Happy Easter!

I love holidays. They are a perfect excuse to eat chocolate, do fun things, and spend time with family. Easter is no exception. Since this was our first Easter with a child I wanted it to be special for Lilybelle. The Easter Bunny came and brought her a new toy and some chocolate for Mom and Dad (woo hoo!), Mom and Nana each got her an Easter Dress, and we dyed Easter Eggs. The last part Tim didn't think was necessary, but he had fun anyways.

First the Easter Basket. She liked her new toy, but I really think she would have liked to have the chocolate dipped Peep that I ate. She watched longingly while I ate them, yes all three because they don't taste as good the next day. Got to get them while they are good I say.

Next came the Easter Egg fun. I put her in her cover everything Ikea bib, that's actually still a little big, put her on Tim's lap, and then let her chose her color. She chose blue and made a really pretty egg.

Look how excited she looks to dye her very first Easter Egg. I can't wait until she can actually do it.

Here she is getting ready to put that egg in the blue dye. You can also see that her bib is just a little too big for her still.

She was very interested in how Dad put the egg in the dye. Guarantee that by next year she'll have this process down and will want to do it on her own.

Dad couldn't resist "decorating" her when we were all done with dying the eggs, and I couldn't resist snapping a picture of it. The stickers came right off because it was time for her Easter bath, which was like any other bath.

Next came the Easter dresses. She actually wore the sailor dress last Sunday, and it made me wish that I had waited until Easter Sunday for her to wear it because she looked so adorable in it, but she couldn't wear the bunny dress a week early.

 I couldn't believe that she left the hat on the whole day, but she did. All through church and her great-grandma's birthday party.

And finally her actual Easter dress that I bought back in December. So cute!

Happy Half Birthday Lilybelle!

 I'm going to admit that I probably got a little too excited about my daughter's half birthday. I kept telling everyone today that it was Lilybelle's half birthday. If I wasn't working crazy hours right now I probably would have thrown her a mini birthday party. The thought did cross my mind. But since I am working crazy hours, I contented myself with the following: I made her 6 month onsie, I got her peas all ready, and dressed her in her cupcake outfit today.

So to sum up her half birthday, Lilybelle is six months old today. She has gotten so big, and the time has gone by so fast. Some of her more recent accomplishments include sitting up by herself (she did it for a little bit on Sunday, hasn't repeated it yet), expanding her vocal range, and trying new food. On Sunday I made her a pea puree and a banana puree. In honor of her 6 months, we broke out the pea puree and fed it to her. At first she didn't seem too impressed by it, but she ate it all, and by the end she was excited to get it.

Tim also took the standard 6 month photo. It gets harder each month to take the photo because she doesn't sit still. This month she had an obsession with her feet. Most of the pictures that Tim took she was holding her feet up close to her face. If only I were still that flexible. I leave you with a video of her today. Happy Half Birthday Lilybelle.

All Better

Lilybelle is feeling much better after her illness. She gave us new parents quite a scare two weeks ago. It started with a simple cold. She had had a cold before so we knew the drill and didn't worry about it. When she woke us up with a cough Sunday night we made sure she wasn't sleeping horizontal and ran the humidifier. But by Wednesday she was running a fever and was super fussy which is unusual for our baby. By Wednesday night Tim and I were very worried about our baby because in addition to the cough, fever, and fussiness, she didn't want to eat. I took her in to the pediatrician the next day and it turns out that in addition to her cold she also had an ear infection. Poor baby! We had to give her ten days of antibiotics  (which we finished today woo hoo!) for the ear infection. Although I appreciate how much better our baby feels, I did not enjoy trying to get her to take the medicine. I can only hope that when she goes to the doctor next she doesn't still have an ear infection.

On a happier note, she's also big enough for her big flower headband. I always said that if I had a girl she would have a big flower  headband. And today she wore it. Super cute! The photo is not that great, but you get the idea of the size of her flower headband.

Baby Likes to Eat

Lilybelle has taken to rice cereal like a fish takes to water. She gets so excited when we put her in her high chair and bring out her small bowl of rice cereal. My mom has even gotten her a special bowl for her rice cereal. Below is a video that Tim recently took while he was feeding her. Our little one even wants to try to feed herself.

Happy Valentine's Day

Tim, Lilybelle, and I all had a good Valentine's Day this year. It was low key and busy, but fun nonetheless. Tim got me flowers that arrived at my office early Thursday morning, and they were gorgeous! I love it when he sends me flowers.

Lilybelle wore her special onsie that Nana got her just for the occasion. I got home that night and we had dinner and then opened up all the cards and Lilybelle her puppy. I had to go drop some stuff off, and when I came home, I put Lilybelle to bed and Tim and I had chocolate fondue. I also made a triple chocolate cheesecake that turned out quite nicely for a murder mystery dinner that Tim and I went to last night. If you've never gone to a murder mystery dinner, I highly recommend it. It was a lot of fun.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! (three days late)

5 months

Five months ago I sat in a hospital bed for twenty-three hours. Five months ago I held my precious baby for the first time. Five months ago I fell so completely in love with my daughter. I know I say this each month, but I can't believe that Lilybelle is five months today. In those five months she has grown and developed so much. She has gone from a sleeping, eating, and pooping baby to a playing, talking, sleeping, eating, and pooping baby. We have been fortunate that our baby has always seen sleep as a priority, but I love those moments when she wakes up in the morning talking to you and when you go in her room to get her up, she starts smiling and kicking her legs. She has also really started rolling all over. It's her mode of transportation these days.

She also started to become more aware of her surroundings. If she hears a sound, she looks to see where it's coming from. It's cute, but not when we are trying to feed her. She has dropped the bottle on more than one occasion because she turns her head suddenly to look for a sound. She is also more interested in what the dogs are doing. She seems to study them, especially when they climb up on the couch to sit with us.

Getting this month's picture was a little harder that the previous months. She stuck her tongue out for most all of the pictures. Tim claims that she is just taking after her mother who doesn't like to have her picture taken. I hope she isn't starting this early. It took me to adulthood to quit liking having my photo taken.

Check out those leg rolls, aren't they cute?!

My Big Girl

I have come to the conclusion that my daughter is growing up, and before I know it she will no longer be the small little baby that they handed to me in the hospital. It's not been one event, but a series of events that have led me to this conclusion as I will outline below.

Point #1: She started rolling over, scooting, and really playing with her toys. I was so excited when she started rolling over and amazed when she kinda scooted off her play mat. She has so much fun with all her toys on her play mat and all her stuffed animals on her blanket. She really plays with the toys now. She doesn't just look at them, but grabs them, shakes, them, and tries to stick them in her mouth. I thought, "how fun is she getting?" But I didn't really start thinking of her as a big girl until point #2.

Point #2: It seemed to really hit home that she is getting older at her four month doctor visit. She weighed in at 13.5 pounds and  25 inches. She's not that heavy (60th percentile for weight), but she is long (90th percentile for length). I  think it took a doctor visit to get me thinking that she is growing up (aka becoming a big girl) because she just recently grew out of three month old clothes at four months old. So to me that signaled that she is not growing up. Ha! Also at this doctor visit, the pediatrician told us we could start feeding her rice cereal to get her used to a spoon, and start on a sippy cup. I was excited for rice cereal and expected it, but a sippy cup! I equate sippy cups with big kids, and so I must admit that it was a sippy cup that led me to believe that my little baby is growing up.

Point #3: Last weekend my mom and I went shopping for her sippy cup, a teething ring, and some clothes. My mom bought her a big girl coat (another reminder that she's growing up...ugh, which can be seen on the left). When we got home and I had washed everything; I gave her the teething ring not expecting much, but she loves to chew on it, and she knows exactly what to do with it when you give it to her. I also tried the sippy cup. She will suck on it, but doesn't have too much luck getting milk out of it and knowing to swallow it. The first time we tried it she sucked on the cup, and then opened her mouth and milk came spilling out all over her. We have work to do before she masters the sippy cup.


Point #4: This past week I started feeding her rice cereal. It was a success. She doesn't mind that spoon at all, and waits patiently for mom to give it to her. It worked out so well that Tim brought up her high chair from the basement so we can feed her rice cereal more regularly and more easily. Another reminder of her big girl status.

Point #5: Yesterday Tim had the day off and took Lilybelle to Costco in her stroller. HER BIG GIRL STROLLER. He then texted me a picture of it. This picture was final proof to me that she is a big girl. I mean, just look at her! She doesn't look like a baby!

Well folks I believe that my five points that I  have outlined above are proof that my little girl is growing up faster than I want her to. I never really believed when people told me that, but now I am a firm believer. Guess it's time to have another baby! (wink, wink)