Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Lilly's 1st Birthday Party

We went all out for Lilly's 1st Birthday Party.  50+ people were invited (about 25 actually came), including most of our small group from church, immediate family, Lilly's great-grandparents , and several other friends.  I handmade all of the decorations and invitations, which considering I am not a crafty person, was rather impressive!  I know Lilly won't remember this ever, but I want her to be able to look back at the photos one day and smile, knowing that I did all of this for her, because I love her so much!  It was totally worth all of the work and time!  I actually really enjoyed making all of the decorations and may try to do more in the future!


I have had a theme in mind since we decorated her nursery over a year ago - pink and green polka dots.  Her nursery is similar, so my plan is to use some of the decorations in her nursery as well :)  I stole some ideas from my good friend Jennifer, who did a lady bug themed party for her sweet daughter back in May.  Then I got more ideas from Pinterest and Esty.  Such great websites! 

(please excuse the photos...blogger is being a pain & I can't get the photos to go/do what I want)
Our good friend Jennifer (who I stole ideas from) made Lilly's tutu.  I ordered her shirt and head band from Etsy.

Sweet Melanie.  She just moved back to the US from PNG and is now getting ready to move to Colorado!  We are really going to miss Melanie and the rest of her family!
Wesley enjoying a cupcake
Brayden & Ben playing football in the front yard
I think we found the next NCSU quarterback!  Look at that form!
Paw and Lilly
Jocelyn (Melanie's birthday twin!)
Sandra and a sleepy Camilo

Hmmm...I wonder what this is?


Not too bad...

 I like it!!
Beth & Vince
Cute photo
Grammy & Lilly (and a better shot of her outfit!)
The food table.  My mom saw this cute idea to take cheap table clothes, layer them and cut polka dots out of the top one! 
Thanks to Aunt Amy, we had yummy tasting fondant polka dots on the cake & cupcake. 

Fruit loops and flowers :)
Tissue paper pom-poms.  Super cheap and easy to make.  These will be moving to Lilly's room at some point :)

Happy Birthday Lillian sign and High chair ribbon decorations. 
1 Yr Photo banner...this one was really fun to do and I don't want to take it down now.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Lilly's 1st day in the Toddler room

Today was Lilly's 1st full day in the Toddler room at school.  She was supposed to have transitioned last week (2hrs Monday - Tuesday, 4hrs Wednesday - Thursday, and all day on Friday), but she was out sick part of Wednesday and all of Thursday.  I spoke with the director about letting her transition a bit this week as well instead of just throwing her in after only 2 2hr days.  They were fine with this. 

I guess she was doing so well (although Ms Brenda, her new teacher, did say there were some rough moments), that they decided to leave her all day.  I went to her Infant class to pick her up and she was GONE!  I couldn't believe it!  My baby has moved up on me...when did that happen?  No more bottles, breakfasts, etc to take to school.  I mean, she could walk in/out if we let her.  I was NOT ready for this (neither was she I don't think!). 

I am 100% certain that she will LOVE the toddler room once she gets adjusted, but right now, my baby is in with all of these big kids!  Plus, it doesn't help any that I absolutely love her Infant teachers. 

Ms Brenda said that she sat at the table & ate with no problem (I wouldn't expect any issues in this area because baby girl LOVES to eat!) and did pretty well sleeping on her cot today.  She sat up during naptime, but didn't actually get off the cot.  I am so proud of her!!!  Such a big girl!

She must have been worn slap out because on the 5 minute ride home, she fell asleep.  Poor thing!  She will get used to it...they always do. 

Now if I can just get adjusted to the idea that she isn't a "baby" anymore :(

Brayden's art work

Brayden is really into drawing these days.  Here are a few of his masterpieces from recently. 
Firetruck

Slides (the twisty things on the sides are slides)

Sideways, but this is a train with lots of coal cars

Sideways again, but this is a BIIIG truck. 
I think he is doing pretty well, but I guess I am somewhat biased :)

Friday, September 14, 2012

Beach Trip #2


This summer we were lucky enough to get to go to the beach with both sides of our family.  Matt's family for the 4th of July and then a month later we went with my family.  My dad's sister & BIL have a house at Myrtle Beach so they go each summer for a few weeks.  While Betsy & Jeff were at the beach, my cousins Mij, Morgan, and Mark (from Chicago) all came down as well.  My parents, Matt, the kids and I all took an extra long weekend vacation. 

Matt & I had planned on leave Wednesday night but of course, right as we were getting ready to put the kids in the car a "hurricane" came through (like 3" of rain in an hour type storm with major lightening and thunder), so we decided it would be best to wait until the next morning and leave early.  I mean, we are used to getting up super early for work/school anyway, so what difference would it make to us?  Turns out, it was a great plan!  We were at the beach by about 11:30, met my parents for lunch, and then headed out to the beach for a few hours.  Brayden and Lilly had a blast!  We were lucky that my Godmother let us stay in her condo in N. Myrtle Beach and her place is only 2 blocks off the beach.  There were thousands of these little shells that moved up and down the beach.  We hardly ever see them at Sunset Beach where we go with Matt's family. 

The boys while grilling....Matt was doing the cooking :)
Lilly & Morgan

Mark, Bradyen, Morgan, and Lilly


FAMILY!!
The next day, we met up with my Betsy, Jeff, Mij, Morgan, and Mark.  Of course, by the time we got everyone out to the beach a storm started brewing.  We eventually were run in because of the rain but we still had a good time hanging out together. Mark let Brayden follow him around and play on his kindle. 

The next day, we met up again to go to the beach.  Again, a storm eventually ran us off the beach, but we did hang out in the pool for a while 1st.  Lilly had a blast on the beach and in the pool and  Brayden loved playing with his cousin Mark.  Lilly & Brayden both got lots of loving and attention from everyone, especially Morgan and Mark.

Thank you Betsy, Jeff, Mij, Morgan, and Mark for a great few days at the beach!  Hopefully, we will see you all again next year at the beach!



Thursday, September 6, 2012

Lilly's 1 year update

I can't believe that my baby girl turned ONE this past Sunday!  Lilly has grown and changed so much in the past year!  She is a sweet, cuddly, giggling little girl who loves her Momma, Daddy, Brayden,  and Ms Sarah (daycare teacher) to pieces - we we all love her back so much!

Lilly 1 year ago
Lilly - Saturday at her party
I knew that Lilly was on the small side, but I didn't realize quite how small until her 1 yr check up this past Tuesday.  Here are her stats:

Weight: 18 pounds 1 ounce (12%)
Height: 26.75" tall (3%)
Head Circumference: 18" (75%)

So she is short with a big head I mean brains!

Lilly babbles all the time, although the only possibly distinguishable words right now are "momma" and "dadda".  I have a feeling that one day, she is just going to start talking and never stop! 

Finally, at around 11 months, Lilly decided that it was OK to sleep though the night (most of the time), but only after a few nights of waking up 9-10 times!  Yeah...those were not good days that followed :)  She is still hit or miss with naps both at home and at school.  Lots of days, she only takes 2 short 30-40 minute naps, but this week, she seems to be taking 2 longer naps.  Maybe because she is so much more mobile now??  Either way, I am hoping that once she moves to the 1yr old class at school, she will settle into a 1 nap per day routine quickly. 

Even though her weight/height don't really indicate it, Lilly Bug LOVES TO EAT!!  Some meals, she eats more than Brayden (and he is a pretty good eater).  I don't think we have really found anything that she doesn't like to eat.  She will eat chicken, steak, pork chops, spaghetti (and other similar foods), meatballs, any pasta type dish, all fruit and veggies (including beets and mushrooms)...you name it and she will eat it!  She loves graham crackers, cheese, animal crackers, and puffs for snacks as well.  We started the switch to whole milk about 2 weeks ago and Lilly took right to it.  Didn't phase her one bit. 

As of this week, she is not getting anymore bottles, but does still get a sippy cup of mommy's milk at school during the day. She is still nursing 2-3 times per day and drinks whole milk, water, or juice the rest of the time. 

Slowly but surely Lilly's hair is coming in.  It is going to be blonde like Mommy's.  We are working on leaving hairbows and headbands in.  She did pretty well at her party on Saturday, but after a while the headband came out.  Her eyes...OH MY WORD...they are the most beautiful blue!  I am so excited that they stayed blue!

Lilly is always happy as along as Mommy is holding her, which makes me feel good :)  Brayden never really cared one way or the other who had him, but Lilly is a Mommy's girl through and through.  I am sure that this will change before too long though!  She is a very determined little thing.  She KNOWS what she isn't supposed to get into (TV electronics, cat food/water, etc), but goes straight for those things and then turns back to look & see if she is being watched before messing with them.  If she gets caught and you say "NO!", she immediately starts crying.  Of course, as soon as she is done crying, right back at it she goes!

Lilly has been "cruising" around the furniture for about 1-2 months now, but about a week ago she took a 1-2 very tentative steps towards me but wouldn't do it again when I tried to show Matt.  Then at her party, she just up and walked about 10 steps to my mom!  Silly girl...she just wanted a big audience!  Just tonight, she has been walking more and more and can almost make it across the kitchen before falling down!  It won't be long before she is completely a walker!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!  Mommy, Daddy, and Brayden love you SO MUCH!!

Monday, September 3, 2012

New Hill Train Ride

The North Carolina Railway Museum and New Hope Valley Railway are about 30 minutes from our house.  We were able to buy tickets for a Sunday afternoon train ride.  The weather was hot and muggy, but the train was open air so it wasn't too bad. 

Near the ticket counter, they had several model trains set up and running.  All of the kids had a blast watching the trains!


 Once we had our tickets, we crossed a bridge and went to where the trains were.  There were several old train cars that you could go in along with a small store.  Thankfully, the train was full but not overflowing.  We had plenty of room to spread out and relax.  The train ride lasted about 1 hour and went through a wooded area.  At the end of the line, the train had to unhook, and then come down a different track to pull us back to the station.  It was fun getting to watch the train come by and get hooked up again.   

Excited for the ride to start




Brayden being stubborn and not smiling.  He really did have fun!

Photo dump - June 2012 - August 2012


Avocado anyone?

Silly Lilly!

Blue eyes

Beautiful baby girl


Lilly's 1st time sitting at the table at school
Lilly's 1st time in the pool!

Lilly LOVES the water

Look Mom!  I can stand up!


So proud of herself!



Fishing with Grammy and Paw

Riding in Paw's new boat (he did enjoy it even though it would never tell you he did!)

We stopped to enjoy the view for a little while



Brayden being silly!