February 2016

February started off with a few new toys from Kim!  She was cleaning out some of her kids' stuff and asked if we wanted to some Play-doh sets and a fort building set.  I know Lilly LOVES Play-doh and as much as she loves to build with her blocks, I figured a fort building kit would be amazing!  I was right!  The very first night we had it, we built several forts and then we had to leave them up in the playroom because they were her special clubhouse :-)  Thanks Kim!

Lilly loves to do puzzles.  One evening when I was getting ready to go to choir practice, Lilly and Darren were on the floor together working out a tough Frozen puzzle.  It was great to hear her problem solve and try to work out where all of the pieces went.  She was very proud of herself when she finished it!

Darren and I take turns waking up with Lilly on the weekends.  Darren decided to spend that extra time with her to make her Valentine's for all her friends!  It gave them some great bonding time and Lilly practiced writing her name.

Kari and Jason had a Superbowl party and when the game started for the adults downstairs, the movie started for the kids upstairs!  All the kids had been playing together for several hours already and we had very few tears.  It's great that all of these sweet kids can play together even though their ages range from 2-9!  The truth is this picture didn't last long because most of these kids were too excited to be together to sit and watch a movie, but those of us who didn't care about the game wrangled and checked on them ;-)

It's so nice that the weather is warming up and we can be OUTSIDE!  We all love being outside, especially Lilly.  We met up with the Smiths at South Park and had a great time playing.  Lilly was so excited to see Kristin there; she loves playing with her!  She has started calling her "Krissy" which Michelle said is fine with her, so I haven't stopped her haha!  I love how nicely they play together!

Darren had his rock music playing and Lilly started dancing while eating her ice cream!  I caught the tail end of it, but at least you get an idea of how cute it was to watch a sweet little blonde in a nightgown, eating ice cream while shaking it to AC/DC!

I realized the other day that I haven't taken a SINGLE shot of my pregnant belly!  I was so good about taking weekly picture with Lilly and this time around I have slacked off.  This is me at 32 weeks :-)  I am feeling great and loving all the kicks and movements from baby boy!  Being pregnant is very special...it's hard at times, but I am so incredibly grateful and feel blessed to get this experience again.

Lilly and I were having some Mommy/Lilly time and she asked me if she could paint. She absolutely LOVES to paint (and draw and do any sort of craft) and I probably don't pull it out as much as I should.  She had the best time and I just love watching her and how diligent she is about making sure she covers the entire paper!

Lilly and Darren were playing with her Mr. Potato head and friends set and Lilly was very excited at her carrot creation!

Michelle and Chad had some people over for a Sunday evening cook out to take advantage of the nice weather.  It was also great because some of our friends just moved to the neighborhood and Michelle and Chad invited them as well to help welcome them and introduce them to everyone.  We all had a great time.  Lilly had a great time playing with all of the kids, but especially Kristin and Lauren.  She was also very interested in baby Lindsay.  I love watching her with the babies!  She is completely enthralled by them...I sure hope that lasts!  

Darren was working at White Rabbit, so Lilly and I had a Mommy/daughter date to Chick-fil-A.  She was super excited because her friend, Parker, from school was there so they played together on the play place.  They were giggling so hard, making up their own games and having a blast!  It's great to see Lilly interacting with a friend from school.  We get to see her with our neighborhood friends, but we rarely see her with kids from school.  They played so well together.

Here are a few wonderful Lilly moments from this month:

Last night she was listening to a few of her books on CD (which is a great gift for her down the line, by the way because she LOVES books and this allows her to "read" the book on her own and actually hear the story).  Anyway, she was reading her book and in the end the princess (Rapunzel) marries Flynn Rider, who is a thief.  She turns to Darren and says, 'Daddy, when I get married, I am NOT marrying a thief!"  How cute is that?  She says the silliest things and keeps us on our toes!

While Lilly and I were reading a "big sister" book, we talked about what the new baby.  We talked about him sleeping a lot, needing his diaper changed and eating.
Me: "What do babies like to eat?"
Lilly:  "Milk.  And peas.  Babies can eat peas because they're really small."

Lilly loves her blankets, stuffed animals and loveys and will often bring them downstairs with her, or into our room, or even into the car.  I have walked up the stairs with an armload of "fluffy" things many times on our way to bed and I often say something like, "Do we have all of your paraphernalia?"  Well, the other night Lilly grabbed all of her blankets and animals herself, looked up at me and said, "I'm ready for bed, Mommy.  I have all of my paraphernalia!"  Darren and I almost died laughing.

The other night when I was putting Lilly to bed, we finished a Pinkalicious book about cupcakes and then Lilly randomly said, "You should never touch a porcupine on his back.  You can touch his belly, but not his back.  He has quills, Mommy, and they will sting you.  A puffer fish can also sting you, so don't touch that either, ok?"  The letter of the week at school is "P" and I guess that must have been a topic of conversation that she was excited to share!