Another stroll in the park

A little this...A little that!

The last few weeks have been busy, busy. Two weeks ago we were blessed to have my brother return home for a few days. He and his wife are currently stationed in Guam where he serves in the United States Air Force. They recently learned that they will be moving to Anchorage, Alaska in March of next year. Wow, what a change from the tropical island of Guam but I'm already looking forward to a visit.


This last week I had the pleasure of attending "Sundae Training" at church. In the coming year I will be working in the 4 yr. old classroom again. What an awesome opportunity to teach children about Christ and help them become more like Him. After getting home from the training I told Lilly that I was at church learning more about Jesus. My heart melted when she walked away and for the first time said..."Jesus, Jesus"!! I'm pretty sure that will be the most important name she will ever learn.

Also during the week Lilly and I enjoyed several playdates with friends. The weather has been absolutely wonderful.


Over the weekend I traveled to Des Moines to visit a dear friend from high school. We enjoyed stamping cards (one of my most favorite hobbies), watching a movie and going on a trail walk. Although we don't get to talk or hang out as much as I would like to it's always fun knowing that when you get together you can pick up right where you left off.

This week we completed the summer reading program through our local library. After reading 100 books from the library we received 4 free books and an artist set. Although we have a lot of books it's always nice getting to read something new. A few books I enjoyed so much that I went out and bought for our own collection.


Yesterday Lilly had her 18 month check-up. Here are her stats:
Height: 31.75 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 22 lbs 5 oz (21st percentile)
She passed all her routine exams and questions with flying colors. Although we opted out of two of the suggested vaccinations we did have to get one. It's never fun holding down your child knowing what is about to come but luckily she only cried for a few seconds. On a brighter note it made for a very sleepy baby which resulted in a 3 hour nap.

Home Away from Home

I absolutely love going back home. The serenity and beauty of being in the country is not like anything else you'll ever experience. Here are a few pictures I captured during our weekend escape.

Count your many blessings

Lately God has repeatedly brought two words to my mind...thankfulness and contentment. Today I am counting my blessings and although the list goes on and on, here is just one...

My Favorite Past Time

Last week we took Lilly to her first Royals game. I can still remember going to the stadium as a little girl and the memories I have from that experience. Although Lilly is probably too young to ever remember this game I hope she too will someday have memories like I have. And who knows maybe she'll even enjoy the game as much as I did and use it to pay her way through college! Now that would be a grand slam!!

On our way to the game.

Lilly decided that this day, of all days, would be an appropriate day to skip a nap. She was so tired and could hardly keep her eyes open while daddy was carrying her. There were a couple of instances during the game I thought she might fall a sleep but she never did. I don't think we made it out of the parking lot before she was sound asleep.

Summer fun

Playing at the park

Doesn't take much to entertain me!

Lilly loves playing with MiMi (my mom). They have so much fun together and Lilly lights up when she sees her (and PaPa too).

Lilly has always enjoyed books so at an early age we started using flashcards to mix things up. She absolutely loves them and gets excited when she sees me getting them out. She seems to be excelling verbally and can repeat almost any word you say. Of course I think she is extremely smart for her age but then again I might be a bit bias.

17 months old

Today Lilly is 17 months old. It was 2 years ago this month that we started sharing the news that we were expecting. Back then my days were consumed with eating the right things, researching cribs, carseats, strollers and all those other big purchases, sitting in the nursery admiring every detail of the room and even continuing to personal train and teach classes. Now, 2 years later my life is so very different. Instead of trying to eat the right things I'm often trying to remember the last time I ate. Instead of admiring the nursery I'm crawling around picking up books and toys off the floor. Instead of teaching and encouraging others to exercise I'm having to work really hard to fit it in myself. I honestly had no idea that my life was going to change so much and that there would be days that I would question whether or not I was cut out for the job but I am so grateful that God gave me the opportunity to become a mom and even though I often wonder why he chose me to take care of his most precious gift, I sure am glad He did.

This afternoon we decided to go for a picnic and bike ride.

Lilly enjoyed sharing her food with daddy.

A quick picture before hitting the trail.

Ready to go!

Do I really have to wear this?

At first Lilly didn't like having the helmet on but about half way through we finally got it adjusted properly and she was able to enjoy the ride.

Sitting back here sure was a lot of work!