This is Halloween!

What a fun weekend we had with friends at the annual Dierlam Family Halloween party.  Mark did an amazing job making our costumes while I worked on Lanie's to make her super cute.  We decided to be the Ghost Busters this year and Lanie was our ghost that we caught. Mark used his creative skills to make a pretty awesome proton pack that puts the real one to shame. Lanie sported a onesie ghost face with a tutu of black and grey that I actually made.  All the other families had some pretty awesome costumes too, we had Alice in wonderland theme, Artist, Peter Pan, My Little Ponies, Ninja Turtles, Smores, fire fighters, and many more.  We played some fun games with the kids and then the kids just played and the adults had fun playing Mafia.  We love that we have so many great friends with kids all close to the same age because we can do fun stuff like this. We look forward to many more parties and fun times with some really awesome peeps :)



Who ya gonna call???





Halloween morning before we left for work. Lanie has a big Halloween party at daycare today :)



Working Mom :) :(

Being a working Mom has it's pros and cons all wrapped up in one crazy, messy, busy, chaotic schedule.  I was pretty established in my career before I got pregnant with Lanie and I knew that there was no way I was going to be able to step away from my job.  I love teaching students with special needs and even though some day are extremely challenging it's part of who I am and what makes me, me! I knew when I had her and spent 9 weeks straight with her it would be hard to go back to work full time, but I missed my job and teaching.  I am a big supporter in that every mother should do what works best for her and her family.  I don't think you are a better mom if you stay home or if you go to work.  I get to play stay at home Mom in the summers when I am with Lanie, and I will be the first one to admitt that some days in the summer could be much more productive, but instead get spent watching way to much Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
It's always a struggle to know that when I drop her off that someone else is watching her for 9 hours.  We are extremly lucky though that we have some amazing people that love on her and give her all the support she needs all day until Mommy and Daddy can get to her.  Some days are harder than others to drop her off, but what makes it better every day is she gives me a big hug and a smile and has never shed a tear when I have to tell her bye bye for the day.

Praying

We always ask Lanie to join in with us when we pray before dinner, but most of the time she is to busy eating or doing something else to concentrate on praying.  I would like her to, but then I also remember that she is 1 1/2 and doesn't really understand all of it yet.  The other night when we were praying I noticed that she started folding her hands and bowing her head and was starting to realize that she might actually be following our actions.  So sometime last week I told Lanie to pray for Papa and Mimi and this had to be the sweetest prayer ever! I am so happy to know that our sweet girl is already talking to God. ( some problems with the video so I will have to hold you over with a picture until I can get the video to work)

Bath Time

The other night we had just wrapped up dinner and Lanie wandered off to her room and comes back to the table with her diaper and pink cowboy boots.  Lanie climbed up in Mommy's chair and was resisting taking a bath.  So Daddy as smart as he is made bath time fun by adding a song.  Lanie is super into imitating people right now so what ever motions Mark did she followed. With the new bath time song I don't see why she will ever whine again when it's time to take a bath again!

Silly girl

This little bug is a funny gal these days.  There is so much she is learning each day and at 19  months EVERYTHING is a teachable moment not only for Lanie, but also for Mommy and Daddy.  Mark, put on his twitter last week that parenting is 99.9% patience and 0.1% yelling ( I know I didn't get his quote exact). It is so true though at least for her season of life right now.  We are not perfect by a long shot and Mark actually follows this percentage more than I do.  That is why he thinks Lanie and I will be fun to watch when she gets older and will just sit back and laugh.  Lanie might look just like her Daddy, but she is very stubborn and strong willed like her Mommy.  So I leave you with a Lanie top 10 list of new and exciting things in her life.
1) Swinging
2) Books
3) Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
4) Fruit
5) Being outside every second
6) Helping Mommy & Daddy water flowers
7) Babies
8) Stuffed animals
9) Calculators ( we don't she just has become attached to one recently)
10) Pretending to sleep (look at picture below)

How do you show love?

On Sunday our pastor preached on love, but not just the same old love year hear, but real love that we as Christians should be saying and demonstrating everyday.  He gave us some homework to do and asked us to look at our tight circle of family and friends do they know that we love them like really, truly, deep down love them and do we show them.  Then he challenged us to keep moving that love out to where we are eventually truly showing God's love to every person we come in contact with by telling them and showing them. He talked about the book 5 love languages (below is a description on each). 

The 5 Love Languages^®

What if you could say or do just the right thing guaranteed to make that special someone feel loved? The secret is learning the right love language! Millions of couples have learned the simple way to express their feelings and bring joy back into marriage: The 5 Love Languages, Dr. Gary Chapman’s New York Times bestseller!

• Words of Affirmation

  Actions don’t always speak louder than words. If this is your love language, unsolicited compliments mean the world to you. Hearing the words, “I love you,” are important—hearing the reasons behind that love sends your spirits skyward. Insults can leave you shattered and are not easily forgotten.

• Quality Time

  In the vernacular of Quality Time, nothing says, “I love you,” like full, undivided attention. Being there for this type of person is critical, but really being there—with the TV off, fork and knife down, and all chores and tasks on standby—makes your significant other feel truly special and loved. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be especially hurtful.

• Receiving Gifts

  Don’t mistake this love language for materialism; the receiver of gifts thrives on the love, thoughtfulness, and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized above whatever was sacrificed to bring the gift to you. A missed birthday, anniversary, or a hasty, thoughtless gift would be disastrous—so would the absence of everyday gestures.

• Acts of Service

  Can vacuuming the floors really be an expression of love? Absolutely! Anything you do to ease the burden of responsibilities weighing on an “Acts of Service” person will speak volumes. The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter.

• Physical Touch

  This language isn’t all about the bedroom. A person whose primary language is Physical Touch is, not surprisingly, very touchy. Hugs, pats on the back, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face—they can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial, while neglect or abuse can be unforgivable and destructive.

During the sermon I was laughing a little because I never would have thought Mark was a physical touch person when I first meet him, but that is his love language and me not being a physical touch person at all I have to challenge myself because I know that it what his is.  So true to form since the day she was born Lanie so far seems to be a physical touch person as well just like Daddy.  We can be sitting on the couch and every one is happy and she will notice that she is not right next to you. She will start shimming her way down to you until she is physically touching you or almost on your lap, but she usually doesn't want to be right on your lap (she still likes to be independent).  She usually doesn't need anything besides for some part of her to be touching you.  So our Saturday mornings when we can actually be home and relax you can usually find all three of us sitting on the couch with Lanie in the middle watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  My sweet girl is not only looks just like her Daddy she loves just like him too :) 

On a side note Lanie had her 18 month apt today with her doctor.  She still is only 23 lbs (35%)  and 33 inches long (73%). The Dr. said Lanie was doing great with her speech and fine motor skills and we all got a good laugh at her run because she looks a little silly.  Tomorrow she has her apt with her allergist to rule out any food allergies :( not excited about that, but she was excited about hearing that she doesn't have to get anymore shot besides flu shots until she is 5!!! 

AHHHHHHHHHHH

The title says its all because that is how this week feels.  There is about a million exciting things going on between school starting back up, meeting new students, getting excited about new teaching techniques I am trying out, and OneLife West our church launching on Sunday I feel like just letting out a huge scream. This is not an angry scream just a can, I add 10 more hours into my day scream so I can get it all done.

Amongst all this chaos of running around I have to remember to breath and Lanie reminds me of that every day.  I was busy running around like a chicken with my head cut off and million things running through my head for school and the preschool stuff for church.  When I picked Lanie up from daycare I was on the phone getting retirement paper work sent to me for a meeting Mark and I have with a financial planner coming up.  I had already made the mental list of things I needed to start as soon as I got home, because I had a lot to do and very little time to do it in before I lost all my energy.  But even with all the crazy list and things to do God was telling me to stop, breath, and be calm.  Because instead of that mental list getting started my daughter wanted to swing and read a book and how can you say no to that sweet girl with those simple request.  So the laundry didn't get done, the floors didn't get moped, the emails that needed sent finally went out at 11:00 p.m., and dinner was hot dogs, but my time was better spent reading and swinging with Lanie.