Saturday was a wonderful day for our family. For lunch, we headed down to the park for a picnic. Lily rode her tricycle the whole way (with some steering help).
We spent the evening over at the Smiths for our annual Sunday school oyster roast. The kids and adults had a great time.
Sarah Ellen may not be crawling yet, but she sure can get where she wants to go. You put her on her play mat and she ends up here:
Or here:
Here she is action:
She also has mastered the baby art of blowing raspberries. She's been doing this for quite sometime, but now she seems to do it nonstop. Her timing is very comical. I'll lean over her crib and say, "good morning sweet bug." In return I get a big raspberry and a grin. Her daddy kisses her and says goodbye, she responds with a sweet raspberry. (Does anyone know why they call it a raspberry)? Of course, I have yet to capture a good one on video, which is hard to believe since she really does them all day long. Here is what I was able to get.
Lily gets something from me after all. She loves puzzles. She has always loved them, starting with the board puzzles. She recently started putting together 12 piece jig saw puzzles. At first, it was excruciating to watch. She would try every single piece and it would take forever, but she would patiently sit there until she finished. She quickly got better and could put together all eight, 12 piece puzzles. The other night, I gave her a 25 piece puzzle and she did the whole thing. We then attempted a 100 piece, but I think that was a little too ambitious.
I thought if I posted my resolutions this year, I might be more accountable for them and actually make it past January. So, here it goes.
1) Exercise - I am going to exercise three mornings a week. Last year I had the excuse of pregnancy half the year and the lack of sleep for the second half. No excuses this year. I've never been one to hop out of bed in the mornings, but I have determined that mornings are going to be my only chance of success. Three mornings a week, I am going to get up before the girls and exercise. I realistically feel that this is one I can stick to.
2) Fingernails - Okay, so I'll add this one even though I've already broken it today. For as long as I can remember, I have made a resolution to stop biting my fingernails. Some years in the past, I have had some success, but it's just one of those nasty habits I think I'm stuck with. I'm not too optimistic on keeping this one.
3) Bible study - I am going to engage in a personal Bible study. I have spent A LOT of time this year involved in church activities - meetings, planning, and way too much to add here. Although, I have been very involved in church, I feel that I haven't been as involved with God. I have grown tremendously in faith this year and bonded more with my church family than I thought possible. Although, it has been a hard year for our church, we have grown in so many ways. I would like to take this year to quietly grow with God, and I plan to do this through personal Bible study. I'm going to start with a study I started but never finished: The Frazzled Female (sounds about right).
4) Play time - Many of us have said before that motherhood equals guilt. You feel guilty if you spend too much time with your children because you are spoiling them. You feel guilty if you spend too little time with your children because you are neglecting them. No matter what we do, we feel guilty that we could be doing it better. I am going to set aside some time (to be determined) several times a week to devote strictly to my children. Don't get me wrong, I spend most all my time with them, but I find myself doing endless other things while with them. If we are in the playroom, I start rearranging. If we are in Lily's room, I put away clothes or books. If we are downstairs, I check e-mail or make phone calls. Anyway, you get the picture. I'm going to take some time (it doesn't take much) to devote to them - no chores, no phone, and no distractions.
5) Budget - James and I, along with the rest of America, are implementing a strict budget for the next six months. In some ways, a budget will make things simpler. I don't have to feel guilty about buying things, because we just aren't going to buy things. I think the hardest category for us to meet will be eating out. We eat out quite a lot, and decided to really cut back on this. Should be interesting. If you have any good (and cheap) recipes, send them my way.
You think I would have learned by now as a parent to never say what you will and won't do. I recently posted about Lily's potty training and how she was now wearing big girl underwear and that I was not going back. Guess what? I went back. After five clothes changes and too much time spent on the potty, I decided that she was not ready yet. I think she and I both melted with relief as we put a diaper on her yesterday evening. It has been a hard week. She has really been acting out, talking baby talk, and just being a pill. I thought maybe this was related to any traces of prednisone still left in her system, but today I realized it was all do to the potty training. She was a perfect angel today - a complete joy to be around.
Although we haven't transitioned to big girl underwear yet, we have transitioned to the big girl bed. We converted Lily's toddler bed into a full sized bed today. She looked so tiny in her huge bed. She loved it and had no second thoughts about going night-night in her new bed. We don't have bedding yet, but that will just give us something to look forward to. We (okay, me) are looking for the perfect thing for her sweet room.
We were happy to ring in the New Year with Kami, Richard, Adam and Austin this year. While waiting for them to arrive, James entertained us with a spectacular fireworks show. 
The most exciting part of the night for us (boy times have changed) was when Lily went peepee AND poopoo on the potty. There was dancing, singing, cheering, and candy. You would have thought we had just won the lottery by the hoopla coming from our house. We have been struggling with potty training this week and have gone through many pair of big girl underwear everyday. There have been more accidents than successes, but I'm not turning back now.
We are definitely getting older and barely made it to midnight. I think all the lights were out at our house at 12:05.
The hand-me-down fairies (The Clines) passed on their awesome jump castle and we couldn't keep Lily out of it all day. She could have cared less that it was freezing cold outside. She had a blast jumping with her big cousins. They are so good to her. She must have said each of their names 50 times all morning and followed them everywhere. They sweetly played with her and she absolutely adores them. Thank you guys for the new outdoor entertainment. I think we are going to become very popular in our neighborhood now.
After a yummy lunch and some football, the Clines headed back to Irmo. We were then joined by Doncie, Poppy, Aunt Nette, Paul, Monica, Lee, and Gabby (Maggie was visiting her grandparents this week) for a traditional New Years lunch. We are all going to be healthy, wealthy, and wise this year. Gabby entertained a very exhausted Lily for us and finally we got both kiddos in bed. It is now 8:59, and I am in my PJ's and ready to sack out.
2008 was a year full of ups and downs. The biggest "up" however more than makes up for the downs: the arrival of our sweet little bee bug. It was a family/friend/church wide effort to get her here, but we did it, and she was every bit worth it. The Lord blessed us this year with a perfect little baby and she has brought so much joy into our lives. Our church family has experienced a hard year full of unexpected changes, but through this sadness, we are growing stronger as a church, as individuals, and as a family.
2008 IN PICTURES %5B10%5D.jpg)
Today has been a wonderful start to a new year. Good food, good fun, good family, and good friends. I look forward to 2009!
Happy New Year
Love, James, Taryn, Lily and Sarah Ellen
