Nana Came 'Home!'

Every time my mom leaves, Jakob asks, "When is Nana coming back home?" So sweet! Well, Nana came home this week! Each year, she so graciously comes during the first week of school to allow Jared and me to work out the kinks at school and get things accomplished while Jakob and now Lily can ease back into our schedule. It is the GREATEST gift that she gives us...time with our kids!

Lily was so happy that Nana was coming!

Silly face dances! (My mom is going to kill me!)

Priceless time...

Wordless Wednesday

Ready or not...

...here it comes! School starts tomorrow, and I can hardly believe it! I think we're 'ready' as far as the 'stuff' of school is concerned, but we are certainly not ready as far as our motivation is concerned! We have had such a glorious summer with our family!

This weekend, my phone was stolen at Wal Mart on tax-free weekend after our eye appointment was cancelled....all in about an hour. SO, today I got the next best thing on the Sprint network to the iPhone...the Palm Pre. I have no idea if I like it yet as the Sprint network is down to Pre Activations until at least 8 pm tonight. There. I have complained. I am perturbed.

Okay, on to much happier and less crabby things! Jakob has had an interesting week. He has had some not-so-great moments, but has had some true-to-form Jakob moments also! We had some friends stay with us this weekend, and therefore, Jakob slept in our bed. During his nap on Friday on our bed, he found a RED SHARPIE in my office stuff. I didn't think. My sweet little artist in the making took FULL advantage of his private time with the dreaded marker. (What's more ridiculous is that this little occurrence happened AGAIN last night only with a water-based marker! We are about to outlaw markers from this house!) As frustrated as I was with the fact that he was covered from head to toe and my sheets were decorated in permanent marker, I had to take pictures!

Lily has just been trucking along, sweet as ever! She is smiling a lot now, especially in the mornings. This week at the school, she was an absolute angel...slept, ate, pooped, smiled. Perfect. She will be with me this year at school, everyday, just like Jakob has been since the very beginning. I am so blessed to have my job with this benefit, this gift. So, tomorrow we're off...Jared, Carla, Jakob, and now Lily...off to Frenship High School to have more glorious family time!

Jakob, Lily, and Daddy on Jakob's nap mat in my office. This picture was taken moments after Jakob picked up and carried Lily across the room...I know, not good. It was with permission, I assure you! I'm telling you! It was a crazy kind of week!

Joy(?)Land

Our church has a Joyland night every year...I just learned this! It was not only Jakob and Lily's first trip to Joyland, it was mine too! I don't feel as badly as I thought I might, though, about living here for this long without going to our famed amusement park after hearing of all the people who have been here longer and were there for their first time! :-) It was a lot of fun and is super geared toward kids...other people's kids! Jakob panicked on the helicopter ride (goes in a circle), on the chariot ride (also, in a circle), and would only get on the carousel with Mr. Tom. Joyland has a ski lift that goes just above the trees for the length of the park. Jakob did agree to ride it with Jared, and then with me. As Jakob and I were riding (at the speed of a turtle!) the ski lift, I pointed out the little orange 'roller coaster' to him. This ride is the equivalent to riding in a car on a bumpy road...at best. I asked if he wanted to ride it, and this was his response, (while patting the safety lap bar) "No, mommy. This is my roller coaster." You gotta start somewhere, I suppose!

The Things We Do For Our Children

What we didn't document was just minutes before this picture was taken, I was blowing up the pool WHILE nursing Lily. I know, I should wear a cape!

May I Recommend...

...two things! I'm no BlogHer reviewer (or whatever...I don't really get that!) but do I ever have two recommendations for YOU! The first of which is a new baby lotion that was NOT around last time I was worried about a baby's bottom being all kinds of smooth. I gave up on Jakob's after he managed to get 30 splinters in his rear end in his Sunday School room. Hopeless. Dr. Liz, the incredible, gave us gifts upon gifts for Lily, and I took note. Here is another great thing about being friends with your pediatrician...you can REALLY trust the products they bring to your baby shower. Anyway. I digress. In the big bucket of joy (as I've called her gift) were two fat-daddy bottles of lotion WITH the pump, which is the most important thing of all when trying to hold up legs with one hand and lotion with the other. It just gets messy otherwise. They are both Johnson and Johnson brand and one was the soothing nighttime scent, which I used with Jakob, so I naturally gravitated to that one for the last month. Tonight, however, I was feeling rebellious. I ventured into the world of (insert trumpet anthem here) Vanilla Oatmeal. Glorious. Truly. It will not only lather my sweet baby girl, it will replace my Bath and Body Works Japanese Cherry Blossom. Love it. Again, Liz, you're my hero!

Okay, the lotion was great and all, but the next recommendation could very well change your life. It certainly changed my night. It is my great goal to start this INCREDIBLY hectic school year with an organized, everything has a place and every place has a thing, house. Got it? If we can't find a nook for it, the item in question is leaving our house! This is a difficult task, however, when the other people in your house aren't exactly feeling the pressure to spring clean in the summer. So yesterday as I was browsing the isles of Target, I saw a light shining down from heaven on a dry-erase, magnetic chore chart with magnetic stars and rewards. Oh. My. Word. Earlier today, I sat down with Jakob and showed him his four daily tasks. Toys. Books. Dirty Clothes. Costumes. Pick up everything, everyday and get to put your star magnets on the chart. When you earn a specific number of stars, you get a big prize. Not only did my stubborn three-year-old pick up (really pick up) his ENTIRE room tonight for the first time in his life without falling in the floor screaming "I can't!" and "I don't know how!", but he picked up the ENTIRE HOUSE of his toys. I wasn't going to push the envelope tonight, you know. To my great pleasure, though, he rescued his golf clubs, light swords, and baseball stuff from my living room WITHOUT BEING ASKED!!! The only downside...he told Jared and I we weren't going to earn our stars for our room. He's right. Not today anyway! Who cares if he poops his pants multiple times daily?! He loves the chore chart! (No laughing when tomorrow night's post is all about how the chore chart has failed me!)

One Slice of the Pie

Today is Lily's one month 'birthday.' What a wonderful month it has been. The sad part, though, is that one piece of our twelve month pie is forever gone. I hope I took enough pictures! This is already one incredibly fun and blessed journey...bring on the rest. I like pie.

What in the world have you people done?!

Me and my girl

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Ephesians 3:14-21

My, How Things Have Changed!

Wow. My sweet girl is four weeks old. Wow. We have had the most glorious month, though! I have loved literally every second with her and have tried so hard to enjoy and savor each moment. I still feel like it has flown by, but I feel much less sad than I did with Jakob, since I feel so much more in control this time around! Lily is great. Great! Here are her milestones over the past month: She sleeps. A lot. An awful lot. She eats. A lot. An awful lot. She pees. A lot. An awful lot. We have been peed on more by our daughter than we ever were by our son. I swear, she feels the air hit her hiney and lets the river flow! Too funny! She is SO not lady-like when 'taking care of business.' She grunts and yelps through every poop and toot! Seriously. It's like an old constipated man! It is a real show to watch. I feel a drama queen coming on strong! She is Monday, she started smiling at appropriate times and in response to us. I LOVE that time! She started trying yesterday to push with her legs whether in our lap or in her cradle. Lily eats every three hours at the longest. Here is the proof!

Lily at four days old...5 pounds, 11 ounces

Lily at 2 weeks, 7 pounds

Lily on Sunday afternoon, roughly 4 weeks, each cheek weighs 2 pounds (ha!)

Well, Lily is hungry again. I'll blog all about our wonderful vacation later this week. I'm off to fulfill my duty as Elsie!