Smiley Stickers

I am blogging about this because I never want to forget it. It is just something silly and actually not that important. But, it is a part of our morning that always makes me laugh and makes my heart fill with glee to see Lily do this.

It’s not a secret that every morning Lily and I go to our favorite bagel place to get my iced coffee before I take her to daycare. It is our morning routine. It started with me carrying her in nestled in her infant seat and her sitting on the floor watching everything. Then, we progressed to me carrying her in and sitting her on the counter so that she could watch everything happen. And, now we have gotten to the stage where she must walk in and then walk all over the store. The store is set up so there is a giant “island” in the middle that separates the ordering area from the seating area. What is nice is that in the morning when we are there so early, I can see the reflection of the other side of the “island” in the windows. This means that no matter where she is I can see her. This is very helpful because 1) she likes to walk around and most importantly 2) they prop open the 2nd entrance door which leads to a staircase [danger!].

So, randomly two smiley-faced circle stickers appeared on one of the trash cans – the one near the dangerous door all of a sudden. Lily is now obsessed with them. She saw them on Monday and has remembered everyday this week. As soon as we get in the shop, she runs over to them, points and starts laughing hysterically. She also has this (gross) habit of kissing them. The coffee guy has assured me that they clean everything at night and we are like the first customers everyday so I shouldn’t worry too much. But, I still baby wipe her lips when we get to the car.

Anyways, she freaks out and screeches and points and laughs hysterically every morning at these two stickers and it is so adorable. The coffee guy and I laugh each day. She even started waving and say “buh bye” to them as we leave. It just makes my mommy heart jump. I never want to forget her enthusiasm and excitement over these trash stickers.

It’s a little hard to see, because her hand is covering one. But, the little yellow dot is the second sticker she is in love with. LOL

Lately …

It has been way too long. I am a slacker. Life just moves so quickly and it never seems to slow down enough for me to just sit and blog. Lately we have been consumed with Lily and work. It seems that each day is the same with a combination of taking care of her, playing with her, cleaning, organizing, going to work and doing more work at home. Not that any of this is bad or boring, it is just what it is.

I love that each day I get to spend some time with Lily and with Steve and that even out of the smallest amounts of time we try to create amazing and memorable moments for her. We often only get to spend 30 minutes – an hour or so with her an evening, but, we try to cram in as much silliness and activity as we can. Lily is a determined little girl. The little “seatbelt” buckle on her car has been her latest puzzle. She knows that the two pieces fit together and buckle. She just doesn’t get how to do it yet. But, nearly everyday she goes into the bedroom and will sit and try to make it work. It is the same thing with her boots. She knows they go on her feet she just can’t figure out how to slide them on and pull them taught. It is pretty cute seeing her little mind work. She gets very frustrated if we try to help her. She doesn’t want us to help.

Lily is on the go like woah. Girlfriend walks with determined steps and likes to walk fast. She is entering her independent phase – wants to feed herself, wants to walk around holding everything, wants to put her shoes and jacket on, wants to walk and go up and down steps, etc. She climbs on everything and makes a game out of everything. She loves to laugh and be silly – which I love so much. Her laugh and giggle is my most favorite sound in the entire world. Lily also loves to chat and sing in the car no matter what else is going on. But, as soon as we leave the confines of the car – she stops. She can be an observer if we are out – she loves to see other families and other children.

Eating is still a challenge. She eats. She loves to snack. It’s just that to get her to eat fruits/veggies it has to be form a pouch. I have blended together the same combination that is in the pouch and even bought the reusable pouches so that I can make her food and she won’t eat it. It must be in a white pouch with a picture of a red apple on it. We have even gotten the same white pouches with different veggies inside and she won’t eat it because its not “appppples”. She eats fruit yogurt everyday from Trader Joe’s that comes in a tube and I blended together strawberries and yogurt and she won’t eat it. However, I have succeeded in mixing in broccoli to her mac n’ cheese and she loves it – win! Lily is a huge fan of all carbs, dairy and blended frozen drinks (non-caffeine).

She is an excellent napper and sleeper. Every night we put her to bed with MoeMoe in the crib and every night she throws him overboard and then demands him as soon as she wakes up in the morning. She gives him and her Mini Mouse doll very hard hugs and kisses. Her new thing is biting on MoeMoe’s nose and holding him that way with her arms out to the sides on display.

She dances and moves to the beat anytime music comes on from the TV or her sound books. It is hysterical. She also loves to flip around – I will flip her from front to back on my lap or completely over. She always says “again” after.

Finding her body parts is a new past time and she never finds in inappropriate to pull her shirt up to show you her belly button.

Bath is hit or miss – loves the water and playing but hates getting bathed and hates water on her head. Hates getting lotioned up after but loves the massage part. Lily can officially pick her nose – she handed Steve a booger today. Hahaha Dada. Lily loathes getting her nails cut and it is a chore – I have to sit in a super awkward position while Steve craddles her, gives her a bottle and shows her a movie on his phone to distract her. It’s difficult to say the least.

We haven’t given up bottles yet for bedtime/nap time because it isn’t a huge concern of mine. Lily loves using the straw or her water bottle all the other times so whatever. It will happen. Not a priority.

As always, pictures are often way more fun than reading this … so here goes a photo dump …

The famous white apples pouch …

Reading about her favorite animals …

Carrying the recyclables all over the apartment

Playing dress up with my necklaces …

Making her toys kiss …

Drinking a vanilla bean frappacino … no caffeine …

Cracking up …

Watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse …

Pigtails by daycare …

Finding her belly button

An artist in training

Reading with Grandma Atwell

Running … always running

MoeMoe at FroYo

Sitting on Dada because where else is better?

#Snowday

Today it was a snowday. There was no school. Steve could not get into work (he worked from home though). Lily did not have daycare. We got to hang all day long! It was so fun!

Lily is at the age where she entertains herself from time to time and loves to play games. She especially loves getting things for mama and dada and bringing them to us. She also loves to pretend to talk on the phone and to dance. Her most favorite game of all though is touching the buttons on the cable box and then looking back at me to say “no no no!” before she spins around, runs to me giggling and then I grab her aggressively and tickle her forever. We do this over and over again. It is so funny.

Lily also loved carrying around her spinach/kale puffs all day long and ingesting about 2 billion of them. A highlight was during breakfast when she rubbed her hair in the syrup from her pancakes. That was fantastic and required a bath immediately. She then (about 2 hours later) got yogurt in her hair, but, I just wiped it out haha. No two baths a day here.

 

Dada had a conference call during lunchtime and I was able to straighten my hair and make an actual meal using the stove while Lily wandered around. It was spectacular. I put her to bed for her nap after she had like a sip of milk. I also asked if she wanted to go to sleep and she shook her head no multiple times. But, alas, I threw her into the crib with her MyPad still on and she passed out. No tears or fighting. It is awesome. I really hope this lasts (it probably won’t).

 

We got to FaceTime with my dad and he got to see Lily walk around live which was really cool. We tried to get to her say Jah-Jah and she sorta-kinda-not-really got it. She also waved goodbye and said “bye bye” the second we hung up. Awesome.

My dream about a snowday was that we would all get bundled up and go play in the snow. Lily was definitely not into my dream. Getting her all bundled up was a chore. She hated it and threw a fit. I wrestled her to the ground and got her snowsuit on. We all went outside. For about 3 minutes. Lily wanted to be held the entire time. She did not want to touch the snow or eat it. I laid her in it to make an angel and she burst into tears. Next year my dream will happen. I just know it.

I got a little looney later in the day and put every single bow that we own in her hair. She let me do it without batting an eye or swiping anything out of my hands and left them all in there for over an hour before I took them out. She probably would have gone to bed with them in if I had let her.

We also spent some time running in circles and me walking towards her and the swinging my leg over her head which she thought was beyond hysterical. My leg may or may not have swiped her and knocked her over. Tears may or may not have happened afterwards.

She went to bed really early and hopefully is dreaming of our giggles and snuggles. I got to go to yoga this evening and had the best class. I am so glad I am back in the routine. I am committing to an entire year and will be getting my year membership on Thursday! Wahoo! I also got to enjoy some sipping chocolate after yoga with mini marshmallows! Yummy! What a great day!

A little light reading siting Indian style … Christmas books have no season

Her little face and profile melts my heart

I made Israeli Couscous with feta, grilled chicken, red onion and lemon juice – it was divine 

Selfie outside – was not impressed

Family in the snow! All bundled up with our teeny bear

Every single bow we own

Yummy!

And some videos from the day! 🙂

Loves to find her belly button and will randomly pull up her shirt to make sure it is there still … when she sits she has to pull up her entire belly to see it which is so funny

 

When the Micky Mouse Club House theme song comes on Lily likes to “dance” and by dance, I mean wave her finger around and sometimes bounce in one place … she looks like she is at a rave

 

Every. Single. Bow.

Moving and Shaking

Lily has been up to quite a lot these days. We have had a lot of playdates and a lot of adventures. But, most importantly of all – Lily walks on her own now! She just cruises around the apartment and the world all by herself! Her steps are so determined and she is always busy and on the move. Lily loves to grab stuff and bring it us. She is very responsive to commands such as, “Where is MoeMoe?”, “Can you bring mama the pink ball?”, “Do you want yogurt?”. She knows where toys and books are and that the kitchen is where she can get milk, yogurt, Cheerios, meatballs, mac n’ cheese and all her other favorites. She loves to sit on the couch eating snacks and watching cartoons. Although, her attention span for those is very very small – she loves to be on the go. She wears herself out – near the end of the evening she will fall more or just sit more due to being so worn out.

Lily has also broken free of the attachment to me and loves to spend time with Dada. If I leave to go to yoga, do the laundry, etc., she just waves her tiny hand and says “bye bye”. She loves to play with dada and bring him stuff.

She is getting better in the bath and more used to getting her hair washed. She loves to stand in the tub and splash about.

Lily is very fond of her books still, especially the ones about animals. She loves to carry the spice shakers from her kitchen around as well and has figured out how to turn the tops to make noise which I think is super impressive – I’m biased, but, whatevs!

Lately, she has tried to put on her own shoes and hat and knows that if we are going she needs to sit to get ready and to put on her coat. If I say “switch” she knows that whatever she is holding she has to put in her other hand so we can get her coat on.

We have a lot of fun lately asking Lily to find her nose and belly button! Haha!

I am sorry I am ranting about how impressed I am with my own kid, but, I am! I am so proud of her and all she has discovered! It is just so exciting!

Here are some videos from lately that might make you laugh! I know I love videos and I am so glad I finally learned how to insert that now I am a video taking fiend! Wahoo!

She is learning to love wearing bows – this was from the early days of putting new ones in …

Eating Baby Cheetos – loves them so much – she can’t get enough

Loves being tickled!

Walking on her own to greet Dada!

Walking around with her Zebra pull toy – just wandering around

The cats (mainly Chloe) are becoming very tolerant of Lily …

Lily loves to read and say “owl” or as she pronounces it “owal”

Eating her food without any disturbances …

Updates & Reflections

Lily is growing so fast. It is crazy. Like so unbelievable. She is turning into such a little girl right before our eyes. I am constantly amazed by her and the things she can do already. She is very independent but also likes to have mommy or daddy near. Her hair is growing so long and she is so close to walking. Her top tooth has come down and she looks a little like a hillbilly. She plays independently in her kitchen chatting to herself. Lily knows her favorite books and will dig through her book bin to find just the right ones. She hands us the books she wants to be read to her and then she turns the pages. Afterwards, we will say “all done” and then hand it back and then she will look at it and give it back to be read again. She is entertained by the strangest stuff – like hair. She thinks hair is hilarious. I just have to shake my head or Steve lets her touch his hair and she starts cracking up. She loves to play with her own hair at bedtime – twisting and feeling it on her head. She can get her walker and walk around with it all by herself and has even learned how to turn it around when she runs into stuff. She has learned how to climb into her big girl reading chair all by herself as well. Lily does not like meat. I have tried. I have put different stuff on it and it is a no go – the look she makes as she is slowly letting is spill back out of her face is so funny. I have a lot of Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs to eat now. She LOVES Cheerios and pancakes and yogurt and of course, frozen yogurt. Lily knows how to use the buttons on her MyPad to move the lights on the icons and that she has to click the button twice to hear the music. I am so amazed by her. We watch her videos from the day at night and just smile. It’s nuts. We are so in love with her. The smiles and grins she gives us when we wake her in the morning or when we pick her up from school or walk in the door at night are amazing. She puts her arms up and wants to be picked up and hugged immediately. Lily loves to give kisses too – she leans forward with her mouth wide open and touches your face with her lips. It is THE. BEST. I am so proud of her. And, I love her so much.

And, what is a post without some cute pics?

So excited that she figured out how to climb on her chair!

Usually on Target trips we bring the stroller and get a cart – this time we tried to put her in the cart – she was scared – clutched on for dear life the entire time …

Reading with Big Moe the night we got the chair from Danielle and Jean!

Mid cracking up at Daddy home sick the other day. When I asked him what he was doing to make her laugh, he responded with, “I was looking at her”. Maybe we will start the Tumblr “Why my kid is cracking up” …

Just baking in a onesie and a diaper cover – no big deal – Erica and Danny got her this and it is the first thing she goes to every day … pulls all the stuff right off the shelves and hands me the pots and pans … lol

Playing with her MyPad from Aunt Amy, Uncle Drew and cousins Jude and Liam … she is so proper here …

And, one of my dreams came true today … got an email for Friends and Family at Gap so, hello 40% off!!! I picked up these sweater leggings for Lily and I and now every weekend we can match – I am beyond excited. Steve is oh so thrilled that 1) I spent money, 2) His wife and daughter will now embarrass him every weekend, 3) I am now on the search for men’s striped sweater pants … stay tuned.

Mom Confession

I want to document this because I think it is important that we all admit our craziness every once and awhile. It is also important that other moms know that “yep, I do that too” and “my life isn’t perfect (or near it)”. So, here goes …

On Sunday Lily was going through so bad teething pain. I am convinced that at least 5 teeth are coming through all at once. She was fuzzy and irritable and wouldn’t nap. So, I took her on errands to distract her and hoped that she would nap in the car while I drove around. Now, we had just put in her big girl carseat which meant that if she did fall asleep, I would have to figure out how to transfer her body from the carseat to the stroller without waking her. In the past, I would just transfer her in her carseat still to the stroller where it clicked it – she wouldn’t wake up at all – no chance. So, going into this outing I was already a little nervous. I needed to go three places and mapped them out so that I had the longest drive between after place #2. We went to Staples and she played with her book the whole way – awesome. From Staples we left and went to PaperSource to pick up more paper for her thank you cards. She fell asleep. I managed to get her from the car to the stroller and then from the stroller to the car without waking her. I felt like supermom. I win. So, to prolong the time until the next and final stop (Home Goods), I found the nearest drive thru McDonald’s (7 miles away). I was hungry. Four Chicken McNuggets, a small fry and a small Mocha Frappe sounded amazefest. So, I drove the speed limit the entire way there. I placed my order. I got flustered as I was pulling away because at this particular McDonald’s there isn’t a place to pull over to get yourself adjusted and ready to eat as you drive and there was a line of cars behind me. And this is where my mom confession comes in …

I got so flustered that I spilled all my Chicken McNuggets and most of my French Fries in the tiny space between the console and my seat. I was so upset. But, you know what, I retrieved every last piece of that food and I ate it. I did. I don’t care. It is my car and whatever grimy, dirty, bacteria ridden stuff it touched was mine or my husbands. So, there you have it. I pinched every last nugget and fry through that tiny space back into freedom so I could shove it in my mouth. It was delicious and I would do it again. And, on top of that, I immediately texted one of my BFFs (who shall not be named to protect her identity/(non)embarrassment) and she totally validated what I did, told me she does the same thing and that made me feel better.

Whew! So glad I got that out there! Sometimes things don’t go the way you planned and sometimes all you want is a Chicken Nugget and if it falls you must retrieve that little sucker so you can have 0.5 seconds of pure bliss.

STL Trip

Disclaimer: This is a GIANT post with TONS of pics … prepare to stay awhile (or three days) …

On July 23rd we embarked on our first trip as a family to my hometown of St. Louis, MO! We were very excited about the trip (seeing my parents, brother, family and friends whom I haven’t seen since Lily was 4 months old!) and I did a lot of planning to be sure that we packed everything we needed. This was also a perfect opportunity for my friend Alex to take professional family pictures for us! She is super talented and incredibly amazing – you can check out her work on her blog: http://www.picsandpawsphotography.com/. We had a jammed packed trip planned and it was great to be able to see everyone and expose Lily to new and exciting places!

Side note: writing this blog has been super overwhelming for me to do because I have been going back to work and been completely distracted by that. I want to include all the details of this trip and not forget anything! I first organized the photos I wanted to use for this post and broke things down by days. I hope this makes for easier writing, less forgetfulness and a smooth blog post! Here goes …

Days 1 and 2 (arrival in St. Louis and first full day):

Our flight wasn’t until the afternoon – thought this would be best because I figured the flying and white noise would help Lily take a nice long nap. We were able to get up normal, get some breakfast and hang out a bit before heading to the airport. That was really nice and not stressful. We packed weigh (haha pun) too much and had to do some switching around at the airport. This was after we couldn’t park in long term parking and basically took a tour of LaGuardia before getting a spot, taking a shuttle and going through security. We also had to get our seats at the gate which turned out to be awesome because we got the extra space seats – wahoo! Lily was great on the flight in my opinion. She slept for about 15 minutes total. She was awake and alert and not crabby or too loud. I had to change her mid flight on the floor in front of us. Steve and I took turns holding and playing with her.

We arrived in St. Louis and my dad took us home! We got a very warm welcome from Grammy and Uncle Brendan and my mom busted out all of the toys for Lily to play with! We had an amazing dinner and my mom used the napkins and tablecloth that my grandmother embroidered by hand which was truly special to see. Lily sat at the head of the table in her high chair and enjoyed being part of the family dinner. She went to bed well and we got to hang as grown ups for the rest of the night.

Thursday Uncle Brendan gave Lily gifts from himself and his coworker Melissa. She got adorable handmade purple shoes and new stuffed animals – more on this later. Lily and Grammy and I went to Kaldi’s for coffee in the morning and it was wonderful to get to spend time just us girls! It was unseasonably cool and Grammy loved snuggling with Lily! My dad and Steve went to play tennis in the morning while my brother did some work. Then, we went to Schlafly Brewery for lunch as a family! That was really fun and the food was excellent. We tried to feed Lily hummus and again, she didn’t eat it because she doesn’t like chickpeas. Silly girl. We came home and then got ready to go to Station Plaza in Kirkwood for their weekly music performance. It is so cool that they do this – you can set up chairs, blankets, etc. and bring your own food/drink and just hang. So many people were there and my oldest friends came to say hey! I have known Amy since birth and she and her fiance came to play! It was awesome seeing them and catching up. My best friends since 1st grade came – Sarah and Aly – with their mom and Sarah’s daughter Brooklyn! We always laugh so much! Lily stayed up so late this night – past 9:00 pm STL time! Grammy and Jah Jah took turns strolling her around trying to get her sleepy so that we could hang and talk with friends – thanks so much! 🙂

Right before takeoff! First family selfie on a plane!

 

The hand embroidered tablecloth ❤

Lily’s newest shoes! So beautiful and unique!

Just hanging with her Uncle! His #1 cutie!

At Kaldi’s with Grammy!

 

Schlafly’s for lunch!

 

Hanging at Station Plaza like a stunna!

Days 3 (Girls’ Day and Family Photo Shoot):

Friday was girls’ day! I got to go shopping and to lunch with my BFF Laura while my mom and Lily got to spend some quality Grammy/Lily time. The men went golfing. Win-win-win! It was really nice to be able to spend some BFF time with Laura – I really miss being able to just drive somewhere with her or run an errand together or grab a frapp at Starbucks. We snagged some great deals at the outlets and had excellent pizza for lunch! My mom got to take Lily into Kirkwood for a walk and showed her off to her friends at the YMCA. I am sure the men enjoyed golfing. 🙂

During the afternoon we relaxed and got ready for the big family photo shoot. It is so funny that I don’t get too stressed about these – whereas my mom tells me that she would completely stress out. I just wanted our colors to look nice together but other than that, I wanted it to be fun. We did the photo shoot at Kirkwood Park and the lighting was great! It also wasn’t too hot which was really nice. Lily was mostly cooperative and we were able to get every combination of shot I wanted. I am so thrilled with the results – well, obvi – Alex is super talented and wonderful! I can’t wait to get them printed and use them for her 1st birthday and our holiday cards this year! 🙂 That evening after Lily went to bed, Brendan, Steve and I met some friends out at Bar Louie and had a blast! It was so much fun and so hilarious to talk with my girls again! 🙂

Selfies with LB ❤

Hanging with my Uncle – he is so great and I love looking at him! ❤

 

Some of my favorites from the shoot! Thanks again Alex! 🙂

       

Days 4 and 5 (Weekend):

The weekend was really great. It wasn’t as jammed packed as the previous days but we definitely got a lot in. Saturday morning we met the Bertel family for breakfast at Kaldi’s! It was awesome to see Max interact and play with Lily. He was so interested in her and shared his toys so nicely with her. I can’t wait for them to play again! He will be such a great friend and protector of her. In the afternoon we met some of our childhood friends/my mom’s friends at the Kirkwood Park for a picnic. It was very hot and humid but we still managed to have great conversations and fun! Lily loved interacting and seeing new faces. Towards the end she got very hot and lethargic. She ended up falling asleep on Steve all sweaty. We took the opportunity to take a longer drive with AC to Ted Drewes! Yummy!

Sunday Lily and I got up early and met Sarah, Brooklyn, Aly, Dan, Lara, Matt and Kate at Starbucks for a little reunion. It was the very firs time that weekend that Sarah was able to hold Lily – Brooklyn gets a little jealous and makes it a tiny bit difficult for Sarah to pay any attention to Lily – she was in heaven! After the coffee date we bid farewell to our friends and Steve, Brendan, Lily and I headed to the Urban Chestnut for their music festival, beers and food. Lily was a champ and screeched all day and made friends wherever she went! In the later afternoon we headed to my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim’s house for a family gathering. That was really amazing! It was so cool to see my cousins and catch up and eat fabulous food. It is so different now being at the stage in my life where I am a parent and an adult. The conversations I have with my cousins are so different than when we were growing up – we have a lot more to connect over now. It’s not that we didn’t before, we were just in totally different stages in our lives and now our stages are blending. It was very cool. I am so thankful to have family both near and far and I definitely cherish my time with them. I unfortunately did not get to snap any pics from this family event 😦

Mini BFFs!!!

At the park hanging with Jah Jah and sleeping on daddy!

Sarah got to hold Lily! 🙂

 

At Urban Chestnut – tried to get all artsy with the photo

Days 6 and 7 (STL Zoo, Elk, Bison, Birds and more!):

Monday morning we got to see Becky (a longtime friend of the family) and that is always a riot – she has so much energy and is always cheery! Love it! Uncle Brendan also gave us Lily’s gift from Lungi which was a beaded rhino and a beaded “L” keychain! They are beautiful and so special – Lily grabbed onto the rhino immediately and I immediately attached our keys to the keychain. Thank you Lungi! We also headed to the zoo as a family. Lily is obsessed with animals and always has a blast at the zoo. The St. Louis Zoo is probably the best in the country and it has so much to offer. You could literally spend an entire day there and then come back for more. Lily got to see such amazing animals and also was able to nap at the park. Uncle Brendan had to leave midway through and that was super sad! But, we cannot wait to see him again! We also hit up Ted Drewes again! 🙂 Happiness!

On Tuesday we met Kate for coffee and breakfast at Kaldi’s before she had to go into work and then we last minute decided to go to the Lone Elk Park and Bird Sanctuary. That was oodles of fun as Lily screeched more than the birds and everyone was staring at us! We then took a drive through the Lone Elk Park and saw some bison super up close. In fact, one was in the middle of road and prevented us from driving for quite some time! Mid day we headed to the airport to say goodbye to my mom and dad. It was truly an incredible week and one I will never forget. It is so special to show her and bring her to all the places my parents took me and my brother as a kid. We can’t wait to come back – there is so much more to explore!

Thank you Lungi!

 

Becky, Brendan and I

 

STL Zoo!

 

Lily loves her Uncle Brendan!

Kaldi’s with Kate!

Lone Elk Park and Bird Sanctuary

Move you fat mofo! LOL!

Side Note (because I like to document everything): I want to keep this a positive post, but, need to mention that Delta sucked a big one and delayed and then cancelled our flight only after we had gotten all the way through security and set up an area for Lily to play at the gate. We had to rebook on a flight the next morning at 6:30 am! My parents got more time with Lily (positive) and Steve and I got to enjoy a dinner alone (positive). My dad and I also enjoyed a nice bottle of South African red (positive) before we had to get up at 4:15 am and be driven to the airport (negative). 🙂

Also, we weren’t able to go to Tot Time at the Kirkwood Pool due to some pool maintenance issues and the unseasonably cool weather. This really made me sad. It has always been a dream of mine to bring my kid to the pool where I worked for so many years. Next time!

My Silly Giggly Girl

Tonight was pure joy. Lily and I got home and I scooped her out of the stroller and brought her into her room. I propped her up in her chair and she thought it was the most hilarious thing. Then she just started to giggle uncontrollably and I got the biggest smile on my face. We went back and forth giggling at one another. She kept reaching for my face so every few smiles/giggles I would pick her up and smush faces with hers. She loved it.
Later on when we were home from dinner out with Daddy I was trying to get Lily calm for bed. She wasn’t having it. She just wanted to stay awake but her tiny blue vein under her right eye was showing through – the true sign of Lily being exhausted – plus she was drifting between pterodactyl noises and rubbing her eyes constantly. I picked her up from my lap and brought her up to my shoulder. With eyes halfway shut she got the biggest smile on her face and open-mouthed grin. She reached for my face and just started eating it – that’s the only way to describe it – she kept putting her mouth all over my face and at some point she started sucking in my chin. She was so happy. I would pull her away and she would reach and grab ahold of some part of my face and with drunk eyes smile and continue trying to eat my face. I couldn’t help but laugh hysterically this whole time. It was awesome.
I love Lily to the moon and back and moments like these fill my heart with such happiness. She is such a happy baby and I must be doing something right. Let’s hope. Lol. The giggles are the very best in the world. She laughs from inside her heart and it comes out as the cutest sound in the whole world. I will just keep replaying that sound in my head as I go to sleep. Xo little one; mommy loves you.

Inappropriate Babies!

I need to set up this picture before I show it. I don’t want the Child Protective Service to come after us or the Gaurs.

On Halloween, Camden and Lily had their first “awake play date” where they got to interact with one another. Camden being 6 months was of course way alert and interested in looking at Lily and reaching out to her when she was in my lap. Lily being 3 weeks was just there. LOL. 

This is the set up for the most hilarious picture of all time (in my opinion). Giselle and I wanted to get a picture of the two of them together. Camden can sit up unsupported for a short amount of time, but, he can do it. So, we scooted him over to my side so that I could keep my one arm/hand behind him in case he toppled over. I had my other hand around Lily who was in my arms. Giselle was going to snap as many pictures as she could of the two of them together without my hand behind Camden. I was just going to be there. Lily was awake and Camden was sitting on his own so we started snapping away.

Then, …

Camden toppled over and face planted …

 

We all erupted into hysterics as you can see from my facial expression. And, of course, because I am sick in the head, I blurt out, “Camden, you need to wait 18 years for this!”. Our kids are going to be mortified when they read this some day … sorry guys. We love you.

Projectile Poo: Officially Parents

Steve and I are officially parents. Well, besides the fact that Lily was born.

We had a busy day today. We woke up and hung out a bit before going to get daddy’s haircut. Then, mommy and daddy showered and got ready and we ran an errand to Michael’s and then went to a giant outdoor mall called Ridge Hill. We had lunch together at Yard House – yummy – and then shopped for some pants for you. Despite the fact that you have a million outfits already, only the newborn white long sleeved onesies fit you. When we go out, you need pants, its chilly. You only have two pairs.

Our outing today was longer than expected and when we came home we knew we would need to change your diaper immediately. Mommy got ready to pump and daddy got the new diaper all ready and started to undress you. I came in to check out what your poo looked like (waiting on that solid seedy stuff) and saw that you had gone poo so much that it was all over you in the diaper, it was creeping up towards your umbilical cord which still hasn’t fallen off! Ahh! No bueno – poo germs everywhere! We knew this would be a two person job. Daddy was concerned about the poo getting inside your tiny lady parts and so was mommy. We had a plan of attack – daddy would hold your feet and make sure you didn’t touch any of your limbs to your poo and mommy would clean you up! We started to clean you all up and that’s when it happened. You shot projectile poo out of your tiny little ass and across the changing pad! It looked like you were a human Super Soaker water gun that had fired shit everywhere! We broke out in hysterical laughter. We must have laughed for several minutes. We couldn’t breathe it was so funny. Daddy was holding your legs up still while cracking up and tearing up from all the laughter. Mommy was mid wipe when it happened and was trying not to touch the wipe to anything while catching her breath from all the giggles. Daddy warned mommy to move her face in case you tried to fire again. After we had calmed down a bit, we cleaned you up and then mommy sanitized the crap out of your changing pad. And, this is exactly why mommy wanted this specific changing pad for her birthday. It doesn’t require a cloth cover, it isn’t porous and it is made of a material that can be sanitized easily with wipes. So, Lilybear, we are ready for you the next time you think you are a funny girl!