the park, a date, and a playgroup

Yesterday we took Lily to the park in the afternoon for a "photo shoot." Haha! My camera just always takes better pictures outside with the lighting and she had her cute Old Navy dress on so I decided to try and get some cute pictures of her. Here are a few of the results:

Then after Lily went to bed, Vicky came over to stay here with her so Matt and I could go out. We hadn't been out in awhile on our own for a date plus I wanted to celebrate Matt's graduation from Seminary!! So we had a nice dinner out and some Starbucks - YUM.

Today I went to a new playgroup at Kids Cove. I knew one of the moms from my hall in college. She has twin boys now a little older than Lily. Everybody was so nice and I had such a great time! Lily didn't have too much fun but it was pretty chaotic and loud in there with all the kids running around and playing. That's okay... just trying to get her out and use to being around other kids. Plus it's much needed socialization for me!! Alicia and Andi came too. We decided to both go for moral support - haha! I didn't get any pictures from today but here's one of Lily and Andi playing the other day together:

Lily-isms and Old Navy $12 jean day

Here's some new updates about Lily:

She can walk now along the sofa (cruising).
She's drinking more now from her sippy cup at meals (water) - finally getting the hang of that.
She hates being fed from a spoon so I have to sneak in her pureed veggies/fruits while she's eating finger foods.
She loves ANY bread product - guess who she got that from? (...grandma!)
This past week she's really gotten the hang of picking up small finger foods (puffs) with the pincer grasp.
She babbles a lot now but only babbles "mama" when she's upset - go figure!
She loves to play peekaboo with the curtain in the living room. She will hide behind it and cover her face and knows to then move it for me to say peekaboo!
She can do "fish kisses" now. It's so cute how she puckers her lips in and makes kisses.
She also learned to click her tongue on the top of her mouth.

Anyways... just wanted to pass on her new things since I was remembering to write them down in her book today!

And... today was $12 adult and $7 kid jean day at Old Navy today!! WOOHOO!! I actually really needed some new jeans in a smaller size so that worked out great. And I got Lily another pair for this winter. I was very excited as you might be able to tell. :)

Celebrations x 3!!!

We have two BIG celebrations today!! First.... Matt is officially a seminary graduate! He finished everything up last night and got his grades today. I'm so incredibly proud of him because he has not only worked full time and taken care of his family, but completed his Masters in the meantime! He put a lot of hard work in to this and we're hoping that this will help launch him and us in to a new phase of life. Be praying that God would open up the right door for us! In the meantime, we patiently wait...

Second... Our little Lily turned 9 months old today! I say this all the time but the time has flown. Before I know it we will be celebrating her first birthday. I can't imagine life without her now. Like the saying goes, having a child is like having your heart walk outside your body. My mom always told me I wouldn't know how much she loved me until I had my own children.... and she was right. It's the most incredible wonderful love and to think that God loves us even more!! I'm so thankful for Lily. Parenting is hard work but I wouldn't trade it for the world!

We went for her 9 month well check-up today too. The pediatrician we have started seeing now is great! He really takes his time and has such a great personality. I poured out all my gazillion questions to him and he patiently answered all of them for me. I was probably in there talking to him for at least a half hour. Hey... might as well get our money's worth! Everything about Lily is great. She now weighs 20 pounds 11 ounces (75th percentile) and is 28.75 inches long(75th percentile). Her growth curve is right on target.

I realized I also have a 3rd celebration today! My best friend Tara had her ultrasound today (22 weeks) and baby girl Tyler looks great! She's healthy and growing well. I'm so excited for her and so happy that God has blessed them with this sweet baby girl! You're going to be a great mom Tara!!

I will leave you with a cute bathtime picture and a playing in the laundry picture of my adorable little Lily:

the weekend in pictures

Here are the pictures from this past weekend I promised...

Lily and Ava playing in the bumbos (Yes, Ava can fit in it and she's 4!):

Ava climbed in to my shirt with me! Yes.. I'm the fun aunt! :)

Cute cousins:

Playing ball together:

and even more for today

Just when you thought the last blog should be long enough to cover everything for awhile... there's still more! Today Lily picked up a new favorite thing to do - click her tongue. She's been doing it practically all day. She also loves to click her teeth with her fingers now too. Must be exciting to feel something new in your mouth!

I also wanted to post the best pic we could get of my sister and I with our kids. Looks like a LOT of kids, doesn't it? And I'm not done yet! Granted, I'm thinking 2 might be PLENTY for us but we'll see. Off to put my little Lily to bed!

a weekend in nc, ear infection, and bees

This has been one CRAZY crazy week! There's so much I wanted to blog about once we got back home from North Carolina but I'm sure I've forgotten half of it. So here goes....

We had a great time at Dawn's house even though it was NUTS! Having 4 kids (3 of which are babies) in the same house is nuts. Getting everyone out just to go to Target was a huge chore in itself. So most of the time we just stayed home. Lily did not do well most of the weekend. She was VERY VERY clingy/fussy, etc. I don't know how much of this was due to her ear infection and how much was due to she was in a new place. She didn't nap well at ALL, bedtime the first night was AWFUL (took an HOUR), and she wouldn't hardly drink ANY of her bottle! Ahh - I was a mess! She's been better today since we got home so won't know truly what the issue is because her ear infection should have been cleared up mostly by now. Oh well! I did read somewhere that travelling now at this stage can be very difficult because seperation anxiety and stranger anxiety really start to set in. Yippee.. can you tell how excited I am?

One morning Lily was crawling around in the kitchen and all of a sudden I heard Matt say in a urgent voice.. "Amanda come get Lily!" I went and picked her up and then Matt said... "I think there's a dead mouse under the fridge. GROSS!! And Lily found it! My sister hadn't told me they thought there was a mouse in the house because she didn't want me to get freaked out. I guess it was a good tactic but oh man, that was disgusting. Matt picked it up by the tail and threw it out.

Just when you think nothing else bad could happen... My sister, Ava, and me went to church on Sunday morning while the guys stayed home with the babies. I got home and I hear Matt say in another serious voice... "I need to tell you something." He told me that Lily had gotten stung by a bee. Of course, I start freaking out even though Lily was okay when I got there. Chris was able to get the stinger out while Matt held her. They made sure she wasn't allergic - watched her breathing and her tongue for swelling. I called the pediatrician when I got home and they said that if she was allergic the bad reaction would have started almost immediately. They said to give her tylenol and benadryl for the pain/itching and to ice the area to help any swelling go down. There was a red area around the bite but it has gradually faded the past day.

Wow - can you tell that I'm wore out?! I'm hoping things can get back to normalcy for us this week! The babies (Cecilia and Owen) are adorable and give the most beautiful smiles now. They actually only woke once during the night to eat while we were there. I'm hoping that keeps up for my sister's sake! I am just so proud of her as a mom to a 4 year old and newborn twins. I don't know how she does it all.

Ava is just a hoot now! She is my sassy/smart alec/beautiful 4 year old niece! A few funny stories about her. We were looking one morning at halloween costumes online and Dawn had said the "halloween collection" was out on a website. Fast forward to later that afternoon... We were in the car on the way home and we hear Ava say out of the blue "Why is the halloween collection out already?" Haha! Her vocabulary is incredible and she remembers all this big words that people use. Second story.... Ava can act JUST like Sandra Lee (from the Food Network). It is SOOO cute. She puts on this whole Sandra Lee show and knows like all her sayings too such as "it's so creamy and delicious." She even pretends she's grating stuff. While she was doing this show for us one night Matt was talking and she said "put your ones on!" We were all like what? She meant that Matt was supposed to put his finger up over his mouth like the number one so he would be quiet. Apparently she learned this at art camp last week - hilarious!! She is also a big smart alec and really knows how to work the system too now! For example.... she was upset in the car because Dawn couldn't find her minnie mouse to bring with her. We leave regardless and Dawn tells her that she needs to settle down. Well anyways Ava says "the only way I can settle down is if I have my minnie." And last Ava story... she is so cute with Lily sometimes. Lily LOVES to watch Ava play around. Ava will play chase with her and get Lily to follow her around. It's SO cute. Can't wait until all our kids are a little older and can all really play together!

In other news, my parents just got home from Brazil today! Haven't talked with them long yet but they had a great time. They are very glad to be back home in American though! Thank you to everyone that has been praying for them!

And finally, some new Lily updates. Lily this past weekend figured out the concept of "cruising." For those of you that don't have a baby... this is when they walk along the couch holding on. Lily seems to always pick up something new when we're at Dawn's house. Matt got her to walk along the couch to come and get something. So she's figured out that her feet/legs can do something for her!! Yeah Lily!!! I don't know if I've blogged about this yet either... Lily loves the curtain that hangs down to the floor in our living room. She will play peek a boo with me behind it. She covers her face with it and I say "where's Lily" and then she'll move the curtain and pop her head out and I say "peekaboo!" It's SO cute!!

Wow - I'm drained out now from recapping everything! I think this may go on record for one of my longest blogs. My sister took all the pictures this weekend in her camera so once I get those from her I will post some!

ear infection and pictures

So the news of the day is.... Lily has her first ear infection. The past few days her eating just seemed to be getting worse and worse and she had a few crying spells like it seemed she was in pain. I also had noticed her pulling at her ear a few times - which I didn't think at first was a big deal because she does that periodically just playing around sometimes. Today was BAD though - she wouldn't eat ANY lunch. So I took her in the ped.'s office today to get checked out and I was right - there was something wrong. So she's on an antibiotic now. The doc said she should be feeling better in 24-48 hours.

Of course we had our picture appt. yesterday which was pretty much a bust. After like one pose in her polka dot outfit she was DONE and was VERY upset - little did I know it was her ear that was the problem at that point. We did get a family picture at first and then the one pose in her polka dot dress. So we did get something at least...

It's been a busy week with trying to figure out what was going on with Lily, pictures, and now packing to leave for my sister's house tomorrow. I got an email from my parents in Brazil. They are having a great time but my mom apparently fell Saturday evening and twisted her ankle. That's all the details I know though at this point.

chicken and waffles, haircut, and bathtime

I got my haircut Wednesday and I absolutely love it! This new girl that I've started going to does such a great job. It is more expensive than I've ever paid for a haircut but it is completely and totally worth it. We don't splurge on many things right now because money is tight, but this is an exception. I kept trying to get Lily to get her picture with me to show off my haircut but she wouldn't cooperate. So here's me with a turned around Lily. :)

The other night Matt decided to make chicken and waffles for dinner. I had never heard about this until we saw a food network throwdown challenge on it. It inspired Matt and the great chef he is decided to try it out. We had seen it done two ways - with maple syrup over it or with a gravy over it. So Matt made the fried chicken and waffles and then gave us 3 topping choices. We tried each one with a different section of the waffle to determine which we liked best. We used maple syrup, chicken country gravy, and honey. Matt came up with the last one himself. They were all really good in their own unique way. For a big filling dinner the gravy is great because it tastes like a good home cooked meal. It would be great with green beans and mashed potatoes. The honey and maple syrup combos were both great if you want a sweeter tasting combination. Anyways - it was delicious and enjoyable!

A cute story about Lily... She has a "bath" each night before bedtime. I don't wash her every night of course but it's part of our routine so she at least gets in and gets to splash around some. Anyways... she's learned what bathtime is because now when I go in to the bathroom and turn the water on she comes crawling!! It's so cute seeing her come around the corner crawling like she can't get there fast enough and nakey. Matt usually takes her clothes off in the living room. No picture of that but here is Lily's styling new Nike's for the fall that her "auntie vicky" gave her:

We had a good relaxing weekend. Didn't do much but that was a nice change of pace for us as we're always gone. The rest of the week is busy: Tomorrow Matt is gone all day to King's Dominion with his clients at work. Tuesday we are having Lily's 9 month pictures done. Here's a cute pic of Lily in one of her adorable dresses she is going to wear for them:

Then Thursday morning we are leaving to go spend some time with my sister and her family. I get to get some good playtime in with Ava and some cuddle time with little Cecilia and Owen. I can't believe they are already 2 months old! Here's a cute recent pic of them:

"Mom - tell Owen to stop touching me"

Brazil

My parents are currently on their way to Brazil for their first overseas missions trip! A group of adults from our church back in Virginia Beach are going for 10 days. I know this is a BIG opportunity for them and although they are excited there is nervousness too. So I just wanted to ask my readers to be praying for them and the entire group as they hope to reach out to the people of Brazil over the next 10 days!

Here's a picture of part of where they will be going... BEAUTIFUL! Matt actually went to the same place back in college on a missions trip when he was doing his internship and said it is just amazingly gorgeous down there...

a beautiful quote

I had read this post on the mommy forum that I'm a part of online discussing how babies around the age of Lily (8 months) start getting the seperation anxiety/clinginess and what to do about it. Lily has actually been doing this a lot lately. She wants me around all the time, crawls after me or all over me if I'm on the ground playing with her. Anyways, someone posted this quote from the AAP's book that talked about this so sweetly. I just LOVE how they put this...

"In some ways this phase of your child's emotional development will be especially tender for both of you, while in others it will be painful. After all, her desire to be with you is a sign of her attachment to her first and greatest love - namely you. The intensity of her feeling as she hurtles into your arms is irresistible, especially when you realize that no one - including your child herself - will ever again think you are quite as perfect as she does at this age."

Wow - that's one of the most beautiful quotes about motherhood I think I've read. It reminded me just how much Lily loves me already even though she doesn't know what love is. I'm her first and greatest love. :)

so much to write, so little time

It seems like the past week has flown by with so much going on around here. This past weekend Matt's parents came to visit. So Lily got some Nana and Papa time in. She was actually scared of her Papa for the first few minutes but then warmed up to him great! She is increasingly wary of men that aren't her daddy! Saturday we went to the mall and had a great dinner out at Olive Garden. Lily graciously hit the peaches I was feeding her and it got ALL over me! Oh the joys of parenthood. She did really well though for the length of time we were there plus having poor naps that day. Sunday we skipped church (yes, bad us) and went to the pool for awhile. Then we had a yummy lunch from Dickey's. They have the best sides - fried okra, mac and cheese, green beans... YUMMY! So we had a great visit with them!

And on to fun new Lily news.... She has her second bottom tooth now! It popped through yesterday. Those little things are SHARP if she bites down on you! If you look closely you might be able to see her first bottom tooth in this picture:

I gave her yogurt for the first time the other day and she loved it. And Lily can now turn the pages in her books when we're reading together now! I noticed it the other day. If I hold the page up a little bit she reaches and turns it for us. SOO cute!! She's also started taking a few crawls up off her belly now. The majority of the time though she still just army crawls. I guess that's her favorite way to do it! Finally, Lily has new cute big girl pj's from grandma. The shorts and top are so cute and she looks so grown up:

A bad mommy report... Lily got her first boo boo on her face the other day. I had laid her on the bed to change her clothes and she grabbed a coat hanger that was laying there. I guess it had some sharp edge on it and it scratched down her cheek. :( She actually didn't scream bloody murder like I would have thought. She cried for a second and then was okay. I'm hoping it's better by Saturday because we are scheduled to have pictures done that day! If not, I guess we'll have to reschedule.

Now.. I'm off to get my hair cut! Let's hope it's a good one!