1st Library Trip

if anyone was at the blue springs north library on monday night, our apologies! :) we took a family field trip there and as you can imagine lilian was walking all over the place shouting "mama" and "hi" and "bye bye" to all the people she saw! most people smiled and were amused, but our apologies to all the others! oh well, mission accomplished...i checked out a bunch of new board books for lily (and for mommy, i was getting a little tired of reading the same ones over and over!) it was our first of many library trips...

my first library trip!

wow, look at all my new books!





17 months

lilian is almost a year and a half old! we took her to the doctor a few weeks ago for her 15 month check up (oops...i thought she only went at 12 and 18, not 15, so we were a tad late for that one!) her measurements were...
height 30.5" (33%)
weight 22 (29%)
her weight has actually decreased since her last check-up, all that running around i suppose! she has grown a few inches too which has helped! the doctor said she looked great and was exactly where she should be, yay!
i have to say her personality seems as if it is a jekyll hyde of sorts...one minute she can be happy as a clam and the next minute she is frustrated/upset...i guess that is the life of a toddler trying to figure out her world. we have noticed she is definitely INDEPENDENT and wants to do everything on her own, which of course makes her upset when mommy and daddy have to help. she has definitely been testing her limits...standing up in the grocery cart, etc. we are learning every day that's for sure!
typical day
wakes up at 7 on the dot (those black out curtains i bought sure haven't paid off yet!) i bring her to bed with us and she sometimes will sleep until 8 but that is usually the latest.
we have breakfast and milk around 8
8-9:30 play/read books
9:30-10:30 take a walk (usually around the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, sometimes to a local trail/park)
11:30ish eat lunch
12-2 play--pool, park, play date, etc.
2-3:30 nap (sometimes longer, sometimes shorter)
the rest of the night we play, eat dinner, go on a family walk, swing, run errands
8:30 bath/bedtime (daddy still puts her to bed every night, i think he especially loves this since she gets so much mommy time right now)
favorite foods
grapes, strawberries, blueberries, bananas (loves all fruit pretty much), green beans, goldfish, mac and cheese, veggie straws, chicken noodle soup, black beans, black olives, jello, turkey
words
her vocabulary is increasing by the day. the other night brian and i tried to list all the words we heard her say in the last few days...we came up with close to 50 words! of course if you were to hear some of them you may not understand! ha! some of her new words include...hot, cold, eyes, wiggle, stop, please, bus, truck. we are working on putting two and three words together...pretty much right now it is just "bye bye dada" or "bye bye bird" things like that!
accomplishments
can point to the following body parts: hair, head, eyes, ears, nose, lips, tongue, teeth, arms, hands, legs, feet, belly, belly button
can now give eskimo kisses (love this!) and is pretty good with the regular kisses too!
can follow simple, two step commands...pick up the shoes and take them to daddy, etc.
is understanding playing pretend...brian and i will act like we are sleeping and she'll say "shhh" and put her finger over her mouth, then call "dada/mama" and wake us up
favorite books
good morning, good night, elmo's find and seek, 1,2,3 to the zoo, peek-a-boo baby, goodnight moon, baby einstein picture dictionary (is getting really good at pointing/recognizing about everything in the book!), wheels on the bus, all her peek-a-boo books
favorite activities/enjoys
taking things in/out of drawers, swinging, "reading"/being read to, yo, gabba, gabba, music, climbing, LOVES being outside, being around her cousins and other kids, pushing her babies in their stroller, playing ball
dislikes
sitting for very long :) lately has been having a hard time getting in grocery carts/strollers/high chairs because she wants to walk/run everywhere...makes for some interesting moments at the store!

going to the pool, baby had to come along on this trip

kisses for baby

father's day

sunday brian celebrated his second father's day! we let daddy sleep in on sunday and when he woke up we presented him with his gift...a new edger for the yard (exciting stuff, huh?!) and we made him a special card filled with pictures of him and lilian.

opening gifts

our card! thanks mags for the great idea, he loved it!

daddy and his favorite girl!

we spent the day at my parents with my entire family. my dad's dad, ernie, and wife, nora, were able to join us which was very nice. grandpa ernie turned 83 on saturday. my mom's mom, nannie, and ross were also there so it was special to have both sides present. we enjoyed a bbq lunch and then let all the fathers open their gifts. afterwards, the kids went swimming which the grandparents (and great grandparents) loved watching!

dad, grandpa ernie, grandpa ross, brother bryan, and brian

every day i am reminded of how lucky i am to have brian as my husband and as lilian's father. he is the BEST father! one of the reasons i fell so hard for him was how awesome he was with kids and i remember always thinking, "man, he will make such an awesome father one day." that was back when we were best friends...now i am lucky enough to see that become a reality right before my eyes. we love you more than you know, b! happy father's day!

Introducing Baby Paxton

ashley and bob welcomed baby paxton on wednesday, june 8th! she had a wonderful delivery (yay!) we went up to visit them at st. luke's on thursday and take them one of our favorite books, god gave us you (it's precious). baby paxton weighed the same as lily did when she was born (6 lbs. 11 oz.), it is still so hard for me to remember back to those days. i sure loved holding paxton! he is perfect!

meeting baby paxton

the following wednesday we went over to ashley and bob's house to bring them dinner and visit for a little while. lilian loved saying "baby" of course and she loved jumping on their dog, melvin's, dog bed, it was pretty funny. they are adjusting well to life at home with a newborn. paxton has the cutest nursery, they did such an amazing job on it. we are so happy for their family!



Pool Party Playdate

our second jwe play date for the summer was held at prudence's house with her great backyard and pool! rebecca and her two boys, heather and sophia, drew and amelia, prudence and westyn, megan, lilian and i were all there for the fun. it was perfect weather for a pool day and the kids had a ball. they enjoyed a picnic lunch, playing in the water table, baby pool, and the big pool of course! we are excited for many more pool days with them.

amelia loved her jumper and westyn and lily thought she was pretty entertaining in it!

bathing beauties!

DG Lake Weekend

the second weekend in june my college girlfriends have a tradition of going to the lake of the ozarks for a girls getaway. last year it never panned out and the year before that i was pregnant (secretly! we had not told anyone yet) so i was unable to go. needless to say, i was really looking forward to lake weekend 2011! jill, sara, and i rode down together on friday around 3:00. when we got there we met all the girls out for dinner and drinks and then went back to the condo we rented and stayed up chatting the night away. saturday was a perfect pool day! it was so strange being able to lay out and not chase a toddler around! i forgot what that felt like. it was very relaxing and was nice to catch up with everyone and hear what was going on in all of their lives. each year we make a "craft." this year mary brought wine glasses with pens to decorate them, they turned out so cute. that night we all got ready and went out to shady gators. it was a wonderful weekend with wonderful friends!!

mags and me...she is expecting baby #3 in early august!

all the girls friday night at dinner

before heading out for the night



love these girls!

p.s. while i had my girls weekend brian took lilian up to iowa for the weekend. that is the first time either of us have traveled that far with her alone in the car...she did awesome on both the ride there and back (yay!) they spent some quality family time at the park, playing in mark and leanne's back yard, etc. it was a great weekend for them. i think she will LOVE spending a week up there in july!

Burr Oak Woods

thursday we got to spend the day with miss kaiya again. the girls and i went to burr oak woods and had the place almost all to ourselves. they had a great kids area where kaiya was able to put together a puzzle. lilian loved running around and pointing to the animals she knew. she loved watching the squirrels run up the trees and pointing at all the birds. we walked the trail and caught a glimpse of wild turkeys (awesome!), chipmunks, squirrels, and tons of birds. it was a great morning! afterwards we did some shopping, went to armstrong park, and then went to the pool with drew and baby amelia. kaiya and lilian had another fun day together!



A Day with Nannie and Ross

wednesday lilian and i spent the day with my grandparents, her great grandparents, nannie and ross. she LOVED playing in their backyard because they have lots of pretend animals...deer, dog statues, bunny statues, etc. they also live on a golf course so she loved watching the people come up and hit their golf balls. they have a beautiful backyard full of flowers and big trees. she would go around picking the flowers and smell them and then hand the flowers to one of the "animals," it was cute! she loved pointing at all the birds too, bird is one of her new favorite words! thanks for a great day, nannie and ross. we are so excited to be able to spend more time together now that summer is here.

Nannie and Lily, she couldn't keep her eyes off the neighbor's dogs to get a picture!

one of my favorites! she LOVES to be outside.

sharing her flowers with the bunny

reading with nannie

Kaiya Time

monday and tuesday we were lucky enough to spend the days with kaiya! mona has to work an extra week after teachers being a principal so miss kaiya got to spend some quality time with aunt kari and lilian. i cannot tell you how much lilian LOVES being around her! kaiya is such an angel and reads with her, plays peek a boo, holds her hand in the stroller, it is seriously the cutest thing to watch. yesterday we were in the kiddie pool in the backyard and kaiya said, "i wish lilian was my sister!" awww, love. we have had a great few days together. on monday we went to mcdonald's for lunch and played in the play area. after that we played outside and went to the park.

reading together

kaiya got out her coloring book so lilian decided it was time for her to test out the new crayons i got her...they kept her entertained for a bit...she loves grouping them all together in one hand!

on tuesday some of the jwe teacher and their kids had planned to go the kc zoo. my mom came with lilian, kaiya and me. i was SO glad she did because lilian was having a rough morning at the zoo! she did not want to sit in her stroller and wanted me to hold her the whole time which was very comfortable in 90 degree weather, ha! halfway around the africa section of the zoo she took a little snooze on my mom and after she woke up she was much better, thankfully! i felt bad we did not stick with all my teacher friends but what can you do!? such is the life of a 16 month old! we stopped and had a picnic lunch before leaving the zoo. afterwards we went shopping for a bit and then went to the pool to cool off after being in the hot sun all day. it was the perfect ending to our day. we are so lucky to have kaiya in our lives, we adore her! she was such a big helper these past few days. lilian is not going to know what to do without her! we can't wait to spend many more days together this summer!

sea lion show was great!

drew and amelia came to the zoo too...kaiya knows amelia from michele's (their babysitter, where lilian will go next year too!) i love how the girls are playing in this picture!

love this...couple of cuties!

we just got this new float for lily and she loved it, her own "bug!"



Summer is HERE

i am definitely reminded every june of the greatest perk to being a teacher...getting the summer off to spend with my baby girl! friday was our last day of school which means summer has officially arrived and we could not be happier! brian is teaching summer school so he won't be done until the first of july (boo!) but lilian and i sure are happy to be together all day for the next few months! this weekend we welcomed summer with lots of outdoor activities, our favorite of course being the pool! lily is very lucky to be able to go swimming at grammy and pop's house whenever she wants...lucky girl! the weather feels like august already...upper 90's so we have definitely been enjoying lots of dips in the pool!

testing out the water table, thanks aunt leanne!

another new toy from aunt leanne and the twins..she loves it!

i'm in love with this picture (and these two!)

LOVES sucking on ice chips...this was too funny!

this is what relaxation looks like!

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

brian's parents came in town thursday night for a visit. we all went to dinner at el maguey's and then had ice cream afterwards. mexican and ice cream = my kind of night! it was the perfect way to celebrate the last day of school! afterwards we went to railroad park and walked around. lily loved the ducks and the swing.

Grandma and Grandpa!

Going down the slide with Grandma, fun!

"ducks!" with grandpa

brian and i had a teacher work day on friday so gary and rhoda entertained lilian for us! they went shopping, to lunch at panera, and played outside. they said she was a great girl all day! she loves spending time with her grandma and grandpa! we love you!


Goodbye, Laurie!

the last day of school was very bittersweet for us...we are excited that summer has finally arrived but it also meant saying goodbye to our amazing babysitter, laurie. she has watched lily since she was 12 weeks old and i went back to work after maternity leave. she has taken such wonderful care of our baby and we are forever grateful and appreciative to her for all the love she showed lilian and our family for the past year and a half. we know it is not goodbye, as we will stay in touch, but she will be greatly missed! thanks for everything, laurie!