Lily turned two years old yesterday! Oh. my. goodness.! As her parents, we are wondering how on earth the time went so quickly and how it came to be that our teeny, tiny baby girl has grown so big!
Today was her birthday party and, let me tell you, Lily has a LOT of fans. We had many guests at her party and Lily received SO many presents that she actually got bored opening them half way through! I had to beg her to come back and keep opening them...sheesh :)
We appreciate everyone who was able to come and celebrate her second year of life---it has been quite the journey!
Her cupcakes
The table settings
Blowing out her candles!
Eating her cupcake very delicately...she doesn't like to get messy!
The second half of Christmas was just as terrific as the first. We met at my parents' house and had lunch as a big family--Lily especially loves playing with all of her cousins. Then, came the moment the children had been eagerly waiting for...PRESENTS!!
Unfortunately, I did not do the greatest job taking pictures this time--I was too busy watching everyone open their gifts! But here a few shots that I did manage to get:
Opening a present with Daddy
Helping cousin Kaitlynn play with her presents
Cousin Kinzee
This Christmas has shown us exactly how spoiled loved Miss Lily truly is... ♥
Well, they are a bit late, but I thought I'd post some pictures from our Thanksgiving festivites. Once again, we hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, and had about 20 family members show up and leave nice and full. :) I consider it a success as long as no one leaves hungry!
Lily, helping Mama make the cornbread stuffing! She loves to help me cook :)
The "girl" cousins: Kinzee (2), Kaitlynn (5), Lily (1)
A group action shot :)
The next morning, we packed up in the car and headed down to the Denver area to watch the Nebraska vs. Colorado game with Brian's extended family. We must not have been giving Lily enough credit because we expected a little more fussing in the car, but she was an angel. She read books, snacked, and played with toys--and didn't cry once on the 3 1/2 hour drive! Plus, Nebraska beat Colorado, so we couldn't have asked for a better trip--oh, and did I mention that there was excellent food and conversation? :)
Reading in the car
Family picture
Lily with cousin Eric
Lily and her new best friend, Sarah
Lily and her other new best friend--Holden :)
Now we are busily getting read for Christmas. The tree is up, the presents are bought and {mostly} wrapped, and Lily is talking about Santa Claus non-stop. We can't wait 'til she gets the chance to tear open those presents!!
The other night, Brian and I decided to watch the documentary, Food, Inc. All I have to say is...
Holy freak me out...!
Seriously, this film will change the way you think about food. For instance, did you know that, because humans like to eat white chicken breasts, chickens have now been genetically modified to have larger breasts? (Brian's comment on this: "Well, just like the rest of the world...") The problem is, chickens are being made to be SO fat that they cannot even walk two or three steps without taking a break.
AND, did you know that the ground beef you eat might have been injected with AMMONIA because it destroys E. coli? This is the ground beef that is sold to you at a fast food restaurant and fed to our children who participate in the federal school lunch program (just another reason to pack a lunch or homeschool...)
And this is just the beginning of several, horrifying bits of information that I was previously clueless about...I mean, I know that eating organically is "better" and I've already mentioned that we are eating grassfed beef because it is healthier and lower in saturated fat, and that we shop locally when we can, but this film has exposed so much more to me...
Buying organically in our area (where we have 3 shopping options: Safeway, a locally owned Co-Op store, and WALMART) is difficult, especially out of the Farmers' Market season, so what is a person to do? Luckily, we are able to find some locally farmed/produced food, thanks to PrairieBloom, but, overall, the task can be quite difficult.
And. that. is. scary. I implore you--watch this film!
