There are steps, then there are STEPS!

Alex has come a long, long, long, long, long way. The first 5 months were awful. (Even my pediatrician said I had it bad.) Then slowly he got easier, although he never got easy.

I do have to say that this past week has been so incredibly different. He plays by himself more often and he can be more independent of me. Today was huge if you know Alex at all. I was in the kitchen making lunch and Lilia and Alex were upstairs playing!

To put it in perspective, there are some times when Lilia and Alex are playing in Lilia's room (his favorite room in the house) and I walk out just to throw something away, then he crawls after me crying. This is the same kid who played so independent of me today!!! Unbelievable. I am so grateful to God.

On anther note...Alex will be walking by the end of the week. Today he was in a sitting position and stood by himself then took about 4-5 steps! He's getting it!

Happy Thanksgiving

And what a great Thanksgiving it was...

1. Alex slept in until 8:15 and still took a morning nap.

2. We got to stop by and see Pete, Katy, Ava, Jude and their new baby Piper Rose. That means that Lilia got to play with one of her best friends, Ava. Piper is so beautiful!!!

3. We had an awesome Thanksgiving with our family. We were at Dave's Aunt Linda's. I think there were 13 adults and 2 kids. Lilia had a blast with Aunt Karen, Aunt Julie & Uncle Pete. They played with her a whole lot.

Talking with Aunt Julie & Uncle Pete

"Ah"

Alex has a blue teddy bear that he cuddles, loves on, and uses to fall asleep. Dave's cousin Caitlin's slipper was a similar texture. He kept pulling it off her foot and cuddling it.

"Do 'Ah' Alex."

Lilia with Aunt Julie & Aunt Karen

Sunset at Sandy Cove, MD

Courtney Webb

Courtney Webb is our newest team member! She joined our Bridges team last week. We are SO happy to have her. I love her, the kids really love her and Dave is thankful to have someone else bear the burden of campus ministry.

She came over for dinner last night and The kids just ran up to her with a warm welcome. Alex, who is very clingy to me, dove right for her and stayed in her arms for a few seconds (which is a long time.)

Those Blue Eyes

We took a zoo trip today. November at the zoo is great. The Big Cats were awesome. A tiger attacked the glass b/c this maybe 2 yr old had a hat on with ears. Everyone was fine. I don't think it even scared her.

The best part today was the Treehouse. If you aren't a member you can go free from Nov-March. If you are a member you get in all year for free. It's a total adventure land with huge versions of everything. Check it out next time you go!

Lilia and the Lionness

In the Treehouse: Giant Eggs

The Honey comb

Thanksgiving Week

We have an exciting week ahead of us!

Dave's middle sister Julie got married this summer to Pete at Niagara Falls. You may recall earlier blog posts. (If you want to see pics it was July 23rd.) Well they are flying in For Thanksgiving this year.

Dave has a super small family of 1 aunt, 1 uncle & 3 cousins. We have made it our tradition to do Thanksgiving with them. This year will be extra fun with Pete and Julie in town.

Then on Saturday night will be Pete & Julie's wedding party/reception. The wedding in July was just immediate family, Lilia wasn't even there. This will be fun for her to attend. We're looking forward to it.

Then Sunday is Thanksgiving with my family. Both Matt & AnnMarie will be there. This wonderfully beautiful side of Matt has come out as a result of this relationship. He's more caring, affectionate, and wants to spend more time with me, Dave and the kids. Thanks AnnMarie!

Quote of the day

I went up to Lilia's room to close the blinds so she could take a nap. As I walked in the room she immediately said, "My bastards don't bite."

Giving her the benefit of the doubt I asked, "What did you say," in a polite manner.

"My bastards don't bite," Lilia replied.

"Do you mean kori bustards?"

I asked her to show me in her book what she meant. I knew it had to do with one of the animals we were reading about "The Great Animal Search." (see previous blog entry for more)

She proceeded to open the animal filled book to the appropriate page and pointed to a badger, "My bastards don't bite," she said once more.

"Ohhh, your badgers don't bite." I laughed trying not to give away the hilariousness of the moment.

The group Dave brought from Bible study.

(Dave has his arm around Jack)

The Great Divorce

Last night Dave and I went to see The Great Divorce. On Penn's campus there was a one man play put on by a Campus Crusade co-worker who works with faculty and staff. Dave invited students from the Chinese Bible study he does on Friday nights.

Over all it was a good turn out and an excellent performance. I read the book about four years ago. To sum it up for those who haven't read it, it's about a bus full of people from hell who take a trip up to heaven. Obviously, it's fiction. It's a very short read and I recommend the book if you haven't read it. The author is the renowned C.S. Lewis.

It was a bit difficult for the Chinese students to understand due to the many accents the man spoke in. Also if you've never read the book, with English being your second language, it would be tough to follow. They did enjoy the play and a free copy of the book was given out to all who came.

One student in particular we talked with is named Jack. Jack has only been here for 1 month. He is a visiting scholar getting his doctorate at Drexel. He will be here for a year and a half. I was so excited that he came out. He also said he would go home and read the book. For many Chinese, reading something aids better in their understanding than hearing something because in school much of the English they learn is through reading.

If you think of it pray for Jack to understand the powerful message of the gospel and to be able to receive it before he leaves for China in a year and a half.

This was the sunset the other night.

Vintage

Dave got an Iphone. He LOVES it. He was messing around with the camera features and taking vintage pics of Lilia playing out front. Her hands were cold so she put on Dave's gloves, which looked hilarious on her tiny self.

Alex & mommy

We were eating dinner and I had Alex on my lap. I was feeding him fork fulls of rice when he went for my broccoli. Then he started feeding me the broccoli. I had to stop him because I had so much in my mouth. It was pretty funny.

"Date night, date night..."

Saturday night Dave and I went out on a date. At the start of the date (the car ride) I started singing a made up song about "Date night, date night" to the tune of Dora the explorer. That when you know you need a date!
We went up to my parent's house in Dublin, PA and left around 4:30pm for Easton, PA. What's in Easton you ask? Good question. We spent the 1st two night of our honeymoon in Easton at the beautiful Lafayette Inn, close to Lafayette College.
It was Dave's idea to head back there and reminisce. The drive itself was spectacular! I could have turned around before we even hit the town. We headed into a great restaurant and ordered lots of yummy food. Dave got a pumpkin beer that was really good.
We walked around the town for about 5 minutes before we were freezing and realized everything was closed anyway. We made the quick drive over to the college and walked around there. We walked, we remembered, we laughed; it was so wonderful!
We headed back to the car, freezing at this point. I suggested that Dave locate a Starbucks with his new Iphone's GPS. That was the funniest part of the night. This "Starbucks" didn't exist! We ended up at a mall and got an insane deal on a pea coat for Dave. His first one, aw!
All in all, it was a wonderful night! I love my husband so much. I'm super grateful for him!

I love that Lilia is in preschool. I love it on so many levels.

1. It makes the week go by quicker.

2. I get down time when she's at school and Alex naps.

3. She loves the social aspect and seeing her best friend Hamilton.

4. I love getting to talk to some of the other moms for 15 minutes in the parking lot after we drop our kids off.

A New Favorite

Did you know that zebra's bark to each other to warn of enemies?

This book is Lilia's new favorite. For the past 2 weeks we read this book at naps and at bed time. (I have come to having to limit the rain forest page to once a day.)

There are about 10 different environments covering everything from deserts, to the North Pole, the Rain Forest to the farm. On each scene you read a couple of sentences about each animal and try to find them on the page. Some are easy to find, some are challenging.

This would make a great Christmas present for any kid who loves animals. Find it on amazon's website for $10!

If Alex was a fat boy...

If Lilia was fat...