Marcia's Birthday!

I was in Oklahoma for my sister's birthday. For several years, she has made her own birthday cake. I think that's terrible! Part of a birthday is not having to make a cake. At the least, someone else should buy her a cake. Anyway, so I asked what kind of cake she wanted. She said she had a recipe for a carrot cake and wanted to try it out. Sounds great, right?!

Ha! Carrot cake from scratch is a very complex and involved process. Cook and puree carrots, chop walnuts, coat the raisins in flour, fold in coconut, grease the pans...then there's the cream cheese frosting! It was the most involved cake I've ever made. But, I will definitely do it again. It was AMAZING!

I love Kye's face. He's so handsome.

Hurray for 31 years of life! Happy Birthday, Marcia! Love you!

Hurray for yummy, yummy, yummy cake!

Seriously, people, I will only make this cake, like, once a year, but it makes TONS of cake and it's so good. It keeps well, too. Even better on day two!

Differences

Macie and Lily are very different. After some people read my post about them, they wanted to know how they are different.

Primarily, they are physically totally different. Lily and Macie are about the same length, but Lily is 13 pounds and Macie is 17. Macie has over 3 inches of soft hair and Lily has less than 1/8 cm. Both ladies have the rainbow eyes when they smile. Macie is soft and snuggly and Lily holds herself tight and firm all of the time. She doesn't love to be held too much, while Macie just loves it. Macie is usually hot and Lily is always cold.

Lily rations her smiles. She smiles most when she's well fed and just woke up, but they are pretty reserved. She almost always smiles at daddy. She smiles at most strangers who smile at her. But she smiles at mommy only when we're playing. Macie is the most smily baby I've ever seen. She will smile if someone is simply looking in her general direction. She's just eats up any attention and gives it right back. It's SO fun to have Macie smile at you.

Lily has a sober personality and seems to be a thinker. She looks down a lot and I'm not sure if it's the weight of her head or if she just likes the floor. Macie looks in your eyes and has very expressive eyebrows. If she's not happy, you can tell by her eyes.

Lily plays really well on her own. She can hold her binky and put it in her mouth all by herself. She loves to look at/hold my hand and a simple rattle could keep her happy for a long time. Macie has the advantage of having a little Jester of a brother who dances and plays with her. I think that's one reason she likes to have people with her more.

No matter the differences, they are both so sweet. I hope that despite their differences, they will want to be friends! I hope someday our families will live closer together, but either way I know they will see each other. They have no choice with how much their mommies love each other and their daddies family gets together!

Happy Birthday, James

Happy Birthday to my sweet, loving and handsome honey!

I love you more and more each year. You're an amazing father. You try so hard to pretend that you're a toughy, but I love how you adore our Lily. She has brought out another side of you that has made me fall even more in love with you.

Thanks, love for EVERYthing you did this past few weeks that I've been gone. You have really been a hero in serving those around you. I know you were appreciated. I really feel proud to say you're mine and I truly see your desire to be Christ-like in your actions.

Even though you seem totally anti-social and grumpy to some people, I know the real you. You have a heart of gold. You are my best friend. I love you! Happy 29th!

Video love for daddies and grandparents

For our daddies so far away!

Macie and Lily

There are some major perks to having a cousin who is so close to you in age. Lily (ok, mommy)particularly likes that she can borrow Macie's cute clothes!

This outfit is adorable, but the hat is too little and without hair she looks like she's sick or something. We also love trying out the Bumbo chair. Lily can sit up and see what's going on!

Another perk is having someone warm and your size to cuddle up with before bed.

In Memorium

Today was the funeral of a wonderful person who will be missed on this earth, but who had fulfilled her earthly calling and moved on to a happier place. I know that sounds cheesy, but I 100% believe it's true.

Marie Jeppson was the mother of my friend Olivia and my second mother for a solid 6 years of my life. I'm broken-hearted that I'm in Oklahoma and missed formally saying goodbye, but I'm thinking of her today. She died too young, but I know that she is happy where she is now.

My favorite memories include her waking us up in the morning after sleepovers (when we had somewhere to be) by clapping. I would always die laughing about it, in retrospect. At the time, it scared me to death! I will also never forget the millions of times we went to Taco Bell or McDonald's and she paid for me out of her hard-earned money. She never complained. With all of the day-to-day kindnesses, I could go on for pages. But I'll just mention my most treasured memory of her - and that is the night I had my first kiss. I left Olivia's for a few minutes to walk a boy (that I very much liked) to his house a block away and when I came back, MARIE totally called me out on it! She said, "Oh, you've been kissed!" I'll never forget feeling so excited and chagrined that she could tell! She was so pleased to see me happy and I remember feeling like she loved me.

More recently, Marie had struggled with her health, but she was an angel at heart. She was long-suffering and happy despite all of her ills. She loved her grand-children, and most of all she loved her only daughter, Olivia.

We will miss you, Marie. Thanks for being who you were, and thanks for raising a daughter who parallels you in charity, compassion and service.

Ooooooooooooooklahoma, where the...

Lily and I are visiting the fine state of Oklahoma to hang out with my sister Marcia and her two kids, Kye and Macie.

Macie and Lily are 17 days apart and it's so fun to see the differences and similarities. These two girls have the same genetics because their moms are sisters and their dads are brothers. Yet, they couldn't look more different!

More fun pictures to come!

BIG Bath

Lily is getting to long (tall) for the baby bath, so we took the plunge (not really) into the big bath. I had to scrub it clean first. I had thought it was mostly clean until I had to think about putting my baby in it. Then it was suddenly filthy. Anyway, she took it like a pro! No fear of water here!

Giggles