Lila: February-May 2013

I admit that I was really bad at keeping up with your fun milestones towards the end of February and through March which is very un-like me, but this graduate school class has taken a lot of my attention these past seven weeks.  You are acting like such a big girl now, especially with a big girl attitude. You love your friends and are so social. You and Alli are becoming better friends every day, and I'm so happy how sweet and helpful you are with her. Here's what you've been up to the past three months. 

February-March 2013 Memories:

*We celebrated your 3rd birthday at Disney World with your Yeye, Edaddy, and uncle Bbup. We all had a great time.
*You had your 3-year old check up at the beginning of the month and it went well. You are exactly 36 inches tall and weigh 29.5 pounds.
*All you have wanted to do the last few weeks is watch Rapunzel, Princess and the Frog, Toy Story, and Cinderella.
*You got sick at the end of the month and laid on the couch for 3 straight days, definitely very un-Lila-like.
*You had a great time at your school's Rodeo Days.

March-April 2013 Memories:

*You definitely have a 3-year old attitude, and we've been having to work on asking nicely for things instead of demanding them.
*You also love to run to the playroom and slam the door when you don't get the answer that you wanted from us.
*You love to sing Happy Birthday, and you sang it to daddy and yeye at the beginning of this month.
*You are eating a lot more this month, you love to eat chicken nuggets again, but Mac n' cheese is definitely still your favorite.
*You want to eat mac n' cheese for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
*We had fun with friends during your school's Spring Break. You and Anna have gotten to be such cute little friends.

April-May 2013 Memories: 

*We found out that you were getting a little brother earlier this month, and you had guessed it right from the beginning.
*You love to talk to baby Grant in my belly and give it lots of kisses.
*You told us this month that Alli was your best friend. It melted our hearts!
*You are REALLY into princesses now, and you love to wear your Cinderella princess dress all the time.
*You love all the songs from the Disney movies (especially the princess ones) and you will sing every chance that you get.
*You get SUPER moody and mean when you are hungry, like you are a whole new person.
*You also have a 3-going-on-13 attitude here lately, I'm nervous what we're actually in for in 10 more years!
*You have gotten so much better about doing #2 in the potty and we haven't had to give you as many "heiny shots" as last month.
*You have gotten a little sick of mac n' cheese this month and you now prefer peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
*You love to hold Alli's hand when you walk and give her lots of hugs.

Twenty Two Months Old *May 13, 2013*

Alli will be TWO in just TWO months!! I have finally started planning her second birthday party (Elmo theme), and I can't believe that my little teeny baby will be two years old so soon.  Plus, that means that she only has a few more months until she is no longer the baby, and that is such a big change all by itself.  She is so lovable, and it is hard not to smile and laugh the whole time your around her.  She continues to be such a joy in our lives, and we are so thankful for her!

Not a whole bunch has changed since her last post, so most of the things will be the same. 

Here's what you're up to: 

*You weigh about about 23 pounds  and are just over 31 inches tall. 

*You still have 15 teeth, and we are waiting on those molars to start working their way through.

*You love saying "hi" and "bye bye" to anyone and everyone. 

*You still love Chevy and still call him "dog." You look for him each morning. When we ask you what a doggie says, you say "woof woof."

*Your vocabulary has grown so much that I can't even keep track of all the words that you say.  I know this list leaves out so many, you are quite the little chatter box. Here are the words you say most often: NO, nope, duck, cow, tree, please, waffle, milk, dog, Lila, mama, dada, mommy, blanket, tubby, book, Mickey, Minnie, fish, banana 'nana', chip 'fip', animals, Nemo, hi, hello, shoes, wow, uh huh, yes, Ye-Ye and Mamu (for your grandmamas), edaddy, thanks, yeah, stinky, Chevy, phone, iPad, mouth, and outside.
*The phrases that you  say are  "That's mine," "no mine," "I need help," "milk please," "I'm hurt," "I'm sorry," "That's hot," "let's go," "It's raining."
*You love to sing the endings of the phrases in "Jesus loves me." 

*You can repeat most one-syllable words that we ask you. 

*You still drink about four full cups of milk per day, sometimes more. You will steal Lila's too if it's closer than yours.

*You still love pretending to talk on the phone or to take pictures with a camera.

*In Sunday school, your teacher says that you like to sort things by colors and that you're very smart. We already knew that you were a smart cookie though :)

*Still hooked on the pacis; we've gotten so bad about letting you have them all day this past month...sigh...we plan on taking it away in July.  You named it "mouth" and are even more obsessed. If you have your blanket in your hands, you want your "mouth". 

*You are such a monkey and love to climb on everything.  

*You are so proud of yourself that you can finally jump with two feet off the ground. You jump all over the place, especially in your crib.  You also love to jump on the little trampoline. 

*Taking one big nap per day from 2-4. You sleep for a max of 2 hours and rarely ever longer than that.

*You usually wake up between 7 and 7:30.  You have started to play in your crib, which buys us a little bit of time. 

 *Your eating habits are still so random. You will eat the baby food pouches sometimes, but you love anything in the form of a cracker or bread. You love sweets, waffles, apples, bananas, cheese, peanut butter sandwiches, and grapes. You eat Gerber pinwheel pasta meals and peas and carrots. You LOVE any kind of berries too!

*Still wearing size 3 diapers, 12-18 month clothes (some 24 month clothes, but that's more rare), 12 and 18 month sleepers (the 12 month sleepers are finally getting a little too small for you!).

*You and your sister grow closer every day.  She loves holding your hand and giving you hugs. You love hugging her sometimes, but you really love it when she plays with you!

*You still love to watch Yo Gabba Gabba on the iPad and will dance the whole time. The volume doesn't even have to be up, you just like to watch them dance. You have also really gotten into Sophia the First, Elmo, Barney, and Handy Manny. 

*You have gotten to be quite the little iPad pro. You love all of the Fisher Price apps as well as the other apps that are for toddlers. You also love the Disney Junior app and watch all of the shows. You definitely know how to work it better than most adults. 

*This is your last month at St. Christopher Mother's Day Out. I know that everyone will miss you there! I can't wait for you and Lila to be at the same school though.

Mother's Day 2013

Today was such a wonderful Mother's Day! It started off with Alli giving me a sweet card that Josh had bought for me.  It was probably the funniest card he's given me yet (he gives me a sweet card for each holiday and birthday), and it was about how I always steal the covers from him. We then took a few pictures before heading to Sunday School and church at UBC.  It felt great to be back at church after being out of town for two weeks!

21 weeks 3 days

sleepy girls before church

After church, we made our way to PF Changs for lunch.  We had to wait a while for our table, but the girls were so well-behaved throughout the whole lunch process, which was such a treat in itself!  We relaxed at home for a while during the girls' naps and then took a family walk around the lake in the neighborhood.  The weather could not have been more perfect today, and I love that it's not too hot yet.

I am so blessed to be a momma to these two precious girls, and I am so thankful that God has chosen me for this important calling!

Who can find a virtuous woman? She is far more precious than jewels... 
Strength and honor are her clothing, and she can laugh at the time to come. 
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and loving instruction is on her tongue. 
She watches over the activities of her household and is never idle. 
Her sons rise up and call her blessed. 
He husband also praises her: 
Many women are capable, but you surpass them all! 
Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will be praised. 
~Proverbs 31:10, 25-30

Jeff and Taylor's Wedding

Last weekend, Josh and I flew to Virginia Beach to attend our good high school friend, Jeff's wedding. We stayed at an older hotel on the beach, and I wish that the weather would have been nice enough to enjoy the beach, but it was freezing the whole time.  The wind was gusting at around 30 mph and it was a high of 55 degrees.  Other than the temperature and the wind, the sun was pretty nice when it came out!

Friday night, we went to the after rehearsal dinner party at CP Shuckers, and it was so much fun catching up with everyone.  It is always so great to be around our high school friends, and they are still so special to us! It was definitely different being sober at a party with these guys, but it was still fun!

The day of the wedding was cloudy, windy, and cold, so we met up with everyone again and hung out in the bar/restaurant in the Hilton hotel. Josh's brother, Cody, was able to come down from Newport News to hang out a while too. We had a great time, and the food was so good. We went back to the hotel to get ready for the wedding after a while and walked across the street to the venue.

The ceremony was outside, and thank goodness it wasn't on the beach side, because the wind wasn't quite as bad where it took place. It was short and sweet, and then the party got started. It was a sit-down dinner, and the food was actually really good.  They had a dj that took requests all night, and it was so much fun dancing with everyone.  The boys all got a little crazy, but that is nothing out of the norm :).

20 weeks 3 days

Trying to get home from the wedding weekend was a little interesting. Josh and I had a connection in Atlanta where we had to go out to ticketing to get our girls and check the bags from my week in Atlanta.  We then only had a little less than an hour to get back through security and to our gate. We made it with about 10 minutes to spare and got on the plane just fine.  We then had to wait on our plane for over an hour while the mechanics worked on the engine start since it kept starting too hot (scary!).  We ended up being able to take off, but there was a strong burning smell on the way up that freaked me out a lot. Everyone was fine though, and we landed safely in Houston.  I accidentally left my sunglasses on the plane, so the nice lady found them for me and brought them out to baggage claim after talking to several very unhelpful people.  It ended up taking us way longer to get home than it should have because of all the little bumps, but it feels great to be home again!