*blue eyes*

love these blue eyes!

 

photo credit: mel hurt

4 months

It's hard to believe that Lilly is 4 months old! (actually almost 5 months, ugh... see my goal at bottom of this post) She is getting so big and her little personality is starting to shine through. She is quite the wiggle worm as you can see in her 4 month pictures below. I could hardly get one of her sitting still! She is grabbing at everything in sight, and of course loves to pull my hair. She LOVES tummy time and will roll over from her back to her tummy more often than her tummy to her back now, but she still loves to do both. Lilly loves to stand while holding onto my hands. She much prefers it to sitting! She still loves her play mat and that is her favorite place to play by herself. We use the Bumbo a lot. She sits in it while I eat lunch and loves to watch me chew. She also loves to sit in it and look in the mirror while I put on my makeup.

Finally Lilly found her voice. This actually happened at about 4.5 months! Now she coos, chats, and makes cute squeals a lot! She sometimes wakes up around 4am and talks, talks, talks, and then goes back to sleep. It is so cute and I think she is going to have a sweet voice. :) She also finally gave us somewhat of a laugh. Surprisingly her laugh is kind of low... kind of like a grunt. I can hardly ever make her laugh. I asked the pediatrician about it and first he said "wait a second... let me feel sorry for you that you have a quiet baby" ha! and then he said "maybe you're just not that funny." Which unfortunately I think is the case even though I try really hard! Jeremiah can make her laugh almost always though and Tia Mel can too sometimes. 

Wiggling so much that she can't keep her headband on.

Attempting to escape the chair...

Wiggle Worm

I made the decision about a week ago to stay home with Lilly next year. I'm so excited and could not feel more at peace about it. I will say it was NOT an easy decision. I LOVE my job, school, students, classroom, teaching Spanish, and my co-workers so during the whole process I was holding on to it. As with any big decision I sought wise counsel and got perspective from those I admire and respect. Jeremiah and I of course prayed and talked through it a ton. What it came down to is this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Teaching Spanish will always be there and there will always be teachers, but I'm her only mom and Jeremiah's only wife (thank goodness!) and this is the season and job God has called me to. This is the most important job I could ever have! She will only be this age once and it will pass too quickly. I truly am looking forward to investing in her little life, pouring into our family wholeheartedly, and bettering our home!

Lilly gets so excited when Jeremiah gets home from work. She is typically eating when he gets home and the minute he walks in the door or she hears the door open she wants to stop. She smiles so big at him and loves it when he picks her up! On that note... she is majorly in the phase of "distractible baby." No more watching tv, talking on the phone, or working on the computer when feeding her. Otherwise she is more interested in that than eating and it takes forever. It's ok though... I like giving her my full attention and it is about the only time other than early morning that I can get this girl to cuddle with me!

Lulu brought Lilly a doll named Lilly from her girls trip to Seaside, Florida. Lilly LOVES her! She loves to hug her, eat her limbs, and hold on to her braids. :)

We have been spending some great time at the park since the weather has warmed and brightened up. It is so fun and such a blessing to have so many fun parks within walking distance. We also stroll to Snider Plaza to go to the grocery store or run errands, Starbucks, lunch, or shop.

I got Lilly's passport picture taken and I have never heard of so many absurd rules for a baby. Probably to avoid baby-stealing or I guess most people call it kidnapping. Jeremiah and I both had to go with Lilly to the passport agency, we had to raise our right hand and swear she was our child and all info on application was true, we had to provide a certified copy of her birth certificate, our drivers licenses to prove our identity, and a passport pic for L. In the pic she must be facing straight forward, making eye contact with the camera with her mouth closed, not smiling, and with no "headgear" (hence why I had to go back a 2nd time to get a picture...) I wish the lady at CVS would have told me, but in her defense she was so nice and patient. Lilly did great but it took several tries to get a picture that met all the standards. Enough with the rules... the passport is in prep for our upcoming trip this summer to Alaska. We end in Vancouver, hence the need for the passport.

Lilly's official passport pic and her cute illegal passport pic!

 

I've noticed that L has a little freckle on her inner left calf and the tiniest little cafe au lait spot on the right side of her torso. I have a feeling that intense sun protection is in our future! The doc said her gums where her bottom two teeth will come in are a little swollen so she could start teething soon. He also said I could start rice cereal at any time between now and 6 months. I'm definitely going to wait until closer to 6 months, one because she has this dairy allergy and everything I've read has suggested waiting longer to introduce foods, and two because I don't want another something to have to try to conquer and clean up during the day. :) The doctor said that is what he would do and said she would get absolutely no nutrients from it and that it is only to teach her how to eat. So... more on that later. 

4 month stats

Height: 24 inches (50th percentile)

Weight: 13 pounds 9 ounces (50th percentile)

Head circumference: 40 centimeters (25th percentile)

*Goal: Post about Lilly's 5 months closer to the date she is actually 5 months*

Happy 75th Birthday Papaw!

Today is my Papaw's 75th birthday! I can't imagine what it must be like to have 75 wonderful years to reflect on... what a blessing! Happy Birthday Papaw! We wish you many more amazing years to come and we hope your day is very special. Love you!!!

Be mine, Valentine!

Our Valentine's day was super special this year! Not only did we have our little sweetheart to celebrate with but we also stretched out our celebrations. We celebrated a few times, low-key and at home as well as having the opportunity to go out. Lulu and JPop babysat for us the weekend before V-day and Jere and I got to go out for a fun night together. First we stopped at Bodega Bar and had a flight of wine. I love this place! It has a library feel and lots of different nooks to relax and enjoy great wines. We then walked over to Villa-O and had a  yummy dinner. On the actual Valentine's day we had a super fun time as a family. Jeremiah started a tradition of writing Lilly a letter each Valentine's day. We read it to her and then exchanged cards. After she went to sleep we had a romantic candlelit dinner. I cooked garlic pesto linguini with tomato basil meat sauce, french bread, and a spinach salad. Yummm... The Wednesday after V-day Mel and Cace kept Lilly for us to go see Cirque du Soleil. I have always wanted to see them so this was our little V-day gift to each other! It has been such a blessing to have family willing to keep this little one for Jere and I to be able to get out and reconnect, have some time as a couple, and time with friends. Thanks to our babysitters: Lulu, Jpop, Tia Mel, Uncle Queso, and Aunt Binky!!! Y'all are amazing and Lilly is so lucky to have y'all in her life!

These are some pics from our Valentine's Day photo shoot! Lilly and I had so much fun and she was in such a great mood so I must say I got some really cute pics! 

lilly's twinner

We were at the doctor's office on Monday for Lilly's 4 month check up. Immediately when she was laid on her back she rolled to her tummy. What a show off! 

Look at me mom!

Hey good lookin... 

Lilly tried to investigate the situation by attempting to put the baby in the mirror in her mouth. She kept bumping her head trying to get closer. :)

Mom, did you see that other baby? 

Look... it's my twinner!

dance dance revolution

If you've ever seen Jeremiah on the dance floor then you know he has some mad dance skills. In an effort to pass them on to Lilly, her daddy taught her the robot this weekend. They both had me dying laughing!

Sip-n-See

One of my mom's dear friends, Yvonne, hosted a Sip-n-See for Lulu and Lilly. It was so fun and all of mom's friends got to come and meet Miss Lilly in person. Lilly did great and was on her best behavior. She was the life of the party!

Me, Lulu, Lilly, and Yvonne (the hostess with the mostess)

The honorary guests: L squared

Yvonne is such a wonderful hostess. She makes everyone feel so welcome in her home which is truly a gift! Everything was perfect down to the last detail. The decorations were beautiful and the food was delicious! She cooked most everything from scratch: cinnamon rolls, scones, blooming tomatoes, bread pudding, rosemary biscuits with cracked pepper beef, and buttered croissants... she even whipped her own homemade butter. Is your mouth watering yet? Yum Yum!

Meet Miss Yvonne's dog, Sophia. She has the most magnificent eyelashes! Every girl would dream to have these lashes. Check them out... no extensions here.

my little snow angel

What a crazy week! I took the day off Monday and then school was canceled the rest of the week. So, I literally didn't go to work at all this week. It was ah-mazing! Lilly and I just hung out, rested, relaxed, and played. We hadn't really left the house since Monday until today when we woke up to THIS...

and yes... we still have some Christmas lights up. We'll blame the delay on getting them down on the weather. :)

We've had a little bit of cabin fever so we had to go outside and enjoy the winter wonderland of probably at least 6-8 inches of snow. Jeremiah stayed home from work today for the first time all week and we had so much fun with just the three of us. We loved playing out in the snow and Jere helped Lilly make snow angels!

I love Lilly's snow gear and it really has come in handy this winter! 

Mocha was dying to get outside so she came out and played in the snow with us! As you can see L loves to watch Mocha and thinks she is so fascinating!

Mocha loved the snow and immediately found her toy that was completely buried. I don't know how she does it. No matter what the weather this girl loves to play fetch! She looks like a grizzly bear frolicking out in the snow.

I thought at one point Jere was going to kill me for suggesting the idea of building a snowman... but he did such a great job and was glad he did it in the end. For the rest of the afternoon he kept saying, "the snowman is awesome!" Lilly loved it and he made it especially for her! The snowman has chocolate covered pecans for eyes, a lifesaver for a nose, and hot tamales for her big smile. :)

 


This was hilarious! As we were taking pics, Lilly started touching the snowman and playing with the snow. You can see her facial expressions change in the sequence of pictures below. She was so intrigued and fascinated at first, then confused as to why her hand was getting cold and it was uncomfortable. She couldn't make the connection and kept touching the snow, then she started crying and mom had to come to the rescue to comfort her. We toasted her back up and she was back to smiles in no time!

I love these two! I also love L's Patagonia long underwear and cute winter hat. They are sooo snuggly!