Category Archives: Lila

Lila Kate The Flower Girl

Posted in Lila, Liz's Life by

Two weekends ago Luke’s sister Emily tied the knot with Kenny in Bloomington, Indiana. They are a great match and we were all so happy to see them become husband & wife.

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One of the highlights of the weekend for us was getting to see Lila be a flower girl. Lila was equally excited. A princess dress? Flower crown? Cake? All her family? Sign Lila up!

Lila tends to be a little shy. I hate using that term because I don’t want to label her as one thing or another. I typically say “she needs a little warm up time” or “she’s feeling a bit bashful.” Needless to say, we were anticipating that she may have trouble getting down the aisle once she saw all the people watching her in the church. Two years old is a bit young to really “get” the whole flower girl thing too.

Emily sent Lila some flower petals to practice with in our house and for the weeks leading up to it she “walked the aisle” in our living room. We also tried to prep her as much as possible – “there will be a lot of people there that will want to say hi to you, so if you feel uncomfortable, you can just smile at them.”

I got her the perfect little tulle, silk and lace dress off Easy, and even made her a flower crown from fresh flowers we got at the farmer’s market the day of the wedding. She looked perfect!

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Finally her moment came. She was at the back of the church with Luke while I was in the front coaxing her down.

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Wouldn’t you know it? Our girl nailed it! She walked the whole way down the aisle, gently tossing her leaves and even looked around and smiled at all the people around her. I was so proud!

What got cut off in the video is that as soon as she got to the end, she was very adamant that ALL of her leaves be out of her basket, so she stood at the end and urgently threw them all out on the floor. Then seeing the big pile of leaves, decided “this looks fun!” and proceeded to roll around in them saying “I want to play in the leaves!”

It was pretty adorable. I swooped her up and we watched Emily make her grand entrance.

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As she walked by, Lila said “she has a cape on, mama!” I told her “It’s called a train, honey.” This confused Lila to no end “What train? I don’t see a train? Where’s the train??”

Our girl had lost her ability to be still or quiet at the point, so I took her into the hall until the service was over and we could get on with the real business of this wedding (according to Lila) …. the cake!

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Congrats Emily & Kenny!! We had so much fun at your wedding and are honored you had Lila part of your special day. XO.

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Thanks to my MIL Felicia and various other wedding guests for snapping of these photos. 

Dear Lila: You’re Two and a Half!

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Dear Lila,

You turned two and a half last month and what a joy you are. A friend asked me yesterday what age I like best so far and I told her “every age gets better and better.” So far 2 1/2 is a lot of fun.

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I love this age because you’re still little enough that you say and do things not because you think we’ll be entertained by it, but just because you want to. This means you say and do a lot of REALLY cute things without even knowing it. Like when we asked you to “put your arm around Reagan for a picture.” lol

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We all have to laugh because for some reason you talk with a southern accent. This little twang you have going is seriously the cutest. Some of your southern sayings include:

– “Mommy can we go bye-bye sumpin’?” (Can we go out somewhere today)
– “Gon do mommy?” (what are you doing mommy)
– “A nudder one please?” (can I have another one)

Since you’re still learning to talk, you say some really cute things that I just don’t have the heart to correct. You call women “he” and men “she,” and anything that happened in the past is “last years.” As in “last years I ate ice cream” even though it was just last night.

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I joke with daddy that you’re similar to an ornery 85 year old man because you are very set in your ways and want everything done a particular way. Your bedtime routine must go in the right order or you’ll be the first to call us out for missing a step. You’re also really into doing things “by myself!!”

Daddy recently took the side off your crib so you can climb in an out on your own. You were so excited by your newfound freedom that we had a bit of a transition period while you learned that you still had to sleep! One night Daddy and I were watching TV at 10pm (you go to bed at 7:30), when you casually came downstairs decked out in your dress up clothes – tutu, bunny ears and jewelry.

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Speaking of dress up, your imagination has gotten very creative lately and you’re doing more and more pretend play. We absolutely love to hear you talk on your fake phone or have breakfast with your “friends.” Sometimes you even set a chair just for me, which melts my heart.

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One of the sweetest developments you’ve gone through these months, is the ability to name your feelings. You tell me when you need space, feel frustrated or are sad. On the flip side, you also tell us frequently and unprompted that you “lub” us very much. You have extended this love to your grandparents and family as well. This text came in from Mimi while she babysat the other night.

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You’ve been having a fun summer so far. I scaled back with work so I can spend more time with you. We go to the park, to 577 gardens, to the grocery store and of course, to the pool. You love showing off your “tricks,” which entails jumping off the edge and going under. As soon as you pop back up (thanks to your puddle jumper), you squeal “again! again! again!”

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Ladybug, you are the light of my life. I say prayers of thanks every day that I have you while I struggle to get pregnant again. My hurt hurts way less when I have you to play with or hug. You tell me often that “Mommy is going to have a baby. Not now, but soon!” and I hope you are right, because I know you’d be a wonderful big sister.

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You teach me new things about life every day and I feel immensely grateful that I get to be your mommy. Thank you for being my little bug.

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Love,

Mommy

Sick, Sick, Sick

Posted in Lila, Liz's Life by

Our family was hit last week with a nasty head cold. One that I was silly enough to think I had successfully escaped with the help of my friends vitamin D, zinc and vitamin C. Sadly I woke up Monday blasted with all the mucousy, sneezy, headachy fun that comes with this bout of the cold, and come Thursday, I’m still down for the count.

Thankfully Luke has stepped in to take over more of the child care while I rest. There is something so seriously heart-melting about overhearing your husband and daughter chase each other around saying “zoom zoom! Super Lila!” Lets just say the little girl giggles were out of control.

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Tuesday night, after spending the afternoon with Lila, Luke said that when they were watching Daniel Tiger before bed, Lila snuggled up to him and said “I love you daddy. Give me a kiss.” I must admit I was a little jealous that he got her first real “I love you.”

But that jealousy very quickly changed to happiness that they have such a tight bond. The whole daddy daughter relationship is something special, and these two sure do love each other.

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It’s been pretty cute when Lila comes and visits me in bed and says “Mommy’s sick. Rest is best. It’s okay mommy, it’s okay” while patting my arm. Or when she brings over her doctor kit and gives me a shot in my ear or puts the stethoscope up to my eye. She’s also asked to do a lot of cuddling with me while we eat sore throat suckers.

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I’m hoping this is the only winter sickness our family gets hit with. From what I’ve heard there are some bad flus and colds making the rounds among my friends. Lets just say hand washing and healthy eating are going to be my MO from here on out.

I hope you’re all staying healthy this winter, or at the very least have someone to help carry your load so you can rest.

 

 

 

 

Three Stories from 2014

Posted in Lila, Liz's Life, Married Life by

I sat down to write a post recapping 2014 today, but what came out was either negative in regard to all the stress our family went through this year with our move, botched house hunting, miscarriage, moving again etc, or overly “look on the bright side of things.”

If you’ve been reading my blog this year, you pretty much know what has gone down, so instead of recapping the year – highs and lows – I’m going to share some stories from the past few weeks. Just small moments that have made me pause and smile.

Luke and I were both raised with religion, and we are raising Lila Catholic. We pray before bed and at other random times, but admittedly we are not very good about praying before meals.

Well last night as we sat down to eat our sloppy joes over mashed sweet potatoes, I was about to dig in when Lila said “lets pray!” Then she put her hands together in what can best be described as two claws next to each other and sang “Jesus loves me this I knoooow. Amen!”

Our girl is quite perceptive and picked this song and habit up from spending the week with her Grammie & Gramps (Luke’s parents). It was a sweet moment and a reminder to slow down.

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Okay story number two. When I first met Luke’s family, it was over Thanksgiving at their house about six or seven years ago. I wanted to learn as much as I could about Luke, so I asked to see childhood photos or videos. Felicia put on a video from Christmas past when Luke was about 7 or so.

In the video Luke is shown opening a pack of baseball cards he apparently wanted desperately. After opening them he runs over to his mom and says “THANK YOU MOMMY!!!!” It was so sweet!

This Christmas, I thought of that video when Luke came over to me, his voice breathless “I’m really excited about all my presents! I just want to spend all day playing with them.” He was half joking, but I could tell he really was amped about his heart rate monitor, money clip and other presents. I love how Christmas can bring the giddy out of a 32 year old man.

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 9.36.07 AMLast story. Last year was Lila’s first Christmas not as a newborn, so I was thinking a lot about what traditions I wanted to start for her around the holidays. Growing up, Luke’s Grandpa would dress up as Santa on Christmas day. He still does this every year. Go Grandpa Batman!

Well, knowing my Dad and his proclivity to be a good sport, I proposed he start this tradition for Lila and the grand babies. He was all in. This year was our second annual visit from santa and Lila’s reaction was too funny not to share.

From the moment I said “Oh, look! I think someone is at the front door.” Lila immediately bolted to my mom, climbed into her lap and buried her face in her neck. Santa came in the front door and Lila peeked a look at him before covering her eyes with her hand. The horror of this man in red!!

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She didn’t cry or anything, and of course she gladly accepted his presents (before whipping back and burying her face in my mom), but I think it’s safe to say Lila was happy to see Santa GO! Maybe next year St. Nick.

Screen Shot 2014-12-31 at 9.41.44 AMSometimes the big events – happy or sad – take up the most space in our mind when we look back on the previous year, but sometimes its nice to remember all those small moments that make a day, a year or a life. 2014 was filled to the brim with these small, sweet but gone-in-a-flash memories. They are what I’m holding onto most from this year.

Thank you all for supporting me and lifting me up this past year. I am thankful for you all!