Lillian Turns Two!

Happy Birthday Lillian!

Ooooeee, have I got a blog for you guys!

Lillian had her second birthday on Tuesday, but we celebrated early on Monday since we knew Loren and Ray would both be home that evening but weren't sure about Tuesday. We had been talking about her birthday for a few days, so Lillian sort of knew what was to come, but mostly she talked about cake - that's my girl! We baked the cake together earlier in the day (she LOVES being a helper in the kitchen), then I decorated it while she slept. I'm not much of an artist, particularly with food, but I decided at two years old she wouldn't care so I tried to make an Elmo cake. There were a few hiccups (the two cake layers stuck to the pans so I had to try to patch them up, the food dye instructions were a crock and got us a pink Elmo instead of red, and the power went out while I was icing the cake so I had to do it by flashlight!) BUT dare I say, I think it turned out okay for an amateur!



I hid the cake away and once everyone was home Lillian started in on the presents. She sat with Uncle Loren (gosh she was soooo excited for his homecoming), then very slowly and systematically opened each package, let him take the paper away, gave the contents to Gramma without really looking much at them, and raced over to the pile for the next one. She wasn't exactly giggly, but she was definitely enjoying herself!













Lillian got lots of summer clothes, some big girl Elmo underwear (cross your fingers for us as we enter that phase!), a couple of alphabet and number puzzles, and a tot-sized baseball and glove - perfect since Ray started coaching softball and Lillian has gotten interested.

Then it was on to the cake!







And now on to some CUTE videos. Take a look at some of the awesome things Lillian can do...









One last photo - not birthday related, but look at that cutie!!!

Snow Day!

April 28, 2010 - we woke up to snow this morning!



Just had to share, partly because of my own surprise, and also because of a conversation just last night with Oma when she called for Lillian's birthday. I told her about Lillian's clothing gifts that she can't wear yet because they're all summery and we are in a bit of a second winter. She said - "not snow?" And I said no, but we'd had some nice weather but then were hit with nonstop rain and quite a windstorm that even brought a power outage.

Well, here's that snow Oma cursed us with. Thanks, Oma.



Another blog to come soon with all the birthday goodies :)

Old and Sick

Are you familiar with the book "Love You Forever" by Robert Munsch? It's one of Lillian's on-again-off-again favourites, one that she's pretty well memorized. Today out of the blue she said to me, "Momma old and sick." I resisted the initial reaction to be insulted, and instead laughed and what I thought she'd said, and asked her to repeat it. Same thing, clear as day. Then it clicked - near the end of the Munsch book, the mother is referred to as being old and sick. I'm not quite sure why Lillian is associating those conditions with me right now, but frankly it's not far off from how I feel! Kids say the darndest things. And they can be pretty insightful, too, it seems.

Lillian has been busy mothering her doll, who was recently christened with the name Emily. At first I thought she was naming her after her cousin, but then I realized she's relating the baby to yet another book - Grover Takes Care of Baby. Coincidentally, said Baby is named Emily and is Grover's cousin. Like in the book, Lillian cleans Emily up, reads to her, takes her for walks in the stroller, and even helps her ride the horsey!





Another passtime that has recently emerged is fishing. Lillian has never actually been fishing as far as I recall, but she certainly knows what it is - Grampa (formerly Papa - I'm kinda sad that one has evolved) goes fishing in the boat with Bob (formerly Bobby - but Bob is actually the right name for Howard's friend), and she sees fishing shows on tv sometimes, plus Bert and Ernie went fishing, and Ernie showed Bert how to fish without a pole - just call them, and the fish will jump into the boat! Here, fishy fishy fishy!


(PS - there are several other new Lillian videos up on YouTube too... enjoying the swing at the park, having fun at the aquarium, playing in a box with Gramma...)

The other day the sun finally came out to play after a long hiatus, so Lillian went for a walk. It was still pretty chilly, so Lillian was wearing one of those wonderful handmade sweaters, and this time she tolerated the hat too! That was a first, and I was glad to get some pictures of her in the ensemble. Pretty cute, I think :) We ended up in the cellar house for a minute, where she discovered the old high chair her Dad and uncles used, and she used for a while as a craft chair. She wanted in, then wouldn't get out! Took some convincing. And maybe some bribing.







It was such a nice day, we headed outside again in the afternoon. This time we hung out in the yard, blowing bubbles and scavenging for fir cones. Lillian took the scavenging very seriously.







The day before Easter the boys decided to help Lillian colour some eggs. It was their idea, so I left it all up to them. Including the clean up. Ha!!!







Then on Easter morning Lillian discovered that the Easter Bunny had hidden those same eggs, and some others containing treats, around the house. She needed less convincing than last year that this would be fun, and would pay off in sugary dividends. Nothing like chocolate first thing in the morning!







In other news, I'm now 25 weeks along, with only 14 weeks to go! Yikes. 14 weeks to go, and we have no ideas for names. Well, not NO ideas, but none we can agree on, of course. Me thinks this will be a lot harder the second time around! For those of you who know the gender of the baby, remember to keep it hush-hush from Oma!

Wow, time flies when you're typing! Wrapping up with one more cute picture...

Making up for it

Ha! Another post in less than a week! Take that!

Tomorrow will mark 24 weeks down, 15 to go! Yowza! It's going so fast. I find myself thinking that more and more often as the years go by. For example, how did I get to be 30 already? Don't answer.

Oma, this one's for you... For Christmas 2008, when Lillian was only about 8 months old, Oma got her an adorable pajama set that included a red robe. It was awesome, and huge, since it was a size 2T! Well, Lillian has finally grown into it, and absolutely loves it... to the point where it's a fight to take it off sometimes :)



Another she's-growing-up-so-fast milestone... first ponytail! Lillian's not very cooperative with the camera, but I'm pretty sure you can still appreciate the cuteness here.

First, her cheesy camera smile - which doesn't show the ponytail at all but is awfully cute...


Then a side view I snagged while Gramma distracted her...


Oh and PS to Oma - Lillian has been wearing that sweater and the other one you gave her that same Christmas - finally grew into those too! She gets compliments all the time, people really notice and love that they're handmade. Tell your sorority sister she's a hit!

I've gotten back into the swing of things with my crafting lately. I made some Hershey's Nuggets treats for Ray's office as an Easter treat earlier this week (I'm told they're long gone already), and have some cupcakes all ready to into work with him tomorrow. You can't see it in the picture very well, but those little toothpick labels have bunnies and eggs stamped on them.





Also made a little "card purse" with a set of springy cards for my secret sister at Curves.



And a gazillion (ok, 48) Cougar Thank You cards for Ray to give to businesses who donated prizes for his football team's raffle.



I also made a couple of gift baskets for raffles - one for the football team, and one for a fundraiser at Curves for the Relay For Life that Sally and Ray are walking in in June. (No, I'm not slagging off - I'll be nearly 8 months pregnant so I took a pass on the participation - but I can still fundraise!) Next up on the crafting list is a bunch of cards for Operation Write Home. I like having another purpose for making cards, besides for my own personal use (I only use so many) or for sale (I only sell, well, practically none!).

Howard and Sally have been out of town for a few days and are heading home today. I know Lillian is looking forward to seeing them again - she asks about them all the time. Heck, she's still asking about where Uncle Loren went, and he moved back to Eugene for school about 10 days ago. It's been so quiet here!

Lillian should be waking up from her nap any time now, so I'd better skidattle!