Happy New Year!!

As this year comes to a close I look back over the year and the blessing that came. Here are a few:

* The birth of Lillian Grace on February 27
* Finding a new church home in March
* Celebrating our 3rd anniversary on April 9
* Dedicating Lilly to the the church on September 28
* My brothers visit home and the entire family together in December

I hope each of you take time to remember the highlights of "your" 2008 and remember the source of each blessing. Wishing you all the best in 2009!!

10 Months old

Merry Christmas!!

The Best Gift of All

by: Marcy Richardson

It's Christmas season

and the spirits are high,

Everyone's looking

for the perfect gift to buy.

The hustle and bustle

of getting things done,

Exhausted and tired

from being on the run.

The day of celebration

is here at last,

What were we doing

as the days did pass?

Did we ever take the time

to remember the birth,

Will we ever realize

what it is worth?

Why do we celebrate

by giving gifts to them,

If the true meaning is Christ

shouldn't we give to Him?

But the best gift of all

is not a gift you can give,

But a gift that was given

so that you may live.

There's a gift of

forgiveness, salvation and love,

Packaged as one

and sent from above.

Through his life and death

he's shown the way,

Just take his hand

there’s no time for delay.

He's ready and waiting

despite your sin,

The gift is priceless

if you'll let him in.

A special reunion

It's not even Christmas and December has already flown by. On December 2nd my brother came home on military leave and was here for 2 1/2 weeks. There were several highlights during the week. Here are a few:

First and foremost was introducing my brother to Lilly. Although Lilly is too young to remember the experience it was still special to see her interact and play with her uncle. Someday she'll realize how special she is to have such an awesome uncle.

My two brothers and I appeared on ESPN2 while attending the Northwest Missouri State football game.



My mom and I had the opportunity to celebrate our birthdays together. We had a big party and were able to see a lot of family which was fun.

Riding 4-wheelers.



Spending time with my entire immediate family was such a joy and throughout our time together I had many childhood flashbacks (playing ball in the front yard, cutting wood, riding bikes, going to ball games, shooting BB guns, playing with our cousins, and many others). As I get older I'm starting to realize how much I miss those days and how blessed I am to have such a close relationship with my family today.

9 month check-up

Today was Lilly's 9 month check-up. She weighed in at 15lbs. 1 oz and is 27.5 inches long. She remains in the 3rd percentile for weight and is in the 50th percentile for length. She met all of her 9 month milestones (sitting unsupported, transferring objects from one hand to the other, playing pat-a-cake or peek-a-boo, using her thumb and index finger to pick up small objects, stand while holding on to someone or something, etc.). So, even though she still remains "small" she is right on track developmentally.




We have had a couple of rough nights this last week. Two nights ago I made the mistake of eating spicy chili for dinner (kudos to my husband for the outstanding recipe). Lilly woke up screaming twice throughout the night and finally I put two and two together and realized that she had an upset stomach from the food I was eating. Only one other time has she been affected by the foods I eat so I typically don't even worry about it. I guess I'll think twice from now on. Then, last night Lilly finally cut her top tooth. She was pretty fussy most of the evening and had a slight temperature. Even through the discomfort she still managed to sleep from 7:30 pm - 8:00 am. So far today she seems to be in no pain so that is good!!

Today is also a very special day for our family. My brother, who is in the military, is coming home!! He is currently stationed in Guam and we haven't seen him in 2 years. Of course he hasn't met Lilly yet so we are excited for an emotional reunion. My mom just called and said that his flight just arrived into KCI so we should be getting to see him within the next hour or so. He will be home for 2 1/2 weeks so we are hoping to enjoy every minute!

Happy Baby!!

Lilly's First Thanksgiving

This was our first Thanksgiving with Lilly. Although we had a long day we had a lot of fun visiting family. As the only grandchild, of course it goes without saying that Lilly was the star of the show. We are blessed to have such a great family!!

MiMi making me laugh

Sleeping after my first Thanksgiving dinner.

Still going strong at 11:00 pm.

Ear infection

Other than an occasional cough you would never know this little girl has a double ear infection. She's handled it like a pro. We were at my parents when I took her to the Dr. and she couldn't believe that at 9 months this baby had never had an ear infection. Guess we've lucked out. She it also getting a tooth on the top so you'll be hearing more about that soon, I'm sure.

Pat-a-cake

Fall

I'm already wishing we could have more beautiful Fall days like this.

Today is the day...

Virtually every day when Mike gets home from work he will sit down on the floor with Lilly and announce aloud... "today is the day you're going to learn to....". Usually he tells her she is going to learn to crawl or walk and even though they practice neither has happened yet. Yesterday, Mike was giving her a bottle and decided that she needed to learn to hold it. So, of course, he said "today is the day you're going to learn to hold your bottle". He placed her hands on the bottle and immediately she pulled them away with no interest at all. I laughed and left the room. About 5 minutes later I returned and much to my surprise, this is what I found...

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Today I was richly blessed by getting to spend a beautiful Fall day with some of my closest friends. We went to a small town in North KC (Parkville) for brunch, a nature hike, some boutique browsing and lunch. Unfortunately these outings are few and far between now so it was a breath of fresh air to get out on my own.

Rachel, Heather, Marcy, Leah and Mikaela

Rachel, Mikaela, Heather, Leah and Marcy

Welcome to my crib!!

One of my favorite parts of the day is watching Lilly play in her crib after her bath. She is such a happy baby and will typically coo and roll around for quite some time. As you can see she's an active little girl and quite the show off as well.

8 months old

Today Lilly is 8 months old. Whew, is that really possible? This morning we were out shopping and she was saying "dadada" almost non stop the entire time. It's amazing how many people will stop you and ask if they can see your baby. That was the case today and everyone kept commenting on her big, blue eyes (as if we haven't heard that one before). I did make the mistake of putting her in a white chiefs sleeper so everyone thought she was a little boy. I should have known better but either way they thought she (or he) was pretty cute.


Cousins Rylee and Marshall with Lilly

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!!!

Since Lilly has already mastered the art of picking up larger objects we decided it was time to start working on some smaller things. For the last few weeks we have been putting small pieces of food on her tray to encourage her to use her fine motor skills (thumb and pointer) to pick them up. At first she would just slap at them or bat them off the table. Eventually she would rake them up with her entire hand but didn't understand how to move it toward her mouth. Then out of the blue she figured it out!!! She hasn't mastered the skill by any means but she is starting to understand the process and how it works. It's so fun watching her learn new things and it's amazing to know that God designed us in such a way that we learn to do things progressively at just the right time. It's just a reminder that God does have perfect timing in everything, big or small!

32 weeks

This little girl is growing and changing so fast. It seems like every day she does something that makes my face smile and at the same time bring tears to my eyes. I finally understand what they mean when they say "you'll never know a love like the love for your child". I hope someday she can experience the same joy and happiness of her own.

32 weeks old

This little love bug is growing and changing everyday. She has been drooling and chewing on everything again this week. I have a feeling she might be surprising us with another tooth soon. She has become extremely active on her tummy and likes to push up on her hands and kick her feet around. With a little help she is able to scoot forward. It won't be long before she's mobile...I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet!! :) Here are a few pictures and a video from this last week.

A great week!!

This week Mike and I had the opportunity to go on our first official date since the arrival of our little girl. We hadn't really talked about what we were going to do so I assumed it be something low-key that would give us the chance to just enjoy each others company. When I got home on Monday evening the babysitters had arrived (thanks Clint and Mikaela!!) and Mike was dressed up. He told me to put on something nice too. We jumped in the car and headed off. We ended up at the Plaza 3 Steakhouse. We had a terrific, romantic evening that left us stuffed to our ears. After wards we thought about going miniature golfing or for a walk but it was a little too cool. Even though we were told we could stay out as late as we wanted, we felt a little silly and lame but ended up going straight home. Never the less we had a wonderful evening and it was awesome getting to spend some one-on-one time with my husband.

Today Lilly had a weight check appointment. She currently weighs 13 lbs. 5 oz and still remains in the 3rd percentile. Although she still doesn't seem to be moving up the chart, Dr. Brunner was encouraged that she hadn't fallen off the chart. So, we will continue doing what we need to do to get her weight and strength up. Now that she is eating breakfast (banana and oatmeal) and dinner (peas, green beans and oatmeal) I think that she will probably start gaining at a little faster pace...at least that is our hope. Along with that Lilly was diagnosed with a rare skin disease called Ichthyosis. It's a genetic mutation that isn't contagious but it does cause the skin to build up and scale resulting in extremely dry skin. Dr. Brunner prescribed two steroid creams that we are to apply 1-2 times a day. This should help alleviate some of the itchiness but unfortunately this disease doesn't go away so Lilly will always have it.

This afternoon Lilly and I spent a few hours with some other moms and kids from MOPS (Mother's of Preschoolers). We went to a park for a picnic lunch and then went for a walk next to a stream and railroad tracks. It was fun watching the kids in excitement as the trains went by and even Lilly seemed to enjoy the commotion and noise. The afternoon ended just in time for the kids to spot a snake under a rock...of course I headed the opposite direction only to find out later that it was a poisonous copperhead.

Here is a video from earlier this week. Typically we have a nap time routine (eat, change diaper, read etc.) that we follow. However, much to my surprise, after changing Lilly's diaper I stepped away to wash my hands and when I came back she was sound asleep. It was quite ironic as this typically never happens.

Fall is here!!

This weekend we enjoyed some time at the park with MiMi and PaPa. We have been spending a lot of time at the park lately with the nice weather. Lilly enjoys swinging but even more so she enjoys watching all the kids run and play.

Lilly enjoys looking at herself in the mirror. I can only imagine what she will be like as a teenager!! Also, if you listen closely you can hear the kids across the street at the park playing.

Baby Dedication

This weekend we had the privilege of dedicating Lilly to the church. It was a morning of celebration and excitement for the life ahead of this precious little girl. Lilly was dressed in a beautiful dress that was handmade by a family friend. We had several friends and family members attend. We are thankful for the amazing people that God has placed in our lives to encourage and support us in special times like this.

A playdate....at least for the moms!!

Lilly (7 months) and Evalana (7 weeks)



Alea (5 weeks) and Lilly (7 months)

6 Month Pictures

Here are a few of Lilly's 6 month pictures. She was a bit memorized by all the lights and cameras but after about 85 shots she finally settled in and smiled a few times for the camera.