Who's who??

Randy??? Lily???? Take a guess...

Welcome to colorful Colorado...

When we moved here 6 years ago I expected the winters to be filled with snow just like the mountains during our snow boarding vacations. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Anyhow the recent weather changes are pretty crazy. Yesterday my vehicle registered 66 degrees. Today, we awoke to a blizzard. Guess what? Tomorrow’s expected high…53 degrees and sunny with the weekend into the high 60’s. To help with toting around a toddler (my baby is now a toddler) we had to bundle her up. Aunt Joy’s birthday present came in handy with a super warm jacket and super cute hats/mittens.

This is what happens when you go out of town...

This is Randy's office and the condition to which he returned after a months absence. I especially like the phone receiver.

High tech gadgets--I figured it out

Because I figured out how to transfer pictures from my camera to my email address..you get to see the cute picture of Lily standing in the fridge that I mentioned a few posts ago. This photo has become Randy's favorite.













Birthday pics and post to come later...

Continued from previous post...I guess I used too many pictures

Here is Lily at 6 months old...


9 months old...

10 months old-making that silly, silly face that elicits giggles from anyone that sees it...

It's been fun dressing her up...especially with this cute hat...


Her baby pony tail is so cute...

Lily is full of hugs and kisses...


Happy birthday Lily. We love you and are so blessed to have you.

A year ago today...

At 5:51PM a beautiful little girl entered our lives...

and melted our hearts...

By 2-3 weeks old we were starting to figure this little baby out. We still had (and have) a lot of learning left...

It was fun watching Lily reach her first milestones...lifting her head and smiling...

and laughing...

Lily playing with her hippo at 5 months of age...

Our house…is a very, very, very SPOOKY house

Here are some photos of our house. My decorating aspiration was more scary based than cute. I plan to add a mummy with my sewing form but don’t want to put it outside before Halloween for fear some bored teens might steal it. I also plan to have scary music and maybe some dry ice to add to the eerie feel.

8 Years Ago Today...

our sweet little niece, Sydney, was born. I remember getting the phone call saying she entered the world. I even had a feeling she would be born that day, before I received that call. I even told Randy so I’m not just saying that.

Sydney was a beautiful baby, lots of dark hair. Sydney has a very sweet look about her, you know she is a nice girl. Ever since Sydney was very young, her wild side has shown. I have many memories of Sydney running full speed, throwing her body against the sofa, falling backwards and laughing about it. The year after I graduated college, Randy and I moved back home before getting married and moving to CO. I was able to baby-sit Syd and her sis, Kelsey and bro, Payton during the summer. I helped potty train Sydney, which is a great accomplishment for me to say. Sydney and Kelsey were flower girls at our wedding. Kelsey was a great age, she understood she was dressed pretty and looked pretty and enjoyed every minute of it. Sydney was a little young but walked down the aisle and remained pretty calm during the 12 minute ceremony until…she jumped off the ledge and announced “da-da…da-DA!!!” while positioning her arms straight as if performing for an audience. Lucky for her there were 300 people in her audience but only the first few seats witnessed this and of course, giggled.

When Sydney started talking one of her favorite words was…poop. She would go around saying “poop, poopy, poop, poopy” over and over, watching to see which people would giggle at her. Any form of the word, she would say it. It was quite hilarious to see and hear.

Sydney is very talented with sports, especially my favorite, soccer. She has played for approximately 4 years and anyone that watches her sees her outstanding abilities to outrun the other team. Unfortunately this usually means the other teams use their elbows or other means to try and keep up with her. Maybe it’s all the years of throwing herself on and off the couch that made her a tough cookie. Or the years of beating up Randy and asking for return punishment. Sydney can throw a wicked punch and Randy receives a great deal of them. It’s very normal for us to go visit them and Syd’s greeting will be a punch in Randy’s stomach. Of course, he repays her by holding her arms while she tries to escape and this can go on and on.


Happy Birthday Syd! I am very thankful you’re in our lives; you’re a shining star that gets brighter and brighter. You keep us entertained even though you constantly say you’re bored. I am and will always be honored to be your God mother and will always try and be a good example for you (especially as a soccer goalie). I will call you today at 4:30 to wish you happy birthday as instructed by a note left on my microwave with this exact request. We love you Syd!

One year ago today...

was Lily’s due date. From early on, around 4 weeks pregnant, the date October 9th was cemented in our brains as the day our baby would arrive. We knew the chance of our baby arriving on this date was less than 2% but nonetheless it was still our due date. As October 9th approached so did our feelings of excitement and nervousness. We were ready to meet our new baby and find out if the baby was a Lily or 1 of 4 boy names we had but couldn’t decide on. But…Miss Lily had other plans. She was content in her warm and quiet environment. She didn’t want to arrive on Oct. 9th. Nor the following day or the day after. Lily was 11 days overdue…and we still had to be induced! One year ago today we were wondering what our lives would be like in a year. Now we know we have a beautiful baby girl that brings so much happiness to our lives every day, every time we look at her.

Susan B. Komen Race Day

The Susan B. Komen walk was a success. Denver remains the largest race in the country, with over 65,000 people participating. Because Lily had a cough/cold last week I choose to do the 1K family walk instead of the 5K. It was chilly but we bundled up and thankfully, it didn’t rain. Lily was a good sport and watching all the people entertained her. The race, once again, was amazing. Knowing all those people were there to support breast cancer is awesome. Thanks to everyone that donated and supported me and my family. I appreciate it so much, it truly means a lot to me.

My previous post I said I would included pictures, plural, and I only included one. To keep to my word here are multiple photos...

Superstitions

The bad ones I believe in include: walking under a ladder, opening an umbrella inside, breaking a mirror (but I don't believe it will cause 7 yrs of bad luck, maybe just one day), stepping on sidewalk cracks, etc. The good ones I believe in are: four leaf clovers, throwing salt over your shoulder when spilled, rain on your wedding day. Then there is the black cat superstition…if one crosses your path you will have bad luck. When I owned a black cat (sweet Holly) I laughed at this cuz there was no way to avoid her crossing my path. For the 9 years I owned her I had pretty good luck. But things have changed…I gave her away which may indicate even worse luck if a black cat crossed my path. Yesterday when a black cat crossed my path. I frantically searched for a white patch in the sea of black hair. Nothing…it was a black cat. Oh well, so far so good.

Superstitions are more interesting at this time cuz it’s Halloween. Scary things are fun, kind of. Anyhow it leads to my next story…a ghost story. I’ve encountered a ghost and will be forever changed. When I was a teen, around 16, I cleaned the bank my mom worked at in our very small town. It was a ½ a block from my parent’s home and I cleaned on the weekend. One day I was “cleaning” or maybe I was reading a magazine (that part is fuzzy to me for some reason!) but I heard 2 voices, a male and female, that were having a conversation. It was coming from the vent overhead. I was the only person in that bank, it was impossible for anyone else to be there. It still gives me chills and my arm hair is standing up right now. It was a normal conversation, nothing scary. I was frozen for a minute but when I regained mobility I ran from that bank and immediately told my mom. She reassured me I wasn’t crazy because she had heard voices too. So that’s my ghost story, luckily it’s a friendly one. This has changed me forever because I will believe any ghost story out there. I won’t laugh it off cuz I know my experience was real. My friend, Mel and her sister claim they saw a UFO. I believe you, Mel!!!

My baby…Lily is getting so big. She is so much fun. Our night routine has become even crazier with her earlier bed time routine. Once she became more active she was tired quicker. It’s nice for the rest of the evening but when I get off work until she goes to bed…it’s crazy. Having 2 dogs that are vying for attention doesn’t help a whole lot. After the dogs are released to do their thing and satisfied with treats and Lily is fed, cleaned up and in bed…it’s time to party. Not really, by this time I am completely worn out but usually muster up some energy to prep for the next day. Anyhow for the 45 minutes dedicated to play, after dinner before bed, we have fun. She is practically running in her walker. She is pulling up on everything and it doesn’t have to have a ledge. She will pull up on the fridge and now is into climbing. I took a photo of her standing in the fridge, yes, I said IN the fridge. It was on my phone so you all don’t get to see it. Sorry. Here are some other photos to satisfy the Lily cravings…



It's a silly picture and makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Lily washes her own mouth out with soap

No, she has not starting cussing…yet. But she has already tried the old soap in the mouth punishment. I didn’t do this…she did. Lily was intrigued by the soap during her bath last evening. So I gave it to her. I proceeded to laugh off every time she tried to pick it up and it slipped out of her hands. Being the determined child she is, once she grabbed onto it, digging her nails in, she performed a taste test. I’m not certain if she even tasted it before my motherly fast-as-lightening-reflex removed it from her mouth.

I don’t have a “trucker” mouth and what few cuss words I used before have been pretty much cleared from my vocabulary with the birth of my daughter. I definitely cannot cuss around my family. Randy surprises me when he cusses, and he doesn’t do it much, but when it’s around family I resort back to a few memories of “cussing.” When I was 9ish I was at Melissa’s house watching scary movies for her b-day party. Freddie Krueger scared the daylights out of me and elicited the response “Get that bastard” and Mel’s mom was pretty shocked. Luckily, she laughed but I did learn that word wasn’t appropriate. The next occurrence happened around age 10 or 11 when I said the phrase “pissed off.” Apparently, my mom considered this “cussing” and to this day, I can’t say it in front of family.

Along the lines of cussing and to again, show how crazy my family can be, I dare to share another cuss story with ya’ll. My mom rarely cusses and I had never heard her say the mother of all cuss words-- ya know that one that rhymes with truck. Well one night my family was sitting around a picnic table and we decided to try to get my mom to say this word. I need to mention, alcohol was involved. We all took turns using this word in a sentence to make her feel comfortable saying it. Some people, Melissa and my sis-in-law, went to somewhat extreme measures with their chosen sentence. This was the kind of situation that involved so much laughter we were crying. Finally, my mom did say it but probably went home and washed her mouth out with soap. Hmmm…now I see where Lily gets it.

Oh fall, how I love thee

I love fall.
To me, it is the most beautiful time of the year. The colors are stunning; the air is crisp and refreshing. It’s the only time I absolutely can’t stand to be indoors during the day. For people that haven’t visited CO in the fall I highly recommend it. The change in color of the Aspen trees is a high priority for fall tourists. The bright yellow leaves mixed with shades of red, brown and occasional green is gorgeous. The best part…is the weather is “expected” to be nice (70’s-80’s) until next week. I’ve lived in CO long enough to know not to trust the weather but I’m holding out hope.

Another great thing about fall is the TV shows and football. It helps make the earlier sunset of fall tolerable. I tend to fall sucker to multiple shows: the OC, Survivor, Amazing Race, Grey’s Anatomy every once in a while, and MTV shows like Laguna Beach, Real World, Real World/Road Rules Challenge and if it’s not embarrassing enough I have caught a few episodes of Two-A-Day, okay, probably all of them. Wow, that sounds like a lot of TV. The only way I could watch all those shows is because of my friend. His name is Tivo. I love him. He brightens my day. When I turn on the TV and there is nothing on my 200 channels and I start to feel sad, I remember Tivo is saving some show for me to watch. Did I mention I love him? Tivo makes folding laundry, cooking going through piles of junk mail and cleaning the kitchen bearable.

Now I will chat about Football. Better known as to myself as… F-doubleO-T-B-A-doubleL, let’s play football. This is one of the cheers I remember from high school and probably will never be able to say “football” without chanting it in my head. I also clap and do the little squat and jump when I recite it to Lily. Kind of like my singing, you will never witness this. Good for you. Hawkeye football is very entertaining and because I have a blog I get to mention that the Hawks beat the Cyclones. Yay!!! My in-law side of the family is split pretty evenly with Hawks and Cyclones. My dear friend, Kerry, who never reads my blog, is also a dedicated Cyclone fan. She has season tickets-- she is that dedicated. When the Cyclones beat the Hawks last year (to be fair the Cyclones have won more than the Hawks in recent years…have no clue how) Kerry had to call and brag. I was at a wedding out of state and had no idea what was happening with the game…until I got her call. When I saw she called I knew the Cyclones won. Only the winning team fans can call anyone else and typically the losing team fans don’t answer. So yes, I contacted Kerry this year and had some fun. Her new man is a Hawk…which makes it even more enjoyable.

More about football…my nephew, Payton, wanted to participate in a family fantasy football league. Randy set it up and my bro, myself, Randy, Randy’s bro, Randy’s sis, her husband, Payton, Randy’s friend Moss and his parents are in a league…called Randy’s Cool. Again, to mention, Randy set up the league and apparently had naming rights. It’s fun. There is a little smack talking here and there. Playing fantasy football has pretty much eliminated my favorite teams. They weren’t exactly my favorite football teams, I was brainwashed. I liked the Dolphins cuz my bros like them and I also liked the Raiders cuz my uncle, Russ, liked them. I had no voice of my own, it was forced upon me from a young age. When I moved to CO I did enjoy informing Bronco fans that I was a Raider fan. Their faces usually dropped in disgust and inappropriate verbal statements were made. I’ve been involved in fantasy football over the past couple years between myself and helping Randy. Instead of watching one team I root for my fantasy football players. It really makes watching “dumb” games like the Chargers vs. Giants entertaining. If I did have to pick a favorite team it would be the Colts. I like Payton Manning and they have 2 good Hawkeyes.

Another lovely weekend...

I know I usually say our weekends were nice but I really couldn’t tell you that we have any bad weekends. Weekends do not include work which pretty much means they are fun filled. Anyhow, we did have a very nice weekend. On Saturday our routine was a little messed up. Lily normally wakes up at 6AM, thanks to her parent’s work schedules, but she decided to sleep in a bit. She woke up at 6:45 only to fall back asleep while breast feeding until 9AM. This meant I was able to snooze a little longer snuggling with a warm little girl in a comfy recliner. My day was already going well. I made a warm breakfast for myself, Lily and the dogs and we played and cleaned until nap time. After nap time we went to Staci’s house and hung out with her 2 girls and Carolyn and her 3 month old girl, Emma. It’s always fun to watch Lily interact with other kids. She loves to watch them, keeping a distance while playing with their toys. Sunday was a laid back day. Our breakfast plan fell through so we hung out, played, watched football and napped. It was a gorgeous day so we went for a stroller ride and had our dinner at the park. Lily has developed a new smile for strangers. When someone says hello to her she will initially act shy and but proceed with flashing a super cheesy smile, showing all her teeth and wrinkling her nose. Of course, it melts my heart and makes me laugh out loud. Our nice elderly neighbor got a kick out of her smile. I was hoping she would smile at him since last time he came close to her she started crying.

Halloween is coming up and I am trying not to decorate too soon. I attempted to put up fake spider webs (first had to remove the real ones) but couldn’t get much done since I’m short and all of our ladders were mia. Probably a good thing since it’s only September. But I love Halloween and foresee Lily having many costume birthday parties with her parents in full costume mode. Regarding the decorations, I don’t want the cutesy decorations but I opt for the really scary kind. I want the house the kids are scared to trick or treat at. But hopefully not too scary that they don’t approach the door.

Most likely everyone that knows us knows that Randy has a major lactose allergy. Many of you probably have heard an interesting story associated with bowel issues secondary to milk intake. Lily may have an allergy, not necessarily milk since she’s tolerated a few sips here and there. It may still be dairy related because she yakked up yogurt on one occasion when given a whole baby serving and may have reacted to cheese lately. On Saturday I noticed her left lower lip was swollen when eating. A few days before I noticed a bump (like a small blister) on the same lip area after eating dinner. Both events lasted a short time with her lip returning to normal within 45 minutes or so. Still strange. I didn’t note exactly what she ate the first time but cheese is the only food I can almost definitely relate to both events. After chatting with the ped’s office we will back off on most dairy until after she’s a year old. We may do some allergy testing too but I am waiting to hear back from her doctor. Since the second swelling involved eggs (which she’s eaten, mostly yolks, on numerous occasions) she probably won’t get a flu shot. Good for her, bad for me. I hate flu shots but have been instructed to get one, especially if she cannot. I will not complain again since it’s for the well being of my daughter but I do hate shots. I loved giving them just not receiving them.

Recent Lily changes lately involve stair climbing. She amazes me with her ability to climb stairs. She’s quick and quite capable with no guidance from her parents. Of course she has no fear or understanding of the implications of going down the stairs but that’s where her parents and gates come into play. Lily is also letting go of one hand while standing. Her balance is getting better all the time but I do think it will be a little longer before she’s walking. When I walk with holding her hands she only tolerates it a short time before refusing to put weight on her legs. Lily is also into singing and dancing lately. If I am singing (likely you will never hear me, I only perform vocally for my daughter and husband) she will start making sounds to mimic me. With dancing, if she hears music, she will start moving her upper body and waving her hands. I keep telling Randy she will be a dancer but he’s pretty against it. He wants to “dork” her out as much as possible. Overalls and flannel shirts are his idea of her future wardrobe.

For anyone interested...

I am participating in the Komen Breast Cancer Walk in October. I decided to try and raise a few bucks, I figured even a few dollars could help. Much to my surprise, people responded more gratiously than I ever expected. I sent an email to a few people and so far have raised $160!!!! WOW!!! I am so excited. The process to donate is pretty darn easy so for anyone that is interested...here is the link.

http://www.raceforthecure-denver.com/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=1020&px=1286262

For people that cannot donate, spread the word! Spreading the word about breast cancer, encouraging yourself and people you love to do self exams is just as important as donations.

Lily is 11 months old. Here are some tidbits about Lily:
She doesn't care too much for toys but would rather open and close cupboards, drawers and doors. Lily entertains herself by pulling off the refrigerator magnets and pulling pots and pans out of the cupboards. She is pulling up on everything and will walk with us holding her hands. She likes to feed herself "adult" food and also likes to share her food with the dogs. Lily is getting better about not testing what I mean when I say "no" in my stern voice.


Lily's favorite word is not mommy or daddy but...dog. She will say "dowg" over and over, of course, causing laughter from everyone around (which is why she says it over and over). While Grandma McEntaffer was feeding her last week and she kept saying "dowg" only for Grandma McEntaffer to discover the plate had a picture of Scooby Doo on it.


Can't think of more to write...I think I've been out of the blogger world too long. I will try and get better with more frequent posts and even checking other people's blogs. I probably could just post pictures and people would be happy. :)

4 Things

This is a fun way to share some things about myself with you. In case you didn't already know. I added a few extra tid bits.

4 JOBS I HAVE HAD:
1. Bean walker-I grew up in SD what more can I say.
2. Receptionist at a hair salon-great discount!
3. Orange Julius-most of college, Randy and his friends benefited when I worked till close and bought home goodies instead of throwing it away.
4. Waitress at Bob Roe's-best tip money ever.

4 MOVIES I COULD WATCH OVER AND OVER:
1. Sweet Home Alabama-I've watched it so much my DVD is worn
2. Sex and the City-okay, not a movie but I seriously could watch it ALL the time.
3. How Stella Got Her Groove Back. Randy's favorite too. just kidding.
4. Bourne Identity/Supremacy-my favorite action/suspense movies

4 PLACES I HAVE LIVED:
1. SD
2. IA
3. CO
4. That's it, haven't lived anywhere else.

4 OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Starbucks white chocolate mocha
2. Mandu and Bulgogi, made by my mom-in-law.
3. Broccoli-I swear I love it.
4. Sour gummy worms-almost always accompany me on car trips to SD/IA.

4 PLACES I'D RATHER BE:
1. With Lily and Randy anywhere (my previous post indicated our family time is minimal these days)
2. New Mexico in November, celebrating a rocket launch.
3. Kauai, HI-if I could only pick one vacation spot for the rest of my life it would be here.
4. Day spa with unlimited massages, facials, pedicures and manicures.

4 THINGS I WANT TO CHANGE (and can change):
1. Stop being indecisive
2. Lose weight-yada, yada, yada
3. Sending cards late-it's really not genetic
4. Start volunteering-yes, it was a New Year's Resolution but hasn't occurred yet.

4 THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR:
1. My husband and daughter, they have taught me so much about myself and I strive to repay them with happiness and my love.
2. My SD family including extended family, in-laws and friends that I have known long enough to be considered family. You guys rock.
3. Caffeine-I don't considered myself hooked but it helps keep my house clean.
4. Growing up in a small town with a large family.

4 CHILDHOOD MEMORIES:
1. Sunday breakfast and dinner with McGuire family
2. Getting awesome hand-me-down clothes from my cool cousin Erin
3. Melissa and Kerry-too many memories to name one.
4. Birthdays-my mom always made the best of them.

4 HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES:
1. Being late to dance squad everyday with Melissa (even though school was 2 blocks away).
2. Meeting Randy at the mall.
3. Teepeeing (sp?) and hill jumping(I hope Lily never tries hill jumping) :)
4. Sports (volleyball and soccer) dance and cheerleading, kept me out of trouble for the most part, well except for hill jumping but I never got caught and never used my own car.

4 COLLEGE MEMORIES:
1. The boys-meaning all of Randy's friends. I was the only female with about 10 guys for years. They provided lots of crazy memories.
2. Two drunk, okay, very drunk occasions. The first was the night before my mom picked me up at the end of my first year. Luckily she laughed knowing I learned my lesson or at least until my 4th year after a very hard pathophysiology final.
3. Working hard with usually 2 jobs and maintaining a good GPA.
4. Going through the different changes with Randy and getting engaged.

10 Months Old

Our little missy is now 10 months old and her first birthday is nearing. Hitting 10 months has brought about crawling and learning the word "no" which seems to go together with crawling quite easily. She loves to explore and doesn't sit still for very long. She likes to play with pots, pans and utensils. We bought her a walker that moves. She is pretty good about going backwards and figuring out how to go forward everyday. When she is headed for a plant or an electrical outlet (yes, of course, it's covered) and we tell her no, she looks at us and smiles. Then she tries again and when we say no again her smile fades just a little. Too avoid saying no too much we usually re-direct her at that point. The dog's water dish is another issue. It's located on the kitchen rug but repeatedly is a possible source of fun for Lily. When we forget to put it out of her reach and she spots in from across the room she will start crawling normally and when she is closer she will speed up, as if she knows she only has a few seconds to reach this pot of gold. As I grab her before she reaches it she squeals and laughs.

Biting is another issue. Biting me and another girl in day care. The day care kids tend to hug her and really get in her face all the time (they mean well). A 2 year old girl at day care learned the hard way to stay out of Lily's face. Lily bit her right on the cheek. Luckily the mom was very nice and said she had biting issues with her daughter too. We fixed the biting during breast feeding (ouch, yes, it really, really hurts) and changed from being around the TV and noise to a quiet room where I can focus more on her. The biting has stopped and I am able to focus a lot more on my baby. It probably helped that her 8th tooth broke through and there doesn't appear to be any more teeth coming...at this time anyway.

On the job front...I am changing jobs and found a nice job with great benefits. I had time off for the past few weeks and plan to start my new job on Tuesday. I have enjoyed my time at home and was able to be with Lily a lot. Since we still had to pay for day care I was also able to run errands, cook and clean while she hung out at day care. Thanks to Staci we ventured to the Denver zoo and Denver Children's Museum. We also visited Randy at work a few times and went to the library. Speaking of Randy, he has been incredibly busy with his rocket. Going to work early and leaving work late has been our story for the past few weeks. It will pay off soon, his launch is scheduled for November. Keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly over the next few months.

I am hitting my own milestone tomorrow...the big 3-0. Yes, it's a little sad to leave my 20's but I won't dwell on it. Onto the next phase on my life and I look forward to it. Bring it on I say.

Lily, Lily, Lily

Lily is now 9.5 months old. She has 6 teeth total. She likes taking baths, going swimming, riding in the stroller, especially outside, playing peek a boo and she loves her blanket. She is doing great at the babysitters, they treat her very good and she gets excited to see them. Our daycare provider has a 10 yr old daughter that loves Lily and Lily loves her. I'm planning on having her be our Friday night babysitter in a few years, although she doesn't know this yet.

Lily is not crawling but like the last post (almost a month ago) is very close. She gets up on her hands and knees and somehow propels her body forward. A few days ago she did crawl a few steps but fell to her belly because I scared her from freaking out with cheering and laughing because my baby was crawling. I have learned to keep my mouth shut. Here is Lily crawling, scooting or whatever it's called...

6 Years!!

Today is our 6 year wedding anniversary! It's fun and crazy to say we've been married for 6 years. It also means we have been together for 12 years. Our dating anniversary is August 2nd and yes, it really was the date Randy asked me to be his girlfriend.

The past 6 years have been filled with moving to CO, Randy started graduate school, I experimented numerous times in my nursing career, sharpened our snow boarding skills (to be truthful Randy has sharpened his, I remain at the beginner level), traveled to Chicago, California, New York City, Hawaii, Scotland, London and Paris, purchased our first home, became parents first to puppies, Max & Cali and later when ready to Lily, our beautiful and always entertaining daughter. The past 6 years have been wonderful and I am very lucky to have an amazing man in my life.

Rambling blog ahead

This blog will help me catch up on the Lily updates, otherwise I don't have much to report. Lily is getting her top 2 teeth, 1 is still trying to come through the gums. This makes 4 teeth total. She is eating cheerios and veggie/fruit puffs. She is entertained for quite a while picking up each bite and putting it in her mouth. Her little pincer grip is quite developed. Day care is still going well. I was a little worried she wouldn't remember the day care provider and kids because she was not there all last week. No worries needed, she did great. Lily isn't crawling yet but she's close. She will tuck her knees under her and can lift up on her arms but hasn't put the 2 together. She does get places though. She can roll and roll and roll. It's scary to imagine that she will be mobile soon. It will be kind of nice at the same time since she is sooooo squirmy when holding her. She is antsy to get moving and not with any help from her parents.

Last night I held a teeny, tiny baby. Our friends delivered their new baby girl on the 4th of July. She is a whole pound less than what Lily was at birth. Now that I'm used to holding a 17 pound infant anything less would seem tiny. But this little girl was super cute with long legs and arms. I could have held her all day and not tired out. Can't say the same about holding Lily anymore. :)

A few posts ago I commented on the X-Men movie we saw. I said I would provide more movie critiques but forgot. Anyhow we did see the DaVinci Code and the Breakup. Both are definitely rent-able. Don't see the Breakup with any expectations and you might enjoy it more than I did. The DaVinci Code was way too long and the book is more entertaining. Plus Tom Hanks (normally I like him) didn't fit the main character for me. Harrison Ford would have been better. So save your money and go bowling or see Pirates of the Caribbean, which is our next movie to see.

Our summer vacation (if you can call it that)

was spent in the great states of Iowa and South Dakota. We had a very nice time with family and friends. We saw most everyone a few times but never, not once, went to see a movie. We giggled and joked about how many movies we would see since we would have plenty of babysitters. But no, not one movie did we see. We did have plenty of babysitters but once Lily was asleep we weren't too interested. Here is the low down of our trip:
Left Friday night at 8PM, arrived in IA around 6AM. This worked well since Lily slept the whole time. Both Randy and I shifted into driving mode and only stopped once for gas and to change drivers. Good CDs and caffeine helped. After napping Saturday and seeing the in-laws we spent the afternoon at my family's house. My bro, sis-in-law and baby nephew were visiting too. Lily and Connor hung out until we went to Randy's bro's BBQ. Sunday Randy played paintball while I hung out at my family's house and visited with my friends, Mel and Kerry, and their little girls at the pool. Sunday night was enjoyed at Grandma McGuire's house for the weekly dinner but also celebrated my cousin Courtney's b-day. Lots of b-days, right? Well Sunday was also my sis-in-law's and Kerry's b-day too! Geez, there must be frequent snowstorms in November or something. After Lily went to sleep we went to Roni's house, Kerry's moms, and played board games. We love board games! :)

Monday was busy with visiting my mom-in-law for breakfast, visiting with Brophy and his mom, hanging with Randy's family and then taking a family picture. The photographer was very good and patient (8 adults and 6 kids!!)and the pics turned out pretty good. We went to dinner that night for bro-in-laws b-day. Tuesday was the 4th and filled with hanging with in-laws during the morning then BBQ at my uncle's in the afternoon. We played the bean bag game and badminton, which was a lot of fun. Lily enjoyed watermelon and being rocked by her Grandma McGuire. She had a cute July 4th outfit. Pics to come, forgot camera at home today. :(
Tuesday night after Lily went to sleep we went to my aunt Sue/uncle John's house for fireworks and home made ice cream with Grandma McGuire's yummy chocolate sauce. I'm happy to report that Randy, my bro and cousins all survived the fireworks display in one piece, but did provide some good laughs when we thought they should be moving faster then they were.

Wednesday included breakfast with mom-in-law and some shopping. Wednesday night Randy played paintball while I hung out in J-town with my family. We went to the Whitehorse for all you can eat sweet corn. If you have never eaten SD sweet corn you have missed out. It's so good! Went back to IA until Thursday. I met my mom, Mel, her husband Josh and Gracie for lunch at Casa in J-town. Best Mexican food around! Lily was sleeping when we were supposed to go so she stayed with Randy and his family. Thursday night I dropped Lily off with my mom while I joined Randy's family to cheer on our nephew, Hunter, for his tee ball game. Back to IA until Friday morning when I spent the day with my mom and aunt Joleen. Lily hung with Randy and his family all day. We had dinner with Jim and Braden (randy's friends from high school) then hung with the in-laws until Lily went to sleep AND then left for CO.

Wow, that's quite a trip. It helps to write it out otherwise it all seems like a clouded memory. I probably missed some things here and there but you get the big picture. Maybe you understand why it's not exactly what I call a vacation. But I wouldn't choose a sunny beach over visiting family. But it would be a bonus to visit family on a sunny beach.

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.

Splish Splash

Lily likes her bath. I have tried about every possible method for bathing a baby. I've gone through 2 baby bath tubs (first without a incline, second with an incline), bathroom sink, kitchen sink, and last I purchased a ring thing that suctions to the sink/tub. I keep changing because nothing has satisfied me...until now!

It's a laundry basket! It's perfect! A co worker told me about it. I do put a sponge thing in the bottom that prevents her from moving around. It also keeps her toys within reach.

We traveled to SD last weekend. It was nice to see my family. My mom, aunt Joleen and Gram babysat Lily and her cousin Connor while we went to see X-Men with my bro and sis-in-law. Our first movie since Lily was born. We used to be quite the movie goers. Sometimes we saw 2 movies in one day. X-Men gets 2 thumbs up. Next on our list is The DiVinci Code and the Break Up. Stay tuned for more movie reviews.

I'm trying out this video feature. I'll see how it goes...

A new goal...

The longest time in between posts. Sorry Y'all.


Lily is 2 days shy of 7 months. She is sitting up really well. Almost too well, if that's possible. I still put pillows around her since she never fell much. There was no in between stage of sitting with some falls to help her learn. We also tried a sippy cup which she loves. Not so much to drink the water but to chew on the silicone spout. Lily had her first outdoor swing experience last weekend. She enjoyed it so much it almost put her to sleep. For an adult it might sound boring since it almost put her to sleep but as a baby that means it works! Other than watching our baby grow before our eyes we have been slacking a little on home renovations (painting one room=a month long project with a baby), playing frisbee on Sundays and working during the week. Randy is crazy busy with building a rocket and I have been under typical stress at my job. Usually work stress remains in my work building but it's been following me home on occasion. My ideal situation, besides winning the $115 million lottery that I didn't buy tickets for last night, would be a work at home job. I will continue dreaming...

My "first" Mother's Day was lovely. Funny that my mom, in-laws and Randy all said Happy First Mother's Day and gave me presents since they did the same thing last year. No complaints here though! The difference with this year was that Lily also gave me a card and signed it with an outline of her hand. What an amazing 7 month old, goes shopping and uses a pen. :):) Thanks Randy, that was really sweet. Besides spending our lovely day outside playing frisbee we came home and took a nap. All 3 of us and it was at least a 2 hour nap. Sleep/cards/baby=a lovely "first" Mother's Day.

I threw in the towel, or camera in this situation. I took Lily to get professional pictures. It was an experience, let me tell you. First went to Walmart since they had a super cheap package deal. Walked in, first pic taken was cute. Long story short we had to keep that first pic or it would be forever gone. To add to the package since I have an enormously large family, and to take another pic in a different outfit, the costs continued to rise. So...I decided on a whim to do another round of pics at Kiddie Kandids. No Randy wasn't with us or this would have NEVER happened. Kiddie Kandids took some cute pics with props. The photographer was weird, asking why Lily wouldn't look at her. Duh, props all over and she barely whispered her name. I helped out by making noise and jumping around which would have made anyone laugh (at me).

Check these out...



Sorry for the weird photo layout. I can't figure out the picture blogger thing for the life of me.