My Sweet little Buns :)

So for my birthday this year my husband bought me a bunny. He named him Yummy (because he is a hunter). We didn't know anything about bunnies so we were feeling a bit like first time parents. He is very sweet and took to litter training like a pro. I am very proud of my sweet little bunny.



Yummy

 After a few weeks Yummy seemed to be getting depressed. He just layed around and wouldn't come out of his cage. We did a little more research and found that Netherland Dwarf bunny need to be in "bonded pairs" otherwise they become depressed and aggressive. So we set out to find him a friend. We found the K & R small animal sanctuary in Oshkosh. They just happened to have a Netherland Dwarf bunny name Pringles.

Pringles


 At first we weren't sure that Yummy would accept Pringles as his friend, but after a day they have been practically inseperable! They are so much fun and they get along with George and Izzy our cat and dog. Here are some pictures of their first few days together.

This year we decided the spend my 27th birthday at the Great Wolf Lodge in WI, Dells. Last year just Don and I went to the Kalahari which is also a hotel and waterpark, the whole time we kept saying how much the girls would have loved it, so this year we went as a family. We weren't sure how it would go since the girls have never stayed in a hotel or gone to a water park, but it actually turned out to be a great trip. The girls even slept 12 hrs!! I will let the pictures tell the stories, of course I took about a hundred pictures but I will just give you the highlights :)

The girls by the "Wiley" statue

Lily kept spraying Penny in the face. That is why Penny is glaring at her

My little poser

Penny loved the wading pool which was far away from the giant bucket...

Daddy's girls

birthday hugs for mommy

Pen and me

Don and Me

Dinner at Famous Dave's

Mommy and Lily

Lily is ready for the Clock Tower show that happens every night at 8pm followed by story time.

Penny checking out the Clock Tower before the show

PJ story time at 8pm with "Wiley"

Don and the girls enjoying the water park

CHEESE

After the bell tolls 4 times this giant bucket dumps 1000 gallons of water on the splash area... Don and Penny found this out the hard way and after that when the bell tolled Penny would start shaking and looking up. We were careful to make sure they were out of the way after that, but she never forgave the bucket...

Lily and Daddy enjoying the wave pool

The end

sisterly love

Lily and Penny June 2010

So it really is no big secret that we did not plan to have our children so close together. 2010 was a REALLY challenging year for me as far as motherhood goes. I really just felt overwhelmed and I didn't see how it was ever going to get better. I spent a lot of time in prayer and asking God to guide me through the hard days and help me to cherish the good ones.

What a diffference a year has made! I am so amazed at how fast my girls are growing up. Starting around August 2011 we really started to get to know Penny's personality (she just cried a lot before that). She is such a ham and has added a lot of laughter to my days.

It has been so wonderful to watch how Penny and Lily are affecting each others' lives as well. Lily is really helpful with Penny. She has been helping me teach Penny about going on the Potty and keeps her company while she sits on the potty. Lily loves to read and has a lot of her books memorized so she likes to snuggle up with Pen and "read" to her. Every night at bed time Lily insists on praying with Penny and giving her a hug and kiss. Watching and hearing their bedtime routine brings tears to my eyes and warms my heart. They end every night exchanging "I love yous".


Lily keeping Penny company on the potty

Lily helping me potty train Pen


 My friends can attest to the fact that Lily was very shy even a year ago. She would not play with other kids, not because she didn't like them, they made her very uncomfortable. She just didn't know how to interact with them. Penny has really helped us in getting Lily out of her shell and keeps Lily on her toes at home as well. Lily no longer has the freedom of quiet play on her own anymore. Penny always wants to be involved and to learn how to do what her sister does. It has been good to teach Lily how to share and to play with someone, not just in the same room.



lil stinker is so proud of herself

This morning Lily was pretending to be in a cage under the laundry basket. Penny walked right up and sat on top of it, trapping Lily underneath. Penny was laughing and smiling really big when Don and I came in to see what was going on. Lily was yelling at her which just made Penny laugh harder and start bouncing on the basket... Yes my first instinct was to grab the camera :) Lily was laughing too by the time I took the pictures.



she is bouncing on it at this point :)





Christmas with Cupery side

This year I had the great privilege of being part of the worship team for the Christmas Eve Service at Harvest church. It was a beautiful candlelit evening service and Donny's mom, dad, brother, and grandma Cupery all got to join us for the service.

All dressed up for Christmas Eve service

 This year we all got together on the 27th for Christmas with Don's family. It was wonderful to have the family all together since Don and Kelsey's schedules don't allow for it much anymore. The girls were definately not lacking in the present department and had a fun time opening presents.



Lily buried under her stack of presents



Penny wants to open mommy's big present!



Kelsey's boyfriend Greg helped Penny open her presents

We also got to play a few rounds of Catch Phrase while the girls napped... The girls won as usual and the guys cheated... as usual! Don and I also brought over our Wii for everyone to play. Even CJ my brother-in-law with autism got in on the action and bowled with us! All in all it was a great Christmas and we are so very blessed to have such great family nearby.

Grandmas come to visit

So I got a picture message at 9am of my grandma Jewell at a gas station in Belmont, WI. I was so excited to know that they had decided to suprise me with a visit the day before my birthday! the last time Lily got to see great-grandma Jewell she was 5 mths old and Penny has never gotten to meet her.

Great Grandma helping Penny bounce

They had a lot of fun with the bouncey balls that great-grandma brought them. They also cuddled up with grandma Mary in the rocking chair to read books. It was a short visit, only a few hours, but it was so special to me! I have really been missing my family this winter.



reading with grandma Mary