Long time... so much to report!

Yes, I've been MIA for quite some time.  Too much on my mind, really.  Lately, even my thoughts have been somewhat disorganized, which is so unlike me. I've been trying to be fair in keeping a journal for the baby since I did it with Lila (check out my other blog: http://www.martins-familyof4.blogspot.com/). I feel bad that I haven't had time to document Lila's news (which at this phase, there are many!) but I'll try my best to do that today.  I can hardly believe she's almost 2!!!

Can I just say, I have the most wonderful daughter in the world? I know every parent feels this way about their children, but Lila truly is the sweetest, most adorable child. I've known many kinds of love and they are so different from one another. The love for your own parents, for your siblings, for your spouse and for God, but the kind of love you share with your child is almost breathtaking.

Lila has been up to lots of fun lately. Her vocabulary nearly quadrupled in the past weeks and for some odd reason she decided to speak English more than Portuguese (which is the language we use at home all day). I guess this shows that TV can't be THAT BAD! Blue's Clues and Veggie-Tales are her favorite shows. All of a sudden, she's saying "book, milk, keys, baby, cake, green, bubbles, car, night-night, puppy, paper, thanks, mommy, daddy, music, sticker" and other words that, before, used to be said in Portuguese. She's been mischievous too... whenever she does something naughty and we give her a "look" she immediately says "TUDO" (which in her words, mean I LOVE YOU...long story short, we tell her in Portuguese "te amo tudo" which means "I love you 'everything'". She will also say TUDO out of the blue and give us a hug and a kiss, or she'll say "Moooommy, I ov you" just like that! Melts my heart!

Lila's a very funny girl...constantly making us laugh. Just now she grabbed her handbag and said "bye mamae, bye puppy" (to the puppy on the TV commercial)... took her toy keys and headed for the door. =) She loves dogs...real dogs, toy dogs, you name it. Too bad her dad is afraid of them, otherwise we probably would have to get her one...eventually I think she'll convince her dad. Oh, and she's in her pink phase, too. Her sippy cups have to be pink (although she will drink from any color cup, but she's more excited about it if it's pink), her dinnerware usually has to be pink...and if she's picking out a crayon, a magic marker, or even a toy, it HAS to be the pink one. She's into choosing her own clothes and shoes, but not to that point where I'm embarrassed to let her out of the house...thank God!

She's a perfectionist, quite like mommy. She's meticulous with cleanliness, thank God! A neat-freak by nature! If she sees a drop of milk fall on the couch when she's about to have her drink, she'll ask me to clean it up before she'll even put the cup in her mouth. Her toys have to be in a certain order or arrangement (not all the time, because she's also very into spreading her toys all over the house) and she likes to share her favorite things with us, like her games or when she wants to play on her musical instruments - we actually have a band now...LOL...she chooses to play an instrument but not before choosing the instrument her dad and I will have to play WITH HER. She LOVES to color (the paper, the walls, herself...) and it's adorable that whenever she's coloring, she lays on the floor belly-down and raises her feet in the air... I swear I can see her as a teenager, laying on her bed, taking on the phone about boys...oh my God, have mercy!

She's so caring too. Whenever I hurt myself (which is often now, due to pregnancy-induced clumsiness) she'll hug me and say "aw mamae, it's okay" and kiss the boo-boo if I as her too. Randomly, she'll hug my belly, caress it and say "baby". I told you she's sweet!!! She parties whenever dad gets home and runs to him to give him his "abasso" (her own word for HUG because in Portuguese it's "abraco"). She loves her cousins a lot, even though she doesn't spend as much time with them as she should. Springtime is almost here so I'm sure this will improve. She's quite fresh too... she's into the "eeww" word and she sees something that's dirty, or if she sees a pair of socks (even if they are clean) she'll say "eewww"....she'll pick up a microscopic piece of lint off the floor and give it to me and say "cacaca".  She's also into the "nude" phase where she takes off all her clothes, diaper included. Just now she took her socks off, her shirt, and now she's upset because she asked me to take off her pants and I said "no". Oh, her favorite words at the moment: "no way" -- her answer to everything instead of just plain NO.

There are other cute things she does that I think it's pretty funny. For example, whenever I take her shirt off, she'll check to see if her earrings are still on. If I take them out for any reason, as soon as she notices she doesn't have them on, she asks me to put them on. Her hair: she doesn't fuss over as much as I expected her too, but she lets me fix it up without complaining.  She's very attached to her "mimi" which is any muslin blanket or towel.  She loves to cuddle with it and if she can find all of them, she'll cuddle with ALL of them.  Another funny thing is that when she is about to poop, she'll hide in a room, close the door and GOD FORBID I enter the room.  I guess she's like everyone else and likes her privacy... LOL  She likes the "idea" of sitting on the potty but hasn't quite shown interest in actually USING it, and I'm so okay with that!

I think I've shared a lot already, but that's not even remotely close to what Lila really is. She's just "heaven on earth" and a constant reminder of God's love towards us. For Him to trust us with this amazing little girl (and another one that's coming) it's just amazing. We only hope to honor Him in the way we raise Lila and her sister (and future siblings if it's in His plans). We pray she grows up in love with the God that made her and we pray she has a kind heart, a generous spirit, a sweet soul altogether.

I just want to wrap it up with the story of this little girl who changed my attitude towards life:

In the past weeks I have come to "know" a little girl from Texas named Layla Grace (very similar to Lila's name so I guess that was what caught my attention at first). We got news yesterday that she passed away after battling Neuroblastoma stage 4 for almost a year. She was only 2 years, 3 months old. I can't begin to tell you how she changed my life. I have new perspective on what I want for myself and my loved ones, especially my Lila and my baby girl who's growing inside my belly. Layla Grace Marsh has shown me that there are more important things that need to be done on this earth. It's not wrong to have certain expectations but I learned how important it is to positively impact people along the way. She showed me what God can do through us, especially during the times we may think He's not close to us. The strength and impact coming from this little girl is surreal. Her parents: a fountain of faith and strength. Sure, I'm not saying I don't think they had or will have tough days, but they always remained positive. I have learned to be a better mom, a better wife, a better daughter and a better person altogether. She has inspired me to always see the good and focus on the positive. For more information on her short but precious life, visit http://www.laylagrace.org/ . Also, make sure to read up on Neuroblastoma. The symptoms are so common with the simple things pediatricians deal with day to day, that it is often diagnosed too late.

God bless you all!

xoxo

(sorry if there are spelling errors...For some reason, I couldn't spell check the entry on this computer!)