Dance #2

This is another cute video that I got of Lillie dancing. She loves to listen to John play his guitar.

Dance #1

This is just a small, and quite sporadic, taste of Lil's dance moves. If you've ever been around John and I when there's an opportunity to dance you know that, well, we just can't and don't dance. We have no rhythm. So to see our child break it down like there's no shame is pretty hilarious and honestly brings us to join right in because she's just that much fun.

P.S. This video is from back in October.

Ratllet

The Good: Our kid finally has some hair!

The Bad: People still call her a boy all. of. the. time. Occasionally people will quickly notice that she is doused in pink and say something to correct themselves. The mother bear in me wants to grab them by the collar and give them a talking to. Oh well, at least she doesn't understand what they're saying.

The Ugly: Her hair is somewhat of a mix between a mullet (see pic #1) and a rat tail (see pic #2), thus the name "Ratllet". I've considered trimming it in the back to make it even, but I just can't bear to cut something that took so much time.

On a good note, this picture is over a month old (did you really think I'd get a picture posted any sooner?) so it has grown quite a bit in that time.


Pic #1


Pic #2

Park

When the weather was warmer, we made almost daily trips to a nice park near our house. Each time we pulled into the parking lot, Lillie would look out the window and get excited because she knew exactly where she was.

This is a big boat-like thing on the playground that rocks back and forth. Somehow she put these older girls to work rocking the boat while she sat back enjoying the ride. Ha!


See, she has hair!

A bit confused

A while back we rushed out to get a hat and gloves for Lillie because we thought that the cold weather had finally set in. This family can't go without our wagon walks.



Lillie might be a true Philly winter girl (I guess it is all she has ever known)because she doesn't understand this Florida climate. One warm Sunday afternoon we were all heading out the door for a walk and she ran to the closet saying "eh, eh, eh" and pointing to her hat and gloves. And there was no coaxing to be had.

John couldn't help but laugh.


We ended up outside with our child dressed like this...

Best Buds

Another break in posting on the blog...oopsy! I think this picture might make up for it, though. These two are just absolutely adorable together. See how they're holding their hands the same way?

more dogs

This video is a few weeks old but the dog obsession still hasn't worn off a bit. Lillie can spot a dog from a mile away.

Chatty

Lillie will notice just about anything we do and try it out for herself. When she "chats" on her phone (Which is anything remotely the same shape and size. Here, it's an old recorder that I used in college for lectures.) it tends to include a few words and a good laugh here and there. I didn't realize that we do that!

Tough

She can try to act big and bad...



but she's really my little chubby-cheeked baby!



P.S. To my sweet Aunt Cindy: please don't have a heart attack because you see Lillie with another monster fork in her hand. It's just her weapon of choice!

Fall-ish

The weather is getting cooler here. You know, the high is in the 80's instead of the 90's. Lillie absolutely loves to go outside so I took the camera with us one day.

An apple a day...

makes a happy girl. I know that I post a lot of pictures of Lillie at the dinner table, but that's the only time I can catch her!

Pumpkin Patch

We made our first family visit to a pumpkin patch this week. It was a bit weird to be taking part in a fall activity when it still feels like summer, but hey, I'm not rushing the cool weather. Lillie loved the pumpkins mainly because she thought they were just her size and ready to be thrown like a ball. Imagine, just after I took this picture that pumpkin went flying.



After a quick lesson on pumpkin etiquette, we were on our way to make new friends...



and look for the perfect pumpkins...





and go for a ride.



She may be a loud scarecrow,



but she sure is a cute punkin!

butter thief

One day recently I was working on getting dinner ready. I went to grab something from the fridge and turned around a minute later to find Lillie testing out the butter she found inside the door. She liked!

Where'd Lillie go?

At each meal for several days in a row Lillie would start this game with John. I finally remembered to have the camera handy to catch her sneaky ways.

Say mama

Lillie was around 9 months old here. Poor mama, she never gets any credit...

No!

This video is a few weeks old, but things haven't changed much.

Hide and Seek

Haven't seen us lately?



We're still here! Maybe not under the kitchen sink, but we're here.



I've just been lazy on posting here. We've been up (and so has the temperature) to a lot. I hope to do some catching up this week. Gotta keep those grandmas happy with updates!

Supervising Dad

We are so thankful to have some yard space for Lillie to play in. She really enjoys being outside and actually begs, kicks, and screams to get out there (and to see dogs too). I was able to catch her content to be standing inside the door. Maybe because she's content to supervise?

Dog obsession continued

Yes, the grunts coming from that little mouth are meant to be barks. I love this kid.

Doggies!

Somewhere along the way Lillie became obsessed with dogs. One day I asked her, "What does a doggie say, Lillie?" And she replied with a little bark. She's a cutie, I know. Well lo and behold our neighbors have dogs and she has been sure to sound the doggie alarm when there is a sighting...and even when there isn't.

What happens when...

mama asks daddy to give Lillie some breakfast.

cell phone and uh-oh

Lillie obsesses over our phones. We decided to pull out one of our old cell phones hoping that some of the novelty would wear off. Bad idea. Is this a preview of the teenage years?

Lillie and the big ONE

Lillie's first birthday has come and gone and numerous people have asked me when I'm going to update my blog. Never! Leave it to me to have the opposite reaction one would expect, but I see my sweet little darling baby growing up right before my eyes and it's hard to handle. I know, I know. You older, wiser parents are thinking I'd better get a grip now because I have plenty more years of this left. But I can't!

Anyway, one thing I can say is that we had a grand ole time celebrating and I really enjoyed the planning process. For a short time, I resisted that little bug in my ear telling me to go crazy with Independence Day decorations because, after all, Lillie shares her birth date with America. But I wanted to give her a fun, girly, pink party. Then I went to Michael's to see what they had on the shelves and it was all over from there. My baby doesn't have an independent streak in her for no reason. She's a firecracker after all!


Her first doll and she kissed her right away. Makes a mama want to cry!



A tea set for a little lady



A new set of wheels



Ready to par-tay...



Friends!



Uh oh, a boy



I really enjoyed making her cake to dig into



One taste...



and she was done with it.


Happy first birthday to our Lillie!

Florida girls need...

some water to cool off in the sun


stylin' shades


and Krispy Kreme!

Look what we've been "up" to

I knew that she would eventually come across this new...skill?? talent?? I don't really know what to call it but she sure found it.

P.S. This isn't meant to be offensive. So laugh with us while she's still innocent!

John graduates

...finally! John's graduation from Westminster was the day before our 5 day long moving adventure. We spent our whole married life looking forward this day but it was a challenge to enjoy it because there was just so much happening. So I did what any smart mama would do. I took a ton of pictures of my baby girl and crossed my fingers that I had a few pictures of John wearing his cap and gown somewhere in there. Just kidding. Although I did try to take a lot of pictures because, let me tell you something (again), this day was long awaited.


Waiting on Daddy to walk across the stage wasn't easy. We were making friends (and kissing them) in the lobby most of the time.

We had lots of family come from near and far to celebrate.