Christmas "Card"

Merry Christmas from the Fischers!

This is what we would have sent out if we had put Christmas cards in the mail this year.  Lillia is 3 and Lawson is almost a year.

We are so thankful for God's richest blessings in our lives.  And MOST importantly, we are thankful for the greatest gift that He has ever given....His Son.  We celebrate the birth of our Savior. 

We are home now after some traveling to Omaha and Ames.  Unfortunately our travels got cut short as we had a little guy who was not feeling well and just needed to get back home.  He was sick the whole time we were gone....and because of that, I took very few pictures documenting his first Christmas.  :( 

We are all home and healthy now, just in time to prepare for Lawson's First Birthday!

I've got a few pictures of Christmas and our home in Kansas that I will put up once downloaded off the camera.

Random Photos

 I put a little braid in Lillia's hair last week...thought it looked pretty cute!

Hello?

Took the advice of a friend, and I think we may have skirted around the picture problem, for awhile anyway.  Thanks Amy!  The post will said written by Brandon and I don't know how to change that!  So, know that it's me, unless Brandon makes a guest appearance some day!  :)

Catching Up

Well, I've been dragging my feet with doing any posts because it seems as though I'm having the same problem as some of my blogging other friends as I can no longer post pictures on the blog.  I've used up my "free" space and now I need to figure out what I'm going to do next.  And let's be honest, posts just aren't as fun without pictures!

Well, here's just the top 5 happenings at our house this past month....

1. Celebrated my 29th birthday with friends and family in Ames!  I even got to eat at three of my favorite Ames restaurants...The Cafe, El Azteca, and Hickory Park!  I intend to live it up for this last year in my 20's! :)

2. We had visitors here the weekend before Thanksgiving.  My two sisters came to do a little shopping and enjoy a little weekend getaway.  We had fun eating out and being Molly's personal shoppers for the weekend!  Lawson and Lillia love spending time with their aunts!

3. Thanksgiving was spent enjoying time with both sides of the family.  We traveled to Ames to spend time with the Packers and even squeezed in a visit with the Lubbers and Miss Olivia, who shares a birthday with Lillia Paige!  Then we went to Omaha to hang out with the Fischers.  This year I ventured out at midnight to do some Black Friday shopping and see what all the fuss was about!  Brandon's Mom, Brett's girlfriend Caitlyn, and I stayed out till around 3:30am.  We had a jolly time together!

4. Our house is all decorated for Christmas.  Lillia and I had fun getting out all the Christmas decor and putting away the fall stuff.  She helped me with the tree and garland.  I've been busy crafting...making a wreath, stockings, and Christmas gifts!  Afternoon naps are when I go into full production mode!

5. Lawson turned 11 months old!  We will soon be planning a first birthday party!  He is busy crawling and cruising around the furniture.  I don't think we will have a walker before he turns one, and that is a-ok with me!  And so far he has been great about leaving the tree and other decorations alone!  What a good boy!  (And for those interested, he is getting tooth number 5...top left!)

No use crying over spilled milk...

Unless of course the milk spilled all over the counter and down the side between the counter and the oven. 

And it wasn't just milk, it was a freshly prepared homemade caramel latte, just the way you like it.   

-And this sweet morning treat was the redeeming part of your morning after making a failed batch of pumpkin pancakes (how did that happen?)

-And then you tried to remedy the pancake mixture to be a waffle batter to put in the waffle iron, and instead of creating golden brown, fluffy waffles, the batter stuck to the top and the bottom of the waffle iron in a gloppy mess that you were going to clean up after indulging in said caramel goodness. 

-In the meantime your children (namely Lawson) are getting noisy because they are hungry and waiting to be fed the delicious pumpkin pancakes that you carefully made to be healthy and include all kinds of great nutritional ingredients. 

-So you cut up a banana to keep him happy and forget to pull up his sleeves as you bustle about and his sleeves look like mushed banana that you would be ready to put into a batter to create some delicious banana bread. 

-Trying to fix it all, you add more ingredients to your now crazy pumpkin concoction, pour some in the pan and PRAY that it turns into something that resembles a pancake.

-Somehow the batter in the pan turns out flippable, and you end up with something that resembles a pancake, but you would never, ever feed it to guests....only to your children.  (And even then it's questionable...)

-And as you flip the said "pancake" onto your daughters plate and sprinkle it with a little powdered sugar to hopefully cover-up everything that is wrong with it, your 3 year old says she doesn't want flour on top and instead asks for toast as she frowns at her plate.

Only then, would you be justified in possibly crying, or at least think about crying, over spilled milk.

A Rare Picture

Often I'm the one behind the camera so we don't have too many pics of me with the kiddos.  Therefore this picture is a rare find for our photo album!

And bonus: a front view of my new do!  ;)

Pantene Beautiful Lengths

 

I've been growing my hair for quite awhile now.  Besides getting the occasional trim, I can't remember the last time I really got my hair cut.  Anyways, years ago I cut ten inches off my hair and donated it to Locks of Love. Locks of Love creates hairpieces for financially disadvantaged children who have cancer.  I had planned on going through this organization again, but recently found a different organization a little closer to my heart.  Pantene Beautiful Lengths creates hair pieces and gives them for FREE to women with cancer.  After finding out my friend's sister was diagnosed breast cancer and following her story I knew I wanted to donate to Pantene's cause.  You can follow Leanne's story here.

The requirement was a minimum of 8 inches and I think we took between 8 and 9 inches.  After I got it cut, it felt so light and bouncy!  I forgot to have the stylist take a picture when we were done, so I had Brandon snap a picture of the back when we got home.

So on October 9, almost one year to the day after Leanne was diagnosed with breast cancer, I cut and donated my hair in her honor.

Lawson is 9 Months

Our little guy turned 9 months old on October 1! 

He's 22lbs and 29 1/2 inches tall. 
Lawson is busy getting a top tooth to add to the two he already has on the bottom.  

Having a bad day?  Come on over and he will get you smiling in no time with his cheerful disposition!  This kid is the happiest boy I have ever met!  And, his new trick?  Giving big, slobbery, open mouthed kisses to anyone who will pucker up!  :)

When I get in a crafting mood.....

I create this.....

And to go with it, this.....

The pillow is just an old one that started coming apart at the seam.  So I made a quick slip cover out of an old tshirt, wrapped a piece of burlap around it, and stuck a tshirt flower to it.  Viola!

And the wreath is a wire wreath outline with strips of burlap tied to it and a few fabric/tshirt flowers. 

I like the pop of fall color that now greets guests at our front door!  And I Love Fall!  Don't you?

Also, looking at the picture above, can you tell we got our house painted this summer?  :)

Lillia Paige Turns 3!

On October 3, Lillia Paige turned 3 years old!

Here she is right after getting her hair cut!  And yes, that's a fat lip....took a tumble at the farm.

The morning of her birthday I got a message that I needed to head to Ames as my friend's water broke, and I was her doula!  So after getting myself ready, I left Lillia a video Birthday message and headed out the door!  I don't think she was phased by the fact that I was gone....Brandon got her pizza for supper and took her to Ace Hardware for a package of gummy bears he had been promising!  She was one happy camper!  Ahh, the simplicities of birthdays when you're 3!

Anyway, we celebrated her birthday a week or so later at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City.  Both sides of the family came for the festivities....and we had a GREAT time!

Unfortunately, my camera lens kept fogging over while in the waterpark...so I took NO pictures of anyone going down water slides or enjoying the lazy river.  Bummer!

We enjoyed a Mexican Fiesta for supper (Lillia LOVES quesedillas and chips and salsa!)

And a Dulce de Leche Cake debuted as the Birthday Cake.

We had a blast celebrating Lillia's Golden Birthday!  Thanks to all the fam for making the trip and spoiling Lillia with some great gifts!  Should we do this every year?!  ;)

8 Months

Our little linebacker turned 8 months old on September 1!

He's a busy boy...as you can see from the pictures.  He likes to get into grammy's things whenever we're in Omaha.  And take out gramma's plants when we're in Ames!  But ooohhhh, he's so loveable!  Can't help but squeeze him and kiss his cheeks!  :)

Next month?  We'll have a 3 year old!  Lillia will celebrate her Golden Birthday...3 on the 3rd of October.  And we're going all out....with a trip to The Great Wolf Lodge!  You can be sure there will be a post about that next month.  Until then, here's our little Cyclone.....

Just keepin' it real.  The cheese face.  And this is her outfit of choice 9 times out of 10.  She's out of it long enough for me to wash it, then puts it back on the next day.  She loves it!

Game Day

Once Lawson had his Game Day gear on, there was no stopping him.

He was out to tackle anything that got in his way.

And apparently, the tussle with this plant ended with Lawson victorious!

Lawson-1
Plant-0

You know who else was victorious on game day?  The Cyclones!  Go State!  :)

A New Fall {Healthy} Breakfast Option!

Nothing says Fall better than pumpkin!  And this girl LOVES pumpkin!

The other day I was perusing Pinterest (during nap time mind you!) and came across a new "muffin" without any flour or sugar.  Intrigued, I decided to investigate further.  After reading the recipe it dawned on me to turn this new muffin into a pumpkin muffin.  And this morning that's just what I did.

{Healthy} Pumpkin Oat Muffins

2 1/2 c Old Fashioned Oats (not quick cooking)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash of ground nutmeg and ground cloves
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 c honey
2 eggs
1 banana
1c pumpkin
1c plain yogurt

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until oats are smooth
Pour into prepared muffin tins
Bake at 400 for 18-23 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

Important: The paper liners don't work well when baking with a base that does not include flour, they always seem to stick to the paper. I sprayed the muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray or you can use foil cupcake liners or a silicone muffin pan.






ENJOY!  Lillia and I may or may not have eaten 3 muffins.....each!

(link to original recipe found here)

On This Day...

On August 11, 2010.....

Lillia Paige was 10 months old and we lived in Huxley.  She was busy crawling and pulling herself up on the furniture.

She looks A LOT like my baby pictures here in this photo!

And now, here's Lillia this morning, reading books to her bunny...Don't you just love the hair?!  :)

Remember this post?  I thought it was time to do another "on this day" post as I actually had pictures from August 11 in a previous year!

7 Month Comparison

Here's Lillia and Lawson at 7 months old.

Lillia was a GREAT sitter.  She had NO desire to move/crawl.  She was perfectly content to just sit and play with toys.  I don't think she crawled until she was 9 months or so.

Lawson on the other hand is too busy to sit!  He has to be on the go!  I am not sure when he will master sitting up!  :)

Life As A Fisch

Has it really been A MONTH since I last posted?!  Wowza!  Sorry 'bout that!  We've had a busy month!  And I just downloaded all the pictures from my camera since July 4 and there were 395 of them!

Here's a picture update/highlights of our past month.....

-A few pictures from July 4th.  Thanks Aunt Diane for the Patriotic Gear!

-The second week in July Brandon and I packed up the kids and with a full van set out on a week long journey through Nebraska to see family.  We were able to see many folks we missed during the holidays as we awaited Lawson's arrival.  We even got to see a few familiar faces from Ames when we traveled through Kearney!  And we met a new (second) cousin, baby Erin.

-Our tour through Nebraska took us to Grand Island where we spend an afternoon at Island Oasis Water Park.  We all had a lot of fun!  :)

-Once in Omaha, we took Lillia to the zoo and met up with some friends from Iowa.  It was a hot day, but we had a good time!  Thanks for joining us Varghese!  And thanks for taking a "chance" on Jason's Deli! :)

-After arriving home, our house began undergoing some reconstructive surgery!  We got a new roof, new gutters, a radon system, rock to finish the landscaping, and now currently the house is being painted! 

-We hosted a Salt Company event at the end of July and enjoyed our time with the Antelmans and the Clines!  Even got to have a night with no kids!  Thanks Katie S!  ;)

-VBS week came and went and was a huge success!  I helped coordinate it this year at our new church Westbrooke.  We had over 80 kids attend and we were only planning on 75 at the max!  Lillia, Lawson and I were pretty pooped after each day, but it was worth it!

-This past weekend was my 10 year highschool reunion.  I enjoyed reconnecting with high school friends and seeing a few other friends while in Ames!  Other highlights of going to Ames this weekend was attending a baby shower and eating at El Azteca!

-And now, finally we are back home, getting back to our "normal routine" only to have that change because the big news in the Fischer household is.....we are working toward only having one kid in diapers!  (Did I have you guessing something else?!) Lillia is potty training this week and so far, so good!

-August 1 Lawson Lightyear turned 7 months old!  Here's my trick for helping him work on sitting up!  If I just set him up on the floor he doesn't stay!  He wants to be on the move!  So if I put him in a laundry basket with a few toys he will stay, and when he tips a little, he can set back up and strengthen all those muscles (and I don't have to go sit him back up!)

Well, there you have it!  An update on the Fischers!

Cozy Car Caddy

I recently dusted the cobwebs off my sewing machine and got to work on a birthday gift for a little guy who just turned one.  I wanted to make something, but didn't know what, so I did what any gal would do...I googled!  (And I went on pinterest, but the google seach is what ultimately lead me to my creation)  The Cozy Car Caddy was a perfect fit for what I was wanting to make (and for my sewing skill level).  I figured it was something mom could throw in her purse and have available when out to eat or waiting at an appointment and baby boy needed something to keep him occupied.  Now I know a one year old won't be driving his hot wheels on the little road now, but just give it time...this little car pocket will come in handy!

This is the original link http://homemadebyjill.blogspot.com/2009/12/cozy-car-caddy-tutorial.html
I followed it fairly closely, but made some changes here and there and ultimately ended up with this....

 Isn't it cute?  :) 

Summer Camp for Lillia

Lillia just spent the past week at Grammy and Papa Camp in Omaha!  What started out as a joke, turned into Lillia staying a whole week with her grandparents...and I tell you what, she had the time of her life!  Without a little brother around who naps three times a day, she was able to be out on the town!

The events of the week included, but were not limited to...
-A trip to the Henry Doorly Zoo
-A trip to Barnes and Noble, complete with a frozen strawberry lemonade from their cafe!
-Swimming in the backyard
-Walks with the dog, Bro
-Walks to the park
-Reading COUNTLESS books
-Eating ice cream after almost every meal ;)
-A trip to Cabela's
-Eating out a few times
-A long road trip to Kearney and Holdrege
-And much, much more!

I don't think Lillia really missed Brandon or I...but I think she certainly missed Lawson!  :)  She was so happy to see him!  You can judge for yourself how he felt about seeing her.....

So what did we do for a week without Lillia?  Well, we stayed home and got some things done!  The house stayed clean, not having to pick up after a two year old...which allowed me to get some deep-cleaning projects finished up as well as get my craft on!  We worked on our landscaping quite a bit and are now ready for the "finishing touch"....rock. 

Thanks, grammy and papa, for having Lillia for the week!  I know she had so much fun!  I hope we can continue this and make it into a tradition as it was good for all of us!  Hope you're enjoying the peace and quiet!  Next time maybe Lawson will be ready to come too! ;)