Top 10 of 2011

Since I did a post on the top 10 of 2010, I thought it only appropriate to do a top 10 of 2010. It seems like sometimes I look back on the year as New Years approaches and can't even remember what happened that year! So hopefully this will help record memories of each year.

In the order that I can remember them happening:

1. We moved into our new house.


2. I was blessed with a 1st grade teaching job.

3. "Ice Age" of 2011-we had a week long break from school due to the ice storm.


4. Lorelei was dedicated at our church.


5. We took a trip to Gulf Shores, AL for my uncle's surprise birthday party.


6. We found out we were expecting baby Harrison.




7. Lorelei visited the beach for the first time. We visited Florida with Rob's family.


8. We had the hottest summer of all time. This is definitely something to remember, but not a "top moment" of the year!



9. We visited Rob's family in Oregon and Lorelei got to finally meet her great grandparents.


10. We celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary..and our 10th "dating anniversary!"

Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,
You turned TWO last month! In the past few months here is what has been going on:

-At your 2 year old check up you were 35.5 inches tall and 31 lbs. You have been wearing a size 2T for a while, but I have recently started buying 3T, especially in pants because you are so tall.
-You had your first trip to the dentist shortly after your 2 year check up. I read you a book about visiting the dentist the night before our big visit. We talked all about the dentist, Dr. Tim. You did pretty well at the dentist, until Dr. Tim actually wanted to look in your mouth. But that was atleast a month ago and you have talked about Dr. Tim since!
-We got rid of your pacifier (or "bubba") for good! We started by just letting you have it at night for awhile, and then after your 2 year check up, we got rid of it completely. It was only really hard for a few nights.
-Your first cousin was born! Cameron was born on Aug. 11 and you absolutely love him. You love to help feed him and hold him. You have recently been saying his name and anytime you see a photo of a baby you think it is him.
-You LOVE going to the park, coloring on your easel, watching shows (Elmo, Blue's Clues, Bubble Guppies, Big Comfy Couch, and Curious George are your favorites), reading books (Your favorites right now are "No, David!," the Bible, "How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight," and "Pat the Bunny"), and playing with your Mr. Potato head set.
-You are a pretty picky eater. You love fruit (mostly grapes, banana, and apples), waffles, cookies, cheese, yogurt, pepperoni, and applesauce (or "sauce" as you call it).
-You can count to 10 (but usually get distracted).
-You love to talk about animal noises and know most of them.
-I think your favorite color must be green because whenever we ask you what color something is you excitedly say "GREEN!"
-You love to sing! Your favorite songs are The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me, Row Row Row your Boat,
-We are working on memorizing the monthly Bible verse from school. The first month's verse is "A friend loves all the time" Proverbs 17:17. You love to practice it, but the only part you say is "allllll My time!" We are still working on the rest :)
-You love school and playing with "friends"
-This summer we did lots of swimming at the neighborhood pool and beach club, and now anytime we swim you call it the beach!
-You had your first trip to the beach this summer. Surprisingly, the sand did not bother you but you were scared of being close to the ocean.
-We also went to the lake this summer and you went out on the boat. We had a scare in the water though, because you were in your tube and leaned forward to look at something and the whole tube tipped over. All that was above water were your feet. It scared us pretty bad, so now you are in swimming lessons :)
-You went to gymnastics class all summer, but we have recently stopped gymnastics and started swimming lessons. You have done very well and pretty soon you will no longer be in the "waterbabies" class where I am in the water with you, but you will be in it by yourself! You still don't jump in without holding my hand, but you can swim underwater for 8 seconds now!
-You are going to be a bumble bee for Halloween and talk about your pumpkins on the front porch all the time.
-About 3 weeks ago we got your room set up as a big girl room! We moved the crib into Harrison's room and you got a twin bed. You have done very well in it. The first few nights you seemed a little apprehensive about getting in the bed, but you have adjusted really well and still sleep a good 12 hours/night.
-We still haven't worked much on potty training, but you like to talk about the potty and sit on your little potty before bath time.
-You know who baby Harrison is and seem excited about meeting him! I am sure you will be a great big sister.
-You know your name. For a while, you told us your name was Mema! Now sometimes you say it is Harrison. But if you see a photo of yourself, you do say "Worlie!"
-You are starting to dislike getting dressed. I think you would rather run around in your diaper! However, you do know when you get new clothes and usually say "cuuuutte" and want to look at yourself in the mirror in your new clothes.
-You have been throwing fits for several months now. The other day you threw a big fit at breakfast because your cereal bar broke into 2 pieces and you were screaming "fix it!" at me.
-You are very, very busy! Constantly on the move, but I think it helps you to sleep so good at night!
-You are becoming more independent, wanting to climb into the car by yourself, buckle yourself in your seat, and then shut the door by yourself.
-You have learned that your daddy's name is Rob. When I say his name to someone, or if I call for him, you used to yell "BOB!" but now you realized it is Rob and shout "ROB!" instead.
-You have also learned who your families are. Whenever we talk to Bug, Mel, Grandpa, or Mimommy, you ask for all the others, including Addy the dog. It is the same with Mimi, Gdaddy, Brooke, and Cameron.
-You stayed at Mimi's house with she and Gdaddy last weekend and while you were there you got Princess boots that light up! You love to stomp around and make the lights go off. You also went to a fall festival with them and rode a pony, a train, and saw lots of animals. You haven't stopped talking about it since!
-Cameron, your first cousin, was born this summer and you are absolutely love him. You talk about him often and love to help feed him and hold him. You really love all babies, and take good care of your baby dolls...except you like to keep them naked ;)
-You love playing with "friends" and "the kids." "Friends" are your friends at church and "the kids" are the neighborhood kids that you just can't get enough of.

We love you so much sweet girl!

Christmas Cards

I can't believe it is time to start thinking about Christmas shopping and cards. Last year we used Shutterfly for our cards and were very impressed. They offer great designs at affordable prices. This year, I plan to use them again! If you have a blog and want to get 25 FREE holiday cards, go here: www.shutterflycards.com

We are having our family pictures taken in two weeks, so once I see which one(s) I want to use on the card, I will be better able to select which card I want! However, I am loving these in particular:

Somebody Should Have Said Something

Our women's Bible study is doing a series this summer called "Somebody Should Have Said Something." Each week 2 women speak on 2 independent topics of something they wish someone had told them...or something they wish they would have just listened to. One of the topics this week was about marriage and I am reflecting on it here because I want to be able to go back and read it again, and again, and again. This is something I needed to hear and take heart.

The topic was on marriage, and that marriage is NOT the ultimate fulfillment. Isn't that what society makes it out to be? Society sometimes defines people by their marital status. Before sin enters the world back in Genesis, all of our desires were towards God. Then, Adam and Eve's sin enters and God says to the woman:

"I will greatly increase your pain in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you." -Genesis 3:16

Focusing on, "your desire will be for your husband"...now women want men to meet all their needs instead of giving that to God. The speaker gave an example from society. When women dress in a way to attract men, she is asking for men she does not even know to meet her need of getting attention and affirmation based on her dress. Makes sense, right?

Our needs are not wrong, but who we expect to meet those needs are sometimes wrong. We are not defined by whether we are married or single. We are defined as one of HIS. Husbands cannot love us like God does, so let your husband off the hook! Strong women are those who find their identities in Christ.

She also made a great reference to two women of the Bible, Rachel and Hannah. Both were barren, but Rachel goes to her husband and demands a child. Hannah goes to God. Let us be imitators of Hannah and not Rachel.

I needed this because I have always set very high expectations for not just myself, but for Rob. I need to "let him off the hook" and realize he is human. More than this, I need to hear this because I am a worrier. I worry that something will happen to Rob. Then I would be without him. But instead of imagining what could happen, I need to be back in the present time, taking refuge in God, and realizing that my identity is not in Rob, or being married to Rob. My identity is in Him.

TWO

A. It has been TOO long since I have posted. 3 months. I have thought about just stopping blogging all together since I can't seem to keep up with it anymore. But I love that I have kept track of so many things that have happened with Lorelei. Blogging things she does and says is much more convenient that hunting down her baby book.

B. Lorelei will be TWO years old soon! I cannot believe it. I am brainstorming birthday party ideas and it seems like Sept. 9th is going to sneak up on me.

C. We are having baby number TWO!! Due Jan. 27, 2012! Being pregnant and already having a toddler to chase is very different than being pregnant the first time around! The first time around I felt like pregnancy took forever, I was so anxious! Now, Lorelei has kept me so busy somedays I look at the ultrasound on the fridge and think, oh yeah, I'm pregnant! Well...that's sorta how it goes. I am usually quickly reminded when trying to find something to wear in the morning since I gained weight so quickly this time around. Other than that, being exhausted with a toddler is challenging. Lorelei is like a little tornado. Everything you put away or clean she messes up again. So "chasing one and baking one" is a challenge :) I just am not sure how Michelle Duggar does this time and time again. I'm struggling on number 2!

Ahhhhh. Now atleast I'll have a recent post. I feel accomplished. Another post soon coming about Lorelei!

Dear Little Baby

Dear Lorelei,

You are 18 months old! You are no longer a little baby, but an active, excitable toddler!! You are on the move all the time..there is always something for you to see, someone you want to talk to, or something you want to get into. You love to climb. Climbing up on chairs, climbing into your highchair, onto the counter, on the couch...and even out of your pack n play and crib. I was laying on the couch and you were in your pack n play, "napping" in the guest bedroom. All of the sudden I heard giggling, little feet running down the hall, and you showed up in the living room! I put you back in, only to have you escape again. So, up to your crib we went. I should have known you could escape that too! We tried putting you in the toddler bed for three nights. You hated it. You climbed out and ran to the door screaming as soon as we walked out. You destroyed your room (see pictures below!), you slept on the floor, it was terrible. So we now put you back in the crib in a sleep sack when you are in your crib, so that you can't get your legs separated enough to climb over! We also bought a crib tent just incase we need to use it! The lady at the store asked if we were trying to keep a cat out of the crib...I told her no, we were just trying to keep you in it :) I blame your crazy acrobatics on your long legs! You are in the 97% for height at 34.5 inches long, and you are in the 70% for weight, 25 lbs. and 11 ounces. You wear size 24 month clothes.

You are talking all the time. We are very impressed with all the words you can say! Some of them are: bye bye, go go, mama, dada, booky (book), strawberry, bubble, bath, apple, hairbow, eyes (which you then poke at my eyes), teeth, eat, cookie, more, all done, amen, night night (which you call your blankie, and you use to tell us you are tired), bubba (paci), yucky, uh oh, nack (snack), drink, up, no (your very favorite word), hi, shoe..

And best of all, you can say your name! You only say it on occasion but the other day I heard you say "uh oh worwi."

You don't really like playing in your playroom by yourself, but your favorite toys are your music set, puzzle pieces (for banging together of course), books, dolls and stuffed animals, push toys, pretending to talk on the phone, crawl tunnel, wagon, cozy coupe car. You also love coloring, blowing bubbles, playing outside, and climbing up the chair at my desk and pretending to type at the computer.

You go with me to preschool two days a week while I teach first grade, and the other days of the week you go to a babysitter or go to Mothers Day Out at our church, like you had been doing in the Fall. I miss staying home with you everyday. Even though every day was exhausting, it was so much fun to spend the day playing with you. You take usually just one good nap a day and still go to bed between 7-7:30 at night. If we didn't have to get up for work each morning, you would sleep until 7:30-8:30. But, I have to wake you up much earlier and you like to lay back down in your crib and tell me "night night."

In the past few months, you had your baby dedication at church, had your first snow day (didn't care for the snow too much), and got your first haircut!

Sweet girl, you are so much fun. You are happy going to anyone, have tons of energy, and are very sweet. We love you!!

Momma and Daddy