Lillian Walking

So I wasn't going to post anything until school was done but decided that this momentous occasion should be documented. After we said prayers on April 17th 2007 Lily diceded to follow Andrew on foot not knees to his bed because he had forgotten to hug her. Will and I both saw this and got excited. Will turned her to me after she got her hug from Andrew and she took three steps to me. I picked her up and gave her a hug. She was very happy about the attention and so she was willing to walk back to Will. Finally Will had the brilliant idea to grab the camera.








Lily did good at first taking steady steps from mommy to daddy.










Then she started showing that it really was bed time and started teetering. It didn't help that Andrew was sitting down with his nightime water on mommy's lap to distract Lily from her new ability.











Of course eventually there was a stumble and a crash. Andrew was very excited to see Lily move he gave her another big hug when it appeared that she was done.
(ie. she wouldn't stand up anymore)








Interestingly enough both kids went to bed easily after the excitement and slept till late the next morning.

Great Grandma Pulley

There are times in our lives when we get to look back and think how grateful we were that we didn't miss them. For the past several months due to our proximity to Mom and Dad or Grandma and Grandpa Muir we have been able to enjoy the company of Great Grandma Pulley. Sometimes it might seem hard to have a conversation with her and sometimes she seems, well, old- fashioned but if anyone has seen how she loves they know what I'm talking about.


Since I've been in school Andrew and Lily have been spending most of their afternoons and evenings at Grandma and Grandpa Muir's. They have each had amazing moments with their great grandmother.


When Lily started standing up next to furniture Great Grandma Pulley started working with her. They had a daily exercise routine where Great Grandma would hold Lily's hands and work patiently with her until she could manage one, then two, and then many steps. They did this every day and now Lily has the confidence she needs to walk holding onto only one finger. I know that Great Grandma Pulley's help will be a huge influence on her walking on her own.



Andrew and Great Grandma Pulley made their own bond. He would push his limits she would correct him and he would share his amazing loving nature with her. She got him to stop spitting on people during one of the first weeks that she was here . He repayed her with hugs. Often Grandma Muir would hear him say simple phrases of appreciation and love to Great Grandma Pulley and would feel sorry that her mother couldn't hear the precious words she was being given.


I think that Great Grandma Pulley has had a wonderful affect on my children and we will miss her very much now that she has gone back up north. To all those tht get to be near her now "don't miss out!"

St. Patrick's Day

As a child my mother always took time to enjoy all of the holidays. On St. Patrick's day she would help us pick out Green clothes and then she would sometimes send us on treasure hunts, following paper rainbows, or play tricks on us and blame it on the Leprechauns. We made hats and shoes and had all sorts of fun. I don't know if it's the memories or the fact that I love that there is a holiday that's symbolized by my favorite color but I always enjoy myself of St. Paddy's day.




Since this was the first St. Patrick's day that Andrew was able to participate in with me, I decided to have some fun with him. Andrew helped me glue the hat together and then he told me were to put the stickers because he couldn't get them off the paper by himself.



He was also nice enough to suggest that we ought to give a sticker to Lily too since she was too little to make her own hat. What a thoughtful big brother. She seemed to like the idea because she didn't try to take it off right away.





Lily may not have been able to understand the story but when Andrew called this bungie cord a snake Lily decided she should take care of it. Has anyone read "A Series of Unfortunate Events" Lily decided she would "bite" to solve the problem of this snake.









I think Andrew may have taken a trick from the Leprechauns when he managed this smile.
He sure seems to have the mischeviousness down.










I think that Andrew may have had as much fun as I did. Growing up it never occured to me to think of St. Patrick's day as a Catholic or Irish holiday it was just a day to be joyful and I think I've been able to share that with my family. Just look at the results.

Playing with Daddy

Okay so we have been busy however the weekend before our Spring 'not' Break I caught Will teaching Andrew how to play a new way with his little sister.












I heard the three of them laughing outside as I was cooking supper. When I went out Will told me to grab a camera because this was just too cute.



Will asked Andrew to show me he could do it too. So I watched as Will guided Andrew around the yard. As you can see William took extra care while Lily and Andrew just enjoy.



I figured there must have been a swarm of nats since both of them closed their mouths at the same time.

All in all I think that both daddy and definately kids loved the time they were able to spend with one another.

Lillian's 1st Birthday

Okay so it's been awhile since we put anything into this blog thing and Will actually never sat down and gave me a tutorial. However we've had a little bit of excitment since the last posting. So Lillian Louise had her birthday yesterday and of course got her own birthday cake.
When Lily first got her cake she was much more interested in the fire than in anything else. Once Grandma Muir lit that candle Lily didn't know what she was allowed to do. She looked at Grandma for a long time and then looked at the candle. After what seemed like forever of different people miming blowing she started copying them though she never directed the forced air in the direction of the candle. In the end either Grandma Muir or Andrew actually got the candle to go out.

Andrew wanted to get involved becasue he didn't think Lily was doing it quite right.














Lily did finally get the hang of what was supposed to be going on. The way she went at the cake one would never guess that she had had two plates of dinner, hers and Andrew's, just prior to everyone showing up for cake and icecream. Finally Grandpa Muir said we should take the cake away before she got sick so we did. Lily didn't seem to mind.

Can anyone say "Sugar High"! It was a wonderful day for us here in Boulder City.

Pictures

Thought I ought to post some pictures so this blog isn't too boring. Here's our most recent family photo.
And some of the kids....









It starts way too early!!! Lily was trying to steal the remote and Andrew kept pulling it
out of her reach.





Andrew is such a ham! But who can get upset with such a cute kid? I can see we're in for a lot of trouble when he figures that out.









Then of course we had fun at Halloween...


Andrew was totally excited about his race car driver costume that Mommy made him. What made the time even better was that his cousins were there too! He and Sam had such a fun time that they have both called the other one since and talked on the phone.








Our coy little trick or treaters. Lily was a cuddle bug or cutie bug. Either way, she was adorable. Mary made that costume as well. Don't I have an awesome wife!!!









Well that's all for now. We'll put up some more soon Thanks for looking!
-Will

First entry...

Well, I suppose as the resident family computer guru its about time I got my own blog. I suspect Mary will update more often than I do (once I show her how), but nevertheless, after reading Coco's and Jer's blog I find it a rather useful way to disseminate information! We'll put up some photos soon of our family and kids and the goings on in our life.