two little girls

Karma?

2012-01-27T20:03:00.000-05:00

Now I'm not saying I believe in karma.

But a few days after going on and on about the size of my butt and look who gets a big scrape on her nose from sledding at school.

I'm just sayin'.

Besides karma, how cool is it that we live in a place where my daughter can go sledding at recess? She has to wear snow pants, boots, gloves, hat, etc. everyday to school. Which she loves. Also they go outside for recess no matter what unless the temp is below zero. Or something pretty ridiculous like that. Awesome.

30 weeks 1 day

2012-01-22T10:15:00.000-05:00

Slowly getting there. 30 weeks down, who knows how many to go! Feeling pretty decent at this point. I think at 30 weeks with Eva and Lily I was more miserable. My back hurt quite a bit (and I was still nauseous with Lily). But this time the nausea is gone and I have been going to a Chiropractor which has helped so very much. So I have very minimal back and pelvic pain at this point. I'm still pretty tired. And somewhat cranky. And still gaining weight like I did with the girls. I'm ready for March to get here. Or April. I bet she will come in April. That feels like a long way away.

Why I have a favorite child.

2012-01-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

Lily: "Mommy, my doll has boobies just like yours!"
I look over and she's holding a Barbie doll. Yessssss.

Eva: "Mommy, your bottom is getting really big with that huge tummy!"
She says while rubbing my butt. Ugggghhh.

Need I say more.

Miss Independence, almost

2012-01-14T11:15:00.000-05:00

Lately the theme for this girl is "I'm a big girl..."

I'm a big girl to sit in a big girl chair. Not a high chair!
Big girls don't suck their thumbs. (quickly pulls her thumb out of her mouth and wipes it off and then says big girls don't suck their thumbs)
I'm a big girl like Eba (Eva)!
I'm a big girl to put my coat on.
I'm a big girl to zip my coat up.
I'm a big girl to wear big girl jammies, not baby jammies! (the one's with the feet)
I want to do it myself!

She talks non-stop. Strangers literally ask me on a daily basis how old she is and then comment on how well she talks. I think this is because she never stops talking. Seriously, she ~~talks~~ yells in her sleep, mostly at Eva to stop doing something or to give something back to her.

She can dress herself completely, she can put her own coat on and zip it up, she can brush her teeth, she can take her plate to the sink, she can recognize pretty much all colors, all letters, and most of her numbers.

But we have one Big Girl hurdle to overcome:

Potty Training.

Ugh. I hate potty training. Such a pain. Lily doesn't have much interest and so far hasn't been very successful. Honestly I don't really think she's totally ready yet. I don't really want to have a newborn and three-year-old in diapers. When I tell her big girls don't wear diapers she disagrees. I will be patient and give it another go. Actually I am about as enthusiastic as she is about the process. She does like the treats and can squeeze out three drops of pee anytime she has a craving for chocolate or a marshmallow. But then she will pee in her panties ten minutes later.

So I will try not to stress. And I will give myself a chocolate. And a few marshmallows. And snuggle up to my almost three-year-old wearing her diapers, sucking her thumb contentedly as she occasionally takes her thumb out to say some big word I have never heard her use before. And I will be thankful that she is still petite and only in size 4 diapers, because at least I know there are size 5 diapers and those should get her through Kindergarten. And as independent as she is she should be wanting to change her own diapers before long!

Finally.

2012-01-12T14:13:00.000-05:00

Winter has arrived.

Snow has arrived.

Real. Measurable SNOW.

Lovin' it.

Time is tickin'

2012-01-11T21:30:00.000-05:00

Almost 29 weeks. And in case you are wondering, I pretty much gained 10lbs in about 3 weeks over the holidays.

Those cinnamon rolls were SO worth it.

I think.

Emergency

2012-01-10T22:20:00.002-05:00

This morning as I was taking a shower Eva rushed in the bathroom and frantically said:

Eva: "Mommy! This is an emergency situation! The light went out downstairs! It's an emergency situation!"

Me: "All the lights or just one?"

Eva: "Just one of the lights!"

Me: "So a light bulb burned out?"

Eva: "YES! It's a true emergency situation!"

Me: "Go finish your breakfast."

This is a face that knows "Emergency Situations." A very serious face.

Four Christmas Cuties

2011-12-28T22:48:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:40:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas from our full and happy house.

No, seriously, Merry Christmas!

Four cute cousins.

Mommy's Helper

2011-12-20T21:12:00.001-05:00

Eva is such a big helper these days. She is so observant and smart. Probably because she is six. It is so good to have her around.

For example, she told me this evening just how big my belly is getting and that it looks like I'm fat. I'm so glad she is here to show me these things. I hadn't even noticed my belly was getting big. Now I know!

And last week in the church bathroom I asked her if I looked old and she said "Well, yeah! Like REALLY old!" Where else would I get such loving, compassionate honesty?

But this morning she was the most helpful.

As I was walking past her in my underwear she said "Oh mommy, your bottom is jiggly when you walk!" Thank goodness she was there to point that out! I mean this is clearly an area of my body that I can't see. And quite frankly I make a point to not look at it.

What would I do without her?

It is so good to know that my bottom jiggles! I just had no idea. All this time I thought it was firm and tight.

Oh, was this was more than you wanted to know? Now you know how I feel.

And I agree, it was much more than I wanted to know too.

Who knows what she will discover tomorrow. I can't wait.

***edited to add what Eva discovered this morning: While in the kitchen with me she said "Mommy, your bottom is big." New discoveries everyday.

Look at this face. Doesn't it just say "Just telling it like it is mom, just telling like it is."

Six years old.

2011-12-15T11:05:00.000-05:00

Happy 6th Birthday to our beautiful, bright-eyed, funny, spunky, smart, silly, feisty, strong-willed, amazing girl, who occasionally doesn't watch where she's running on the school playground and ends up with a lovely goose egg on her head. We love you so much Eva!

The Lily photo shoot.

2011-12-14T20:28:00.000-05:00

When taking pictures of Lily, this is as good as it gets.

She's a goofball.

All Christmasy-like

2011-12-11T08:41:00.000-05:00

They can love it now and hate me later.

23 weeks, let's break it down!

2011-12-03T08:58:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry, did you think when I said "let's break it down!" that I was referring to a 23 week pregnant woman dancing?

Sorry to disappoint.

This is rather a breakdown of my pregnant body at 23 weeks.

Did you know that it isn't just my belly that starts showing?

All of me is pregnant, and I mean all of me.

Here is a breakdown.

1. Pregnant face (a.k.a. what I like to call my "fat face"). This is where my pregnancy starts. Well, technically my pregnancy started one summer night when...never mind. Anyway, my face and neck are getting to know each other and become one.

2. Ah yes, now here is where I can say thank goodness all of me is pregnant. An area that is actually a "perk." Pun intended. If only I could keep them forever. And ever.....* Sigh*

3. Obviously the belly is pregnant. It is the only part of my body that is actually pregnant and carrying a baby. It's true.

4. Don't be fooled here. There is no baby in there, even though it is growing at the same rate as my belly. Then again, maybe I'm having twins. And carrying one of them really low. And really far in the back. Who knows. We'll find out for sure in a few months.

5. My thighs certainly don't want to be left out. They always join in the pregnancy fun. God bless them in all their Thunder-thighness.

And over the next 120 some odd days all 5 of these parts will just get bigger and bigger and bigger. And that is at least good news for arrow #2.

Happy Birthday Your Hotness.

2011-12-02T09:12:00.003-05:00

Thirty seven and you still got it goin' on.

She bites.

2011-12-01T19:47:00.000-05:00

This cute little thing walked up and bit my hiney today.

Ouch.

Christmas Tree 2011: "CHICO!"

2011-11-30T19:25:00.001-05:00

This year our tree is named in honor of our neighbor's small-chihuahua-like, rambunctious, and somewhat annoying dog, "CHICO!". Our favorite part about "CHICO!", besides his shrill incessant barking and chasing of cars, is his owner who is constantly yelling his name in an overly loud voice "CHICO! CHICO!!"

Now anytime our girls see a small dog they yell "CHICO!" We love it. And we love to yell "CHICO!" too. You should try it sometime.

It's very therapeutic.

So, back to our tree. It's name is "CHICO!" This way, whenever we walk into the house and see it we can yell "CHICO!"

Wouldn't it be awesome if whenever we walked in and yelled "CHICO!" it's tree lights would light up? I will have to work on that.

~side note for Annie: notice the S.S. St. Mary near the top of the tree? Still have it!~

Here is how "CHICO!" made it into the garage.

A certain someone who was driving the minivan and who shall remain nameless, but may very well be pictured below, forgot about "CHICO!" when we pulled into the garage.

Poor "CHICO!".

Good thing that wasn't one of our children tied to the roof of the van. For several reasons. (It was pretty cold outside.)

Here we are gettin' "CHICO!" all dressed up for the holidays.

Merry Christmas and happy "CHICO!" decorating to you!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T15:34:00.001-05:00

This year we did something I have never done in my entire life. Something in the past I always thought was quite depressing, sad and pathetic. But this year it was wonderful, delicious and relaxing.

Since it was just our little family at home this year and with me being pregnant and having less energy and it doesn't matter to Shaun what we do, we decided to go out.

We went out to eat for our Thanksgiving Dinner to Cracker Barrel. Just the 4 1/2 of us.

Not to worry though, I also ordered an extra Thanksgiving meal to go so I could have leftovers.

This morning we made pecan pie bars and 2 pumpkin pies and watched the parade.

Later we will go hang out with our dear friends and have fondue and dessert. A near perfect Thanksgiving Day. So much to be thankful for!

Love this turkey that Eva made at school!

Mistaken Identity

2011-11-17T21:21:00.001-05:00

My wonderful mother-in-law was here a few weeks ago. We had a great time and she took great care of the girls while I was gone for part of her visit.

She also took awesome care of me by buying me a coat that will hopefully fit me for the rest of the winter as my belly gets bigger and bigger. We headed over to Land's End and found a nice warm coat on clearance in a bigger size than I usually wear.

Normally white isn't my first choice of coat color but my options were limited and I want to keep warm.

My one and only concern is that it is highly likely that I will be mistaken for someone else...

I think you can see my dilemma.

So, if you see a big fluffy white creature with a large belly walking down the street don't run the other direction screaming:

"ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!!!!"

Because it's just me.

(And thanks again Nanny for my roomy and warm new coat!)

We make girls.

2011-11-14T13:34:00.001-05:00

IT'S A GIRL!

That brings the count to THREE girls! We are very happy and excited. And things looked great on the ultrasound. The first picture is my favorite. That's her little arm up by her head. Isn't she sweet!

Her name is Claire Nicole. We like the name Claire and Nicole is my middle name.

Another picture of her with her arm by her head. I think she is squishing her face into the placenta. Um, kind of gross. :)

Her little profile.

The money shot. Definitely a girl!

It's me.

2011-11-13T18:38:00.001-05:00

My little Lily brought this picture to me this morning and said "Mommy, it's you!". This is the first "real" picture she's ever drawn. I love it!

And just as a clarification, those two dots under "me" are legs. I asked. And I was relieved that she said they were legs. And not...something else...you know, like...knee caps. What were you thinking!?

20 weeks. Halfway there.

2011-11-11T11:14:00.001-05:00

20 weeks (tomorrow!). In three days we have the big ultrasound. Hopefully the baby will cooperate. Any guesses? Boy name suggestions? I think we have settled on a girl name.

Don't look Grandma Carson! It's my bare tummy. I know how much you love it.

One covered up. For Grandma.

Spencer Halloween 2011

2011-10-30T15:00:00.001-04:00

This year we present to you: Dr. Eva, transplant patients Lily and Danielle (and skeleton baby), and intestines Shaun.

skeleton baby is kicked back

"Why yes, these intestines do feel somewhat impacted, but I think we can still transplant them."

Don't squeeze too hard!

A closeup of Spencer baby skeleton.

Cutest intestines you'll ever see.

We hosted a costume/Halloween party at our house. It was a lot of fun to see all the creative costumes (putting them on facebook) and eat tons of food!

To see Spencer costumes from halloween's past:
2009
And other years

The dress up bin casualty

2011-10-28T17:46:00.000-04:00

Well we have ~~mice~~, ~~a mouse~~, did have a mouse? The girls discovered a dead mouse at the bottom of the dress up bin. Eva immediately named it Pinky. Because of it's pink feet. Poor innocent thing was probably just trying to dress up as Cinderella, or a Zebra Princess Fairy, or Snow White, or a pirate. It's hard to say. But once Pinky made the plunge into the bin it was too late. Pinky could not get back out.

Let this be a warning to all the other mice that are surely lurking in my basement. And to small children.

P.S. Our cat Charlie is apparently useless. Unless he put Pinky in the dress up bin. And come to think of it, I have caught Charlie in a tutu a few times...

Almost 18 weeks: A Comparison

2011-10-27T17:37:00.000-04:00

All things considered here in these comparisons I think I look pretty good for almost 18 weeks.

And for some reason I don't think I look all that dorky now. Not sure why. Can't quite put my finger on it.

Fairy Princesses

2011-10-26T21:45:00.000-04:00

Eva's school had a festival tonight. They had a DJ. Yep, that guy scored big. A DJ for an elementary school fall festival. Add that to the resume.

Anyway, it was fun. The girls did a little dancing and Shaun and I checked out all the costumes that our girls will not be wearing when they are in 5th grade, such as a "Hoochie Mama Devil Princess in high heels and fishnet pantyhose" for example.

For now, innocence is ours: Zebra Princess Fairy and Little Fairy.

Gettin' their groove thing on.

Two Birthdays.

2011-10-21T08:51:00.000-04:00

Today would have been my sister's 29th birthday. Today is my dad's 62nd birthday. His first one "alone" in 29 years.

Happy birthday Dad, I love you so much!

Happy birthday Brandi, I miss you so much.

The "Help"

2011-10-19T11:47:00.000-04:00

Confession

2011-10-17T14:38:00.000-04:00

I ate an entire can of black olives by myself.

Finger. Lickin'. Good.

15 weeks and I'm a brunette.

2011-10-12T13:07:00.000-04:00

Well here I am at 15 weeks. I feel ginormous. I guess that's because I am. Pregnancy is going well. My morning sickness is almost gone. Well, I thought it was gone until I was driving (you know, in my sexy-pregnant-mom-minivan) last night and got "the feeling" and then my mouth started watering - in the not-so-good-way and I had to grab the trash can. You know, the trash can with no bag in it. And lo and behold I can now multitask in a new way: I can drive and throw up at the same time. Do not try this at home. It can be dangerous and you must be an experienced thrower-upper. It was fun to drive the rest of the way home with that trash can sitting next to me, the contents of it taunting me. My main priority at that point was to not let that trash can tip over. As soon as I got home that thing went into a big trash bag and straight into the trash in our garage. Fingers crossed for no more barfing.

In other news, I am now a brunette, at least for a while. I went to get my haircut and colored back to my "natural color". I told my hair lady to just match my roots. Well she did. I guess I should have told her that my natural color is more of a dark blonde. But what the heck, I'll go with it for a while. Aren't we supposed to go a bit darker for winter anyway? That's what I'm telling myself. By the way, I think my face is getting plumper, along with my belly, behind, and thighs. Looks like another pregnancy like I had with Eva and Lily!

Once upon a time...

2011-10-06T17:49:00.000-04:00

Once upon a time I took pictures with my camera, played with my girls, cooked meals, and blogged. Trying to bring those days back. Recovering from morning sickness, dealing with grief, settling in from our move. And I have cooked at least two times this week! Woo hoo! Here are some pictures from July, not long before pregnancy, loss of my sister, and the madness of moving. My girls loved this: a mixture of dry pinto beans, dry oatmeal, dry pasta, dry rice, and buttons. They had fun sorting and playing and making "muffins". I brought the container out yesterday for Lily. It was perfect now that we have a nice deck out back, a great place for a messy fun time.

Three weeks ago.

2011-09-28T10:36:00.001-04:00

Three weeks ago today my sister, Brandi, passed away unexpectedly. She was only 28 years old. It still doesn't seem real. I keep thinking about what to write on my blog. It has been three weeks since I posted anything but I haven't known what to say and I have been very busy as well.

As soon as I found out about my sister, Lily and I immediately flew to Oklahoma and Shaun and Eva drove a few days later. It was a whirlwind week. The hardest week of my life. Everyday was so difficult: writing her obituary, planning her funeral, seeing her in her casket, her funeral, and cleaning out her apartment.

Although it was the hardest thing I have ever experienced, it was also so incredible to see the Lord at work. He didn't lift us up out of the circumstances but he gently walked us through each day. My family is so wonderful and we all worked together so well to plan everything and to accomplish all that we needed to. We were loved on by so many wonderful friends, which was an incredible blessing. We also got to see and spend a lot of time with my Aunt Kathy, my cousin Kerie and her precious daughter Lindsay, that we hadn't seen in years. That was such a gift.

I miss my sister very much. I miss her laugh and her sense of humor. I am so very thankful that I got to see her at the end of July. It had been 2 years since I had seen her before that. I am also so thankful that we took pictures while we were there. What a gift from Lord.

Please pray (or continue to pray, as many of you have been) for my mom and three nephews. My sister was a single mom with three boys (ages 9, 6, and 4). My oldest and youngest nephews are living with my mom and my middle nephew is handicapped and is living with his dad. I am very thankful that the boys are with my mom. They are very close to her so it is a real blessing.

There are so many thoughts in my heart but I will stop here. There are more things going on with the Spencers, light-hearted things that I will start writing about very soon. Until then, here are a few pics of my beautiful sister.

March 31, 2012

2011-09-05T13:25:00.002-04:00

Another Spencer coming at the end of March. And March seems so far away when you feel nauseous. I'm a little over 10 weeks now and having a few hours here and there of feeling better. Keeping my fingers crossed that I don't feel sick then entire pregnancy like I did with Lily! Maybe another girl? We'll see...

Where the sidewalk ends...

2011-09-04T17:22:00.000-04:00

A fall on the sidewalk outside of our apartment on Friday after school will be a nice conversation starter for Eva's third day of school. This fall came complete with fat lip, bloody nose, swollen and scabbed nose, and a few other bumps and bruises. It's tough being five. But she's still pretty darn cute.

1st Day of Kindergarten

2011-09-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

Seventeen pictures of my baby girl's first day of kindergarten? Don't mind if I do!

Drop off went very well. Eva was very excited. Shaun and I tried to not bawl like babies in front of all the other parents on the playground. After we walked away Lily was very somber and said "I miss my Eva." We miss her too! She's going to do great and have so much fun!

There she goes!

black and white

2011-08-23T21:41:00.000-04:00

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

2011-08-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Who's ready for some more Oklahoma pictures? Yee-haw!
Our second week in Oklahoma was spent at the ranch with Nanny, Papa, Caitlin, Jessie, and Nana.

Nanny, Papa, and the girls

Beautiful cousins!

With Nana

A little fishin'. Lily is definitely our "outdoorsy" girl.

She walked right towards the cows. No fear.

Lots of moo's.

More fishin'.

The fish moved. Eva cried. Not quite as "outdoorsy". She insisted on wearing her dress over her jeans and boots.

ummm...outdoorsy?...sexy?...representing our hood?
all of the above.

jammies. boots. outside. a good morning.

Loved the four-wheelers. Love my windblown look. The sexiness never ends. Ever.

A good trip. We swam too but I failed to get pictures. And we ate. A lot. It's what we do.

Ha! Caught you. You just can't get enough of the Spencer sexiness can you? That is why you kept scrolling down when this blog post was clearly over. Fine. Just a bit more. But this is it! The internet can only handle so much at one time.

While in Oklahoma City...

2011-08-06T15:24:00.000-04:00

While in Oklahoma City...

We saw our dear friends Bobby & Jennifer and their cute house. And ate a Chick-fil-A. Yum.

got hair cuts

spent time with dad and Achi

read books with Mimi

wore Mimi's reading glasses

spent time with more dear friends (Caylee!)

made new friends (Ella Kate)

spent time with Aunt Brandi

and spent time with cousins

spent more time with Mimi

and took a few naps.

We had a great time in Oklahoma City.

unending talent, or something like that

2011-08-05T14:00:00.002-04:00

My nephews

2011-08-01T21:40:00.000-04:00

More of Oklahoma trip to come. In the meantime, my beautiful nephews:

Strange. So very, very strange.

2011-07-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

Still having a great time here in the Sooner state. In spite of the heat that is. Yesterday was extra special, not only because we got to see our dear, dear friends the Retter family but also because we came across something that nearly leaves me at a loss for words. We met at Panera to eat dinner and we happened upon a "Goth Doll" meeting of some sort. Thankfully I had my camera. Unfortunately I only got pictures of the dolls and not our friends. But they look a lot like these dolls. Or maybe not.

There was a group of about 3 ladies sitting around a table with these "dolls" and in walks 3 other girls and a guy. There seemed to be some tiff about who belonged to which doll group or doll chapter or something. Tempers were rising and accusations being flung. There were a few "Who are you?" and "What is your name?" and "You just shut-up!".

It was awesome.

Check these things out. I might have to see if there is a Goth Doll Club in Madison.

Seriously. The boy doll is in tie dyed pajamas with his long haired girlfriend wearing her goth type shirt all snuggled up with him. And they appear to be visiting with Goth lingerie lady as she snuggles with her creepy long lost child who might have been fathered by Tim Burton.

Stealth barfing and other travel related matters

2011-07-22T15:09:00.002-04:00

Hi there. We are in Oklahoma for a spell. We left Sunday afternoon and headed south into the heat. We decided to travel to Des Moines, IA and stop there for the night. By the time we got there it was somewhat late and I told the girls I was going to bathe them. Lily took one look at the hotel bathtub and told me she wanted her bathtub. But she finally warmed up to the idea, they were bathed and put to bed. The girls did great in the hotel and by the next morning all was going well. At least until 7:30 a.m.

Stealth Barfing Episode 1:
There was a McDonald's next to the hotel so we decided to head there for breakfast (us at McDonald's for a meal- GASP!). As we were standing in line at 7:30 a.m. Shaun had just finished ordering (holding Lily) and she suddenly started gagging and spitting up. He rushed her into the bathroom and came out a few minutes later carrying Lily who was at that point just wearing a diaper. This was the first Stealth Barfing incident. Thankfully we had a suitcase full of clothes to change Lily into. Although we were at the "classy" McDonald's establishment where I'm sure she wouldn't be the first child to dine in just a diaper.

Stealth Barfing Episode 2:
Lily didn't eat breakfast but seemed fine otherwise so we got on the road. About 9:30 a.m. things are rolling along fine when suddenly without warning the all too familiar noises emerge from Lily once again. Me, being the intelligent and caring parent that I am, try to catch the contents of her stomach in my hands. Didn't work. Not a good idea. Don't try it. Now there was barf on outfit number 2, barf in the straps of her car seat, etc. We pulled over, got her changed and headed down the road again.

Stealth Barfing Episode 3:
On the road again and Lily appears to feel fine. Still not eating much except for the occasional Twizzler, which by the way is more pleasant than other things to clean up in barf. About 11:00 a.m. we stop at a truck stop gas station. I take both girls into the bathroom and as I am in my stall I hear Eva say "Lily is throwing up again!" I rush out and see that yes, Lily is indeed at it again. This time all down the front of her, then all over the floor, then she stepped in it and then more comes out and splashes on my feet. Too much information? Good, I didn't think so. Anyway, I was not about to leave it all over the floor so I made my best attempt to clean it up with those brown paper towels that are about as absorbent as a cardboard box. Fun. I finally got it cleaned up and then a worker came in and told me she would mop the floor. That woman is a saint.

After all of this fun we bought Lily some Sprite. She downed the Sprite and then ate a little lunch. And all was well with the world. That is until Lily pooped in her diaper...

I'll end with that. :) More on the rest of our trip soon. It's going great. No more illnesses!

By the way. It is hotter than a hootenanny.

Scenes from a day trip

2011-07-13T21:19:00.000-04:00

Last Friday we went to Governor Dodge State Park for a little day trip consisting of a little hike to a waterfall, a swim in the lake, a picnic, and some ice cream. I was amazed that this was such a successful trip: no meltdowns. Thankful that my girls can swim with arm floaties and that they loved the lake!

Not pictured below:

Shaun
the pretty lake we played in
my hideous, ginormous, strategically placed mosquito bites
the girl at the lake with the improperly fitting bikini (you're welcome. trust me.)

wild flowers

beauty and love

pure sweetness

old spring house

cool views

us gals

lovely

enjoying the view

pretty paths

As good as it gets

2011-07-10T20:43:00.000-04:00

When the girls are in their matching swimsuits and I want to take a cute picture of them smiling together, this is about as good as it gets: (these are from our recent outing to Governor Dodge State Park - more on that in the next post! Bet you can't wait.)

just because

2011-07-01T23:16:00.000-04:00

a picture of eva. just because. and just because it's been over a week since my last blog post.

Life here and now.

2011-06-22T22:12:00.000-04:00

It has been a day. It has been a week. It has been a while of feeling like life is a bit of a struggle. Mostly dealing with issues with our often-time-strong-willed-girls and mostly still waiting for our house to sell.

It feels like we are on a beach with strong winds, rain, and heavy waves hitting us over and over. It feels calm and we can breathe for a moment but then another wave knocks us down and we are dealing with another long drawn out tantrum or another financial issue.

In the midst of dealing with our girls we are learning a lot. We are learning that we are impatient, unloving, unkind, ungracious, and pretty much every other "un" kind of word you can come up with. We are dealing with sins that we didn't know were hidden way deep down inside of our dark selves until we had these two precious children.

It is ugly around here.

But Jesus is in the middle of making something beautiful out of these two "ugly"parents. Somehow I see through this storm that Jesus loves us so much that he is taking us through these trials with our girls to not only make them have soft hearts and to obey and to learn to love Jesus but he is taking us, me and Shaun through all this to make us more like Jesus. To dig deep down into the ugliest parts of our hearts and clean them out. We didn't even know our hearts were this ugly but He is using our children, our two girls who are a blessing from the Lord (Psalm 127:3), to show us what is in our hearts so our hearts can be dealt with.

Our girls and their tantrums are only a fraction of the issues that we are dealing with. But praise the Lord that he is growing Shaun and me to see that we are really the one's who need the soft hearts and we are the one's who need to learn to obey and we are the one's who need to learn to love Jesus.

And for some reason He hasn't allowed our house to sell. But he is teaching us contentment in our cozy apartment. He is teaching us that He always provides for us. He is teaching us that things are done in his own time. He is teaching us to be faithful with what he has given us. He is teaching us that He does all things for our good and for His glory.

And so we will wait for our house to sell when He is ready and we will try to be faithful parents to these two precious girls that he has given specifically to us.

This morning I went for a little jog and made my way to a really pretty wooded area behind a nearby neighborhood. The weather was perfect: cool with nice dark puffy rain clouds hanging around. Usually I avoid such wooded areas by myself, especially when no one else is around. But I decided to take my chances of being abducted or whatever horrible thing I imagined happening. As I emerged from the woods I realized two very good things had happened. The first thing is that I wasn't abducted in the woods. I felt it a huge success. But the second thing was that as I came out of these dark, slippery, and lonesome woods, the first thing I saw was a rainbow. I immediately knew that the Lord was telling me "I am faithful", "I keep my promises." And in less than a minute the rainbow was gone. He is so good to me to keep showing me that he is with me, with us.

And then I turn around tonight and complain to God that he doesn't talk to me. And yet he has been "talking" to me in so many ways! He showed me the rainbow after coming out of dark woods, he has been showing me some incredible things in the devotional book I have been reading (Keep a Quiet Heart by Elisabeth Elliot ~ I highly recommend this book, it is so good). And he has been speaking to me through things on other people's blogs. And he has been speaking to me through what I am learning with our girls. And he has been speaking to me through my conversations with Shaun and with other people. I need to listen better.

So, I have said a lot. If you have even made it this far, I had originally started this blog post just to share an article (below) that I just read and copied from Kelly's Korner blog that I just found very encouraging. I really feel that the Lord is at work in so many ways in my little family right now. I don't know what exactly it is that he is doing but I just want to be faithful in every way he has called me to be. Hopefully someone else will be encouraged as well.

MOTHERHOOD AS A MISSION FIELD
by: Rachel Jankovic

As someone once said, “Everyone wants to save the world, but no one wants to help Mom with the dishes.” When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to become home.

If you are a Christian woman who loves the Lord, the gospel is important to you. It is easy to become discouraged, thinking that the work you are doing does not matter much. If you were really doing something for Christ you would be out there, somewhere else, doing it. Even if you have a great perspective on your role in the kingdom, it is easy to lose sight of it in the mismatched socks, in the morning sickness, in the dirty dishes. It is easy to confuse intrigue with value, and begin viewing yourself as the least valuable part of the Church.

There are a number of ways in which mothers need to study their own roles, and begin to see them, not as boring and inconsequential, but as home, the headwaters of missions.

At the very heart of the gospel is sacrifice, and there is perhaps no occupation in the world so intrinsically sacrificial as motherhood. Motherhood is a wonderful opportunity to live the gospel. Jim Elliot famously said, “He is no fool who gives up that which he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Motherhood provides you with an opportunity to lay down the things that you cannot keep on behalf of the people that you cannot lose. They are eternal souls, they are your children, they are your mission field.

If you are like me, then you may be thinking “What did I ever give up for them? A desk job? Time at the gym? Extra spending money? My twenty- year- old figure? Some sleep?” Doesn’t seem like much when you put it next to the work of some of the great missionaries, people who gave their lives for the gospel.

Think about the feeding of the five thousand when the disciples went out and rounded up the food that was available. It wasn’t much. Some loaves. Some fish. Think of some woman pulling her fish out and handing it to one of the disciples. That had to have felt like a small offering. But the important thing about those loaves and those fishes was not how big they were when they were given, it was about whose hands they were given into. In the hands of the Lord, that offering was sufficient. It was more than sufficient. There were leftovers. Given in faith, even a small offering becomes great.

Look at your children in faith, and see how many people will be ministered to by your ministering to them. How many people will your children know in their lives? How many grandchildren are represented in the faces around your table now?

So, if mothers are strategically situated to impact missions so greatly, why do we see so little coming from it? I think the answer to this is quite simple: sin. Discontent, pettiness, selfishness, resentment. Christians often feel like the right thing to do is to be ashamed about what we have. We hear that quote of Jim Elliot’s and think that we ought to sell our homes and move to some place where they need the gospel.

But I’d like to challenge you to look at it differently. Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself. Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now. Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you, the people who annoy you, the people who get in your way, the people who take up so much of your time that you can’t read anymore. Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose in them.

It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference there if you cannot be at peace here. You cannot have a heart for missions, but not for the people around you. A true love of the gospel overflows and overpowers. It will be in everything you do, however drab, however simple, however repetitive.

God loves the little offerings. Given in faith, that plate of PB&J’s will feed thousands. Given in faith, those presents on Christmas morning will bring delight to more children than you can count. Offered with thankfulness, your work at home is only the beginning. Your laundry pile, selflessly tackled daily, will be used in the hands of God to clothe many. Do not think that your work does not matter. In God’s hands, it will be broken, and broken, and broken again, until all who have need of it have eaten and are satisfied. And even then, there will be leftovers.

This came from desiringgod.org

silly lily

2011-06-21T22:40:00.000-04:00

Happy Father's Day.

2011-06-19T20:53:00.000-04:00

He's a keeper. And these two little girls agree.

Five years of blogging bliss and 605 posts.

2011-06-09T19:26:00.000-04:00

June 11 marks five years of blogging bliss with this the 605th post. That's right people, six hundred five posts.

Let's celebrate!

What in the world have i talked about for 605 posts?

I didn't know I even had that much to say. Actually I don't really think I have said much. (Much like this post!)

But I would like to thank the 4 family members and 2 friends who have faithfully read and endured all 605 posts over the last 5 years.

The 6 of you have made it all possible.

Well, not really. Technically I made it possible by continuing to write about nothing and post ridiculous pictures. And let's face it, most of them have been mind-numbingly boring.

And pretty much all 605 posts contain punctuation errors. Many punctuation errors.

So to truly celebrate 5 years of blogging, I am going to attempt to start using correct capitalization. No more lazy fingers.

So that's it. This is my one declaration of the leaf I am turning over. I can't make any promises that my punctuation or grammar or spelling will be correct but I will give it my best shot.

It's my gift to you. A thank you of sorts. It's almost like my first (and only) blog give away. And you didn't even have to leave a comment! Everyone's a winner!

thank you. i thank you. (okay, that is my last lazy intentional punctuation. I promise!!!)

This is also my gift to you. A weird and mildly inappropriate picture. Because it's my blog and I can. And we're married and I'm pretty sure Shaun likes it. Don't be fooled by the look on his face.

portraiture: president obama

2011-06-09T14:37:00.000-04:00

last night i heard from the bathtub:

lily: "president obama!" (referring to the "portrait" she had drawn)
eva: "no, mine is president obama!"

you can be the judge.

thankfully what they lack in the art skills department they make up for in cuteness. looks can only take you so far but i think we should just stay on the "cute" bus for now.

in the afternoon

2011-06-07T09:00:00.000-04:00

i heart bratfest. world's largest bratfest, that is.

2011-06-01T22:20:00.000-04:00

10 reasons i love bratfest (besides the obvious - delicious brats, roasted corn, funnel cakes, and more brats).

1. i love bratfest because there are signs with cute smiley brats everywhere.

2. i love bratfest because there are carnival rides everywhere that cause my big girl much happiness.

3. i love bratfest because he was there. even if his eyes were closed. but that's just how he usually takes a picture.

4. i love bratfest they have a cool website.

5. i love bratfest because there are 5 bazillion people cooking brats: regular and veggie brats, in case you were wondering. this is madison, wisconsin people. veggie options everywhere. even at bratfest.

6. i love bratfest because neat-o people with mohawks are there.

7. i love bratfest because i get to go down over-priced slides with eva.

8. i love bratfest because we got to hang out with our wonderful and awesome friend mechelle. and we love her. and she is nice. and she bought lots of tickets for the girls to ride the carnival rides. but mostly because we just like her. and she carried lily a lot.

9. i love bratfest because without bratfest we wouldn't have had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to capture many pictures of me making a really stupid face while enjoying the tea cup ride with eva and lily. and then i couldn't have shared these ridiculous pictures with you. so because of bratfest i am a little more humbled and you are a little more entertained. or disturbed. but we'll go with entertained.

10. the top reason that i truly love bratfest is the slightly overpriced but way totally awesome bright yellow "world's largest bratfest" t-shirt. you know you want one.

two cute babes

2011-05-29T15:33:00.000-04:00

a fun week

2011-05-29T15:29:00.002-04:00

thanks gramps and grandma for a fun week, we had a great time!

15 years

2011-05-18T00:01:00.001-04:00

Dear Shaun,

Happy anniversary! Well, we have made it 15 years. I was a little skeptical when I walked down the aisle and noticed you didn't have gel in your hair on our wedding day, of all days, but so far things seem to be working out. I have learned to look past the small things. Anyway, Can you believe how quickly the time has gone by? I guess the saying is true that time does fly when you are having fun. And the fun never ends at the Spencer house!

Fifteen years ago we were pretty much kids, I was 18 and you were 21. You were making about $6.50/hr at a Christian book store and I was working part time at a dentist office for $6/hr. We lived in that cute little one bedroom apartment and I think our rent was about $385 a month (those were the days!). And we were so very happy and in love.

So much has happened during the last 15 years: 2 little girls, many cars, many homes, many cities, many lengths of hair (both of us), many different shoes (both of us), not many vacations, a few spats, and a lot of love.

And now we are a little bit grown up at the tender ages of 33 and 36 and here we are in Madison Wisconsin of all places. Your hair has little bits of gray and mine doesn't. And we still live in an apartment! And I would be rather ashamed to say what we pay in rent now AND along with a mortgage. And isn't it funny that we had more money in our savings account when we first got married? Okay, I guess that isn't all that funny.

But look at us now, fifteen years later. We are happier than ever, more in love than ever, and most importantly we are growing together in Jesus more than ever. I am thankful that many times we have both said that our marriage is the way it is because of God's goodness, provision, grace, and deep love that he has for us. He has held us in His hands and taken such good care of us! We are truly blessed.

I love you and I am thankful that God chose you to love me and take care of me and be my best friend. You are an incredible husband, an amazing father to Eva and Lily, and a mediocre pet owner to Charlie.

So, how about another 15?

Love,

Danielle

a few fun spencer facts that have been updated since i last wrote them two years ago. (if you are having trouble sleeping at night and want to read our entire story and want to see a really dorky picture of me click here.)

we have lived in 15 different places (this is somewhat embarrassing, but this is how we were brought up, by moving a lot)
11 of those places were in the first 7 years of marriage
we have owned two houses, lived in 11 different apartments, rented one house, and lived with my mom for one month
we have been through 11 different vehicles (including the ones we have now)
shaun has worked 15 different various jobs (some part-time, some full-time)
i worked 7 different jobs
we have been on 3 vacations (colorado, cozumel, minnesota)
we have had 5 pets: a fish named napolean, a dog named maggie, our first cat was murray (who is now in the big litter box in the sky, as shaun says), we also had a cat named milton who dissappeared, and charlie who currently resides with us
after 9 years of being married eva was born and lily came after 12 years
out of 15 years of marriage, at least on of us was in college for 11 of those years. we both went all the way through college, and shaun through seminary
shaun weighs 10 lbs less now that when we got married (how many men can say that!)
i was 18 with .0000001% body fat when we got married and i have had two children since so i will NEVER again weigh what i did when we got married
we still love to hang out together and we are still best friends

the gift of snuggling

2011-05-16T22:51:00.000-04:00

birth announcement

2011-05-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

5.7.2011

after much anticipation

it is with great joy that we ask you

to please join us

as we celebrate and give thanks

for the safe and very late arrival of

SPRING!

after laboring through many wintry, snowy months

mommy, daddy, eva, and lily are doing great.

spring is very green and vibrant

and has yellow dandelions everywhere.

spring is also very temperamental

with some days in the 70's

and a few rough days in the low 50's.

but so far we are in love and wouldn't have it any other way!

please enjoy the pictures of the girls enjoying spring!

a very happy moe's-ther's day

2011-05-11T20:44:00.000-04:00

shaun had a glorious plan for mother's day. it involved a sweet card that the girls gave me first thing and then we were going to a surprise destination after lily's afternoon nap.

and then lily got sick.

plan b was to go for the surprise destination on monday afternoon. this was an awesome surprise because shaun took me to a place to eat that we frequented at least 2 times a week when we lived in aiken, s.c.

i was very excited to reach my surprise destination.

yes, that's right we drove 63 miles outside of modern madison wisconsin to eat at moe's southwest grill. it's not that moe's necessarily has the greatest food ever, but we went there all the time in aiken and we have missed it for the past 8 months.

i enjoyed a yummy burrito, lots of chips & queso, and green salsa. it was glorious.

and then we topped off moe's with a mocha from starbucks. perfect.

after moe's and starbucks shaun surprised me one more time and stopped at an outlet mall on the way home for a little shopping trip at the gap outlet.

momma was happy, so everyone was happy.

mother's day

2011-05-08T15:14:00.003-04:00

hi there. it's mother's day. here i am with my two little girls on mother's day. and look! lily seems unhappy. why? maybe because i am making her take a picture? or maybe because she is two? or maybe she is sick? or most likely it's all three. she slept in the nursery at church this morning which is pretty much unheard of. and she slept in my arms during lunch at a restaurant. this can't be good. what a better day then mother's day to "mother" my sick girl.

so on mother's day i love these two silly, crazy girls

from the top of my head

to the tips of my red painted toes.

and i love my mommy too.

cowgirl proctology

2011-05-03T20:42:00.000-04:00

lily always chooses the odd spot to ride the daddy horsey. but then again, i'm thinking we just might have a future doctor on our hands. now the only question is MD or DVM?

googly goggle-eyes

2011-04-28T21:19:00.000-04:00

took this big girl for her kindergarten evaluation to make sure she is ready to start school in four short months. word on the street, if you will, is that she is "more than ready."

ready? oh yeah, i think it's obvious.

the easter that almost wasn't

2011-04-24T15:39:00.002-04:00

our easter morning started at 3:30 a.m. when lily was calling for me. shaun went in while i stayed in bed and found out she had thrown up. once again, mother of the year award goes to shaun for responding when lily wanted mommy. after a change of sheets and pj's everyone was settled back in bed.

4:02 a.m. we hear noises again. i go in the room and lily is standing by her bed saying "mommy, yucky. mommy, yucky." yes, more throw up. another change of sheets and pj's and we are all settled back in bed again.

4:38 a.m. we hear eva yell "lily threw up AGAIN!" more of lily saying "mommy, yucky!" more clean sheets, more clean pj's, wipe lily's barfy smelling hair, avoid wet spot on rug by lily's bed, put eva in the spare bed up in the loft and we are all settled back in bed.

6:15 a.m. we hear lily, much happier, saying "where eba at?" the little stinker was already awake! thankfully we were able to stay in bed until 6:54 a.m. then we got lily up and she walked up to my side of the bed and said "mommy, i go poopy." and boy did she ever! after all that she seemed fine somehow. this was the first time she has thrown up besides spitting up as a baby.

so after an interesting and very early start to easter sunday the girls found that the easter bunny had left baskets outside the front door. lily promptly ate every candy from all her eggs. after easter baskets we got dressed and grabbed the two pans of homemade cinnamon rolls and headed off to a brunch at the church. brunch was yummy!

after brunch we had our easter church service where i attempted to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior from the church nursery. thankfully our nursery is right off of the room where we worship so i was able to hear a little bit of the music.

after church we came home and quickly took the obligatory family easter photos since we were all wearing happy spring colors. now we are home for a restful day and a yummy dinner later this evening. and lily is napping, thankfully. and i am so very glad we didn't have to miss church because of a barfy little girl.

in the last two days...

2011-04-22T20:47:00.000-04:00

in the last two days things have happened to this squinty-eyed, goofy-smiling, sweet face below:

lily ran into a door frame and hit the side of her head while running with a giant red ball
she was hit very hard in the face with a spaghetti spoon by eva as eva was teeing off while playing "golf" with the giant red ball
she was elbowed in the face by me
she busted a lip while trying to climb on something and slipped and fell

these recent mishaps are in addition to:

the bruise she received a couple weeks ago on her forehead after running into a door
the bruise on her cheek after slipping and falling and hitting her face on her toddler bed
the scar left on her forehead from last summer when she fell face first on the fireplace hearth
countless busted lips
many scratches on her fingers
a scraped knee
twisted her ankle which was fine, thankfully

stay tuned...more to come i'm sure.

apparently it's not rocket science.

2011-04-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

pictures taken by eva. edited by me. i gave her a quick lesson on how to fine focus. now all she needs is her own $800 camera.

peek-a-boo.

2011-04-20T20:45:00.000-04:00

pinwheels and bunny ears

2011-04-19T21:01:00.000-04:00

what makes two little girls happy? pinwheels and bunny ears.

me & bob barker

2011-04-17T16:04:00.001-04:00

the other night i had a dream about the price is right and bob barker.

i dreamed that i came upon a price is right game that was being taped outdoors at a football field or somewhere like that. i was so excited to see bob barker in all his white hair, golden skin glory (see exhibit A).

as soon as the price is right was over i ran over to him before any other adoring fans could grab his attention. i walked along with him trying to think of something good to say. so the best thing i could come up with was to tell him that i thought he was really funny in that state farm commercial where a guy is in his front yard and sings the state farm song and bob barker appears and then bob says his famous line "and a new car!".

yeah, i told bob i thought that was so funny. good thing this was just a dream.

anyway, he might have had his arm around me as we were walking, i can't quite remember. as we were walking along i kept wondering if he thought i was totally lame or if i was anywhere near a "barker beauty"status (see exhibit B).

as we parted ways i motioned to him with my camera and a questioning look asking if i could take my picture with him. he smiled and said "no pictures."

the next morning when i woke up and looked in the mirror** (see exhibit C) i realized why he said "no pictures" and i also realized that i probably wasn't quite a "barker beauty." but it sure was nice of bob barker to humor me for a few minutes.

exhibit A

exhibit B

exhibit C

**please note that smoking fake paper cigarettes is very hazardous to your health. especially first thing in the morning. and especially when your hair is very wild and could potentially catch fire because fake rolled up paper cigarettes burn very quickly.

spring is in the air

2011-04-07T20:46:00.000-04:00

ahhh...finally some warmer temps. weather in the 50's means it's time to get outside! what's crazy is that when we lived in south carolina weather in the 50's meant it was the middle of winter. here in wisconsin we break out the sweatshirt jackets and get out of the house.

yesterday some of us rode bikes. sharing is good. helmets are good. streamers on your bike handles are good. training wheels are good. princess stickers on your bike are good. a grown man with a little purple helmet riding a princess bike is really good. it's almost disturbing how happy he looks.

this looks a little more appropriate.

i tried to ride lily's car down a hill. that was not good. sorry, no pictures of that.

foaming at the mouth and humility

2011-04-06T21:06:00.000-04:00

it was a humbling experience leaving the mall play area today. these moments just spring right out of thin air.

lily turned psychotic. she didn't want to put her jacket on.

please picture me sitting on the floor. the floor of the mall. not even the floor of the play area. i am wrestling a screaming two-year-old into a cute striped pink jacket.

i believe she is foaming at the mouth.

i'm losing the battle while mall walkers breeze past me in their sketchers toning shoes and fanny packs. an old man sits on a bench nearby and i can feel him watching this whole scenario unfold before him. he no doubt is smiling. i know because i see him smiling. i smiled too. it was either laugh or cry. i chose laugh. there was already enough crying.

finally i give up on the jacket. you know, choose your battles right? yeah, that shipped had sailed. i decided to force the precious, screaming, foaming-mouthed child into the stroller. this would be the very stroller that was already soaking wet with water from the mcdonald's cup i gave to lily before we hit up the play area. the cup with the ill-fitting lid.

lily is not going into the stroller. just a reminder, i am still on the floor, the middle of the floor in the mall. this child has an amazing ability to perform something that can only be described as "live rigamortis". there is to be no bending of the child's body. forget it. live rigamortis, screaming, and foaming at the mouth. and snot everywhere.

and the screaming is that kind of low-growl screaming. kind of possessed-like.

eventually, after what seems like ten laps of the same mall walker passing, i somehow manage to buckle the stroller seat belt and then lean the stroller back so my precious princess can't hang forward to the ground. we head towards the food court area where all the old folks are having their pre-mall walking coffee and morning chit-chat.

they greet me with smiles and stares. as we approach the exit door a nice older man asks if he can get the door for me. i tell him through my best fake smile that would be great!

and then on the way out the door another older woman smiles a very understanding smile at me and says "we've all been there before!" i actually find these comments very, very comforting. so comforting in fact that i am tempted to climb in this woman's lap, curl up in the fetal position, suck my thumb, and sob "hold me!"

i resist the very strong urge to do this and quickly proceed to the minivan and spend the next 10 minutes attempting to fold little miss live rigamortis into her car seat.

eventually we make it home, completely humbled, clean up foam faces, snot from noses, have lunch, and take a well earned nap. the end.

much better.

2011-04-04T20:42:00.000-04:00

things are so much better around here. except for some pesky coughing. and snot that is a little too colorful for my liking. in case you were wondering.

we had a good day. a visit to the mall play area, a good restful afternoon, a lot of playing with play-doh, some beautiful clouds out our front window, and a nice evening drive. yes, a very good day. it has been while.

yes, today is going to be a good day.

2011-04-04T09:31:00.002-04:00

looking for better times? guess i should look behind me.

2011-04-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

illness still abounds in our home. i know because my poor husband sits here with two blankets on, shivering with a temp of 101 and wondering how he can feel heat coming out of his eyeballs.

not good friends, not good at all.

it has been a week, that's for sure. i think i am feeling much better. eva is doing great. and lily has been a crazy, psycho, fit-throwing, probably somewhat-sick two-year-old for the past several days. and most definitely today as well.

but let's move on. or back in the past, to happier times. when we were happy, and free of illness and fevers, and happy, and feeling good. and happy. did i mention happy?

a few weeks ago we went on a chilly hike to...somewhere near a lake in madison. it was very nice. and cold.

there was a pretty stone wall. no fevers.

and nice little trails with lots of things to stop and look at. and there were chills of a different kind. the good kind of chills that two blankets would quickly stifle.

and there were plenty of nice views of the capitol through the trees. you know that nice little roundish building that has been in the news lately, with all those nice people hanging out there for days on end because someone inside that roundish building did something that lots of people didn't like. does this sound familiar? yep, there it is.

and there were more things to stop and look at. and things to try to throw in the icy water. and then all of this lasted for about 15 minutes before we were too cold. and it was close to 11 a.m. which means lunch at the spencer house because we eat on an old person's schedule. so we went to Qdoba and at lunch. and then two weeks later we got sick with the flu/cold/cough/sinus junk. better times are coming. right? the end.

alive. barely.

2011-03-31T14:22:00.000-04:00

something bad has hit our house. it hit me last friday night: fever, chills, aches, cough, major sinus/head pain, etc. i finally went to see a doctor on tuesday morning who gave me a steroid and some cough meds. i am so thankful for my sweet, sweet husband who has taken such good care of me and the girls. he is one amazing man.

and now it's shaun's turn. poor guy can't do anything but lay around and look almost as bad as i did. so far the girls are hopefully escaping with only a cough. we need this crud out of the house. now! i have been wiping and spraying everything down so it's safe to bring me brownies. just in case you were wondering.

maybe soon we will be doing more of this:
playing outside!

although, i think i should keep my activity to a minimum. with the steroids the doctor has put me on, i feel a bit different. and all i have been doing the last two days is taking care of shaun and the girls, doing dishes and laundry. do i look different?

it's time.

2011-03-23T22:22:00.000-04:00

lily has become somewhat of a monkey. last night shaun told her to go to her changing table so he could change her diaper. a minute later he walked into the room and she was up on her changing table.

she climbed up there by herself.

she has also climbed out of her crib (in a fit of rage) and landed on her head. and she has tried to climb (unsuccessfully) into her crib several times.

so today i dusted off the old toddler bed and we took the crib down.

this is all or nothing people. crib down. toddler bed up.

let's just hope this isn't what happens in the middle of the night:

i'm practically a transplant surgeon.

2011-03-23T20:45:00.000-04:00

or at least i dress like one.

it's a start.

i wonder when she'll let me scrub in?

overheard

2011-03-18T19:25:00.001-04:00

overheard from the girls bedroom this evening while they were playing:

eva: get out of my habitat!
lily: no eba, my habitat!

it actually belongs to both of them since they share a room.

the big one

2011-03-17T23:15:00.000-04:00

i haven't posted too many pictures of the big one lately. not much has changed with her. she's still as spicy as ever. just a bit taller.

warning: long and rambling paragraph ahead. proceed with caution!!!
i took eva to register for kindergarten last week. i was afraid i was going to cry walking in to the school building with her. i can't believe she is big enough to start kindergarten soon. she got a bit impatient and whiny while i was trying to register her on the computer. isn't she aware that i am totally worried about what other parents are thinking of me based on her behavior? and then she wouldn't talk to any of the teachers we passed in the hallway. nice. she totally had me second guessing our decisions to not send her to preschool. but i suppose we aren't the only "non-preschoolers" out there. i'm just waiting to meet that other .06% of people who didn't do preschool. heck, i didn't go to preschool and look how i turned out. hee hee. anyway, i don't really know what my point is. she is registered for kindergarten. and it was very weird being at the school as a parent. it made me feel like i had arrived to a new level of parenting. like i'm a real parent now or something. maybe a minivan and a soon-to-be-kindergartener is just a lot to handle in such a short amount of time. other parents should warn you about taking it slowly: first minivan, wait 6 months and then register for kindergarten. and now i'm talking about myself instead of eva and this post is supposed to be about eva. so anyway...i'm glad she is so excited about going to school because i often wanted to stay home with my mom rather than go to school. but so far i don't think eva shares my same anxieties about school, and i am so very thankful! what will lily and i do all day without this crazy girl next school year? i mean, you can only spend so much time at starbucks. i hope lily likes lattes and mochas.

back to eva...she has also been taking violin lessons from our friend nathaniel (and margaret!). i will post some pics of that soon. i think she is doing pretty well. she is still an amazing little girl and i love her to pieces!

bringing sexy back

2011-03-15T23:04:00.000-04:00

yeah that's right, we drive a minivan now.

don't hate.

we know we look good. so good that i think it's only right to point out that we are bringing sexy back to the minivan.

and we are accomplishing this in sweatpants and tacky snow boots. you can't handle us.

please note that i am in fact not flipping the camera off. first of all eva is taking the picture and she is entirely too young to learn such a thing (that should wait until at least age 7 and she should learn it from someone at school, not her mother.) and if i were flipping someone off i would make it much clearer than this.
not that i would ever do such an egregious (look it up) thing.

see? minivan. ha ha, "mini"van!!! ooh, make it stop! (brought sexy to the minivan AND funny. yeah that's right.)

i guess all i need to do now is sign the girls up for soccer and buy a denim jumper with an apple applique.

good times

2011-03-13T16:07:00.001-04:00

my mom (a.k.a. mimi) was here last week for a visit to celebrate my birthday and lily's birthday. she flew to minneapolis and i went to pick her up on sunday, by myself. i got to stay in minneapolis with my aunt, uncle, mom, and grandma from sunday afternoon to tuesday evening. notice there were no children's names mentioned in that list? it was glorious. we spent monday at the mall of america and spent the rest of the time eating, because that's what we do.

we also took some pictures. aren't we cute? don't answer that.

and don't worry, uncle stephen is in one of the pictures. two winks and a gun or a fist pump with hand explosion (your choice!) to the first person who can find him in one of the pictures below.

the rest of our week in madison with my mom was spent shopping, going out to eat and...yep, that pretty much sums it up. but that's what we like to do!

my favorite thing that my mom got me was my shark cordless vacuum. it makes me feel so domesticated!

see, pretty much exactly like this picture. only mine is cordless.

and as per our usual tradition when my mom comes, she and eva made a strawberry cake for me and lily. it was delicious!

hopefully my mom will be back soon. although who knows, she might need to work more hours or get another job to come see us again...she spoils us!

a few more from lily's birthday

2011-03-07T21:23:00.000-05:00

lily live

2011-03-07T20:28:00.000-05:00

a few little videos of lily. two of them are "jesus loves me." but can there really be enough variations of lily singing the same song? don't answer that. just pop some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy.

2. two.

2011-02-27T10:25:00.000-05:00

my little bunny is two. she had a nice birthday with presents and cupcakes. this morning she came in holding up one finger and asked me "one muffin mommy?" meaning she wanted just one cupcake.

here are a few pics from this morning. and some "lily" stats at the bottom.

it's amazing how one little girl can nearly make your heart burst with love. even when we were singing happy birthday to her, and just watching her i nearly wanted to cry. she is one incredible little girl.

lily stats at two years:

still has squinty eyes (mostly when she smiles)
still has adorable little scar on her forehead
finally weighs 24 lbs
about 31.5 inches tall
she is about the size eva was when eva turned ONE (lily might be a couple pounds heavier)
likes to sing jesus loves me, twinkle, twinkle little star, abc song
can count to 14

lily quotes and favorite sayings:

no way mommy!
ewwww that's gusting! (that's disgusting)
mmm..MMMM...MMMMM! e-licious! (delicious)
no eba (eva), mine!
sure, eba, sure!
oohhh mommy, lub you so much! (while hugging my legs)
hug more, kiss more! (before bed)
nakey, nakey!

i'm sure there is much more than this but i need to get to church!

33. thirty three.

2011-02-25T21:21:00.000-05:00

so far 33 isn't too bad. it was a good first day at this new age.

i woke up to lily telling me happy birthday, followed by eva, and then shaun.

they gave me a card with a gift certificate for a spa pedicure (if you saw my feet you would thank them too for such thoughtful gift!) which i intend to use as soon as the temp reaches 65 ~ maybe in mid june? we'll see. anyway, great gift!

one of my desires on this my 33rd birthday was to do a 5k at the gym for a workout today. during this exhilarating workout i was reminded that i am in fact a 33 year old woman who has given birth twice and that i must be mindful to not pee my workout shorts while attempting to cough and run at the same time. too much information? it's okay, it's my birthday.

we ate lunch at chipotle and then walked around the mall and bought a birthday present for lily who turns 2 tomorrow. she is partly to blame for the near mishap at the gym.

to top of this birthday we had dinner and had peanut butter cookies that i ~~thugged~~ helped myself to from entry area of the leasing office here at our apartments. yum.

and to end my 33rd birthday the checkout lady at target kind of cracked me up. i went there to get things to make cupcakes for lily. here was the conversation:

thoughtful target checkout lady: it looks like you are making cupcakes for a party!

me: yes, tomorrow is my little girl's birthday and today is my birthday.

thoughtful target checkout lady: oh! is your husband getting a babysitter and taking you out to dinner for your birthday?

me: no. but they got me a gift certificate for a pedicure!

not-as-thoughtful-as-i-thought-target checkout lady: well, it's the thought that counts.

me: well, i like what they got me. i like pedicures. it's a good gift.

really-not-so-thoughtful-target checkout lady: you should have a manicure too.

me: yeah. okay. thanks.

a potty for everyone

2011-02-24T23:18:00.000-05:00

the little potty has been quite popular lately. lily asks to use it occasionally, which in turn gives eva the desire to use it for some odd reason.

and by the way i tell eva "no!". i have to remind her that she is now five and a big girl and can use the big potty.

so eva throws all of her enthusiasm into lily using the little potty. eva hovers, watches, and waits and asks lily "did you go poopy?" (lily has never pooped on the potty.) but when she pees eva gets very excited for her and we all cheer like she peed gold nuggets, which would actually be pretty painful if you really think about it.

i'm not sure where i was going with all of this. the gold nuggets thing threw me off and it's my bedtime. anyway, look at my little baby. she is going to be two in two days, which means i am going to be 33 in one day. and in case you were wondering, shaun has not tried to use this potty, that i know of anyway.

installed. finally.

2011-02-21T21:41:00.000-05:00

shaun was finally installed as the pastor at our church (Lake Trails PCA) after being here now for five months. the first attempt at an installation service was at the beginning of december but we had a huge snow storm and we had to cancel church. so things were finally rescheduled for february 20. and guess what? there was lots of freezing rain and snow in the forecast! but obviously things went well and the weather didn't stop things from happening this time.

look at all the people from our amazing church family. we love them very much!

praying with men from the presbytery.

daryl giving lily a ride on "her" bicycle.

i got to take this beautiful bouquet home!

pretty and yummy cake appropriately adorned with snowflakes.

by the way, our church meets in an elementary school (at least for a few more weeks) and we hold our worship service here in the cafeteria. after church we took down all of our chairs, etc. and set up the school tables to eat on. i took this picture from the area that shaun preaches in. there is a fridge way back in the back of the picture that likes to make loud noises during church. in case you were wondering.

cutest little girl in church with the name of lily!

right now this is where our church meets but hopefully by the middle of march we will be moving to a new location! yay! our church family looks forward to being in a more permanent location where we won't have to tear things down each sunday.

you want to know

2011-02-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

a typical day around here (in bullet points because it makes you happy and causes you to form a no-teeth-showing-slight-half-smile on the right side of your mouth):

girls out of bed
snuggle in bed with mommy for 2 minutes until "someone" has encroached on "someone else's" part of the bed and both "someones" start whining and arguing
change diaper
breakfast
brushing/braiding hair

get little girls dressed
put on boots and coats and somehow manage to make it out the door
listen to a certain little girl who has a scar on her forehead whine all the way down the hall and on the elevator
possibly go to one of 3 libraries (leave 30 minutes later because of a tantrum by the thumb sucker, who shall remain nameless)

possibly sacrifice their health and wellbeing at the mall play area
possibly brave the children's museum (and one way streets downtown)
possibly walk around target and buy something we don't need
possibly manage to make it home in one piece
WASH HANDS
make lunches of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, hummus, chips, apples, cheese
"picnic" in living room with PBS cartoons (ahhhh peace and quiet)
a little drink for mommy (relax it's only a diet dr. pepper)
NAP TIME! and "quiet time" for eva

laundry
snack time
pick up house
start on dinner
shaun comes HOME (and we all rejoice!)
brain turns off and things get fuzzy from this point on: daddy's home

these two girls are worth every bit of craziness. so very thankful to be home with them each and everyday.

a little bit of this and a whole lot of that

2011-02-13T15:21:00.001-05:00

here is what's been going down in spencer-town:

a little bit of this:
some happiness, some not-so-happiness and a lot of bathing-ness (i just made that up, feel free to use it).

a little bit of this:
powdered donut and orange juice

a little bit of this:
superbowl winning (guess we moved to the right state at the right time!)

a whole lot of THIS:
starting to look like a two-year-old (only 2 more weeks!).

and a bit of this:
major fit after church, sent her to the crib for some cool down time, her madness drove her over the edge, of the crib that is, think she landed on her head. all is okay, eyes only slightly crossed and now she can speak backwards ~ new party trick.

a whole lot of this, of course:

proclaim what the Lord has done

2011-02-11T21:23:00.001-05:00

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD; I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone. Psalm 71:16

it has been nearly a week since my last blog post. i keep trying to decide what to blog about. but i think i have decided to blog about a recent event in our close little family.

i believe that the Lord wants us to give him glory for the things he does. he wants others to know how he shows his grace, the various ways he answers prayers, heals people, and how he shows his deep love for us (among many other things). the bible has many verses that talk about proclaiming what he has done. so that is what i want to do, proclaim what he has done.

we went to minneapolis about two weeks ago so shaun could go to a pastors conference and so the girls and i could hang out with my aunt, uncle and grandma. as always we had a great time and then came home on thursday. the very next day i received a phone call from my mom saying that my uncle stephen had a stroke and was being taken to the emergency room by ambulance. my aunt ne-ne (denise) was on her way to meet him at the hospital.

my uncle had been sitting at his computer at home when he started to not feel well. he went to get my grandma who lives with them and as he got into the dining room he lowered himself to the floor and called for my grandma (who by the way is almost 94), who thankfully heard him. he told her to call 911 and that he was having a stroke. he also reminded her to unlock the front door so the EMT crew didn't break it down (my uncle is a very practical man, even in times of emergency!).

after he arrived at the emergency room they did a scan and confirmed that it was in fact a stroke. he couldn't move his right side and couldn't see well out of his right eye and couldn't speak very well. this was very devastating news to our family. my uncle has always been very active, is in good health, and only 61 years old. we immediately started praying for him.

the hospital administered TPA which breaks up any clots in the brain. by that evening he had a painful headache and was beginning to be able to move his hand and foot. since he was stable and doing okay my aunt decided to sleep at home that night since my grandma was there too. my aunt called several times during the night to check on him and each time the nurses kept saying "he keeps improving!".

by mid-morning the next day i talked to my aunt and she had talked with the doctors who were thrilled and nearly in disbelief because my uncle no longer had any deficiencies. meaning he no longer had stroke symptoms. he had full function of his right side, equal to his left side and could see normally out of his right eye and could speak in a normal way. in less than 24 hours my uncle had suffered a stroke and then was able to function normally. it was unbelievable and a huge answer to prayer.

his doctors wanted to do some tests to see if they could find out what had caused the stroke before they released him from the hospital. after running some tests they found out that he has a hole in his heart which ultimately allowed a blood clot to go the wrong way, instead of being sent to the lungs where normal clots of blood are taken care of, it traveled to his brain and caused a stroke.

so after the very long story let me just point out some incredible ways where the Lord was at work and protecting my uncle:

my uncle helps take care of my grandma during the day, mostly cooks her lunch and hangs out with her, etc. and this time she was able to take care of him. if my grandma wasn't there my aunt would have found him after she got home from work hours later.
my uncle could have gone to lay down in bed because he didn't feel well. if he had done this my grandma would have just assumed he was taking a nap and wouldn't have disturbed him, instead he went to get her help.
the TPA worked extremely well on the blood clots in his brain. the neurologist said it was prayer that helped more than the TPA.
he was healed over night
the doctors found out the cause so now he can be treated and use a blood thinner
he was able to go home in 3 days with no restrictions

isn't it amazing what the Lord can do? God is so gracious. He was so gracious and merciful to my uncle stephen. and in turn He was so gracious to my family.

i just wanted to "proclaim" what the Lord has done!

shiver me timbers

2011-02-05T23:17:00.000-05:00

shaun has been reading a lot of books to eva before bed lately. i think he is really enjoying this because she is getting to an age where she can follow and enjoy longer books. this means that shaun gets to read a lot of children's/young adult books that he never read.

a couple weeks ago there was somewhat of a pirate theme around our house. they were also reading treasure island (or an abridged version). see for yourself below.

this week they are reading an abridged version of black beauty, or as lily calls it black booty.

pregnancy

2011-01-29T13:42:00.000-05:00

bet i got your attention. :)

another eva quote:
"look, i can have my baby... now that i'm finally five!"

eva conversations

2011-01-27T22:37:00.000-05:00

this girl keeps us laughing. i wish i could write down everything she says. here are three recent one's:

1. she has had some issues with bad breath lately. the other morning i noticed that her breath didn't stink.

me: hey, your breath isn't stinky!
eva: that's because i brushed my teeth really good!
me: that's great. when did you brush them?
eva: last night.

2. we are all getting our coats on to go somewhere the other day and eva decides that she needs to go to the bathroom before we leave. this is a good thing, of course. and then we realize it's going to be a while. there is no girlie way to say it: the girl is a slow pooper. anyway, her being a slow pooper doesn't really have anything to do with what she said, i am just mainly setting up the scene of us standing by the door with our coats on for 20 minutes while eva sings on the toilet. but here is the conversation.

shaun: eva, are you almost done in there?
eva: i miss my sandbox.

3. sunday morning i get eva dressed for church in some zebra print dress with matching bow. she is apparently feeling like she's got it going on.

eva: everybody at church is going to like me.
(she is obviously liking how she looks)
me: eva, people like you because you are eva, not because of what you are wearing.
eva: well, i do look pretty good.
me: ? (shaun can handle this one later)
eva: i am the best friend to all my friends. i am nice to everyone.
me: ? (one more cup of coffee before church.)

what's the difference between lily and a transplant surgeon?

2011-01-25T15:25:00.000-05:00

this is my friend silke. she is a transplant surgeon (kidneys, livers, pancreaseseses and... brains...or maybe not brains but she should try). this is what a transplant surgeon looks like:

this is my sweet little messy-haired lily. she might be a transplant surgeon.

so what is the difference between lily and a transplant surgeon?

not much.

here is a side-by-side comparison for a more detailed look:

summary:
it appears that lily nearly has what it takes to be a transplant surgeon. just a cell phone shy. we will look into a sprint family plan. and i think silke needs a dora sippy cup.

what have we been up to?

2011-01-22T22:58:00.000-05:00

this is what we have been up to this week:

eva and lily: destruction. (see above photo)
me: lying on the couch dealing with a cold and trying to keep lily dressed.
shaun: writing a sermon (hopefully). i'll find out tomorrow.
charlie: after cleaning the litter box today i would say he has been pooping. a lot. and sleeping.
the weather: freaking cold.
my vacuum cleaner: not much.

the latest trend

2011-01-18T23:08:00.000-05:00

there is a new trend going on around our house.

a naked trend.

lily is totally into the naked trend. she wants to be naked all the time.

she likes to run around the house yelling "nakey! nakey!"

and then she twists her body like she is shaking her booty. she seems to have trouble moving just one part of her body at a time.

booty shaking is not her top talent. that's because there is rhythm in only 3% of her gene pool.

she is swimming in the non-rhythm side of that pool.

it's okay, she's swimming with me.

and then there is ken.

ken wants to be naked. all the time.

he wants to be naked in what i would consider somewhat inappropriate positions.

ken wants to be naked and then pretend my red shoe is his car.
(who has two feet and won't be wearing that red shoe again? yep, me. the gal with the size 9's.)

ken seems to also enjoy being naked under lily's high chair.

he's probably looking for a snack and is likely to find one. and that's okay because ken needs some extra calories. his thighs don't even touch! eeewww.

lest you worry too much about what goes on around here, ken does own clothes and briefly wears them on rare occasions. it was the least he could do when lily shared her applesauce with him.
(but personally if i had to wear that sweater vest and mock turtle neck i would probably choose to go naked too. especially if i had ken's abs. just saying.)

now where did i put those pictures of shaun...

reunited and it feels so good

2011-01-13T21:43:00.000-05:00

beware: long post with many similar looking pictures of adorable little girls. you have been forewarned!

megan and xan (our bestest friends who now live in china) got to come stay at our house for five glorious days. we had the best time. i am so very grateful for my friendship with megan and for eva and xan's friendship. they were in texas for the holidays and planned a little detour through madison. this is a trip that megan and i had been planning for several months.

we had decided to try and keep this a surprise for eva and xan. partly because neither of us wanted to hear daily/hourly asking of "is xan coming today? when will xan be here? is it january 9th?" and so on. also we thought it would be tons of fun to just surprise the girls.

so here's how it went down. i took eva and lily on a drive. eva asked where we were going and i told her "just for a drive". when we got to the airport she said "the airport!" i told her i thought we would just go inside and walk around. she replied "alright!!!" (we clearly don't get out much.)

so we went inside and started walking around and i spotted megan and xan.

now, i must pause here and tell you what megan and i had envisioned happening when these two little girls spotted each other. it was supposed to go something like this: they would lock eyes from across the room, the theme song from chariots of fire would start playing in the background and they would start running towards each other in slow motion, one yelling "EVA!" and the other "XAN!" and quickly embracing each other while laughing and jumping up and down and maybe saying something like "it really is you!" all of this happening while onlookers stop to smile, point, maybe even shed a few tears while watching these two sweet little girls finally reunite after many, many months apart.

ummm...yeah, not so much.

here's how it really went down:

megan had sent eva a shirt to wear that matched the one xan had on so they could be dressed similar. as we started heading their direction i told eva "look at that girl down there, she has on the same shirt that you do!" and eva said "yeah! and she looks exactly like xan!" (clueless). i said "she sure does! and look that lady with her looks just like megan!" and eva said "yeah!" (still clueless).

we continued to walk towards them and i said "hey! i think that is xan!" and eva said "i think so, maybe..." so we walked right up to them and xan was very shy and eva just stood there and smiled and then said "i'm not really sure that is really xan." i convinced her that it was and then megan suggested that they hug and from that moment on they picked up right where they had left off when they last saw each other 9 months ago in april.

so, lesson learned. five-year-olds don't do well with such unexpected surprises.

we knew they had picked up right where they had left off when we caught them holding hands on the way out of the airport.

a summary of what eva and xan did for 5 days: wore the same princess dresses everyday, played, watched movies, and...yep that's about it.

they also spent time just looking pretty darn cute.

and practicing their "smiles".

and looking cute some more.

and making silly faces.

and they also tortured shaun for a while. they rode his legs all around the house.

and then shaun was their horse. i don't think lily ended up with the best seat here.

and then the horse finally broke down.

and then they played games together.

and painted their fingernails. and their toenails.

and the next day they painted their fingernails again. and their toenails again.

and of course took baths. and splashed lots of water everywhere.

and they danced like crazy girls all around the living room.

and they even dressed in something other than princess dresses, finally. all by themselves (obviously).

and then they spent some last moments together.

and then it was time to hug goodbye. :(

and just in case you are wondering here is a summary of what megan and danielle did for 5 days: eat. talk. eat. talk. eat. we did take one picture of us together but who wants to see a picture of two tired mommies who stayed up past midnight talking every night and stuffed their faces full of food for 5 straight days?

the end.

a first for lily

2011-01-05T21:36:00.001-05:00

my little squinty-eyed, scar-faced, thumb sucking, baby bunny is getting big. this makes me a little bit sad.

tonight she wanted to be naked before bedtime. she ran around saying "nakey, nakey!" then eva told me that lily had to go pee and that she was going to get her potty for her.

a few minutes later eva came out yelling that lily went pee pee in her potty. it was lily's first time and she was very proud of herself. we clapped and cheered.

i'm pretty sure 50% of my enthusiasm in clapping and cheering was for lily peeing in the potty and the other 50% was for the fact that eva is doing all the potty training work.

it's the little things that make a stay at home mom's day exciting.

also, in other news lily's new phrase is "that's gusting!" (disgusting).

just look at her. i want to keep her forever. in my little pocket!

snow white

2010-12-30T14:51:00.001-05:00

not only do i ~~waste~~ spend time doing ridiculous self portraits, i allow eva to join in some pics too. she is wearing her snow white dress that she pretty much wears every day.

confession.

2010-12-29T22:09:00.001-05:00

this is what i do during lily's nap time.

i send eva to play with toys upstairs in the loft for quiet time.

and then i take pictures of myself wearing a ridiculously large flowered headband that came with one of eva's dress up dresses that she got for christmas.

and then i spend time choosing just the right picture out of the many self portraits that i took of myself.

and then i spend time editing the picture.

and then i tell eva that "no, in fact, quiet time is not over yet! go back upstairs. mommy is very busy."

and then eva doesn't go upstairs and we take self portraits together. and then we take many more pictures of her in her snow white dress.

and then i have wasted more time than i'm willing to add up and admit right here on the blog. and all too soon lily is awake even though she took a 3 hour nap.

and the house is a mess. and dinner needs to be cooked. and laundry is in the washer and the dryer.

but all in all it has been a productive amount of time.

because now i have a picture to cherish for all time. and i get to share it with you.

(pictures of snow white to come soon. and thankfully that will just be pictures of eva in the snow white dress. i have not attempted to try it on. and i won't...)

christmas past, christmas present, merry christmas.

2010-12-25T16:11:00.001-05:00

merry christmas from the spencer family!

what a difference a year makes. here we are this year, in madison wisconsin, all decked out in our warm christmas eve clothes. getting ready to don our gay apparel of coats, hats, gloves, and boots to trudge out into the cold blustery snow to go to a christmas eve party and then to the christmas eve service (where, by the way, lily was very noisy: talking, dropping books, removing all the little white paper protectors from the candles, tooting, and trying to escape and play a piano). where was i... oh yes, what a difference a year makes. here we are this year:

and last year we were in aiken south carolina, where shaun was wearing shorts on christmas day, eva and lily are only wearing sweaters and we went out to play in the yard. this year shaun and eva are out sledding. pretty crazy what can happen in a year!
and here we are last year:

so, now on to christmas eve pajamas. we always buy pajamas for each other. shaun got me footy pajamas this year. and everyone looks good in footy pajamas! see for yourself:

the girls looking christmas-eveie in p.j.'s.

the family pajama picture. right before the girls go to bed and mommy and daddy have pecan pie!

christmas morning was good. the girls opened stockings first which contained one of every item from the $1 bin at target.

then they opened lots of great presents from grandparents, aunts & uncles, and cousins.

and just because everyone looks so good on christmas morning, we must take a picture and post it for the entire cyber world to see. see how much good night's rest does for one's looks? okay, don't look too closely!

that's the end. we will continue to enjoy this marvelous day with ham, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, mashed potatoes, rolls, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, movies, and sleep. and then we will repeat the entire process. or as a wise man was once quoted (homer simpson, i believe): "lather, rinse, repeat. always repeat."

hi there. it's christmas eve.

2010-12-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

last weekend my aunt ne-ne, uncle stephen, and grandma came to celebrate christmas and eva's birthday. we had a great time as always and i am still so very thankful that the Lord brought us to madison and so close to my aunt, uncle, and grandma.

as usual we ate. a lot. because it's what we do. (check out my awesome new clock my mom bought me. love it!)

i made cinnamon rolls and told eva they were her birthday cinnamon rolls. that way we could put a candle on something and sing to her. i'm pretty sure i ate the most cinnamon rolls. am i proud of this? not necessarily. i'm just sharing that i am a cinnamon roll hog.

eva opened some fun birthday presents from aunt ne-ne and uncle stephen: window markers (MESSY), stamps with paint (MESSY), a fun book with little word magnets (CHOKING HAZARD), glitter glue (MESSY and STICKY), and big stack of colored paper (SAFE!). thank you both again for such thoughtful gifts. these will be perfect to bring to your house on our next visit to minneapolis!

we spent the rest of our time on the computer taking disturbing pictures of ourselves on photo booth. my aunt and i laughed so much we were in tears. these are just two samples. enjoy!

shaun doesn't understand why this is so fun or so funny.

that's it for now. looking forward to tomorrow: food, new toys, movies, christmas jammies, and more food!