Lilly Rae - Week 35

Sunday, February 10

We received some very bad news today.  My amazing Grandpa passed away.  He was 89 years old and had been having some health problems, but it was still a shock.  It was a hard day, but being able to snuggle my Lilly pad made it better.  She really is the sunshine of my days and adds so much love and happiness to my life.  I am so thankful that Grandpa was able to meet Lilly and that we have some beautiful pictures of them together.  I will make sure that Lilly knows what amazing great grandparents she had and how much they both loved her, even though Nanny was not here to meet her. 

Lilly is 8 months old today (and Maggie turned 2!) so we tried to focus on the happiness surrounding this.  Today clearly proved that just looking at Lilly and holding her in my arms can make any situation better.  Happy 8 month birthday baby girl! 

Monday, February 11

I stayed home with Lilly today because Kristi needed a day off.  I was glad to do it; I will take any extra time with Lilly that I can get!

We met Amber out at Chick-fil-A to visit with her, Gracen and Jace.  It was great to get some time to catch up with Amber and of course to play with Gracen and snuggle with Jace.  Holding a 1 month old baby just made me realize how much I miss that stage!

Amber and I were talking a lot about balancing work, family and other aspects of our life and how it can be very difficult.  She told me about her uncle who has faced many, many medical obstacles in his life so he has gained a lot of perspective.  He told her that the most important thing she can do is to raise her kids.  Cleaning the house, working out and all the rest can wait.  The most important thing in life is to raise our children.  Amen to that!

Lilly sat in a big girl high chair at Chick-fil-A for the first time!  We sent Daddy a picture at work so he could see.

Tuesday, February 12

Lilly gets a very instense expression on her face when she plays with some of her toys now.  She sticks out her tongue and looks very intently at her toys as she tries to figure them out and learns how to use her hands and fingers a little better each time.  She is so great at entertaining herself now as well.  She can just sit on her mat and play with her toys, sing to herself, talk to her stuffed animals and be happy.  As long as we are near her and she can see one of us, she is happy.  We are so lucky to have such a happy and relaxed baby girl.  

Wednesday, February 13

Tonight I found Lilly curled up and asleep right against the side of her crib.  It's crazy how much she moves in her crib now!  Anyway, I didn't like how close she was to the side because I was afraid she would bang her head or her face, so I moved her as gently as I could to the center of her crib.  Unfortunately, I woke her up.  I tried to just duck down so she wouldn't see me and would go back to sleep, but I wasn't fast enough.  So there I am, laying on the floor next to Lilly's crib "hiding" and at first she is just whining.  Then she started her newest torture technique: crying out "mamamamama!"  I know it's not really saying "mama" yet, but you try letting your baby "cry it out" when it sounds like she is calling for you!  So I picked her up and nursed her in the glider for a few minutes to get her back to sleep.  She was still awake when I put her back down, so I put her pink blanky against her face to comfort her.  Then she did the sweetest thing.  She grabbed my thumb with her little hand, rolled on her side toward me, and pulled my hand in to her to keep me close.  My heart absolutely melted.  She didn't make a peep, she just held my thumb and closed her eyes and fell asleep.  I gently took my hand away (though I was tempted to just stand there all night and let her hold me).  I know how much I love my Lilly, but tonight, I realized how much she loves me too.

Lilly thinks it is so funny when Darren blows (lightly) in her face.  Her whole face lights up and she gets the biggest smile on her face.  She also loves when we do this with her squirty bath toys (minus the water).  It's adorable!

Thursday, February 14

Happy Valentine's Day!  Darren made me a video of Lilly as my Valentine's Day gift.  It was perfect because Lilly is the only gift I need.  Kristi sent us the top two pictures today to show how how intensely Lilly was watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.  She seems to like Mickey's high pitched, squeaky voice.  I am just glad that she likes anything Disney :o)  

We are very conscientiousness of what we have on the TV now because Lilly is very interested in it.  We have been watching a lot more Seasame Street in the background lately!  

Maybe teething never really stops during this age, because Lilly seems to be teething again.  She chews on anything she can get her hands on!  We can't feel anything else coming through yet, but I think her top teeth will come in over the next few weeks.

Friday, February 15

Huge THANK YOU to Chad and Michelle for watching Lilly tonight while we performed in a James Bond themed Awards night at the Theater!  We are so lucky to have such amazing friends who love Lilly and take such good care of her!  Darren and I have never been this dressed up together, so I had to make sure we had a few pictures taken.  I think Darren makes a very handsome Bond, wouldn't you agree ;-)

Saturday, February 16

We had a lot of fun today!  We went to Ana's birthday party at the Aquatics Center in Smithfield and Lilly went swimming for the first time!  She enjoyed being in the water and playing with her rubber ducky, but I think she was also a little overwhelmed by all the kids running around.  It was so cute to see her in her little bathing suit (thanks for lending us one, Jess and Matt!) and I look forward to many more pool experiences this summer!

After the party we went to visit Matt, Antonia and Joseph!  We haven't seen them in a long time and both babies have grown and changed so much!  Joey is really moving now, so I was hoping he could teach Lilly a thing or two.  ;o)  It was so cute to see them playing together.  Obviously neither one has any concept of sharing yet, so they were just pulling books and boys out of each other's hands and each one wanted the toy the other had, no matter what it was.  There were no tears though, so I guess they were having a great time regardless.

Lilly loves to bounce in her jumperoo (which I have said before and posted video/pictures of).  Recently, we have noticed that she "bounces" when she is sitting when we say "bounce, bounce, bounce!"  We caught some video of it.  It is absolutely hilarious!  P.S. Don't think we are terrible parents for the end of the second video.  I promise she is on a very thick blanket and that she didn't even wimper ;o)