We took some pictures to try to get a good family shot and some shots of Lilly for our Christmas card. It was so nice out, we were able to get them outside. Some of them have construction in the background (haha!) but that's the reality for our house right now, so such is life! Here are some of my favorites:
We don't have any pictures, but we went to the Fuquay tree lighting ceremony in early December. I walked around with my theater kids and sang Christmas carols while Darren and Jason took Lilly and Zoey around. The lines for the sleigh ride and for Santa were crazy long, but the girls seemed content to just walk around so it was ok. Next year I think we might need to get in the lines because they won't want to miss out!
Today was Darren's birthday! He was out the night before with friends, so Lilly and I got up and got him a few of his favorite things (an ultimate ham biscuit from biscuitville and a strawberry frosted donut with sprinkles from Dunkin Donuts) and then Lilly had a special birthday wish for Daddy! (below). That night Kari and Jason took Lilly overnight while Darren and I celebrated with our staff at the Christmas Party. It was our first night away from Lilly, but she had a great time with the Stotts and we knew she was in perfect hands :)
The Fuquay Christmas parade was the next day. We got a bit of a late start, but we managed to get downtown to watch from a very good vantage point. It was a little colder than we thought, so Lilly cuddled with me to stay warm. She liked it when people came and gave her candy, but other than that I don't think she was very impressed by the parade.
The Fuquay Christmas parade was the next day. We got a bit of a late start, but we managed to get downtown to watch from a very good vantage point. It was a little colder than we thought, so Lilly cuddled with me to stay warm. She liked it when people came and gave her candy, but other than that I don't think she was very impressed by the parade.
Apparently I am terrible at taking pictures because my parents came to visit us for a long weekend and I can't find a SINGLE picture with them! (Mom, do you have any???) Sorry Mom and Dennis! Darren and I took Friday off so we could all spend the day together. It was nice to just hang out and watch Mom and Dennis interact with Lilly. She was a little shy at first, but after a tea party or two, she warmed right up! We went out for pizza that night and then went to Holly Springs for Main Street Christmas. I was convinced that we made it early enough to see Santa without having to wait, but BOY was I wrong! There was a huge line (I would guess at least an hour wait). Luckily Michelle texted me and told me that Santa was at Starbucks that night and it was almost empty. So we rode on the hay ride and then headed to Starbucks. We waited about 2 minutes and then it was Lilly's turn to see Santa. She did NOT want to see him! I held her and we sat next to him, but she was very nervous. Santa gave her a cookie and a teddy bear, but she was still scared. I think we finally got her to say thank you and Merry Christmas, but she wanted nothing to do with him!
The next morning, Lilly told me that she was sad because she didn't get to tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas :-( My heart broke! I knew Learning Time was having their Christmas Party that day and Santa would be there, so I was hoping we'd get a second chance. When Lilly saw Santa, she didn't want to go near him again at first, but he was so sweet and nice (he didn't try to bribe her or coax her at all), she let me hold her so she could tell him that she wanted a Baby Anna for Christmas. I was so proud of her! She even let Santa give her a present and said Thank you and Merry Christmas! I give a lot of credit to the gentleman they had as Santa at Learning Time. His calm demeanor and gentle heart made Lilly feel comfortable.
We had a great visit with my parents! I am so glad they came to visit. If there is one thing I could change about my life, it's that I wish we had more time with our families, but I am thankful for what we get!
I continue to be amazed by Lilly singing. I love how much she enjoys singing, sings whenever she feels like it, and is comfortable singing. I hope she keeps that confidence!
Reading is fun anywhere! Even sitting in the middle of the kitchen!
Lilly had a blast at Ryan's birthday party. This little girl is obsessed with popcorn, she getting her own bag was so much fun for her! Zoey and Lilly had fun playing in the "fort" that the big kids had constructed.
I was so proud of Allie and Addie for letting Zoey and Lilly play with them, even though they don't always understand how the big girls want to play. They were so patient and kind and it was a lot of fun for everyone!
Darren spent some time with Lilly while I was singing at church. It was a beautiful day so after playing some music, Lilly and Darren headed outside. I love the south because we get these beautiful sunny days even in December. Lilly LOVES being outside and so do we, so it's such a blessing to have this beautiful weather.
The sheer joy that Lilly gets from just running around and playing outside is priceless.
I have been off and on sick since Thanksgiving, so the other night I took a NyQuil before bed. At 4 a.m. I was startled out of bed by Lilly yelling, so I jumped up and ran into her room (Lilly rarely if ever gets up in the middle of the night so I was a little nervous). She was crying pretty hard when I got into her room so I scooped her up. It was dark in her room, but it looked like her face was really red and puffy (we've been having some allergy symptoms, but this appeared a lot worse to me at first). I ran her into the bathroom and looked at her more closely and Darren followed behind. Her face was a little red from crying and she had quite a bit of sleepy eye goop, but she was fine. I don't know if it was the adrenaline or the Nyquil or both, but suddenly I felt really nauseous! I handed Lilly off to Darren, but luckily I didn't get sick. I rocked Lilly for a little while, told her a few stories, and we "played" (which is something her and I do often before she goes to bed, always starting with her sitting on my lap facing me and running her little hands gently down my face). She didn't want to go back to sleep, but it was late/early and I was exhausted. She asked to go into Mommy's bed, so I figured we'd try it. I put Lilly between Darren and I and tried to get her comfortable. At first she just snuggled up with me and I told her a story to try to get her to fall asleep. It was so sweet to have her in my arms! I wish it could have stayed that way! The funniest thing was that Lilly had no idea how to get comfortable with a pillow! She still doesn't sleep with a pillow, so the idea of sleeping on one was completely foreign to her. She was tossing and turning for about 10 minutes straight. I was holding back giggles because it was so funny to watch her (and feel her!) tossing around trying to get comfortable amid the pillows and covers. Finally she fell asleep completely horizontal on the bed (not on the pillows at all), while Darren and I were in a "V" shape and our upper bodies were practically hanging off the bed. I wish I could have taken a picture because it was hilarious. That was the first time that Lilly has ever slept in our bed and it was definitely an adventure.
That morning Lilly got all dressed up to have her morning yogurt :-)
We went over the Chad and Michelle's to play with a bunch of the neighborhood kids, and of course, as soon as Lilly got there, she wanted to get dressed up. I loved watching all of the kids play together. I have an amazing video of Ryley, Lilly and Zoey singing Let It Go (complete with hand motions), but it's too big for this blog. It was absolutely adorable though.
Dressing up is fun at any age and for both boys and girls! Who doesn't love to play make-believe??? I STILL love it!
I was getting ready in the morning and I heard Lilly singing. At first I wasn't sure what she was singing, and then I realized she was singing Santa Clause Is Coming to Town. I had never heard her sing this before! I tried to be stealthy and video her singing, but she saw me and got up and ran away! I followed her into her room and asked her to sing it again. This is what we got...
Lilly's teacher Reny wrote an adorable story about Lilly on her daily report from preschool. She said Lilly was playing "Santa" during play time. She even made a list like Santa. Lilly told Reny that all of her friends were on the nice list :-)
While driving home from preschool one day, Lilly told us that Campbell hit her. We asked her to tell us more about what happened and then we asked her if Reny had spoken to Campbell about her behavior. Lilly said, "Yes. Ms. Reny talked to her and Campbell FREAKED out! She was crying and she FREAKED out!" First, we had never heard her use that phrase before, and second the way that she said it was just so hilarious! She just cracks me up!
I like to allow Lilly some creativity, so we have been letting her have more say in what she wears. At first we stuck with socks, but lately she's been picking either her shirt or her pants and then we pick the other (to match). Well, today we just let her wear whatever she wanted and this what she picked:
I like to allow Lilly some creativity, so we have been letting her have more say in what she wears. At first we stuck with socks, but lately she's been picking either her shirt or her pants and then we pick the other (to match). Well, today we just let her wear whatever she wanted and this what she picked:
We celebrated Christmas a bit early with the Smiths since Jared, Carissa, Addie and Drew were going up to New York. It was so fun to watch all of the kids open their presents and to see how much they all loved their gifts. I know Christmas is not about gifts, but seeing the joy that new toys, clothes or games bring kids IS what Christmas is about because it reminds us about how great it feels to give to others and how important it is for us to love and support the kids in our lives. We are so lucky to have so many people who love Lilly and Christmas also is a great reminder of that love and support.
Here is Lilly singing again! Lol! She was loving Kristin's new piano toy and was practicing for her first big concert ;-)
Unfortunately for me, I started to feel under the weather (AGAIN!!!!) that night. I went to bed at 8 and didn't get up until 7:30 (thank you Darren!). I think the sleep helped, but I was still really congested again and had a horrible sinus headache. I should have gone to the doctor (*sigh*) but I didn't. I was singing at church on Christmas Eve, and it was not a fun experience with the sinus pressure and congestion, but it's my own fault for not getting an antibiotic.
Regardless, we went to the children's service at church on Christmas Eve. Lilly wanted to be an angel this year, which was perfect because Allie was an angel so they could walk together. When it was time, Allie took Lilly's hand and walked with her. She helped Lilly find a spot to sit and helped direct her around to make room as more kids came up. At one point, Lilly was showing Amanda (the children's service leader) her dress, which would be fine, except she was holding it up to show her...as she was sitting in front of the entire congregation. Lol!
You can tell that Allie is an amazing big sister. She was so wonderful with Lilly the entire service and made sure to help get her back to us by holding her hand. Lilly obviously loves Allie too because she listened! ;-)
My little angel!
Michelle and Chad were sweet enough to invite us to join them for Christmas Eve with their family. I came later because I was singing at church, but Darren and Lilly went after the early children's service. We had a great time, amazing food and more importantly, time with friends who are like family to us. It's hard to not be with our families at Christmas, but we are so incredibly lucky to have such close friends who take us in and make us feel completely welcome during the holidays :-)
Merry Christmas!!! I was more excited about Christmas this year than I can remember being since I was a little kid. Don't get me wrong, Christmas is always special for so many wonderful reasons, but since having Lilly, Christmas is just so much more fun! Lilly was only 6 months old at her first Christmas, so that was mostly just eating wrapping paper ;-) and last year, she opened a present and then just wanted to play with it, so the whole "Christmas morning" things was quite different. We took breaks and opened one present at a time over the course of the entire morning, haha!
Lilly woke up at about 6:45 (which is her normal time, not because it was Christmas). At first I was going to try to let Darren sleep for a little longer and just play with Lilly until she realized there were presents to be opened ;-) But then I remembered that her kitchen was out and not wrapped, so we need to all go down together. Darren went and set up the video camera so when Lilly and I walked downstairs he was able to get her reacting when she saw her kitchen :-) She was SO excited! She immediately ran over and started playing. She explored it for 5-10 minutes before I reminded her that there were other presents to open.
Lilly was consistent in what she wanted to ask Santa for and that was a Baby Anna doll. She was very happy to get it, but not nearly as excited as she was for her kitchen. Go figure!
I found this on BST and then my parents got Lilly extra money and a wallet to go with it.
Very excited to see what else Grandma and Grandpa got for her!
If you look at her expression, you can see how happy she was to get this baby doll. She would see this doll in Kohls all the time and always asked to take her home, so I put the doll on Lilly's wish list for Christmas and Grandma and Grandpa came through!
Of course I had to get Lilly new books! She was ready to sit down and read!
We were telling her to say "Thank you Aunt Mare." Lilly loved her new Frozen snack/drink cup!
We went back to Chad and Michelle's on Christmas day after Lilly's nap. It was nice to just hang out with friends and see the kids play together. We had an amazing Christmas with Lilly. I feel so blessed and thankful every day for this beautiful child that brings me such joy and love. I am not saying things are perfect and we don't have our share of toddler tantrums and moments where I feel like the worst mom in the world, but what I mean is they are so incredibly worth it. The sacrifices I have made since being a mom are worth it.
One of Lilly's favorite things to do is to take my jewelry box and play with my jewelry. Usually she plays with my necklaces, but today she was infatuated with the rings. She put a ring on every finger (though they were huge) and was so excited to show me!
I feel incredibly blessed to get this wonderful holiday break with Lilly and doubly blessed to now get 3 more weeks off for track out! We are so looking forward to an amazing 2015!
