Energizer Bunny?

What a day, what a day. It's been a marathon day for me, but I cannot complain - it was a good day!

It started at about 1am...or around there. It was pretty early and so I did not take the energy to commit the time to memory. Anyway - Liliana woke up. I kind of thought she would wake up when I put her down for bed because it was a little cooler in her room than normal. So, I put her in a potato sack, as we call them - and off to dream land we both went. Then around 2:30am began a back and forth to her room, with many attempts to try to get her to sleep through the rest of the night. She was not exactly fussy, just would not sleep and would cry if you were not in the room. Usually when she is teething she will not even let me hold her during the night, but she let me hold her alright! Which, is always cute, even early in the morning. But again, anyway...I gave her some Tylenol and put a space heater in the room and held her while the medicine did it's thing and the room warmed up a little.

4am - 2 hours of sleep remain, I crawl into bed and get all comfy cozy....and then it begins. The snoring from the husband. I ended up sleeping on the couch because I cannot stand the sound of snoring. It is this disgusting noise and any sound that is monotnous that I am not controlling drives me up a wall. It gets under my skin and just freaks me out. I am telling you - OCD!
Now I think I will just resort to a time line because it's faster and I'm tired and lazy.

6am - Get ready for work. Although what is annoying about sleeping on the couch is waking up in the morning. The second my feet hit the ground, Fizzle (our dog) comes out of the bedroom and just stands there and stares at me walking towards her. Then comes a certain point and she goes dog wild barking at me. It is ridiculous, I do not even say a word. This dog has issues.

6:30 - Head to my sister's to drop off Liliana.

7:30 - Work.

11:30ish - Head to Mom's to feed Liliana. While there I had some of the most fantastic cookies I think have ever melted in my mouth. Then had a sandwich for my lunch.

1pm - Liliana and I head over to a friend's house to sit with her for a while as she had a procedure done this morning.

4:15 - Head back over to Mom's to have dinner there to celebrate my Dad's birthday, which is today. We had a scrumptious dinner! I ate as if I had a bottomless pit to fill! In fact, after we were done eating, I said I could eat the whole meal over again right then and there - and this was before I had washed all the dinner dishes by hand because my parent's dishwasher is broken. Then I had a little birthday cake, and some more cookies!!!!!!!!

6:45 - Head home.

7 something - Feed Liliana, talk with the Hubby for a while, put Liliana to bed.

You would think that at this point, I would just meet my date for the evening - my bed. No. I proceed to go into straightening-up mode. I go through some clothes in Liliana's room and realize I really need to do some of her laundry - so I start laundry. I finish straightening up her room and empty and re-pack the diaper bag for tomorrow.

Worked on paying a few bills. Always a pleasure - as said dripping with sarcasim.

And now I have a load of laundry drying, and one washing. I am enjoying a glass of wine and looking forward to 10:17pm - the laundry should be done at 10:15pm and then I am collapsing into bed to hopefully sleep through the night just to get up at 6am. I am so thankful that tomorrow I only work half a day when I normally work a full day. I had plans to come home tomorrow and be productive, but I will probably just sit in front of the TV the whole day and night. Or, nap!

I might go read my book - but I will probably just fall asleep. I guess I will have to go eat some more cookies that my mom was so nice enough to send me home with! Mmmmmmmmm.....

Just a picture I took a little while back. Remember that when you have a marathon day, sometimes you need to slow down and enjoy it all!

'Man Things'

Alright, let's go there. I have to start by putting this all out there: I love my husband, I really do. He is a wonderful husband and I am blessed to be married to him. This post is not to knock my husband...it's more towards men in general.

With that said, let's talk about men. Some of these things will pertain to my husband specifically, some to husband's of my those I know, and honestly - I think most of these things will pertain to most any man because they are about...MEN.

Sometimes they make you walk away just shaking your head saying, or screaming in utter frustration, "MEN!!!"

Let's start with tonight and my husband. He is very smart. He knows a lot about computers. Sometimes when he starts talking about computers, my eyes glass over. I often just start moving my hand in the 'talking' motion and say, "blah, blah blah, blah blah." I have to tell him to put it in English. With that said...he is setting up a web page for me that will be http://www.aplaceofcandor.com, in which I promise that once it is up and running there will not be a change in web address ever again! (Right now it's just forwarded to this blog.) He was trying to set it up for me tonight. He was asking all sorts of questions and not liking my answers. Apparently, I was not answering his questions and wanted something that could not be done. That's because when I told him about how he was explaining everything, he wasn't listening to me. Anyway, we tried it again and I told him he was starting at Z and jumping to every letting in between to get to A. He got it then, finally. It took, literally - 1 minute to answer his questions because he figured it out - where I was coming from. Splendid. Take note that I was the one who had to re-word what I was saying so he could understand.

Here is 'man thing' #1 - they don't freaking listen. They say they do, but they don't. They don't. If they did, they would understand the words that we say.

Here is one difference between men and women - or least between Evan and I. I say what I mean. There is no trying to guess what I mean after I say something. Although he sure tries and it doesn't get him very far. He speaks and then when I take it at face value and get upset by what he said, he goes..."that's not what I meant, I meant...." THEN SAY THAT THE FIRST TIME!!!

Evan is very diligent about doing the dishes, and I am appreciative of this. Especially after almost 6 years he has come to appreciate the luxury of doing the dishes right after dinner, instead of leaving them there for a later time. How can you go and relax when you know you have a pile of dishes just waiting to be done? As of lately, he has mastered doing the dishes at night - solely for my sake. I do not like going to bed and then waking up with dishes in the sink. He would always tell me he would do them in the morning, but getting up in the morning is hard to do and so that leaves little time for dishes! Which leads me to:

'Man thing' #2 - There is more to the kitchen than just the dishes. Counters can be cleared off and wiped down. The stove top, you know - where you cook and splash nastiness all over...needs to be cleaned. (partial disclaimer: our tea pot sits out on the stove and therefore gets very dirty. He takes the time...well so do I...he is actually able to scrub it clean and he does this on his own free will without me asking him to do this)

A few weeks ago I did the laundry. Evan came into the bedroom and said, "thanks for doing my clothes." Look honey, if you can't get them in the hamper - they are not going to get washed. How hard is it to take your clothes and put them in the hamper instead of dropping them on the floor? Then he had the nerve to tell me I did not wash them. I got him good though, I asked, "did you know I was doing laundry?" His reply, "yes." My next question, "did you know you had clothes that needed to be washed that were not in the hamper?" His sheepish answer, "maayyyybeeee." HA.

'Man thing' #3 - Your clothes go in the hamper. NOT strewn on the floor. NOT stuffed under the bed. NOT thrown into the closet or some little nook you may have found. The hamper - you know, that thing with all of our dirty clothes? Same one!
and
'Man thing' #4 - They try to argue with a woman. That, my male friends - is foolishness. (don't try to argue this point)

All this said, we still love them...and they do the best job at driving us nuts!

(the picture is of Evan and I this past Sunday at Great America in one of those photo booths!)

Also - thank you to all the men who give me such inspiration to have written this! You made it so easy for me.

Baby Smell

How is it that babies have this distinct baby smell? You know the smell...it's the one where you just keep breathing in deep, hoping it never disappears...knowing one day soon, there will no longer be that baby smell to accompany your sweet, sweet baby. Before Liliana was even born, I would walk into the nursery and open the dresser draws to add even more clothes - and I would get a whiff of that sweet baby smell. Sometimes when I get into the car, even if she isn't in the car with me - I smell it.

Tonight I walked into her room and it was there. I just stood there and breathed deep as she slept so peacefully. Even when walking by her room, it seeps out into the hallway. What is it? It's not the baby lotion smell, it's the baby smell. It's not a clean smell, it's the baby smell. I just want to bottle it and keep it forever. I know that one day I will walk into her room, and it won't be there. It will probably smell like dirty socks or something just as gross! :)

For now, I'm content to enjoy the baby smell as often as I can...ignoring the knowledge I have that it will be gone just as quickly as she will grow up.

This is one of my favorite pictures - I think it's so cute when she rubs her eyes with the back of her hands when she's tired.

Getting to know me...

Since changing the name of my blog, I feel I have some more creative room to explore different topics - and not just the happenings of our family. Have no fear, those stories will never be far! Maybe I'll touch on marriage, mommyhood, and men.

Let's get down to business and just start with me, my story. I figure, if you're going to ready my views and opinions - you should know where I come from first.

I grew up in a Christian family, a dad - a mom - an older sister - a dog - and some other random pets through the years. I went to a Lutheran church all through high school and into college. I also attended the Lutheran school, preschool through 8th grade and then went to a Christian high school. From there I want to a Lutheran college as well.

I don't have that defining moment in my life where I remember accepting Christ in my heart - I was just always a Christian. It's how I grew up, it's what I knew. We had religion in school - we studyied from a religion book. I have good memories, and even better friends from my time in grade school.

High school - a lot of changes for me. We started our school day off with devotions and prayer. We had chapel now twice a week. It was a different environment for me. A friend invited me freshman year to a youth group at a non-denominational church. I went a few times here and there. It wasn't until sophomore year that I started attending this youth group on a regular basis. I made friends there and even starting going to Sunday night church at this non-denominational church with my friends. Throughout high school - youth group became a part of who I was and what I did, all the time. They taught me from the Bible, they taught me to read the Bible...or maybe better put - I got it, I needed to study the Bible on my own. I was to be reading the Word on my own and not just leave it to my teachers to read to me, or my youth pastor. I started dating this guy pretty seriously and at one point, the question came up that if we were to get married, I'd have to make a decision - Lutheran or not. It was put on the back burner.

College led me into a whole new world of experiences and lessons to be learned. I went in to study and become a Director of Christian Education - DCE. Basically I would be working in a church leading the youth of the church. I had so much fun in college, socially! :) Met some more good friends, tried new things - like getting on T Staff (focused on the transfer students) in which we put on these shows for new students and I would go into more, but I don't want the questions. Nor do I want the videos to surface! At the end of the first year, my grades had slipped low enough that I couldn't return to living on campus, so the commuting began. This was also the year that actual classes started and not just gen-ed classes...this led to some questioning. Questions about if I was really cut out for school (which I later found out clearly, I am not a school person) I had questions about the school I was going to in the way they ran things, a little contradictory to their teachings. I saw their point to an extent - a business point of view. My heart was not able to follow through. College ended after only a year and a half.

Mom was looking out for me and it was time to get a full time job and get some health insurance, since I was no longer a student and therefore no longer on their insurance. That's when I ended up working in a doctor's office at the front desk. Never did I think that 9 years later I would still be doing this type of work, but I really enjoy it.

Let's go back to that boy I was dating - we were "that" couple in the youth group. The couple that was going to get married...no, we weren't engaged. We were just "that" couple, and you know what I'm talking about. Although, I didn't realize we were "that" couple until after high school. Anyway - at one point we broke up for a while. I don't remember the exact time line anymore - I was in college when we broke up. Then I believe it was while I was working that we got back together. When that ended, I went out on a few dates here and there - but nothing serious. I'm of the firm belief that if you find you know you are not going to marry the person you are dating, then stop dating that person.

There came a point where I just told the Lord I would be single the rest of my life and that was ok with me. I said that being married isn't our purpose here on earth, it was just a blessing and so I would focus on doing what He wanted me to do and that was fine. A month later, I was leaving a friend's wedding telling God I didn't understand. I told Him "I just said I am fine with not getting married and now you put this guy in front of me." I basically knew the night I met Evan that we were going to be married. And this June we will be celebrating 6 years of marriage!

But, part of getting to the point of us getting married - came that question again. Lutheran or not? Evan was non-denominational, I wasn't attending the Lutheran church - but was still Lutheran by word and beliefs on some topics. If I was going to stay a Lutheran, we wouldn't get married. Thus began my quest for knowledge and truth. I went to the Lutheran pastor and asked him to show me IN THE BIBLE how they got some of their doctrine and either he couldn't do it on some topics, or he took things out of context. That was enough for me to no longer be Lutheran. Next, I went to the non-denominational pastor and asked him the same questions and made sure he showed me IN THE BIBLE...and he could. I then continued to pray and pray about it and finally made the switch from Lutheran to non-denominational, Bible believing. I made my faith, my own.

Here is a little internet splurb on Lutheran: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lutheran
and on non-denominational: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-denominational

At first, this wasn't received well by my family and some of my friends, however they all supported me. (Although not without some of our own heated discussions on these topics, such as communion and baptism) I am not saying it would be easy for my parents when I come home one day and tell them I am no longer going to be Lutheran, and on top of that I am getting baptized again. I didn't do it to go against them or hurt them, I had to do it for me. They had their questions. I am so happy that today I can say I believe what I believe because it's mine. It's not because I grew up with it and so it's what I know. It's not because it's what my husband believes. It's what I believe. I prayed, I asked God to show me, I asked the questions, I did the seeking and it was my decision. I think that says a lot about my parents too, because the Bible talks about raising your children - as I believe I referenced a passage in one of my previous blogs about what the Bible says in raising your children...Proverbs 22:6. If my parents didn't raise me according this, I wouldn't have made my faith my own.

Let me be sure to say this: denominations don't claim you as Christ's own. Being non-denominational doesn't make me a Christian. Being Lutheran didn't make me a Christian. To be written in the Book of Life there are three R's - Recognize, Repent, and Receive. Recognize that you are a sinner and that you can do no good without Christ in your life. Repent of your sins. Receive Him...the gift of salvation, His dying on the cross to save us from our sin to live eternally with Him.

So here I am - a Christian attending an Evangelical church and when asked what denomination I am, I say non-denominational - just Bible believing. I work full time in a doctor's office doing front desk work. I have been married to Evan for almost 6 years. We have a son, Elijah, in Heaven already as I miscarried in 2006 when I was 10 weeks along. We have a beautiful daughter, Liliana, who is currently 8 months. We do plan to have more children. We live for Him and He takes care of us. I am a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) looking to serve Him the best I can.

A little more about me: I don't spell well. I never got the whole grammar thing down, in fact - eveyone tells me I write the same way I talk. I can ramble on with the best of them. I can sleep until 2pm without any problems! I am not good at picking up the phone and calling people. I'm a card/letter person! Pictures, pictures, and more pictures - I need a room of my own to just plaster with pictures, there wouldn't be one bare spot on the walls! Bike riding - something I remember doing with my dad all the time and despite all my rotten, terrible, painful falls - I still look forward to riding my bike! I have a goal of being able to do 9 pull ups by the end of '09. I can do none currently. I have worn contacts for the longest time, and over the past few months - I've gone with the glasses! I have 6 piercings. I have 4 tattoos, but have been tattooed 5 times. There is nothing like short hair. Growing up, I wanted to be a pharmacist. Cats scare me. I absolutely do not like spiders - I just stand and point to them and say "BUG" and then Evan comes and kills it. I have done very little big things (if that made sense) without someone's approval as I went from getting permission from my parent's - do discussing things with my husband. The one thing I did on my own, pierce my belly button. I shave my legs almost every day and I do not use any shave gel. Lotion is a must after a shower, and not just on my legs. I have terrible, rotting teeth - no joke here. I have friends from pre-school. I need to go to sleep.

Readers, thanks for reading. I wish you a wonderful night! Until the next time, I leave you with a picture of my two tooth baby girl!

And by the way, if you're wondering - our purpose here on earth is to glorify God. There is a lot that goes into that, but that's our purpose.

Chewies? Taggies? Strange!

My mom told me that the Gosselin children from the well known TV show Jon & Kate Plus 8 have "Chewies" - these would be their little security blankets that they carry around, and often chew on. Hence the name. Liliana would fit right in with the Gosselin's. Here is one of the first times she started this, although she doesn't chew on it - she just stuffs it in her mouth.

Her latest thing is to put 1 of 3 objects in her mouth and then continue on with playing. It could be putting her paci in backwards, her burpcloth, or a specific little triangle toy. Here she is with all three in hand! Too bad they don't all fit in her mouth at once, she'd be so happy!

And here she is with her favorite little triangle while trying to get Fizzle. By the time she's done playing with her triangle - it needs to be wrung out from all her drool!

I told my sister that I was thinking of making a little blanket that Liliana could have all the time, instead of whatever burpcloth we are using at the moment. She mentioned Taggies - we have a bib and a toy by this company. Genious!!! I went online and ordered up a Taggies blankie for my Lili! (It was a bit more than I should have spent on something like this, but...it's cute, it's a blanket - of which we all know my fetish with blankets - it's personalized, and I had some birthday money to put towards it!)

So, it came yesterday. Of course I had to wash it and so I got to give it to her today - the first few "chews" were a bit of a surprise to her and warranted a few grimaces and shakes. She finally warmed up to it though.

The Taggies Blankie

So now - do I call these things Chewies, Taggies...or what? It is very strange to walk around the corner and see my daughter with a blanket hanging out of her mouth - but also the cutest thing ever!!!

She dropped it from her mouth and was so happy it just covered her up!

Capable Hands

Whose hands are capable of holding my daughter? When someone holds Liliana, I look at them - at their hands holding my baby girl. I waited so long for her, and she is my everything, and so fragile. I wonder, as they hold her - if they are capable of holding her. I know her. I know her movements. I know her attitude. I know my hands are capable. I'm the mom. My heart is in it.


Sometimes I think people just want to hold her because she's baby - sometimes I'm surprised at who volunteers or asks to hold her. And as they hold her, they have the moment to influence my daughter in some way. I her led down the right path - but I know that starts at home. That starts with Evan and me. Proverbs 22:6 talks about this. I know I can't guard her from every evil thing and I know I can't protect her forever - but I can sure try.

I trust my family. (most of them anyway!) :) Of course I trust Evan. Then there are others who want to hold her. Sometimes even close friends I question, even though I would trust them with my life. But this isn't my life - it's Liliana's life.

Ultimately, it is the Lord who holds Liliana. She is not mine, she is His. I know that as she grows, I can't hold on to her - she'll want to move and explore. She'll grow even older and want to leave the house on her own. Then she'll go to college, then want to get married. I am so thankful for the time that I get to hold her. I'm even more thankful that she IS the Lord's and that it is He who ultimately watches over her and protects and guides her. Daily I give her over to the Lord - He gave her to me...and I need to be willing to give her back to Him. I know the Lord has amazing things planned for her.

So, whose hands could be better than His? I'd like to say mine, but I know that my hands are the ones He chose to hold this beautiful baby girl's life while she is here on earth. And only His hands are capable of holding her.

This was just the other day. I picked her up from her nap and she stayed sleeping like this for several minutes. Crazy little baby. And I would trust no one else to hold my baby this way.

29

Yep, today I'm 29. Hard to believe, maybe not for you - but for me. And yet, not hard to believe. It's been a good day. I don't believe in working on your birthday - so I took the day off. Liliana and I had a lazy morning and then a friend took me out to lunch...really, I think she just wanted to see Liliana! :) Then we went to where we use to work together to visit everyone. Came home and Evan brought dinner home. Had a nice relaxing evening and here I am. What all can I say about being 29, how about 29 random things, some reflections if you will:

1. I've learned what hairstyle I should have and I'm not going to change it again anytime soon - maybe the color. But that's all. I feel like myself.

2. I've learned to find my identity in Christ alone.

3. I've learned my relationship with God is my own and I am responsible for it. I had to make my faith and my beliefs my own, and now I need to build my relationship with God as I do with my husband or best friend - it takes time, effort, good times and tough times, passion and love.

4. I've learned there are only a handful of friends around me that will last a lifetime that I can trust my life with.

5. I've learned, and I know my family will always be there for me.

6. I've experienced love in a brand new way since having Liliana.

7. I'm striving each day to become a Proverbs 31 woman - and that, I believe, is just partly what a Proverbs 31 woman is - continually seeking to become that.

8. I've learned you have to stick up for yourself and those you love.

9. I am actually reading books, for my own pleasure - strange.

10. I became anal (sorry, best word to describe it) in college. I went home for break and came back changed. Don't know what happened.

11. I am organized and like to organize things. (Tupperware bins are a splendid organizing tool!)

12. Writing is a lost art. Writing letters is almost unheard of. The internet can be so impersonal and is often used for personal things at the wrong time.

13. I believe that I could truly be diagnosed with OCD - not to an extreme form - but I have it. There are things I do that consist with the nature of someone who has OCD that people don't see and therefore think I am kidding when I say this.

14. I don't complain about the seasons because I find each of them beautiful, a work of God's Hands - a change of pace...and I'm choosing to live where we have seasons.

15. I am an optimistic to the core.

16. The Lord has provided for me countless times. (Yet, when the same situation arises...I worry again knowing He always took care of it. Lesson to be learned here???)

17. I'm not going to lie, I don't want to be a working mom. I just want to be a mom. But, I'm thankful to have a job that allows me to help provide for my family.

18. I never thought I would enjoy being a mom as much as I do. Now, to master it.

19. I don't know why I'm waiting to follow through on what I believe the Lord is calling me to do, maybe it's laziness. Maybe it's not quite sure how to go about doing it. Maybe it's the unknown. I guess, without making excuses, it's plain disobedience. And part of not following through - is not telling what it is I think He's calling me to do.

20. I believe the Lord has given me a special gift that I'm not always sure I want. I'm not even sure why He's given it to ME. Sometimes I don't know what to do with it. Either way, when the Spirit speaks, I've learned to listen and respond. (still, I am a sinner and don't always do this)

21. Women are lucky - Our husband's are our best friends, and then we have our girlfriends who are our best friends too! (how else could we put up with our husbands!?)

22. I'm trying to figure out what I would have to blog about for people who don't know me, to read my blog on a daily basis.

23. My daughter is the luckiest baby there is, surrounded by so many people who love her and who will always be there for her. People who are praying for her. And because she spends 5 out of 7 days with family. She'll be close to her cousins, hopefully they will be her best friends. And I believe her Auntie can teach her so much more than I can! (she is a teacher, and she has 3 of the smartest kids I know!)

24. My daughter has taught me more about myself in the past 8 months (without speaking a word) than some people who talk to me.

25. Isaiah 40:31. A favorite Bible verse of mine. Go read it for yourself. In a Bible. It's good to actually open His Word and read it for yourself!

26. I'm 29 and am content. The Lord has given me so much to be thankful for, so many blessings. I probably don't even see all the blessings He has laid out for me.

27. I still feel like I'm a little kid - a teenager, not an adult.

28. Even when I think I'm going to be late - I end up on time, go figure. It is as if I cannot be late. (even though it has and does happen!)

29. I am the Lord's, and that is really all that really matters.

Me & Liliana taken about a week ago

Saturday!

(disclaimer: I had this all typed and ready to post, then I lost it. Everything after the word vacuumed. The video. The pictures. The words. The thoughts. The jokes. The humor. This may not be as good the second time around, not that you would know the difference since you can't ready the first one. I'm not going to proof read this either, I just don't care! AND, yes - it saves all the time...but it does not good if you can't retrieve what was saved. Well done blogspot, well done.)

Today was a very good day. It was productive, fun, filled with laughter and smiles...friends and family.

It started at 7:45am - Evan had already left for Bible study and to do some errands for me. Liliana was awake and so I went into her room and gave her a paci to hold her over so I could go to the bathroom. When I walked back into her room, I found her on her stomach holding herself up with both arms and smiling at me with her paci in her mouth - the kicker, the paci was in backwards! It was SO funny, and SO cute. I tried to get a picture, I almost had the camera ready to go when she smiled even bigger (if that was possible) and it fell out. Darn. I got her all changed, dressed and ready for the day, I even took some pictures because - well, she's just so cute!

I put her in the exersaucer while I started laundry. It is now only 8am. So, I fed Liliana and watched some tv while I ate breakfast. I then straightened things up a bit and vacuumed the living room, Liliana's room, and our room. By now it's about 9:30am and Liliana is ready for her nap, so down she went.

So took a good nap! Usually she sleeps for about 45 minutes to an hour in the morning - not today. She didn't even move positions and when she woke up, there was a large drool spot where she was. Most often you can see every place she laid in her crib while she napped from the drool! It's so cute how they go from being a few months old and sleeping in one spot and never moving, to being just a few months older and sleeping like a little person. Either she'll roll on her side or her stomach, today she had her hand above and sort of under her head, it was so cute.

While she was asleep, I continued on with the laundry - cleaned up the kitchen, and paid some bills. It wasn't until 11:30am that she woke up, a 2 hour morning nap. Way to go Liliana! By now Evan was home and it was time for me to shower and get ready to go see my good friends Chad and Sherry and their new home. Off I went.

I left there around 4pm and stopped at Walmart on the way home to get a few items that I had not gotten when I went grocery shopping last night. When I got home Evan had just finished giving Liliana her bottle and she was asleep in Daddy's arms. She was lookin' so cute. Then I went to make dinner: fish sticks, frozen veggie, and stuffing. While it was cooking, I went into the living room to talk with Evan, but he was also asleep. I, of course, could not pass up the opprotunity to take the picture.

The funny part - Liliana was the one snoring...I guess that can't be too hard to believe because she was all scrunched up like an old man!

After dinner I gave Liliana this new fangled teething toy. On a regular basis she likes to put her bib or a burp cloth in her mouth and just let it hang there - so I figured she would like this toy. We put a piece of cantaloupe in there and she went to town. I could hear her sucking the juice from it!

Of course as soon as we were done with this, it was time for a much needed bath - so into the duck she went! She really likes bath time, and with the Easter bunny having just come - she has toys to play with now too. And Auntie Carol got her bubbles, so I decided to blow some her way. She didn't notice them at first, but then one floated right by her and she got all excited, almost startled and tried to get it. So she was trying to get them all. It was cute and she enjoyed them.

Then it was just a bit early for me to feed and put her to bed, so we played on the floor and she rolled all over the place! Then Evan was holding her and I was jumping towards her and saying "boo" and tickling her and she thought this was hilarious. She was just laughing and laughing and laughing. Finally I told Evan to sit in the chair and I would see if I could catch it on camera - sure enough I could. You'll see she still found it funny, but it wasn't quite as funny as the first few times! Then towards the end she was quite done with us and ready for her bottle.

I fed her and put her to bed and in the first blog I said I was going to have a glass of wine and read my book - now, I think I'm just going to have a glass of wine and watch tv - mindless work.

Until next time...

Liliana - 7 months

(I started this at 8:31pm, it's now an hour later. Pathetic)

Little

Little Hands and Fingers

Little hands that rub her eyes when she's tired

Little fingers try to pick the tattoos off my skin

Little fingers that play with the hair on her little duck rattle

Little hands that are always moving and ready to explore

Little hands grab and pull at my hair and skin so hard

Little hands reached in my heart and took hold of it the second she was born

Little Feet

Little feet that will take her far in life
Little feet have already left lifelong footprints on my heart
Liliana's little feet, my unmeasurable love for her

It's all the little things I want to remember...
...and want her to enjoy



- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Liliana is a stitch, and super cute. Nope, I'm not biased...I am honest! LOL. Ok, a little biased. She has this little duck rattle...and on the top it has some sprouts of hair. Sometimes she tries to eat the hair and before it hits her mouth - it hits her nose and tickles her. Knowing that this tickles her, I proceed to do it to her! So tonight, I tickled her at first - but those little hands were hard to fight off...so we moved to something else:

Here are some pictures with her toys tonight


Liliana (7 months) with the infamous duck rattle


Got the hair in her mouth!


Liliana happy to be sitting on the floor playing with her ducks!

Never a dull Monday...

Today had many unexpected turns - I was expecting a normal, quiet, uneventful Monday. This was not the case, however - I never got out of my pajamas!


I woke up earlier than I had wanted, to find out Evan was sick. Now, for those who know me well - know that I do NOT do anything that has to do with throwing up. My poor husband is abandoned when he is even close to throwing up. I think I need to go through hypnosis to cure my fear of this. I seriously get paralyzed and my own stomach starts to churn and I get all sweaty and...it's just not a good thing. Then every time he makes a move towards the bathroom I ask if he's going to throw up - it's just not good. So, I packed up Liliana - packed my scrubs in a bag and some bathroom items and off we went. We stopped at Walgreens and then called my sister to ask if I could come over early to get ready for work - mind you, I haven't even gone pee yet, I had to get the heck out of dodge. My niece answered and told me my sister had the stomach flu. Are you kidding me??? This can't be. Ok fine.

So I was on my own for the day.

Then tonight my sister called and said my nephew is sick and so is my brother-in-law. Oh brother. So we were able to make other plans for tomorrow for Liliana. I just want sickness to go away already. Thankfully, Evan and my sister are feeling better!

Funny story: I forgot what happened the other day when I was changing Liliana. I change her on the floor because it's easier for my tall self and sometimes this proves to be easier, and sometimes more of a challenge. Well, I had just put a glob of desitin on my finger and the dog came over by her and was about to lick her in the face and so I shooed the dog away and the glob of desitin fell on Liliana's face! HA, I actually found it quite funny. Luckily it was just on her cheek...but a small bit got my her lips and then of course her little lizard tongue started to go a mile a minute - it was quite humorous.

I'm off to go to bed now, I haven't been feeling well the past couple of weeks and I just want to go to bed - guess I'll call tomorrow and make an appointment for myself to see the doctor...great fun.

Here is just a fun picture for the end of a long Monday.

Liliana - 6 months

Week in Review - long & with a lot of pictures! :)

Happy Easter! He is risen! He is risen indeed! It surely was a beautiful day to celebrate Christ's miraculous act of raising from the Cross...after being held there by my sins.

I can't believe a week has gone by without me posting...and then again - I'm not surprised! I guess I'll just jump right in. There was one morning that Evan was helping me get Liliana ready to go and he put her in the highchair once she was all ready. I sat across from her to put on my shoes and she was trying desperately to see me over the two toys we have on the table. She tried to stretch and look over them, but couldn't make herself tall enough. She ended up looking through the spaces of the toys, it was just the cutest thing! I think it's also so cute to me because she knows me as mommy and wants only mommy sometimes and wants to see me if I am in the room!

One night this week we just played around in her room as she rolls all over the place trying to get ahold of the things she wants. We're not to the crawling stage just yet, but she can sure get around! Then we were just being goofy and taking pictures! :) (it really irritates me that sometimes the pictures upload the wrong way for no reason)

We also took a picture of Liliana in a bib that Katie (my niece) had and I knew I had a picture of Katie in the same bib....

Oh - almost forgot...Wednesday. You may notice in any picture that contains myself that my hair is, yet again, different. That's because on Wednesday when I got to my mom's to pick up Liliana - I had a barrette in my hair, which my mom hates. I told her I couldn't do anything about it because the way my hair was cut, the hair fell right into my eye. Not over, directly in my eye. Well, the next thing I know we are discussing her cutting my hair and I was on board! I told my mom I felt like Fraulein Maria from the Sound of Music, and she said I look like her. So, my mom cut my hair to the hairstyle that I had several years ago and for so many years. The moral of the story: I should not stray from what I know. I shouldn't have grown my hair out, and I shouldn't have tried a new hairstyle. I always wondered how people could have the same hairstyle for years upon years - but now I know. I feel like myself again. I feel like I can function - I just feel so much better now!

Ok, moving on. Saturday was a busy day. Liliana and I went out to lunch with Amanda and Katelyn. Amanda and I have been friends since preschool and so it's so cool that our little girls get to know each other right from the start! We put Katelyn and Liliana in their high chairs next to each other and they were so cute. Katelyn was nicely sharing with Liliana and they had a good time together!

Liliana @ 7 months & Katelyn @ 15 months

Then it was off to Auntie's surprise birthday party! I believe it was a success, she had no idea everyone was going to be there. I even told my sister that we both had to call and wish her a Happy Birthday earlier in the day because as far as she knew - we weren't going to see each other!

Daddy & Liliana - a plate was all it took to keep them both occupied and happy. Go figure.


Liliana is stylin' thanks to Auntie Sandy!

That brings us to today! Liliana wore a dress to church that Uncle Chad & Auntie Sherry bought her from Hawaii, and then she had her Easter dress that Nana bought her. I figured to put her in one for church in case she spit up on it, then she'd still have her Easter dress for dinner! So here are pictures from today.

CUTE AS CAN BE!!!

Liliana's first Easter basket!




The sun was beaming in her eyes...poor kid, subject to Mommy's excursions!


Easter bunny ears!


Cousins: Mary, Liliana, Katie, Andrew

I guess that does it. I should probably keep up with posting on a regular basis, this was ridiculous! Hope you had a Blessed Easter Day!

Monday Again

Monday comes way too fast - and the weekend takes forever to arrive. I guess that's why we make the most out of the weekends when they are here!

On Friday I went to a friend's house to check in on things while they were out of town. I pulled into the driveway and stopped to pick up the newspapers at the end of the driveway - so I just reached out and grabbed them and put them on my seat. As I continued up the driveway I had a thought that it probably wasn't the smartest thing to put these papers on my seat because they were a little wet from the rain...even though they had looked dry when I picked them up. Anyway, I parked the car and opened the door and picked up the newspapers and realized there was a worm on my seat - gross.

Friday night Liliana and I went grocery shopping to good ole Super Target. I'm SO happy they just opened one up by my sister's - so it's on my way home. We use to shop there all the time when we lived in Naperville and were so sad to move away from there. Since Liliana is no longer in the infant carrier and in the convertible car seat - it would be her first time in the cart! It went well. She seemed to have enjoyed herself being able to see everything that was going on. She would start to slouch to one side or the other and so I was in the diapers/wipes isle so I just took a few packages of refill wipes and packed her in so she couldn't tilt...and off we went!

Saturday was pretty busy for me...I went to get a haircut. It was successful in the fact that I did indeed get my hair cut. It's not EXACTLY what I was anticipating - it will take some getting use to, but it's alright. It is nice to have short hair again, I didn't realize how much I missed it. I wish I would have chopped it before going through labor - man that was annoying! Here is a picture from when I got back from getting it cut - so it will never look like this again! :)

Mommy & Liliana (7 months)

After that I met up with a friend for coffee and that was a lot of fun because it had been quite a while since we had seen each other.

Sunday. Geez, it was just yesterday and I had to stop and think about what went on. Evan took care of Liliana in the morning and let me sleep in. Then we ran a few errands and we were off to Nana's to color Easter eggs. That's always a lot of fun - especially with the kids! And there is always fun to be had at Nana's! Here is everyone looking out the window - and then me looking in! :)

Nana Liliana Katie Mary Andrew

Andrew Mary Katie Liliana Nana

Last night Liliana was a little stinker. Not sure why she didn't want to sleep through the night, but she didn't want to. She was up from about 2:15am to 4:15am. Then up again at 5am. Then I'm not sure when she got up again because Evan got her before she made a lot of noise for me to notice she was up. Needless to say, Evan and I are a bit tired today.

It was a nice day for me because we closed early since there was no doc in this afternoon. So my sister and I had lunch together and then I came home and did a few things around the house and then held Liliana for her nap since she would have it no other way. Then it was time to feed her and play and give her a bath and time for bed!

Liliana 7 months

Liliana 7 months

Soon, it will be time for me to go to bed too!

Peacefully sleeping

I could watch Liliana sleep - forever. Sometimes at night, ok...most every night, I just stand there and stare at her and just watch her. She's so peaceful and beautiful. Then it's so cute when she went from laying flat on her back, to laying like a little person. Now she'll roll on her side. So cute. So I stand there and rub her back and kiss her cheek. I really want to just pick her up and hold her - but I know I'd wake her up half the time and that would not be good! :)

The other night I walked into her room to put something away, I really thought she was asleep. I walked past the crib to the laundry basket and then I turned to look in the crib and found her right up against the bars of the crib, looking at me. She didn't make a peep, but she was awake. She was just staring at me through the bars without blinking. Kind of scared the crap out of me!

Here are pictures I've taken of her sleeping that I really like:

Almost a month old

1 month

Headed towards 2 months. I don't know why it won't upload the correct way - this is one of my most favorite pictures! Almost sleeping and with a little smerk. So cute!

Again - around 1.5 months. Just a little doll.

hehehehe :)

4 months. Christmas Day - sleepin' in Katie's crib. Out like a light, cute as a button!

4 months - New Year's Eve. Another absolute favorite picture of mine! Sometimes I just stare at this picture! Cute outfit, cute kid, cute everything. (nope, I'm not biased!) She was so cute, I had to hold her - especially since, for the most part at the time, she didn't wake up for anything. Except that night, she woke up. She did alright for a while - even had a taste of champagne at midnight! ;)

7 months. Another picture that didn't upload right, dog gone it. Taken just the other night. I never know how I will find Liliana laying - or where in her crib she'll be. It's funny when it happens because I walk in thinking she will be one place or laying one way - and she will be in a completely different place altogether!

So - that is my peanut peacefully sleeping.