It's been awhile...

In my new room...I'm keeping an eye on all the stuffed animals in my closet.


Sleeping with my two favorite things...Brawny and my blankie.




Playing with my super cool Disney Fairies toy box. I love it!



Swinging is my favorite!



There's so much to do in my new home, it wears me out!

Hmmm...time has been flying lately! It's been 3 months since the last time I posted so let's see what all there is to talk about.

First, and probably the biggest, is that we bought our first home! It has 4 bedrooms, a large utility room (complete with a full bath), a downstairs living room, an upstairs living room, a dining room, kitchen, full bath, master bath, a fabulous yard, a great tree where we hung up a swing for Lily...it's pretty great! Brandon and I have been extremely busy working on things but it's really starting to come together.

Lily's actually able to play in her room now, which is a nice change. She was terrified for about the first week and half. I think there was just to much space for her to adjust easily. But she's so excited whenever we come home after being gone for the day...needless to say she loves her new home too!

I've been busy with summer classes (which end next Thursday!) then Brandon and I are getting away for a small handful of days the third week in July. It'll be the first time we've been alone since before Lily was born AND the first time we've ever left her for more than a few hours, so we'll see how it goes. I'm looking forward to getting away, but I'm also already looking forward to coming back home to my baby girl.

My practicum & internship start in August. I'll be helping register students for school beginning the second week in August and my internship will begin full throttle on the 19th (yes, on Lily's 1st birthday! I can't believe it!). Graduation is just around the corner. Oh, in case I forgot to mention it, I'll be graduating with HONORS!! No small feat considering I spent 1/2 of my first year pregnant (all day morning sickness/nausea included!) and started my second year 1 week after giving birth to Lily Anne. I have to say it, I'm so proud of me!!! :)

That's right, Lily Anne will be 1 in August as well. It's going to be a busy month for us around here! It's so hard to believe that she'll be turning 1 so soon. She's such a big girl now. She has 7 teeth, only drinks from a sippy cup & she feeds herself (everything except for yogurt, that is). She is constantly on the move (which is fine now that we have all this space!) and she'll be walking before we know it. She really loves to use her push walker-let me tell you, that kid can move!

Brandon is still working at Dick's, I'm still busy with grad school, but we definitely make time to spend with one another and Lily. We make a pretty awesome threesome, if I do say so myself. :)

We've been super busy, but hopefully with things calming down I'll be able to update more often. I guess we'll see how that goes!

A Big Day...

Lily's first Easter was a lot of fun! She spent a ton of time at Nana and Papa's & Grandma and Grandpa Patrick's. Not only did she wear herself out but she got some great Easter baskets from Nana and Papa, G-ma and G-pa & a super cute bunny from GiGi Susie. She "played" with Leighton (by play I mean roaring at her, crawling up to her and staring her in the face and roaring some more) and had a lot of fun crawling around after Wiggles and Marigold. She also started clapping-which is a new trick!

At Grandma and Grandpa Patrick's, she played on the floor with Aunt Heather, April and everyone else with a bunch of toys and a ridiculously large bear. Before the night was over she was waving to everyone-another new trick! She eventually wore herself down into exhaustion, but it was a great day! Looks like I'm going to have to get her baby book out again and write down her two new tricks! It's hard to keep up with her sometimes!

So many changes...

Here are some new pics of the little ham!


So pretty in my Easter dress.


Making a mess with a biter biscuit.


Standing up in my crib for the very first time!


I'm so darn cute!

Lily is growing so fast! She is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up in her crib (and occasionally around the front room), loves playing with shoes and garbage cans, roaring at everything and entertaining Brandon and I as usual. She throws fits like a champ when she's told 'No' or has something taken away that she shouldn't be playing with.

She loves to watch 'The Backyardigans' and 'Dora the Explorer'. In fact, we're considering buying tickets to see Dora Live! in June.

She's still working on those top 2 teeth. They just aren't coming in as easily as the bottom two did. She's going to turn into a Tylenol junkie if they don't come in soon!

Separation anxiety is our newest challenge. If I leave her sight, she immediately starts crying. It's the worst with Mommy, but she does the same with Brandon. Poor girl is super attached. Hopefully she grows out of it this summer, when she goes to spend time with a few different friends while Mommy is in class. She'll be visiting new friends Emma and Addison for a couple of weeks and old friend Ellie.

Ouchie #1

Lily's on the move now and the time for ouchies has finally arrived. She was sitting on my lap (while we were on the floor) yesterday and decided she absolutely had to have something off to the side of where we were sitting. She reached for the toy, fell out of my lap before I could grab her and proceeded to smack her head into our "entertainment center" (I use the term loosely). So now she has a scrape on her forehead and another one on her nose. Poor girl screamed her head off for a few minutes and I felt awful! She bounced back quickly and it doesn't appear to be bothering her, so that's good.

Looks like we should start investing in kiddie bandaids soon, though!

Already?!

In the last week Lily has started crawling, getting into everything and throwing fits when she doesn't get what she wants. It's entertaining, and very tiring, getting to know this little person who looks so much like her Daddy. She has a fantastic personality, full of drama and spunk. I love waking up every morning, being greeted by the biggest smile in the world.

Tonight, while I was on the phone with Brandon and in the middle of Lily throwing another fit because she couldn't have the phone, Lily used my legs to pull herself up so that she was standing! Can you believe it?! She's only just started crawling and now she's working on standing up?! It really doesn't seem possible that she is growing up so quickly.

All I can say is...Oh my goodness!

It's been just a few days since Lily started crawling (well, her version of crawling anyway) and man, can she move! All it takes is turning your head for a few seconds and she's no where near where she was. Today alone she had me shaking my head sooo many times. All I could say was "oh my goodness! Lily Anne!".

To start off the day, we had breakfast and I set her up with a bunch of her toys so I could clean up in the kitchen. Every time I came in to check on her, she was across the room reaching for Brandon's headphones or my camera that was charging. I moved her so many times!

After keeping me on my toes all morning, I set her down with a bottle and she was content. I left her for a few minutes to fix myself a snack and when I return to the living room, she's no where to be found. At first I thought "maybe she was fussy and Brandon picked her up". Before I could go see if he had Lily, I hear a little grunt from somewhere in the living room. I quickly mute 'Dora the Explorer' and listen for another grunt. Before long, I hear one and it's coming from between the chair and the love seat. She had crawled her way in between the two and was reaching as far as she could for the wireless surround sound box on the floor next to the wall. Once again, I moved her out of reach and set her up with her bottle.

Finally, after keeping me on my toes all afternoon, the big finale. You would think I'd learn, but apparently not. Lily was on the floor looking at one of her books, so I left the room for no more than 45 seconds, in order to throw something away and rinse off my hands. When I return, Lily had discovered of my books (which apparently fell off the couch after I put it on the cushion) and proceeded to eat the back cover and a couple of pages.

All I can say is oh my goodness! It's going to take a lot to get used to this new, mobile Lily Anne. She's getting into everything!

Toys and Bunny Ears

My first mess!


Chewing on one of the outfits Nana brought me.


I was not happy when Mommy took the dress away.

Lily has now perfected the art of scooting across the floor by pulling herself with her arms. It's not exactly an army crawl but close. She's very quick and is getting into absolutely everything! She especially loves to find wires and cords that hook up to all our electronics, which means baby proofing time is here!

Nana and Papa visited yesterday and brought Lily some new spring clothes, a teddy bear (who is her new best friend) and some bunny ears. I have to say, she makes an adorable bunny!

In other news, Lily has discovered her bucket of toys in the living room. We were playing on the floor this morning and the next thing I know, she's "crawled" her way over to the bucket and pulled it down on top of her. It was her first ouchie that didn't come as a result of tipping over and bumping her head on the floor or couch. She cried for a bit, but once I set her down in the middle of her first Lily-made mess she quickly got over it.

Trip to the Zoo

Watching the seals.


Bald Eagle


Looking at Mommy instead of poisonous frogs.


What's up?


Oh that sun is so bright!

Lily went to the zoo for the first time yesterday. She didn't really care to much for the animals but she loved being outside and seeing all the other children. She would get so excited every time we passed another family...it was the cutest thing! We had a lot of fun taking her to the zoo and can't wait until she's actually big enough to enjoy all the exhibits too!

Growing so fast!

Reaching for Daddy.


Chillaxin' in my sunglasses.


Giving Daddy a kiss...such a sweet girl.


Up on all fours.

Lily will be 7 months old on Thursday (March 19th) and I can't believe how fast she's growing! She's learning so many new things and talking all the time! Recently, she has started pushing herself up on her hands and feet, reaching out for things while on her hands and knees and trying to pull herself up on the couch and in the bathtub! We're going to have to baby proof very soon-she's soo mobile and she's not even crawling yet! She's definitely starting to keep me on my toes, that's for sure!

Lily & Daddy!

Aww, Daddy and Lily.



Smile for the camera!



Playing on the floor with Daddy!



I tend to find interesting new positions to drink my bottle.

Being Mobile

Lily is really starting to use her legs and arms to become more mobile. No more scooting around the room on her back!

6 months already?

I move around so much that I got my leg caught in Mommy's book bag!



Nana bought me this super awesome St. Louis Cardinals hat!



I'm growing so fast that Mommy and Daddy had to buy me a bigger car seat. It's super comfy!


It's so hard to believe that Lily Anne is 6 months old already. It just doesn't seem possible that time has gone by so quickly. It has been the most amazing 6 months ever and we are very much looking forward the next 6 months with her!

Right around the corner...

It's only a matter of time!



Ready to be on the move!



Today Lily started to actually hold herself up on her hands and knees. Instead of moving forward, she pushes herself backwards but I know it's only a matter of time before she's crawling after me around the house. I actually got a couple of pictures and this video of her going up on her hands and knees, so enjoy!

Number two already?!

Ha! If any of you thought I was talking about baby number 2 you would be wrong!

Lily cut her second tooth last night...finally! She's been working on this tooth for about 2 1/2 weeks now, and has been battling a cold for the past few days so it's been a rough one for Mommy and Lily both. We're hoping she has a little bit of a break before she begins teething process all over again with her top teeth.

In other news, we think that Lily is just on the verge of crawling. Just last night she started pushing up on her hands and knees at the same time. Today she was pushing up on her hands and knees and then rocking back and forth like she was ready to take off. One of these days I'm going to turn around and there she'll be, following me around the apartment.

I can't get over how fast she's growing. Every day we learn something new about her. She is such a joy and delight to be around. We are so lucky to have such a happy, precious little lady. :)

Here...Let me help you with that.

Aren't they just the cutest cousins ever?!

Slowly but surely...

Lily has finally started to cut her second tooth! We are slowly but surely making progress through this whole teething thing. I can't lie, this has so far been my least favorite part of motherhood, simply because Lily doesn't sleep the night she's cutting that tooth! I'm more exhausted now than I have been for that past 5 months! But she's been such a little trooper that it's impossible to feel annoyed come morning time (which is definitely not the case in the middle of the night, let me assure you!)

In other news, she has started the beginning phase of separation anxiety. It's hard for me to leave the room without Lily whining and immediately looking around to see where I've gone. She is attached to me at the hip, which is kind of crazy. You would think I walked around holding her and playing with her every minute of the day. I can assure you that's not the case! She is definitely a Mommy's girl, and while I absolutely love that, sometimes I can't help but want to get away for just a little while!

Captured for future embarrassment!

What we think is adorable now will be the bane of her existence in 20 years.

Look at that little baby bottom!


We took this to specifically embarrass her as an adult. Think it will work?!

I realized yesterday that we simply don't have enough naked baby pictures of Lily. As her parents, it's our job to ensure at least some form of embarrassment takes place in her teenage/young adult years. So how in the world are we going to embarrass her if we don't have a ton of naked baby pictures?! In honor of her future embarrassment as a young adult, here are a few pics of a naked baby Lily.

Raspberries

Jessi blows raspberries at Lily all the time. On her cheeks, on her belly, just to make noise. Lily loves it! As of yesterday, she has started blowing raspberries on her own. It is the cutest thing ever!

Lunch Date

"You got something right there. No, wait, I got it for you."


Cousin Leighton with Nana Staci


Silent Communication...wonder what they're saying.


Hey Mom, check out this other baby!


I go to lunch with a handful of women once a month. Lily, of course, comes along and gets to spend time with Nana Staci and G-ma Nita. This month Leighton came along too! It was so cute to watch Leighton and Lily interact with one another. They even "talked" to one another...lol.

A lot happened on the 19th!

She started out on her back...so instead of sleeping, she rolls over onto her belly.


After dinner (carrots and cereal)...her first time in the high chair.


Before dinner, playing with the plug. She finally learned how to put it back into her mouth!

Apparently turning 5 months old means it's time to learn new things. Lily officially learned to roll over from back to belly (finally!) and now, instead of going to sleep, she's rolling over in her crib. She also discovered how to put her plug (or paci, or binky-whichever you prefer) back in to her mouth after pulling it out. And finally, she ate her first meal in her high chair in the kitchen with Mommy and Daddy at dinnertime! She's had a very busy 5 month birthday!

Can you believe it's been 5 months?!

I've started crossing my legs when I'm laying down...just like a little lady! lol!


Enthralled with my baby einstein book!


Look at those blue eyes!


Playing with my toys!


Look at my tooth Mommy!


Silly Lily!


Such a great smile!


Mommy & Me!

It's almost unbelievable that Lily is going to be 5 months old on Monday! Time is going by so quickly. Before we know it we'll be celebrating her first birthday. Wow, that's a crazy thought. She's really starting to become so expressive. She's so active...I'm sure it's only a matter of time before she's crawling all over the place.

No one makes her laugh like Brandon. She loves her Daddy! Although, she's starting to giggle and laugh more and more.

She's growing like a weed and we are loving every minute of it!

Already?

Apparently the reason behind Lily's sleep deprivation is not a sleep strike but instead a tooth. Lily has officially cut her first tooth! She wasn't fussy about it she just didn't want to sleep...which explains my exhaustion of the last 2 nights. I'm not going to complain anymore, that's for sure! Lily is growing up so fast...It doesn't seem possible that she's cutting teeth already.

Sleep Strike?

I don't know what it is about sleep, but Lily does not enjoy it. I can count on one hand the number of times she has slept through the night. She usually only sleeps for around 7 hours a night, but for no longer than 1 1/2 to 2 hours at a time. She then wakes up and takes a handful of 25-30 minutes naps throughout the day, with the exception of her 2-3 hour power nap in the late afternoon.

I don't like naps and I hate sleeping during the day, so I know she gets this lack of desire to sleep from her mommy. But come on, getting 4-5 hours of sleep each night isn't working for me either. Especially not when we're up every other hour.

I hope this isn't a sign of her sleep habits in the future. Heaven forbid!

Books are fun

Lily loves to look at Jessi's books. There almost always one sitting on the arm of the chair in our living room and she can't wait to get her little hands on it. So, we got out one of her large Baby Einstein board books and sat her up in the Papa San with it. She had such a good time looking at the bright pictures! She talked to the book and of course tried to put it in her mouth. Hopefully this is a great sign of the future, and she'll continue to love books as she grows. One can only hope!

Bathtime Toys

Lily has several bath time toys. A frog, a turtle, a mini rubber ducky (and two large rubber ducky's) as well as a hippo that gauges the temperature of her bath water. Generally, we put the turtle, frog and mini duck into the tub with her. However, when Brandon was doing bath time the other night he discovered that she would much rather play with the big blue cup that we use to rinse her off. She is so easily amused...she definitely gets that from me. :)