So Proud of my Kiddo!

If only I could get Lillian to be a great clean up helper in her BEDROOM. She is great helping me unload the dishwasher, take out trash, and pick up toys from the living room, but when it comes to cleaning up her own room she falls short. One day...sigh.

But I am still super proud of my girl for helping keep her classroom clean!

Little Moments with Big Meanings!

Just about every night around 6pm my family comes together at a round table and eats a meal that has been prepared. This is a time where we put down the phones, turn off the tv, and stop all homework. Some families call this dinner and others call it supper. I grew up calling it dinner I believe.

My child has not really added either word to her vocabulary and simply crawls up into her chair at the table with eyes of excitment ready to eat(most of the time) when I ask her to come sit down.

While sitting down eating we talk about various kid friendly topics. I typically start with how my day went and ask her to tell me how hers went. She usually skips telling me how her day went and starts talking about something else.

A few days ago our conversation was about Jesus. Lillian talked about how he had ouchies in his hands and feet and at night when we say our prayers we need to tell him sorry for the things we do wrong. This conversation truly amazed me and has layed on my heart since.

Her table etiquette is not always that great, but it has become a battle that is not worth fighting because she is eating and eating healthy! But conversation at the table is Great. Conversations are no longer one sided with me doing all the talking. She asks questions and answers questions.

Our conversation last night was somewhat odd, but well worth it at the end. She asked me if I was happy. I responded with "When you listen and do what I ask, I am very happy". I asked her the same question. She responded with a simple yes and a smile then proceded to eat her mac and cheese. So I asked her why she was happy.

"betause I get to talk!"

I thought about her response while cleaning up the kitchen and finishing the shelves in the laundry room. It isnt that my child isnt allowed to talk throughout the day rather she isnt given the opportunity to have deep conversations, becuase I am busy with chores or homework. My childs favorite part of the day is dinner time when she has my undivided attention.

It would be unrealistic to say that I will just stop doing chores and stop doing homework to devote more undivided time with her.

From this day forward I vow to make a meal for our Conversation Hour every night!

Fall is nearing and Apples are falling!!!

While on a mini vaca at my sisters "beach house" we stopped at a local apple farm and picked up two BIG boxes of apples for super cheap. My sister is by far the best "molly homemaker" I know. She makes a lot of stuff from scratch and freezes it to have on hand . I have a lot to learn and may I say big shoes to fill!!

Sunday evening she set out to teach me how to make homemade applesauce. Her process is SO MUCH EASIER than my moms canning process. Helping my parents year after year pick, clean, and can the produce from the garden gave me a "No Way" mind set.

In the short time that we had set aside for applesauce making fun, I made about 2 quarts. Which was definantly not as much as I thought I would have made with as many hours as I spent cutting, boiling, and pulsating apples in the food processor. But it felt great knowing that making 2 quarts of applesauce fresh from the orchard is way cheaper than buying the same amount from the grocery store!

Tonight I made an apple pie and I hope to make an apple crisp soon!!! need to get some fresh oats and brown sugar first.

A Dream...Or Reality?

It has been a typical day in the house for me with ONE exception: Lillian stayed home with me.

She usually goes to school on Thursdays because I go to the gym in the morning and again in the afternoon for aerobic classes.

She has been under the weather the last couple of days. Yesterday she stayed home as well and was acting extra "sassy". Which meant I was extra stressed. Today she was the sweetest little girl ever. We got up and went to the gym, went to get salads with a friend for lunch, did a quick walmart and cupcake run(addicted to the cupcakery!!), then came home so Lillian could have a nap before the second trip to the gym. Busy typical thursday for me and Lillian enjoyed tagging along.

Naptime in the Sites household has always been somewhat of a hassle. Today Lillian went to sleep very easily which meant I got to relax for a few hours and talk to Joe for a few minutes on the phone. She slept peacefully for 2.5 hrs, which was even more awesome!

So on the way to the gym this afternoon Lillian had a HUGE story to tell me!!!

"mommy, my eyes hurt" ( I look back and notice they are a little red and watery and ask why) "because of the bird" (what bird?) "the big yellow one, I like birds. he was mean though. he poked me in my eyes" (what? when did he do that?) "in my car, he came in the window" (at this point I was slightly confused but then remembered she watched Seaseme Street this morning, so I asked if it was the yellow bird off the tv) "no mom, it was smaller than that Big bird and it had red feathers and it sang like this...(she hummed a tune) I wanted to sing with him but then it hurted me. That wasnt nice mommy"

I explained to Lillian that I wouldn't let Lillian a bird did not fly into the car and asked her if that happened when she was sleeping. She quickly replied with...

"No, mom it really hurted me"

at which point she pulled her blanket over her head until we got to the gym.

Depolyment 2010

As I am sure all of my readers know, Joe deployed in early December 2009. He has officially been gone for 8 months(4 more left), minus the 2 weeks he was home for his rest and relaxation period. We did very little rest and relaxation though...lol. We went to Disney World for a week, then stayed with my parents for a couple days. When we got home we put together a swing set and fixed a few things around the house.

He returned to Iraq to find that half of his company were transfered to other Camps. This meant that Joe will not have as much down time, because him and his coworkers would be covering a wider area. We are both curious to see how this will turn out.

I am about to hit the books again in a couple of weeks, so I am sure the remaining 4 months will go rather quickly. I am excited to say that this is my last semester of classes before I graduated with my Bachelors Degree!!!! In the spring I will be completing an internship field study.

I am super excited that MOPS is about to start back up for the school year and am eager to meet new christian moms, but saddened that I will not be attending Spring Creek MOPS. Their meetings are on Thursdays again this year but because of my classes I wont be able to go. I missed all of last semester as well because of classes. A friend of mine goes to another group downtown that meets on Fridays. Cannot wait to see what the new MOPS year will bring!

The Hump has passed so let us begin the countdown!

A Ball of a Summer!

Little Miss Curious on her way to her 1st practice!

She has a great pitching arm!

her favorite part...Wearing that cool hat and hitting the ball "really far"!

Game Time

The Indians! Crazy group of kiddos!

Just hit the ball! Ran towards 2nd base instead of 1st!! haha

Waiting for a grounder...with no glove!! She did NOT like the glove at all!

Huddle Time

Lillian walked away yelling

"Mommy, I did It!"

Awards Dinner
Lillian loves her Trophy!



Lessons Learned this Summer:

1. Just because the city says Yes to 3 year olds does not mean that 3 year olds have the capacity to understand the concept of the game. With that said, it was so funny to watch these kids play!!!

2. Tee Ball should be played on a grass field and not a dirt field. These kids spent more time playing in the dirt than actually paying attention.

3. Just because my child is potty trained and knows where the bathrooms are, doesnt mean that she will take the extra time to walk to the bathrooms to go!

She decided to pull her pants down and pee in the field, which was slightly embarrassing....

Last name for Lillian along with other randomness!

I am more thankful everyday to continue sending Lillian to the Youth Academy through the summer. She is only going part time of course, since I am not in school.

Lillian is showing great congnitive skills with colors, letters, numbers, and puzzles. She is also beginning to remember how her days go and who she plays with and what she does with them.

Her best friend just so happens to be a boy...lol. His name is Evan. Ms. Jen says that Lillian plays with Evan for most of the day...unless she is being tormented by a red headed boy named Ryan, then she just sits in the corner ignoring everyone. Lol...I guess I can be thankful that she is not the one doing the bullying. We occasionally get to see her friend at random places around town and begs to walk around with him and his older brother "because I like them mommy!" she says. I wish we got to see Evan's mommy more often, because she is so sweet and I would feel more comfortable setting up a weekend outing for the kids with her! Lillian asks every now and again to go see him. I keep telling myself that this is innocent age appropriate fun and am thankful she has a really good friend even if it is a boy!

Lillian now has a last name...lol When people ask her what her name is she quickly without hesitation responds, "Lillian Sites" The first time I heard her say it, I laughed and made her repeat it! I now walk around asking her randomly to tell me what her name is! I am curious to see how quickly she will respond with " I just said it".

She is also writing letters. She will be coloring one minute and when you go check on her she will have a bunch of odd looking writing all over the paper. When you ask her what it is she quickly points to something and says " this is a small b for ball...or this is L for my name". After looking at her odd looking writing as she says what she wrote, I remind myself that I am 23 years older than she is and her letters look AWESOME!!!!

3 years of Motherhood

Lillian entered into this world and my life 3 years ago. From that moment on everything changed. But every change was totally worth it. I love her more than life itself and am so very thankful that God has blessed me with her.

In the last three years Lillian has traveled a lot! She has been to Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pensylvania and of course numerous cities and towns in TN. She travels well and has recently figured out how to stay awake on road trips! Which means no more leaving at bedtime and driving late and night. She will be able to add Florida to her list in June when the fam goes to Disney World.

Lillian is all girl!! She loves to wear dresses and have her hair put up in cute curls(hates having it brushed). She loves jewelry and cant wait for daddy to come home so she can have earings. She would spend hours playing in front of the mirror and playing dress-up if you let her! She LOVES shoes!

She uses Please and Thankyou often. She is a great veggie eater(just hold the carrots please, still allergic). She has her good days and bad days like everyone else. When she is having a good day it is such a GREAT day, because she is helpful and loving. When she is having a Bad day, watch out. It is funny to see how different her moods are, they are rarely in between. After 2 and half years I have finally gotten her to sleep through the night and am thankful for my sleep.

Her favorite kid song is Twinkle Twinkle and she sings it often...although somehow she knows Barney songs....ugh, and hums those often also! She loves mommy's music the best, because it has a great dancing beat! Her favorite past time is Coloring with her Green Crayon.

At bedtime she loves to pray and often brings up family members names while she prays, which is a blessing. My heart melts everytime I hear her praying for someones ouchy to get better. I love listening to her talk and am always curious to see what she is going to say next!

The Joys (or should I say saddness)of Toddlerhood!

My child is the center of my attention these days(since my husband is deployed yet again). I used to be able to say that I feed her, I cloth her, and I give her a bath. Now I get to sit and watch as she does these things on her own. Even giving herself a bath. After a very cheesy dinner mess I told her to go get undressed and sit in the bath tub. I finish putting my stuff away and turn on the washer. I go into the bathroom to find that she has already started her bath water and would not let me change the tempature(luckily it was safe warm temp).

So I begin to gather up my clothes for the washing machine, check on the water and turn it off. I go and pour the soap in the machine, put the clothes in and shut the lid. I make my way back to the bathroom to wash her hair to find that she already has the soap and is lathering her hair. Saddened and fill un-needed I sit down on her stool and watch. She laid down in the water and tryed hard to rinse it on her own and felt loved again when she asked for "help please".

I helped her wash the rest of her little body and pushed the button to drain the water. I got her out and dryed her off, thinking she is growing up to fast.

She went into her room got her jammas and got dressed for bed. She then brought me a book and asked me to read it to her. When I was done, she asked me to "wok" her. Thrilled I put her in my lap and rocked her back and forth for a bit and lay her in her bed to go to sleep.

She then proceeded to say "Thank you mommy, I los you!"

Can I push a rewind button to the days where I could love on her all day with out her saying "mommy, down, I want to walk"... But then I wouldnt hear sweet words come out of my daughters mouth like "thank you and I love you!

Miss Independent!

While I was in the shower Lillian decided to get breakfast. She got into the dishwasher and got her self a plate and spoon and then got her stool and grabbed the fruit loops from the counter!

When I came into the living room I was amazed at what she had accomplished without making a big mess. I am thankful that she can not yet open the fridge...because milk would have been a disaster for sure!

Preschool for Lillian

Lillian started a half time preschool program at her childcare center when she became potty trained. Her teacher quickly saw a difference in her and other children in the program. Ms. Jen said that she was picking stuff up quicker than other children in the 2 1/2 yr half time program. I noticed at home that she was saying the ABC's and she was making up her own short stories for her books. Ms Jen said that she could tell that she wanted to read, but didnt quite know how. She was able to get the Director, Ms Hope, to come and watch Lillian while working on the alphabet and numbers.

On Monday she entered into the 3 yr old full time learning program. I am so excited to see her name colors and count her fingers. This program will continue with the same information from the half time program but will add focus on identifying letters, writing them, and making their sounds. She said that if she continues doing well, she will be able to read small words with in the year.

I am so thankful to have found such an amazing center for Lillian while I am in school! She is learning so much!

Sickness has reached our home

For weeks we have heard of friends children getting sick. We have been taking extra vitamins, wearing mittens and hats, doing everything right...or so we thought.

What started as a small cough and runny nose on Thursday turned into a severe cough and a tempature by Sunday. Monday she seemed to be fine with a low grade temp. Tuesday she woke up worse than before. Lillian visited Ms. Emily at her pediatricians office and came home with an inhaler. By that evening her tempature sky rocketed and she became and she became a very angry child. Wednesday we took a trip to the ER, because her cough was very unsettling. She spent a few hours at the hospital getting a full examination. We went home with an actual diagnosis-RSV. To find out that her inhaler was making the situation worse was nerve recking, but was thankful to know she only used it once.


Lesson learned today: Second opinions are ALWAYS worth feeling over cautious.

Now I get to start the not so fun task of finding her a new pediatrician....because every response from Ms Emily is "benedryl and inhaler" She never entertains the idea that it might be something else that actually needs medicine. Sometimes I think the ER doctors do a better job at analyzing the patients symptoms than the private practice doctors.

New Sleep Spot for Lillian!

Lillian got a new big girl bed in October when she had became daytime potty trained(she was able to make it through naps dry). We thought it would be a good motivation to not go potty in her NEW BIG GIRL bed! She loved her new bed, she would sit and play in it before falling asleep. It seemed as though she was awake for hours before dozing off. I got in the habit of going in to check on her before I went to bed and typically pulled books and toys off her bed and put them away.

Recently she has been becoming very opinionated with what she wanted on her bed at bedtime....like a pillow and daddy's fleece blanket. I think it has been her way of getting out of falling asleep with constant requests.

Last night she must have gotten an opinion about her bed, because when i went into her room she was not in it. The door never opened so I knew she was in her room. The closet door has a handle lock, so I knew she wasnt in there. Then I heard a "roar of a snore"....coming from under her bed. Thinking she must have been laying on the floor on the other side of her bed, because with the crib mattress laying under her bed, i didnt see how she could be under there. As soon as i got on the other side of her bed, I realized she really was under her bed, passed out, with a pull up on. Strange! I confusenly looked for her pj's. I found them under her big Elmo doll along with the panties I had put on her. I am not sure why my child insisted on taking her clothes off and putting a pull up on.....and I really dont understand why she would give up and roomy twin bed with comfy covers for a mattress on the floor under her bed.

I might start keeping her door open from now on! lol

Jesus take the Wheel

The above phrase has a deeper meaning hidden with in its words... It has been a song in which I began to love through the hard times. The words have great meaning. I had a lot going on through my mind thursday evening, as I drove to Byrdstown, Tn, when I heard that song come on the radio and I lifted my troubles into prayer. Driving long distances are perfect when you need to talk to "Him".

However the icey conditions had me really worried when the song came on the radio. As the Cookeville radio station finished playing Carrie Underwood's song they were telling everyone on the roads to be safe because the tempature had dropped in the lower 10's which meant all the slushy roads were turning to ice. I remember looking at Lillian sitting really calmly in her seat asking "there mommy?" Then I remember seeing the guy ahead of me tap his breaks ahead of me as he drove beside a guard rail. He stayed straight and narrow. Trying to stay at least 2 car lengths behind him, I decided to tap my breaks as well. With in seconds I was staring straight at the guard rail thinking i was going to crash right through it and end up badly hurt. I said another prayer. I quoted Carrie Underwood.."Jesus take the wheel" I turned the wheel slightly and closed my eyes. I remember feeling relaxed for a few seconds. When the car stopped moving I opened my eyes. The car stopped safely. There I sat in panic mode. Lillian screaming in the back "Cars" "Cars" All I could think of was, were there cars around? did we manage not to hit any of them. My emotions went haywire and I began to cry.
When I got myself together I had realized that we were on the road facing the opposite direction. I noticed a car coming and starting freaking out again because I was stuck sitting there on the frozen road. I remember thinking please dont hit me then my car started sliding backwards into the ditch in the median. Call it whatever you like! I truly believe that "He" was on my side thursday evening!

I learned that closing your eyes would be dangerous while driving and I remember learning how to correct yourself when you begin to fishtail... I started to correct myself, but it wasnt working, so i went against my better judgement and closed my eyes and asked for help. He heard my plea and got me off the road safely.

I was able to drive through the grass to the nearest u-turn area and turn around! The rest of the way I was telling the other cars not to make any sudden movements...lol As if they could hear me!

Conversations with Lillian

Lillian has moved into a new stage of talking! It has been wonderful to hear her learn new words and try hard to say them correctly but rarely come close. She is learning new words everyday at this point. Lillian is now talking in full sentences and they are even cuter to hear. "baby nap in that" she says....meaning the baby is napping in there, or "I los me" meaning I love you. The cutest is when she says "mommy I done(rubbing her tummy) I too full, it yummy!"She never ceases to amaze me with what she learns. She has plenty of sentences I still cant understand, but when I ask her to repeat it, she says it the exact same way, so I know she knows what she is talking about.... I just wish I knew what she was saying.

The next few months are going to be fun!!!