Birthday Party

Happy Birthday 2 Lily!

I really, really cannot believe my baby is two years old. Yes, I know, she's not really a baby anymore... But she's MY baby, and I'll call her that if I want to! In any case, our big girl had a wonderful birthday party on Saturday, with lots of friends, cake and ice cream, and balloons! I made her a strawberry birthday cake, and I was surprised that she didn't blow out the candles. She usually says her food is hot and blows on it, so I thought we could get her to blow them out, but I was wrong. She loved the cake, she had fun playing with her friends, and she still hasn't stopped playing with her new toys. Thank you all for celebrating with us!

Potty Training

Lily started potty training on Tuesday. We're not using pull-ups; I just put her in underwear instead of a diaper. Sometimes tells me she needs to go potty, but most of the time she has accidents and then tells me afterward that she went potty. Sometimes we make it to the potty in time to finish up in the potty. I take her to the bathroom every half hour so she can at least try to go, but it seems like she has a fairly good grasp of whether she needs to go or not. So sometimes I help her sit on the potty and she immediately says that she's all done.

So far she has peed in the potty once and pooped in the potty once. She gets miniature marshmallows when she goes in the potty, so I think overall she's enjoying the whole potty training experience! Meanwhile, I'm realizing that I'm going to need a lot of patience throughout this process. I think we're on the right track, though.

I know it's not like me, but I haven't taken any potty chair pictures. I've been too busy helping Lily to think about the camera, but I'll try to remember. Wish us luck!

Little Helper

Lily is a very good helper! She spent a lot of time outside while the back fence was being built, and she wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty (unlike Mommy who really feels like a fish out of water when it comes to stuff like this!).

Fence

Our backyard fence project is underway... Hiring someone to build this fence would have been twice as costly and not even half as well-built. The back section of the fence is complete, and several posts have been set for one of the side sections. Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa Corning, for all your help!

Roof

Our roof was damaged by Hurricane Ike, and we had it replaced last week. Can you believe a crew of seven replaced our entire roof, including the garage, in just one day? I was very surprised. They did a great job!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Wow, it's 2009... Hard to believe!

We rung in the new year with our 2nd annual New Year's Eve bash. It would be the 3rd annual, but two years ago doesn't really count as a "bash" because three of us girls were pregnant and Natalie actually called David during the pre-bash board games to let him know that her water had broken! Michael was born around 10pm that night, still in 2006. New Year's Eve is always interesting around here! This year's party did not disappoint - a good time was had by all, with serious gaming early on, followed by Taboo. Dancing in the kitchen, good food, and good friends.

I hope you all have a very happy, healthy new year!

Now on a more boring note, I have to get my new calendar up to date so I won't lose my mind this year! I've been using Amy Knapp's Family Organizer for about a year and a half now, and I love it. It's a unique style of planner with menu planning and grocery lists built right into the weekly calendar. I need all the help I can get to keep myself on track - I am sidetracked very easily! This year I chose the Christian version of the Family Organizer, which has scripture instead of secular inspirational messages, as well as a weekly section to record prayers and praise. If you're looking for a calendar for the new year, check these out!

Sad News

I couldn't contain my excitement, so I'm not sorry to have shared our pregnancy news so soon... But I am sorry to have to tell you all that we're not having a baby anymore - I had a miscarriage earlier this week. While I am certainly not happy that this happened, I know that it happened for a reason. For some reason God didn't want us to have this baby, and I trust that He has the perfect plan for us.