January 2014

When the clock hit midnight, we had a dance party complete with glow sticks. Lilli was in heaven. I don't think she went to bed until 2 am - she was just having too much fun!

The year started out rough. I was scheduled for a colonoscopy on the 2nd. I had heard that the prep was hell, but seriously! I wanted to die. Unfortunately, I threw up the solution I had to drink ( I think due to my acid reflux), and I had to cancel my appointment. I went through all of that for nothing- ugh! I've yet to reschedule, but it's really important that I get it done soon. I'm ready to get all of this figured out so I can feel healthy.

 January 4th was Lucas' 1st birthday, and we had fun at a dinosaur party. He is such a sweet and happy little boy, and I'm grateful to have him as my nephew.

We had to go to utah a few days later, for an appointment with a specialist. I don't want to get into the details right now, so I'll just say that It was rough, but it was good. The decision was made to move to utah, so that we could continue treatment.  Our lives were put into a whirlwind. We stayed in a haunted hotel in SLC for 2 nights ( yes, I'm serious...there are lots of rumors, and I believe them). Looked for an apartment, and attended another jazz game, this time with Rhett and lilli. Lilli enjoyed all of the yummy treats, but was a little bored with the game itself. She got more into it during the second half, and was THRILLED when they won, and streamers came flying from the ceiling.

We spent the next 2 nights at my sister's place, and continued to look for an apartment during the days, while Lilli got to stay behind and play with her cousin Dylan.

We found an apartment, but it was government subsidized, so we had to prove that our income didn't exceed a certain amount in order to move in. We filled out tons of paper work, and then returned home to boise to await the response. It took a LONG time, but we're approved just a few days before our moving date- what a relief!

Packing was crazy and stressful, and honestly, I'm surprised we survived it fully in tact. Our moving day was the 24th. We had planned to leave around 2pm, but the people we hired to load the truck were 2 hours late. Once they got there, they got a lot done, but we only paid for 2 hours and they didn't get it all done. Not to mention that Cason hadn't even finished packing up all of his boxes! Jana and vinnie came by that night to help, but we didn't get done until 2 am. I desperately wanted to sleep, but Cason just wanted to get it over with, so we piled into the truck, and said goodbye to boise. I wasn't able to sleep the entire time, even when we stopped for naps. We got to our apartment at 12 pm, and immediately started unpacking. Cason's sisters and their husbands came to help, and we got it done pretty quickly. I've never been so emotionally and physically exhausted in my entire life. It was miserable.

The next week was also rough. Unpacking is hard work, and my nerves were shot. I was not a very nice person there for a few days. The 28th was my 26th birthday. I wasn't expecting much due to all that was going on, but I did end up having a nice day. My sister too me and the kids to lunch, and then out for cupcakes. It was so sweet of her to take care of me! Later, Cason, lilli, and I went to dinner, and finished the day off at target to buy a cake, and pick a small gift for myself.

By the end of the month, we were mostly unpacked and settled. Despite all the drama, we love our new place, and are excited to be here. We know moving was the right decision, and know that it will improve our lives and overall happiness.

December 2013

December feels like such a long time ago. I can barely remember a thing...but I'll try!

We had a pretty decent snow storm at the beginning of the month, and Lilli literally wanted to live outside so she could enjoy it more fully. She loves, loves, loves the snow!

We did all of the usual Christmas things. Decorating the house, ginger bread houses, and a small amount of baking, and lots of Christmas crafts with Lilli! We also started the "Elf on the Shelf" tradition. Lilli hated it at first, but eventually warmed up to our elf "Joy".

(Joy is in the upper right hand corner)

It was really nice not working through the holidays, I felt like I actually had time to just take it all in and enjoy it. I had finals of course, which was no fun, but once that was over, I could just relax!

Right after school ended, we went to the new Village Theater in Meridian to see the second Hobbit movie. We weren't huge fans, and Lilli really had a hard time making it all the way through it ( she is 4 after all). However, she had a lot of fun playing with all of the kids at the small playground, watching people ice scate, and looking at the Christmas tree. She refused to see Santa, but that was no surprise.

We went yo my patents ward the Sunday before Christmas, and Lilli looked oh so pretty.

Cason and I made dinner for my family on Christmas Eve. Prime rib with mashed potatoes. It was delicious. We finished the night with the usual family traditions, including my favorite: dad singing and playing the guitar, while lilli danced.

It was straight to bed when we got home...and then we had to get out of bed so we could leave cookies for Santa and water for the reindeer. Lilli could have cared less about taking care of Santa, but she was SUPER excited about the reindeer, and how they would get into our house! We also let her open one present, a princess cash register, that she loves! She got out of bed about 5 times to yell at us that Santa wouldn't come if Cason and I didn't go to bed...luckily she eventually fell asleep and we were able to get our work done.

 Christmas morning was perfect. After almost each present lilli would exclaim " oh! Just what I wanted!" Santa did good.

 

 We then headed over to my parents house to join them and the Hankla's. We all got spoiled, and had a lot of fun.

That night we went to see Christmas lights at the old state pen. It's a rip off, but we knew lilli would love it, and I'm glad we went.

We had a "party" for New Year's Eve. We ate junk, watched movies, and stayed up late - it was a great way to end the year!

Lilli Says - 2013

All of these are on my facebook page, but I wanted to add them here as well incase i ever stop being poor and lazy, and make a blog book...

January 2013

Mommy? Daddy goes potty backwards.

Mommy? I want to tell you a story. Once upon a time...stand on your head. (She told me this story almost every day for a month)

Mommy? You say "oh my gosh" when you're freak-erated (frustrated) 

I have 3,000 monies to put in my  panky pank. ...and 3,000 means a lot of money!!

February 2013

Mommy these are my friend hands!! They like to be on me and tickle me!

March 2013

"I the flower girl!! I threw flowers at the little princess!!" (At Courtney's Wedding)

Lilli has been asking to get " the ugly girl doll that lives in the ugly house" so when we went to the store, I asked her to show me what it was. She couldn't find it at first, but got really excited when she found the Barbie aisle and yelled " hey!! That's the ugly girl!!!"

When I put lilli to bed she first says, "goodnight" and then, "now get away from me"

While watching cousin Lucas today: mommy?! Daddy says I'm not allowed to see those things on Lucas' bum, ok?

April 2013

Mommy, I never could break down doors so I could eat people better.

May 2013

"Mommy. Let's play 'who's fabulous!?' ...LILLI IS FABULOUS!!!!!"

"Mommy! Daddy told me to get some Jammie's. and I opened my drawer and sawdid the most beautiful dress I evered seen!! It was blue and green and hadid a white cat!!!

Mommy, I'm playing "mean guy" cuz that's my FAVORITE game to play

June 2013

While passing under a small bridge, lilli told me that a "magical picture of daddy appeared" and that it "transformed into nothing" when we got into the sunshine. 

Cason and I had lobster to dinner to which lilli responded: is it the kind of monster you can eat????

July 2013

Lilli, talking to Cason: Mommy gotid me a new swimming suit! But... I don't like it cause it doesn't show off my boobies good.

I told Cason I felt achy. Lilli heard, " there are snakes and they are nakey"

"Mommy, I know that you're my cute girl! Oh, and mommy, you're my favorite mommy!!"

August 2013

" I'm just hinking about hings."

Mommy? Will you show me how to write 'toys'? I need to put it on our list, so we can buy some at the store.

Lilli is singing a song that goes " mommy, daddy, and lilli, we all have jelly bellies!!" 

Lilli just told me that Captain Hook and shredder are friends because they both like to steal stuff. 

Lilli keeps asking if we can go to "the donkey place" it has balls and NO donkeys. It took me a few days but I think she's talking about chuckee cheese. Cason asked if we could go, and I said it looked "dumpy"

September 2013

Lilli told me a joke today: 
Hey mommy! Do silly cows poop sometimes??? 
Me: um. I don't know...do they?
Lilli: YES!!!!

"Mommy, I don't want to see your ugly face!!!" ...she later told me that I was a "cute babe". 

October 2013

Lilli (whispering): daddy, what is the greatest mystery???
Cason: IDK, lilli, what is?
lilli: I know! What are eyeballs made of?

"Sometimes when I looks at things, I hear quiet, magical music that comes from the sky"

Mommy! I'm going to count to 10 and then your going to yell "pumpkin, watermelon, pickle, bread!", and then I'm gonna JUMP!!!

November 2013

"Love is when a boy likes a beautiful girl"

"those are the smooshy smooshy's!!"

December 2013

how Lilli woke me up this morning: Mommy! Wake up your Jelly Belly and your Booty Bum!!!"

"hearts are Christmas things, because don't you know that Christmas is about love and family?" 

While at the gas station last night lilli said to Cason, "what a wonderful place to be!! I want to live here, and find a wonderful place to sleep in the snow." 

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!