Happy Birthday Lilyana!!!

My Beautiful Lily Girl, I can't believe you are 3 today. It seriously seems just like yesterday that I writhed in pain, pushing for four hours just to get you here. What a nightmare that was, but what a beautiful blessing you are!

You have grown so much and into such a beautiful, fun-loving, silly, little girl! I love everything about you and all that you are. I am so proud to be your mommy!

I love your passion for the outdoors. You love everything about nature and you have this innocence in your eyes when you are discovering new things. I love your desire to cuddle with me and I really LOVE it when out of the blue you just have to give me a hug, a kiss, and tell me you love me in sign language.

I love how you enjoy talking about Jesus and how you always remind us to pray. I love how you say so excitedly, "Jesus loves ME!" Yes, Jesus loves you very much and I know he has a very special plan for you! You are a very special and beloved daughter of Heavenly Father.

You have a very sweet spirit and are always concerned about the well being of other people. You love to laugh and make others laugh. I love it when you get into your silly moods and are doing crazy things! Your laughter is so contagious!

You love spending time with your family and playing with your friends. You always get so excited when we get to see Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Mel, Goose, Bridget and Mandy and they all love you so much! Everyone loves you so much,even your family that cannot be with you.

I pray that you will grow strong and healthy and with a divine love for your Savior. I pray you will always remember how much your family loves you and that we will always be here for you no matter what. I pray that you will be blessed with a pure love for others and that you will strive to uplift them and bring hope to the contrite in spirit.

I hope that you will always keep in mind that popularity is not everything. It is better to be a great friend and to have one great friend than it is to have a whole bunch of friends who are not honest and true in character. I hope that you can find courage and strength within yourself to stand of for yourself, as well as others who cannot stand up for themselves. Be a good person. Remember Jesus and your Heavenly Father in all things.

Pray often. The key to God is prayer. He cares about your troubles and wants to hear about your triumphs. Build up a strong relationship with the Lord and never let it go. Serve. Remember that when you serve others, you are in service of the Lord.

Always do your best. You only cheat yourself when you don't give it your all. Follow your dreams and reach beyond the stars. I know you can do anything and be anything. You are capable of accomplishing whatever you wish.

You are beautiful. Never let anyone tell you differently. You have a light in you that shines so brightly. It draws people to you. I just want you to know that I love you so much and I love the time that we spend together. You can always make me laugh. I love dancing with you. I love how smart you are. I love YOU. . .everything. . .all of it. Be who you are, always!

At 3, Lilyana loves:

*Watching Dora, Diego, Barney and any Disney Princess Movie.
*Playing outside whether it's warm or snowing.
*Dancing to music.
*Doing the Potty Train to go to the bathroom.
*Her little sister.
*Macaroni and cheese.
*Reading books with Mommy and Daddy.
*Doing art! (the messier, the better!)
*Her pink princess boots!
*Any type of candy.
*Play with any dog but her own (not sure why . . .?)
*Cuddling with Mommy.
*Getting Horsey rides from Daddy.
*Helping Mommy cook!
*Dressing up like a princess (usually Aurora or Cinderella)
and pretending to dance with the prince.(That is usually my job. I never get to be the princess!)
*Blowing bubbles.
*Taking walks.
*Collecting rocks.
*Going to church.
*Singing songs.
*Her pink Blankie and her Doggy. Neither she can sleep without.
*Being a backseat driver! (Drives both of us crazy!)
*Seeing the mouse and playing at Chuck E Cheese.
*Playing with her friends.
*Going to the park.
*Saying Prayer.

Happy Birthday, Baby Girl! We love you so much and are so proud of you and blessed to be your parents!

My Beatiful Babies

On our way to church, the girls just looked so cute all dolled up that I couldn't resist taking a few photos! What beautiful babies I have! :) Of course I am not biased or anything!

Lily wouldn't let me take her picture. That's why I only have the one of her. It is very challenging these days to catch a good shot of her!

God Bless the Broken Hearted. . .

I just wanted to take this moment and this opportunity to express how grateful I am for my family and how deeply, whole-heartedly, and unconditionally I love them. I have recently felt this strong need to let them know how important they are to me. They are everything to me and I honestly don't know how I would get by if I lost one of them. In the past few months, I have come across many families who have lost a child. Many I do not know, but have happened to come across their story on their blog. To these families my heart completely breaks for. I weep so much every time I learn of a new family who has lost their little one. My chest is so full of heart break and pain for them. It is very hard for me to fathom losing one of my children. It makes me fearful and sick to my stomach. How do you go on? It tears me up just thinking of the possiblity that I could lose them in a heartbeat, but to actually be going through it? How do you hold your child and say goodbye? How do you put the pieces of your life back together after such a tragedy? Why does God take lives so young? To these questions, I do not have any right or perfect answer, but I do know that God loves us and He has a plan for us all and that everything that happens in this life is for our own good and is neccessary for our eternal salvation. I don't know why certain families are faced with obstacles that seem so unbearable while others are not. All I can really say is that I am just so grateful for the knowledge that I have of eternal families and the plan of salvation. I cannot ever in my life express fully my gratitude for this gift from God. I never ever want to be without my family, but if it be the will of the Lord, I can at least find some comfort in knowing that I won't be without them forever. I find in peace in knowing that we will be together again after this life and as I live worthily, I know God will fulfill this promise. How great is our God! He loves us so much that he would make it possible for us to be with our families for eternity! I pray every day and night that my children will grow and be safe. I am grateful to have every new day with them and each day I try my hardest to be a more better mother than I was the day before. I don't want to ever take them for granted for their time on this earth (nor my time) is never guaranteed. This is a creed I want to live by. I never know when the Lord will call His angels home, so I pray that I can always remember to live each day always loving them as much as possible.

Lots of New Posts!

Sorry for the blogging overload! It has been awhile since I have posted and I had a lot to catch up on! I will try and be better!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!

Did you wear your green and hug a leprechaun today?

Berry Sweet

Cute baby.

Cute outfit.

Cute matching headband.

What more do you need?

Friday Night Movie Night

Now that Michael is working days and is home most evenings (hooray!), we have decided to start a new tradition. Friday nights are movie and popcorn nights! So, last Friday, we let Lily pick out a movie. She chose Wall E.

Daddy popped some yummy buttery popcorn and
we added in some Reeses Pieces.

It was so delicious! Lily really enjoyed the treat!

It was a very fun night and we all really enjoyed spending the time together. Lily liked the special Mommy and Daddy time. I think this is a tradition we will have to keep!

Get Your Own Bag!

Doot Doot (Alex) stole my bag of chips and helped herself.

She thought she was pretty hilarious!

And she wouldn't even share. What a stinker.

Auntie B's Little Rockstar

These ones are just for you Auntie Bridget!

ROCK ON!!!

Oh, and I LOVE YOU!!!

Lily's Princess Boots

I bought Lily a pair of pink Disney Princess boots on clearance at Walmart for $3.50! What a steal and she absolutely LOVES them. She insists on wearing them all the time! They are the first thing she puts on in the morning. She gets very upset if I want her to wear a different pair of shoes, so for now, I guess there is no harm in letting her wear these beloved boots.