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.