November 2013

After all the excitement of Halloween, and the anticipation of Christmas, I feel like November draaags on. Not that I don't enjoy fall, it's probably one of my favorite seasons, but it's just not the most exciting time of year for me...at least for the first half of the month.
We had our first snow, and although it wasn't much, Lilli was super excited! I let her run out as soon as we woke up, for fear that it would melt soon, and she loved it...until she got cold. After warming up inside, we got her all decked out in winter gear, and let her have second go at it.

Later in the month, the Holloway family came to Boise to celebrate Thanksgiving, and Dylan's 2nd Birthday. He had a fun fishy party, and the best part was that it seems like he and Lilli are finally starting to like each other! It was really fun seeing them play together for those couple of days!

Since my mom has to work on Black Friday, my family decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on Wednesday. We left for Utah that afternoon, and weren't able to eat with them, but we did stop by for a couple of hours and (attempted) cousin pictures.

Our trip to Utah was a roller coaster. Lot's of ups and downs, but overall it was a good trip. All of Cason's immediate family were there, along with his Aunt Carol and Uncle George, and a bunch of cousins for Thanksgiving dinner. Cason's cousin, Miles, brought his 4 year old daughter, Serenity with him, and she and Lilli immediately hit it off. They played together all day long, and at dinner Lilli kept saying "You're my best friend in the whole world!" It was really fun seeing Lilli interact with someone her own age, and I hope that she gets to see her friend again sometime!

Cason and I actually did end up going shopping ON thanksgiving. I never thought that would happen, but there was a deal that was just too good to pass up. We went to K-Mart, and it really wasn't bad at all. It was the busiest i've ever seen a K-Mart, but it was still less busy that Target or Walmart on any given Saturday.

Lilli got sick later that night with a cold. The next day was really rough and we spent it napping, and playing games. That evening Cason and I went to the Jazz game with his sister Rachelle and her husband Kevin. We are not sports fans, but we had a lot of fun! It didn't hurt that we were practically on the court. I've never seen a game that close up before! Our tickets also included a dinner before the game (which was kind of gross), but the free half time nacho's were great! We left before the end of the 4th quarter, and the Jazz lost to the Suns, but it was still a really fun experience!

The next day (Saturday), we went to see Frozen, and absolutely loved it. Lilli claims that she only liked the big scary snowman and nothing else, but she was smiling throughout the whole thing (She has a hard time admitting that she likes things).

In the evening, Cason, Lilli, myself, Kelli, and Jesse went to the City Creek Mall. It was insane! I knew it would be busy, but I had no idea it would be what it was. It took us nearly an hour to find a parking spot! The main reason I wanted to go was to take Lilli to the Disney store...she HATED it. She freaked out and hid in a corner the whole time (it was packed with people). I was really upset. But after we all had something to eat, we felt quite a bit better. I even went back in with Cason and bought a few things (Lilli still refused to go in).

We went home the next day, to finish up the semester!

October 2013

We love October!! Halloween is BIG for us, and we spend the whole month celebrating it! We got the house decorated before the month even began, and Cason and I started our "Month of Horror". We watched a "scary" movie every night together- most of them were dumb, but there were a few good ones, and it is Cason's favorite tradition!

Lilli spent most of her days drawing spooky things, and doing Halloween crafts, and we all joined in when it was time to make sugar cookies, caramel apples, and carve pumpkins.

Towards the end of the month we went to the Farmstead with the Hankla's. Lilli had been talking about it all month, and it didn't disappoint. She was in charge for the evening, and she had a blast! She didn't like the "Creature", but she loved everything else, especially the bounce pad!

I had to go to class on Halloween, so Cason and Lilli dropped me off, went back home to get ready, and then came and picked me up so we could start trick or treating right away. We went to a different neighborhood this year, and it paid off! There were so many decorated houses, and Lilli got LOTS of candy! She was a little scared of a few houses, but for the most part, she would go right up to the door by herself and ring the bell. She only said "Trick or treat" about half of the time, mostly she just said "HI!!! My name's Lilli!!" and then she's say "Happy Halloween" or "Goodbye!" after she got her candy. "Thank you's" only happened if I reminded her :)

She insisted that she be a ghost for the big day, and despite my best efforts, I couldn't talk her out of it. Ghost costumes are hard. I didn't want to do something lame like a sheet over her head, and I couldn't find any ideas I liked for a homemade one, so we decided to buy one. We looked EVERYWHERE. No one sells good ghost costumes. She ended up with a mummy costume from Target, and we just told her it was a ghost. It's my least favorite costume she's worn so far, but she was satisfied, so I guess it all worked out. She wanted Cason and I to dress up too, so Cason wore an eyeball mask, and I wore a simple witch costume. It was a great day, and she's already looking forward to next year!

I finally made it to the doctor this month, and I was put on several new medications for my stomach problems. I had a pretty bad reaction to them at first, but I'm doing better now. I'm still not 100%, but I'm hopefully getting there. Along with the medications, I am no longer drinking caffeine, or eating dairy and gluten. It's been a REALLY hard transition. Gluten free food is expensive...and gross. I'm mostly just not eating at all, but I'm trying to find some things that I like, and if it's going to help me feel better, it's probably worth it.

September 2013

September is always a busy month for us- School is in full swing, and there's a lot of celebrating to do!

We celebrated Cason's 27th birthday on the 14th. We did just what he wanted: He and I went to dinner and a movie while lilli played at grandma and grandpa's house, and then we all had some ice cream cake from dairy queen. I love how easy his birthday's are! It doesn't take much to make him happy!

5 days later, was our 5th anniversary! Again, we kept it pretty low key. We had lunch as a family, did some shopping, and then dropped Lilli off at my parent's house so we could go to the Cheesecake Factory. We had planned on doing something a little more elaborate, but we had to make a couple of big purchases earlier in the month, so it didn't work out. It's ok though. I think we both needed a relaxing day!

A lot of our time has been spent fixing up our apartment. I've had a "honey-do list" since the day we moved it (almost 3 years ago), and pretty much none of it was done, but something finally clicked in Cason's head, and we got going. We cleaned out all of our closets, started work on cleaning out our garage, hung curtains, and rearranged our bedroom. The biggest improvement, was that we bought a new couch! We had our old one for less than 2 years, and it had completely fallen apart. Furniture Row swindled us, and we will never shop there again! We did our research this time and bought one from Costco...our fingers are crossed that it will last us!!

I struggled with a lot of health problems in the month of September (or should I say every month this year?). Anyway, we think we've finally figured out what's wrong, and hopefully I'm on the road to recovery. I couldn't get in to see the doctor, but I've been able to feel at least marginally better by changing my diet. I've cut out dairy which has been HARD. I don't think I knew how dependent I was to it, especially the milk! I miss it so much!

Lilli started drawing a lot this month. She'd do about 10-20 pictures a day. She seriously LOVES it! Her favorite things to draw are: herself, Stitch, and WALL-E. She's quite the little crafter too, and I have a lot of fun doing little projects with her!

Lilli's little's

She loves sunflower seeds, and is pretty good at cracking them

Every time she brushes her teeth, she asks " are my teeth shiny and clean?"

She LOVES to draw pictures, and things are finally staring to look like what she says they are.

She's so clever. She asked me the other day how to write "toys" so she could write it on our grocery list and buy some at the store.

She is SO social. She makes friends wherever she goes.

She loves Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Mega Man, and Wal-e

She loves veggies, especially Caesar salad

She says "amn't" as in "I amn't tired!"

One of her favorite sayings is, "that's hilarious!!"

She likes to give me " surprises" which means turning around nod pretending to toot on me

She gets up almost every night in hysterics because she has to go potty, but just can't remember how. She usually just stands at the sink and cries, and has to have Cason or I take her through e process step by step. One night after telling us she had to go potty, she went into the bathroom, poured herself a glass of water, poured it all over the floor, and burst out in tears.

She's become a Lego master

She's SO stubborn and has a terrible temper

She still loves to cuddle and give BIG hugs, which makes me so happy.

She's not very good at saying "please", but is a master of "thank you". She frequently tells me thank you for such things as doing the dishes, vacuuming, etc. IT warms my heart ever time!

August 2013

August started out a bit rough. I was beyond burnt out on cashiering at target. Seriously, I hate customer service...probably because I'm not a huge fan of people. Anyway...later in the moth, I had another flair up with my knee and was just miserable and well... I quit my job. Being unemployed Is nerve racking and insane, but I was happy to have the opportunity to focus more of school, and my family.

I had about 2 weeks In between quitting and school starting, and I spent all my time playing with lilli, because she's the best ever, and I love her :)

The holloway's paid a visit to boise, and we spent lots of time at my moms house with all of the kiddos. We also celebrated Lillis birthday a couple of weeks later so they could be their for the fun. Lilli requested a flower party which I could not believe. My little tomboy wanted a flower party? We ate a lot of good food, and little was spoiled rotten with all of her gifts, especially by her daddy. She's really into teenage mutant ninja turtles right now, and he bought her a ton of action figures, and nun chucks and a turtle shell. Unfortunately, she wasn't into the shell and weapons, yelled " I don't want this!!", and threw it at her daddy. Poor guy. Lilli was so distraught by it all ( and I think alittleembarassed by her outburst) and dived into the gift bag. It was hilarious, and would have been a high light of the day, if it hadn't hurt Cason's feelings so much.

We didn't do anything special on her actual birthday, which killed me a little. I know it would have jut confused her, and she had been spoiled enough already, but still. She's my only baby, and she was turning four, FOUR. How is that even possible? She's grown up so much in the past year, and it makes my heart ache. She's a funny, sassy, and loving little girl, and I'm so grateful to be her mommy.

The next day ( the 26th) was my first day of school. I only had 1 class, but I still hated making the drive to campus. The day went well though, and the week was pretty agreeable as well. I think it will be a good semester!

July 2013

Another fun month! On the Fourth of July, we had a delicious lunch at the Cheesecake Factory,  crab cooked by Cason for dinner, and en went downtown with the Hankla's for the fireworks. We had never gone before, but thought Lilli was finally old enough to really appreciate it. We got there early, and surprisingly enough, was pretty stress free ( nothing like the commotion of the Idaho falls fireworks).  Lilli played with Lucas while we waited for the show to start, and made some other friends- she literally makes friends where ever she goes! There was a little hiccup when Lil announced that she had to go potty and I had to go into a dark port-a-potty with her, but we survived it, and didn't miss any of the show. Lilli was AMAZED. Cason asked her which ones were her favorite color, and told her to yell any time she saw them, so every time a green firework she would say "YELL!!!!" And would shout "all of the colors!!!!!" When more than one color would go off. Later on she decided he needed to get the part started and started yelling, "everybody clap!!!!!" ( something she learned from the circus), and of course...nobody did. To which she would respond " i guess people can't hear me" , and would yell even louder. Everyone probably got pretty sick of her, but we thought it was hilarious. And to make things even better, Lucas was a dream baby and slept through almost the whole thing.

The next day, we headed to Utah to see Cason's family, and to go to Lagoon. Jesse came to the park with us,and we all had a blast! Lilli loved her first ride at kiddie land, and was so brave the rest of the day. She was game with any ride we put in front of her, even the big kid ones. She would sometimes say that the ride was " a little bit scary, but really fun". Her favorite was the bumper cars, and  one of the kiddie water rides.

After we had lunch, we changed into our bathing suites and headed over to lagoons black. What. A. Bummer. I hated it. Lilli of course loved it, because she loves water, but he was too little to go down any of the water slides, so there was nothing to do. However, when it was time to leave lilli threw a HUGE fit because she thought the water was more "funner" than the rides. But after a time out, and a slushie, we were good to go, and she of course loved all of the rides.

The day ended on a bad note with a torrential rain storm, and Cason in a terrible mood. Lilli and I went down a water ride a few times ( she would giggle the whole way down, it was adorable), and then we made a mad dash to the car, ending with us all soaked to the bone.


The following day was Sunday, and we all relaxed with Cason's family.

On Monday, we decided to head back to lagoon since we didn't get to all of the rides on Saturday. Lilli was a bit more apprehensive this time, and I don't know why, but she eventually warmed up, and had fun.

I had to be at work the following afternoon, and despite my efforts to convince Cason to drive home on Tuesday morning, he insisted that we leave that night. We were tired. We were burnt. A five hour drive did not sound fun. We got packed up only to discover that our car wouldn't start. Luckily, it was just a problem with the battery, and we got it going, but at that point it was LATE. Again, I tried to convince him to wait until morning, but it was a no go. It was one of the scariest nits of my life. I can't count the number of times that Cason nodded off behind the wheel, and I was having a hard time as well. We stopped a couple of times, but we couldn't risk too. Inch because A: we didn't know if the car would start up again and then we would be stranded at a scary truck stop, and B: any time we stopped lilli would wake up and freak out, making it impossible for us to get any rest.  Anyway... We got into a huge fight, and were miserable, but we made it home around 5 am, and I made it to work that afternoon thanks to my sister giving me a ride.

Despite the crappy end, we had a great trip. Lilli asks me at least once a week when we get to go back to " goon", and she will tell anyone about all of the fun rides she went on.

Later in the month, Nicole and Dylan came to Boise, and we had fun playing with them.

June 2013

Summer time!! We were so excited! ...and then we all got sick :/. Luckily, it didn't last too long and we got busy having fun.

 On Father's Day, we started out with German pancakes, and later went to the splash park in the afternoon. Lilli had a blast, even after they turned the water off ( which happens every time we go there), and Cason and I enjoyed a moment to relax.

The best part of the month was the shriner's circus. I had mentioned to Cason that it was coming to tow, but he didn't seem too interested, so I forgot about it. Then the morning of, he randomly brought it up, and we decided to go for it. We headed downtown a little early so we could have some yummy brick oven pizza and italian sodas.

We got to the main event pretty early so we could get good seats ( which we did), but it also meant that we had to keep lilli entertained for over an hour. She started with her first ever pony ride. Amazingly enough, they let her ride for a long time, and she loved it. Cason then convinced me to go for an elephant ride with her. What an experience! Our little trip was WAY too short, but I don't think either of us ever expected to be on such a huge and amazing animal, and I'm happy that I got to share it with her. After that, it was time for cotton candy and for the show to start! I thought it was great! I'm sure it wasn't the most legit circus show in the world, but I had nothing to compare it to, and thought it was a lot of fun. Lilli was unsure at times, but enjoyed herself overall. She was super excited about the tigers, and was then immediately crushed when she found out that she wouldn't be able to ride them! Her favorite part were the doggies, especially the one dressed as a stuffed elephant.  She also got today in a huge bounce house during intermission which was a bit stressful, especially when it was time for the show to start again. She was no happy! But, it was nothing that an icee and more circus fun couldn't fix.

After the show, we let lilli play in a fountain, which was definitely her favorite part of the night! She was so happy!! By the end of the night, we had spent WAY too much money, but we were all happy and tired from a wonderful day.

We did a lot of apartment hunting this month, but eventually ended up deciding to stay where we are. We couldn't afford anything that we were interested in, and we decided the whole ordeal just wasn't worth the hassle.

June also included lots of time at grandma and grandpa's house and a few dips in the pool. This girl LOVES water...no matter how cold it may be, and even if her bathing suite " didn't show off her boobies good".