Livyisms and Happy One Month!

Wow, Lily! I can't believe you are already one month old and how much you've grown! You bring us so much joy, delight, and love, just like your big sister.

Now, a Few Livyisms:

Olivia always checks on Lily when she's making noises. We let her know she's ok, she just "talks" to us by crying or making other baby noises. Since Lily grunts and stretches a lot, we tell Olivia, "She's ok, she's just grunting." The other day Livy responded to the little Noisemaker by saying, "She's ok, Mommy; she's just GRUMPING." So now, of course, we always refer to those sweet sounds as grumping.

Unlike her baby sister, Olivia is the Queen of all Sleep-Fighting. After bedtime, she snuck out of her room, so Daddy said, "Livy, if you get out of bed again, we will have to close your door." Little Turkey responded, "No, Daddy. How 'bout if I get out of bed TWO times you close my door."

Big Sister LOVES to care for her baby. Sometimes too much. I asked her to not touch Lilian's swing while she was finishing her nap, and (shockingly) Olivia was trying to defy us. I got very stern with her so she stood on one foot next to the swing and sneakily put out her other leg. When she saw me shoot "The Look," she said, "I'm just doing my passe, Mommy," and made a pretty ballerina pose.

We have a STINK-ER on our hands. I couldn't be happier. ;-)

From Husband to Wife

Aaron sent this email to me for Mother's Day... What a keepsake! I will refer back to this whenever I'm tempted to grumble about dirty socks strewn about or something ridiculous like that! :-)

My Love,

Congratulations on being a new mother. We make such wonderful babies and Lily is evidence of that! She is perfect. Both of our children have a fantastically wonderful, caring, loving, and nurturing mother. I'm in awe of the sight of you as a mother!

Happy Mother's Day. I can't believe that we now have two children that resemble you so much! I'm just thrilled that they have a mother worthy of celebrating on Mother's Day! I love you so much.

Aaron

Introducing our lovely Lilian Claire

Lily officially made us a family of four on Sunday, May 2 at 12:28am. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 5 1/2 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long.
Our Lily has filled our home with cuddles, coos, grunts, and even more love. She was virtually silent the first three weeks, only letting us know if she really needed a meal or a diaper change. However, she is already growing up and has found she has quite the opinion at times! She loves to spend most of her day sleeping (this came as a shock to us after parenting Baby Olivia!) and during her little awake time, she loves to make kissy faces, watch her big sister, snuggle up next to our necks, and make rumbly sounds - lots of them.

I cannot believe she will be four weeks old just after midnight tonight. She has changed so much already. Her dark blue eyes seem to take in every detail around her, and she is already so strong! A couple times she has tried to smile at us, but her biggest smiles still occur in her sleep. She is a busy young lady with a big sister to keep up with, so she's already visited the museum, attended a movie (This could have NEVER happened with Baby O!), gone to church, and watched a dance recital. Oh, we think she will be a red-head! Her sweet fuzzy hair looks red in the sunlight and she has the pink cheeks to go with it, just like her daddy!

Olivia is the SWEETEST big sister, and the girls are precious together! Livy lets us know what Lily needs if she's fussy, and she's always wanting to hold, hug, and kiss her. She has fought us on the "Only hold the baby if a grown up is helping you" rule. When a grandma watched the girls for us to have a date, we returned home and were informed Olivia got Lilian out of her baby seat and brought her to bed with her. Yikes! I guess every big sister has done this (speaking from experience :-)). We're so in love with and proud of our amazing girls! What precious gifts from God.

A New Year

My Tired Look...I think this is my signature look! :-)

1 Corinthians 7:17
...as God has called each, in this manner let him walk.

So here's my mantra or focus for this year. I think I'll need to revisit this often, especially after returning to work with an infant in August. I did a pretty bad job of having a wonderful (or even decent) attitude last time around. Then again, I was a TERRIBLE pregnant lady when I was carrying sweet Little Livy. You live, you learn, you grow.

I can list the things in my life I never thought would be the way they are, as I'm sure everyone can, but my time is much better spent by counting my blessings and doing the jobs I've been given in life.

On another note, I find it very interesting that the most important events happen in my life in even years:

1986 - Little sister born
1996 - Met my future husband
2000 - Graduate high school
2002 - Marry that high school sweetheart
2004 - Graduate college; Begin teaching career
2006 - Have Olivia and become Mommy
2010 - Lily to be born!

Santa's Here

Our Christmas was magical this year! Here's my favorite part, a video of Livy sharing her excitement about Christmas Day with me when she heard a clatter outside. She was so overcome with emotion, she almost cried. When I watched this clip of her, I teared up. I'm incredibly blessed to have such a sweet family and that her Daddy, er- I mean Santa, would make this such a special memory for her.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I'm BACK!!!

Phew! My first semester, I mean trimester, symptoms totally seeped into my second! I've been tired and GRUMPY. I kept hearing this mean and naggy wife, momma, and teacher that I don't like at all but just couldn't seem to do anything about it. I was in a fog and felt worthless.

BUT, the past few days, I feel like the old me again. I'm not a zombie. I'm nice to my family. And at school today, I just wanted to pinch my students' cheeks and tell them I love them. (Before, I just wanted to pinch them.) While I'm not energetic, I feel like I can finally muster up enough strength to clean this dumpy home of ours.

This pregnancy and baby are SUCH a blessing, no matter how I feel at times. Thanks to God for carrying my family and I through the tougher times, and much praise for the happy and easier times, too!


(First glimpse of baby and that beautiful BEATING heart.)

A peek into my world

One of my student's pictures...her mom's caption said, "Tigger would prefer that we don't return."

This sweet student of mine described herself as "Bossy, loud, and dramatic." She may or may not have left the classroom to follow me to the bathroom one day, I can't rightly say. However, she is the most lovable girl I've ever met. She pretty much decides she loves and adores you upon first meeting and is affectionate, friendly, social, and tender-hearted. I won't lie, though, this darling makes me sigh and laugh quite frequently. 'Wouldn't have my classroom any other way but all in all, it's the most exhausting group I've ever taught.