Pearl signing “more”
Silly girl dancing at the table 🙂
Grandpa and his girls
Pearl loves pointing at everything, especially noses 🙂
LOVE it when the girls entertain each other! So sweet!
A few vids & pics
Winter Cuties
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
It was busy, but it was fun!
Started with Thanksgiving (which was at our house and the fridge died that morning-ha!), then 2 birthday parties for Lyla, 4 Christmas get-togethers, a birthday party for Pearl the day after Christmas, a wedding in Mankato 4 days after Christmas, and a little New Years fun with my parents who were here from Christmas Day to New Years Day! It has been crazy but we loved every minute! It was such a blessing to have my parents here…of course Dad (Papa) fixed several things, and Mom (Grandma) helped a lot with the girls, and they both loved on all of us like crazy! The girls love having them around. 🙂
New Years kisses
You can’t tell by Pearl’s expression, but she loved dancing at the wedding reception! Other than when pics were being taken (of course), she had a grin from ear to ear the whole time we were dancing!
Pearl’s First Birthday
I can’t believe it’s been a year since our little Pearl Noelle was born! How quickly a year goes by. What a special year it has been. Pearl has added so much fun, laughter, and love to our lives.
A little about Pearl:
-We call her “Flea” because she is so little and compact. I don’t think she’s even 17 lbs yet. But don’t be fooled by her smallness, she is really strong and super quick! Always grabbing things before we even notice, and lifting things you’d never think a baby could lift! She can grab ornaments off the Christmas tree in the blink of an eye! And she can hold two popper balls in each hand. Cracks us up. 🙂
-And, yeah, she looks a bit like her daddy (understatement!). I think her personality is going to be similar to his as well. She likes to make silly sounds and just be goofy. Her favorite sound to make is a panting sound, when I ask her what a puppy-dog says.
-She can say the words mama, dada, Elmo, Lyla, all done, and uh-oh. She likes to drop things off her tray and say “uh-oh!” She can also sign water, more, milk, and all-done.
-She loves to point at things, as you can see in the following photos.
-Joel calls Pearl my “sidekick” because she loves to just tool around on my hip. 🙂 I love it, and it helps that she’s so little and strong–she can sure hang on!
-She is crawling like a champ (not walking yet!) and likes to follow Mama around the house. like a faithful little puppy. She also likes to play crawl-chase with Lyla once in awhile. It’s soooo cute.
-Pearl and Lyla like to play side-by-side and sometimes have toy wars. They definitely enjoy each other’s company. 🙂
-Pearlie is very independent with her eating and likes to feed herself a whole variety of things–cooked veggies, blueberries, deli meat (she loves ham the most!), crackers, strawberries, pasta, cheese. She eats a good variety and is starting to drink whole milk too.
-She also loves bath-time with her big sis.
-Pearlie has 8 teeth already! Her top front 2 teeth have a huge gap between them and it cracks us up! She has a Strahan smile. 😉
-She is just so curious and gets into everything. Sometimes we call her our little raccoon because she likes to dig around and make little messes wherever she goes. She loves to open drawers and pull things out, especially daddy’s socks, and she likes to get into trash cans and pull everything out. Ha!
-She has such a sweet and easy-going personality, such an easy baby. We enjoy her so much and can’t imagine life without our precious Pearl.
Enjoy the birthday pics…
She was so excited to get at those presents!
Auntie, Uncle and cuzzie (and Grandpa too)
Pearlie and Ethan are buds 🙂
Cake that Auntie Bryana made
HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY SWEET BABY GIRL! WE LOVE YOU!!!
Christmas Eve 2012
Christmas Eve at Grandma & Grandpa’s house…
(They’re not the clearest pics because I forgot my camera and had to use my phone, but it works!)
Pearl’s First Christmas! Tough to get this one to smile for the camera 🙂
Pearlie checking our her cuzzie’s new toy
The girls liked the play food before it was even opened!
Uncle & niece
Ethan and his new train
Lyla loved her book with babies in it!
Auntie’s cookies ~ almost too pretty to eat
Pearl’s first Christmas cookie 🙂
Brothers
Somebody was getting tired
The best shot I could get of the girls under the tree
Lyla liked the feel of the branches on her head 🙂
Lyla kept massaging Ethan’s back with her foot and he didn’t mind a bit! Too funny!
Lyla and her baby
Lyla loves babies these days and says “baby” all the time!
Oh, how I love Christmas!
Willow Tree nativity
twinkle lights all over
Christmas tree
snow-covered grill 🙂
Christmas princess
One of two Christmas dresses 🙂
Christmas hug from Ethan. Love.
Snow bunnies
Eating snow for the first time!
Christmas treats
Even Christmas “helpers” in their Christmas jammies 🙂
Lyla’s 4th Birthday Party
There was lots of dancing, gift opening, singing, and the Wiggles even made an appearance at Lyla’s birthday party!
Didn’t get any pics of the dance party before we opened gifts. 🙁
It was lots of fun!
Gunnar presenting the gift from the Adams kids– a cute magnetic doll with several outfits. 🙂
Awesome drum filled with musical instruments from Nelson & Maggie
Cabbage Patch baby from Lyndon and Kaylyn
Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Faz enjoying the fun
The Wiggles showed up at the party!
(Hmmm…they do look strangely familiar though)
Joel attempting to blow up a balloon with his nose–never a dull moment with this guy 🙂
Nelson, Soren, and Gunnar singing
Adorable little Freja doing a sweet little solo 🙂
Lyla checking out all her loot!
Lyla had a super cute and colorful Wiggles cake
Remains of the cake after I realized I hadn’t taken a picture of it!
All partied out 🙂
Four Years!
Lyla is FOUR years old today! I remember well that chilly Black Friday when I went in for an appointment with Dr. Kuffel and soon learned that we would be meeting our daughter that day, via c-section. Three days later our world came crashing in ~ we were told that our precious baby girl has a devastating condition called Trisomy 18, and to cherish every moment with her because she wasn’t long for this world. If you would have told me, on that day, that I would be celebrating a 4th birthday with our healthy, walking, talking, sweet, beautiful daughter, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. But God had other plans…
Lyla’s life is a testament to God’s healing power. I know that Lyla is with us to be a display of God’s glory, love, power, and beauty. I was reminded of this when I read these verses in the gospel of John, when Jesus healed a blind man ~
“As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’ “
The work of God is being displayed in Lyla’s life, and we praise HIM for it!
HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY LYLA JANE!!!
Birthday cake that Auntie Bryana made ~ Lyla will be having a Wiggles Birthday Party!
Oufit from Auntie Bryana and Uncle Josh
School treat today!
Ready for school 🙂
Some of the things she’s been doing lately:
-Saying lots and lots of words
-Identifying things without prompting (some of the most common ones are Daddy, baby, Elmo-“Melmo”, Wiggles-“Guggles”, sissy, shoe, hat, ball, Grandma, Grandpa, Papa)
-She’s getting better at going up and down steps and is starting to go up without help-she uses a railing to hold onto.
-Loves dancing and music
-Loves bath time with Pearl
-Loves the Wiggles, Elmo, and most recently Yo Gabba Gabba 🙂
-She thinks it’s so funny when anyone sneezes, and will then “sneeze” herself–“Ah, ah, Achoo!” So cute.
-She is having pretty consistent success on the potty at school, and a little more hit or miss at home, but improving!
-Lyla is as sweet as ever, and always has a smile ready.
-It is so sweet how Lyla and Pearl’s relationship is developing. They interact more and like to play side-by-side, to the point where they will find each other just to play next to (especially if they’re not at home). They also act like sisters too when they both want the same toy. Overall, they are very tolerant of each other and rarely get mad at each other. It is apparent that they already have a special bond. Love it! 🙂
Lyla is our miracle and is such a joy every single day. Love you Lyla Jane!!!
Dancing Princesses
I just had to post these vids and tell you about how God is so good to this mama’s heart…
These vids and pic were taken at our dear friends, Shane & Victoria’s house. We have done a life group/Bible study with them and four other couples for many years. Though the life group has dissipated we still get together with these friends every once in awhile ~ we are bonded for life because our families have all gone through so much together, and have seen so many prayers answered together. Between the five couples that make up our group we have a grand total of 26 kids! Most of whom are girls! A few years ago, when Lyla was about 1 year old, some of the little girls were dancing and doing a little show for us in this exact same room. I distinctly remember my heart aching because Lyla could not join them. My heart was breaking thinking that Lyla may never be able to dance with the girls, at least not in her earthly body. On our way home that night, while shedding a few tears, I prayed that Lyla would be able to walk and run and even dance some day.
As I watched our sweet miracle, Lyla, dancing with the other girls last week, I was shedding tears of joy. God has answered my prayer ~ He is so good to this mama ~ He has turned my sorrow into joy.
Psalm 30:11-12
“You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.”
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| Lyla with sweet Emma who always takes time to play with and love on Lyla ~ she’s the one who dressed her up! |
Bella and Lyla
Emma, Bella, and Lyla