Life with Liza: January 2013

Fast pace doesn't even begin to describe our life right now. Not because of jobs or busy schedules, but because we have the busiest/fastest/most energetic child on the face of the earth. I think when I say this to people, they blow it off and think "oh yeah you have a toddler!" Thats the not the case. She goes non stop from the time her feet hit the floor to the time she closes her eyes. I think this is why she sleeps so well. She sleeps a good 11-12 hours every night and takes 2 good naps during the day. We joked when she started crawling, that when she began walking, it would be a run. Well, we were right. She takes off and is GONE. She inherited mine and Tyler's energy and just can't stop.

She babbles all.the.time. Non stop. She's not really talking yet. She says dada and dog and cat. She loves giving kisses. She opens her mouth as wide as she can get it and lays it on you. She has started hugging so tight, which is the best! She is nosey nosey. Loves pulling everything out of drawers/purses/bags. When she wakes in the morning or after a nap she picks up the teddy bear in her bed and kisses all over it. If you pick her up before she does this, she's mad. She is very very strong willed. Who in the heck does she get that from? If she has something and we take it away, she lets us know that is not what she wanted us to do. It amazes me that she is as smart as she is. Not that I didn't expect it, but it blows my mind that she understands so much. She knows so many words and exactly what they mean. Tonight she took my phone. I told her to go get her phone. She turned right around, walked over to her little car and got her phone. It's crazy that she is that big.

Every stage seems to get a little better. She is so loving now. She buries her head in my legs when she wants to be picked up...Lays her head on my shoulder and kisses my face...Runs to me when I get home from work...Squeezes my neck right before I lay her down at night...It's better than I ever imagined.

My goal for the new year was to have more patience. I feel like so far I have been successful. I'm not saying I haven't lost my patience at all, but I think I've done better. Tyler is so much better at this than I am. He is so calm, and even if he's about to pop, no one knows it. Me on the otherhand- everyone knows it.

So often at night when I'm rocking her or even after I have put her to bed I stay in her room and do a lot of thinking. I think about how far I've come in a year. I think about how I love her so much it hurts. I think about how lucky and thankful I am to be her mother, but more than anything I think about how scary this job is. This is a life, that I'm in charge of. There is so much I want to do. There are so many things I want to teach her. It is without a doubt overwhelming.

I look around at school at all of my 9 and 10 year ols and think about all the wonderful traits that they have. Their parents worked hard for that. They have turned into wonderful children with so much to offer. My prayer is that someday one of Liza's teachers will say the same. One of the most important traits is kindness. I will do everything in my power to teach her this. To teach her that we are all equal, but in order for her to truly understand this, she has to see it in me.

I've said this before, my life has so much more meaning with Liza. She makes me want to better in so many ways. I never knew I could love anyone so much.

XOXO
Liza's mom

Somehow the holidays are over. Christmas seems like one big blur, mainly because we've all been sick in the Knox house. It started with me the day before Christmas. Head/throat/fever stuff. Then I passed it onto poor Liza. She started running fever the day after Christmas and was sick until the day after her birthday :( She was so pitiful. When she has fever she is just so different from her normal self. From Tuesday until Friday she just laid on me. I debated on cancelling her party and rescheduling, but thankfully her fever broke on Friday and Saturday morning she was a little better. She definetly wasn't herself, but a huge improvement. So on Friday afternoon, I called our cupcake girl and told her the party was on. By this point Tyler was sick. He went to bed around 6:30 Friday night and I was in a mad dash to finish all of the last minute party things. I have spent monthS planning this party and in the middle of all this caos it was going to happen! At 1 in the morning I finally went to bed. Woke up at 6 and we had a party at 11. It really was perfect. (minus sick daddy) She got so many wonderful books. Some were passed down from family members. Some people picked out their favorite book as a child. Some had sweet notes written inside of them. Pop Pop even bought one of those recordable books. (which makes me cry) Hannah (Honey) made Liza her own "box" to keep all her letters in. In the Pratt house that was very important. I still have my box and still to this day I love to pull it out and read old letters. So in the end Christmas was kind of a blur with the snow and sickness, but the birthday party was great. We had a friend come take pictures, and I can't wait to get them all back!

For New Years Eve, Liza stayed with Cookie, Pop Pop, and Pratt. She and Pratt had so much fun. We went to El Dorado to eat dinner with some friends. Friends that we made in 2012. One of them being my doctor who delivered Liza. She and I clicked from the beginning and have become close friends. Tyler and her husband are so much alike its scary. My precious friend Corrie was there too, and her wonderful husband. Corrie and I also met this year and I feel like she's been my best friend for years. It was special to get to spend New Years with her. She is the strongest person I know and is fighting the hardest battle I have ever witnessed, but she's winning. She is so inspiring and makes me want to be a better person. 2013 is going to be her year, I just know it. 2012 sure wasn't easy for her, but she has fought every single step of the way.

Since it is a new year I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want for this year and I've tried to narrow it down. I want to have more patience, with Liza, Tyler, my school kids, just everyone. I also want to slow down. (if you know me well this is very hard) The first year of Liza's life flew by and I regret not slowing down and taking more in. I let small day to day things get in the way. I have to stop. Before I know it she will be starting school and I will wonder where our time went. My mom brought me a box of my old things that she found and when I opned the box I found a book that my parents gave me when I was 12. Inside my dad wrote a note and in that note he said "You have blessed our lives more than you will ever know and until you have a child of your own you will never know the love we have for you." I fell apart reading this because he is so right. I knew they loved me, but until I had Liza I couldn't imagine the love they feel for Hannah and I. A year ago today I was learning how to take care of a new baby. I was so scared and anxious. I did a lot of crying and praying, and we made it. We made it a year with a healthy, happy baby girl. We made mistakes here and there, but we succeeded. "We" being the key word. I couldn't have done it alone. Tyler is more than I could've ever asked for. He knows just when to step in or when to walk away. Our days haven't always been easy. Looking back the first 2 years of our marraige was so easy, but like he said last Friday night "our life has so much more meaning now." My friend Corrie said something one day that will stick me forever. We were discussing how children change everything and she said "When I had my first baby I told myself, I will always support my husband in any decision he makes when it comes to my children, because after all I chose him to be their father. I could've chosen anyone, but he's the one I chose, so therefore I will always support him" What a HUGE statement, but so so so true. See, isnt' she wonderful...Yep.

Here are a few pics from the holidays. As soon as I get the birthday pictures back I will post them. Happy New Year my friends. Let's be patient and take the time to enjoy the ones we love.

XOXO...

Christmas night at Cookie's