Happy Birthday Sweet Baby Girl!

Well, one year ago this past Tuesday our little Lilly was born!! I can't believe a year has past, but it has been one of the greatest years of my life. Lilly--your Daddy and I can not explain how much joy you have brought into our lives this past year!!!!! From the second you came into the world, we were amazed at how we instantly couldn't imagine our lives without you in it. We are so honored that God chose us to be your parents and thank him for this opportunity numerous times each day. We love you so very much and hope and pray for many many many more years to be your parents! --Love your extremely blessed and proud parents (c:

On Lilly's birthday, we went out for a late lunch since we are still technically on what I refer to as "new baby house arrest" for a few more weeks. So, we waited until we could have a whole section to ourselves. Also, Lilly got this card in the mail from DeDe and PaPa Mike...it has their voices and then sings "the eensy weensy spider"...Lilly LOVES it. She carries it all over the place.

At the end of lunch, they came and sang to Lilly and brought her ice cream!

"For me???"

Lilly has decided that she can feed herself so it took her a minute to decide that it was okay for us to feed her some ice cream. Ha!

But really...she was most exited about the small plate the ice cream bowl was sitting on.

"Is this my birthday present? I love it!"

"Can I eat it?"

"I guess this ice cream is alright, too."

Then, later that night MoMo cooked dinner and Aunt Shelly and the family came over for dinner. Lilly got her own cake to eat!

I think we are going to have to do more of a big cupcake type cake for her because she doesn't like the icing on her fingers......

we had to give her spoons!

She still ended up getting really messy because she would accidentally slide an arm through it and then rub her arm on her stomach. Oh, she was messy! How messy, you ask??

You be the judge.

Needless to say, she went straight to the bath. Haha. She had a pretty good birthday!

Since we weren't sure when Reid was coming, we planned her party for this weekend so the real birthday fun has yet to happen! I will also do a post that says what she is up to at one (although I think a shorter post would be what she isn't doing at one!) along with her one year check-up stats tomorrow or Tuesday. Again, Happy Birthday Lilly--we love you so much!!!

First Steps!!!

We have a walker! Well, kind of, on Friday Lilly took her first independent steps? What was she walking towards? Tank, of course! She will take two to four steps. She did it a couple of times on Saturday and Sunday as well. It is only a matter of time. However, she walks on her knees all over the house. It is hilarious.

Checking out her little brother.

Pointing out his nose!

Trying to get the camera from Mommy. Extreme Lilly close-up!

Okay, so Lilly is a big fan of getting into the cabinets. I forgot that the rice cake snacks had been opened and had a chip clip on them...she likes to shake the bags. Well, little smarty here figured out how to remove the chip clip and shook the bag all over the floor....in like a 30 second time period. I saw all of this and was trying to stop it but by the time I got to her she had already shoved a whole rice cake in her mouth and had one in each hand! If you look close you can see some sticking out of her mouth because it is so full!

And after a snack like that, she had to brush her teeth!

Another first for Lilly...a bruise! Lilly got her first "ouchie". Sunday, I was trying to balance nursing Reid with consoling an upset Lilly when she fell off of my lap and kind of carpet burned her face on the diaper basket. See all of those pearly whites??

During my week-long quest to walk myself into labor, we spent some time at the park and introduced Lilly to the swing for the first time. She LOVED it. So, tonight, MoMo, Lilly, and I went to the park and let Lilly swing for a little while.

"Weeeeee"

And, another first happened tonight....Lilly called 911! We gave her our old cell phones and we charged this one because she likes it when the phone lights up. Well, she pressed buttons and all of the sudden on speaker phone, the phone starts ringing and a voice on the other end says, "911, what's your emergency??" Whoops!

"Mom, telephone!" Little stinker!

On a side note, Lilly turns one tomorrow (Tuesday).....I can NOT believe that is possible!!!!

Reid has had a couple of firsts this weekend, too. On Friday, I cut his nails for the first time. This may not seem like a big deal, but it is a huge step for me!!! It took me over 6 weeks to cut Lilly's!! I was terrified that I would hurt her.

Also, he had his first official sponge bath yesterday! He is so laid back. He rarely cries when I change his diapers...and those first couple of days it took me like 10 minutes per diaper! Boys have got all these hiding spots! Then, he did really well with the bath too. He let out a couple of little cries, but for the most part he just laid there watching us and looking around. I think he has his Daddy's laid back personality. Stay tuned for a birthday post! It will have to wait until I can do it without sobbing. I can't believe my baby girl is turning one!!!!!!

Life with Lilly AND Reid

Well, Matt did all of the blogging from the hospital. Now we are home and getting settled into our new family life. We welcomed Reid into our family Friday, August 28th, 2009 at 2:01 p.m. The day could not have gone better! Lilly woke up for a bottle at around 5:00 a.m. that morning and I thought to myself, "I can NOT believe I am not in labor yet!" Well, at 5:39, the contractions started. They weren't strong--but they were different than the "practice contractions" I had been having. They kind of started as back pain and then went to stomach contractions. Anyway, I knew immediately they were real and started timing them...about 10-12 minutes apart. So, we went to the doctor at around 9:00 a.m. She confirmed it was labor and we got checked in and set up in the hospital around 10:00 a.m. I got my epidural at around noon. Well, to spare any details at around 1:15 p.m. they "checked me" and I was at a 5 and a half. So, I decided to take a little nap since I had been up since 5:00 a.m. I rolled over to my side and all of the sudden felt a lot of pressure so I paged the nurse. Sure enough, he was ready to enter the world. For a second, we weren't sure the doctors were going to have time to make it. It was an easy labor and delivery. Thank you God for that blessing! Most importantly, he looked great and is healthy! Thank you God even more for that blessing!

A proud daddy, a brand new Reid, and our wonderful doctor! All part of what made this day so perfect!

Daddy is in love!

Mommy is in love! As soon as he was born, before they even cleaned him up, I just kept thinking, "He is the CUTEST little boy I have ever seen!" He has the cutest little cheeks and was even born with an extra chin...haha....just kidding Reid!

He also has the longest toes! I love these little feet.

He also had lots of dark hair. Lindsey, you are probably thinking he looks bald compared to Sally! Haha. One of my favorite things about him is that his shoulders are broad and it looks like he has little biceps. Apparently all of that punching in the womb gave him muscles!! It is ADORABLE.

He also has the cutest little hands with long fingers. Needless to say, we are smitten! You know right up until the second he came out, I was thinking, "I don't know if I can love another child as much as I love Lilly...I just don't think it is possible!" But as soon as we met him, I knew I loved them the same!

So, what does Miss Priss think of her baby brother?

She thinks he is okay. She is still a little indifferent. When he is in the pack n' play, she gets on her very tippy toes and tries to look at the side and gets a little irritated if she can't see him. She reaches through the crib rails to touch him while he is laying in there. She does touch him easily and keeps trying to poke him in the eye. I think this is because we have been working on identifying eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. All in all, she is really sweet with him.

All my loves!

Reid in his going home outfit.

Sitting with Daddy, waiting to be checked out!

Reid's bag--LOVE it!

Loaded up...

Ready for home!

What has Lilly been up to? Getting into EVERYTHING. I think she is thinking, "Finally, a distraction for Mommy and Daddy!" She finally broke her 4th tooth through and is now working on a fifth.

I thought she would all of the sudden look huge to me, but she still looks like my little baby girl. I have started noticing that things have gotten bigger. Like I didn't realize that her feet had grown since birth. I just thought they had gotten a little chubbier, but they have gotten much longer! Then, today as I was rocking her for a nap, I realized that she has really gotten taller. I did cry today thinking about the fact that she will be one in 5 days. I just can't believe how fast time goes by!

Getting into some more stuff!

Going for the DVD player.

Grinning when Mommy calls her name because she knows she isn't supposed to play with the DVD player.

Playing with the curtains and talking to Tank.

I LOVE this look.

Ok, and this look, too!

Since we have been home, he pretty much eats. It takes an average of 72 hours before your milk comes in...he brought mine in in less than 30 hours. He came out ready to eat. He nursed for an hour the first time...and only stopped because the nursery came to take him away. If he is awake, he wants to eat! He also smiles already! I am talking the full face smiles that last for a few seconds. Oh, I could just kiss him all over!!!

I can't begin to explain how much I love these three people and how blessed I am to have them in my life! I am loving life with Matt, Lilly, AND Reid! Matt stayed home this week so I know that I have no idea how crazy my life is really about to get but I do know that it will be worth all of the upcoming chaos and I just am loving getting to watch these little ones grow!