Grammy & Papa's Visit to Dover

Grammy & Papa came to visit us while we were in Dover. We had a little Christmas celebration with them & also a birthday celebration for the soon-to-be birthday girl. Of course Miss Lily had to show off her ice skating skills as well, so we took Grammy & Papa to the skating rink too.

The first thing on Lily's agenda as soon as Grammy & Papa walked in the door were to give them their crowns she had designed for them. She did them all by herself - drew the shapes & colored them in & everything - with just a little help from Mom cutting them out.

Here we are modeling our fabulous crowns...

Papa was being a little silly...

Somehow Daddy managed to escape without a picture of him in his crown...

Christmas all over again!

Zoey & Va dog enjoying their gifts...bone-e-o's and blankies all around

Getting ready to skate!

Having fun with Daddy

Miss Lily found a friend! She says she doesn't need her Dad anymore...

Back at the apartment we sing Happy Birthday to Lily

Mommy was a meanie & got the relighting candles.

This was when she found out what I'd done...she said I tricked her. Gifts from Grammy & Papa
REALLY excited to get a new Bella Dancerella!!

Christmas

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa & carrots for a reindeer snack!

Miss Lil coming down the stairs on Christmas morning

Her first glimpse - I think she was a little excited...

Opening the first gift

The much anticipated Skywishes! This is all Lily has been talking about wanting for Christmas

Sing & Dance Pinkie Pie...another coveted gift

Trying out her new art desk - pretty fancy

Finger puppets from Aunt Betsy...she loves these!

New clothes from Granny! Obviously a favorite of Lily's

Let's Go Fishin with Dad

Barbie Island Princess dress! She has worn this every day since she got it...

New computer game!

The Leapster!!! It was all over after she opened this. She didn't want to open any more presents - she was content to sit and play this for the rest of the day. And every day since...she has not put it down since she got it! She has become a Leapster Junkie!!

Playing Leapster

Still playing...

Feet kicked up on the desk...

Is this what she learns when she goes to the office with Grant? haha
Still playing Leapster by the way...

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Christmas Cookie Time

Well, since it is almost time for Santa's yearly visit, we decided it was time to make him some delicious Christmas cookies to sustain him on his journey.

Embellishing our yummy treats

(We cheated on the sugar cookies so Lily could have something to decorate, since she is a little impatient waiting for us to mix everything else together...)

Decorating with Dad

Mixing with Mom

2nd Trimester & Ultrasound News!

Well, I have officially been in my second trimester for a few weeks now, but due to all the holiday hub bub, I have not posted much about my pregnancy progression. I am finally feeling like myself again - my energy is back up to just about normal & my evening sickness seems to have pretty much faded out. I'm starting to feel the baby move around a bit in my belly (which is really starting to expand, in my opinion!) and Brian has been able to feel a kick or two when he puts his hand on my belly. We had an ultrasound today and the doctor said everything looks great. The baby is growing right on schedule and has a very strong heartbeat.

He is also 90% sure that...

It's a BOY!!!

Brian & I are both ecstatic with the news & amazingly enough, even Miss Lily has changed her mind to now wanting a baby brother over a baby sister! (She seemed to have changed her mind around the time we went ice skating - after ice skating we watched a pee wee hockey team play for a while & I think Miss Lily is hoping her little brother will follow in her Daddy's footsteps and play the game she loves to watch.) We brought Lily to the ultrasound so she could get a first glimpse of the upcoming arrival & she loved every minute of it. She was so amazed that she was actually seeing the baby & kept asking "Is that the head? Is that the arm? OH! It just moved! Did you see it?" It was pretty cute. During the ultrasound, the baby was being a little shy & wasn't very willing to show us his private parts. He was pretty much bent in half - looking almost like he was sucking on his toes! We have another ultrasound scheduled for next month, and we will see if he will be a little more compliant then. :o)

Parent/Teacher Conference

I had my very first parent/teacher conference a couple weeks ago at Lily's school. Lily's teacher did nothing but heap praise on Lily. She said Lily is constantly asking to help the teacher with whatever she is doing and always makes sure everything is being done "the right way". (If she sees someone doing something the wrong way or something they are not supposed to do she either tells them not to do it or tells one of the teachers - I guess we have a little miss prim & proper on our hands??) She said Lily is always nice to the other kids and makes friends very easily - she said all the kids seem to gravitate towards her. She also always sticks up for her friends and acts very motherly to the younger kids (Lily is one of the oldest in her class of 3-4 yr olds), making sure they are okay & that everyone is included in everything. The teacher also said that Lily is very eager to learn & is very advanced in every section of development. She said Lily was ready to go kindergarten this year, only she wasn't old enough. She said that Lily tends to get a little bored in class because she is so advanced & that the teachers are always trying to find something for her to do to keep her occupied. She said more times than not she ends up giving her projects meant for the kindergarten program. Overall, the teacher said Lily is a joy to have in class & she wishes she had more students like her. No matter how how smart or well behaved you think your child is, it is always nice to hear how well they are doing & that your opinions of them are not completely biased. :o) We are so proud of Lily!!

Christmas Parade

We had a Christmas parade come through our neighborhood last night featuring Santa!

Noah, Stevie & Lily waiting for the parade to begin.

Here it comes!
It's hard to see in the pictures, but the firetrucks, police cars & ambulances all drove by with their lights flashing & sirens going.

Waving to Santa, who is on top of one of the firetrucks.

The kids also got to see Sparky the Fire Dog and McGruff who were riding on ATV's!

Adventures in Ice Skating

Lily has been begging to go ice skating ever since she saw some kids ice skating at one of our local malls. We decided to take her while we were visiting Brian, since he is our in-house skating expert. All ready to go!

A little shaky at first...

Getting better!

Having fun

Taking a break from all the hard work

Lily did really well & had a ton of fun. She had a couple little spills, but she got right back up & tried again. (Big difference from the last time we took her - she was scared to stand on her own & wouldn't let Brian put her down on the ice!) She was pretty proud of herself & we were pretty proud of her too. She can't wait to go back & try again.

Look at her go!!
A happy girl & her dad

Visiting Daddy

Lily & I made a trip up to Delaware this weekend to visit Brian.

Brian had a couple surprises for Lily when we got there...

some new reindeer antlers...

and....

SNOW!!!

Our little snow angel

Someone thinks she's funny throwing snowballs at Mom...

Brian & Lily made a fort one morning, which Lily spent most of her time in
The fort

Peek a Boo!