Lili's Sealing Day

After our adoptions our finalized, we can go to the temple as a family. It is in this ceremony where an officiator who holds the Priesthood unites our family for all eternity. Zane and I were married in this temple 12 years ago and now all three of our kids have been sealed to us in this temple.

One of my favorite parts of our sealing days is right before entering the temple. Our family is excited, happy, and loving as we drive then walk into the temple. There is peace. No one is fighting. Everyone is calm. This rarely happens in our house. :) This time we all held hands as we walked in with me carrying Lili and I just felt an overwhelming love for my family.

By the time the ceremony starts, the feeling of calmness in the boys has left. It is always short lived with them. In the temple we dress in white clothes.  Zane and I knelt at the alter and Dallin and Gavin (also dressed in white) stood near the alter.  My mom placed Lili's hand on ours and the ceremony was performed (like a marriage ceremony). After it was over, our sealer mentioned that it was the first time he has seen the alter used as a trampoline. Gavin wanted to get as close to me as possible so stood on the cushion part of alter (where we kneel) and started jumping. Reverence is a problem that we constantly work on. We stood together as a family looking in a mirror that reflects another mirror behind us. While looking in this mirror, our family is reflected on and on looking like it goes on forever.

By the time we are dressed and outside to take pictures, the kids have had it. No longer are they filled with peace and love. Instead all they can think about is walking around the fountain and playing with their cousins. This makes taking pictures of this memorable day a little hard!

Picture with our family and friends who joined us in the temple.

My immediate family minus my brother Jared and his family and my sister Lindsey and her husband.

Trying to get the boys to hold still long enough for pictures is very difficult. Trying to get Lili to smile is nearly impossible.

The best picture of the day...Lili will always smile at her dad.

 

 Fun snapshots...Gavin loves her cousin Ellery

Love this picture with Grandma!

One handsome kid (Grandpa tied his tie :)

Who is also a very silly boy!


Our big one year old on her special day!

Notes to remember:

Lili was sealed to us on Novermber 30th on her 1st birthday

The sealer was Brother Steward.

My dad and Matt were witnesses.

The Birthday Princess!

 Miss Lili Loo is one! After her big day at the temple, we came back to our house for a luncheon and birthday celebration. Lili is a great eater so she loved every bit of her party.

 

She didn't understand blowing out the candles, so her brothers helped her out.

 Typical Lili, she just started eating her cake like it was no big deal. No excitement or smiles.

Finally a smile at the end!

 Like most one year olds, Lili was more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents.

Our last wagon didn't last the two boys, so Lili got a new wagon.  She loves her new ride!

 

I can't believe how much Lili has changed. She is such a delight and sweet baby.

 Lili as a 4 pound new baby. I can't believe she used to be this small!

Four months old and the cheeks are starting to fill out.

6 Months

9 Months

 The big one year old! She is a speedy crawler, can stand for a few seconds before realizing she is standing then sits, walks along the couch, and has taken a step or two. Lili cracks us up because if she can't get somewhere because something is blocking her way, she crawls backwards trying to get in. She is a great backwards crawler.

We love you Miss Lili Loo

So Thankful

 I wanted to share a few moments that made me smile this last month.

 I love seeing my boys interacting with their daddy. They are bonding over an angry bird movie in this picture. Whatever works! Zane also took them on a Father's and Son's camp out a week ago while Lili and I got some girl time. I hope my kids are always close to their dad and realize what an amazing man he is.

Since starting home schooling, I have felt like Gavin has gotten less individual time with me. If I wasn't home schooling, I would be teaching a preschool class for Gavin and his friends in my house. I try to include Gavin in our home schooling activities, but he just isn't ready for any sit down education. I feel like so many times I'm telling Gavin to wait until I finish something with Dallin (listening to him read, math etc) or am busy taking care of Lili's needs. Gavin is such an easy going kid that he doesn't seem to mind or is suffering from it. But moms are the worse at making themselves feel guilty. I don't know how moms with really big families do it! It has cross my mind several times that just like Gavin I was the 2nd child and I was also very easy going...

I love when I get moments where it is just Gavin and me together.

Gavin could paint all day long!

At the beginning of this month, I joined this group of fun women and went to Time Out for Women. We stayed over night  and had a great weekend. I got some girl time in, ate great food, and got some spiritual rejuvenation!  I came home a much happier wife and mom!

This little girl is constantly making me smile. She is in the exploring stage and while I put away groceries, she pulled a Popsicle out of the freezer. She was trying to get it open and I let her continue to try because I thought biting on a Popsicle could help with teething gums and it was keeping her occupied while I put groceries away. When I went to check on her, Lili had found a way to open the Popsicle and was enjoying it immensely.  She was pretty proud of herself too.

Teaching is going really well right now and Dallin is thriving. I'm so amazed at his progress. In the lesson below we played with magic goo (water and cornstarch) and watched it turn from a liquid to a solid. The boys took the lesson further and decided to experiment what would happen to the magic goo on the dinosaur. I love it when they are excited to learn!

I'm so thankful for how helpful Dallin is. When he noticed Lili fussing for me, he picked her up and started dancing with her.  Dallin is a great big brother and super helpful!

 Lili's birthday is on Saturday. Our family has been reminiscing lately about our trip a year ago to get Lili. I am so grateful for Zane's sister Toni taking us in for a month. Her family made the hard situation so much easier! I can't believe how far our little 4 pound baby has come in a year! On Saturday we are sealing Lili to our family for all eternity in the temple. We are so excited! My friend took a few pictures of Lili in her white dress. Lili wasn't too excited about wearing her dress again and not being able to move in the bean bag so she refused to smile at our funny faces. Even without a smile, Lili is such a pretty baby!

 Our kids bring so much joy to our life (and headaches too...). Not a day goes by where I don't think of three courageous women who put in our care the most precious gifts. We have so much to be grateful for.

Dress ups

As I was going through some pictures, I found these gems. The boys have a fascination with Lili's clothes, jewelry, hair boys, socks with beads on them, sparkly shoes etc. I think it is all so new to them and different.

 Lili's 6 months tights on Gavin (inside out and backwards)

The fancination with the girl things last just for a little while and they are back being crazy and silly.

 (Dallin's spiderman boxer briefs were a sensation. Gavin still like to steal them and put them on over his own underwear and wear them like shorts.) I wonder what will happen when I start painting Lili's finger nails?

There is always a chance when you come over that Dallin and Gavin have disappeared and Captain America or Thor have replaced them. Whether they are trying on Lili's skirts or their own costumes, the boys have a great imagination.

Gymnastics

When the school started, I wanted to find a class for Dallin that would help release energy, give him a chance to be instructed by someone else, and be with a group of kids. Dallin wasn't ready to start up TaeKwonDo in our new area, so we decided on gymnastics. Dallin loves to tumble and jump and I think he could be really good at parkour.  Gymnastics also helps build core strength. Luckily for Gavin, the gym also offered a class at the same time for his age. I jumped at that!

Gavin can be a free spirit and a silly boy so gymnastics has helped him learn to follow instructions and sit and wait his turn. His balance has also improved. Gavin loves gymnastics!

 Dallin has done really well. Not only is he getting exercise, but he has also had lessons on keeping his hands to himself while waiting in line and how to make new friends appropriately (you know using your words to start a conversation instead of pushing.) It is hard to get pictures of him because he rotates throughout the gym and I can't always see him. He is in the red in the picture below working on the rings.

Pommel horse

Climbing the rope as a Transformer (Halloween time)

For now this is our sport of choice until swim season starts up again!

Lili's Happenings

 This little girl is growing up way too fast. I can't believe how fast this year has flown. She is 11 months old now and has been very busy this last month exploring her world and trying new things.

Our family loves green smoothies and luckily so does Lili! I usually hold the cup for her to drink but all to often I'm interrupted and have to walk away for a second to take care of some crisis. In this picture she took things in her own hands and found a way to keep drinking. It worked pretty well! Lili is definitely an independent spirit!

 Lili loves bath time. Loves it. If she hears the water turn on, she stops everything and makes a bee line to the bathroom. Nothing will stop her. No obstacle is too great. She gets so angry that it takes us so long to undress her. If she had her way, she would jump in clothes and all (which Gavin has done before at a friend's house.) This blue seat has kept her contained and safe for a long time. No longer though. She learned to climb out and then the real maniac came out. Maniac is really the only word to describe her crazy splashing and moving around the bathtub that first few times out of the blue seat. She would throw her self backwards to get her head in the water. We had to be on constant guard to catch her to make sure she didn't hit her head. She has calmed down a little now and doesn't try to cause herself bodily injury but Lili is definitely happiest in the bath tub.

Four Generations- My grandma came to visit in October and Lili was the perfect size for her. Lili would crawl on by and my grandma would pick her up for some bonding time. Lili and my grandma also share the same middle name.

 

Lili's adoption was finalized this month and we had her baby blessing. It was a very weird Sunday. We had a bad storm that morning and when I got to church the power was out. Church went on like normal except I was on the piano instead of the organ and Zane didn't have a microphone for the baby blessing. We all had to sit up close to hear. The power didn't come on until the last 5 minutes of our first meeting. By the time we made it for pictures, Lili was really angry at having to wear such a long and uncomfortable dress. Dallin's behavior had gone downhill the last little bit of church so he wasn't his normal happy self, and Gavin was tired. I think the only happy people in this picture were the adults! The blessing was beautiful though and the weather just made it a very memorable day! (My sister and her family came for the blessing but they had to sneak away before the picture.)

Most baby blessings happen in our church when the baby is an infant. We couldn't do Lili's blessing until her adoption was finalized. Blessing an older baby brings some humor. Zane said he was having a hard time focusing because Lili kept trying to roll over and get away. She was extremely wiggly and very distracting!

A few minutes after the above picture,  Dallin was his normal happy self. When Zane sat down after the blessing, Dallin said, "Yea Lili you are finally part of our family!" He may be putting too much importance on a baby blessing (since Lili has been part of our family since she was born) but I love his excitement and love for her!

The princess and her castle

Our favorite neighbor ever (who moved away from me first) gave us this play house. The boys used it as a place to hide and something to climb and jump off of. Lili though loves playing in it.

Our sweet Lili who for once smiled at the camera without me doing a song and dance!

Showing off her standing skills

Looking so big all of a sudden and not like my little tiny baby.