Development

It is crazy how quickly Lily's development progresses.  Her personality and physical abilities have changed so much since last weekend or even just two days ago.  She giggles all the time, blows bubbles constantly, rolls over and over and over, tries to sit up on her own, holds her own bottle, and reaches for everything.  She is curious about everything and hates to be immobile.  Today we went to the mall and Mike ended up pushing around an empty stroller because Lily kept trying to climb out.  Once we was in my arms people watching she was perfectly content.  I think I say this in every post but I CANNOT believe how big she is!

Last night we ventured out to Gippers for a surprise party for Mike's friend.  Since we left Lily with a babysitter on Wednesday to see Darius Rucker and I had a work function Thursday night, we decided to take Lily with us.  She helped us celebrate well past her bedtime and finally fell asleep in her carseat while Mommy and Daddy enjoyed interacting with adults.  And I might add that two - not one but TWO - different people said Lily looked JUST like ME!  That has never happened!  Sorry Daddy....the reign of your good lucks might be wearing off.

Earlier this week I was talking to my sister-in-law who mentioned she ventured into a Once Upon a Child store and while she tried to buy the entire place, spent under $100 and purchased more than enough clothes.  I did a bit of googling and found a store just north of downtown and minutes from where I work.  Auntie LB and I met Aunt Erin for lunch one day and decided to pop into the store to see what we could find Lily.  Little did we know that a trip to this store could not be accomplished over a portion of our lunch hour.  We were so overwhelmed by the volume of choices (and the prices) that we only tackled the 6-12 months pants section.  Have no fear - we weren't coming out of there empty handed.  Lily now has 5 new pairs of pants and I spent under $20.  We will be back...maybe next time we'll bring our lunch to the store.

Helicopter Mom

Typically I try to drop Lily off at daycare around 7:45 if not closer to 7:30.  Lily usually ends up being the first kid there but I avoid the morning rush both at daycare and on the highway.  Today marks the start of Lily's fourth week and so far we have gotten into a pretty good routine.  Last week I forgot her bottles and had to turn around only to find my computer bag still sitting on the counter.  Forgetting her bottles saved me from arriving at work and discovering I was computerless.  I got over that one pretty quick.

Today, MONDAY, I was running late (ok so I snoozed five times) and we arrived at daycare at 8:00 on the dot and walked into pure chaos.  I'd like to say that I will never ever hit my snooze button again but I know that's a lie.  Another regular mom and I were dropping our kids off like any other morning.  A new little girl started last week and every time I've seen her she's been crying her head off.  This morning was nothing new - red face, lots of tears, full blown screaming.  Today was a new little boy's first day and the mom was going over his schedule with Molly (our caregiver).  She mentioned that her son sleeps with a blanket and Molly had to tell her she was very sorry but she was not going to be able to give him the blanket (um didn't this mom listen to anything the doctors say - no blankets in the crib!).  The conversation continued as follows:

Helicopter Mom: But he won't sleep without his blanket!
Molly: I'm really sorry but we cannot place the blanket in the crib.
Helicopter Mom (getting teary): Well I don't know how he's going to sleep.  I don't know if I should leave him here.
Regular Mom and Me: Ok Molly have a good day! (And we booked it out of there). 

I know you all thought that you were going to read about how I was the helicopter mom - sorry to disappoint!

Just chillin

So relaxed

I'll gladly do tummy time if I'm parked in front of the TV

Three Years

This blog never would have been started if we hadn't walked down the aisle three years ago today!

For those of you who don't know our story, Mike and I met in sixth grade at Vicksburg Middle School.  We began dating during our junior year of high school in 2003 and I suppose the rest is history.

5 Months aka 22 Weeks

Yesterday marked Lily's 5 month birthday and today she's 22 weeks old!  Time sure does fly by...

Twenty Things Moms Shouldn't Feel Guilty About

I stumbled upon this article via my email subscription to Parenting magazine's online newsletter.  I read it out loud to Mike and we laughed at how many of them actually applied to us...I'll let you guess which ones :)

1. Wanting to stay home with your baby.

2. Loving your job.

3. Hating your husband now and then.

4. Still not wanting sex way, way, way after your six-week checkup.

5. Not reading to your baby as much as all the experts say you should.

6. Introducing a bottle as soon as you get home from the hospital (even though you’re not sure your milk supply is established yet) so you can get some sleep.

7. Supplementing with formula at any time.

8. Lying to the other women in your mommy group about how long your baby sleeps at night (but you will get more sympathy if you tell the truth).

9. Not keeping up with all the milestones you’re supposed to be recording in your baby book.

10. Never even starting the baby book.

11. Saying, “Great idea—I’ll try it!” to your mother-in-law’s advice when you have absolutely no intention of giving it an iota of thought once she walks out the door.
12. Telling your partner you’re going to the doctor for a checkup when you’re actually going for a massage, pedicure, or to have your hair highlighted (it’s not like he’s going to notice anyway).
13. Paying cash for your massage/pedicure/highlights so he won’t discover the credit card charge.
14. Refusing another mom’s invitation to a playdate because you can’t stand it that she can leave crystal on her coffee table and toilet paper on the rollers and her baby doesn’t bother any of it.
15. Feeling a twinge of delight when the above mom’s baby still isn’t saying any words and yours has a vocabulary of six!
16. Putting on the Baby Einstein DVD for the third time before lunch so you can apply some makeup because that cute landscaping guy is due to come by and cut your grass sometime this afternoon (just because you don’t want to have sex doesn’t mean you’re dead).
17. Wanting to spend Mother’s Day alone instead of with your family.
18. Going to visit your parents for the weekend because you know they will insist on doing everything for the baby and your mother will cook all your favorite foods for you. (Grandmothers can spoil their own children as well as their grandchildren.)
19. Napping when the baby naps even though he’s nine months old.
20. Driving your baby home from the mall with poop in his diaper because the bathroom is all the way at the other end and you know he couldn’t care less anyway.

This is an excerpt from THE BABYTALK INSIDER’S GUIDE TO YOUR BABY’S FIRST YEAR by the Editors of Babytalk Magazine. Copyright © 2008 by The Parenting Group, Inc. Published by Grand Central Publishing, New York, NY. All rights reserved

Appletree

Lily has almost completed her second full week at Appletree Christian Learning Center.  We are fortunate that a brand new center was built less than three miles from our house and only 10 minutes from where I work.  While there are a number of centers to choose from relatively close to us, Appletree seemed like the best fit.  They opened their doors on July 30 which is why we temporarily had Lily at home.  So far so good!  I think it is developmentally challenging her being around other kids and participating in structured daily activities.  She is already babbling more and she's even rolled from back to front (which we still have yet to see at home). 

Lily's first week photos! 

Solid Foods

We started Lily on rice cereal over the weekend.  She wasn't too sure about it at first but by the end of her first try she was slurping it off the spoon.  Tonight she was opening her mouth for the spoon before it got to her lips.  We also gave her a sippy cup to try out.  So far she seems to have found that the best use for it is to shake it and slam it on her tray.  She'll suck on it if you put it to her lips but then she's over it - too much work. 



My new bib has pockets!



This is amazing!



I don't think I'm going to like this...





....ok it's not so bad....





Messy

 

Last night she started sniffling quite a bit and this morning woke up with a pretty crusty nose.  Throughout the night she woke up a few times and didn't really take much of her bottle this morning.  It sounded like she had a rough day a daycare - barely took two bottles and took a four hour nap.  When I walked in to pick her up she reached for me right away and was super snuggly all night.  Her nose was still pretty crusty tonight so I gave her some nose drops and turned on her humidifier - hopefully she feels better soon. The good news is that she hasn't been overly cranky! (Knock on wood).

Up & Up

I've decided that we are going to become an Up & Up brand family.  After going to BuyBuyBaby, BabiesRUs, AND Target this weekend, we realized that the Up & Up baby items are significantly cheaper than what we have been buying.  With the exception of formula (I'm too afraid to switch her) and diapers (remember my bad day?) we'll be hitting Target for all of Lily's baby needs.  Maybe soon I can convince myself Target brand diapers aren't such a bad thing - we'll send a pack to daycare for them to try first.  While rice cereal, baby food, wipes, and diaper cream all may be cheaper, my addiction to all things Target may be more expensive.  I can never get out of that store with just one thing.  Thankfully Mike was with me on Saturday to remove unnecessary purchases from the cart....

On Saturday I also cleaned out the clearance rack at BabiesRUs.  I bought about twenty outfits for Lily - half 6/9 months for our trip to Hawaii and half 18 months for next summer.  For one I cannot believe that she will be big enough to fit into these and two I cannot believe that every store has winter coats and back to school stuff on their shelves.  I hate to buy any of that stuff now but my girlfriend said I may be SOL come October when I'm trying to find Lily a winter coat.  It is AUGUST!!!!!!!

Daddy's girl

Hanging out with Daddy before bedtime

Goofing off

Helping Mommy do dishes

 



Concentrating so hard



Pro golfer?

Too Big

I've been quite neglectful of Lily's blog...I was reminded so kindly this morning that I need to post more pictures (no one actually reads the text on this thing right?).

We've had an eventful two weeks:

• Lily attended cousin Megan (3) and Mia's (1) birthday party and got loved on by lots of family



Hoy/Youngs Cousins - Poor Kenny



• Lily spent her last week with Liz at home
• Lily grew out of all her 3 month clothes and I discovered almost everything we have that's 6 month is fleece...and it's 90 degrees
• Lily stayed overnight with Grandma and Grandpa Hoy (and Great Aunt Shelley) while Mommy and Daddy celebrated  @ Aunt Kallie's wedding!!



Racette/Sundstrand Cousins - Girls Only!



• Lily started daycare at Appletree
• Lily and I went on a mini shopping spree at Target because we lost power for five hours...I mean a girl can't just hang out in her diaper

• Lily learned to do tennis ball painting and came home from daycare with red paint under her finger nails
• Lily discovers she loves her bumbo afterall

• Lily learned to pinch
• Lily grew some more hair....kinda...I swear it's blonde
• Lily decided she hates going to happy hour...I suppose less drinks means more money for college
• Lily still loves Diesel




Trying to scoot herself closer to Diesel so she can grab her ears...Diesel is less than impressed


• Diesel still loves Lily



Ok...I guess we can keep her