The New Pool

Lily loves, loves, loves playing in water. I had fully intended on spending lots of time at my parent's pool this summer, but unfortunately, that just isn't happening for many reasons. So, this morning, we decided it would be fun to buy an inflatable pool for her. We actually have one that we bought when she was about 8 months old, but it is pretty small, and we thought she would get bored pretty easily with it. We did some quick internet research and found the one we wanted. I asked Lily if she would come with me to run a few errands, and then we would go get her a surprise...that always excites her.

After running our errands, I told her it was time for her surprise, and I asked if she wanted to know where we were going, so of course she said yes. I said "the toy store" to which Lily replied "the book store?!", and I said "no, the toy store." Her reply..."oh." That's not exactly the response I was expecting, but after thinking about it, I realized she didn't know what a toy store was because she has only been once before, and we have been to the book store many, many times. As soon as we walked in the door of Toys R Us though, her eyes got wide, and she just started saying "Oh, Mommy, look! Look over there! Mommy look!" She was really excited when I found the one I was looking for. She even told the lady at check-out "This my new pool!"

She couldn't wait for Ryan to get the pool all blown up and ready for her, but it took a little while. She kept watching him out the window though and giving me updates. I have never heard her speak in such a high, excited voice as she said "He almost done Mommy! He almost done!" When Ryan called to tell me he just had to put the water in, I started to get the girls ready. We put on Lily's swim diaper, swimsuit and swim shoes (she loves to wear a specific pair of shoes when she goes to a pool). After she was dressed she said "I be excited Mommy!" We got Mia dressed and headed down. She was thrilled!

The water was pretty cold which felt great on such a hot day, but it took Lily a few minutes to get used to it and really get in and play. First she started with the ball slide which go down both sides of the smaller, wading pool. Then she had a great time playing in the larger pool (not that either of the pools are very big) with her bucket and shovel. Finally, she had a blast going down the little slide that connects the two. She was having such a great time; Ryan and I had fun just watching her! She stayed out there for a couple of hours (Mia had already gone down for her nap), and she was not very happy when we told her it was nap time. She asked about the pool as she soon as she woke up from her nap too. It's so fun to see when she loves something!

Here are lots of pictures, but I posted the one above because it was my favorite.  Look at the sheer joy on her face!

So much fun!

A Trip to Tokyo

I have been wanting to take Lily to a hibachi-style restaurant called Miyako for awhile. Last week I mentioned that idea to Liz; when she said that was one of her favorite places to eat, I knew we had to go. So, on Thursday evening I told Lily she was getting to go to a special big-girl lunch with Mommy and Bama on Friday, and she seemed pretty excited. On Friday morning, I gave her a few more details about where we were going. I told her how they cook the food right in front of you, and it's like they are putting on a cooking show because she loves to watch me cook and pretend cook in her kitchen. She loved that idea. Then I told her they were cooking Japanese-style food, so of course she said "What is Japanese?" I said "Japan is a country. You know on your ABC board, the T is for Tokyo? Tokyo is in Japan." From then on, Lily kept saying "We go to Tokyo Mommy? I eat in Tokyo?" I couldn't stop laughing at that.

We were the first of seven people to sit down. Luckily, the table next to us was just starting their meal. I was relieved because that let us show Lily what they would do at our table, so she wouldn't be as surprised. She gets nervous in new situations, so I think it was very helpful to have her see it at a distance first. I asked Lily if she wanted steak or chicken, and she was adamant that she wanted steak; a girl after my own heart! Here she is checking out the menu.

First, the waitress brought out a soup that Liz and I both love, but Lily refused to try which didn't surprise me too much. Then they brought a salad with a wonderful ginger dressing. Lily started eating the carrots from her salad. On the second bite, she apparently got a little bit of dressing on one...she loved it! "That good dip Mommy!" is what I heard, so then she started actually eating the salad which I couldn't believe. After we finished with our soups and salads, the chef came out and started preparing the stove top which includes making a huge fire. Lily was not a fan. She looked at me and asked to come sit in my lap; I didn't let her, but I did let her hold my hand. Right after that, he started showing off his knife and spatula skills which was pretty loud. Lily is very aware of sounds around her, so she really didn't like that either. I was starting to wonder if I made a really bad decision.

Then, the chef started to cook. From this point on, Lily was great. She loves rice, so she was excited to see him start cooking that first. Check out this picture (ignoring the finger in her nose) as she watched him cook. Thankfully, the other people at the table found Lily very entertaining with the commentary she added as she watched.

I helped her cool off the rice once they put it on her plate. She took one bite (with the "big girl fork" that she was very excited to use), looked at me and said "That good rice Mommy; that good!" She absolutely loved it. I didn't realize this when we ordered, but the kids' portion is the same size as the adults' lunch portion, so Lily had the exact same portions of food that Liz and I had. I have to say, she ate more rice than either of us! Here she is enjoying a big bite of rice while keeping a close eye on what the chef was cooking next...her steak.

The chef did a great job cooking the steak. I truly appreciated that he cut her pieces into small bite-size pieces. She really seemed to enjoy it. She ate several bites of it, but really, she was into the rice so we ended up bringing most of the steak home as left-overs. The chef also prepared delicious vegetables for us. He asked Lily what her favorite vegetable was and she told him carrots. I thought it was so nice of him to take her portion of vegetables, pull out all the carrots and cut them into smaller bite-size pieces; he gave her a few of the other veggies too, but I liked that he gave her a lot of carrots. Unfortunately, she didn't want much to do with those, probably because she was so full of rice. Here's a picture of her plate before we packed it up. Notice how much rice is left as compared to the picture above which was taken after several minutes of eating the rice.

After the chef cleaned up the stove top, we applauded his efforts. Then, as he was walking off, he looked at Lily and said "See you tomorrow!" She enthusiastically replied "Ok!" Several times after we left, Lily mentioned how much she liked her lunch in Tokyo which I was very glad to hear. Overall, Lily did a great job. I can't wait to take her again sometime soon!

Ryan

I usually use this blog to tell you about our sweet girls, but I want to make sure you know how lucky they are to have Ryan as their wonderful father. He is such an amazing dad. You should see Mia light up when she sees Ryan. Lily has so much fun playing with him too. Almost everyday she asks him to "play on the floor with me" which is her way of asking him to wrestle and tickle her.

We got to celebrate Ryan a little on Sunday because it was Father's Day. Lily greeted him with "Happy Daddy's Day!" and then we gave him his cards and present (The Bourne Triology DVD set) which he loved. We enjoyed our morning at church, and then we headed out to lunch. Both girls fell asleep in the car, so we actually drove around for about an hour to let them rest and then had a yummy lunch at Taco Mac (one of Ryan's favorites). We played at home all afternoon, and then headed over to my brother's house for dinner. Wayne and Dianne made a fantastic shrimp and ribeye steak dinner for us. In addition to celebrating the wonderful dads in our life (Ryan, my dad and my brother), we wished my dad a happy birthday. It was a wonderful day and evening.

Thank you, Ryan, for being such a fantastic dad!

Lily Happenings

A few recent stories from Lily:

1. You know Lily loves the Little Einsteins and that she loves to dance. She really likes June who is a little ballerina. While Bama was here last week, she helped Lily learn a "ballerina dance" as Lily calls it. First, she puts her hands above her head and turns around in a circle while counting to three. Second, she points one foot's toes, then the other foot's toes. Third, she dances on her tippy-toes. Fourth, she courtseys. It's adorable! I asked her if she wanted to take ballet class someday. Her eyes got really wide, and she said "oh yes!" I think we'll still wait another year or two on that, but maybe we have a little dancer on our hands.

2. Lily has been doing very well (knock on wood) at staying in bed all night for about a week now. She went on three vacations in May, and I think that really messed up her sleeping habits because she was sleeping with someone else (either Bama or myself) in a different bed than usual and then she was sick and not sleeping well, so for a couple of weeks, she was getting out of bed around 2:00 AM...very frustrating! Finally, she started staying in bed all night again. After the first night of her sleeping in her bed, I really praised her before the next night's bedtime. One of the things I said is "You are AWESOME!" Well, she has really become attached to that word! Every night before bed now, when I ask if she is going to stay in bed all night, she says "Yes. I'm awesome! You awesome too Mommy."

3. Our friend, Chris, and his daughter, Peyton, came over to hang out with Ryan, Lily and Mia this morning. While Lily had several sharing issues while they were here, Ryan said she was angel after they left. At one point she started cleaning up her playroom, and she told Ryan "I clean for Mommy." I guess she knows how much I prefer to have a clean house. She was so proud of herself, and so was I!

ABC

Lily loves letters. She will now read the letters she sees on everything...books, magazines, billboards, wall signs, etc. It's really cool to see how she is starting to realize all these letters go together to form a word which represents something she recognizes. I attribute a lot of this to her love of books; that is always a favorite past time of hers. However, she also has this really neat ABC wall hanging in her room. You know how much Ryan and I love to travel, so when we found a colorful ABC board that listed a city around the world on it, we knew we had to get it; we bought it before preparing her "big girl" room, so thankfully it worked nicely in there. Here's a picture of what it looks like.

Every night before bed, Lily likes to go over all the letters, their cities and the corresponding painted pictures. I was a little surprised last night when I said "B is for Bangkok and they have some elephants there" (the picture is of someone riding an elephant). She said "Yes but elephant starts with E not B." Also, for a couple of days now, she has gotten pretty excited thinking about Rio de Janeiro (she wants to watch the Carnival parades) and Xi'an (she wants to see the big panda bears upclose). She always says "we'll go real soon, okay? Mommy, Lily, Daddy and Mia will all go real soon." You can see her pointing to the panda bear in Xi'an in the picture below. She also thinks it is really neat that Jesus and Meme have both been to Jerusalem. It appears we have already gotten the travel bug to bite her...now to start working on Mia!

Two Family Pictures

Last week was my grandmother's 88th birthday. My brother, Wayne, had the great idea to get a picture of Meme with all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. So on Monday we went to Portrait Innovations and had the picture made. It turned out great! It is now the 8x10 hanging on the wall right when you walk into our home. We couldn't get it scanned in so you could see it though...sorry. However, I am putting up the other two pictures we were in while there. The first one is of the four of us. I thought it turned out well. The second picture is of my parents (Meme is my dad's mom), our family of four and my brother's family. Wayne and Dianne have three awesome kids...McKayla who is nine (Lily calls her Kayla), Molly is four (Lily adores her) and Zac is 1 and a half (and absolutely precious). I thought this picture turned out great.

Cutie Pie Mia

Just a few cute new pictures of Mia...

Just enjoying a Baby Einstein

Mia loves being with Bama!
I simply can't get enough of those blue eyes!

New Nanny

Today was Kim's last day as our nanny. We are so appreciative for all the help she has given us and love she has shown to our girls for a year and a half. Lily loves her so much and gets so excited when she comes over. Mia seems very happy around her too. I told Lily this morning that today was Kim's last day to babysit, and she just seemed to think about it for a minute; she didn't comment. I know they all had a great time together today. When it was time for Kim to leave, Lily gave her a big hug. Kim and I were both a little teary-eyed, but we are very excited about her future plans to return to nursing school.

Kim had turned in her resignation in April, but said she would stay with us until we found someone else we were comfortable with. Well, we have found a wonderful new nanny...Bama! She is going to start coming over on Wednesday evenings, so she can be with the girls on Thursday and Fridays while Ryan and I go to work. We are very grateful for this opportunity. Liz is amazing with the girls, and we are so glad they will form a close bond with her. Thank you Liz!

Mia's Dedication

This Sunday was Mia's baby dedication at the church. My mom, dad and Liz were able to join us that morning. Unfortunately, Lily had developed a mild case of croup which is very contagious, so we didn't want her going to Sunday school. David was nice enough to stay at home with her. Mia is normally sound asleep at 10AM which is right when the service starts, so we were nervous that she would be very upset and crying. Thankfully, she was her sweet little self.

The preschool minister introduces a family to the church. Then Anne Wright, the pastor's wife, picks the baby up to hold while Bryant Wright, the pastor, gives each child a verse. Mia's verse is Proverbs 3:5-6 which says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your pathways straight." Then Bryant asks if we commit to raising our child in a Christ-centered home, and then he greets the baby. Anne hands the baby back and they move on to the next family.

Our church is pretty large so they have camera crews that project everything up onto the big screens for everyone to see better. Apparently while Anne was holding Mia, she was fixated with Barrett Johnson, one of the other ministers at the church, who was sitting in the front row. He was making faces at her, and she couldn't keep her eyes or sweet smile off of him!

Here is one other thing that I think is pretty cool about baby dedication. The church gives us a "goody bag" beforehand with several things in it, but one of them is a letter from the pastor. It is to be given to the child once she accepts Christ as her Savior. The letter tells her how she was dedicated to the Lord today and this is just the beginning of her Christian life that leads her to accepting Christ. I think that is pretty neat.

This was a very special day for Mia and our family, so to celebrate the occasion, we had a small luncheon at our house afterwards. Unfortunately, I had been feeling pretty sick for a couple of days (thank you Lily and Mia for sharing your cold with me), so I didn't cook anything; Publix fried chicken with Jim and Nick's cinnamon apples, mac and cheese and biscuits. Also, I didn't even think to get the camera out because I could barely stay awake through lunch. Thankfully, the church hires a photographer to take complimentary pictures of us before the dedication, so we'll get those in a week or so. Mia is certainly getting the short end of the stick when it comes to picture-taking.

Around the House

Illness has taken over the Hooks' household. Ryan and Lily were both really sick last week; just as they started to get better, Mia caught it. She has had a horrible head cold since Tuesday morning. Her poor little eyes and nose are so red, and she's been running a very low fever. It's just a cold so there is no medicine for her...just wait it out. Lily had been doing fine for several days, so I thought she was better until yesterday afternoon I noticed she has started coughing again. Great, so Lily and Mia apparently have no problem sharing germs with one another (toys are another story). Here's hoping the whole family will get better soon.

Lily is still having lots of fun around the house even if she's not feeling 100%. Here are few quick stories...

1. She loves to play with balls. She is getting pretty good at throwing them too, unless of course she is being silly. When she is being silly, she likes to throw side-arm, and there's no telling where it will end up then. She likes to say she is playing baseball; this is probably because we have the Braves' games on most nights. However, she makes me laugh because she has one little ball that looks a lot like Pluto's "super duper bouncy ball" on Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She calls it her "soupy doupy bouncy ball" which just cracks me up. Not only do I laugh hearing her say "soupy doupy," but the ball doesn't bounce at all; it's meant to stick to walls when you throw it! I don't think she has grasped the concept of souper duper bouncy yet.
2. We read Bible stories to her each night before bedtime. The other day (after having friends over earlier in the evening), she said "Jesus is coming to our house too. He come in his car." I told her Jesus is always welcome in our house. I didn't know how to explain that he probably wouldn't come in a car though. Also, Ryan read to her before her nap yesterday, and she told him she wanted to go to Moses' house. Hmmm, that's a little tricky too...
3. I don't know where she learned about magic tricks, but she has picked that up somehow. Each night now when I'm drying her hair, she gets three lotion-type bottles that sit by our sink. She holds two of them and pushes them together against the third one so that when she raises her hands up, all three bottles are picked up. She is always so proud of herself for doing this and she'll say "Look Mommy, it's a magic trick!" She also told Ryan in the shower that she was going to do a trick...she took the two loofahs we have hanging up in there and switched their places. I guess she knows what creatures of habit we are, so this is a trick to put them back in different places!
4. We were eating dinner yesterday, and I said something was beautiful. She said "you beautiful Mommy" which absolutely melted my heart; I certainly don't feel it these days with this huge new scar. Then she looked up at our wedding picture that hangs on the fireplace and said "that a beautiful picture." So sweet.
5. We had an afternoon thunderstorm yesterday that woke Lily up from her nap. When she came out of her room, she was still yawning, so Ryan said she could come lay down on him for a little bit. One and a half hours later she was still knocked out on his stomach! It was precious to see, and I think Ryan loved it!

Mia Kisses

At 4:00 this morning Mia started crying from her crib. This is very rare for her. I looked at her on the monitor; she wasn't stuck or even up against the crib railings. She kept crying for a minute or so, and I thought "something is not quiet right, so I'll go check on her." Sure enough, I open the door to her room and the smell of poop is almost overwhelming; what a nice surprise so early in the morning. So I changed her very dirty diaper which made her happy. I knew she was still tired, but she was smiling and cooing at me, so I thought "I am just going to hold my sweet baby for a few minutes before putting her back down." It's rare that I get to just hold Mia without Lily trying to hang on to me too or trying to convince me to put Mia down. Plus, and I'm sure this may sound a little strange, but there's a small part of me that misses getting to hold and feed Mia in the middle of the night. She started sleeping 8-9 hours a night at 8 weeks old, so it has been awhile since I have gotten to enjoy this quiet time with her. Anyway, she is just up on my shoulder, making little noises and looking around when she pauses, says "Ahhh!" and gives my cheek a huge kiss. Of course, her kisses are just her putting her wide-open mouth on me, but it was so sweet. She stayed like that for about 10 seconds before pulling back. I took that to be her way of saying "Thanks Mom; you're the best!"

Kids' Update

Our kids are such great stages right now. Lily is so much fun to talk and play with. She has such an imagination now. We'll read a book about animals and she'll put her hand out next to her and say "See? I have a pet (elephant, kitty-cat, duck or whatever we read about). Her name is Daisy." Every since meeting Daisy Duck at Disney World, every animal has been named Daisy. However, today we were reading a book, and she pointed out the frog on one of the pages. I said "Hi little frog." She looked at me and said "He can't hear you. He is on the page in the book." I guess her imagination isn't always at work. She also loves to cook in her kitchen to make soups (probably because one of her favorite Little Einstein's shows is called "Rocket Soup), salads and lemonade. I look forward to really teaching her to cook with me.

A couple of cute little stories about our sweet girl...
1. We were going over to the Shafer's house for dinner Saturday evening. Their oldest daughter, Alexis, is about a month younger than Lily; their youngest daughter, Christen, is two months younger than Mia. We have a lot in common these days! Even though Diane and I talk often, it has been a few months since we all had the chance to get together. As were getting ready to leave the house, I told Lily we were going to Alexis' house. She got really excited and said "She is my favoritest friend in the whole world." They had a great time playing together.
2. Lily loves to do the "search and find" books. On the back of one of the books is a picture of another search and find book. For several weeks, Lily would point to the picture every time we read the book, and say "I want that book. We go to the store and buy it. You have to pay for it first. Okay Mommy?" Well, I was at BJ's on Friday and they had the book. I couldn't resist. I bought it and after Lily's afternoon snack, I told her I had a surprise for her. As soon as I pulled out the book, she got so excited! We immediately sat down to read it, and she told me thank you when we finished. The joyful look on her face was priceless. In two days we have probably read that book at least two dozen times. It's the first book she goes to in the morning or after nap time. She loves it. She has told me thank you multiply times and has told Ryan several times that "Mommy bought it for me." This is the first thing she has truly wanted and is so grateful to receive it. It is very easy for me to see how parents spoil their children; it makes me so happy to see her so happy and excited!

Remember how I had shoulder surgery on Monday? Well I have been told not to pick up anything heavy (i.e., Lily) for 6 weeks. She seems to understand this, but she doesn't like it. I have to remind her multiple times a day that I can't pick her up because of my boo-boo. She always asks to see my scar and when I show it to her, she says "Ahhh. I have boo-boo on my shoulder. I go to Dr. White's office and she make it better." This morning as we were eating breakfast I asked her if she had any good dreams; she said "Un-huh" so I asked what they were. She said "you picked me up." Talk about driving a knife into my heart. We all are looking forward to a full recovery soon!

I put some pictures of the girls together in the blog post before this one, but here are a couple individual pictures of them.

Lily loves to read.

Mia is just a happy little girl!
Mia absolutely loves her jumpy! She will jump for 30 minutes or so as happy as can be. She goes up and down, front to back and side to side. She loves it!

Look at that adorable little foot and hand.

I love those eyes!

Our Girls

Not that I am biased, but aren't these the cutest kids ever?!

Lily's Thoughts

Lily said these two things tonight, and it cracked us both up...

1. As I was putting Mia to bed, she and Ryan were playing in the den, and she started to walk towards the office. She turned around, held up her hand and told Ryan "I'm going to check my email."

2. Each night as I put Lily to bed, I tell all of her stuffed animals good night and then I say something to the effect of "Good night to my favorite 2-year-old." Tonight she said "You 2 Mommy?" so I replied "No, I'm a lot older than 2." Her eyes got wide and she said "You 4?"

I tell you what, she makes us laugh everyday!

Surgery Update

I made it through surgery on Monday morning. Ryan and I arrived at Emory at 5:15 AM, and they called me back about 6:15. Mom and Dad got there a little bit later than that. Dr. Delman came in, signed my shoulder and then we met lots of anesthesiologists, residents and nurses who were all very nice. A little after 7 they gave me something "to take the edge off." I don't remember anything after that point which is probably a very good thing.

Dr. Delman had a difficult time locating the mass at first, and then it wasn't exactly what he was expecting. It turned out to be something called a hermanginoma which has to do with the blood vessels and is similar to an aneurysm, but it is not nearly as serious. Dr. Delman was able to remove all of it and some of the surrounding tissue. He called in a pathologist who found it to be benign; they will send it for further testing, but there is no reason to think they will find anything different. The surgery took a little longer than expected, but overall it went well.

I spent Monday and Tuesday nights at my parents' house, so I could get some needed rest. The pain medicine they gave me makes me pretty tired. I have been told not to pick up anything heavy or go swimming for 6 weeks. Unfortunately, Lily and Mia are included in that "anything heavy" list, so that will be interesting! I have a lovely 6 inch scar on the base of my neck now too; a small price to pay I guess.

I am very thankful that the doctors did a great job, and it appears all is fine. I am also thankful to Ryan for all the extra help he already has given (and will continue to give) around the house and with the girls. Also, thank you to my parents for letting me stay over for a few days and to Liz and David for coming over to help with the girls while I was gone. I certainly have a long list of things to be thankful for!

Friday Night Concert

We had so much fun tonight! Our friends, Brian and Jill Henderson, invited us to meet them at the Marietta Square for the 175th birthday celebration of the Square. It also kicked off their free summer concert series with a great band called The Return which is a Beatles tribute band. We happened to park right next to each other so we hauled all our stuff over together which included two double strollers (their kids are Parker, who turned 2 in April, and Macie, who is 5 days younger than Mia), diaper bags, coolers, food and chairs. We walked the couple of blocks to the Square, and it was already packed, but we found a spot to set up camp.

It was a beautiful night tonight; perfect for being outside. We all enjoyed getting to talk to one another while the kids just sat in their strollers, ate dinner and people-watched. Lily was fascinated by the guy walking around on stilts; "Mommy, he's tall like a giraffe!" is what I heard multiple times. There is a pretty big water fountain in the middle so Ryan took her to see that a few times. Brian, Parker, Ryan and Lily threw a football around for a little bit. All the kids were doing great. Macie fell asleep about 7:30, and I knew Mia was getting tired; she had missed her evening nap and it was coming up on bedtime. I put her down in the stroller and she was doing great just laying there playing with the canopy. Well, just before 8, a little boy (probably about 5) from the family sitting behind us was looking at her in the stroller. All of a sudden, he growled at her! It terrified Mia and she started crying really hard. The boy's mom apologized and made him apologize. I held Mia but it took her several minutes to calm down; she certainly wasn't going to lay down and go to sleep though!

The concert started and Lily was really enjoying the music. Ryan held her up so she could see the band, but she wanted to get closer. Jill, Parker, Lily and I made our way down right in front of the stage. Lily seemed fascinated watching the musicians. She loves music so she thought this was really cool; she loved seeing three guitars just like hers. After we sat there for a few minutes, she decided it was time to dance, so she pulled me up and we had fun dancing together. Parker and Jill were dancing too. After a couple of songs, Lily grabbed Parker's hands and they started dancing together; what I would give to have had the camera with me, but it was back with Ryan! They were adorable together. Lily took the lead, pulling Parker up and down and back and forth; he didn't seem to mind. It was so cute! After they finished, we danced some more and then headed back to everyone else. We stayed a little while longer (and snagged Lily a purple balloon), but decided we didn't want to wait until the very end because that would make leaving more difficult and it was already well past bedtime. We packed up and headed on home and have just put the girls down. I am interested to see if this makes a difference on their wake times tomorrow. What a great way to spend a Friday night!

ABC

Lily is getting pretty good at the alphabet, but this is what I overheard a few times today: "...l,m,n,o,p. Cute, r,s,t..." Hmmm, if it wasn't so cute when she said it, I might correct her!

The Start of Summer

Well we have quite a few interesting days to kick off our summer. As I mentioned in the previous entry about Mia turning 6 months, Dr. White recommended that we start Mia on thicker foods. I love giving baby food, so I am very glad to start this. We started by giving Mia peas. She loves them! Look how happy she is...



The first day we gave them to her, she had some problems keeping the peas in her mouth. See?
But, from the second day on, she has done great and manages to swallow almost all of it. As I said, she loves the peas. She gets frustrated when she sees me put the lid back on the jar after she has eaten the whole thing. I'm excited about having her try new foods now! In case you are wondering, sweet potatoes are next on the list.
Lily finished up her first "school" year last Wednesday. She gave Ms. Delta a big hug before leaving and told her thank you which I thought was sweet. We are so appreciative for Bethany United Methodist where Lily went this year. She had a rocky start, but the teachers were so patient and have really helped Lily grow so much this year. She is already excited about returning in the fall. We are so proud of our little girl!
Lily has grown quite fond of "lipstick" over the last few days too. Her lipstick is actually chap stick, but she loves putting it on. She watches herself intensely in the mirror as she carefully applies it to her lips; it's pretty cute to watch. She likes to carry the chap stick around with her too. This evening, I had stepped into our room while she was playing in the playroom and Mia was playing in the den; Lily came in a few minutes later carrying her chap stick and said "Now Mia have lipstick too." I tried explaining to her that since Mia is a baby, she shouldn't wear lipstick; we'll see how long it takes before it gets on her again.
Memorial Day weekend is when I consider the start of summer though I know that's not technically correct. We had a great weekend. The girls went to Birmingham while Ryan and I stayed home all weekend. We had a wonderful dinner at Marlow's Tavern, and then we caught up on a lot of our Tivo Friday night and went to bed about midnight. We both took two Tylenol PM before bed; Ryan slept until 10 Saturday morning and I didn't get up until noon...it was fantastic! We then spent the afternoon cleaning the house. Saturday night we went to Neil and Kate Wisdom's house for a little get-together which was fun. It was so nice to just enjoy time with friends and not worry what the girls were getting into! We watched Miracle At Santa Anna Saturday night which was interesting, but really long. Sunday morning we went to church. That afternoon we went to see Angels and Demons which was really good. After the movie we went to Nava which is one of our very favorite restaurants; it was delicious again! That is where we go almost anytime we get a babysitter because we love it so much. Since Monday was Memorial Day, we were able to just hang around the house and relax; we had forgotten how nice it was to just watch tv or read and not think about when the girls would be up. That afternoon, Ryan went to pick up the girls at the state line while I went to my mom and dad's for a little bit. It was a great weekend!
Lily has actually had a little head cold for several days. Last night, she was so tired but she was having a hard time staying asleep. I took her back to bed in the middle of the night twice; she rarely gets out of bed anymore so I knew something was up. When she came in a third time, I realized staying in her bed just wasn't going to happen. She put her pillow up on our bed and I helped her climb in. She went right to sleep leaning right up against me. At some point though, she moved over, and when I woke up this morning, this is what I found...


As for other things going on in our lives right now...Ryan quit his job as a mortgage loan officer last Thursday, so he can come work with me at my expanded CPA firm. His first day was today. We are both so excited about this new opportunity! He has a lot to learn about the accounting world, but he is already working on it, and I have full confidence that he will pick it up quickly. This new arrangement will also allow Ryan to be with the girls more which is great. We truly think this will be a great set-up for our family.
I received a call last week from the oncology surgeon at Emory that I had met with about my shoulder. He reviewed my second MRI and said that the lesion that was sitting like a golf ball on my shoulder has definitely shrunk in size, but it is still there. However, it is currently not entangled with any veins, arteries, etc, so he is recommending that I have it removed before it grows and attaches to anything. We have scheduled the procedure for next Monday at 7:30 AM. I am nervous because they are going to put me to sleep for it, but it is an outpatient procedure that should take about 2 hours to perform. They will send it for a biopsy afterward, but the doctor feels very confident that it is benign. I certainly appreciate any prayers that are offered for this procedure, recovery and biopsy. After everything is cleared up with this lesion, he is going to refer me to an endocrinologist because both MRIs picked up on something small on my thyroid that he wants me to check on though he said typically, they would not even worry about something this small. I like a doctor who is cautious and wants to check everything out.
So, that's where we are now. Looks like we have an exciting summer ahead of us!

6 Months Old!

Can you believe Mia is 6 months old now?! I can't. Time has flown by and our sweet baby girl is growing up very quickly. She and I went to Dr. White's office yesterday for her check-up, and it went pretty well. She is still in the 60th percentile for weight at 16 pounds, 10.5 ounces. She is 25.25 inches tall which is the 50th percentile and her head is 16.5 inches which is the 30th percentile. All of these are right on the same growth curve, so this is great.

She is currently in a size 2 diaper though we'll move her up once this big box runs out. She can still wear most of her 6 month clothes, but she wears a lot of 9 month items right now because that's what Lily was wearing this time of year, and she was kind enough to hand everything down to Mia. Mia puts her hands in her mouth a lot these days which made me think she was teething, but Dr. White says she just has bumpy gums, and it doesn't appear a tooth is going to erupt anytime soon.

Dr. White did notice that Mia seems to have too much fluid in her ears. It doesn't appear to be infected, and she has not shown any signs of it bothering her. However, she is not yet making any of the consonant sounds (she only squeals her vowels like "eeee!" or "aaaa!") which Dr. White said most kids are starting to do at this point. She was not overly concerned, but she said we need to keep an eye on the fluid level to make sure it is not impacting her hearing and thus delaying her speech skills. She gave us a prescription for amoxicillin though she said there is no conclusive evidence that this will help; she thought it was better to try this first before referring to an ENT doctor to consider tubes. We have a follow-up appointment on July 1 to see if there is any progress, and she wants us to make an extra effort to make the consonant sounds with her. So, we'll keep going and see what happens.

Mia typically eats 5 times a day (about 8:30, 11, 2, 5 and 8) with about 6 ounces at each feeding, but we just started her on rice cereal over the past weekend. I had wanted to wait until after tax season, but then there were trips (yea!) and other things that I kept postponing starting her on it; I like to make sure there is going to be consistency in a kid's schedule before changing something big on them (Lily's potty-training is next on my "to do" list). She always watches us intensely when we're eating and since she sits up pretty well now, we thought it was a good time. She seems to enjoy the cereal; she opens her mouth really wide and leans forward to get it. We're still working on getting her to swallow it without pushing it back out. Dr. White suggested going ahead and giving her some fruits or veggies since those might be a tad thicker and easier for her to swallow instead of runny cereal, so we'll try that today or tomorrow. Here are some pictures from her first meal on Saturday. You'll see Lily in the background cheering her on; she loves her baby sister!

Mia really loves her jumpy right now (see the picture below). She will happily play in it for 30 minutes or so. She also likes her exersaucer. I think she likes both of these things because it lets her stand up straight instead of always laying down; she likes looking around to take everything in. With that being said, she also likes to lay on the floor so she can roll around too. She has gotten very good at rolling in both directions (as evidenced by her nighttime crib movements). When she is on her tummy, she props herself up on her elbows and looks around; she can turn in circles, but no forward or backwards crawling movements yet. I think that is coming pretty soon though.

Mia is an excellent sleeper. She started sleeping through the night (11PM to 7AM) at 8 weeks old which was wonderful. She now goes down for the night at about 8:15 just after her last feeding, and she typically sleeps until about 8 or 8:30 the next morning. She wakes up and makes sweet little babbling noises for a few minutes until we go get her. She takes three naps during the day: an hour long one around 10AM, a 2-3 hour long one around 2:30 and a short 30-45 minute one around 6:30. She typically wakes up refreshed and happy after each one. She has lots of fun when she gets a bath before bedtime too; she loves splashing in the water!
We are so blessed to have a two healthy, sweet, precious and beautiful little girls. We are both so proud of them, and we can't wait to see what their futures hold!

Vacation to Florida

Last Friday we left Smyrna for a Florida getaway. We were so excited to go down to Lakeland for Ryan's cousin, Emily Hooks', wedding in Lakeland, Florida. Lakeland is where Ryan was born and lived until he moved up to Birmingham when he was almost 8, and he still has some family there, so he always enjoys getting to visit. We wanted to bring the girls down with us, but we didn't want to take them into the wedding, so Mom and Dad were kind enough to come down with us to babysit.

Ryan and I had a great ride down with the girls though it took about 9 hours. Mia would sleep and then wake up to play with the toys dangling above her head; she was a happy little girl. Lily was very content watching Little Einstein and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse DVDs on the portable DVD player. We stopped every 2.5 to 3 hours to feed Mia and let Lily burn off some energy. At the Florida line, we stopped at a rest stop that had some picnic tables, and it cracked us up that Lily literally ran laps around the tables for about 10 minutes. It was nice to finally arrive at the lovely Terrace Hotel that evening. Even though Mom and Dad left about 1.5 hours after us, we arrived at the exact same time!

Lily was very excited because we decided to let her sleep in bed with me (we had two double beds in our room) instead of in her inflatable sleeping bag. It worked out fairly well for several hours. Then, every night (or morning) around 2 AM, she would turn sideways; she would put her head on my shoulder and her feet against the wall. I would try to move her but she would snuggle right back up to me. To be perfectly honest, I didn't mind even though I didn't sleep very well. Lily is growing up so quickly, and it was actually nice to have my sweet little girl want to snuggle up with me.

We spent Saturday morning at Mayfaire which is a cool festival held each May in Lakeland. It is held around a beautiful lake where we saw lots of swans and ducks which made Lily very excited. There are many artists showcasing their work which we all enjoyed. Then we walked over to The Chop Shop for a delicious lunch. After that, we all took nice showers and naps for a few hours. What a great way to spend our first day of vacation!

That evening Ryan and I went to Emily and Brian's wedding while Dad and Lily spent time walking around the lake and Mom and Mia hung out in the rooms. It was a gorgeous wedding! Emily looked absolutely beautiful; her gown and veil were amazing. I loved the floral arrangements too. They were pink and white hydrangeas, peonies and roses; beautiful! It was a lovely ceremony, and then we headed over to The Lakeland Yacht Club for the reception. It was so much fun. We got to sit with some of Ryan's family: David, Jan, Grandpa Hooks, Lois, Uncle Sid, his wife, daughter and son-in-law. We enjoyed lots of delicious food and good conversation. They had a gorgeous (and yummy!) bride's cake and an adorable groom's cake that looked like a big Florida gator. Emily and Brian met at Florida's law school. We were able to spend several minutes getting to talk to Emily and her parents (Ryan's uncle and aunt), Hollis and Debbie, which was great. The photographer took some pictures of us that I can't wait to see. Hollis and Debbie had a great surprise for Brian and Emily too. They got them in the middle of the dance floor and then brought out the Florida Gator mascots, Albert and Alberta, dressed in a tux and formal gown! They were dancing and having a great time with the guests. It was awesome! This was such a great wedding. I am so glad we were able to attend. 

Sunday morning was Mother's Day. I love being a mom, so I was thrilled to have my girls with me. Of course, my mom is one of my best friends, so I was glad to have her with me too. We were fortunate to have brunch that morning with Ryan's grandfather and his wife. After taking a few minutes to warm up, Lily enjoyed her time with Grandpa and Lois. She had fun showing him what a Gator says; she does the Gator clap and says "chomp chomp." She sang her ABC's for them and when Grandpa started to sing them to her, she told him "No sing. That no good." Thankfully he just laughed at her honesty! She was very excited when they gave her gifts they brought back from FAO Schwartz in New York. They gave Lily two new books and a bathtub flute set that she loves. They gave Mia a toy telephone and a set of teething rings which she is already enjoying. It is always nice to spend time with Grandpa and Lois, so this was a wonderful treat. Below are a few pictures from our morning.

After our wonderful visit to Lakeland, we drove about 45 minutes over to Orlando to extend our vacation. We love the JW Marriott Grand Lakes, so we were thrilled to be back to spend a few days there. On Sunday evening, we drove over to my cousins' house who live in Orlando. It was great to spend time with Jason and Jill and their kids Natalie and Nicholas. They have a pool in their backyard along with a trampoline, playground, play house and lots of toys, so Lily had a blast. Natalie and Nicholas were so sweet to Lily; it was great to see them playing together. I think Lily had the most fun when Natalie brought out some stickers. By the time we left I think she had put about 20 of them on her shirt! They also made a delicious dinner for us of hamburgers, fries, corn and beans. What a great evening. I wish they lived closer to us so we could spend more time together. Jason and Jill are expecting Baby Howell number 3 in just under a month now too, so we hope this last month before becoming a family of five goes well for them.

On Monday, we had an amazing breakfast at the hotel; they have the best buffet. Then we spent the rest of the day, except nap time, in the pool. We have been telling Lily for a couple of weeks about going to the big pool in Florida, so she was beside herself excited. The Marriott has a beautifully landscaped pool area that includes a playground, toddler play area (where there is just water on the ground, but it's not a pool), a restaurant, a volleyball pit, a life-size chess set and a lazy river with lots of waterfalls that connects three pools. We spent most of our time at the kids' walk-in pool which was wonderful though we enjoyed going around the lazy river several times too. The first go-round, Lily just wanted to look at the waterfalls and see Ryan go under them to get wet. By the last time around though, she wanted to go under them too which was fun to watch. We stayed out until about 7:00 that night just enjoying the day; it was perfect. Just before bedtime, we saw some of the fireworks from Sea World and from the Magic Kingdom from our room's balcony. Lily saw the smoke afterwards and kept saying "Pee-eww. That smoke smells!" even though we were too far away to actually smell it; I guess she has just heard me comment about how smelly smoke can be.

We took several pictures in the pool with a water camera, but we haven't had those developed yet. Here's a picture of Lily before we walked down to the pool that morning though; she was ready to go. Is she cute or what?
Tuesday was a great day too. Mom and Dad were so gracious to keep Mia all day so Ryan and I could take Lily to the Magic Kingdom for a fun day. We parked and rode the tram to the monorail station. I think she would have been happy to ride the tram all day; she thought that was great. She compared the monorail to an airplane because I told her it would take us in the sky to get to the park, and she enjoyed that ride too. She was so excited when we walked into the park, and Pluto and Daisy Duck were greeting guests. We stood in a long line for a few minutes before deciding to move along; we promised Lily we would try to come back later to see them and thankfully when we returned later in the day, they were there. We met Daisy who gave Lily and me kisses on the cheek. Lily was shy but she took a couple of pictures. We didn't get meet Pluto but we were able to also meet Mary Poppins. Lily likes that movie so we were glad to see her.

We had a blast on the different rides too. Lily LOVES Dumbo (she still talks about riding it last summer and her Dumbo doll from Randy and Georgia sleeps with her every night), so we rode that twice (one time with me and one time with Ryan). We rode It's A Small World twice because Lily really liked seeing the little kids and animals dance and play instruments. We rode the carousel three times. Lily would sit on one horse, and I would sit on one next to her. She held my hand the whole time, and she would move it up and down; she told me she was moving my horse up and down for me. On the last ride, Tigger was actually on the carousel too. He was with a Make-A-Wish child a few horses behind us which brought tears to my eyes. We also had fun riding the "little pirate ships" with Peter Pan. I love that Lily loves riding all the rides.

We stopped for lunch at the little bakery cafe on Main Street which was a nice break. On the way to the cafe, there was a street parade that passed. Lily liked seeing Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Daisy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, Mr Incredible, Woody, Jessie and all the dancers and performers. After lunch, we rode the train back around to Toon Town. We were quite surprised when Lily asked to go on Goofy's Barnstormer Roller Coaster. You have to be 35 inches tall of which Lily is just a little taller than that. We kind of thought we would stand in line and then Lily would freak out and refuse to ride, but we decided to give it a try anyway. As we were in line, the ride would go ride over our heads. Lily just laughed and would say "Whoa, that goes fast!" She and I rode it together while Ryan rode in front of us and took pictures of us. Lily loved it! She kept saying how much fun it was. I guess there is a little adventurer in her.

We also enjoyed the Philharmagic 3-D Show. Everyone files into the theater and then you "hear" Goofy the stage manager to the left. Lily was sitting in my lap, but she was staring at the side of the theater looking for him. When the show started, we put our glasses on, and Lily just leaned against me watching the show. At one point, Donald falls through a hole so the screen quickly goes black which is a little surprise. Lily actually jumped which was pretty funny. This show is really cool. At one point, they are in the dancing dinnerware scene of Beauty and the Beast, so you would smell the different pastries that had been prepared. Another time, they are flying through the air with Jasmine and Aladdin, so you would feel the air blowing on you. While they were swimming with The Little Mermaid, you would feel drops of water. At the very end, it appears that Donald is flying right at you and when you remove your 3-D glasses, you see Donald stuck in the back wall of the theater. Lily was quite concerned about him ("Uh-oh Donald!") until he was pulled through to end the show. Lily is convinced that Minnie Mouse rescued him though there was no indication that Minnie was involved. This was a really neat show that I am so glad we saw.

Our concern while at Disney was Lily's nap; she still needs one each day. By 3:30 (1.5 hours after normal nap time), you could tell she was so ready for a break, but she wanted so badly to keep people watching. We asked an employee if there was any place a little quieter that we could go, and she suggested the child care center on Main Street. We had no idea this place existed. They have a kitchen stocked with juices, snacks, formula, bottle supplies, diaper supplies, strollers, etc., a room filled with high chairs and small tables for kids, a nursing room for moms, a diaper changing area and a room with movies playing. We found a little couch and convinced Lily to put her head in my lap. Within a minute she was out and slept for almost an entire hour. She woke up, looked at me and said "I go ride Dumbo now." Before going back to Toon Town though we stopped for an ice cream treat. Lily thoroughly enjoyed that! We headed back to ride Dumbo, but unfortunately, a Florida afternoon thunderstorm was setting in. We stood in line for 25 minutes and were the second to ride group when they announced there was too much lightening in the area so the ride was being shut down. We called to check in on Mia who was having some teething issues, so we decided to go ahead and call it a day. We got back to the monorail just as the rain started to come down. After the monorail we got back on the tram to our car; Lily loved both of these rides. Then she laughed as we ran through the parking lot to our car and headed back to the hotel.

We all had such a wonderful time on this vacation. I love making family memories like this! Since coming home, Lily has talked so many times about the "big swimming pool," "fast Goofy airplane," getting "kisses from Daisy Duck," watching "Tigger ride the carousel," "kids dancing and singing," "Donald getting stuck" and "I ride Dumbo with Mommy and Daddy. He purple with Mommy and yellow with Daddy" (referring to the color of Dumbo's hats). When asked if she wants to go back, she gives an enthusiastic "YES!" Hopefully someday soon!