Here's a little video to get this blog post rolling...
If you didn't catch that, she's singing a portion of "Veggie Tales". And the facial expressions are ALL hers.
That video was taken this past monday after spending the entire weekend with Chad (which is probably why Livie was singing around the house ALL day on monday). His singing is pretty contagious. At least to her ;).
It may sound kinda funny to say we spent the entire weekend with him...but anyone that knows our lives right now, knows that is not normal. So, in case you're wondering how we got to share a whole weekend together? Well, we got snowed in. Up in Chicago. Yeah. Fun.
The plan was for the four of us to spend some quality time in driving to Chicago on friday to pick up our new table and chairs...and then come straight home. Well, the weather had some other plans for us. An hour into the trip, it started snowing. By the time we got to Chicago and actually got everything into the trailer, the snow was coming down thick. So, picture this. We're driving in Naperville (small streets) with Chad's big truck pulling a large trailer, our girls are in the back seat (doing pretty good for the circumstances), snow is everywhere and not stopping anytime soon (maybe by 11pm??), traffic is bad, and we're all starting to get hungry. No one is in the best of moods (to put it lightly). Not a smart idea to drive back to Peoria at this point. So, we booked a hotel. And after some directional difficulties...my bad :(...and much bonding time, we parked, checked-in, ate, apologized to each other, and relaxed :).
The snow did stop around midnight. And driving home the next day was a breeze. The end result of it all? A memorable weekend away :) and a great table and chairs (which we already have set up and are thoroughly enjoying).
The house is coming along great. I don't have any new pictures because honestly, I haven't been there much lately. Instead, I've been meeting Chad places to go over tile and cabinetry. Which is really fun!! Chad's been working and overseeing that everything is getting done perfectly. We passed inspection for insulation, so that has been getting installed this week. And the next step should be drywall. Yay!
The girls both have had colds again. But other than that, they are doing great. Emma has learned to roll from her tummy to her back this week. Such a milestone for her. No more rolling to her tummy and getting stuck! And so she's loving this position lately. I'm thinking crawling is right around the corner for her...
And Livie is pretty well potty-trained! Just in the past two weeks, something clicked. She doesn't need to be reminded to go, hasn't had accidents, and I actually find her going by herself A LOT. I'm still nervous to take her out without a pull-up (just in case we end up somewhere without a toilet), but I'm working on it.
Apparently, her baby is getting trained too...
One more video. The excitement (and love) Livie has for Emma :). I think its mutual most days. And sorry it's so dark. I downloaded an 8mm vintage camera app to my phone...still trying to figure it out!
Last thing, which probably should have been the first. But it's hard for me to have words to say about it. My mom had back surgery this week. The majority of her spinal column was fused together in order to correct her scoliosis and prevent further curving and pain. She's had a bad curve for years and her and Dad have prayed about this for a long time.
Today, she is 2 days post-op, really tired, on a lot of pain medicine. It's really hard to see my mom like this. Probably because she's my mom. You know? The one whose always been there for me. But I praise God that she's doing well, that her doctor said surgery went well, and that God's in control.
She's got a long road of recovery ahead of her. I'm sure God's got lots planned for her and our family through this :). We love you mom!
