Good Ole Nauvoo

Just a quick little post...since it's late. I can't believe it's been nearly nine months...oops. Anyway, we were very blessed to go to Nauvoo in July with some of Brian's band buddies and it was a blast. I'll have to write more about it later...maybe. If the kids all are good for 30 minutes at the same time. But here's some pics from when we went to the temple before we left.

 We learned a lot from this family photo...well, I did. Let's hope I remember next time. 

 The kiddos on the steps of the Nauvoo temple.

 Can we just squeeze this little cutie? We just love her!

 Kiddos in front of a sun stone. There's just something magical about Nauvoo.

 Hopefully our boys will grow to have as good as a friendship as Joseph and Hyrum. Brothers just have a special relationship.

It's a short post after such a long absence, but I can't apologize for spending my time with the kids and Brian. Maybe we'll post again soon. Maybe.

Like I said, it's magic.

Lillian's Baby Blessing

We are so thankful that both Brian's parents and my parents were able to come out for Lillian's baby blessing. She was blessed on November 4th and the first of our children to be blessed in front of our ward! It was a beautiful blessing. Afterwards, in Relief Society, a sister gave me a piece of paper and said she wrote things down for us so we could remember and tell Lillian about it. She said someone did the same for her with her three kids and she was really grateful, especially with her third as she had two rowdy boys to help at the time. I am so grateful she wrote it down for us. I was thinking about it the day before and how nice it would be to have it written down so Lillian could read about it later, but I no idea to how to it. She was an answer to my prayers. Thank you Susan!

 The boys enjoyed playing in the Ghinko leaves while they waited...I love my boys!

Lillian News

Ok, I know we're behind...but let's be honest, I have the best excuse! Isn't she adorable?

 Lillian on 10/17/12. Since I have the perfect model, I had to practice some photography...not that it's getting much attention, but every now and then, we try. Someday...I'll be great! (like when the kids are all in school, maybe). 

 My little boys are growing up too fast. Michael 10/20/12

 My big boy. He just gets more handsome every day. Adam 10/20/12

Our new family picture, taken by yours truly (thanks to the tripod). I know we're crazy...it was freezing, I just had a baby...but we needed to get it done and the leaves were already falling. I think we did ok.

And you can see how much Lillian is growing!! 11/9/12

Slow down little girl! Please stay little a while...

She looks a bit stunned.

We just love this baby! (11/18/12)

For those who don't know, just after Thanksgiving we found out that Lillian has a milk protein allergy. That means that her immune system attacks dairy proteins that enter her body, not recognizing that they are harmless, and this causes an allergic reaction. It all started when I changed her diaper and found streaks of blood. And she was really fussy, cried the "I really hurt!!" cry a lot, and had lots of gas. So, what does this mean for us? Thank heavens nursing is going well this time around...it means I can't have any dairy products (even chocolate!! Seriously, that's really hard! or cheese). The doctor says that babies usually outgrow the allergy; many by 1 year, most by 3 yrs. So, as long as nursing goes well, I just don't eat dairy. If we need to supplement with formula, we'll use a synthetic formula (i.e.: Allimentum). 

While it's rough not being able to have any dairy, it's ok. Really. We've discovered almond milk and I substitute that for milk in baking. Brian even made us a white sauce for our noodles using the almond milk (and oil instead of butter). What a man! He really loves us. 

When the doctor asked this week how it was going with the diet I told her the truth. Honestly, it's hard. But I am really grateful that I know how to cook. So many possibilities are available to me because of that skill. If we were stuck with store-bought/pre-made food...I'd be in trouble. Yes, it would be easier to put Lillian on formula. But the fact that nursing is going well this time and she's growing, makes me happy to do it...and I just love our little Lillian. We sacrifice because we love. I haven't even been tempted to eat dairy, because it doesn't affect me, it would hurt Lillian. So in that respect, it's easier. 

We're all doing alright. We're adjusting to the new normal. We've all had colds lately, but hopefully we're all on the mend. We miss you all!!

Lillian is here!!!

Kathy and Lillian are doing well.  Lillian weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz and measured 19.5 inches.  We'll post some happier pictures later. :)

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers!

July update

I'm a horrible blogger...I'm sorry. Here's a few of my favorite pictures from the last few weeks...

We found our baby "pool" in the shed, Brian cleaned it out, and the boys played forever in it while we worked in the garden. They crack me up.

I've been working on this for a little while and I'm so happy it's finished! It's ready for little girl to come in October...and if it's not a girl, umm...it will go in the closet until a girl comes to our family. Despite Brian's idea...I am NOT giving this one away. I LOVE how it turned out! And that's great, because I get to see it everyday for a long time. 

I quilted little flowers and butterflies on the squares for a little fun and then quilted a quarter inch on each side of the big square seams. I think it turned out great!

And I love the polka dots I found for the back and it's so soft!

My handsome Michael boy...growing up so fast!

From our voyage to the park...I'm trying to improve my photography skills...it's still overexposed...we're working on it. They sure love this slide.

This boy is excited to start preschool in a few weeks.

I love this smile.

Overall, we're doing ok. It's been really hot and humid and it has rained for most of the last week (seriously, every day). We're grateful for the rain. Keeping the boys inside so much is rough. Oh well. Little girl is growing well and moving a ton...I think we may call her "Mia Ham" Daniels. Just kidding...but she is a mover. We're now in the final trimester and we have lots to do before she comes. We're all really excited for our family trip to Utah to see ALL our family in a few weeks--yippee!! The boys keep asking if it's August yet, so we can go to the airport and fly in an airplane and see "Grandmom." Almost boys, almost!