The Magic of Christmas...

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, we started the process of putting up Christmas in the Hartland. Lia has now grown to the age where she really has begun to anticipate and appreciate the holidays and all of the festivities that come with them. I love this as it makes them that much more special for me. She was so excited to buy our Christmas tree and put it up in the living room and was a great assistant in helping to hang the ornaments. We also dug up her mini Christmas tree with its little string of lights and ornaments and put it in her bedroom before bedtime the first night. After reading stories and saying her prayer, I told Lia that she could play with her tree for a few minutes before climbing into bed. After a few minutes of complete silence, I tiptoed upstairs to peak in on her and this is the precious scene I found: Lia laying on the floor gently touching every little light bulb and ornament. I just thought it was the sweetest thing as my three-year old was truly mesmerized by the magic of Christmas.

I'm thankful for...

At preschool yesterday, Lia was able to complete a few different Thanksgiving activities.  One of these projects required the children to assemble a paper turkey and have the mom-in-charge write down what every child was thankful for on the feathers.  You can imagine my chuckle when I saw what Lia was grateful for at this time in her life:
1.  Beautiful gowns
2.  Princesses
3.  Ball (not the toy, but the event)
4.  Turkey
I fear that Walt Disney has created a monster.  Oh dear.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Three and Three Quarters Report...

Well, it's hard to believe, but our little girl is three-fourths of the way through her third year today.  Good grief, Charlie Brown!  We're staring at her fourth birthday in the face.  It's amazing to me how the baby phase just seems to take forever, but once it fades into toddlerdom, life really starts to pick up and just fly by.  I mean, in one and a half years, I'll be putting my baby on a school bus!  I'm just grateful that I have another baby on the way, or else things would really be getting tough on me.  And I digress...
So without further adieu, here is a complete list of all of the funny changes and cravings and crazes that my daughter has been about the past three months:
1.  Let's start with the biggest highlight:  Lia is fully potty trained!  Hooray!  It only took six months to get her to buy into the second and more difficult part of potty training, but it finally happened the end of September and I couldn't be happier!
2.  After she was introduced to it during her first week of preschool this fall, Lia has fallen in love with water coloring.  A palate and brushes were quickly purchased at our grocery store and we can be found on a regular basis gathered around the kitchen table painting away.
3.  Lia has taken to telling her own made-up stories that always start with the infamous line, "Once upon a time."  Her stories usually follow a fairytale/princess theme, but they are priceless and I love hearing them.
4.  Lia loves, loves, loves preschool and asks me all the time when she gets to go next.  I'm so grateful fro the co-op of mothers in my ward that have made this possible for free!  She also is very excited about the elementary school that she will attend in the Fall of 2013 and talks about it regularly.  This is one little girl that will eat school up when she is given the chance!
5.  Lia is very excited about the pending arrival of her baby brother.  You can tell that she was ready a long time ago to acquire a sibling.  Sorry it took so long, Lia!  She has already made up a nickname for him ("Logie") and talks about how cute he is and loves to kiss and pat my belly all the time.  We'll see how long this sibling love lasts. ;-)
6.  After Ron got the flu in September forcing me into our guest bedroom for a few nights, Lia realized that there was a use to this bedroom for the first time in her life.  As as result, she now "bed hops" all the time from her bedroom to the guest bedroom.  We will put her down for the night in one bed and find her asleep in the other one by the time we come up a few hours later.  It's quite funny.  She has also added the small couch in the office to her sleeping repertoire during nap time.  It's just your basic game of musical beds.
7.  Much to my chagrin, Lia has become your regular, cold cereal junkie.  She wants to eat it all the time--for every meal and every snack.  Obviously she doesn't get her way all the time, but at least one or two or three bowls of cereal are consumed by this little one daily.  Oh well, at least she is getting her daily intake of calcium!
8.  I am ashamed to admit that I finally incorporated scripture reading into our nightly, bedtime routine.  I know, I know, better late than never, right?  Anyways, Lia took to it like a fish to water and now reminds me to do it every night (which is a good thing because I still forget sometimes).  She loves sitting on our coffee table across from me and follows along with fascination. 
9.  Lia has become very clingy to her momma this fall for some odd reason.  Although she has never been a fan of strangers, she was always fine with being left at home with papa or the grandparents, but that has all changed.  Whenever I now have to leave her with Ron, a big tantrum is thrown with tears and sobs.  You can tell I'm not working anymore...
10.  Unfortunately thanks to some of her little friends, Lia has picked up on the art of "potty talk" in the past few months.  Grrrr.  Although she now recites the rule that she is not allowed to say the words "poo poo" or "pee pee" more than she says them, it's just down right annoying.  We'll see how long it takes her to grow out of that one.
11.  Lia now loves to rock out with me to Katie Perry's "Firework" song whenever it comes on the radio while we are driving around in the car.  It's so cute as she now even knows some of the words and can be found singing them around the house.
12.  I don't know where this phase came from, but a few weeks ago Lia decided that she wanted to wear her pajamas in the house whenever we are home (which can be most of the day sometimes).  So, the days of getting ready in the morning and staying in the same clothes til bedtime are long gone.  I don't know if it coincided with the arrival of the cold weather this fall or what, but it is definitely her favorite thing to wear (well, along with her princess dresses, that is).
13.  Lia's sleeping schedule has evolved for the first time in years.  She either skips her nap now for "quiet time" in her room or will take a much later afternoon nap resulting in a much later bedtime.  I'm sure that most moms would yank the nap altogether to guarantee an 8 pm bedtime, but I still just love that break in the middle of the day so much that I can't do it.  As as result, she goes down most days for a nap around 2 or 3 pm and then doesn't actually fall asleep at night til around 10 pm or so.  It's a bit ridiculous and much later than I would like, but it's what I choose to do in order to get a break half way through the day.
14.  Lia is fascinated with ages and wants to know how old everyone is all the time.  She has Ron's and my ages memorized and likes to remind us on a regular basis how old we are.  Funny girl.
15.  Lastly, Lia is still very into her make-believe friends and talks about them all the time.  She still makes up the funniest names and frequently reports on their comings and goings.  Lia especially loves to blame her bad behavior and choices on them by saying things like, "Jonesa told me to do it!"  Ron and I are now in the habit of kicking her fake friends out our house.  Oh, what fun!

And there you go!  Until her fourth birthday, that's the latest on our little Lou!

Save the Lips!

Since the cold season has settled into the great Northwest, Lia has been plagued with constant chapped lips.  No sooner do we get one bad case cleared up then another one sets in.  Today was no exception as Lia woke up with multiple pieces of dried flesh hanging off her lips.  After attempting to lightly pull a few pieces of skin off tonight, I told Lia that I couldn't because I didn't want to rip her lips.  After asking some questions, Lia agreed with my decision to hold back by stating, "I want my lips to stay on."  I don't blame her. :-)

The 26 Week Bump!

Well, it's been four weeks, so I guess it's time for an updated version of my baby bump.  I am now 26 weeks preggers and have started to finally "feel" pregnant for the first time with this baby.  It now takes some effort to get off of the couch or out of bed and Lia has become my designated picker-upper of all things on the floor since bending over is becoming a bit of a bother.  However, I am still loving it.  Loving that I am finally pregnant.  Loving that this baby is growing.  Loving the fact that in just three months, we will finally have another baby in our house.  I can't wait...