Happy Birthday Elise!

Happy Birthday sweet Elise. It's so hard to believe that it's already been a year since you graced our lives. We feel so blessed to have you...our 4th girl. More than ever, this time I have tried to savor the smell of you, the sweet sounds you make, the way you snuggle your head into my neck, and all of your preciousness. I want you to know how absolutely thrilled we were to find out at your birth that we had another girl. What a gift!

You have changed so much in this first year. Some of the things you are up to are:
*You are crawling like crazy and walking along furniture (You pulled up at around 9 months and I thought for sure you would be my earliest walker, but you have your own timeline and that's just fine by me.)
*You love to play the "Uh-Oh Game". (Today as I was enjoying some alone time with you at Target, you were lobbing everything out of the stroller. Too cute, but also a little difficult to get as much shopping done.)
*You have a good set of lungs and aren't afraid to let me know when one of your sisters are really bugging/loving you.
*You have 4 darling teeth, which just gives you the cutest smile.
*You have a beauty queen wave, you know, the side to side motion, but not quite as dainty.
*You are definitely a mommy's girl. (Sorry daddy, but I think you already knew that.)
*You only take one nap a day and that is only for a little over 2 hours.
*You love music and have recently learned how to bop while holding on to something.
*You say mama, dada, and uh-oh.
*Generally speaking, you seem to have a somewhat quiet personality. You look like you're taking it all in.
*You are definitely curious. You love to open cupboards and get into things, which helps keep me on my toes.
*Additionally, you love to unroll toilet paper and on occasion, chew on a wad.
*You're a pretty picky eater. You still just primarily want your mommy (7 times a day..I know, I know).
*You love your time in the tub and usually have quite a lot to say about it when it's time to get out.
*You hate having your diaper changed, because you detest being tied down.

We love you and can't wait to see all that the Lord has planned for your life.

Jeremiah 29:11-14
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all of your heart. I will be found by you," declares the Lord...

While I know the Lord has great plans for you, I pray that you will seek Him with all of your heart. It's more than just the great things He has for you, but that you desire Him. May this be one of your life verses sweet girl. I love you more than you'll ever know!

Mommy

You Know You're a Fourth Child When...

1. While in labor, your mom manages to pose for one last picture before dropping your sisters off at preschool on the way to the hospital. Also, she manages to deliver you during her regularly scheduled appointment time with her doctor, which is right around the time your sisters completed their 2 hour day at preschool.

2. Your 2 1/2 year old sister is allowed to joyfully man-handle you.3. At 2 months old, your parents deck you out completely in a life jack and then proceed to take you on a 6-person canoe ride with your 3 sisters in tow.4. You're fed ice cream for the first time at around 5 months old, mint chocolate chip no less, and totally love it!5. You are dropped on your head, accidentally, by one of your parents and get a bucket-handle skull fracture. The way you really know you're a fourth child is your parents think to bring the camera to the emergency room in order to snap pictures of you looking soooo cute in your first, and hopefully last, purple hospital gown...and your mom has no problem sporting a big grin.6. On your vacation to Florida, your parents let you go swimming in the pool when the temperature is just above 70 degrees or maybe you're just a true Minnesotan.7. On another vacation to Arizona at 11 months old, you are left to fend for yourself in the swimming pool. Oh come on, it's just the kiddie pool!8. You are left out of important family pictures, because you are napping (i.e. your own family's Easter picture and the girl cousin photo shoot). However, they do manage to get one last family picture that does include you...whew!9. In the span of a couple weeks, you manage to get a bruised cheek, a fat lip, and a bruised forehead...oh the joys of mobililty! 10. Your sisters are allowed to dress you up however they like. This time it included complete bike safety gear for a 4 year old. Do you see the bike in the background? At 11 months old, a fourth child might just be ready to take it out for a spin. 11. Your parents buy you a baby swing that only has enough rope to hang approximately 5 feet off the ground and then decide it's still suitable to let you swing in it.
12. Your parents adore you so much, they are even crazy enough to think it might be fun to have just one more baby!

Touring

I've heard of people going on vacations that involve touring various stadiums, but I'm pretty sure I've never heard of people vacationing and touring Emergency Rooms. Well, that is, until Lydia came along.

Not so long ago I was planning on doing a post titled "E.R. Series Finale...Hopefully", but as with a lot of things, I never got around to it. Since that time, I've had a few more experiences and decided not to use that title this time around.

We were in AZ visiting my parents during Emily and Grace's spring break. We had a lovely time of swimming, going to Wildlife World, going to Build-A-Bear and just generally relaxing. It was our last day and we decided to spend a little more time at the pool. I headed back early with Elise and the others followed shortly thereafter. On the way in the house Lydia began proclaiming, "I have to go pee." My usual reply is, "Well, then get going." However, by the looks of the pee dripping down her leg as she ran on the carpet to the bathroom, she should have said, "I'm going pee". I was immediately frustrated and "encouraged" her to move faster. She made it to the bathroom, which is tile, and slipped on the wet floor. No big deal, right?!? Not for the Lydster! She split her chin open and Doug immediately knew it would require stitches. So...there went the rest of his night spent in the E.R. About 5 hours later they finally returned home with 6 stitches.

One of the sweet things about all of this was that while Doug and Lydia were gone Emily and Grace became quite concerned (not always this way) about their beloved sister. They watched a movie with Grammy about a little boy whose sister died and I think this only added to their emotions. They began asking me several times about when she would get back. In fact, Grace came to me nearly in tears and said, "Do you think anything else happened to her?" Later, I found Emily gazing at a picture of Lydia in the hall wishing for her safe return. Lest anyone get too choked up, their tone changed dramatically the next day.

When the girls woke up the next day they had plenty of "encouraging" words for their Lydia.

Some of Emily's words:
Why couldn't they use white or peach thread?(You know, instead of the normal black stitching that is always used)
It looks like she has thorns on her chin.
I'm not used to her with those stitches.

Some of Grace's words:
It looked better with a band aide on.
I can't possibly live life with a sister who looks like she has a beard. (Someone needs a reminder that beauty is fleeting.)

Thankfully, Lydia is much less concerned with her looks and did quite well with the whole ordeal. Let's hope this is our last tour of new emergency rooms!

Fashionista

Tonight we were having the girls pick out their clothes for church to save some time in the morning. Doug and I were trying to talk Emily into wearing a really cute (in my opinion) sweater dress we had given her for Christmas.

Emily - I don't want to wear that.
Me - Why?
Emily - Because I'm afraid the kids will laugh at me.
Me - Why would they laugh at you?
Emily - Because it's not at the height of fashion.

Seriously?!? Doesn't she know she wasn't born into a family that's at the "height of fashion"? Too cute! I'm sure this is just the beginning, with having four girls in the house.

I'm Sorry, So Sorry!

**Let me begin this post with an apology to all of you at First Free who really enjoyed the candidate today, because my family may have single-handedly undone the whole kit and kaboodle. I would also like to apologize to Pastor King, because if my chatty clan has anything to do with it, he may never be able to retire from First Free.**

Our day started out with a lovely breakfast and meet and greet of our pastoral candidate and his wife. We've been searching for a new pastor for about 3 years and I think our whole church was excited at the prospect that they may be "the ones." After the breakfast ended, 3 gals had sticky hands and needed a potty break (thankfully, one little lady is still in diapers), so we headed to the ladies room. Right before we entered the bathroom, I mentioned that the lady in front of us (who was also going into the restroom) was the wife of the man who might be our new pastor. The following is the remainder of our dialogue:

Emily or Grace - What, he's going to be our new pastor?
Me - Wouldn't that be neat?
Emily - I don't want him!
Me(trying to think on the fly and not completely ruin our chances at a new pastor) - Oh honey, I know you really like Pastor King.
Emily or Grace - Will we never get to see him again?
Me - Oh, I'm sure we will.
Emily or Grace - Do you think he might come back to visit?
Me - He probably will.

So, there you have it. The damage has been done. I hope you'll be able to extend to us your forgiveness. Frankly, you're just lucky the kids weren't invited to the question and answer session. Who knows what might have been said if they had gotten the microphone! In all sincerity, it is really neat to think that our chatty clan feels such a connection to their pastor. It shows how really special he is to even the smallest attendees of our church.

The View From My Kitchen...Dirt!

Lydia - Look at that mom.
Me - Oh is that some dirt on the floor?
Lydia - It's a bead.
Me - Is it really a bead?
Lydia - Actually, it is a bead. It's not candy. I tried it.

I guess she's so accustomed to dirt in our house that she's not one bit afraid to try it. Upon realizing how funny she was she said, "Are you going to call dad?" She's picked up on the idea that I like to tell him when something super funny has happened. Then when she realized that I was going to blog about our conversation, she said, "I like a blog about me."

The Case of the Missing Sock and Baby News

We left our condo in Sanibel after solving one of life's greatest mysteries...where did Doug's sock go?!? In preparation for our early departure, we had all of our clothes picked out the night before and while Doug was getting ready, his socks were carelessly left unattended. One member of our chatty clan, we'll call her Ydialay, was see sucking on said sock and this was the last time it was seen. When Doug finally decided it was time to put on his socks, there was only 1 left. It's important to note that putting on socks is always the last thing Doug does before leaving the house and this always drives me batty, so this was especially amusing to me. When he discovered his sock was missing he immediately started shouting. The Erickson parents were with us and I'm not sure they've ever seen their son so upset, but the rest of us know to expect this from him on the dreaded days of travel...he becomes TRAVEL DOUG. Some of the phrases he yelled were, "Come on", "GEEZ", "Who took my sock", "FIND IT ", and "I thought we were going to leave early". These were repeated several times with increasing aggitation. I have to mention that several times we asked him if he might have packed it and he vehemently denied any such thing. Also, his parents were scouring the condo trying to help their frantic son. Finally, most of us started laughing hysterically, except for Doug and his dad. His mom kept saying, "I just knew something like this was going to happen." Finally, Lydia (oops, I mean Ydialay) said, "I hid it." We immediately started questioning her concerning its whereabouts and she said, "I don't know." At last she said, "I hid it in the bedroom." So, we went on our quest for the sock. After we had turned the room upside down, she finally admitted, "I'm just teasing," which caused Doug to go into super-spaz mode. With some more urging and time ticking away, he checked the suitcase one more time and voila...the missing sock was found. He rather sheepishly admitted he had found it and we were on our way out. There were no other major mishaps and we arrived back in the frozen tundra safely. We had such a fabulous vacation and this last event left us with some more priceless memories.

In other news, Elise has been changing by leaps and bounds. Since she started crawling, it seems she is unstoppable. She pulls herself up on everything and tonight while we were eating dinner, she was playing with a toy in the family room. After we had been eating for a while, I looked over and there she was in the dining room. She had crawled up the two stairs from the family room into the dining room. All I can say is, "Slow down baby girl." Also, she has been waving, clapping, and tonight she finally said, "Mama" after what seems like months of saying, "Dada." I just love watching our children grow up. It's just amazing how special God made each of them.