here are a few of my favorite pics from the last few months. there's no way to update you completely with pics, but i figured it would be fun to share a few at least!


me and Elly Bean in our Christmas Eve outfits. she was definitley the bell of everyone's christmas balls! (thanks to Nanny for making sure she had plenty of beautiful Christmas dresses for the season!!)


i can't believe my little girl is actually big enough to be doing this, but she loves to help us stir when we cook. this was our first family cooking experience. we made gingerbread cookies for Christmas, and they were a hit! she loved cutting them out with the cookie cutters too. so fun!


she is quite the reader these days too! she's being silly with Papa here, reading his GoodBook with his glasses, but she really does like to read her books too. it just happened overnight it seemed. now, she can sit in the big chair in her room for 20-30 minutes (if we feel so inclined!) reading book after book. her current favorites are "Fancy Nancy", any elmo book, any book about babies, and her "Jesus Storybook Bible" (really good resource if you haven't heard about that one yet!)


On our trip to Florida, we had two fun afternoons playing on the beach. this wasn't her first time on the beach, but it was the first time since she was mobile! after the initial shock of the ocean, she warmed up to it and had a blast playing in the sand.


on this particular morning, she took her newfound fascination with mommy's makeup a little too far! she now knows that mascara doesn't go all over the face like that! however, she does like to pretend to put makeup on in the mornings as i get mine on. she pats her face and says "me me" till i pat her face with the backside of my sponge or pretend to put the mascara on, etc. her nanny gave her an old lipstick container that she puts on throughout the day. along the same lines, she already likes to play dress up from time to time too. of course, the new "Fancy Nancy" obsession has just increased all these prissy tendencies! :) i must admit though, that i love having a little miss priss for a daughter! i don't know if i will know what to do if Father ever blesses me with a tomboy!

hope you all are doing well! i'll try and post some more as i have time! i'm off to pack up some more things so we can get out of her in 3 1/2 weeks!

shame, shame!!

was November really the last time that i updated this blog?? really?? am i that much of a slacker?? well, please do not leave me any comments confirming these fears of mine!! :) as you might have guessed, we've been a little busy. let me see if i can give you the really short reader's digest version of our life since November.

early November: traveled to Arkansas for some time at a friend's Club

mid November: found out that baby number 2 is on the way!! woohoo!!! then, we traveled to Baton Rouge for thanksgiving

early december: traveled to Florida to a partnering Club there and some great time getting them involved in what we do

mid december: traveled for a wedding we attended (eliana had her first sleep over at Lao Lao and Papas, which she wasn't so fond of once it came time for the sleeping part, but she had a good time nonetheless it seemed). vip traveled some without us to different clubs in Texas. start enjoying morning sickness!!

late december: holidays here in Dallas

early January: the Vippermans arrive for christmas and new years together!!

Mid january-present: try to recover from all the traveling, enjoy time with our family, and start preparing to go back to Asia!!

i could try and fill you in on all the really funny stories that happened as well as the not so funny stories, but that might take too long of a post for all of us, and i'm not so sure my brain can work that well either! (can i blame that on pregnancy hormones??)

of course, the biggest and most exciting development for us has been the news of a second little blessing. as you know, we beleive Eliana to be our little miracle after struggling with infertility for a while (i can't say that three years was a long time anymore as i look at different people who have struggled with it for much much longer that we did). after she was born, we said that we would take what Father gave, whether it be the one or more. although we wanted more children, we sought contentment and found it in being parents to our precious little girl. one of my greatest fears was to enter back into the depression that we went through while trying to have eliana those three years. so, i just have to say thank you to my Father who kept us out of that pit, blessed us with such a precious little girl, and now is blessing us again. what a huge responsibility these little ones are, but what a blessing!

the next big change for us is the move back to Asia. we leave in a little under 4 weeks on March 13. we are excited as well as a little overwhelmed at the big change in front of us. but, more than anything, we are thankful for the time we had with family here and looking forward to seeing what Father has ahead.

i hope that you all are still out there and checking my blog!!! don't give up on me yet!! :)