Visitation babysitting

I babysat for church visitation with Joanna Alexander's help. As you can see, Anna is crawling well now - she is crawling toward the camera!

The amazing castle complete with stage. 

Picture Comparison

Lily in October 2011

Anna this morning

My Blonde Moment

I have been doing a massive amount of freezer cooking today and trying to keep up with the dishes as I went. 

My kitchen sink wasn't draining and even the garbage disposal didn't make a difference at all. 

I was thinking that it was funny to have the plumber's wife with a clogged sink!

After James came home I asked him to look at it. He fixed it quickly - the drain plug was in under the dirty water. No wonder it didn't drain!

I had to ask him what color my hair was after that one!

Shopping, cooking and naptime

Publix carts are so much fun! Anna really caught on and enjoyed spinning the wheel. Lily turned in the direction we were going like a professional driver.  

My ground beef was smushed around the freezer rack and froze that way. Lily pronounced it stuck. She tried hard to get it off, but we can only wait for it to thaw. 

Sleepy Anna waking up from her nap. 

Family Snapshot and Silliness

This was taken by Lily. :-)

Setting up for a game of bowling - duplo style!

Bowling from the other couch. He did it!

This was our first attempt at a family picture. James was holding the phone outstretched. 

Family snapshot - success!

I let Lily help with supper using the Pampered Chef kid's knife. It is dull - don't worry!

Anna got a fast ride!

Then it was Daddy's turn to get a ride. Lily didn't seem to want to push him though. 

Lily looked grown up this morning. 

Anna enthusiastically went to meet her sweet potatoes. 

Daddy time - watching Lily's antics. 

Catching You Up

 

Lily in the church nursery Wednesday night. I worked in the nursery that night. 

Anna in the nursery. 

Mom Bryan tried briefly to hold the wiggly Anna and Keith at the same time. We went over to their house to play Catan with the Sanders, Steve and Emily, and Dad and Mom Bryan. 

I put Lily's hair in a ponytail the other day. To be completely honest, I did it so she would look super cute as I struggle with potty training her. Cleaning up lots of wet pull-ups is easier when you're working with adorable-ness. 

Lily helps me put away the clean silverware. 

Swinging outside while Anna napped. 

Mom Bryan watched Lily while we went to Nikko's with the TBC's Young Married's group. We brought Anna with us. 

We went biking at John's house Saturday - hot but fun!

Lily fell into their coffee table and bit all the way through her bottom lip from the inside. It is healing well now. 

Just now, Lily and I did a craft project from some extra Sunday school handwork. Lily is using kid scissors and learning how to cut. She is doing super well!

Growing and playing

Anna fell asleep listening to my violin while she swung. 

"Beah a-side me!"

All clean for Wednesday night church. 

Anna's curlies are very pronounced after her hair is towel-dried. 

Anna had some intense crawling training from Daddy last night. He figured out that if he kept her arms moving forward gently, she would crawl instead of stopping to sit as she tends to do. 

After his session of physical therapy, she stated crawling across the living room as James held her toy just out of reach. 

This morning Lily held out a toy to Anna too. She used her high-pitched baby sing-song voice to tell Anna to crawl.  It was very cute. 

My Baby Girl

I was just thinking...

As I hold my baby in my arms, I can close my eyes and feel her softness, listen to her tiny breaths, kiss her silky hair, and cradle her littleness. She is a tiny piece of heaven sent for me to hold for a little while. An eternal soul loaned to us to mold toward a future eternity. What a priceless gift from God to parents!

Potty Training

I started potty training this morning with Lily. So far in these two hours she has wet then dirtied her panties. Ugh. Cleaning dirties out of panties isn't fun. 

I'm focusing on rewarding her with a chip when she is dry. 

I've started asking myself if I'm still sane. If the answer is yes, then I get a chip!

In case you can't tell, I'm tired!

Sunday Fellowship

As I was fixing Sunday lunch, I gave Anna her pacifier with low expectations. The silence was amazing! She is usually very noisy whether she is whining or squealing in glee. I'm going to remember this trick. 

We hosted fellowship last night:

Sorry that I didn't get more pictures of Lily - she was in the other room playing most of the time. It was fun!

Guess What We Found?

We just found a teddy bear!

Where did we find it? In a suit bag in James' closet! We were cleaning out our un-wanted things for the Great Give-Away scheduled for July 6th. 

Why all the excitement about a bear? When James and I returned from our honeymoon three years and one month ago, there were three hundred bears hidden all over our home. 

They. Were. Everywhere.

I thought I had found them all, but apparently not!

Who knows? We may find more bears on our fifteenth wedding anniversary!

Quiet Days and Curly Hair

Anna graduated to 9-12 month sized clothes!

"Help, Momma!"

Reading the Chick-fil-A books Aunt Becca
sent to Lily.

James tried to multiply his time by
giving both girls a piggy-back ride
at the same time. Lily couldn't really
hold on well though. :-)

Playing with her baby doll.

I was trying to photograph Anna's curlies.
By the way, Lily was getting a horsey ride.

I think Anna's hair is going to be even curlier
than her sister's! Lily's hair didn't curl this soon.

My Little Garden

The big, bad, tomato-eating bugs were moving in, so I covered my garden. 

Tomatoes, green beans, and sweet potatoes. 

I've never grown such lush vegetation before. The fertilizer really worked!

Green peppers, marigolds, chives and sweet potatoes. 

My harvest today! That is the fifth tomato of the season. Last year I had a harvest of four tomatoes all year, so I have already surpassed my record yield! Yay me!

It helps to have low expectations. :-)

The blueberries are from our new bushes.

Sunday Church

Lily in her Sunday School Class. Becky Sanders is her teacher. She had her pennies ready for offering safely stowed in a Baggie to prevent her chewing them. 

Anna in her Sunday School nursery with her teachers, Mrs. Woody and Mrs. Keane. 

Anna just now, saying, "Good morning!"

(Not literally - she can't say anything other than Da-Da and Ma-Ma)