Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, From Our Family to Yours!

I have had some time to reflect the last couple of days, which were fortunately the last couple of days before the new year. It happens to me every year after Christmas, as the old year comes to a close and the new year begins. I had some time to sit down and think about my goals for the year, as well as my goals for this decade of my life. One of my goals every year is to read 50 books, which I am able to do, because I foolishly spend time reading when I should be sleeping. I also realized that this is the year to lay some foundation for my long term goals, and I am excited to get those started. But as we enter the New Year, my prayer for my life, for who I become this year, is that I would grow to be "hidden with Christ with God." God certainly has his work cut out for him with me, but I suspect he already knows that. We had such a wonderful year, and as this year comes to a close, I am thankful for all the blessings, and the trials, and the contentment God has bestowed upon us. Contentment is sometimes elusive, usually due to my own selfishness, but for now it is richly present in our lives, and I am so thankful for such a gift.

Merry Christmas!

The Weekend Before Christmas

I may have said it already, but we are having the best time at this age with Lilla, which is ironic since she is two years old. But it really does keep getting more and more fun, and she is so fun.

We made gingerbread cookies on Friday, went to see the horses on Saturday, and today we put up her little christmas tree in her spot in the family room. We are going to decorate it with popcorn and other fun stuff later in the week. I love the week before Christmas.

Lilla pretty much just wanted to eat the candy for the coookies.

This horse did not want us to pet him. We did a couple of times, but then after that he kept moving away when we tried. He was pretty busy licking the bottom of the bucket for oats, so we were probably distracting him.

We decided to pass on Santa this year. We had our appointment, yes appointment scheduled for today, but Lilla saw her grandfather Poppop yesterday, who she loves and sees all the time, yet clung to Jay the whole visit with him. We figured she wasn't going to like Santa yet, and decided it wouldn't be worth the effort. Hopefully next year though.

Jello

I think because it is the Christmas season, and I am no longer working, we are doing more cooking and crafting around our house. Our Christmas card is done, and all the presents are wrapped. Lilla has been so great about not getting into the presents. She just sort of looks at them and feels the wrapping paper. I also loaded up on cookies, ginerbread products, and all sorts of yummy things at the grocery store recently. One of those things was Jello, which is probably the easiest thing in the world to make, and really fun. As you can see, Lilla had a blast.

Christmas Pagent

Lilla's school had their annual Christmas Pagent last week. We sat in the balcony and were on the back row, but the sanctuary isn't that big so we didn't feel like we couldn't see anything. Jay had the video camera and I had the still camera.

This is a shot of part of the group. Lilla is the cow in the middle looking up. But shortly after this shot, which was close to the beginning of the program, I see Lilla's lip start to quiver, and she had a total meltdown. Jay and I were cracking up, because we could hear her wailing over the 100 other kids singing up there, from the back of balcony. On our video there is a lot of sweet little singing, and then howling from her above it all. Fortunately, her teacher was next to her and held her, or I would have gone down to get her. We still are not sure what set her off, but it was pretty funny.

Our little cow at home with a cookie. That made it all better.

Compassion

Compassion International is an organization that we really like. We are sponsoring several kids through their program, and we get the sweetest thank you letters and notes from them. They all live in HIV infected area in Africa. Africa is a place that is really on my heart these days, because of the orphan crisis. For awhile now I have been dreaming of going to Africa. And then one day it hit me that I can do other things like support these kids and raise awareness until I am able to go. Compassion Internation has these really cool T-shirts that support the Global Food Crisis Fund. They would make great stocking stuffers and help feed some very needy kids. And if you are interested in learning more about the orphan crisis, read this book There Is No Me Without You. A dear friend of mine Heathie who is currently in Africa working in orphanages gave it to me, and it is one of my favorites.

Heathie with her baby Neema.

"Ni Busu"= Kiss Me!

Two and Half Years Old

Lilla had her 2 year pictures taken, and we just wanted to share a few of them.

MY FAVORITE!

Halloween

I never did get a chance to post Halloween pictures, so here are a few. Lilla was pretty cute as a Strawberry, and we had a lot of fun Trick or Treating. There were a lot of kids in our neighborhood. I did make a mental note while we were going around, and that is to tell Lilla when she is older to only take one or two pieces of candy. It seemed like at half of the houses we visisted there was always a pack of little boys coming or going and they would take handfulls and handfulls of candy. It kept happening over and over, and I thought it was interesting that so many of the parents, who were usually standing at the curb, were oblivious. Anyway, she had fun, and particularly loved all the loolipops (which she ate along the way), and we got to meet some of our new neighbors.

Crazy for Ice Cream

Lilla is crazy about ice cream; I mean, what kid isn't? Actually, my brother wasn't as a kid. My parents would say "Do ya'll want to get ice cream?" and I would say yes and Haynes would say "Mmmm, no." I still laugh when I think about that.

Lilla loves ice cream. Every night when my dad comes home she immediately starts talking about ice cream, because they share a bowl every night.

This morning I decided to take a few minutes and wipe down the fridge and freezer. Lilla was in the kitchen with me playing, so I wasn't paying too much attention to what she was doing.

This is what I found when I turned around. A buffet of ice cream. I really did not notice her getting it all out, but she got it all set up with her spoon by her stool.

She had a little trouble digging it out with the spoon, so she decided licking the top was more efficient.

Pumpkin Patch

We found a pumpkin patch at a church near our house. The couple that was overseeing it were so kind. All the money they made was going toward missions work, which we appreciated. I love it when smaller churches come up with creative ways to raise money to send workers out into the harvest. It is a nice change from the typical building campaigns that are so prevalent in churches right now.

Lilla had a great time running around, particularly because she was wearing her cowboy boots, which she loves. She is almost grown out of them, and I have got to find some more!

NAPO

For those of you who don't know, NAPO is the National Association of Professional Organizers. This is what we have been finding when we get Lilla after naps and in the morning. All her dishes are perfectly lines up, and the handles are even in the same direction. I think NAPO may have a future member. She has been really tired lately. I seriously think she is waking up and organizing at odd hours. A few times we have found her sleeping on the floor with her line already finished.

Lilla wanted to make sure that all her dolls and animals were not hungry, so everyone is eating below. She sacrificed her preference for a straight line so that some of her animals could lean against her bed for support. They kept falling over and disrupting her line!

Big Girl in a Big Bed!

Fall

Fall is finally on its way here. We are so gald that the heat and humidity are starting to break.

Our neighborhood fire station just got rebuilt, and last weekend they had an open house for the area residents. It was fun to go check it out, but as you can see in the picture below, Lilla did not care for the big dog.

But she did enjoy the fire truck. It was so hot outside though that she was dripping sweat under her new hat.

One new thing around here is that Lilla loves for me to put her hair in pigtails. I can't get that much of it pulled up, but enough to make her happy. I was able to snap this picture only because she was in time out and had to sit there, but it is getting harder and harder to get pictures these days.

Summer Winding Down

We have had a pretty fun couple of weeks.  I can't believe that school starts in a couple of weeks...I keep thinking that we have a lot more of summer left, but we really don't, which makes me sort of sad.  Last week we went to visit Aunt Mimi and Cousin Alex which was great fun.

Lilla loves both of them, as well as their new kitten, which had her laughing most of the time.  We spent the three evenings we were there watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy because they had never seen it, which is unfathomable!

And our dear friends the Hermans, who are expecting their first baby, have moved back to Atlanta so we were also able to see them this past week.  Below Dick is sharing M&Ms with Lilla, after her dinner but before ours, so that she would warm up to him, which she did very quickly.

Breakfast Together

I woke up one of the first days in the new house to find my dad and Lilla eating breakfast together and sitting at her toddler table. Lilla loves the food he shares with her, particularly almonds and cinnamon raisin muffins.

The New Deck

Lilla is adjusting well to the new house.  It is a house she knows, so it wasn't too big of change, but I know she was probably wondering why everything was different all of a sudden.  She is really enjoying the awesome deck we now have, and she loves to go out there and be with the dogs.  She doesn't necessarily play with them, but she likes to be around them and laughs laughs laughs at all their weird antics.

The Big Move

The Big Move finally happened!  It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, but we got through it and moved to our new house.  It is quite a relief since it has been in the works for 18 months.  Lilla handled it pretty well, though below is a picture that depicts the chaos.  She had just gotten out of the bath, and found a spot all on her own to watch cartoons, amidst all our luggage, while I tried to find clothes, diapers, shoes, etc.  

As much as we were ready to move, we have been nostalgic about the old house.  It was a great first house, where we brought our new baby home to.  We will in many ways miss the house, but not the location. 

The house we said goodbye to...

Footware

I just wanted to share this picture.  Lilla came downstairs after her bath in her pjs, with her shirt tucked in (which Jay always seems to do), and socks and shoes.  It was a complete "outfit" for the rest of the evenings activities, which consisted of dinner and watching Elmo.  She was glued to the Elmo movie, and I couldn't get her to look at the camera.  She loves Elmo right now.  I like Elmo better than Barney, but Jay finds the little red puppet somewhat annoying.

In each Elmo episode, there is a character or group of character known as The Noodles.  Mr. Noodle, Mrs. Noodle, etc.  They are basically stupid people that need everything explained to them, like how to swing or ride a bike.  And in appearance they sort of resemble clowns.  Not the wig and nose and big feet, but they wear oversized exaggerated suits and have weird big mustaches.  All that to say, since we are on the topic of Elmo and his friends, that Lilla does not like the Noodles.  She either backs up away from the TV when they come on, or she makes me come sit with her for the whole minute they are on.  I think it is because they are out of the ordinary, and therefore to Lilla out of order.  If there is one thing she likes, it is order, and so I think the Noodles do not fit into her perception of orderly normal people.

Dog Days

The dog days of summer have hit.  The heat outside is just unbearable most days, and we are just sort of enduring it.  So, we do not have many fun pictures to share, because we are indoors most of the time trying not to melt.  Below is a picture Jay managed to get of the two of us.  Playing on my back is one of Lila's new favorite activities.

Beach Bums

We are being beach bums again for the next couple of weeks. We haven't really been bumming it though, because Lilla is very busy.  She loves the pool and really got into jumping.  The weather has been great, and it is just nice to be away.  These are some cute pictures of Lilla and Jay below.  I love how Lilla's mouth is open with excitement in the last picture as she jumps.

Surrendering To The Unknown...

I wanted to share with everyone a website that I love.

It is http://www.surrenderingtotheunknown.blogspot.com/. It is a blog of a friend of mine from high school, the daddy below, who just went to Ethiopia to adopt two siblings. It is an amazing story, and I actually cry when I see their new pictures posted. That is probably because I read this unbelieveable book There Is No Me Without You about the orphan crisis in Ethiopia, and was just so stunned and thrilled to see some fellow believers taking action and reaching out and making theses beautiful babies their own. If you have a minute, go check out their site. It is a story only God could create.

Sydney and Andrew with their new family.

Our Two Year Old!

I really can't believe that it has been two years since Lilla was born.  We had a small family party last weekend to celebrate, and then a party at school with her little friends.  I will post those pictures later.  But on her actual birthday, we went to chickfila for a fun treat and then played in the yard for a long while and then had cupcakes.  Below are just some sweet pictures that we took on her big day.

Strawberries!

We found a great pick-your-own strawberry orchard not too far from our house recently. Today was the second time we have visited, bc the strawberries are so much better than at the grocery store.

Lilla loved it, though she kept picking the green berries until she caught on that the red ones were what we wanted. She loved holding the basket too as we moved down the row. She and Jay ate the whole time we picked, so Lilla came home covered in red and Jay came home with a stomach ache.

The farm had some chickens in a pen, which Lilla could not get enough of. She howled when Jay picked her up to put her in the car and she couldn't watch the chickens anymore.

We might try and go again next weekend since it is the last weekend they will be open. After that, I don't know how we are going to wait a whole year for those strawberries.