The Long Days of Summer

With Lilly beans waking at 6:30am every morning to the crow of an invisible rooster, it has been making for some long summer days.  We’ve been on a trip to WNC to see grands and been able to find places to play here and there.

Lilly loves going to the pool and playing outside.  She really loves TV which can be an issue because it is just so easy to let her watch it.  She is growing taller (but not wider) every minute.  We are also letting her bangs grow out for easier care but the in-between is tough especially since she wont keep a clip in it. We tried potty training for a week and with little to no success, we decided to postpone it for just a little while until we can get interested again.  The new baby grows bigger and stronger (yowzer) every day and I am mentally and physically trying to prepare myself for the new addition.  We talk to Lilly about her new baby and she sort of gets it but has already declared that the toys are hers.  “That’s Wiwwys!”  Life is good though and it is nice to have the option to spend this summer with my first girl, my pretty and funny girl.  She keeps us laughing lately with her facial expressions and comments.

And here is Lilly singing in the “big truck”….

Easter is Here

It has been awhile since our last post.  Easter Sunday came and went and Nana and Daddy George were here visiting for two weeks! This made me jealous of those parents that have their parents close by.

School is almost out for the summer and Lilly and I are already making a list of things to do each day to keep and and occupied.  It has been a great year at Good Shepherd and I will miss being there next year but will have my hands full with the newest member of the household.

Mother’s Day was very special and Wil and Lilly gave me some hanging plants and a lunch out at Outback.  It was nice to spend the day together and know that I will have even more love next year.

Tornados hit our part of the world about two weeks ago and I have never been so amazed at how quicly lives can be destroyed.  Right down the mountain, Wil’s barber shop no longer exists but the countless number of homes lost and lives lost is unbelievable.  We were so so lucky and only had a few trees fall in the yard.

What’s Been Going On

As the weather gets better and better, we find ourselves outside on the porch or flower hunting quite often.  The playgrounds are awesome around here but man, those slides get hot in the sun so we stick to those in the morning or late afternoon.

Papa let Lilly sit on the motorcycle for the first time this past week.  She loved pretending and Wil loved being with her.

 

 

Lilly has also been doing a lot more role playing and using her imagination.  She gets into her kitchen and pretends to cook.  She always cooks coffee though which is funny to me because we aren’t the biggest coffee drinkers but is definitely something we have that she doesn’t get to have.

 

 

 

This past weekend, Lilly and I went to visit Nana and Daddy George in GA where they were staying in the 5th wheel trailer.  Lilly loved being outside so much and we made do with her and I sharing a bed which I wasn’t sure about but it went okay.  We had fun wlaking down to the pond, feeding fish, going shopping and visiting Aunt Linda. One store had a self playing piano.  Lilly really liked that!

 

“Watch Babies!”

One of Lilly’s favorite things to do is watch other babies laugh on You Tube.  She is mesmerized by other babies and what they find funny.  I decided to try to film her watching.  Well, it was kinda successful:

Fresh Faced and Boogery

 

 

To celebrate Lilly’s 2 year doctor appointment, we had a little photo shoot in the yard, and the neighbors yard, and the other neighbor’s yard.  Not camera shy, Lilly loved sitting and playing in the flowers and wanted to see every photo I took of her.

Doctor Rawlings gave Lilly flying colors at her appointment.  Our two year old weighs in at 23 pounds and 33 inches tall.  She is a little under the average and might be a shorty when she’s older.  The doc said she looked great, beautiful, just about perfect!  The best of the news is that we don’t have to go back until she is 3!  Hopefully we will stay away from the doctors but we will miss Dr. Rawlings.  Luckily he goes to Good Shepherd so we can give him hugs.

When we walked into the office, Lilly was saying “I don’t like it.” But she was a trooper and let the doc check her ears and eyes, throat was a little tough but he managed.   At one point, she said, “Pee in potty.” So we went down to the bathroom, took off the ol’ diaper and she peed!  It was great but she still has wet diapers.  One of these days, I am going to stay home long enough to potty train her.  No rush though.  There is a convenience about diapers that I am hesitating giving up.

I took LOTS of photos but I will put some here that I didn’t put on Facebook.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Last Days of Winter

 

Here are a couple of videos of us enjoying the last days of winter (thank goodness!)

Leaf Dance:

 

 

I See You!:

 

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to so many of our family members including Lilly herself (and me!)  She had a great birthday party with lots of entertainment from guests and nice presents.  Wil and I gave her a tricycle which she loves but can’t quite get the peddles to rotatate but my prediction is by summer she will have gained the inches she needs to make it happen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lilly and I also made a trip to see family, as much as we could, and enjoyed seeing those we haven’t seen in over a year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have been having a great month and the weather is turning warm.  Lilly can still be very stubborn but she also can do so many things on her own.  Putting on (velcro) shoes and socks is no problem and she knows how to get undressed which is the reason I find her naked a lot.  She has become a little pickier with her food and I can see her imagination growing when I hear her talking to herself when she should be napping.

It’s Been Awhile

It has been a long while since I have updated Really Lilly.  This is due to my lack of energy to do much but things are improving and we have entered the second trimester.

It is almost officially spring which makes us all happy!  We have been spending lots more time outside, checking out the daffodils and playing with our new toys.  Our good friend Carol has bestowed upon us some hand me down yard toys that Lilly has been loving.

She has been growing physically with height, balance and over all energy.  I didn’t know she could muster much more energy up but she has managed.  She is starting to show signs of a liking and disliking more foods.  Some things she used to love she isn’t much into anymore:  pancakes and beans are off the table right now which is sad for me because trying to find replacements is tough.  We have all been healthy for quite awhile and I think the warmer weather is to thank.

And oh the words!  We are saying so many new things and each day she tries to communicate something more.  Sometimes I get it, sometimes I don’t.  Here is Wil and Lilly having a sing a long:

The biggest news on our scene is Lilly is now in a big girl bed!  In preparation for the new baby needing the crib, we held our breath as we moved Lilly into a new part of the room and put her in a toddler bed.  As much as I dreaded it, it has been totally painless and she loves it!  She will call for me in the morning and then say, “Big girl bed!”  All proud of herself for being a big girl.  We do have a gate up to keep her on her side of the room because  when we don’t, we are woken at odd hours with a cheerful, “hi!” and then getting her back to bed is tough so the gate works for us.  I think she is going to be a great big sister!

A Regular Picasso

 

Fun things are going on here on Lookout Mountain.  I witnessed Lilly playing with her kitchen and talking herself today which was really exciting.  I have been waiting for the imagination to become obvious and there it was, a girl and her play frying pan.  Lilly’s words have become a lot clearer too.  People besides myself can understand her and respond to her needs or questions.  It seems to happen so fast.

A regular request around the house is to paint.  It is so fun to have her pick out a few paints, get apron-ed up, and paint the paper and her mouth and her hands and the floor….yikes!  The part I don’t like is how quickly the painting lasts for all the work of setting it up but it’s worth it to see her artistic side being nurtured.

 

We’ve been working on Lilly’s understanding of being a big sister and having a baby in mommy’s belly.  She can almost say sister and she points to her belly button when we talk about the baby but I am not quite sure it makes since.  As I blossom into a massive human being, things might get clearer.  We are working on potty training and soon we will work on getting out of the crib so that we are diaper free when baby is born and so we can use the crib eventually.  I think the crib is going to be tough but we will see.

Newness all over the place

A lot has happened since our last post.   First off, we had the Christmas holiday in all it’s glory.  My brother and his family came to our house for the festivities which was so nice.  We all just ate and played and watched it snow.  It seemed everyone enjoyed their gifts and the girls loved being together for the day.

 

After Christmas, we headed to Asheville and Nebo to see as many friends as possible and spend quality time with the family.  As usual, there just wasn’t enough time to do everything but we managed to get together with a few friends and see all of the family that we could muster up.

 

 

Lilly got so many wonderful gifts that she will never be bored again!  I am sad to say that I did not take many pictures this year.  I do not know why but when looking back, I barley have any.  I promise to do better.

Asheville was great as usual and the lake was wonderful too.  Cousin Rachel was at the lake house with Nana and Daddy George which was nice for Lilly to have someone to play with.  Wil and I left the lake and headed to the gulf for a little r and r without Lilly.  I admit that it was wonderful:  sleeping in, eating out, watching adult TV but I sure did miss Lilly.

When we returned to Chattanooga, we found a happy, healthy and content Lilly that ran into my arms and didn’t want to let go.  Does it get any better?  Lilly also turned 22 months old and is talking a bunch and able to draw better lines and can count a little and can tell me what she wants to eat even though it tends to be pickles and marshmallows that she requests.