Birthday Princess

My mom made this beautiful crown for Lily for her birthday and I snapped just a few of these pictures right before her birthday party started (which was nice since mere moments later she was covered in food and cake)! My little birthday princess!

Birthday Presents!

The afternoon of her actual birthday (after the morning at the museum) we decided to let Lily open her birthday gifts from us and her Grammy and G-Pa! My parents went in with us to buy Lily a beautiful solid wood play kitchen set (that I am proud to say was made right in New Hampshire). I think that Lily loved it from the very moment she saw it! Joe and I also bought her a set of pots and pans and some wooden play food to begin to fill her kitchen. My mom (who really is one of the most creative people I know) made Lily a bunch of different foods out of fabric (eggs, bacon, toast, lettuce, french fries, butter, green beans, etc...). It was some of the cutest food I have ever seen! Lily loved her kitchen and has played with it (and almost nothing else) for days! When I get a chance I'll snap a few more pictures of her playing with the actual kitchen.

Maine Discovery Museum

Finally a big smile during snack time!

For months and months I have been looking forward to taking Lily to the Maine Discovery Museum in Bangor. Everyone raves about it, but since they are closed on Mondays (our day off) we just haven't managed to make it. So we decided to take Lily the morning of her actual birthday. It would have been "too much fun" as they say in their commercials, but unfortunately the week we went was also a school break week- which meant that the museum was literally crawling with kiddos. It was crazy. It took Lily about 20 minutes before she really wanted to get down and play (she was just totally overwhelmed with all the people and noise). We did end up having a good time- Lily really loved the Maine waterway exhibit (where she got to sail boats), the doctor's station, watering the garden there, the puppet theatre, and the Goodnight Moon room among other things. I think we'll eventually buy a one year pass (maybe this coming winter)- but we will stay away on school vacation weeks!

My Baby is Two!

My baby turned two today.

In many ways I am amazed that she is already two- already running, jumping, and talking. I guess she is no longer a little baby.

In many other ways I can barely believe she has only been with us for two years- it seems as though she has been this wonderful little part of our lives for so much longer.

Happy Birthday my love!

Easter!

The Easter Basket

Checking out what's in her eggs!

Excited about the bubbles in her basket

Umm, I think Indy got a little Easter grass on him!

Ready for church

Here's a few pictures from our Easter morning!

Coloring Easter Eggs!

I realize that these next few posts are a week old, but we spent most of the week at Joe's parent's house (while Joe was out of state for a conference)- so I'm now just finally getting to them!

Here are a few I took when we colored Easter eggs the day before Easter! I have to admit that as I filled up the many bowls with egg dye I had a looming feeling of impending chaos. We have a little girl who loves to get messy and I just didn't see this ending well. But in the spirit of fun we went for it anyway. And you know what? Lily did wonderfully! She didn't dump over a single bowl of dye and she was really pretty controlled. It was hard to stop her from just letting the egg plop down hard into the bowl (gentle isn't exactly her thing)- and more than once she took an egg that was already dyed and put it in another color- but it was really fun! She was actually quite sad when it was all over. Most of the eggs got somewhat cracked in the process so we decided that they were better for decoration this year than for eating!

To Potty Train or Not to Potty Train?

Yes, this is our question- and to be honest we are a little torn. You might remember a little while back I posted the night that Lily first used her potty chair. Well, sure enough the next day she used it again twice... and then quickly after that became totally afraid of it and wanted nothing to do with it. We chalked the whole thing up as a fluke and decided to go back to our plan of potty training her later in the summer. Until...just a few weeks ago when she again became totally interested in going to the bathroom in her potty- and this time it's stuck. She goes "peepee in her potty" at least once or twice a day (and she's even pooped in her potty a few times). Every time she does she gets candy (Hershey Kisses or Mike N' Ikes)- and I'm certain this is why she is so interested (the child will do anything for candy)- but it's working! I feel fairly certain (although I could be wrong) that if I just went for it and devoted a few days solely to potty training that we could have her trained (at least during the day). So, why the dilema? Well, we have a lot of traveling to do this summer. Our summer assignment is for 6 weeks in Colorado and we have decided to drive out there (yes, drive with our 2 year old)! On the way out we will stop in Wisconsin for a week to vacation with my family and right after returning to Maine we will go to camp to vacation with Joe's family for a week. All of this traveling starts in June. And to be honest it really just seems easier to travel cross country with Lily is diapers. I can only imagine how many times we would have to stop for her to use the bathroom (or how many potential accidents there could be)- and to be honest half of the restooms along the way scare me! So, there is no doubt in my mind that it would be less of a hassle for us to leave her in diapers until August. But... I've been warned by friends that there is a window of opportunity for potty training (when they are most interested- like she seems to be now)- that we probably shouldn't pass up on. So, there is our dilema. I realize that most parents might love to have this "problem"- so I'm not complaining!:) I do think we're leaning towards potty training sooner rather than later- but I'd still love to hear your opinion (so please vote in my new poll)! And in case you are wondering- the picture above is of the baskets holding all of Lily's diapering supplies. I took some cute pictures of her naked on her potty that I really wanted to post but then decided that it might be best not to post them here where they might be seen by people I don't know!

No Cart Left Behind

Yesterday afternoon I was on campus meeting with our two other staff women. After our meeting I ran to the grocery store to pick up a bunch of food I needed for our staff dinner tonight. All was going well until I wheeled my grocery cart out to the car to find that I had locked my keys in the car. Uggghhh. Not only didn't I have my keys, but I also didn't have my cell phone so I pushed my cart back into the store to borrow their phone.

I fully expected Joe to answer- after all he was home with Lily for the afternoon. Just my luck though- no answer. By the end of my very pathetic message to Joe I was starting to get a little teary (being completly unsure of how I was going to get myself or all the food home). The nice lady at the customer service counter asked if there was anyone else I wanted to call. As I racked my brain I new right away that there are only 3 other local numbers I have memorized (and that none of those people would be home).

I then began to remember that just the day before Joe got a flat tire on his bike while he was at the YMCA (which is in the same shopping plaze as the grocery store) and he just walked home with his bike. So, without totally thinking it through I decided that I would just start walking home with my cart full of groceries (we live about 2 miles from the grocery store). I guess in the back of my mind I really thought that Joe would hear my message and come to rescue me at any moment.

So I started walking- fully aware that I looked totally crazy to the people driving by on the very busy street (many of them were staring at me). And only after I was too far along to really turn back did I realize that this wasn't such a great idea. Pushing a full grocery cart uphill (literally up a hill) on a terribly beaten up Maine sidewalk was a lot harder than I imagined it would be (the cart also got stuck in the mud twice). And that's when I began to wonder why I didn't just leave my groceries as the store, walk home by myself, and return later for my car and my food. But again- by the time I thought this it was too late.

It was about the same time that I suddenly realized that Lily's carseat was in my car (at the grocery store)- and that even if Joe heard my message he wouldn't be able to come get me. So I really began praying that the Lord might let someone I know see me and stop to give me a ride. Right about then I saw a police officer and I thought for sure he would pull over- if for no other reason than it looked like I was stealing a grocery cart. Nope- he just kept going (Joe said he probably just didn't want to deal with the crazy lady pushing the cart)!

But just as I crested the top of the pretty long hill our friend John drove by in his truck. Did he see me? Yes! Did he stop? No. Why? Because he thought I was exercising!! After a few blocks though he realized that I was wearing dress pants and thus probably not exercising- so thankfully he turned around and came back for me! And really it worked out perfect since I'm not sure what I would have done with the grocery cart itself had I been offered a ride by someone without a truck! So I got a ride the rest of the way home (I was a little less than half way there). As you might imagine Joe was quite amused when I came home bearing not only groceries but the cart as well (which we later returned to the store)!

Let's just say that when I went to the store today I double checked to make sure I had my keys!

Bubble Baths...Finally!

I apologize that I haven't been posting much this week. I'm still not feeling very well and it's just been dark and rainy and dreary here- which means not much light coming through my windows- which leaves me a little unmotivated to take pictures. But...today I remembered that I never posted these pictures I took way back in January!

So, here are some pictures from Lily's 1st and 2nd bubble bath! I know, it's a little sad that she was just a few months shy of 2 before her first bubble bath- but she has had such sensitive skin since she was born (thanks to her mama) that we just didn't want to give her anymore rashes than necessary! In fact, up until just recently we have had to use dye and fragrence free everything (soap, lotion, laundry detergent) on her. So, I bought her some all natural bubble bath for Christmas. But before I even got to try it Joe accidentally used some bubble bath my mom had left from the Body Shop (thinking he was using the stuff I bought)- and as you can see it made wonderful bubbles and Lily had such a wonderful time! In fact, she asked for bubbles every night for weeks! And...no rashes! She doesn't ask for bubbles quite every night now, but they are a special treat maybe once a week!

Random Updates

So here are a few random updates from the life of my little family:

The Kitchen: Yes, some of you might remember that last August we began our kitchen remodel. You may be wondering why you haven't heard much of it since then. Well, the whole remodel really went so much quicker than we expected and Joe had everything functional within a few days. He did an AMAZING job. In the following weeks we worked on it a little more putting in backsplash tile and doing some painting. And that is where it has remained all of these months- fully functional, but not fully finished. We still have some drywall to do, a bunch of painting, and ceiling and floor trim everywhere. Our plan is to finally finish it this May- and then I promise to post new pictures! And in case you are wondering (from the poll I did in the fall)- I have decided to keep the chair rail white!

Lily's Hair: As you can see from the pictures above (which are just fun pictures of her playing with stickers that I thought I would include at random)- I have decided to let her bangs grow out. Thanks for all of your imput in my poll! Her bangs are so long now that she has to wear a barrett everyday, but thankfully she's pretty good at keeping them in!

Toenails: I take back what I said earlier- toenails are important and I've come to believe they do serve a purpose. Oddly enough my big toe has become more sensitive the longer it waits for the nail to grow back. Oh well.

Ministry: I posted at the beginning of the semester how Joe and I were both feeling like we were in the "valley" of ministry. Of course the semester has improved some and we can now see God at work- even if in small ways (or what seem small to us). We are slowly rebuilding the ministry with a few new student leaders- and we have hope as we look ahead to the future. Please keep the Lifelines ministry in your prayers.

Those are just a few random updates from our little family!