Always Amazing

Lily amazes me everyday. I cannot believe how much her little mind is soaking up. A couple of days ago, she brought her "Words" book over to me. Typically when we go through books like this, she will point to a picture and say "that?" so I can tell her what something is. Every once in awhile I will ask her what something is if I think she knows it (typically an animal). Well, we started to look at this book and she pointed out and said the name of every single thing in there. Granted, some words were easier to understand than others, but she was totally saying them! I couldn't believe it! I was really shocked when we got to the food page and she said: Nana (for banana), apple, yog (for yogurt) and then...bocli (for broccoli). This floored me because Ryan and I really don't like broccoli and I know for a fact that I have never prepared it for her to eat! Now, she is doing this with so many of her books. She loves her lift-the-flap books. She has started telling us what is under the flap before she picks it up. I love "reading" like this with her which is a good thing because we probably spend an hour or more everyday with her books!

She has also started pointing out more things around the house and in the world and telling me what they are. We'll be in the car on the way to school, and from the back I hear "tree, lake, ney-ney, more?" (as we pass the horses and she wants to see more of them). The grocery store is pretty fun too as I hear "cheese, cracker, baby, milk, chick, berry, nana." Of course, "yum-yum!" is my favorite when we pick up Goldfish or Cheerios! Her favorite words at home right now seems to be "pate" (for plate because she loves the Zoo Animal plates she uses) or "crepes" (for grapes). She talks up a storm when we're at home (put her around others though and she clams right up); I wish I could remember everything she was saying but there are just too many. I now totally understand why people say that kids' minds are like little sponges!

Doctor's Appointment

I had my monthly doctor's appointment today, at 26 weeks and 4 days. I had another ultrasound done to get a better reading on Amelia's heart and legs. At the last ultrasound, the way she was laying prevented the ultrasound tech from getting a great reading which is why I got to have another one today. Thankfully, everything looks just right. All the measurements are right in line for this stage of pregnancy, and the midwife said things seemed to be moving along "like a textbook." Also, the ultrasound tech did a quick once over and confirmed "this is a girl; there are definitely no boy parts here." Always nice to get a little more assurance! Thank you all for your continued prayers for a healthy baby and pregnancy; Ryan and I greatly appreciate them.

Another Moment

I was having a rough afternoon today. At one point though, Lily was standing a few feet away from me playing, and I said "Lily, can I have a hug? Mommy really needs a hug." She immediately stopped what she was doing and gave me a big hug. It almost made me cry at how sweet she was. Little moments like this absolutely make the rest of the world disappear.

Sweet Moment

Ryan, Lily and I went to Chick-fil-a for breakfast this morning. Lily was enjoying her milk, chicken minis and hash browns and was quite happy (maybe because she slept in until 9:30).
About half-way through the meal, she reached over, took Ryan's finger and put it on the table; she sat there, holding his hand for about 20 minutes while we finished up breakfast. She wasn't paying attention to it or anything, but she would not let go! She just used her other hand to do everything. At one point, she let go to pick up a crumb, but then she immediately grabbed his finger again after she put the crumb on the table. It was so sweet to watch her so happy and just holding on to Daddy!

Cute Pictures

These are just a few recent pictures of Lily that I think are cute.

She loves to get in her toy basket and bring lots of toys in with her.

How cute is this? Discovering pockets! Still enjoying her inflatable bouncy. Just a cute close-up.

First Day of School

Yesterday was Lily's first day of "school." Okay, so it's the Parent Morning Out program at a local church but it is a little bit like school. Of course, Lily started to cry as I left; we knew she would as she gets very nervous around strangers. When I picked her up four hours later, she was sniffling as if she had been crying recently. I asked one of the teachers how she had been during the day, and she said that Lily had been cheerful and happy most of the day, but every so often, she would realize I wasn't there and start crying. When Lily and I left, I asked her if she had fun and if she wanted to go back and she nodded yes to both. Several times today, she would say "chool!" and get very excited when I said she would go tomorrow. I think it will take her a few tries to get completely comfortable and settled in, but I think this will be a good experience for her.

Unfortunately, there was a small incident with one of the teachers (not the nice teacher that we met last Thursday) at drop-off in the morning so I spent the whole morning worrying instead of assuming Lily was having fun. Thankfully Ryan spoke to one of the preschool ministers at the church about the issue, and we feel like things will be fine. Here's hoping everything is a little easier on all of us tomorrow!

Below are a couple of pictures of Lily just before we left for school.

Chool

Ryan and I decided a couple of months ago that we would enroll Lily in a "Parent Morning Out" program this fall. We thought it would be really good for her to be around other kids her own age a little more, and we wanted me to have a little bit of alone time with Amelia (when the time comes) like I did with Lily. We decided on Bethany United Methodist Church's program which is close to our home, and we know a couple of people who already have kids there and enjoy it. So on Monday morning, Lily will start going on Monday and Wednesdays from 9 to 1.

This morning was their open house where you go and meet the teacher and see their room, so when Lily woke up I told her we needed to eat and get dressed because we were going to see her new school (we have told her before she would get to go to school). She was so excited and kept saying "chool...chool" over and over again. We met her teacher, Crystal, who seems so sweet, and we saw her room; she had a great time playing with the kitchen, little house, and miscellaneous other toys...she didn't want to leave. It took promising that we would be back soon to get her to leave. I wouldn't be surprised if after naptime she asked me about "chool."

I can't believe my little angel is about to start a school-like program! I know that it is mostly playtime and it's shorter hours, but I still can't believe it. Where have the last 22 months gone? Amelia better not grow up this quickly!

Favorite new toy

We bought Lily a new inflatable bouncer for the house. She loves jumping in these things! We figured it would be nice to have in the colder months (and hotter months) because it will fit nicely in our basement; actually we learned today that it can be set up in our living room without problem which is kind of nice! Also, we thought with two kids and all their future playdates and birthday parties, it would be worthwhile to have one here at the house instead of renting one every so often. She seems to love it so right now, we think it will be great! Here are a few pictures of her playing with it this weekend.

The new bouncy!

Ready to start jumping!

Coming down the slide.
Having such a great time jumping, going down the slide and jumping again!
Look Bama, it goes in our living room too!

Miscellaneous Pictures from late July

Here are few pictures of Lily over the last couple of weeks that I thought you might like to see. She is so much fun to be around; what a sweetheart!

I see you over there Mommy!

Smiling for the camera!

She loves to climb inside baskets and boxes; usually she surrounds herself with her toys and books which is pretty cute to see.

She loves her new Minnie Mouse cup.

What a cutie! She has learned to say "cheese" when I turn the camera towards her. She loves her new puzzle. She has gotten pretty good at figuring out how to get them to fit in the right spots too. By the way, I love her little feet!

Lily loves Meme (and her food!)

We had KFC for dinner on Friday evening (I was craving fried chicken and it was close by). Our meals came with delicious biscuits, and I gave Lily some of mine. She took a bite and said "toast?" We have toast (thank you, Great Harvest Bread!) most mornings so I guess that was the closest thing she could think of to call it. Anyway, I said "no, it's a biscuit." She got a big smile on her face and said "Meme!" which made me laugh, and I replied "No, Meme didn't make these biscuits, but she makes good biscuits, doesn't she?" Lily's reply..."yum-yum!" It cracks me up that she often associates Meme with foods (see an earlier post her desire for Meme's cornbread).

Also, every time we drive by Meme's building (she lives in a retirement apartment home about 3 minutes from our house so we pass it often), she yells out "Meme!" Sometimes, she will get upset if we drive by without stopping (she will say "Meme?" probably 10 times in a row); I wonder if she's hungry on those times. When we do visit Meme (about once a week), she tells Meme "hi" and then immediately asks for a cracker because Meme always has graham crackers in stock. I guess the girl knows who to go to for food, and really, I can't say that I blame her!

Three Quick Stories

First...for the last few days when I tell Lily I need to go potty, she walks in front of me to our bathroom and picks the lid on the toilet seat up. Then she points inside and says "bubbles?" I think this is pretty funny so I say "yes, there will be bubbles" because after you flush, the water makes a few bubbles as it fills back up. FYI, she asks about the bubbles because she saw me clean the toilet the other day and there were lots of "foaming action bubbles" in there.

Second...we went to our Sunday school class pool party today, and we stayed past Lily's usual naptime because we were all having so much fun. I asked Ryan to make sure she stayed awake on the ride home because otherwise, she wouldn't take a nap at the house. She was fading after about 10 minutes, so we gave her a Kenny Chesney CD case to play with. She immediately perked up and started pointing to his picture, turning it over and saying "more!" and pointing out his hat to us. Ryan kept telling her that was "Kenny" and would ask where Kenny was; she would point him out on both side of the case (and inside the case a few times too). Well, after naptime we were playing in the den with the Country Music Choice station on the TV and a Kenny song came on. Ryan asked Lily who was singing and whose picture was on TV; she looked and said "Ken-ee!" I love it!

Third...we ran a couple of errands this evening and decided to go through Steak and Shake for milkshakes on the way home. Ryan promised Lily she could have a sip of his vanilla one when we got back to the house. He keeps his promise and gives her a sip which, not surprisingly, she loves. She starts running in place as fast as she can and saying "more! more!" because she wanted more of it. Ryan and I couldn't stop laughing at her little legs pumping as fast as she could make them go; I guess she was burning off some of that sugar!

These are a few of my favorite things...

1. The fact that Lily yells "ommmm!" (for "home!") each time we pull into our driveway.
2. That she waves and says "hi" or "hey" to almost anything...the person down the aisle in Publix, the bird flying by the window, the ant crawling down the street, the drop of yogurt that falls off her spoon...Of course, she rarely does this for people we are talking too!
3. The way Lily says "off" when she sees lights that are off or she wants to turn a light off. There's something about the way she says it that I think is so cute. It's almost more of a question than a statement; you'll just have to hear her for yourself to understand why I like this.
4. That she shares her cup and snack with her dolls and her Mickey Mouse balloon. That's right, a balloon. We have a balloon we bought at Disney that has Mickey's face on one side and Minnie's on the other. She will hand me the balloon, say "Mic?" so I show her his face. She then puts her cup or snack up to his mouth for a second and then says "Min?" so I will turn it around and she can do the same thing for the Minnie side. Will she share this graciously with Amelia?
5. We can ask "where is Amelia?" and she'll smile and point to my stomach. She's working on saying Amelia too, but that may take awhile.
6. That she loves to play in her toy kitchen. Maybe she has inherited my love of cooking. I really look forward to cooking and baking with her someday.
7. Her current obsession with climbing in boxes. I have no idea where this came from, but she loves to empty out a box or drawer; usually she carefully removes one object at a time to show me (though she has definitely been known to just dump things out too!). Then she climbs in, bounces around and shouts "box!" or she will pull toys back in with her. It's really funny to see her in a box with toys all around while she reads a book.
8. That she hates it if you cut her food up into small pieces for her. She wants to hold on and take bites of it instead. Don't even think about breaking off a banana; she will yell bloody-murder if you do anything more than peel it and hand it to her. She just wants to be a big girl!
9. She has gotten really good at using her spoon for cereal and yogurt; she gets most of it in her mouth. She is still working on a fork at dinner. In all honesty, I rarely give her one because I prefer she uses her hand and not make as big of a mess. We'll get around to a fork at some point.
10. When she gets food (such as yogurt) on her hand or a drop falls onto her tray, she says "Uh oh!" and wants to wipe it up immediately. That's my girl...doesn't want to get her hands dirty!

Take a hint, Mommy

I love to sing. However, I am a terrible singer. It's okay, I know that's true, but I still love to sing (though I don't really like others to hear me). Well, Lily always seems to enjoy it when I sing. I'll finish a song, and she'll ask "More?" I knew I liked this kid! Anyway, today we were watching a video where they sing Old McDonald so I was just singing along like I always do. Lily, who was sitting right next to me, puts her hand over my mouth and firmly says "NO." I guess I was disrupting her video, but how crazy is that! Even my 21-month-old doesn't like my singing now! Am I really that bad?

Florida Vacation, Part 2

We returned from New Smyrna Beach, FL yesterday evening. This is a vacation that my family takes every year; there are almost 60 of us that go together. On my dad's side of the family, it's my grandmother, one of her sisters and their kids, grandkids and great-grandkids. It's a wonderful tradition that we all love. I already told you in a previous post about the side trip Ryan, Lily and I took to Disney World, but this is to tell you about the rest of the trip. I've also posted some pictures from this part of the trip.

We spent a lot of time at the pool this year. Lily wasn't too excited about the beach. There were a lot of shells on it, and I think it hurt her feet. However, she LOVED the pool. She had such a great time when Ryan would throw her high in the air and catch her. She would say "more" and raise her arms up as high as she could to ask him to do it again. She also enjoyed playing with her little bucket and shovel in the water. While we were inside, she would often say "pool" because she wanted to go play in it again. Unfortunately, it rained almost every afternoon so we didn't get to stay outside as much as wanted, but we had a great time regardless.

On our last day, we gathered all the great-grandkids who were on the trip together and took a picture of them with Meme and Doris. It's so cool to see this picture change each year as new children arrive and the other children grow up.

Not too surprising, two of my favorite traditions of the week revolve around food. One morning, Meme and her three boys will make a delicious breakfast for her family...biscuits, gravy, fruit, eggs, grits, bacon, sausage...the works! On another afternoon, Meme (with a little help from her boys again) makes a huge hot dog lunch for all of us down there. I believe she said she made just over 100 hot dogs this year! She cooks them in the oven and then toasts the buns in a big skillet. I don't know why this makes them so good, but you cannot find a better hot dog anywhere. I mean that...anywhere. I honestly think hot dog day is my 4th favorite day of the year (following Thanksgiving, Christmas and my birthday). Delicious!

We were also able to visit with Grandpa Hooks and Lois over in Lakeland. It is always a treat to spend time with them. I think they loved seeing Lily and how much she has grown. Lois gave Lily a little mirrored jewelry box to play with and take home. The rest of the trip, when we would say "did you visit with Great-Grandpa and Lois?" she would reply "box!" because she loves it so much! What a great visit.

One of my favorite things about this week is that Lily started to call Ryan and me "Daddy" and "Mommy" instead of "Da Da" and "Ma Ma." She doesn't do it every time, but she has started saying that a lot more, and to be honest, it's absolutely adorable! I love to hear her sweet little voice say "Daddy" or "Mommy!" It's awesome!

This was another wonderful vacation, and I look forward to many more years of this great tradition!

New Smyrna Beach Pictures

Some more pictures from the week.  Lily couldn't get enough of Ryan throwing her into the air!  She would squeal with delight at this!

We were glad to visit with Great-Grandpa and Lois in Lakeland.

Meme and Aunt Doris

With lots of their great-grandchildren.

What a beautiful sunset!

Magic Kingdom Pictures!

Downtown Disney!

Love how they fixed up our room.

Lily loved playing hide and seek.  See if you can find her! 

Dumbo!!!

Look at that smile!

Seeing Mickey and Minnie for the first time.

Loving the kids in It's A Small World

Time for a haircut!

So sweet!

Time to go.

Such a fun day!