Five! {Celebrating Lydia}

Our girl turned five today.  Five!  What a joy Lydia is (and strong-willed and what some might describe as quite stubborn as well ... all traits which will make her a strong leader I believe!).  This girl has a special place in the hearts of many.  

Like Samuel, Lydia also plays her birth order well - she fits the molds of little sister and big sister well.  She knows how to work her charm on the boys, and she also dotes on Nora (often giving in a little too easily when Nora "needs" something).

On this day I like to reflect back to December 18th, 2009 - it is still with great surprise that I recall the emotions when my doctor proudly and with much emotion himself, announced that we had a baby girl.  And, as I do every year, I must insert the caveat that we love our boys fiercely as well.  It was the surprise of a daughter that was (and remains to be) quite extraordinary.

To our girl, Happy Birthday, we love you more than you can imagine.  XO

Pomp and Circumstance

Well, hello blog!  It's been a busy week - baseball games, practices, middle school performances, sports therapy appointments, speech therapy, physical therapy, work ... and preschool graduation.  Miss Lydia graduated from our beloved preschool program this week.  This mama was left wondering how this could be ...

 

 

To celebrate we took our girl to the bakery for a treat ...

 

 

 

Thumbs up to being a preschool graduate!

Funny Faces with ... Nora!

So, now that we've {mostly} grown past Lydia's funny face photos, Nora has taken to a rather silly smile ... kind of seems like she is growling in fact.

Evidence galore ...

 

Oh yeah I did, I just sassed my way through the above the photos ... never, not ever a dull moment with this Little Miss!

{Non}Sleeping Beauty

There are two questions that we often get asked regarding Nora's adjustment and development:

1.  Is she sleeping any better?
2.  How is her speech coming along?

In all honesty, I cringe at both of these questions as I can feel myself getting defensive, protecting my daughter and her insecurities and challenges.  Let's start with speech, this is an easy one - click over to Ashley's blog and see her post from yesterday ... I can relate to every single word, Ashley's words beautifully and honestly describe where we are also at with Nora and her speech. 

Now, let's talk sleep or lack thereof.  This is where I feel more protective as a common response we get from others, typically those a bit more removed from our family, is "she's still not sleeping through the night?"  And, then there's the dreaded, "but you haven't sleep trained her?"  It only it were that simple, I have to remind myself not to question our parenting of Nora.  We will never have intimate details of her first 15 months of life and how this plays into her nighttime fears and insecurities.  So for now, we will prayerfully, intentionally and unconditionally love this girl, and we will choose to rejoice over Nora's beautiful adjustment into our family, celebrating the adoption "hurdles" that we have overcome.

Photo taken early one morning this week after Nora was up for a two hour middle of the night stint ... rosy cheeks and all smiles ... thankful ...

Lunchtime with Lydia

Her new trick ...

Never a dull moment, no, not ever!

"Graduation" Sunday

Next Sunday is graduation Sunday at church - happens a few times a year when the preschool and younger kids who have had birthdays move to their next Sunday school class.  This was Lydia's last Sunday in "twos and threes", next week she moves to "fours and fives" while Nora stays in twos and threes.  This will be the first time that Nora doesn't have her mother hen with her in Sunday school. 

It could go so many different ways for both of the girls ... praying that it's a smooth transition.  Another milestone for Nora (and Lydia) as they gain independence.

Girls' Lunch

I love being a mom to boys, and I love being a mom to girls .... the best of both worlds! Over the past few months, I've had the blessing of being able to do some girls' dates (a few lunches and even Lydia and my overnight getaway at Robyn's).

Today, the boys had a boys' day ice fishing with friends ... while it was a "mild" day with a bit of sunshine and temps in the 20's, no thanks ... more and more I'm getting "annoyed" with winter, and I'm ready for it to be done!  Unfortunately, we likely have a few months of winter still ahead.

Anyhow, the girls' and I took a little drive to meet Elizabeth for lunch.  You may remember Elizabeth, a college roommate, who did her 10th consecutive Breast Cancer 3Day (60 mile) walk this past summer.  AMAZING.  And, she is the friend that coordinated the Stella & Dot fundraising show for me when we were praying Nora home.  Love. this. girl!

Elizabeth brought her sister Emily, who I also adore.  And, I love the sister relationship these two share.  I pray that Lydia and Nora share a similar relationship as they do life together.

Thankful for the blessings of friendships and girls' dates to catch up!  And, I know, aren't we cute in our unplanned matchy-ness?!?! 

The Sister Pose

Looking through photos from the past few weeks, I noticed that nearly every photo of the girls has this similar sister pose ... we'll call it the sister side hug.

 

 

"Sisters are different flowers from the same garden" ...

Author Unknown

Her Voice

Today we are reflecting back to a year ago when we were kissing Nora's big clefty smile one last time and waiting for her to come out of surgery.  I clearly remember holding her in recovery and crying silent tears over how the surgeon had changed her.  They were tears of gratitude, tears of fear and tears of grief. 

Now, a year later, she has found her voice.  And, that is a gift.  She has a belly laugh that is infectious.  She does fierce imitations of animals.  And, she proudly calls herself by name and names each of her family members.  That is, perhaps, the most precious gift.

I marvel at how far along Nora has come, she may still be behind in speech, but she is a warrior.  She is our warrior.

Girl's Day

Lydia and I headed down to Chicago on Friday to spend the day and night with my dear friend Robyn.  It was a real treat to be able to spend that much one-on-one time with one of the kiddos and to be able to catch up with one of my besties.

We had amazing weather and were able to explore Robyn's neighborhood, enjoy some yummy treats, and just hang out.  While Lydia had some to-be-expected 4 year old moments, she did great.  When we got home Saturday afternoon she questioned why "Girl's Day" was only one day, and she was convinced that we would be heading to Robyn's again the next day so that we could paint our nails (this is the plan for the next Girl's Day).  

 

 

  

 

 

Thankful for these precious days with my eldest daughter

and my sweet friend!

 

 

And, meanwhile, at home, the boys had a "date" with Grandma Goose!  And, Jason had the boys and Nora out at a local sledding hill. 

 

Fun was had by all!!!

 

 



And, then she was four ...

Today our girl turns four.  Every year on this day I cannot help but think back to 12/18/2009 and our precious doc delivering our first baby girl.  It still makes me all misty-eyed (I love our boys like crazy, it was just such a shock to have a girl, and that made the surprise that much sweeter).

Let's talk about Lydia ... she is a joy, no doubt.  She is also strong-willed, a tad on the defiant side and stubborn beyond belief (I'm still trying to figure out where she gets it from ... quiet Mom, no comments allowed).  But, she loves big (much like her brothers). 

I heard another mom refer to her daughter as spirited.  This is totally Lydia - spirited.  (Said mom also mentions that there is something to be said to what a spirited child does for your soul, your faith, and your gray hair - amen sister.) 

Lydia makes us laugh, part of it is her age, part of it is just her.  Not everyone has this insider view as Lydia is a homebody - definitely most comfortable with her family, quite shy in new settings and in school.  But quite pleased to be able to bring birthday treats to school for the very first time ever!

 The dynamic that Lydia adds to our family is one that I am so thankful for.

Baby Girl, we love you!  Happy 4th Birthday!

Little Green Man ... Again

Two summers ago we did a road trip to St. Louis, and I posted about Lydia's friend - "Little Green Man".  These memories came back in a flood when Nora, this morning at the library, was trying to drag around their "Little Green Man".

Um, please keep "Little Green Man" where the library has purposefully placed him.

Yes, you, you little stinker with lovely hat hair.

Lydia - July 2011

 

I would have gotten a photo of Lydia with "Little Green Man" today, but she was too busy running around, chasing one of Samuel's friends with a puppet ... yes, in the library, which was probably driving "Little Green Man" crazy since his motto is, after all, "SLOW". 

this is how she rolls ...

Before I start, a quick Baby Gracie update - hurdles include learning to nurse and maintaining oxygen levels on her own.  For more updates (and super sweet photos of Amy holding Grace), hop over to Amy's blog ... praying Grace home, the commuting and the balancing time between the other littles at home must be exhausting!

****

I was doing a little photo clean-up ... and couldn't help but smile when I came across these ... Lydia with her "buddies" late this summer.  She was obsessed with a turtle we "rescued" (although I'm sure the turtle would beg to differ on whether he was truly rescued or not) and a little toad ... oh dear.

On a side note, apparently she was really liking this star shirt at that time as these were two separate days ... the star shirt has since been replaced with the now favorite Superman shirt.

Seriously ... this is what she finds as we were taking inventory of cold weather gear ... an old Batman beanie cap ... sigh

We certainly do adore her ... and, I'm thankful that Super~Bat~Girl is at least wearing purple-toed socks.  Only the infamous HULK mask could complete this look!

One Year Together

It does not even seem possible that one year ago today we were meeting our daughter for the first time. 

I can hardly believe it myself.  I look at this little stinker, and it is so obvious that she was meant to be ours. 

I look at where she came from, and I see her fierce bravery, her love of adventure, her persistence (seeing a trend ... seems each of the LilyKids exhibits this trait to the extreme) ... her beauty.  

But the Lord said to Samuel, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Love my feisty girls (and my boys too)!

Every day we learn more about life through our children.  Through Nora we have learned a whole lot more about overcoming circumstances, about patience, about unconditional love.  Nora has blessed us in so many ways.

What an incredible gift.  One year together ... 

embrace the camera {smiles}

Ashley continues to inspire.  I love how she captures herself in many photos with her children.  Because of this and because of a sweet friend who reminded me earlier this year that others see our beauty over our critical view of ourselves, I have been trying to capture more photos of me with the kiddos.  This week Ashley is doing an Embrace the Camera challenge.  Ashley was inspired to start getting in photos with her children when she came across the story of Aleida Franklin. 

In August 2008, Aleida writes "There is a reason why I'm posting these pictures. Pictures that I'm actually in. Not because I think I'm all that and a trip to Hollywood. No. It's because I'm actually tired of being worried about how I look and not taking or having very many photos of me with my children. I have very few pictures of me and my babies when they were babies, and I have myself to blame. Precious opportunities to capture on paper, lost because of my silliness. Well no more I say! One day I won't be here and there will be hardly any pictures of them and their mama. So ladies, hand over the camera and get in those photos! Please. You'll be happier you did."

One short month later, Aleida's life was cut short in a tragic accident.  As Ashley says, Aleida's story is one of power and heartbreak.  Aleida's life has challenged moms across the globe to get in front of their camera and not just behind it.

A few weeks ago, when picking up Lydia from school I did the hold out my arm trick and snapped this.   

Speaking of Lydia, thank you for your prayers and sweet words, Lydia's recovery is going slow, slow, slow!  She is stubborn ... I certainly cannot figure out where she gets that from ... poor little thing has just been so uncomfortable and not sleeping well.  But, the extra cuddle time has been sweet.

And, one of the boys snapped this photo of us girls, with my phone.  And, yes, Lydia is wearing the same shirt as she is in the above photo.  When she likes something she wears it A LOT, it is hard to debate her wearing this one as it is a Show Hope tee from one of Nora's fundraisers!

Friends, I encourage you all to get in front of the camera, you will be glad you did!  And, apparently I need to be more intentional about doing this with the boys too!

SuperGIRL & Audrey Bunny

Today one of our little SuperGIRLs had surgery - tonsils and adenoids out.  She was a trooper, so brave!

Walking into our local hospital is particularly overwhelming, we have only been there a handful of times since Owen's birth and each time the feeling is the same.  Today was no different.  And, in His timing, a children's book that I cannot wait to get my hands on was released yesterday - Audrey Bunny by Angie Smith.  Take a moment and read a little more here, so thankful for the brave way Angie shares her heart, which eloquently echos my feelings, and I am certain the feelings of many other Mama's who have lost children. 

I love how Angie speaks about the mark that Audrey has left on life, it is impossible to look around and not see the mark that Owen has left as well.