Cute Photo Opp

All at once: a collective "ahh. she's so cute!" I can't believe how fast she's growing up and how independent she already wants to be.

Lilly's favorite spot

is under the buffet in the breakfast room. I'm not sure how much longer she will fit under there comfortably, but I think I may start taking more buffet photos.

Baby needs a pair of shoes!

So we got her some! And I thought, "How cute! What baby girl wouldn't want a pair of pink tennis shoes?"














We put them on her and she showed a little curiosity.














and some concern...














which led to tears.....














and then this!? Really Lilly? Are they that bad? So we tried putting them on her again today and she still is not a fan of shoes! Not sure how she plans to play in the snow.

Lilly's Christmas Card

Lilly received a Christmas card from her Great Aunt Patty that plays a little song by Alvin and the Chipmunks. She loves it! She walks around with it, letting it play along. Ernie and I were in the kitchen when we noticed her missing. And she was quiet... Here's where we found her.

Lilly's One Year Photo Session

Merry Christmas! We had Lilly's photos taken recently for her first birthday and Christmas. Enjoy!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

No Peeking!

OK so I admit it - I opened all my presents early. I still do it and I still re-wrap them and act surprised. I just can't help myself. And I'm not upset that Lilly did this at such a young age. I am appalled though at her lack of creativity and how brazen she is with such an act!














OK - what is it?














a scarf and a hat from Ms. Bonnie! Very nice of her.














What? not what you expected? I guess you'll have to open another one.

Feeding Woes

Lilly's Aunt Kelly got her some dishes for her birthday and I thought it was a great idea. See? A plate with bananas, pumpkin bread and some carrots. I know she doesn't really know what to do with spoon or fork, but really expected her to appreciate the plate and eat it all eagerly.

Do you see the plate?

Lesson learned! And check out the floor! Thank goodness for Goose! Unfortunately, Goose just went to the vet for his check up and shots. Looks like Goose has gained 5 pounds. We are pretty sure it is because Lilly keeps feeding him.

Lilly Meets Santa!

Cindy, a co-worker, hosts an annual open house featuring Santa! I've always thought it was a great idea and so this year I invited Lilly! The theory: Santa can be scary so the kids need to be comfortable! She had cookies, punch and other appetizers along with paper and crayons so kids could write letters to Santa or draw him a picture. And as if that isn't enough, she collects new, unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots!

This is Lilly with our wonderful host.

and this is Lilly with the jolly fellow! She wasn't excited about him. So we decided to let her walk around and explore and see if she could get enough courage to try it again.

This is Santa's Room. Lilly watched him closely when she wasn't trying to play with the antique tea set.

I really thought we were making progress here. She seems comfortable and interested in him.

After about an hour of holding a cookie and exploring Cindy's beautiful home and waving to Santa, we tried again unsuccessfully. Guess we will try again next year!

The Good Stuff

I cannot wait until Lilly can sit on the counter and help me bake chocolate chip cookies! I usually make lots of cookies on Thanksgiving weekend and take them into the office for our clients to enjoy. Our clients now expect goodies and I still don't have anything made. My annual Holiday Cookie Exchange is on Friday and although I know which cookie I am going to bake, I haven't started them. Lilly loves to share and was gracious enough to share her germs with me so I've been fighting this cold since Thanksgiving. She and I are finally feeling better so we decided to do some baking! We tried a new recipe. Orange Batons - a shortbread cookie that should be sprinkled with powdered sugar, but Lilly likes them without so we are doing without the powdered sugar.

We read directions for the breadmaker and although it says "made in New York" as Lilly pointed out, our bread was really made in a little place we'll call "Mommy's Kitchen."

We also made praline grahams, but they didn't really turn out so good. Like any good cook, we got rid of the evidence quickly!

All this cooking tuckered poor Lilly out!

The Good Ole Days

Back in the day it seemed I was sick a lot. I was easily spotted in the Christmas snapshots because inevitably, the photo was taken just as I was sneezing or blowing my nose or something else sickly. The great thing about that though (sometimes you have to look really hard for the silver lining) was Robitussin! Mom always had it on hand and I enjoyed taking it! A lot can be said for codeine. I miss being able to buy it OTC!

Lilly is very good at sharing and shared her cold with me which turned into a horrible cough that only a deaf person (ie Ernie) could sleep through. I finally gave in and went to the doctor who lovingly gave me a prescription for robitussin and a z-pack. I am most thankful for the robitussin and the extra generous refill!

So I'm feeling better today - finally. I got up with Lilly; fed her; played with her; consoled her every time she whined as she woke up on the wrong side of her crib today. More importantly - I took a shower. Yesterday was a rough day.... so today was already a huge improvement. I even went to the grocery store. I was feeling very accomplished until I got home and walked in the door. Ernie asked me if I was ok. I said yes. He responded with really? And then told me how bad I looked today and he couldn't believe I went to the grocery store "like that." And I thought I was off to such a good start....

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

I love Christmas! Always have. I love to drive around and look at the lights. I love to go shopping even though I'm already done to watch everyone else hustling and bustling. I love the Christmas music! Yes, I listen to the Christmas station!! And yes, I start playing Christmas music in my CD player and on Pandora well before Halloween and sometimes in July! I hope to share this love with Lilly. I really want her to enjoy it, but I feel like we may need to set some boundaries. For starters: Hey! Stop breaking the ornaments! I put some ornaments that I thought could not be broken on some lower branches anticipating her wanting to touch and play with some of them.

So far - she's broken 2 of them. One belonged to my mom's mom. It was 3 red wooden bells. I remember my first tree out on my own. I was 20 years old and had only a few ornaments. I couldn't afford to buy anything and was complaining about it to my mom. Mimi was living with mom at the time and must have felt my heartache. She came out with a box of her ornaments. She told me she didn't need them and would love for me to use them! I still hang remember that night fondly as I hang her ornaments on my tree. The other one was a Santa face my paternal grandmother gave me not too long ago. It was probably one of the last gifts I received from her. She probably couldn't tell you my name anymore thanks to Alzheimer's. I thought the Santa face was plastic and "safe", but apparently, if one slams it down hard enough on a hard-wood floor, a resin Santa ornament will break.

See those red bells? Yep - gone! She just pulled them apart like warm string cheese.

And Ernie is always telling me how I spoil Lilly. I let her get away with everything and "it's ok to tell her no." Yet look at the evidence I found on his camera recently. Looks like he not only "allowed" her to play with the tree, but he also documented it!

Black Friday

Last year, we spent a very quiet Thanksgiving at home with a very tiny newborn. Unfortunately, I was sick as a dog and could not take anything for it. I was told we needed a cool mist vaporizer to relieve my symptoms and protect Lilly from my preferred OTC drugs. Ernie was so sweet when he said, "I'll go get something tomorrow." I thought ok, but I knew it was best to prepare him for the chaos of Black Friday. He quickly changed his mind and said something along the lines of "sorry for you!" But - I thought of everyone I know and only one of my local friends is crazy enough to go out in that! Yes, Anita has even waited on Starbucks to open! Really? Anyway - fast forward to this year. My sister, Kelly and her family, came to visit Lilly and she really needed to get all her Christmas shopping finished while here. She thought I would want to go with her. Not really. But here she is showing Lilly the ropes...

"First, you have to have a plan Lilly!"
"And then, we have to organize our.... Ok - Lilly - we have to get ORGANIZED!"

Lilly's Mecca

It's no secret - Lilly loves her electonics! Remote controls, tvs, telephones, cell phones, kindles, laptops. Even the baby monitor! She loves it all. It's also no secret - I don't take Lilly very many places. Lots of reasons - all of them are because I'm a freak and I wont apologize for it either! Anyway - Aunt Kelly thought it would be great to do an "experiment." She suggested while Ernie and Chris took the kids to a hockey game that we could take Lilly out into the world. It's not like I dont take her anywhere... I do take her places, just not very far away or very crowded. This look of pure joy would leave anyone to believe this is her first car ride!

And we took her to what we are sure will be her mecca for many years to come.
I let her touch everything! This is why you should not buy the display models! She helped a customer test out some audio speakers by turning the volume up very loud! She looked at TVs. And here she is touching some satellite radios! Loads of fun!

And here she is telling the nice lady at Best Buy who took all her Aunt Kelly's money: "We'll take this one!"

Ironically, Aunt Kelly did not take a picture or video of Lilly crying the whole way to Best Buy and the whole way back! And yes, we all survived, but I was a little traumatized. However, Lilly and I tried another experiment on Sunday evening. We drove all the way to Ballwin (43 miles to be exact) to visit our friends, Todd and Melinda and their daughter Renee. She did well on the way there because she was busy with her bottle. The ride home, however... Well - no more experimenting solo for this mother anymore!

Lilly goes to Faust Park

a little history: Faust Park is home to an original carousel created by the Dentzel Company of Philadelphia in the 1920’s. The Carousel was installed in 1929 at the Forest Park Highlands. When the Highlands burned to the ground in 1963, the carousel was the only thing left standing. Howard C. Ohlendorf purchased the carousel to prevent it from being dismantled and donated it to St. Louis County Parks in 1965. The department operated it during the summer months at Sylvan Spring Park until 1980. The St. Louis County Historic Buildings Commission and Faust Cultural Heritage Foundation raised enough money to restore the carousel to its original beauty and installed it in a climate controlled building in Faust Park in 1987.

my humble opinion: it is so beautiful! my niece and nephew, Britanie and TJ loved going to visit the Carousel with my mom (aka Nana) so I wanted to make sure to introduce the carousel to Lilly on her birthday! And at only a mere dollar to ride - who wouldn't want to enjoy this St. Louis treasure?

She really did well on it! She was very interested in all the surroundings and held on the pole like any big girl would have done!

She was very intrigued by Grandma's horse and smiled a lot.

We thought she might like to ride it a second time in the carriage. Not really.... She would have preferred her own horse, but she was sweet enough to oblige us this one time.
After her two rides, she watched a group of bigger kids on it.
and seemed pretty interested in all of her surroundings!

Lilly's First Birthday - again?

ok - for those of you keeping count, yes this was the third time! But this was her actual birthday! This time there were some tears - some from me because my little girl turned one and she even looks older and then Lilly cried because she had to go see Dr. Spewak. It was actually Dr. Spewaks nurse that caused all the trauma. Turns out when they tell you to come back in 3 months for her 12 month check up - they mean or sometime after her birthday. Lesson learned. Don't worry Lilly - I won't take you to see Dr. Spewak on your birthday again. I wouldn't want to endure shots on my big day either!

So we had a few special friends join us, including Grandma, Grandpa, and Ty - her boyfriend. You would think that after 2 previous celebrations involving cake, she would know what this stuff is and how yummy it is! But no, she barely even played with it.

And that's all folks! Off to the bath she went.

Then we opened presents! She got lots of great toys and Grandpa and Ty were on hand to show her how to play with it all!

Her favorite present?

Now seriously - if you had to watch the video to know it was paper then you haven't been paying attention to the previous birthday posts!

Kissed by an Angel

Who knew they were so wet and sloppy?! PAT (Parents As Teachers) was here this week to see how Lilly is progressing and to give us guidance. Joanna (our PAT) assumed Lilly understood certain words, such as Mama, Dada, ball, and kiss. Apparently, we have to "label her world" and tell her everything we are doing and she is doing so she can learn more vocabulary. And as I explained to Joanna - Lilly does kiss us, unfortunately, she thinks it is a nose-to-nose event. Ernie has been doing eskimo kisses with her from day one. So I spent a little time talking to her about kisses. I've learned they are wet, open mouth, and random. Here is Ernie's first one!

Too Much Fun?

Never heard of such a thing? I have a reputation for buying excellent gifts for children! I've never heard the kids complain. Why the parents keep talking about "their revenge" is beyond me. Example: My boss, Matt and his wife, Kristin continually complain about Cole's first birthday gift. It was a rollout mat with piano keys to encourage him to crawl and walk and I'm guessing it exposed him to piano music. He loved it! I know this because Matt and Kristin are still complaining about it. They have been waiting for what they frequently call "payback time" to which I proudly quote Dumas "do your worst!" One year, my niece told me she wanted big paper for Christmas. Now this seems like a basic request and one that I felt required accessories so I bought her paints, paint brushes, markers, and an easel. I also included a very large drop cloth! Britanie loved this gift and I still have the masterpiece she painted me that night! My sister Kelly called me today to let me know she saw some really cool playdoh toys so beware when Lilly turns 3! Again - I can't wait to play with playdoh with Lilly. I look forward to all her creations! I quote Dunst "bring it!"

This is Matt and Kristin's revenge. Look how much Lilly loves it! Thank you Matt and Kristin!

Favorite Things

Lilly opened some birthday gifts this morning. She got lots of great toys and a snow suit for this winter. Her favorite?

The pile of paper to be thrown away!

Lilly's First Birthday - again

So we had a small party for Lilly's first birthday with a few close friends. Lilly didn't get a good nap for it so she didn't bring her A game, but she did pretty good! We stuck to a simple polka dot theme (thank you Kelly C for the great idea!) and ordered cupcakes (I mean made..) along with her own special cake.

Her cakes. By the way - we have gotten so much mileage out of this balloon. She loves it!
Overheard: "That's not how you eat it Lilly." - Cole, wise 3 year old

This is the damage. That's really all she did. She simply did not care to play with us anymore!