Goal Met!!!

2nd Post Today!!
It's so nice here, 58 degrees!

I decided to give my answers on Monday. Just in case anyone else wanted to comment. My fingers are crossed.:)

Lily is doing much better. She hasn't coughed much in the past few days. Her nose is back to normal, sometimes clear and other times snotty.

We've been letting her nap longer in the evenings and she has been a lot more happy from 7-9PM. She continues to wake up around 4AM but also continues to fall back asleep after about 10 minutes.

I just have to say that I'm thankful I'm married and don't have to date. I have 2 friends that are single and experiencing the dating world. It's fun to hear about their first dates and butterflies but when I try to give advice I feel so goofy. I really have no clue, so don't take what I say too serious girls! What do I know anyway, I haven't dated since 1994 and I was 17! Plus what does a 17 year old know about dating! Back then it was a lot of prank calls and drive bys.

Goal: 2 posts today

I know I always start each Friday post saying I love weekends, but I just can't help it. I haven't always understood the importance of a weekend. When I worked 3 12hr shifts at the hospital my days always changed. It wasn't until I worked at the clinic that I had a better understanding. Not a complete understanding since I worked 4 10hr shifts and did call one weekend a month. My current job has provided me with a greater appreciation for a weekend since I work Monday-Friday.

This weekend will be filled with Donny. He arrived last night from California. Donny is one of our college buddies and have known him over a decade. Probably most of the people reading this know Donny. Even if your a stranger to me. Donny knows everyone! His personality is amazing and his ability to strike up a conversation is like no other. One of my fondest memories with Donny, includes Uncle Dillhole as well. We got a little wasted, okay a lot wasted, during one of our ski trips and pretty much terrorized the rest of the condo that was asleep. We were on a rampage. But had so much fun doing it and will always be a memory that can make me laugh out loud. And have the pictures to prove it. Oh those silly ducks.

I also seem to comment about being late to work frequently. I do make up the time and it's usually only 5-10 minutes late. BUT, I have to comment today cuz I was early!! I got to work 15 minutes early. Thanks Randy for feeding Lily!

Why work when one can shop?

Couldn't write at lunch time, had to shop instead! It's so nice working within walking distance to shops. Didn't buy anything but enjoyed escaping my office. It's very nice outside, over 50 degrees. Much better than the single digits that haunted us most of last week. Just to give you all out of staters an idea of this crazy Colorado weather, Sunday until later next week it's expected to be in the 60's! Not a big surprise that everyone around me is sick with the weather going from one extreme to another.

Talk about being sick or in my case staying healthy, I had my first shot of wheat grass today. My friend got one and they had extra so I tried it. Not horrible but the orange slice afterward helped a lot. Sadly but responsibily that was my first shot in well over a year.

Last night was filled with entertaining Lily, baking cookies for her day care and cleaning like a maniac! Lily was a good sport. At one point I put her in a stroller, not the cheap umbrella one and not our big travel system-something in the middle of them. I pushed her around the house as I cleaned. It worked pretty well for a while. Everything works well but there is a stopping point. Or as my husband calls "The hashbrown limit." He is referring to eating but I suppose it works for most anything. It's stopping right before you reach the point of no return. Once Lily starts fussing I know to change her environment before it's out of control. She can take the swing for about 30 minutes, hang out on the pak-n-play changing pad for about 10 minutes and now be strolled around the house for about 20 minutes. It's so not about me anymore.

Our friend, Donny, arrives tonight. He is loads of fun and a very happy person. Can anyone guess what Donny and Randy will be doing tomorrow? Or maybe I should ask if anyone can guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? First answer is DingDing!! snow boarding and second answer is working. Yay for me.

I'm addicted to blogging

I love blogging. If I didn't worry about getting fired from being on the internet I would blog all the time. Including writing on my blog and reading others. It's too much fun. Anyhow, today should be even more fun. Staci invited me to join in a blogging game. I changed it a little. Here are the rules: I give 3 true statements and 1 false statement. You guess the false one. Yes, this means you have to leave a comment. Please! I really enjoy comments. Here goes:

1. I rode the tilt a whirl at Six Flags for 9 hours for a radio competition but didn't win the final prize.

2. I belong to the mile high club.

3. We secretly found out Lily's gender but never told anyone.

4. My first car was a 2 toned yellow Ford Fairmont.

Heehee, I am laughing here in my little office. How much fun can a girl have???!!!!! Comment away!!! I'll post answers Thursday or Friday.

Just a quick update since I surfed the web on my lunch break. :)

I think Lily is doing better. Last night she was fussy around 8PM but I think it was because she didn't take a very long nap in the evening. When she's fussy (not counting when she's sick) it's usually cuz she needs to sleep. Easy to fix, just let her sleep unless it's a hour before bed!!! Ever since last weekend when she was pretty sick she has been waking up around 4AM. Usually we can hear her on the monitor fussing and she will fall back asleep by herself. That first night she was sick I did feed her at 4AM and now it seems like she wants to continue but I sure don't! It's hard when you're used to sleeping most of the night and then all the sudden you're waking up at 4! Not fun when I have to get up at 5:30AM.

Today I had a presentation at work. I was a little nervous since I haven't talked to a group since I taught CPR. At first I could tell my voice was shaky but halfway through I was really enjoying it. My topic might have been a little boring to my co workers but it's what I do and I like it!

Last night when Randy was teaching Lily and I did another photo shoot. I have to do it when Randy's not there or he will make fun of me. He still makes fun of me but it's easier to take when he's not witnessing the photo shoot! She was a good sport! Good thing we have a digital, I think I took about 30 pictures. Only about 4 of them were any good. She's getting good at smiling for the camera but turns her head when I take the picture. I still need to work on that darn scrapbook!

Guess who's 4 months old!

That's right, Miss Lily is 4 months old today. To celebrate, she got a cold and Randy is sick too. Hopefully we can celebrate in a healthy way in a few days. It started last Thursday night and we took her to the pediatrician on Friday. He said it was a cold and we pretty much had to wait it out. We had already been treating her chronic stuffy nose for weeks by raising the head of her bed, using the humidifier nightly and saline drops. Now we added Tylenol and lots of TLC.

Our weekend was filled with lots of couch lounging, walking the baby and watching the Olympics. I am totally into sports I never imagined I would ever like. We watched woman's curling forever and I love to watch Apollo in the short distance speed skating. Besides being sick, Randy's weekend was busy with researching wood floors and counter tops. We decided to do some home improvements with our tax return. Randy is Mr. Handyman and is enjoying this process so far. Hopefully the excitement will continue!

Diapers, this is my next order of discussion today. We have tried them all, Pampers Swaddlers, plain Pampers, Huggies Supreme, plain Huggies and Target brand. Okay, we haven't tried Luvs and likely never will. We love the Swaddlers, they're by far the best. The Target brand actually surprised us and do work pretty well, better than the Huggies anyway. We have purchased the Target brand the last few times since they are half the price of the Swaddlers. But this weekend I purchased the wrong size or at least the higher end of the weight limit and we have had so many blow outs it's crazy. I changed her outfit approximately 2.67 times a day. After we use up these diapers I will be buying the Swaddlers again. Spending a little more money will be worth not cleaning poop from leg crevices, feet and back. Yes, I said her back, somehow the poop moves around and works its way up.

Another funny poop story...I thought she might be getting constipated since I hadn't changed a poopy diaper for 4 diaper changes. This was at the start of our weekend, before the blow outs mentioned above. Anyhow, I kept telling her to poop. She loves to hang out in her birthday suit while chilling on her changing pad in the bathroom. I like to expose her bottom to air to prevent diaper rash. All of the sudden I heard an explosion. She had pooped so much! I had a spare diaper under her but it didn't help at all. Her legs were covered, her feet were covered, the changing pad was covered. Randy came to help but we didn't know where to start. We ended up washing her bottom in the sink which she enjoyed! At least it didn't shoot across the room. Better not jinx myself!

Lily is getting very ticklish and I'm having so much fun with it! I can tickle her neck and she will laugh out loud. If she's like her pops she's in trouble, he's ticklish everywhere. I can just say "tickle, tickle" and he will freak out.

Since I am posting today it's probably obvious that I'm at work. Posting on my lunch hour of course! I noticed the bus lot was really empty, I got a great parking spot and the bus ride was really quick. It wasn't till I got to work that someone mentioned it was President's Day. Why?Why?Why do I have to work today when no one else does? Okay that's a little dramatic, there are people out there working. But still it's not fair. Oh well, guess I'll just enjoy my quick bus ride home.

Oh by the way, Lily's 4 month check up was done last Friday as well. She weighed 13 pounds 14 ounces and was 24 and a quarter inches long! We declined the vaccinations since she was already sick. We'll have to do them in a week or so but it was nice not to deal with her getting poked 4 times! He said she's doing great (which we already knew!)

A story to tell the grandkids...

Since Valentine's Day was yesterday I decided to talk more about my love, Randy. I'm going to start at the beginning. Over a decade ago.

It was a hot and humid summer. I was 17, not a care in the world and working at Vanity. A fun and cool teen girl's clothing store. My paychecks were spent before I could cash them. Randy was 18 and tan. He worked at Charlie's Novelties and Beer Collectibles. Our stores were located in the same mall, 3 stores apart. I had my eye on him. I was single, no harm done. I called him my "Bud Man." Due to the beer collectible part of his job. I had to walk by his store to get to the mall food court. Of course, every time I walked by I would check to see if my "Bud Man" was working. This continued for the beginning of the summer. Then I opened my mouth. I told a co worker, we'll call her Becky, about this hot, drop dead gorgeous guy that worked at Charlie's. My co worker and possibly considered friend, Becky, said she knew him, his name was Randy. She decided to go talk with him, I thought to put in a good word for me. I am still puzzled by the following events that took place. She didn't put in any word of me, instead she bought a beer coozie and got a date with him. Yes, Randy was going on a date with Becky. Anyhow, only one date occured, thank goodness! My mind gets a little blurry, this was almost 12 years ago. I do recall walking by the "Bud Man's" store on one fateful night in June 1994, returning to Vanity from my dinner break. This dark haired and extremely tan fellow said "Hello." From there he asked me to a movie that night. I said no. Wondering why a gal would say no to a guy she dreamed about all summer? I couldn't go out on a date without preparing! I was in work clothes and work hair and work makeup. I needed time to plan! I said yes to dinner and a movie for the next night. I borrowed some clothes from my friend, Mel and met him at the mall. We ate at Garfield's, shared chicken strips and fries. Our first movie was "True Lies." If anyone has heard us talk about this night we tend to argue about what happened at the end of the movie. I'm the girl, girls remember everything. As the credits rolled and people were leaving, Randy leaned over and kissed me. Not a peck on the cheek but a full fledged kiss. It definitely took me by surprise! After that night we were inseparable. He left for college about a month later, I followed him to college a year later, we moved in together 4 years later, got married 6 years later and had a baby 11 years later. That's our story. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today is a strange day. I like it Valentine's Day and I hate it. Why pick one day a year to really show someone you care. What about the other 364 days? Why buy really, really expensive flowers today when you can get three times the flowers for less money tomorrow?

My day started off like normal, I woke up late. I normally have 2 alarms but forgot to set the second one. I woke up when I should have been leaving for the bus. Oops! In my morning rush I found a card from my husband. He picks some great cards but what was better were the things he wrote. Very sweet and touching. Of course I cried, silly people. I always cry! Tonight will be our usual routine of hanging out. I couldn't be happier! That's what I love, the 3 of us together, doing nothing.

Last night Miss Lily...rolled over 3 times. Yes, I said 3 times! She was naked on her tummy (before bath time:) rolled over and smiled really big. Then again and finally I got the camera out and she cooperated with the 3rd roll. Two teeth and rolling, that's our big girl.

I have been so busy working I forgot to take my lunch break. That's why I am posting at 3:30PM. I don't get my normal hour since I have to make up for my tardiness this morning. :)

My mom sent Lily a ducky toy that makes quack-quack noises. At first she liked it but now when she hears the quack-quack she starts to stick her bottom lip out like she will cry. I remove the ducky from her view so she doesn't end up crying but it's kind of funny how something can elicit that response and it's only a ducky! Thanks anyway mom!

Reflect on the past, look ahead to the next...

I'm talking about weekends! I love'em! Randy and I decided someday when we have the means, we will take Mondays off. I can't wait! Might not be for another 10 years but still, I imagine when that day comes it will be awesome.

This past weekend was nice, peaceful, quiet. We hung out a lot. Did the usual cleaning, laundry, cooking, errands but mostly we relaxed. Watched the Olympics which Lily really enjoys. Randy decided her future...gold medalist in snowboarding and first female on Mars. Not too much expected, huh??

Lily is really what her middle name is all about...Joy! We had a lot of fun this weekend. She's chatting up a storm, getting louder and louder. She's chewing on her fingers so much they are red! We can definitely see 2 teeth but she hasn't acted fussy like that night we first noticed them.

My boss has 2 kids and decided that's enough. Him and his wife have been very gracious and gave us a ton of baby stuff including a bassinet, mobile, baby sling and as of yesterday-toys! We picked up a few bigger toys, one is a tigger ride thingy and another is some big contraption that is very bright and has interesting nooks and crannys. Another was a mirror with bright colors, that thing entertained her for at least a 1/2 hour! Nice to get toys, especially free toys. Now we just need to figure out where to put them all!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY NIECE, KELSEY!! It's her 10th birthday on the 10th! Her Golden Birthday! Last night we went out to dinner with the family to celebrate. Then we went to SIL's house, gave Kelsey her presents, watched Beauty and the Geek, sang Happy Birthday and made it home in time for Lily's 9PM feeding. It was a lot of fun. Lily was in a great mood, smiley and just very content. I took a lot of pictures, a cute one was the in-laws lying on an air mattress with Lily, all 3 watching tv. I'm glad she was in such a good mood since it was the last night the in-laws were staying. They are driving home today and I know they will be sad to leave her.

My nephew is doing well. Last night was their first night home. I'll have to call later to see how things went. It's scary to not have the nursing staff around 24 hours! My mom figured out her digital camera and emailed pictures. He's a cutie pie!

Randy and I have a date tonight with our couch. Probably not till after Lily goes to sleep since we have to entertain and keep her awake till 9PM. We taped all of our weekly shows and have to catch up.

It snowed last night and my bus ride was 45 minutes, 15 extra minutes. Ugh! Normally I don't mind cuz I can cat nap but today I was holding a coffee drink and didn't want to fall asleep and spill it. People are grumpy on the bus as it is and would be even more if I spilled on them!

We invested in some Oragel and a teether. Lily really liked chomping on it, especially when it was cold. I also purchased a nursing privacy wrap. It was $10 at Target and I knew I had to feed Lily at the restuarant last night. I have fed her in public before, always with a blanket covering and as out of the way as possible. I'm not 100% comfortable with it but that's not the important part, it's feeding her that matters. We could give her a bottle but since we're in public I don't get to pump, have to warm up milk and well, it's just easier to breast feed. At my husband's x-mass party I was feeding her when she threw up... a lot. She kind of gagged and I had to act fast. I didn't realize till after I cleaned up her mouth that I totally exposed my breast. Not sure who saw, no one said anything. It was a brief flashing, but still a flashing. Hence the need for a privacy wrap. It worked pretty well. Probably shouldn't have pulled it out of the box and used it for the first time in public. It will take a few times getting used to but should come in handy.

Lily came to work!

My in-laws, Randy and Lily came downtown to eat lunch with me. After lunch I brought her around my office to show off. She changed back and forth between being smiley and fussy so she didn't stay long. My co workers enjoyed seeing her though. I last showed her off when she was 8 weeks old and she slept the whole time. At least this time she was wide awake. We ate at Blake Street Tavern. Mainly bar atmosphere, not smokey at all for the lunch hour and really good food.

Last night Lily was pretty fussy. She had the cry where something was wrong, like she was sick. At one point my SIL and I saw inside her mouth during a cry and we both saw 2 whitish teethlike areas. I've been feeling for teeth for the past 2 weeks since she's turned into a waterfall with drooling. Still can't feel any teeth but they seem to be making an appearance. Makes sense why she would be fussy. Plus she comps on her hands all the time. I'll be investing in some oragel and teethers soon!

New Mom Syndrome

I want to talk a little about new mom syndrome. I have it, I completely admit it. Will it ever go away? Will a second kid help? My friend, Staci, is my mommy idol. She is very laid back with her 2 girls. I am not that way. When it comes to Lily I want to protect her. I know this could be dangerous. I don't want to overprotect her, she needs to experience life without me looking over her shoulder all the time.

My first new mommy issue is handwashing. Is it really that hard to wash your hands before holding a baby? This is my dilemnia...in my mind it's not hard but I get very uptight when others don't wash their hands or think they don't need to when asked. Do I need to take it down an notch and hope they didn't just pick a booger before holding Lily? And what if they just picked a booger, would it really hurt her? Now if someone is sick, yes, it's very important to wash their hands. But she's getting older and maybe strict hand washing isn't such a necessity. Her immune system is up and running unlike when she was first born.

Just to give my background and try to make you understand why I'm so anal about hand washing. :) I used to work in the NICU and had to instruct families ALL the time to wash up before visiting their premature and/or sick babies. Even though they just walked past the sink with a huge sign reminding them to wash. As I'm writing this I am adding another reason to change my strict hand washing mind set. Lily isn't a sick (besides chronic boogers) or premature baby.

Another smaller new mommy issue--I don't think anyone but Randy or I can take care of her. I'm learning a lesson on that one! Not only does our babysitter do great with her but with my in-laws watching her this week I realize others really do know how! I should have caught onto this sooner since our babysitter has been doing her job for 20+ years and my MIL has 3 kids and 6 grandkids. Everyone is probably thinking what does she know? It's her first baby! Anyhow, I now realize it's about letting go. I could totally write a book about how to care for Lily- what position to burp her, when to do tummy time, etc. If you've dog sat for us you've seen our lists. They get pretty long and that's only for our dogs! I know other people can handle her just fine. Big deal if things aren't done MY way, my lesson learned is that other people love her and take great care of her.

I fully admit to new mommy syndrome and admission of the problem is the first step to recovery, right?? I will add that to my New Year's Resolutions (never too late for resolutions!) and try to rid myself of being overly anal!

We don't have a Dylan...

We have a Connor!! My new nephew was born last night, weighed 6lbs 11oz and was 19.5 inches long. He has lots of brown hair. I haven't seen pictures yet but my mom is working on it. Okay, I was very wrong with his name. Randy and I tossed around Connor once or twice so good thing we didn't pick it! I really liked Cooper so it would be cute to have cousins named Cooper and Connor.

Last night was family filled with my in-laws and BIL/SIL and their 3 kiddos. We had dinner and then the girls, minus Lily and I, went shopping. Don't get me wrong I love shopping but after a day's work I was too tired. The guys, Lily and I stayed home and watched tv on our big screen. My BIL loves sports and since we have a big tv we used to watch a lot of Hawkeye football at our house. Unfortunately I had to ban my BIL from watching it at our house. He's quite the "talker" even though the referees and players can't hear him! He's getting better so I might have to un-ban him!

My niece, Kelsey, is turning 10 on Friday. I always want to be the aunt that buys fun things for birthdays. I try not to buy clothes since kids don't get too excited about clothes. I love when they are too young to notice, then I buy them since I love shopping for cute little outfits. But now she's growing up and a little more into clothes. I decided to buy a toy and an outfit. It's funny how kids are these days, it seems easier to just give them money which they would love, but where's the fun in that?? I might give them money for Valentine's Day. The only other option is candy really and that's not the greatest gift to give.

After the first of the year, Randy and I started a budget. We tried budgeting before but this is different. We figured out how much went to bills, house, etc. and then set up different amounts to be spent on groceries, gas, misc., etc. It's hard but fun at the same time. Like a little challenge to spend within our means! It really is true that you spend what you make. Or occasionally spend more, hence the budget!

Lily has been laughing a lot lately. Grandma McE. can really get her going. It's been nice having them watch her during the day. Tomorrow the plan is to visit me at work with Lily and go to lunch. I am very excited about it!

"Dylan's" Birthday

Today is the induction for my bro and SIL to have their little boy. We will have a new nephew today!! They started at 8AM, central time. I will write back when I hear the big news!!!

Last night we went to my oldest nephew's band concert. It was fun to see 6th graders learning to play. He's pretty shy and we were waving like dorks trying to get him to wave back. He finally saw us and gave us a very discreet wave. Enough to satisfy us anyway!

On my husband's side we have 2 nephews and 3 nieces. "Dylan" will be our first on my side. We have enjoyed watching our nieces and nephews grow up. I have been with my husband since Payton, our oldest nephew, was 2 months old. I am happy I could be there to see them all from the beginning. They don't know life without Randy and I together. Kelsey, my almost 10 year old niece, once said she didn't think we'd ever have kids. Little did she know I was newly pregnant when she said it! They were quite excited, especially Kelsey. She was very attentive to my growing belly and they all nicknamed the baby "Fartso." They were also very excited once she was born and were even right outside the room when we delivered Lily. Now it's old news and the excitement is pretty much gone. Once Lily is responding more to people, laughing more and getting mobile I think they will take another interest.

Lily did well at the band concert. She started getting fussy after 30 minutes but was happy to be walked around. Grandma McE. was more than happy to hold her and walk her. I was a little worried about the noise, if the concert would be too loud. It wasn't at all. Plus she's used to some loud noises since we have dogs that bark for no reason and we even vaccuum under her while she's asleep in the swing.

My poor husband...he's a Seahawk's fan...enough said. We're big superbowl party hosts and have been for years. This year was a family party since the in-laws arrived and SIL and BIL with 3 kids came over. I am not a Seahawk fan but as a supportive wife I do feel bad for my hubby.

My weekend was filled up with cleaning but my house doesn't seem that clean. Not sure how that happened. On Friday night we went out on a date!! We dropped our 2nd cat, Holly, off at our friend's house. She was exploring the whole time we were there. Our friend, Money, was very excited to get her so that helps me adjust. Then we went out to dinner. It was fun to be alone together. I also had my first strawberry daquiri for over a year. It was yummy! My SIL reported a fun night babysitting so overall it was a great first date.

On Saturday we went to our niece's basketball game. She's 8 so it was very entertaining! The kids would double dribble and seriously run with the ball in their hands. Quite hilarious! Saturday night we went to our friend's house for board games, food and drinks. Not sure if it's because half the people are astrophysicists or something else but they like to play "weird" games. I normally reject trying these "weird" games and opt for Cranium, Taboo, etc. We had fun as always and the girls beat the guys in Taboo pretty bad. Lily did great, she went to sleep at their house at her normal bed time and slept through the ride home at 2AM and transfer to her crib. It was a little rough when she woke up for her normal feeding at 6AM and I only had a few hours of sleep but we made it.

Lily was very happy when her grandparents arrived. She laughed quite a bit for them. She is home with them today and probably will be for the rest of this week. Maybe I can talk them into visiting me at lunch time so I can see her during the day!

I think I fixed it...

If anyone wants to leave a comment you no longer have to register. You can leave a comment by checking the anonymous box and that's it. Hint Hint...I like comments!!!

I LOVE Fridays!

Thursday nights are generally fun, we have a few really good shows we like to watch and pretty much "veg" out. Our Thursday night shows include The OC, Beauty and the Geek and now Survivor. Thank goodness for DVR. Anyhow, last night was pretty relaxing, just the 3 of us hanging out.

We're noticing Lily's eyes are changing. They have a hint of brown to them. Before they have been various shades of grey with a hint of blue. Before ya know it we will have a brown eyed girl. She officially has the bald spot on the back of her head. A few weeks ago when we first noticed it wasn't so bad. Since her hair is pretty long we did a comb over and it covered the bald spot well. Now it's bigger and very obvious. Mostly since her hair is dark and the bald spot is white. We noticed a hint of baldness on the left side of her head too! At least her head is nicely shaped. Randy worried about her head shape since his is kind of flat in the back. I never really noticed it until he shaved his head completely about 3 years ago. It was alcohol induced and I can home from working the night shift to see this white bare head poking up from under the covers. It was a sight to see!

Tomorrow night we are getting together with friends to play board games. We do this pretty often and have a lot of fun. Most have little girls, no boys yet, so it's become a family/friend gathering. I tend to have a little competitive side and with Randy's trash talking, it gets interesting!

Randy took the 6AM feeding this morning so when I woke up (late) for work I found him in the recliner with Lily sleeping on his chest. Very sweet. They had a big comfy blanket keeping them warm.

Is it really Thursday??

Seems like this week has taken forever! Only one more day till the weekend! We have a lot to do this weekend. Randy has projects, I need to do Lily's scrapbook. Most importantly spend time staring at our little girl. She is so darn sweet. She is starting to hold onto toys. We will put a toy out in front of her and she will try and touch it, occasionally grabbing hold. She even did a switcharoo, from one hand to the other.

For those of you that don't know we are giving our cats away. Kiki has been in her new home for a while now. We keep in contact with her new owner and sounds like Kiki really likes it there. To top it off it sounds like her new owner really likes her too! Holly's departure was delayed and as Randy informs me will be in the very near future. Saying goodbye to both cats is hard, Kiki was difficult since i had her for 11 years but I knew it had to be done since she was marking her territory in spots where Lily had laid. Holly is very sweet, bulimic, but sweet. The dogs have really enjoyed her bouts of puking but it's wearing on the ones who clean up, mostly Randy. :) Our goal is to have a cat free house. This will be really great when our family and friends that are allergic come to visit. So get visiting people!

Lily still has a boogery nose. I think she holds the world's record for having a snotty nose. Most likely it's because of day care. It's too bad she is exposed so young but at the same time it's good for her to be exposed and build up her immunity.

Just a reminder that Randy's rocket is set for launch on August 22, 2006 in New Mexico!! Sounds like a lot of people will be making the trip so it will be a lot of fun. There are tons of hotels and even campgrounds so if anyone is interested, come on down!

Okay I remembered one really, really important thing I need to do this weekend and it is...Thank you cards! I have been really bad and want to apologize to everyone! We are very grateful for all her adorable outfits, books, toys, etc. but I just can't get my act together. Unfortunately, guys don't seem to do Thank you cards. What's with that??? Kind of like remembering birthdays and anniversaries, I'm told those are girl things! Which I am pretty good about with the exception of my father in law's last birthday. Which I am still SO sorry about!! Anyhow my goal is to finish the thank you cards. I tried to think of lots of acceptable excuses, in the very beginning-- I used the excuse of having a newborn and that my spare time was filled with sleep. Pretty understandable, right? Then as she got older I figured returning to work AND having a baby was a good excuse. Then last night I thought of the best excuse....I could say I had the thank you cards all ready to be mailed but then Lily threw up on them ALL. But she didn't. So again sorry to all and the thank you is in the mail, on Monday!!!

So much for writing daily!

Okay, so I haven't been so good about keeping my blog up to date. My lovely husband reminded me to write today. Sorry for anyone that checks daily, if there is anyone that checks daily!! Our weekend went well, it was fun to spend time with Dilling, or uncle Dillhole as I now call him. I think he took more Lily pictures than I did! Monday I stayed home from work and was able to spend all day with Lily. It was very nice but also reminded me of what I miss Monday-Friday. I fooled myself into thinking that returning to work would be okay. Doesn't seem so easy these days. I have a DVD of Lily cooing and smiling that I watch all the time at work.

Lily continues to sleep through the night!! Yay! She has her dad's sleep habit of falling asleep early in the night. Cute story...last night I was in our bathroom dyeing my hair and Randy was keeping Lily entertained or so I thought...I found them both sound asleep on our bedroom floor with the space heater keeping them nice and toasty!

By the way for those that haven't seen me for a while I am now a brunette! It's fun but I will be returning to blondish hair in the near future.

My in-laws are coming to visit this Sunday. The only time they saw Lily was a few days over Thanksgiving. I hope I get to see her that week they are here! Not sure they will let her go once she smiles at them!

We will be traveling back to the midwest in early March. My nephew (who I named Dylan but they aren't sharing his name just yet) is due to be born on Feb. 6 and we will need to introduce Lily to her new cousin. My older bro called last night and said my sis-in-law was having some contractions but was still smiling. Unfortunately I didn't help much since I told him the same thing happended to us but the contractions stopped after 6 hours and I still needed to be induced 11 days late!!! I told him when he calls from now on, the first words need to be baby or no baby, even before "hello." I learned that quick with my mom. For the longest time my mom wanted grandchildren and now she is getting 2 within a few months!

My sister in law (Randy's sis) has offered her babysitting services this weekend. We might be having a date night but no definite plans. We'll see if we can leave her for the first time for a date!