Vernon Fun

Tonight Kyle said, "I can't imagine a happier child on this planet."  We are so grateful beyond words that our little girl is happy with us!  We are in awe of her.

We see growth (physically and relationally) constantly, and she opens her heart a little bit more as she gets more comfortable here.  It's been surprisingly fast.  For example, today after her nap she wanted to snuggle a lot sitting together on the couch or chair.  Normally, Willow prefers snuggling to be while we stand and sway with her.  Allowing us to bond like that while sitting was so fun and new!  We had 'family couch' time!

Our time in Vernon was a wonderful treat.  We spent time with Kyle's family minus Uncle Kade, and we soaked it in!  Willow got to meet family and friends, and we were given a wonderful party to welcome her to the family.  

Also, how cool is this?  At the 'sip & see' party, we raised over $400, probably over $500, for Show Hope!  Thanks to the wonderful people in Vernon, kids in China with no one to advocate for them are getting medical care like Willow did!  

One more thing.  Willow has participated in two ALS ice bucket challenges.  She helped pour ice water on Aunt Neese's and Aunt Kenda's heads.

Now when we wash her hair or play in the little pool in our backyard, she squeals when we pour water on her head.  She also likes to pour it on our heads and laughs with delight.  She thinks that you're always supposed to scream when that happens, although in those two moments she truly was concerned for her aunt and great aunt!

Kyle and I went on a lunch date yesterday without a child for the first time in three months.  Willow napped and played with Gigi and Grandpa!  Eating just the two of us was so nice, but we noticed we talked about Willow nearly the whole date!  We will work on that.  :)

A little scrapbooking...

Some new words...

"Amen" or "Men"  (She tries to anticipate the end of the prayer and says it really quickly.)

"K." ('It's okay.'  When we apologize... It's so cute.)

"Go." (For let's go.)

"Ball."

"Bubbles."

"Diaper."

"Poop." (Sorry... It's true!)

"Cracker."

"Light."

"Goose." (For juice.)

"Water."

"Slide."

"Swing."

"Drink."

"Eat."

"Soller." (Stroller)

"Be back." 

"Tee." (Tree)

"Home."

"Car."

"Whoa!"

"Hi!"  (very animated and sing-songy)

Also, it was so funny.  The other day, Kyle had the Lord of the Rings on, and Gollum was on the screen.  Willow kept pointing and saying, "Pippy!"  (Our little chihuahua/yorkie dog's name is Pippin.). I could see the resemblance!  

She also called our white popcorn ceiling 'snow' randomly one afternoon.  She's just hilarious, and she loves snow due to Frozen. 

Willow loves a good walk around the neighborhood...

Ran off to chase bubbles...

On Gigi's last day of summer, we made snow!  

I'm praying for all of my educator friends.  The work you do every day is incredible and inspiring, and I know it'll be another great year of lives changed!

Loving every minute of our time together although we both miss Daddy TONS during the day!  She loves running to hug him when he gets home, and one of the first things they do together is always to go get the mail.

She finds this sock game hilarious.  I guess I laughed a lot the first time, because it is now a favorite 'go to' when she's trying to entertain us!

2 months ours!

Today we have known Willow for two months.  :)

We 'celebrated' by going to a doctors appointment that was nearly traumatizing!!  She had a sedated echo and woke up very upset.  Ugh, doctors are hard, because she can't understand what's going on.

The whole rest of the night her walking was wobbly from the sedation.  We enjoyed playing outside while Daddy finished working.

This week Willow had lunch with both sets of grandparents.  So loved!  She also saw both of her aunts, and we went to Kindermusik for the first time. 

We saw Grandpa's kind coworkers who have prayed for us along the way.

We are taking this weekend slow and easy!  Looking forward to some bonding time as a family.  Kyle was pumped this morning that she was into watching soccer players kick the ball!

I am finding myself so grateful this week for saving grace.

Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God. (1 Peter 3:18)

Soaking in the last bits of summer

Time to slide...

"One"

"Two"

"Threeeeeee!"

Corn at one of her grandparents' house.  She was making us laugh with all kinds of faces...

Visiting friends before the school year starts up again...

Willow's first wedding.  Congrats, Megan and Daniel!!

Watermelon and the backyard kiddie pool for the first time...  

Kyle also took the day off so that we could take Willow to the water park for the first time.  

She was overwhelmed at first, because there is a lot of stuff (and people) there.  However, we allowed her to take the lead on what she wanted to do.  We didn't push her, and eventually, she loved the wave pool and the endless river (my childhood fav).  She also enjoyed parts of the toddler area, but not for very long.  She will be all about it next summer I'm sure!  This time, she wanted to be held a lot for reassurance.  Works for us!

Brave enough to sit on the alligator!

Very tired, headed home!

This is the life!  Thank you, God.  Please grant us the grace of parenting Willow in a way that honors and blesses You.