A toddler and a tube of lipstick

For the record - you would be amazed at how hard it is to get red lipstick off.

Not to be outdone in passport picture cuteness

Yes, she is a girl

I'm not sure why people default to a baby boy if they are uncertain of the gender of a baby. Lillian got two sets of clips as gifts this weekend. No mistaking her now.

Here she is

And some other pictures for your viewing pleasure

Toe Jam

Elijah recently discovered Toe Jam. He is obsessed about looking for it. He doesn't really like to wear socks but if you tell him he'll get Toe Jam out of it he is more than willing to put them on.

We bought a house!

With the addition of Lillian, this little house was just getting too small. So we thought we'd look a bit. We didn't expect to find something that we liked as quickly. We made an offer last night and before we went to bed we were new home owners.

It's a 1495 square foot bungalow three blocks from our current home. It has five bedrooms and a two car garage. The yard is really quite big for being in the middle of the city and it is fully landscaped. Some of the inside stuff is a little bit dated but we were kind of looking for that so that we could make it our own.

Possession date is February 1st. Now we just need to figure out when we'll move and when we'll sell this house. Fun times.

A passport and a dream

Yesterday Lillian got her picture taken for her very first passport. We're planning a trip somewhere south of Canada in February so we needed to start the process of getting her some proper flying ID.

It's made me think of all the the passports I dream that she will need down the road. Passports to go on adventures around the world and experience the things that make your world richer and your level of compassion just a little bit higher.

I dream of emails from London saying that she thinks that perhaps she may just have caught a glimpse of King William.

I dream of a phone call from Peru in the orphanage that she's spending her summer volunteering at.

I dream of quick trips to Fargo with her friends for a weekend of shopping and girl time.

And sometimes, when the mother in me doesn't get too scared, I dream that she will go to places like Africa and fall in love with the people like her mom did. I dream that she will have a heart of love for those who have not had all the advantages that she will grow up with.

But mostly, I dream that she will be happy and live the life that God created her for.

Hey

Conversation while Elijah was "helping" wash the dishes and I "took" his water.

Elijah: Hey.

Mom: Hey what?

Elijah: Hay for horses.