Liliana

Seven. Seven sweet years with this little game changer. I find myself often wondering "where has the time gone?". As I sit here and look through hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures; I am reminded of every single sweet year with this girl. Thank God for pictures and memories. We love this passionate, creative, sentimental idealist! Thankful for every memory, every giggle, every hard lesson learned with her. She has stretched me more than any babe ever has and I could not be more grateful to be her mama. Happy birthday, Liliana Faith.

April 2007

April 2008

September 2009

April 2010

April 2011

April 2012

April 2013

April 2014

Verzani Playland

We have lived in our house for a year and a half, this summer. Last summer, we kept busy exploring the parks in our city and visiting friends. Our backyard is HUGE, but it was plain and boring. You can only kick a ball from fence to fence so many times before it loses it's appeal... So this year, we went all out. Thanks to some help, we were able to get an amazing, huge, sturdy, FUN playset for our backyard! 

When we first told Cadee about it, she was a little disappointed. Thinking it would be little and lame. Then, as we began to piece it together, she got more and more excited. She's at a tough age where she's getting too old and too big for alot of things. She was so happy that this playset could be something for her too! She really bursted with excitement when we set up the trampoline!

Our intent this year was to draw the girls' friends to our home. To facilitate and house the play dates and relationships. To help them build good friendships and to learn to be good friends. It's really difficult to do that if they aren't here with us. And in that hope, our Verzani Playland was born.

Drake does not go down the slide. In the picture below- he went down with Cadee and has gone down with me maybe once. But he much prefers to give his sisters a good shove and watch them fly off the end! (As pictured above) It is a FAST slide! I even tumbled off the end when I went down and laid there laughing for awhile. Drake was very concerned! The next time I tried to go down, he told me "no" and pulled me away from the slide. So cute. 

The girls LOVE having their friends knocking on the door all the time to come play. (And we love it too!) It is exactly what we hoped this playset would do: draw the friends over and get the girls outside and active! These girls have never slept so good in their lives!
Drakey loves to invite me to come play with him. He says "siiide" to go outside, then he asks me to "jumm??" on the trampoline, go "up" in the playset with him, to "knock" and come "in" to the fort part below, run and kick the "ball" with him. We are having a blast in our Verzani Playland- making memories!

Izzy Kitty

Around Valentine's Day, we adopted a sweet, 4 month old calico kitty. We always knew we wanted a family pet. We thought that pet would be a puppy, but quite honestly, our season of life doesn't allow for a puppy right now! We wanted something furry and cuddly that would curl up with the girls, and eventually the boy, at night. Preferably a pet that we could leave at home without worrying. A kitty was the perfect fit. We started looking online for the youngest kitty we could find. Not only because they are so adorable, but we also wanted to get a young one so that we could train it to fit our lifestyle. To become comfortable with our kids. We were afraid of getting an older cat that was set in its ways. We looked online, we went to the Animal Rescue League, we went to PetSmart...We searched. We held kitties. We thought LONG and HARD about this.

Epic Parent Fail: We tried to be a puppy family. We adopted an 8 week old beagle last August. She was sweet and adorable....and SO. MUCH. WORK. I grew up with dogs, and so did Hubs, but we never had to be the caretakers and trainers, and my dogs were ALWAYS outside dogs. We both had NO idea what we were doing. It was stressful. We would have totally made it work, because we all loved her. Until, one day, she jumped up at Drake's face, playfully. Then, I'd notice him on the floor and puppy would go up to lick and play with him and he would just roll onto his belly and cover his head. Scared. Anxious. Unsure. All things I did not want him to feel around animals. We prayed. We cried. We lost sleep over this pup. Finally, we decided that this puppy needed a new family. We drove puppy back to the breeders.

Six months later... We still dreamed of a family pet. We were {obviously} scared to go down that road again. And to disappoint the little people of the house. I had a cat growing up. I remember how laid back and awesome it was. I have tried to be a cat family since the day we became a family. Hubs needed more convincing. After searching and visiting and talking and reasoning... we found her. Her name was Roxie. She was 4 months old. The previous owners had to give her up, as their newborn was allergic. (How sad!) She was litterbox trained. {Ahhhh!!} We went to visit her and she immediately snuggled up to my chin to say hi. She was sweet, she was pretty, she needed to be ours. Even as Hubs filled out the paperwork to adopt her, I don't think he was as certain.

Izzy's "Gotcha" Day
We found her, we wanted her. The girls had a late start due to the roads, but that didn't stop us! We went to visit her. She was so sweet. They brought her into a room with us. We played with her. Drake squealed with delight! The girls were excited, but cautious. Unsure if we would go through with it. We talked about renaming her, and all easily agreed on "Izzy". I told Hubs yes. He filled out the papers, unsure as well. I was sure. Well, I was sure that we wanted her. I was definitely worried that she wouldn't adapt well, or wouldn't like Drake, or would have accidents. When Hubs was done, we had to get the girls back to school while Izzy had her final check up there. We dropped them off, ran to Target for kitty supplies and then went to pick up our kitty! We got her home, let her out to roam, filled her litterbox, food and water. She just walked around our main level, sniffing, wandering. She found her food, water and litterbox. She did so well. She slept with Lili and in the clean laundry in the hallway. It was surreal. I expected problems. I expected accidents. There were none.

Best Buds

From Day 1, Drake has been in LOVE with this kitty! He squeals at her and shrieks in excitement! He loves waking up and seeing her walk down the stairs with us. For awhile, I think he was just surprised that she was still here! It only took a couple weeks for him to catch onto her name, and now he says it all the time. "Hey Iz! Hi Iz-Iz!" {You can also find him telling her "Noooo" or meowing at her.} Those two are quite the pair! We really appreciate that when she is sick of him picking on her, she goes and hides and comes out when she's ready again. He loves to wrestle with her, and she doesn't fight back. He lays on her, and she just lays there and bats at his head. He is obsessed with putting his finger in my mouth, and he does it to her, and she lets him. We could not have imagined a more perfect pet. Just yesterday, Drake ran into the entryway to play with Izzy on the steps, and he tripped and fell. Izzy was in crazy, playful mode, but as soon as he fussed, she ran down the starts and patted him on the back while trying to look at his face, as if to make sure he was ok. It was incredibly sweet.

So, here we are! A happy CAT family! The girls leave their doors cracked at night and Izzy sleeps with one of them each night. She roams freely when we are here and gone. My sister sent her a toy and a scratch post, which she LOVES to use. It has gone flawlessly. We love having a kitty to cuddle and play with!

Family Time at the Grocery Store

**DISCLAIMER: I am not a fun hater. I usually welcome any chance to giggle or add some fun to a situation. However, on this particular day, I was not up for much fun. Thank goodness for my hubby!**

A friend of mine said it best when she posted a picture of her son with a little red shopping cart on Facebook and said they are "the best and the worst thing ever". I COMPLETELY agree. On Saturday, Hubby, myself and alllllll of our kids headed to Fareway to get our groceries for the upcoming week and supplies for Christmas candy making. As I cringed when I saw the little red grocery carts and quickly tried to hustle everyone past them, my amazing, fun, awesome-dad of a husband stopped and pointed them out. And offered one to each kid. It doesn't take ridiculous strength or a super power to be a hero to your kids, and I am pretty sure that morning, Dad was their hero. Rescuing them from a boring Saturday morning at the grocery store.
We started out, Hubs had a list, and I had a list. The first thing the girls asked for, I said yes. They were genuinely surprised, and I was too. I told them that they had a limit to things they could ask for, so choose wisely. I wouldn't always say yes, but they didn't need to ask for everything they saw, either. We continue on our way, getting everything on our list. And Drake throwing things in his cart too...I guess he had a list of his own! We are having fun. The kids only need a few reminders that this is not a go-cart track, but we are doing fairly well. There is one lady in particular who would disagree whole-heartedly. She was not very amused by our family outing. She would look at us and just shake her head. Then there were other people that would giggle and say "what good helpers you have!" There are two kinds of people.
We ended the trip, all pulling into the same check out line, coming in under budget for groceries, and loading into the van. All smiles--Thanks to my hubby and his nonchalant way of going about things, and not caring what other people in the store thought. I am grateful that he saw the potential for happiness that day. I was clearly not even looking for it. 

Lili Logic

This one is sweet....

There has been a little boy at school that is just not very loving (I have a strong sense that he doesn't get very much love at home and that's why he acts out at school). Lili sits at a table with him. Now, she has dealt with bullies before. Why does it seem that bullies are attracted to her? Or that she is always put next to the bully? Here's why... Because Liliana has thee biggest heart. She truly cares and understands compassion. This girl is going to do huge things. She is going to change the world. It gives me goosebumps.
We were talking about this little boy the other night, and I mentioned that he is angry because maybe anger is all he knows. Lili knows love because she is loved and is surrounded by love. Maybe this boy knows anger because he is surrounded by it. {Grab your tissues now} Lili looked at me with big, blue, sad little eyes and said, "Mommy, I want to make E a picture. And I will make him one every day so he can feel loved and then he will be nice to me. I will tell everyone at our table to do it too."
Oh, my little Liliana. How I love your heart. God is going to do great things with you. This is only the beginning...and even the beginning is changing me and making me better. 

Soccer Monster

Nervously hugging her Teddy on the
way to her first game.

"I am a soccer monster, I love a soccer ball.
I'd rather play soccer than do anything at all.
You can be the kicker, I will be the blocker
Doesn't really matter, as long as we play SOCCER!"

This is a beloved Backyardigans song. Aunt Sares instilled the love of the Backyardigans in Cadee nearly 8 years ago. Cadence LOVED to watch them and sing along (And she and Lili still have Backyardigan marathons once in awhile). She would go through phases of what her favorite episodes were, and this particular episode fits her life so perfectly right now.
We have our FIRST kid in their FIRST sport! Cadee has chosen to be a soccer monster! She has been practicing at home and has had team practices for about a few weeks now. Last Saturday (Sept. 7) was her VERY first game! She was timid, she had a nervous tummy, she wasn't sure what to eat before the game, she was projecting her nervousness onto me by being snappy and cranky...but the entire time she was with her team and on the field, she had a big ol' grin on her face (Except when I caught her attention yelling, "Cadee! Go get the ball, girl!" She didn't appreciate that very much..)!

My Little Soccer Monster

It was the highlight of my week watching her play, and I hope it will be for many many Saturdays to come. I had a vivid view of the future, a premonition if you will, the moment before we left for the game. I saw a high school girl sitting in front of me, hair all done up, soccer gear on, grabbing her ball and heading out the door to practice. It was a quick glimpse at what may come.
My Little Soccer Monster, you make me so proud! I am excited to cheer you on in whatever the future may hold for you. 

Sharing My Story

Baby Liliana

I am sharing my post-baby stories at Des Moines Moms Blog today and my experience with postpartum depression. A very personal blog post for me to share with our DMMB readers, but I feel it's pretty necessary. Moms need to know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it's so hard to see that when you are in a dark place.