Fall Fun

We have been very busy lately and have had so much fun with Lilly!  I love getting to see brand new experiences through her eyes and the added level of fun she adds to everything we do!

We went to Oak Island at the end of track out to relax for a few days and enjoy the final days of track out.  We rented a beautiful beach house from a friend, so we were able to bring Maggie (which Lilly was very happy about).  It wasn't "beach" weather, but we enjoyed looking out at the ocean from the lookout points and going on nice walks around the quiet island.  We also got to spend some time with Aunt Michelle, Ryan, baby Kristin, Marcy and John, which was really nice.  Lilly loves babies, so getting to see Kristin was a highlight for her I'm sure!

Aunt Becky, David and Darren also came to visit while we were at the beach!  They were moving and playing so much it was hard to get a great picture, but Lilly and Darren really seemed to hit it off!  It was so cute watching them play together!

One of my favorite things that we have done with Lilly thus far is take her to Naylor Family Farms in Fuquay.  It was SO much fun!  We (sadly) didn't even know this place existed until we saw them on Living Social.  They have so much for little kids to do, plus a Giant Corn Maze for everyone.  Lilly really enjoyed the "corn crib" which is basically like a giant sand box without the sand.  She loved digging in the corn, dumping the buckets and just playing around.  It wasn't very crowded so there were no "big kids" in there to get rough or scare her.  Daddy even got in on the fun!

There was also a great petting zoo where you could feed and pet cows, goats and piglets.  Lilly definitely liked the piglets the best.  She also liked watching Daddy feed the big cow.

We took a hayride to the "pumpkin" patch where Lilly helped us pick out our pumpkins.  She would walk around and pat the pumpkins that she liked and also try to pick them up.  It was the perfect day to come; the weather was just beautiful!

This is the best family shot for our trip. 

I wasn't sure Lilly would like the giant tube slides, but she LOVED them!  Every time we went down she would start pointing back to the top to go again.  We must have gone down the slide at least 10 times.  There was a smaller one and then a huge slide right next to it.  I wasn't sure she was going to like the big one, but she loved that too!  Check out the video below:

We had an awesome time at Naylor Family Farm!  I highly recommend this place to everyone.  They are a wonderful, local Fuquay family and we had ab absolute blast!

On Friday, October 25 we took Lilly to Trick-or-Treat in downtown Fuquay for the first time.  I was so excited to see her in her costume!  She looked absolutely adorable!  It was a little chilly (and windy) but she seemed to have a good time!  It's funny because she would fixate on one piece of candy (like the sweettarts in her hand in this picture) and not let it go.  She didn't actually eat it, she just wanted to hold it.

We ran into Lilly's babysitter Tricia and her two adorable daughters Riley and Cailyn.  They were both so excited to see Lilly and she was excited to see them as well.  Getting 3 kids under 5 to all look at a camera is next to impossible, but you get the general idea ;o)

We brought Lilly's car for her to ride in since we figured her stroller would smush her wings.  This was a great idea except Lilly didn't want to get out of the car!

This is Lilly's best "Mom, can't I have a piece of candy?" face.  I did let her try a lemonhead (while I was holding it) hoping the sourness might deter her, but she actually loved it!  I guess everyone should get a treat on Halloween!

I was beyond excited because my parents came to visit for a short weekend trip!  My mom had an extra day off and said she just wanted to come down and see us.  It meant so much to us that my mom and stepdad drove all the way down here to spend two days with us.  We went out to lunch at Anna's and Lilly entertained us all with her sunglasses.

Lilly enjoyed watching Elmo with Grandpa.  Lilly can be shy sometimes, but she warmed up to Grandma and Grandpa very quickly.

I have a great video of them all having a tea party, but it's too long to post.  It was so cute though.  Lilly gave them both cups, poured the tea for them, and then started "drinking" right out of the teapot herself.  This picture doesn't do this justice, but at least it's something.

I am so glad that Lilly was able to spend a couple of days with my parents.  Getting to see them all together was so great for us and I know they enjoyed every second they spent with Lilly (oh and us too ;o) )

Having a one and a half year old is exhausting, that is for sure, but I am LOVING my crazy little girl!  Every day she does something else that makes me laugh and brings a bigger smile to my face than I thought possible.  Look at my silly girl!

This was Lilly's first Halloween where she went out trick-or-treating.  Last year she just helped us hand out candy.  Carissa and Jared were nice enough to invite us over so Lilly could trick or treat with her "cousins" and her new friend Lauren.  It was great to go with a group because Lilly got to see what to do and she always loves getting to be with the big kids.  I was impressed that she lasted an entire hour trick-or-treating.  Of course, she was carried from house to house, so that helped.  It was also nice for the adults to get to hang out and watch the kids.  Michelle and Chad even had baby Kristin out.  This was definitely a great first experience for Lilly.  Thanks to Kate for catching some great pictures of Lilly and our family!

The whole gang!

On October 29th, Lilly said "Dada" for the first time with real meaning and purpose!  She had previously babbled dadadada, but this time, we said, "Say Dada," and she looked at Darren and said "Dada!" as clear as day!  That night when I brought her up to bed, she was calling "Dada!  Dada!" and looking for Darren because he always gives her a kiss before bed and he was taking a shower.  We walked in and she leaned in to the shower and said, "Dada" and pressed her face to the glass to give him a kiss.  It was SO cute!  I was so happy that she was saying "Dada" but also super jealous!  I was dying to hear her say Mama.

I figured I would have to wait a while for her to say "Mama" but then, the VERY next day (October 30th), right before leaving for work, I said, "Say Mama," and she looked at me and said, "Mama!"  I shrieked with excitement!!!  Then she said it over and over again and every time we giggled and whooped with the excitement.  I know that helped to reinforce what she was saying, but the truth is I was doing it because I was genuinely over-the-moon excited!  Watching Lilly's "firsts" over the past 16 months has been amazing, but hearing your baby girl call you "Mama" for the first time is the epitomy of melt-your-heart amazingness.  I think I might actually faint when she first says I love you.  The video below is from today (November 2), but you can hear her say Mama and Dada (and of course Maggie).  Be prepared to ooh and awwww at her cuteness!

We bought Lilly a potty seat just to get her used to seeing it and sitting on it so she is not nervous about it when it's time to potty train.  The first few minutes we had it on the floor and she climbed right on top and sat on it (backwards, but close enough!)  I love this picture because it looks like she is looking for a cup holder for her drink!

She also leaned down and picked up a book while she was sitting on the potty.  I guess she was planning to be there for a while!

Today we went to celebrate Allie's 6th birthday.  Lilly enjoyed the "Fun Zone" though she didn't venture inside too much.  She mostly liked climbing up and down the stairs and playing with the balloons.  She also really enjoyed the coloring table.  She loves to draw (especially with Darren) and is getting the hang of holding the crayons better.

Toward the end of the party, Lilly was a little more brave and would climb up to the first landing of the Fun Zone.  She definitely got a good workout and enjoyed herself!

Darren thinks we took so many pictures of Lilly her first year that she gets annoyed when we want to take pictures now.  This picture seems to prove his point!