December Celebrations from now until forever

Before we ring in 2010, it is only appropriate to rejoice over this past weeks celebrations....be hold for a wild ride!

First I must mention the amazing snow storm we experienced that made a very special white Christmas for us all. The snow poured down hard for almost a full day, and as a result 24 inches of pure white was seen throughout northern Virginia. I came home from work Saturday morning to Mike already attacking the sidewalk with the shovel. He did an amazing job, although you just couldn't keep up with the speed of the flakes :)

I also walked into the house to see this...... Mike had moved Lily's highchair to our front room overlooking outside. She was completely content watching her Daddy while eating Cheerios's and drinking milk.

We trekked through the snow to my parents house in Mike's large four wheel drive truck and celebrated with a few of my Mom's family members, Christmas. To me, Christmas week had begun and what better way to start it than with a bed of snow.

Family photo in the snow!
In comparison to the final result, this is nothing! Mike had already shoveled this barely 20 min prior to the picture...
Mo Mo and the baby all bundled up for her first sleigh ride!
Lily and her G-Pa...a sweet and precious bond!
Super cuteness, trying to go for a ride
My Mom's beautiful table scape

Second, Christmas...Our beautiful tree which Mike picked all by himself. Although I was a bit upset he found it while I was inside the nursery asking a question, I couldn't reject it!This Christmas season went by all too fast and I would like to pride myself in taking full participation of Advent this year, although I am ashamed to say Mike and I only went to church one Sunday in December. Many excuses come to mind, but none of which are appropriate. I wish that my heart and soul had been more in tune to the spirit of Christmas, but I found myself distracted. I had hopes of Mike and I volunteering with the needy, being in a position to donate more money, to give gifts to a family, etc but it didn't happen this year, and I can only vow to try harder next year! I still hold the meaning of Christmas so deeply close to me, I only wish I had expressed it more!

Despite my own disappointments in myself, Christmas, this year was very special! Mike, Lily and I spent an amazing Christmas Eve together in celebration with my parents, brother and his girlfriend, Sarah. I am sad to say I took no pictures, but in my mind I will remember the great food, and great time we had. In joining Christmas eve traditions with Mike, I made his Mom's famous French Onion Soup and bread pudding for dessert. For our entree, a delicious Salmon and risotto! Writing about it makes me want to experience the tastiness all over:) Christmas morning, my parents were still with us, and we gathered in our basement around the tree for coffee, and my homemade cinnamon rolls, which Lily LOVED! I will admit, Mike and I were a bit skimpy on presents with Lily, but my focus was our family. Lily is very lucky to have spent Christmas with both of her grandparents, and they both were more than generous in their gift giving to Mike, Lily and I!

Third, Lily TURNS ONE!
It may be cliche to say, but it seems like yesterday that I was in the hospital waiting for Lily to arrive. Our life has changed as we know it and Mike and I couldn't be happier to be parents to such a vibrant, beautiful baby girl! Our year has been filled with so many memories which I hope to never forget, and it makes me excited for our years to come. I could go on and on with sappiness, but I will get straight away to the fun stuff.

In honor of a Christmas time birthday, I have decided that I need to make her day extra special. Although Mike agrees with me, and believes Lily's day is important, I know he thinks I am crazy for all the things I come up with. My idea of a birthday tree came last year when we were chopping down our Christmas tree and saw a mini Christmas tree. I thought, how cute would it be for Lily to have a tree specific to her birthday. We found this mini pink tree at Wal-mart and it was a perfect fit for a birthday tree! I decorated it with a small amount of ornaments, but my plan is to put ornaments from year to year on it.

I wanted to keep the decorations to a minimum for clutter purposes and financial purposes. It didn't seem necessary to buy a lot for a one year old party but I definitely wanted to make it memorable. My theme was pink and cupcakes, perfect for a baby girl :) I bought this cupcake tree and made my own cupcakes, chocolate and strawberry. I even piped the icing on top, which I was very proud of. Lily LOVED eating her cupcake, and videos are to come!My Mom made this sign for me 25 years ago for my first birthday. A couple weeks ago while going through my stuff still at my parents house, we foudn this. It was so special to have it there at Lily's party! If only Lily was looking.....

We had such a blast with Lily at her party! We are so grateful for all our guests who came to celebrate with us and all the generous gifts!!!! We are blessed with our health, love, and faith. Hooray for a successful year, I pray for the same in 2010.

ok enough about Lily, what about me....

SOOO, I just completed a great post about my daughter, but back to me....wink wink

Updates from me...

Waiting in the cold at Jammin' Java

Mike and I attended yet another Pat McGee show at Jammin Java, and like I always say, I think this was one of his BEST shows! We were second row, and it was awesome! I felt so hip to be jammin out with my husband, and I love that seeing him in concert has kind of become our 'thing'. We are dorks, and I love it!

the amazing jam session between Pat and his band member who played the piano and sax

Sunday my brother and I ran the 'Jingle all the way 10k' (6+ miles). I was a bit nervous about it when hearing the weather forecast for Sunday morning, but all was well and the weather was actually perfect! The race was downtown, and took us on a great course around Haines Point. I completed my two goals for the race...

1. to run the whole way
2. finish in under and hour
My brother, of course, ran off right away at the starting line, although I told him to. Instead, I ran with my friend Stefani the whole time. We kept a great pace and being 10wks pregnant, I am super proud of her for doing it with me still.
before the race trying to warm up

after the race..wet and cold but feeling good!
the runners!

I felt so good after the race and felt I could keep going! My next goal is a half marathon which I will embark upon in March! GO ME!

why i started in the first place

So my motive in starting my blog all began with Lily....

This silly, vibrant, loud, stubborn, joyous baby has changed my life, and I was looking forward to sharing my experiences with the world about her development. Well it seems as though I have sidetracked a bit and talked mostly of my life and not hers. I wanted to do a bit of catching up....

December is Lily's birthday month. I have found myself reflecting on this time of year from 2008 and how much has changed since then. I remember my feelings of anticipation in being a Mother, my appreciation for time alone with Mike, and over all excited for the season. I feel so blessed for my memory of last year, it makes my heart skip a beat. How wonderful it has been, this year, to experience a whole new set of feelings this season. I now have feelings of anticipation for Lily's first birthday party, her first celebration of Christmas, still my appreciation for time alone with Mike, nervous for family gatherings, have I prepared myself for the true meaning of this season, etc.... With this month quickly passing by Lily is impressing me with a new attitude, increased mobility, new words, and new tricks.

Lily has 4 teeth, two up top, two on bottom. Mike and I have both agreed that she may have the infamous gap up top, but will wait to see after they all come in. With those teeth Lily will eat ANYTHING! In fact, baby food is almost a past time of hers. She definitely prefers to feed herself, and by doing that mealtime is normally quite messy resulting in a bath or a thorough rinse by the sink. She enjoys lunch meat, cheese, chicken, pasta, LOVES tomato soup, blueberries, blackberries (sooo messy), really the list could go on! She drinks out of a sippy cup, milk, water, or juice, and fortunately with me nursing, she never had to take a bottle which she is not attached to. She has almost completely weaned herself, except for nigh time or morning. (This I am very thankful for, although I know I will miss the special bonding time together!)

Her attitude is something like a teenagers, and boy do I have a lot to look forward to. I notice small tantrums, mostly when she gets frustrated, but the biggest thing we have to work on is the meaning of "no". I'm not quite sure when it clicks in their head what it means, or maybe she is simply ignoring me. I find myself having to take a step back when she hits me, screams, and throws her body limp when trying to change her diaper. I, too, get frustrated with her, but as a one year old she has no other way to communicate with me. Contrary to any other situation in my life, I have myself very patient. It comes easy with her, and I only wish I could apply it elsewhere.

She crawls like a maniac, maneuvering herself behind the couch, in between the side tables, under the tables, and up and down the stairs! Stairs, like most other babies, are some of her favorite activities. If left alone I am almost certain I would find her climbing up and down the stairs all day. When I am in the computer room, she often crawls around my feet and picks things off the ground, or the tables, crawls to the stairs, throws it down then goes and retrieves it. Stairs serve as her own personal jungle gym but I am careful to watch her every move. Lily is actually very good about turning herself to her stomach to go down, but I know it will take one time and down she'll go. I am both anxious and excited for her start walking. She enjoys pushing her little car, and walking around the coffee table, but yet to take her first step.

Of course talking is one of the last to come in full. Her tiny voice is one worlds most precious sounds. She knows 'da da' and who he is. 'Ma ma' is something we are still working on, although Mike and I have noticed that when she does get upset she yells something like 'na na' so we might be onto something. She points to dogs and says 'Daaawgh' (not so good on the 'g' sound but we know what she says). She sometimes roars like a lion, ooo ooos like a dog(her whuff), and still when prompted to say 'I love you' she says in a very high pitched voice 'Eyyyyyyye'. Her vocab also includes other various mumbo jumbo that I just enjoy listening to and will one day be able to understand completely.

Her two new tricks are peek-a-boo (which she does on her own with hands to her eyes) and making an indian sound with her hand to her mouth. Both very cute, and she is very proud of herself for finding them both all on her own.

The Holidays are here!

Blogging to be done when I have time......seems like never...

Anyways, these are some pics from this past weekend, Mike and I are always on the go, but with the Holiday spirit alive there is nothing I like more than being with friends and family!!!!

Before leaving we were atleast able to catch some shots of Lily and her first snow storm!! Next time we will sled :)