Happy Father's Day

Each Father's Day I find myself reflecting on how blessed my life is because of my Father.  Dad is such an example to me of hard work, patience, common sense, faith, and wisdom.  I'm grateful for the guidance he provided all through my childhood years and continues to provide now that I'm grown.  Anytime I have a fix-it-up project, 99% of the time it is accomplished because of the help Dad willingly gives as I call him (non-stop) through the entire process.  I also have greater understanding of gospel principles and scriptural application because of his example and insight.  Without complaint, Dad made sacrifice after sacrifice through his years of employment to provide for our family.  If he wasn't involved in shift work, he was enduring long commutes and tiring hours.  Even now, whenever one of us has a move to accomplish or work that needs to be done on our home, Dad gives so much of his time and energy to go out of his way to help us.  Thank you, Dad, for all the piggy-back rides, father's blessings, and much needed advice.

And now, I'm doubly blessed on Father's Day because of my amazing husband and father of our daughters.  Geoff's patience never ceases to amaze me, his sense of humor carries me, and his willingness and ability to provide has blessed us all so much.  I'm a stay-at-home mother because of his determination and sacrifice.  I love that Geoff turns every experience into a learning opportunity and is always looking for ways to grow and improve.  Geoff is grounded in the gospel, is in tune with the spirit, and goes out of his way to serve those around him.   It's no wonder that Hylie is a "Daddy's Girl"--Geoff spends so much quality time with our kids and is just as crazy as they are.  :)   My life is infinitely blessed because of him, I am so grateful to be on this adventure with the best man around.

I love this pic, it really shows how much Hylie looks like Geoff!

 Happy Father's Day, Geoff.  What a blessing you are to all of us.

Eliana's Name Bench

Thank you to the Rittenhouse family (friends of Geoff's parents) for this super sweet name bench for Eliana.

My sleep-deprived brain thought it made sense to have the name facing Eliana while I took the pictures,

but then Geoff set me (and the bench) straight!

Eliana - 6 Months

At 6 months, Eliana weighed in at 18 lbs. 2 1/2 oz. and is 26 1/4" long.  She's also warming up for some fun milestones.  

She's working on rolling over, but only has one half figured out so far....

She's learning how much more she can observe when she's propped up in the sitting position!

We started giving her some solid foods.  At first, we were only doing rice cereal with very little success--nothing would go in her mouth, let alone be swallowed.  But then I mixed the rice cereal with applesauce and all of a sudden, Eliana started opening her mouth for more!

She's also getting into the 'grabbing' phase which is quite comical.  Any time I go to get a drink of water, Eliana's arms start flailing like crazy and then she'll lunge her body in the direction of my cup. You should see the smile on her face when she successfully latches on to something!  Ha ha! 

Potty Trained!

The day after Memorial Day, we started potty training Hylie.  We had been talking about this for a LONG time.  Usually when we would ask Hylie if she wanted to wear big girl panties, she would be pretty quick to say "no!" and then run off to avoid any more conversation about toilet training.  Well, Tuesday morning, May 26th, we really didn't give her a choice.  We put the panties on her and pointed to the potty and said, "You're going to use this today!"

I set a timer to go off every 15 minutes to cue Hylie to sit down on the potty for a minute or two.  The first three days there were rough: more accidents than successes, Hylie would dread when the alarm went off, and I was ready to throw in the towel!  But by the fourth day, Hylie started to catch on.  Soon after that, we weren't setting the alarm because she was starting to recognize when she had to go.

We had a sticker chart for her to fill out--she had to pee on the potty seven times and poop three times in order to get her special prize: Rapunzel and Eugene dolls.  Believe it or not, her first success on the potty was a poop!  Truly, I don't think Hylie even realized what she had done.  I was nursing Eliana when the timer went off and Hylie sat on the potty.  When the timer sounded again for her to get off, she said, "All done", pulled up her panties and walked away.  After Eliana finished, I stood up and saw Hylie's nugget in the potty and squealed with delight.  Geoff and I made a HUGE deal about it but Hylie didn't seem to realize why--but she sure didn't complain when she got a sticker and treat.

Hylie successfully filled up her sticker chart...on my birthday!  By that time, she had more than tripled the "pee" stickers, but still had one more "poop" to go before she got her prize.  That evening, Hylie was in the tub and said she had to go potty so I quickly snatched her out of the water and plopped her on the potty, dripping wet.  Sure enough, she pooped on the potty!  After she was done, she jumped back in the tub and said she was so "skited" (that's how Hylie says "excited") to get Rapunzel and Eugene when she was done with her bath.  I was too elated to wait, so I brought in the much-deserved prize and let Hylie play with her dolls in the tub.

Boy, was she REALLY 'skited'!

We definitely have a lovely, big girl on our hands!

Happy Birthday

I was surrounded by my family on my birthday, so indeed, was I happy.

Geoff surprised me with this lovely bouquet, we enjoyed taco salad for dinner, and then topped off the night with some ho-ho cake and Tag-a-long ice cream.  Perfection!

No, your eyes aren't failing you, this picture is super blurry.  I'm definitely not a pro when it comes to taking "Family Selfies" with a large camera...but if it did come out clear, look at how cute it would have been!  Ha ha!

Being serenaded with "Happy Birthday"

Hylie helped me blow out the candles to make sure my wish would come true.

But let's get real, all of my wishes have come true since this man came into my life!  Thanks for a memorable, happy birthday!

Grammy and Pappy's Visit

We enjoyed a wonderful visit from Geoff's parents, Grammy and Pappy.  While they were here we had a great experience at the Lincoln Park Zoo, dined on some great Chicago food, the girls experienced the "El" train for the first time, explored Millennium Park, and we were just thrilled to be together and catch up.  It truly was a delight!

Eliana meeting Grammy and Pappy for the first time:

Excited to be experiencing a train!

But, the excitement wore off quickly...

 This picture makes me giggle every time!  Maybe we hyped up the train ride a little too much for Hylie, but she certainly was observant during her commute.  As we were leaving the train station, I heard Hylie spouting off street names in Chicago.  When I asked her where she heard all that, she said, "That's what the train said."  When I asked her what else the train said, she quickly quipped, "Doors open on the left at Addison."  Ha ha!

Enjoying the city skyline from the Lincoln Park Zoo 

Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean") at Millennium Park

A new play area is under construction at Millennium Park.  Some of the play zones were open for play, so we had to venture in and see how things were coming along.  I have a feeling we'll be looking for excuses to come back--what a park!

 The slides were extremely impressive--and fast!  Geoff had to sweet talk Hylie down, but once she got the hang of it, she sure enjoyed the ride!

 Check out this slide wide enough for the whole family to enjoy!

Geoff wasn't about to leave without trying the tallest and fastest slide on the lot...

He made it down with grace and speed!

 Thanks again, Grammy and Pappy, for the fun time and special memories!

Mother's Day 2015

How grateful and blessed I am to have the opportunity to be a mother.  I have two beautiful girls and a loving and supportive husband who bring smiles and laughter to me every day.

However, my blessings of mother started the day I was born to my wonderful Mom.  She always puts her children first, without complaint.  When I think of all the things each of her six children were involved in growing up, I stand back in awe at how she was able to support each and every one of us by attending ball games, taking us to lessons, helping us with papers, applauding us at recitals and concerts, writing my brothers on missions, learning new skills and needs for Janna, and being there to listen, teach, and watch out for us.  I don't know how she kept up with everything, but I didn't ever run out of clean underwear, always had a lunch at school, and we were always on time for church.  She continues to be such a wonderful and supportive mother through calls and video chats, visiting as often as possible, and making sure all her grandkids get spoiled to the max.  I sure love you, Mom and am tremendously blessed because of all you do and who you are.

Truly, I am the luckiest gal in the world.