Two Years

Today is Lia's actual birthday and it has got me reflecting on the past two years and all the joy, laughter, tears, and growth (both hers and ours) that has happened in such a short time. We are so blessed to have this little blessing with a big personality in our lives and I become more and more thankful each day that God chose us to be her parents!


In honor of the big #2 I thought I would do some fun facts (in pairs):

Favorite Foods
#1 - Strawberries
#2 - Peanut Butter Sandwich

Favortie Songs
#1 - Amazing Grace
#2 - Signing Time song

Most Used Words/Phrases
#1 - "No"
#2 - "No, Mommy, No"
*she is two after all!*

Things she's learning
#1 - To Share
#2 - praying - it is so sweet to hear her say Thank You God at the end of the day and list the things she's thankful for

Funniest things she said lately
#1 - "Yes, I'm going to swing...*pause*.. all weekend long."
#2 - ...."a little bit".. this works for - I want to eat a little bit, I sit a little bit, I want to rock a little bit, I will walk a little bit. Mostly it's really cute to hear her sweet voice say it. I'll try and get a video of it and post it.

Favorite things to do
#1 - Swing @ the park (or at home now)
#2 - Play with her Daddy and be tickled


Lia - You are such a blessing to us and I pray each day for the wisdom to raise you, love you, encourage you and guide you as you become the young lady God has for you to be. We are so proud of you and thankful to have you in our family. You fill up our lives each day with joy and laughter.

Happy Birthday, sweet pea!

Lia has an Announcement

Lia also got to wear a special shirt on Saturday. The front said " I'm 2"...


and the back...

says....


Yep, we are expecting another little peanut in late November. For those of you doing the math that makes me 10 weeks along. We are really excited that God has blessed us with a new little life in our family, and can't wait to find out whether Lia will have a little brother or sister.

For those of you wondering, YES, I've been really sick, but have had some good drugs to help so we are excited to make it to mid-June and for me to be feeling better!

Birthday @ the Park

Lia turns 2 this week and we had a little party at the park to celebrate on Saturday. It was really fun to have a few friends and enjoy the beautiful weather.

Lia enjoyed swinging, eating the butterfly cupcakes we made and playing with her friends.

Here are a few pictures...

blowing out the candles...


playing with the balloons and Daddy...


eating some goldfish with Haley...


with Nana and Papa B....


our family....

Red Car

While we were in Nashville, my friend Carlee was getting rid of some little kid toys and offered for us to take the Red Car home (especially since Lia wouldn't get out of it the whole time we were there).

So, we loaded it up in the van and brought it home.


Lia loves "dribing" the red car and putting her rocks in the back compartment. She never actually pushes it anywhere but does get in and out saying she's going to "dribe to Grandma's house".

Autism Walk

Thanks so much to EVERYONE that supported me in the Autism walk. It ended up being a rainy day and I didn't get to walk with the group, but our team raise ever $3500 for Autism Speaks and The Marcus Institute.

Thank you again to each person who donated to me or our team... your donation will make a difference in children's lives.

Here is Team Myles-A-Part....

Nashvegas

We visited Nashville afew weeks ago and got to see the Murfreesboro crowd...



Visit with Carlee and her kids...


And, of course, G-Mommy and Papa.


(we even went on a walk with G-Mommy and saw a horse that lives next door...


and lia "helped" Papa fix the broken door handle...


It was also fun to see the Mooneys and the Biggs, but I forgot to take pictures :(.
We missed not seeing more of you, but had to get back to ATL for the Autism walk.

Garage Tetris

Don't ever underestimate my husbands ability to pack a U-Haul, a dishwasher or a garage. He's got serious skills and finally achieved his goal of being able to do this....


That's right. He can park his car in the garage too. It's a tight fit, a REALLY tight fit, but it's all in there... lawn mower, rakes, shovels, cabinets, tools, 80 year old crib... Wow, no wonder he was giddy.

I'm Hiding

Lia found a new favorite hiding spot....

Raincoat

With all the rainy days in GA, I thought a cute raincoat would be a happy thing. She loves her raincoat and likes to wear it even when the sun is shining...

Missing in Action

Sorry it's been a while for the updates. We had company last weekend and then Lia and I headed to Nashvegas to visit with my mom, step-dad, family and friends. We are making the rounds and I am short on being able to upload pictures here so the updates may have to wait til next week.

Keep checkin' in though - we'll be back soon!

Consignment Finds

Consignment sales are a mom's best friend! I picked up this Sit and Spin at one the other day for $5. Lia loves to make herself dizzy so I thought she would love it.

Well, as with most things, it took her a while to warm up to it, but after much convincing and a few "mommy turns" she tried it and has been going "round and around and around" ever since.

More fun with Daddy

Brendon was always playing blocks with the nieces and nephews before we had blocks (and a kid) at our house , but now he's getting the chance to build with Lia. She is really good and liked making the robot with Daddy...


But didn't want to stop building for the picture...

Favorite Chair

We got this chair on the clearance rack at Target for Lia at Christmas and I she LOVES it! It is her little spot to sit in the living room and when she runs in there, she says, "I sit in my pink chair, Mommy."



What is your favorite place to crash?

Color Time with Lia (and Daddy)

Genius at work....


Ok, Daddy at work too, but they had fun making a mess on the back patio.


Hope the drought doesn't start next week :) or it might be permanent.

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to take a minute before heading off to sleep and wish everyone a wonderful Easter! I can't wait to celebrate our Risen Savior, Jesus.

Lia has been learning about Easter at her preschool this week, too, and must be soaking it all up because on Thursday morning Brendon and I woke up to her saying "Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive!" over the intercom. She was singing a little song they had taught her at school and it was so cute.

I hope you wake up with the sweet and powerful message of Easter in your ear tomorrow as well!

Here are a few pictures from this week:

Lia in her pink flower headband from Nana


and me, wearing the yellow one as directed :)

Listen Bear

"No Mommy, I want to sing it."

This happens quite often at bed time now as Lia learns more songs and wants to do it all by herself. I think she likes the solos.

Anyway, tonight I was trying to get her to sing some songs on camera for me and I caught her telling her bear to sit and listen. Oh, and the hiccups were worth the video alone!

So close!

"Teeny Tiny" Belmont came to play! Well, if you didn't see it, you might have heard them talkin' about it on Sportcenter or around the water cooler on Friday. Belmont gave Duke a run for their money and came up short by one point. They can certainly go home walking proud.

Check out the full story here.

Belmont in NCAA Tournament 3 Times running...

So, we don't have a football team and as many of you can attest, it's hard to get into college sports when most people coming out of your college play an instrument and don't score goals. But I have always loved Belmont basketball since the first time I visited campus and this weekend Belmont has made it to the NCAA tournament for the 3rd consecutive year this spring.

Watch us come up against Duke tonight at 7:15pm. As the head coach, Rick Byrd said "we're certainly happy to be here".

Go Bruins!

Lia meets Miss Lea

My friend, Lea, was in town for a conference early this week and was sweet enough to drive a little north to meet us. We met at the mall and Lia played at the fountains and had a little snack. It was great to catch up with her, but I was sad it could be for longer!

When I told Lia that we were going to meet "Miss Lea" she looked at me *very* strange. She doesn't really know anyone else with her name so it was fun to introduce them.

In honor of Ryan

Ryan recently had an experiment in facial hair and I guess Lia got inspired b/c I looked over the other morning and found her wearing her own chin puff .


maybe we will try for the Frnz-Josef tomorrow!