2 year olds

July 30, 2006, 8:17 am

I just had to compare Lily and Noah at the age of 2 (or almost 2 in Lily's case). Noah turned 2 a few months after we moved to this house. He seemed so big to me then, but when I look at the pictures I just chuckle at how small he seems.

Check it out:

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Noah's prayers

July 27, 2006, 8:48 am

(After watching the movie 8 Below and being very scared of the leopard seal): "Dear God, PLEASE let me never have to go to Antarctica."

"Please let Carter and Kale be good friends to me" (I then asked why he didn't pray for his friends Emily and Emmalyn, and he said, "They are already really good friends to me, Mom! I don't need to pray for them!")

"Please help Mama's broken toe heal and make me not step on it!"

"Please help me be strong like Papa (pause) and Troy (pause) and Steve." "Mama, is Grandpa Hottman strong too?" Mama: "Very strong!" Noah: "Oh! And Grandpa Hottman too, God."

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Me Loves You

July 27, 2006, 8:42 am

She said it! Lily finally said that she loves us! It's a very rewarding thing to hear (after telling her that we love her every day many times for almost 2 years).

Lily has a little car that Emily gave her, and she likes to sit in it with a doll. Last night she asked for a purse, and she proceeded to kiss us all good-bye, tell us, "Lily go to work!", and then she said (very slowly), "ME LOVES YOU!" She then got in her car and waved goodbye. The car didn't actually move, but I was still a little teary eyed to see her go.

(Of course she repeated this routine about 100 times and added, "Don't cry, Mama!" to the end)

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From the mouth of Noah

July 27, 2006, 8:39 am

Noah thinks it's very cool that his Papa was a Marine. Whenever we're out and see a Marine, Noah talks to them. He looks for them on the TV. This week I had the Today show on and Noah caught some of it while I was out of the room. He heard that some Marines were killed in Iraq. And then about an hour later, we had this conversation...

Noah: Mama, I don't want to be a Marine anymore.

Mama: Oh, really?

Noah: Marines get killed. They get shot at.

Mama: That's true. Not all Marines die but some of them do.

Noah: I just want to work. I don't want to be a Marine. I just want to work.

Mama: Well, you could go to college and then work. That's what I did.

Noah: Yes! I'll go to college and then work.

(about 10 minutes pass)

Noah: I guess the Marines go to heaven. So that would be ok.

Mama: But I would rather you be safe.

Noah: Me too. (Pause) Do you want to go to heaven?

Mama: Well, I would like to see my Grandparents again. That would be wonderful. I don't want to die anytime soon though.

Noah: There are swirly lights in heaven.

Mama: I like swirly lights.

Noah: Me too (long pause)

Noah: Do you wish heaven was like the Caribbean? And your friend was there?

Mama: (laughter)

(I tell Noah that Johnny Depp is my old friend from high school, so he was referring to Pirates of the Caribbean)

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Fiesta VBS

July 20, 2006, 9:36 pm

If you have been reading this blog since last year then you know that Noah loves VBS songs. I attended Noah's VBS program last year, and I was impressed with Noah's performance.

This year I was a helper at VBS, and Noah and I jammed to VBS songs all week. We especially enjoyed dancing to the old VBS songs from the past two years.

Noah did another wonderful job this year. He looked over at his friend Emily a lot and enjoyed watching his crazy sister dancing in the aisle. When the leaders would say a Bible verse, the kids would yell "Viva!" and then Lily would yell "Viva!"

Here is my favorite picture:

Can you guess what song Noah is singing? (Notice where he is pointing)

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Trophy #2

July 20, 2006, 8:39 am

Noah received his t-ball trophy this week. He now has 2 trophies! (one from soccer last fall also). His trophies are proudly displayed on his headboard. He lets us borrow a trophy if we are "really good to him," so I often have a trophy displayed on my dresser.

Noah wondered how many trophies he would have by the time Lily started playing soccer and t-ball. I figured about 8, and he was happy with that...

Proud Noah and proud Emily:

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Almost 2!

July 19, 2006, 3:42 pm

Grandma pointed out last Sunday before we left Kansas that Lily's 2nd birthday is in 1 month! How did that happen? Wasn't she just our little baby?

Lily's relatives had a dose of the baby girl in Kansas last week. Lily loved playing with her grandmas and grandpa, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Her girl cousins dressed her up like a princess, took her for walks, played with her in the pool, and danced with her. Her boy cousin tried to stay away from her (as she liked to hit him). But I did catch Huck staring at her when he thought no one was looking. We look forward to the day when Lily and Huck enjoy each other's company.

Lily's grandma enjoyed having tea parties with her (or coffee parties). Grandpa took her for lots of walks in the stroller and even played dolls with her.

Aunt JJ (or Aunt Troy as Lily refers to her) pointed out how tough Lily is. No one runs up to Lily when she falls down because Lily usually gets right back up and runs off. She walks up and down stairs and rarely stops to sit down or be held. We think her big brother is a big reason why she's so tough.

So for Lily's 2nd birthday I'm planning a tea party. She may be tough, but she also enjoys getting dressed up in a pink dress and having "coffee."

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Little Fish

July 19, 2006, 3:35 pm

Breaking News: Noah can swim! Well, I wouldn't trust him in shark infested ocean waters, but he swam without his life jacket in the deep end of Emily's pool last night. He jumped in and swam the length of the pool over and over again. He's so proud.

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Noah and Lily (literally)

July 7, 2006, 3:18 pm

My sister (see link to her website on right) (although she is one of my only readers) defined her son's name (Huck, if you didn't know already although I don't know how I didn't mention him) on her blog. So I decided to look up my children's names...

Here they are...

Noah: rest, a guide (he is a laid back kid)

Lily: a flower, The Hebrew name shushan or shoshan, i.e., "whiteness" (you can't deny she is white)


I looked up Nathan and Jack just for fun.

Nathan: given; giving; rewarded (he does always give me the last bite of chocolate or ice cream cone)

and my favorite one for Jack: A sailor; a tar. (I'm going to look for a dog sailor outfit tonight)

And don't you know that Jeni is not a word?

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Happy 4th of July!

July 4, 2006, 3:50 pm


I guess Lily thinks our matching shirts are silly


After a 4th of July parade (and lots of candy)

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Noah and baseball

July 3, 2006, 11:09 am

Noah just finished his first season of T-ball. He loved it. His team was the "orange" team. He loved hitting the ball (his goal was not to use the T), talking to his friends on the bench, running to catch balls, talking to friends who were on the other team, and getting a treat after the game. Sometimes we wondered if he liked the treat most of all.

Noah didn't grasp the concept of the outfield though. When he was on one of the bases, Nathan and I got a little nervous. He never tagged anyone out. He usually threw the ball to the coach. He always lost interest when he was in the outfield.

Here are some highlights:

Up to bat.


Bored in the outfield.


Noah and Emmalyn (not paying attention)

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Tough girl

July 3, 2006, 11:00 am

Lily appears very sweet. She has big blue eyes, long eyelashes, and blond hair. She is usually wearing the color pink. She often has an adorable dress on and matching pink sandals. She is smaller than most kids her age, and she appears harmless.

So when Lily walks up and smacks a kid for no reason at all, it can be a little unexpected. People often laugh. So Lily does it again. The laughter is just what she's after. The only thing that stops Lily is a kid who will hit back.

Here is Lily after an evening of hitting various kids: (Mama wasn't happy with her)



But Lily also has a sweet side. Here she is singing to one of her babies:



We're working hard on the hitting. We don't want Lily to hit any of her cousins next week when we visit family in Kansas.

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