Lydia is now 15 months old and full of life, adventure and excitement! She is a bundle, a BIG BUNDLE, of joy and has completed our little family in more ways than we could have imagined. She loves to walk everywhere and doesn't stop moving for a second. She just tries to keep up with her big sister! She adores playing with Lillian and sometimes just grabs her hand and leads Lillian all over this house. My favorite moments are watching them play together and when Lydia just hugs her sister. They make a dynamic team and always will!
Lydia now weighs 22.6 pounds which she didn't add any weight from her one year old check up. I was shocked because that belly sticks way out over that diaper! She loves to show herself off because she loves to just be in her diaper walking all over the place. She has no shame! Lillian weighed exactly 3 pounds more when she was 15 months old.I told everyone Lillian was chunkier! :)
Lydia is 30 3/4 inches long and grew an inch and a half since her 12 month old check up. Lillian was exactly the same length at this age. I love watching her grow up and seeing how much she looks like her older sister.
Lydia is doing great! She is right where she should be at this age. She says mama, yeah and uh oh. She understands me especially when I ask her if she wants a snack. She goes running to the pantry! And her favorite snack is goldfish and her favorite dessert is....M&MS!!! Just like big sis! I guess she gets her belly from all those desserts! She now has 10 teeth and two more are coming in now, so more teeth to have dessert with too!She is the life of the party and keeps everyone laughing and entertained! Our little Lydia!
Today the Martin Girls hit the road again. This time to Disney Live in Austin, Texas! We stopped along the route again and let Lydia take her nap at Nina's house. It is always nice stopping there to let the girls play and have some fun. They get to stretch their legs too!
Of course, Nina, Ronnie, Veronica and Alyssa came too. Reagan, Jade, Chris and Cecilu also joined in on the fun! After nap time, we loaded up for the last little bit of the road trip. The girls were so excited to go and this was my Christmas present to them. We got our pictures and popcorn and waited for the show to begin!
I wish I could tell you all about the show, but no such luck for me. :) Lydia made it sitting all of ten minutes and then I spent the rest of the almost two hour show walking around in the lobby and up and down flights of stairs. My feet were killing me by the time we left the show! Lillian said the show was fantastic and her favorite part was Cinderella. She stayed with her friends while I did my walking! I did manage to see a little of Goofy, Mickie and Minnie Mouse. Disney always does a great job and the show was perfect for Lillian!She wants to go again tomorrow!
That was the last of our road trips for a little while. We have been putting the miles on the car this month and now we are taking a little break. But, we have been making memories! The girls are peacefully sleeping now and dreaming of Christmas.... NEXT YEAR!!! Love you all!
Well, Christmas finally arrived at the Martin household! And don't you know I had one up at 6:45am and one up at 8:00am! Lillian decided to sleep in this morning of all mornings! Daddy called from Iraq at 7:30am and he couldn't believe it when I told him that Lillian was still asleep. He thought we would have been done opening all the presents by that time! :) But, I was able to talk with him and hear him open his presents from us! That was so special! Plus, he was able to call back and talk to Lillian. That made her whole day and mine too!
Finally, Lillian woke up and we headed out to the family room to see what Santa had brought for the girls. First, we stopped by the fireplace and Lillian noticed Santa's footprints. I had to explain what they were at first, but then she got it. She didn't want me to clean up his footprints! :) We then headed over to the table and she saw that Santa had left her a thank you note, drank all the milk and ate almost all the cookies.
Off to the family room she went running with Little Sis behind her! Lydia jumped right into her cozy coupe and stayed there most of the time while Lillian was admiring all her presents. Lillian screamed when she saw her new bike, Hannah Montana scooter and Hannah Montana guitar. Daddy sent her the guitar and she was thrilled! They got lots of other things and Lillian said she got everything she wanted this year. Lydia loved all her presents and her cash register and cozy coupe were the best! I asked Lillian what her favorite present was and she said all the presents were her favorite!
We just sat around the tree and opened the rest of the presents. Thank you to everyone who sent the girls something this year. All the presents were amazing! And Michelle, that was the sweetest present of all! Aunt Michelle sent Lillian and Lydia a baby doll that she played with as a child. Michelle has two boys of her own, so she passed it along to my little girls. And it was such a special moment!
Lydia is napping now and dreaming of her cozy coupe. We even made it outside this morning to ride all of our new toys. After nap time, then we will be off to celebrate Christmas dinner with Nina and her family. We can't wait! And tomorrow we get to go see Playhouse Disney Live in Austin. That was my gift to the girls! Another road trip!
Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy being with family and friends. We miss you darling and thank you for calling today. Lillian and I were thrilled to hear your voice and we are so glad you enjoyed all your presents. Lydia said hello too! heehee It isn't the same without you, but we know you will be home next year. Lillian asked me if the elves were already working on her gifts for next year, so you better watch out honey. We will have lots to do! We love and miss you and we are so proud of you!
The night before Christmas and all through the house Not a creature was stirring Not even a mouse
But, mommy was! The girls are all tucked into bed and sound asleep. So, Mrs. Claus sprung into action! Santa even left foot prints by the fireplace! The morning will be so exciting!
This afternoon we enjoyed Lillian's Christmas Eve program at our church. Can you believe it is now currently snowing in Texas? WOW! Before we left for the program, we opened one present. This is our family tradition for the Martin clan. The girls get to pick one gift to open. So, this year, Lillian chose to open her gift from her sister. So, Lydia opened her present from Lillian. Too sweet! Lydia got a singing cow from her sister and Lillian got a hair coloring set. Both girls loved their gifts!
Then, we headed outside to put out the reindeer food on the lawn for Santa's reindeer. It contains magical glitter and helps the reindeer find our house at night. The wind was blowing so hard and is has dropped from 71 degrees yesterday to 34 degrees and now blowing snow. WOW!! But, the reindeer now know where to go tonight!Poor Lillian was freezing and couldn't put out the food fast enough... I had to finish for her!
We left for the program at church. It was really cute and Lillian was an angel this year. It is a unrehearsedreenactment of the birth of Jesus. The kiddos marched in and we sang some Christmas songs too. It was a short program and only lasted 20 minutes, but it was adorable. Lillian enjoyed herself and being an angel. She said she wanted to do it again next year!
So, all that is left is putting out milk, cookies and carrots, reading Twas the Night Before Christmas and putting out all the presents from Santa! I hope Santa comes here first! Good night all and Merry Christmas!
Well, another road trip for the Martin girls! Yesterday we loaded up and hit the road to New Braunfels, Texas to go to Schlitterbahn's Hill Country Christmas. We met at Nina's house which was about half way for us. It was a two and a half hour road trip total, but we met there so the girls could get out of the car and play for a little while. Lydia took her nap there too, which wasn't a good one! I was really worried about how she would handle this late night considering the park didn't open until 5:00pm and closed at 9:00pm. But, we made it!
We headed to New Braunfels after nap time and arrived on time! Our great friends went with us- Nina, Ronnie, Veronica, Alyssa, Cecilu, Chris, Reagan and Jade. The girls were surrounded by awesome friends! The place was magical with the whole place decorated from top to bottom with beautiful Christmas lights. It was truly amazing to see all the lights!
The evening started with bob sledding- this place is normally a water park in the summer. So, they turned off the water and turned the slides into sledding! All the girls enjoyed the sledding and rode three times each! Poor Lydia was too little to go, but she had fun walking around and getting into trouble! The girls also went down an inflatable slide too and Lydia and I got to ride that together.
We had dinner and then started walking some more around the park. We ran into Frosty the Snowman, Rudolph and Schatze the Dog (their mascot). They also got to ride a carousel and another little ride. We had storytime with Mrs. Claus too. This is when Lydia was really being a mess and kept showing her belly to everyone, trying to take complete stranger's food and even made a little girl run to her mother. Not sure why....she really isn't all that scary! But, she was being a mess and even tried to take Mrs. Claus's storybooks! Good thing I had friends there to help me with her because she was all over the place!
And yes we saw Santa too! Lydia didn't want to do it at first and so I went with Lillian and Lydia. But, all of a sudden, she turned around and walked right back to Santa all by herself. She reached her hands up and he picked her up! Long enough for a photo and it was amazing! That came out of no where! I was so proud of her!
I was proud of all the girls hanging in there for a long night of fun! We had hot chocolate, ate cookies, played in "snow" and went to a little playground just for Lydia's size. The memories were fantastic! We didn't leave until 9:00pm and we were back at Nina's at 10:30pm. Both girls went right to bed and this was Lillian's first sleepover. She slept with her best pal Veronica and they were both up at 6:50am!!!! UGH!
Now, we are home and still talking about the night! What fun! What fun! It is great making memories and having such great friends to share them with! Merry Christmas!
Lillian performed her Christmas Program this year at St. Francis. It was adorable and all the children did great! She was so happy walking into the chapel this morning and just waved at me! She saw her great friends there- Jessica, Lisa and Lily. That made her morning! They came to cheer her on and wish her well!
Her class sang three songs this year- Advent, Jingle Bell Rock and I Just Want to Be A Sheep. All the songs were amazing and I always enjoy watching Lillian perform. I did notice this year she was distracted a little by all the people and kept looking around to find someone she knew! Such a mess! But, she did a great job with her songs and sang her little heart out! Lydia even clapped loud for her big sister and it melted my heart. Lillian kept waving to us and blowing us kisses too. Right back at ya! :)
After the program, the school hosted a cookie reception. Needless to say, both Lillian and Lydia ate too many cookies and ended up wearing most of it home on their dresses. Lydia cracks me up with how she eats! She wanted more cookies and finally it was time to go after a couple of trips to the cookie table! Lillian enjoyed her cookies too and mingling with her friends. She was excited Jessica and the family came to see her today and she wanted to show them off to everyone.
Christmas brings out the best in us and our children. It is wonderful to see the children enjoying school and chapel. I kept seeing Lillian say good bye to all her friends and she was telling them Merry Christmas too. Children are so sweet and innocent and you want to protect that Christmas spirit and excitement. It wasn't about presents today...it was about sharing Christmas with all her friends. Lillian told me at the end of the program, "It feels like Christmas today!"
Lillian was so excited to see her friend, D'Ann today at Powerhouse. We went for some playtime and she got to work with D'Ann. She was so excited to start her back handspring and she amazed me in what she picked up in a couple of minutes. Lillian loves cheerleading and tumbling is just another cool thing for her to do too! I am just glad she loves it soooo much! It makes her smile and me too! Of course, Lydia was doing her own thing! :)
Hello everyone! Tonight we attended Lillian's 1st Christmas Parade- she has been to a parade before, but never IN one. She was thrilled and couldn't wait for the day to get here! And the day did arrive along with the cold and RAIN! Lillian was so excited to get in her clothes today and get ready for the parade and noting was going to stop her.
My friend, Becca, had made Lillian and her little girl matching sweatshirts. Plus, Lillian got to wear her first little hair piece and that made her sooo happy too. She loved that ponytail! She really wanted long hair, but I told her the ponytail would be great for tonight! She looked adorable in her long johns, turtleneck, sweatshirt, pants, socks, furry boots, jacket, hat and gloves! Too many clothes to keep up with! You should have seen Lydia trying to walk in all her clothes- she fell three times before we made it out the door! She would just tip right over! heehee
I told Lillian all day long that if it rained, then we were not going to be able to make it to the parade. But, not only did it rain, but somehow I ended up in the parade too riding the float! So, it was Lydia's first time in a parade too! When we arrived, they told us we could ride the float too with Lillian. So, off we went in the cold and rain cheering for Extreme!
I must admit, it was fun waving to everyone and saying Merry Christmas. Plus, Lillian kept saying her cheer over and over again which was fun to hear, "Extreme Cheer Heading to the Top!" She really enjoyed herself and so did I! Lydia did great too eating her m&ms and trying to stay warm.
So, now everyone is snug in their warm bed and I am off to mine too! So, what is my lesson for the day, "NEVER SAY NEVER!!!!"
We had to say good bye to Lillian's pet fish Pablo last night. He lived a long life with her for the last year and a half. Lillian loved Pablo and feeding him everyday. We had a little "funeral" for him this morning after church and Lillian decided she wanted to flush him down the toilet. I thought she might want to bury him outside, but she wanted to flush down the toilet. Not sure where she got that idea?
During church, Lillian told the congregation about Pablo and his death. We always have a prayer request and praise time and she held her hand high. Then, she quietly said, "My fish died last night." The hearts of everyone melted! But, they prayed for him!
We talked last night about death and being with Jesus before bedtime. She said Jesus had lots of pets and would take good care of him. She was upset at first, but then she started to understand that he was in peace now. Of course, this lead to her BIG question,"Will I die and go to Jesus too?" My little heart!
So, now we are thinking of making a welcome home sign for her new fish. We are going to get HER today. Yes, daddy, Lillian wants a girl this time. So, now you are officially the only man in the house!!! :) Lillian wants to name her Sparkle Renee Martin.
So, good bye Pablo and enjoy your new life! We will miss you!
Today we met up with Jessica, Eric, Jack and Lily at the Temple Mall. We all decided to be brave and wait in line to try to meet DORA the Explorer. Well, let's keep in mind this was my brilliant idea! So, we arrive a few minutes early, but it wasn't early enough! The line was crazy and I honestly thought we would never see DORA. In 30 minutes, we moved two little spaces and I couldn't figure out what would make the line go faster!
So, I decided to feed the kiddos lunch in line. So, we ran off to Chick Fil A while Eric held our space in line. We grabbed our food and then went back to the line. Lydia kicked the fruit cup out of my hand while sitting in her stroller because she wanted a french fry and not fruit. Didn't see that coming! Lillian didn't want to eat in line and decided to eat off the floor at the mall. That didn't work so well because we kept having to inch up every so often and kept having too move her food. Didn't see that coming! And then, I threw a tantrum! Didn't see that coming!
learned a big lesson from my kiddos today though! Try to keep remembering why we came...to have fun. After we made it through a few bumps and tantrums, then everyone calmed down and made it through the two hour and ten minute line! Yes, we took the younger kiddos to the play place and to the candy store, but we all made it through and are still alive. Lillian and Lily waited the whole time in line and were FANTASTIC! It is in these moments that I need to realize I need to let it go and keep moving on and see life from a child bright eyes.
We made it through and got our one minute appointment with DORA and a couple of snapshots. Then, ran out the door for Lydia to get home to nap time. On the way home, I asked Lillian, "Did you think it was worth the wait?" Lillian said in her 5 year old wisdom, "Yes, it was great. Thank you for taking me to see DORA mommy. Can we come again tomorrow?" And what do you think I said?????
