Teething

Lila's first tooth broke through a week ago and now the one next to it is really close to coming through also. Unfortunately she had a little fever and a runny nose both weeks before the tooth breaks through--I don't know if it is coincidence or part of her teething process, but for now I'm associating new teeth with a needy Lila (poor thing--I'm sure it hurts).

If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you'll get a good look at her bottom right tooth just poking through. You may also notice her bottom left tooth (on your right) is ready to come through. Also note her cute dimple.

A Sunbeam

Ellie is now a sunbeam. I was able to enjoy the first couple of Sundays with her as I was serving in the Primary Presidency--it was so fun to see her in Primary and she would wave and say Hi Mom as she would walk by and then quickly fold her arms to be reverent. Well I was released last week from my calling in Primary and I miss the children. It is nice to have a break from all of the activities and events that Primary entails but the interaction with the children and studying the wonderful lessons established by the General Primary Presidency brought such a joy to me. I have not yet received a new calling (shh . . .) and feel blessed by my Father in Heaven with the opportunity to spend some extra time becoming a better wife and mother. With this in mind I decided that for Family Home Evening we would practice the new song they are learning this month, "I Know That My Savior Loves Me" and discuss when Jesus blessed the children. We had a great little discussion and then I began reviewing the song with her and to my amazement she knew quite a bit of the song from only 3 weeks. It made me grateful for such wonderful teachers who share their time and talents in Primary to strengthen our youth.

She did not want to hold the cute little item they made in Sunbeam class, but wanted to hold the beautiful bouquet of flowers the new Primary Presidency put together with the Senior Primary as a thank you to the old presidency (it made me cry).

Family Fun Night

About a year ago we started "Family Movie Night" to be held on Friday evenings. We did this to cut back on the amount of TV Ellie was watching during the week due to my weakened state during pregnancy. Any time she would ask for a movie we would explain that we were waiting for Family Movie Night which she was excited for because we would all watch a movie together and pop popcorn--one of her favorite snacks. Now that she is older and we are reestablishing routines we started holding "Family Fun Night" on Friday evening (not to be confused with Family Home Evening which we hold on Monday evenings and discuss gospel principles). On the 7th we had a game night where we played Moono (it is really called Uno Moo) and started teaching Ellie Skipbo. We made cookies and had a good time. Last week while at Michael's they were clearancing gingerbread kits and I thought my crafty cooking daughter would love that. So this week we ordered pizza and made a grand gingerbread house for "Family Fun Night". We also had banana splits for dessert. Ellie loved it--she spent a couple of hours decorating the house and said, "I LOVE Family Fun night--it is so much fun!" I guess the tradition is a keeper and I hope we have lots of memories spending time together as a family.

Look at them go--even Lila got in on the action chewing on the gingerbread.

Enjoying the final product.

Lila Lila Lila

She missed her morning nap because of Ellie's dance class. We came home and I fed her lunch while working on a project and next thing I knew--she was asleep.

She found sister's juice box on the table and mmm . . . it tastes good.
And yet another unsafe toy for the chomper.
(If you cannot tell this is a little squishy basketball.)

Ringing in the New Year

We are only 5 days into the new year, but as a family we already have a lot of new things happening.

Last night for family home evening we discussed and wrote down some family rules. This is the first time we have done this and I love it. They may be simple, but it helps to have a reference that Ellie helped create and she knows the consequence is to lose a toy if she does not obey the rule.

Lila is crawling very well and can now get back to a sitting position after crawling and today started to pull herself up. She is growing up way too fast!

(I know it is that same silly chair she could get herself upside down in--now she pulls up herself up into it.)

I am working on getting us back into a routine and have set a personal goal I will strive to incorporate in my life of being more patient and empathetic and not so quick to judge. I believe because of our human nature this will require me to be more in tune with the Spirit and I have laid out specifics in helping me reach this.

Here's to a New Year and all the adventures that are ahead!