Family Update

This post will update you on the whole family, but we will start with who everyone really wants to know about: Lilly. Lilly is feeling much better. When she woke up yesterday, she still wouldn't eat and was rather fussy so we went back to the doctor. He said that the virus was going away, but that she had SEVERAL new spots for teeth to come in so she was just going through a double whammy--sickness and teething! Really??

After we left the doctor, I swung through a drive-thru and got some biscuits and gravy---of which, Lilly ate pretty much half!! At that point, we would have given her steak if she would've eaten it. Then, she ate her oatmeal and fruit. From that point on, she has started feeling better and better!!

She has been talking (like in the above photo). Her favorite thing to say is, "Ohh-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa"! It is hilarious. While she was sick, she would say it so sad-sounding.

Now it is back to cheerful squeals and chatting.

What a cute profile!

No more photos mom!

• Little brother--well, we still haven't came up with a name...feel free to leave suggestions! We are considering Benjamin, Blake, Reid, Trey, Owen, Lincoln, and a couple others. He is doing great as far as I can tell! He is always moving. He reacts to Lilly, too. If she cries, he goes crazy!
• Matt--after this week, he is a little tired. Work is going well. He is always busy being an awesome daddy--more on that tomorrow (spoiler alert)!
• Me--also tired after this week. Pregnancy is going great. I am in that part where I have a lot of energy (nesting--our house is clean!), and feel pretty much normal. The only complaint is heartburn--I ate cheerios for breakfast and got heartburn--seriously!

Poor Sick Lilly

Well, Lilly caught her first virus. On Monday, I noticed she was a little clingier than usual and didn't want to eat her dinner. So, I kept checking her for a fever--but she didn't have one and she slept well. Tuesday, she got up with a little fever (a mother knows!), but when I called the doctor she said to just monitor it for a day--it could just be teething. So, most of the day she was in a decent enough mood as long as she was being held...but you could tell she wasn't feeling well! By Tuesday night, she would just lay on Matt and I and make these pitiful sounds that clearly stated, "I feel horrible". She also did not sleep Tuesday night. So, Wednesday I took her to the doctor even though her fever was pretty much gone. When we got to the doctor, she had a little rash starting...which led the doctor to diagnose her with the Roseola Virus. The doctor said her ears and throat look fine, the virus pretty much causes extreme clinginess, fussiness, a fever, and a rash. Once the rash appears, it should be gone in 12-24 hours. So Wednesday afternoon, she seemed to be on the road to recovery. She played by herself a little bit, was much more smiley, and genuinely seemed to be feeling MUCH better. I put her in bed with us and she slept fine...she would not stay asleep on her own. BTW, the above picture is of her eating ice out of a mesh feeder...she loved it, but as you can tell by the look on her face in these pictures, she was in no mood to be photographed.

So, Thursday started off good. However, at around 10:00 (nap time), she became super fussy and REFUSED to nap...trust me, I tried everything. She didn't nap until 2:00 and it was very short. After holding her and battling fussiness and everything all week, at 3:00--I officially had run out of trick and energy so I called Matt--HELP! She won't sleep, she won't eat...she won't stop crying! He came home and was able to get her to sleep (solely on him) for a couple of hours. However, she didn't feel any better when she woke up. She took a bottle...but still won't eat baby food. Then, last night at 11:00 (a good 3 hours past bedtime), we had tried EVERYTHING to get her to sleep.....rocking, car ride, bottle, lullaby CDs, laying down with her, putting her down alone, etc....nothing worked...it all made her angrier! After screaming for over an hour and being mere moments away from going to the ER, she fell asleep.

She woke at 4:00 am with a growling tummy, sucked down a bottle, went right back to sleep, and is just now beginning to stir at 8:15am.

Please pray that our sweet little baby is healed today and feels much better. She has had such a rough week! To top it off, she may be teething at the same time ):

And to leave on a funny note, yesterday morning, after she woke up she was laying in bed next to me playing. When we decided it was time to get up, I go to pick her up and she has managed to get both legs in one leg hole! Ha!

The Weekend

Well, we loaded up Thursday night so we could be ready to leave for B-town as soon as Lilly was done with her last swim lesson at the Swim Ranch (she got a certificate and everything!) in order to beat the nasty weather coming to town. However, the nasty weather got here early! So... We got stuck at Daddy's work for a little while. Miss Priss didn't mind because she got a HUGE balloon.

Her and daddy playing with the balloon...Daddy AND balloons are sooo much fun!

I just loved the look on her face in this picture! After waiting the storm out, we hit the road!

Lilly dancing. She pulls herself up using our hands and then her feet get all happy!! She just keeps moving them.

Sweet girl.

Playing with DeDe!

"DeDe, did you miss me??"

We had a great time and the ride there and back went much smoother this time! Lilly got in the pool a little bit, but she wasn't really sure what to think of those wild boys in there with her!!

I saw Brody taking a bath on his tummy on his blog and thought we would give that a try...so last night, Lilly took a tummy bath! She liked it a lot.

She was able to get all around the tub.

And, most importantly, she was able to chase her toys all over the place. She is probably not going to appreciate these pictures being on the blog later in life, is she?? Haha.

9 Months/Proud Mommy

Well, I was kind of dreading today because we had swim lessons and then right afterward we had her 9 month check up...BUT Lilly was an angel!! First, at swim lessons, she kicked her legs all through swim lessons!!!! Then, when it was time to practice getting out of the pool, she reached for the wall, held herself and tried to lift her leg!!! She was all smiles and particularly chatty through the lesson as well. She was very tired but she would just sneak a snuggle while we were resting and then went back to work. She did fall asleep AS SOON AS she got in the car and slept on the way to the doctor....where she was also a CHAMPION!!! When we first got there, they took her weight (19 lbs. 13 and something ounces--75th percentile), her height (almost 29 inches--80th percentile--this is a huge jump from the 40th percentile last time...I knew she had went through a huge growth spurt!!!!), and her head size (I can't remember, but she is still in like the 5th-10th percentile there). Then, they tell us they have to "stick" her toe to get blood for the anemia test (it was negative by the way). Well, she had her toothbrush and we were singing "Old McDonald" (her favorite) and they stuck her toe...didn't phase her at all!! She never stopped smiling! What a big girl!!!!

The doctor came in and checked Lilly out and said everything looked great! She also talked to the doctor...she was quite chatty all day today! Oh, they gave her "The Little Engine that Could" book. They have this new reading program where all patients get a book at 6 months, 9 months, 1 year, 2 years, and 3 years. Awesome! Then, since they had a HIP vaccine shortage the last visit, she had to get that shot today. Shucks!! The nurse gave her the shot and then Lilly proceeded to tell her off in gibberish. It was one of those instances where I know I am glad I couldn't understand what she was saying!!!! She was very angry sounding. Lately, when she hurts herself with a toy or something, I will get onto to the toy and say, "No No No"....maybe that is what she was saying.....

So, Lilly, what have you been doing at 9 months??

• Well, your personality is really starting to show! Even the doctor said he thought you were going to be a handful! You are becoming slightly strong-willed (you get it honest). If you are playing with something you aren't supposed to be and we take it away, you let us know that you don't appreciate it once we PRY it out of your hands!
• You use Mommy and Daddy to pull up. You just figured out that it works with Daddy too tonight. After that, you already tried to pull up on a couple more things...yikes. Anyway, you are so proud of yourself once you get to a standing position. You get sooo excited. You also have started taking a couple of steps holding onto my hands. I can just see the wheels turning in your head about all of the possibilities!!
• You have started this adorable smile. First, your bottom teeth are really in and make your smile so stinking cute to start with, but you smile this huge smile and then breath really fast in and out with your noses making the cutest sound.
• You want to do whatever we are doing. When I am feeding you, you want your own spoon (you don't want to feed yourself--you want Mommy and Daddy to do that), but you want your own spoon to play with because we have one. You want to try whatever Mommy and Daddy are eating--you just look at us and smack your mouth until we let you have a little taste. You have to hold the lotion while we put it on you at night. You always help me out by carrying my keys to the car for me.
• You are an expert in your walker. I stand on my tip toes in the kitchen so my heels don't get ran into anymore. Tank is also becoming much more agile thanks to your walker driving skills.
• You love your rubber toothbrush. You will chew on it all day long. What is really awesome though is that you like to drool on it and get it really nice and slobbery. Then, you shake it around splashing spit on everyone around! You also try to share it with Mommy and Daddy by trying to stick it in our mouths.
• You LOVE teething biscuits and the little puffs that dissolve in your mouth. You are starting to get the hang of putting them in your mouth, but you really like to be fed rather than feed yourself.
• You also really enjoy the pool. You love to bang things around and together. You have started really playing games (peek-a-boo, this little piggy, tickle monster) and are so interactive! You are also becoming partial to mommy and daddy...if you are tired or nervous...you don't want anyone else!!! You love animals and animal noises...and Mommy sings Old McDonald at least 10 times per day. I know there is more, but this is a pretty good start!

She looks like she is going to give somebody a spanking with that spatula! There is our sweet and giggly Lilly! Note: Check out the shoes!! Daddy eating some ribs!!!

The ABOVE VIDEO is of Matt getting Lilly's ribs. It is only a few seconds because my memory card was full....imagine that!!!

Swim Lessons

We had a special treat at swim lessons today....Daddy!! Daddy got to come learn with mommy and Lilly! Here is Lilly with daddy. Lilly has her swim buoy on. This is the part of the lesson where she is kicking across the pool....or at least we are going back and forth across the pool saying, "kick, kick, kick, kick, YAY!!"

Eating the equipment...

Using the kick-board across the pool...this is not her favorite part of the lesson. She actually had the most fun at today's lesson. I don't know if it was because Daddy was there, or if it wasn't as hot today, or if she is just getting the hang of it....either way, she didn't fuss at all! I also think that Matt is better at just letting her hang out if she doesn't want to do part of the lesson....I have a tendency to try and get her to do it because it is part of the lesson--I know that is crazy because she is 9 months old!

Bumping the wall with the board--she does enjoy this part!

Daddy is blowing bubbles in the pool for Lilly!

Taking a breather...these lessons are exhausting!

Floating on her back. I didn't get a picture of her "getting out" of the pool. She can hang on to the side of the pool on her own! I am really proud of our little swimmer!

Daddy, Lilly, and Mommy--this is during the end of the lesson where you just play in the water! We are having a good time. It is a lot to try and get a 9 month old and pregnant woman to morning swim lessons five days in a row, but we are over the hump and going strong!!

Crazy Woman Driver

The above VIDEO is of Lilly in her walker. At the very beginning she runs at Tank and then I just thought I would let her show off her "walker" skills! Yesterday, whenever she would back up, she had her hand on the steering wheel and she was looking over her shoulder--she looked like she was really driving..it was so adorable and funny!

(VIDEO above) This is Lilly playing with the "chicken dance" chick. The extreme zoom in is just me trying to restart the chick. Haha.

Car Seat/ Swim Ranch

Well, thanks to DeDe, Lilly finally got a new car seat. Mommy and Daddy had been slacking! She loves it and was mere ounces away from the weight limit on the infant carrier. It is much roomier and more comfortable for our sweet girl. It also will go forward facing when she is a year old!

While we were at Babies R' Us scoping out car seats a couple of weeks ago, the salesman said that he would not by one that had hard plastic underneath...he would only get the car seats that have the foam on top of the plastic. His reasoning-while the foam doesn't necessarily make it safer, it does absorb more of the shock if you are in a wreck so your sweet baby feels less. To my surprise Evenflo and another more expensive brand were the only ones I found with the foam! Anyway, Matt and I love that it has the foam and that it was side-impact tested! We want our baby to be as safe as possible!!

On another note, Lilly started her swimming lessons today! I call them swimming lessons but they really just help her get used to the pool and kicking her legs and holding her head above water.

I didn't get any pictures because I was in the water with her the whole time. For the most part, she really enjoyed it. The pool was heated (Mommy appreciated that). She hasn't quite gotten the hang of keeping her face completely out of the water so every once in a while she would accidentally get her face in the pool and swallow from water and she HATED that!!! Also, we are there for an hour so by the end she was exhausted. I am talking fell-asleep-as-I-was-buckling-her-in-her-car-seat tired!!

This was yesterday at the pool. I have a feeling we will be racking up a lot of pool time this summer!!

After we got home (and after a good afternoon nap for Lilly), we went outside with some sidewalk paint!

She had the most fun banging the brushes together.

Oh yeah, and dumping the water all over both of us.

The paint was non-toxic--which is good because although we did a pretty good job catching the paint brush before she put it in her mouth...I am sure she managed to get a little...I mean look at those cheeks!

Our little artist!

Yay! We are also testing out the so-called "washable" quality of this paint. I am hoping that is washes out.

Lilly holding her bottle while watching Baby Einstein...unwinding after all of our activity!

And then, right after this picture, she proceeded to shake the rest of it out on the blanket she is sitting on. Stinker!

After the painting, she needed to be washed off...and since bending over isn't as easy as it once was (i.e. the pregnancy) I tried giving her a bath in the sink. It worked so well, we did it as a quick bath tonight. (That is when these pictures were taken...I can't bathe her and take pictures at the same time!)

Whew...busy day. Oh yeah, Lilly is 9 months old today!!! I can't believe it! I will post about all of her 9 month happenings on Thursday when she goes in for her check-up! I can't believe she will be 1 year old in just 3 months....where did the time go?!!?