The Library

One of my first outings with both girls... The library was not a good choice! I had decided to take the car seat in with me because Lucy was sleeping. We had limited time until the library closed. I had Lilly running up and down the aisles of the adult section of the library screaming in her high pitch, with me chasing her with the car seat in tow... And I could NOT catch her!!! It was quite the sight and most embarrassing. And when I finally did get ahold of her, she was throwing the wildest tantrums, and twisted until she was able to escape again. Yikes.

The flu/Halloween

Yuck, yuck, yuck! The house has smelled like vomit and diarrhea the whole past week. We've had a nasty (although short in duration) little stomach bug that started with Lilly, then I got it, and then baby Lucy. Right before Halloween weekend- and we had so many fun plans made! We cancelled some, but kept most, which backfired for some who were with us... Poor Ellen and Abbey ended up catching it too. But we made it to the trunk or treat (we were very late) and then Ellen watched the girls while Alex and I had a fun group date ( Jess, Jorge, Carter, Deta, and Robby were there with us) to the haunted corn maze! It was very fun and creepy! It was Alex's birthday that night also, so we went to Sharis for some treats and chatting.



Lilly was dressed as a ballerina, and Lucy was a bunny. :) Lilly enjoyed seeing family and friends (mostly Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert) at the Trunk-Or-Treat.



Alex ended up getting the flu that next weekend... And we had baby Lucy's blessing planned! Family was already on their way up to Walla Walla, and Alex was sick in bed. Luckily he was feeling ok enough Sunday to give the blessing himself, though we had to quarantine him from the family while they were visiting. :(

Ravioli stains everything. It stains skin, bath tub, sinks, dish towels... And in general is extremely struggly to clean up. I learned this after letting Lilly play in her food, she was having SUCH a good time!

Lilly is a Big Girl!

Lilly had her 18 mo. appt. this last week. She is 26 lbs. 4 oz. and 34 inches high! She was really brave through her 3 shots- I was expecting much worse! Trying to keep her in the room while waiting for the doctor proved to be the hardest part... she kept sneaking out and running down the nurses hall. She has discovered that with a baby in a car seat, mom can't move as fast!

Summertime!

... is almost over! Things are starting to cool off, and I have to slow down in school zones again. :)

Baby Girl number two could arrive any day (but isn't due til the 20th of Sept.) though I feel as if I am counting the minutes until her birth! Been having contractions, and get checked Monday to see if we are making any progress. This pregnancy has been harder in that I'm taking care of Lilly while I am SOOO tired, and I've had a few more health issues with it. (High blood pressure, and weird painless migraines that affect my vision, and the real painful migraines!) But overall, I feel like I was able to enjoy it more, with less anxiety just because I already know what's coming! I really think I may miss carrying this little one around in my belly, it is such a miracle and blessing. I tend to complain about the little aches and pains, but I am enjoying it!

And Baby Girl #2 remains nameless... we just can't seem to agree on any names! Any suggestions on those? Alex is pretty set on Kaylee and I really like Rose. but both are out cause the other person doesn't like them! Middle name is going to be "Jolee" or "Jo" after Grandma Sharp.

Lilly and I have had lots of adventures together and made many fun friends to have playdates with! We got a baby pool for our back porch which she LOVES. She is just a little fish! Even in the shower now, she likes the bath plugged with the shower going and sits with her head right underneath it!

The last month Lilly has learned to say "no" and "mine"... which has been humorous and challenging interchangeably. Hardest part has been teaching her to be nice with friends and to "share"... such a hard concept to teach! Where she was so sweet and never seemed to care if friends had her toys, now she is hitting, pulling hair and screaming. Felt like we had a little demon child there for a while, but she seems to be slowly getting it. I still struggle with finding our best parenting techniques for dealing with this... feels wrong to "hit her back," she doesn't pay much attention at all when I am talking to her about it (not sure she understands/has the attention span...) been just trying to remove her from the situation and "explain seriously" why she shouldn't smack her play mates. Open to any other ideas... lol. :)

Mother's Day

We joined the Gilbert's on Mother's Day, got to hear Preston and Alex speak in church, they both gave beautiful talks. I wasn't dry eyed through either one of them. :) Alex also played a piano accompaniment, which was also lovely, was so proud of him! We had brunch with the GIlberts, Jess and Jorge, as well as Lilly's Great Grandma Jeanne, and Great Great Grandma Bennie! It was so fun to have everyone all together.

It's Another GIRL!!

We had our ultrasound this last Wednesday for baby #2! Everything looks healthy and good, heartbeat was at 150, and it's another little lady! So fun for Lilly to have a little sis, and easy for us, since everything we already have is pink! i knew as soon as they pulled up the screen for her gender that we were looking at another little girl- spotted those three signature lines they always point out. Like Lilly's ultrasound, they weren't able to get a profile shot because of the way she was laying- so we have a front face pic, which to me looks like a scary alien.
Alex and I have come to the conclusion that we are just good at making little girls! Our first one was pretty cute, so this one is bound to be too. :)

That evening we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Gilbert, and we were in the door no more than 10 minutes when Lilly ran head first into the coffee table leg and sliced her forehead. So we packed everything up and headed down to the ER where we sat waiting for 45 minutes... which seems like forever when you are waiting with a hurt child. They glued her shut, which was so easy, glad there were no stitches involved. She is her perfectly normal, active, happy self today.

This is about 5 days later, you can still see her Harry Potter Lightning scar... but it is healing up nicely!

Preston's Homecoming!

Preston Gilbert just arrived home from Norway on Friday night at 10pm! We were lucky to get him home with all the volcano eruption trouble they were having over in Europe. We drove an hour out to Tricities airport to meet him, and we woke Lilly up and ran inside when we heard his plane was 17 minutes early. Banner was ready, balloons waiting- Lilly had on a special shirt that said "Welcome Home Uncle Preston" She was not too sure about meeting her Uncle for the first time- her expression in this picture seems to reflect exactly what she must have been thinking:


Preston moves in to hug daddy and the expression:

16 weeks and 3 days

Had an appt. yesterday, baby is doing good! Heartbeat was 165 bpm. We were able to set up our ultrasound for May 5th! Time is going so slowly, I really want to know if we will be having another girl, or a boy. :) Felt the baby move for the first time last night too! I was eating taco salad and drinking some lemonade and I distinctly felt a little someone dancing around in my tummy!

Got Lilly's room mostly set up today, her decals are up on the wall, and her furniture is assembled. I am so happy with this new place. I love our front yard the most, with the pretty red tulips and trees! There is a really pretty pink blossomed tree in front too. Took Lilly out to play in the backyard for the first time yesterday, she is still afraid of the grass! I set her down in it while I was weeding, and she did not move from that spot! But I think

she will adjust soon, at least she didn't scream when I put her down this time.

Easter was so good, enjoyed Conference and brunch at the Gilberts! Lilly got some fun things in her basket from Grandma and Grandpa- some big legos, a couple cute outfits, and some classic books on DVD.

Lilly with Tia Jessica, she was sooo sleepy!

Growing like a Weed!!

Took Lilly in for her 12 mo. check up today, she got 3 shots. She was so angry, I have rarely seen her cry like that, it almost made me tear up. She is 19 lbs. 13 oz. and 30 3/4 cm tall. She is in the 28th percentile for weight, and the 90th percentile for height.

Ultrasound Baby Number 2!

Heart beat was 150, and you could see him/her taking a nap in there at the ultrasound. The profile was pretty clear, for saying we are only about 13 weeks here. We were really impressed with our new doctor here, I think he is going to be really great. So far feeling pretty good, have been on nausea pills which have been absolutely wonderful! :)

Lilly's First Birthday!

I can hardly believe that our little Lilly Bug is one year old today! She is getting to be such a big girl, almost walking and doing so many little tricks. She claps, blows kisses, does "so big," pat-a-cake, peek-a-boo, and can find your nose. I am so blessed to be her mommy, she has such a happy spirit about her, and brings so much joy to our home.




We are having a princess themed party at the Gilberts' tonight- both sides of the family are going to be there, and our good friends the Moline family. How lucky she is to have so many who love her. Pizza and cake, it's going to be a good time!