBS all this week but that plan went down the drain. Hopefully she'll get to feeling like herself again soon. She had some crackers, chicken broth, a few pears, and apple today so that's good!

catch up and throw up

So we've been busy busy as goes our "norm" now. I can't remember everything we've done but to recap some...

This past week we picked blueberries with Mary and Abby. Very fun although it was really hot outside!! With the blueberries we picked, I made this delicious blueberry crumb cake. It was amazing!!

Went to the mall play area with Lyz and Brooklyn. Lily and Brooklyn had a blast running around!

Went to see "My Sister's Keeper" with Genna and Mary. Had a great time and loved the movie (despite crying throughout!). For all you females - it's definitely a good one you should see.Small group is going great and we're really enjoying hosting it at our place.

Had family dinner out at Cheeseburger in Paradise. YUM! I get the same thing every time - pressed burger and chocolate nachos for dessert. I love that meal and hadn't had it in a long time!

Had dinner with my parents at Longhorn Steakhouse. YUM! Two delicious meals in one week.

Work is going good on Friday's. I'm enjoying it and it's nice to have a little extra cash!

Went to see "The Proposal" last week with Mary and Chris. Also a great movie! Afterwards, I saved the church from burglars. Yes, I was a hero! Haha. Here's the story...we were leaving our house that night and we saw a few teenagers walking across the back of the church. It looked suspicious so we drove around to the front of the church. there was a car parked on the side and then when we drove around and looked down the alley we saw them trying to get in to the side door of the church (next to our house). So... Matt parked, we both got out, and I took off running. They of course took off, got in their car and sped off. Yay me!! :)

My brother-in-law got married today! Mike and Jen were engaged before Mike left for bootcamp. They decided since Jen was going to be up there visiting him this weekend that they would go ahead and get married at the courthouse so when Mike puts in orders he can list himself as married. It should help him get better placement and housing. So I officially have a new sister-in-law! Welcome to the Bruns family Jen! We're so glad you're a part of it!

And finally... my sweet lily threw up for the first time tonight. She had just finished dinner and I was getting ready to get her out of the high chair and it just all came right back up. She hadn't seemed to eat very much all day today. After she threw up she was acting like her normal self though. So I'm hoping she's better in the morning and it was just a quick fluke bug or something.

my smart little girl (almost 20 months old!)

Lily is really just exploding with words I feel like now. She says so many things and is starting to put a few things in to sentence form! I'm trying to start working on colors more with her now and counting too.

Lily loves chocolate milk. Somehow she got introduced to it and now is always asking for "choclate."

She hates having her teeth brushed. Loves Yo Gabba Gabba and Imagination Movers. Wants to do everything on her own. Loves going up and down the steps to the pool. Hates being in the pool. Loves blankets and balls. Hates getting water in her eyes. Hates messes or anything dirty. Loves playing with her friends. Loves playing outside. Hates being cooped up. Loves carrots, green beans, mac'n'cheese, bananas, grapes, and grits. Hates broccoli, sandwiches, yogurt raisins. Loves to help me with chores - laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc. Hates having her diaper changed. Loves to wear pj's, dresses, and her bathing suit. Loves to jump.

Lily's personality is really coming out. Here are some words that describe her well - fun loving, passionate, sensitive, cautious, loving, polite (as much as a 1.5 year old can be!). She wants me to play with her all the time if no one else is around!

I can see how her memory is really developing now too. Yesterday morning we had gone to the play area at Macarthur Mall and this little boy accidently knocked her over and she hit her head. Well later that afternoon she was sitting with Matt on the couch. And out of the blue she says to him: "mall, boy, head" in a sad tone. She remembered what had happened and was telling Matt about it. Crazy!

Lily goes to bed at 8pm and gets up between 8 and 9am. She naps around 12:30 to 1:00 anywhere from an hour to 2.5 hours. She loves to sleep with her 2 blankets. Prefers daddy to put her to bed if he's around. Says "amen" after we pray together.

july 4th and fun playdates

July 4th festivities: We went to the pool party at matt's parents in the afternoon. Here was the scary drama of that event... Lily wanted to get in the pool but I wasn't ready yet and wanted to eat my lunch. So my mom (who had on her bathing suit) said that she would go ahead and get in with her. I, of course, said that was fine. A side note before I continue - my mom does NOT know how to swim. Anyways I was right near the pool eating my lunch when I look over and my BABY GIRL (and my mother) are under the water. You don't even know how SCARED to death I was and what an awful sight that was. I immediately went in to superhero mom mode, rushed over and pulled Lily out, and by that time my mom had come up. Lily was more just scared from it then really hurt at all. She wasn't in the water but for the few seconds it took me to get over there. What had happened was my mom didn't know that in matt's parents pool there is quite a sharp drop off to the deep end and it can be slippery. The rope marking where that happens wasn't up either. So she was just walking and slipped and fell down. I am a VERY VERY careful mom with lily around water too because I know things happen very quickly. Needless to say, I will be there IN the water from now on if my mom has her since she can't swim.By the way, I made these cute star shaped patriotic rice krispy treats for the cookout. They turned out great I think!After that traumatic event, we went to Ruby Tuesday's with matt's family for dinner. They had a buy one entree get one free for the 4th of july. Gotta love free food! Then we came home, put Lily to bed, and we watched fireworks on tv.

Sunday evening was the ice cream social at church. It was also the night that they showed the video from the Brazil missions trip. Jon did a great job putting the video together.

Tuesday Lily and I met Lyz and Brooklyn at Barnes and Noble for their storytime. It was the first one for Lily and Brooklyn. They listened for a few minutes and then of course did not want to sit still any longer. So they took off and spent the majority of the time chasing each other around in the kids area and looking at all the books. They had a great time despite not really listening to the story.

On Wednesday we met Mary and Abby at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. They have this really neat kids garden area with a big splash water zone, slides, playhouse, etc. The girls had a great time running around in the water. Then we took them to the butterfly exhibit. You got to walk through this area where there were a bunch of butterflies just flying all around. It was a fun morning!Today Lily and I had Aaron come over for the day instead of him going to daycare like normal. Lily and Aaron had a blast playing together. First we went for a wagon ride...
Then we made a stop at the playground....
next was snack time....then came outdoor pool/water table play time...a bath to clean off...lunch from mcdonald's...a nap for both of them and then some yo gabba gabba before Missy came to pick Aaron up. Aaron didn't want to leave! I told him we'll have to do that more often. After I got both of them out of the bath and they were both naked, Aaron looks down at Lily and says to me "where did lily's 'ding dong' go?" HILARIOUS!!! I explained to him that only boys have "ding dongs" and that little girls don't.

Went to Target this afternoon to shop for Mary's baby shower and then stopped by Carter's. Got a very cute jean jacket for Lily for the fall!

Lily's new thing to say is "see me." That means she wants me to hold her. She seems to be understanding the concept of colors now and even pointed to a letter on matt's shirt and said "s." The letter she pointed at actually was an "s"!

Matt's Homecoming and a visit from family

June 29th at 2:10PM was a glorious moment. I know some of you might have had much longer periods apart from their husbands (especially military wives), but for me this was the longest Matt and I have been apart since we've been married. It really was the first time (besides a one night trip) that we haven't been together overnight. Crazy, right? So for me, this was a huge deal and I was SOO excited to have him home! The cheesy saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is probably a true statement. It definitely reminded me how much I love my husband and all the different things I appreciate about him. I couldn't hardly sleep sunday night because I had the excited jitters!

Their flight ended up actually coming in a half hour early (yay)! We, of course, were at the airport in plenty of time! Wouldn't have missed them walking down the concourse!! That was such a beautiful moment - seeing him walking towards me and the big smile he had on his face. I hugged him like I wasn't going to let him go. :) But I did so Lily could get her hugs in! She definitely was very excited to have him home. The rest of the day she didn't want to let him out of her sight and she just seemed really happy he was around. So sweet!Needless to say, I will be back to my regular not every day blogging. Sorry to disappoint those of you (namely my sister) who loved having me blog everyday with pictures! I don't think I'm a "bad" blogger though - I try to blog at least every few days.

Today I got to meet my cousin's baby girl for the first time!! Beth had Catherine in August last year so she is 10 months old. They live up in Maryland and we just haven't gotten a chance to get up there yet. They are vacationing in Virginia Beach this week so they got to come over today to our house and spend some time hanging out and then we went to lunch together. Catherine is a cutie!! She has this adorable cute low giggle, great skin, and can throw a ball harder than any 10 month old I know! They'll be coming over again tomorrow evening to have dinner with us.

Brazil Trip Day 10

Dear Daddy,

We are SO excited that you are coming home TOMORROW!!! Mommy said that she got a text from you tonight from brazil saying you were getting ready to board the plane and that you loved us and couldn't wait to see us. That made mommy's day!

This morning we got up and got ready for church. I got to hang out in the nursery while mommy went in big church. The nursery worker said that this morning I kept asking where mommy was. Mommy says I'm becoming much more conscious about when she's not around.
Then we came home and Tara and Bailey came over. They were in town visiting anthony's family so they got to make a short stop to see us. I loved Bailey - babies are so cute! I wasn't too sure of Tara but eventually warmed up some to her.Then mommy took me back over to church after the late service so I could see my bf Abby. I was very excited to see her for a little bit. We had lunch at the house and then I took a nap.

While I was napping, grandpa helped mommy clear out the garage. It was a lot of work but it looks great now!Mommy also cut the grass because it really needed it and she didn't want you to have to cut it when you got back. Wasn't that sweet of her? She said it was VERY exhausting!! The grass looks great though!Then we headed over to grandma and grandpa's house so mommy could work on your body pillow she is making you. The cover is made out of an original 1984 transformers sheet - just like the one you had when you were a kid! It turned out great! We hope you love it.Grandma got me a bike to ride at her house. I love it! I'm not too good with the pedaling yet but I love to sit on it and get pushed around.Finally we came home, had a bath, and then mommy put me to bed. We prayed that God would give you a safe trip back home to us! Mommy said she's going to clean out the closet tonight and organize all your stuff.

We love you and miss you SO much daddy. We can't wait to see you tomorrow!!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 9

Dear Daddy,

I can't believe that today is your last full day and night in Brazil! Tomorrow night at this time you'll be getting ready to board the plane to come home! Only 2 more days until we get to see you again and we are so excited!

Today turned out to be a more "eventful" day than planned. But I'll start from the beginning. As usual we got up and had breakfast and lazied around the house. We weren't going anywhere since mommy and I were planning to leave right after lunch. I had fun playing with Ava, Cecilia, and Owen as usual. The first thing I've asked for when I wake up in the morning at Aunt Dawn's is "the babies." I love having them around! I've even mastered saying "aunt dawn." Mommy says that it sounds like I have a southern drawl when I say it.Mommy was sad that she had to leave her fun sister week 2009. She's really enjoyed getting to spend quality time with Aunt Dawn, especially since they don't get to do that very much. Mommy told me that she's so glad she has aunt dawn as her sister and best friend. I hope that I have that someday with my sibling(s).Mommy had packed all of our stuff up in the car, said goodbyes, and then went out to start the car so it would cool down a bit. She turns the key and the car starts to turn over but then shuts off. Mommy thought "oh no!" Luckily uncle chris is very handy with cars and was more than willing to help her out. He pulled out his battery charger and it started after he left that on there for a few minutes. He was pretty positive it was just that I needed a new battery but didn't feel quite comfortable sending me and mommy on the road with the car like that. So mommy and uncle chris went up to advance auto and sure enough, it was the battery. There went $80 but at least it was an easy fix.

Mommy and I were then finally able to get on the road around 1:30. I was VERY tired as it was past my naptime so as soon as we got in the car I konked out! I even slept 2 hours in the car for mommy. She was very happy! Then the other hour I spent eating my snack and watching yo gabba gabba.We got home and I helped mommy unpack all of our stuff. She said she has a lot of things she wants to accomplish before you get home on monday. As there wasn't much food in the house and it was later, mommy got us mcdonalds for dinner. Yummy! Then we watched wheel of fortune before it was time for bed.

Even though I loved staying with aunt dawn, it was nice to be back in my own bed tonight. In 2 nights from now you'll be here too daddy!!

By the way, mommy said to tell you that she knows you are VERY glad that she never made you watch mamma mia with her. Her and aunt dawn had fun watching and joking it last night but all in all it was a fun girls night and they got to sing along to all the wonderful ABBA songs!

We love you daddy and miss you so much! We were so happy to get an email today letting us know that everyone was doing good but tired and that you've had over 1100 decisions made now! That's just incredible! We can't wait to hear all about it.

Love,
Lily

P.S. - As you can see our camera is fixed and back to normal now. Yay! Mommy doesn't have to buy another one!

Brazil Trip Day 8

Dear Daddy,

We can hardly believe that there's only 3 days now until we get to have you home with us again!! We heard from an email that you all have received over 700 decision cards now from the schools you've been going to all this week. How amazing!!! We're so glad that God is using you all to reach so many others. Being without you for 10 days is worth having others come to have a relationship with Jesus!

This morning I decided to wake up early - 7:15AM. I was even up before all my cousins. We had breakfast together before Aunt Dawn took Ava to VBS. Aunt Dawn brought back Biscuitville for her and mommy! Mommy loves the ham biscuits.

Then while the babies were taking their morning nap, mommy decided to take me outside to play for a little while and ride the bike again. We couldn't stay out there long though because it's still SO hot!We picked up Ava from VBS and then went to A&W to pick up burgers and root beer for lunch but their grill was out! So we couldn't get burgers but we did get some delicious root beer! Aunt Dawn also got a car wash which I did NOT like at all!

Mommy put me down for nap and while I was sleeping she took Ava to get some Rita's again! Mommy said she had fun spending some one on one time with her niece. She also taught Ava a new knock knock joke.Mommy also had Ava take a picture of her driving Aunt Dawn's beautiful Honda Odyssey to Rita's. Mommy is hoping that she will be able to get one of these soon. Doesn't she look good driving it daddy?Once I got up from nap, mommy took me and Ava down to the neighborhood pool. Unfortunately we didn't get any good pictures because mommy said it was hard having to watch a 1.5 year old near water plus keep her eye on a 5 year old. I loved jumping off the edge in to mommy's arms!For dinner we went to Chili's. YUMMY! We, of course, had skillet queso. Mommy got her usual delicious fajita quesadillas.Then we came home, had a bath, and got ready for bed! Mommy said that her and aunt dawn are having their final night of movie marathon. They're not sure what movie they are going to watch but possibly Mamma Mia.

We love you SO much daddy and can't wait to see you in just 3 days! We're so excited!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 7

Dear Daddy,

Mommy and I can't believe that we're only 4 days away from seeing you again!! Yay!! Mommy is working on a special surprise for you. She's hoping she can get it done by the time you come home.

Today was a rather normal day around the Mendez household. We got up, had breakfast, and just hung around the house.Aunt Dawn had to take Ava to VBS so mommy took care of me and Cecilia and Owen. Mommy went on a fly hunt. There has been a bunch of flies sneaking in to the house when we open the doors so she decided she wanted to kill them. She got two!We had lunch together and played some more before naptime. Mommy says that getting lunch ready for 4 kids and 2 adults is crazy! Between me, C, and O, we went through one of those huge cans of mandarin oranges!!
Mommy thinks the camera is mostly fixed now but she's not sure. She's letting it dry out a little bit more before she starts taking pictures in it again. Aunt Dawn's got some sinus sickness - stuffy nose, hoarse throat. So we're hoping that me or mommy don't get it.

After naps, we headed to Target again (gotta love super target). Aunt Dawn bought us pizzas for dinner. Then we stopped by Rita's! YUM! Mommy and I shared a cotton candy italian ice and then I had fun running back and forth in the store with Ava.Ava has been such a big helper to me today. She can get me buckled in and out of the car seat in the back and can even lift me down out of the seat to get out! Plus she's been holding my hand when we are walking in to stores. Mommy thinks it's adorable!Mommy and Aunt Dawn are going to continue movie night marathon this week by watching a chick flick once us kids are in bed. She said it's called "he's just not that in to you."

Mommy and I prayed for you again tonight that God would watch over you and keep you safe. Life just isn't the same without you around every day! We love you and miss you! See you in 4 days!

Love,
Lily

P.S. - Some big news that happened today in case you didn't hear: Farrah Faucett AND Michael Jackson died today!

Brazil Trip Day 6

Dear Daddy,

The most exciting news of the day is that you got to call us on the phone!!! Yay!!!!!! We were SO excited to hear your voice - can you tell?! :) We're so glad that things are going well in Brazil and that the team has received a lot of response/commitment cards. And I can't believe that you jumped over 5 people during slam dunk! You're SO great daddy!! Mommy and I love you very much.

We think that Uncle Chris might have fixed the camera. It's working now and the colors seem normal. The only thing is that you can tell there's like a water spot on the picture taking screen. But the pictures come out normal once they are on the computer. Yay!!

This morning we got up and lazied around like normal. Aunt Dawn made us homemade mickey mouse shaped pancakes! They were delicious. Ava headed off to vacation bible school, the babies went for a nap, and I watched an episode of gabba.

After the babies got up from nap, we went to Old Navy. Mommy got herself a new bathing suit for only $16 and a cute new summer dress. Mommy likes wearing casual summer dresses now. Then we went to pick up Ava from VBS. It's so crazy getting 4 kids in car seats in Aunt Dawn's van! Mommy has to climb all the way under the babies to the back seat to get me in!
We had some lunch and mommy was just getting ready to put me down for a nap when she got your phone call! While I was napping, Ava and mommy played Mario Kart on the Wii and ate some oreo ice cream. Yum!This afternoon Aunt Dawn had to take Owen to get his corrective shoes so she dropped mommy, ava, and me off at Planet Child while they went to the doctor. Planet Child is this cool indoor kids play area. I had a blast! It's been SOO hot outside - in the 90's - so being indoors felt good.On the way back home, we picked up some bojangles for dinner and rented Iron Man. Mommy told me that aunt dawn had never even heard about or seen this movie! She couldn't believe it. So mommy made her rent it so they could watch it tonight after us kiddos went to bed. By the way... I forgot to tell you yesterday that I tried out aunt dawn's little tricycle and I loved it!Your trip is half way done now! Mommy and I get to see you in only 5 days!! Yay!!!! We love you and miss you lots!

Love,
Lily