The last time I posted it was a random time in September and before that I was in the middle of telling about our visit to PA. We did have a great end to our visit in PA with a trip to Dutch Wonderland and a fun time at Elverson Days where the girls were able to have multiple pony rides and fun with their cousins watching fireworks. We ended up leaving at about 9:30 that Saturday evening and then driving through the night and getting home in time for dinner on Sunday.
After our trip to PA, I took the month of July to start potty training Emily. I think she was harder to potty train than Haley, she was a bit more stubborn. I started on a Monday and she didn't really start getting it until Friday. I think our lowest point was Thursday where I remember she had peed all over the place and then Haley was playing under the sink and she messed up one of the pipes down there and there was water all over the inside of the cabinet and then David got home from work and spilled his glass of water at dinner. I was really sick of cleaning up liquid at the end of that day. A couple weeks into July, a case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus went through our church. Emily and David ended up contracting this extremely contagious disease and the rest of us went unscathed. The problem with Hand, Foot and Mouth is that it is super contagious and hangs around for a long time so we were stuck at our house for almost two weeks. Between the potty training and the HFM, I was really ready to get out! Oh and I think it was in July that Haley gave up her paci sucking in exchange for an Elsa wand!
In August we went with David to recurrent training in Wichita, Kansas. We were there for a few days. David would go to school during the day while the girls and I swam in the hotel pool, took walks around the city and visited the city library. Our intent was to drive straight to Michigan from Wichita but then one of David's co-workers mother's died and they needed him to fly so we ended up going back to Longview. Our trip to Michigan was pushed back about a week if I remember correctly and during that week our pastor (Pastor Kelly Liebengood for those who are interested) got super sick with a rare infectious disease he picked up on a recent trip to Costa Rica. He was VERY sick, deathly ill I would even say. Anyways, our whole church was praying 24 hours a day and we even considered pushing the trip to Michigan back but we decided to go since Christina was home from China and was going back very soon. I remember we drove through the night and I had the 2:30 - 7:30 shift and I prayed through a lot of those hours. Anyways, it was really cool because I felt like God was wanting me to pray that Kelly would be healed and not just healed, but healed quickly. It was interesting to me because I had just been told the day before that his recovery would be long and arduous. Anyways, about an hour after we got to Michigan (9 that next morning), we were sent a text of Kelly's lungs which had miraculously cleared up during the night. David and I were so excited. It was so good to be with everyone in Michigan. One of my favorite days was the day we spent at a nearby lake. We packed a picnic and spent the time swimming in the cold water and just talking in the sun. We also went to Lake Michigan and Windmill Island while we were there. The girls have so much fun playing with the Higgins cousins and while we were there we got to go to the reveal party where we found out that the next Higgins would be a girl!
The best part of September, by far, was a visit from Aunt Kimi! She came down with Ellie and arrived just in time to celebrate Emily's Birthday with us. We picked her up in Dallas and went straight to the Dallas Aquarium. Haley and Emily still talk about that trip to the aquarium. Libby hasn't mentioned it at all but I'm sure she will once she learns how to talk. It was so fun to introduce Aunt Kimi to everyone at church. Not only did she see them on Sunday, she also saw everyone at a joint Birthday part we had for Emily on Sunday evening. Eli Freeman turned 1 on September 6th and Caroline Mason turned 10 (I think?) on September 7th so we had a three-way party for them and Emily on that Sunday evening. I was in charge of the cakes and I was so glad that Kim was there because she made an adorable smash cake for Eli. We had a great time showing Aunt Kimi and Ellie around Longview, it was such a fun visit.
In October I can't really remember what all we did. The only think I can think of would be the harvest festival we went to at a local church. Haley went as Elsa and Emily wore a princess dress that had already been wearing that day.
November was a big month. Libby was baptized on November 9th and Mimi and Pops were visiting the week before for a trustee meeting and then David's parent's came down the day before her baptism and stayed a couple days later. Everytime we drive by the hotel where Mimi and Pops stayed, Haley and Emily start yelling and pointing and talking about when Mimi and Pops stayed there. We invited the church over to our house after Libby's baptism for an informal luncheon. Mom and I made a TON of chilli. I don't remember how much it was exactly but I know it had at least 10 pounds of meat in it. It was good we made that much because there ended up being quite a few college students that came, haha. A couple weeks after Libby's baptism, we had our neighborhood block party. A couple days after that, David got his wisdom teeth out. The day after that, I took the girls to the park and Emily knocked her teeth on a merry-go-round type toy they have there and ended up chipping one of her front teeth and knocking it straight up into her gums. It actually looked like she had knocked the tooth out and I actually spent quite a while looking for the missing tooth (I guess I thought they would put it back in?). Anyways, we ended up taking Emily to the oral surgeon who had taken David's wisdom teeth out the day before (a friend of our's) and he ended up referring us to a local pediatric dentist because his x-ray machine was too big for little Emy's mouth. Emily ended up doing so well at the dentist, and it was during her naptime and everything. We were pretty surprised to hear that the tooth was still there, just jammed up into her gum. As of now, it has come almost the whole way back down, quite crookedly and not to it's normal spot. The dentist told us it would be 99% likely that it would get infected and it never did! Anyways, the latest is that it will be certainly fall out prematurely. A couple days after the tooth incident, we headed up to Michigan for Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving with Tio Enrique and Tia Phebe's family. I remember I contributed a pumpkin cheesecake and some corn pudding and I think that was it. We had so much food including turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, green bean casserole, and more! We also did some Thanksgiving shopping, starting on Thanksgiving evening! I had never done 'Black Friday' shopping that early but we did get some awesome deals. The mall in Holland is pretty, well, lame but it made for some awesome Black Friday shopping (same deals at department stores without the awful lines :). The girls also got to experience some snow while we were in Michigan which was pretty exciting for them! We headed back to Texas on Friday morning and stopped in Chicago on the way to say 'hi' to the Brusts and the Mountz's and Caleb and Brie who were visiting the Brusts. We met them in the city and ate at the Walnut Room for dinner. It was quite magical. The girls were given 'wishing stones' and several fairies who were 'floating' around the restaurant came and had them make wishes. Jonathan convinced David (how, I will NEVER know) to drive back to Wheaton and spend the night at their friend's house (the friend was out of town and had offered their home for any visiting guests). I drove the van with Carly and Kimi (and all the babies: Charlotte, Parker, and Libby) and David, Jon, and Jonathan took all the older kids on the train (along with Brie and Caleb). Then Haley spent the night on the top bunk with Calla but Emily, Libby, David and I slept at their friend's house and left for Texas the next morning.
Well I know I have one more month to go but I'm going to stop there and call it a post! I'll leave with some isms:
Haleyism:
Today (3/23/15), Haley was talking and I thought she was talking to me (I was walking past her) so I asked her to repeat what she said. She responded by saying, "I wasn't talking to you Mommy, I was talking to Jesus in my heart." I then heard her finish her words to Jesus which consisted of a prayer asking him to help the strawberry she was about to eat taste good.
Emilyism:
Emily currently has a pinching problem.
Libbyism:
Libby can say 'uh oh.' It's cute except she drops her paci all the time just so she can say it and it does get a little tiring :).
David is not home so I don't have access to the pictures from his phone but I got these from the desktop:
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| We had some family pictures taken this fall by my friend Julianne |
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| This is my favorite of the girl's |
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| Preview: this picture is taken of the girls on Christmas morning! |
