Liloh L'Bet Pipnono

To follow up from the previous blog when Shiloh would tell me my name when I asked her what her name was...she now answers quite easily, but you never know what part of her name you might get. Sometimes I get just her last name, sometimes just her first, sometimes first and last, and lately, all three together. She'll have to work on enunciation if she ever wants someone to be able to spell her name correctly, but I think we're on the right track

Things she says...

"Silly Daddy, there's more in there" (when Daddy told her the cheerios were gone)

"Please Mommy hold lou (you)" which she quickly corrects to "Please Mommy hold ME!"

"I see Walwa Tooting Dod book!" (I see Walter the Tooting Dog book. The real title includes the word Farting ,which we are not really against, but since she already knew what tooting was, the word seems to have been permanently replaced....)

And while praying during breakfast one Saturday morning, right before we returned a Walter the Farting Dog book to the library...."Thank you Walwa Tooting Dod be home."

Other sweet prayers include "Thank you Daddy be home, thank you Mommy be home"

Shiloh is our constant commentary on life. Within a few minutes one night as I picked her up from Robyn's house she said "Mommy get keys now" when I tried to open the door and it was locked. Followed by "Mommy orange peel" which she saw in the car. Followed by "Mommy get milk now" as we drove up to the dairy outlet.

And that's how life goes.
"Liloh has pink shirt on"
"Daddy has brown eyes"
"Mommy has blue eyes"
"Liloh has blue eyes"
"Lucy eat dog food"
"Mommy eat edd (egg)"
And on and on and on!!!

Since we're still working on pronouns, she sometimes gets confused as the following conversation shows...
Me: What is your name?
Shiloh: Erin.
Me: Really? Hmm...What is Daddy's name?
Shiloh: Chris
Me: What is your name?
Shiloh: Erin (in an I-already-told-you voice)
Me: Well who are you?
Shiloh: Liloh!
Mostly I'm just amazed that she knows our names.....

A blog post at last!

And really, instead of writing a whole lot, I'm just going to give you links for all the pictures I finally got around to uploading from December up through March. Check the captions-that alone was enough writing to fill up this blog post!
Winter photos
Spring photos

Since the news is out about Baby #2 (thanks to Facebook...)

I apologize for my long absence from blog-writing. Not that I feel the need for excuses, but our post-Christmas has looked like this:

• Wonderful trip to Colorado
• Return from Colorado to cold, bleak, and very snowy Iowa
• A broken camera
• A new camera, but without a USB cord (and we don't have a card reader either)
• Plenty of fun pictures, but no way to share them yet (we're working on it, just need to take time to go to the store!)
• Chris working lots at church, including several days of helping install a new sound system
• And me working all day, doing supper & bedtime for Shiloh and then crashing due to extreme fatigue. Oh yes, and wishing all day that I was throwing up because it might relieve the nausea. I'm now seeing a light at the end of the 1st trimester tunnel, and I actually find myself with a bit of energy still and it's already 8:30 p.m.! And I've cut back significantly on the crackers and 7up. Hooray!

While I'm feeling guilty about neglected thank-you cards to loved ones, dirty dishes left for Chris far too often, and in general, not doing well at communicating with friends and family the past month+, every ounce of energy has gone to Shiloh and to helping my body grow Baby #2. We heard a strong, healthy heartbeat today, and while it's no fun to be sick and tired for weeks on end, I'm very thankful that it is a sign of a healthy baby. We are just in awe of the miracle God is weaving together. September will come before we know it, and a little over 2 years after Shiloh's birth, we hope to welcome Baby #2 into the world. So there's the biggest news of the day!!

I can't even begin to catch you up on Shiloh's development, funny moments, and beautiful personality. I'll try some bullet points and we'll go from there!

• Happy 18 month birthday Feb. 4!
  
• She's speaking in mostly 3-word sentences, sometimes more
• She adores the new baby, Ernie, at Robyn's house (her beloved babysitter) and has since named several other baby dolls after Ernie. She also has a doll named Heavy and one named Light at Robyn's house. And according to weight, she has named them correctly.
  
• She is consumed for much of her day by taking care of her baby dolls. Dressing them, changing poopy diapers, feeding them, strolling them around, putting them in high chairs, putting them "nigh-nigh." She is a very busy little girl.
  
• She has an obsession with poopy diapers which has resulted in a few successful potty chair experiences, but mostly just a lot of talk about who's poopy, who's on the potty, etc. And I can't help but share my favorite quote of the week, "Daddy toot."
  
• We're enjoying singing some songs and allowing Shiloh to fill in the words when we stop. She does such a great job!
• There are endless moments of laughter, more frequent moments of frustration as she is definitely into the "testing" stage of toddlerhood, but it is just delightful to watch her grow! I knew I would love several aspects of being a parent, definitely including the infant stages and the 3+ years. I was a little worried I wouldn't handle the toddler years well, but it is so much more amazing and rewarding than I could have ever imagined. We are so blessed by this little girl!

And now my burst of energy is over....the bed is calling my name. Hopefully more posts to come soon!

2009 Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas! In our small effort to be "earth-friendly," we skipped the printing of a Christmas letter again this year in hopes you could enjoy a snapshot of our year online (and not have to wonder what to do with it once you are done reading!).

We were blessed with a full year of learning and growing together. As we sat down to reflect on the year, we remember how thankful we are for our friends and family, and even more so, how thankful we are that our God sent Jesus to give us hope and fill our lives with faith and passion!

That being said, some snapshots of our blessings in 2009 follow...We tried very hard to just choose one picture per month (and not too many bullet points!). If you'd like to see more, you have full access to our online photo albums by clicking here! And if you'd like to read more about our year, there are several entries posted below this one.


January

• January brought the return of "normal life" following Christmas and a visit from Erin's family. Chris hit his 4 year anniversary working for St. John. He works primarily with young adults and leads the contemporary worship service. But on any given day you might find him updating the church website, maintaining technical aspects at church, or helping out with men's ministry. When he's not at church or giving music lessons, he's spending lots of quality time with Shiloh!
• Erin, when not working, loves being with Shiloh, leads a women's Bible study at church, participates in a book club, and enjoys going wine tasting. She also is in her 6th year on the Camp Ewalu board
  
• And "normal life" for Shiloh means growing and discovering lots of new things!!
  

February

• Erin's sister Laura came for a short visit while back in Iowa for a friend's wedding
• Chris and Jesse celebrated birthdays at a bash at our friend Jacque's house
  
• Shiloh began preparations for crawling!
  

March

• A trip to Colorado to visit Erin's parents, now in Loveland, was also blessed with seeing Shiloh's great-grandma in Omaha, her great-grandma and great aunt and uncle in Longmont, and great-aunt from Colorado Springs as well as other friends in Colorado and Nebraska. Shiloh also got to touch her first fish, compliments of Chris' successful morning at the lake!
• Shiloh really took off with her crawling in March, as well as her consumption of solid foods!
  

April

• April is a busy season for Chris at church as he helps prepare and lead worship at St. John for Easter. See our family picture on Easter below.
  
• April also brought our first trip to the park with Shiloh on a nice warm day and a chance to visit a group of Erin's friends from her high school youth group.
• Chris' church league softball season starts in April and lasts through August.
• In April we celebrated the life of our friend Jay from college, who passed away after a long battle with cancer. Chris and Jay loved playing saxophone together, and we miss him greatly.
  

May

• May brought more trips to the park, as Shiloh discovered her love for swings and playing outside!
  

June

• June and July were busy months with many of our friends getting married, including a trip to the Twin Cities for wedding festivities and a chance to see friends!
• Shiloh enjoyed her first parade during the town's annual celebration in June.
  

July

• July brought more outdoor fun at Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa where Chris ended up winning the rock throwing contest and Shiloh had her first taste of Norwegian cuisine. Erin and Chris had their first (and Erin's last) taste of lutefisk as well...
• Chris spent a week in Kansas City at a worship leaders conference. He was so amazed at how well Shiloh was walking when he returned!
  

August

• Shiloh turned one! We had a wonderful celebration with both sets of grandparents, three great-grandparents and aunts and "uncles" in attendance.
  
• Shiloh really enjoys seeing Chris' parents and sister Noelle on a weekly basis here in town, and enjoyed all the time she had with Erin's parents and sister Steph when they visited for the week.
• Our new senior pastor started at St. John, bringing new changes and eventually a new schedule for Chris, allowing us a little more family time than we were used to!
  

September

• Chris went away for another week, but this time on a trip driving with our friend Jesse to Glacier National Park in Montana and back. They had a great time, and Chris is pictured below on their long hike to Ptarmigan tunnel and back, which boasted amazing views!
• Upon Chris's return, we took an overnight trip to Wisconsin to enjoy wine, cheese, scenery, and Erin's first night away since Shiloh had been born!

October

• October brought all the fun things of fall, like leaves, pumpkins, and Wartburg's homecoming. We had fun connecting with friends, even in the frigid cold. Luckily by the end of the day it warmed up enough to take off the stocking hats!
• October marked Erin's 4 year anniversary of working for Head Start. She still enjoys and finds lots of challenges working with teen families in poverty, and she really enjoys the time spent with a great group of co-workers!
  
• Chris and Erin enjoyed a 7-week study together called "The Marriage Course", starting in October. We would highly recommend it for anyone who is married!
  

November

• Since it was warmer in November than October, Shiloh enjoyed lots of time outside, all the way through Thanksgiving weekend! We traveled to Omaha to celebrate the holiday with Erin's family and then made a quick stop to see Shiloh's beloved friends Ella and Amelia before coming home to host the Tripolino family for a Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.
• And while it sure hurt the checkbook, our house now has a beautiful new roof! Bye-bye to 4 layers of bad shingles, all the questionable wood underneath, two chimneys (just the part above the roof), and hopefully some of our water problems!
  

December

• And the warm weather is officially over!
  

Thanks for sharing in our lives and enriching them with your love and friendship! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

We have a talker!

Shiloh is 100% toddler! There is no "baby" left in her. She is busy and fun and throws tantrums and most of all, is a talker. We decided to list out her words over Thanksgiving, and came up with 150 by the time we got home. The last two weeks have probably added another 30-40 words. It is CRAZY! Shiloh's two-word phrases are endless, and the strangest thing to me is how she knows her colors. Right...16 months and knows colors? I was skeptical too, but she keeps doing it right. She can almost always point to a color when you ask her to find it, but she also can name a few colors like yellow, green, blue, red, pink, and sometimes purple. I'm not quite sure how she picked all of this up, but she's interested in it, so we let her keep talking about it. She also pretends to count, often saying "2" or "3" after hearing one of us start counting.

Shiloh is just loving this season of Christmas! The lights, trees, candles to smell, balls (Christmas ornaments), Santas ("Hoho Santa"), and Mary's just thrill her. Shiloh LOVES the Virgin Mary. She finds her in books and in nativity scenes everywhere. We're working on teaching Joseph and Baby Jesus, but usually just get "Daddy" and "Baby" and an occasional "Jojo" out of her. They're just extra characters anyway, right?

Shiloh loves being a helper now too, especially in the kitchen. She gets to help feed Lucy, pour ingredients in bowls, and mix up the food. She's noticing when I don't ask her to help and insists on pulling the stool over so she can help. I love how Shiloh is insistent upon our routines. If I forget, she reminds us to pray before each snack and meal, nap and bedtime. She also insists on getting out her ducks, cup, and washcloth, in that exact order, while the bathtub is filling. Diaper changes have adopted the routine of turning on music and now the Christmas lights we put in her room before changing the diaper. The conversation tends to go like this:
S: Me? Ligh?
E: Sure, I will turn on the music and the lights for you
S: Daydee Mommy
E: You're welcome, Shiloh
S: Preddy ligh!
E: Yes, they're pretty lights
S: Lellow?
E: Yes, that's a yellow light
S: More lellow!!
E: You're right! Another yellow light. Do you see any other colors?
S: Bue!!
E: Yep, that one's blue. Good job Shiloh
S: Poopy? Poopy!!
E: Nope, just wet this time!
S: We (wet without a t) Poopy?


What's not to love. Now if only we can working on basic functions like being able to look where she's going and not trip over the large object right in front of her....All in good time!

My night as a pony

All dressed up and ready to go!

First stop: Uncle Darren got me a present!!

And a sucker.....Mom promised to give it back later but then she "lost" it. She also says I'll have to wait until next year to try some more....

Second stop: Robyn took a picture of me, and I love looking at the baby in the camera!



Third stop: Gigi and Papa were so happy to see me!


A treat from Gigi came in "Boo"



Last stop: The Izers house! Here's me with Kaitlin!

Carving my first pumpkin

I loved playing with the seeds and guts this year....we'll see if that holds true next year!


The Lucy pumpkin. Not too bad, Mom for a pencil, a knife and a paperclip! I knew right away that it was Lucy!!

And as promised....finally...a sampling of animal noises (and a bonus kiss for you!!)