Happy 3rd Birthday Alli!!!!

Hard to believe but this gorgeous little girl was born 3 years ago today and is as spunky and sweet as ever!!!

Our beautiful new baby Alli Nicole

Very much enjoying a cupcake on her 1st birthday :)

So excited to be a big 2 year old!!!

Be sure to check back later today for a picture of our beautiful 3 year old . . . who is still snoozing at the moment ;-)

We love you Alli!!!

Little Smarty-Pants ;-)

One of Alli's favorite things to do is play with Play-doh.  This is a daily (sometimes multiple times a day!) activity now.  Well, last Tuesday after dinner she was playing with the pieces and managed to spell her name . . . by HERSELF!!!!!  We were busy talking when we noticed what she was doing and had to run for the camera :)  It was adorable how she even made sure to dot the 'i'.  Our little genius . . . okay, that may be a little over the top, but let's face it, this is impressive and she was so proud!  We wondered if it was a fluke but at school on Friday, she took it upon herself to write her own name on all of her art projects.  Wow!  We are so proud of her!  Of course, if you write the letter 'A' and ask her what letter it is, she will say "Alli" ~ we're still working on that ;-)

In other news, Eli is a FABULOUS little eater.  Another WOO HOO from us!!!  As you recall, Alli was NOT a good eater at any age so it is so fun for us to have a baby that cannot get enough of the food and opens his mouth for almost anything.  With Alli, she HATED baby food and really didn't eat anything other than milk until she was about 9.5 months old and even then she would only eat mashed potatoes, ham and yogurt.  Taking that as a cue, we decided to just make Eli's baby food and it has been a huge hit!!!  We love it because it is so easy and much cheaper ;-)  So far, he's had sweet potatoes and carrots ~ loves them mixed.  We also give him bananas and apples in his mesh feeder, which he LOVES.  Alli's morning snack is usually apples with peanut butter and he kept grabbing for her apples so we put a slice in his mesh feeder and he went to town ~ ate 2.5 slices that morning! 

Alli thinks it is loads of fun to feed Eli and has been a great little helper.  He gets a little messier when Alli does the feeds but they both have a great time.  Eli is so enthralled with Alli and just loves any opportunity to play with her :) 

Alli is also quite protective of him during the feedings . . . I was using another spoon to try and clean his face while she was feeding him and she got very concerned that I was going to give him a bit when his mouth was full.  Her hand went up and this is what I heard: "No, no, he has a mouthful, we don't want him to choke!"  I had to assure her I wasn't giving him a bite ;-)

Mr. Cool wearin' his shades . . .

Entertaining Alli :)

Yesterday, Alli decided to play with Eli's little lion, which plays Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.  She was rubbing it on her cheek and noticed one of the paws had white stuff on it.  She asked me what was on it and when I told her I though Eli spit up on it, she looked at it, at me, then tossed it to the floor saying "Eew, gross!"  She was so serious and I couldn't stop laughing!

Yet another reminder of how precious life is . . .

Since the deaths of our grandmothers, we have been making an effort to spend as much time as possible with our families.  This weekend, we realized how important this truly is . . . As I said in my previous post, yesterday, one of my dear friends from college lost her younger brother in a tragic accident.  He was Zach's age.  So young and so much life ahead of him.  While we know he is now safe with the Father, it is difficult for those left behind to make sense of it.  I was still trying to process that information when I went to church this morning and there my mom asked me if I had seen Michelle's blog. 

For those that do not know, Michelle is one of my oldest and dearest friends.  We were neighbors growing up and I have always thought of her as the big sister I never had.  In fact, she and Sean (another neighbor ~ both pictured left at my wedding) are probably the best friends I have ever had ~ doesn't matter how much time passes, when I talk to either of them, it is as if we pick right up where we left off, never missing a beat. 

It turns out that Michelle suffered a sudden, excruciating headache on Thursday morning.  Praise God, she took it seriously and has been in the ICU since Thursday with a small (again, Praise God!) brain bleed.  Learning this took my breath away.  I had just spoken with her last Sunday and we were both excited about an upcoming visit.  Life is so precious and can change forever in the blink of an eye.

I shared this with Garrett's mom at church and she asked if we still wanted to get together tonight. After the deaths of our grandmas, Garrett and I told his family that we would like to start having dinner with them and Pop every Sunday. We want our kids to spend time with Great Pop and have lots of memories of him.  I said yes, now more than ever I want to be with the family.

Michelle wasn't sure she would make it at one point and had this to say on her blog . . .

Life is short and precious........ Make sure your family knows you love them, tell them daily, be kind to others, and never let work or any outside factors affect the things that matter most to you.

She is absolutely right!  It is scary to me that it takes something like this to make us slow down but everything happens for a reason.   Right now, I am so thankful that we had the good sense to move home to be near our families.  We love you all so much and are so glad to have this time together.

I hope you will pray for Michelle and her family.  We are praying for a speedy recovery so she can go home and hold that adorable little girl of hers (Lauren is just a month and a half older than Eli) and her husband Jon.  We love you guys!

Please pray for my friend

I got home today to find a voicemail from a college friend saying that a mutual friend was in need of prayers.  My heart broke when she shared that our friend's younger brother died in a fire this morning.  He was a graduate student and apparently died in an apartment fire.  She and her family are requesting prayers right now.  Yet another reminder of how short and unexpected life can be . . .

Doesn't get much better than this . . .

Brother + Sister  + Giggles + Tickling = Love

Woo hoo!!!!  They finally seem to have fun playing together and Alli seems to actually like him :)

Happy moments . . .

Had to share a couple entertaining photos of our little ones . . .

Alli's favorite game lately is to pretend she is on a bus or airplane.  Of course, all of her "friends" must join here.  Below are a few photos I took of her the first time she played this game.  I came upstairs to find all of her "friends" lined up along the stairs with her sitting there with them :)  Too cute!

Santa brought Eli this jumperoo for Christmas and it has been a source of great joy for him and us (watching him!) since Christmas morning.  He really is quite the mover and shaker!  I love the first photo best because you can see him mid jump ;-)

Some photos of our grandmas . . .

A couple years ago, our computer died and we lost many photos.  Fortunately, last night we were able to raid G's mom's computer and found some great ones of Great Gramma Stock with the kiddos and this morning when I checked my email, my wonderful cousin Jamie (love you and appreciate you!) had sent me some pictures of me and my Gma from her wedding in 2005 (last time I saw my Gma).  Enjoy our memories . . .

Me & Gma Schneider

Me, Gma & Dad (her oldest child)

Gma with my Dad, Aunt Linda & Uncle Bill (Uncle David wasn't able to be there)

Dad, Gma & me ~ doesn't she look so happy and beautiful???

One of our favorite pictures of Pop & Mama in front of Stock's Tree Farm

The first time Great Gramma met Alli ~ how cute are they???

Alli, Barbie Gramma & Great Gramma at the Victorian Tea Room

Great Gramma finally meets and holds Eli!

It would be an understatement to say that it has been a tough few days in our house.  We know that both of our grandmas lived long, full lives and they are both better off now that they are with Jesus, but it still leaves a void and many unresolved feelings that are surfacing.  Thank you for all of the kind words and prayers.

Sadly, more goodbyes . . .

Great Gramma Dorothy Schneider passed away at 5:42 p.m.

Here is my Grandma (pictured with my brother Tony) on my wedding day.

Sadly, we never made it back to Wisconsin with Alli or Eli so they know her only through pictures.

Unfortunately, my folks did not make it back to Watertown to be with her in her final moments.
They are in WI but still on the drive to Watertown.

Thankfully, we know she is now reunited with Grandpa in Heaven.

Love you Grandma!