Conversations with Liza

Seriously, the best thing about having a 2 1/2 year old is getting to finally hear what is going on in their little brains. With Liza, it is always funny.

Monday night she watched her first full length movie....she has never sat and watched one from beginning to end....this was a first. Beauty and the Beast was on TV and we let her stay up a little later to watch it with us (I think we were enjoying the extra cuddle time...).

So, the first time Belle came out in one of her "fancy" dresses we heard Liza gasp and go, "ohhhhh!"

Lee: "She's beautiful isn't she, Liza!"
Liza: still gasping.... "yes!"
Lee: "She looks just like mommy, doesn't she!"
Liza: "Yes! And there is you, Daddy! The Monster!"

Found this picture on my phone and wanted to post... Took the kids to Chick-Fil-A the other day. We were there early and all by ourselves....aka....playground to ourselves. My sweet big boy....at barely 1 year old....climbed all the way to the top of the playground thingy and slid down the slide all by himself! No push or help from anyone.... A feat I am sure Liza didn't do until she was 2 (although, her healthy legs always seemed to get in the way...haha). I was able to capture his face and just how proud he was on the way down.

The funniest part, though was what Liza was saying the whole time.... She was at the top coaching him on.... but she was saying, "Boy, come on. Come on Boy. Hey, Boy, come on." Who is 'Boy'??? Liza, meet your brother....his name is Will.


Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

School Christmas parties!

Will's little party was a blast, too! He couldn't have sweeter teachers.....I am amazed every Tues. and Thursday with what they do with 10 one year olds! And they are so so so loving.... I think the cutest part of all was that sweet boy tuckered out at lunch time.....I have never seen my child do this....neither of them, ever. It cracked me up.

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

School Christmas parties!

Wouldn't you know it...I forgot my real camera to their school parties....thank goodness for great technology....I think I got some okay pictures with my phone. :) Liza's class is just too cute. It was so fun to get to be around these little friends that she makes me pray for every night...

The party was fun...lots of singing, story reading, and they recited John 3:16 which I had no idea she was learning. (well, a portion of it: God loved the world, SO MUCH, that he gave his only Son!) Emphasis on the "so much" b/c that is exactly how Liza says it. :)

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

John 3:16

So this made me want to cry that she knew this..... And she didn't just know it with her teacher leading her....she said it again perfectly all by herself when Lee got home... So sweet... Really convicting....how many times do I think about what I'll do when my children are a little older??..... I think those days are here! She is old enough to quote scripture....It is time for me to be pouring it into her little head and heart!




Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Love this girl....

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

USM Homecoming!

Both kids went to this game with us.  Notice the before and after!  :)  We had fun fun!

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Chris Tomlin Concert!

Last Wed Chris tomlin came to hburg...it was awesome!  

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

New house progress!

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Phone updates....

So, life is good....busy busy busy busy.....but good good good.

We are busy getting settled in our new hometown. That has been good. We are already plugged into a church we love and while we know we have many more friendships to make....we love the friends we have and are so excited about getting to know them better.

We are busy building our home.....I will try to post a picture update tomorrow. They went up with the upstairs walls today! Things are moving fast right now....but I think it all slows down once the framing is done. The house building keeps Lee really busy as he is trying to do much of it on his own....he is our contractor, etc.

We are busy with our sweet sweet kids. Liza keeps us on our toes as she is all 2....and Will keeps us on our running feet because he is all boy and now runs.....runs everywhere...into everything, up stairs, through tunnels, you name it, he goes. : ) They are our joys and make us want to have 10 more just like them!!!

I am busy with a new "hobby" I have in the making.... I will post more about that very soon I hope!

The following posts are updates from my phone. They are from anytime between June and now.

The first one is a video of sweet Liza when Lee went to Peru with our GA church. See....busy.....I don't think I ever posted about Lee's trip. It was in August, right before Will's 1st birthday. He was gone about 8 or 9 days. The kids and I went to GA to visit friends and pick him up during the last part of the week. I have no pictures from that trip, and Lee's camera broke so he has none from his end of the trip, either.....but I know we both have sweet memories in our heads and heart that no camera could capture!

That sums up our life for now. We feel so so so very blessed. We love and miss our GA friends, love our new Hattiesburg friends, love being close to family, we are just very blessed.

Precious

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Two buddies

Whenever the two of them are together like this...Liza likes to say, "two little buddies."

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Boys

Boy meets drawer in crib with fun toys. Boy has to get inside drawer in crib to play with fun toys. Big boy (daddy) now has drawer to fix. He will get to use big boy toys (tools). This all equals 2 happy boys.

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Playing at park

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Big boy at park

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Making muffins

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Liza eating popcorn at usm game!

Liza had been to 2 usm games and loves it! She loves to holler, "gooooo eagles! Bite!" Which really makes me laugh.

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

The Waiting Room

I have to put a plug in for our BFFs from Georgia, Ben and Sarah Hobbs. They have encouraged me beyond words with their recent step out in faith. I would explain....but their words are so much better than mine. To read about what is going on in their life.....and to truly just be touched and encouraged....check out their blog!!!

Click here -----> the waiting room (when life doesn't go as planned)

And, be sure to pass their website along to anyone you know who could be touched by their story!

Love and miss you, Hobbs! : )

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

Shutterfly | Shared Picture Detail

I tried to upload some pictures from my weekend.....it didn't really work how I wanted it to.... but you can click above and go to shutterfly for pictures from my 10 year highschool reunion! :)

It was so good to see and catch up with old friends.....everything seemed just the same....just a little older. : )

Carousel ride at Gatti Town

What is Gatti town?  A cleaner version of chucky cheese.  Our new Wednesday every week event: story time at the library. Both kids love it!  Last week was a treat to go to Gatti town after story time.

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

Will turned One!

Will turned one yesterday! We had a small dinner with grandparents and just our little family...it was a perfect first birthday!

Sweet boy, where do I begin? Your smile melts me to my core...and most everyone who ever comes in contact with you. Your sunday school teachers usually carry you out of the room and almost into the parking lot...they say every week that they would take you home any day I would let them. : ) You have the softest skin and the best cuddles. You are a BUSY body. You are very cuddly and loving....but at the same time you are very busy and into everything....you don't stop often, but when you do, you make the most of every cuddle. You love music and love to dance. You love to play wherever Liza is. You are starting to walk....you took your first steps about 3 weeks ago! You are still a faster crawler, but you are walking more and more everyday. You are a very picky eater...would prefer goldfish and animal crackers over anything else. You aren't saying much...although you just started "uh-oh." And, you love to mimick noises and funny faces. And sometimes when you are fussing, I can almost see you trying to mouth the words "ma-ma" but nothing comes out. You are just so fun and easy-going. You are the perfect 4th puzzle piece in our family. I am starting to see a bit of a sneaky side in you....Liza loves to steal the show....but you have a way of sneaking in some attention just when you need it. I can't wait to see how much you grow and change in another year.

Sweet angel, we pray for you to grow to be a man of courage and quiet strength. We pray God takes your easy-going personality and uses it for His kingdom. We are in love with your one year old self and are the proudest parents around!

random pictures

As I prepared to post about Will's birthday....I found some cute pictures floating around on my camera. I am working on mananging my time better....I feel like I run around like a crazy woman half the time... I have a lot going on with just having 2 little ones, then there is a recent move, a house we are building....and some other possiblities that I am sure I will post about soon... I can almost cry looking at some of these photos and knowing that Will turned 1 yesterday just blows my mind. The picture with Liza in my lap is not a "cute" picture....but rather an image and moment to remind me to be still and have my priorities in the right places. Soon the day will be gone when she wants to crawl in my lap for a few moments just to wake up in the mornings. Praise you, Lord, for the awesome blessing and responsibility of these 2 little ones!

I am about to post all about sweet Will.....but I need to note (while I am in the typing mood...) a bit about Liza at 2.3. Hilarious. That would sum her up. Naughty and sassy and truly full of life. She never stops smiling (except for her sassy moments, of course...and some of them are still in smiles). She is tough as a nail but tender and sweet as a teddy bear. Her famous lines right now: "Hold you." Which really means "hold me." "Miss you, Will." "Mommy, let's go go." While gathering up every bag she can fit on her arms. She conversates now. That is something my heart was not prepared for....although 2 years into this I am starting to realize my heart won't be prepared for any of this. She really can talk to you and answer you and think for herself without just repeating whatever I just said. And she is very sure of how she feels. One day, while tackling Will, I told her to quit being like her Uncle Matthew (who used to tackle me). She quickly and very sternly told me, "No, mise not untle NatNew! Mise aunt Jessica!" :) Oh, Liza, words just couldn't ever describe how happy you make us.

Dress up!

This is one of lizas favorite new hobbies!

BTW....I totally just posted this from my phone...aren't you proud?

Elizabeth Parish

Sent from my HTC

future groupie.....

Still have more pictures of our past 6 weeks to post.....coming soon!

Last night, right at bedtime, Lee turns on the TV. Will was sleepyly playing....you know....we were in the calm down and get ready for bed part of the night.....when all of a sudden, he heard music.

It probably was cuter/funnier to us because A. he is our child and B. we saw it in person.....but nonetheless.....this cracked us up. And part of the humor was that he went from being quiet and still to on his feet dancing in half a second flat. He was truly moved by this music! : ) I only wish we could've caught the first minute on video....he was getting down! I thought Liza loved music....but I have never seen her get down like this.....at least not at this age..... We think it was his way of trying to tell us to quit playing veggie tales and give him some real music. : )

6 week summary

Before the Cow posting (see below), I have not posted anything since Liza's first day of MMO. MMO this summer was 6 weeks long, and tomorrow is her last day, so I have not posted in 6 weeks. Where does a month and a half go?

Lee and I took a wonderful and much needed weekend getaway to New Orleans. It was so good to have just some "us" time. It truly was one of my favorite vacations in a long long time. We ate and ate and ate, walked and talked, people watched, did some looking at ideas for our home ...... We really just enjoyed being together......and I have absolutely no pictures to show for it! : )

The next weekend, we went to Lee's parents house for a "stay-cation." A vacation where you stay at home..... Due to scheduling between vacation bible schools, softball, baseball, basketball camps, working, etc. it was hard to find a week for the beach. So, we took the beach to MeMe and PapPaws! It was the weekend of the 4th of July..... We had a blast! I will post pictures soon.

I think the next couple of weekends after that, we have been cleaning brick. We have collected (with much help from Lee's oldest brother and dad!) brick from an old school house close to where Lee grew up. It is beautiful old brick.....we are going to use it for the floors in our kitchen and breakfast room. I have yet to take a picture......but hopefully I will get one before the whole process is finished.

Our lot is completely cleared.....we hope to officially begin building next week!!! More to come on that, as well.....

Kids:
Growing and soooo much fun right now. Despite the challenges of Will still napping twice a day and the hot, hot summer, we still manage to make it to the park or pool most every day. Liza and Will are truly starting to act like "real" brothers and sisters. They play together and fuss together. They talk to each other.....Liza will say his words when she thinks he isn't getting it in hers. : ) She has really become a little mamma..... She greets him every morning with a huge hug and, "Mornin Weeee-uullll!" The second she wakes up she asks for him. If he cries she says, "comin wee-ul. I gotchu. Its ok weee-ull." So sweet.

Other than that......life has just been normal Lee and Liz happenings. We have joined a church here, really started making some good friends, and are just happy happy! We miss, you, our sweet GA family! : ) But, we have really seen God at work here.....and we are growing more and more together in Him everyday..... We are blessed!

Okay.....that is all for our updates......I typed this out sooo fast while I had a sec....please excuse any bit that doesn't make sense.....hopefully when I have a bit of time again I will get more pictures up......I first have to find my camera battery! Chick-fil-a was on another camera.....so it got posted first!

Enjoy!

moo

So if you know me (and I would think you do if you are reading this.....), you know I love to save money where I can......and if something is free?......well, I might just do a dance.


Or........I could dress up my whole family for free Chick-fil-a!

(I love these first 3 pictures of Will!!!) : )

Little Liza not wanting to wear her ears.....

This sums up Liza in a picture:

Lee might just kill me for posting this......however, he did it.....the worst of it is over. : )

here is a video I shot at Wal-Mart after our fun night......and yes - we went to wal-mart dressed like cows.

If the picture above of Liza with her head-band in her mouth didn't sum her up.....this video does! This video was taken on accident, I guess, because it is only 2 seconds long.....but if you watch Liza.....you will see her little 25 month old personality perfectly. Smiling and sassy!

sweet little Will.....he is growing up on us so fast!

be still, my heart

Today was Liza's first day of Mother's Day Out. I felt like I was dropping her off for her first day of "real school." Seriously....look how grown-up she looks! I was just a mess of emotions.....It was a new church, I didn't know any of the teachers.....there was no Judah for Liza to play with (or get in trouble with) : ) I wasn't even really sure where to park. And then Liza had to go and be so big on me. "Bye bye, mommy!" I mean, seriously?

I am typically not the mom that gets emotional over this kind of thing.....I mean, I love my kids and miss them immensely when I am away from them, but I appreciate some good time off.... But... she stays until 1pm! I don't even get to eat lunch with her!

So, whats a momma to do? 1. Shed a few tears on the way home. 2. Blog about it so that I can get it off my chest and never forget this moment, ever. 3. Thank our Heavenly Father for such a precious gift, dry my eyes, and face the diaster that is awaiting me in my kitchen (and smile knowing that I can do it in peace and quiet while Will sleeps and Liza plays safely in good hands....)

new home!

We have officially bought, and closed on our lot! We are building a home! They began clearing our lot yesterday.....no turning back now! : ) We are super excited.....I am a bit nervous (but in a good way!). We hope to actually start building at the end of July. Stay tuned for more updates.......and more shots of Liza eating an ice cream cone.......we love to get ice cream and ride around .......it has become a tradition for us (one that Lee and I did 6 years ago when we moved to Macon.....what is it with us, new towns, and ice cream???....)