Sorry for the lengthy time between blogs, I will try to do better. Things are going great. The girls are growing up so fast!

Lillian just turned 2, and is a world of amazement. Her favorite things are reading books, to play outside (Brian built her an amazing swingset for her birthday, plus she would live outside if we let her), her baby dolls and playing with Madeline. She can talk your ear off and wants to talk on the phone every time it rings. Her favorite phrases/sentences/words are:


"I go outside and play?"
"Shoppin' "
"I see PaPaw"
"I go to MaMaw's house again?"
"I talk to Nana"
"Happy Birth Day" (we celebrate several birthdays Feb. to March)
"I do it by myself."

She wants to do everything "by myself." Most recently this began to include praying...it is precious! It is something along these lines "Jesus, sank you, Mommy, Daddy, Madeline,... amen." Sometimes the list can get pretty lengthy, we have prayed for ALL extended family as well as baby dolls, the bed, MaMaw's Car & PaPaw's Jeep, the fan etc. We have had to make her say amen a couple of times. Meal time prayers are usually short, she is always ready to eat (eat was her first word after Dada and Mama) She knows all her colors, can count to 10 and knows several letters (associated with family members names...she is learning them using LeapFrog Fridge Phonics alphabet). She is still potty training, but is in "Big Girl" Panties and only has 1 or 2 accidents a day and is typically dry through the night.

Madeline is almost 11 months and is a little ball of energy. She follows Lillian everywhere, fortunately they play realy well together. She is crawling, pulling up and cruising, and standing alone. There have been a couple of occations where she has stepped once, but when she realized it she was back on the floor. She will eat ANYTHING, what she is given and what she finds...I can't tell you how many times I have wiped dirt or grass out of her mouth. A few nights ago I dug a live junebug out...YUCK!!!! If table food is in eyesite, baby food is out of the question! She can sign several words: bye, bath, more, done, eat, thank you and drink. This is a HUGE help in communication! We have cut out her mid morning nap and she typically takes a good afternoon nap at the same time as Lillian. She would take a bath at any point in the day and as many times as we would let her (Lillian too, we can't wait for swim season...Lillian also likes to ask "I go swimming?" since we recently had swimming pool baptisims at church and Brian's parents have their pool set up). We have cut down on the number of times she nurses and have began to introduce milk...I did not have to wean Lillian, she stopped on her own at 10.5 months, so this is all new to me! She is doing great! She will be 1 before we know it.

Mom has just completed he 1 year check-up from when she was diagnosed with breast cancer and all her test were clear! Thank you all for your continued prayer. I will try to post pictures of the girls soon.

Update on Mom

Mom had suregery today to remove the cancer that remained after chemo. Everything went extreemly weel! She had 3 lymph nodes removed, but pathology came back negatice...she will likely go haome before 6:00. In 6 weeks or so they will beging radiation theropy to make sure all cancer cells are gone. Thank you all for your prayers!

The girls are doing great...we have been very busy the past 6 weeks, I will update on them soon!

17 Months

It amazes me how quickly things change. It seems like we went from a few words to trying to say EVERYTHING and talking NONSTOP overnight! Although many words are still her own...we know what she is talking about and gently correct her, trying not to laugh (Ex: we can ask her to say the K sound and the S sound of the word "Kiss" individually and she does it like a champ. However, if you ask her to say "kiss" she says "beat"). I have heard about this from many other parents, but is is a riot when you actually hear it. She is a little source of entertainment!

Loves

*Madeline, or "Maaa" as she callers her (again, she can say all of the syllables individually). When we go places and people say hi, the first thing she does is point to Madeline and say her name...she is so proud of her little sister! She wants to give her hugs and kisses all the time, to share everything with her (I wish this one would last!), and makes sure she is taken care of (she covers her up and gets my attention when she fusses).
*Books...she has always loved to read
*Being outside
*Her bath
*Music

Accomplishments

*Teeth...in three months we have gone from no teeth to a mouth full
*No pacifier at nap time-she never had it other than to sleep and we have not used it at nap time for several weeks now (will be completely gone very soon!)
*Potty Training...we started getting her interested at the beginning of the summer and she does pretty good for her age (she tell me she needs to go, and does, a few times a day)...we are nowhere near being done, but we are on the right track.
*Talking your ear off

3 Months

Aug 18, 13.5 lb, about 23" long

What a blessing the past three months have been! We have watched Madeline go from newborn to infant. She coos and laughs as she watches our daily activities.

Loves: Her swing and play mat

Tolerates: Tummy time

Sleep: Excellent! (Small morning nap, good afternoon nap, small evening nap, 8-10 hours at night)

Support Breast Cancer Research

Komen Lubbock Area Race for the Cure®October 3, 2009

Dear Friends and Family,

I recently accepted the challenge to raise funds to support the Komen Lubbock Area Race for the Cure® on October 03, 2009 in the fight against breast cancer. One in eight women will be stricken with breast cancer in her lifetime and the more we raise, the more the Lubbock Area Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure can give back to fund vital breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in our own community and support the national search for a cure.

Click the link to visit my personal page and pledge your support http://race.komenlubbock.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1000&px=1022901.

Please join me in the fight by pledging in support of my participation in the Race or contributing generously to the Komen Lubbock Area Race for the Cure® . Your tax-deductible contribution will fund innovative outreach and awareness programs for medically underserved communities in the Lubbock area and national breast cancer research. It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make a donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to the address listed below. Whatever you can give will help! I truly appreciate your support and will keep you posted on my progress.

Thank you so much for your time and support in the fight against breast cancer! Every step counts!

Sincerely,
Amanda Largent

My Mom

Many of you know that my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer this past spring. The game plan is 6 rounds of Chemo and then surgery. She began Chemo on May 21st and continues treatments every 3 weeks...with weekly blood work inbetween. Today she went for her 3rd round of Chemo...this entails blood work, a visit with a nurse, an exam by the nurse practicioner, a meeting with the oncologist and then Chemo. Keep praying, it is working!!! After round one of Chemo, the lump was about half the original size (5mm) and her blood work was great (white cell count high). Today they told her that her blood work was excellent and they would not have to give her the medicine to boost her immune system this time (this medicine makes her have flu like symptoms for several days after Chemo). Also, the nurse practioner said that if you did not know where to feel for the lump, you would not know it was there. Please keep praying! Next round of Chemo is July 24.

Our Story

Brian and I met at church while I was getting my Masters Degree. We got married on Dec. 18, 2004 and began our life as "The Largents." After a few short years we decided to try our hand at kids and we welcomed Lillian Grace on March 18, 2009. She was such a great baby that we gave it another go and welcomed Madeline Faith on May 18, 2009. Brian works hard managing the family business (a small lumber yard and hardware store his dad owns) and I am blessed with the opportunity to stay home with the girls.