Grandpops and Grandma Jan Visit!

We were thrilled to have David and Jan come down to visit from Chicago yesterday and today. David had some business here in Atlanta that he took care of, but then Jan flew down to join him so they could both visit with us. We had a great time together!

Ryan picked Jan up from the hotel early Thursday afternoon and brought her to the house. She was able to hold and play with Mia for a little bit before Mia's nap. We then had a chance to catch up before Lily woke up. Even though she had been talking all day about getting a visit from Grandpops and Grandma Jan, Lily was shy around Jan for the first little while after she came out of her room from her nap. A few minutes after she woke up, David arrived from his meeting. The four of us talked for a little while before Lily started to warm up.

Lily and I went outside to play while Jan fed Mia. When the bottle was gone, they joined us outside. Lily had a great time showing Grandma Jan her playground, demonstrating how well she jumps, singing her ABC song and bringing her flowers. When we got back inside, David was playing on Ryan's guitar. He started playing some familiar tunes, but then he made up songs for Lily. She was hooked after he sang a song about Dusty, her beloved rocking horse. She took the guitar and started "playing" her own songs...we each received our own special song written by Lily. She cracked me up too because after a few songs, she had her "big finish." She would throw her right hand up behind her and lean back a little as if expecting (and she received) a big round of applause! Here's a picture of her enjoying her new hobby.


After this we all enjoyed a delicious dinner at Zucca's, and then David and Jan returned to their hotel on the promise of seeing us tomorrow.

Lily was very excited this morning when we reminded her she would get to see Grandpops and Grandma Jan again today. She was even more excited when we told her we were all going to the Children's Museum. She loves that museum! We picked David and Jan up at the hotel and arrived shortly after the museum opened. I'm amazed that each time we go, Lily picks a different area to really concentrate on. Today, she was fascinated with fishing. I have to say too, she was awfully cute in the little yellow jacket rain jacket the museum supplies for the kids to wear. She wanted to fish a lot of the time we were there, but she also enjoyed playing in the market, "driving" the tractor and cranes, playing with the plastic balls in the water, running through the tree house and building a sand castle. They had changed their Bob the Builder construction exhibit to a cute fairy-tale exhibit. Lily had fun making horseshoes, putting together the magnetic puzzle and growing onions, carrots and garlic in the garden in this area. Here are some pictures from our 2.5 hours there...

Filling up her shopping cart...

and her shopping basket.
Driving the construction crane.

Hammering out the horseshoe.

Putting the shoe onto the horse.
Grandpops and Grandma Jan had fun spending time with Mia too.

Building a sandcastle with moon sand.

Coming down the tree house slide.

Mastering the rope ladder.

Running across the tree house bridge.

Grandpops enjoyed holding Mia.

Grandma Jan shares her fishing secrets with Lily.

Go fish!

With one of her many catches of the day!

After seeing how much fun Lily had with Ryan's guitar the night before, David and Jan asked if we could go to Toys R Us to get Lily a little guitar. So after a wonderfully fun time at the museum, we told Lily it was time to go because we were going to a special toy store. She and Mia both caught much needed mini-naps in the car until we got to the store. We found the cutest little guitar for her to play; it's red with hibiscus flowers and "Aloha!" on it. Lily loves it and calls it her "gar." She was also thrilled to get a pink Princess umbrella (or "underbrella" as she says). She has been carrying it around all afternoon, opening and closing it, and telling me its raining so she needs her "underbrella." After watching Lily have fun in the market and kitchen at the museum, Jan wanted to get her something to add to her kitchen at home. We found some cute little pink pots and tea kettle plus a kit filled with lots of different fruits, veggies, snack foods, cans and boxes. Another great find that Lily loves is a little drink thermos with a strap so she can wear it around her neck. We got a pink one that says "Lily" on it, and I was very excited to get a green one with "Mia" on it. It was very generous of David and Jan to get all these toys for Lily. I know she is going to have lots of fun with them. The best gift was getting to spend some great time with David and Jan. We don't get to see them nearly enough!

A Few Pictures

Here are a few recent pictures...

So excited to be in the excersaucer!

Staring intensely at the dangling fish.
"The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades..."

Lily loves riding Dusty. She rocks back and forth and says "Go Dusty go! Go Dusty go!" The other day we were playing in the playroom, and Lily couldn't find her Little People horse for her carriage. She looked over and said "Dusty, have you seen my horsie in the playroom? Have you seen him Dusty?" She also likes to cook in her kitchen and share whatever she makes with him.

Mia really likes her changing pad. She "talks" here more than anywhere else. I guess she just likes how soft it is. On the rare occasion that she is really upset and fussy, we will lay her on the pad and it seems to calm her down pretty quickly. Earlier in the week, Mia was very upset so Ryan laid her down to change her diaper; she fell sleep very quickly. Instead of waking her up to move her, Ryan buckled her in, and we moved the pad from her changing table to the floor. She slept quite peacefully for about 30 minutes or so just like this.

Yea Mia!

Mia just rolled from her back to her tummy for the first time; yea! She has been going from her tummy to her back for about 6 weeks or so, and she has been trying to go from back to tummy, but has never been able to get over. She finally made it; yea Mia!

Cool Lily

How cool is Lily? For three days in a row now, she has been happily playing and having a great time when we tell her it's almost nap time. She'll reply "One more (book, bubble, puzzle)" so we do one more of whatever it is. Then we'll say "Ok, it's nap time." She stops what she is doing, tells us to stay where we are, closes the hallway door and then her bedroom door. On the monitor, we see her turn on her humidifier and then climb into bed. She arranges her animals the way she wants, pulls the blankets (yes, all four blankets she insists on having) and goes to sleep for about 2.5 hours. Is she awesome or what?!

This morning, she was dancing like a ballerina. Actually, she says it's like June, who is a dancer on the Little Einsteins show she loves. She just kept spinning around in circles until she almost fell down. When she stopped, she said "Whoa! Mommy, the house is spinning!" I burst out laughing.

Lily has a little kitchen that Granna and Papa gave her for Christmas a year ago. It is an adjustable height one, so we decided last night after Lily went to bed to raise it up so it would fit her better. When you raise it, there are two extra doors to put things in and we had saved some extra accessories for it (extra cups, spoons, etc). This morning when Lily saw it, she stopped and stared then she just kept repeating "Wow!" Finally she said "My kitchen got big! It is very, very tall!" She has been playing in all morning because she is so excited about it.

Yesterday Lily was climbing on me, so I said something about her being a silly monkey. She said "No Mommy, I'm just a big girl." I couldn't help but agree!

Lily is crazy about sunglasses and hats all of a sudden. We were at the park last week, and she saw a little girl wearing a wide-brim hat. She commented on how cute it was, so I asked if she would like to wear a hat. She said "Yes, buy one at store. And sunglasses." Well, we already have sunglasses for her, so I pulled those out for her to try on. She loves them and doesn't want to take them off. She wants them in her shower and at breakfast. I'm going to try to get a picture of her in them soon because she is stinking cute with them on! Now to find a hat she will want to wear outside too...

Great Days

We have had several great days recently. On Saturday morning, lots of our friends from Sunday School hosted a Sip and See shower for Amelia and me and two other friends who have new babies; Jill has Macey who is 5 days younger than Mia while Diane has Christen who is 2 months younger than Mia. Our girls are all second children, so we didn't want to have a big shower, but this was a great way for our friends to come together and celebrate these sweet new babies. Everyone was so generous in giving baby essentials like diapers, wipes, burp cloths and books. I am so thankful for our friends!

While I was at the Sip and See, Ryan and Lily stayed home but several friends came over. Brian brought Parker, Doug brought Vivian and Chris brought Payton. They had a great time playing on the playground together. Then, they brought the inflatable jumpy out and the kids had a blast. Even better, our neighbor, Ryan, was driving by with his son, Maddox, so they stopped and played for awhile too. Lily has been telling me about playing with her friends in the jumpy for several days now; she had so much fun!

Saturday evening we went to our friend, Sonja's, surprise 30th birthday party. Sonja's husband, Chad, had finished off their basement so it's a great playroom for their three kids and their friends. They had a movie playing on the big screen tv and tons of great toys to play with. Lily had a lot of fun playing with all the "new" toys. Ryan and I had a great time hanging out with our friends. Saturday was a wonderful friend-filled day!

Sunday was a great day too. We started out by going to church which we always love. When we got home, both girls took long naps at the same time, so Ryan and I were able to take naps too. Sunday afternoon naps are one of our favorite things to do, so we were excited to get one in; that doesn't happen enough these days!

We received miraculous news on Monday. For about a year, I have had a small knot on my right shoulder. About a month ago, it suddenly started growing to where it was about the size of a golf ball in a matter of days. It was extremely painful and flat-out annoying, but it also concerned me. I went to see our general practitioner who thought it was a fluid-filled cyst and referred me to a general surgeon to have it drained. That surgeon didn't think it was fluid-filled, and he ordered for me to go have an MRI to have a better look. The results of that MRI were inconclusive on what it was, so he referred me to an oncology surgeon at Emory Hospital. It's location is right above the major artery that runs from your neck to your hand, so he wanted someone who specialized in that area to look at it. At my visit with that specialized surgeon, he said he wasn't sure what it was; however, he thought it was benign. He wanted me to have it drained and tested to be sure. I went back yesterday to have it drained, but the mass is completely gone; there is no knot on my shoulder, I cannot feel it and two doctors examined me but could not find it. All I know is my family and a lot of my friends have been praying about this situation, and as suddenly as it came, it went away. I think this is nothing short of a miracle, and I am very grateful to those who prayed for me. Our God is great and amazing!

Ahhhhh

Ahhhh, it's time to breathe again. Why? Because tax season is over...woo-who!!! This tax season was an interesting one because of having my new, expanded firm, not to mention a husband, 2 year old and newborn at home. However, with a lot of help, we were able to get through it and get everyone filed or extended by Wednesday.

Yesterday, I went into the office while Kim was at the house to get a few things taken care of. I got home about 3, and was ready to let the relaxing begin. To celebrate the end of tax season and to thank Mom and Dad for all their help, we had purchased tickets for Jimmy Buffett's concert at Lakewood Amphitheatre. He always puts on a great show, so we couldn't wait to get there. Our friend Nancy arrived about 4 because she was going to keep the girls for us. Mom and Dad and our friends from Birmingham, Cole and Jill Bensinger, arrived about 4:30. We made a quick stop at Howard's to pick up dinner and headed on down. We got there about 5:30 and had a great time tailgating until the gates opened about 6:30. Dinner was good, the cookies and brownies for dessert were delicious, and Cole made some excellent margaritas to enjoy. We got in and claimed some great lawn seats. We have been to lots of concerts at Lakewood, so we know just where we like to sit. We listened to some good music and enjoyed being in the beautiful weather while we waited on the concert to begin. Dad even surprised all of us with cool tour t-shirts.

Finally, 8:00 rolled around and a bare-footed Jimmy came out to start the show. He played some newer songs, lots of old favorites and a couple of songs he had written just to play at concerts. He even threw in a few cover songs like Brown-Eyed Girl and Yellow Submarine. His backdrop changed between lots of gorgeous tropical scenes that made us want to go back down to the Caribbean so badly! We had so much fun singing along and dancing. Several of our friends were at the show too, so we got to visit with them some which was nice. Jimmy's music is one of a kind, and we all loved it! This was a fantastic way to celebrate a return to a slower pace of life that we can now enjoy!

I closed my offices today, so this morning, Ryan treated all of us to Chick-fil-a for breakfast. Then, Cole and Jill headed back to Birmingham, and Ryan headed to work. I put Mia down for her morning nap and had a great time just playing with Lily (not to mention I was able to do some laundry - yea!). Just before Mia woke up, we decided to change out of pajamas, so after she ate, we could go out for a little bit. After getting Mia ready, we headed to our little local park. Lily had a blast looking at all the ducks, turtles and fish in the pond. There were lots of little baby ducks, so that fascinated her; "Look Mommy! Babies just like Mia!" was what I heard several times. Then we hung out with the big frog statue that she likes for a few minutes and then went up to the gazebo. Lily had a blast dancing in it and just running around. We smelled some flowers and talked about how pretty everything is. An absolutely wonderful hour and a half. After that, we grabbed some lunch and came home; Mia went down for her afternoon nap while Lily and I ate. Then, we played for a few minutes before Lily's nap. I have a few minutes to finish this up before Mia wakes up ready to eat. What a great day!

Some More Recent Pictures

I have just put several new blog entries below. However, here are a few miscellaneous pictures from the last week or so.

Oh I love these two!

 My beautiful and happy Lily.

 Lily wanted to share the egg hunting fun with her sister!

Lily liked wearing my heels! She actually walked pretty well in them which really surprised me.

Mia is such a precious little angel.
Being the big girl that she is, Lily now likes to help me dry my hair after our shower.
Singing away!
Lily loves it when Ryan turns her upside-down!
We walked in at the end of Mia's nap to find her like this. Her little legs were just sticking out the end, but she didn't mind. She was sound asleep!
Mia really seems to like the excersaucer. She is getting pretty good at balancing herself and playing with the different parts. She grabs the dangling fish, hits the music part and (occasionally) makes the rattle go. Lily has a great time playing with it too. She can easily get inside of it, but then she gets stuck and can't get out.

Easter Sunday

I love Easter Sunday. To me, it's the most important day of the year. I saw a church's sign that said it's "the end of the Christmas story." Christmas is nice because it celebrates Christ's miraculous birth, but Easter celebrates Christ's resurrection which conquered death, something no one else can do. Without Easter, there is no reason to believe Christ is the Son of God sent to save us from eternal separation from God. Today is truly an amazing day, and we were fortunate to get to celebrate it in church and then with family.

Ryan and I had 8:30 nursery duty at our church, but then after nursery duty, we drove over to First Baptist Church of Chattahoochee which is the church I grew up in and where my parents and grandmother still attend. We met the four of them there just before 11:00. The girls stayed in the nursery there while we went to the service. I love visiting Chattahoochee; it feels like home. I learned about Christ at that church and for that reason alone will always love it. However, there are many other people and reasons that make me love it and always want to come back and visit. Dr. Haskell did a wonderful job which laid out why it makes more sense to believe Christ is who He claimed to be instead of not believing. It was a great sermon. After church we visited with old friends for a few minutes before heading home.

Both girls had woken up early this morning, so they fell asleep in the car. Knowing they wouldn't get a nap later on because we would be at my cousin's house, we left the car doors open and let them sleep for about 30 minutes. We just sat in chairs in the driveway talking and enjoying the weather. We finally woke the girls up to take some pictures before changing clothes to head over to my family get-together. Lily was not pleased that we had woken her up and was quite uncooperative in the picture-taking session. When we came inside, she had a mini-meltdown as she was exhausted but didn't want to go back to sleep. Finally, she calmed down and had fun looking through the things in her and Mia's Easter baskets. Lily received a Little People Springtime book, three Little Einstein books, new bathtub crayons (which calls "cray-crays"), a puzzle and a new book for her Leap Frog lap reader. Mia received a picture Bible, two teething rings (which seem to be needed these days), an activity dragonfly (crinkle sounds, mirror, etc) and an activity worm (plays music, counts, etc).

We got out to Judy and Robert's house just in time for lunch which is simply fantastic as my family is filled with wonderful cooks. It's always great to get together and catch up with one another. They have a playground, play house and bouncy for the kids so Lily had a ball. She was thrilled when Molly (my 4-year-old niece) arrived so they could play together. My cousin, Barbara, fed Mia and held her almost the entire time we were there which provided us a nice break and time to visit with others. Just before the egg hunt, we took the traditional picture of all the kids that were there which you'll see in below. Don't look too hard for Lily or Mia as neither one of them are in it. Mia was napping on Barbara's shoulder at the moment, and Lily sat there for a few minutes patiently, but it took too long for everyone to get situated, so she wouldn't stay put! She had a good time hunting eggs again and looking through them. After that, she played some more while we had dessert and then we all headed home. It was another great get-together!

Here are some pictures from the day...

Coloring Eggs

After the fun morning I wrote about in the previous blog, we came home and set up shop in our garage to color eggs with Lily. My brother Wayne, my three cousins (Jodi, Tiffany and Lee) and I used to do this at my Meme's house every year just before Easter. I have always loved coloring Easter eggs! I think I was more excited about this than Lily!

I had purchased a special little decorating kit for Lily that had zoo stickers and holders for the eggs because I know how much she likes animals. She was very excited when she saw all the stickers and the holders that looked like a rhino, an elephant, a zebra and a lion. She was pretty curious as she watched me mix the vinegar and little tablet to make the colors too. We put an old shirt of Ryan's on her (and me!) to keep the mess from spills and splashes off her clothes, and then we brought out the two dozen eggs and accessories into the garage. I showed her how to put an egg into the dye and then let her do it. After the first drop, I had to show her again how to GENTLY put the eggs into the dye. She did a good job with them after that. She really liked "helping" me pull the eggs out and put them on the little drying rack and then into the cute holders.

The first dozen eggs we just put into the dyes and let them dry. They made beautiful shades of blue, green, orange, yellow, pink and gray. The second dozen though, she had a lot of fun putting them into one color, drying them and then putting them into a second (and third...) color. This is her first experience with seeing what happens when colors mix, and I think she was fascinated.

After we dried off all the eggs, she put each egg into her basket. After they were all in there, she was ready to start putting the stickers on which she loved; she always has fun with stickers. She put each sticker on the very top of each egg. They had cute monkeys, elephants, giraffes, butterflies, panda bears, alligators, birds, hippos and tigers. Here's how a couple of our sticker conversations went...

Me: What sticker do you want to put on next?
Lily: Snake. I like snakes.
Me: Really?
Lily: No. I no touch snakes. SSSSS.

Me: Now which one?
Lily: Oh, the beautiful butterfly! Oh, matches the pink egg!

One thing to note about putting the eggs into her basket. She seemed to have forgotten the "gentle" part of putting eggs down. She wasn't throwing them in or anything, just sort of letting them fall in from a few inches up. With each egg, we would hear a little cracking sound as it hit the other eggs in the basket. We couldn't reuse them for hiding with all those cracks, but that's okay because we were able to make delicious deviled eggs!

I had so much fun doing these eggs with Lily, and I think she had a great time too! She told several people on Sunday about "dropping eggs in cups," and she has asked us several times to color eggs again. If I think about it, I might try to buy a couple more of the little decorating kits and we can color them over the summer too. I think she would like that, and there are very few things I like better than seeing my child having fun!

Here are a few pictures from the egg coloring...

Saturday Morning

What a wonderful Easter weekend! On Saturday morning, we went to the egg hunt at Whittier Mill Village Park that was put on by First Baptist Church of Chattahoochee. That was the church I grew up in (and where my parents and grandmother still attend though we have transferred to another church), so it was great to see a lot of familiar faces. As we were getting ready to go, we thought it was going to be a warm, beautiful day...wrong. It was overcast, and the wind made everything really cold, so we weren't really prepared, clothing-wise. Funny little Lily though, after I got her dressed, insisted on wearing her "cow boots" instead of tennis shoes which turned out to be a good idea because they kept her legs a little warmer.

I doubted Lily remembered how to hunt eggs from the year before, so just before leaving I put a few eggs in the kitchen, and we "hunted" them and put them in her basket. She seemed to get pretty excited about going on an "Easter hunt" (she always forgot the "egg") after that. She took those eggs with her to the park so her basket already had some eggs in them when we arrived. She was very excited to see her white basket with green gingham liner that said "Lily." Mia has a matching white basket with a pink gingham liner that says "Mia." We didn't get much use out of it this year!

There were a ton of kids at the park, probably around 200. Luckily the church was prepared. They put out approximately 2,500 eggs which had all been filled with candy on Wednesday evening. They also had two ponies to ride, face-painting, little bunnies that could be held and petted, a fun playground set-up and a couple of games. Of course, the Easter Bunny was there to meet, but we were also excited to see Buzz the Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket. Though she didn't want to meet either one of them, Lily stared at Buzz a lot. She kept pointing and saying "Look Mommy! Yellow Jacket!" She also talked about the pony a lot, and we stood in a short line to ride him. Not at all surprising to me though, she refused when it was her turn. She later told Meme "I ride Dusty at my home in my playroom, not horse here." She also seemed scared of the little bunny I held for her to pet. She loves to see animals, but she is terrified to get them near them; I wish I knew why. As we were walking towards the ponies, Lily found a couple of eggs that she put in her basket. A few minutes later, before the egg hunt, we sat down near the playground and she started looking at the eggs. Of course, all the old ones that she brought with her were empty, but then she opened one of the new ones and a piece of chocolate fell out. She gasped and said "Look, that a special egg!" When another piece of candy fell out with the second egg, she exclaimed "Another special egg!" Once she realized the eggs had "prizes" in them, she couldn't wait for the egg hunt to begin.

Finally, it was time for the big hunt. The whole park was separated into different areas for different age groups, so we went to the 1-3 year old section. Lily had a great time picking up many eggs (probably about 10 in total) and putting them in her basket. It probably took less than 5 minutes for the whole section to get cleaned! I think all the kids had a great time. Of course, then Lily had fun opening up all the "special" eggs to see what was inside. My favorite was a gift certificate for a free Chick-fil-a kids meal, but Lily was thrilled with the different candy. She loved the little chocolate eggs! We'll ration out the remainder since candy is a rare treat in our house. This was a really fun event to attend. I hope the church will continue to do this in future years!

Here are some pictures from the morning. Enjoy!

Thank you!

THANK YOU so very much to Liz (Bama), my mom (Granna) and my dad (Papa). I don't think we could get through this tax season without you all!

Liz has been so wonderful to give up several weekends to come over from Birmingham and help us. Ryan has been helping me and my new accounting firm by doing some data input on weekends, so having Liz here to watch the girls so we can both be at my office has been very helpful. The day before she arrives I will ask Lily "who is coming all the way over from Birmingham just to see you?" She gets very excited and says "Bama!" She often brings cool new books for her which she loves, and she adores the special attention. This past Saturday she took both of the girls to the zoo and Piedmont Park; from what I heard, it was awesome. Lily loved watching the elephant show, and she keeps telling me how the elephant did the hokey-pokey. Liz is also very kind to sleep on our couch when she's here. That way, when Lily comes out of her room in the mornings, she starts playing with Liz which allows Ryan and me to get a little bit more sleep; right now I think this is the best gift ever!

My mom and dad have also been invaluable during tax season. Mom keeps the girls all day on Wednesdays plus Monday, Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. It is wonderful to have someone we trust completely with the girls while we're working. She has been so flexible with her schedule and always willing to help with laundry or putting up dishes. Lily tells me everyday about all the fun she has with Granna. We are very thankful for her help.

My sweet dad thought he was out of the accounting business! He sold his practice in 1998, but he has been up at my new office many nights each week (after working all day at his regular job!) and on the weekends helping with some of the more difficult clients we have encountered. He is helping me see how to grow this new business. His vast knowledge is amazing. I am so fortunate to have him to turn to for help and advice.

We are so thankful for all of our parents, always, but we especially appreciate the help you four are giving us these days. We love you!

Our Little Singer

Lily loves to sing!  I love how she ends each song with "Yea!" She really enjoys talking on the phone too. She will see Ryan's phone and ask to call someone so she can talk. She has called me at work a few times which is great, and I think her grandparents enjoy getting a call too!

Sweethearts

I know I say this almost every post, but Lily just cracks us up. Her current catchphrase is "oh my goodness!" A funny example of this was last week we were coming inside from playing because I needed to cook dinner. I told Lily what I was going to make, and she exclaimed "Oh my goodness, that smells tasty!" We also hear "Oh my goodness, that is so silly!" a lot.

Our friend, Chris, and his daughter, Peyton (who is one month younger than Lily), came over to play with Lily, Mia and Ryan last Saturday while I (and Chris' wife Hannah) went to work. It was a pretty day so they played out on the playground for awhile, and then they came in to play on the inflatable bouncy. It was great for Ryan and Chris to catch up, and I think Peyton and Lily had a great time together. Lily was funny though because I told her Chris was Peyton's daddy, but she kept calling him "Miss Chris." She was trying to be polite!

Lily loves being a big sister to Mia, but I think she is anxiously awaiting Mia being able to do a little more. Mia sits up well and laughs at Lily a lot which is great to see. Lily will ask if Mia can do something (walk or eat chicken for instance), and I will say not yet. Lily always says "get a little bigger." So, whenever Mia does something that Lily sees as "getting bigger" (rolling over for example), she gets so excited. She claps her hands, then raises Mia's hands up and down as she says "Hoo-ray Mia! Hoo-ray Mia!" I truly hope they will be great friends as they get older.

Last Sunday the girls looked so cute in their little outfits, so we took tons of pictures. I put a few here for you to see. Aren't they adorable?!

The Girls

Here are a few recent pictures...

Lily is trying so hard to be a big girl. There are so many things she wants to do "all by me-self!" Right now she loves to dry her hair after her shower. Thankfully she lets me do it for a few minutes before she asks to. She's getting the hang of it though!

Concentrating really hard...
Maybe we have a future chef on our hands? Lily loves to watch us cook and "help." She made and tried this little concoction with our dinner tonight...cheese quesadilla, sour cream and strawberries. Hmmm, no thanks.

She was so tired before her nap last Saturday that she fell asleep while watching Dumbo. How cute is she? When she woke up, she looked up and said "Mommy in shower" which is what I was doing before she fell asleep. She apparently didn't realize that over 45 minutes had passed!

I love those big blue eyes!

4 Month Check-Up

Ryan took Mia in for her four month doctor's check-up yesterday. Can you believe how quickly time is flying? She now weighs an even 14 pounds (70th percentile) and is 24.5 inches tall (60th percentile) which is consistent with her prior growth marks. Dr. White noticed she had a little fluid in her ears from the cold she had last week, but it didn't seem to be infected or to bother Mia which is good news. She said she seems to be right on track; she is rolling over from her back to her tummy, smiling, laughing and cooing a lot, holding her head well and is starting to sit up well with some support. Even though Dr. White didn't actually say so, I'm pretty sure she was thinking "this is one of the most beautiful little girls I have ever seen!" We are so blessed to have two healthy, sweet, precious little girls!

Silly Girl

When I came home for lunch today, Mia was sound asleep in her crib so Lily and I went outside to play together; it's a beautiful day! We had so much fun picking flowers (aka weeds), playing chase, counting rocks and playing on the playground. It amazes me everyday how big Lily is getting. What happened to my baby? When did she become a little girl?

Lily has started calling a lot of things "silly." For instance, there was a bee flying nearby, so I asked Lily if she heard the bee. She listened and then said "yes! Buzzzzz!" When I told her that was right, she said "Bees so silly!" Later, we were watching a cartoon and one of the characters sneezed. She said "That dog so silly!" I guess she picked this up from me telling her she is a silly girl when she does funny things. I hear and see myself in her all the time now!

I made the mistake of leaving my McDonald's sweet tea out while we were playing. She ran over and brought it to me; I didn't ask her too, she was just "helping." Anyway, she asked what it was so I told her tea. She thought for a minute and said "Me try tea." I let her have a sip because she is just so stinkin' cute! She took a little sip, thought for a second and said "That a good drink!" I couldn't help but laugh because I am totally addicted to their sweet tea! I gave her a few more sips but then had to hide it until she went down for her nap. I have a feeling I will have to careful with my tea in the future!

On a sweet note, when I came home and Kim had just left, we were sitting on her playroom floor. She took my hand, smiled at me and said "Glad you home Mommy." It melted my heart!

About a boy

As I was waiting in the carpool line to pick Lily up from school today, her teacher came to the car with the sign-out sheet. As I was signing her out, she said "Lily and Caleb were quite the item today." I just laughed and said "Oh really?" She replied, "During story time, Caleb was kind of reclining back a little so Lily just laid her head on his chest. They stayed like that for several minutes. Then while we were playing in the gym, they went and sat by the wall and talked for a little bit. It was really pretty cute." I couldn't help but laugh! On the way home I asked Lily about her day, and asked her if she had played with Caleb, to which she just said "Ah-ha" and kept telling me about coloring the shamrock green.

When we got home, I told Ryan about it. As we were all eating a snack together he asked Lily about playing at school with Caleb. She said "He a boy. He very, very, very nice." She agreed that they had a lot of fun together. Then as she walking around the table, Ryan asked if she liked to play with any of the other kids. She replied "Aiden. David. Three boys." She couldn't tell us the names of the other two little girls in her class. Hmmm....

My Birthday Weekend

So this weekend was a big one for me...that's right, I turned the big 3-0 on Saturday! Ryan asked me several weeks ago what I wanted for my birthday. I told him quite honestly "two Tylenol PM." Tax season (along with two young girls) is really taking a toll on me this year. Lucky for me, Liz was willing to come over for the weekend to give me (and Ryan) a chance to relax.

On Friday night, Ryan and I had dinner at South City Kitchen with our good friends, the Henderson's and Rohan's. I enjoyed my appetizer of She-Crab Soup and dinner of Fried Chicken, mashed potatoes and green beans. It's not Meme's friend chicken, but it's in second place. After dinner, we went over to my Mom and Dad's house to have birthday cake and Dom Perignon champagne (thanks to David and Jan for that!). It was a wonderful evening and a great way to end my twenties!

On Saturday, I decided to take the day off from work and enjoy my family (though Liz played with Lily to let us sleep in a little). We had a great morning playing, reading and eating together. About 2, Ryan and I left for the High Museum to see an exhibit on China's Terra Cotta Army. The "soldiers" were really impressive to see. The exhibit is closing next month, so I'm really glad we had the chance to visit. After that we checked into the Marriott Marquis downtown, and then walked a couple of blocks over to Dailey's for dinner. It was fantastic. I enjoyed a pecan-encrusted shrimp appetizer and then a filet with a garlic demi-glaze, asparagus and au gratin potatoes. Ryan loved his strip steak with homemade steak sauce and mashed potatoes. Then we split an warm apple tart with vanilla ice cream...yum. It was a delicious dinner, and it was really nice to sit down and enjoy a conversation without being rushed or trying to help a two year old eat. We walked back to the hotel and enjoyed a bottle of our favorite wine (Inniskillin Winery's Vidal icewine). While Ryan watched tv, I was able to relax with a magazine. A little while later, I got my birthday wish and took two Tylenol PM. We were both out a few minutes later!

We woke up about 10:45 this morning. I honestly can't remember the last time I slept in that late. It was wonderful! The night before we had talked about how excited we were to order room service breakfast because they had some delicious sounding items. Unfortunately, they stop serving breakfast at 10; oh-well, it was worth it! We waited a little bit and then ordered room service lunch instead. After lunch we got ready and headed out about 2. We made a quick trip to Target, and then came on home. Lily was very excited when we got back to tell us about her trip Ikea yesterday. "I go IKEA!" is what we heard several times.

This was a great weekend, and a great way to start out my 30's. I can't wait to see what the next decade holds!

Positive Attitude

We have noticed recently that Lily seems to have a very positive attitude. Everything is "the best" or "the biggest" or "the prettiest" item "EVER!" For instance, she asked if she could eat a strawberry, so I agreed. As I cut it up, Lily said "Biggest strawberry EVER!" On the way home from the grocery store, she saw the moon which was especially big and bright tonight. She pointed and exclaimed "Prettiest moon stars EVER!" I think she gets this from her great-grandmother, Meme, who says something is the prettiest she has ever seen (though she doesn't usually say it with as much gusto as Lily!). I hope she will always be a glass half-full kind of girl.

The Singer

Lily has become quite the singer over the last few weeks. "Old MacDonald Had A Farm" seems to be the current favorite, especially when he has ducks. We were playing this afternoon, and she was marching around in circles, singing Old MacDonald and flapping her arms like a duck. When she first started "singing" this several months ago, she would wait for her cue to say "O!". Then, for a couple of weeks she would say "E-I-E-I-E-I-O." Now she correctly says "E-I-E-I-O" and sings most of the other words properly. She also really likes "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "All Aboard the Choo-Choo Train" (those of you who are familiar with Playhouse Disney will know that one). She is also working really hard at learning the ABC song. She has A through F and Q through V down pretty well; the rest of them are coming along though. Today, she was watching a video she received for her birthday that has a bunch of young kids singing and dancing; she loved it. She would try to dance like them and sing along when she could. She kept saying "Mommy look! Mia look!" to make sure we were paying attention.

Also, after our shower tonight, Ryan came to help her get ready for bed. She said "Daddy dance on knees!" so he turned on "their" song ("Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman), and they danced together. Ryan gets on his knees, holds one of her hands, put his hand on her back and she puts her hand on his shoulder. They sway back and forth, and he helps her spin around. It's absolutely the sweetest thing ever. Tonight, for the first minute of the song though, Lily was smiling so big and just singing "LA LA LA LAAAAA LA LA LA LAAAA!" She was loving it!

Bless her little heart though. As much as loves to sing, she has apparently inherited her mom's singing voice...