Top 10, 2007

2007, what a wonderfully, crazy year!

The best of 2007: (in no particular order)

10. The first snow of 2007 (Eloise - 16 months)













9. The last days of being pregnant (hopefully forever!) - 36 weeks











8. The birth of Lily Grace
February 23, 2007, 4:15 p.m., 8 lbs 10 oz. 19.5 inches
labor started at 5 a.m. and progressed ssslllooowwwlllyyy...pushed 4 times and she emerged in her bag of waters. I knew it would be a girl the whole time ;)










first time seeing sister










Our new family of four










One of my favorites











7. First family trip to the beach











6. Eloise turned 2!




















5. Our first swing Set











4. Ahlbola..I'd like to forget this one. I'm sure the Lawrence's would too.










playing at Zuanich park in Bellingham











3. First Blazer Game (currently on a 13 game winning streak - I added that for dave)










With Willy Davis













2. Lily's First Christmas

with nana and papa












1. The best of all....Our healthy, happy, joyous, loving family!

at Lily's baby dedication

Merry CHRISTmas

We had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. I am already counting the days until next year.

Christmas morning at my parents.


First presents of the morning


Eloise loved to help everyone unwrap their gifts...even if they didn't want her to.

First singing performance

Eloise sang for the first time in front of a large crowd. The large crowd was at church with her fellow toddlers and kindergartener's. What a great time she had. We didn't really know what to expect, but a she did excellent in front of so many people. And daddy even got her to flex her muscles. She did lots of shout outs to Nana and Lily. ENJOY!

preparing for the big event



Here is Away in a Manger




and Ring the Bells

Shakin'

Listening to the "Santa's doing the Mambo":

Eloise (2): Hey Lily, it's the Mambo! Let's shake our fannies!

zoo lights

We went to Zoo Lights on Sunday. It was so much fun. I was so excited to have our first Christmas outing as a family.


Eloise is obsessed with Christmas lights. I mean obsessed. When we come home after our errands in the evening, she starts crying because she wants to see Christmas lights. So I knew this evening would be the best for her.

They had a train to ride around the zoo. She sat with a huge smile on her face the entire time she was riding. And to add to our Christmas experience, it was snowing! I can't wait to go to Peacock Lane this weekend.

great expectations

I'm feeling off balance today. I think there are some key things in my life that have been put in the backseat as I've been driving this crazy life the past 9 months. I'm learning to put them up front sometimes, but they need to be up front ALL the time.

I always have high expectations for myself. To achieve the best is important, I don't always do it, but I at least want to strive for it. During my bible study last week I was talking about my struggle to sit. To sit and BE with the Lord. An older, wise woman asked, "Are your expectations realistic for your lifestyle?" I answered yes at the time (I know 15 minutes, if that, of peace is all I have), but now I'm thinking no. I understand that sitting with the Lord for an hour each day just isn't possible. With my cooking business, a 9 month old who still doesn't sleep, a 2 yr old phasing out naps, and a husband, I'm thinking it's just not going to work unless I did it at 3 - 4 a.m. and in that case Lily would be screaming and not much peace would be happening.

I know I need to put in the time. And I don't mean that it has to be a # time, but an existence time. For Jesus to be my perspective. For me to have many moments throughout the day where I realign myself with His purpose for my life. I need to make this relationship with Lord a relationship. I need to do it for me, not for my kids, not for dave, for me and because the Lord desires to be with me. I think all the other expectations I have on myself are suffocating me and I can't seem to figure out how to crawl out from underneath them. I need to find a way to make my expectations realistic for my lifestyle.

Poo in the potty

Eloise has gone poo poo in the potty for the last 5 days. She has told me every time she has to go! She refuses to wear diapers, except at night, and only wants to wear big girl panties or Popsicle pull-ups (the cheap Target ones). I guess she is potty trained?!? I don't think I'm ready to venture out of the house with just panties on, but at least there is progress. Right now we are living by a 30 minute timer and ALOT of Christmas gum drops.

Paybacks???

I'm starting to wonder if I'm being paid back for something horrible I did to my mother. I didn't sleep through the night until 3 months (bitter), always went to my sister when I had a bad dream or had the flu, and was a very picky eater. What could it be?

Eloise has now puked in her car seat 4 times in a little over a year. The negative of this time, it was in a new car seat. UGHHHH, another car seat to dismantle and disinfect. (this one was actually easier, I could take off every part and soak it.)

So after we pulled into the garage after a trip to Costco, Eloise throws up all over herself and the backseat. I instantly grab my rubber gloves and go to work. Eloise was crying, Lily was crying, and thankfully, I wasn't. I've gotten pretty good at dealing with these curve balls of motherhood.

We managed to get ourselves in the house leaving all traces of vomit in the garage. I managed to get the entire seat taken apart, cleaned and reassemble in 24 hrs. I'm going to give myself a big pat on the back for that one.

Both girls have pretty high fevers and have been pretty clingy. This is my first experience with fevers. All Eloise wants to do is sit in her chair and watch movies. All Lily wants to do is crawl on her. All I want to do is sleep. Hopefully, the little ones will be well soon.

Hello Christmas

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our family. The girls loved Nana and Papa's house and all the older cousins to play with. However, coming back was even more fun b/c Christmas decorating time was soon to follow.
(tea party with the cousins)


I love Christmas! Dave is always rolling his eyes at me when I sneak Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Eloise and Lily love the Hippo Song and this last week while listening to it on repeat we hung our snowflakes in the window and decorated the tree.

Our tree is 3 ft tall and artificial. This is a BIG problem in my family. My parents own a tree farm and usually bring us our tree. (as we speak my mom is assembling a swag to add some "realness" to my Christmas greens). Two years ago we were unable to have a tree b/c of how small our apartment was and so I bought this little tree to help bring a little Christmas into our house. This is the 3rd year we have used it and I'm hoping to do away with it next year. But for now it is adorned with creative ornaments both received and bought.


Eloise set up her "people". (Fisher Price Nativity). She plays with it all the time and gets a little annoyed when Lily takes off with one of her "people". Mama also has her "people". My nativity is set up next to the tree as a reminder to me of what this season truly represents, Christ's birth. We are excited to begin teaching Eloise about this joyous celebration.


Another exciting event of the season. The Pottery Barn Chairs have arrived. My parents are down this weekend and the PB Chairs were shipped here. My dad put them together and we had a mock christmas with the girls. We were able to take them up and wait until Christmas morning b/c we don't have a car big enough to haul them back. They LOVE them and so does mom. Here they are enjoying their first morning playing with them.



WE LOVE CHRISTMAS!