An Update on James

In case you don't speak toddler, here is what she has learned so far!  She will probably have the whole book memorized by the time she's 73.

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,

To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations:

Greetings.

 

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

And just in case you wondered if all of our memorization pursuits were so righteous...

First Birthday Cake: A Photo Series

(All photos are courtesy of Jon Kemp and may not be used without permission except by co-grandparents)!

 [Myla is much daintier in her approach, and employs the "I will only get up to two fingers dirty while eating" rule.]

 [Piper is more of a "nomnom" kinda girl.]

One Year Later: Piper Joy

Dear Piper,

     I started writing this post months ago in my head but never sat down to write it out.  I kept thinking I would have more time, but alas, you kept growing faster and faster!

     Anyway, here goes.  The day your big sister was born, God turned me into a mama.  The day you were born, I learned what real pain is.  I mean real, my-body-might-break-apart, I-might-die-today pain.  But, when I learned the pain, I learned more about love.  I say this because I would go through it all over again a thousand times over for you or your sister.  It's a scary love, kid. 

     When Myla came into this world, she was a serene little sleepy baby.  When you arrived, you screamed unceasingly at the world and everyone in it.  We chose between two name contenders at the hospital.  One of the options means: "my delight" and your name means: "pipe/flute player."  Girl, you earned it.  I even did something I never thought I would do and asked the sweet nurses to take you away for a few hours so I could take a nap. 

     You are definitely your own person.  Where your sister is quiet and observant, you are quick to speak and act.  You have no fear-- sometimes I am surprised we have made it a full year without any trips to the emergency room!  I don't want to make this too long, but I can not imagine our family without you.  Happy birthday, Piper!

Love,
Mom

P.S. I want to eat your baby rolls and smash my face in your cheeks.

Now for the mandatory trip down memory lane...

 

May/June 2012

[First week of life.  I know this isn't the best picture of you dear, but I just wanted to document that you did, in fact, resemble an insect for a while.  I blame your giant eyeballs.  Don't feel bad.  Myla looked like a tiny old man].

 

July 2012

 

August 2012

 

 

 

      September 2012

[aka Football season, obviously]

 

 

November 2012

 

December 2012

 

January 2013

[Proud sis from the start]!

 

March 2013

[Some moms probably don't let their babies eat themselves into a coma at Casa Ole].

 

April 2013

[April = popsicle season in Texas].

 

May 2013

 [Free public service announcement: spinach enchiladas make cute baby faces but way less cute diapers].

 

 [Our first Skeeter's game!]

[AND first carousel ride for both of you.  Myla was too scared to go on the big one at the rodeo!]

[Rocking that first ponytail.  I'm sure the other babies in the church nursery are totally jealous].

 

 

And finally, this video pretty much documents the personality differences in the two of you:

 



 

 

 

Overheard in the Livingston House...

Just a few nuggets a la Myla Grace:

*Disclaimer: Due to the nature of toddlers being weirdos, some of these may be a little too graphic for those without children.  To everyone else, I'm sure you've seen worse!

[Part of our evening routing involves a pre-bath trip to the potty where either Dave or I read a book to Myla.  This particular evening, I told her I wasn't going to read a book, but I would sing a song if she wanted].

Me: What song do you want me to sing?
Myla: "Call Me Maybe!"

[Whatever inspires you to poop, dear].
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Myla: Sit down, Piper.  Sit!  Good girl.

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Me: You're a big girl.
Myla: I not a big girl!  I a baby.
Me: Well, you'll always be my baby and daddy's baby.
Myla: No, I Nana's baby!

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[At least once a week or so, Myla and Piper stage a naptime rebellion.  They stay up and play for a while before going to sleep, or Myla screams and cries to me from her room.  These are her latest go-to cries:]

Myla: Mamaaaaa! There's a hair in my mouth!
or
Myla: My booger!  My boogerrrrrr!

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Myla: Daddy's boobies have hairs!

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Myla: Piper made a mess!  I can't BELIEVE it!

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[And conversations like this happen all too frequently]:
Myla: Where we going?
Me: Our house.
Myla: Huh?
Me: We're going to our house.
Myla: Huh?
Me: We're going home.
Myla: Huh?
Me: You heard me!
Myla: Yea. 

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[And sometimes ones like this]:

 

 

 

The Great Midwest Trip of 2013

(Alternately titled: The Time We Trekked Across the Midwest Only to Come Down with the Plague)

Pretty much the same day we bought the minivan, Dave started talking about heading northward for a family trip.  He really wanted to make it to visit family before all the snow melted!  After planning for a while and talking to some seasoned road tripping veterans, we decided to get the party started at about 3:00 AM one weekday.  We made it to Dallas to stop for breakfast before the crazies even woke up for the day!  Day #1 of driving went smoothly.  We decided to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool in Kansas City to give the girls a little play time.  Unfortunately, the pool was a teensy bit on the chilly side, but oh well.

[Cuties in swim suits]

 [Piper figured out how to eat these genius squeezy things.]

 Blah blah, 19 driving hours later, and we made it to Minnesota!  Piper decided to sit out the first snow play session.

 We wanted to get some photos done of the cousins while we were in Minneapolis, so the Livingston girls had their first hair appointments.  (Cousin Cailynn, on the other hand, is a seasoned salon pro).

 

[Always so serious]

 [First braid EVER]

 ["Mommy, I a princess!"]

 

 We went to this neat little store where you basically rent studio time for an hour.  There were backdrop choices available as well as Easter-themed props.  You show up with your own camera, and you even have the option to hook up to their flash thingies. (I'm pretty sure that's the technical term for them).  Bonus: you could rent bunnies for your photo shoot!

 [Pre- photo shoot kisses]

 [Can you tell which one of us wasn't a fan of the bunnies??]

 [Cailynn = professional model and bunny enthusiast]

 As it turns out, taking pictures of three toddlers is like herding cats.  Cats on crack, that is.

Then came the part of the trip for which I have no photo coverage-- you're welcome.  Some of the family had recently recovered from a stomach bug which was passed to us!  Grandpa and Myla were stricken with it first, soon-to-be followed by Piper, Grandma J, and myself.   Dave miraculously avoided it, so he became the laundry man and concierge.  While awful, the bug only lasted 24 hours and prevented me from gaining vacation weight.

 

Other notable additions: At age 27, I still cry every time I throw up.  And I'm pretty sure I told Dave I would "rather give birth than go through this!"  He wasn't a fan of that comment.

 

[Dave and Myles managed to go out and play with some bubbles when she started feeling better]



Grandma gave all the girls Easter baskets!  She went monogramming crazy since they all have weirdo names that can't be found on the store shelves. :)

We decided to go on with our regularly scheduled barbeque lunch the day after the plague.  Praise Jesus, recovery came quickly. 

[Cousin hugs]

 [Cousin tears]

 [Cailynn has way cooler toys than we do]

 [Post-barbeque nap]

We decided to take a little trip to the Mall of America!  We purchased nothing.  We aren't really a family of shoppers.  We can do some serious damage at Buccee's, though.  Myla actually enjoyed the rides. (And we all held on securely to our lunches).

 

Since we had to cancel a big family gathering because of illness, we tried to make up for it by having a family dinner a few days later.  Not everyone could make it, but we had a lovely time.

[Precious moments with Pop Pop.  Piper really took to him.]

 [Myla made herself at home and made tons of pretend dinners for Granny.]

 [Pop Pop, Granny, Dave+Myla, Me, Grandma Janet, Piper+ Grandpa Jeff.  4 Generations]!

The next day, we made our way the 5.5 hour trip to Wisconsin by way of an A&W rest stop.  This was my first trip to an A&W ever.  It didn't blow my socks off.
 

[Nothing like a good case of toddler carseat-head]

 [French fries: a teething baby's favorite food]

We made it to Wisco where Myla decided she was too lazy to bring her own pizza to her face.  Enter: Grandma.

 

In Madison, Dave and I were able to sneak off for a little date day.  We headed to the Great Dane Pub for lunch.  It was FAB.  I had a Devil's Lake Red Lager and the Wisconsin Cheddar Mac-- served with a soft, warm pretzel.  Kill me with carbs.  (Can you tell I was feeling back to 100%?)  I don't even know what Dave had, because hello, Cheddar Mac.

 

*Not pictured: 2 days after we arrived in Wisconsin, Dave was stricken with a milder version of the plague.  He then passed it along to his mother and sister.  Meanwhile, we got a call that 50% of the attendees at our make-up family dinner two days earlier in Minnesota were taken out as well!  Gah!

 

[Hotel lobbying in Monona, Wisconsin]

 [Pulling up, but she still seems pretty far from walking.]

This is probably difficult to see, but Dave and I picked up a toy from a cute little shop in downtown Madison.  It is a bag of fruits and veggies that you can "cut" with a knife.  Piper looks like a creepy little butcher in a few pictures.

Due to our obvious contagion, we has to cancel our last leg of the trip.  We had planned on heading to Chicago for a day/night to spend time with some of Dave's old friends and their families.  Though there is no good time to be sick, there were many reasons not to expose these friends to a virus! (One is an accountant in the midst of tax season, two ladies are nurses, two friends have a 6-month-old precious baby.  It just wasn't worth the risk).

We decided to take a long, slow road home by way of St. Louis!  We explored downtown for half a day.

[and by way of Cracker Barrel, obviously.] 

We planned on taking 3 slow days to drive home, but decided we felt good enough to just push through on day 2.  So, our first driving day home lasted 6 hours (to St. Louis), and our second driving day home was 14 solid hours.  Fun times, I tell ya.  Myla passed out in the back clutching her baby.  She would wake up every now and then and scream, "NOOOOO!" when she realized we were still in the car.  All in all, the girls were champs.  As long as they were provided with a steady flow of snacks, they were good to go.  They are pretty much like Dave... :)

 

Not bad for our family road trip initiation, huh?