Happy Halloween + Happy News!

Happy Halloween everybody! Okay, so I'm a couple days late. But I had to wait until I had some pictures to post. And Lydia wasn't cooperative with pictures for any of the pre-Halloween activities. Luckily she was in a good mood on Halloween and happily put on her cowgirl hat and vest for pictures. Yay! I was so scared we wouldn't get any!

This year for Halloween Lydia and I had several fun adventures! We dressed up for storytime at the Library (there she wore the hat and vest for about 5 minutes before she wanted them off). Then, on Friday, we went to the Houston Zoo for the Zoo Boo. They had a few trick or treat stations throughout the zoo and a "pumpkin patch" area where the kids could paint pumpkins (with paint pens! Very clever!). It was Lydia's first time to the zoo and she was so excited! Her favorite by far was the seals. She squealed excitedly as they swam around and even had to grab my hand and drag me over to see them more closely with her. Then, Friday night, our ward had it's annual Halloween activity. She enjoyed a few carnival games, including a cake walk and spook alley (which she handled like a pro!), and then experienced her first real trunk or treating. Of course, she refused to wear her hat and vest and I had to carry them the whole time. Stinker. But when we pulled out her costume for her to wear on Halloween, she happily put on the entire outfit and even gave us some cute "Yeehaw's" during her photo shoot. We took her to the trick or treating and carnival at A&M on Pelican Island. She enjoyed going door to door and even had to touch the creepy pumpkin head man who was standing on one of the corners! I thought she would have cowered and started crying! Maybe we will get cute pictures with Santa this year! Overall, we had a fun Halloween holiday and Lydia made the cutest little cowgirl you ever did see!

Lydia trick or treating at A&M.

Roping her cattle (with a pretend rope) as she yelled "Yeehaw"!

I sewed her cowgirl vest and fixed up her hat. The pants were some cute hand-me-downs from a friend and so were the cowgirl boots. Overall I think I paid $7.50 for the shirt from Walmart. Everything else we already had on hand. Yay for cheap and cute costumes!

Painting her pumpkin at the Zoo Boo. She was very focused on it and had to try all of the different colors.

She was a little unsure of sitting on a bunch of pumpkins. And she wasn't really in the mood for giving cute pictures. Too bad! There were a ton of cute spots to do it!

Now, as I hinted at in the topic of the post, we do have some happy news! We will be having a cute new little one in our family soon! Hooray! We are so excited for this long awaited surprise! I am now 11 weeks along. Almost done with the first trimester! This one, overall, had been both better and worse than with Lydia. I've had more specific food aversions this time (bread, avocado, baked sweets (I still eat them, but they have a funny aftertaste to them), chicken, and other things that depend on the day), yet I've also been able to eat more this time. With Lydia I lost 3 lbs in the first trimester, but so far I've gained a couple pounds this time. It's hard to tell if I'm more nauseous this time. It definitely started later in the pregnancy (with Lydia I was nauseous before the tests even said I was pregnant) but I also notice my nausea more his time because I'm not constantly busy with a full time job. I lay down on the couch while Lydia gets addicted to Blue's Clues (which she asks for by name now) and Sesame Street. We try to get out and do things often because otherwise I feel even more sick in the house. I can definitely vouch that every pregancy is different though! It's amazing! If I went by how I've been eating and feeling this time, I would say that we'll definitely have a boy. It'll be funny if I'm right! We won't find out until the beginning of January though.

Oh, yeah, I'm sure everyone's asking when the due date is. Drumroll please ... my due date is May 21,2012. Just 2 days after David's birthday. David claims that if it is a boy and it's born on his birthday that he needs to be David Joseph Dickinson, Jr. For my sake, please pray that that doesn't happen. It's not a bad name, I just don't like the whole Jr. thing. It gets too confusing. If y'all have any ideas for cute names that go good with Dickinson, please pass them along. I really like family names, but David doesn't really care. I think we'll have a bigger dispute this time though. Oh well. As long as the kid likes it when they get older.

Soooo...yeah...

I actually wrote this post a couple of weeks ago. However, computers seem to be quite finicky around here and I was unable to actually post it until just now. So, some of this may seem out of date. But it is all still relevant. Enjoy! You've only been waiting 3 months!

I have long been putting off writing a new post for the blog. I think about it quite often. However, I always come up with an excuse. Most commonly that excuse is that I don't feel like dealing with my computer because it is slower than a snail and that's where all of the pictures are stored. So, I just can't write a post without putting up some pictures. But I need to just suck it up and write. You may or may not get any pictures in this post. I'm not sure right now. It depends on how motivated I feel. And, lately, my motivation has been lacking quite a bit.

Now, here is the other excuse I have had for not writing: I don't know what I should write about. Not that there is a lack of things to write about. Lydia is constantly doing the cutest things and learning more and more everyday. And we try to go out and do things often enough. It's more that there's been so much to write about and it's been so long that I have a hard time choosing which thing I should actually write about.

I have a strong feeling that this post may end up being more of a rambling. Brace yourself. Okay, here it goes...

Lydia has been learning and growing like crazy these last 3 months! She is 20 months. She is incredibly smart and has quite the personality! She loves to read. She also loves to make her baby doll read. She even makes her baby point to the pictures as she's reading. Speaking of which, she loves to play "mommy". She takes good care of her baby and was even caught one morning feeding her baby out of one of my perfume bottles as I was getting ready for the day. Good thing it wasn't a real baby! She also loves to help clean things. Whenever I clean the bathroom, I have to put her in charge of cleaning the bathtub in order to keep her away from trying to help clean the toilet. She also loves to help sweep, vacuum, sort/change/fold laundry, empty the dishwasher, and any other random tasks. She is excellent at doing puzzles.

Lydia is also starting to talk more. It seems that I hear her say something new every other day. The other day I counted 35 words. These are the ones that I've heard her say on her own without just repeating me. They include: Hello ("Aya"), ByeBye, Thank you (said almost anytime you hand her something in a very high pitched voice! Good girl! "Day Doo"), shoes, stinky ("dinky" said in a very high pitched voice), Pee-Yoo! (while plugging her nose), baby, please, milk ("mi"), all done ("a da"), book ("boo"), momma, daddy, no, stop it ("doppi"), sleep ("seepy"), bed ("be"), binky ("bibi"), more, belly button (also "bibi"), hair, uh oh!, cheese! (said when she's pretending to take pictures and for the food, "shee"), tv ("dee"), grandma ("papa"? Why?), grandpa ("papa"), dog (sounds more like God), fishy ("shee"), pretty ("pee"), keys, tickle ("dickodicko"), Jesus ("Jcheesu"), clean up ("ceen"), ball ("ba"), and a couple of her friends' names (Jadyn and Callie). It's taken me a couple days to write this much of a post. And in that time she has picked up on new word which I loath! "Mine!" This is said very adamently whenever anyone touches anything that is hers. Ooooh! I'm not going to like this phase!

Lydia can correctly identify her belly button (go figure!), hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, nose and hair. She can also identify them on mommy and daddy when asked, for example, "where's daddy's nose?".

Overall, Lydia is quite the little ball of fire. It feels as though her life is often a musical. She is constantly singing as she is going about her usual activities. She also loves to dance and has quite the creative dance moves. She loves going down slides. The bigger, the better. However, swings are too confining for her. She lasts a few seconds before she's ready to run again. She loves to be "pretty". This includes putting bows in her hair (she does her own headbands on occasion and they look like she stepped out of the 80's!), wearing necklaces, rings (she found a few neglected ones in my jewelery box), and carrying purses. She loves to pretend to make us food and then feed it to us. What else can I say, she's a little ball of personality! And she is definitely a girly girl! We love her though and enjoy watching her grow.

As for me and David, well, David is now in his second rotation of his 3rd year. His first was internal medicine, which was broken up into sections of cardiology, rheumotology, and general medicine. He really enjoyed the cardiology and general areas. Mostly because of the faculty he worked with. But he didn't have a very good experience with rheumotology. So, I think it's safe to say that he won't be going into that field. Now he is in psychology. For the past couple of weeks he has been driving to St. Joseph's in downtown Houston. Not very fun. But he's been coming home with some interesting stories. I can relate to a lot of the people he talks about because of my background at Heritage. So, I enjoy this section. I feel smart when he asks me questions as he's studying and I can tell him the answers. In one more week he'll be doing more clinical psychology at UTMB. Yay! He won't have to drive so far out! And he won't be waking me up everyday at 5 am! So, overall, David is doing well. He's enjoying things a lot more than he was his first couple years of med school. He's a much more hands on kind of guy. So, this is a better way for him to learn. Plus he's already got some faculty asking to write letters of recommendation for him come application time for residency! Yay! So, he's really impressing them.

And then there's me. Hmmm...my life revolves around the previous 2 people and am just trying to keep my head afloat with it all. Plus, find time to give to my calling as RS President. It's only slightly demanding. I'm also trying to spend time doing my crafts/sewing projects. I'll try to get some pictures up of them soon. But I've made a beautiful comforter for Lydia's bed, refinished Lydia's dresser, made portable dvd player totes/cases, started working more on Lydia's quiet book (I've got a couple pages done and the cover), and I sewed a cowgirl vest to go with Lydia's Halloween costume. I may have done some more, but that's all that I can think of right now. I have several projects I want to finish before Christmas though. My first priorities are the quiet book and also painting/decorating her big Christmas present (more info on that to come, probably at Christmas time though. After all, it's sad for everyone to see what you're getting for Christmas except you, right?).

Also since the last time I wrote, we have had a couple of visitors. My family (mom, dad and brother Neil) came to visit for a weekend at the beginning of August. It had been over a year since they had made it out to Galveston. So, we were very excited to have them come and stay with us. We were able to do the typical Galveston things: go to the beach and ride the ferry. If you ever come visit us, that is probably what you will do to. It's classic, but it never gets old for us. That's what we love about living on an island! We had a lot of fun and hope that it won't take them that long to come see us again.

David's parents and brother Matt also came at the end of August. They were ready for a big Hoorah! before Matt went back to school. Unfortunately, David had to work a lot of the time that they were here. So, Lydia and I took them to the beach and to the Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens. Those are definetely on Lydia's top list of favorite things to do! And David's parents got to see why. Then, David was able to join us to go on the ferry and to have lunch with us and his dad's long lost cousin that was able to drive from Houston to see us. Then Lydia and I went to Space Center Houston for a couple hours before they caught their flight back to Washington. Lydia's favorite thing there was the ball pit! She kept trying to sneak away from us and go play in it again and again. It was a very fun trip with them. I hope they aren't afraid of Galveston after coming during the hottest month of the year! We would love to have them visit us again sometime.

Well, hopefully this helps catch me up on blogging for now. I'll still try to get more pictures posted for people to see. I even have some videos that I've taken. For now, this picture will have to suffice though.

A Breath of Air, Finally!

I apologize greatly for the long gap between posts. It has been driving me crazy too! But I just have not felt like I had the time or energy to post in these last two crazy months. So, finally, after a long time of running around like a chicken with their head cut off, I am getting a breath of air! Life, for the moment, seems to be finally slowing down a little bit.

So then, what have I been doing these past couple months, you might be asking yourself. Well, to make a long story short, David studied very very vigorously for his Step 1 Exam which he finally took on June 17th. This period of time left me playing single mother while also packing up our apartment for our anticipated move. Just a few weeks before David took his test we took a trip to San Antonio. The idea was that David would have some quiet rooms to study in while Lydia and I got to have some fun time with Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle Neil. Well, that didn't quite work out according to plan. A couple days after arriving there my mom ended up in the ER with gallstones. Yuck! So, instead of watching Neil during the day and playing in the evenings, I ended up taking care of the house while my mom attempted recovery. I learned a lot about the gallbladder and fat-free diets during that week. We still had a little bit of fun with Neil's highschool graduation and a bowling night. I'm glad I was there to help out my mom during this stressful time. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for her to have her surgery though, but I think my dad and the ward did a good job of taking care of her through that.

After coming home from San Antonio, life got even more crazy with David doing all of his last week cramming and me taking care of all of our last week moving errands. After David finished the most difficult test of his life we expected him to help me with moving. Once again, things didn't work out according to plan. David was starting orientation for 3rd year the following Monday and had been given hours and hours of training he needed to complete each night before going. Yuck! He was able to give me a few hours to get our moving truck loaded and unloaded before he headed back to the library. Then it was my job to unpack, organize and decorate our new home. By myself again. It may sound like I'm complaining, maybe I am a little bit. But I know David didn't have a choice. And I don't have the patience to live in the middle of boxes and chaos to wait until he could help me.

So, 2 weeks later, here I am. I think that I may finally be through this crazy time. Maybe. Knock on wood! Things are all unpacked and pretty well organized. Most of our decorations are up. Lydia's bedroom has been painted from blue to green. I have refinished her dresser and am awaiting Hobby Lobby's order of my last few drawer knobs. There are minimal things to do for the house. Like a trip to Ikea to get my last few organizing totes and rugs. And my parents to make a long awaited visit and bring us a couple items of furniture my dad bargained at some estate sales.

Yes, I finally have time to sit at my computer and compose this long awaited blog post. And I will be posting several more soon. Like one showing off our new spacious home with a back patio and garage. And another giving updates on our little lady. But, for now I will just share some pictures taken over the past couple months.

We enjoyed a Mother's Day stroll on the beach. The seaweed was pretty gross, but the company was wonderful!

My Aunt Charlyn and Uncle Jim came to Houston for a work conference and we were able to visit with them along with my cousin Marc and Lee and his family.

Lee and his family, Sherry, Ben, Luke and Annie.

David chose to celebrate his birthday at Rainforest Cafe. We had a lot of fun, but Lydia was pretty scared of everything there :)

What would Galveston be without some time at the beach?

Happy Birthday David!

Neil and Lydia enjoyed many walks while we were in San Antonio. Neil also enjoyed holding Lydia's hand because then he could control her stopping and pointing at everything :)

Neil's highschool graduation. Congrats!
Lydia enjoyed pushing the bowling ball down the lane. Though we all agreed that she liked watching the TV screen with the scores better!

The new Rainforest Pyramid at Moody Gardens. Lydia loved watching the animals! She could have stayed for hours!

Lydia met a new friend, Autumn, while she was there who loved to give her hugs. Too bad she doesn't live closer!

Lydia had fun at the 4th of July parade and fireworks! I can't say I've ever been to a 4th of July parade that gives the kids Mardi Gras beads instead of flags! Welcome to Galveston :) And Lydia was a natural at the fireworks! She pointed at them all and admired them with her "Ooooohs and Awwwwwws"! :)

15 Month Checkup

I feel like my baby is almost not a baby anymore! She could officially be called a toddler now! But, I don't want to let go, because I feel like that's me admitting that I no longer have my baby.
Today Lydia went for her 15 month well checkup. She is now 34 1/2 inches tall, weighs 24 1/2 pounds and her head is 46 cm. This puts her in the 99th percentile for height! Wow! I wasn't expecting that! She has grown almost 4 inches in the past 3 months! Really?! When did all this happen? I feel like I missed it, yet I was there for the whole thing. She's at about the 50th percentile for weight, which seems about right. She's definitely thinned out, but still has some delicious chunk in her arms and legs.
Lydia is meeting all of her developmental milestones very nicely. She doesn't talk as much as I would like, but I am told that it seems to happen overnight with most kids. Right now I hear her say a word, but then she just doesn't feel the need to repeat it again. Like "shoes". I know she said that word! She even pointed to her shoes as she said it. But she hasn't said it since then. She has also stopped saying "Hello" when she talks on her phone and doesn't say "ByeBye" anymore. She does still say "Momma" and "Daddy". She says "Tickle, Tickle" and I'm pretty sure I've heard her say "Clean up" with me when I've been singing the song.
All of Lydia's motor skills are excelling and she's a great problem-solver. I'm amazing at the things I tell her to do and she knows what I'm saying and, for the most part, is very obedient. She'll go get things for me, sit down in her chair, eat her food, and give us kisses.
Overall, Lydia is a beautiful, happy and fun little Angel. I am so grateful to have her in my life.

Happy (belated) Easter!

Took me a while, but I'm finally wishing everyone a Happy Easter! It's a season, after all! Not just a day! A couple weeks ago David asked me what my first thought was when someone mentioned Easter to me. I'm not sure I want to tell y'all what it was! But it made me sad. The first thing that should come to all of our minds is the Savior, His Infinite Atonement and His Resurrection. He sacrificed everything that we might be saved. I am so grateful for this remarkable gift. I am forever indebted to Him. He truly is my Prince, My King, My Redeemer! And He Lives!

As we tried to keep the Savior in our minds for Easter, we also spent a lot of fun time with friends. Lydia enjoyed her first egghunt, which she did very well at! David practiced with her in the apartment for a couple weeks beforehand. And we ate lots of delicious food!

I finally completed this project! I did the top a few months ago, but added the skirt this past week to complete the outfit. I love how it turned out!

Also, to keep y'all up to date, Lydia went back to the eye doctor today to complete her procedure. She had the tube taken out of her eye. Her eye has looked fantastic for the past couple of months and we have high hopes that it is finally corrected! But, we'll find out in the next few weeks. Keep her in your prayers! And the procedure today was a super quickie. Five minutes later she was back to her usual happy self.

Called to Serve ... Again!

A couple of weeks ago Sister Hon, our amazing Relief Society President, came to me and told me some both sad and exciting news. Her and her husband would be moving to Conroe for a job promotion. I am very excited for them and this opportunity! But, I was the 1st counselor in Relief Society and immediately thought "Oh No!!!" My panic got to only last for about 10 minutes before the Bishop saw me and said those dreaded words, "Can I talk to you?" Yep, my first fears came true! I was asked if I would serve as the Relief Society President of the Galveston, TX ward. I have never been so tempted to say "No" before. I in no way felt adequate for the calling. I have a hard enough time keeping up with everything that I already had to do, let alone all of the responsibilities that come from this calling. But, my answer was, "If that's what the Lord wants." After all, He must know something that I don't! Fortunately and unfortunately last weekend was General Conference. I am so grateful for all of the wonderful messages received by our church leaders. I desperately needed them! But it also made my anxiety go higher having to wait another week! Yikes!
And then, to top off all of my anxiety, David got a phone call lastnight from the Stake Executive Secretary asking him to meet with the Stake Presidency this morning. Panic really set in! After all, Brother Hon was in the Bishopric! Thankfully, (yet very sadly) another family is moving from our ward soon and so David will be taking over as the Ward Clerk. Phew! I can handle that one! Sunday mornings will be very interesting from now on though! David will have meetings starting at 6:30 am and I will have them twice a month at 7:30 am. Poor Lydia.
We were both set apart for our callings today. David received some incredible blessings in his! I know that if he continues to live righteously and prepares for his Boards exam, he will do very well and will be able to get a good residency in radiology. I too am very thankful for my blessing in getting set apart. I am amazed at how much my anxiety has decreased and how much more strength and peace I feel since receiving this Mantle. I know that the Lord will be by my side as I work to serve the Sisters in the Galveston Ward. I feel like I am serving another mission. This one will be more challenging in ways that my full-time one was. But, just like the full-time one, I am on the Lord's errand and will be helping His precious children return to Him in glory.
I appreciate everyone's love a support they have given me thus far. Thank you. I will definitely continue needing it.

Oh! And a quick and exciting note! Lydia signed/said "Jesus" for the first time when my counselors were getting set apart! She saw a picture of Jesus on the wall, pointed to it and then said/signed "Jesus"! I've been trying to teach her this for a long time and am so excited that she caught on! Hooray! I'm sure she thinks all pictures are Jesus right now, but we're on to a good start! Such a smart little lady! We sure do love her!

To Lydia at 14 months

Dear Sweet Lydia,

Originally I wasn't going to write you letters monthly during your second year of life, but with so many new developments I have decided to continue every other month. You are still my little baby girl, but you sure are growing fast! You are quickly becoming a toddler, and your attitude is proving it! You have quite the personality all packaged into a little body. We have done several fun things these past couple of months, including your first rodeo, Mardi Gras parade, a couple of visits to Grandma and Grandpa Anderson's and your first time on a horse! You loved all of them, well, except the parade. But you love playing with all the beads you acquired! Some of your developments include (but are not limited to):
*Climbing onto whatever furniture you can get your chubby leg on. Luckily you are also fairly good at going back down!
*Opening all the drawers within your reach. This has caused the next step of baby proofing in your bedroom (taping the drawers closed on all of our storage bins kept in your bedroom).
*You love playing with stickers! You love putting them on you and taking them off and sticking them wherever you can. Unfortunately this also means stickers always stuck to the bottom of our feet as we walk around the apartment!
*You respond to simple commands, such as getting your shoes, picking up a toy we point at, and coming to us when we ask.
*You have learned the sign for "more" (in your own way). You point to your other hand rather than touching all of your fingers together.
*We have caught you saying several words, but you aren't quite repeating them yet. I am pretty sure you said "horse" the other day. And your other common ones are "mom", "daddy", "shoes", "bye bye", and "hello".
*(My favorite one) You give us kisses! It's really more like a lick, but it's sweet all the same!

I know I haven't named everything new you do now, but these are a few that stand out to me. I love watching you learn and grow! You are teaching me so much! Most of all, to put aside the work once in a while and just play. I love you so much and am so excited to share this time with you! Thank you for choosing to come to our family!

love,
Momma

Riding the carousel at Morgan's Wonderland

Playing dress up with Daddy

The petting zoo at the Rodeo

Sorting your finds at the rodeo

It's Bluebonnet season again!

Horseback riding!

Blessings in Disguise

Yesterday was, in all definitions, terrible. Lydia, who had been running a fever since Tuesday afternoon, went to the doctor for the second time to try to figure out what was wrong and there was a rediculously long wait. I had my interview to receive food-stamps, which the workers are never in a good mood and treat everyone like liars and cheaters. Lydia, who was obviously in incredible pain, screamed bloody murder all afternoon. And, during my moment that was supposed to be a break from all the stresses (a night out with the girls), my car breaks down halfway to the restaurant. In the words of Alexander (a movie I enjoyed watching as a kid) it was an "Awful, Terrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day!"
But (yes there is a "but" in all of this) it was also an incredible day! Through all of this terrible day, I have seen the hand of God. He seems to have known how difficult the day was and made little miracles happen along the way. So, here is a deeper look at my day:
1. I took Lydia to the doctor. Yes, there were a ton of sick, coughing, runny nosed kids in the waiting room where we were for well over an hour, BUT the doctor we saw was incredible! She was so sympathetic toward Lydia and I, that she made sure she found a way to possible help Lydia rather than just sending us away like the previous doctor had done a couple days before. Lydia is being treated for an ear infection, which I am convinced is really something that Lydia has because she began pulling at her ears a bunch last night. So, we were able to get her started on the medicine right away.
2. I had my interview to receive food-stamps benefits. Anyone who has ever gone through this process (at least in Galveston) knows that it is a miserable experience that only the truly desperate for assistance will endure through. The case workers are almost always in incredibly cranky moods and don't want to hear anything that you have to say to explain your situation. You only speak when spoken to and only say what they have asked for, otherwise you will get an earful and will end up leaving in tears. Actually, I can't remember a single encounter with them that hasn't involved some sort of tears! Anyway, it's a very stressful experience. I hope I've painted the picture well enough for you to see. However, you also never seem to know exactly what questions to expect during the interview, so you always think that you're prepared but they'll throw something new at you that you were not prepared for.
Well, here's the miracle of all of it. I have been bugging David for a long time now to clean his side of the bedroom. There are always so many random papers and stuff all over that it drives me crazy! So, in order to distract myself while I waited for the case worker to call (always a tedious wait!) I started cleaning his side of the bed. I got most of it well enough organized. Then the caseworker called. And guess what random question they threw at me this time! How much my car insurance costs each month. Not a question that I had been asked before nor one that I knew off the top of my head. But she wanted the answer right then and there. But, miraculously, as I had been cleaning I had seen our car insurance policy and was able to quickly grab it and give her the number. I know that the spirit was what prompted me to clean when I did and made sure that paper was there that I needed! What a blessing!
3. Lydia's screaming. Well, unfortunately I don't have a specific blessing associated with this other than that it was a beautiful day and we were able to enjoy a walk outside together. This was my trick to convince her to eat some food because otherwise she wasn't calm enough to chew her food up without choking. So, the beautiful day was a true blessing!
4. The car. Well, there are a lot of blessings associated with this one. First of all, the timing of it all. It didn't happen at a time when we needed to be somewhere at a certain time. We had already been to all of our appointments and classes for the day. I was simply going out to eat. Second, the car broke down in a convenient location. It wasn't on a freeway or far away from home. I was only a few miles away. I was slowing down for a stop light when it quit and there were no cars in front or behind me. I was able to safely roll into the median, out of traffic, and turn on my hazard lights. Third, it was Mardi Gras weekend, which meant there were several cops driving around. I was able to easily wave down a cop who called for back up and they pushed me into a parking lot. Fourth, one of my friends picked me up and took me to the restaurant so that I was still able to have a break from everything before facing reality again. Fifth, and so on, we have so many incredible people in our lives who will not hesitate to help us out. We've been so blessed.
So, all in all, I'd say it was a good day. Maybe this is the reason God wanted me to go through all of this, so that I could recognize His hand in all things. He truly was watching over me and my family in this challenging time. I'm so grateful for all of this!
And, as I mentioned before, it's Mardi Gras weekend! This is a HUGE thing in Galveston and we still got to take part this year! Lydia experienced her first parade and was shocked by it all. Mostly by the noise, I think. She clung pretty tightly throughout the whole thing, but seemed to enjoy getting all the beads. And No, during the daytime parades you do not need to flash people to get beads. It was a great time had by all! Anyone who wants to join us next year is welcome!



And here is a fun video of Lydia for y'all to enjoy! Lydia recently started copying us when we nod and shake our heads. Sorry for the camera shakiness, I don't do well holding a camera still and shaking my head at the same time apparently.

Lydia's Eye Surgery: The Finale (I hope!)

Lydia had the full Crawford Tube surgery on her eye today and I'm so glad that part's over with! I don't think I've been the best at updating my blog about this. But prior to this surgery, Lydia has had two probings done on her eye to try to unblock her tear duct so that her tears can drain properly. About 90% of the time the eyes heal without needing any intervention. And, each time the probings were done there was a 90% chance of being successful. However, Lydia just didn't seem to have the majority on her side. So, it came down to needing the full surgery on her eye. This basically means that they have to put her under general anesthesia so that they can then put a tube in her tear duct to hold it open till the tear duct is able to heal and stay open on its own. Then, in a few months we will go to the doctor's office again and have the tube taken out. We won't really know how successful this has been until the tube comes out and the tear duct stays open. I don't think I've ever felt so sick and nervous before! Luckily David didn't have classes this morning, so he was able to come with me and keep me sane.
Lydia's still recovering and probably will be for the next day or so. She's very groggy and fussy. And a little more cuddly than usual, so I like that part! The surgery center was so good with her. They even gave her a cute duck stuffed animal with a Baybrook Surgical Center T-shirt on. The doctor's report was that the tube was more challenging to put in than usual. There was a large obstruction in her tear duct, she's guessing scar tissue, that was easy for the probe to go through , but wasn't a big enough hole for tears to actually drain through (thus the reason why all the other procedures didn't work). She was able to get the tube in successfully, however with more blood loss than is usual. She felt that the procedure would be successful overall though. We'll find out for sure in a few months. Lydia did swallow quite a bit of blood and that caused some nausea after she woke up, no fun! She's got a lovely cotton swab in her nose attached to some string that she amazingly hasn't pulled out yet and a couple stitches inside her nose that will dissolve in a few days. But she seems to be doing well now. She's taking a much needed nap! I think I need one too! Thank you for everyone's love and prayers! I know our Heavenly Father is listening! We love you!

The nurses even put Lydia's shoe on the duck while she rested! So cute!

And this picture was taken a few days ago during a walk on the beach (where else?). I got a new jogging stroller the other day... well, I should say Lydia got one with her birthday money! And, just in case anyone's thinking, the double does not mean that I am pregnant! I just figured I might as well get a double now rather than needing another one in a couple years.

Happy 1st Birthday Lydia!!!

Dear Lydia,



Happy Birthday! It's finally here! You're a whole year old!!! And if every year is as good as our first one was then I'm ready! You are such a sweet, beautiful little lady! Your personality is just blossoming and your curiosity is exploding. It's so much fun to watch you play and explore. You almost always have something around your neck (mostly necklaces or draped clothes). You are starting to shake your head at me (though I think you just enjoy it and don't know what it means). And you are so polite at the dinner table (you say "please" in sign language whenever you want something). You are always on the move and ready for something new. You are quite the little socialite! You love to be with people, especially little ones. Most people describe you as a happy girl, and you are most of the time when you are getting attention.
For your birthday we pulled out my old babydoll cradle that your Great Grandpa Matthews made and you tried it out for size. Here's you at a few days old:

And here is you on your 1st birthday:

You're growing so big! It's hard to believe that much time has passed, so here are some reflections of your first year.

February 4, 2010: The day you blessed us with your sweet spirit.

One week old.

Your blessing day: February 21, 2010

2 months old.

Happy St. Paddy's Day! 2 1/2 months old.

3 months old. You love standing with our help and we love looking at those chubby cheeks!

You can hold your head up!

4 months old and the real charmer!

You light up our lives!

Daddy's little girl!

5 months old and enjoying Grandma! Loving those rolls!

You learn to sit up on your own!

And pull yourself up on things!

6 months old. You know that you rule the roost!

You love the beach!

7 months: You enjoy a last visit with Aunt Brittany before her mission.

8 months old: Happy Halloween!

9 months old: 3 out of 4 generations. You are starting to walk!

Does it show?

10 months old

Merry Christmas!

11 months old: Your curiosity and personality are through the roof!

1 year old! Happy birthday Little Princess!

We love you so much and are so excited for this next year!
love,
Momma and Daddy