Lily is a funny one!

Recently Lily has been cracking us up constantly. Yesterday we were talking about her world traveler experience at age 5, seeing that she has been to Denmark, Norway and Guatemala. She added that she had also been to Walt Disney World.

Over the break, Lily has been enjoying alot of computer time. One of the sites she frequently uses is Nick Jr. They normally have 1 adverstisement per day that they seem to play every 5 minutes. Today I came upstairs and she asked me if I knew what "covergirl" was. I played innocent and had her it explain it to me. She said first mommy, you put the stuff on your eyelashes, then the stuff on you lips......and then your are beautiful. I guess she saw one too many commericials!

aiming wand

Last night Lily made her version of a gun....she called it her aiming wand!

The tooth fairy to our house for the 1st time!

It was a very exciting Sunday and Monday this week. Lily lost her first wiggly tooth on Sunday night before bed! We put the tooth in mommy's tooth fairy pillow and waited for the tooth fairy to come!!!! The tooth fairy brought a vintage 1974 Eisenhower Silver Dollar! Awesome! Monday morning at 5:30 a.m. Lily came bounding into the bedroom, turning on the lights to show me her silver dollar! She later told me that the tooth fairy had turned her tooth into the silver dollar and left some invisible fairy dust...very cool...

That's my girl....

Lily is an officially trained bargain hunter/yard saler! The other day we were driving to church and she saw a bunch of pumpkins spread out on tables and in the yard....she exclaims, "Look a pumpkin yard sale!" So fun! In reality, it is a fruit and veggie stand that a family has outside their house....but it sure looked like a pumpkin yard sale to me too!

In other exciting news, Lily has not ONE but TWO wiggly teeth! She cannot wait for them to fall out! Every day she asks me when it is going to happen! I guess we better get that tooth fairy pillow ready!

Walt Disney World Magic

Twirling her dress around her finger

Twirling and swishing in her dress

Last Day, Last Park...Toasted

Lily, Abuelita, and I spent 5 incredible days at Walt Disney World! This just happened to coincide with Lily's 3rd official Gotcha Day anniversary! What a joy it was to see it through Lily's eyes! Overall I think she could have done without most of the rides and the shows. But she loved the characters!!!!! We saw so many of them through our character breakfasts and our time in the parks. We got our picture taken with... Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Tigger, Pooh, Tiana and Naveen, Belle, Aurora, Cinderella and her Fairy God Mother, Snow White, Mulan, Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Ariel, Jasmine and Aladdin, Alice, The Mad Hatter, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and her fairy friend Rosetta, Lilo and Stitch, Chip and Dale and Mary Poppins. It was so fun to watch her meet them! She twirled her hair and her dress, twirled her finger inside her dress, smiled, and hugged them. For many of them, she even got their autograph! She was so excited that she found Mickey's white rabbit for him, when Stitch told her he had a crush on Cinderella and when she bounced with Tigger. Truly a priceless experience.

Our favorite Lilyism of the trip happened at Animal Kingdom on the last day....we were standing by a "display" of flamingos and each had identification number tags wrapped around their leg. Lily exclaimed, "Oh my gosh, are they for sale?" Love it....through the eyes of a child!

Before Sept. escapes me...

Just a quick note before Sept. escapes me. Lily has completed several weeks of kindergarten. Even though she tells us she doesn't want to go, she does appear to like it. From what we can see she appears to be doing well. She comes home almost every other day with a prize from the prize box because she had earned 10 "sticks" for doing "positive" things. I will be eager to hear how she is doing at the parent-teacher conference in Oct.

A funny from Lily last week. Olav and I were talking about infant dedication vs. infant baptism. Lily overheard bits and pieces of the conversation. Later she told Daddy, "I know why they don't baptize infants, it's because they won't get water in their eyes." I love how her little brain works!

Anyway, next weekend we are off to Walt Disney World! Oh, how I hope it is an excellent time!

Well so much for my kindergarten fantasy...

Today was Lily's first day of Kindergarten. I had this wonderful fantasy that she would wake up so happy, excited, and eager to go to school. Instead...we got tears, temper tantrums, and a battle of wills....oh well...so much for my fantasy...

We were even a tiny bit late for school. However, once the battles were over and she was dressed and ready to go, she posed happily for the camera. Go figure. I raced home from work early to see her get off the bus. The photo captures it all! She seemed to enjoy her first day and spoke very animatedly about the gingerbread man and how he left the book and left multiple clues/trails all over the school. She even came home and set a gingerbread man trap!


Unfortunately, the evening ended with more of the same. Lily was excused from dinner for not listening and hence began to lose multiple toys, having another screaming temper tantrum, and ended up having to get dressed and go to bed early. Needless to say, it was not the way I pictured today!

Let's hope that tomorrow is a lot better!

Twas the night before kindergarten...

This poem was written by a Megan Henry, a fellow guate mama and a dear friend. It expresses so much of how I feel.

Twas the night before Kindergarten and all through our flat
Not a creature was a flutter, not even a bat
All of the new supplies were placed neatly in her pack
It is so heavy I pray it won't break her back.

My big girl, no longer a baby, was nestled all down in her bunk bed
Goodness, I hope she doesn't wake up tomorrow with bedhead
And Daddy holding still, and I in a puddle of tears
Both sat on the sofa in quiet thinking it couldn't have been already five years.

Wasn't it just yesterday we were in Guatemala holding our new baby girl
Rocking slowly and running our fingers through her soft curls
It is like a dream how quickly the time has flown bye
To say I don't miss those early days, even the hard ones, would be a lie.

Tomorrow starts a new chapter in her life full of new stories yet to be told
I am sure some will make my eyes want to roll
She will be surrounded by new ideas, new pressures, new friends
Her Daddy and I can only hope and pray that her good heart does not bend.

But tonight I hope she sleeps well and has a beautiful Kindergarten dream
Tomorrow will come soon enough, and she will have to start walking on that beam
But her Daddy and I will cheer her on daily, catch her if she has a trip and fall
Just as we did while she was learning to walk and to crawl.

Looking at her now I can see how big she has grown
I know that she is ready, even if I am feeling quite blown
My dear Kinder girl tomorrow maybe a day that in your memories that might not last
Daddy and I will always remember it as the day that came too fast.

Indian Princess, Professional Model and Artist

Our future Matisse

Lily Indian Princess

Our Model...yikes...

Well, the summer of being home together is coming to an end. I think both Lily and are ready to separate and begin new routines. The last few weeks have been fun though as Lily has been getting in touch with her Native American "Indian" roots thanks to Pocahontas! We have talked at length about what type of Mayan Indian she is (Quiche) and what type of Native American Indian Pocahontas was (Powhatan). She has the image from the media she has been exposed to of being strong like an Indian. She told me the other day that she was "strong like
an Indian". She is frequently found wearing her beaded headband and wielding a sword for example: a wooden stick she found outside or a kitchen curtain rod that we recently took down. She also speaks "Indian Spanish" a creative language invention of her own. So far we have learned 3 of her words: farewell, love, and die, all done with hand motions.

Lily has also been found to mimic mannequins in the shopping mall. Many times while in a store, I will turn around and find Lily has climbed up on the platform to be right next to the faceless or headless mannequin and assume the same exact pose! Very cute! Today however I realized that I better get on my knees praying...We were walking through the mall and Lily said, "Hey mommy look"....when I turned around to look she was imitating the pose of the Victoria's Secret model...it was very funny....but like I wrote on Facebook...I am going to ramp up my prayer life in regards to Lily!

Lastly, Lily has spent the summer, coloring and cutting up a storm! Yesterday at IKEA I bought her an art easel with her very own roll of paper. Maybe that will stop her from taking all our computer paper:) Anyway, I must say I was really proud of her masterpieces. I am really excited she will be able to take art class in school this year!

So proud!

One of the joys of being home full-time is enjoying all the little things that Lily says and does!

I am so super proud of her! Last week she got her swimming "report card". She has moved up to the next level! I was hoping she would! Her confidence is incredible! Yay, Lily!

Also the other day we were in the grocery store...I heard myself in Lily when she said to me, "Mommy my patience is done.". Another mom overheard this and laughed out loud...So funny!

Lastly, yesterday Lily put on her marriage counseling skills. Ashton's birth mom is separated from her husband and the father of her daughter. Lily was wondering why they didn't live together anymore. I explained it to Lily the best I could, but as inquisitive as she is I guess she wanted the answer from the source. So while at church yesterday, Ms. Taylor told me that Lily asked her why she and Annabelle's daddy don't live together anymore. Ms. T. explained that she and Mr. D. had a difficult time sharing their toys. Lily went on to provide "marriage counseling", explaining why didn't they try sharing, and went on to explain how this is done! Love it! I do pray that Ms. T and Mr. D. can "use Lily's sharing strategies" and get back together!

Lily's 1st communion

Yesterday Lily took her first communion. She didn't want to go to Pre-K so she sat with Daddy and me during service. Toward the end of the service, communion was offered...I wasn't sure if she could take it or not so I left that up to Daddy. He said she could and he began to explain that the meaning of communion was to remember Jesus. Lily said, "I believe in Jesus". She went and took communion with Daddy. Scott Patterson an elder in the church was incredible with her, getting down to her level and explaining that this was Jesus' body and blood shed for her. On the way back Lily exclaimed, "That bread was good!"

A big improvement!

Lily is really maturing and growing in confidence. One area I really noticed this summer is her swimming! She has gotten really good! She loves to jump off the side and go underwater. She can swim a short distance both above and underneath the water. We are super proud of her!

Also after a rough start to the spring/summer, I have seen super improvement in her behaviors as well. She has become such a joy to be around when she is not tired! I hope this continues through the summer!

Our little entrepreneur!

Yesterday we had a yard sale. Lily wanted to sell lemonade so she could raise money for "Norma" in Guatemala (btw...Norma is a picture of a poor girl she saw on a child sponsorship letter that came to our house one day). We do sponsor a little girl named Kimberly in Guatemala so we now just refer to her as "Norma".

Anyway, the first two sales of the yard sale were 2 cups of lemonade! Lily's high-pressure sales techniques won over the crowd. As everyone walked or drove by she shouted..."Lemonade". Also when people would come by to peruse our yard sale offerings Lily would ask them if they had money so they could buy lemonade.

Needless to say Lily raised about $5 worth of quarters to send to "Norma" in Guatemala!

Passion

Things have been challenging with Lily lately. Many times I find myself praying before the Lord, asking for guidance and wisdom as to how to channel her "passion". Today as I was praying, it struck me...that yes she is fiery and yes she is strong-willed, but she is also very passionate. She is passionately kind, she is passionately angry, she is passionately sad, etc. Everything emotion she experiences she experiences with intense passion. I know in life these things will serve her well, but many times they are difficult to parent. I can just look at how successful my sister is and see how her firey strong will and passion have helped her in her life.

Lord, I lift Lily up to you. I pray that you use her passion and strong will for your kingdom. Help her to learn to control and manage her emotions more appropriately. Yelling, talking back and talking sassy, stomping her feet, hitting, and rolling her eyes are not effective communication strategies. Lord help us to remain calm. I am thankful that she is with our calm family as opposed to a more volatile family. I could only imagine how volatile things could get. Lord, help me to stay calm and even-keeled when dealing with her. Many times I feel worn down by her constant attempts to do battle and sometimes I just want to react. Help me not to fan the flames of battle.

Thank you, Lord, for this beautiful child. Without her, our lives would have a huge void that would be unfillable. She brings us so much joy and laughter! I pray that you will guide us in parenting her so that she can be a strong woman of God!

Firery, but man is she cute!

Well, adjusting to big sisterhood has been good! Lily is a super big sister! She loves her baby brother a lot! She always wants to feed him and burp him (at least for 5 seconds) before she is distracted and moves on to the next thing she wants to do.

As always she has been super fiery. I feel like I am always battling with her. I definitely do not like that. She is so strong-willed and if she does not get her way she gets angry. She frequently stomps her feet, hits, talks back, etc. I pray that she learns to manage her anger and frustration better as she grows up...otherwise, those teenage years are going to be very difficult!

Yesterday I asked Lily if she heard me, and she smirked at Daddy and said, "I only pretend my listening ears are broken". Little booger:)

Of course, there is a very charming side of Lily as well! She was at Abuelita's house and she was hitting the cat with a stick. Abuelita told her not to hit the cat with the stick. Lily's response was, that she was sooo sorry, "I just get so excited when I get a stick in my hand."

Then lastly there is her spiritual component..which I adore and admire. The other day we had a friend over for dinner. Our S. is of the Jewish faith. Lily turns to me at dinner and whispers in my ear.. "mommy I don't think she knows Jesus". I was just dumbfounded...how pereceptive of her. I pray she continue to keep her passion for God.

Our beautiful 5 year old!

Well, life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately! Lily turned 5 and a week later she welcomed a new baby brother in her life! She had quite the party weekend! The Thursday before her birthday we made special icecream cupcakes for her friends at Ms. Helen's house. On Friday we had a mini celebration with a pinata and cupcakes for her friends at biblestudy/church. Saturday we had our family party with 3 of Lily's friends. Sunday we had lunch at the Airways Inn restaurant in Frederick. Talk about awesome! It was priceless watching the planes and helicopters land and take off while eating our food! Monday Lily celebrating with her class! Mommy made fruit kabobs drizzled in chocolate! Yummo! I think Lily had a great time!

One of my favorite quotes from Lily recently was, "Mommy I know someone who is stronger than a policeman...." Who I asked..."Mr. Incredible...and he is blue!" Priceless! Especially knowing in her mind, that Mr. Incredible is a real person:)

Lastly, one week after Lily's birthday we welcomed her beautiful baby brother Ashton Taylor home. She has been an incredible big sister!

Milestones!

First, it is hard to believe Lily is going to be 5 this weekend! How did time fly so quickly???? Of course, she is as cute as ever and continues to be our little firecracker!

Next, we met with Lily's teacher last weekend and she was telling us how super smart Lily is! I am so proud. Her teacher said she is already 3/4 of the way through kindergarten. Incredible! And she thinks that if she continues on this path she may have an opportunity to go to GT/magnet school in the future! Wow, these are the times, I wish her birth mom could see her!

Lily read me her first book this week! It was awesome! I was sooooo proud of her!!!! It's so exciting too! I can't wait for her to read to the new baby!

Lastly, it occurred to me that on the 25th of March...We had been home for 2.5 years and 1 day. We have been a forever family longer than we had been separated when she was in Guatemala!

Growth Update

Lily went to the doctor today for her once-a-year check-up. She is doing great! She is now officially 40 3/4 inches! I goofed though on her growth chart...I had her stuck for a long time now (I think since July 2010) at 42 inches. I guess that is what happens when the growth chart is not hung right or mommy measures wrong. I can't remember what percentile she was in before, but now she is in the 15-20th percentile. If I recall when she was younger it was more like the 5th and 10th percentile...so she is really growing!

Her weight is doing awesome too! She weighs 39.5 lbs and is in the 50th percentile! I had thought she already weighed 40 lbs so I had moved her out of her "baby" car seat, but I guess technically she still has a .5 to go! I told her she could go into the big girl's car seat when the new baby comes. No more 5-point harness...but a seat belt!

Our future scientist!

Lily has been very interested in anything scientific nowadays. She loves learning about animals and their patterns in nature. She spouts off random scientific facts like hibernation. She loves watching this PBS program online called Ruff, where they do all kinds of fun scientific experiments! I've lost track of all the cool things they teach her.

She also has become interested in doing addition. She loves adding numbers and challenging others to add two numbers together as well. She can almost count to 100 as well. She just gets stuck at 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90...otherwise she is good to go. Amazing! She is soooo super smart!

Hunter and our Little Disciple

First I wanted to show the "Valentine" that Lily's best buddy Hunter made for her! So sweet! He also gave her a picture of his baseball card.

The second thing was I was volunteering in Lily's class today and I was talking to Hunter's mom stating how Lily talks about Hunter constantly and how we need to set up a play date. She replied, that Hunter too talks about Lily constantly. Hunter recently was sharing how Lily talked to Hunter about Jesus, and how he died on the cross. At first, I was "mortified" thinking...oh no...this parent is going to "hate" me. Now I know that is not the response I should have had, but I am human. But then she went on to say that she had been praying that her son would find a good Christian friend in school and that Lily was an answer to prayer! And of course, after I got over my initial shock I thought wow...isn't this why God fought so hard to bring her home from Guatemala. He knows she is going to be a mighty warrior for Christ! I am so proud of my little disciple! I pray that she continues to grow in her faith and continues to have a passion to share it with those around her. I also pray that I will become more like her in that regard!

January Update

Lily's favorite movie which we have watched at least 100 times is Barbie Mermadia, so Barbie has now officially penetrated our house, Thanks to Daddy and Santa Claus.


Lily's best friends in school are Hunter and Meredith

She has been really into making body noises the last few months. Burping is one of her faves....oh my

She has also gotten really good at whistling.

Prior to Christmas, she saw a picture of a "pobre nino" named Norma who lives in Guatemala in an advertisement for child sponsorship. Ever since then, she has been saving toys and money to give to Norma. Ironically we sponsor a girl named Kimberly, in Guatemala..but ever since she saw the picture of "Norma" that is the image she holds dear. She truly does have a sweet heart. I just wish I knew what to do with all the stuff she has collected for "Norma".

She even said she wanted to give some money to her birth mom. Again so sweet. Lord, I love her sweet heart. I hope someday that if she desires to do so, she can come to know her birth mom. Lord I pray it would not be the situation I fear (the exploitation of Lily for personal gain), but one of pure and holy motives.