Trip to Minnesota

We had a great time in Minnesota. Jason, Lily, and I drove to Atlanta Wednesday so we could get to the airport on time for our 11 am Thursday flight.  Lily decided to wake up in the middle of the night at the hotel.  One of just a few times she hasn't slept through the night (as far as we know).  So after about an hour, Jason wakes up and tells me to turn off the bathroom light and she'd go to sleep.  I grumpily agreed, knowing that I know my baby girl and that was not going to help one bit, but I humored him.  So 1 minute later, she was snoring again.  I hate it when I'm wrong.

Jason wore Lily in our Baby Bjorn carrier through the airport and we got a TON of oohs and aahs about her.  She's darn cute, that's why.  Security was a breeze and then we got on the plane.  She started drifting off to sleep as we were taxiing for takeoff but then popper her peepers open for the rest of the trip.  Jason and I were exhausted passing her back and forth for 2 hr 45 min.  She wasn't bad, but wasn't quiet either.

We made it to Sandy and Jesse's (and passed so many McDonald's that I lost count) and got to relax.  Sheena, Nevaeh, Kahylen, and Barrett were staying there, and Grandma Nancy (GG) was there too.  It was just great!  We spent time out on the patio, enjoying the 70 degree weather with low humidity.  Jenean came by after work to see us.  Sheena and Sandy made enchiladas and beans. So delicious!  We ate so well, and so much, this weekend.

Friday we went to Como Zoo, the free zoo in MN.  It was a really nice zoo, and Lily did great.  When we got home, we had Lily practice scooting in the grass.  Sandy and Jesse have gorgeous grass.  Here's a video of Lily, with Kahylen and Zach the dog running through.

Jason, Nevaeh, and GG were playing baseball.  I played it too, but I am really bad.  It was so wonderful to sit out back and watch the kids play.  I loved it!  Friday night we had pork chops, cheesy potatoes, and salad, again made by Sheena and Sandy.  Yummy!

Saturday we went to Jenean's house after spending a relaxing day at Sandy's.  She made this amazing stuffed meatloaf, with potatoes, green beans, broccoli, and gravy.  Can you tell I focus a lot of my life around food?? It was very yummy.  Lily was getting a little cranky by then.  She held up for as long as she could, but we were pretty lax on keeping her on schedule.  She didn't want to sleep and wanted to be held.  So we did.  Jenean and Mark have a gorgeous property; I'd love to live there.  They have gardens galore, a pond, and a chicken coop with about 6 chickens.  Jenean also has a couple of ducks she's raising.  Self sustaining is the way to go!

Sunday was church and Mother's Day.  Again, good eats, including French Silk Pie, my favorite.  I ate about a third of that thing.  Jesse rocks since he made it.  Before everyone left, we took some pictures.

 

Lily here with GG (Great Grandma Nancy)

Mark, Jenean, Jason, Grandma and me.  Lily was getting a diaper change.

Same people, but adding Sandy and Jesse and Lily.

Nick and his girlfriend, Jeanette.  She is quite a good singer!  And Nick really is great with kids; Lily was in a mood.

Lily and Nevaeh.  The "god sisters" as Nevaeh says.  Nevaeh is a very talented singer and rapper too!

Sheena, Lily, Leah (Mike's sister) and Nevaeh.  Leah is a great dancer. And Sheena is one of the best mom's I've ever seen in action. So kind, loving, but firm.  A perfect balance.

 Sheena and Lily again.

We had such a great time.  It makes me miss being around family but it sure makes it special when you get to see them.  Now people, remember to come down to South Carolina.  We got a lot of air conditioning here!!

Jason's first 5K run

Let me start with the beginnings of this idea.  A few months ago, Jason played flag football with some guys from church.  About half of them were in campus, and the other half were, we'll just say, older than campus.  He really enjoyed himself and decided that when they do a flag football season in the fall, he'd like to consider being on the team.  But being the awesome husband he is, a devoted dad, and the primary breadwinner that drives all around the southeast, he doesn't have loads of time for working out.  Well, no longer buddy.  He signed himself up for a 5K, ran for it, and made it!  Lily and I didn't make it for the beginning, and we just made it for the end. (It started at 715 and we are not morning people, which is why Lily wakes up at 8).

Here he is, glowing with pride and sweat.

Here with Rick, a friend from church.

And some other friends, Stacy and Lee.

Jason did just great for his first run.  He finished at 33:59 and was in the top half.  I couldn't be prouder.

Learning to sit

Lily hasn't quite learned to sit up on her own.  She loves, and I mean loves, to fall backwards.  When talking to her physical therapist, we decided she loves to do that because someone is there to catch her.  Jason and I talked to the PT and decided to let her fall.  Man, that is scary.  So since I'm a wuss, I took her outside so she could fall on a pile of leaves, or the on the softer ground.  Here are some picture of her in our front yard one fine morning:

As you can tell, she looked none too happy.  Fast forward 2 weeks to last Friday, April 22nd.  Jason was sitting with her, working with her on the mat.  He said, we got to let her fall.  I agreed.  After he chickened out about 3 times, we let her fall.  Her poor little head bounced.  She recovered pretty quick - I really think it was the shock of falling.  And you know what, she sat up that night all on her own, balancing and playing with her toys.  She's not stable enough that we can leave her sitting up by herself, but well on her way.

Score one for gravity!!

Sleeping on belly

Now that our Ms. Lily can roll, she's been rolling over on her tummy at night.  At first, it was a little hard because she'd wake up on her belly, not knowing how she got there, and then let us know with a huge wail that she wasn't happy.  But now she is fine.  A tough transition though.

We still love getting her up in the morning.  The best way to describe her actions is "prairie dog."  Here's a video that shows sort of what we are talking about.  Not the full effect, but Lily rarely does what we want her to when video is rolling.  Camera shy maybe.

Egg Yolks

Today I decided to try Lily on egg yolks again.  The first time we tried it, she got the stomach bug and we weren't sure if it was an allergy or not, so we stopped.  Well, it was the bug so I decided to give it a whirl again.

We had a pediatric ophthalmologist appointment so I gave Lily a bath, got her all cuted up and we went down to eat.  Side note- her 6 month pants are capris.  Her 9 month pants are just barely long enough.  Her 12 month pants are too big around the waist.  Fun times raising a string bean.

Anyway, I got her ready to eat.  She is doing well with eating puff as finger food, and a friend said her daughter likes hard boiled egg yolk as finger food, so we tried that.  Epic fail.  She'll eat it, but she isn't too happy.  This is what my nice, freshly cleaned little girl looked like after 1/2 an egg yolk:

 

It was EVERYWHERE, in her hair, in her eye, on her pants, everywhere.  She obviously looks happy.

So you are probably thinking, "Why no glasses?" and "What's the deal with that left, I mean right, eye?"  Well, she's been taking her glasses off and eating them lately so I spared them from the smudging onslaught of the yolk.  See, I'm learning!  The eye, however, is still quite crossed, which brings us to the pedi ophthalmologist visit.

Lily's eyes are doing well with the glasses (when she keeps them on the booger).  But even with the glasses on, her right eye is still crossing.  So the plan is to schedule surgery around her first birthday.  That seems to be the optimal time for kiddos to have this surgery.  Meanwhile, we have to patch her left eye for an hour every day to strengthen the right one.  Should be a quick, outpatient surgery.  We put the patch on today and she was okay.  I'm hoping it doesn't provoke the Beast to come out.  I can't blame her too much.  Its really strange looking.  I think I'm going to put stickers on the patches or something to give it a little pizazz.  We'll post pictures of the good looking ones.

We are glad that Lily has good doctors to take care of these things early so she can grow up and not remember them.  Prayerfully, that's what will happen!  By the way, thanks to Riley for eating up all the egg yolk.  Good dog!!

The past few weeks..

We have had a busy couple of weeks.  First, our little love got sick for the very first time.  It was March 18th-19th.  We picked up a stomach bug from playgroup.  Lily was throwing up Saturday night, but was fine on Sunday. I was pooped because I was sleeping on her floor all night because she doesn't turn her head when she needs to get sick.   A few days later, I got it and then Jason got it.  Strangest thing though - we only were sick for one absolutely horrible night, and no more after that.  I totally believe it when people call kids disease carriers.
This has nothing to do with Lily but on April 1st, we hosted Bible talk at our house.  In honor of April Fool's Day, I made "grilled cheese sandwiches" as an appetizer.  I think they looked pretty good!

They are really pound cake that I toasted under the broiler with vanilla frosting dyed orange.  April Fools!!

Here are just some random pictures of Lily from the past few weeks.

She doesn't always look so surprised though.  Here are two where she was on her way up for a nap just today:

She looks so tired!  Her eyes cross more when she's sleepy.

We got a walker from a friend of mine in our playgroup.  Here's little Lily in it.  I know they are "dangerous" but I figure we had them when we were little and we survived.  Living on the edge.

Wonderful Sunday

Today was just a beautiful Spring day!  Our sky was blue, temperature was warm, but not humid, and no pollen yet!  Jason was supposed to clean out the garage but instead he picked up some fried chicken and potato salad and we all walked to the park.  We went yesterday as well, and Jason carried Lily in the baby Bjorn.  Today we decided to use a stroller that a friend lent me.  We planned on Lily napping since she didn't take a morning nap at church but she was wide awake and just enjoying the outside.  We found a nice spot at the park and just enjoyed the food, the weather, and looking up at the sky.  Here's a few shots of Lily.  She was so good, which was surprising since she had to be just pooped!

Check out those feet.  She has the most expressive feet!  When she's happy, they move one way.  When she is grumpy, they are just kicking and fidgeting.  These are the chill feet.

She really loves chewing things.  Any day a tooth should pop through!