Grandma - me

Today Liliana referred to me as "Grandma" to her Our Generation doll named Lily Anna. I said "no, I am not ready to be called Grandma yet!" And she got excited and said "my kids are gonna love you like CRAZY, I am serious they are gonna just ADORE you!....." 

Awe!!!!!  This sweet Girl!!! 

Project 365 Week 34

Sunday, August 14th

This is where I have been finding Elia... hehe... we do our best to keep the toilet lid down and the bathroom door shut. :)

Monday, August 15th

A woodchuck in our backyard! Liliana cried the whole time (15 minutes) he was out there because I wouldn't let her run out there to pet him... she LOVES animals! :) Emma was here with us today. I took a video of this little guy eating. Our first time baking homeade blueberry muffins! YUMMY! We used our hand-picked blueberries! The kids love helping me cook! :) We had such a wonderful day! Blueberry muffins, Emma over, woodchuck, I cooked a pot of Taco Soup to have on hand, Diane watched the kids for a couple hours so I could run errands, we had dinner at our neighbors house! So blessed!!!

Tuesday, August 16th

Liliana on the phone with Grandma.

Wednesday, August 17th - no picture, but THRILLED that Daddy will be home in less than 48 hours! :)

Thursday, August 18th

Big sister did some accessorizing with her LPS stickers...

Friday, August 19th

DONNIE/DADDY IS HOME!!!!! BOY WERE WE ALL THRILLED!!! :)

Saturday, August 20th

Liliana put Elia in this chair and she sat in it so well! What a big girl! ;)

LOVE this face!!! The sun was in her eyes... we were at the playground at Liliana's school. We brought Little Ceasar's pizza (love it cuz it is SO cheap!)... we ate out on the grass and then played for a bit to help Liliana get acclimated to the school grounds.

Then played a little more in the yard when we got home. I love Elia's Elmo shirt... I got it at Target on Clearance...

Liliana's BIG Girl Tooth ... SEE it back there pushing her baby tooth in front out! I love looking at it and always ask her to show me her teeth. She will even catch me looking at it sometimes and will say "you were just looking at my tooth, weren't you?" :) Such a big milestone! She is getting to be such a big kid! AWE!!! :)

Same Sweet Girl!

I was just looking through some old photos and found this one which struck a special cord in my heart because this little Liliana still brushes Mommy's hair just the same... Love this girl! I just can't put into words how much I adore and admire her and her special love for others! Sigh... :)

Easter

After the fun day of church, candy and egg hunt at church, then to friends house for lots of fun, food, friends, another egg hunt and lots of candy, then home to an Easter basket and more candy and little prizes, Liliana looks up at me from the living room floor and looks right into my eyes and says what she often says after she recieves a gift or has a fun day....

"Mommy, you know what was my favorite part about today... You and Daddy and Noah and Baby Elia and God!"



Priceless!

Liliana's First Dental Visit!

What an exciting day for Liliana and Mommy! :)

First Liliana sat and watched and colored while I got my teeth cleaned... Then, when it was her turn she was suddenly hesitant... the hygenist was so wonderful and took her time to show Liliana her tools and she even let her use the air/water squirter... wow! :) The hygenist earned her trust and Liliana warmed right up and let her count her teeth, brush and floss them and put floride on them. She sat on my lap for the whole thing, which was so cozy for me... I could have taken a nap. Here is the super-cute part... Our sweet Liliana has had some big stuff going on in that mouth of hers......... SHE HAS ONE GROWN UP MOLAR, ONE THAT IS HALF-WAY OUT AND ONE ABOUT TO POKE THROUGH... This was SO cute to discover!!! I had completely forgotten that these teeth were due to come around this age... AWE! :)

The hygenist and Dr. Rob were very pleased with Liliana's oral hygeine... they did find 2 tiny/surfacy cavities, and one worth a small filling... Good job, Girl! :)

Born Again

This is my most favorite blog-post to date... and I know there are more of these to come!!! :) This morning over breakfast Liliana, all on her own accord, asked me how a person is born again. I know she has learned this before, but I told that when a person is born they are new to the world as a baby and they are born again when they ask Jesus into their heart and He makes them new on the inside. :) She then confidently and joyously declared "Ohhh, I have ask Jesus into my heart like 50 hundred times!" It was evident that this topic was in her heart and on her mind the entire day when she boldly declared as she danced around the house this evening "I am born again cuz I asked Jesus into my heart!" Sweet Liliana, You truly love Jesus in the most pure manner I have yet witnessed in my life. Your love for Him is completely uninhibited and your faith is so quick and innocent. Giant HUG, my sugary sweet little LOVE bug.... I LOVE YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! :) XOXOXOXOXOXOX Love, Mommy :)

Project 365ish...

I think I may become a Project 365 Drop-out! LOL! :) ... and stick with posts by event... hmmm...

March 27, 28 & 29

No pictures! :)

Wednesday, March 30th

PERSPECTIVE

Liliana sportin her new shirt. She had her 5 year Well-Visit with the Doctor today and had 2 shots! She is such a BIG girl.... I love you, our SWEET 5 year old girl!!! I have some pics on my phone from the doctor's office... will post them soon... She was so nervous about the shots and hid behind the chair to avoid the doctor and me and she was hysterical, but I finally had to scoop her up, which was not easy as she is a very strong girl, and hold her in my lap. Once the shots were done, she was calm as could be. On the way home in the van she talked about how brave she was and how she didn't even cry... and I thought she must have amnesia about it cuz she screamed and cried so hysterically, then she explained that she was so brave cuz she didn't cry AFTER the shot was done... there's PERSPECTIVE for ya! Loved that! Blessed my heart!

Thursday, March 31st

A very thoughtful friend brought over some balloons the other day that provided a couple of weeks worth of fun and pleasure. AWE! Thank you, Charlene! Friday, April 1st No Foolin! AttNott gave Liliana a very special gift for her birthday... babysitting 2 kids and $ for L & Mommy to go to the Claypen in West Hartford! LOVED THIS PLACE!!! I could make it my hangout if I lived closer. It was like a spa for me and I felt like it was my birthday gift because I had so much fun! We were there for 2 hours and it felt like 1! We hit Walgreen's on the way and grabbed chocolate milk, Rootbeer and Cheetoe's to snack on. See our drinks and the Cheetoes...

There were so many things to choose from... here is a glimpse... and see Liliana sneaking behind the shelf for a lolli-pop to bring home to Noah... so thoughtful.

Liliana chose to paint a unicorn...

She chose a hand-mirror for me to paint for her...

Our pottery is being baked and we will pick it up this week... will post pics of the end results soon! On the way home Liliana began talking about Elia turning 1 in September and said that she wanted to give her unicorn to her for her First Birthday... how generous and thoughtful!!! This girl is something else! :)

Earlier that same day we shed installed... they were in and out in 2 hours! wow! Here's the crew checkin' it out! :)

GREENBEANS! ...on the chin... not in the belly! :)

Saturday, April 2nd

Liliana playing with Elia... teasing her to grab a hold of the tiny scarf she is holding... LISA, see the newborn picture of Elia on the wall to the back-right.... :)

Stunning!

Story time! :) This book is "God is My Friend" so sweet!

Liliana Turns 5!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILIANA!

XOXOXOX

Daddy started the day off by bringing Liliana to Big Y to get some donuts for breakfast and also bought her a birthday balloon.

After we enjoyed our donuts, we presented Liliana with her present, card and special birthday book I made her. It is so sweet. She loved it!!! Here is Daddy reading it to her for the first time. :)

Per her request two weeks prior, she and Noah had Happy Meals for her Birthday lunch and Daddy grilled hot dogs for the rest of us. It was kind of cold out but the sun was shining so bright. We had some neighbor kids come over for homemade birthday cupcakes!

Liliana had best time running around the yard with Noah and her neighbor friends. She was so silly, cute, happy and funny during cupcake time:

See above the cute little pinwheels we gave out as "party" favors. :) After the outdoor fun was done, around 2 pm, Emma came over for a couple of hours to play! Awe, this was so special for Liliana. See their matching outfits Auntie Joy gave them. :)

Then, off to Cracker Barrel we went!

Elia trying to give Noah a big slobbery kiss! :) Casey, Eliezer, Manny, Levi, and Curtis all join us for dinner.

The girls were tired by this point...

After we ate, we let the girls go shopping. They picked out matching pink doggies and the boys both got a cool candy toy. We chose Cracker Barrel because Liliana love to "shop" ika "beg for stuff" there. :)

WE LOVE YOU SWEET, LILIANA!!!

You're now 5! Wow! What a fun year this will be!

Daddy's Shoes

The melting snow and lots of rain today brought in some water into our basement so daddy had a big job on his hands... it wasn't too bad and nothing was damaged... the water was just coming in through the hatchway door (I think that is what it is called). Well, daddy's boots did not stay vacant for long...

...which reminded me of the many times over the years our sweet Liliana has sported Daddy's shoes...

I know there are more photos and even a good handful of some of her in my shoes and boots... She seems to take after mommy in her love fore shoes. I loved wearing my mom and dad's shoes as a little girl. :o)

Our Little Artist

As any of my blog readers know, I am SO in love with Liliana's artwork. She draws for hours on most days at home and I love watching her creative process but it is when I am fascinated to see something outside of home that blows me away and makes me realize it is not just biological bias. When I walked into Liliana's class last night and saw her door hangers laying on the table before her I asked "Who drew these!?" thinking it was probably her, but not 100% sure because of how detailed and precise the lines were... this one in particular blew me away... look at the movement in the lines, the life, the expression, the detail... the stars shining through the window in the background... and she is not yet 5. LOVE this! I love art and all expressions of it no matter the "perfection" because it is all about the expression and the process... Go forth and create... all you readers... :o)

Liliana & Noah at age 4 Months

I have so much fun looking back at the kids baby photos and am so thankful for this digital age we live in!

Here is Liliana at age 4 months. Wow, what blonde hair she had! Stunning!

Our Sweet and oh, so HANDSOME Noah at age 4 months! Melts Mommy's heart every time... he is so charming and adorable!!!


And this one is just for fun! She was a little over age 2 here...

God Moment

The other night Liliana told me:

"So-and-so told me that she was prettier than me because she had a beautiful dress on, but I knew in my head that was night right because God says we are all beautiful no matter what we have on."

Wow! Wow! Thank you, Jesus that our precious 4 year old is so solid in who she is in Christ and has the grace to look past someone elses comment because she is so set in the truth of who God says she is!

Catchin' Up!

The past few weeks I had been really tired with being so huge pregnant and close to my due date... The past 3 days or so I have had a fresh burst of energy and am doing every last minute thing I can possibly think of to be ready for baby #3 and enjoying the last few days of our Family of 4 Dynamic, knowing it will forever change...the day after tomorrow...YAY!!!!! :o)

This photo was taken by a half-willing Liliana in our kitchen on Saturday, August 28th... we had just gotten home from Armando Ramos & Jenn Gundersen's Wedding!

A couple of weeks a go the kids got super creative and played for an hour with their pillow cases:

Liliana's Play Dough Creation:

We Love Tori! She comes to our house about once a week to hang out and help where needed... The kids and I LOVE her! :o)

Noah measuring the closet for Brian Werhle to install shelves...he was totally copying what mommy had just done. He loves that measuring tape!

Why do things the conventional way!? In no time I turned my head from the computer and found Noah's version of a drawing board...stacked books!?

*INSERT: Noah JUST now got a slice of cheese out of the fridge and brought it to me to open for him... He is always rummaging and eating everything!!! My biggest task in preparing for baby has been to babyproof for this guy! We put a lock on the outside of our food pantry door, which has helped tremendously already!

Noah found one of the hats he wore when he was a baby...too cute!

Random Cuteness over the past couple of weeks:

One day out of nowhere Liliana bursted out what she wants to be when she grows up. She wants to take care of and feed all of the doggies in the whole wide world, play video games on a big screen (she had been playing Dora on the Wii and decided it would make a good profession, I guess...haha), and she wants to be a shepherd and take care of sheep. I LOVE her love for animals!

Noah calls Blues Clues "Clues Clues": Our neighbor lady has a doggie and has paw-print magnets on the back of her car... one evening Noah was yelling at the back of her car parked by her house saying "A Clue, A Clue!"... I was perplexed until I saw the paw-print... AWE! He finds "clues" all over Liliana's Littlest Pet Shop toys too.

Liliana LOVES Littlest Pet Shop. She doesn't want all of them in the whole world because that is not good, you need to leave some for all the other kids in the world. Love that attitude and conciousness!

Noah loves making me food to eat out of the dirt pile in the back yard. Last night he ran all the way from way back to the front of the yard to bring me a handful of dirt and small rocks or as he called it "M&M's" AWE!!!