Sunday, February 28, 2010
On a roll
Lily did pattycake for the first time today. Even more importantly though, she busted out her first dance moves. Woot!
Friday, February 26, 2010
From the last few days
Here are some random recent photos and a video from the last few days:
I gave Lily a big bowl of water to play in on the kitchen floor. She thinks this is better than any toy. I cut her off once she is thoroughly soaked.
Her first love:
In the playpen at Grandma's:
And last but not least, our little Olympian in training...
I gave Lily a big bowl of water to play in on the kitchen floor. She thinks this is better than any toy. I cut her off once she is thoroughly soaked.
Her first love:
In the playpen at Grandma's:
And last but not least, our little Olympian in training...
10 Months
Dear Lily,
You are 10 months old. This past month has been quite exciting. You took your first steps and your second airplane ride. You are well on your way to being a world traveler! You travel so well these days, in the car or on a plane. We look forward to many fun family vacations in the years to come.
Things we want to remember about this age:
-You are cruising around the furniture, occasionally letting go and walking up to 10 steps or so toward whatever catches your fancy. Sometimes you make it and other times you fall down, but you never get very upset about it. You are so proud of yourself when you do this, laughing and smiling the whole way.
-You have a funny sound you make when you see a dog or cat. It is kind of a “kkkkkkkhhhhhhh” noise, kind of like you are hacking up a hairball. You reach out for the animal and make this noise with a big smile across your face. When we got back from out trip to California it was obvious that you had missed the animals. We are so happy that you appear to love our furry friends as much as we do.
-You still aren’t a great sleeper. You are usually waking up at least once a night. We are hoping you grow out of this soon.
-You are getting into playing with other kids. Your cousin little Lexi was visiting this weekend and you two had fun playing with your little ride-on car. You enjoyed pushing Lexi around on it. It was really cute.
-The things you are saying these days are “whoa” and just in the last few days “uh-oh!”. I would call "uh-oh" your first official word (is it a word?) because you say it all the time when you drop things. You definitely know what it means. You also say “mama" but don't put it together with me yet. We’re still working on “dada”.
-Your love for the TV remote has grown. You are obsessed, which is funny because we hardly ever watch TV while you are awake except for the Olympics, which we make and exception for.
-Speaking of the Olympics, wiping your nose should be an Olympic event. You act like we are killing you when we do it. We have to be very sneaky to get the job done.
-You LOVE getting into the cabinets and pulling things out. We installed a new hanging pot rack and you love it when we give you a wooden spoon and let you make beautiful music with the pots and pans.
Sweetie, in the years we spent waiting and hoping for you, we never imagined we could love you this much. The reality of you is better than we could have ever imagined.
Love, mama.
You are 10 months old. This past month has been quite exciting. You took your first steps and your second airplane ride. You are well on your way to being a world traveler! You travel so well these days, in the car or on a plane. We look forward to many fun family vacations in the years to come.
Things we want to remember about this age:
-You are cruising around the furniture, occasionally letting go and walking up to 10 steps or so toward whatever catches your fancy. Sometimes you make it and other times you fall down, but you never get very upset about it. You are so proud of yourself when you do this, laughing and smiling the whole way.
-You have a funny sound you make when you see a dog or cat. It is kind of a “kkkkkkkhhhhhhh” noise, kind of like you are hacking up a hairball. You reach out for the animal and make this noise with a big smile across your face. When we got back from out trip to California it was obvious that you had missed the animals. We are so happy that you appear to love our furry friends as much as we do.
-You still aren’t a great sleeper. You are usually waking up at least once a night. We are hoping you grow out of this soon.
-You are getting into playing with other kids. Your cousin little Lexi was visiting this weekend and you two had fun playing with your little ride-on car. You enjoyed pushing Lexi around on it. It was really cute.
-The things you are saying these days are “whoa” and just in the last few days “uh-oh!”. I would call "uh-oh" your first official word (is it a word?) because you say it all the time when you drop things. You definitely know what it means. You also say “mama" but don't put it together with me yet. We’re still working on “dada”.
-Your love for the TV remote has grown. You are obsessed, which is funny because we hardly ever watch TV while you are awake except for the Olympics, which we make and exception for.
-Speaking of the Olympics, wiping your nose should be an Olympic event. You act like we are killing you when we do it. We have to be very sneaky to get the job done.
-You LOVE getting into the cabinets and pulling things out. We installed a new hanging pot rack and you love it when we give you a wooden spoon and let you make beautiful music with the pots and pans.
Sweetie, in the years we spent waiting and hoping for you, we never imagined we could love you this much. The reality of you is better than we could have ever imagined.
Love, mama.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Just a note
I realized that people who don't know might be wondering about Lily's birthmom. At this time, Lily's birthmom is not interested in having contact with us. She has very limited contact with the rest of her family, as well. We were hoping that she might stop by while we were visiting but understand that she is not ready at this time. We want her to know that the door is always open and we would love for Lily to see her again if, or when, she feels ready.
Speaking of open adoption, I am so happy to say that some friends from our local support group, Matt and Eunice, have brought their baby boy home! I waited a while because I wanted to get their permission before posting but then I forgot I never posted about it! After having to spend a long few weeks in OH waiting for their paperwork to go through, they finally made it home. We cant wait to meet the little guy in a week or so. Congratulations Eunice and Matt!
Speaking of open adoption, I am so happy to say that some friends from our local support group, Matt and Eunice, have brought their baby boy home! I waited a while because I wanted to get their permission before posting but then I forgot I never posted about it! After having to spend a long few weeks in OH waiting for their paperwork to go through, they finally made it home. We cant wait to meet the little guy in a week or so. Congratulations Eunice and Matt!
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
From green hills to the frozen tundra
We are back home in Indiana. I apologize for the delay in posting. It's taken us awhile to get back into the swing of normal life again. Now the massive post to make up for my delay...
We had such a great trip, there is a lot to talk about. Thanks to everyone who left comments and sent emails with cool places to visit in San Fran. We only wish we had had more time so that we could have gotten to more of them. Thursday morning and early afternoon, Corey and I spent in Chinatown, checking out all of the cool groceries filled with things we'd never seen before.
The smells and sounds were so interesting. We are SO into that kind of stuff. There were very heated card games going on in the park in Chinatown. The men and the women were segregated and there were many games going on at once.
Next we went down to Fisherman's Wharf. We shopped around and waited for our night tour of Alcatraz.
This gull was a very willing subject for me to photograph. I love the way this one turned out.
The Alcatraz trip was really neat. The audio tour was great and it really pulled you into the whole experience . The nighttime ambiance made the whole thing quite spooky and creepily awesome.
The next day, Corey and I went back to San Francisco and visited the Ferry Building (filled with cool gourmet food stores) and the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The Academy of Sciences was unbelievable - it is a rainforest, aquarium, natural history museum, and planetarium in one - all under a living roof. So cool.
So many of the tanks in aquarium were muli-layered. You could view the tank in the photo above from underwater as well.
The living roof on top:
There was a neat greenway near Lily's Nanny's house. We took Lily over there a few times to swing on the swingset. How nice it was to walk around without a coat!
We had a chance to finally meet my Flickr friend Virginia in person! Her hubby and baby are just adorable, as well. We had a nice lunch and now it is their turn to visit us in IN ;)
Lily and Oliver seemed to like eachother...
The last evening we were there, Christina and Chris had a little dinner party so we got to meet more members of our ever growing family! Here is a photo with Lily and her birth great-grandma Loretta:
Serving up the wonderful meal that Christina prepared for all of us..
The evening ended with us all dancing to Beyonce. You can't beat that, can you? While we were all dancing around the living room, Christina asked me if looking back, I would have ever imagined such a thing. I can't say that this is anything I could have expected, but here we are, 10 months later and a whole family richer. They have opened their arms and accepted all three of us into the family. It makes me teary to think about.
Lily wasn't really sure about her grandpa Chris. I think it was the facial hair she had trouble warming up to...
A photo of Tiger who has grown like a weed since we saw him last..
I shot this last photo out the window at the airport as we left. I think this is my favorite of all of them.
We had such a great trip, there is a lot to talk about. Thanks to everyone who left comments and sent emails with cool places to visit in San Fran. We only wish we had had more time so that we could have gotten to more of them. Thursday morning and early afternoon, Corey and I spent in Chinatown, checking out all of the cool groceries filled with things we'd never seen before.
The smells and sounds were so interesting. We are SO into that kind of stuff. There were very heated card games going on in the park in Chinatown. The men and the women were segregated and there were many games going on at once.
Next we went down to Fisherman's Wharf. We shopped around and waited for our night tour of Alcatraz.
This gull was a very willing subject for me to photograph. I love the way this one turned out.
The Alcatraz trip was really neat. The audio tour was great and it really pulled you into the whole experience . The nighttime ambiance made the whole thing quite spooky and creepily awesome.
The next day, Corey and I went back to San Francisco and visited the Ferry Building (filled with cool gourmet food stores) and the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The Academy of Sciences was unbelievable - it is a rainforest, aquarium, natural history museum, and planetarium in one - all under a living roof. So cool.
So many of the tanks in aquarium were muli-layered. You could view the tank in the photo above from underwater as well.
The living roof on top:
There was a neat greenway near Lily's Nanny's house. We took Lily over there a few times to swing on the swingset. How nice it was to walk around without a coat!
We had a chance to finally meet my Flickr friend Virginia in person! Her hubby and baby are just adorable, as well. We had a nice lunch and now it is their turn to visit us in IN ;)
Lily and Oliver seemed to like eachother...
The last evening we were there, Christina and Chris had a little dinner party so we got to meet more members of our ever growing family! Here is a photo with Lily and her birth great-grandma Loretta:
Serving up the wonderful meal that Christina prepared for all of us..
The evening ended with us all dancing to Beyonce. You can't beat that, can you? While we were all dancing around the living room, Christina asked me if looking back, I would have ever imagined such a thing. I can't say that this is anything I could have expected, but here we are, 10 months later and a whole family richer. They have opened their arms and accepted all three of us into the family. It makes me teary to think about.
Lily wasn't really sure about her grandpa Chris. I think it was the facial hair she had trouble warming up to...
A photo of Tiger who has grown like a weed since we saw him last..
I shot this last photo out the window at the airport as we left. I think this is my favorite of all of them.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Arrived safe
We are in California! It was a long journey that started at 2:45 am our time. At 4 am we drove on snow covered roads towards the airport and arrived at the gate just in time to walk on the plane. Corey had to drive through a big snow drift in the long term lot just to get the car parked. That is the closest we've ever come to missing a flight! It took longer than expected to get out of the house and then the drive took almost twice as long as usual, but we made it and that is all that matters.
Lily did really well on the flights, the ups and downs didn't phase her a bit. She really liked opening and closing the window shade, playing with the sky mall magazine, and slapping the monitor on the seat in front of her (which we were constantly having to stop her from doing).
Of course, the reason we are out here is to visit Lily's lovely birth family. Her Nanny was so excited to see her. Lily will get some Nanny/granddaughter time while Corey and I explore San Francisco a bit. Lily's aunt Tami graciously lent us a car so we can get around easier. We have tickets to the night tour of Alcatraz tomorrow. We got a few other good leads on things to see, but please leave a comment if you have any suggestions of things that we shouldn't miss.
Photos to come, I'm sure!
On another note, I have been getting a lot of anonymous spam comments and I have been deleting those as I get them. I found out that I accidentally deleted a legitimate comment accidentally. If I've done this to anyone else, I'm sorry! I may have to end up removing the anonymous comment feature altogether, if I keep getting so many spams.
Lily did really well on the flights, the ups and downs didn't phase her a bit. She really liked opening and closing the window shade, playing with the sky mall magazine, and slapping the monitor on the seat in front of her (which we were constantly having to stop her from doing).
Of course, the reason we are out here is to visit Lily's lovely birth family. Her Nanny was so excited to see her. Lily will get some Nanny/granddaughter time while Corey and I explore San Francisco a bit. Lily's aunt Tami graciously lent us a car so we can get around easier. We have tickets to the night tour of Alcatraz tomorrow. We got a few other good leads on things to see, but please leave a comment if you have any suggestions of things that we shouldn't miss.
Photos to come, I'm sure!
On another note, I have been getting a lot of anonymous spam comments and I have been deleting those as I get them. I found out that I accidentally deleted a legitimate comment accidentally. If I've done this to anyone else, I'm sorry! I may have to end up removing the anonymous comment feature altogether, if I keep getting so many spams.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Daddy-daughter moments
Of course, they happen every day, but today I made note.
#1: This morning as I went into the bedroom on my way out the door, I could see Lily happily sleeping with her head resting on her daddy's shoulder, they were all curled up together in the bed. She had fussed shortly after I got up so Corey pulled her out of the crib and into bed with him. I felt all warm and cozy, thinking of them all cuddled up together, as I trudged out into the snow and off to work.
#2: While I was in the kitchen finishing up the dishes this evening, I could hear Corey loudly singing "Hollaback Girl" to Lil while they "folded" the laundry together.
#3: Yet another tickle attack.
#4: Even though it hurts like all get-out, Corey lets Lil reach in his shirt and pull on his chest hair. This is one of her new favorite things.
And just because it is funny, here is a photo from yesterday. Her hair has a mind of it's own these days.
#1: This morning as I went into the bedroom on my way out the door, I could see Lily happily sleeping with her head resting on her daddy's shoulder, they were all curled up together in the bed. She had fussed shortly after I got up so Corey pulled her out of the crib and into bed with him. I felt all warm and cozy, thinking of them all cuddled up together, as I trudged out into the snow and off to work.
#2: While I was in the kitchen finishing up the dishes this evening, I could hear Corey loudly singing "Hollaback Girl" to Lil while they "folded" the laundry together.
#3: Yet another tickle attack.
#4: Even though it hurts like all get-out, Corey lets Lil reach in his shirt and pull on his chest hair. This is one of her new favorite things.
And just because it is funny, here is a photo from yesterday. Her hair has a mind of it's own these days.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Special, so spe-cial
My friend Laura and I were cracking up the other day about how every mom thinks her kid is exceptional. Your kid will do something new, and you'll be all "Oh my god! My kid is the smartest kid that ever lived!". I just find this so funny because every kid is exceptional and special in their own way. Kids mature at their own pace and it really means nothing in the whole scheme of life. When they walked or talked or popped a tooth won't make or break them getting into Harvard. I hate that it can be a competition between some parents. Sure, I think Lily is just the cutest/smartest/most adorable thing since sliced bread, but so does every mom. I don't think she is better than any other kid. It is important to me that Lily not get a big head and think she is better than anyone else. Well, in truth, Lily literally has a large head, but I digress... I may joke about her being perfect, but I hope people know that I'm just joking. I want her to grow up knowing that just like her, each and every person is special and unique in their own way. I just like to document her changes here on the blog so that her friends and relatives who live far a way can keep up with what she is up to. And maybe when she's older, she'll be interested to know when she popped her first tooth -for what that's worth.
Now, to add to the sheer randomness of this post, I have to add a photo of the cute little canary-yellow desk that I desperately want to buy from an antique store in town. I think it would be super cute in our bedroom in place of the thing we affectionately call the "wobbly table" I got from LTD years ago.
I am also eyeing some cute vintage suitcases at the same shop that I would like to use for photo shoots. I think I'm going to break down and get them.
More sheer randomness in web-cam form:
Yes, I have a Colt's logo on my cheek. We wore them at work today. And, I let my kid play with heavy metal objects.
Now, to add to the sheer randomness of this post, I have to add a photo of the cute little canary-yellow desk that I desperately want to buy from an antique store in town. I think it would be super cute in our bedroom in place of the thing we affectionately call the "wobbly table" I got from LTD years ago.
I am also eyeing some cute vintage suitcases at the same shop that I would like to use for photo shoots. I think I'm going to break down and get them.
More sheer randomness in web-cam form:
Yes, I have a Colt's logo on my cheek. We wore them at work today. And, I let my kid play with heavy metal objects.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Goodbye, friend
Anyone who knows my friend Susannah, knew Tess. Tess and Susannah were together for the past 15 years. She was Susannah's dog, her roomate, her partner in crime, her companion when she moved across the country. Earlier this week, the time came for the two of them to say goodbye.
Some don't understand when people get so upset about the loss of an animal, they say things like "It's just a dog". Any true animal lover knows that this simply isn't the case. They can be so much more. Susannah wrote a beautiful blog post yesterday, remebering Tess. It made me cry, but also made me happy. Tess lived a great life and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Some don't understand when people get so upset about the loss of an animal, they say things like "It's just a dog". Any true animal lover knows that this simply isn't the case. They can be so much more. Susannah wrote a beautiful blog post yesterday, remebering Tess. It made me cry, but also made me happy. Tess lived a great life and she will be greatly missed by all who knew her.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
