friends

Lily has a new favorite thing to do.... watch the "friends" music video clip from Yo Gabba Gabba on the computer. Matt showed it to her once a few days ago. Ever since then anytime we get on the computer she'll come and sit beside us and keep saying "friends" "i want friends" until we play it. It's hilarious even though sometimes I would just like to get on the computer and actually look at what I intended to when I get on here! But anything for my cute little girl! She can say "gabba gabba" now too. The show is growing on me. I HATED it at first and didn't want anything to do with it. But the more I watch it the more I'm okay with it. And Lily likes it.

our day at the beach

Yesterday we took Lily down to the beach since it was so warm. We walked around the boardwalk some and went down to the water for a little bit. Lily was semi okay with the sand for a little while but didn't want to get too near the water. I don't blame her though - it was COLD! Plus I'm sure it's a little intimidating to a little girl like her. And of course we had to get a slurpee while we were down there. You can't go to the beach without getting one! :) We had a great afternoon though and she just chattered away in the car on the way home. She learned the word "beach" too. Here's some pics of our afternoon:

control freak

My name is Amanda and I'm a control freak.

I know it. And I'm able to admit it. And supposedly that's the first step in fixing a problem. HA! I will always have an ongoing battle with this problem. Anyways... it made me think about it today when I read this great blog post from 5 Minutes for Faith. If you have the time, check out this post from that blog for today. If not... here is one of my favorite lines in it:

"One thing I've learned is that people who need to control do so out of fear. I fear making the wrong decision. I fear my children getting hurt. I fear consequences.

As a mom, there are some things I need to be in control of, but there are more things that I need to let go of. Whenever I try to control everything I only seem to become stressed and anxious"

This is so true. I know that worrying and becoming anxious get me NO WHERE. And trying to control things usually makes it or me worse. But I somehow still do it. When you have a child, there's no hiding that quality! :) I never thought before about what the writer said is the cause of this though. It's because of our fears that we try to control things. How true. I worry a lot about medical stuff and I'm always nervous/scared about stuff like, for example, this new swine flu thing. When you have a child, you don't want ANYTHING to hurt them.

I've just GOT to start trusting God more and really doing what the verse says - casting all my cares on Him. Easier said then done though, right?

outings, new phrases, one nap, and a couch

The zoo was GREAT last weekend. Lily had a blast looking at the animals. Her favorites were the elephant and the pig. We decided to just buy a year membership because if we take her 4 or more times over the next year then it would pay for itself. And I'd love to be able to go often. It was really crowded that day though because they were celebrating earth day.

Then on Tuesday grandma and grandpa came with us to the children's museum in Portsmouth. I love being able to take Lily to things like this now. And thankfully there's a lot more to see and do than in Lynchburg. That is one thing I love about living here. There were all kinds of fun things at the museum - pretend grocery store, fire truck, bubble room, slides, music room, train room.

Today Lily said two new 2 word phrases! And of course they were ones that we say to her but she's decided to repeat them to us. I was moving her arms away from something she shouldn't be touching and she says "stop it." And then this afternoon she kept saying "don't touch" when she would be getting ready to do something that we probably wouldn't allow her to do. The "stop it" one was hilarious. Although I'm sure it won't be so funny when she's older and yells that at us! But for now I will laugh!

I noticed the other day that Lily's thumb was just looking beat up again from sucking on it so hard. So I figured it was time to implement the sock again since we're settled now and break the thumb sucking habit. I sewed a sock back on her pj top and started using it yesterday. She of course freaks out when I put it on her and just wails, but it's really for her best because if not, her thumb's just gonna get worse and then could get infected again. Yesterday she cried for 15-20 minutes for both naps but not too much for bedtime. Today I decided to try the whole 1 nap a day thing again because I think she is ready since her morning nap is so late now and I have to wake her up after 30 minutes in order to get an afternoon nap in. She actually did great all this morning and then I put her down at 1:30. She again cried when I put her shirt on but I got her calmed down rocking in the rocking chair before I laid her down for nap. She cried for just a minute or two once I put her down.

And in great news.... an unexpected blessing! The den/playroom in the back part of our house has no seating in it because we only have the 2 couches that we use in the living room. I just have a lot of Lily's toys back there but no where to sit. We eventually want to buy new couches for the living room and would then be able to put our old ones back there but we just can't afford that right now. Somehow it got brought up in conversation with someone from our church on Sunday and he said that he had a couch from one of the houses he was flipping that was left by the owners and in good condition. Today he had it brought over to us! Yay! Now we have a couch in that room.
, stop it, don't touch, new couch

video time

Lily had a blast at the zoo (I'll blog about that later). Here is her with one of her favorite animals.... the pig.


She has really gotten in to shaking her booty to music/dancing lately. And I must say she shakes her booty quite well! :) This is the only time I've been able to catch it on video so I apologize for the awful whistle that my mom is blowing!!

And finally... Lily saying names of people she sees on facebook. Her favorite is Jon Carolino from church. For some reason she gets excited when she sees his picture on there "see jon!" She now knows Owen's name too (our nephew). She says "oe" or "owee" - don't really know how to spell that but basically the 2 letters O and E put together. So the only name she can't say in my sister's family is Ava. That's a hard one though.

a week update

We had a great easter on sunday. Lily was adorable in her new dress. We had a fun easter egg hunt outside, she loved her easter bunny presents, and we had a delicious easter dinner. My first ham actually turned out good! We had my parents, Matt's parents, and Missy & Aaron over for the meal. I just have to say that I LOVE my china too. Even though it's simple, I just think it's gorgeous and wished that 1)I got to use it more often, and 2)that it didn't require hand washing!
On monday, we headed down to Macarthur Mall to look around and have lunch. Lily got to play in the new play area, so she was a happy camper. Then afterwards we went to Doumar's and had milkshakes. Yum! Matt finally got our bushes trimmed down outside and the yard raked.

Wednesday was video making day for the youth group. It's spring break for kids this week so Matt got the kids together to work on some commercials to advertise different stuff. Can't wait to see them all finished! That evening we had girls night and guys night. The female youth leaders took the girls over to matt's parents house and had pizza, played games, and watched a movie. It was a fun night!

And today Lily and I met Mary and Abby at the park. It was a little chilly but the girls had a blast. Lily is becoming more of a pro on going down slides. She goes down better on her tummy so she'll turn herself around. And Lily LOVES the slides. It's so cute watching her go down yelling "weeee." She's also gradually getting better at steps if there's something to hold on to. I still have to watch her closely. Here's Lily's friend Abby giving her a hug on sunday:Lily's latest.... she HATES having her teeth brushed. She did fine with it for awhile but now it's like I have to pin her down and she just screams. I feel bad for her but I've got to do it! I've even tried letting her brush but she obviously doesn't really get them good. She just sucks on the brush more. I don't know if it's bothering her more because of her teeth coming in. I also think if I let her eat she could eat all day. Anytime there's food around she's always saying "bite, bite" because she wants some. She can use a fork pretty well to stick things but is still trying to get the spoon thing going. If it's something sticky that will cling to the spoon pretty well, like pudding, then she does better. And Lily can also get up and down on couches really well. I feel much more safe leaving her on the couch now alone because she usually is careful in getting down. Sometimes if she gets distracted though or is trying to stand (or jump!) on the couch she could easily fall off if I weren't there to catch her. Last note, Lily LOVES her baby stroller we got her for easter. She has been pushing that thing around all the time and trying to sit in it herself! I just LOVE this age. I LOVE having a toddler!! They're so much fun and just do the cutest things!

Happy Easter!

why

All I can think is WHY God when I read stories like this . I just can't imagine what those parents are going through. Their little girl was born the same month that Lily was. God, I'm SO thankful for my little healthy baby girl. Watch the video at the bottom of that page and read the story- the tears just poured as I learned about this. On this joyous day for us as Christians, take some time to pray for that family. I'm so thankful that we have the hope that she is with Jesus now. And take time today to remember how THANKFUL we as moms are to have our children.

she did it again

Just had to say that yesterday Lily said "see poo poo" and pointed to her diaper again right before she went. Definitely not a coincidence the day before! I think she gets it! I'm going to order her a potty today. Yay! Never thought I would get excited about ordering a potty - they're so cute though!

Lily and I are going to the park today with Nana to enjoy the beautiful weather!

potty

I think my 16 month old totally knew she had to go poop yesterday before she did it! We were sitting in the living room and she points down to that region and was saying "poo poo." She hadn't done it yet so we tried rushing her over to the potty and sitting her on it. Well she freaked out because I don't think she liked the fact that she was on this cold huge scary potty. So we took her down, put her diaper back on, and like a minute or 2 later she did poop! It was either a coincidence or as I think, she really knew she had to go. Crazy! I know she's still awhile off from actually being potty trained but it was exciting. I think we're gonna buy her a potty seat to put in the bathroom just so she can start seeing that she has a little one for her to go in someday! Anyone have any opinions on what the best potty seat is? I'm thinking about getting one of the bjorn ones but there's 2 kinds. Not sure which one works better...

To correct what I said on my last blog entry, it's Lily's cuspids that are starting to come in, not her incisors. I was recording it in her baby book last night and realized I had the wrong word for them! I thought incisors were the sharp ones on the side but guess I was wrong!

incisors, youth group, and tara visit

Lily's incisors are starting to come through. She finally finished up all her 1 year molars and yesterday I noticed that her first incisor was starting to poke through. I've heard the incisors are more painful. Poor thing... as I was just brushing her teeth before bed as soon as I touched the top where the first one is poking through, she just cried in pain. Hopefully they won't take too long to all come in.

Last night I was able to go to youth group since Matt's parents came over to babysit Lily. We had a great evening and 3 kids show up that go to the church but aren't really coming to youth group. So that was great!! I'm trying to help Matt target those kids and get them involved with youth group and start to feel a part of it. We had a great night of scripture reading and worship focused around easter. Then afterwards had food for the kids since the first sunday night of every month is designated as "fellowship" night.

And today we got a visit from Tara, Anthony, and Bailey! They were in town visiting Anthony's family and carved some time out for us. Bailey is such a cutie and wonderfully chubby like Lily was as a baby! I had her laughing this afternoon and it was adorable. Lily loved Bailey and kept saying "see baby." We had a great lunch out at Chili's too, our usual when we get together.

week recap

Life is as busy as ever it seems. And I was worried about not having anything to do once we moved here! Last night I was trying to make plans to go get coffee with my bf from childhood, Sarah, and we had so many things going on next week it was hard to find a time.

So I will recap the last week. Sunday was church and then took Lily over to grandma and grandpa's house for awhile that afternoon. Monday was Matt's day off. We ate lunch out at Atlanta Bread. It's very similar to Panera Bread but I definitely liked their sandwiches better. Then we took Lily to the Jumpin Monkey, her first try at a jumping place. She was TOTALLY not in to it. She freaked out and was scared of the big inflatable jumping things. We headed back home and I took her outside to play since it was a nice day. That evening we went to Matt's parents house for dinner/going away party for Mike (Matt's brother). He left this past week for Navy boot camp.

On Tuesday, Lily and I met Lyz and Brooklyn at the park and the girls had a blast! It was a gorgeous day. Then Lily and I had lunch together at chick-fil-a.

Wednesday was youth leaders meeting at church. Grandma came over and watched Lily so I could go. We had a potluck lunch which was delicious - Matt made bruschetta chicken pasta (just like the kind at TGIFriday's). We got a lot of planning done and I'm excited about what's coming up for the youth. Then later on Matt's parents came over to watch Lily. Ashley, Genna, and I (the 3 female youth leaders) are taking one of the youth group girls out each week for coffee. So we went and did that and then I was able to go to refuel (mid week small group for the youth).

Thursday, I decided to try out one nap with Lily. She doesn't always sleep in the morning when I put her down for nap so I figured I would give it a try. I went out to a store in the morning to try and keep her occupied. She was VERY whiny though and I could just tell she was tired. About lunchtime she perked up again. I put her down at 1:30, she slept 45 minutes, and then woke up WAILING! It took me forever to get her calmed down. So I don't know what her deal was but I'm going back to two naps. Even if she doesn't fall asleep in the morning, I still think she needs some down time in her crib.

Today Mary and Abby came over for a playdate. Lily and Abby had fun playing and had lunch together. Now I'm relaxing while Lily naps and then going out to enjoy the nice weather! Can I just say I LOVE getting to dress Lily in spring/summer clothes?! I think she looks adorable in capris and short sleeve shirts with her little white sandals.

Tomorrow is busy busy - church yard/bake sale, make a commercial to advertise youth group girls night in, and then we're going out with Lyz and Lee tomorrow evening.

Some fun new Lily things: She likes to blow her nose now. Whenever she's in the bathroom and sees the toilet paper she says "nose." She'll hold the paper up to her nose and try to blow it but it really ends up more like sucking in through her nose. Her vocabulary just keeps expanding. She is putting the word "see" together with things now when she wants us to look at something like "see ball." Some other new words - flower, coat, glasses, no, go, hi, bush, bed, again, bird, push.