Millo!

August 28, 2006, 8:37 am

Our friend for over 10 years, Camillo, visited us last weekend. Camillo and Nathan were Marines together oh so many years ago. But some things never change, and we love hanging out with Camillo. Turns out our kids do too:



Truly, some things never change:



Lily yelled, "Buy Millo!" for quite a while after Camillo had already driven off.

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Lily and Mama

August 25, 2006, 8:14 am

Yesterday Lily and I spent the morning at the zoo. Being at the zoo alone with Lily reminded me of all the times Noah and I went to the zoo together before Lily was born. Lily loved the zebras. I loved the elephants. We both thought the train was fun:



Although Lily asks about her brother throughout the day, I think she also enjoys the one on one time she gets with her Mama now...

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My favorite thing...

August 23, 2006, 8:48 am

A few weeks ago, my dear friend Jean asked me what my favorite thing about Lily was. I told her it was the jumping. Lily loves to jump. She walks around the house saying, "JUMPING! JUMPING!" while taking little jumps off the ground.

But right now it's the gasping. When we ask Lily a question or point out an object, she always gasps. We love her enthusiasm.

Lily's sentences are becoming more complete. She now says "with." She will ask me, "Mama go downstairs with Lily?" If we ask her something she often says, "Yea, sure!"

Lily and her Papa love the Veggie Tales. They especially enjoy watching Lord of the Beans together (a spoof of Lord of the Rings). Here they are enjoying their favorite show:



Lily still has her attitude. Don't make Lily mad because she will start yelling at you. She is still upset that Papa threw her pacifier away over a month ago. (A pacifier that she had for only one afternoon).

Lily received lots of clothing items for her birthday, and most of them had words such as "sassy" or "attitude" on them. Here is one of my favorites:



And finally, Lily is sad that her big brother leaves every morning for school. Lily and I were at a Dr.'s appointment yesterday, and she told the receptionist, "Noah went on yellow bus! Big one! Lily go with him? Mama go with Lily?"

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The Kindergartener

August 17, 2006, 9:42 am

Noah asked me many times if I would wake him up this morning in time for school. I assured him that I would set my alarm. Noah happily went to bed at 8 last night with his clothes and backpack ready for the next morning.

I started to tell my story about how I carried him in my tummy for 9 months and was so excited when I heard "It's a boy!" and then I saw Papa and Noah roll their eyes and Noah said, "Here she goes again..." I guess I'll have to call my Mama so that we can reminisce together.

Here is Noah on his first morning of "big" school:



August 17, 2006



Waiting for the bus.



The cool bus stop: Nicole, Emily, and Noah



And this is for you, Aunt JJ:

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Oh no...she's 2!

August 16, 2006, 10:21 pm

Lily is now officially 2. I think I update the website around 9 p.m. every birthday which is the time that she was born.

Lily woke up very excited to see her birthday balloons. She enjoyed opening her first few presents and then let Noah open presents for her.

After opening presents, Lily had her favorite breakfast made by Papa: pancakes. Then Lily, Noah, and I went to the zoo. Lily couldn't wait to see the elephants and ride the train.

Then Lily took a very long nap before her 2nd Birthday Tea Party. Her friends started arriving at 5 p.m., and Lily had a wonderful time making crafts, eating dinner at little tables, blowing out her candles (which she needed help with), watching her birthday video, opening presents, playing pin the tiara on princess Lily, and even hitting the pinata.

We love you, Lily!



(Yes, her jean jacket says "Sassy"...a perfect gift from Uncle Preston and Aunt Sheila)



(Lily asked us to sing "Happy Birthday" many times)

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Jackie's birthday

August 16, 2006, 10:03 pm

Jack turned 7 on August 15th. It's hard having a birthday the day before Lily. Sometimes one can get lost in the shuffle. Noah showered Jack with love and got a little teary eyed when Jack didn't take to his new toy.

Jack had a good birthday after all with a really long walk with Mama, lots of treats from Noah, and he even played with his new toy...

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South Dakota

August 15, 2006, 1:25 pm

A photo journal (click to enlarge):

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Lily Mama Weekend

August 14, 2006, 11:15 am

Lily and I have had 4 days together while the guys have been in South Dakota. As a mother of two kids, I don't have a lot of one-on-one time with Lily. Lily goes to bed before Noah, so I get an hour or two with just Noah every evening. Noah and Lily often fight to be on my lap and try to get my attention.

Lily and I have spent the last 4 days playing tea party, making cupcakes, reading books, "sleeping" in Mama's bed, going for walks, shopping, yardsaling, and watching Veggie Tales (Lily's favorite show). We also did lots of puzzles together. Lily finished the shape puzzle in about 5 seconds and looked at me and asked, "You have another puzzle?" So I found some more advanced puzzles, and she was happy.

Nathan took our camera with him to SD. If I had the camera this weekend, I would have a picture of Lily riding her tricycle with the perfectly fitting pink helmet that I bought her at a yard sale. And I'd have a picture on here of Lily in a blue dress with pink bows in her hair (she finally let me do her hair and insists on 2-3 bows at a time)...

Despite all of the fun that Lily has had with her Mama, she woke up every morning and asked where Papa was and then where Noah was. She also told me last night, "Me loves Papa!"

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No Caption Needed (Click to Enlarge)

August 12, 2006, 2:10 pm

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Road Trip

August 11, 2006, 3:02 pm

Papa, Noah, and Uncle Jason (a.k.a. Sledgehammer or simply "The Sledge") are going on a road trip to South Dakota. Noah is really looking forward to his special "man" trip which will involve camping and other manly things.

Last night Noah informed me, "My favorite person in the whole world is you and then Sledgehammer."

I asked, "What about Papa?"

Noah replied, "He's third."

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Mimic

August 10, 2006, 3:50 pm

I left for work this afternoon, and our babysitter Julia was holding Lily. Lily gave me a few kisses and then yelled, "BE GOOD, MAMA!"

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Mama Noah Trip

August 8, 2006, 9:50 pm

Noah and I took a trip to Naperville to visit my friend Jean and her family. Noah was so excited for our trip. When I picked him up at Theresa's house on Monday he yelled to his friends, "MY MAMA AND I ARE GOING ON A TRIP RIGHT NOW!" He yelled very loudly even though his friends were right beside him.

Noah starts Kindergarten next Thursday, so this was a fun time to spend with just Noah before he's off to "big" school. Nathan is taking Noah on a vacation to South Dakota next weekend. As you can imagine, Noah is very excited about his Papa Noah trip.

Here are some goofy pictures from our trip to Naperville. (We had fun on a hammock):

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