Bruns Family Adventures

Happy 6 Months Maribel!

2011-01-14T20:41:00.003-05:00

To my adorable Maribel:

Happy 6 month half birthday baby girl! As I start to write this letter to you on your first half birthday, I feel like I don't even have the words to tell you just how much I love you. You light up my life just by being you. Your sweet chubby cheek smiles just make my heart melt all over again. I am so thankful to God that He saw fit to entrust you to me and your dad's care - what a huge responsibility. I know I'm not a perfect mom and I make mistakes, but I pray each day that God will use my efforts to raise you up to be a woman after His own heart.

Here are some of the wonderful things you are doing these days... You have learned to sit on your own really well. You still fall over sometimes but are becoming more and more stable every day. You drool A LOT and love to eat anything in your sight.... toys, your hands, my phone! You know how to roll from your belly to your back and have almost rolled the other way but not quite yet. Sleeping has become much better these days for you. You take either 2 or 3 naps a day and the morning and afternoon one are getting longer. You sleep on your belly for naps and your back for nighttime with your little taggie blanket. You go to bed around 7:30 at night and get up around 7am. You usually wake around 6am... sometimes you go back to sleep and sometimes you don't. We started solids about 2 weeks ago and so far you have tried rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and carrots. Rice cereal is definitely on your not like list! You have started making these yucky faces when I try to feed you rice cereal. You have 2 feedings with solid food now (breakfast and lunch). You LOVE bathtime, especially when your sister is in the tub with you. We have to work hard for your laughs but when you do they are so full of spirit. Your sister can make you laugh more than we can!Here are your stats from your 6 month check-up: Length is 28 inches (off the charts!), Weight is 18 pounds 8 ounces (90th percentile), and Head was 44 cm (80th percentile). You are our very very tall girl!! Everyone says you look just like your dad.

My prayer for you sweet Maribel as you grow is best summed up by God's Word: I pray that "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints." Ephesians 1:17-18

I love you baby girl!

Love always and forever,
Mommy

Then:Now:

Late 2 month update!

2010-09-25T20:29:00.004-05:00

Realized I never posted this 2 month update on Maribel that I had written... :)

As I'm sure other mothers can attest to... having two children keeps you on your toes and you don't have much down time to do things like blog! So my Happy 2 Month Maribel blog is coming a bit late. :)

My beautiful Maribel is already now 2 months old and growing so quickly! Right around the 2 month mark she has started to really be much more social. She gives big cheesy grins to me all the time and I've gotten a faint giggle once or twice! It's so rewarding when your sweet baby starts responding back to you! You know you must be doing something right. She LOVES her bouncer and "talks" to the little monkey and lizard that go up and down. She wasn't doing this right at 2 months, but this past week (10 weeks) she can now hold her head up on her belly for short bits of time. Go Maribel! I love my sweet baby girl and treasure every single moment that I have with her.

After her 2 month check-up, I started putting her on her belly in her crib for naps because napping had become very difficult for her. She has been sleeping SO much better for naps since I did that. I have the monitor in her crib right next to her so I can hear her breathing over the monitor. She takes about 4 naps a day - sometimes 3. Her middle of the day nap is usually the longest one. We are mostly on the eat/wake/sleep cycle except for evening time. She seems to be MUCH hungrier in the evening hours between her last 2 bottles - about 2 hours between. The other periods of the day are usually between 3-4 hours.

I had been doing the babywise format - waking her in the morning at the same time, feeding her at the same intervals (every 3 hours) but it just didn't seem to work well for her and she is more varied during the day of when she needs to eat. So even though she's on a routine - it's not a strict every 3 hours. She has fallen in to her own pattern really well. She marches to the beat of her own drum unlike Lily did at that age. :) Lily was already going every 4 hours predictably and eating a lot more. Maribel usually drinks between 3-4 ounces.

She goes to bed now at about 8:30 each night. I lay her on her back for nighttime sleep and swaddle her. She sleeps really well. I wake her at 11 to feed her before I go to bed and then she is still eating one more time in the night - usually around 4am. Hoping we'll get through the whole night soon though!

lily-isms

2010-09-09T19:37:00.007-05:00

I also forgot to post this blog I had been updating about little Lily-isms... some recent, some a few months old. :)

"it's okay, it was just fudge."

"i'm not going to get a treat" - to ms. phyllis about pooping

uses the phrase "if you say so" a lot

loves watching fraggle rock, busytown (richard scarry)

in reference to thanking God for our daily bread she said "no not daily bread, we're having macaroni and cheese!"

Me to Lily: "don't put your spit on your sister"

A recent prayer "Dear Jesus, Thank you for a good day and help me to be patient while daddy watches the news and i pray for maribel and help me to listen and obey. Amen."

"It's okay mommy, accidents happen."

"I spy something horsey" - her thing for me to guess when playing I spy... she obviously didn't quite get the concept of the game yet.. I guessed the horse pretty quick. :)

lily things

2010-08-29T13:21:00.000-05:00

I feel like this past month has been a real turning point for Lily. She seems to have "grown up" and changed so much! I've been trying to jot down things that I want to remember at this point in her life. Might be disjointed for reading but the whole purpose of this blog is to have our memories recorded... so here goes:

Lily recently got her first board game - Candy Land! A classic and one of my favorites. She actually does pretty well with it although doesn't quite have the patience yet if it takes too long.

Most times when she is singing ring around the rosy she sings the chorus like this "lettuce lettuce we all fall down." I have no clue where she picked that up from but it's hilarious!

Lily can draw really good circles and lines now and is attempting to draw other things like a stick person. She can recognize a lot of letters now including L, Y, O, A, B, and S.

She will "read" books to me now and it's so cute hearing her turn the pages and make up the story as she goes. She actually is pretty right on with books that we read a lot.

Lily loves to pretend to play ghosts or as she calls it "ghosted." I'm pretty sure she has picked up on wanting to play this from her cousin Aaron. Her imagination has really taken off and she is pretending/imagining lots of things now.

She LOVES to dance and put on shows for us! Most times she likes using this backyardigans radio player thing to dance to. She will name her dances that she comes up with too - my favorites are the pointy dance and the princess dance!

After we have family Bible and prayer time in the evening, Lily likes to play woodpecker. It's not really a game but she came up with pretending that there is woodpeckers in the room and we point to them and describe what they look like. She also just likes to shout the word woodpecker together. Crazy, I know! :)

One night during prayer time, Matt asked her what she wanted Jesus to help her with. Her response: my hello kitty puzzle. :) Most times she wants to pray for her sister, too sweet! At mealtimes she has started saying her own prayer versus the traditional "God is great" prayer. One night she prayed "dear Jesus, thank you for my family and my food, amen."

Still working on potty training. Never thought it would take this long! She has good and bad days in that department but we'll get there eventually.

Can't believe my first baby girl is starting preschool at our church in just a little over a week! She'll be going 2 mornings a week so it's not a lot but still bittersweet for me. I know she is going to love it though because she loves going to sunday school. And she is going to have a wonderful teacher too!

Finally... got Lily's haircut this past week and it's ADORABLE!!! It desperately needed it because the top layer was getting out of control and longer than the underneath so it was weighing everything down. We went to this cute kids haircut place called Pigtails and Crewcuts. She loved it! Here's a picture of my sweet girl:

one month of maribel

2010-08-16T12:12:00.004-05:00

Dear Maribel,

You turned one month on Saturday and I can hardly believe it! I always worried when I was pregnant with you about having enough love for two children instead of just one. Boy was I wrong. I can't imagine our family without you. I have fallen head over heals in love with you! The past month has been a whirlwind and you're already growing so much!

There are so many things that I love about you but here are a few. I love how you smile as a reflex when I kiss your cheek. I love your sweet face as your asleep on my chest. I love that you have your dad's hairline right now. :) I love your adorable cute perfect nose. I love when you stare at me and move your mouth like you just want a noise to come out of it. I love how your head bobbles when I'm holding you up. I love how you squeak in your sleep sometimes. I love your little feet. I love how you smell.

Most of all... I just love YOU Maribel! I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such a sweet little baby girl as you.

Love,
Mommy

Maribel's 2 week check-up and Lily-isms

2010-07-29T20:09:00.003-05:00

We took Maribel to the doctor for her 2 week check-up on Wednesday. I am happy to report we have a healthy beautiful little girl! She weighed in at 7 pounds 4 ounces (25%), length was 20 3/4 inches (70%), and head was 36.5 cm (60%). Everything the doctor checked was great. Maribel is drinking about 3 ounces every 3 hours right now. I think she's hitting her 2 week growth spurt though because last night and once today she actually drank 4 ounces. She still sleeps most of the time but usually has a good awake spell at least once during the day and then for awhile at night. And in other Maribel news, her umbilical stump finally came off this evening! Yay!! Now she has a cute little belly button.

Lily loves helping to take care of Maribel- it's so sweet to watch! She's a great big sister! Lily has definitely started to learn sassiness now. We've been having to crack down on her tone of voice now and how she says things to us. We've been talking with her about the word disrespect and what that means. She seems to understand and will correct how she says things when we tell her that it is disrespectful. Lily has also been using these big words that I'm sure she's heard us say - like the word "apparently." It's so funny to hear my 2 year old use such complex words!

And a cute conversation between Lily and her daddy at dinner the other night:
Lily - "Ewww, there's a mushroom right there!"
Daddy - "You don't even know what a mushroom is."
Lily - "Haha. What's a mushroom?"

Matt is an incredible father and husband. I just have to say that he has been so supportive and helpful during this time of adjustment for us. He's been right by my side and I even awoke the other morning to the smell of bacon! He had made a big breakfast for us, including my coffee! What an amazing husband and daddy!

I am so incredibly blessed with this wonderful family of mine! I love my husband and my two sweet girls!

Maribel Jane Bruns is here!

2010-07-20T19:45:00.002-05:00

So before I forget Maribel's birth story, I want to write it down (although this one might be hard to forget!).

I called in early Wednesday morning for my scheduled induction as I was 5 days past due. The hospital said they didn't have room yet and would call me when I could come in. It was nice because I could spend some time with Lily before heading off to the hospital. They called about 10:30 and said to make my way in. So we dropped Lily of at Nana's house to play/spend the night there, said goodbye very tearfully, and headed to the hospital. We got to the hospital about 11:30, got registered and all hooked up in the room.

Dr. Wilkes (my OB) came in at 12:30 and broke my water. During that process the baby's heartrate dropped so I had to lay on my side, have oxygen, get extra iv fluids to bring it back up. Then I waited for about an hour to make sure the heartrate was good and after that they let me get up to walk to try and get contractions going.

By 3:30 I hadn't had many so we made the call to go ahead and start pitocin. I started having contractions at that point and at 6:00pm I knew I needed an epidural. I was in unbearable extreme pain. At that point I was 6 cm dilated. And of course the anesthesiologist was in the OR at the moment so it took a half hour before he got there. They were getting me all set up on the side of the bed to do the epidural but right before he gave it to me the baby's heartrate dropped drastically again and it wasn't coming back up with just laying on my side. At that point there was a bunch of people in the room and it was chaotic and scary! A nurse had me get on all 4's in the bed (while in extreme pain!), was stimulating the baby's head with her hand, oxygen, and more fluids. Then I was already at 8cm. They finally got the heartrate up but because my blood pressure runs so low and was even lower at that point they were concerned about doing an epidural. So the doctor checked me again and I was already 10cm and ready to push - AHH! I just kept saying/screaming "I can't do this without an epidural!" The anesthesiologist was able to quickly give me a shot in the spinal fluid for the pain (I think it's called a spinal block) but because I immediately started having to push the pain medicine really didn't have that much time to kick in. Thankfully it only took about 4 contractions of pushing and she was out at 7:09pm! I still can't even believe I did childbirth with no epidural. And let me tell you if we have another one at some point, I will be asking sooner for the epidural.

They told me after the birth that Maribel's heartrate dropped so much at the end because I probably had a rapid descent. That meant that the baby came down really quickly and I dilated really quickly (thus the quick jump from 6cm to 10cm). No one can describe that awful pain that you have near the end of labor. I didn't think I was going to be able to push - the pain and extreme pressure seemed unbearable.

When they laid her up on my chest after she came out it felt so incredibly wonderful. That feeling of seeing your new little baby for the first time is so beautiful. And knowing that I had just pushed her out with no epidural made it even more incredible I guess because of the relief I felt!

Maribel Jane Bruns weighed in at 6 pounds 13 ounces on July 14th at 7:09 pm. She was 20 inches long and so beautiful with wonderful dark hair just like her sister's. We're so happy that she is a part of our family!

crazy 4th of July and 40 weeks

2010-07-08T12:41:00.003-05:00

Let's just say that Sunday, 4th of July, was a chaotic stressful day for our little family. Matt's side has been bothering him and he had been to the doctor about it before. They said it was something he probably pulled possibly playing golf. Sunday morning at church one of the teens basically threw his whole body in to Matt right where it had been hurting. It sent Matt into having severe pain there, especially when he breathed. So off he went to Patient First. They took an x-ray and everything came back good so it was just a reaggravation of the initial injury. He's been taking prescription ibuprofen which has helped.

We headed off to Matt's parents for a pool/bbq party that afternoon. Matt drove to the NC border to get a whole bunch of fireworks for us. Lily and Aaron were playing in the backyard around the corner and all of a sudden I hear a blood curdling scream. I run around to the side and after getting Aaron to try and explain to us what happened we figured out that Lily had gotten stung by a wasp. I saw the place on her face. There was an air vent coming out of the house and I'm guessing Lily looked up in to there and got stung. Matt's dad found a small nest starting with them up in there. Poor little girl was SOOO upset and acted like she was in so much pain - it was pitiful. :( I called the ped's after hours nurse line and they told me what to do for it and a baking powder paste initially helped the pain subside. It's looking much better now and all you can see is just the place where she got stung.

Then that evening I started feeling AWFUL! The day before my throat had started to feel scratchy. Well the sickness hit and I ached all over and had the chills really bad. I was a mess because in my mind I was thinking, I can't go in to labor right now I'll never make it! We came home, I got some tylenol in me, and then went straight to bed. I slept for 12 hours that night and the next day was feeling better. Now I just have cold stuff - stuffy nose/drainage. Hoping it goes away completely before this baby gets here!

Tomorrow I will be 40 weeks - yes 40 weeks! I can't believe it's already here even though it's been one of the longest weeks ever! I had an appointment today. Everything was good. Measured 38 weeks and weight was still the same, 136. Cervix was 2 cm dilated and 80% effaced. Baby's head was at 0 station now so she's all ready to come down the birth canal when it's time! Dr. Wilkes gave me his personal cell phone number to call when I go in to labor. If he feels like he won't step on the doc-on-call's toes, then he said he would come in to do labor/delivery for me! And even if he can't, he said he can at least stop by and check on me. The next day he is on call is next Wednesday, the 14th. So if I haven't had the baby by then, he has scheduled me for an induction that day. I go for an appointment on Tuesday to see how I'm progressing. Here's hoping baby decides to come on her own before then!

Book Recommendation

2010-07-01T20:04:00.003-05:00

I love to read but find that it's hard for me to fit reading in to my life now a days. Lately I've been reading a chapter or so before I go to bed of a book. Matt is gradually building a good library of stuff that I find really interesting. I just finished up "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years" by Donald Miller. It was a good interesting read and I would highly recommend it.

After finishing this up though, I moved on to a book by Mark Driscoll called "Religion Saves: And Nine Other Misconceptions." One of the first chapters or "answers" that I read from him was about the emerging church movement. VERY INTERESTING! If you are at all familiar (or not) with the missional or emerging church concepts than I highly recommend this. I knew of the "emergent church" and I had also heard of the missional church movement but I found out I didn't know much and what I did know was incorrect. It brought in to light a very interesting perspective on the "emergent liberal church" and some of its main leaders. I knew that there was faults with this movement/belief system but I didn't know what they were and to what extent they were until I read this chapter. I'm grateful for a better perspective on this now and also the un-Biblical traps they are falling in to.

Well.. that's my rant on my reading as of late. If you have any good book recommendations, pass them on!

38 weeks and the girls rooms

2010-06-29T11:57:00.003-05:00

I had my weekly check-up today. Everything was great. I weighed in at 136 and blood pressure was good. My cervix is 1.5 cm dilated, 80% effaced, and baby's head is at -1 station. My belly measured 37 weeks. Dr. Wilkes is still thinking I'll have a shorter labor... hoping that's true!
Since week 38 hit, I feel like time has drastically slowed down. The entire pregnancy has gone by really fast until now. In some ways I'm ready to just get this show on the road but other times I feel like I'm not ready yet! I've been praying that God would make this adjustment a smooth one for our family.

The girls rooms are finally done, well almost. :) I am still waiting on the other curtain rod to be delivered for Lily's room and then her room will be complete. Feel so good to finally have their rooms just the way I wanted them! Here's a few pics I took:

lily things

2010-06-24T19:23:00.002-05:00

Lily says the cutest things now. Sure wish I could remember a lot of them! One of the most adorable things she's been saying to me now is when we're laying down together she says "mommy, we're best friends." Melts my heart! Of course, I have to cherish it now because I'm sure several years down the road she's NOT going to be saying that!

Don't know if I said this in the last post or not, but we took Lily to see Toy Story 3 last week. She loved it and loved the popcorn even more I think! During the summer, AMC theaters show kids movies at 10am on certain days for FREE! And in the 100 degree heat we had today, it definitely called for an indoors activity. Lily and I went with Nana and Aaron to go see Curious George. Cute movie! Then we had lunch together at Panera Bread.

Lily is also already so sweet with her little sister in my belly. She loves to give my belly hugs and will talk in this really sweet voice to her. Usually the one sided conversation goes something like this "I love you baby. It's okay baby, I will take care of you." Here's hoping that she loves her just as much when she finally arrives!

hodge podge

2010-06-21T19:25:00.002-05:00

Today I went for my 37 week check-up. Everything was great. Dilated 1 cm., 70% effaced, -1 station. I had gained 1 pound since last week so I'm at a total of 134.5. I had to see another doctor today since Dr. Wilkes didn't have any appointments for this week but she was really nice.

This morning Matt left with the youth group for missions trip. They are going to Hillsville, VA to do some work at Joy Ranch. Having him leave while I'm not pregnant is hard enough but it's been much harder being 37 weeks pregnant! I'm trying to stay busy so I don't get lonely or worried. I'm praying that the trip goes really smoothly since this will be Matt's first time being THE leader of a missions trip. I'm sure he's going to do a GREAT job!

Yesterday was father's day and I was going to post pics but Matt has the camera with him. We had a great day despite the many things he had to do to get ready to leave. Lily made his day by telling him that he was a "really great daddy" while putting her to bed. What a sweetheart! I have to agree that he is the most incredible amazing loving caring dad to our little girl. The love he has for Lily makes me so happy! We had church in the morning and then later on in the day was able to go out to dinner for father's day.

We've been spending lots of days at the pool lately because it's been so hot! Storytime for a short summer session started again today and Lily was very excited. She loves that so much! I've also been busy getting things finished up at the house and ready for baby. The girls rooms look great - I love the paint colors and my mom is now working on the final touches, the curtains. I'll post pictures once they're finally completed.

Saturday was our baby shower for #2 hosted by our friends. It was nice and relaxing - a pool party/bbq at Matt's parents house. We got a few things that we needed including some diapers! Now just have to pick up a few more things at the store this week that I still need. I really want a moby wrap this time but I hate that you can't buy it in an actual store so I'm trying to decide whether to spend the money or not.

35 week check, painting, funny lily

2010-06-09T12:48:00.003-05:00

Went back again today for a weekly baby belly check up. Seems like I'm there all the time now that I'm going every week! Things looked great. Heartrate was 142 and belly measured 33 weeks. I weighed 132.5 (gain of a pound) and blood pressure was good.

They did the swab test for Group B strep today. I didn't have it with Lily so chances are it should be negative again. I was about a fingertip dilated (less than 1 cm) and the baby's head has come down and is low in my pelvis. All in preparation for D-Day! It's coming very quickly now and I'm starting to get the freak out moments that I think all parents get before they have a baby!

I'm still trying to finalize my choice for a paint shade for Lily's room and baby girl's room. I know I'm doing a green in Lily's room and a coral/peach in baby's room but have had a hard time determining the right shade I want. Want to paint by the beginning of next week though. Then I still also have to order blinds for both of their rooms (doing room darkening roller shades) and have my mom make curtains. All of this which I'm hoping to get done in the next week or two.

I don't know if any of you have seen the SNL skits with the character "gilly" in them. But Papa has taught Lily how to do the "Gilly..., Sorry" thing in almost the exact tones that they use. It's hilarious! If you haven't seen the skits you should look them up on the web.

Having a good week. Monday (our family day) was lots of fun. We took Lily to the zoo, went to Macarthur mall for lunch, played putt putt that afternoon, and got slurpees. Yesterday we met Mary and her girls for a playdate at the children's garden/water play area at Botanical Gardens. Lily had a blast and wore herself out!

34 weeks

2010-06-04T12:33:00.003-05:00

Went for my 34 week check up on Tuesday and had an ultrasound. This pregnancy is flying by, now I'm already 35 weeks! I feel like we still have so much to get together before baby girl gets here.

The ultrasound showed everything was great. They did some more 3-d shots and she looks like she has really chubby cheeks and even gave us a smile! She is in the 35th percentile for weight, a smaller baby like Lily was. And she was measuring mostly around 33 weeks for all her limbs/parts, etc. They estimated that she weighs about 5 pounds right now.

I'm actually only measuring 31 weeks (belly size) but Dr. said that was fine too since I'm a smaller person. The baby is growing good which is what matters. I weighed in at 131.5 pounds (only a half pound gain from 2 weeks ago).

And here are a few ultrasound pics and my preggo belly at 31 weeks:

my belly and lily's foot

2010-06-02T07:12:00.002-05:00

Went for my 34 week check up today and had an ultrasound.

The ultrasound showed everything was great. They did some more 3-d shots. She looks like she has really chubby cheeks and even gave us a smile! She is in the 35th percentile for weight which is fine, just a smaller baby. And she was measuring mostly around 33 weeks for all her limbs/parts, etc. They estimated that she weighs about 5 pounds right now.

I'm actually only measuring 31 weeks (belly size) but Dr. said that was fine too since I'm a smaller person. The baby is growing good which is what matters. I weighed in at 131.5 pounds (only a half pound gain from 2 weeks ago)!

Then, I had to take Lily to the doctor this afternoon too. We noticed Monday that she was walking on her left foot funny - curving it towards the outside with her toes under like something's wrong. Dr. Fink had her go to get an x-ray yesterday afternoon and I'm still waiting to hear back the results.

2.5 years old!

2010-05-22T19:21:00.006-05:00

I'm going to take Lily's half birthday as a jump start to me faithfully blogging again... hopefully...

Dear Lily,

You are now our 2.5 year old bubbling little girl! You continue to amaze us in everything you do and say. Having conversations with you is so much fun now. You have such a huge vocabulary and can talk with me and daddy about anything you want to! You can count to 12, attempt to color in objects, draw fairly straight lines, say the whole alphabet. You recognize a lot of things without us telling you what they are - Target, Mt. Trashmore park, the mall, chick-fil-a.Some of your favorite books include the belly button book, the little red hen, and anything we check out from the library! Storytime at the library is one of your favorite things to do - we sing songs, use a parachute, and listen to a story. Some of your favorite songs include the lion sleeps tonight, the b-i-b-l-e, skinamarinkidinkidink, and zaccheus. You love listening to music and dancing.

You LOVE going to sunday school! Your teachers are Ms. Lisa and Ms. Allison and they do such a great job teaching you all about Jesus. You always bring your money for Jesus in your purse too.

Abby and Aaron are your favorite friends and we usually have playdates with them each week. Some of your favorite outings include the beach, the pool, the zoo, and the park.We do lots of fun things at home together - playdough, read books, play dress up, have tea parties, bake, play hide-n-seek, puzzles, fingerpaint, color, blocks.

You get up now at about 7:30 in the morning and go to bed at 8 at night. Naptime is 1 in the afternoon and has been shorter lately - only about an hour. You love having us make up stories for bedtime either about you and your day or sometimes silly ones. You also sleep in your new big girl bed now too. You love your new room and sleep well up on the pillows. One night you did fall out of bed but you were okay! You sleep with your minnie mouse, baby, and little blankie at night.

2 year molars are gradually coming in. You have 2 that are fully in and another 2 that are working on coming through. Potty training is still a work in progress! You do really well with poop and always tell me when you need to go. But a lot of times when you get playing you start to pee in your underwear before you realize you need to go. We're so proud of the progress you are making though! And most times you stay dry all night long!

You are already very protective of your little sister in my belly. You sing to her, give her kisses, pretend to feel her kick, and give her big hugs. She's gonna be a tough little kiddo with you elbowing her all the time! :)

You are still a great eater and will eat most anything we put in front of you. Some of your favorite foods are macaroni-n-cheese, strawberries, green beans, corn, grapes, and mini pancakes.

Hello Kitty has taken over our house. You somehow fell in love with all things hello kitty and now have a nightgown, shoes, socks, beach towel, and shirt.

I am so proud and honored to be able to be your mommy. God blessed me and your dad with such an amazing little girl to raise! You continue to astound us and make us laugh every single day. Above all that we pray for, our biggest prayer is that you would grow up to love God with all your heart and desire to serve Him. We love you Lily and are so glad you are our bubbling 2.5 year old little girl!

Love always and forever,Mommy (and Daddy too!)

2 years old

2009-11-21T02:00:00.000-05:00

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

2009-11-14T20:28:00.003-05:00

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

2009-10-10T20:18:00.002-05:00

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

2009-10-05T20:45:00.002-05:00

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

2009-09-04T21:17:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-31T12:39:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-24T20:06:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-20T19:02:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-15T20:01:00.002-05:00

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"

2009-08-14T21:30:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-10T12:48:00.003-05:00

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

2009-08-08T20:11:00.002-05:00

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

2009-08-04T12:25:00.005-05:00

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

2009-07-29T19:11:00.002-05:00

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

2009-07-21T19:35:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-18T20:00:00.002-05:00

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!)

2009-07-17T21:35:00.003-05:00

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

2009-07-09T20:04:00.013-05:00

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

2009-07-01T19:36:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-28T19:09:00.004-05:00

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

2009-06-27T19:16:00.003-05:00

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

2009-06-26T09:38:00.008-05:00

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

2009-06-25T12:09:00.008-05:00

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

2009-06-24T14:00:00.006-05:00

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

Brazil Trip Day 5

2009-06-23T12:58:00.007-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Only 6 more days until you come home! The time is going quicker than me and mommy thought it would which is a great thing. Having a lot of fun company is helping! We saw that you had dinner tonight at the Brazilian Steakhouse. Yummy!! Hope you are having a great fun time. Mommy wishes she could be there with you but she couldn't quite bare to go out of the country from me for 10 days.

I slept really good last night in Aunt Dawn's pack-n-play. Mommy didn't even know I was awake this morning until she stood up out of the bed and I saw her and said "mommy!" Mommy said she slept okay too but misses having you in bed with her.Ava went to vacation bible school this morning and we just hung around aunt dawn's house. I was very whiny this morning too but liked watching a baby movie with all my cousins!Mommy was able to fit my car seat in to Aunt Dawn's minivan so after Cecilia and Owen got up from morning nap, we went to Target to pick up a few things. Then we headed over to pick Ava up from Vacation Bible School and got lunch from chick-fil-a. I loved getting to ride next to Ava in their car.

I was having so much fun playing with my cousins after lunch that I didn't go down for nap until 1:30! That's late for me. And then I only slept for like 40 minutes!! I did okay until bedtime though. After naps, Aunt Dawn set up the 2 kiddie pools in the front yard for all of us kids to play in. I had a great time but unfortunately mommy didn't.... She accidently dunked the camera in the water part of the way. She pulled it out quickly and dried it off but now when it turns on it's all blurry and funky colored. Uncle Chris is trying to fix it so I guess we'll see.... Mommy is going to check the warranty when she gets home but it probably doesn't cover it. Here's what any pictures you take now look like post-dunking....Thankfully Aunt Dawn has a camera we can use while we're down here to keep recording the fun things mommy and I do while you are gone. We had dinner, took a bath, and then mommy put me to bed. We prayed for you and mommy is hoping she'll get a call from you soon! We love you SO much daddy and miss you!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 4

2009-06-22T19:19:00.004-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Only 7 more days until we get to see you again!! Next week at this time you will be home and will have gotten to put me to bed for the night.

This morning I was quite the clingy little girl. Mommy said that I was just like I was last week after I had gotten over being sick. She thinks it's because I sense that you're not here...Grandpa came over to take mommy's car to get an oil change before we left . Grandma couldn't come since she is still sick. Once grandpa got back he took me on a wagon ride and to the park so mommy could get stuff ready to go.After lunch at mcdonald's with grandpa, mommy and I hit the road. For the first hour, I took my nap. Mommy said I looked like my neck was going to break while I was sleeping.The rest of the trip consisted mostly of me watching Yo Gabba Gabba. I actually was really good in the car for mommy and we didn't make any stops. The only bad part was that traffic was stopped on 95 for a little while. But it only delayed us about a half hour.I was so excited to finally get to Aunt Dawn's house and get out of the car! I love playing with my cousins - ava, cecilia, and owen. Owen is definitely my favorite though. I'm always asking where owen is and was really sad when he had to go to bed before me tonight. Aunt Dawn made us kids dinner at home and then mommy and aunt dawn ordered out from The Loop.And guess what daddy? Cecilia and I had matching pj's!! I LOVE my bug pj's and was excited that Cecilia had them too. I was not in the mood to take any pictures though or sit with dawn as you can tell from the pictures...Mommy and I are excited to spend a week with Aunt Dawn, Uncle Chris, and the kiddos. We sure do miss you a lot though. Hope we are able to get a phone call from you soon! We prayed for you before bed that God would protect you, keep you safe, and give you the courage to tell others about Jesus! We love you daddy!!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 3

2009-06-21T20:23:00.005-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day!! I sure did miss having you here for your second father's day. You're the best daddy in the whole wide world and mommy told me she thinks so too.Here's what we did today. We all got dressed and headed to the early morning service at church. It just wasn't the same without you and pastor todd there. I did get to play with abby in the nursery though and that was fun. Mommy said that you would have LOVED to be there today because Pastor Jimmy talked about "apples of gold." Mommy said she was laughing inside the whole time.Vicky and Mommy decided not to go to sunday school so we came back to the house with nana and papa during that time. I played a new game in my bed with nana called "slide."Since Grandma was sick, we just went with grandpa out to lunch for father's day. We went to that barbeque place at Landstown Crossing. I loved the green beans and ate almost all my grilled cheese sandwich. We forgot to take a picture here!

After lunch we came home so I could take a nap. Mommy said that Vicky ended up napping a little bit too.Then once I got up from nap, mommy and vicky took me to the new babies'r'us grand opening because a bunch of characters were going to be there - including my favorite - Brobee!! A care bear came out first and I did NOT like him at all. He was very scary. When Brobee came out though I was excited although I still didn't want to touch him.While we were at the store I fell in love with this yo gabba gabba guitar. I was dancing all around with it and mommy couldn't help but buy it for me. I'm so glad she did because I love it!
After we got home, Vicky had to leave to go back to her house in Lynchburg. Mommy decided to take me for a walk outside in the wagon afterwards and I insisted on taking my new guitar with me.Then we stopped at the park so I could swing and go down the slides.Finally after dinner, mommy's friend Ashley (who also didn't get to go on the brazil trip) came over to hang out for a little while.Mommy put me to bed and we made sure to pray for you. We miss you so much daddy and can't wait to see you in 8 days!! Happy Father's Day! Hope you've had a good one even though I wasn't able to be with you. Me and Mommy love you very very much!

Love,
Lily

Brazil Trip Day 2

2009-06-20T19:47:00.005-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Only 9 more days until we get to see you again daddy!! We woke up this morning and immediately checked the Delta website to see if you had made it to Brazil safely and you had! Yay!! We hope you got some sleep last night on the plane.After some breakfast, me, mommy, and vicky packed up our things and headed to the beach. We decided to go to Croatan Beach to avoid the crazy tourist crowds. At first I wasn't too sure of the water but after awhile I had fun splashing in the waves as long as mommy or vicky was holding me! It was VERY VERY hot today.We headed back home for some lunch and then I took a nice long 2 hour nap. During my nap, papa came over and fixed the leaking sink for mommy.Once I got up from nap, we all headed to macarthur mall to do a little shopping. Mommy got a pretty new dress to wear when she comes to pick you up at the airport! Then we had dinner at Chili's. It was delicious and I loved my corn on the cob.We came back home after that and I played with Vicky some before heading to bed.Mommy told me that after I went to bed tonight, her and vicky were going to have a girls night. Pj's, a chick flick or two, and of course something sweet to eat!We miss you SO much daddy. I watched your video a bunch of times today and I really thought it was live and you were talking to me. I would wave hi to you and even blow you kisses back. We prayed for you before bed tonight as usual. I can't wait for you to be home to put me to bed and mommy can't wait to have you back in bed with her too. She slept with your body pillow next to her last night.

Love, Lily

Brazil Trip Day 1

2009-06-19T19:13:00.003-05:00

Dear Daddy,

Today was probably the hardest day of your trip - saying goodbye to you. Mommy has been crying a lot today even though she's trying to hold it together for me. We both sure do miss you a lot and hope the time flies by REALLY fast. Mommy is going to try to blog each day so when you get back you can catch up on everything we did together.

After you left today, mommy and I headed back home for lunch. Luckily grandpa showed up and kept mommy company for awhile since she was really really sad. I took a nap and then mommy and I played together for awhile. After that we headed over to Nana and Papa's house so mommy would have some more company to keep her occupied. While we were there we got a call from you in New York!! Yay!!! We're so glad you made it there safely. We are now 8 hours closer to having you home again. Then Aaron, Aunt Missy, and Bobby showed up at the house. I had fun playing with Aaron and then Papa bought us chick-fil-a for dinner. Finally we headed home and mommy gave me a bath and put me to bed. Before bedtime Mommy showed me the video clip you made to tell me hi. I LOVED it and kept wanting mommy to play it again and again. I would even cry when she tried to close it - that made mommy even more sad.

Mommy said that Vicky is coming tonight and she'll be here hopefully around 10pm. We prayed for you during bedtime prayers that God would watch over you and keep you safe on your long flight to brazil.

We love you SOOOOO incredibly much daddy and pray that God uses you to reach other lives for Jesus! 10 days until we see you again daddy!!! Here's our cute picture from this morning before you left:And here's how mommy felt this afternoon (she's not looking so great!):

time flies

2009-06-11T21:40:00.002-05:00

The closer and closer we get to the brazil missions trip, the busier and busier it seems to have gotten. I don't know how much of that is us getting involved in more things or just brazil busyness. Guess we'll see what happens after the trip! Here's what this past week has entailed...

Thursday was a playdate in the morning with Lyz and Brooklyn. The girls had fun together and we went over the neighborhood park. Then that evening Matt and I went out with Mary and Chris. We had dinner at Friday's and then saw Star Trek. We had a blast and it was so nice to go out on a date night with another friend couple. By the way, I do not like the typical older star trek stuff but this movie was AMAZING! And if you know my taste in movies, me saying a movie like that was amazing is a big thing!

Friday morning I had work which went well. My parents hung out here for awhile. Then that evening we had a few youth group kids over to watch a movie (Paul Blart: Mall Cop). I made some delicious brownies and Matt made this really good queso dip.

Saturday morning Matt had Brazil practice at church so Lily and I went over and hung out there for awhile. Sunday morning was church, came home for lunch/nap, and then headed over to the church to watch the jumping practice for brazil. One of the kids ended up dislocating his shoulder really badly. Thankfully he's okay and the doctors were able to get it back in to place. Matt's parents watched Lily that evening so I could go to youth group. Then we went to Applebee's afterwards to hang out with our youth crew (jon/ashley, steve/genna).

Monday morning we all got to lazy around since there was finally nothing going on. We stayed in our pj's probably until 11am. I realized that morning though that Lily had a fever - her first one ever actually. She didn't really have any other symptoms though. That afternoon we went and hung out at Todd's house (the kid who got hurt who is also the pastor's son). Then Matt had to go to Board Meeting at church in the evening.

Tuesday morning Lily still had a fever and didn't want to eat breakfast so I decided to make an appointment to get her checked out. My mom ended up coming with me to help entertain lily at the office. The doc checked her out and she had an ear infection. So we got her on amoxocillin. Lily HATES the doctor now. Then that afternoon I got the house ready for small group. We had 13 people at "small" group that night and we had a great time!! Plus there was 2 that weren't even there that night. Yay!! We stayed up late talking with some people and didn't get to bed until 1AM - I felt that the next morning!

Wednesday was supposed to be youth leaders meeting. I had planned to take Lily over to grandma and grandpa's to hang out there. She was going to nap there and then they were gonna bring her back before church that evening. Well I got to their house to drop her off and I get a call from matt saying he had to go to D.C. and wanted me to go with him. He also had to be there by 3PM and it was already 11AM! Genna and Steve ended up going with us too. My parents watched Lily and then brought her back to our house for bedtime. She did great with them even though she was still clingy because of being sick (still had a fever). We had a great 7 hours or so of driving up and back. D.C. traffic is RIDICULOUS. I would never want to live there.

This morning we had playdate with Mary and Abby. The girls played good together except Lily was still pretty clingy to me. She finally didn't have a fever though this morning! This afternoon we played outside for awhile and got to use Lily's new water play table that I bought her. Then me and Lily went over to nana and papa's house for dinner. Matt had to work a homeless shelter feeding. Lily had fun playing with Aaron.

Here's hoping that tomorrow Lily is much less clingy than she has been. All I've heard is "mommy mommy." She wants me to hold her a lot and go with her everywhere to play.

The next few days don't seem to let up any: Tomorrow is work in the morning and then matt and I are going to a graduation for one of the kids in the evening. Saturday morning is brazil practice and then we have 2 graduation parties to go to. Sunday is church, brazil meeting, and then pool party. AAHHH!!! This might be a boring blog post because I just rambled on about everything we've done. But it should prove my point of how busy things are right now! Be praying for Matt and the brazil missions trip!!

funny and bashful lily

2009-06-06T19:07:00.002-05:00

I realized today that we have to start being more careful about words we say around Lily now! We were in the car this afternoon and in conversation, Matt said "oh gosh." Well what do we hear from the backseat right after he says that? "Oh gosh." Yes - that came out of Lily's mouth. Not that it's a bad word or phrase, it's just weird hearing my little 18 month old say that!

Then this evening we were trying to figure out what to do for dinner. I was on the pizza hut website and said we could get the pasta's with mac'n'cheese. Lily looks at me and says "cheese?!" She was excited. Then Matt asked "who wants cheese for dinner?" Lily says "ummmmmm.... me!" It was HILARIOUS! She actually answered a question that didn't require a yes/no answer whether she knew it or not! And then to top that story off.... when the pizza guy got here and gave us our stuff she immediately starts saying "pizza, pizza!" We don't get pizza that often so I don't know how she's so smart and figures that out.

Lily knows the word burger now. This might not seem funny or blog worthy, but it's hilarious hearing her say it. It reminds me of how Steve Martin from Pink Panther says it. So cute!

As I've said before, Lily is very opinionated now. She's only 18 months old but she has this one pair of shoes that she LOVES and always wants to wear. If I try to put other ones on her she freaks out and says "pink" for them. She also sometimes picks something out of the drawer and wants to wear that. I never knew this was going to start this early!

Who knew that Lily would be a bashful kid. Once she knows you she's a crazy wild toddler. But when she's around a large group of people or strangers, she's very leary of them and sticks with me. She gives any stranger that talks to her this like blank stare. Very funny! I guess that's good that she doesn't like strangers! :)

Professional Pics are Up!

2009-06-03T20:09:00.003-05:00

Lily's 18 month pictures and family pictures are up on the photographer's website. Yay!! They turned out great and we have such a photogenic little girl!! Michael Lupino did a great job and we highly recommend him to anyone in the area. Here is the website where you can check them out at:

Lily's Pictures

Crazy Eights

2009-06-03T19:29:00.002-05:00

And for my second blog of the day... thought I would do this thing that my friend Tara did on her blog...

8 Things I'm Looking Forward to

1. Matt getting home tonight
2. Date night tomorrow night
3. going to an Uppercase Living party
4. getting a visit from my friend Vicky this month
5. going to spend a week with my sister and her family this month
6. seeing Lily's cute little face in the morning
7. celebrating our 4th anniversary (hopefully at a hotel on the beach) this september
8. getting a minivan and taking Lily to disneyworld for the first time

8 Things I Did Yesterday

1. took Lily strawberry picking with Genna
2. ate strawberries for lunch
3. put Lily down for nap at nana's house
4. pool time with my family and friends in the afternoon
5. tidied up the house
6. gave Lily a bath and put her to bed
7. hosted small group at our house that night
8. finally got to bed at midnight!

8 Things I Wish

1. that I didn't worry so much
2. that my sister's family lived nearby
3. that money was not an issue (but i'm beginning to learn it always is, no matter how much you have)
4. that Lily will want to love and serve God when she grows up
5. that God will give me the guidance to be the best mom I can be
6. that God will bless us in the future with another child
7. that God will bless Matt's ministry at the church
8. that the Brazil missions team will be safe, effective, and serve God

8 Shows I watch

1. American Idol
2. The Office
3. Parks and Rec
4. The Soup
5. The Big Bang Theory
6. How I Met Your Mother
7. Two and a Half Men
8. Chuck

temper tantrums

2009-06-03T12:03:00.002-05:00

My sweet little angel has, for the past week or two, changed in to a very opinionated little toddler. Not that she isn't sweet anymore or a little angel, but there are times where that completely disappears. She has started getting VERY angry and upset when something she has in mind doesn't go her way. For example, this morning she didn't want to get dressed so when I try to go and put clothes on her she starts WAILING and flailing everywhere throwing an all out temper tantrum. Another example, yesterday evening I told her after dinner she could have some cookies because she had a good dinner. I get cookies out and apparently she wanted fruit snacks. She LOVES fruit snacks but had already had 2 packages that day. So I told her no and tried to give her the cookies. Well, you guessed it, that set her off again. I've been trying to just ignore them because from some things I've read this is a tactic that is supposedly good for this age. But I feel like that's not good enough or something. This age is hard because they are becoming more and more independent but can't verbalize and don't understand they can't get their way all the time yet. I can't just have a conversation with her about throwing tantrums because she wouldn't understand. I've tried to look things up on mom/baby websites but hear conflicting opinions. I feel like time outs are appropriate for that behavior but I feel like she may still be too young for that - either not understanding the concept fully or not being able to have the ability to sit still.

So... for all you other moms who have been through this stage or are currently there... do you have any advice/opinions? I'd LOVE to get some feedback on this. I want to be a good mom and do the right thing for her. I want to understand that she can't fully talk in conversation yet and can't understand everything that I say but I also want to raise a good well behaved child. What do I do? Keep ignoring it, try to do time outs somehow, or something else?

Happy Birthday C&O!

2009-06-02T22:50:00.002-05:00

Just a quick little shout out to my beautiful niece and adorable nephew, Cecilia and Owen. They turned 1 year old today!!! I can't believe it. And congratulations to their wonderful mom, my sister, for making it through the first and probably hardest year with twins!! I love you guys and am so glad that I have family like you. Happy Birthday Cecilia and Owen!! Your Aunt Amanda loves you very very much!!

18 month check-up

2009-05-29T21:38:00.002-05:00

Lily went for her 18 month check-up this past Tuesday. She weighed 25 pounds 8 ounces and height was 34". I think the height is a little more than she really is though because she would not lay still laying on that paper and it was crumpled up underneath her for the markings. Lily did NOT like the doctor this visit at all - getting weighed, seeing/talking to the doctor, or getting her shots. My mom came with me to help me out since I figured she would not do well with this visit. We had to literally hold her down for the shots. It was really sad. :( This was the last of shots for awhile though. She got the last hepA and the varicella (chickenpox) vaccine. She's right on track and meeting all her milestones. The doctor seemed impressed that she has about 50 words she knows now. She also passed this checklist with flying colors that I believe was for autism screening. So I have a wonderful healthy beautiful little girl!

Here's a few things about Lily these days. She has been saying thank you and please a lot more lately. When I open up the computer she comes and sits next to me, puts her face right up to mine, and says in this little sweet voice "gabba please gabba please." It's SO incredibly cute and of course I let her watch it because she's so convincing! She loves to wear my shoes around the house now. She's using a fork and spoon pretty well now. She loves to be chased. The past few days she has been wanting to sleep with this bigger pink blanket rather than just her little taggie blanket. I pulled it out the other day for her to wrap her baby up in and ever since she's been attached to it. She plays with things how they are meant to be played with (for example - feeding/rocking her baby, combing her hair, etc.). She loves to climb and jump on things - especially the bed! She can kick and attempt to throw a ball. She tries to brush her teeth herself - but I always go behind her since she doesn't really get them all. She loves hip hop music and will shake her butt better than I can! She does well with shape sorters. She'll say "bed" now when we're in her room reading books and she's ready to go to bed.

Well... that's all I can think of even though that's a lot! She's a growing healthy hilarious passionate independent sensitive fiery beautiful 18 month old little girl!

i hear you God

2009-05-27T12:22:00.002-05:00

This past week has been a whirlwind - and I don't mean a good whirlwind where you're just busy. I've had several health things going on this past week and I think I'm finally getting everything under control. Oh wait... that was the lesson I was probably supposed to be learning - I'm NOT in control at all. God's in control and is taking care of me. I am finally feeling for the most part back to normal. The medicine I am on is still making me a little off but not like it was this past weekend.

Didn't really want to go in to details about all of that, plus it would take too long. But my real objective in writing is to focus on how God speaks to us in bad and hard times. I didn't go to church on Sunday and for some reason I decided to try and find a church service on tv to watch. I normally don't do that and most church services on tv aren't very interesting for me. But... Andy Stanley who is the pastor of Northpoint Community Church was on at the time. I don't think I've ever heard him speak although Matt has mentioned him to me before. And guess what the message was on.... "why worry." It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear from God. It was like he purposed that just for me. I would definitely recommend you check out the messages online and listen to them. If you have any problems with worrying, you'll want to hear it! I haven't listened to the other one yet but I am planning to.

Then... I subscribe to this devotional thing from Walk in the Word and find this message in my inbox the other day. Once again - talking about God being in control and trusting Him.

And finally God really must have known I'm very hard headed in this area so I read this post today on a blog that I follow by Pastor Steven Furtick of Elevation Church. All about... what else but anxiety.

So there you have it. God speaks to us in many different ways but almost audibly sometimes when we have multiple things like this occur at just the time we need it. Putting my worries in God's hands and trusting Him versus being anxious will always be a struggle for me. I hope though that God has used this to make me a little bit better in this area.

What do you struggle with today? What is your ongoing battle? Keep asking God to speak to you about it - He'll show up. He did for me.

18 months and pictures

2009-05-20T19:01:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow my little baby girl turns 18 months old! I can't believe I have a toddler running around the house now! The last 18 months have definitely been the best of my life. I absolutely LOVE being a mom. Have I ever said that before? :)And I just have to add that I LOVE being a wife too. I don't brag about him as much as I do Lily but Matt is a wonderful husband and father and I'm so glad that he's mine! Can hardly believe this September we will be celebrating 4 wonderful years of marriage! I love this man!
Lily's coming up with more two word phrases it seems like - thank you, come here, i got it, where's grandma (yes, she said that today). I'm sure there's more that I can't think of at the moment. She's also turning into a polite little girl, at least sometimes that is. She's been saying please and thank you a lot without even having to be prompted. That is one thing (among many) that I really hope to instill in my children - good manners.

Random side note.... did anyone else out there that reads my blog know that kids in school don't learn multiplication and division the way we use to?! We took one of the youth group girls out for coffee this evening and somehow got on the topic. She showed us how they taught her to do it - something called "lattice" for multiplication. It was WEIRD and crazy! I'm gonna have to learn all over again to be able to help my kids when they're in school.

And finally... we got pictures done today at Botanical Gardens with Michael Lupino. Check him and his work out! He generously did the photo shoot free for us and we just have to pay for pictures. I think there's gonna be some really good ones!! I LOVE photojournalistic pictures (i think that's what it's called) versus your traditional studio portraits. Plus Lily is a much happier camper because she is free to run around and not be cooped up in a studio! He said that he would put a few highlight pics up on his blog fairly soon and then we should be able to check out all of them online within 2 weeks. I'll let everyone know once they're up! Poor little Lily got a bunch of scrapes and cuts on her knee/shin though. :( She fell several times. I guess that happens to all kids when they're young.

my sister's house, mother's day and D.C.

2009-05-13T13:30:00.005-05:00

We had a great time at my sister's house last week. Lily didn't nap in the car on the way down like I thought she might (since if we're in the car in the morning she will at times doze off). So the car ride down was a long one. We watched 4 episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba. Hey I didn't care as long as it made her happy! Lily LOVED her cousins this time! They all did so well together. Lily would always ask where the babies were when they were sleeping. She loved them. Ava and Lily had a dance party together which was absolutely adorable and then they were racing each other across the living room while scooching on their butts. We even managed to go out to dinner once with all 4 kids! Friday night we put them all in the bathtub together. Lily had the look on her face the whole time of "why are all these kids in my bath?!"
I had a great Mother's Day. Just did normal busy church stuff in the morning, had a quick lunch, then naptime for Lily. After that we had our families over to the house and had a cookout. It was a gorgeous day for it and Lily and Aaron had a blast playing out in the yard. Lily (with the help of her dad) made me a homemade card that I found in Lily's crib and they also got me some gorgeous flowers. Plus Lily decided to take a 2.5 hour nap that afternoon! Happy Mother's Day to me!On Monday Matt headed up to D.C. with Jon and Steve to try and get Jon's passport fixed. It was supposed to be a "short" trip and they would be back in the evening. That, of course, didn't happen. They ended up having to stay overnight and then didn't get to leave Tuesday until after dinner. So Matt finally got home around 11 last night. Lily and I went to my mom's house for dinner on Monday and then my parents took us out to eat for dinner last night. That way I had some company and didn't have to deal with meals for the 2 of us. Matt was very ready to get back to see me and of course his sweet little Lily...

10 Reasons I Love Being a Mom

2009-05-10T10:04:00.004-05:00

To celebrate Mother's Day on my blog, I would like to share 10 of the reasons I love being a mom!

1) I love getting to experience the love I have for Lily. Before becoming a mom, I had absolutely no clue what the love of a mother felt like. I love and absolutely adore my husband. I love my sister. I love my parents. I love my in-laws. I love my friends. But none of those loves can capture what it feels like to love your child. My love for Lily is indescribable.

2) I love that I now have a better glimpse of God's love for me as His child - even though His love for us far surpasses the love a mother has for her own child.

3) I love the random and unrandom kisses that Lily gives me. Whether it's before bed, when I'm leaving, or just out of the blue, her kisses melt my heart. Especially when she gives them and says "mmmm" afterwards like they are delicious! :)

4) I love to watch Lily sleeping. It's so peaceful and beautiful. And putting her to bed is such a sweet time. I love sitting in the rocking chair with her, reading books, saying prayers, and cuddling before bedtime. It's such a beautiful thing.

5) I love watching my wonderful husband be an amazing father. Seeing my husband hold our brand new little girl for the first time made me love him even more deeply than I could ever imagine. And watching him and Lily play around together makes me the happiest mom and wife.

6) I love seeing Lily do something new that I have taught her. I'm sure there will be plenty of things that she sees me do or say that I won't be glad she learned from me but I try my hardest to be the best example I can be. I want her to ultimately see Jesus in my life and to want to serve Him when she grows up too.

7) I love holidays as a mom, especially Christmas. It's amazing how once you have a child, your perspective on things and what matters completely changes. I could care less about presents for myself anymore. Holidays are just more magical and wonderful when you have kids to share them with.

8) I love hearing Lily say "go gabba gabba." It might just be one of the cutest things ever. She absolutely loves that show and gets all excited yelling "gabba gabba!"

9) I love hearing her say "ooooooo" in awe or excitement when she sees something new for the first time or something that she loves.

10) I love getting to play with Lily. Whether it's the park, going for a wagon ride, dancing, chase, or just hanging out at the house - she's such a joy to be around and to watch her do the most hilarious things. Which by the way she can shake her booty while she's dancing better than any other 17 month old out there!

I could think of so many more reasons I love being a mom but there's some of the top ones. And being able to stay at home full time with her makes it all the better! I love spending time with my beautiful precious baby girl!! If you're a blogger mom, I'd love to hear about some of the reasons you love being a mom! Happy Mother's Day to all my mom friends!

3 Months In

2009-05-05T21:11:00.006-05:00

I wanted to write an evaluation of life in Virginia Beach now that I'm 3 months in to this whole thing. Life has been a whirlwind. It feels like we've been here a lot longer than just 3 months. I think that's partly because we grew up here and we are at our old home church so it's all familiar territory.

I first want to say that I think Matt is doing an incredible job as youth pastor. And I am SO happy that he is happy and enjoying this phase of our lives. It's a great thing to be able to be doing the exact thing that God put the desire in your heart to do. We prayed about this for a very long time and God blessed us tremendously with this opportunity. We already have several kids that are coming to youth group now that weren't before we got here so that's good news! And be sure to check out the new AYM website!

The first month was really hard for me. Having to leave my 2 good friends in Lynchburg was NOT fun and I will always miss their company even though I will never lose their friendship. I guess that's how all of life is for the most part. The first time was when my sister moved to Georgia when she got married. The second time was my best friend from college, Tara, moving back to her hometown after graduation. And then there was moving away from Vicky and Alicia. I feel very blessed though that God put such wonderful best friends (including a sister!) in to my life. And I know that God is going to surround me with just the right close christian friends here in Virginia Beach too. That is my prayer that God will again bless me in that area.

And God has already answered my prayers for "mommy" friends and friends for Lily. I've been able to reconnect with Lyz, a friend of mine from high school. She has a little girl who is a few months older than Lily. And I've also been able to conect with Mary who was in AYM youth group with me and still goes to Suburban. She also has a little girl, Abby, who is several months older than Lily. I've really enjoyed their company and I know Lily has fun playing with her new friends. We try to get together at least once a week.

I'm helping out with the youth group and try to get to as many things as I can. I'm usually always at youth group because one of the grandparents comes over to watch Lily for me. I'm also very excited about the small group that Matt and I are starting up at our house. It's going to be for 20 somethings and we'll meet once a week here for fellowship and bible study. The church really needs outlets like this to be able to reach our age group so I'm glad that we can be a part of that. We're hopefully starting either next week or the week after.

I love the Virginia Beach area so definitely no problem there! And having a house to live in is a HUGE blessing. It's so great to have a lot more space and a front and back yard to play in! Plus we have the added bonus of a playground literally right across the street!

All in all, 3 months in and I'm doing good. Our day to day life is much different. Matt's "work" hours are much more varied but he still gets plenty of good time to spend with us. And like I've said before, it seems like there's always something going on. Most of the time this is good because I do like having things to do, but there are some times where it does become overwhelming and we just have to take a step back and spend a day just us not doing anything.

Thank you God for all the blessings you have given me and my family!

this week

2009-05-05T12:47:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy week so far. Sunday's are always crazy but good. Yesterday we went to take care of some financial matters with our financial planner. We're currently working on buying life insurance since Matt doesn't have that through his work anymore. That's one complicated subject. I don't like decisions that have a TON of options. And buying life insurance is one of those. Lily fell asleep in the car in the morning so we went out to Costco afterwards since she would nap later in the afternoon.

Today Lily and I went over to Mary and Abby's house for a playdate. The girls had fun together and got to watch the garbage truck. Yes - that's exciting stuff for them! Now I'm working on laundry and then packing tomorrow. We're going to see my sister and her family from Thursday to Saturday. Yay!!! It's been almost 5 months since I last saw them! That is WAY too long. We've been really busy though mostly because of the transition of moving from Lynchburg to Virginia Beach. Plus Matt can't get away as easily now because he has to be here on Sunday's for church stuff and youth group. I'm very excited and can't wait to see my beautiful nieces and nephew. And I think Lily will have a blast playing with all of them!

I'm still doing one nap for Lily. She's handling it okay although I know she really needs a little bit more sleep during the day. If she would start napping longer then that wouldn't be a problem! She still only sleeps about an hour though in the afternoon. We also tried not putting the sock on her hand for naptime and bedtime yesterday to see if she was broken of sucking her thumb yet or not. And it's been okay so far! No thumb sucking!

videos

2009-05-02T20:26:00.006-05:00

Here's Lily reading books and talking up a storm. Pardon her attire - she still had on pj pants and she always hikes them up on her legs!

And here's Lily saying what we hear all day now.... "gabba." She's obssessed with yo gabba gabba right now!!

friends

2009-04-30T19:26:00.002-05:00

Lily has a new favorite thing to do.... watch the "friends" music video clip from Yo Gabba Gabba on the computer. Matt showed it to her once a few days ago. Ever since then anytime we get on the computer she'll come and sit beside us and keep saying "friends" "i want friends" until we play it. It's hilarious even though sometimes I would just like to get on the computer and actually look at what I intended to when I get on here! But anything for my cute little girl! She can say "gabba gabba" now too. The show is growing on me. I HATED it at first and didn't want anything to do with it. But the more I watch it the more I'm okay with it. And Lily likes it.

our day at the beach

2009-04-28T20:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we took Lily down to the beach since it was so warm. We walked around the boardwalk some and went down to the water for a little bit. Lily was semi okay with the sand for a little while but didn't want to get too near the water. I don't blame her though - it was COLD! Plus I'm sure it's a little intimidating to a little girl like her. And of course we had to get a slurpee while we were down there. You can't go to the beach without getting one! :) We had a great afternoon though and she just chattered away in the car on the way home. She learned the word "beach" too. Here's some pics of our afternoon:

control freak

2009-04-28T08:47:00.002-05:00

My name is Amanda and I'm a control freak.

I know it. And I'm able to admit it. And supposedly that's the first step in fixing a problem. HA! I will always have an ongoing battle with this problem. Anyways... it made me think about it today when I read this great blog post from 5 Minutes for Faith. If you have the time, check out this post from that blog for today. If not... here is one of my favorite lines in it:

"One thing I've learned is that people who need to control do so out of fear. I fear making the wrong decision. I fear my children getting hurt. I fear consequences.

As a mom, there are some things I need to be in control of, but there are more things that I need to let go of. Whenever I try to control everything I only seem to become stressed and anxious"

This is so true. I know that worrying and becoming anxious get me NO WHERE. And trying to control things usually makes it or me worse. But I somehow still do it. When you have a child, there's no hiding that quality! :) I never thought before about what the writer said is the cause of this though. It's because of our fears that we try to control things. How true. I worry a lot about medical stuff and I'm always nervous/scared about stuff like, for example, this new swine flu thing. When you have a child, you don't want ANYTHING to hurt them.

I've just GOT to start trusting God more and really doing what the verse says - casting all my cares on Him. Easier said then done though, right?

outings, new phrases, one nap, and a couch

2009-04-23T12:52:00.002-05:00

The zoo was GREAT last weekend. Lily had a blast looking at the animals. Her favorites were the elephant and the pig. We decided to just buy a year membership because if we take her 4 or more times over the next year then it would pay for itself. And I'd love to be able to go often. It was really crowded that day though because they were celebrating earth day.

Then on Tuesday grandma and grandpa came with us to the children's museum in Portsmouth. I love being able to take Lily to things like this now. And thankfully there's a lot more to see and do than in Lynchburg. That is one thing I love about living here. There were all kinds of fun things at the museum - pretend grocery store, fire truck, bubble room, slides, music room, train room.

Today Lily said two new 2 word phrases! And of course they were ones that we say to her but she's decided to repeat them to us. I was moving her arms away from something she shouldn't be touching and she says "stop it." And then this afternoon she kept saying "don't touch" when she would be getting ready to do something that we probably wouldn't allow her to do. The "stop it" one was hilarious. Although I'm sure it won't be so funny when she's older and yells that at us! But for now I will laugh!

I noticed the other day that Lily's thumb was just looking beat up again from sucking on it so hard. So I figured it was time to implement the sock again since we're settled now and break the thumb sucking habit. I sewed a sock back on her pj top and started using it yesterday. She of course freaks out when I put it on her and just wails, but it's really for her best because if not, her thumb's just gonna get worse and then could get infected again. Yesterday she cried for 15-20 minutes for both naps but not too much for bedtime. Today I decided to try the whole 1 nap a day thing again because I think she is ready since her morning nap is so late now and I have to wake her up after 30 minutes in order to get an afternoon nap in. She actually did great all this morning and then I put her down at 1:30. She again cried when I put her shirt on but I got her calmed down rocking in the rocking chair before I laid her down for nap. She cried for just a minute or two once I put her down.

And in great news.... an unexpected blessing! The den/playroom in the back part of our house has no seating in it because we only have the 2 couches that we use in the living room. I just have a lot of Lily's toys back there but no where to sit. We eventually want to buy new couches for the living room and would then be able to put our old ones back there but we just can't afford that right now. Somehow it got brought up in conversation with someone from our church on Sunday and he said that he had a couch from one of the houses he was flipping that was left by the owners and in good condition. Today he had it brought over to us! Yay! Now we have a couch in that room.
, stop it, don't touch, new couch

video time

2009-04-20T14:38:00.006-05:00

Lily had a blast at the zoo (I'll blog about that later). Here is her with one of her favorite animals.... the pig.

She has really gotten in to shaking her booty to music/dancing lately. And I must say she shakes her booty quite well! :) This is the only time I've been able to catch it on video so I apologize for the awful whistle that my mom is blowing!!

And finally... Lily saying names of people she sees on facebook. Her favorite is Jon Carolino from church. For some reason she gets excited when she sees his picture on there "see jon!" She now knows Owen's name too (our nephew). She says "oe" or "owee" - don't really know how to spell that but basically the 2 letters O and E put together. So the only name she can't say in my sister's family is Ava. That's a hard one though.

a week update

2009-04-16T18:14:00.004-05:00

We had a great easter on sunday. Lily was adorable in her new dress. We had a fun easter egg hunt outside, she loved her easter bunny presents, and we had a delicious easter dinner. My first ham actually turned out good! We had my parents, Matt's parents, and Missy & Aaron over for the meal. I just have to say that I LOVE my china too. Even though it's simple, I just think it's gorgeous and wished that 1)I got to use it more often, and 2)that it didn't require hand washing!
On monday, we headed down to Macarthur Mall to look around and have lunch. Lily got to play in the new play area, so she was a happy camper. Then afterwards we went to Doumar's and had milkshakes. Yum! Matt finally got our bushes trimmed down outside and the yard raked.

Wednesday was video making day for the youth group. It's spring break for kids this week so Matt got the kids together to work on some commercials to advertise different stuff. Can't wait to see them all finished! That evening we had girls night and guys night. The female youth leaders took the girls over to matt's parents house and had pizza, played games, and watched a movie. It was a fun night!

And today Lily and I met Mary and Abby at the park. It was a little chilly but the girls had a blast. Lily is becoming more of a pro on going down slides. She goes down better on her tummy so she'll turn herself around. And Lily LOVES the slides. It's so cute watching her go down yelling "weeee." She's also gradually getting better at steps if there's something to hold on to. I still have to watch her closely. Here's Lily's friend Abby giving her a hug on sunday:Lily's latest.... she HATES having her teeth brushed. She did fine with it for awhile but now it's like I have to pin her down and she just screams. I feel bad for her but I've got to do it! I've even tried letting her brush but she obviously doesn't really get them good. She just sucks on the brush more. I don't know if it's bothering her more because of her teeth coming in. I also think if I let her eat she could eat all day. Anytime there's food around she's always saying "bite, bite" because she wants some. She can use a fork pretty well to stick things but is still trying to get the spoon thing going. If it's something sticky that will cling to the spoon pretty well, like pudding, then she does better. And Lily can also get up and down on couches really well. I feel much more safe leaving her on the couch now alone because she usually is careful in getting down. Sometimes if she gets distracted though or is trying to stand (or jump!) on the couch she could easily fall off if I weren't there to catch her. Last note, Lily LOVES her baby stroller we got her for easter. She has been pushing that thing around all the time and trying to sit in it herself! I just LOVE this age. I LOVE having a toddler!! They're so much fun and just do the cutest things!

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T19:55:00.003-05:00

why

2009-04-12T10:19:00.003-05:00

All I can think is WHY God when I read stories like this . I just can't imagine what those parents are going through. Their little girl was born the same month that Lily was. God, I'm SO thankful for my little healthy baby girl. Watch the video at the bottom of that page and read the story- the tears just poured as I learned about this. On this joyous day for us as Christians, take some time to pray for that family. I'm so thankful that we have the hope that she is with Jesus now. And take time today to remember how THANKFUL we as moms are to have our children.

she did it again

2009-04-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

Just had to say that yesterday Lily said "see poo poo" and pointed to her diaper again right before she went. Definitely not a coincidence the day before! I think she gets it! I'm going to order her a potty today. Yay! Never thought I would get excited about ordering a potty - they're so cute though!

Lily and I are going to the park today with Nana to enjoy the beautiful weather!

potty

2009-04-08T09:20:00.002-05:00

I think my 16 month old totally knew she had to go poop yesterday before she did it! We were sitting in the living room and she points down to that region and was saying "poo poo." She hadn't done it yet so we tried rushing her over to the potty and sitting her on it. Well she freaked out because I don't think she liked the fact that she was on this cold huge scary potty. So we took her down, put her diaper back on, and like a minute or 2 later she did poop! It was either a coincidence or as I think, she really knew she had to go. Crazy! I know she's still awhile off from actually being potty trained but it was exciting. I think we're gonna buy her a potty seat to put in the bathroom just so she can start seeing that she has a little one for her to go in someday! Anyone have any opinions on what the best potty seat is? I'm thinking about getting one of the bjorn ones but there's 2 kinds. Not sure which one works better...

To correct what I said on my last blog entry, it's Lily's cuspids that are starting to come in, not her incisors. I was recording it in her baby book last night and realized I had the wrong word for them! I thought incisors were the sharp ones on the side but guess I was wrong!

incisors, youth group, and tara visit

2009-04-06T19:11:00.002-05:00

Lily's incisors are starting to come through. She finally finished up all her 1 year molars and yesterday I noticed that her first incisor was starting to poke through. I've heard the incisors are more painful. Poor thing... as I was just brushing her teeth before bed as soon as I touched the top where the first one is poking through, she just cried in pain. Hopefully they won't take too long to all come in.

Last night I was able to go to youth group since Matt's parents came over to babysit Lily. We had a great evening and 3 kids show up that go to the church but aren't really coming to youth group. So that was great!! I'm trying to help Matt target those kids and get them involved with youth group and start to feel a part of it. We had a great night of scripture reading and worship focused around easter. Then afterwards had food for the kids since the first sunday night of every month is designated as "fellowship" night.

And today we got a visit from Tara, Anthony, and Bailey! They were in town visiting Anthony's family and carved some time out for us. Bailey is such a cutie and wonderfully chubby like Lily was as a baby! I had her laughing this afternoon and it was adorable. Lily loved Bailey and kept saying "see baby." We had a great lunch out at Chili's too, our usual when we get together.

week recap

2009-04-03T14:18:00.003-05:00

Life is as busy as ever it seems. And I was worried about not having anything to do once we moved here! Last night I was trying to make plans to go get coffee with my bf from childhood, Sarah, and we had so many things going on next week it was hard to find a time.

So I will recap the last week. Sunday was church and then took Lily over to grandma and grandpa's house for awhile that afternoon. Monday was Matt's day off. We ate lunch out at Atlanta Bread. It's very similar to Panera Bread but I definitely liked their sandwiches better. Then we took Lily to the Jumpin Monkey, her first try at a jumping place. She was TOTALLY not in to it. She freaked out and was scared of the big inflatable jumping things. We headed back home and I took her outside to play since it was a nice day. That evening we went to Matt's parents house for dinner/going away party for Mike (Matt's brother). He left this past week for Navy boot camp.

On Tuesday, Lily and I met Lyz and Brooklyn at the park and the girls had a blast! It was a gorgeous day. Then Lily and I had lunch together at chick-fil-a.

Wednesday was youth leaders meeting at church. Grandma came over and watched Lily so I could go. We had a potluck lunch which was delicious - Matt made bruschetta chicken pasta (just like the kind at TGIFriday's). We got a lot of planning done and I'm excited about what's coming up for the youth. Then later on Matt's parents came over to watch Lily. Ashley, Genna, and I (the 3 female youth leaders) are taking one of the youth group girls out each week for coffee. So we went and did that and then I was able to go to refuel (mid week small group for the youth).

Thursday, I decided to try out one nap with Lily. She doesn't always sleep in the morning when I put her down for nap so I figured I would give it a try. I went out to a store in the morning to try and keep her occupied. She was VERY whiny though and I could just tell she was tired. About lunchtime she perked up again. I put her down at 1:30, she slept 45 minutes, and then woke up WAILING! It took me forever to get her calmed down. So I don't know what her deal was but I'm going back to two naps. Even if she doesn't fall asleep in the morning, I still think she needs some down time in her crib.

Today Mary and Abby came over for a playdate. Lily and Abby had fun playing and had lunch together. Now I'm relaxing while Lily naps and then going out to enjoy the nice weather! Can I just say I LOVE getting to dress Lily in spring/summer clothes?! I think she looks adorable in capris and short sleeve shirts with her little white sandals.

Tomorrow is busy busy - church yard/bake sale, make a commercial to advertise youth group girls night in, and then we're going out with Lyz and Lee tomorrow evening.

Some fun new Lily things: She likes to blow her nose now. Whenever she's in the bathroom and sees the toilet paper she says "nose." She'll hold the paper up to her nose and try to blow it but it really ends up more like sucking in through her nose. Her vocabulary just keeps expanding. She is putting the word "see" together with things now when she wants us to look at something like "see ball." Some other new words - flower, coat, glasses, no, go, hi, bush, bed, again, bird, push.

videos

2009-03-29T19:36:00.006-05:00

Lily has picked up dancing more and more. Her newest dance is with her bear that plays music. She like prances/waltzes around. It's very cute....

Here's Lily having fun playing chase with her cousin Aaron. They're hilarious!

And finally... here's Lily and her daddy just having fun together:

rainy days and fun with friends

2009-03-27T20:11:00.002-05:00

I feel like it has rained or been dreary a LOT more than usual this time of year. I am so very ready for spring and lots of sunshine and warmth! Plus Lily has all these cute spring/summer clothes I can't wait for her to wear. And I'm bored with my winter wardrobe as well. Ready to crack out my rainbow flip flops! Which by the way are the best flip flops EVER! My sister got me in to them. They are much more expensive than the cheapo $5 ones at Old Navy I use to get but they are SO incredibly comfortable and last a very very long time. Plus they mold to your foot as you wear them.

Yesterday evening we had our friends Justin and Dianna over for dinner. They just got married in January and are living in Virginia Beach for the time being. We had a great time with them including watching The Office and eating some delicious smore brownies that Dianna made.

Today me, Lily, and my mom went to Lynnhaven mall to do some shopping and had lunch. I got a cute pair of white flats I can wear with dresses for the summer. And then a few VERY cute things for Lily for the summer. Including this adorable shirt with these shorts from Gymboree. I absolutely LOVE dressing my little girl!! So we had a fun day out.

Then this evening we had our second "dinner for five" for the youth group. Just a chance for a few of the youth group kids to come over to our place, share a meal, have some fun, and get to know us a little better. Lily LOVES having people (especially girls) come over to our house I think. You can tell she loves the attention and is always really silly. Plus she usually crawls up in one of the girls laps and will sit there with them. I'm really glad that she has adapted so well to this new life of ours - a much busier one with a lot more social interaction. She's such a great kid!!

birthday celebration

2009-03-25T19:19:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Matt's birthday. We had a great day until the end. Matt came home for lunch and opened his presents from Lily and me. He got an Ipod Touch! He was VERY excited. I don't usually spend that much money on birthday for him but we weren't able to do christmas presents this past year really and this will sync with his mac well so he can use it for youth group presentations, email, calendar, etc. I love getting him a really good present that he's not expecting - seeing his face light up was wonderful!

Then that evening we had our families and some friends over to have cake and ice cream. We celebrated my birthday partially too since I was sick for mine. Lily and Aaron were having a blast. They just kept chasing each other around. Then when Aaron had to leave and we told them to give each other a kiss and hug they both just went right to each other and wouldn't stop kissing and hugging! It was adorable! We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Steve, Genna, and Terence stayed later and we had a great time talking. It was 11:30PM before we knew it!
After they left, Matt went back to the bathroom. He was back there for awhile and then when he came out he had this AWFUL look on his face and said in a bad voice "I have to tell you something." Then he proceeded to tell me that he was sitting on the toilet playing with his new ipod touch and somehow it fell in. AHH!!! He felt SOOO incredibly bad and was so mad at himself. We checked out the warranty on it but it did not cover accidents/water damage, etc. Plus there's apparently some indicator on the bottom that turns pink when there is water damage and yes, it had turned pink. We thought we were doomed and had just had a whole bunch of money "thrown down the toilet." So I decided to go try and see if I could return/exchange it at Costco today since they have a 90 day return window for electronics. I told the lady that it wasn't working now and had locked up and she just returned it, no questions asked!!! I was SOOOOO excited!!! So I was able to get Matt a new one that works. I told him not to take it anywhere near water ever again!

Today Mary and Abby came over for a playdate. We had a great time and the girls played really well together despite both wanting the baby dolls! They are really cute together.And finally... is she not the most adorable little girl ever??!!Giving kisses..dressed up for church...

fun sunday, names, and grilling

2009-03-23T19:31:00.002-05:00

We had a great Sunday. Went to the early service since Lily's morning nap falls too late now really to go to the 11 service. Then that afternoon we went outside and played for awhile since it was actually a decent day. Lily loves being outside. Then my parents came over to watch Lily so I could go to youth group.

This week for game, Matt had chocolate covered a whole bunch of different items (some good, some gross). Some of the nasty stuff included: pork rinds, vienna sausage, mushroom patty, green pepper. They were blindfolded and had to guess what they were eating that was covered in chocolate. Very fun! Worship was great of course and so was Matt's talk. I really enjoy getting to listen to him share with the kids.

Jon (youth group worship leader) had invited a bunch of people out to Applebee's for his girlfriend's birthday after youth group. So we went with Steve and Genna to that. There ended up being over 30 people there! It was nuts! We only really knew about 6 or 7 of them. We had a great time though!!

It's been really nice getting to do some things that normally we wouldn't have been able to in Lynchburg since the grandparents weren't around. It's very nice to have them available to watch Lily so we can go out every now and then. And plus, I don't trust a whole lot of people with my beautiful 16 month old so it's reassuring to know that when I do leave, she's in good hands and having a great time!

When we're riding in the car, we've been asking Lily to say the different names of our family. She's pretty good at trying to copy what we say. So here's what she gets out for each one: daddy (dada), mommy (mama), grandma (andma), grandpa (pa), nana (nana), papa (papa), aunt dawn (daw), uncle chris (kiss), ava (nothing, haha), owen (nothing), cecilia (cece), aunt missy (miss), uncle mike (my), aaron (nothing). So she's getting there. When we ask to her to say Cecilia it's so cute hearing her say cece. That must be Cecilia's new nickname.

And finally, we had a delicious dinner tonight. Matt borrowed his dad's charcoal griller until we can get out own full size one. So we got steaks and grilled them tonight. They were scrumptious!

pf changs, lost filling, and crabby lily

2009-03-21T19:35:00.002-05:00

Today we went to PFChangs for lunch to celebrate Matt's birthday (which is on Tuesday). I LOVE their food! It's amazing. And usually the service is great too. But today was AWFUL! We had a reservation and were seated promptly but it took over 2 hours to get the whole meal/pay the check. It was absolutely ridiculus. PLUS we have Lily with us and no 16 month is going to want to sit in a high chair and be content for 2 hours! That just made it even tougher.

I just realized as I was writing that Lily is now 16 months old! Yet another month has flown by!

This afternoon I realized that there was like a big hole in one of my back teeth. So I'm guessing that I lost a filling somehow. ARGH! We just had to spend like $500 for that stupid nightguard and now we're gonna have to pay to get this fixed. It will be completely out of pocket too because we're still in the 6 month waiting period since we just changed to a new insurance plan when we moved here.

And finally... I don't know WHAT was up with Lily tonight. She got all upset around 7PM and just was crying and crying. I don't know what her deal was. I managed to get her a bath and then finally got her calmed down right before bedtime. I ended up just going in to her room and rocked her for a little bit and read some books. She went right to sleep when I laid her down so who knows. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

being fed and feeding others

2009-03-20T09:54:00.003-05:00

Lately I have felt like I need to be spiritually fed more. Even though we are obviously involved in church stuff a lot now, I still am craving like a small group bible study atmosphere where I can really dive in to the Bible and learn more. I am a BIG fan of small groups.

I also have felt like I don't have anything that I'm pouring myself in to, a purpose or calling that God has given me to do in this season of my life. That's not to say that I don't have things going on that I participate in and help out with. The big purpose of my life right now is raising my child (and future children). I believe that God called me to be a full time stay at home mom. I absolutely love it and feel that it's the most important task for my life right now. Sometimes though the importance and value of that gets overlooked and moms can feel worthless. So as a side note, to all you moms out there, keep up the great work. It might seem like your day to day same old same old is not meaning anything, but it IS! You are raising your kids to become fully functioning adults that can bring others to Christ! I'm also involved with the youth group. I can't do as much as some of the other leaders or be at youth group every week though because taking care of Lily does come first. But I do love getting to help out and being part of these young girls lives!

I still feel like I'm missing something though. Now my first and second paragraphs might sound like two opposite things - feeling the need to be fed, and feeling the need to give. But really they can come together. I've been praying and thinking about possibly starting up a small group bible study during the week for women around my age and more specifically targeting young moms. I feel like there is a lack of outreach to this age at our church right now and I want to be a catalyst in doing something. Leading a small group can be a daunting task and something that I'm not completely comfortable with but I still feel this burden. This can also be the outlet I need for spiritual feeding. I have to do prep work which gets me studying more and it also would provide interaction and fellowship each week with other believers.

So I'm asking my blog readers to be praying that God would show me if this is something I should do or not. And if it is, being able to find other young women that want to be a part and figuring out how to provide childcare so those that have young kids can come to it!

rita's

2009-03-18T19:22:00.001-05:00

For all the Rita's lovers out there... this Friday (March 20th) they will be giving away a free regular italian ice to every customer. They do this each year to celebrate the first day of spring. Here's hoping they have the sweet tea flavor that day!!

lily things

2009-03-18T19:09:00.002-05:00

I've said this before I'm sure but I have to say it again... Lily LOVES balls. It doesn't matter what color they are or what size they are, she loves them. And most of the time she just wants to hold them, not even play with them. She is usually really good with "sharing" toys and not getting upset but if you dare try to take a ball from her, she will get VERY upset!

If Lily wants me or matt to do something or go somewhere in the house, she will push us there. It's hilarious. She'll push on our body and keep doing this until we get to where she wants us.

Lily has this new food thing where she only wants to eat the first bite out of something and then wants a new one. For example, if there's cookies on the table she'll take a bite out of one and then whine for another new one.

Lately she only wants her daddy to put her to bed at night if he's around. For some reason she FREAKS out if he's here and I try to put her to bed. Apparently he does it better. :) That's okay, I know she loves me anyways.

She knows most of the parts to your face now - eyes, nose, mouth, ears. And then of course she knows belly button.

videos

2009-03-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

Here's Lily playing the piano being cute...

Giving kisses and making animal noises...

And giving high fives....

night guard, cleaning, art work

2009-03-16T19:15:00.004-05:00

I went to the dentist this morning to pick up my night guard which *supposedly* is going to help fix my jaw and make it be able to open up all the way again. So here is what we had to fork out $525 for (a close up and far away shot so you can see just how small it is, it's on top of the can):
When I saw it and how small it was, I was like are you kidding me? I'm paying this much money for this little thing?? Apparently though it's better than previous styles because it's less obstructive in your mouth and more comfortable to wear at night. Guess we'll see...

Then Lily was my helper and pushed around the swiffer sweeper for me. She loved it! Good news for me, maybe she'll like chores, or maybe I'm just dreaming!Then we pulled out the crayola scribblers again. She kinda gets the concept but still has a ways to go. Here is her lovely artwork with the assistance of mommy:
I realized I hadn't posted a pic of our new tv console yet! I absolutely love it. Now I can't wait to get my new couches and bookshelves for our living room to be complete! Gotta wait a few months though for all that in order to save up some money.And finally... a cute picture of my 2 favorite people:

sleepovers?

2009-03-14T19:49:00.002-05:00

Okay... so as a mom of a 15 month old, I'm not a fan of my little girl "sleeping over" at the grandparents houses like I'm sure they wish I would let her do. First of all, she's 15 months old for heaven's sake. She doesn't get the concept of a "sleepover" or think it's extra special to sleep somewhere else. In fact, she doesn't like sleeping in strange places or places that are other than her familiar room and crib! But besides that point, I just have a hard time knowing that my little baby girl wouldn't be sleeping in the same house as me. And it's not like she's a poor sleeper or disturbs matt and I so that we don't get alone time at night. Lily goes to bed at 8PM and gets up at 8AM, not anything in between.

Now I don't think this is abnormal. I believe that most moms out there of young kids (babies, toddlers, preschoolers) probably feel the same way about this and do the same thing as me (not let them do it). Granted, I could be completely wrong. So, if you're a mom... leave a comment and let me know your take on the matter.

It's my turn to be a mom and have a little daughter and I'm going to do what makes me and Lily the most comfortable. Anyways... that's my soap box for the day.

feeling much better

2009-03-13T13:47:00.002-05:00

I'm almost feeling like I'm back to normal now! In the morning I still struggle a little getting going but once I do I feel pretty good. It's so good to feel good. My jaw has been bothering me more though the past day or two. I'm supposed to go Monday to get my nightguard. I hope this fixes the problem for me although I'm not very hopeful about it. It should fix it for the amount of money we're having to pay for it!

Yesterday was my bro-in-law's bday (Mike). So his parents took the whole family out to dinner at Smokey Bones. It definitely wasn't as good as I remembered it being. We hadn't been there in a long time. Lily had fun though with her cousin Aaron. She kept taking all the food off his plate (mac-n-cheese, french fries) since he wasn't eating it. Mike and Jen (his girlfriend) got engaged this past week too. So congratulations to the two of them!

Today has been another ho hum dreary day. I'm not looking forward to these next several days of nastiness outside. Lily and I went to Walmart and picked up some new stuff for our bathroom. Then this evening we're watching Aaron for awhile.

Lily just keeps getting cuter and cuter. She understands so much now. I think I wrote about this but in case I didn't... she gives high fives now! It's so cute cause she thinks it's hilarious and will run back and forth between us saying "five five." At lunch today she actually got some food on to her fork for several bites! One step closer to having to clean up messy hands! She's also finally conquered being able to get up on the couch by herself too. Some of her new words this week include: door, baby, foot, food, coat, fish, phone.

sick

2009-03-11T19:11:00.002-05:00

As I'm sure most of my blog readers already know, our household has been sick... myself being the worst. I started with sinus stuff last week on Thursday and then Friday night started with the stomach virus stuff.... YUCK! So needless to say my birthday came and went on Saturday without much fanfare. That's okay though, just a year older now - 26. My hubby has been great though and has been taking really good care of me despite the fact that he hasn't been completely feeling well either. He's had cold/sinus stuff too.

Well... still don't feel like blogging and actually don't have that much to blog about anyways since I've been sick and literally doing nothing! I promise once I'm back to normal, hopefully in a few days, my normal regular blogging will resume! Today was the first day I actually wasn't nauseous. Still haven't felt like eating much though and still very worn out/tired. Hope everyone else is staying well!

tv console and a playdate

2009-03-04T20:17:00.003-05:00

Thanks to a commenter from yesterday... I called the furniture store today to complain/inquire about the change in delivery date for our new tv console. Well... the lady said I can have it to you sooner and asked when I would like it. I told her I really wanted to have it this week and she said she could have it on Friday. Yay!! I was thinking, why didn't they just do that in the first place? Oh well, I'm a happy camper cause we'll have it in time for my birthday.

Today Liz and Brooklyn came over to hang out with me and Lily. Brooklyn is such a cutie - she's a few months older than Lily is. Liz and I went to the same youth group for awhile and were good friends back in high school. Both of our families just moved back to Virginia Beach so we've been able to reconnect. Brooklyn and Lily had a great time together of course. They're on the go so here's the best picture I could get of them!And here's just a few pics from hanging out in the playard in back of our house the other day.

new red wagon

2009-03-03T20:15:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we ventured out in the "snow" (a dusting) to El Pollo Loco and Target. Pollo Loco is amazing! They have churros that just melt in your mouth. Anyways - it's headed out towards Sandbridge for those of you familiar with the area and we weren't quite sure where we were going. So we got a little lost but made it there.

Besides having a delicious dinner together, the other wonderful part of the day was Lily's new wagon. Lily has a great daddy - he bought her (and me) a new red Radio Flyer wagon!! I'm so excited to get to use it and take Lily on walks in nice weather. It's a really nice one - cupholders, seat backs that can fold down, etc. Yay!!!

In disappointing news.... the furniture store called yesterday and said that our new tv console won't be here tomorrow like it was supposed to be. The delivery date has been pushed back a week to next Wednesday.

Now I'm going to take it easy since I think I do have some sinus stuff and watch some American Idol. Only 4 days until my birthday! And the even greater part is that Vicky is coming to visit us too for the weekend!

a favorite website

2009-03-02T14:50:00.002-05:00

I know some of the people who read my blog probably follow quite a few blogs like myself! About a month or so ago I discovered one of my new favorite websites to make blog following much easier. It's the Google Reader. The great thing about this is you enter your "subscriptions" (just enter the website of the blog you follow) and it adds it to your feed list. So you can have ALL the blogs you follow on one website! It use to annoy me to have to go through all the blogs in my favorites list to see if anyone had updated theirs. Now all I do is go to my google reader and in the column on the left it shows what blogs have any new entries. So simple and wonderful! Anyways, check it out if you haven't already!

By the way.... here are some of the new blogs that are more popular that I've been following. Check them out! A lot of them let you know about great freebies (food, magazines, etc.) too!

5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Faith

5 Minutes for Parenting

5 Minutes for Giveaways

BabyCheapskate (once a week this site publishes the cheapest place to buy different brands of diapers for the week!)

Money Saving Mom

Thrifty Northwest Mom

babies grow up

2009-02-27T10:50:00.002-05:00

I've been thinking a lot the past few days about how incredibly fast kids grow up. It never felt that way when I was a kid, but now that I'm a mother I have a whole new perspective. Some of you out there are probably thinking "your little girl is only 1 year old." But I'm sure that there are a few of you who hopefully will identify with my feelings. Over the past 15 months my little 6 pound baby has turned in to a chattering, running 24 pound little girl. I have heard people say "they don't stay babies long." And even though in the first few months when you are getting no sleep it might feel like an eternity, it really is such a brief amount of time in a lifespan. I told myself last night as I went in to check on Lily and pray for her before I went to bed, "make sure to enjoy and live in the moment of every single day with Lily." These wonderful days of toddlerhood will be gone before I know it.

Along these same lines, my thoughts have drifted to thinking about how old I would like for Lily to be before I have another child. I'm thinking between 2.5 and 3.5 so that means trying to get pregnant could potentially start as soon as this summer. What a weird thought! I'm one of those people who LOVED being pregnant. I had a very smooth good pregnancy with Lily (besides the awful PUPPP rash at the end). The beautiful miracle of birth that God chose to bless women with is so incredibly amazing. Getting to feel your child moving around inside of you definitely rates VERY high on the list of miraculous things in this world. And then to top it off, you get to experience the birth of your child. Thankfully I had a good birth experience too and didn't have to feel any pain once I got my epidural! I loved the fact that I had a big mirror at the end of the bed so I could see her coming out. It was just so incredibly wonderful having her come out and them instantly laying her up on my chest for the first time. I go back to that very moment so many times. I'm sure I have blogged about it before and maybe several times! But I will never in my lifetime forget how I felt in that moment. So needless to say, I'm excited about being able to experience that again! But it dawned on me that if we were to only have 2 kids, that the next time I'm pregnant could be the last (unless we have 3). That made me really sad!

Well... after all that mushy gushy stuff I would like to also remind those of you out there who haven't had kids that it is HARD work! There were many times in the first few months of Lily's life that I just cried and cried. Sleepless nights and not knowing sometimes what was wrong with her was very very hard. But motherhood is the most wonderfully rewarding hard work there ever was!

To all you other young moms out there: remember today to enjoy the time you have with your babies and toddlers because before we know it, they'll have grown up.

I follow a lot of mom blogs and wanted to post a segment that I read last night from 5 Minutes for Parenting:

"I'm always happy to hold babies - especially dark haired babies with round cheeks and thoughtful eyes, babies that remind me of my own children who now bound around the house, children who kiss me quickly goodbye before dashing off to school, children who once were black-haired babies sleeping, soft little animals in my arms. I've often imagined being able to bottle one day a year with my kids, just one nice, everyday sort of day and then someday, when I'm old, I could take down a bottle and step back - just for a few minutes - into my oldest child's golden haired preschool years, my son's constant toddler chatter around the house, my Baby an actual baby sleeping in my arms. Thank God we can't, though, because the idea is bittersweet enough to just break my heart.

Children grow up. One baby will eventually be your last baby. You have no way of knowing how sad this is, I guess, until you hold your baby in your arms and realize that even at that moment, time is fleeting away."

beautiful weather, playgroup, and busy weekend

2009-02-26T20:10:00.002-05:00

Today was another gorgeous good weather day here in Virginia Beach. It was in the mid 60's and sunny. Could have been a bit warmer but I'll take what I can get in February! Lily and I headed to a picture playgroup. The husband of one of the mom's in the group does professional photography and every once in awhile will take individual pics of the kids in the group. Well the room he was doing it in was right next to the play area. When we went to go in there she starts freaking out because I guess she wanted to be where all the other kids were. So... no pictures this time. Lily had a great time playing though!

After that we headed back home and went out back to play. I don't think I mentioned this but one of the bonuses of this house is that out in our backyard there is a part that is fenced in that has a ton of outdoor play toys. It is for the Mother's Day Out kids to use some in the mornings but we can use it anytime we want to! So thankfully we have that free of use for us and we don't really have to buy any outdoor things (playhouse, cozy coupes, etc.). I AM getting a red wagon though for us to have!! I'm very excited about taking Lily for wagon rides in nice weather. This afternoon we went for a walk to get outside some more. I have a feeling the 2 of us are going to be outside a LOT during the spring/summer. I love it and so does Lily.

I was talking to Alicia last night on the phone and I mentioned to her how different our lives are now. There are things that of course that remain the same but in regards to what we're doing/how much we're doing, etc. it's like complete opposite. It seems like there's always something going on - mostly church related things of course. Which I guess I should have expected since Matt's the youth pastor there. For instance... here's our weekend. Tomorrow I'm watching Aaron (our nephew) in the afternoon. Then tomorrow night is the first of our "dinner for 5" for the youth group. Each month we are doing 1 dinner here for 5 of the youth group kids to get to know them more in a more relaxed environment. Saturday evening we are invited to the Flug's house for dinner. They are having a bunch of people over to get to meet the missionaries who are in town from Brazil. The youth group is going to Brazil this summer for their missions trip. Which speaking of, Matt's going to be gone out of the country for 10 days in June for that. :( Plus he'll be gone for Father's Day! AHH! The good part of this (to be positive) is that Lily and I are going to go down to my sister's for the week to spend time with them. So that will definitely be great!

We've only been here for a few weeks now so who knows what our "typical" lifestyle will be but so far that's how it's been. Well... I've gone on enough for now. Off to finish watching American Idol and drink my starbucks coffee.

15 month check-up

2009-02-25T18:09:00.000-05:00

Lily had her 15 month check-up today. We saw Dr. Robert Fink and he was great with Lily and us. We didn't feel rushed and he introduced himself, told us a little about how things work at the practice, etc. They were fairly timely too. He asked how we found out about the practice and I told him I use to go there when I was kid. So he asked me my maiden name and looked me up (I'm apparently still in the system!).

Anyways...

Lily weighs 24 pounds which puts her at about the 70th percentile.

She is 32 1/4 inches long which puts her at the 90th percentile.

And her head is 19 1/4 inches which puts her at the 97th percentile.

Today she had the DTAP, HIB and MMR vaccines done. He is waiting until the next check-up (18 months) to do the varicella chicken pox vaccine since he would rather her have the ones he did today but didn't want to give her too many at once.

Everything else is right on target and she's a healthy little girl. He did suggest me doing the whole sock thing on her pj's again to try and break the thumb sucking habit again. The whole move is what caused her to do it again I'm sure. Luckily she only sucks it at naps and nighttime so it at least gets some breaks. So anyways... guess I'll see what I want to do about that after she gets straightened out from the shots.

coloring

2009-02-23T20:12:00.003-05:00

I cracked out the crayola scribblers today to see how Lily would do with them. Thankfully they are completely washable! :) Instead of moving it back and forth across the paper she tended to just like use it as if it were a stamp. They're definitely a good idea for toddlers and like I said they wash off anything! Here's a little video of her coloring and saying two of her animal noises: monkey "oo oo oo" and dog "woof woof." She learned the monkey one yesterday.

Yesterday was busy busy with church stuff. My mom is sick so I got a call Saturday to play for church on Sunday. I think it went pretty well considering I'm not as good as my mom and I don't like to play in front of a bunch of people! If you care at all, you can listen to the service on the church's website. The orchestra plays as well for the second service which is the one that is recorded.

Then today was Matt's day off so we headed to the DMV to have our license changed to our new address. One more thing off the to do list of moving! Then we all took a wonderful nap this afternoon. And to end the day, while I was cleaning up from dinner the disposal clogged up. I had put some of the enchilada remainders down it. Luckily Matt's dad knows plumbing stuff so he came over and fixed it for us. There was some NASTY junk that came out of the pipes!!

pics, more words, new playgroup, and a mac

2009-02-19T18:50:00.006-05:00

Lily got out her first 2 word phrase last night. Matt and I were playing with her and she wanted me to keep doing what I was doing. After I would finish, she would say "do gin" as in short for "do it again." What a little smartie! More new words: belly button, keys, kiss. The list just keeps growing. This month has felt like she just keeps figuring out more and more sounds. Anytime she sees anything that even looks like a dog now she says "woof woof." It's so very cute.
Tomorrow Lily and I are trying out a new playgroup. This will be our 2nd attempt at a new one. I actually found this one on meetup.com through searching for christian mom playgroups. So I guess we'll see how it goes! I'm being very brave because the playgroup tomorrow is at one of the mom's house. This group seems to have a lot more activities and at times that fit around Lily's nap schedule. Plus it's mainly for moms who have kids that were born in 2007 (lily's birth year).Last night I got a call from the music director at our church asking me to play for wednesday night service. I had a feeling that once we moved here I would be getting calls to play when my mom is out of town. This week she has been at my sister's house. It went okay - thankfully familiar music that wasn't too hard. I am just NOT a fan of playing in public or for other people.

I haven't mentioned this yet but we are supposedly going to be getting a BIG refund from the IRS. Yay!!! I mean I was VERY VERY surprised at the amount. Matt has been wanting to get a Macbook to use for work. Most of the youth group stuff runs off of a mac currently but that one is owned by someone else in the church. Plus he needs a good computer for his office. And of course he just wants to have one in general. So me being the generous loving wife agreed to let him use some of the money we're getting to get him a new Macbook. He went to get it today and he is in heaven! The other money is wisely being put to some financial things we need to take care of. So thank you IRS!!! We don't get these treats very often and haven't been able to really make any personal purchases the last year before Matt got his new job. I'm still waiting for my minivan. :)And finally I forgot to mention that on Monday we went to order our new tv console. Yay!!! I'm SOO excited. We need to get a few things for our new house (larger purchases) but will have to gradually work on it. The tv console was the most important thing at this point. With our bigger tv, video game stuff, and now a big cox dvr/hd box, we definitely need something bigger to accomodate everything. Plus ours has a big glass door which always worries me with a toddler in the house. There isn't an actual picture of it online but it's part of the Sterling Collection at VCF. So you can get an idea of the style of it. We're supposed to be able to pick it up the first week in March, just in time for my birthday!Lily's new way to use her walker turned wagon:

spider song, new words, kissing, v-day

2009-02-15T19:50:00.002-05:00

We've been busy busy! Don't really know what we've been doing but it seems like it's been one thing after the other - errands, trying to get settled in, church stuff, etc.

Two cute stories for the day... First, this evening before bed I was singing Lily the song "intsy wintsy spider." She apparently loved it because from then until bedtime she kept saying again to get me to sing it again and again and again. As soon as I would start singing it again, she would dance and move her arms around like she's directing the music. It was very cute.

Then we were in our bedroom. On the bathroom door in our room there is a long mirror. She always goes over there and looks at herself in it. Tonight I was doing something in there and realized that I kept hearing her give something kisses. And the lucky person was.... herself! She kept leaning in to the mirror giving herself kisses. It was adorable!!! Wish I could have gotten it on camera.

Lily has really been picking up on words lately and trying to get all kinds of different words out. Granted, most people might not pick up on it or know what it means but since I'm with her all the time I can translate pretty well. Here are some of the new ones she knows: minnie, tigger, again, milk, moo (for a cow), woof (for a dog), bye bye, dada, mama (using both for the right person!), shoes, socks, snack, nose, thank you, please, blanket, brush. They of course don't all come out sounding complete or exactly like they should but it's definitely what she's saying.

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Lily got in bed with us in the morning and we opened presents. Lily got a cute little stuffed bear from her daddy and I got a brand new camera I had been wanting. Yay!! Ours had broken about a month ago and we had been borrowing Matt's parents camera until we got settled in our new home and had some money! I had done a lot of research and asked a few people I knew who were photographers about what the best digital point and shoot camera is right now. I am THOROUGHLY pleased too. It takes GREAT pictures and is fast. You don't have to wait a long time to take your next picture. He got me the Canon 1100SD in brown.

That afternoon we headed to Matt's parents house for a little while so Lily could play with Aaron over there. Nana took them outside since it wasn't too cold so they could ride in the wagon and ride in the cozy coupe. Lily loves that thing! Then that evening my parents came over to babysit Lily so Matt and I could go to the sweethearts banquet at church. So we had a great day. Matt is taking me out to dinner at pfchangs hopefully sometime this week or next for our valentine's date out alone.

I have some pics that I wanted to post with this blog but we haven't uploaded the camera software on to the computer yet so that will have to wait!

when you think you have it rough

2009-02-11T10:32:00.003-05:00

Browse around this blog and read their story. I saw this dad and his little girl on Rachael Ray this morning and just started tearing up. The basic short story is that the day after the wife gave birth to their first little baby girl, she instantly died. She had a blood clot in her leg and it went to her lungs and killed her on the spot. So this dad loses his wife and then has to go home with a brand new baby girl to take care of all by himself. Anyways... just thought some of my reader moms would like to read his story and look at their beautiful baby girl.

visit from a friend and a day at the park

2009-02-10T20:12:00.005-05:00

Recap from this past weekend...

On Saturday my best friend from college, Tara, was in town visiting her in laws. So her, Anthony, and their baby girl Bailey came over to see us for a quick visit and to check out our new place. Even though it was short, it was so great to see Tara again and of course little Bailey!! It's so weird holding a tiny baby now... feels like it's been forever since Lily was that little!Then on Sunday it was 70 degrees outside and sunny!!! I absolutely LOVE that kind of weather -jeans and flip flops!! So after church was over we headed to Woodstock Park to take Lily out to the playground. We had a great time and Lily loved it!

nose picker and playgroup

2009-02-10T14:26:00.003-05:00

Hilarious short story to jot down before I forget about it! Today on the way home from the mall, I look in the back seat and Lily has her finger up her nose and is smiling. She kept putting it up there and laughing. It was HILARIOUS!! My little Lily is a nose picker.

Went to playgroup this morning at the play area at Lynnhaven Mall. There were 3 other moms there with their kids. Lily had a blast running around although she got trampled a few times by older kids. :) I got to chat a little bit with the other moms but not too much since I had to follow Lily around so she wouldn't get run over or fall off all the steps! But all in all we had a good time. After that, Lily and I had lunch together and then did a little shopping. It's SO nice to have so many better malls now!!

move

2009-02-08T20:22:00.003-05:00

Where do I being? I hate when I don't have the time/energy to blog for awhile because then I have all of these things I want to write about but then forget.

We're here. I knew this was going to be very bittersweet for me and difficult since I HATE change, but I never thought about the fact that it would be an adjustment for Lily too. And that has made it even sadder/harder for me. Before I start discussing the bad parts though, I want to make sure that I clarify that I'm SO thankful to God for all of this and I AM happy about this next phase of our life.

The past 2 weeks have been a whirlwind for Lily. I never took the time to think about that Lily knows our old home really well now even though she's only 14 months old. This new home is VERY strange to her. Not only is she in a new and MUCH larger place, she's been passed around to a gazillion different people it seems like and lived in a world of boxes and packing tape. The first few days she was VERY whiny/clingy and just crying a lot. The saddest part was at bedtime. Lily always runs to the bathroom door saying "baa" for bath as soon as I take her clothes off at night. Well she obviously didn't know at first where the bathroom was and she would look at me saying "ba" in a confused voice and had this pitiful little look on her face because she didn't know where to go. For those of you that aren't moms, you probably won't understand. But it was VERY sad and pitiful! Alicia and my sister of course reminded that she WILL get use to her new home. It just takes time. And they were right! Last night when I took her clothes off she headed straight for the bathroom door! It made me really happy.

So how am I doing? The first 2 or 3 days I actually didn't cry at all because I was SO busy with trying to get our house in order. Then one night Matt was gone, Lily was to bed, and I had the time to think about it all. The biggest thing was that I desperately needed to know that I was going to be able to find some mom friends and get out with Lily. It was SO hard knowing that I had nothing planned and that my weekly playdate with Alicia and Andi and my coffee night out with Vicky days were gone. :( My sister really motivated me to reach out. She reminded me that I was going to just have to put myself out there and ask people if they want to hang out. The Mommies Network is a HUGE resource and they have scheduled events/playdates a lot. So I'm going to a strange playgroup at the mall on Tuesday and then I contacted an old friend of mine who has a little girl and we are going to lunch at chick-fil-a on Wednesday! Yay me for being brave! :) It still doesn't feel like home yet and that we should be going back to Lynchburg but that will just take time.

Our house, on a positive note, is AMAZING! They put a ton of work in to it before we moved in including completely remodeling both of the bathrooms, all new carpet, new paint, and new wood flooring in the kitchen and dining room. We also have 2 beautiful fireplaces in the house. I'm so grateful for all this space! It's so important when you have kids and get overrun by toys!! I posted all the pics of the house on facebook so you can check them out there.

Matt is enjoying his job of course. Last week he went in for a little bit each day but was able to just get things done around the house and errands that we needed to run. So that was nice! This week will probably be more his normal schedule but it's still really flexible. He's going to do Monday as his day off.

I am sure there are plenty of other things I wanted to write about but will save those for later since I am now ready to just sit and watch some tv!

we're alive

2009-02-04T10:10:00.002-05:00

We're here in Virginia Beach! I've had a lot of people say that they can't get in to the blog without having a google account. That's annoying!! So I've changed it back to public so everyone who wants to read it doesn't have to sign up for an account. If anybody out there knows any other way to make it private without guests having to have an acccount let me know!

It's been very very busy and we just got internet hooked up yesterday so blogging has been put on hold. It'll probably be a few more days before things settle down and I get back to regularly blogging. For now, things are good and we're getting adjusted to our new life. I'll also take pictures of our new home and post them once we get things in order!

new words

2009-01-27T14:34:00.002-05:00

I think Lily's starting to get the hang more of copying words/sounds that we make. The only words she's really had up until now that I know she knows is ball, bath, and this. Here's the other ones I think she knows now: no, trash, up/down, pop, nose, eyes, book, bye bye, and box. Guess where the "box" one came from? The GAZILLION boxes it seems like we have everywhere in our house right now! I'm sure most other people probably wouldn't understand her words at all right now but when you're around her enough you catch on. This weekend Matt's sister watched Lily while we went to the wedding and when we got back she asked if Lily knows the word "this." Haha - which of course she does. After bath, that was her next word. She uses it for everything obviously if she doesn't know the name of it.

There's a ton of things I know she understands now too even though she doesn't say them - several animals, laundry, milk, water, snack, nap, chair, out. And she knows when she's ready to go bye bye too because as soon as I put her shoes or coat on she runs to the door and keeps saying "bye." She loves going out probably because we're cooped up in the house so much right now during winter!

what i've learned in lynchburg

2009-01-26T11:10:00.000-05:00

I never dreamed that my life would be like it has for the past 3 years. During college, I vowed that I would never live in Lynchburg. God is funny, isn't he? I thought that after we finished at Liberty Matt and I would get married and he would have a youth pastor job right away at some church probably not even in Virginia. As God's plans would have it, he found a part time youth job at Big Island Baptist Church (30 minutes outside of Lynchburg). He accepted the offer and then started looking for a full time position to support his soon to be wife. I started applying for jobs in Lynchburg as well and got one before Matt did at Central Virginia Community Services. Matt also applied at the agency and due to my mentioning his name in the interview, was also called for one. He got a job also! And it was just in the nick of time.

We moved in to our apartment at Willowbrook and really made it feel like home. We have loved living here even though with a child it has now become more cramped and lugging things up to the 3rd story has been no fun either! But the complex has been safe, well kept, and has a pool!

Matt worked at Big Island for a year before resigning so he could start seminary which our old home church, Suburban Christian, was going to completely finance for him! After 2 years of seminary, he finally graduated with his MAR in August of last year. And then the hunt began again for a church position. I know for a fact that Matt never wanted to be in the job at CVCSB for as long as he has been but God had him there and us in Lynchburg for a reason.

I left the CVCSB about a year after we got married and started work as a social worker at Westminster Canterbury, a retirement community. I absolutely loved that job and it was right up my alley of what I wanted to do.

In 2007, God blessed us with our first beautiful little daughter, Lily Madelyn Bruns. We never guessed how much life would change for us after having her! But we LOVE it! I have been able to stay at home as a full time mom since she was born - my dream come true.

The whole process of Matt getting the job at Suburban has been a long hard one. Mostly hard because of the waiting and having to trust God that if this wasn't the answer - he was going to financially provide for our family. God knew just when we needed to know about the job because our answer of "yes" came just in time before we were going to have to make some changes.

Well... this might sound disjointed because I've been going back and writing more as time has permitted. But the whole point in this is that I want to remember how God has provided for our family these past 3 years. The circumstances are no where what Matt or I thought they were going to be but God always knows what He's doing. Trusting God and giving Him control are two of the hardest things I struggle with because of my personality type so if for nothing but that reason, God used these years to gradually work on those qualities in my life. I've still got a long way to go but I'm a work in progress.

Only God knows what this next phase of life is going to bring for us as a family but we are praying that God would use us as He sees fit. It will be hard to leave Lynchburg - the place we have called home the past 3 years. It was Matt and I's first place we called home, our first "real world" jobs, and our first child was born here. Lynchburg will forever have a special place in my heart. And ultimately I will miss my closest friends that I have here. God knew what friends to put in my life for these 3 years and He did a darn good job! I've already cried once this week and I told Matt I'm sure there will be many more tears to come during the move. Change is hard, even good change. And leaving what you have called "home" is even more difficult. But that just means we get to make a new place home for us as a family.

The next week or two will be very busy so for all my devoted blog readers, you might not hear from me often or at all for a little bit depending upon how things are going and what kind of computer access I have!