Mommy knee(ds) a break...

This past weekend has been a big blur for me. I had knee surgery on Friday and then less than 24 hours later I was back at the hospital for rehab Saturday morning. The hardest thing about all of this was being away from Lillian for an extended period of time. Alli came over Friday at 6:30 AM to stay with Lillian while I went to the hospital for my surgery and I was home by 1:00 PM just before Lillian went down for her afternoon nap. Apparently when I was waking up from the anesthesia I got really upset and tried to escape from my hospital bed because I did not know where Lillian was. A little extra morphine calmed me down and eased some of my knee pain, and a few hours later we were on our way home.

Saturday morning we took a family trip back to the hospital for a little rehab. And yes, I am aware that I look more than a little stoned in a couple of these pics, but what can I say I had just had knee surgery.

Mommy and Lillian waiting on rehab to start.

in case you can't tell I am a little more than drugged in this picture.

Lillian keeping herself entertained with her squirrel

This morning Lillian and I headed off to church all by ourselves while Shaun stayed home and studied for the GMAT. While listening to our Sunday school teacher's lesson about the Prodigal Son the pager that I picked up from the church nursery started buzzing...just like it does every Sunday 30-40 minutes after I drop Lillian off. As I was walking down the hall that leads to the nursery I could hear my Lillian crying, but the second I rounded the corner and she saw me she was all smiles. It has been at least a month sense the nursery has not had to page me or Shaun to come and get Lillian. I think that the main problem is that six days a week she takes her morning at 9:30 am, and then on Sunday she is all thrown off of her schedule. Maybe one day Shaun and I will actually get to hear and entire sermon.

After church Lillian and I had lunch with my parents and then went to my cousin's bridal tea shower. Poor Lillian was worn out by the time that we left the tea around 4:30, she had not had a nap all day, and we could not wait to get home to Shaun.

Tomorrow Lillian and I are going to take a field trip to see a house in Russett Woods that Alli and Korey are thinking about buying

Step by Step...

LILLIAN TOOK HER FIRST STEPS TODAY!!!

Melissa and I were playing with Lillian today and she kept standing on her own tempted to walk, so we decided to get her away from the coffee table and just stand her up to see if she would take a step toward one of us. Well, at first she just kept falling forward and Melissa would catch her. Lillian kept laughing and just falling. So I got down and Melissa backed away to see if she would do better with me.

The first time she started to fall forward and moved a foot forward. A very close first step, but just shy of being a step. Melissa then ran to get the camera in hopes to actually get the feat on video. The below video is what was captured:

The most amazing thing about this to us is that we actually got it on video. We are so proud of her.

Note to Papa Steve: She beat your prediction of Feb. 22!

"It'll Give You Wings'

I recently bought Lillian this contraption called Walking Wings thinking that it might help her learn to walk; they did not go over so well. I will just let the pictures tell this story....

....I know we are awful parents, but don't worry I am going to take them back.

Mommy & Me

Yesterday Alli and I took Lillian and Eli to our new Mommy and Me group! I was not sure what to expect or how Lillian would do, but we had a lot of fun and Lillian loved every second of it. Lillian has never really been around other babies, a big reason why I wanted to do a Mommy and Me group, but she did really well and met a lot of new friends! I cannot wait to go back next week for some more fun.

Look, standing all by herself!!

playing in the ball pit

Bye-Bye Paci...Well, more like see you at nap time

I think that any parent will tell you that when it comes to your kids, you just have to pick and choose your battles. Now with this being said, the paci battle is one that I am trying desperately to avoid fighting. Lillian LOVES her pacifiers, and honestly I love that she loves them. She always stops crying when you stick one in her mouth. And she always falls right to sleep when you put her down at night with one. Not to mention that they are a constant source of entertainment for her when we are driving in the car. She even likes to have them with her when she takes a bath. Plus, I think that it is so cute how she takes them out of her mouth and tries to share them buy shoving it in mine (she also tries to share her paci with Moxie... gross). But Shaun and I have come to the painful realization that she loves these pacifiers just a little too much. I mean she passionately loves them; it is ridiculous! She cannot sleep unless she has one in her mouth, one in each hand, and then another three or four sprinkled around her in the crib. So in an effort to get rid of the pacifiers before she can actually start asking for them, we decided that during the day they were off limits. She can only have them when she goes to bed for the night or at nap time. I know that it is not really taking them away from her, but it is a start right?

here are just a few pictures of playtime with paci...

Just Cruising Around...

Lillian is cruising all over the place these days. She is constantly making laps around our coffee table. This video is kind of long because Lillian has to stop a few times to look at Moxie who is watching from outside (you can hear her whining in the background).

9 Month Check-Up!

Today was an exciting day for Lillian. She had her Nine-Month Checkup with our favorite pediatrician Dr. Walley! The measurements are below:

• Height: 29 inches (95 percentile)
• Weight: 18.4 pounds (50-75 percentile)
• Head Circumference: 16.75 inches

As you can see, she has just continued to get taller. She has been well above average in height since her first visits with Dr Walley. She has also continued to put on weight. She is now in the average and above range for her weight. Anyways, today could not come fast enough for Melissa and I because we had a ton of questions for the good doctor.

One concern we have had recently is that after nine months we have still yet to see true tears from our little Angel. Sure her eyes get a little watery, but she never had them just streaming down her face. While most people would probably be thrilled with this, we were a little concerned that her tear ducts might not be developing the way they should be. Dr Walley insisted that she was absolutely fine, and that she was just a laid-back, tough baby that just gets more angry than hurt. She definitely gets the laid-back trait from me, but the tough trait from her mom... (do I lose my man card for saying that?)

We have also been worried about her ears. Lately, she has been pulling at them all the time. So much so that we recently noticed a scratch in her ear from her sticking her fingers in there! Dr Walley let us know that her ears were perfectly clear and that she was probably pulling on her ears because her front four upper teeth are starting to descend quite a bit.

Melissa also talked to the good Doc about weening Lillian from breast milk. Melissa's goal was to nurse her for the first year, but with her first birthday just a few months away, Melissa has decided to nurse for the first 5 years! Just kidding, DHR would be over here for a little visit if we decided on that. We are now thinking about nursing until she is a year and then beginning to ween her off, instead of having her weened by a year. He also informed us that we can start giving her whole milk around 11 months. It is just so hard to believe that she will be drinking regular milk in just two short months!

Melissa doesn't like to brag, so I will! Doc also let us know that he expects Lillian to be an early walker. She is already standing on her own for periods of up to 20-30 seconds. He never gave us an actual time frame he expected her to start walking, so I decided on one for him. She will take her first steps on February 22. That is exactly 5 days from now. Of course, that will be a Sunday, so it will probably happen in the Church Nursery, where no one will happen to see it.

She also had a shot today that didn't phase her in the least. She took it like a champ. Anyways, it is getting close to bedtime, so I guess I am done bragging.

Daddy



looking for Alli's kitty cat...


"here kitty, kitty, kitty"


found it!

Valentine's Day Weekend!!

It is so funny to think about how much our lives have changed in just the few years that Shaun and I have been together. But with this past weekend all I could think about -probably because it was Valentine's Day- was how much love is in our lives. When Shaun and I first got married I did not think that it was possible for me to love him any more than did. But less than year later on May 15, 2008 I watched Shaun hold our newborn daughter for the first time and I fell in love with him all over again; this time I fell in love with him as a father. How blessed I feel to have such a love in my life, and this past Valentine's Day was just another opportunity to be thankful for the beautiful daughter and wonderful hubby that God has given me.

So much for the yucky love stuff though, lets get down to the V-day presents! Shaun gave Lillian a really cute bear with little white hearts all over it and told her that she would always be his Valentine no matter how old she gets. Shaun surprised me with a beautiful cross necklaces and then took me shopping for two new nursing bras- not exactly lingerie but it is what I wanted/needed. I had ordered a special dinner to cook for Shaun on Sunday night, so after some baby proofing around the house and after Lillian went to bed we had a very yummy dinner.
All in all it was the best Valentine's Day weekend ever!!



Shaun gave Lillian that bear for Valentine's Day!


Lillian trying to break through the child-proofing we did this weekend




walking with her lion!

Blogging Again

I have really been slacking on the blogging, but in my defense we have not had our camera for an entire week and I did not want to post without some cute pictures for everyone. To play catch up let me give hit you with the highlights of what all Lillian is able to do these days:

• she can wave bye-bye and hello
• she can walk while holding on to something like the coffee table or even just the wall
• when you sing the patty cake song she can roll her hands over one another when you sing "roll it up, roll it up throw it in the pan!"
• she is eating lots of different foods now and loves spinach! (yuck!)
  
• it makes me sad, but she does not like to be held much anymore. She would rather be crawling all over the place.
• she only seems to be attracted to things in our home that can kill her.
• she loves being outside!!
• she recently has started standing on her own without holding on to anything!

Last weekend Shaun took Lillian to the zoo for a little Daddy and Daughter time. Here are some cute pictures from their trip.

So Tired

Lillian was very sleepy tonight after a long day of crawling and playing all around the house.

Brushing Our Teeth!

Lillian loves to have her two little teeth brushed!!

First Born- Fun Post

(from FaceBook)
Here you go mommies- a different kind of survey for a change. It's all about your first born!

Let's see how much you remember!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? no

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes, Shaun and I had been married for 3 months!

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? I was scared, happy, worried, and excited. Shaun was VERY excited when I told him.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? absolutely not

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 22

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I had gone to the doctor to talk about changing to a different birth control pill. We had not gotten very far into the conversation when a nurse came into the exam room and handed my doctor a piece of paper. My doctor got a huge smile on her face and said, "Your PREGNANT!"

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Technically I told Rabbi Scott first; it is a long story.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Not at first, but Shaun convinced me otherwise.

9. DUE DATE? May 20, 2008

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? not once : )

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Sweet Treats!

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? always feeling like I had to go to the bathroom, but never really having to go.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? girl

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Shaun and I both thought it was a boy, but we could not have been any happier when they told us it was a girl.

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 27, but it would have been more like 40 if I had been able to avoid a couple stomach bugs there in my second trimester.

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew about it

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? no I was very fortunate

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Brookwood

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? 3 hours of labor and maybe 5 minutes of pushing and Lillian was here!

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Shaun

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Shaun and my sister Alli

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yes! I almost missed the window though; I got my epidural and then had Lillian 35 minutes later.

25. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH AND HOW LONG? 7 lbs and 2 oz; 20 inches long

26. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN? May 15, 2009

27. DID YOU OR YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS AFTER THE BIRTH? Lillian had a lot of fluid in her lungs and had to have it all sucked out. I only got to hold her for just a second after she was born before they took her from me to clear her lungs, but I was just happy she was ok.

28. HOW LONG WERE YOU AND YOUR CHILD IN THE HOSPITAL? 2 nights and 1 full day.

29. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Lillian Anne

30. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 8 months old-she will be 9 months next week!

Just a Cute Video

I love it when Lillian gets really tired right before her bed time, because she just starts falling/folding over whereever she is. We took a video of her doing it last night; even though I have seen her do it so many times, I still think it is so funny.



This is just a cute video of Lillian repeatedly giving Shaun her feet to munch on~

Lillian LOVES Her Duck

We originally got Lillian this inflatable for her to sit in in the bath tub, but she really enjoys it more when it is in our den. She loves to put her toys in there and then take them out and then put them back in. She will crawl into the duck and then just sit in there for like 10 minutes and play and then throw herself out onto the floor; it is so funny to watch!

Super Bowl Sunday

This past Sunday we went over to Shaun's parents house to watch the Super Bowl with everyone and to eat some good food. Lillian had so much fun crawling around playing with her cousin Bailey!



all of us looking like goobers in our 3-D glasses

just a cute pic of Lillian getting dressed

Cajun Steamer

Last night we had dinner with some friends at the Cajun Steamer, one of our FAVORITE places to eat. You never know how an eight-almost nine- month old will tolerate waiting for a table then waiting on food, than waiting for Mommy and Daddy to finish eating, but Lillian did really well. I could not feed her anything from the restaurant because it has way to much spice for her little tummy, but she loved the sweet potato's that I packed in her diaper bag. I was so excited to get to see Jay and Nicole, it is still so weird to think of them as married!