what's new??

I feel like lately I have nothing to blog about. Well, nothing interesting. Do I write about my 12 hour work days? Or about the Skins and how they aren't even mediocre this year?  I'm tired of long work days and sick of the Skins losing. That about sums it up. Although, not everything has been quite so bad. There have been a lot of great things that have happened lately:

• Lily turned 9 months old! At her check-up, Lily was 28.75 inches, 18 lbs 5 oz. Still no teeth, but she's loving real food that she can mash with her gums, like pieces of cooked carrots & chicken. She's also standing on her own for brief moments and when she drops something on the ground she is starting to say uh-oh...and when you ask her how big she is she raises her hands up high over her head. It's amazing watching her learn new things every day! 

• My best friend Sarah got married! I am so thankful to have been a part of her wedding. Despite the rain, it was a beautiful fall day and Sarah made a gorgeous bride of course!

• My friends Tiffany and Kris got married. It was so nice to see friends that I haven't seen in ages and the keg stands that took place at the reception definitely felt like old times again! 

• New cars!! Brian and I are officially the proud owners of 2 new cars! It was definitely time for me to trade in my clunker for a car that could actually fit Lily and 3 additional passengers. As for Brian's car...well it was OK...but we wanted an SUV to take to our snowboarding trips this winter. So, last Friday, we went up to Nissan and stayed from 6:30pm to 12:45am...and happily left with a 2010 Xterra and 2009 Altima. 

• HALLOWEEN! Lily's first Halloween was great. She was the cutest cow and it was fun being able to take her trick-or-treating with her cousins. Surprisingly she didn't mind being in her costume for hours!

six (crazy, fast, memorable) months

It's been six whole months since Lilyan was born (well, six months and three days). I still can not believe how much she has grown and how quickly time has passed. One year ago we were getting ready for our wedding, sending out our invitations, and vacationing at the Outer Banks. Six months ago, we were driving home from the hospital on a freezing cold day, scared and nervous about being by ourselves, but so incredibly happy to be home with Lily. We slept on the couch for the first few weeks with Lily between us in her travel bed. Everything was so new to us and this felt the most comfortable and safest for us. 

  

Fast forward to today and it's hard to believe that we were once in that state of mind. We've had to learn fast like all first time parents and even though we've had our scares and moments of doubt, parenting became second nature to us. Worries about Lily eating her bottle too fast or getting gassy were quickly replaced with Lily scooting (she's at that stage where she scoots backwards, but not quite crawling) and rolling over to chew on the power cords and t.v. stand. As soon as we become comfortable with one stage, she outgrows it and gives us a whole new set of worries. There's never even enough time to worry about all these worries! I guess we will just have to accept the fact that she will continually throw challenges our way as we try to keep up and adapt to them. 

Happy 6 Months Lilyan! 

6 month checkup

weight: 16 lbs 5 oz

height: 25.75 inches

P.S. - I just realized that Lily is wearing a hat in every picture that I loaded into this post. So maybe I am obsessed with baby hats! 

Don't worry, once she grows hair I won't have to put a hat on her all the time....but I will get to use hair clips!

4 months old and 2 weeks late!

I can't believe my Lil G is already 4 and 1/2 months old. It didn't hit me until this morning how big she has gotten. As I held her in one arm and made a bottle in my other, she kept grabbing for the bottle. Then as I'm washing one of the 20 parts to the Dr. Brown bottles, she grabs the middle piece right out of the bottle and puts it in her mouth. She clearly understands what a bottle is these days, assembled or not. Even more impressive, she can hold her own bottle now! Of course when I'm not helping her hold it I stuff a blanket under for some support, but still, how did she get so big so fast? Another thing she's fond of is rolling over and over until she's about 6 feet from her playmat. As always, it's the little things she does that never cease to amaze me. So, in addition to grabbing and rolling, she's eating baby food now! I started her out on oatmeal and rice cereal and have moved on to butternut squash, sweet potatoes, bananas, and avocado. I have yet to get the Beaba Babycook, but nonetheless am still attempting to make her food myself. So far it's been pretty easy and the butternut squash, which I roasted for 40 mins., made about 10 servings! Cheap, easy, and yummy (I ate some myself).

oh and just an FYI, b/c I'm weeks late in posting this...
@ Lily's 4 month check-up she weighed 13lb 6 oz. and was 24.5 inches long


So, in other news....


Last weekend was Brian's birthday! I'm so glad it's over...but only because I had planned a surprise outing and it was stressing me out having to keep it a secret from him.

So in a nutshell here's how it went:


Friday - Brian goes out with friends, I stay home worried that his friends are ruining the surprise for the following night.


Saturday - 9am: Brian almost ruins my plan for the night when he claims he is "too hungover to go out tonight." 6pm: Cookout at Brian's parents...I'm still stressing out about everything. I can't enjoy myself because the limo bus is picking up all of his friends while we're there and I'm getting antsy. 8pm: Limo bus is on it's way to Brian's parents to surprise Brian. 8:15pm: Bus has arrived and Brian still has no idea. We get ready to go out to a bar in "Ashburn", head out the door, then I wrap a blindfold around his eyes. He gets on the bus and 25 of his close friends are on the bus..SURPRISE! We take him to Arlington and go on a mini bar crawl, meanwhile he is wearing a list of tasks he has to complete throughout the night. Some of my favorites..."Kiss a Cougar", "Back that thang up to a dirty girl", "Take a blowjob shot". hahaha what a great night.

Sunday - Charles Town...Races and Slots! Surprisingly, I've never been there. Also surprising was the fact that we actually went considering the massive hangovers we all had. Nothing a little bloody mary couldn't fix! So, we went there and I won 3 of the 5 races I bet on....beginner's luck? I ended on a good note thanks to betting on horse 9 Shining Charlotte to win straight up in the last race!

Next weekend I leave for Dallas for a week for work. I am not pumped at all. For starters I hate hate HATE flying, (but love traveling...how does that work?) and second, this will be the first time I'm away from Lily for more than a day. Ughh....oh well...que sera sera! One thing I am looking forward to? Our one week vacation in Seneca, South Carolina at my uncle's lake house! We leave on June 28th...I can't wait!

2 month check-up

Lilyan is 2 months old! I can't believe it...she's so much more alert now and full of smiles. Yesterday was her 2 month check-up and she's weighing 10lbs 12 oz. and 23 inches long! Right along the 50th percentile.

We've been really blessed with a good baby. She hardly ever cries and sleeps through the night. I know that will all change, the older she gets, but for now I am counting our blessings! Prior to yesterday, I could probably count the number of times I've heard her cry (hysterically) on one hand. So, of course it was heartbreaking to hear her cry when she got her 2 vaccine shots yesterday. Not only that, but she caught my cold, so I had to use the saline drops and aspirator for her stuffy nose. She's not a big fan of that either. Then she developed a fever of 101.4, so needless to say she was a sad baby yesterday. Poor girl. Today she is much better though, she's back with Grandee and her temperature is back to normal.

I look forward to this month with her..each day gets better and better and it's so exciting to see her grow and accomplish each milestone:

By the end of month three a baby typically:

• Raises head and chest when put on tummy
• Lifts head up 45 degrees
• Kicks and straightens legs when on back
• Open and shuts hands
• Pushes down with legs when placed on a hard surface
• Reaches for dangling objects
• Grasps and shakes hand toys
• Tracks moving objects
• Begins to imitate sounds
• Recognizes familiar objects and people, even at a distance
• Begins to develop a social smile
• Begins to develop hand-eye coordination
• Brings both hands together
• Interested in circular and spiral patterns
• Kicks legs energetically
• Holds head up with control

-iVillage, by Lisa Schulman

silly lily

Lily is now 5 weeks old and I can't believe how much she has grown in such a short amount of time. It's amazing that I am able to pick up on the changes each day. Today I noticed that her eyelashes are now all black and no longer blonde. It's such a moot point, but just goes to show that each day something new comes up and that I get excited just the same.

Doctor's visits:

1 week visit = 7 lbs 1 oz, 20"

2 week visit = 8 lbs 2 oz, 21"

1 month visit = 9 lbs 4 oz, 21.75"

Our little peanut is getting big! Well, I should say heavier, because based on her length and head measurements she's only in the 50th percentile. Also, I'm not sure why, but since she was born she's been able to hold her head up for longer periods of time than normal. We try to keep her head down so she's not straining her neck, but then she just pushes our hands out of the way with her head! She's a strong girl! Oh and today, thanks to my friend Kennedy, I found this great site for baby clothes, hats, books, etc etc.

After reading her blog I wanted to contribute to the Cora Paige Project and bought a hat from the site where the proceeds go to the foundation. Then after a little more surfing, I came across another cute monkey hat. I can't wait to get them in the mail! 4-6 days away from another lily photo shoot :) I introduced her to the Bumbo today and she loved it! She didn't want me to take her out of it..something about her being independent and being able to see everything just makes her happy. Maybe that's why she doesn't like the Moby wrap because she's not old enough to face outwards yet. I thought the Moby was golden until I tried to put her in it when she was awake. She almost unraveled the whole thing by flailing her arms around! So until she's a bit stronger and old enough to be in the Lotus Hold, I will have to eliminate the Moby wrap, in addition to the bouncer...the two saviors I was counting on :(