Yesterday morning Lila and I took a shower together and it went well! For the past several months, since around Thanksgiving, she's been scared of being in the tub. She likes to stand outside of the tub while I'm showering, and she doesn't mind being in the shower if one of us is holding her, but if you put her on the floor of the tub she'll usually freak out and is really scared. But over the weekend, Jake tried putting her down and she did fine. So I tried it today, and she whimpered for a few seconds, but then enjoyed drinking shower water I sprayed at her and then happily cruised along the edges of the shower for the rest of the time. I wanted to do her shower this morning so that we could have more family time together tonight.
After that, we were both tired and napped together from 10:30 to noon. Another amazing nap. Yay Lila. Then we packed up and headed to the bank to open a savings account for Lila. It was difficult trying to wrangle her there too, but we made it and now she has $45 in her bank account. I'm going to put birthday money in it and Jake and I will contribute money too. My Uncle Ben and Aunt Michele had a rule for their kids that with any money they made or got as gifts, half of it went into savings. I really like that idea.
From there, we stopped at the library to drop off a book that I won't finish--probably won't have time to read until after the move--and then went to Emily's for a few hours. Lila likes playing there. She did sort of fall down the two stairs to the kitchen head-first in slow-motion... she didn't even cry. It was pretty funny actually. She also took a nap there. It was a pretty, sunny day.
We left for home at the same time that Jake left work. Made banana pancakes for dinner and Lila nibbled on one, which is great. We were going to go for another walk, but by the time dinner was cleaned up, it was already 7:30 or so. She did this funny thing when Jake was changing her diaper... she was dancing and wiggling while she was laying down because he turned on the singing/dancing gorilla she got for her birthday. So we got Lila ready for bed. She was fussy and not going down easily so I asked Jake to give her some Tylenol, which she then projectile puked all over him and the floor. Poor baby, and poor Jake :) I don't think she fell asleep till around 9. Jake and I were up for a few more hours, working on things on the computer and visiting a little too. Talked to Mike, who spent the evening with Cassandra in Port Huron. He had to be on the east side of the state for work and she drove over to be with him for a few hours. He helped her with some homework at Barnes and Noble for a little while, and then they made out for the rest of the time. :) hehehe.
Lila slept in this morning till almost 9:30. Love that girl. We had a good morning. She let me spoon feed her some of the sugary milk from my cereal bowl at breakfast and seemed to really like it... she almost never lets me spoon feed her anything. So then I tried to be sneaky and put some rice cereal into the milk (it's a good source of iron), but she immediately tasted the difference and lost interest. So we'll have to keep trying with the milk.
We met Jake at noon at Culver's for lunch, since he has his meeting tonight. He bought some more things for the house... a fancy ladder and a leaf blower for $70. He's storing all of this garage stuff in the back of his 4Runner right now... but I think we'll have to move them into Lila's room until we move or something. Culver's was a lot of fun. Lila lit up as soon as she saw Jake and smiled and waved through the car window. It was nice seeing Jake during the day when he's awake and alert. Poor guy is pretty tired lately! We're really excited to move into our house. Shortly before we left, Lila figured out that she can walk wherever she wants, not just to Jake or I. Actually before we left for Culver's this morning, she was playing in my closet, walked out to check what I was watching on TV and then walked back into the closet, lol. But at Culver's she started walking around a little bit, checking out different people and smiling/laughing at them. So then she walked around the whole restaurant gleefully, holding my hand. And then she walked out to the car holding Jake's hand and let go to walk by herself a few times. What a girl! She's growing up so fast! I'm really excited for her to learn how to walk, actually... it will be SO nice when I don't have to carry her and the diaper bag, and whatever else I have, out to the car. I was smiling so big and giggling watching her like a big cheese. I'm such a mom.
She fell asleep right before we got home, so I tried carrying her inside without her waking up, but someone was vacuuming the apartment hallway so she woke up. And then wouldn't go back to sleep for a few hours. She's sleeping right now. So I did some sorting and purging... it's time to start packing!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Monday, March 28, 2011
Sunday: Jake's Busy, KUB, Mike's Day with Cassandra
Jake had a very long day yesterday. He had a meeting at 8am, went to church in our ward, had a training during 2nd hour, after church stopped at hospice to visit John, then headed to Paw Paw for another training and didn't get back till 5:30. It was like a full work day. And then he worked from 8pm-12:45am on more stake stuff. He's busy training unit clerks and also preparing for the new stake presidency. He's a hard worker and never complains.
Lila woke up shortly after Jake left and we had breakfast with my mom. Emily and Dad arrived some time later, and we got to spend a little time with them before Mom and Dad left. Em watched the babe while I got ready for church, and then I got Lila ready. I knew church would be tough, trying to wrangle her by myself again, especially during her nap-time. I went to the KUB with Em at 11:00. She was speaking and playing the violin (and she taught Sunday School, so it was like the Emily Show at the KUB). Lila did okay for the first 15 or so minutes, but she pooped during the first speaker so we hung out in the basement for a while after I changed her diaper. I had a really hard time hanging onto Lila, she was trying to walk around. She's SO BIG and SO HEAVY! Emily's talk went well--she spoke on covenants.
I headed home after sacrament meeting. Lila fell asleep right before we got home, but I totally wasn't going to sit in the car while she slept. She surprised me and stayed asleep when I took her out and awkwardly carried her in (she's SO HEAVY!) and stayed asleep when I laid her down on the bed. She usually doesn't do that. And then she slept for almost 2 hours and I slept with her. It was amazing. I woke up and panicked a little because I thought it was Monday morning. So that was a great afternoon nap, just Lila and Mom. We woke up around 2 and then Mike wanted to video chat to tell me about his Saturday with Cassandra. So we talked for 2 hours and that ate a lot of time too. Lila had a great time making faces at Mike on the webcam. So, Mike had a great day. Here are the highlights (I record these things because it really shows how the hand of the Lord is working in his life):
- C told him that after she broke up with Nate at Thanksgiving, she started doubting her decision. But then she felt a clear prompting that she'd be dating someone by the end of the year. In early December, some guy came home from his mission and started going to her branch. They went on a few dates and he sent her an email that said he'd really like to keep dating her. She's thinking he's the guy she got the prompting about. A few weeks go by without really seeing or talking to each other, and at Christmastime, she gets another email that says he won't be dating her anymore because he's engaged!! How crazy is that? So she's thinking the prompting she got didn't make any sense. And then, on the night of December 30th, she gets a phone call from Jake and he's wondering what she's doing on New Years Eve and wants her to meet his brother. She's thinking, "What the heck is this about?" And she meets Mike on the last day of the year. Amazing.
- They established that they are dating exclusively.
- She asked if he'd heard from Kalina lately and he told her about what happened last Sunday. He made it clear that he doesn't have feelings for her.
- He asked what she likes about him... she said she's not usually very comfortable around guys and has a hard time opening up to them. She said that she feels really comfortable around Mike and feels really happy when she's with him. He impresses her a lot--the way he treats her and her roommates.
- They're kind of talking about marriage. Not about logistics so much as the fact that it's a possibility for them.
- She really likes him and he really likes her.
- Her sisters don't like Jake because he asks too many questions. :)
After that Lila and I played till Jake got home at 5:30. We had leftover pancit for dinner and Lila really likes that stuff! She likes playing with the noodles and tries to eat them too, pretty unsuccessfully, but at least she's interested. It'll be great when her coordination matches her interest in the food. Jake loved it too; said that it just reminds him of Asia and tastes so authentic. I'll have to make it again soon... like for my own birthday next month.
We went for a walk to the mailbox. It was nice and sunny about but a little chilly. Jake's parents had sent Lila a birthday card and $25. We got Lila ready for bed shortly after that and she was in bed by 8. She was up a lot last night though... I think she's teething again. Jake and I were up late working on things for his calling... putting together spreadsheets. Didn't get to bed till almost 1.
My favorite sight of all time is peeking into our room and seeing Lila sitting up in bed after waking up... her sweet round little head poking up out of the pillows and blankets. I just love her.
Party at the Littles', Mom and Dad Visit, Lila's First Birthday Party
I spent Friday morning and afternoon cleaning for my parents. Emily came over at around 3:00, shortly after Lila went down for a nap. So I left Emily to watch the baby and ran off to the store to buy things for the party. It was a mad scramble, made more difficult by the stupid broken wheel on my cart. Jake got out of work at 4:00; he'd gone in an hour early that morning. He ran errands (stopped by Rich's office, got insurance quotes, put in our 30-day notice with the apartment office). My parents got to Emily's shortly after I got home, so she left, and then we waited for Jake to get home. Mike stopped by to pick up the four Twilight books that I sold on Craigslist for $20. He delivered them to the seller in GR on his way to Jim's that evening.
We got to visit with my parents and Bella for a few minutes before Jake and I had to leave for the Stake Presidency farewell party in Vicksburg at the Littles'. We left Lila with my folks and she had a blast, playing with the dog. It was a nice little "date" for us. I like the Littles' house a lot. It's by a little lake and has lots of windows. The food was delish. I swear I ate like 2 or 3 times as much as Jake did. I can put away so much food. So we got to visit for a while. Their last Tuesday meeting together is tomorrow. The new presidency will be installed on April 10th. Anyway, I really like the Littles, they're a fun family. The Andersons, Petersens, Sayes, and Laugheads were also there. We left at 9:00 as planned. Lila didn't get to bed till 10:30. She stayed up late reading books with my mom, who slept at our place. Dad and Bella stayed with Emily. It'll be so nice when they can all stay at our house.
Saturday was a busy day, getting ready for Lila's party. She went down for a nap in the morning. I made pistachio bars, which is what I requested instead of a birthday cake as a child. I also made a layered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and raspberries, another favorite of mine. :) I chopped everything up for pancit and my dad made that when he arrived. I also made some chicken pasta salad. Emily stayed at her apartment with Bella until 3. We cleaned and decorated. The party was from 1-3. I had invited a lot of people and over 20 had RSVP'd but only THREE came! lol! I was more annoyed than offended. But it all worked out ok and I was just happy to have my parents there. Desiree and Tyler came and so did Annette Shumway. Annette is due on April 19th with a girl (Ruby) Desiree is due on April 20th with a boy (Jarom) and they are both huge and bonded over that. So, all in all a nice time. And then at 3, Aunts Gina and Patti, Uncle Larry, and my 7-year-old cousin Sam came with presents, so I guess technically they count as guests too. :) So we visited with them. Lila really likes Sam. She went down for a nap. Jake went to a garage sale that was selling a bunch of tools and he bought a shop-vac, an air compressor, a car jack for working on cars, and some other things, for like $88. I told him no more buying tools till we're actually living in the house. :)
Speaking of the house, late last week we had the septic system inspected, which is one of the required inspections. Jake was reviewing the report and noticed something that both inspection companies had missed (Cartas--the relocation company--had also done a septic inspection): the tank is only 1000 gallons. A four-bedroom home requires a 1500 gallon tank... so it's not up to code. Which is fine, I guess... unless we end up having a really big family while we're living there, or until we go to sell the house and have to disclose that the tank isn't up to code to any potential buyers. So we're requested than they install an additional 500 gallon tank and waiting to hear back from them. We found out that they don't really like us because we were there for a long time during the inspection and I guess that interfered with some plans they'd had. Oh well.
My mom got her a bunch of books and stuffed animals... including two animals that sing and "dance," like the snowman and dog she got for Christmas. She got a summertime outfit from Emily. A fancy toy from the Neils. A really cute outfit and placemat from Aunt Gina. A toy laptop from the Bruinsmas (she likes that a lot). A few books from Nana Bruinsma. Rand and Lynn Johnson sent home a present from church yesterday, a book. And the Hunts, who had RSVP'd, sent a few presents as well.
In the evening, Jake and I took Mom and Dad on a drive past our house, which was fun. We hung out at Emily's apartment for a little bit and then took Mom back to our place. I think Lila was up late again, till 10 or so. I was planning on going to bed early too, I was so tired, but ended up staying late. And then we video chatted with Mike and Cassandra for like 10 minutes. He went up to Canada that morning to visit her. She wanted to know what Jake and I think of them dating, and we of course told her that we think it's awesome. Her family doesn't know what to make of it yet. Went to bed.
We got to visit with my parents and Bella for a few minutes before Jake and I had to leave for the Stake Presidency farewell party in Vicksburg at the Littles'. We left Lila with my folks and she had a blast, playing with the dog. It was a nice little "date" for us. I like the Littles' house a lot. It's by a little lake and has lots of windows. The food was delish. I swear I ate like 2 or 3 times as much as Jake did. I can put away so much food. So we got to visit for a while. Their last Tuesday meeting together is tomorrow. The new presidency will be installed on April 10th. Anyway, I really like the Littles, they're a fun family. The Andersons, Petersens, Sayes, and Laugheads were also there. We left at 9:00 as planned. Lila didn't get to bed till 10:30. She stayed up late reading books with my mom, who slept at our place. Dad and Bella stayed with Emily. It'll be so nice when they can all stay at our house.
Saturday was a busy day, getting ready for Lila's party. She went down for a nap in the morning. I made pistachio bars, which is what I requested instead of a birthday cake as a child. I also made a layered chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and raspberries, another favorite of mine. :) I chopped everything up for pancit and my dad made that when he arrived. I also made some chicken pasta salad. Emily stayed at her apartment with Bella until 3. We cleaned and decorated. The party was from 1-3. I had invited a lot of people and over 20 had RSVP'd but only THREE came! lol! I was more annoyed than offended. But it all worked out ok and I was just happy to have my parents there. Desiree and Tyler came and so did Annette Shumway. Annette is due on April 19th with a girl (Ruby) Desiree is due on April 20th with a boy (Jarom) and they are both huge and bonded over that. So, all in all a nice time. And then at 3, Aunts Gina and Patti, Uncle Larry, and my 7-year-old cousin Sam came with presents, so I guess technically they count as guests too. :) So we visited with them. Lila really likes Sam. She went down for a nap. Jake went to a garage sale that was selling a bunch of tools and he bought a shop-vac, an air compressor, a car jack for working on cars, and some other things, for like $88. I told him no more buying tools till we're actually living in the house. :)
Speaking of the house, late last week we had the septic system inspected, which is one of the required inspections. Jake was reviewing the report and noticed something that both inspection companies had missed (Cartas--the relocation company--had also done a septic inspection): the tank is only 1000 gallons. A four-bedroom home requires a 1500 gallon tank... so it's not up to code. Which is fine, I guess... unless we end up having a really big family while we're living there, or until we go to sell the house and have to disclose that the tank isn't up to code to any potential buyers. So we're requested than they install an additional 500 gallon tank and waiting to hear back from them. We found out that they don't really like us because we were there for a long time during the inspection and I guess that interfered with some plans they'd had. Oh well.
My mom got her a bunch of books and stuffed animals... including two animals that sing and "dance," like the snowman and dog she got for Christmas. She got a summertime outfit from Emily. A fancy toy from the Neils. A really cute outfit and placemat from Aunt Gina. A toy laptop from the Bruinsmas (she likes that a lot). A few books from Nana Bruinsma. Rand and Lynn Johnson sent home a present from church yesterday, a book. And the Hunts, who had RSVP'd, sent a few presents as well.
In the evening, Jake and I took Mom and Dad on a drive past our house, which was fun. We hung out at Emily's apartment for a little bit and then took Mom back to our place. I think Lila was up late again, till 10 or so. I was planning on going to bed early too, I was so tired, but ended up staying late. And then we video chatted with Mike and Cassandra for like 10 minutes. He went up to Canada that morning to visit her. She wanted to know what Jake and I think of them dating, and we of course told her that we think it's awesome. Her family doesn't know what to make of it yet. Went to bed.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Birthday Cuddling, Lame Wednesday, Happy Thursday, Mike & Cassandra at the temple (Video)
When Jake and I got into bed on Lila's birthday, she woke up and cuddled with us before falling back asleep. She was sprawled on top of me, her head was kind of cuddled on Jake's shoulder, and she slowly drifted asleep. So I was holding her, Jake was holding me and her, and it was just perfect. It was her birthday gift to us. :)
Wednesday was super lame and boring. It was cold and dreary out. Lila and I stayed home all day but didn't do much. Emily came over. Jake was home late from church. We did showers. After Lila went to bed we bummed around. Jake worked, I read. Video chatted with Mike. He video chats with Cassandra nightly. She has a cold right now. Her roommate Michelle told Mike he should come and "heal" Cassandra like he "healed" her when he last visited; he'd given her a blessing. Mike said he could give her a blessing on Saturday. She jokingly said that she didn't want to be sick for two more days. So he said she could meet him at the Detroit temple Thursday night and he could give her a blessing there. So she thought about it for a minute and said, "Yeah! Let's meet there!" Mike was pretty surprised, and excited!
Yesterday was much better. The sun was out. Got a lot of cleaning done. Lila took two very short naps. During her morning nap, I called Jess and we chatted for a while. She's 38 1/2 weeks along and 3cm dilated and 75% effaced, so she'll probably go before her due date (April 5th). I'm so excited for her. She begged me to come visit her in Hawaii when they're stationed there for 3 months. We'll see about that! We listened to music and danced a lot. She practiced walking a lot. There were several times yesterday when I was doing something and look over at her and she was ever so cautiously walking towards me, lol. It was so cute. Up till then she hadn't ever started walking to me unless I was encouraging her to. It's so cool to see her growing and changing every day. Now she's trying to figure out how to go from sitting to standing without support. I think it'll take her a little while to figure that out. So, all in all, it was a good day! We had chicken pasta salad for dinner when Jake got home.
After dinner, we went to Target and got a cake stand for Lila's birthday cake. I looked at stuff for our new house a little bit too, but not for very long because Jake was totally not interested in doing that. I think our home was appraised by the mortgage lender and the septic inspection was done too... so we're getting closer!
We played with Lila before bed. She likes throwing her wooden blocks (not very high or very far) and she always laughs when Jake tries to juggle them. I swear I never get her to laugh the way Jake can. I missed The Office episode (which is apparently awesome, Michael Scott proposes to Holly!) because I was putting Lila to bed (so I'll have to watch that next). We were up late... Jake had to work. Jake woke up before 6 to go to work early yesterday and today and stayed up late last night too. But he's going to try to come home early today.
Mike called after he was done at the temple. He said it was awesome, and that things got pretty awkwardly serious while they were there, lol. After the session, he asked the temple president (who was standing in the lobby) to help give Cassandra a blessing. When they got to the president's office, he asked Mike and Cassandra how long they'd been married. hehehe. Mike said they're not married. President asked, "You're not married? or not yet?" And Mike intentionally didn't answer because he wanted to see how Cassandra would answer. Cassandra said, "Not... yet." hahaha. So Mike really liked the temple president after that. After that they went out for soup hot cocoa and hot soup. Walked arm in arm, holding hands, all that mushy stuff. Kissed a lot too. Mike was so surprised because she was the one who kept the kissing going. lol. At one point she said, "You are too good of a kisser... we can't be kissing this often!" Before they parted ways, she asked him, "Why do you like me so much?" And then she said how he doesn't even know her that well, but they like each other a lot... and she mentioned how she's going to move to Toronto. And then Mike said something like, "Well you should move to Battle Creek." And she sad, "I have to move to Toronto and finish what I've started." And then she said something about how they need more time, he needs more time, etc. Implying that she sees marriage in their future? Mike got the impression that she's been really thinking seriously about marriage, but has some concerns about the timing of it, because he's so recently divorced... and he's glad that she's finally starting to talk about it. They agreed to spend time on Saturday talking about it. She said they could get lost in the woods and talk about it. It was sooo fun hearing about everything. Jake and I were giggling. (Well, I mostly was the one giggling.) But it's so much fun to hear about them falling in love... that's one of the best times in life. Makes me remember all the fun Jake and I had.
Anyway, I'd better go tend to my cute baby. She puts the phone up to her ear now and pretends to talk. She's starting to say a very unintelligible "hello" now. So adorable.
Wednesday was super lame and boring. It was cold and dreary out. Lila and I stayed home all day but didn't do much. Emily came over. Jake was home late from church. We did showers. After Lila went to bed we bummed around. Jake worked, I read. Video chatted with Mike. He video chats with Cassandra nightly. She has a cold right now. Her roommate Michelle told Mike he should come and "heal" Cassandra like he "healed" her when he last visited; he'd given her a blessing. Mike said he could give her a blessing on Saturday. She jokingly said that she didn't want to be sick for two more days. So he said she could meet him at the Detroit temple Thursday night and he could give her a blessing there. So she thought about it for a minute and said, "Yeah! Let's meet there!" Mike was pretty surprised, and excited!
Yesterday was much better. The sun was out. Got a lot of cleaning done. Lila took two very short naps. During her morning nap, I called Jess and we chatted for a while. She's 38 1/2 weeks along and 3cm dilated and 75% effaced, so she'll probably go before her due date (April 5th). I'm so excited for her. She begged me to come visit her in Hawaii when they're stationed there for 3 months. We'll see about that! We listened to music and danced a lot. She practiced walking a lot. There were several times yesterday when I was doing something and look over at her and she was ever so cautiously walking towards me, lol. It was so cute. Up till then she hadn't ever started walking to me unless I was encouraging her to. It's so cool to see her growing and changing every day. Now she's trying to figure out how to go from sitting to standing without support. I think it'll take her a little while to figure that out. So, all in all, it was a good day! We had chicken pasta salad for dinner when Jake got home.
After dinner, we went to Target and got a cake stand for Lila's birthday cake. I looked at stuff for our new house a little bit too, but not for very long because Jake was totally not interested in doing that. I think our home was appraised by the mortgage lender and the septic inspection was done too... so we're getting closer!
We played with Lila before bed. She likes throwing her wooden blocks (not very high or very far) and she always laughs when Jake tries to juggle them. I swear I never get her to laugh the way Jake can. I missed The Office episode (which is apparently awesome, Michael Scott proposes to Holly!) because I was putting Lila to bed (so I'll have to watch that next). We were up late... Jake had to work. Jake woke up before 6 to go to work early yesterday and today and stayed up late last night too. But he's going to try to come home early today.
Mike called after he was done at the temple. He said it was awesome, and that things got pretty awkwardly serious while they were there, lol. After the session, he asked the temple president (who was standing in the lobby) to help give Cassandra a blessing. When they got to the president's office, he asked Mike and Cassandra how long they'd been married. hehehe. Mike said they're not married. President asked, "You're not married? or not yet?" And Mike intentionally didn't answer because he wanted to see how Cassandra would answer. Cassandra said, "Not... yet." hahaha. So Mike really liked the temple president after that. After that they went out for soup hot cocoa and hot soup. Walked arm in arm, holding hands, all that mushy stuff. Kissed a lot too. Mike was so surprised because she was the one who kept the kissing going. lol. At one point she said, "You are too good of a kisser... we can't be kissing this often!" Before they parted ways, she asked him, "Why do you like me so much?" And then she said how he doesn't even know her that well, but they like each other a lot... and she mentioned how she's going to move to Toronto. And then Mike said something like, "Well you should move to Battle Creek." And she sad, "I have to move to Toronto and finish what I've started." And then she said something about how they need more time, he needs more time, etc. Implying that she sees marriage in their future? Mike got the impression that she's been really thinking seriously about marriage, but has some concerns about the timing of it, because he's so recently divorced... and he's glad that she's finally starting to talk about it. They agreed to spend time on Saturday talking about it. She said they could get lost in the woods and talk about it. It was sooo fun hearing about everything. Jake and I were giggling. (Well, I mostly was the one giggling.) But it's so much fun to hear about them falling in love... that's one of the best times in life. Makes me remember all the fun Jake and I had.
Anyway, I'd better go tend to my cute baby. She puts the phone up to her ear now and pretends to talk. She's starting to say a very unintelligible "hello" now. So adorable.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Lila's 1st Birthday!
My sweet girl turned a year old yesterday! WOW! On one hand it feel like she's been here much longer than that, but it also feels impossible that it's already been a year since we had her. I've been thinking about our sweet time in the hospital together, bringing her home, all the wonderful fun that was. What a sweet baby. It seems like overnight she's more like a little girl than a baby.
The day started out with visiting teaching. Talked to Mike on the phone on the way to pick up my new companion, Christy (Davis) Szekely. He and C had video chatted the night before. I got Christy at 9:45. I hadn't really talked to her for a long time. Not since she got married in June, at least. I thought maybe she'd matured a little, and maybe she has, but not very much. Oh well. We had a nice visit with Rachel Mills. I love her and her family. Abe was just leaving for work when we got there and we visited with him for a bit. The four youngest kids were all running around. I'm so excited to have a house full of kids. So we visited and got to know each other a little better. I serve with Rachel in the primary presidency. Her 10-month-old daughter Juliana also doesn't eat, same time of deal as Lila. She will eat crackers, like Lila, and some soup, but that's about it. Interesting, huh? Juliana is Rachel's first child who won't eat like this, which kind of makes me feel better... maybe it's not me that's messing Lila up; maybe Lila's just really picky :)
After that, Lila fell asleep almost immediately in the car. Dropped Christy off. And since Lila was sleeping, I called Jake to see if he wanted to meet up for lunch. It takes a while to drive over there so Lila would be able to sleep. We drove around our new neighborhood first :) and then picked up Jake. Went to Culver's for my pregnancy cravings: french fries and then my favorite sundae, chocolate custard with raspberries and brownie chunks. I thought that was a fun way to celebrate. Oh, and another cute thing: the number Culver's gave us to put on our table was 22! :)
Lila and I went home, played for a bit, I made her birthday cake. She went down for a long nap and so I got to make dinner without her whining at my feet. :) Jake got here before she woke up. Talked with Kelsey on the phone for a bit. They just found out they're having another boy! :) So exciting. When Lila got up we had another pregnancy craving for dinner: beef stroganoff (and it was delish!). Mike got here around 6. Here's the excerpt I wrote about her party from her 1 year letter --
We had Granny and Grandpa Ollero on Skype. We played with balloons and you freaked out, you loved them so much. We sang you happy birthday and blew out the candle for you. We did cake and ice cream, of which you ate none. You were fascinated with the birthday candle though! You tried touching it quite a few times. We relit it over and over for you because you liked it so much. Then we opened your birthday present from us: a Playskool Explore 'n Grow Step Start Walk 'n Ride. You love it and I'm thrilled that you do. You started walking all around the apartment with it with a silly grin on your face. I'm excited for you to have more space in our new house for you to walk around in. So, all in all, a wonderful first birthday. We're having a bigger birthday party for you on Saturday when your Granny and Grandpa are here.
It was actually a lot of fun. I enjoyed myself! I think Lila did too. It took her a while to wind down to go to bed. I tried not to let the day be overwhelming... it started feeling that way if I thought about it too much... just tried to relax and let it be a fun time for our family.
After Lila went to bed we visited with Mike some more. Weird, right? :) He's been noticing, and expressing to us, his need for a lot of validation... in general but especially in his romantic relationships. Yeah, Mike needs tons of validation. Which is why he talks so much :) So we analyzed Cassandra more.
This morning Lila got up with Jake, as she seems to like to do now. I was really tired. She didn't fall back asleep after he left, so we got up and played in the living room. (So exited to have our house! It'll be so much bigger!) I gave her a graham cracker and sippy cup and put on PBS and she happily snacked while watching the TV. It was pretty cute. She seems to eat a lot more if she's distracted by the TV... like she doesn't realize she's actually eating or drinking. She's in bed sleeping already again.
The day started out with visiting teaching. Talked to Mike on the phone on the way to pick up my new companion, Christy (Davis) Szekely. He and C had video chatted the night before. I got Christy at 9:45. I hadn't really talked to her for a long time. Not since she got married in June, at least. I thought maybe she'd matured a little, and maybe she has, but not very much. Oh well. We had a nice visit with Rachel Mills. I love her and her family. Abe was just leaving for work when we got there and we visited with him for a bit. The four youngest kids were all running around. I'm so excited to have a house full of kids. So we visited and got to know each other a little better. I serve with Rachel in the primary presidency. Her 10-month-old daughter Juliana also doesn't eat, same time of deal as Lila. She will eat crackers, like Lila, and some soup, but that's about it. Interesting, huh? Juliana is Rachel's first child who won't eat like this, which kind of makes me feel better... maybe it's not me that's messing Lila up; maybe Lila's just really picky :)
After that, Lila fell asleep almost immediately in the car. Dropped Christy off. And since Lila was sleeping, I called Jake to see if he wanted to meet up for lunch. It takes a while to drive over there so Lila would be able to sleep. We drove around our new neighborhood first :) and then picked up Jake. Went to Culver's for my pregnancy cravings: french fries and then my favorite sundae, chocolate custard with raspberries and brownie chunks. I thought that was a fun way to celebrate. Oh, and another cute thing: the number Culver's gave us to put on our table was 22! :)
Lila and I went home, played for a bit, I made her birthday cake. She went down for a long nap and so I got to make dinner without her whining at my feet. :) Jake got here before she woke up. Talked with Kelsey on the phone for a bit. They just found out they're having another boy! :) So exciting. When Lila got up we had another pregnancy craving for dinner: beef stroganoff (and it was delish!). Mike got here around 6. Here's the excerpt I wrote about her party from her 1 year letter --
We had Granny and Grandpa Ollero on Skype. We played with balloons and you freaked out, you loved them so much. We sang you happy birthday and blew out the candle for you. We did cake and ice cream, of which you ate none. You were fascinated with the birthday candle though! You tried touching it quite a few times. We relit it over and over for you because you liked it so much. Then we opened your birthday present from us: a Playskool Explore 'n Grow Step Start Walk 'n Ride. You love it and I'm thrilled that you do. You started walking all around the apartment with it with a silly grin on your face. I'm excited for you to have more space in our new house for you to walk around in. So, all in all, a wonderful first birthday. We're having a bigger birthday party for you on Saturday when your Granny and Grandpa are here.
This morning Lila got up with Jake, as she seems to like to do now. I was really tired. She didn't fall back asleep after he left, so we got up and played in the living room. (So exited to have our house! It'll be so much bigger!) I gave her a graham cracker and sippy cup and put on PBS and she happily snacked while watching the TV. It was pretty cute. She seems to eat a lot more if she's distracted by the TV... like she doesn't realize she's actually eating or drinking. She's in bed sleeping already again.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Letters to Lila: 12 months, 1 year!
Dear Lila,
This is it: the letter I've been anticipating writing to you for, well, a whole year. You are a year old today! It's my first baby's first birthday and I'm full of all kinds of emotions. I'm a little sad--you're growing up so fast!--but mostly happy. I think it'll be your legacy in life to bring happiness to everyone you meet. (Brace yourself: this is a long letter.)
I feel like you have grown up so much in just the past month. You're no longer a baby; you're an actual kid! For the longest time, it felt like you and I were one; like you were a part of me and I was a part of you. But now I feel like we are two separate and different people who live life side by side and adore each other for it. We spend all day, every day together... except for the few hours a week I might slip away for some time with friends or for a Relief Society activity. I've been going out a little more often now, as you're getting older, and I think it's good for both of us. You get some good one-on-one time with Dad and it strengthens your bond. It also strengthens Dad's appreciation for all that I do every day to take care of you. :) (On that note, I really appreciate all that your dad does to help out when he's home. This past Sunday I had to get you ready and take you to church by myself--he was away on Stake business--and boy, it was so much more difficult without your dad's help!) And we sleep next to each other at night. It's actually one of my very favorite things in the whole world, to have your chubby face next to mine at night. You love being next to me too, and I will enjoy these moments with you as much as I can before you get too old. There's a country song I'm reminded of, that I first heard when I was a child myself, that's always stayed with me. The chorus goes, "Let them be little, 'cause they're only that way for a while. Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day. Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle, let 'em sleep in the middle, let them be little." And that's what I'm trying to do. Actually, one night this past month, I woke up in the middle of the night, and had this moment of complete, enveloping happiness to be laying next to you. I felt the Spirit so, so strongly in my heart, and I was filled with pure joy to be your mother. I don't know if I've ever felt happiness like that before.
At a year old, you are still a big girl. You're wearing 24 month clothes and even have some 3T clothes that fit you. You really are almost as big as I am! You're over half my height and almost a third of my weight. It actually is a big challenge for me to haul you around. Just walking you out to the car is a work out, and I'm always grateful for an extra set of arms to help me. Cooking dinner has especially become more difficult lately. When I'm chopping things up or cooking at the stove is apparently your very favorite time to be held, so you'll stand behind me, grab onto my pants, pull at them, and whine. You've learned how to whine effectively. So sometimes I strap you into the Ergo, but since you're so heavy, that's not always ideal. Even Dad comments on how very heavy you are, but he still tosses you around in the air and you like that. You're perfectly healthy and perfect the way you are--we just need bigger muscles is all. :)
Your hair has really started to get longer this month. On Sunday I put piggy-tails in your hair for the first time, and you couldn't figure out how to pull them out (like you do with your bows), so they actually stayed in place for a few hours. It was completely adorable and you looked like a little girl toddling around with them at church. I think you have more hair than most blondies do at your age, so I'm thinking you'll eventually have a thick head of hair like Dad and I do.
Your interest in food has noticeably increased this month! You're still not eating enough to stop nursing, probably not even close, but it has noticeably gotten better and that makes me so happy. It also reaffirms to me that you will continue to get better at eating in your own time. This whole food situation with you has really taught me that I'm definitely not in control of who you are! You are your own person with your own likes and dislikes. You still don't like to be fed, but you make a game out of it and laugh at us when we try to. You like crackers--your favorites are the Graham and soda variety. You've enjoyed banana cookies I found in the toddler food section. You like broccoli cheddar soup from Panera and tomato soup too. You love French fries and potato chips. You don't like to have messy hands, so anything that's wet or goo-ey you generally avoid. You like to suck on spaghetti noodles. Something hilarious that you've done a few times recently with macaroni and cheese and spaghetti: you put my big bowl of food in front of you and stick your whole face in it so you can gently lick the flavor off the noodles, like a little puppy dog. When you resurface, your whole face is covered in food. It's pretty funny and we've never seen you be so enthusiastic and playful with food before. Another big deal is that you figured out how to sip from a straw this past weekend! We went out for pizza and the waitress gave you a styrofoam cup with a lid and straw to drink. It took you a few minutes, but as soon as you figured out how to drink the water, you happily did so for a few minutes. Since then, you've been drinking a little bit of water every day from a sippy cup straw, and it makes me so happy to see you learning and developing. There's something about the high chair we have for you at home that you don't like. You barely ever eat or drink when you're in it. You do most of your eating at home when you're playing in the living room. You do like to sit on Dad's lap during dinner and will eat a little bit then.
Your napping has changed this month. You used to consistently take two naps a day, both around 40 minutes each. Now you usually take at least one nap that's around an hour and half every day! And sometimes you take two naps a day that are both an hour or more. I enjoy that a lot. :)
Your walking has also greatly improved this month. One day after dinner, you decided to start taking 10 steps at a time! It took me by surprise so much that I burst into tears to see my sweet little baby's face walking towards me! Oh my, how you're growing, little girl. We giggled and clapped and hoorayed. You love walking to us and we always give you a big hug and kiss when you reach your destination. You don't know how to go from sitting to standing without furniture or a person to grab onto, so you still mostly crawl places. But your balance is pretty decent now. We bought you real shoes, finally, and wow, you hate shoe shopping. You would cry every time we put shoes on you. But I found a pair that you don't seem to mind. You're wearing size 5 shoes.
I'm so happy to see the relationship you have with Dad. You absolutely adore him. Usually the hour before he comes home from work, you're pretty cranky. But as soon as Dad walks into the room, you light up, say, "Dada!" and scramble to be at his side. He always has you laughing and does things with you that I would never think to. Like he throws stuffed animals at you and you laugh and laugh. Parenting has become much more rewarding than it was in the first few months because you've become an affectionate little girl. You give me actual hugs and press your cheeks against mine. You let me hug you when I want to. I love it. Yesterday you were laying on the floor with your head in the my lap, just lounging, eating your cracker and drinking your sippy cup. It was so cute.
A funny story I'd like to remember: I wanted to buy you a pair of jeans, because you've never really owned any before. You've always been a bit too chubby to fit in them. :) But it had been a while since I'd tried any on you, so I gave it a shot. I got a pair of 2T jeans, and they barely fit over your knees! It was pretty funny! Needless to say, I returned them. But soon after I found you a hot pair of (size 3T) jeggings (jean leggings) that are the cutest things you've ever worn. I call you J. Lo when you wear them.
I guess the biggest news of the month, and maybe of the year, is that we put an offer on a house a few weeks ago! Since January, we've dragged you around all over town looking at houses. Over time, we learned what we like in a house. Well, after church on March 6th, we went to an open house. After walking around for less than 5 minutes, we knew that it had everything we wanted. Later that week, we put an offer in and it was accepted! So now we're doing inspections--everything looks good so far--and we will close on or before April 15th. Dad and I are so excited to finally have a house. We think you'll love it and are so excited to make many happy memories there.
Well, it's almost your bedtime. You're playing with my keys (they are your favorite things to play with; you love the green leather "R" keychain) and listening to the radio. We had a really nice day together. We went visiting teaching in the morning. You fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I called up Dad and asked him if we could meet up for lunch, since you were sleeping in the car anyway. We picked him up (after driving past our new house for fun) and headed to Culver's, a place we frequented when I was pregnant with you. For dessert we had one of my favorite pregnancy cravings: a sundae with chocolate custard, raspberries, and brownie chunks. When we got home I made your birthday cake and dinner and you took a really long nap. For dinner, Uncle Mike came over (Auntie Em would've come over too, but she had to work). We had another one of my pregnancy cravings: beef stroganoff. We had Granny and Grandpa Ollero on Skype. We played with balloons and you freaked out, you loved them so much. We sang you happy birthday and blew out the candle for you. We did cake and ice cream, of which you ate none. You were fascinated with the birthday candle though! You tried touching it quite a few times. We relit it over and over for you because you liked it so much. Then we opened your birthday present from us: a Playskool Explore 'n Grow Step Start Walk 'n Ride. You love it and I'm thrilled that you do. You started walking all around the apartment with it with a silly grin on your face. I'm excited for you to have more space in our new house for you to walk around in. So, all in all, a wonderful first birthday. We're having a bigger birthday party for you on Saturday when your Granny and Grandpa are here.
One last thought: before you were born, I read a talk by Sister Julie B. Beck (the current General Relief Society President) called "Teaching the Doctrine of the Family." It's inspired me in what I do as a mother. In it, she reports that youth and young adults today aren't very confident in their abilities to have successful and happy marriages and families. She explains that that is because they don't understand that the plan of salvation--the plan of happiness that God has for all of his children--is really a plan for families. She writes, "The Creation of the earth was the creation of an earth where a family could live. It was a creation of a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was not about a creation of a man and a woman who happened to have a family. It was intentional all along that Adam and Eve form an eternal family. The Fall made it possible for Adam and Eve to have a family, to have sons and daughters. The Atonement allows for the family to be sealed together eternally. It allows for families to have eternal growth and perfection. The plan of happiness and the plan of salvation was a plan created for families." She continues to teach, "The story of Isaac and Rebekah [in the Old Testament] is an example of the man, who has the keys, and the woman, who has the influence, working together to ensure the fulfillment of their blessings. Their story is pivotal. The blessings of the house of Israel depended on a man and a woman who understood their place in the plan and their responsibilities to form an eternal family, to bear children, and to teach them. In our day we have the responsibility to send 'Isaac' and 'Rebekah' forth from our homes and classrooms. Every young man and young woman should understand his or her role in this great partnership—that they are each an 'Isaac' or a 'Rebekah.' Then they will know with clarity what they have to do." I know and feel in my heart that you are a daughter of God with a divine destiny. It is my job to make sure that you are prepared to do all the good things in life you are meant to do and want to do.
This is it: the letter I've been anticipating writing to you for, well, a whole year. You are a year old today! It's my first baby's first birthday and I'm full of all kinds of emotions. I'm a little sad--you're growing up so fast!--but mostly happy. I think it'll be your legacy in life to bring happiness to everyone you meet. (Brace yourself: this is a long letter.)
I feel like you have grown up so much in just the past month. You're no longer a baby; you're an actual kid! For the longest time, it felt like you and I were one; like you were a part of me and I was a part of you. But now I feel like we are two separate and different people who live life side by side and adore each other for it. We spend all day, every day together... except for the few hours a week I might slip away for some time with friends or for a Relief Society activity. I've been going out a little more often now, as you're getting older, and I think it's good for both of us. You get some good one-on-one time with Dad and it strengthens your bond. It also strengthens Dad's appreciation for all that I do every day to take care of you. :) (On that note, I really appreciate all that your dad does to help out when he's home. This past Sunday I had to get you ready and take you to church by myself--he was away on Stake business--and boy, it was so much more difficult without your dad's help!) And we sleep next to each other at night. It's actually one of my very favorite things in the whole world, to have your chubby face next to mine at night. You love being next to me too, and I will enjoy these moments with you as much as I can before you get too old. There's a country song I'm reminded of, that I first heard when I was a child myself, that's always stayed with me. The chorus goes, "Let them be little, 'cause they're only that way for a while. Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day. Let 'em cry, let 'em giggle, let 'em sleep in the middle, let them be little." And that's what I'm trying to do. Actually, one night this past month, I woke up in the middle of the night, and had this moment of complete, enveloping happiness to be laying next to you. I felt the Spirit so, so strongly in my heart, and I was filled with pure joy to be your mother. I don't know if I've ever felt happiness like that before.
At a year old, you are still a big girl. You're wearing 24 month clothes and even have some 3T clothes that fit you. You really are almost as big as I am! You're over half my height and almost a third of my weight. It actually is a big challenge for me to haul you around. Just walking you out to the car is a work out, and I'm always grateful for an extra set of arms to help me. Cooking dinner has especially become more difficult lately. When I'm chopping things up or cooking at the stove is apparently your very favorite time to be held, so you'll stand behind me, grab onto my pants, pull at them, and whine. You've learned how to whine effectively. So sometimes I strap you into the Ergo, but since you're so heavy, that's not always ideal. Even Dad comments on how very heavy you are, but he still tosses you around in the air and you like that. You're perfectly healthy and perfect the way you are--we just need bigger muscles is all. :)
Your hair has really started to get longer this month. On Sunday I put piggy-tails in your hair for the first time, and you couldn't figure out how to pull them out (like you do with your bows), so they actually stayed in place for a few hours. It was completely adorable and you looked like a little girl toddling around with them at church. I think you have more hair than most blondies do at your age, so I'm thinking you'll eventually have a thick head of hair like Dad and I do.
Your interest in food has noticeably increased this month! You're still not eating enough to stop nursing, probably not even close, but it has noticeably gotten better and that makes me so happy. It also reaffirms to me that you will continue to get better at eating in your own time. This whole food situation with you has really taught me that I'm definitely not in control of who you are! You are your own person with your own likes and dislikes. You still don't like to be fed, but you make a game out of it and laugh at us when we try to. You like crackers--your favorites are the Graham and soda variety. You've enjoyed banana cookies I found in the toddler food section. You like broccoli cheddar soup from Panera and tomato soup too. You love French fries and potato chips. You don't like to have messy hands, so anything that's wet or goo-ey you generally avoid. You like to suck on spaghetti noodles. Something hilarious that you've done a few times recently with macaroni and cheese and spaghetti: you put my big bowl of food in front of you and stick your whole face in it so you can gently lick the flavor off the noodles, like a little puppy dog. When you resurface, your whole face is covered in food. It's pretty funny and we've never seen you be so enthusiastic and playful with food before. Another big deal is that you figured out how to sip from a straw this past weekend! We went out for pizza and the waitress gave you a styrofoam cup with a lid and straw to drink. It took you a few minutes, but as soon as you figured out how to drink the water, you happily did so for a few minutes. Since then, you've been drinking a little bit of water every day from a sippy cup straw, and it makes me so happy to see you learning and developing. There's something about the high chair we have for you at home that you don't like. You barely ever eat or drink when you're in it. You do most of your eating at home when you're playing in the living room. You do like to sit on Dad's lap during dinner and will eat a little bit then.
Your napping has changed this month. You used to consistently take two naps a day, both around 40 minutes each. Now you usually take at least one nap that's around an hour and half every day! And sometimes you take two naps a day that are both an hour or more. I enjoy that a lot. :)
Your walking has also greatly improved this month. One day after dinner, you decided to start taking 10 steps at a time! It took me by surprise so much that I burst into tears to see my sweet little baby's face walking towards me! Oh my, how you're growing, little girl. We giggled and clapped and hoorayed. You love walking to us and we always give you a big hug and kiss when you reach your destination. You don't know how to go from sitting to standing without furniture or a person to grab onto, so you still mostly crawl places. But your balance is pretty decent now. We bought you real shoes, finally, and wow, you hate shoe shopping. You would cry every time we put shoes on you. But I found a pair that you don't seem to mind. You're wearing size 5 shoes.
I'm so happy to see the relationship you have with Dad. You absolutely adore him. Usually the hour before he comes home from work, you're pretty cranky. But as soon as Dad walks into the room, you light up, say, "Dada!" and scramble to be at his side. He always has you laughing and does things with you that I would never think to. Like he throws stuffed animals at you and you laugh and laugh. Parenting has become much more rewarding than it was in the first few months because you've become an affectionate little girl. You give me actual hugs and press your cheeks against mine. You let me hug you when I want to. I love it. Yesterday you were laying on the floor with your head in the my lap, just lounging, eating your cracker and drinking your sippy cup. It was so cute.
A funny story I'd like to remember: I wanted to buy you a pair of jeans, because you've never really owned any before. You've always been a bit too chubby to fit in them. :) But it had been a while since I'd tried any on you, so I gave it a shot. I got a pair of 2T jeans, and they barely fit over your knees! It was pretty funny! Needless to say, I returned them. But soon after I found you a hot pair of (size 3T) jeggings (jean leggings) that are the cutest things you've ever worn. I call you J. Lo when you wear them.
I guess the biggest news of the month, and maybe of the year, is that we put an offer on a house a few weeks ago! Since January, we've dragged you around all over town looking at houses. Over time, we learned what we like in a house. Well, after church on March 6th, we went to an open house. After walking around for less than 5 minutes, we knew that it had everything we wanted. Later that week, we put an offer in and it was accepted! So now we're doing inspections--everything looks good so far--and we will close on or before April 15th. Dad and I are so excited to finally have a house. We think you'll love it and are so excited to make many happy memories there.
Well, it's almost your bedtime. You're playing with my keys (they are your favorite things to play with; you love the green leather "R" keychain) and listening to the radio. We had a really nice day together. We went visiting teaching in the morning. You fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I called up Dad and asked him if we could meet up for lunch, since you were sleeping in the car anyway. We picked him up (after driving past our new house for fun) and headed to Culver's, a place we frequented when I was pregnant with you. For dessert we had one of my favorite pregnancy cravings: a sundae with chocolate custard, raspberries, and brownie chunks. When we got home I made your birthday cake and dinner and you took a really long nap. For dinner, Uncle Mike came over (Auntie Em would've come over too, but she had to work). We had another one of my pregnancy cravings: beef stroganoff. We had Granny and Grandpa Ollero on Skype. We played with balloons and you freaked out, you loved them so much. We sang you happy birthday and blew out the candle for you. We did cake and ice cream, of which you ate none. You were fascinated with the birthday candle though! You tried touching it quite a few times. We relit it over and over for you because you liked it so much. Then we opened your birthday present from us: a Playskool Explore 'n Grow Step Start Walk 'n Ride. You love it and I'm thrilled that you do. You started walking all around the apartment with it with a silly grin on your face. I'm excited for you to have more space in our new house for you to walk around in. So, all in all, a wonderful first birthday. We're having a bigger birthday party for you on Saturday when your Granny and Grandpa are here.
One last thought: before you were born, I read a talk by Sister Julie B. Beck (the current General Relief Society President) called "Teaching the Doctrine of the Family." It's inspired me in what I do as a mother. In it, she reports that youth and young adults today aren't very confident in their abilities to have successful and happy marriages and families. She explains that that is because they don't understand that the plan of salvation--the plan of happiness that God has for all of his children--is really a plan for families. She writes, "The Creation of the earth was the creation of an earth where a family could live. It was a creation of a man and a woman who were the two essential halves of a family. It was not about a creation of a man and a woman who happened to have a family. It was intentional all along that Adam and Eve form an eternal family. The Fall made it possible for Adam and Eve to have a family, to have sons and daughters. The Atonement allows for the family to be sealed together eternally. It allows for families to have eternal growth and perfection. The plan of happiness and the plan of salvation was a plan created for families." She continues to teach, "The story of Isaac and Rebekah [in the Old Testament] is an example of the man, who has the keys, and the woman, who has the influence, working together to ensure the fulfillment of their blessings. Their story is pivotal. The blessings of the house of Israel depended on a man and a woman who understood their place in the plan and their responsibilities to form an eternal family, to bear children, and to teach them. In our day we have the responsibility to send 'Isaac' and 'Rebekah' forth from our homes and classrooms. Every young man and young woman should understand his or her role in this great partnership—that they are each an 'Isaac' or a 'Rebekah.' Then they will know with clarity what they have to do." I know and feel in my heart that you are a daughter of God with a divine destiny. It is my job to make sure that you are prepared to do all the good things in life you are meant to do and want to do.
I love you, Lila. This has been the best year of my life. Becoming a mother, I have grown into a woman, and I am proud of the woman I am. Being your mother has given me confidence and has helped me to love myself more. I absolutely love being your mom. You are my favorite person in the whole world. There is so much more I could say, but I'm tired now. Thanks for all you've given me, sweet girl. Happy birthday.
Love Forever,
Mama
Letters to Lila: From Daddy
Dear Lila,
Today is your first birthday. We just celebrated with cake and icecream. You weren’t to interested in the cake or icecream, but you were totally digging the lit candle on your cake. You tried to touch the candle flame several times. You were fascinated. Reminds me of me!
In fact, there are a lot of things about you that remind me of me. The way you love to play with shoes and play in the closet, the way you are so fascinated with mechanical things, with playing the drums, listening to and dancing to music, the way you love making different noises, they way you are often just so chill, and overall just the way you love to learn things.
Two weeks ago on Saturday, I started showing you how to blow raspberries in the morning. In the afternoon, we were driving, and you started to blow raspberries. I was so proud of you, because it was only that morning that I showed you. You were cracking yourself up over it. When you were just a few months old, sometimes when you would start to whine or cry over something, I would slide my finger over your lips to make a funny sound, and you would stop whining quickly because the noise was funny. Not long after that you started making the noise yourself! It’s so fun to teach you things, and I really look forward to teaching you so many things as you grow up.
You are such an amazing little girl. As I reflect back upon this first year of your life, I realize that you have been such a great blessing to your mom and I and all of your siblings to come. You have been such a sweet girl. You are so well behaved and so sweet and loving. Your Mom and I will be forever grateful for how kind you’ve been to us as we’ve learned to be parents.
We have had a lot of great memories in this first year of your life. We watched you grow quickly coming home from the hospital, we took you to New York, to Boston, to the UP, and everywhere we’ve gone. We’ve had a lot of great Friday or Saturday night dates together with you. We haven’t really gotten a babysitter because you weren’t really interested in taking a bottle, and you have been so well behaved. That’s one way that you’ve taught us to be good parents and to take care of your needs. You basically demand that we spend so much time with you, but you are also so very pleasant to spend time with. That has helped your Mom and I keep our priorities straight with respect to our children. Another great example is when we attempted to sleep train you. You slept in your own room/crib from 6 weeks to 6 months. But after that, you wouldn’t sleep away from our bed. At about 9 months...we tried to sleep you in your crib and let you cry it out. You stopped crying after 45-min and then sat in your crib up and awake til 2:30am. Needless to say, we learned our lesson. Fortunately, you didn’t hate us after that. And, we realized that we are perfectly happy having you sleep with us. I’m not sure how our other kids will be, but thank you for paving the way for them to be sure to get the care and treatment they need, whatever it is. We will be sensitive to their needs whatever they are. And we will continue to be sensitive to yours. We love to spend time with you and to give you everything that you need.
I realize now, that this trait of yours, demanding that we treat you right, is something that comes from your Mom. When I was dating your mom, she demanded that I treat her with the absolute respect that she deserved. It’s a very good thing. Your mom is an amazing woman, and I am so glad that she is your mom and spends so much time with you. I know her good traits and love will rub off. Don’t ever feel bad about becoming like your mom.
Anyway, lately you have been really blooming. You started walking quite a bit, walking to and from your mom and I and other people. You get to spend a lot of time with my brother, your Uncle Mike and mom’s sister Aunt Emily because they live close by. It’s so nice to have family near. They love you and you love them too.
You really love dogs and cats and anytime you see them, you start to get really excited, and just NEED to be next to them to touch them and be near them. We have a couple dogs that live here in our complex. We’ll be moving into our first house soon, and there are lots of dogs in that neighborhood. I think you’ll just love it there. We found a really great first house.
I love you so much Lila, and think you are such a beautiful girl. I am so honored and grateful to be your father, and will always be there for you. I love holding you, and taking care of you.
Something really great is that lately, you have been waking up just about the time I need to get up to get ready for work, and you make it clear that you want to get up with me, to spend a little time with me before I leave for work. If ever you don’t get up, but then wake up just before I leave for work, you start to cry because I have to leave. It is so cute, and precious that you want me to stay with you. I love it when you get up early and hang out with me before work.
I really feel like I don’t get to spend enough time with you, but I suppose it’s enough and the time we do spend together will be really good for you.
You’ve been doing a lot of talking lately too. That is so cute, it’s so fun to talk with you.
I am so proud of you and all that you have learned and done in your first year of life. I look forward to our many many years together here in this life and for an eternity together forever. You are my precious baby girl and will always be. I love you forever Lila.
Love Always, your Daddy.
Today is your first birthday. We just celebrated with cake and icecream. You weren’t to interested in the cake or icecream, but you were totally digging the lit candle on your cake. You tried to touch the candle flame several times. You were fascinated. Reminds me of me!
In fact, there are a lot of things about you that remind me of me. The way you love to play with shoes and play in the closet, the way you are so fascinated with mechanical things, with playing the drums, listening to and dancing to music, the way you love making different noises, they way you are often just so chill, and overall just the way you love to learn things.
Two weeks ago on Saturday, I started showing you how to blow raspberries in the morning. In the afternoon, we were driving, and you started to blow raspberries. I was so proud of you, because it was only that morning that I showed you. You were cracking yourself up over it. When you were just a few months old, sometimes when you would start to whine or cry over something, I would slide my finger over your lips to make a funny sound, and you would stop whining quickly because the noise was funny. Not long after that you started making the noise yourself! It’s so fun to teach you things, and I really look forward to teaching you so many things as you grow up.
You are such an amazing little girl. As I reflect back upon this first year of your life, I realize that you have been such a great blessing to your mom and I and all of your siblings to come. You have been such a sweet girl. You are so well behaved and so sweet and loving. Your Mom and I will be forever grateful for how kind you’ve been to us as we’ve learned to be parents.
We have had a lot of great memories in this first year of your life. We watched you grow quickly coming home from the hospital, we took you to New York, to Boston, to the UP, and everywhere we’ve gone. We’ve had a lot of great Friday or Saturday night dates together with you. We haven’t really gotten a babysitter because you weren’t really interested in taking a bottle, and you have been so well behaved. That’s one way that you’ve taught us to be good parents and to take care of your needs. You basically demand that we spend so much time with you, but you are also so very pleasant to spend time with. That has helped your Mom and I keep our priorities straight with respect to our children. Another great example is when we attempted to sleep train you. You slept in your own room/crib from 6 weeks to 6 months. But after that, you wouldn’t sleep away from our bed. At about 9 months...we tried to sleep you in your crib and let you cry it out. You stopped crying after 45-min and then sat in your crib up and awake til 2:30am. Needless to say, we learned our lesson. Fortunately, you didn’t hate us after that. And, we realized that we are perfectly happy having you sleep with us. I’m not sure how our other kids will be, but thank you for paving the way for them to be sure to get the care and treatment they need, whatever it is. We will be sensitive to their needs whatever they are. And we will continue to be sensitive to yours. We love to spend time with you and to give you everything that you need.
I realize now, that this trait of yours, demanding that we treat you right, is something that comes from your Mom. When I was dating your mom, she demanded that I treat her with the absolute respect that she deserved. It’s a very good thing. Your mom is an amazing woman, and I am so glad that she is your mom and spends so much time with you. I know her good traits and love will rub off. Don’t ever feel bad about becoming like your mom.
Anyway, lately you have been really blooming. You started walking quite a bit, walking to and from your mom and I and other people. You get to spend a lot of time with my brother, your Uncle Mike and mom’s sister Aunt Emily because they live close by. It’s so nice to have family near. They love you and you love them too.
You really love dogs and cats and anytime you see them, you start to get really excited, and just NEED to be next to them to touch them and be near them. We have a couple dogs that live here in our complex. We’ll be moving into our first house soon, and there are lots of dogs in that neighborhood. I think you’ll just love it there. We found a really great first house.
I love you so much Lila, and think you are such a beautiful girl. I am so honored and grateful to be your father, and will always be there for you. I love holding you, and taking care of you.
Something really great is that lately, you have been waking up just about the time I need to get up to get ready for work, and you make it clear that you want to get up with me, to spend a little time with me before I leave for work. If ever you don’t get up, but then wake up just before I leave for work, you start to cry because I have to leave. It is so cute, and precious that you want me to stay with you. I love it when you get up early and hang out with me before work.
I really feel like I don’t get to spend enough time with you, but I suppose it’s enough and the time we do spend together will be really good for you.
You’ve been doing a lot of talking lately too. That is so cute, it’s so fun to talk with you.
I am so proud of you and all that you have learned and done in your first year of life. I look forward to our many many years together here in this life and for an eternity together forever. You are my precious baby girl and will always be. I love you forever Lila.
Love Always, your Daddy.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Solo Church, A Chat with Kalina
Yesterday was a little rough. I woke up feeling worse than I did on Saturday. I had a cough and my lungs hurt. Jake left for Coldwater at 7:30. I did my best to get us to church on time, but we were 10 minutes late. Jake usually gets Lila ready for church (changes her diaper, dresses her, etc.). I really missed having him around yesterday--he does help me so much! I thought about leaving after Sacrament Meeting, and I don't know why I didn't... I felt awful and wasn't really needed in Primary, but for whatever reason I stayed the whole time. Lila liked crawling around and watching all the kids and played with my keys too. She fell asleep in the car and slept for 40 minutes. We had lunch and Skyped with my parents. I love how they'll Skype with me when Jake's not home and we're bored. Lila loves watching my parents and their dog. My mom played peek-a-boo with her over the computer and she giggled. She danced when my parents put on some Beatles music too.
Jake got home at around 3:15. I started dinner, we talked to Mike on the phone. Kalina was at church yesterday. (She's been to church only 3 times since the divorce; seems like she's just been going once a month.) She approached Mike between 2nd and 3rd hours and asked him how he's doing, and he said, "I'm fine." And kind of gave her a look like, "I don't want to talk right now." He was talking with one of his YM at the time. So during 3rd hour she texted him and said something like, "Every night before bed I have conversations with you, so I thought today maybe we could talk in real life." And then she explained that she's found out she's allergic to gluten and that may have affected the happiness level in their marriage. She said that she won't approach him again and is sorry if she bothered him. Mike's been thinking the past week, and feels like the Spirit has been telling him that he needed to somehow tell Kalina that he's forgiven her... that she probably needs to hear that from him in order to get some healing and make progress. So, he texted back and said they could talk after church.
They sat down and Kalina starts apologizing and crying. Said that she can't believe she did what she did to him and she doesn't know how he could ever forgive her. He reassured her several times that he has forgiven her. She told him that she realizes that even though she was physically there during their marriage, she was never really emotionally there for him and feels horrible about it. At this point, Mike did have some feelings and wondered where this was going, but then he asked where she's at spiritually. She said that she has ups and downs and that it's been difficult lately. That reaffirmed to him that he's on the right path... because he wants/needs a wife who is spiritually solid, and he thought of Cassandra and how awesome she is spiritually. She said that she wants to go to BYU now and is slowly working towards that. She asked how his family is doing. He briefly said something about how Jim and Angela came over for dinner the other night but left it at that. He said, "She doesn't get to know about how awesome and adorable Lila is now, or about how you and Jake scheme with me all the time." And that's fine. But, what a crazy weekend for Mike.
We had spaghetti for dinner and Lila enjoyed sucking on the noodles. We had cornbread and fruit too. After dinner Jake and Lila took a nap. Lila slept for an hour and Jake slept for 2. Lila did some pretty enthusiastic walking between Jake and I in the evening; she was almost running. Lila went to bed pretty late, because of her late nap. Kristen Murphy (Shane's mom) stopped by to pick up General Conference tickets. Jake worked on more mortgage stuff. I was a little cranky. Jake was bugging me. :)
Jake got home at around 3:15. I started dinner, we talked to Mike on the phone. Kalina was at church yesterday. (She's been to church only 3 times since the divorce; seems like she's just been going once a month.) She approached Mike between 2nd and 3rd hours and asked him how he's doing, and he said, "I'm fine." And kind of gave her a look like, "I don't want to talk right now." He was talking with one of his YM at the time. So during 3rd hour she texted him and said something like, "Every night before bed I have conversations with you, so I thought today maybe we could talk in real life." And then she explained that she's found out she's allergic to gluten and that may have affected the happiness level in their marriage. She said that she won't approach him again and is sorry if she bothered him. Mike's been thinking the past week, and feels like the Spirit has been telling him that he needed to somehow tell Kalina that he's forgiven her... that she probably needs to hear that from him in order to get some healing and make progress. So, he texted back and said they could talk after church.
They sat down and Kalina starts apologizing and crying. Said that she can't believe she did what she did to him and she doesn't know how he could ever forgive her. He reassured her several times that he has forgiven her. She told him that she realizes that even though she was physically there during their marriage, she was never really emotionally there for him and feels horrible about it. At this point, Mike did have some feelings and wondered where this was going, but then he asked where she's at spiritually. She said that she has ups and downs and that it's been difficult lately. That reaffirmed to him that he's on the right path... because he wants/needs a wife who is spiritually solid, and he thought of Cassandra and how awesome she is spiritually. She said that she wants to go to BYU now and is slowly working towards that. She asked how his family is doing. He briefly said something about how Jim and Angela came over for dinner the other night but left it at that. He said, "She doesn't get to know about how awesome and adorable Lila is now, or about how you and Jake scheme with me all the time." And that's fine. But, what a crazy weekend for Mike.
Insomnia, Martini's, First Kiss
Friday night was really weird. Mike stopped by after dinner, before heading to Serena Baker's wedding reception with Cassandra. Jake and I were pretty tired, so when Lila went to bed, we decided to lay down for a while too... kind of intending to get up in a few hours after we felt more rested. So we laid down with Lila at 8:00. She crawled and rolled around in bed for an hour and fell asleep at 9:00. I really didn't feel good... had a headache and my shoulders and neck ached too. Couldn't get comfortable. Fell asleep for a little while, but woke up again at like 10:30 and then couldn't get back to sleep till after 1:00. It was so dumb. I actually got out of bed for a little while and had a snack and read some of my book, but Lila woke up shortly after that crying, so I went back to bed. Lame.
I finally fell asleep but at 4:40 woke up from a stupid dream (where I had to sing a solo in public but didn't know the song) with my eyes burning and almost in tears. Lila cried for a while. Thankfully, Jake woke up and took care of me. He gave me a blessing and then rubbed my back and took care of me till I fell back asleep. I have another head cold.
Saturday morning, he got up with Lila and I got to lay in bed for maybe 15-20 minutes before he had to leave for Ultimate Frisbee. He was going to take Lila with him, but it was too cold for that so I kept her home. I felt better after getting up and having breakfast. We Skyped with my parents for a while. Lila and I took an hour+ nap. She woke up at 12:15. Jake didn't get home till 12:30; he'd promised to get back before noon. :) So I "made" him take me out for pizza at Martini's. It was so yum and fun to have Lila there. We love her. She figured out how to drink water out of a straw and happily did that for a while. After that we stopped at Lowe's to look at paint samples and then went to Meijer. Lila cried when we sat her in the cart, so Jake stood her up in the back of the cart and that's where she happily stayed while we shopped. Pretty funny and I can't believe she's old enough to do that.
After that, we went for a walk around the trail. Our first family walk of the year. We enjoyed it a lot and remembered how different it was going for walks with Lila the last time it was warm out. And how this time last year I was HUGE and waddling around and couldn't walk very far. And how it took just a year for Lila to become this awesome kid. She liked looking at the geese. We stopped at the playground and put her in the baby swing, she liked that too. Took her down the slides a few times but she didn't seem to care for that. Jake and I got to chat, which I always love. I love going on walks together. It's so relaxing. Talked about our new house and how excited we are to move in and to have a house.
We had mac and cheese for dinner and Lila was so funny... she pulled my big bowl up to her face and stuck her face right into the food, trying to lick the cheese. I guess she likes cheese. She wouldn't accept a fork or spoon or any noodles, she just wanted to kind of lick the flavor. Pretty funny, and nothing we've ever seen her do before. She's been sipping from her sippy cup that has a straw, which is good too!
We did showers and Lila was asleep by 8. After that, Jake and I worked out filling out and signing our mortgage application. I worked on Primary stuff. It took a long time. At almost 11:00 Mike came over; he'd just left the Lillrose's. He had spent the whole day with her and her family. They went for a long walk in the woods with her siblings, wherein they "fell behind," cuddled on a bench for three hours, and had their first kiss!!! Big news!!! hehehe. The night before, Cassandra had asked him about him being ready to date again so soon after his divorce, and he talked about how the atonement has really helped him and changed his life... and about how he'd done everything he could to save his marriage so that he didn't have any regrets. And, it's not surprising that after what Kalina did to him, he's not pining after her. He's really doing great--he's processing things still in healthy ways, he's never seemed better or happier.
I finally fell asleep but at 4:40 woke up from a stupid dream (where I had to sing a solo in public but didn't know the song) with my eyes burning and almost in tears. Lila cried for a while. Thankfully, Jake woke up and took care of me. He gave me a blessing and then rubbed my back and took care of me till I fell back asleep. I have another head cold.
Saturday morning, he got up with Lila and I got to lay in bed for maybe 15-20 minutes before he had to leave for Ultimate Frisbee. He was going to take Lila with him, but it was too cold for that so I kept her home. I felt better after getting up and having breakfast. We Skyped with my parents for a while. Lila and I took an hour+ nap. She woke up at 12:15. Jake didn't get home till 12:30; he'd promised to get back before noon. :) So I "made" him take me out for pizza at Martini's. It was so yum and fun to have Lila there. We love her. She figured out how to drink water out of a straw and happily did that for a while. After that we stopped at Lowe's to look at paint samples and then went to Meijer. Lila cried when we sat her in the cart, so Jake stood her up in the back of the cart and that's where she happily stayed while we shopped. Pretty funny and I can't believe she's old enough to do that.
After that, we went for a walk around the trail. Our first family walk of the year. We enjoyed it a lot and remembered how different it was going for walks with Lila the last time it was warm out. And how this time last year I was HUGE and waddling around and couldn't walk very far. And how it took just a year for Lila to become this awesome kid. She liked looking at the geese. We stopped at the playground and put her in the baby swing, she liked that too. Took her down the slides a few times but she didn't seem to care for that. Jake and I got to chat, which I always love. I love going on walks together. It's so relaxing. Talked about our new house and how excited we are to move in and to have a house.
We had mac and cheese for dinner and Lila was so funny... she pulled my big bowl up to her face and stuck her face right into the food, trying to lick the cheese. I guess she likes cheese. She wouldn't accept a fork or spoon or any noodles, she just wanted to kind of lick the flavor. Pretty funny, and nothing we've ever seen her do before. She's been sipping from her sippy cup that has a straw, which is good too!
We did showers and Lila was asleep by 8. After that, Jake and I worked out filling out and signing our mortgage application. I worked on Primary stuff. It took a long time. At almost 11:00 Mike came over; he'd just left the Lillrose's. He had spent the whole day with her and her family. They went for a long walk in the woods with her siblings, wherein they "fell behind," cuddled on a bench for three hours, and had their first kiss!!! Big news!!! hehehe. The night before, Cassandra had asked him about him being ready to date again so soon after his divorce, and he talked about how the atonement has really helped him and changed his life... and about how he'd done everything he could to save his marriage so that he didn't have any regrets. And, it's not surprising that after what Kalina did to him, he's not pining after her. He's really doing great--he's processing things still in healthy ways, he's never seemed better or happier.
Friday, March 18, 2011
House Stuff + Sick
Lila and I had lunch yesterday, leftover Shepherd's Pie. She fed herself a few bites from a fork. Emily came over and we went for a walk around the neighboring park trail. Jake keeps asking if I'll miss having that nearby, but... not really. There's always creepy people there. Anyway, it was a beautiful day out and so nice to get out and walk! Looking forward to many walks with Lila this spring and summer. I love family walks. After that, Lila took a short nap and Emily and I did a little packing.
When Lila woke up, we headed over to our house :) We had the home inspection that day. It took a few hours to walk through everything. Jake was way into it, of course, but Emily and I mostly walked around the house and talked about decorating ideas. Played with Lila on the floor in the sunshine, something I'm looking forward to doing every day with her in our house. We sat in the driveway in the sunshine too. I'm so excited to live there! The inspection went well--there are a few minor problems that need fixing and hopefully the sellers will have those done for us. We're asking them for a ~$1600 credit to get all of those things done.
After that we had soup and sandwiches for dinner and Lila loved the soup. She made funny faces at us too and we were all giggling so hard. It was awesome. After dinner we did showers and bedtime. At 9:00 I headed to Applebee's for a girls night with Candace Laughead, Annette Shumway, and Megan Oliphant. A few more women had been invited but couldn't make it. Didn't leave until almost 11. It was a lot of fun! We shared half-off appetizers and talked about high school shenanigans. I love my RS friends.
Thursday I was sick all day and Lila was too. Achy joints, headache, tired, sore throat. Kasey Hunt told me on Wednesday that Waylon was diagnosed with strep throat, so I was really hoping we didn't have that, but I don't think we do. It was so hard to get motivated to do anything, so we didn't do much. Dinner was soup and sandwiches again, which Lila didn't seem to mind. She's digging soup these days, but only if she can feed herself. After dinner, she and Jake walked outside for a while and played with a neighbor's dog. It was warm out. After she went to bed, we watched part of the movie Morning Glory and talked to Mike a bit.
Today we applied for a loan with Sharon Waldecki of Evolve something or other out of Grand Rapids. Rich referred us to her and she had the best quote of all the places we looked at. We got locked in with a 4.75% interest rate, which is pretty good. Jake met with Rich this morning to go over all the repairs that need to be done and sign the related paperwork. Lila got up this morning when Jake did for work but took an hour and a half nap later in the morning. I slept that whole time too which is awesome. I needed that. At 1:30 I picked up Emily and we had lunch with my old co-worker/friend from Gryphon Place, Melissa Dunn, and her sister Annie. It was good to see her! I haven't seen her since I stopped in at Gryphon when Lila was like 3 months old. As much as I liked it there, I'm glad I don't have to work there anymore. It was a perfect job for me though when I had it; what a huge blessing. Lila was a good girl, ate some soup, and sat so nicely. Cuddled with me too.
From there, Emily and I headed to Target. Lila needs actual shoes now (instead of the moccasin type things she's been wearing) and I wanted to get her a birthday outfit too. She pooped while we were there, of course. A big, messy one. She screamed and cried the whole time we changed it. It was awesome. Pooped again on the way home and had a melt down while I was changing it here. She's sleeping now. She probably feels awful too. I feel a bit better today. My sore throat went away but I still feel achy and tired. Jake is teaching a Chinese investigator with missionaries right now. Tomorrow morning he's going to leave for a while to play Ultimate Frisbee. And on Sunday he'll be gone from like 7:30-4 for a branch conference in Coldwater. Not looking forward to it.
I think I forgot to write that I talked with Jess on the phone for a while on Sunday night. It was so nice, we hadn't talked for a while on the phone. She's due in a few weeks. I'm so excited for her. I was surprised to hear that we share a lot of similar parenting philosophies... as far as co-sleeping and nursing goes. She's going to be a great mom. I would like to take Lila out there this summer to visit and meet her little one.
When Lila woke up, we headed over to our house :) We had the home inspection that day. It took a few hours to walk through everything. Jake was way into it, of course, but Emily and I mostly walked around the house and talked about decorating ideas. Played with Lila on the floor in the sunshine, something I'm looking forward to doing every day with her in our house. We sat in the driveway in the sunshine too. I'm so excited to live there! The inspection went well--there are a few minor problems that need fixing and hopefully the sellers will have those done for us. We're asking them for a ~$1600 credit to get all of those things done.
After that we had soup and sandwiches for dinner and Lila loved the soup. She made funny faces at us too and we were all giggling so hard. It was awesome. After dinner we did showers and bedtime. At 9:00 I headed to Applebee's for a girls night with Candace Laughead, Annette Shumway, and Megan Oliphant. A few more women had been invited but couldn't make it. Didn't leave until almost 11. It was a lot of fun! We shared half-off appetizers and talked about high school shenanigans. I love my RS friends.
Thursday I was sick all day and Lila was too. Achy joints, headache, tired, sore throat. Kasey Hunt told me on Wednesday that Waylon was diagnosed with strep throat, so I was really hoping we didn't have that, but I don't think we do. It was so hard to get motivated to do anything, so we didn't do much. Dinner was soup and sandwiches again, which Lila didn't seem to mind. She's digging soup these days, but only if she can feed herself. After dinner, she and Jake walked outside for a while and played with a neighbor's dog. It was warm out. After she went to bed, we watched part of the movie Morning Glory and talked to Mike a bit.
Today we applied for a loan with Sharon Waldecki of Evolve something or other out of Grand Rapids. Rich referred us to her and she had the best quote of all the places we looked at. We got locked in with a 4.75% interest rate, which is pretty good. Jake met with Rich this morning to go over all the repairs that need to be done and sign the related paperwork. Lila got up this morning when Jake did for work but took an hour and a half nap later in the morning. I slept that whole time too which is awesome. I needed that. At 1:30 I picked up Emily and we had lunch with my old co-worker/friend from Gryphon Place, Melissa Dunn, and her sister Annie. It was good to see her! I haven't seen her since I stopped in at Gryphon when Lila was like 3 months old. As much as I liked it there, I'm glad I don't have to work there anymore. It was a perfect job for me though when I had it; what a huge blessing. Lila was a good girl, ate some soup, and sat so nicely. Cuddled with me too.
From there, Emily and I headed to Target. Lila needs actual shoes now (instead of the moccasin type things she's been wearing) and I wanted to get her a birthday outfit too. She pooped while we were there, of course. A big, messy one. She screamed and cried the whole time we changed it. It was awesome. Pooped again on the way home and had a melt down while I was changing it here. She's sleeping now. She probably feels awful too. I feel a bit better today. My sore throat went away but I still feel achy and tired. Jake is teaching a Chinese investigator with missionaries right now. Tomorrow morning he's going to leave for a while to play Ultimate Frisbee. And on Sunday he'll be gone from like 7:30-4 for a branch conference in Coldwater. Not looking forward to it.
I think I forgot to write that I talked with Jess on the phone for a while on Sunday night. It was so nice, we hadn't talked for a while on the phone. She's due in a few weeks. I'm so excited for her. I was surprised to hear that we share a lot of similar parenting philosophies... as far as co-sleeping and nursing goes. She's going to be a great mom. I would like to take Lila out there this summer to visit and meet her little one.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Weight
Oh, I forgot to write... the last time we walked through the Hathaway house, we (Mike, Jake, and I) all weighed ourselves on their scale. Mike now weighs around 4-5 pounds less than Jake does. He probably hasn't weighed less than Jake in a decade. And I was shocked to find that I weigh 95 pounds! I seriously eat allll day. And mostly unhealthy stuff. lol. My mom said after she had me she got down to 95 pounds too and couldn't gain any weight for a long time. I don't mind it at all.
Tuesday
Yesterday Lila and I stayed home. She's catching a cold or something and was pretty cranky all day. Took a long nap in the afternoon and a short nap before dinner. Did some cleaning, reading, etc. Mike called and told me about the talk he had with Cassandra the previous night, about her past serious relationships. She talked about how when she dates someone there's a stage where she's deciding to see if she wants to be more serious with them. Jake came home for dinner (shepherd's pie) and we got to relax a little bit before he had to leave for his meeting. Lila and I played in my room until bed time, she was up till almost 9 (because of the time change). I cleaned up after that and talked with Mike until Jake got home. Mike finally got new couches; I think he and Kalina sold their old ones like 9 months ago. Jake and I were up past midnight and up early this morning. Lila's still sick. She munched on a cookie and some Cheez-Its this morning, but a little after 10 she got super cranky and tired so she's napping already. We have our home inspection today at 4:00. I might start some packing today, maybe have Emily over. It's supposed to get up into the 50's today and it's sunny out.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Busy People
On Thursday morning I had to bring Lila to the doctor's again for a re-check of her hemoglobin levels. So we were there for an hour, and of course she hated it when the nurses and doctors were checking her out. Her iron levels are going up, thanks to the iron supplement, but we need to continue with that for 3-4 months until they're back to normal. I don't know if I wrote about this yet, but her lead levels are normal. The levels from the first draw they took were a 12, which is pretty high, but the second time was a 2.
At 4:30 that night we met Mike at the Hathaway house. We wanted to see it one more time before we put in an offer and to show it to Mike and Emily. (Emily had to work so couldn't come.) Mike wasn't too impressed, lol. It's not what he'd buy. But we were sure that we wanted to buy it still. We walked around the house and in the backyard. It's actually a great yard. And I could definitely see us living there and being very happy there. So we drove over to Rich's office and signed all the papers. Lila was a trooper... though she was pretty cranky by the end. We decided to offer $170,500. Rich said he'd try to meet with Kim (their realtor) as early as possible the next day and call us afterwards to let us know what the "vibe" of the meeting was.
So, Thursday night we were all excited about that. Called our families and told them. And we spent more time on the phone with Mike, of course. Actually we video chatted with him. Because we don't see each other enough. He was texting and chatting with Cassandra. He hadn't contacted her all day because he was still pretty bummed/weirded out about their conversation the previous day, when she told him about Mr. Colorado. But she texted in the evening and started asking him when she'd see him next. She asked what he was doing this weekend, and then he suggested she come home, and she said she would.
Friday was a very boring day. Lila and I sat around at home until 2:30 or so when I got so bored that we needed to get out. We went to the mall to pick up my anniversary ring that had been fixed. Lila and I had a treat--she loves her french fries. Walked around a little bit before she got crabby and needed to go home. I made chicken and rice for dinner. I think we just hung out at home that night. Oh, Cassandra got snowed in and couldn't leave Canada, but she and Mike talked on the phone for an hour, until her mom and sisters called at midnight.
Here's an email I wrote Jake Friday --
You know, I've been thinking and feeling lately that it's been a special part of the Lord's plan for us and for others in Kalamazoo that we live here. Just think about all the opportunities we've had to serve and share the gospel here in Kalamazoo. I know that we would do good wherever we live, but I feel like we're specifically needed in this area to build up the kingdom here. I'm excited that we'll continue to live here and grow some roots here. Our children will be blessed for it.
Saturday morning we went grocery shopping and got boxes from guys stocking the aisles--good idea! It was nice to get shopping out of the way. While there, Mike called to say that Cassandra was actually going to come home that day! So he was excited. We went home, took naps, got up, played with Lila, and then had a free lunch at Penn Station East Coast Subs (we had a coupon). Then went to the stake center for a few hours to clean out files and papers in the clerk's office. (There were files in there from the '70s and '80s.) We got home, got ready for bed, did showers. I worked on finding design ideas for our new house, Jake helped for a while but got on my nerves. :) Then we kind of watched The Social Network. I was doing other things and went to bed before it finished, but with the time change (spring forward), we didn't get to bed till after 1.
Mike went over to Cassandra's house for her birthday dinner with her family. They met up at the youth dance he was chaperoning and after that he went to their house again to watch a movie. It was weird for him because he got to see a lot of her family's craziness. Particularly her mom's and youngest sister Savannah's. They have a weird family culture. It was her 26th birthday. The sisters found out that Mike isn't an Eagle Scout and said that their mom wouldn't let them date guys who aren't Eagle Scouts. (The Lillrose girls are Savannah (15, almost 16), Samantha (21), Tiffany (23), and Cassandra (26).) Cassandra thankfully spoke up and said, "I'm old enough to decide who I'm going to hang out with." Savannah "lectured" Cassandra after Cassandra showed up at the dance to visit with Mike; didn't want her there. Savannah is pretty rude to all guys that go over to their place. Before he went in after the dance, he told Cassandra that he didn't have to go in if it would cause tension in the family. Cassandra said that Savannah is like that with all the guys that come over, and that if he didn't go in that night, it wouldn't help the next time he came over, so he should just come in if he wanted to. So they had donuts and watched a movie. Cassandra fell asleep on his shoulder and held his hand the whole time. They had a long hug goodbye and he mentioned that it was weird/different around her family and she said, "Yeah, you should come to Canada more." I feel for her... because I know how it is to have a kind of crazy family.
On Sunday morning, the alarm went off at 7:45 but we fell back asleep until 8:30! Woops! Church starts at 9, so we were 10 minutes late. Savannah spoke in sacrament meeting and Cassandra was there. I didn't get a chance to talk to her but Jake did. She congratulated him on the new house, which in very close to her parents'. Jake had Lila the whole time, which was nice for me.
After church, we talked to Mike on the phone and he filled us in on the previous night. We had lunch and laid down for a while. Had dinner before Jake had to go do some clerk training at 4:30. Emily came over around the time Jake left. Skyped with my parents for a long time and they loved watching Lila play. She danced for a looong time while we sang to her. It was really funny.
At 6, Lila and I headed to the stake center for the ward's RS birthday party/fireside. I sat by Sister Johnson and visited with her for a bit about the new house. I was asked to share my testimony about how RS has blessed my life. I talked about my background--how RS sisters taught me the gospel at church, in primary and YW, growing up... which meant a lot because my mom isn't a member of the church. And how they helped as I was a very young wife, and how now I'm so grateful as a new mom to have their support. Several other women and the bishop also spoke. The other testimony that really stood out to me was Sharon Hunt's. She is the Stake Primary President and my friend Kasey's mother-in-law. She said when she was younger, she used to think it was kind of pointless to visit inactive sisters because they usually didn't want her there and it was awkward and uncomfortable. And then she started sobbing and said that now, she has a daughter who is inactive, and it means the world to her just to know that her visiting teachers contact her monthly. So when we're assigned inactive sisters to VT, remember that often, they have mothers and fathers and siblings who are praying for them. It was a powerful message.
After the fireside, we got to just sit around, eat refreshments, and visit. It was a lot of fun. I really love my RS! Visited with Candace, Alicia, Kasey, Kendra, Amber, and Annette. As we were talking out to the parking lot, Kendra told me she really enjoyed my talk, that she loves getting to know people better. She said that since she's met me, she's thought that I'm a really strong, awesome, upbeat person... that I do so much for the Primary and so on top of things, that the Primary would be a mess without me, haha! And then she said after hearing my background and testimony, she thinks I'm even stronger than she thought! It was a nice compliment. She said, "You're awesome, Rudi!" I really like Kendra, so it meant a lot to hear that from her. She's pregnant with her fifth and turned 32 yesterday.
Yesterday (Monday) morning, Lila woke up just as Jake was getting ready to leave, so we hurried up and half-heartedly got ready (I just threw my glasses on and some clothes) and headed off with Jake to Rich's office to sign some papers for the house. Mostly just stuff from the relocation company, Cartas. Lila pooped while we were there, which is awesome. Found out that Rich's best friend is my mom's first cousin, Greg Krause! Small world! As we were leaving, Alicia Thompson called and invited us over, so Lila and I headed there. Talked to Mike on the way. He was excited because Cassandra had emailed him. On Sunday he didn't hear a lot from her because she was busy having dinner guests, but before she went to bed she wrote him a quick note telling him about her day.
We spent the morning and had lunch at Alicia's. Brig is almost 15 months and she's due in June with her second, a girl. It was fun visiting. They have one car so she's mostly at home every day. I'd go crazy. But she's awesome and has a positive attitude and loves being a mom. We left at around 1, and Lila slept for an hour in the car. At 4, Lila and I went to Walmart to pick out a birthday present for Waylon Hunt. When Jake got home, we had a quick dinner and went to Waylon's birthday party at 6:30. Opened presents and had cake. There was a beautiful sunset on the way home. Lila had a few small bites of cake and liked playing with a big ball that Waylon got for his birthday. Lila turns one a week from today; can't believe it!
Something kind of exciting: Jake's boss, Jen Randall, had a giant, custom-built house in Indiana before she and her family moved to Kalamazoo. (Jake said that the mortgage alone was $3800/month!!) It took them two years to sell it. So they've been in an apartment in Kalamazoo and are planning on building a house here, but will be in an apartment for another year and a half or so. Right now they have two storage units in Kalamazoo full of their furniture and stuff. All really nice Pottery Barn type furniture. She suggested to Jake yesterday that while they're waiting to build a house, we use their furniture. That way we don't have to buy furniture right away (and can take some time to save up more money for it) and they don't have to pay $200/month for the units. She sent pictures of some of their furniture; really nice stuff! So it's not official yet, but we're planning on doing that. Another blessing for us.
Last night after Lila went to bed, we had a virtual FHE with Mike (video chat). He played some guitar, Jake gave a lesson on getting what we want most in life. We told Mike to ask Cassandra about the dozen other boyfriends her sister said she had. So they were up talking till 1:30 on the phone.
We did not get good sleep last night. Lila was up a lot. Today she has a runny/stuffed up nose so maybe she's getting another cold.
At 4:30 that night we met Mike at the Hathaway house. We wanted to see it one more time before we put in an offer and to show it to Mike and Emily. (Emily had to work so couldn't come.) Mike wasn't too impressed, lol. It's not what he'd buy. But we were sure that we wanted to buy it still. We walked around the house and in the backyard. It's actually a great yard. And I could definitely see us living there and being very happy there. So we drove over to Rich's office and signed all the papers. Lila was a trooper... though she was pretty cranky by the end. We decided to offer $170,500. Rich said he'd try to meet with Kim (their realtor) as early as possible the next day and call us afterwards to let us know what the "vibe" of the meeting was.
So, Thursday night we were all excited about that. Called our families and told them. And we spent more time on the phone with Mike, of course. Actually we video chatted with him. Because we don't see each other enough. He was texting and chatting with Cassandra. He hadn't contacted her all day because he was still pretty bummed/weirded out about their conversation the previous day, when she told him about Mr. Colorado. But she texted in the evening and started asking him when she'd see him next. She asked what he was doing this weekend, and then he suggested she come home, and she said she would.
Friday was a very boring day. Lila and I sat around at home until 2:30 or so when I got so bored that we needed to get out. We went to the mall to pick up my anniversary ring that had been fixed. Lila and I had a treat--she loves her french fries. Walked around a little bit before she got crabby and needed to go home. I made chicken and rice for dinner. I think we just hung out at home that night. Oh, Cassandra got snowed in and couldn't leave Canada, but she and Mike talked on the phone for an hour, until her mom and sisters called at midnight.
Here's an email I wrote Jake Friday --
You know, I've been thinking and feeling lately that it's been a special part of the Lord's plan for us and for others in Kalamazoo that we live here. Just think about all the opportunities we've had to serve and share the gospel here in Kalamazoo. I know that we would do good wherever we live, but I feel like we're specifically needed in this area to build up the kingdom here. I'm excited that we'll continue to live here and grow some roots here. Our children will be blessed for it.
Saturday morning we went grocery shopping and got boxes from guys stocking the aisles--good idea! It was nice to get shopping out of the way. While there, Mike called to say that Cassandra was actually going to come home that day! So he was excited. We went home, took naps, got up, played with Lila, and then had a free lunch at Penn Station East Coast Subs (we had a coupon). Then went to the stake center for a few hours to clean out files and papers in the clerk's office. (There were files in there from the '70s and '80s.) We got home, got ready for bed, did showers. I worked on finding design ideas for our new house, Jake helped for a while but got on my nerves. :) Then we kind of watched The Social Network. I was doing other things and went to bed before it finished, but with the time change (spring forward), we didn't get to bed till after 1.
Mike went over to Cassandra's house for her birthday dinner with her family. They met up at the youth dance he was chaperoning and after that he went to their house again to watch a movie. It was weird for him because he got to see a lot of her family's craziness. Particularly her mom's and youngest sister Savannah's. They have a weird family culture. It was her 26th birthday. The sisters found out that Mike isn't an Eagle Scout and said that their mom wouldn't let them date guys who aren't Eagle Scouts. (The Lillrose girls are Savannah (15, almost 16), Samantha (21), Tiffany (23), and Cassandra (26).) Cassandra thankfully spoke up and said, "I'm old enough to decide who I'm going to hang out with." Savannah "lectured" Cassandra after Cassandra showed up at the dance to visit with Mike; didn't want her there. Savannah is pretty rude to all guys that go over to their place. Before he went in after the dance, he told Cassandra that he didn't have to go in if it would cause tension in the family. Cassandra said that Savannah is like that with all the guys that come over, and that if he didn't go in that night, it wouldn't help the next time he came over, so he should just come in if he wanted to. So they had donuts and watched a movie. Cassandra fell asleep on his shoulder and held his hand the whole time. They had a long hug goodbye and he mentioned that it was weird/different around her family and she said, "Yeah, you should come to Canada more." I feel for her... because I know how it is to have a kind of crazy family.
On Sunday morning, the alarm went off at 7:45 but we fell back asleep until 8:30! Woops! Church starts at 9, so we were 10 minutes late. Savannah spoke in sacrament meeting and Cassandra was there. I didn't get a chance to talk to her but Jake did. She congratulated him on the new house, which in very close to her parents'. Jake had Lila the whole time, which was nice for me.
After church, we talked to Mike on the phone and he filled us in on the previous night. We had lunch and laid down for a while. Had dinner before Jake had to go do some clerk training at 4:30. Emily came over around the time Jake left. Skyped with my parents for a long time and they loved watching Lila play. She danced for a looong time while we sang to her. It was really funny.
At 6, Lila and I headed to the stake center for the ward's RS birthday party/fireside. I sat by Sister Johnson and visited with her for a bit about the new house. I was asked to share my testimony about how RS has blessed my life. I talked about my background--how RS sisters taught me the gospel at church, in primary and YW, growing up... which meant a lot because my mom isn't a member of the church. And how they helped as I was a very young wife, and how now I'm so grateful as a new mom to have their support. Several other women and the bishop also spoke. The other testimony that really stood out to me was Sharon Hunt's. She is the Stake Primary President and my friend Kasey's mother-in-law. She said when she was younger, she used to think it was kind of pointless to visit inactive sisters because they usually didn't want her there and it was awkward and uncomfortable. And then she started sobbing and said that now, she has a daughter who is inactive, and it means the world to her just to know that her visiting teachers contact her monthly. So when we're assigned inactive sisters to VT, remember that often, they have mothers and fathers and siblings who are praying for them. It was a powerful message.
After the fireside, we got to just sit around, eat refreshments, and visit. It was a lot of fun. I really love my RS! Visited with Candace, Alicia, Kasey, Kendra, Amber, and Annette. As we were talking out to the parking lot, Kendra told me she really enjoyed my talk, that she loves getting to know people better. She said that since she's met me, she's thought that I'm a really strong, awesome, upbeat person... that I do so much for the Primary and so on top of things, that the Primary would be a mess without me, haha! And then she said after hearing my background and testimony, she thinks I'm even stronger than she thought! It was a nice compliment. She said, "You're awesome, Rudi!" I really like Kendra, so it meant a lot to hear that from her. She's pregnant with her fifth and turned 32 yesterday.
Yesterday (Monday) morning, Lila woke up just as Jake was getting ready to leave, so we hurried up and half-heartedly got ready (I just threw my glasses on and some clothes) and headed off with Jake to Rich's office to sign some papers for the house. Mostly just stuff from the relocation company, Cartas. Lila pooped while we were there, which is awesome. Found out that Rich's best friend is my mom's first cousin, Greg Krause! Small world! As we were leaving, Alicia Thompson called and invited us over, so Lila and I headed there. Talked to Mike on the way. He was excited because Cassandra had emailed him. On Sunday he didn't hear a lot from her because she was busy having dinner guests, but before she went to bed she wrote him a quick note telling him about her day.
We spent the morning and had lunch at Alicia's. Brig is almost 15 months and she's due in June with her second, a girl. It was fun visiting. They have one car so she's mostly at home every day. I'd go crazy. But she's awesome and has a positive attitude and loves being a mom. We left at around 1, and Lila slept for an hour in the car. At 4, Lila and I went to Walmart to pick out a birthday present for Waylon Hunt. When Jake got home, we had a quick dinner and went to Waylon's birthday party at 6:30. Opened presents and had cake. There was a beautiful sunset on the way home. Lila had a few small bites of cake and liked playing with a big ball that Waylon got for his birthday. Lila turns one a week from today; can't believe it!
Something kind of exciting: Jake's boss, Jen Randall, had a giant, custom-built house in Indiana before she and her family moved to Kalamazoo. (Jake said that the mortgage alone was $3800/month!!) It took them two years to sell it. So they've been in an apartment in Kalamazoo and are planning on building a house here, but will be in an apartment for another year and a half or so. Right now they have two storage units in Kalamazoo full of their furniture and stuff. All really nice Pottery Barn type furniture. She suggested to Jake yesterday that while they're waiting to build a house, we use their furniture. That way we don't have to buy furniture right away (and can take some time to save up more money for it) and they don't have to pay $200/month for the units. She sent pictures of some of their furniture; really nice stuff! So it's not official yet, but we're planning on doing that. Another blessing for us.
Last night after Lila went to bed, we had a virtual FHE with Mike (video chat). He played some guitar, Jake gave a lesson on getting what we want most in life. We told Mike to ask Cassandra about the dozen other boyfriends her sister said she had. So they were up talking till 1:30 on the phone.
We did not get good sleep last night. Lila was up a lot. Today she has a runny/stuffed up nose so maybe she's getting another cold.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Lunch with Rich, Conference Call
So, Tuesday night Jake and I both felt pretty hesitant and nervous about buying the Hathaway house, and kind of about buying a house in general. Jake emailed Rich to say that we'd like a few more days to think about it and that we'd also let him know of more houses we'd like to look at.
The next morning, Rich said that he'd still like to meet with us as planned, except without paperwork, just to chat. He said that he figured we were getting cold feet and usually having a chat like this helped. Jake and I said it'd be fine to still meet, but we both went into the meeting thinking that there was no way this would help or change our minds. We were both pretty sure that the Hathaway house was definitely not for us.
We met at Culver's and had lunch there. Rich said that back in 1972, when he and his wife had just made an offer on their first house (that was $23,000), he called his realtor in a panic and said, "Tear up the papers! I don't know what I was thinking, we can't buy a house!" His realtor then said, "Hey, let's just have breakfast together tomorrow morning and have a chat." He talked about how this feeling of nervousness is completely normal--thinking that we can't possibly afford a house and that we'd go bankrupt, etc. I told him we still really liked the Greenbriar house, and that I never got the same feeling at Hathaway that I did at Greenbriar (the feeling of "home"). He pointed out that it's because the folks at Greenbriar really worked hard to make it feel like home, and that Hathaway's owners clearly didn't. Rich is great because he doesn't put pressure on us to do anything. He just talked to us and answered our questions. He really is great and I'm very grateful that we switched to him. I don't think Dawn would have been able to talk us through things as well as he did. Anyway, he restored our confidence and we left there thinking that yeah, we would still think about it for a day, but we were pretty sure we'd put an offer in.
Jake did some more research on Wednesday night and found out that the sellers actually finished the basement. We had thought that they hadn't put any work into it. Rich estimates that it was probably a $20,000+ job. So Jake felt a lot better about their asking price after that and we'd offer $170,500.
On Wednesday night we also had a "conference call" with Melissa and Mike, mostly giving him advice about Cassandra. I swear we're always talking to a member of the Betzold family. During their conversation, Cassandra told Mike that she was talking with her brother on the phone because they're working on a project together (designing something for pianos). We were still on that "conference call" with Meliss and Mike, so I told him to tell her that he was on the phone with his siblings working on a project too. hehehe. Mike had sent a birthday present out in the mail to Cassandra: granola (an inside joke), "coupons" for things like help with her car, a temple trip, a movie, a day at the park, etc, and a card. She texted him in the evening saying that she found flowers in her room, with no name on the card. She was excited about it. Asked Mike if he was responsible. He said no and felt dumb that they weren't. Then she told him more about "Mr. Colorado" and Mike's thinking, "How many boyfriends does this girl have?" So he kind of ended the conversation after that.
The next morning, Rich said that he'd still like to meet with us as planned, except without paperwork, just to chat. He said that he figured we were getting cold feet and usually having a chat like this helped. Jake and I said it'd be fine to still meet, but we both went into the meeting thinking that there was no way this would help or change our minds. We were both pretty sure that the Hathaway house was definitely not for us.
We met at Culver's and had lunch there. Rich said that back in 1972, when he and his wife had just made an offer on their first house (that was $23,000), he called his realtor in a panic and said, "Tear up the papers! I don't know what I was thinking, we can't buy a house!" His realtor then said, "Hey, let's just have breakfast together tomorrow morning and have a chat." He talked about how this feeling of nervousness is completely normal--thinking that we can't possibly afford a house and that we'd go bankrupt, etc. I told him we still really liked the Greenbriar house, and that I never got the same feeling at Hathaway that I did at Greenbriar (the feeling of "home"). He pointed out that it's because the folks at Greenbriar really worked hard to make it feel like home, and that Hathaway's owners clearly didn't. Rich is great because he doesn't put pressure on us to do anything. He just talked to us and answered our questions. He really is great and I'm very grateful that we switched to him. I don't think Dawn would have been able to talk us through things as well as he did. Anyway, he restored our confidence and we left there thinking that yeah, we would still think about it for a day, but we were pretty sure we'd put an offer in.
Jake did some more research on Wednesday night and found out that the sellers actually finished the basement. We had thought that they hadn't put any work into it. Rich estimates that it was probably a $20,000+ job. So Jake felt a lot better about their asking price after that and we'd offer $170,500.
On Wednesday night we also had a "conference call" with Melissa and Mike, mostly giving him advice about Cassandra. I swear we're always talking to a member of the Betzold family. During their conversation, Cassandra told Mike that she was talking with her brother on the phone because they're working on a project together (designing something for pianos). We were still on that "conference call" with Meliss and Mike, so I told him to tell her that he was on the phone with his siblings working on a project too. hehehe. Mike had sent a birthday present out in the mail to Cassandra: granola (an inside joke), "coupons" for things like help with her car, a temple trip, a movie, a day at the park, etc, and a card. She texted him in the evening saying that she found flowers in her room, with no name on the card. She was excited about it. Asked Mike if he was responsible. He said no and felt dumb that they weren't. Then she told him more about "Mr. Colorado" and Mike's thinking, "How many boyfriends does this girl have?" So he kind of ended the conversation after that.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
To Offer or Not to Offer; Lila's Eating.
Yesterday at noon we met at the house we were thinking about putting an offer on (8639 Hathaway). We spent an hour there, looking around and talking with Rich about the house. Jake was a little hesitant at first because it has a Home Owner's Association. But he worked through that by reading through the by-laws and calling up some neighbors and asking questions. When we went to the open house, we only spent maybe 10-15 minutes there, but we immediately recognized that it has everything we wanted. We were both impressed too because it looks a lot better in person than in the pictures. The current owners have owned the house for 8 years and have barely done any decorating, it's pretty awful. But that means all neutral colors on the walls and no wallpaper or anything to deal with. All of the trim and doorways and cupboards and walls are pretty nasty dirty. The kitchen appliances are really dirty. But, nothing a good cleaning can't fix.
For a while we were thinking that we'd make an offer on it tomorrow. The tricky thing is that it will be through a relocation company; the company has the final say on whether the sellers can/will accept our offer. It's priced at $179,000 and Rich thinks it will go for $172,500. He recommended yesterday that we offer $170,500 but Jake wants to start lower. He looked at the statistics for houses in the area and thinks we should offer somewhere between $165-170k. We're going to take a few days, or a week, or however long we need to think about it. I'm starting to get the feeling that it's not the house for us. I'm still thinking about Greenbriar. And I think we really need to make sure we want to buy a house that expensive.
Anyway, Lila had fun there chasing the kitties around. She fell asleep on the way home and slept for an hour. When Jake got home we had dinner and kind of talked about the house, but I was pretty tired. The most exciting thing happened though: Lila started walking FOR REAL! Instead of us helping her get going, she just started walking from Jake to me on her own and took real, balanced, careful steps... instead of kind of walking/running towards me and then falling and me catching her. It was amazing. She took 10 steps 3-4 different times to me. I unexpectedly burst into tears and started crying, to see her little face walking towards me was unreal. I can't believe she'll be a year old two weeks from today. Wow, what an emotional thing to be a mom. I can't believe how fast she's growing up.
I've noticed a change in her the past week or so. She's definitely maturing. Her eating has improved a LOT! Not that she's eating anywhere near enough to sustain her, but she's trying more things. For instance, today she "ate" a graham cracker, a piece of bread, a banana toddler cookie, half a piece of chocolate, some tomato soup, a Pop Tarts mini-crisp, and a french fry. That's HUGE. When I say that she "ate" all those things, mostly I mean she took 3-4 teeny tiny bites. She doesn't quite get how to bite and chew things. She won't eat food if it's cut up into small pieces... it has to be a big piece that she slowly gums her way through. So, when she ate some bread, I gave her an entire piece of bread and she nibbled on the corners of it. I'm definitely seeing an improvement and I hope she keeps getting better. Oh, and last night, she was even gumming on a piece of pizza.
This morning she took a nap from 10:40-noon. It was her only nap of the day. We had lunch with Jake at his office. Talked about making an offer on the house and it looked like we were going to, but at dinner is when we decided to slow down and think about this some more. After that Lila and I went to Meijer to pick up some groceries. I got a lot of things that I think she might like: banana Toddler cookies, Cheez-its, Some Pop Tarts mini crisps (someone at church gave her a Chocolate one on Sunday and she ate the entire thing, so I definitely wanted to try those, and she ate one today). I got her some dried apples too, thinking that they'd be like chips, but they're sticky and not completely dried, so she didn't like them. Now Jake will have to eat the whole thing.
We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner and chatted with Mike on the phone while we ate. Lila enjoyed sitting in Daddy's lap and eating with him. She's not a huge fan of her high chair, though she'll sit there for 10-15 minutes before whining. She likes high chairs in restaurants, though. She really likes sitting in Jake's lap and eating. After he left, I got Lila ready for bed and we had a nice story time. She sat so quietly and let me read her a whole book straight through (usually she ends up turning pages over and over). And she fell asleep within minutes before 8:00.
For a while we were thinking that we'd make an offer on it tomorrow. The tricky thing is that it will be through a relocation company; the company has the final say on whether the sellers can/will accept our offer. It's priced at $179,000 and Rich thinks it will go for $172,500. He recommended yesterday that we offer $170,500 but Jake wants to start lower. He looked at the statistics for houses in the area and thinks we should offer somewhere between $165-170k. We're going to take a few days, or a week, or however long we need to think about it. I'm starting to get the feeling that it's not the house for us. I'm still thinking about Greenbriar. And I think we really need to make sure we want to buy a house that expensive.
Anyway, Lila had fun there chasing the kitties around. She fell asleep on the way home and slept for an hour. When Jake got home we had dinner and kind of talked about the house, but I was pretty tired. The most exciting thing happened though: Lila started walking FOR REAL! Instead of us helping her get going, she just started walking from Jake to me on her own and took real, balanced, careful steps... instead of kind of walking/running towards me and then falling and me catching her. It was amazing. She took 10 steps 3-4 different times to me. I unexpectedly burst into tears and started crying, to see her little face walking towards me was unreal. I can't believe she'll be a year old two weeks from today. Wow, what an emotional thing to be a mom. I can't believe how fast she's growing up.
I've noticed a change in her the past week or so. She's definitely maturing. Her eating has improved a LOT! Not that she's eating anywhere near enough to sustain her, but she's trying more things. For instance, today she "ate" a graham cracker, a piece of bread, a banana toddler cookie, half a piece of chocolate, some tomato soup, a Pop Tarts mini-crisp, and a french fry. That's HUGE. When I say that she "ate" all those things, mostly I mean she took 3-4 teeny tiny bites. She doesn't quite get how to bite and chew things. She won't eat food if it's cut up into small pieces... it has to be a big piece that she slowly gums her way through. So, when she ate some bread, I gave her an entire piece of bread and she nibbled on the corners of it. I'm definitely seeing an improvement and I hope she keeps getting better. Oh, and last night, she was even gumming on a piece of pizza.
This morning she took a nap from 10:40-noon. It was her only nap of the day. We had lunch with Jake at his office. Talked about making an offer on the house and it looked like we were going to, but at dinner is when we decided to slow down and think about this some more. After that Lila and I went to Meijer to pick up some groceries. I got a lot of things that I think she might like: banana Toddler cookies, Cheez-its, Some Pop Tarts mini crisps (someone at church gave her a Chocolate one on Sunday and she ate the entire thing, so I definitely wanted to try those, and she ate one today). I got her some dried apples too, thinking that they'd be like chips, but they're sticky and not completely dried, so she didn't like them. Now Jake will have to eat the whole thing.
We had grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner and chatted with Mike on the phone while we ate. Lila enjoyed sitting in Daddy's lap and eating with him. She's not a huge fan of her high chair, though she'll sit there for 10-15 minutes before whining. She likes high chairs in restaurants, though. She really likes sitting in Jake's lap and eating. After he left, I got Lila ready for bed and we had a nice story time. She sat so quietly and let me read her a whole book straight through (usually she ends up turning pages over and over). And she fell asleep within minutes before 8:00.
Monday, March 7, 2011
A Miracle
Oh, in Fast and Testimony meeting on Sunday, Sister Johnson got up and shared her testimony. She talked about the blessing that Jake gave her (she didn't say it was Jake, just that it was a "dear friend") and her experience with her sick granddaughter, who is now at home and doing well. She said the whole experience was life changing. After we left, she and Rand sat down and recorded everything they could remember from the blessing, and she reviewed it every day she was out in New York helping her daughter and granddaughter. She said it was amazing, seeing the things from the blessing unfold. After sacrament meeting I sat with her for a while and she teared up and said how grateful she and Rand were for us and how much they love us; said that we've done so much for them. I said, "You've done so much for us!" I told her what it says in Jake's patriarchal blessing... that as he ministers to Heavenly Father's children, he will see miracles transpire. She said this was definitely one of them. She's going to write a record of this experience and share it with us. Heavenly Father is amazing.
Mike + Cassandra
- When he got to London, he went straight to campus to meet Cassandra at the music building. He pulled up to the building, she hopped into the car to show him where to park. He was disappointed; he'd wanted to give her a hug at first sight. As they were walking back to the music building, after about walking 20 ft., C stops and says, "Hey! Give me a hug! I'm glad you made it!"
- She gave him a tour of the music school and piano program. As she was showing him one of the pianos she was fixing and talking about it, he had this feeling, the Spirit telling him, "This is your future wife talking to you." He said it was amazing.
- She played some different pianos to show him the differences in sound quality. She was impressed when he started describing the differences.
- When they left at around 1:00, they went to her place for lunch. Made tomato soup from scratch. C spilled sugar onto the floor and started scooping it from the floor, back into the container. Mike teased her about it.
- C once told Emily that it was a huge turn-off for her when men just sit there while women cook and do the dishes; she wants her husband to be involved in that. So Mike made sure to be involved and did all the dishes after lunch and/or dinner.
- After that they went to a park and spent a long time talking and walking there. They held hands. She said, "Warm my hands up!" They hugged before getting back into the car, he held her for a while. Said it was very comfortable, not awkward. They had an easy time talking. At one point she told him that her roommate's brother Chris proposed recently and gave his fiance a giant diamond ring. She said, "I'm not really into big diamonds... that's not really important to me." Hint hint. ;)
- He went grocery shopping with C and her roommate Michelle. He's met Michelle in Kalamazoo and at YSA dances. At the last YSA dance in Lansing (that took place at the beginning of C's spring break), Emily told Michelle that Mike thinks C is really cool and asked if C does much dating. He had to fart really bad (lol) so he told them he'd go get chili seasoning so that he could go and fart by himself. I told him before he left that he should take Beano (he was worried about the farting thing, lol).
- While C and her roommates made chili, Mike helped her roommate's brother with his car. (The brother, Chris, originally came in and asked C for help, which is pretty funny to me.) At one point, her roommate Breanne comes up from the basement (where she'd been all day) and saw Mike and said, "Oh, who's this? Is he someone from the piano program?" C said, "Nope, he's a friend from Michigan." She asked Mike what his name was and where he was from. After he said Battle Creek, a lightbulb went off in her head and she said, "This is Mike Mike?!" And got so excited and hugged him and they hit it off pretty well. She said, "I really like you, Mike Mike! You're welcome here anytime!" And told him she'd call him Mike Mike from now on.
- After dinner, before they sat down to watch a movie, they looked at the weather and saw that there was freezing rain and snow in Michigan so they tried to get Mike to spend the night, but he totally didn't feel comfortable doing that. C had told him earlier that day that she wasn't a fan of co-ed sleepovers (like when Chris (Breanne's brother) and his friends would spend the night).
- At one point, Mike asked Michelle if she wanted a priesthood blessing because she was really sick. So he and Chris gave her a blessing,
- So they sat down to watch a movie (Invictus) and Mike intended to leave when it ended, around 10:30. C sat in the middle of the couch, M sat on one side and Michelle sat on the other. They just sat there and watched (not holding hands) for the first half of the movie. But halfway through, Michelle left. So Mike asked, "Can I hold your hand?" and she said yes, of course, and they snuggled on the couch, he had his arms around her, etc. She rubbed his hands and at some points where he was talking, she squeeze them tighter.
- This is where things got good. They spent the next 4-5 hours talking (and cuddling). He asked what her "three year plan" for life was. Earlier she told him that she bought an old, beat up Steinway piano on Craigslist for $3000 and she has a "three year plan" to fix it up and then sell it (it should sell for up to $70k!). So he wanted to start asking questions and get a good conversation going so that she could start asking questions about the divorce if she wanted. She told him that she was finishing up school and then in December she'd be done with her internship, but she didn't really know after that. She said she does hope to be married in 3 years.
- Oh, so Mike asked about the bet that she made with her sisters about the divorce. When her family visited her in Canada at the beginning of her spring break, she and her sisters and Mom were talking about Mike. They couldn't figure him out. He'd lived in Battle Creek for a year and they hadn't met him till now. Cassandra figured that he was divorced, so they googled him and found a blurb in the newspaper about it. She also remembered Kalina doing Lindsey Reyes's wedding cake. He told her that he would have told her sooner but hadn't really had an opportunity to do so until their ice skating date. She said she understood.
- At some point she said, "So tell me about Kalina." Mike basically told her everything. Told her out they met (which C said she thought was kind of cute) and then how the divorce happened. Told her about Kalina's past and how that affected their marriage. That they never really had a happy marriage. Told her about the day she told him she wanted a divorce, how he didn't tell anyone until a day or two when he was driving to work in Indiana, he called his dad and started bawling. Told her about the men he talked to in the temple (Brother Stoddard, the man who sealed he and Kalina--coincidentally, C's mom nannied for Brother Stoddard's brother when she was in her 20s) who told him about their experiences with re-marriage and how much of a blessing their current wives were. He touched on Kalina's sexual anorexia. So, he basically bore all. He said/thought that maybe he said too much, but he said it felt very right and good to just get it out there. He asked if C had anymore questions, and she didn't. She said, "Wow, that must have been so hard."
- And then she started talking about her struggles. She said it's been so difficult for her to not be married yet. All she's ever wanted is to be a mom and to have a family and that it's never been important to her to have a career, even though that's what has come easily to her. She said she's dated a few guys seriously, but the Spirit never guided her to marry either of them. She's been proposed to twice by the same guy. She helped teach him the gospel, and she said he mistook the feelings of the gospel for love for her. She said that when she was younger she was really angry about it, but now she's just trying to follow the Spirit and that the Spirit led her to grad school. She never planned on going to grad school, but that's where she's been led. She made it very clear to Mike several times that career wasn't important to her. She said that she could end the internship whenever she wanted.
- They swapped mission stories.
- She told Mike at some point that she thought he was a great guy, that it's clear he honors the priesthood, and that she'd really like to get to know him better. Mike then said that he thinks she's amazing, that it's clear she honors the priesthood, and that he wants to continue to get to know her.
- She (half-jokingly) asked Mike what in the world Jake was thinking when he introduced them so soon after the divorce. It's a good thing that she and Jake have a good rapport, he can get away with being bold. :) So Mike told her everything about that as well... how the first time he saw her was at the YSA dance when he was still married. He saw her signing with Emma Hardy; she was so animated and happy and he thought, "Wow, I wish my wife was that happy." And about how Kalina had been moved out for a long time before the divorce finalized. He told C how awesome Jake and I were throughout the divorce, and how we'd talked about her before the divorce was final to give him some hope. Something like that.
- They talked about kids. He asked if she'd want to wait for a while after she got married to have kids. She said probably not, that she'd like to start her family soon after.
- As he was getting ready to leave, he asked when she was coming to Kalamazoo next. She said the weekend of March 19th, for her friend Serena's wedding reception. (Serena is coincidentally Shane's--Emily's love interest's--sister.) Mike said, "Oh, and that's when your friend from Colorado is coming right?" (On their ice skating date, C told him that a guy from Colorado was going to come visit that weekend because "he'd never been to Michigan before and he wants to see what it's like.") Cassandra said, slyly, that it looks like he won't be coming to visit anymore, because she's changing his plans. Mike asked why and she smiled and said it was a story for another day. It's pretty apparent that this guy was a potential love interest and that she didn't want to have to go to this reception by herself. Cassandra turns 26 this Saturday and said she's trying to get her sisters to visit her. Mike probably won't be able to go because of work, but is planning on sending her flowers.
I know I'm totally geeking out about this. I'm obviously very excited for them! :) I just feel Heavenly Father's hand in this so much. To have seen all that Mike went through... and to have known Cassandra for a while and know that she's been wanting to get married so much... this is just wonderful. I think that they will get married. C's been texting with him yesterday and today, it's all good stuff. Woohoo! I'm going to have an awesome sister-in-law! :) (I hope.)
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Baby Showers (and Hunger!), Mike's date, President Anderson
On Friday, after Lila's morning nap, we picked up Emily and went to the mall. We had lunch at the food court and Lila happily munched on some fries. I went there to get some jeggings for Annette's baby Ruby. Preston loved Lila's jeggings and it's become a bit of a joke in the ward. That night, we had a game night with Ann and Ben Hernandez and Kari and Hayden. Ann and Ben are living with Ann's parents right now while Ben is looking for a job; they just moved here from Mexico; Ann is originally from Kalamazoo. Nice couple! So Lila got to play around with Lucas and Hayden. We played "Oh Caca!" and had pizza. It was a pretty short game night. Didn't start till 7:15 and ended at 8:30 or so when Lila was ready for bed. That night, we watched an episode or two of Planet Earth.
Saturday was a weird day. I had Annette's baby shower at 11. It was really nice and relaxed and intimate. No silly games. Just visiting, eating, and opening presents. They did pass around a book that we could write advice in. It was a really nice time and it was so fun seeing her open all of the sweet baby girl clothes. And OHHHH did the baby hunger kick in. lol. I was jokingly telling the women I was sitting next to that if I'm pregnant soon I'm blaming it on Annette. I'm so excited to meet sweet baby Ruby. Everyone laughed when she opened the jeggings. I also bought her the most adorable outfit, a limey-yellow-green and tan outfit, that she said she was going to buy at Kohl's the other day, but Preston told her to wait until after the shower. :) Score.
After that I headed right to Desiree's shower, which was completely different. It was at a moody/trendy restaurant, North Eleven. Her sister is a manager there and Tyler is a waiter there. There were a LOT of people there--over thirty. And we were all sitting at a very long table, so it didn't feel very intimate. Desiree was dressed up fancy. It was catered by the place, so I got my fill of Pepsi and mozzarella sticks. :) I sat near Sonja, Juliet Nava-Altman, Ann, and Danielle (formerly Bush) Johnson and her sister Karen. Danielle and Brian Bush are getting divorced. Not a surprise. I'm going to take more maternity pictures of Sonja in a few weeks. It was a long shower and got boring after a while. There were a ton of presents.
So yes, I left the showers very, very, very baby hungry. :) While I was at the showers, Jake and Lila had lunch with Andre and then went to the grocery store. It was fun seeing her when we all got home. We played in bed for a long time, hoping that she'd fall asleep but she didn't. She's so cute now. When we ask her where her belly is, she lifts up her shirts and pats her belly and then claps her hands. She likes it when I then poke her belly and say, "Belly, belly, belly!" If we ask her where our noses are, she grabs at or points at our noses. Very, very cute. She is getting to be sooo adorable.
We met President Anderson (our stake president) at Applebee's at 5. Lila fell asleep on the way there and I sat in the car with her for 40 minutes before waking her up. She was so tired. I wrote Jess an email on Jake's phone. She'll have her baby in around a month!! So crazy. Lila and I will go visit them this summer.
We met with P.A. to talk about buying houses. He said he'd like to do that because he and Cynthia have had 8 houses and have learned a lot. It was really good to sit down and just talk about it--helps Jake and I feel better about it and more informed, and helps the idea solidify in our minds. It's a big step to take... feels like such a grown-up thing to do, but P.A. reminded us that it's a natural thing to do and helped us feel more confident about it. Good man! He'll make a great mission president.
Saturday night we waited to hear from Mike till 12:30am. He said he'd leave Cassandra's at 10:30pm. But we didn't hear back so we went to bed. This morning we woke up a little after 7 and heard about the date from Mike on the phone (I'll write a separate post about that--it's awesome!). That made us excited all day. Church went well. We gave the prayers. Lila was pretty cuddly and screamed a lot too. Jake had to do stuff for a stake audit during second hour and part of third so I had Lila duty. I walked around the hallway with her for what felt like a long time, and she finally fell asleep just as Jake rounded the corner to save the day. My heart leapt when I saw him, "My husband!" So he took Lila to EQ and she slept till that was over.
After church we went to the nursing home. There's an old lady there who just adores Lila. Lila was pretty shy and snuggled Jake, she was still tired and waking up from her nap. After that we went to an open house. It was an awesome house and we're interested in it... we thought maybe we'd make an offer on it this week, but we'll have to think that through. We're going to have Rich show it to us tomorrow at lunch. We think it'll sell fast, so if we do want to make an offer, we probably need to do it soon. So we'll see. (I still like the Greenbriar house.)
Lila pooped three times today, it was awesome. It smells SO BAD because of the vitamins she's taking. Nasty.
Mike and Emily came over after the KUB break-the-fast. Mike told us everything about the date yesterday and that was fun. He and Cassandra will get married someday. It's pretty apparent. :) We're so happy. Lila fell asleep in the Ergo while he was talking. She didn't get good naps in today. Jake broke his fast. Talked to parents on the phone. Mike and Em left.
We started putting Lila to bed at 7 because she was super tired and she screamed and cried for the better part of an hour. It was weird. She was super tired. She ate a few crackers today, which is great. She's slowly getting better. Talked to Mike a little bit more on the phone and have the CES fireside on. Now we're going to have some milk and cookies. :) Yum.
Good weekend.
Saturday was a weird day. I had Annette's baby shower at 11. It was really nice and relaxed and intimate. No silly games. Just visiting, eating, and opening presents. They did pass around a book that we could write advice in. It was a really nice time and it was so fun seeing her open all of the sweet baby girl clothes. And OHHHH did the baby hunger kick in. lol. I was jokingly telling the women I was sitting next to that if I'm pregnant soon I'm blaming it on Annette. I'm so excited to meet sweet baby Ruby. Everyone laughed when she opened the jeggings. I also bought her the most adorable outfit, a limey-yellow-green and tan outfit, that she said she was going to buy at Kohl's the other day, but Preston told her to wait until after the shower. :) Score.
After that I headed right to Desiree's shower, which was completely different. It was at a moody/trendy restaurant, North Eleven. Her sister is a manager there and Tyler is a waiter there. There were a LOT of people there--over thirty. And we were all sitting at a very long table, so it didn't feel very intimate. Desiree was dressed up fancy. It was catered by the place, so I got my fill of Pepsi and mozzarella sticks. :) I sat near Sonja, Juliet Nava-Altman, Ann, and Danielle (formerly Bush) Johnson and her sister Karen. Danielle and Brian Bush are getting divorced. Not a surprise. I'm going to take more maternity pictures of Sonja in a few weeks. It was a long shower and got boring after a while. There were a ton of presents.
So yes, I left the showers very, very, very baby hungry. :) While I was at the showers, Jake and Lila had lunch with Andre and then went to the grocery store. It was fun seeing her when we all got home. We played in bed for a long time, hoping that she'd fall asleep but she didn't. She's so cute now. When we ask her where her belly is, she lifts up her shirts and pats her belly and then claps her hands. She likes it when I then poke her belly and say, "Belly, belly, belly!" If we ask her where our noses are, she grabs at or points at our noses. Very, very cute. She is getting to be sooo adorable.
We met President Anderson (our stake president) at Applebee's at 5. Lila fell asleep on the way there and I sat in the car with her for 40 minutes before waking her up. She was so tired. I wrote Jess an email on Jake's phone. She'll have her baby in around a month!! So crazy. Lila and I will go visit them this summer.
We met with P.A. to talk about buying houses. He said he'd like to do that because he and Cynthia have had 8 houses and have learned a lot. It was really good to sit down and just talk about it--helps Jake and I feel better about it and more informed, and helps the idea solidify in our minds. It's a big step to take... feels like such a grown-up thing to do, but P.A. reminded us that it's a natural thing to do and helped us feel more confident about it. Good man! He'll make a great mission president.
Saturday night we waited to hear from Mike till 12:30am. He said he'd leave Cassandra's at 10:30pm. But we didn't hear back so we went to bed. This morning we woke up a little after 7 and heard about the date from Mike on the phone (I'll write a separate post about that--it's awesome!). That made us excited all day. Church went well. We gave the prayers. Lila was pretty cuddly and screamed a lot too. Jake had to do stuff for a stake audit during second hour and part of third so I had Lila duty. I walked around the hallway with her for what felt like a long time, and she finally fell asleep just as Jake rounded the corner to save the day. My heart leapt when I saw him, "My husband!" So he took Lila to EQ and she slept till that was over.
After church we went to the nursing home. There's an old lady there who just adores Lila. Lila was pretty shy and snuggled Jake, she was still tired and waking up from her nap. After that we went to an open house. It was an awesome house and we're interested in it... we thought maybe we'd make an offer on it this week, but we'll have to think that through. We're going to have Rich show it to us tomorrow at lunch. We think it'll sell fast, so if we do want to make an offer, we probably need to do it soon. So we'll see. (I still like the Greenbriar house.)
Lila pooped three times today, it was awesome. It smells SO BAD because of the vitamins she's taking. Nasty.
Mike and Emily came over after the KUB break-the-fast. Mike told us everything about the date yesterday and that was fun. He and Cassandra will get married someday. It's pretty apparent. :) We're so happy. Lila fell asleep in the Ergo while he was talking. She didn't get good naps in today. Jake broke his fast. Talked to parents on the phone. Mike and Em left.
We started putting Lila to bed at 7 because she was super tired and she screamed and cried for the better part of an hour. It was weird. She was super tired. She ate a few crackers today, which is great. She's slowly getting better. Talked to Mike a little bit more on the phone and have the CES fireside on. Now we're going to have some milk and cookies. :) Yum.
Good weekend.
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