One on One with Lily

This weekend I have had the privilege of getting one on one time with Lily.   

Jim took Hannah out of town ..... 

so it was just me & Lily .....  

camping out together.  

Such a treat!

Truly perfection for this Mom.   

Even though, we missed Hannah ... 

 we have needed some alone time.  

She needed some constant attention from Momma 

and I needed to just focus on my sweet treasure from China.

I feel like life has just been spinning so fast since September .... 

so this time was really a precious gift.  

Thank you, Lord!!!   

We were busy together but had some most treasured moments:

Sushi date.  Errands.  Folding laundry together.  Snuggling & watching Nick Jr.   Jack's birthday party.  Visit to Chuck E Cheese.  Sleeping in my bed together every night.  A visit to Larry's house (yes, I am dating!!).  Biking outside.  Church & lunch together.  Grocery shopping at Trader Joe's.  

And, some serious work on "manners & a happy heart", 

I CANNOT stand a fussy voice!!!

Thank you, Lord, for this wonderful time with my sweet girl.  

I am forever in awe of her joyful spirit, mischievousness, caring, loving & fun spirit.  

I cannot imagine life without Miss Lily Sha Hope!

 Thank you, Lord, for some treasured time with Miss Lily.  

You always give good gifts!!!

Grandma Visit & Lily Registered for Kindergarten

Kentucky girls --

 so much to be thankful for!!

Life is just flying by -- hard to believe Hannah only has 50 days left of 4th grade and that Lily is officially registered for Kindergarten.   

How can my 30 pound 4 year old be going to kindergarten?!

Things are hectic but much, much more settled than a year ago.  

We are in a good routine minus my not-so infrequent crying sessions with my manager over the stress I feel with my job goals.  

Yes, I have cried to my manager.  I know, so incredibly professional of me ... what a wimp I am! 

My Mom came for a quick 24 hour visit at the end of her trip to the mid-west.  My sister was recovering from surgery so my Mom was in Indianapolis to help my sis.  SO THANKFUL my sister is recovering so well -- love you, Mir!!!!

We had a fun Valentine's Day ... the girls got candy & at dinner that night Lily told me "I get to eat all my Valentine's Day candy."  

I told her: "no you don't" & she responded that she could "because Jesus told her she could".  

I said, "Well, I didn't hear Jesus say that so, no, you still can't eat all the candy."  

She said, "Mom, I heard him in my heart ...... that's why you didn't hear him."  

OH MY GOODNESS!  

Once Auntie Mom heard Lily had said that she called to tell Lily that she had heard the same thing in her heart 

& she should be able to eat all her candy.  

LOL.

Hannah started taking a hip hop / jazz dance class on Monday nights.  

The teacher is fantastic & Hannah is LOVING the class.  

She is such a natural.  

Not sure where she got it but I am thinking she must have received blood transfusions from Janet Jackson or some great dancer. 

Both girls have been sick (probably a few times each!) in the past month.  Just the basic winter kind of stuff but lots of days home from school.  On the last visit to the doctor, I had them check Hannah's blood counts & they were TOTALLY NORMAL.  

Even her platelets continue to come up!!  

What a miracle .. still to this day and forever .. 

it will amaze me the work that God did in her precious life!!

Here are some pics from when my Mom was in town for her visit.

Was SOOO good to be with you, Mom!!!!! 

Here are pictures from in front of the Elementarty school where both girls will be attending in the Fall.  

This was the day Lily & I went to turn in all her kindergarten paperwork.  

She was SOOOOOO excited!!!  

I so appreciate those of you that pray for us & have interest in our busy, crazy, hectic lives through this neglected blog -- 

especially you Auntie Di Di! 

I have so much to grateful for in this short life ... thank you, Lord!!

Warm January Park Day

The weather was in the 50's early last week -- 

perfect chance to get to the park for some fun & to play with my camera. 

Hannah was more than eager to pose for me .. Lily posed as long as I promised for LOTS of swing & play time!

 Sweet miss Lily ... 

 Forever with "Baby" ... 

Not sure how she is going to go to kindergarten next year without Baby but we have time to work on the separation issues.

 And Miss Hannah ... 

 Someone has watched a lot of episodes of America's Next Top Model ...

 Action shot .. lost her shoe mid air

 And just being a kid ... like she should be!!

 Sweet girls that I am forever thankful for!  

 

Forever a blessing!

Thank you, Lord, that life really is good!

Here Comes 2012 ... from The Abandoned Blog

I guess I underestimated the busyness of working full time & being a single Mom.  Life has just taken on a new kind of chaos.  

All good but, wow, I feel like we have been living at warp speed since September!!

Two hospital stays .. all of our birthdays ..full time work .. 

full time sales goals ... meals .. laundry ... keeping the house semi-clean...... getting together with friends ... ... etc, etc!  

Feels like life is just on overdrive & the blog has been completely neglected.  

I guess better to neglect the blog than my girls!

Hannah & Lily are doing great!!!! 

Lily was SO excited for Santa to arrive.  I mean S.O.  E.X.C.I.T.E.D.!  

When she saw the gifts this morning she yelled, "we have to send Santa a Thank You note!" 

Lily is in preschool / daycare full time & doing great.   She is just an amazing child in every way & God has certainly given her the grace to handle every one of life's unimaginable situations.   God is so good & continues to bless her with a happy heart, a quick laugh & a tender spirit.  If you ask Lily who loves her the most, she says, "Jesus!"  ... it so sweet.  She also has a very long list of all the people that love her.  Her list usually starts out with Auntie Mom (Kim).... then "T" ... Uncle ... Raw ... Michael .. Maffhew ("but he doesn't live there anymore", she says).  So sweet how my girl forever knows how loved she is by our Slazas family!

Lily got to meet Santa & the Mrs.at pre-school.  She was SO excited & had planned to tell Santa she wanted a "kindle fire" for Christmas -- she saw a commercial & liked it.  Umm?  She doesn't read but she liked it!  

As soon as she sat on Santa's lap she got so nervous & told him she wanted "a new train set."  

I have no idea where that came from but it cracked me up!

The girls & I went to my sister's place in Indy for 2 nights.  

Got to spend time with the cousins, which they all loved!  

Lily & Julia just disappear playing with dolls, barbies & make-up.  

So glad my sis lives right up the road (115 miles or so).  

It is great that we get to make memories together with our kids ..

even if those memories on this trip included 

drugging her up & taking her for an MRI on her neck. 

Love you, Mir!!

 

Out to dinner before Taylor Swift concert on my 40th birthday.  

Poor sweet girl was just out of the hospital from pneumonia.

Look how tall she is!  We wear the same size shoe!?!

Hannah is healthy & doing great -- my girl can cook & has recently been cooking dinners before Lily & I get home.  

Yes, cooking dinners on occasion!!  One night was chicken & pasta and it was delicious!! 

She is busy planning a dance class for some of Lily's preschool friends.  

For part of her Christmas break she volunteered at Lily's school to help with the kids.  

She would rather be there than her own 4th grade class.  The kids adore her & she is SO good with them.  

I am so proud of her & so thankful for her gorgeous smile, her common sense, love for others, kindness & her tenderness towards Lily.  

The girls have separate rooms but they sleep together in Lily's room every night.  One night I overheard them talking & giggling .. Lily said "Mom is gonna tell us to go to sleep." and Hannah said "Nah! She loves that we are friends."  It was so sweet ...and Hannah was so right.  I am so thankful that these sisters separated by 6 years are such good friends.  Thank you, Lord!

I will close this last 2011 post by saying how incredibly hard the year 2011 was for me.  

Maybe it was just the compounded emotions of several tough years but last year at this time I

was going through the worst time in my life. 

Thankfully there are some life long friends that encouraged me, 

loved me, reached out to me when the times were very tough.  

It is the grace of God that I made it through this past year 

& still have my sanity (well, at least, half of it!).

Kentucky has been good to us.  

My neighbor mowed my lawn all summer (an acre!).  

Another person blessed me & the girls with a stack of gift cards so we could eat out.  

Lily's teacher, Jo, was AMAZING & so encouraging 

as many days I came home to get back in bed & cry.  

Life is not what I thought it would be in Kentucky but God knew 

and life is so much better than what I thought it would be!

All God's Best from HOME, 

Two Birthdays: Two Hospital Admissions

 Hannah turns 10 today.  

Ten.  

A decade.  

Hannah is the prize.  What a gift her life is.  To me.  To so many.  

I am so thankful to be her mom and to have walked some very tough roads along side her. 

"It's a girl" .. 1:11pm, 11/15/01. 

We have had some crazy health issues going on over here. 

After my last post, Hannah came down with pneumonia & got admitted to the hospital for IV anti-biotics.  

She got discharged the day before my 40th birthday.  

We celebrated on my 40th by going to a Taylor Swift concert & had some awesome Mexican food!

Last week I got sick.  Sicker than I have ever been in my entire life.  

Felt like "death would have been a relief" kind of sick.  

By Friday I got admitted to the hospital for pneumonia & spent the weekend there.  

Got discharged last night with doctor's orders to stay home in bed & rest this week.   

Kim said, "you can do that, Deb!"  .....  My best friend knows me so well!!

Thankful Hannah & I are both out of the hospital.  

Thankful for IV antibiotics, wonderful nurses & docs at 

Brownsboro Hospital & Kosair Children's Hospital, 

thankful for my work that hasn't fired me yet (!?!), 

thankful for a home to come home to with girls that are my heart.  

Life is good.  

Even when I was so sick I had a few good laughs with the nurses & xray techs.  

You just have to make the best of it all  ... even when you are coughing up a lung .. or two.

Happy birthday to my most precious treasure of a double digit child.  

You make my heart so happy, Hannah!  

 You have brought me endless joy & happiness for the past decade! 

I am forever thankful for God's amazing healing hand on your life. 

You are a walking testament to the power of prayer & the healing hand of God.  

  

Happy 10th Birthday 

Miss Hannah Rose Eriksen.  

9lbs 1oz born as healthy as could be on 11.15.2001

You are most loved ... forever!

How Cute Is She?

Miss Lily has done some modeling for me.  

I just love when she agrees to get in front of the camera.  

She is beyond adorable in every way.  

Fall in Kentucky is SO beautiful!

This is our second Fall living here & I just LOVE the colors & the leaves.  

Beyond gorgeous.

I just wish we lived closer to Idaho so Lily could get some Auntie Mom love on a regular basis!   

Kim suggested I ask Obama to see if he could do something about how far Kentucky is from Idaho.  

I am going to at least ask -- I know what he will say: Yes, we can!

 

Hannah has been sick since last Thursday night.  She always runs a high fevers.  

She sounds like she is going to cough up a lung but no pneumonia & her blood counts are normal.  

Platelets are a little low but that is fine for her.    

We always have so much to be thankful for!

 

What Haven't We Been Up To?

Life has taken on a new kind of crazy.  Single Mom.  Full time work.  Full time loving on the girls.  Overtime thinking about their needs, my needs, the house, work, soccer, the car, you name it ... & how to juggle it all.  

It seems like the kind of crazy where I am behind on everything: my blog, my friends, laundry, cleaning, you name it ... it's a miracle my bed is even made right now.  In the midst of days that seem very long, I just remind myself of one thing that I NEVER take for granted: my kids are healthy.  I am juggling normal life right now ... not blood transfusions, hospital stays & doctor appointments.  This is what I dreamed of ... and I do cherish it all.  I am just cherishing it at a very fast pace!

I love my job.  Love the people in my office & the clients that I am working with.  SO thankful for this job ... for the pay ... for the benefits ... and for the distraction to focus on something outside of the house.  
 
Hannah is on Fall Break for this week.  She is going to be working / volunteering at Lily's pre-school.  She is so excited to be with the kids!!  This is her dream -- she tells me that one day she wants to be a Mom, a pre-school teacher & a consultant with Scentsy (under you, DeMaris!! ..She told me herself!!) 

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to ...

On the first of October we celebrated "Sisters Forever Day".  Hard to believe it has been 3 years since we stepped off the plane at LAX for Hannah to meet her baby sister.  We went to dinner and then went to paint some pottery.  A wonderful night!

Here are the girls during our celebration evening:

This weekend we went to the Pumpkin Patch for a hayride & a picnic

 America's Next Top Model ... Always on her mind, even at the pumpkin patch!

 Picnic time ... Hannah picked the spot under a tree.  

Beautiful day with my two treasures!!

 Climbing around the hay castle ...

Life is good.  

It's a new kind of crazy-busy but I am thankful for the life we have!  

I don't take it for granted.  It can all change in an instant.  

Cherish it all!

All God's best from HOME,