memorial day weekend

...was filled with a lot of this:
...and this:


Lilyan hates the sun and heat! So of course I thought maybe she'd love the pool...nope! She hates that too. Of course, the water was freezing, so I couldn't blame her. So, I spent Saturday afternoon under the umbrella trying to calm her down. I was definitely the mom that everyone looked at with a "shut that kid up" face or a "thank god that's not me" face. Hopefully next time we'll have better luck!

Saturday night - a true testament to how old my friends and I have become. All dressed up for a night in Georgetown, my girl friends and I went to dinner to celebrate Leena's birthday (and partially mine) at Neyla's restaurant. The food was awesome and the sangria was meh. Overall though it was a great time. So of course after dinner, we had the option of going out to one of the bars in the neighborhood. We spent about 10 mins debating where to go, if we should go, how long to go, etc, etc. Then after a couple of the girls decided to take off, the rest of us finally ventured all the way to Paolo's.. across the street. for a drink. one drink. then bounced. This is coming from a group of 4 friends who used to go out to D.C. when we were 16 and sneak into clubs using our older sister's IDs (or if your sister wasn't nice enough to ever give you her ID, you'd scratch out the date of your own ID and pen it in.....). So, I have come to the realization that our nights out of hours of heavy drinking and puking on the side of 66 have been replaced by nice dinners and reminiscing about the old days. I'm completely OK with that. I'm just thankful that we're all still as close as we are after all these years. Plus...it is sooo worth it not waking up the next morning with a hangover.

Sunday - my birthday! - I'm officially in my late 20's. After dinner at the in-laws, we dropped off Lily at my mom's house and headed to Bungalow Billiards in Chantilly. My options were limited, since not many places are open late on a Sunday night. Even so, it was a great night out, there was a live reggae band and a bunch of my friends came out to celebrate. I couldn't have asked for a better night!

Monday - birthday bbq - We all got together at my mom's for some bbq & crab legs. Yum! The family that eats together, stays together! Plus, I got a ton of gift cards to Best Buy so that I could buy the Nikon that I've wanted. I should have it in just a few weeks, can't wait!

P.S. - I'm thinking about buying the Nikon D5000 instead of the Nikon D90. After extensive research, the image quality is about the same, the video capability slightly better, and I'm no professional, so I think it'll do just fine. Oh...major selling point - it costs 1/3 less than the D90.

such a big girl!

My Lil G is eating rice & oatmeal cereal now! She's been eating it once a day for a little over a week now, so we get to switch her to veggies and fruits soon. I plan on making her own baby food to save some cash and also because it's a healthy option and seems fun. Now I can finally get the Beaba Babycook! It's funny how these things excite me now. Just like when I'm at the mall and see a sale at Gap Kids or Old Navy. No wonder I never have anything to wear, I blow all my money on her clothes! 

Also, she's beginning to roll over from side to side to tummy. Each time one of us checks on her in her crib she has done a 180. And finally she's laughing out loud. Or as my friend Leena says, "She can LOL now"! I love it when she laughs because she hasn't quite figured it out yet, so every time she laughs she surprises herself.  Happy 4 months Lilyan Grace!

(How is it that my baby is so pale and has blue eyes?!) 

Must be those Irish genes.

embracing these moments

My first Mother's Day was amazing! It started off by Brian surprising me with Lily's new outfit that he got her. Of course you can't see her cute pink shorts that she's wearing. (It melts my heart picturing him going to the store with her and picking her out a new outfit). Then he made me a wonderful breakfast with mimosas and gave me my presents, which included a Starbucks gift basket, roses, and a picture frame with a bunch of pictures of Lily and I. Not to mention the cards that he made from Lily and him. I have the greatest husband (and daughter)! Then we made a visit to my mom and headed to Brian's mom's house for a little cookout. It was such a beautiful day! 

I'm so thankful to have these moments as a new family. It's amazing how life changes after having a child. You feel like you're in a completely different world than you were in before. You learn to be grateful for every breath, smile, and laugh from your baby. You learn to never take any moment for granted for each is a blessing. Your life is consumed by dirty diapers, spit-up, washing bottles and baby laundry, but you wouldn't trade it for a thing. It's your life now and you can't imagine what life was like before your baby. It's cliche, I know, but if you're a parent, you get it. I didn't get it until now. A year ago I would have never imagined that this would be my life today. Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be married and have a baby at the age of 25! It wasn't part of my plan. I imagined getting engaged, spending a year or so on wedding plans, getting married, taking a honeymoon, traveling, buying a house, then planning for a baby. 

Yet instead I fell in love, became pregnant, moved in with the in-laws, got engaged, planned a wedding in 3 months, got married*, rented an apartment, then had Lily. No honeymoon, no traveling, no house. Needless to say, life isn't what I planned it to be. Of course we still hope to buy a house in the future and take the well deserved honeymoon that we missed out on, but I honestly believe that God blessed us with this plan for a reason. I may never know the reason, but I can take each day as it comes and be thankful for every moment that I have to spend with our own little family. I don't know where this new road will take us but I would hate to look back at life with regret and wish that I didn't take things for granted. So for now, I embrace the moments of rocking Lily to sleep while she grips my thumb and twirls her hair because before I know it, she'll be a big girl and I'll wonder where the time passed us by. 

*It was only fitting that our first dance at our wedding was to "Danny's Song":

People smile and tell me I'm the lucky one, and we've just begun,

Think I'm gonna have a son daughter.

He She will be like she and me, as free as a dove, conceived in love,

Sun is gonna shine above.

And even though we ain't got money, I'm so in love with ya honey,

And everything will bring a chain of love.

And in the morning when I rise, you bring a tear of joy to my eyes,

And tell me everything is gonna be alright. 

....

Pisces, Virgo rising is a very good sign, strong and kind,

And the little boy girl is mine.

Now I see a family where there once was none, now we've just begun,

Yeah we're gonna fly to the sun.

things i'm excited about...

• Caps are leading the series 2-0! A win tonight in Pittsburgh would be huge! I'm so jealous of my Mom and Llew's seats. They have season tickets 4 rows behind the glass...this picture was from ESPN.com. And look, there's Llew!!
  
  
• My first Mother's Day is coming up! I'm looking forward to spending the day with Brian and Lily and celebrating this blessing.
  
  
• Nikon D90 on sale!! This week I've found it online including the additional zoom lens for a great price. I reallyyy want this camera, even though I should be saving for more important things. Although, my birthday is around the corner! Happy early birthday to me?
  
  
• May 24th, my birthday. After 25 it's not really exciting.
  
  
• June 1st, Brian's 25th birthday! I'm technically going to be 2 years older than him for one week. You can call me Cougar!! yippee.
  
  
• June 28th-July 4th. Vacation...finally! Heading down to Seneca, SC for the week at Lake Keowee.