Saturday, June 13, 2015

May 2015

One of my favorite memories from this month was putting Lilly to bed one night.  We always read two books, then I tell her a story and sing her a song.  She likes to pick the stories and songs, so I always ask her what she wants to hear.  I was shocked one night when I asked her what song she wanted and she said, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!"  I didn't even know she knew what the teenage mutant ninja turtles are, let along that she knew the song.  I sang it for her that night and then every night for a month!  She even started singing along.  It was hilarious.

We learned this month more than any other how true the old saying is: "It takes a village to raise a child."  We had to lean on our friends a lot this month to help us watch Lilly and it meant the absolute world to us.  We were so happy to be able to help Chad and Michelle the day they needed us to watch Ryan and Kristin!  Lilly was so excited and told everyone at preschool that she Ryan and Kristin were coming home with us.  We had a blast playing outside and having dinner together.





Our neighborhood block party was rained out, so Jason and Kari decided to have people over instead!  It was Chad's birthday, so we had cupcakes and ice cream to celebrate.  I think the kids were excited!


We had a coupon for Ruby Tuesday's and decided to give them a try one night when I didn't feel like cooking.  We were so proud of Lilly for sitting nicely at the table the whole time, coloring on her kids menu and being polite to our server.  Sometimes you feel like you can't do anything right as a parent, and other times you just have to give yourself credit for the little "wins" you experience.


We were thinking of going out for ice cream one night but then Kari told us that she had bought her girls Frosty's from Wendy's and we should just come on over.  It was very sweet of the girls to share their Frosty's with Lilly.  She clearly enjoyed it!


I love hearing Lilly sing.  She started singing Twinkle Twinkle in the car and when I started taking video, she kept singing a verse I had never heard before.  I am not sure if this is an actual verse of the song, or if she made it up, but it's cute either way!


The absolute joy that Lilly shows when she is out playing on her playground is so contagious.  Even after a long day of work, Darren and I get a burst of energy when we go outside and play with Lilly.  Her smile just lights up our world and reminds us of all we have to be grateful for.



Darren took this video of Lilly on her playground.  It perfectly shows how silly and joyful Lilly is!


We had our neighborhood block party on a Sunday afternoon and it was an absolute blast!  A lot of people came out, there was tons of great food and the kids had a blast playing with water and bouncing in a bounce house.  The only negative was it was the hottest day of the summer so far!  Kari's Mom and I took Lilly and Zoey to Kari and Jason's house to take a cool off break for a bit and on our way back, the girls held hands and "marched" to the song "Marching, Marching".  I wish I had video, but at least this picture captures how adorable the moment was.


Lilly was sick for a few days this month.  It's so hard to see your little girl sick and in pain :-(  Lilly is usually so bubbly and silly, but when she is sick, all she wants to do is sit on the couch and cuddle.  Don't get me wrong, some extra cuddle time was amazing, but I would much rather have my healthy, happy little girl.  Darren and I took turns taking days off of work to be with her.  It's hard to be a working mom when your kid is sick and all you want to do is be home with them, but you have responsibilities at work as well.  I will never look back and regret the days I missed work, but I would look back and regret not being with my baby girl when she needed me, so the choice becomes simple.

Lilly and I went to the clinic at the doctor on the third day of her high fever.  Normally I don't like to treat a fever, but I was getting nervous with how high it was and for how long.  The clinic is very well run and we were in and out pretty quickly.  You can see in Lilly's face that she doesn't feel well :-(  The doctor said neither of her ears "looked perfect" so it seemed like an infection was coming.  Luckily the antibiotic knocked it out quickly and Lilly was back to herself.  


When Lilly was feeling better, we wanted to treat her to some Sunni Sky's!  Lilly loves ice cream cones, and frankly, so do we :-)  It was great to meet some friends out that night and to let the kids play together after some ice cream.   



As we were getting ready to leave one day, Lilly was playing in her playroom.  I heard her talking and playing in her kitchen.  Then she walked out with her electric mixer and a tiny spaghetti spoon.  She was "mixing" something in the tiny scoop of the spoon!  It might not seem that funny, but it was very funny.  Check out the video.



When I put her to bed that night, she wanted her Elmo doll with her.  This Elmo talks and tells stories when he is on.  I usually turn him off, but Lilly knows how to turn him back on.  So I went downstairs and on the baby monitor I heard Elmo start talking.  Lilly then said, "Shhhh!  Elmo, be quiet.  It's time to rest."  Of course, the doll kept talking, and Lilly told him to be quiet several more times.  Eventually, the doll turns itself off and stopped talking.  Then Lilly said, "Good job, Elmo!  I'm proud of you."  She did this two nights in a row!  So cute!

Lilly has had this water table since her first birthday and she loves it more and more each year I think!  She is so imaginative now and pretends that the characters are driving the boat or surfing in the water.  It's so cute!

Last night we had an awesome time at a BBQ at Kari and Jason's house.  The kids all played in the kiddie pool, the adults hung out, we had a great dinner and it was a beautiful day!  Lilly started getting tired around 6:45 and asked to go home (she is still playing catch up from being sick).  When we got home she looked up at me and asked, "Mommy can we watch a movie and cuddle?"  I literally melted into a puddle.  Her sweet little expression and those adorable words took my entire heart!  We sat on the couch, Lilly curled up in my lap, and watched an episode of Sophia the First.  


I love that the kids (ages 2-7) can all play together!  We have the best friends!

These two are like two old ladies.  They bicker with each other and then 2 seconds later they forget and are giggling.  They love each other so much!



Darren and Jason went golfing the next day, so Kari and I took the girls to the pool.  After we figured we'd go grab dinner and eat at the park or playground.  As we were ordering some pizzas, the guys called and were on their way home, so we all went together!  We grabbed a couple pizzas and ate dinner at Mineral Springs park in Fuquay.  The girls loved eating outside and were so excited to explore the park.

Zoey and Lilly were fascinated by the squirrels in the trees and were determined to find one :-)


We found some gigantic leaves to play with!


After dinner we needed to take a shower, and as we were getting ready, I had music playing.  Lilly started dancing like crazy (naked!)  I wanted to get a video of her, but that meant that my music turned off.  She danced for a few more seconds and then noticed the music turned off (as you can see in the video...haha).  I am storing these videos and pictures in a special place in case for when she gives us trouble as a teenager.



It's pretty clear that Lilly loves music and loves to sing.  What I didn't know is how perceptive she is to music and how quickly she picks it up!  One of my voice students was playing Ursula in The Little Mermaid, so we were frequently working on her song, "Poor Unfortunate Souls" in her voice lessons.  Lilly was home during these lessons, but she was usually playing in her playroom.  Apparently she was also learning the song right along with us!  This is the first time I ever heard her sing it!


This month was also memorable for us because it was our first trip as a couple away from Lilly.  One of my best friends, Jess (also known to Lilly as Aunt Jekka) was being ordained as a Rabbi in Boston and there was no way we were going to miss it.  Kari and Michelle offered to help watch Lilly, so we booked our tickets and planned the trip!

I missed Lilly, but it was great to get time to be adults and to put down the Mommy and Daddy hats for a couple of days.  We had an amazing time!  We saw some of our oldest friends who also live in the Boston area and we were thrilled to be there at this momentous occasion for our friend.



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