June 29, 2011

Liliahna,

Holy cow! You are a good little swimmer! You went from being pretty much terrified of being in the water to learning the front crawl in two days! I'm not sure how the major progress came, but we're loving it! We're living in PHX this summer while we wait for B-school at Stanford to start, so you're getting a lot of water time right now. You ask me or mom to swim out to the middle of the pool, and then you like to swim out to us, then swim back to the steps. I'm so proud of your efforts Lili!

Dad

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Serelle,

Or should I say "D-Rell"? Your cute sister Lili (or should I say Lil-eye) just loves you! She loves playing with you and can often be heard calling your name. Because she can't say her "S" very well, your name comes out sounding like D-Rell. The Mattingly's especially caught on to this and now you are affectionately referred to as D-Rell. We sure love you D-Rell!

Mom

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Liliahana,

We are in Phoenix AZ for the summer staying at Mimi and Rhino's house until we get ready to move to "Dalifornia". In an attempt to survive the intense summer heat of AZ, Mimi signed you, Satchel and Serelle up for swim lessons over at Vicki and Jerry's house. Last Friday was the first day of swim lessons and it was a disaster. All three kids cried the entire lesson. But something happened over the weekend. You became a swimmer. You absolutely love spending time in the pool! Today at your swim lessons, your teacher Jason was so proud of your improvement! He even had you start learning the big arms of a pre-freestyle swim! What a big girl!

Mom

May 6, 2011

Serelle,

You have a new favorite. You absolutely LOVE to go on the carousel at the new Provo Beach Resort. When we pulled in to the parking lot last night, you started squealing with excitement for the "horsies! up, down, up, down, up, down, etc."! I love this description of the carousel, because it is exactly what you do - go up and down, up and down, around and around. It's such a joy to watch you learn and grow and make discoveries along the way. Most recent discover - Serelle LOVES to ride the carousel!

May 6, 2011

Liliahna,

Whenever someone asks you what your name is you answer, "Liliahna Lundeen Hawks". I'm not sure where you got the idea to add the "Hawks" at the end, but I think it's darling!

Also, yesterday you brought home your Mother's Day present for me. You made me a darling black picture frame with a red bow that says "Mommy's Little Lady". The picture inside is so sweet! You are all done up in dress up's , complete with a boa, a sequined hat, and a veil. You truly are Mommy's Little Lady, and I absolutely adore my Mother's Day present!

As if the picture frame wasn't enough, there was also a beautiful paper that you colored with a bunch of questions and answers. This is one of my favorite things that Miss Merlene does with you. She asks you questions and then writes down your answers for us. Here is what you said to me for Mother's Day this year:

My Mom is special because: "her makes me a good dinner that's fish. I love her and her love me and my daddy cause we all be special."

I like it when my Mom: "cleans up my room. I like her to take me to the mall and get me new shoes."

My Mom can do many things! I think she's best at: "making pancakes for breakfast! She can paly my dollies with me good too."

My Mom has a pretty smile! I like to make her smile by: "laughing. Her just smiles and be happy when her just look at me and I don't do nothing. She just smiles anyways to see me."

My Mom is as pretty as a: "ballerina! Her do her ballet and her be very pretty ballet mom."

My Mom is smart! She even knows: "me! She knows all about me and her knows where I live and her knows my daddy and him a handsome dad!"

This is quite possibly one of the most precious gifts I have ever been given. Thank you Miss Merlene for capturing some of the thoughts of our sweet Liliahna. And thank you Lili for loving your Mommy so much!

May 2, 2011

Serelle,

You are getting sooo big! Every time you see Lili do anything that a "big girl" would do, you refuse to let me or your mom help you do it. You say, "Ho sef Daddy!" (own self). If I've even touched you with one finger while you are trying to get into your car seat, you stop, yell "Ho sef Daddy!", and get all the way back out to start over from the ground up. You are such a little independent girl!

Dad

April 28, 2011

Serelle,

You have the cutest little bossy stance. You bend your knees, lean forward at the hip (so your bum is poking way out), and point your finger at whoever you are talking to...and say something like, "No no neekin' my milk!" We're desperately trying to catch it in a photo.

Dad

April 28, 2011

Liliahna,

You lost your first tooth! You weren't really sure about it, you cried for a few minutes and didn't want to touch your tooth! We'll see if a little tooth fairy money and subsequent doll purchase can help change your mind. What a big girl!

Dad

April 28, 2011

Liliahna,

Your teacher, Mrs. Merlene asked you at preschool yesterday what you thought the Easter Bunny did after Easter was over. You answered, "He lives around Utah in a house that's all decorated for Halloween cause he likes Halloween cause you get candy at Halloween too and you do dress-ups like Easter Bunny dress-up." You kind of have a one track mind right now (it rarely strays too far away from candy and dress-up). Love you!

Dad

April 20, 2011

Liliahna

Lili, this morning I picked you up and gave you a big squeeze. I held you for about five minutes when you looked up at me and said, "Daddy, I want to be with you forever." What could I possibly say to express how wonderful that made me feel. You are just so good to me and your mom. We love you Lili.

Dad

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Liliahna

This morning while we we were eating breakfast you turned and looked at me, grabbed my hand in both of yours and said very sincerely, "Mom, I'm glad you married my dad". Lili, you are just the sweetest thing! Thank you for communicating so well, for telling us what you think, and most especially for loving your dad and I so much! We both love you so much and are so happy to have you in our lives.

Lili, I'm glad I married your dad too. He is such a good man and he brings so much joy and love into my life. Thank you for reminding me what a blessing he is!

April 16, 2011

Serelle,

You love to walk around and play "Hunka hunka!" with mom and dad. The game primarily consists sneaking up, pinching our bum cheeks, and quickly turning to run and hide while yelling, "Hunka! Hunka!". You are just such a joy!

Dad

Friday, April 15, 2011

Serelle,

We had a fun party last night for your birthday...you are two years old now! You were so excited all day and loved it when you got text messages from people wishing you a happy birthday. Serelle, there are so many people that love you! We are so happy to have you in our family, you add a whole new element of joy and excitement, and we just couldn't imagine life without you!

"Happy Dirday Relly!"

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Serelle

Last night we had a movie night and watched "Tron" all together. This movie has a killer soundtrack so we turned the music up really loud! You loved this and were so excited throughout the whole movie! You would let out periodic giggles or squeals of excitement and say "cool!" when you liked a certain part. You are such a joy!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Liliahna

"What in the heck in the world?"

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Serelle

I think you are finally starting to like nursery! It's been almost exactly six months and today was the first time you've asked to go to nursery. Right when sacrament meeting finished you looked at me and said, "nursery?". That was a huge step! The other big step was that you didn't cry when I left! I've learned a new trick that seems to be helping you with the transition. I'll stay and play with you for about 10-15 minutes then I'll tell you that I have to go check on Lili, then I'll be right back. And you think that seems to be just fine! Your teachers, Sis. Raddatz and Sis. Moran said you were happy as could be the whole time. Hooray for church days!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Liliahna

You love "Church Days"! This morning when I told you that Dad was getting ready for a meeting you looked at me and said, "Today is a Church Day?", when I replied yes you exclaimed, "YES!"
Thanks for being such a sweet girl and for loving primary, your teachers, your scriptures and church days!

Friday, March 25, 2011

Serelle

You are getting to be such a big girl! You've gone almost two whole weeks now without your binkie! You seem to be handling the "loss" quite well and don't really even ask for it anymore. You dad and I were concerned that it would be a very painful transition away from the binkie, but you seem to have really latched onto the idea of being a "big girl", and that "big girls" don't have binkie's. We are so proud of you!

Tuesdays and Thursday are kind of special for us because Lili has preschool so you and I get some quality one on one time. Yesterday you were especially sweet as we got ready for your nap. You chose the book "Kiss Kiss" and wanted me to read it with you over and over and over. You can point out and label all the different animals and you like to say "kiss kiss" every time you see the mommies and daddies giving their babies a kiss. Of course I have to give you a kiss every time too!

Thanks for sharing story time with me, I loved it!

March 21, 2011

Liliahna,

Today your mom and I came across your Valentine project from Pre-school. You wrote several messages (with help from Miss Merlene) on five hearts and then glued them to a large white piece of paper. Each heart contained an answer to a question your teacher asked you, "What do you love?". Here were your answers:
1. "To go to that Disneyland that's at the mall."
2. "Playing house with my mommy."
3. "To read stories with my mommy and daddy."
4. "To go to errands with just me and my daddy, like Walmart."
5. "To eat macanoni with cheese."

You are just the sweetest little girl in the world. We love you!

Dad

Monday, March 21, 2011

Liliahna

You got your very own little Book of Mormon from your primary teacher yesterday and you LOVE it! You are so sweet to sit down and "read" from your scriptures. You'll "read" about Jesus Christ and Mary and baby Jesus and it is so sweet. You just love when it's a "church day" and you get to go to church and primary. I hope you continue to love the "church days" as well as reading your new little scriptures!