17 Months and Other Happenings

Elizabeth is every bit a toddler on a mission! Her vocabulary continues to grow, and she is putting phrases together more and more. She has also realized relationships between people; for example if I say, "Nana," she will respond with "PawPaw and Pepper." Her oldest child tendencies are showing up a lot, as she likes to be in charge! Just the other day she told kids who were being rowdy at WalMart, "No! No!" She also has begun to tell Daddy and Mommy what to do... not too sure how we feel about that! Elizabeth's creativity is blossoming; she loves to see what treasures she can find in the bottom of Mommy's closet and put them to interesting uses. Most things can be a hat of some sort :) Elizabeth is an "equal opportunity kisser and high fiver." Even if Daddy is in another room and I get a kiss, she runs to find him to share the love- so sweet! She has had fun hanging out with friends of ours lately and showing off her knowledge of body parts, animal sounds, and other feats like dancing and doing somersaults. As the weather gets nicer outside, she is a very happy girl! Outside is her favorite place to be, and she has mastered going up the steps and down the slide on her own at our local park!! BIG GIRL!
Now for a few pics to show off our cutie!

Just hangin' out!

Doing a little "bouncing" like Tigger to the Winnie the Pooh song
One of her many "hats"
Singing a happy tune
PIGTAILS!
Giving kisses to baby Cara
LOVING Aunt Haley
A little "Elvis" to thank Uncle Trey and Aunt Cheryl for her cool Valentine's jammies

In baby news, my belly continues to grow. This baby girl is just as wiggly if not more than Elizabeth was. I will be 25 weeks on Saturday and am feeling great. I love being pregnant, but I do have a few issues... I HATE maternity pants with the big panel! I HATE having to get out of my warm bed to relieve my full bladder at least a couple of times a night! I HATE that my belly button pooches out and is not attractive in fitted shirts! But... I LOVE the truth that the creator of the universe is knitting together a precious child in the comfort of my womb! I LOVE that Justin tells me I am beautiful even when I don't feel like it! I LOVE that in just a few short months we get to meet our daughter!
She's all there! I think she is a bit lopsided in this photo, as she often is!

OK, I must brag a little! I completed my very first sewing project last weekend under the supervision of my talented mother in law. We were visiting Grammy and Pop in Kaufman, and it was a rainy day. I had been asking for a few weeks for her to teach me some basics, so it was a prefect time! I learned how to read a pattern, cut out the fabric, set up the machine (although hers is much fancier than mine!), overcast stitch, put in a hem, put in elastic, and much more! I really had a lot of fun making these crop pants for Elizabeth and was super excited that they actually fit! For my talented sewing friends out there, don't look too closely... I still have lots to learn. The top that accompanies the pants is a bit more complicated, but maybe with some help I will master it next time. Thanks for the lessons Grammy!



Justin is doing well. He continues to work at Accel where he does pretty much everything in and out of the office to keep things running! He also had the opportunity to attend an executive pastors' conference in Dallas a couple of weeks ago, as he is now assuming that role at CityView. Elizabeth LOVES her Daddy, and I LOVE to watch and listen to them play together!


As most of you know, Kyleigh's long lost cousin, Uno, won the Westminster Kennel Show. She was pretty proud of him, even though she knows she is cuter:) Just take a look!




That's all for now... I will try to be a more faithful blogger... My friend Jen has informed me that it has been too long!

A coat hanger, a plunger, and a cottage cheese lid

This evening after dinner I realized that when I turned on the disposal, water and debris came up the other side! Yuck! After several attempts to clear it out, Justin decided to become Mr. Plummer. With me as his lovely assistant, he began taking pipes apart and catching water in plastic tubs. Unfortunately, the clog was unreachable. We tried to get a coat hanger through without resolve. Draino was not effective. Finally, in desperation, I held the lid of a cottage cheese container over the opening in the pipe and Justin used the plunger over the drain. When we tested it, no more clog!!!! Amazing what you can do when you are determined not to spend money on calling a plummer.

You know "those" days?

Today began like most days. I got up around 6:45, took my shower and got ready, put a load of laundry in the washer, got breakfast ready for Justin, and had a little Jesus time. Madalyn arrived around 8:00, and we played until Elizabeth woke up around 9:00. This is when the little things began. I realized while I was changing Elizabeth that I had no more diapers for Madalyn, size 2, and Elizabeth's size 4 diapers were not going to work! Ok, I had already wanted to go to Big Lots today, so no biggie! Now it was time for breakfast. I put Madalyn's yogurt on the table, but when I turned around to put Elizabeth in her chair, Madalyn found the yogurt and pulled it to the ground spilling blueberry yumminess all over the floor. Again, no biggie, we can handle a little quick floor clean up. After breakfast, we prepared for our outing to the post office and Big Lots. (Side Note: Getting out today was not the best choice to begin with. We had wind advisory warnings and the local lakes provided conditions suitable for surfing. ) I got the girls all loaded up and was ready to go until I realized I was missing a garage door opener. (Somehow we are down to one, and it was in Justin's truck.) After a stop at Justin's office to grab the opener, we were once again on our mission to the post office. Upon arriving at my destination, I reached into my wallet to grab cash only to find it not there. Grrr... I stuck the cash in the jogging stroller last night for our Sonic trip. OK, debit card. Nope, just changed banks, haven't activated the card and have not a clue as to the obscure pin that was given me. Alright, credit card. Not available either, in Justin's wallet after Sunday lunch with friends. Back to Justin's office we went. Following this, we endured the wind and survived the post office with the help of a few kind strangers to hold the series of 3 doors (not handicap friendly!). Our trip through Big Lots was also pretty successful. I found several good deals on items we needed, and I had a 20% off coupon for my whole purchase:) I believe the total was $12 for 2 boxes of organic mac and cheese, 2 boxes of organic cereal, face wash, diapers, a box of 24 puffs snack packs, and clorox anywhere spray. As we exited the store, the wind again threw us around. I positioned the cart in what I thought was a safe spot and began to put Elizabeth in the car. I got one strap over her shoulder and saw Madalyn and the cart being whipped around and rolling away! I quickly ran to Madalyn and got the cart under control. However, when we returned to the car, I found 4 locked doors with keys and Elizabeth inside!!!! After a moment of panic, I called Justin. He was on his way to a church conference an hour away, but he had only gotten a few miles away. Thankfully, Daddy came and saved the day! While we waited for him to get there, Elizabeth realized that she wasn't buckled and began to stand up, wiggle, and make me very nervous. She never was freaked out though; we just sang and made silly faces at each other and passed the 10 minutes safely. Whew! When I finally got into the car and looked at the clock, it was only 11:53! YIKES... what else was in store?
Thankfully the rest of my day was much better, and I did take a mommy break while the girls napped to watch The Pursuit of Happiness and cried some more.
When all was said and done, I thanked God that Justin was available to come so quickly, and that he had a key, and that Elizabeth was safe in the mean time! I need these humbling days to knock me down a bit from thinking I have it all under control. As a friend so sweetly reminded me tonight- HE is Always in Control!

16 months and Half way through!

Elizabeth Grace is 16 months old and so much fun to be around! She is talking all of the time and LOVES to play with her friends. She still enjoys her food, and her belly is proof. We recently discovered that she is a chips and salsa girl; actually she prefers the salsa, sucking it off the chip and asking for more! Elizabeth's attention span is growing, so we spend many mornings and evenings before bed reading book after book after book. She has come to identify the letter "E" and will point it out whenever she sees it. She also is interested in learning her colors, but so far "yellow" is the only one she gets consistently. Thanks to Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Trey, ELMO has entered our world. Elizabeth's compassionate spirit is already showing; when Elmo is throwing his tickle fit, she picks him up to comfort him by rocking and patting him. She has finally overcome her distaste for things in her hair and on multiple occasions worn bows and pigtails (my personal favorite)!

All dressed up for Cousin Zach's wedding!

The Lemonade stand has been quite the hit!
I think she is talking to herself in the mirror of her sing and play stage.

Taco Salad- GOOD!

The "dress up" has begun! She just had to try on her new outfit...even if it was over her jammies! Complete with the WWJD lanyard!

Elizabeth's first trip to the stock show...
Her reaction, "Cow! Mooooo! Cow! Mooooo! Cow! Mooooo!"

Our little super star- between singing and dancing, she keeps us entertained!

In other news, I am 20 weeks along and half way through my pregnancy. My body has definitely gotten the memo, so my belly is growing at a quick pace- I will get a belly pic up shortly. I am feeling great and trying to get out for walks as much as the weather permits. My only problem has been some frustrating sinus pressure and headaches, for which I can't take the medicine I would normally. However, my new best friend has become my Neti Pot! If you have never heard of such a thing, you should definitely google it. It is quite a sight when I am using it, but it works like magic! I would HIGHLY recommend you try one out when feeling congested.

Ode to my Neti Pot!

Surprise! Surprise!

What an exciting week we have had!
First of all... in case you haven't heard, Baby Bassett #2 is on the way! On Wednesday, we went to the Dr. for our first sonogram. Because of some crazy insurance stuff and switching docs, I was already 14 weeks along, so we thought. As the sonographer began checking out the baby, she commented that she thought I was a little farther along. I didn't think much about it, because I just wanted to see that little heart beating and legs kicking. Well, after all of the measurements and calculations and seeing a perfect looking baby, we were informed that I was 17.5 weeks along instead of 14 weeks! That explained my very obvious pregnant belly!

Since I was farther along, she was also able to tell us that...
Elizabeth is going to have a little sister!
We are delighted and now preparing for a June 7 due date as opposed to July 1!

In case you cannot make out Elizabeth's shirt, it says, "I'm the BIG sister." Though we aren't sure how much she understands just yet, she does gives baby kisses and point to my tummy and cheer, "BABY!" I know they will be great friends... and probably have a good share of sister fights as well:)

15 Months plus some...

Well, this update is incredibly late for a variety of reasons, but mainly because we have had to have a funeral for our old laptop. It served us well for almost three years, but the battery quit charging, the CD/DVD drive was fading, the keyboard was finicky, and the last straw was the blank screen I got the morning after I had typed up and carefully edited our Christmas letter. We are so thankful for Christmas money that purchased our new laptop! I didn't realize how connected I was to the computer until I spent two weeks without it!
In the past month Elizabeth's verbal skills have exploded! I cannot even list her words, because they are now so numerous. Thanksgiving and Christmas were a blast with our sweet girl! She is always full of excitement and loved everything about Christmastime. She really loved the jingle bell ornaments on the tree that occasionally "fell off" just for her to carry around. Paw Paw bought her a blow up "peek-a-boo penguin" yard decoration that we opted to keep inside; she thinks it is so funny and still begs for me to plug it in. When the penguin pops out of the ice cube, she shouts, "BOO!" Another favorite was her nativity advent calendar. Each morning after breakfast, she scampered over to it and would say, "Cal, Cal, Cal;" it was so fun getting to daily share with her the truth of Christmas as we added to the scene!
Elizabeth also learned a great deal about sharing in the past month, as I began keeping Madalyn, a little girl 2 days older than Elizabeth. It has been a joy to be home with my sweet girl everyday and to watch her interact with her friend. Ma Ma, as Elizabeth calls her, was a premie and adopted from Guatemala by some of our friends. She is on the petite side, but Elizabeth is so gentle with her and really loves having her around.

Here are some pics to chronicle lost time!

All bundled up to go get our Christmas tree!!
Playing in the leaves with third cousins, Jack and Marin-- our source of great hand-me-downs!
Christmas morning... a sit 'n' spin and princess big blocks:)
Lookin' pretty in the dress Paw Paw bought her!
She loves to sweep! What a great helper!!!
Ma Ma and Elizabeth ready for a ride...
Ma Ma pooped out after a good stroll:)

14 Months

This month has been a blast and exhausting all at the same time! Elizabeth has this walking thing down and is FAST! She is most times a woman on a mission and knows exactly what she wants. My sweet girl is like her mommy and enjoys food very much. Today, she walked to the refrigerator, opened the door, took out a yogurt and walked to her chair where she said please. She is also like Justin and me in that she LOVES to be outside! She realizes that Kyleigh scratches the door when she wants to go out, so she has begun just going to the back door and tapping on it while signing please. She used to just sit and play with a few toys in the yard while I fixed dinner. This is no longer an option, as she has figured out how to climb up into our patio chairs and stand up in them.
A few things she loves these days... brushing her teeth:), bath time, climbing of any sort, getting the mail (we have a mail shoot, so she doesn't even have to leave the house!), "talking" on the phone, shoes, books, the number 2, kisses, watching football, and playing with Kyleigh.
We are working on "Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!" She has pretty much got it down but refuses to perform when I really want her to do it! We'll see if we can get our little turkey on video though!

Those sweet baby blues are just too sweet, I know!

After a successful climbing effort!

Snugly and warm for a walk.
Did I mention the girl likes shoes? Any kind really, but Daddy has some pretty big shoes to fill!
All that mess making of which you see evidence in the background works up an appetite.

After taking out the box of Os from her cabinet and extracting the bag from the box, she was ready to EAT!

Some kids like a rocking chair or a bean bag. Not Elizabeth; she feels most secure in her own little box. She crawled in all by herself and was really quite content!
One last happy girl after a long chilly walk!

A quarter of a century!

It's true! On Monday, my precious hubby turned 25 years old! Not a big milestone to many, but in my book it deserves merit. In Justin's 25 years, God has done an amazing work in his life. I have been blessed to walk through life with him as a friend, girlfriend, fiance, and wife for over 6 of those years, and it has been incredible! God's work in Justin's life is something to be celebrated!
In the past year, God has grown Justin into an awesome Daddy who really is a great example to Elizabeth of our loving Heavenly Father. He can somehow make her giggle in a way no one else can. He cheers her on and rejoices in her accomplishments. He lets her explore and yet protects her from danger. Her face lights up in his presence as does his in hers. Watching them together makes my heart melt! A few of their favorite things to do together are... Sonic dates, floor snuggle time, chill in the backyard, watch football and ride the rocking horse (Eliz rides, Daddy makes the horse go crazy!).

As for Justin as my husband, he has really been great about protecting our relationship in the chaos of our lives. Between parenting, seminary, the money job and being a pastor at CityView, time together can be a commodity! However, he has truly been steadfast about guarding our alone time and seeing that our marriage is a priority. If that is a simple walk together in the evening, a special date night, or a surprise get away to celebrate our "dating anniversary," he takes good care of me and reminds me often of his love for me! Even in small ways like humoring me by watching The Biggest Loser with me or taking our own picture the old fashioned way (see below), he forsakes his own desires for mine. What a prince!
I love him like crazy and am so thankful that God called us together as husband and wife. I can imagine no one more perfect to walk this journey alongside. Happy birthday my love!

13 Months

This past month has been so much fun for our family! Elizabeth is more mobile; she is walking more and more everyday. She also has become excellent with her receptive language. She follows directions like, "Go get your night night book," and "It's time for a bath, let's go!" and "Bring me your shoes." Elizabeth has also become quite the parrot. Though her words don't always sound like you would expect an adult to say them, she is really good with communication. Here are some of her words: Momma, Daddy, ball, bye bye, more, baby, bear, uh-oh, no, yes, play, diaper, duck, book, more, dog, bite, and that. Another accomplishment this month has been learning her body parts. So far, she can point to her hair, eyes, nose, mouth, belly button and toes and clap her hands.

Our little munchkin loves to dance and "sing" to her multiple musical toys. By chance tonight we discovered her love for Dancing with the Stars. We don't even watch it usually, but when we got home from our walk tonight, I just flipped on the tv, and it was on. Elizabeth went crazy and danced away!

Here are a few recent pics:)
I can get onto my rocking horse all by myself! Aren't I such a BIG girl!?! I have learned to blow kisses XOXO... this melts the hears of many. I give Momma and Daddy real kisses too!
I love my friends! I love pretty much everyone, especially if they smile at me. I am sure to wave to anyone within a hundred yards!
I am VERY mischievous! If you can't find me, a few of my favorite hiding spots are under the bed, behind the couch, in my Tupperware cabinet, or my most favorite... very near Kyleigh's bowl!

Our Big Girl!!

Well, Elizabeth in officially a toddler! She has taken a few steps; yet her strong willed personality is very evident!!! "I will walk when I feel like it Momma and Daddy!" is what she appears to be saying when we try to get her to show off.
Anyway, she keeps us laughing and smiling and thanking our God for the little things. I love that she is amazed by a light switch, the feel of flower petals, the light shining through the trees, and bubbles! What great reminders of the intricacies of our God and His presence in the seemingly small things.

Here are a few pics from her 1st Birthday Party as well as a few other fun ones.