Big Sister

Emily is a great big sister!  She is so tender with Lily.  She loves to softly stroke her head and whisper sweet words like, "Shh! She's sleeping now!" or "Hi Lily! I love you!"  Emily loves to sing songs with her and tries to do the actions with her.  I love it when she talks to her and tries to play with her.  I know they will be best buddies!

The Library

Emily loves to go to the library!  We go at least once a week for story time and to check out books.  Emily loves to sit in the children's section and read her books.  She loves to read on the little chairs or reading nooks.  I love the way she discovers her world through books!

5 Months

Lily is 5 months old.  Wow!  She is almost ready to celebrate her "Very Happy Unbirthday!"  We love having Lily to hold, play, giggle, and cuddle with.  Emily sure loves Lily.  Each day Emily loves to engage with Lily in some playtime.  I love watching them play together.  Lily is learning new tricks everyday. . .

• Bears her own weight to stand up in your arms
• Beginning to eat solids: oatmeal, peaches, & pears
• Loves to play on the floor with Mommy & Emily
• Has cute smiles for everyone, except when mom isn't around
• Mommy's girl
• Loves to be in the moment.  If there is action, Lily wants to be a part of it rather than sleeping
• When she is upset, Mommy or Emily coming to play is helpful
• Blows raspberries
• Cries with a superb pouting face

This pictures compares the two girls around the same age.  I love seeing how they look alike.  Cute as ever!

5 Year Anniversary

It is hard to believe 5 years ago the journey of my "renewed" life began when I entered the Center for Change.  Each year on December 28 I recall my experiences of change that began in the Center.  The road of recovery was not easy, but well worth it.  Ironically, as much as I hesitated going to the Center I would not take back my decision for anything.  I believe Heavenly Father's hand was in all aspects of my experiences there from the therapist I had to the patients I was with.

Though the process of change began then, I strive continue the journey of recovery.  I say this in the sense that life is a journey of recovery as we renew ourselves with the Savior in our path back to Him.  
I find joy in seeing the changes that have occurred in my life over the past 5 years, particularly the additions of my beautiful daughters.  They are my sweet angels!  I love facilitating their journey of change as the learn and grow each day.  My only wish is that time could slow down a little with them.  Yet time continues on and so does change.

Christmas

Twas the Night Before Christmas when all through the house songs of Santa and Jesus were heard all about.  Nelson was able to get off work early to enjoy some caroling around the piano and a few games before bedtime.  We played "Pin the Nose on the Reindeer" and "Don't Eat the Reindeer."  Emily had fun make a plate of goodies for Santa and writing him a letter.  We loved watching her excitement grow!

As Emily arose on Christmas morning I showed her the presents under the tree.  She was still a little oblivious and sleepy for a while, only wanting to watch "The Frozen."  As Lily and Nelson woke up, she realized there were presents under the tree.  She loved opening the presents!  It was fun hear her exclaim, "Wow!"  Emily definitely had a "Frozen" Christmas this year.

Christmas Lights at the St George Temple

As Christmas Eve approached, Nelson and I wanted to take the girls to see the Christmas lights at the St. George Temple.  We arrived early, just before dusk thinking they would come on soon.  We walked around and enjoyed the nativity scene.  Emily loved seeing "Baby Jesus'" house.  After a while we noticed the lights were still not on, so we decided to head home.  Despite not seeing the lights on the temple grounds, we all enjoyed seeing Christmas lights on our way home.

Silly Girl

Emily loves to play hide-and-seek, peek-a-boo, outside, pretend with her doll, read stories to Lily, sing, and dance.  I love watching her use her imagination.

Baby Jesus

The first morning after I set up the Christmas decorations, Emily squealed with delight at each decoration.  She loves the Christmas tree, Christmas lights, snowmen, stockings, Santa, reindeer, and Baby Jesus.  I love the way she calls any picture of Christ, "Baby Jesus."  As bedtime came, Emily insisted on taking the manger sheep to bed with her.  She would not let go of it, and fell asleep with it in her hand.

A few weeks later we let Emily open Lily's Christmas present early - the Little People Nativity.  We used it to teach her about the reason we celebrate Christmas - because of Baby Jesus.  That night Emily again insisted on taking Baby Jesus to bed with her.  I have loved watching her pretend with the manger each day.  I am amazed and humbled by her innocence.  She teaches me daily.

Mail Women

Besides her application, Emily is working hard to practice for a future career in the mail system.  She loves to pretend to deliver and pick up mail.  We have spent hours at the mailbox while she pretends.  Emily will pretend to use the key to open the boxes and place grocery ads in the open package bins.  Cutest mail girl I know!

Tastes and Tricks

Lily had her first taste of solid food - oatmeal with bananas.  She was surprised by the texture, but seemed to enjoy the taste.  We are going to wait a little bit longer to consistently try it with Lily, but loved seeing her try it for the first time.

Lily also surprised herself by rolling over for the first time.  I don't think she intentionally did it, but it is something I want to celebrate.  Lily loves to play on the floor especially with Emily and Mommy nearby.  I too love this tender time of playing with my beautiful girls.

Happy Places

Both Lily and Emily have favorite places that make them happiest.  Lily has my heart and loves to be outside!!  She enjoys going for walks in the stroller and backpack.  The bright Christmas lights, tender tunes of Emily, and soothing rhythm makes for a fun ride.  Lily enjoys being outside so much that she has yet to fall asleep in the stroller.  I love watching her smile outside!

Emily loves Frozen!!!  From the moment she wakes up she wants to watch it.  In fact, Emily's first words each morning are, "Do you want to watch the snowman?!?"  I think that I should make a song to the tune of "Do You Want to Build a Snowman?" for her.  I love the way she is enthralled with the movie like it is the first time she has scene it.  However, I am also ready for a new favorite as I can about quote it beginning to end.  Emily loves Anna, Elsa, Olaf, and Sven the best.  I love hearing her giggle at the funny scenes.  I can't wait for her to see what Santa has brought her Christmas morning!

4 Months

I cannot believe Lily is 4 months old!!  She is such a precious girl!  I love her giggles, smiles, and snuggles.  She is a pretty good baby as long as we aren't in the car.  Emily loves her sister and I love watching their love grow.  I know they will be best of friends.  Here are a few highlights of the month:

• Still loves to eat her hands.  They are in her mouth constantly except when she is swaddled.
• Feel most comfortable around Mommy, Emily, and Daddy
• Loves to be swaddled to sleep 
• Sleeps well at night and has 2 naps during the day
• Loves to watch her big sister play
• Smiles at herself in the mirror
• Hates the car
• Enjoys being outside, going for walks, and riding in the stroller
• Belly giggles when tickled under her chin

Toddler Yoga

Emily loves to explore her world in an upside down position much like the yoga position, downward facing dog.  She giggles with delight as she looks beneath her legs.  I am excited to see her one day discover how to do a somersault.

Photographer

Emily is in a phase in which she doesn't want her picture taken.  Whenever I try to take her picture, she looks away.  This makes it difficult to capture her cute, memorable moments.  Emily, however, loves to play with the phone camera or real camera.  Maybe she is training to be a photographer.

Exploring Emily's

Like me, Emily loves the outdoors.  She has loved to be outside since she was tiny!  I love to watch her explore for hours on end the outdoors without any toys really besides nature to entertain her.  Emily also loves the park and attempts new tricks each day.  The other day she discovered she could reach and swing from the slide's bar.  What a big girl!  One thing about being in the outdoors is Emily likes to mess up her hair as seen in some of these pictures.  Her pigtails are lopsided - oh well!!

Little Lily

Little Lily is sure growing up.  I was browsing through her newborn pictures and was amazed to see how much she has changed.  Seeing my girls everyday allows me to celebrate their small moments of growth that make change seem as a process not so drastic.  Yet when you compare one time period to another it is more distinct.  This type of change is bitter-sweet as I hate and love to see them grow up.

Yucky Yeast Infection

The other day I noticed Lily had some diaper rash.  I usually don't apply diaper rash cream to her, so I started to treat.  After a few days it wouldn't go away.  By the end of the week I decided to call the doctor.  It was Friday so I was really hoping to get some advice.  She wasn't to fussy about it, but I was just worried.  After talking with the nurse and getting a prescription for a diaper rash cream, I then noticed the white "spit up" blotches in Lily's mouth weren't going away.  I put these signs together - diaper rash and white mouth spots - a yeast infection.  Unfortunately, the doctor was gone for the weekend, so I just used some over the counter cream.  Lily continued to act normally and by the following week things were better.  She is a trooper!!

Unrecorded Moments

For the past few weeks I have been observing and thinking about some things I wish I could capture forever.  Each day I strive to take advantage of my time with my sweet daughters as time seems to go by too fast!  My girls grow so much too quickly.  I am realizing that no matter how many pictures I take of my sweet girls, there are some things that can’t be recorded as well as in person.  Some of them are: the way Lily breathes against my neck, how Emily grabs my legs to hug me, the sparkle of both Emily and Lily’s eyes when they smile, the softness of their hair, the pitter-patter of their feet, nestling their head in my neck, the sound of silly giggles, Emily’s goodnight stories to herself, the touch of tiny hands against my skin, holding Emily’s hand while carrying Lily, and so much more.  I am grateful for the sweet moments I have with my girls each day!

Making a Santa List

The other day Emily got a hold of a Target Christmas catalog.  She quickly wanted to sit at the table and glance through it.  For almost 15 minutes, Emily looked through the catalog to investigate the new toys inside.  Her favorite pages had Ana, Elsa, and Olaf on them.  We are hoping to get her a Frozen book for Christmas.

Halloween 2014

Halloween was a spooktacular day.  Nelson was a pirate, I was a cat, Emily a skeleton, and Lily a pumpkin.  We enjoyed a Halloween dinner with my parents earlier in the week.  We had Witch's meatloaf, ghost mashed potatoes, and carrot goblin fingers.  On Halloween we went trick-or-treating with our friends the Green's.  Emily loved the idea of getting candy from neighbors!

Festive Fall with Nana and Grandpa

Nana and Grandpa came for a fun fall visit.  Lily and Emily loved the snuggles, giggles, stories, walks and adventures with them.  The fun began with Emily and Daddy carving pumpkins.  Emily loved the texture experience in touching the seeds and goop.  Nana and Grandpa later helped carve the pumpkins face.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a final product picture of their darling smiling faces.

We enjoyed a Target shopping trip with Nana and Grandpa.  Emily loved exploring the toy and Halloween isles with them.  Nana and Grandpa "treated" her with a some new jammies that have Elsa and Anna on them.  They are a favorite thing to wear and take much convincing to get off each morning!  However, they are a great motivator for my little bath fish to get dressed at night!

Emily was delighted to have some "face time" with Aunt Sissa.  She loves to talk to Sissa on the phone and thought it was so neat to see her face.  Emily was thrilled to show Sissa her new jammies!

Lily loved to be held, cuddled, and smiled at.  Nana was particularly good to make sweet Lily smile lots!  Lily is becoming quite alert, attentive, and engaging.  I love the way she smiles at my face and the sound of my voice.  She is a sweetheart!

Lily 3 Months

There's no tricks about it, Lily is 3 months.  She is our sweetest Halloween treat.  It has been fun to continue to see Lily's personality blossom as she grows.  As I look back at her newborn pictures, I am reminded of how TOO quickly my girls are growing.  Each day I seek to soak in each moment I have with them.  Sometimes the days are hectic, but the moments I have are special.  

Here are some highlights of Lily this past month:

• Loves to suck on her fist.  She can almost fit the whole fist in her mouth.  
• Smiles lots, especially for mommy & Emily
• Loves to observe Emily.  Emily loves to touch her head and "be soft" with her.
• Sleeps well through the night, and catnaps during the day.
• Loves snuggle with Mommy and Mommy loves to snuggle right back.
• Loves to play on her floor mat and bouncy chair.
• Hates the car!  This makes for long rides of crying.
• Enjoys the outdoors.

Piano Lessons

Most days when I teach piano or tutor, Emily has a fun play date with someone in the ward.   On Fridays though Emily gets to stay and play with my piano students while they take turns with lessons.  It is interesting to see the way Emily mimics me in so many ways, including teaching piano.  Today she wanted to sit on the piano bench and play the piano with a piano book in front of her.  To begin Emily would open the book and insist I stand to the side of her, just like I do in a piano lesson.  She would then play and sing a song, turn the page, and repeat again.  What a silly girl!  Emily is quite talented for sure with music!!

Caught Green Handed

Emily is my little gardener helper.  Our tomatoes and peppers have been producing their second round of produce after the heat of summer.  Each day Emily likes to help me water the plants and attend to the ripe pickings.  However, the other day when I wasn't looking I found Emily had filled the bucket with the green tomatoes.  Oh well, they will ripen on the counter!

Lily's Tricks and Treats

Lily is such a cute little eater.  I love watching her eat with her fist close to her face as if guarding anyone from her tasty treat.  When Lily has had a good feed, she can be a little sleepy making a darling satisfied face.  Lily also has found her fist.  She loves to suck on her right hand after eating.

I also love watching Lily sleep.  She definitely loves to snuggle with mom, and always seems to sleep longer when being held.  I love our snuggle times!

Playground Fun

With cooler fall weather, Emily, Lily, and I love to go to the park.  We love the cool breezes, rays of sunshine, and fun to be had just down the street.  Emily is becoming quite the climber.  She is learning to climb around the playground so well.  I love watching her eyes glow when she accomplishes something new and discovers a new way of fun.

The other day I found Emily under the slide in a gathered pile of wood chips.  She was throwing the wood chips in the air and giggling with delight.  Soon we will have fall leaves to do this with.

Silly Shoes

Emily is a little obsessed with shoes.  She loves to try on mommy's, daddy's, and even Lily's shoes.  They are never a perfect fit - too small or too big.  However, Emily seems to find a way to make it work.  The other day I found Emily had successfully put the Cabbage Patch doll's shoes on.  She was even able to walk around for a minute before falling down.  It provided some comic relief to the day for sure!!

Lily's Grins

Lily has been sharing lots of smiles with us lately.  We love her soft coos and giggles.  Emily loves her smiles too!

A New Haircut

Emily's hair has become increasingly tangled lately and needing a new trim.  So after cutting Nelson's hair on Sunday night, I attempted to cut Emily's.  WOW!  Cutting Emily's hair takes lots of tricky movements and following her around.  Good thing Curious George helped with a distraction.  I think her new haircut looks darling!

Terrific Twos

This month is the months of “two’s” as we celebrate my two girls: Emily turning 2 years old and Lily 2 months old.  I cherish my daughters and the love the give to me.  I look forward to our adventures each day.  After playing so hard, I also look forward to bedtime.  We love playing outside, pretending, going for walks, and making cookies together.  I can already see the tender love and care Emily and Lily have for each other.  They are sweet friends already!  

Emily and Lily have lots to celebrate, but here are a few highlights for each of them….

Emily

• Talented singer of many songs: I am a Child of God; I :Love to see the Temple; Twinkle Little Star; ABCs; Itsy, Bitsy Spider; Popcorn Popping: Old MacDonald, Little Turtle; Bumble Bee; Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes; Wise & Foolish Man; Snowman
• Hums and sings all day long whille she plays
• Still loves to play outside
• Sleeps through the night in her big girl bed
• Loves to pretend with dolls, monkey, and the kitchen
• Favorite foods: chocolate milk, grapes, strawberries, cookies, goldfish, cheese
• Loves to play with kids, but not a fan of nursery at church
• enjoys books
• Loves to watch Curious George and Frozen
• protector of Lily

Lily

• Smiles lots at people’s faces, especially Mommy
• Growing eyelashes to add to her sparkly, smiley eyes
• Loves bathtime with Daddy
• Enjoys watching Emily play and sing
• Sleeps well at night - not so much in the day
• Loves to lay under the fan or playmat
• Enjoys walks in the carrier
• Her swing is a favorite place to sleep and play
• Great snuggler
• When upset she relaxes well with her clothes off

Daddy's Playmate

Over the weekend, Emily was Daddy's playmate and buddy.  She loved playing with him, running some errands, and just being at home with him.  Emily finds it a real treat to have Daddy home.  They love to play outside and engage in tickling games together.  I love having my buddy home too!

Big Girl Bed

For the past few weeks, Emily has been transitioning to her "big girl bed."  Taking my mom's
awesome suggestion, we gradually did things in the bed that introduced Emily to the idea of sleeping there since the bed was before seen as a play place.  Each night and nap time, Emily and I would share our bed time routine on her "big girl bed."  We enjoyed reading books and singing songs before going into her crib.
Last Thursday, Nelson gave her a blessing and I told her she was going to try to sleep in her big girl bed.  When nap-time came, Emily cried for over an hour.  At which, I then rocked her and put her in her crib.  The next day, I did it again and there were no tears!  Instead, Emily talked, read stories, and played for over an hour and eventually went to sleep.  Hooray!!  She has been sleeping there nap-time and night time ever since.  We are so proud of our big girl!!!

Sitting and Swinging

My two girls love to swing!  Emily loves to push Lily in her swing and swing at the park.  Lily loves to be rocked to sleep in her swing.  As long as the swing doesn't make them sick, mom is a happy mommy!

The other day after coming home from an errand.  I found Lily sitting like the picture below in her car seat.  I love watching her hands throughout the day, whether they be tight against her chest, stretching high above her head, or resting in midair.  She is a doll!

Emily too can have funny sitting positions like the one in the picture below.  Lately she has found balls make good resting chairs after running hard while playing outside!