Mother-Daughter Evening

The Activity Day girls at church had a Mother-Daughter evening. It was really sweet--Lilly gave me a sheet of paper that she had answered about me. It was really cute.

Then she chose me the flower below.

Lilly and Mommy

All of the girls sang to us. Below is a video clip.

Yes, I needed tissues.

 

Lilly's Baptism

Lilly turned 8 years old and was able to be baptized this year!

I am so very thankful for Lilly's decision to be baptized. She is a wonderful little girl who is learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ more each day.  She loves Jesus. She makes very good choices.

I am thankful to be her Mommy.

Nicky showing his support

Our Family

Our Extended Family

A special thank you to all of the family that came to show love and support 

to Lilly on her very special day!

School Days

First Day of School 2010

Maddy is a Senior!
Steffi is a Junior!
Lilly is in 2nd Grade!
Nicky is in Kindergarten!

Nanny McPhee

Lilly has had this little tooth.

We named it Nanny McPhee.

For obvious reasons.

(If you don't know my reference, please go rent the movie. You will be ever-so-glad that you did.)

Nanny can even do tricks!
Press play.

Nanny was yanked by Daddy. Poor Nanny, cute Lilly!

Busted!

You know those times when as a parent you are out-of-the-blue BUSTED in the eyes of your 6-year-old? The big brown eyes get bigger, brows furrow searching yours for truth, and then... the slight nod of, "...oh, I see how it is."

{And no, this has nothing to do with the Big Guy in the red suit.}

It has to do with cereal. And reading.

I am a fan or reading. I really am. But sometimes when our little darlings start to read--we get busted.

It all started out one morning, when I rattled out the cereal choices: Cheerios, Frosted Mini-Wheats, Rice Krispies...

Lilly picked Frosted Mini-Wheats and tried out her new-found rite of passage. Reading the cereal box.

"Frosted Mini-Wh--...Spooners???"

(See above for facial expression)

Then came my explanation-- "Well, you see, these are supposed to taste LIKE Frosted Mini Wheats, and I think they taste better-- it is just that a different company makes them."

She ate with skepticism. Her world just got a little less rosy. Oh, why doesn't Malt-o-Meal advertise??

(and for the record--they DO taste better)

Out of the Mouths of Babes

Bedtime Prayers

Lilly: Thank you for my brother, named Nicky and my big sisters, named Maddy and Stephie.

Nicky: Thank you for my big sisters who sometimes bring us little donuts.

What's New?

A few things have changed around here...

What's new around your neck of the woods?

Lilly's 6th Birthday

Our little Lilly is now 6 years old! It seems like only yesterday that we were thrilled with the knowledge that we were finally going to have another baby.

Lilly is a joy. She is sweet beyond sweet and such a blessing.

Two years ago, I wasn't sure that she would have another birthday- or if she did, would it ever be the same? (Here is her story: Part 1, Part 2).

Thankfully that is all behind us, and we now have a wonderful healthy Kindergartener. Here is her Fancy Nancy Birthday Party.

(Click the arrow to play and turn pages. Click on each picture to enlarge)

Make a Smilebox photobook

Lilly's Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

All is Well

Lilly's tooth is going to be okay!  

Our amazingly sweet dentist x-rayed it and told us the happy news that the tooth was not damaged-- at all!  She needs to be careful for a few weeks, and it may turn dark and then turn back white [kind of like a bruise,] but it should be just fine.  

The Sunny Side:  

I am so thankful for the power of the priesthood.  I am thankful for a faithful husband and an kind home teacher who always comes running.  It is so sunny, I gotta wear my shades!  

Ouch!

Lilly had a bad fall on the tile last night. She and Nicky were running [yes, running in the house... hmm... gee, we should have a rule about running in the house... oh yeah... WE DO!] to the bathroom to brush their teeth, and they collided and Lilly ended up on the bottom with one of her sweet pearly white front teeth on the bathroom tile!

She had blood all over her face at first, which freaked me out, but we have had several mouth accidents so I knew that it was probably just her mouth. Upon inspection, not only was her lip split and swollen, but her tooth was hanging down a few millimeters, and tipped in a bit!

We have the best dentist ever who has an emergency number, and I couldn't believe how quickly he got back to me! He told me to try to push it back up into place. With orajel, tylenol and motrin I was able to ease it back up about half way back into place, and after John [who rushed home from home teaching] and our sweet home teacher gave her a blessing, John was able to ease it back a little bit further.

Hopefully she will not lose the tooth. I know that it is a minor thing compared to lots of things-- especially at her age kids will start loosing teeth soon, but it just made me sad because she said, '...but I won't be pretty!' [maybe we tell her she is cute too much, but she is a tiara-wearing princess every day of the week!]

Anyway, she was going to visit the dentist today anyway, so he is going to x-ray it. She slept all the way through the night, so her pain must not be bad.

The Sunny Side: It is a baby tooth that is bound to be falling out in the next couple of years. She didn't cut all the way through her lip. We have the priesthood for blessings.

Lilly's 5th Birthday

Lilly turned five years old this past week! I can't even believe that she is already on her way to Kindergarten in the fall. Wow, time does fly. And speaking of flying, Lilly had a Tinkerbell Birthday Party. She is very into fairies, pixie dust, magic wands and other impish things.

Backtrack to her actual birthday. Here is her Breakfast in Bed- our family tradition. We even do it on their first birthday. It is fun to bring yummies to them. It's a great tradition! So fun.

Lilly's Birthday Prize: A Big Girl Bike. Complete with training wheels and more purple and pink than you can shake a stick at! Sparkly streamers top the whole thing off in a most Lilly-like way.

Can't go on a proper ride without a helmet!

Out for a test ride. Down to the park and back; with a brief stop at the playground. She did such a great job!

Go Lilly, go!

One of Daddy's amazingly scrumptious cakes. Homemade yellow with raspberry frosting. Mmmm....

On to the Birthday Party. As I said, it was a Tinkerbell Party. I am not including pictures of any of her friends because I don't know how they all feel about posting pics of their kids. It was tons of fun. There were 13 little ones in all.

When the little 'Fairies in Training' arrived. They were crowned with Tinkerbell tiaras, and Maddy sprinkled them with 'pixie dust' - shimmery powder. As they were waiting for all of the kids to arrive, they all colored pictures.

We played 'Follow the Fairy'- each little girl got a turn to put on fairy wings and twirl or gallop around the house with everyone following.

We also played 'Pass the Magic Wand.' Kind of like Hot Potato- except when the music stopped and the child was 'out' it was actually a fun thing because they got to keep the wand.

I then told them that Fairies had come to fix us lunch. It was so cute. Everyone went a little hushed. Here is what we served.

Fairy Bread [bread with butter and sprinkles]

Magic Wands [grape and marshmallow kabobs]

And Golden Nuggets [cheese cubes]

Also served, but not pictured, Fairy Fizz [soda pop with pop rocks in it!]

Lilly with her Cake

I absolutely LOVE to make kids party cakes. I have made a lot of them through the years, but I think that this might be my favorite. It is made out of rolled fondant, and it is so much fun because it is totally like playing with play-doh!

5 Candles Burning Bright

Close-Up of the Cake

Make a Wish!

I wonder what it could be, she was staring so intently.

One, Two, Three, Blow! Got them all, yeah!

May All Your Dreams Come True, Sweet Girl.

Disclaimer:
In all of my excitement to post Lilly's birthday, I failed to mention that all of these fun ideas were found on the internet. There are lots of great birthday party ideas out there; I just picked my favorites from lots of sites and put them together.

Glimmers of Thanks

I am thankful that our little Lilly is here with us today, in full health and function, delighting us each and every day with her Sweet Spirit and Lovely Disposition.

On March 14th, our lives were starting to change, and we didn't know it.

{The following is an excerpt from my journal}

On about March 8th Lilly had an ear infection. She was given the antibiotic Augmentin and took it for about 7 days when she began vomiting. Her pediatrician said that we should discontinue the antibiotics since she had most of the RX. (later we found that at this point she had a stomach virus- nothing to do with the antibiotic)

Lilly vomited about 6 - 8 times that day. She had no fever and no other symptoms, she had been a bit puny for a few days and really had no appetite, which we chalked up to the antibiotic which is known to be rough on the tummy -- the reason why we discontinued it --.

We snuggled on the couch and watched a marathon America's Next Top Model together. She was pretty lethargic, but had stopped vomiting and so when she asked to go to bed, I tucked her in.

{end of journal entry}

We had planned a camping trip to Tyler, Texas which was postponed a few times due to lots of rain. Because Lilly had been a but puny, it seemed just as well. The weather cleared enough that we were going to go on the 14th, but Lilly was still not quite 100%. My family went on the camping trip on this day, and Lilly and I were going to meet them the next day if Lilly felt better. We had every confidence that she would.

I got this picture from the camping crew that evening. They were enjoying themselves and looked forward to our joining them in morning.

The thing that you need to know about Lilly is that she LOVES camping. She had been asking to go camping for months, really. When everyone left earlier in the day, we didn't tell her where they were going, and she really was not feeling well enough to ask. I was going to surprise her when we drove up in the morning.

{back to journal entry}

About 30 minutes after I tucked Lilly into bed I heard the most horrible thud! and found her lying on her stomach on her bedroom floor- crying. I thought that she just tripped as she ran out of her room with nausea.

I brought her downstairs and kept her on the couch with me and we dozed for a few hours. She would frequently wake and ask for a drink of apple juice. I noticed that her hands were very shaky as she brought the cup to her mouth. I also noticed that her legs were shaky when I helped her to the bathroom. She couldn't walk on her own, and while assisted, she looked a lot like she had Parkinson's Disease. I started to get nervous then. I thought that she was really weak from dehydration.

At about 3:00 am I called the Nurse Advice Line at her Pediatrician's office. Twenty minutes later when the nurse called back (about the longest 20 minutes of my life) she said that if Lilly couldn't stand on her own that we needed to go the the Emergency Room.

As I prayed, I knew that it was the right thing to do, and I wasn't really scared or upset at the thought of it. I know that this is where the Spirit comforted me, because I am always just one small event away from panic.

I called John's mom to come with me, since she lives about a mile from us. I was in a time warp. It took me about 20 minutes to get out of the door! I was a bit befuddled trying to decide what I needed to take with me.

I left a message on Johnny's cell phone. I told him that by the time he got the message, we would probably be at home and that Lilly was probably dehydrated. His phone was dead and being charged in the van. (Maddy and Stephie had their phones in the tent-- I am not sure why I didn't call them???)

When we got to the ER, they gave us Gatorade to start the rehydration process-- that was their best-guess right out of the gate, too. We sat in the waiting room for about an hour giving her about 1 oz. at a time. She was very lethargic and glazed-looking, and she was not talking. I could tell that she was listening, but I didn't know if she could understand. She had such a pleasant look on her face. She was being so sweet, but I couldn't get her to respond.

{end of journal entry}

More of the story in next blogs.

Things I am thankful for in this situation:

The Power of Prayer and Personal Revelation - This was a strengthening experience for me. I had to pray on my own, without the strength and goodness of my sweet husband. The Lord responded immediately my giving me the Spirit to comfort me and the strength to go through this situation as the only parent.

Inspiration from the Lord - I am thankful that John and I were both inspired that Lilly should not go up with the rest of the family that day. She had been perking up, so we thought, but it was very apparent that she shouldn't go. I shudder to think of what might have happened being out in the boonies when she started this illness.

Pictures - During this illness which lasted the best part of a month, I kept on looking back at the picture below.

This was the last picture taken of her before her illness. I kept wondering if it would be the last picture of her as normal. (more posts will let you know what all was happening to her during this time)
I am so grateful to have pictures. They are so powerful and wonderful.

I have SO MUCH to be thankful for. And truly, I am.