Bekah and I wanted to get together on Wednesday afternoon but were at a loss as to what to do. We decided to take Lilly to her first movie theater experience and go see Madagascar 2.
First off, the movie was great. I think I enjoyed it more than the original. That could be partially due to the fact that I was in a great mood. Who wouldn't be when they are sitting next to the cutest little girl who kept getting folded up in her chair? Bekah and I had to take turns putting a leg over Lilly's seat to keep it from folding back up with her in it.
She sat there for most of the movie, enthralled with the zebras, penguins, lions, hippos and other assorted wild animals. She ate her snacks, although she kept asking for Cheerios... not something I had thought to bring. I guess nothing says movie snack food like dry cereal! I'll remember that next time.
About the last 20 minutes of the movie she was finished with the sitting and enjoyed walking up and down our row. That also gave her the freedom to bust out in some little dances along with the animals on the movie, which had Bekah and I just about rolling off our chairs.
Needless to say, Lilly's first movie theater experience was a good one. What a fun afternoon!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Santa and Larry
Today I took Lilly to sit on Santa's lap and have her picture taken. Just as soon as we get it scanned I'll put it up. We've gone to see the same Santa for the last 3 years and have our pictures out to compare. It's amazing to see the chubalicious 8 month old become the sweet toddler, and now, the way-too-grown-up-looking 2 year old with long hair. We couldn't get her to smile today for anything, so she looks like she's not happy about being on Santa's lap. Nothing could be further from the truth though.
She was so excited about seeing Santa today, and kept talking about what she would ask him for... a Larry doll. (She has a bean bag Bob The Tomato from Veggie Tales, and has lately been asking about a Larry The Cucumber "doll".) This apparently, is her greatest Christmas wish. May we always be so lucky! She enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap, when we weren't cajoling her to smile, and dutifully told him what she would like.
Despite my attempts to explain to her that now we wait until Christmas to see what Santa brings, there was much sadness when we left Santa and the mall without a Larry. It might be a long 2 weeks.
She was so excited about seeing Santa today, and kept talking about what she would ask him for... a Larry doll. (She has a bean bag Bob The Tomato from Veggie Tales, and has lately been asking about a Larry The Cucumber "doll".) This apparently, is her greatest Christmas wish. May we always be so lucky! She enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap, when we weren't cajoling her to smile, and dutifully told him what she would like.
Despite my attempts to explain to her that now we wait until Christmas to see what Santa brings, there was much sadness when we left Santa and the mall without a Larry. It might be a long 2 weeks.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Sesame Street Live
Grandma won tickets to Sesame Street Live in Sacramento, so the 5 of us went on Wednesday evening. I have never been to a show where there was so much audience noise, but that's to be expected from the target audience of this particular show. Not surprisingly, Lilly loved it and is now a big fan of the Sesame Street characters.
In that it was well past her bedtime when the show ended, she had a little meltdown when Elmo left the stage for good. Grandma and Grandpa sprang for the outrageously expensive Elmo balloon on the way out, which seemed to help Lilly to hold on until we got home.
I think the adults needed our brains to be re-started after the theatrical wonder we took in, but Lilly had a great time, and that's why we went.
Thanks Gma and Gpa!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Bedtime prayers
When we pray with Lilly before bed, we end with the traditional, "God bless mommy, daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, etc." This goes on for quite some time as we name various friends and family. We've begun to let Lilly take the lead on who gets prayed for, which has yielded some interesting and extremely entertaining prayers. In addition to praying for her play broom and bubbles, the other night she added in various shapes. She prayed for the circle, the square, the rectangle, the oval and the triangle. As for the rhombus and trapezoids, I'm afraid they're on their own.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Day after Thanksgiving
Happy day after Thanksgiving! Did you hit the sales today?
Not us. We all slept in until 7:40 (woo hoo!) and then decided to take a trip up to Apple Hill. We've usually gone the day after Thanksgiving and cut down our tree. This year, we have an artificial tree, which I swore I'd never have, but decided to keep the Apple Hill tradition just for the sake of getting into the holiday spirit. It was cool and crisp up there which certainly helps.
They still had the gigantic pumpkin out at High Hill, which Lilly still enjoyed sitting on. AND... Lilly got to ride her first horse! It was a very sweet pony named Crakers at a local tree farm. You can't see it in the picture, but she was grinning from ear to ear the whole time.
Tonight we had Turkey leftovers at Wendy's mom's house, having enjoyed Thanksgiving yesterday with Elliott's family. Now, Lilly is in bed, and we're goin to watch some House on DVD. All in all, a great day of hanging out with my little family!
Oh, and we did put up our PRELIT tree, and I LOVE it! Pictures to follow when there are decorations on it.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sassy Sauce
I'd heard about it... sassy sauce that is. What is it you ask? Diluted cider vinegar in a small spray bottle. Many moms I know of use it to discipline for "offenses of the mouth" (disrespect, lying, sassing, etc.). It tastes nasty, thus discouraging the offense. So I got my spray bottle ready. We've been having issues with disrespect, a.k.a. the response of, "NO!" So, today I tried it out. I told Lilly that she was not allowed to talk that way to mommy, and that I was going to spray something in her mouth to help her remember. **spray** What did I hear next? "More!"
Okay, cross that one off the list. I shouldn't have been surprised, after all she loves eating lemons.
Okay, cross that one off the list. I shouldn't have been surprised, after all she loves eating lemons.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Thanking God for infertility
Sounds strange doesn't it?
I just had my quiet time and had a revelation. I am SO thankful for the experience of the years of infertility, because I see daily the difference those hard years made in my walk with Christ. It's not that I was "not good enough" and he had to take me through something horrible to make me better (I had those thoughts at the time, believe me), but out of his love for me, he wanted better for me than what answering my immediate prayer would bring.
He knew that someday I would value what infertility brought me so much more than what it cost me. It cost me the life-long dream of pregnancy and childbirth. It cost me the knowledge of what a child born to myself and DH would look like. Do I even care about that anymore? Amazingly and by God alone, I can say a big fat NO. What it brought to me was a complete trust and confidence in God no matter what the circumstances are, an intimacy with him that I hadn't known before surrendering my dream to him, the sweetness and tenderness of his presence in carrying me through one minute at a time, and on top of that, the eventual blessing of my beloved daughter who I could not love any more than I do.
Without IF I would have had a child, but been without so much. Only God knew that in his time, he would fulfill more than what I wanted.
I just had my quiet time and had a revelation. I am SO thankful for the experience of the years of infertility, because I see daily the difference those hard years made in my walk with Christ. It's not that I was "not good enough" and he had to take me through something horrible to make me better (I had those thoughts at the time, believe me), but out of his love for me, he wanted better for me than what answering my immediate prayer would bring.
He knew that someday I would value what infertility brought me so much more than what it cost me. It cost me the life-long dream of pregnancy and childbirth. It cost me the knowledge of what a child born to myself and DH would look like. Do I even care about that anymore? Amazingly and by God alone, I can say a big fat NO. What it brought to me was a complete trust and confidence in God no matter what the circumstances are, an intimacy with him that I hadn't known before surrendering my dream to him, the sweetness and tenderness of his presence in carrying me through one minute at a time, and on top of that, the eventual blessing of my beloved daughter who I could not love any more than I do.
Without IF I would have had a child, but been without so much. Only God knew that in his time, he would fulfill more than what I wanted.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The Great Underwear Mystery
Okay. This is not about Lilly directly, but I just had to share this because it is stinkin' hilarious.
We teach in the 2 year old Sunday School class at church. A friend of mine whose daughter is in our class told me something yesterday that shocked me. She said that the last 2 weeks her daughter Bethy has come home from Sunday School wearing someone else's underwear. I think my exact response was, "WHAT???" I mean, if Lilly came home wearing underwear that were not on her when I dropped her off, I'd be pretty concerned. I knew there was no underwear swapping going on in the class, and of those who were potty training, only one at a time used the little bathroom that was part of the classroom. When she told me that Bethy was arriving at church in a Pull-up and coming home in underwear, we started to figure out what was happening.
Bethy is almost 3 and uses the potty by herself. Every week, I've been amazed by how she just lets herself into the bathroom and takes care of business. What I didn't know was that while in there, she has been rifling through the preschool cubbies and picking out some new undies for herself. Ditching the Pull-up in the trash, she comes out feeling like big stuff, and we've been none the wiser.
The sad thing is that the next time little Suzy or Sally in the preschool have an accident, their spare change of clothes in the bathroom cubbies will be short a pair of undies. Maybe we can get them back to their rightful owners.
We teach in the 2 year old Sunday School class at church. A friend of mine whose daughter is in our class told me something yesterday that shocked me. She said that the last 2 weeks her daughter Bethy has come home from Sunday School wearing someone else's underwear. I think my exact response was, "WHAT???" I mean, if Lilly came home wearing underwear that were not on her when I dropped her off, I'd be pretty concerned. I knew there was no underwear swapping going on in the class, and of those who were potty training, only one at a time used the little bathroom that was part of the classroom. When she told me that Bethy was arriving at church in a Pull-up and coming home in underwear, we started to figure out what was happening.
Bethy is almost 3 and uses the potty by herself. Every week, I've been amazed by how she just lets herself into the bathroom and takes care of business. What I didn't know was that while in there, she has been rifling through the preschool cubbies and picking out some new undies for herself. Ditching the Pull-up in the trash, she comes out feeling like big stuff, and we've been none the wiser.
The sad thing is that the next time little Suzy or Sally in the preschool have an accident, their spare change of clothes in the bathroom cubbies will be short a pair of undies. Maybe we can get them back to their rightful owners.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
I didn't see that one coming
As parents, there are things we say that we never dreamt we'd need to say. One friend of mine tells about her amusement at having to instruct her son, "We don't pee on our friends." Good advice there.
This morning I had my own experience with this. I heard myself say, "We don't put our toys in the toilet." Oh yes. The dollhouse baby went for a swim.
This morning I had my own experience with this. I heard myself say, "We don't put our toys in the toilet." Oh yes. The dollhouse baby went for a swim.
Friday, November 7, 2008
He loves his girls
What is love? A husband and daddy who agrees to sell his beloved motorcycle for the sake of his girls. We are thankful. We are also very smart and offered him a Wii to assist in the decision making process ease the pain of motorcycle loss.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Honest answer?
Tonight grandma and grandpa asked Lilly if she wanted a boy baby (brother) or a girl baby (sister). Her reply? "No thank you."
On a more serious note Elliott was in a motorcycle accident yesterday on his way to work. We are SO grateful to the Lord that he is only banged up and sore and that things were not what they could have been. Discussions are underway in our home as to the future of the motorcycle. I won't name names, but at the time of this writing one of us is praying that the other will come to his senses.
On a more serious note Elliott was in a motorcycle accident yesterday on his way to work. We are SO grateful to the Lord that he is only banged up and sore and that things were not what they could have been. Discussions are underway in our home as to the future of the motorcycle. I won't name names, but at the time of this writing one of us is praying that the other will come to his senses.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Twick o Tweat
We had a great Halloween. Check out the photos by clicking on the Flickr link to the right.
Elliott's office hosts Trick or Treating for the employee's kids in the afternoon, followed by pizza for the kids and their parents. Lilly got a stash of candy visiting the different offices and cubicles, and got very good at saying, "Twick o Tweat."
In the evening, following show off visits for the grandparents, we went to our church Harvest Party. We were thrilled that Bekah was able to come with us (Bekah is Lilly's birth mom) and we all had a great time! Lilly got to play carnival games (which earned her more candy), jump in the bounce house, and get a balloon doggie. Unfortunately, I spaced and forgot to bring the camera to the Harvest Party. You'll have to use your imagination to picture a sugared-up Lilly inside the bounce house, jumping and smiling like a mad thing and yelling, "B O U N C I N G!" I think she liked it.
The best part of Halloween this year is that she has yet to ask about the candy this morning, and we've been up for almost 3 hours. It's only a matter of time.
Elliott's office hosts Trick or Treating for the employee's kids in the afternoon, followed by pizza for the kids and their parents. Lilly got a stash of candy visiting the different offices and cubicles, and got very good at saying, "Twick o Tweat."
In the evening, following show off visits for the grandparents, we went to our church Harvest Party. We were thrilled that Bekah was able to come with us (Bekah is Lilly's birth mom) and we all had a great time! Lilly got to play carnival games (which earned her more candy), jump in the bounce house, and get a balloon doggie. Unfortunately, I spaced and forgot to bring the camera to the Harvest Party. You'll have to use your imagination to picture a sugared-up Lilly inside the bounce house, jumping and smiling like a mad thing and yelling, "B O U N C I N G!" I think she liked it.
The best part of Halloween this year is that she has yet to ask about the candy this morning, and we've been up for almost 3 hours. It's only a matter of time.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Genius!
I know, every parent thinks their kid is a genius. I'm not suggesting that Lilly will go to Harvard at age 8, but I just have to do a little mommy bragging on her.
We have a set of letters and numbers for the bathtub. Lilly enjoys playing with them in the tub and also when we're drying her hair after the bath. She's been very into numbers lately and can usually count to 20. The past 2 nights while drying her hair she has done something that I think is pretty remarkable. On her own, she will find the numbers to make 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 and put them together on the counter. I can hear your gasps of astonishment. I know!!!!
Maybe she IS ready for Harvard. On second thought, we should probably work on potty training first...
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
A little confusion
Lilly's Nana (my mom) recently taught Lilly to answer, "Fine, thank you," when asked, "How are you?" This afternoon while reading books Lilly burped. I said, "What do you say?" and she responded with, you guessed it, "Fine, thank you." I guess so after that burp!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Pictures
Ooh. Two posts in one day. I'm feeling ambitious!
Just thought I'd share a few pictures.
The first is a sneak peek at Lilly's halloween costume and her fairy grandmother who can sew much more than her dear old mom can. The others are from our trip to Apple Hill this morning. We left early enough to avoid the biggest of the crowds and had a great time! Not pictured: the apple donuts and pie we consumed.
Engineering marvels
The other day I took Lilly's car seat out of the car so I could wash the cover. What was under there could have fed a small country for quite some time. I didn't realize that crackers, cheerios, raisins, peanuts, an acorn(!), etc. could pass through the seat cover via holes for the seatbelt and then apparently breed under the safety of the car seat. That is design genius.
Ranks right up there with the high chair straps that can't be removed to wash. Clearly the engineers behind these good-name products never had children, especially children who vomited in their high chairs. Twice.
Ranks right up there with the high chair straps that can't be removed to wash. Clearly the engineers behind these good-name products never had children, especially children who vomited in their high chairs. Twice.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Pretty Please
Part of our teaching Lilly to use manners has included the phrase, "How do you ask nicely?" She knows that means she needs to say, "Please." So today, when a time-out on her bed was over, I went in to ask her if she was ready to come out and act nicely. Her programmed response??? "Please."
She is too funny!
She is too funny!
Thursday, October 16, 2008
This chaps my hide!
If you've already heard this from me via email, forgive the repeat...
Yesterday I put up one of those "Yes on Prop 8" signs on our grass, as did our neighbor. (If you're not in CA, this supports the protection of marriage between a man and a woman only.) This morning, both were gone. I've heard many accounts of these being stolen, vandalized and/or destroyed, but having it taken from my own private property has me steamed!
This angered me, but mostly at the enemy of God who is showing his hand too clearly by the opposition that is out there. We as Christians need to fight this very spiritual battle with the best weapon we have, PRAYER. Our prayers are powerful and effective, and we can not take this lightly. Pray for righteousness to overcome evil.
By the way, I got another sign today and have put it inside my window.
For more information check out http://www.protectmarriage.com/. To get a yard sign, go to http://www.protectmarriage.com/action/yard-sign.
FWIW - this is the 3rd time I've tried to post this. Never had any trouble before...
Yesterday I put up one of those "Yes on Prop 8" signs on our grass, as did our neighbor. (If you're not in CA, this supports the protection of marriage between a man and a woman only.) This morning, both were gone. I've heard many accounts of these being stolen, vandalized and/or destroyed, but having it taken from my own private property has me steamed!
This angered me, but mostly at the enemy of God who is showing his hand too clearly by the opposition that is out there. We as Christians need to fight this very spiritual battle with the best weapon we have, PRAYER. Our prayers are powerful and effective, and we can not take this lightly. Pray for righteousness to overcome evil.
By the way, I got another sign today and have put it inside my window.
For more information check out http://www.protectmarriage.com/. To get a yard sign, go to http://www.protectmarriage.com/action/yard-sign.
FWIW - this is the 3rd time I've tried to post this. Never had any trouble before...
Miss Manners
Yesterday was a day that warmed my mommy heart. Not only did Lilly say "ess ew" after I sneezed, but she answered "elcome" after I thanked her for something. Now we just need to work on that sharing thing...
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Some of my favorite adoption related posts
You'll notice on the sidebar a few of my favorite bloggers that I read regularly. The types of blogs vary from those adoption related to ones that make me laugh on a daily basis and others that make me stop and reflect on my walk with the Lord.
Early in our parenting journey, I struggled with my role as Lilly's mom, and with some of the aspects of parenting through adoption. What did I do? I began searching online for others who had experienced the same, and in that, found so much wisdom and help. One blogger in particular wrote/writes many posts that leave me thinking, "I could have written that... except not nearly as articulately!" Her descriptions of some feelings/emotions/experiences I had brought clarity to my own jumbled thoughts, and allowed me to then process and move on. The blogger is Heather at "Production, Not Reproduction." http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/
Really, I have no reason to share this other than the fact that these posts are a little "window" into some of the challenges of parenting through adoption. Please do not hear that parenting through adoption is any less wonderful than parenting by birth, there is just an additional layer of life that exists, whether adoptive parents want to aknowledge it or not.
Okay, on to some of the posts...
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/03/half-formed-thought.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/reality-doesnt-always-bite.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/19-hours.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-i-didnt-say.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/07/earning-rights-receiving-grace.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/04/love-eventually.html
If you know of anyone who has recently adopted, or is considering adoption, pass these links on to them. I hope they'll be as helpful to someone else as they were to me.
That's all for now. And if Heather at PNR gets word of this post... thanks.
Early in our parenting journey, I struggled with my role as Lilly's mom, and with some of the aspects of parenting through adoption. What did I do? I began searching online for others who had experienced the same, and in that, found so much wisdom and help. One blogger in particular wrote/writes many posts that leave me thinking, "I could have written that... except not nearly as articulately!" Her descriptions of some feelings/emotions/experiences I had brought clarity to my own jumbled thoughts, and allowed me to then process and move on. The blogger is Heather at "Production, Not Reproduction." http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/
Really, I have no reason to share this other than the fact that these posts are a little "window" into some of the challenges of parenting through adoption. Please do not hear that parenting through adoption is any less wonderful than parenting by birth, there is just an additional layer of life that exists, whether adoptive parents want to aknowledge it or not.
Okay, on to some of the posts...
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/03/half-formed-thought.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/reality-doesnt-always-bite.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/10/19-hours.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/05/what-i-didnt-say.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/07/earning-rights-receiving-grace.html
http://unproductivereproduction.blogspot.com/2007/04/love-eventually.html
If you know of anyone who has recently adopted, or is considering adoption, pass these links on to them. I hope they'll be as helpful to someone else as they were to me.
That's all for now. And if Heather at PNR gets word of this post... thanks.
Is there room for Lilly?
Lilly has recently taken to bringing stuffed animals to bed with her. It started with one Care Bear and the crew grows nightly. Here she is tonight as I tucked her into bed.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Politely declined
Lilly has been really testing some boundaries lately. A few days ago, she did something she knew was not okay, and when faced with her consequence, tried three clever attempts at getting out of it. The first was to offer me a kiss. The second was to tell me in a sweet voice, "No thank you." The third was to ask for a hug.
I think I was successful in burying my smile in my shoulder while recomposing myself. Despite her great attempts at diversion, Lilly was still disciplined, but I got a great story to tell.
I think I was successful in burying my smile in my shoulder while recomposing myself. Despite her great attempts at diversion, Lilly was still disciplined, but I got a great story to tell.
Friday, October 3, 2008
New here
So I've been semi-blogging over on our web page. But it just occurred to me, why don't we set up a FREE blog on Blogger, put all of our pictures on here (or link to them via Flicker) and stop paying a monthly fee for Lilly's Pad? We'll have to change something anyway when we have another child.
The problem? I know nothing about setting up a blog. I'm following the obvious on this template, but am going to have to do some homework as far as linking and adding photos. I know it's possible. I can do this!
And the bonus for you will be that you won't have to wait for quarterly photo updates from us. Let's face it, not only do you have to wait for the quarter but you have to then wait for us to get our rears in gear to upload all of the stuff. That usually takes another month.
Oh yes, I am hopeful that this genius idea of mine is going to benefit us all...
The problem? I know nothing about setting up a blog. I'm following the obvious on this template, but am going to have to do some homework as far as linking and adding photos. I know it's possible. I can do this!
And the bonus for you will be that you won't have to wait for quarterly photo updates from us. Let's face it, not only do you have to wait for the quarter but you have to then wait for us to get our rears in gear to upload all of the stuff. That usually takes another month.
Oh yes, I am hopeful that this genius idea of mine is going to benefit us all...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
