Old song, new version

Rain, Rain

don't go away

and come again
Some other day
Lillianna wants to play ...
some more.

Memories made on Memorial

We had a truly wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

We spent it in Kentucky with family and friends which reminded me of how blessed we are to have such joyful, peaceful lives. We just have so much.

We also celebrated Dandy's big milestone of retirement (Woo Hoo 41 years!) with a picnic in the park.

Sweet cousin Ella helping Lillianna color inside the lines.

ME: Everyone strike a fancy pose and say Cheese!

Ella, Daisy, & Leah: Ok. (strike fancy pose) CHEESE!

Lillianna: I DON'T WANT TO SAY CHEESE! (walk away.)

Still having fun!

Still striking fancy, beautiful pose.

Lillianna hadn't seen her cousins since Easter. Not too long but they were all so excited to see eachother and had so much fun together. They ran and giggled and ran and ran and talked and ran and giggled and ran. Now if we could just get sweet Bentley to join in there with them.

The picture above captures what we observed alot during the weekend. Miss Bossy Applesaucy...Miss Sassy Molassy...aka Miss Lillianna leading the pack or demanding to be the line leader of her cousins. Of course, I give much credit to the sweet cousins who were just being patient with their younger cousin. Still, it's so funny to observe her being bossy with others besides Bibby and well, me. She usually is too shy, too sheepish with others. Then again, she has ALWAYS known JUST what she wants..how, when, and where.

The next morning she woke up knowing she was going to be doing a lot of running with her cousins again so she ate...alot. Marsh Man made her a scrumptious breakfast and she was his buddy the rest of the day.


Inside, Cousins (and 3 weeks apart) Ellenie and Christopher had a real heart to heart about life...in diapers.

Christopher felt things were getting to dark (pun intended) so he told her his best joke.

Which Ellenie thought was so funny.

Then she taught him her "I'm so cute" face she uses to get extra kisses.

Back outside, after much running (see Lillianna's hair) the girls had lovely lunch.

Which ended with much giggling when Lillianna added ketchup to her juice (and drank it) and Ella put ice in Lillianna's ketchup on her plate. They laughed so hard.

I wish I could still laugh that hard at ketchup in my juice.

Then Ya-Ya came up with some Lollipop rings which were lip-smacking delicious.

(Right Daisy?)

Cheers to a great weekend! Can't wait to all be together again soon!

BIG

One week ago, I had a big birthday.

Big as in my sweet husband surprised me big time.

Big as in a big limo took a big group of my girlfriends to the restaurant

where they surprised me when Brad and I walked out.

Big as in having the biggest fun I've had in a long, long time.

Big as in being surrounded by lots of laughter, music, dancing, fun, and love.

Big as in the BEST!

Thank you sweet and precious friends!

Thank you, most of all, my amazing husband!

There are many great pictures from the night...

and while this is not the best, it is good.

Lillianna in the limo when it picked up my friends at our house.

Hide & Seek

I lost Lillianna.

She's hiding somewhere but I can't find her.

Hmmmm.....Where could she be?

There she is!

Oh great! Now, I lost Ellenie.

She's hiding (sort of) and I can't seem to find her.

There she is!

I think I can...I think I can

Almost...

Almost...

Allllllllllllllllmost....

Forget it.

Frontporch Fun

Erkel

Lillianna has been using the word "cool" alot in the last week.

I figured she heard it at school although I also heard Diego use it yesterday.

She often inquires whether she is using it correctly, saying, "Is that cool Mama?"

Of course, most of the time I say,"Yes, that's cool because it's really colorful (insert any other actual adjective)," trying to teach her to use more descriptive words.

Anyhoo, she also is very into pulling up her pants. Not her fault since most of them are too big.

All this to say, how do I tell her that this look is not very...umm...well....COOL?

Me Likey

officially 4 months old.

rice cereal for the first time.

loved it!

thought we might bulk her up a bit.

she's a whopping 11 pounds, 60z. and 23 inches tall/long.

the pedictrician called her "scrawny".

So then I called him scrawny.

Sweet sweet sweet

We had a wonderful Mother's Day.

Complete with country ham biscuits, a drawing from Lillianna, church, a picnic at the river, lots of playing, and only one trip to Timeout.

Plus, I got a beautiful necklace and earrings from Brad and the girls.

Loved it all!

Last week at school Lillianna, with help from her teachers, completed a fill in the blank sheet entitled My Mom is Special! It is so sweet I just had to share.

Her answers are in bold:

My Mom's name is: Mama

She is special because she plays with me.

I like it when my Mom plays marbles with me.

My Mom can do many things! I think she's best at cooking

My Mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by tickling her.

My Mom is as pretty as a princess. My Mom is smart! She even knows how to drive a car.

I'd like to tell my Mom that I think she is beautiful.

Happy Mother's Day to Me

One year ago this Sunday, I received the best (and most surprising) gift on Mother's Day.

A positive pregnancy test!

Here we are one year later with that best gift...

Miss Ellenie.

And with her big sister, Lillianna, they are truly the best gifts I will ever receive...

better than all the beautiful flowers in the world,

better than all the chocolate cake and chocolate chip cookies in the world combined,

better than any long, extravagant vacation

with all the books, beach, sun and fruity drinks I could ever want,

better than the longest nap I could dream of right now!

You two darling, delicious loveys are the best gift, that keeps on giving, I could ever ask for.

To steal your phrase Lillianna, you are the best daughters "I ever seen in the whole world."

I love you.

And I thank you for the privilege of being your Mom.

Happy Mother's Day!

Potty Talk

Quote of the Week

Warning: May be too much information

(Peering into her Elmo potty at her job well done)

Lillianna: Look Mom, that one looks like a carrot but the other two little fellas look like poop.

Small Things with Great Love

We can do no great things, only small things with great love.

- Mother Teresa

Two years ago in April, I started this blog. Two years! Lillianna was just 8 months old and I was taking pictures of her everyday and trying to remind myself to write down all the adorable stuff she was doing. Then at a birthday party for our sweet friend Lydia, I talked to her Aunt, my friend iMollie about her blog. At the time, I didn't know much about blogging and had never heard of a parenting/mom/family-ish blog. But it sounded like a great way to journal, share, and most of all to connect with others. I was really excited about the opportunity to easily share pics and stories about Lillianna with our family since we live away from all of them. So I started one and started writing to Lillianna'a grandparents, Aunts and close friends that I knew would love to see adorable her and hear about all the predictable antics of parenting.

Two years later, I am amazed at how much blogging has become an invaluable way of involving our family and friends in our daily life as well

as a wonderful source of community for me as a Mom.

When I started it, I didn't think about what would become of the blog, I was just happy to know my Mom had pictures for a new screen saver at work each week. Then I realized that it was the best (or only!) baby book, scrapbook, journal, or love letter I was keeping for Lillianna. So then I began to worry about what would become of my blog. Should I start printing the posts and putting them in binders? Then I came across the perfect (I hoped) solution: blurb.com

This company has free software that downloads your blog so that you can edit it, send it back to them, and then they print it in a hard-back book in less than 2 weeks! I had to try it.

So I worked on one that encompasses my first year of blogging and it arrived in the mail last week!

Overall, I was very pleased. The software was user friendly and the quality of the book is awesome. I didn't think the templates or lay-outs for the pages were great, especially if your post includes many pictures. The editing options were also a bit limiting but I didn't explore all the options either. I will say that I am very excited about starting Volume 2 which will include my whole second year of blogging. Most of all, I'm just so glad I started this and so very glad to know that the girls will have it forever.

Thanks Mollie!

Pajama party

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.

Little things like a getting your first sleeping bag (that came with a water bottle and flashlight too!) to watch Cinderella FOR THE FIRST TIME with your best friend in your pajamas while eating pizza and cupcakes!

Lillianna looked at me at one point and whispered,

"This is the best night ever."