My Sweet Daughter

I love my daughter so much, not just because she's mine, but because she is wonderful, sweet, and smart, constantly amazing and surprising me. We are raising her to bilingual; her father speaks to her only in Spanish, and I speak to her only in English. Most of the words she says right now are English because she's at home with me all day, but having Margie around has been great because she gets more Spanish during the day now too. She understands both Faiver and me equally, though. Sometimes, it's incredible to see what she really understands. She surprises us a lot. For example, just a couple day ago we were sitting on the couch playing and talking. Margie got her to say "Costco" (super cute), and I was asking her if she loved all the people in her life, to which she answered "yes". So, I asked her if she knew who Emily was (that's what we're naming baby number 2), and she said "yes." Then I asked, "Lily, where is Emily?" She immediately patted my tummy!! I mean, we've been trying to spark understanding by telling her there's a baby/her little sister in there, but I don't think we've every specifically told her, "this is Emily." We talk about it around her, but it's never been directly specified to her. I couldn't believe it!! I think she'll be a great big sister.

Lily loves having Margie in the house. This morning, she's been hanging out just with her (which is why I can get all this blogging done at once), playing "baby"with her, listening to music and "singing" together as well as dancing - she loves to dance. She makes sounds like "whoa," "ouch," and "uh-oh." Here are the words she says so far (most of which don't sound too much like real words, but she's getting there): agua, ojo, butt paste, hola, hello, hi, kiss, Margie, Papa Noyes, no, yes, si, please, paci, hat, ball, bubbles, bus, out, Mommy, Papa, Daddy, juice, oh!, amen (with a Spanish "a"), eyes, baby. She loves to be outside, though this week has been hard because it's either been raining or too cold to play outside. She loves phones - lucky for her Margie's phone is from Colombia, so she gets to play with it a lot since she can't really call/text anyone accidentally. Her food likes continue to impress me. One day, I named different things in the fridge to see what she wanted for breakfast. The only thing she said "yes" to was cucumber. Seriously? Yep, that's what she had for breakfast that day. She loves bologna. Yesterday we had crescent rolls stuffed with bologna and cheese. She way there was bologna inside, made an excited noise, picked out JUST the meat, and left everything else on her plate. She prefers fruits and veggies to meats and carbs. She still eats pretty much anything we put in front of her, which makes mealtimes super wonderful for me. She loves to help around the house. Sometimes she's more hindering than helping, but it's still cute. Her laugh makes my day 100 times better no matter what else is going on. She loves animals, but only if they're in pictures or videos - up close, she's scared. She does the motion and sound of riding a horse every time she sees a picture of one. If it's cold outside, or she wants her blanket on her, or anyone else is putting a blanket on, she'll say "brrrr."

Watching the rain

I just love this little girl so much!! It will be interesting to see what the future years bring us :)

Easter 2013

I know this is coming late, but this is how we spent our Easter. It was pretty fun this year because Lily was old enough for us to do Easter-y things with her. I filled her eggs with Cheerios, Goldfish, Vanilla Wafers, and fruit snacks. She loved it!! (and I didn't have to worry about rationing out candy, which we don't want her to have a lot of anyway)

When she woke up, she got her Easter basket

Cute Easter outfit!

She loved her Easter egg "hunt" (We just put them on the
lawn and she picked them up)

Success!!

Getting ready to dye Easter eggs

After she ate one, Daddy helped her
decorate an egg

Lookin' good (except the one that was supposed to be
purple...the color didn't work out)

Of course the talks in church were wonderful, and we also focused on the real reason for celebrating Easter. We are every thankful for Jesus Christ and His example and teachings. Because He was resurrected, we can be too. Our Savior showed us the way to return to Him, and we strive everyday to follow Him in all we do. Happy Easter!!

Happenings

April has been passing by way too fast! I can't believe that it's already past the middle of the month. Nothing too exciting or life changing has been happening lately, but my daughter always keeps me entertained. Also, it's been really nice to have Margie staying with us. I will really miss her when she moves into her apartment at the end of the month. At least she'll still be close and can come over whenever she likes! Here are some pictures of things we've been doing lately:

Eating Arequipe like a true Colombian

She loves her new sunglasses

She likes to put on everyone's shoes! These
are Margie's slippers

Snack time with a friend :)

Her new favorite thing at the park

Wanted to help me take out the trash - she
went all the way outside, and I lifted her up
so she could throw the trash in the dumpster

Waiting for Daddy and Margie to come
out at the Color Festival

She eats the hot dog, leaves the cornbread

Her new favorite seat - poor Margie's legs!

"taking a picture" of her newly painted toes

Her choice of accessories 

Riding the carousel with Daddy - took two
turns to decide she really liked it

Enjoying her new organizer - Margie and I
put it together!

Making a candy necklace at Cosmo's Easter Egg Hunt

She did not like Cosmo!

With Daddy before the big "hunt"

Margie and Daddy after Holi (Color Festival)

She did not like the mess!

We played with some more colors at home, so Lily and I
could participate. She was traumatized!! She wouldn't fully
calm down until all of us had taken showers and changed.
(We didn't take Lily in for the actual festival because it was
just way too much powder)

Margie and the puppy my sister-in-law
rented for us to play with

As close as she would get to it!

Good times!