Friday

Today has been a good day. We've been at home all day, but it's been fun. My older sister brought two of her four over to play and ella had so much fun! She was worn out when they left.

Ella is napping and eliza is asleep in my lap on the boppy pillow. I should be cleaning my upstairs and doing laundry but I am lacking the motivation right now.

Ella is 2 years and 3 months today and I thought I'd write this post about her. She is growing so fast!

-She is FULL of life and is spunky! She has her dad's temperament and when I say that I mean...she never meets a stranger, wakes up with the chickens, goes and goes until she crashes, loves life, is caring, loves animals, and loves to be outside!

-She is quite the little organizer! She loves to sort, classify, and organize! What can I say...she is like her mommy too! We keep finding things like this around our house!

(She always is trying to organize our shoes in front of the door

which makes it hard to open any doors!)
-She talks ALL the time.

-She says about 100 times a day, "Mommy, what you doing here?" and "Mommy, what is dat?" She is very inquisitive about everything and is learning so much!!

-She is so a two year old. Isn't it funny how these stages of growth and behavior just happen! Right now she is very ummmm egocentric! It is all about her and everything is hers! She also says all the time, "Mommy, dat's mines!" To which I reply, "No ella, that's not yours!" To which she replies, "Mommy, dat's ours!" To which I reply, "No ella that's not ours that's theirs!" To which she replies sadly, "Okay mommy dat's dares!" This occurs many times daily!

-She loves to have her nails polished and her "hair straight!" Oh my!

-She loves her sissy but seems to acting out in jealously more often lately! Taking turns is hard at two...so is sharing!

-She loves her dolls and stuffed animals. They ALL are her special friends and we better not lose one near bedtime!

She lines them up around her crib every night!

(I take them all out when she goes to sleep!)
-She likes to carry toys from room to room! So much for order and a clean house! I try my best to not let this stress me!

She keeps this mommy busy and I love her to pieces!!

And She's....

BETTER!!!!

We made it a full day without diarrhea and she woke up this morning with a ravenous appetite! Praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers.

How long does it take a two year old....

to go down a flight of stairs?? We do this multiple times a days. She always has her hands full of her most valuable possessions (right now it is her collection of Miss Pattycake DVD's) that she carries everywhere and would sleep with if we'd let her. It cracks me up because she always starts grabbing whatever her little arms can hold whenever I tell her it's time to go downstairs. I guess she is not sure when she'll be back up! I usually have my arms full with eliza and whatever else she has dropped! It's a wonder we haven't broken our necks!

She made it!

Parenting is not for the faint or weak of heart!

This has been a rough, rough month and a half around our house. Yes, we've had good days and glimmers of health, but our girls (mostly ella) have been so so sick! It all started with that mean, nasty, awful hand/foot and mouth that ella had a terrible case of right before Thanksgiving. On the heels of that they both took RSV (eliza's being much worse...ella's was just a cold). Then ella took a week long viral fever...high fevers and feeling miserably! We had six good days that thankfully were over Christmas and then she's been battling another virus...(fever for two days and diarrhea and one day of vomiting for nine days straight!!! I am end of my rope! I am worried and so ready for my girl to be her active, witty, and healthy self again. We have been to the doctor each time...sometimes numerous times and it's been all viral.

My doctor thinks her immune system is still run down and she has had bad timing on catching EVERYTHING!! I pray this is it and there is nothing more serious going on. I hate seeing her not feel good and she cannot afford many more days of not wanting to eat! Everytime she gains a pound or two she gets sick and refuses to eat! I know there are many parents who wish there child just had a viral infection and I want to keep perspective, but it's beginning to seem never ending.

If anyone has any good immune boosting products or ideas pass them my way! I want my healthy girl again!!

Why I blog??

I have been thinking about this lately and searching my motives for why I choose to keep a family blog. I have decided that I enjoy blogging for several reasons.

-Some days it is therapeutic for me to sit down and sort through my feelings.
-I enjoy sharing pics of my girls for my friends and family who live far away.
-I enjoy journaling our life. As a child, I remember enjoying reading the things my mom wrote about me in my baby book. For example, I used to call the church nursery the "nubey" and the living room the "liv-liv." I have never forgotten those things. I want my girls to one day be able to read about their lives and what they were like at different stages.
-It is a place I can look back and see God working in my life.
-I want to turn my blog into a blog book so that my girls will one day have a hard copy! I just recently realized you could do this and I am so excited that it won't someday just be lost out in cyberspace!!

I enjoyed reading Mckmama's blog today on blogging boldly. I liked what she had to say about being authentic and real. It is so easy to portray the sunny sides of life on blogs or facebook so that others think you have it all going on. In fact, I have been thinking a lot about this throughout this past Christmas season as I strolled with my two cuties through the mall. It is so easy on the outside to "appear" all put together. For instance, I can have my two girls dressed in the cutest clothing, matching bows...I can have showered, straighted my hair smoothly, and tried to choose a trendy and fashionable outfit (which I am not sure ever happens even when I try). I can try to give off the impression of having it all together....but I so don't have it all together. While i don't think there is anything wrong with "cuteness," I want so much more for my girls than this. I want them to be real and authentic. (Don't worry right now ella has this one down. She has no problem sharing her feelings quite freely...in the middle of Target...in the car...grocery store...wherever and no matter who is looking! Guess that is a plus of being two!)

So all that to say...I enjoy blogging. I want to be a more authentic blogger! I want to share my life and what the Lord is teaching me. I want to store up memories for my girls and help them to learn about what our family life was like when they were small. So...that is why I blog!

A Look Back and a Look ahead!!

January-We celebrated Samuel's 3rd Birthday in heaven and

found out we were pregnant again which came as a big surprise!

February-We decked in red and pink and

braced ourselves as we waited for our little one to grow.

March-We visited Disney for the first time and

played at the park.

April-We finally shared our good news at 16

weeks that we were pregnant!

May-We went to the beach...not nearly enough!

June-It got hot...and mommy grew!

July-We were busy preparing for miss eliza...mommy

sewing and daddy painting!

August-mommy got put on bedrest...and we couldn't wait

for eliza to arrive!

September-so richly blessed by this healthy

bundle of cuteness!

October-We celebrated another Birthday!

November-We feasted and were thankful as we

survived a rough season of sickness!

December-We enjoyed a blessed Christmas with our

two girls!

I am naturally a planner and organizer and sometimes drive myself and others crazy. This is the way God wired me and I enjoy making list, crossing off lists, making goals and keeping my ducks in a row. As I reflect back on 2009 there are many things I can cross off my list...yet so many more things I want and seek to accomplish.

2009 was a blessed and yet difficult year at times. We started the year by finding out we were pregnant again right on the tail of a miscarriage. My doctor didn't even believe it was true and at 5 weeks we had a major scare and thought for sure this pregnancy too was ending...yet God had other plans for miss eliza. This year was more difficult as a mother. I found it challenging to be pregnant and HOT while caring for a toddler. I also found it challenging as my sweet and compliant baby turned into a toddler who had a mind of her own. I struggled to find my way as a mom in disciplining and being patient. I still have a lot to learn in this area. Kev took a much needed break in teaching Sunday School on a full-time basis and devoted more time to school work. He always seems to stay really busy!

This year was so blessed as we watched my belly grow and also watched our ella grow. It seems she went from a baby in Jan. to a big girl in December. She learned so much this year and talks all the time. She constantly entertains us with what she says and does.

My goals for 2010 are to read through my One Year Bible! This was my goal for 2009 and I was consistent through March and stopped! I really sense my need to be in God's Word on my own daily! I struggle in this area and want to experience God in a new and real way in 2010.

I also want to get outside more. I am not naturally and outside person. I am not sure why because I do like being outside! I want to get my girls outside (in the backyard, on walks, to the pool and to the park) more this year than I did last year! I think we need us more Vitamin D!!!

As a family I would like kevin and I to go on more dates and to spend time praying together...not just before a meal. I also want us to visit the Children's museum and the aquarium!

What are your goals for 2010?

some traditions are just worth keeping

2007


2008

2009

In case your wondering...it is kev's shirt! I realized last year that he'd worn it two years in a row on Christmas Eve. This year I suggested a different look...but you can see who won. He said this is his official Christmas Eve outfit! I may have to hide it in a few years!!

I love looking back at our pics througout the years. It's amazing how much growing and changing happens in 365 days! I wonder what 2010 will hold?