videos

Lily has picked up dancing more and more. Her newest dance is with her bear that plays music. She like prances/waltzes around. It's very cute....


Here's Lily having fun playing chase with her cousin Aaron. They're hilarious!


And finally... here's Lily and her daddy just having fun together:

rainy days and fun with friends

I feel like it has rained or been dreary a LOT more than usual this time of year. I am so very ready for spring and lots of sunshine and warmth! Plus Lily has all these cute spring/summer clothes I can't wait for her to wear. And I'm bored with my winter wardrobe as well. Ready to crack out my rainbow flip flops! Which by the way are the best flip flops EVER! My sister got me in to them. They are much more expensive than the cheapo $5 ones at Old Navy I use to get but they are SO incredibly comfortable and last a very very long time. Plus they mold to your foot as you wear them.

Yesterday evening we had our friends Justin and Dianna over for dinner. They just got married in January and are living in Virginia Beach for the time being. We had a great time with them including watching The Office and eating some delicious smore brownies that Dianna made.

Today me, Lily, and my mom went to Lynnhaven mall to do some shopping and had lunch. I got a cute pair of white flats I can wear with dresses for the summer. And then a few VERY cute things for Lily for the summer. Including this adorable shirt with these shorts from Gymboree. I absolutely LOVE dressing my little girl!! So we had a fun day out.

Then this evening we had our second "dinner for five" for the youth group. Just a chance for a few of the youth group kids to come over to our place, share a meal, have some fun, and get to know us a little better. Lily LOVES having people (especially girls) come over to our house I think. You can tell she loves the attention and is always really silly. Plus she usually crawls up in one of the girls laps and will sit there with them. I'm really glad that she has adapted so well to this new life of ours - a much busier one with a lot more social interaction. She's such a great kid!!

birthday celebration

Yesterday was Matt's birthday. We had a great day until the end. Matt came home for lunch and opened his presents from Lily and me. He got an Ipod Touch! He was VERY excited. I don't usually spend that much money on birthday for him but we weren't able to do christmas presents this past year really and this will sync with his mac well so he can use it for youth group presentations, email, calendar, etc. I love getting him a really good present that he's not expecting - seeing his face light up was wonderful!

Then that evening we had our families and some friends over to have cake and ice cream. We celebrated my birthday partially too since I was sick for mine. Lily and Aaron were having a blast. They just kept chasing each other around. Then when Aaron had to leave and we told them to give each other a kiss and hug they both just went right to each other and wouldn't stop kissing and hugging! It was adorable! We had a great time hanging out with everyone. Steve, Genna, and Terence stayed later and we had a great time talking. It was 11:30PM before we knew it!
After they left, Matt went back to the bathroom. He was back there for awhile and then when he came out he had this AWFUL look on his face and said in a bad voice "I have to tell you something." Then he proceeded to tell me that he was sitting on the toilet playing with his new ipod touch and somehow it fell in. AHH!!! He felt SOOO incredibly bad and was so mad at himself. We checked out the warranty on it but it did not cover accidents/water damage, etc. Plus there's apparently some indicator on the bottom that turns pink when there is water damage and yes, it had turned pink. We thought we were doomed and had just had a whole bunch of money "thrown down the toilet." So I decided to go try and see if I could return/exchange it at Costco today since they have a 90 day return window for electronics. I told the lady that it wasn't working now and had locked up and she just returned it, no questions asked!!! I was SOOOOO excited!!! So I was able to get Matt a new one that works. I told him not to take it anywhere near water ever again!

Today Mary and Abby came over for a playdate. We had a great time and the girls played really well together despite both wanting the baby dolls! They are really cute together.And finally... is she not the most adorable little girl ever??!!Giving kisses..dressed up for church...

fun sunday, names, and grilling

We had a great Sunday. Went to the early service since Lily's morning nap falls too late now really to go to the 11 service. Then that afternoon we went outside and played for awhile since it was actually a decent day. Lily loves being outside. Then my parents came over to watch Lily so I could go to youth group.

This week for game, Matt had chocolate covered a whole bunch of different items (some good, some gross). Some of the nasty stuff included: pork rinds, vienna sausage, mushroom patty, green pepper. They were blindfolded and had to guess what they were eating that was covered in chocolate. Very fun! Worship was great of course and so was Matt's talk. I really enjoy getting to listen to him share with the kids.

Jon (youth group worship leader) had invited a bunch of people out to Applebee's for his girlfriend's birthday after youth group. So we went with Steve and Genna to that. There ended up being over 30 people there! It was nuts! We only really knew about 6 or 7 of them. We had a great time though!!

It's been really nice getting to do some things that normally we wouldn't have been able to in Lynchburg since the grandparents weren't around. It's very nice to have them available to watch Lily so we can go out every now and then. And plus, I don't trust a whole lot of people with my beautiful 16 month old so it's reassuring to know that when I do leave, she's in good hands and having a great time!

When we're riding in the car, we've been asking Lily to say the different names of our family. She's pretty good at trying to copy what we say. So here's what she gets out for each one: daddy (dada), mommy (mama), grandma (andma), grandpa (pa), nana (nana), papa (papa), aunt dawn (daw), uncle chris (kiss), ava (nothing, haha), owen (nothing), cecilia (cece), aunt missy (miss), uncle mike (my), aaron (nothing). So she's getting there. When we ask to her to say Cecilia it's so cute hearing her say cece. That must be Cecilia's new nickname.

And finally, we had a delicious dinner tonight. Matt borrowed his dad's charcoal griller until we can get out own full size one. So we got steaks and grilled them tonight. They were scrumptious!

pf changs, lost filling, and crabby lily

Today we went to PFChangs for lunch to celebrate Matt's birthday (which is on Tuesday). I LOVE their food! It's amazing. And usually the service is great too. But today was AWFUL! We had a reservation and were seated promptly but it took over 2 hours to get the whole meal/pay the check. It was absolutely ridiculus. PLUS we have Lily with us and no 16 month is going to want to sit in a high chair and be content for 2 hours! That just made it even tougher.

I just realized as I was writing that Lily is now 16 months old! Yet another month has flown by!

This afternoon I realized that there was like a big hole in one of my back teeth. So I'm guessing that I lost a filling somehow. ARGH! We just had to spend like $500 for that stupid nightguard and now we're gonna have to pay to get this fixed. It will be completely out of pocket too because we're still in the 6 month waiting period since we just changed to a new insurance plan when we moved here.

And finally... I don't know WHAT was up with Lily tonight. She got all upset around 7PM and just was crying and crying. I don't know what her deal was. I managed to get her a bath and then finally got her calmed down right before bedtime. I ended up just going in to her room and rocked her for a little bit and read some books. She went right to sleep when I laid her down so who knows. Hopefully tomorrow will be better!

being fed and feeding others

Lately I have felt like I need to be spiritually fed more. Even though we are obviously involved in church stuff a lot now, I still am craving like a small group bible study atmosphere where I can really dive in to the Bible and learn more. I am a BIG fan of small groups.

I also have felt like I don't have anything that I'm pouring myself in to, a purpose or calling that God has given me to do in this season of my life. That's not to say that I don't have things going on that I participate in and help out with. The big purpose of my life right now is raising my child (and future children). I believe that God called me to be a full time stay at home mom. I absolutely love it and feel that it's the most important task for my life right now. Sometimes though the importance and value of that gets overlooked and moms can feel worthless. So as a side note, to all you moms out there, keep up the great work. It might seem like your day to day same old same old is not meaning anything, but it IS! You are raising your kids to become fully functioning adults that can bring others to Christ! I'm also involved with the youth group. I can't do as much as some of the other leaders or be at youth group every week though because taking care of Lily does come first. But I do love getting to help out and being part of these young girls lives!

I still feel like I'm missing something though. Now my first and second paragraphs might sound like two opposite things - feeling the need to be fed, and feeling the need to give. But really they can come together. I've been praying and thinking about possibly starting up a small group bible study during the week for women around my age and more specifically targeting young moms. I feel like there is a lack of outreach to this age at our church right now and I want to be a catalyst in doing something. Leading a small group can be a daunting task and something that I'm not completely comfortable with but I still feel this burden. This can also be the outlet I need for spiritual feeding. I have to do prep work which gets me studying more and it also would provide interaction and fellowship each week with other believers.

So I'm asking my blog readers to be praying that God would show me if this is something I should do or not. And if it is, being able to find other young women that want to be a part and figuring out how to provide childcare so those that have young kids can come to it!

rita's

For all the Rita's lovers out there... this Friday (March 20th) they will be giving away a free regular italian ice to every customer. They do this each year to celebrate the first day of spring. Here's hoping they have the sweet tea flavor that day!!

lily things

I've said this before I'm sure but I have to say it again... Lily LOVES balls. It doesn't matter what color they are or what size they are, she loves them. And most of the time she just wants to hold them, not even play with them. She is usually really good with "sharing" toys and not getting upset but if you dare try to take a ball from her, she will get VERY upset!

If Lily wants me or matt to do something or go somewhere in the house, she will push us there. It's hilarious. She'll push on our body and keep doing this until we get to where she wants us.

Lily has this new food thing where she only wants to eat the first bite out of something and then wants a new one. For example, if there's cookies on the table she'll take a bite out of one and then whine for another new one.

Lately she only wants her daddy to put her to bed at night if he's around. For some reason she FREAKS out if he's here and I try to put her to bed. Apparently he does it better. :) That's okay, I know she loves me anyways.

She knows most of the parts to your face now - eyes, nose, mouth, ears. And then of course she knows belly button.

videos

Here's Lily playing the piano being cute...


Giving kisses and making animal noises...

And giving high fives....

night guard, cleaning, art work

I went to the dentist this morning to pick up my night guard which *supposedly* is going to help fix my jaw and make it be able to open up all the way again. So here is what we had to fork out $525 for (a close up and far away shot so you can see just how small it is, it's on top of the can):
When I saw it and how small it was, I was like are you kidding me? I'm paying this much money for this little thing?? Apparently though it's better than previous styles because it's less obstructive in your mouth and more comfortable to wear at night. Guess we'll see...

Then Lily was my helper and pushed around the swiffer sweeper for me. She loved it! Good news for me, maybe she'll like chores, or maybe I'm just dreaming!Then we pulled out the crayola scribblers again. She kinda gets the concept but still has a ways to go. Here is her lovely artwork with the assistance of mommy:
I realized I hadn't posted a pic of our new tv console yet! I absolutely love it. Now I can't wait to get my new couches and bookshelves for our living room to be complete! Gotta wait a few months though for all that in order to save up some money.And finally... a cute picture of my 2 favorite people:

sleepovers?

Okay... so as a mom of a 15 month old, I'm not a fan of my little girl "sleeping over" at the grandparents houses like I'm sure they wish I would let her do. First of all, she's 15 months old for heaven's sake. She doesn't get the concept of a "sleepover" or think it's extra special to sleep somewhere else. In fact, she doesn't like sleeping in strange places or places that are other than her familiar room and crib! But besides that point, I just have a hard time knowing that my little baby girl wouldn't be sleeping in the same house as me. And it's not like she's a poor sleeper or disturbs matt and I so that we don't get alone time at night. Lily goes to bed at 8PM and gets up at 8AM, not anything in between.

Now I don't think this is abnormal. I believe that most moms out there of young kids (babies, toddlers, preschoolers) probably feel the same way about this and do the same thing as me (not let them do it). Granted, I could be completely wrong. So, if you're a mom... leave a comment and let me know your take on the matter.

It's my turn to be a mom and have a little daughter and I'm going to do what makes me and Lily the most comfortable. Anyways... that's my soap box for the day.

feeling much better

I'm almost feeling like I'm back to normal now! In the morning I still struggle a little getting going but once I do I feel pretty good. It's so good to feel good. My jaw has been bothering me more though the past day or two. I'm supposed to go Monday to get my nightguard. I hope this fixes the problem for me although I'm not very hopeful about it. It should fix it for the amount of money we're having to pay for it!

Yesterday was my bro-in-law's bday (Mike). So his parents took the whole family out to dinner at Smokey Bones. It definitely wasn't as good as I remembered it being. We hadn't been there in a long time. Lily had fun though with her cousin Aaron. She kept taking all the food off his plate (mac-n-cheese, french fries) since he wasn't eating it. Mike and Jen (his girlfriend) got engaged this past week too. So congratulations to the two of them!

Today has been another ho hum dreary day. I'm not looking forward to these next several days of nastiness outside. Lily and I went to Walmart and picked up some new stuff for our bathroom. Then this evening we're watching Aaron for awhile.

Lily just keeps getting cuter and cuter. She understands so much now. I think I wrote about this but in case I didn't... she gives high fives now! It's so cute cause she thinks it's hilarious and will run back and forth between us saying "five five." At lunch today she actually got some food on to her fork for several bites! One step closer to having to clean up messy hands! She's also finally conquered being able to get up on the couch by herself too. Some of her new words this week include: door, baby, foot, food, coat, fish, phone.

sick

As I'm sure most of my blog readers already know, our household has been sick... myself being the worst. I started with sinus stuff last week on Thursday and then Friday night started with the stomach virus stuff.... YUCK! So needless to say my birthday came and went on Saturday without much fanfare. That's okay though, just a year older now - 26. My hubby has been great though and has been taking really good care of me despite the fact that he hasn't been completely feeling well either. He's had cold/sinus stuff too.

Well... still don't feel like blogging and actually don't have that much to blog about anyways since I've been sick and literally doing nothing! I promise once I'm back to normal, hopefully in a few days, my normal regular blogging will resume! Today was the first day I actually wasn't nauseous. Still haven't felt like eating much though and still very worn out/tired. Hope everyone else is staying well!

tv console and a playdate

Thanks to a commenter from yesterday... I called the furniture store today to complain/inquire about the change in delivery date for our new tv console. Well... the lady said I can have it to you sooner and asked when I would like it. I told her I really wanted to have it this week and she said she could have it on Friday. Yay!! I was thinking, why didn't they just do that in the first place? Oh well, I'm a happy camper cause we'll have it in time for my birthday.

Today Liz and Brooklyn came over to hang out with me and Lily. Brooklyn is such a cutie - she's a few months older than Lily is. Liz and I went to the same youth group for awhile and were good friends back in high school. Both of our families just moved back to Virginia Beach so we've been able to reconnect. Brooklyn and Lily had a great time together of course. They're on the go so here's the best picture I could get of them!And here's just a few pics from hanging out in the playard in back of our house the other day.

new red wagon

Yesterday we ventured out in the "snow" (a dusting) to El Pollo Loco and Target. Pollo Loco is amazing! They have churros that just melt in your mouth. Anyways - it's headed out towards Sandbridge for those of you familiar with the area and we weren't quite sure where we were going. So we got a little lost but made it there.

Besides having a delicious dinner together, the other wonderful part of the day was Lily's new wagon. Lily has a great daddy - he bought her (and me) a new red Radio Flyer wagon!! I'm so excited to get to use it and take Lily on walks in nice weather. It's a really nice one - cupholders, seat backs that can fold down, etc. Yay!!!

In disappointing news.... the furniture store called yesterday and said that our new tv console won't be here tomorrow like it was supposed to be. The delivery date has been pushed back a week to next Wednesday.

Now I'm going to take it easy since I think I do have some sinus stuff and watch some American Idol. Only 4 days until my birthday! And the even greater part is that Vicky is coming to visit us too for the weekend!

a favorite website

I know some of the people who read my blog probably follow quite a few blogs like myself! About a month or so ago I discovered one of my new favorite websites to make blog following much easier. It's the Google Reader. The great thing about this is you enter your "subscriptions" (just enter the website of the blog you follow) and it adds it to your feed list. So you can have ALL the blogs you follow on one website! It use to annoy me to have to go through all the blogs in my favorites list to see if anyone had updated theirs. Now all I do is go to my google reader and in the column on the left it shows what blogs have any new entries. So simple and wonderful! Anyways, check it out if you haven't already!

By the way.... here are some of the new blogs that are more popular that I've been following. Check them out! A lot of them let you know about great freebies (food, magazines, etc.) too!

5 Minutes for Mom

5 Minutes for Faith

5 Minutes for Parenting

5 Minutes for Giveaways

BabyCheapskate (once a week this site publishes the cheapest place to buy different brands of diapers for the week!)

Money Saving Mom

Thrifty Northwest Mom