Short Stories of the Lil

Lily, a little toddler, ever growing, beautiful, intelligent, loving girl. She's strong, strong willed, vocal, active, stubborn, personable, lovable, kissable, huggable, all of the above and even more. She's loves her babies, her dolls, dollhouse, her Mr. Potato Head family. Lily is a great Mother to her toy friends, and an even better little Mommy to baby Molly!

It is amazing to me how well she plays on her own! Don't get me wrong, she enjoys the company of her friends. But is she totally content by herself. So well, in fact, that sometimes I am able to leave her alone in her bedroom, or in the basement while I quickly shower, wash dishes, fold clothes, etc.....UNTIL she discovered how to open the front door and let herself out.

For a good week, she tested me daily on my ability to chase her outside. It was also a great test of my patience, or lack there of! Some may have thought I was a crazy woman yelling at my toddler. But the truth is, it really frightened me, her walking outside by herself! It wasn't until I repeatedly told her someone might take her that she finally started to listen to me... "Lily, you MAY NOT go outside without Mommy!" Sometimes she responds with "Ok Mommy", sometimes "WHY?" sometimes a pouty face followed by some tears, but I believe we have the handle of it!

She loves the outdoors! Playing on the playground...taking walks, gardening with me....

With the warm weather, her rosy cheeks and sweaty forehead shine and her little ringlet curls bounce around (I hope they stay!!!!)She loves the train at Dulles Mall! (I blame that on my Mother, who thought it was a great idea to take her one time....now, we can't get near the mall without her talking about it!) I am using it as a small bribe to get her potty trained though!
We are working on her eating habits....... Dinner is fun....on opposite day! She fights with us on the food she wants to eat, but I refuse to make her separate meals from Mike and I. I am taking the route of making her try everything but not making her finish everything. It is actually working and I guess we have made some progress. Her favorite foods include...strawberries, crackers and peanut butter, chocolate milk, chx nuggets, cheese, spaghetti, and tomato soup. Her two veggies she will eat without a fight are carrots and cucumbers. I'll take it!!
Most often Lily refuses to look at the camera when I try to take a picture. My camera goes up, she looks away! A rare moment of her cheesing for me!

She is really great at brushing her teeth and she instructs me to "get all that food out" when I am helping her.

We say our prayers at dinner time and before bed. She is becoming very good at telling me what she is thankful for! She is aware of Jesus and His presence at church. She knows He loves her and she talks about it if she sees a cross, a church, hears a song, etc. It is quite cute!

She has started a small dance class this week, and it is by far one of the cutest things I have ever seen. Lily doesn't have the best experience with things involving structure, hence her running around in circles during the class while others were listening, but I am certain she will get better at it. Regardless, she had a great time, and that was the point of her going.

Lily sings.

A lot!

Much like her mother, she sings what she could talk. I love it! My hard work has paid off! :)

Easter Celebration

The great thing about Easter....not the candy, not the presents, not the Easter egg hunts, not even the blessed time spent with family....it's the beginning.

The beginning of another attempt at strengthening our faith! At the end of Lent this year I, again, had much regret with not being more serious with my sacrifices. I repent for my actions taken, not taken, etc. and I am ever so grateful to feel loved and forgiven. I pray for a stronger relationship with God and the Hope of it strengthening my family!

MY FAMILY!

It's a beautiful thing, this family I am a part of! I am so blessed with two healthy baby girls, a supportive husband and most of all LOVE. No matter the hardships I feel I come by I know there is nothing but love among the four of us. I will continue to cherish the love we have for one another as it grows from year to year! There is nothing better than a smiling baby! Her sweet sweet dress was given to me by Katy, Mike's younger sister. I love love it so much that it will be a part of her keepsake box!
Mike had a big part in putting together Lily's Easter basket! She was more excited about Easter than Christmas. She was more cognitive of the 'bunny' than Santa. Plus, I have been using the Bunny as a ploy to get her to eat her veggies at dinner. (The Easter bunny loves carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc...DUH)

In fact, the Easter Bunny even got into our carrots and left a big mess all over the kitchen leading into the family room where her basket was hidden under a blanket...wink wink

My cute Easter egg, sporting her new beach hatGetting pictures of toddlers is much like....well much like the pain of poking your own eyes out.
My Nikon has the ability to shoot, picture, after picture, after picture...which is usually what I do when around Lily, Molly, and other toddlers, in this case Savannah and Connor (my niece and nephew). I am bound to get a few good shots...out of a hundred or so!I couldn't really capture the best of these three....it was painful....they were tired....and wanted nothing to do with me and my camera, or each other!...a very Happy Easter to you too kids! :)

Distracted....Silly...

More Distracted....

This particular day, I was able to get a little better shots...worth editing. It was as equally as a cluster as was Easter, but somehow better shots...

PEDIATRIC UPDATE: 4 Months Old

Forgive me... it has been 2 months since my last posting....I accept my punishment of blogging updates for the next two days.

Life, oh I mean blogging, would be much easier if I could just keep up with myself. Now, I have umpteen thousand pictures to sort through, edit, and post to keep my viewers satisfied. :) Ok now I am just being dramatic...

Today Molly had her 4 month check up plus 2 vaccines (insert loud cry from both Molly and Lily, yes Lily too, because it was that hard for her to watch Molly get shots)

Molly's stats include:

WEIGHT: 12 pounds 11 ounces (25th percentile)- much smaller than Lily, not sure of the exact difference but I will refer to Lily's 4 month blog post

LENGTH: 25 inches (75th percentile)

HEAD: 16.5 inches (75th percentile)

Ok, I'll say it...all around perfect baby :)

Here is my delightful 4 month old.

Where does the time go?

I swear time didn't go by this fast when I was 4 months pregnant! I sometimes get anxious about not 'living in the moment' as well as I should! I know in the blink of an eye my two little girls will be soon be on their cell phones, taking the keys and going for a ride to school, to friends, to boyfriends, then off to college. I must say I am excited for what the future holds for our family, but I dread the days of worry! The independence that I so strongly instill in my girls could come back to nip me in the butt. I know I will have such pride in their abilities, but sweet sorrow that they are grown. I am already at battle with myself!

Here I go...feeling anxious!

Instead...how about some pics of the Molly adorable :)Baths in the sink? Well not a total norm, but this particular day we (I mean SHE) decided to let off an explosion in her pants....oh and did I mention it was AS we were walking out the door???Stop and Stare!

Smiles are not hard to come by with this little one! A simple look her way, and she catches you with mouth wide open and beaming blue eyes! PRESH!Rolling over.....I admit, tummy time is not our favorite...not MY favorite, but she is quite strong and can roll over from back to tummy, tummy to back!Unlike Lily, who at first was VERY apprehensive toward my Father, Molly enjoys time with GPA! Lily now? Well she ADORES her Gpa and their walks to the pond, working in the garden, and dancing around the house.A quick ride in the jumper!Time with cousin Brit!