Exploring Spokane

We visited the Mobius Children's Museum in Spokane this week.  It was really a lot of fun.  After Lilly got over her initial shyness, she was all over the place.  We ended up getting a membership and we'll be able to go all the time now!  They are currently in the process of redoing parts of the museum, so in a couple weeks it'll be even better.  It's nice to finally have somewhere to go like this; definitely something the Tri-Cities is in real need of, in my opinion.  :)

 

 

 

I also took Lilly took McDonald's playland for the first time.  She's still a little young, but the McD's by our house has a little toddler section that's just for the littler kids.  She was just so excited when we were there, her mouth was open the entire time; she was probably just happy to be out of the house, since we've been inside for 3 days with colds.

 

We are teaching Lilly how to say her prayers.  She does really well at sitting and folding her arms and saying "Amen" (most of the time).  Then tonight before bed I said we were going to have prayer, she jumped off the couch and knelt down & folded her arms.  She stayed long enough for me to snap this quick picture on my phone.  She is so sweet!  It's hard not to peek during prayer and just watch her.

 

 

 

 

There is an awesome park a few miles from our apartment, Manito Park.  It's almost 100 acres and has all these different sections, a Rose Garden, Perennial Garden, Lilac Garden, Japanese Garden...etc.  We have been exploring the park these past few weeks and have enjoyed bringing our lunch with us too.  There are a few playgrounds and a huge duck pond too!  There are parks just everywhere here and playgrounds.  It's been really nice!

We've Moved.

We just realized that it's been over 4 months since we last posted on our blog; it has been such a crazy busy couple of months!!!  We moved from Richland, WA to Spokane, WA (about 2.5 hrs north of Richland).  It has been quite the transition.  We lived in the Tri-Cities for the past 6 years, that was where we learned so much about eachother and the only home our daughter has ever known.  Lilly did wonderfully with our move and actually just walked right in to our apartment like she owned the place; it's actually really nice having everything on one level, and even though we left most of our stuff in storage, we are really enjoying being so close to eachother (and not as much to clean!).

We really miss having family around, but with my parents going on a mission for our church to Russia for 2 years, luckily, we can miss them no matter where we live.  :)  We are so grateful for the blessings we have received throughout our marriage.  We are so lucky to have this beautiful daughter.  She is hilarious in everything she does.  She is into everything and has really started to really express to us that she is almost 2 and voices her opinion and everything!  It's really fun though watching her learn an every day is something new.  She is talking up a storm and repeats everything you say.  We are trying so hard to teach her how to be polite and use kind words.  She says "Hi" to everyone we pass and although she is still working on "Please", she has "Thank You" down!  We laugh everyday at the cute and funny things she says.  She is definitely a joy in our lives.

18 Month Pictures! (Taken @ 19 Months)

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We have some wonderful friends that are adopting a baby and he was born this week. Listening to them talk about their baby and the emotions that go along with adopting; it's really made us reflect on when we adopted Lilly and how much we would love to have another one. I try not to be bitter or sad that we can't just have a baby the "easy" way and at how difficult it is to adopt, but sometimes it really hits me. I do wish it was easier, but when I think about what life would have been had we not had this struggle of infertility - it would've been so different. We started trying to get pregnant just before our first anniversary. If everything had happened according to OUR plan, we would have an 8 year old right now and probably 3 or 4 kids. It's crazy to think that. But, we wouldn't have our Lilly. In looking back, I realize that our struggles all happened for a reason and Lilly was meant to be in our family. It's been an amazing year and I have appreciated every moment we've had with our daughter, but these past few months have been hard. I got my hopes up one day thinking I was pregnant, for the first time in over 2 years. Unfortunately, it was not so. But I keep thinking about having a cute little baby around. Hopefully soon we will be able to get it all started back up again and our sweet little toddler will have someone else to torment besides the dog. :) We have had a couple people contact us about a possible adoption, but it didn't work out (for the best though). We can't wait for our family to expand and we pray we will be blessed with another baby someday; sooner rather than later. Having Lilly helps us realize that the right baby will be in our home when s/he is suppose to. And once again, it will be beautifully wonderful!

Happy Valentine's Day...a little late

We had a lovely Valentine's Day together as a family. Lilly and I were all dressed up in Valentine's clothes; I had a Hershey Kiss t-shirt on and Lilly rocked a "Daddy's Little Sweet Heart" shirt. We just enjoyed spending the day together and for dinner I made chicken and had a cheese fondue with breads and veggies to dip. For dessert (which is the best part!) we had a chocolate fondue with fruits and sweetbreads and brownies. Lilly got a bag of Mega Blocks which can be found in every corner of the house when she plays with them; but she LOVES them!!! It was just a fun day spent together.

Band Geek In The Making!

Little Lilly loves music, as I am sure most genius' do; she's also decided that she wants to climb on everything. I think the pictures tell the story for themselves. Enjoy. :) Oh yeah, AND Lilly is 15 months old today!