A Year in Pictures

Here is a Lillian year in pictures. Sadly our camera was stolen and with it about 3-4 months worth of pictures so we dont have much between July and halloween.

Here is what a year will do.......

Lillian's 1st Birthday Party

Lillians 2nd Birthday Party

February Visiting Uncle Dave & Aunt Lisa. Tarryn still thought Lillian was a baby doll.


Our Favorite Easter Picture.

Visiting Uncle Gary & Aunt Mary---Lillian loved taking rides.

Visiting Great Grandma, we have it on good authority grandma loves this picture.

Her first encounter with an ice cream cone on Memorial Day.

Caitlin's Bridal Shower....one of my favorite pictures.

Garage sale weekend soon turned into cousin play time, look at that chub of ours!

Family Pictures @ 18months old taken by a friend, Lillian was sick so not alot of smiles.

4th July Picture at the garden before the parade.






Lillian loves her grandma's and greatgrandma's too!




LOTS of cousin, grandma, and great grandma fun this day for our little summer get together.




Lillian liked handing out & eating with 'an-nina' more than trick-or-treating. She said, "tick-a-teet & hawween"



First Snow Day Adventure. She didn't understand why the car wouldn't go but she still had fun.



Birthday Girl Smile.


"I want pink cake, I want pink cake" that's all I heard from the time we picked the cake up!

Cousin fun at the birthday party.

She sat on his lap, hugged him, responded back to his "I love you" and said, "merrkissmas".

Some Miscellaneous Pictures Throughout the Year:

This is her smile when she is really excited about something, I love this smile.

She absolutely loved these face paints I bought her, we havent done it since--what a mess!

Looks like Daddy, acts like......mom is claiming no responsibility!

I should've had a broken heart over this face, I was too busy laughing & taking pictures.

I am pretty positive she will kill me for this as a teenager!

Christmas (video)

I have the week of christmas and new year's off and am gleefully excited about that. Jared has the week of christmas off and then a 3 day week for New Year's. We plan to relax and get some things done, Jared is good at making sure we relax some and I am good at making sure we get some stuff done.

We had christmas dinner with Jared's side of the family the sunday before christmas. Unfortunately we had to leave early because we had our last Financial Peace University Class and we really wanted to go. Even more unfortunately the class was cancelled due to weather but somehow we didnt get the call so we did not discover this until we had driven from indiana to kalamazoo in the show and ice. Luckily, we were able to visit and eat the best ham either of us has ever had before we left.

Christmas Eve we had my side of the family over for snacks including perhaps a new family favorite buffalo wing dip and alot of sweets. Lillian and I started making things the week before and then really dove into preparations the saturday before. She likes to help me mix, measure, and dump---she even has her own apron to help! It takes a bit longer that way but we have fun. The trio of cousins had a blast, baby Emma was a well-behaved little cutie and we sent everyone home with all the goodies.

The other really fun thing right before christmas was our charity delivery. I went by myself since it was to a women's domestic assault shelter. Jared and I made a lean christmas budget so to stick to that I baked pumpking bread and made cinnamon honey butter for all those we would see over christmas and then we were going to exchange gifts with a $25 limit. Instead, we decided we would use that money plus the money I had already earmarked for a charity gift in honor of our family members and in lieu of gifts to them all, which isn't in our budget. After much deliberation we decided on the shelter, between the normal holiday stress and the economic times they have alot of needs to fill right now. It is a house where women and children stay when fleeing a bad situation. We decided I would go through all the stock items I have been getting with my couponing hobby to donate that and then use the money to buy gifts for the kids. Luckily, thanks to my friend who works at walgreens I had a 20% off coupon, that in combination with some last minute steep toy sales and a few other sneaky coupon tricks we were able to buy alot of gifts. Since they arent allowed to tell me who is there, interests of kids etc for fear of giving away their identity they told me an age range, 6 months to 8 years both sexes, and I tried to buy more gifts that were a bit smaller. We ended up with a box of hygiene items and diapers, a huge tote of food, and a huge tote of gifts composed of 14 smaller gift sets and about 10 stocking stuffers. The shelter seemed very happy and we were excited to shop for the kids, I took great joy in thinking of them christmas morning as well.

For the actual christmas day Lillian started out by giving us the gift of sleep, she slept in until 9:30 which is unprecedented. We are a bit off schedule this week having been off all week but she didnt go to bed that late so it was a nice surprise. We started out the morning by staying in bed and opening stockings. I think she would have been content with that she got a toy phone, a new bath toy, a bath fizzy ball, a couple mini christmas books and a small bag of peanuts and one with raisins, and a 'santa claus apple'. Shhh she doesnt know about christmas candy yet and she was very excited since she loves peanuts, raisins, and apples. She wanted to eat her santa claus apple right away. I had started a pre-prepared casserole off cooking after waking and it was done about that time so we had breakfast in bed which was nice and relaxing. I think I will include recipe so that I dont forget, since we really liked it, I think perhaps it will be our new christmas tradition breakfast.

dozen eggs
large bag hash brown potatoes
large bag shredded cheese of your choice
small container cottage cheese or ricotta would work well too
1 pound sage sausaage
1 small onion

I put the potatoes in a sprayed 9x13 then added garlic powder, pepper, and onion salt to taste and mixed it in the potatoes, then I added most of a bag of 4 cheese mexican shredded cheese and I pushed the mixture into the pan like you would for a crust including the sides. I pre-baked the shell in the oven at 300 degrees until it was crispy and brown. I sauteed the diced onion and the pound of sausage. I took a dozen eggs, added milk at a bit less than the amount for scrambled (I might try omitting milk next year or adding even less), then I mixed in a small container of cottage cheese, the rest of the package of cheese not used on the crust, and the sausage/onion mixture. I kept both the crust and the egg mixture overnight and the next morning I just poured the egg in the crust and baked at 350 degrees until the center was firm.

As mentioned Lillian didnt seem all fired up to open the presents until we mentioned they were there, from santa for her and that she could open them---then she was interested. We let her open a bunch of small presents first, single books, single puzzles etc and she kept putting them down and saying 'more'. By the time christmas rolled around she had opened presents for 3 different birthdays, a christmas party, and a christmas eve party so she really likes opening them now. I decided to let her open one of her food set presents so as to see if she would be more interested in it or if she just wanted to rip open all the presents. After she got some of her food set presents she had no interest in opening the rest of the gifts. We eventually got her to open them and she was very thrilled with the baby and baby bed.

After being on the go so much we were happy to stay home with just the three of us for a smallish dinner. I always say it will be really small but somehow it was still too much. I did however stumble upon a bread pudding recipe that we liked enough to keep making, since its Jared's favorite dessert I was on the hunt for a winner and with some modifications it will be.

Lillian got a visit from her 'granma nina' as she calls my mom and got yet another gift she enjoyed in the afternon plus a roll of quarters for her new favorite activity--feeding her bank. She has at least 35 dollars in there already! Jared said maybe he should get a piggy bank so people will give him money too!

Christmas Morning Highlights:

video soon to follow

Christmas Letter

These letters and cards reach you, hopefully just in time for a greeting of the New Year. Somehow life intervened and we got behind, we figured cards sent in the spirit of the New Year are better than a pile of Christmas cards that never got sent. So, we find ourselves finishing these up the day after Christmas. It gives us the chance to say that we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you an even better 2009. For us, 2008 has been full of activity, fun, and changes.

Last year for Christmas I got Jared tickets to a live show put on by Dave Ramsey, an entertaining financial guru that he liked. That show put a spin on our year and started us off in a whole new direction. We have changed our perspective on finances and the role they play in our priorities, marriage, and our future. We are very happy with our new outlook and are working feverishly to eliminate our singular remaining student loan debt.

The great joy in our life this year has been watching Lillian grow and develop from a baby into a toddler. We started the year with a one year old that we were still calling our baby; she could say a few words and walk around a bit. We have watched her progress to a running, climbing, jumping, and non-stop talking toddler. She is a very active, independent, sweet, and funny little girl. We have been trying to do more with our family blog lately and hope to add more videos and photos soon. If you are interested, you can visit: "you're already here"

There were many highlights to our year. Having our family from Florida come up twice and attending Grandma Horvath’s 95th birthday party were definitely made the list. We were pleased to host a summer get together, a small family thanksgiving, and a Christmas Eve gathering at our house. We were overjoyed when, on Jared’s birthday, we got the chance to welcome Emma Bell, a new baby niece, into the family. After some rough spots earlier in the year for Nicole everyone is finishing out the year in great health.

In the beginning of the year we were anticipating a job loss when Jared’s company lost their contract with Pfizer. However it worked out well for us when he got a retention bonus for finishing his original position and was promoted to team leader of a new group---few of us understand what this job entails either J. Mid way through the year we feared another job loss when Nicole had to re-interview for her position. Again, we were fortunate and everything worked out, re-confirming and expanding her role in her group.

We hope to see or hear from all of you soon.
Lots of love from Us: Jared, Nicole, and Lillian

Santa Claus Here We Come

We have had the worst luck trying to see santa this year. Being this is the first year she understands I had my heart set on her going....ok ok she did two but I really wanted that pictures! After getting wrong dates or times from TWO stores prior and then the mall telling me the wrong hours we finally made it to the north pole....errr the Mall.

It broke my heart when she was sobbing and crying real tears after I got her all excited to see him the first time and then he wasn't there! Unfortunately, Jared had to repair the car and it took longer than expected so he couldn't go but we had promised so mom braved the crowded mall the day before xmas eve to see santa. We are having a christmas eve party plus there was NO way we were waiting through the crowds on Christmas eve. Last year santa had helpers that handed out pagers and you could go back when they were ready for you, this year they had the bank teller style lines set up and you waited and waited and waited. I think during that wait Lillian got to witness every bad behavior possible from a child (and me from the parents), luckily despite it being late she did remarkably well. Mental note do NOT to wait... repeat NOT wait....repeat DO NOT WAIT until the last minute again.

Anyway it was a wonderful santa visit, on the way I still wasn't sure if we were picking up Jared so I kept telling her we had to go to uncle keith's house for a minute and she kept saying "No UncKeith house, I wanna go santa house". It was really cute. I don't know where she got the house part so I decided why fight it and just told her the mall was his house---for this year that will work. I was actually very pleased with the santa, he had a real beard, great skin tone, and was the right weight all on his own, he might have had some padding or makeup on but I couldn't tell. After a brief moment of hesitation she was wanted to sit on his lap. She smiled, hugged him when he asked for it, he told her he loved her and she said it back which was so cute, then she told him bye-bye. He gave her a coloring book which she was really excited about, evidentially because it was from Santa, because she is not a fan of the ones we have at home. She talked about him for the rest of the evening and wanted to know where he went. I will try to post the pictures soon.

Presents, Presents, More Presents

Well, I certainly think Lillian is getting spoiled despite our best efforts to have a minimalist christmas. Last weekend was her birthday party with gifts, yesterday the daycare gave her her birthday gifts, today daycare had their Christmas party and got presents, tomorrow is Lillian's actual birthday so she will get presents from two grandmas and us, then sunday great grandma is watching her and has a present for her, then we are on to christmas eve when I will let her and her cousins open a small gift, then on to christmas day with more gifts! Oh and dont forget all the stickers and prizes for going potty. If anything she will at least be well versed in ripping them open, daycare said she was very excited to rip her gift open today---after the practice from her birthday and yesterday I think she knew what those wrapped packages meant!

Daycare is very sweet she made Jared and I goodies and a cheeseball and we got two little christmas picture holders. Lillian got a dora book with an attached wipe board and a pink butterfly barbie she just had to sleep with last night, today she got an electronic baby that cries and squirms and drinks bottles that is very cute and will go very well with the bassinet we are giving her for christmas. All of the daycare kids/families also got these funny looking face carvings made from a coconut that they brought back from hawaii this year and earlier this year we all got chocolate covered toffee macadamia nuts from hawaii that were FABULOUS and the kids all also got gifts from hawaii when they got back. Sharon and her husband Keith really consider the kids to be their extended grandkids and care for them alot, I think she is really bummed that Lillian wont be there for two weeks--she practically begged me to bring her by for a day or so with no pay!

What Lillian REALLY wants for christmas

I saw this idea on a parenting board I frequent and thuoght it was really cute.




What Lillian would REALLY like for Christmas:

Unlimited access to EVERYONE's cellphone (or any other electronic device)

For wiggles and elmo to quit 'sleeping' whenever she wants to watch them
*she watches these at daycare but mommy isnt a big fan of TV so they are almost always
'sleeping' not sure how much longer that will fly

For the word 'AGAIN' to always work whether its spinning in a chair or singing
*this is her new thing when we are doing something fun she yells 'again'

For baby Ty to quit crying and disappear all together
*a new 8 month old at daycare that cries ALL the time, I have been told she really stays
clear of him except rare times he isnt crying or fussing, she now tells me "baby Ty wah
wah wah, stop baby Ty, shhhhh"

For Daddy to always play funny videos on computer for her
*daddy thought to play her an elmo video on you tube one day and now he is a never
ending cycle of funny video playing requests

Unlimited reign over the dish cabinets and pantry

For the doggies to 'listen' 'come' and 'stop'
*she loves her doggies and is just now to the stage where she really wants them to listen

For Dora to be real (she loves her Dora books and asks to sleep with them regularly)

The right to splash in the bath tub including the whole bathroom and mommy
*she doesn't get why I dont enjoy getting wet with her

To have the following foods for meals every day: blueberries, pancakes, brocolli, meat, chocolate, and dora chicken noodle soup

To be able to go 'bye-bye' without a car seat

To go shopping EVERY day
*she asks to go literally every day at least once or any time we are in the car, she is also a
big fan of coupons and wants to help with them, she cries when we dont

Two Year Mark

Lillian is quickly approaching the two year mark. It's hard to believe she has been a part of our lives for only two years yet those two years seem to have flown by at lightning speed.


She has just recently hit a growth spurt and seems to have gained some inches. Her 18month once piece pajamas are now too short though the rest of the 18month clothes still seem to fit better than most of the 24 month or 2T clothing. Our scale said 24.5 lbs the other day, the scale is less then reliable so I am eager to see how much she weighs at the doctors office. Her hair is one thing that just keeps growing and growing, when its wet you can really see how long it is getting, down below her shoulder blades.


Just today she hit a new milestone--one that I would have rather seen delayed, she asked "why" a number of time--and so it starts. Just an update, so far, it was just that one day which was about 9 days before her 2nd birthday and I haven't heard it since--knock on wood.


Let's see, some of her favorite things: bluberries is probably her favorite food overall---unless you count chocolate, she also loves: meat, brocolli, and macaroni. The only things I can think of that she doesn't care for are: rice noodles which are asian noodle that is very very thin (its a consistency thing), cantaloupe is an off/on thing, coconut which again I believe is due to the strands, and she isnt a big fan of cheese.


She absolutely loves Dora, Elmo, and the 'wiggles' much to my dismay. I dont mind sesame street and the wiggles arent bad sicne they get her to dance alot. If it were up to me she wouldnt watch tv ever but daycare watches it and then well I am coming to realize I cant keep her in a bubble or a bomb shelter for the rest of her life so it is enevitable. We do try to not overdo the commercialization thing.


She talks---alot. She is extremely advanced in talking from what others have told me, of course being our first two year old I didnt really know but it does seem she talks much more than other kids her age. According to all the milestone charts she is meeting verbal milestones for a 3 year old including stringing together 5 words and more to make sentences, putting lots short sentences together, being able to understand the majority of what she says, others being able to understand her etc. Along with the talking is her opinions, now that they are understandable boy does she have alot of them!


The other day I said do you want a banana or an apple, she said "I want pineapple". hmmm now that isnt on the menu and of course I didnt have any but she was very insistent about wanting pineapple.


Other milestone type things, she is not able to really dress or undress herself yet, she has put her pants on by herself maybe once and occasionally can get her clothes off but unfortunately she takes after her mom and gets frustrated when she cant do something right away and then wants help. The things she has figured out to do like take off her shoes and hat and coat she doesnt want ANY help with--at all.


She can run but not jump, she thinks she can jump but one leg remains firmly planted on the ground. It is really cute she will say, "I jump, watch" and she really tries.


She is very sweet if you tell her your head hurts she will say "I kiss Daddy's head" and "Daddy all better?". She also likes to rub peoples back which we love.

She likes to sing, she is very good at singing ring around the rosies but her version goes like this " ring around rosies pocket full rosies ashes ashes ashes ashes ashes we all fall down" with a variable number of ashes, sometimes I think she gets stuck on repeat at that point and others its just the normal two. She also sings along pretty well with the ABC's, twinkle twinkle, and patty cake. She loves the song 1,2 buckle my shoe and we just recently started singing that one. Her version so far she only has "1,2 buckshoe 3 buckshoe" it's cute. She also counts, normally it goes 12345789, she doesnt like 6 for some reason and she still jumbles it sometimes but generally gets the 1-5 right.

Potty Training

Lillian is going to be two in a week and she is down to only wearing a diaper when she is sleeping or riding in the car. I dont think she has had an accident all week, at least not in a few days. She does very good and has completely forgotten about or lost interest in getting prizes/stickers. We also dont have to ask her anymore if she needs to go, she tells us in plenty of time now.

It started out we just had a potty chair in our bathrooms and sometimes she would sit on it. Then about 19 months or so her interest increased and she started going on the potty sometimes. I went to the dollar store and got her a bunch of small toys, pens, markers etc and put them in buckets and if she went on potty she got a prize. She was doing pretty good for a while going up to 4-5 times a day but then she lost interest, we tried to go with what she was feeling but would still ask her if she wanted to go, mention prizes, etc.

The week before thanksgiving something 'clicked' and she started going on potty at night time after getting home from daycare really well. I printed off a potty sheet and got some stickers and decided to 'ramp up' during holiday. The 4 days off for thanksgiving she did really well and the two days we were home all day she only had a couple accidents. We started putting her in underwear all the time and talked to daycare who was more than willing to accomodate us. The week after thanksgiving she started going potty at daycare and at home, she has only had 2 accidents at daycare in 2 weeks and at home she has only had a few as well.

We are soo excited to almost be done with diapers, we are down to just 2-4 per day. We put one on at night. She is waking up and going on the potty in the morning but there is still generally some in her diaper. Then she gets one on for traveling to daycare, one for nap at daycare, and sometimes one for traveling home from daycare. Sometimes we just put plastic pants over her panties for travel.

She definately 'gets' it now. Yesterday morning Jared went to put a diaper on her to get her ready to go to daycare and she said, "no diaper, baby diapers, I big girl, baby Ty (daycare) diapers--baby wah wah". She always says babies say wah wah because of a song her toy has on it that says that and then the baby at her daycaer who is new cried constantly. Yes, she does talk in that long of sentences, she puts 4-6 word sentences together routinely or when using short ones put multiples together like above.

Hopefully, I will be donating those stacks of diapers in the closet that I thought I needed to stock up on!

This and That

Wow, almost 3 months with no post. Next year I think I will try to use this a bit more.

We are getting ready for Lillian's 2nd birthday party tomorrow, a week before her actual birthday to try and save some insanity from the overcrowded holiday weekends.

Lillian is getting so big, she is really starting to thin out and her talking is out of this world. She is a blast right now. I know there is terrible 2's and everythign but the 2-3 range has always been my favorite---of course that was for other people's kids lets see if that holds true for our own! She has definately developed strong opinions of her own lately so I think its starting.

Jared is very busy with work lately, lots of overtime and a few side jobs for digital rescue as well.

I have been busy deciding whether I want to enroll in a phase 3 clinical trial for a new cystic fibrosis drug, called defusonol, more to come on that later.

This year for christmas we decided to keep it small. We had Jared's family over for thanksgiving, we will have some of mine over for christmas eve visit and then we will stay home and have a small dinner on christmas day. We also decided to spend a small amount on Lillian for christmas, she already has so much and then to spend the rest of the money we budgeted to spend on each other for some families in need. More to come on this as well.