I just finished a nice long entry and it was erased. I'd like to blame the website but it very well could have been my fault. Oh well.

Long story short, our weekend was filled with World Cup Soccer, jogging, scrap booking, cleaning and cooking, grocery shopping, naps and a BBQ. I also used my Mother's Day pedicure gift certificate. My toes are much prettier now.

We are getting ready for our vacation to SD/IA. I love spending the 4th of July in my hometown. My family has a BBQ and lights up a fireworks display. You can legally light fireworks in SD. It's kind of sad that we cannot light them in CO but I completely understand and don't want the entire state to burn down. Anyhow, my cousins, brother, uncles and Randy all run around lighting off fireworks and running for cover. It's quite a scene! I wonder how Lily will react to the fireworks. I would imagine she might not like the loud noise but she might be captivated by the pretty colors in the sky. I need to buy some bug spray. I'm sure the SD critters would love taking a bite outta her.

Lily switched day cares last week. Our new day care lady is working out lovely. We really like her and Lily does too. Lily took a few days to adjust to the new house and kids but now is doing great. With one exception...she no longer takes a bottle. She would take 2-3 bottles a day from the old day care lady but she would refuse from anyone esle, including any family member that was babysitting her. We increased her solid feedings and offer the sippy cup, which she hasn't mastered yet, but other than that she will refuse a bottle. Our pediatrician said not to worry. Yeah right, new parents...don't worry. Ha. Not much we can do...oh wait I could stop working since she still breast feeds. Sounds great to me!

My mom is going through Lily withdrawl(I'm sure my in-laws are too). She watches her videos over and over again. So here are some more Lily photos to keep you all satisfied until Saturday!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Well I am a little belated in my blog wishes since her birthday was yesterday. I did call her on her actual birthday I swear! This blog will be dedicated to my mom and Randy's mother-in-law and Lily's grandma.

My mom is a tough cookie with a huge heart. She would do anything for her family. She provided a loving home and fun childhood. During a birthday party, around age 10, my mom and little bro, Brian, jumped out from a hiding spot and scared the daylights out of me and my friends. We were playing hide-and-go-seek, by the cemetary, in the dark so we were already scared! For all of our birthdays she did everything possible so we would have a great time. She tried to plan a surprise party for me, around age 12 I think, but ended up having to tell me about it since I was pestering her. She set limits, for example, I wasn't allowed to watch Fatal Attraction even though my older cousin, Erin, was allowed. Now that I have seen the movie I am thankful, even if I threw a fit back then. :) I'm still terrified of the bunny scene. She wanted all of her kids to do well in school and life. She came to our sporting events, which was a lot, and was overjoyed when we made the honor roll, lettered in sports and were nominated for homecoming/prom royalty. She gives me the calico bean and meatball recipe over and over again without telling me to write it down. She has waited, patiently isn't the right word here, maybe against her wishes, to become a grandma for over 6 years (since Jay and Cheri were married and 5 yrs since Randy and I were married). Her grandbabies are her world. Her dog, Sadie, is pretty close behind the grandbabies, then come her kids, then comes Dad. He has accepted his place graciously. :)

My mom has been faced with tough situations all through her life. She has beaten every challenge and came out tougher than she started. She is a very good role model and I am very thankful she is my mom, Randy's mom-in-law and Lily's grandma. She is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I love you Mom! Happy, Happy Birthday.

What is she thinking?

I frequently wonder what Lily is thinking about. When she sees something for the first time, what goes through her little brain? She loves to feel things and touch different textures. Most times she will have a huge grin when I give something to her to touch. Other times she will be so serious...like below...



She is all about exploring and it's so fun to watch her. Things we see or feel everyday are brand new to her. It's an amazing process.

Brita Minda

What a name. Although it's pretty easy to pronounce it's still rather weird. Brita Minda was my first cabbage patch kid. I was about 9 (I think) when the cabbage patch craze began. My mom had a friend buy Brita Minda in MN and mailed it to SD. I remember she called me to the bank (where she worked) and gave her to me right then. She couldn't even wait until she was finished working. Probably with the look of pure excitement on my face my mom knew this purchase was worth it. I filled out Brita Minda's birth certificate and became a proud mother of a new baby with a signature on her behind. A few years later I also adopted David Michael. David Michael is a pretty common name but he didn't come with that name. Oh no, it was some bizarre name that I couldn't pronounce. I changed his name on his birth certificate. I took these things really serious, can you tell??!! Well last night was the ceremony...the handing over of Brita Minda to Lily. I was so pleased to see Lily's reaction was a huge smile and squeal. I don't know what I would do if she didn't like dolls. Although Lily didn't treat Brita Minda too kindly (lots of hair pulling), I know Brita Minda will be around for many, many years.


Lily has already received her first cabbage patch but it's still in the box. My mom got one for a Christmas present. Want to know her name???? It's Lily Joy! My mom special ordered it. I neglected to mention above that I adopted a 3rd cabbage patch kid. My mom bought my 3rd one when I was in college for a present. Too funny! I think my mom has the cabbage patch kid craze and is passing it onto me as I will pass it onto Lily.

Our weekend

We had a lovely weekend. Saturday, Randy played paint ball most of the day so that left Lily and me to hang out. Our friends, Staci and her 2 girls and Heather and her little girl came over for a pool party. We also met Joy, Kelsey and Sydney at the pool. The community we live in has a really nice, big pool.
This was Lily's first pool experience and she loved it. She sat in a baby floaty for a while and later we hung out in the baby pool. She enjoyed splashing herself and her cousins Kelsey and Sydney. It was a little more than she could handle since she fell asleep as I was spoon feeding her while we were still at the pool. Saturday night we journeyed to Dave and Sara's new house to play games. Lily entertained everyone for little while then went to bed. This was a good thing since the board games came out. When board games come out the craziness begins! Not only is there way too much trash talk but the guys can never admit when the girls win. It's quite sad. Sara and I have won many, many times against Randy and Dave. Since I am the only one with a blog, the world now knows the girls RULE! hahahahaha to the guys.

We stayed out way too late Saturday night but did fit in a nap before waking Sunday morning bright and early to play in our frisbee tournament. We won the first 2 games! This is even more impressive after you find out we only won, maybe 2 games, all season long. We did lose the 3rd game but the team that beat us won the entire tournament. Needless to say, after 2 hours of sleep and running around for 5ish hours on a hot day we were wiped out and went to bed early.