Not For Keeps

Stella's cousin Lucy got to spend a couple of nights with us again last week. Stella LOVES having her here and we LOVE it too. Not only because we just love Lucy, but because Stella suddenly becomes super responsible, obedient, and extra helpful. She made it no secret that it was just because Lucy was here.

Elliot put Lucy to sleep and refused my offers to take her back to her bed. He just held her for 45 minutes and loved it.

When I told Stella that Lucy's Mommy and Daddy were coming to pick her up, she asked, "WHY?" (a little whiny too, if you can imagine)

I said, "Well, they miss her and want her to be with their family."

To which she retorted, "But she's OUR BABY!"

And this is why we cannot be foster parents. We don't like to give them back.

Sugar Bowl

Stella is MAD for ice cream!

George and Raymond can't wait to have real facial hair.

Aunt Bethany and the Hannah Montana fan club Claire, Stella, and Anabelle.

And of course Lucy likes pickles.

Just Little Lucy

It's a little known fact that the Dibble grandchildren absolutely love their Grandma and Grandpa. So when Grandpa was holding Lucy on Sunday and Lucy reached out for me to hold her, SHE QUICKLY BECAME MY NEW FAVORITE! I love Lucy!

Happy #1 Birthday Lucy!

Ribs

She never did like baby food.

Lucy Lou

Can Lucy be our baby? WE LOVE HER!

Elliot's Birthday!

Elliot only had 3 requests for his birthday: 1) Famous Dave's BBQ ribs, 2) his favorite M&M cookies, and 3) Chick-fil-A vanilla milkshake (the man likes food). How low-maintenance is he? Still, I only accomplished 2 out of 3 and I made him go get his own BBQ. Maybe tomorrow I'll surprise him with the milkshake.

We invited Elliot's family over to help us celebrate his #32 birthday with BBQ and a stack of M&M cookies!

George in Grandma's crazy glasses (Elliot calls them "terrble" like Charles Barkley says it).

All 6 of the Dibble grandchildren: Raymond, Claire, Lucy, George, Anabelle, and Stella.

Happy Birthday Elliot! We LOVE, LOVE, LOVE you!

Lucy Lou!

We got to hang out with cousin Lucy for a couple of days earlier last month! Stella LOVED being a big sister for those days! We've got to get a baby in our family. Stella is a pretty well-behaved kid anyway, but she just blossoms into such a little first-time-I-ask helper when there is someone else to take care of.

One night after I put Lucy to bed (in Stella's room), we did our usual night routine (prayers, scriptures, read books). After this, I usually sing Stella a few songs in her room as she tries to go to sleep, but when Lucy was here, Stella actually said, "I'm just going to go in my room and close my eyes and go to sleep." And she did. God bless Lucy.

Lucy sticks her tongue out when she's happy and Stella thinks it's the funniest thing she's ever seen in her 5 years of life! We LOVE Lucy!

At Last!

Stella got to be a sister for a few seconds and she was in heaven!

She also thinks she can toss her around like a doll. Not sure why she's so confident in her parenting skills already, but she sure loves Baby Lucy!

Heartbreak!

As Elliot and I were walking out of the hospital after our visit with Baby Lucy, we met with Grandma Dibble and Beth who were herding Ray, George, Anabelle, Claire, and Stella in. This was convenient because we were just about to go pick Stella up at Grandma's house.

However, when we took her hand to go, she objected and stated very clearly that she intended to go see Baby Lucy! We explained that only brothers and sisters could see babies in the hospital (a rule at the hospital), to which she responded, "But I'm a sister!"

Then this happened.

She continued crying which broke our hearts and even earned her a dollar from Grandma Dibble.

When we got home, she was still very upset. I tried to distract her, but it didn't work. She started crying again because I looked at her and screamed for 5 minutes "DON'T LOOK AT ME!" When she finally calmed down a little bit, she came to sit on my lap so we could talk.

MOM: "Stella, what are you really crying about?"
STELLA: "I wanted to hold Baby Lucy! I WANT TO BE A SISTER!"

And then we were both crying.

Baby Lucy Dibble is here!

Our niece Lucy Dibble was born early this morning at 12:45 (15 minutes after arriving at the hospital . . . awesome, huh) to Elliot's brother Adam and his wife Xan!

She weighed 6 pounds 15 ounces and was 20 1/2 inches long and is just the sweetest little thing!

Congratulations Adam, Xan, Ray, George, Anabelle, and Claire! We love you!