What happens when Daddy's in charge

Being a stay at home Mom, you learn to always function with one ear/eye open.  Without fail, the moment you let your guard down the little one usually finds trouble.  It really is amazing how this phenomenon works.  Miss Lily is no exception to this.

Bob has not quite got the stay at home parent skill down and this morning he discovered what happens without it.  While showering, Lily found my lipstick and managed to thoroughly color her face with it.  Oh dear.  Hard lesson learned.

We've been learning all about giving Mommy and Daddy a kiss this week too.  Her kisses are open mouthed and she is sure that her tongue goes in there somewhere.  It is so precious to ask her for a kiss and have her smile and rush over to us.  Just love this little lady.

Africa!

No we haven't made some intercontinental trek, we went to the North Carolina ZOO!

 The zoo is about an hour and a half away from us, but we and the Jessups decided that we had to get out there at least once all together.  I really think that all of us adults were far more excited than the littles, but they had a blast.  Lily is all about her sounds these days.  She can tell you what a kitty, doggie, duck, cow, monkey, lion, cow and sheep says.  She is learning so fast.

The zoo here is HUGE and would really take an entire day to get around, so, we headed to the Africa side and trekked through the safari animals until we lost the babies.  Our first stop was the giraffes and both kiddos were mesmerized.  Lily instantly started woofing at them (her response to any animal right now) and she couldn't help but point and squeal at them.

The chimpanzees were really the hit of the morning.  They were all very active and Lily stood at the window going "ah, ah, ah, oo,oo,oo."

 There was even a little baby chimp that Lily watched and watched.  Going to the zoo with a little child is so much fun.  Everything they see is amazing and new and exciting.  It really does bring a joy that is in one word....indescribable.

The lion was sleeping and very antisocial, but the rhinos, elephants, birds, lemurs, baboons and zebras where all out and about.

On the way back we sat and watched the African dancers. Both of the kids clapped and danced with the music.  Lily even got pulled on stage to dance with the kids and dancers.  At first I thought she would burst into tears, but she handled it like a pro.

We topped off the morning with a picnic lunch and tree climbing.

Oh what fun the zoo is!

Berry Delicious

One of the best things about North Carolina is when the strawberries start bloomin! They are simply the best tasting berries ever and it is such a fun experience to go and pick them! Yummy. Last year Grace and I took our little kiddos, but they were both so little it was somewhat lost on them. Not this year.

Porter Farms is one of the best strawberry patches around and for $8 you can pick a whole bucket of fresh berries. The best part is that you can munch while you pick. I seriously believe that we consumed twice as many berries as we picked. They were just so delicious. Lily LOVED the berries.

She saw those berries and instantly knew what to do with them. She ate and ate and ATE. She found my bucket and would pick up a berry, take a bite and then put it back in the bucket. I didn't pick up on what she was doing until I looked in my bucket and found a bunch of berries with a mysterious bite out of them.

It was so much fun to be there as a family and we had such a great time. Lily and Jancsi were covered in berry juice and we ended our morning with full tummies and a bucket full of delicious berries!

Lily learns her "No"

Yep, the dreaded day has arrived when she can now put a word to the attitude, "No" popped out of my precious little angel's mouth the other day when I told her it was time to get off the couch. At first I was so taken back that I asked her again, giving her the benefit of the doubt. Again I heard a clear "No." Her no is so precious because it sounds kind of nasally and a little bit whiny. Truthfully, at this stage it is hard not to laugh at the toddler defiance. Today I asked her if she wanted more food, instead of replying with her "all done," she replied with a head shake and a "No!" So instead of getting upset, I worked with her on "No, Thank you." That is going to take some time since the one word is so much easier to say. What a cute little booger.


Lily's favorite thing to do is climb on EVERYTHING. Whenever she actually makes it up into a chair, on the couch or wherever, she has such a sense of accomplishment. Her everest has been our bed and she has figured out how to summit all by herself. Oh Boy. So many times last week I thought she was in her room and discovered her giggling on our bed. She has also discovered that she can climb onto the toilet and get to the countertop where we have stored the toilet paper and all manner of fun things.


This is how I found her one morning, up on the toilet, and yes, she is eating the toilet paper. MMMMMMMM

Summer is quickly arriving on North Carolina's doorstep and we are loving it. It really is wonderful to be able to run in the mornings without having to have 4 layers on the baby, 3 layers on me and a fast "stay warm" pace. Ah, so much nicer when its relaxed! Grace got a double jogger this past week so that she can run when she nannies. She took it out for a spin with the littles and they LOVED it.


What fun to be able to sit right next to your best friend while running. They kicked, squealed and laughed all the while Grace pushed the 80 pounds. And she thought one baby was heavy!

Jancsi and Lily are getting closer and closer with each day. To Lily Jancsi is "Gangi," and to Jancsi Lily is "Deedee." It took us a while to figure out that Jancsi calls her Deedee, but sure enough, we came through the door the other day to his delighted "DEEdee!" So absolutely precious. The thought of ever having to split up these kids is a sadness I am certainly not ready to bear and I pray the Lord's grace when it does happen. They love each other so much (even if it is expressed through Lily hitting Jancsi on the head to tears, or Jancsi biting Lily to tears-Love in any language....)

Jancsi turned the big ONE last week and we had a little celebration at our house. We gave the kids cupcakes and watched them celebrate through sugar consumption. What a mess we had! After Lily put frosting all over her face and mushed up the cupcake, she started mooching off of Jancsi's tray.




Needless to say, they were covered and immediately sent to the bath! It is so fun to celebrate these milestones together!

Lily got a super special suprise from her Grandma and Grandpa Longmire last week too. A cute little suitcase filled with goodies of all shapes and sizes came. Lily had a blast opening it.




Her favorite things were the sunglasses, bubbles, alphabet puzzle and the baby.




Lily is very fond of babies right now and very aware of them. Everywhere we go she is constantly going "baby, baby." She sees them before I do! What she really wanted from the baby in the suitcase was its paci (or to Lily "booboo"). Once she had examined all of the new exciting stuff she of course discovered the box. It really is the simplest things that delight these little humans. Simply love this girl.


The Lord is moving in big ways in our little families these days and while nothing is certain, the Lord is cetrainly leading. Grace and I both find ourselves in moments of great doubt and moments of great trust. We have both really started to understand that sometimes the deserts of uncertainty can really be catalysts for the greatest growth and faith transformation. I look forward to getting more answers and seeing where the Lord is taking us...........