Learning How To Sit

Lily Anne is hard at work practicing sitting up like a big girl! Right now, she can balance for a short time if you put her in a sitting position. She uses her arms to support herself, but each time we do it, she stays upright longer and longer!

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Lily's First Day of School

Today Lily Anne went to daycare for the first time.

Sigh....

Happy Birthday Justin!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday dear Justin!

Happy Birthday to you!

I do not understand people

I just heard from my friends and unfortunately it appears that their worst fear has come true. The birth mother has officially backed out. I don't know details, but it appears that this was her plan all along. I am just devastated for them.

I just don't understand.

(I am going to close the comments on the other post, but if you want to post a message here, I'll pass it along. I know some of you had some amazing words when we were going through our difficult time).

Prayers Needed

Friends of mine are at the end of their adoption journey and are hurting beyond belief right now. They have traveled to Florida and have been anxiously awaiting good news (the birth mother was scheduled to have a c-section today). Instead of hearing the wonderful news of the birth of their soon-to-be daughter, they were told that the birth mother did not show up at the hospital and is not answering her phone. No one seems to know where she is or what is going on.

I cannot begin to imagine how they are feeling right now. They are such good people and I know this is devastating to them. Please pray that the birth mother returns and that the baby is born healthy and that my friends become the parents they have longed to be.

If don't mind, please leave a comment with your prayer intention...I want to pass them along to my friends in hope that it might help them. I know some of you have said you don't know how to leave a comment, so here is a little tutorial...it is sooooooo easy!



First, click on the link that says "comments" at the bottom of this post. You will see a page that has this image on the right side:

Now, type your comment in the box. After that, you choose one of the options below the box. In this case, you see my blogger ID (Julie and Justin). If you have a Blogger ID, you can use it (and you probably don't need this tutorial). If you don't have a Blogger ID, you can click Name/url and just type your name (first only is fine) OR you can choose Anonymous. Finally, click on Publish Your Comment and you are done. It will not post right away but it is there.

Thanks everyone!!!

Edit: I have closed comments on this post.

Shhhhhhhh....

See this little death grip?

Apparently someone was trying to escape last night and wore herself out, but not enough to let go of the bumper! Every night we start out with Lily Anne in the middle of her crib, on her back, with her head pointing in a certain direction. Through the course of the night, that kiddo moves SOOOOO much that it is not unusual for us to find her on her tummy, 180 degrees from her original position, with her head crammed up against the bumper. (Yes, I know some people don't use bumpers because they "might" be a contributing factor to SIDS...we put a lot of thought into it and considering our baby would be covered in bumps and bruises without it, we opted to keep it in the crib. Not to mention, I know she would get her arms and legs caught with as much moving as she does and I don't want to risk an injury).

It is no wonder she is so darn skinny...she NEVER stops moving...not even in her sleep. But, I must say, there is nothing cuter than the "butt in the air" position she favors right now.

Except maybe when she falls asleep in her swing and does the face plant!
Let's face it. Any way a baby sleeps is adorable...because they are ASLEEP!!!!

ARRRGGHHHH!!!

And made even "better" by this news. It stinks. We are already taking a pay cut, waiting until January for step increases, having one furlough day...now this.

Really puts you in the "Back to School Spirit."

Can you tell I'm bitter?

Look at my dress!

Lily Anne received the cutest dress from my friend Helen before she was born and I have been waiting for her to grow into it. Well, our little bean is still too skinny for many of her clothes, although she is going to outgrow them in length before she plumps up. So, I am finally relenting to the fact that I am going to have to do some homemade alterations so she can wear all that is in her vast wardrobe.

The first to be "fixed" was this adorable patchwork dress. Apparently Lily Anne LOVES it because once I put it on her, she would not pay a lick of attention to me or the camera. Nope, she played with that dress, pulling it over her head, twisting it in her hands, you name it! It was actually pretty cute. So, enjoy my very feeble attempts to get a picture of her (with a few captions). Click on the picture to make it easier to see!

And my favorite picture of the day (the drool is SOOOO Lily right now...it's a constant stream):

Five Months Old!

The Aftermath

Sweet Potatoes

Visit to the Eye Doctor

Lily Anne had another checkup with the ophthalmologist and she did great! Her eyes still look really good and the doctor was very pleased with her development. We will go back in January for another eye exam (complete with dilation). Considering how many students I have taught that probably needed glasses when they were little but didn't get them until much later (sometimes after experiencing difficulties in school), I don't mind visiting the eye doctor!

(No, Lily Anne is not really wearing glasses. I just had a little fun with photo editing)

Fun New Toy!

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Another Positive Appointment

We had another specialist appointment this morning and I am glad to report it went very well. So well, in fact, that we will go back for one more check around LA's first birthday and then we will probably say goodbye to the neurosurgeon. There is no need for his services :) Hopefully our follow-up with the ophthalmologist on Monday will be the same. If we can knock a few of these doctors off our list, I will be a happy girl (and so will Lily).



She had a cranial ultrasound today and you KNOW how much she loves ultrasounds (remember the echocardiogram fun). Well, this wasn't much different. She did great for the first half and screamed her head off for the second half. Oh well. At least the ultrasound tech got the images our doctor needed. After the ultrasound was done, Lils had so much hair gel on her head she looked like she had a bad combover! (Excuse the quality--it was taken with the camera phone in a darkened room, but you get the idea).
When we got home, we were surprised by the Provosts who were dropping off a gift for Lils. I think Elly and Ansley are ready to babysit! It is funny how BIG 6 year olds look after you have spent 5 months with a baby. After all the excitement of the day, Lily CRASHED and has taken one of her longest naps ever! It's tough to be almost 5 months old some days!

Happy Fourth of July!

We hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July weekend. We took advantage of the long weekend and went to Lake Oconee to visit my parents. It was the first time all four of us took a trip (yep, Baxter went) and we weren't sure how Bax would do with LA in the back seat with him, but he was great and slept quietly along side Lily. It is so nice when the "kids" sleep on the roadtrip. Lily Anne with Grandma and Grandpa

Lily is still too little to enjoy any of the fireworks shows (maybe next year) but she did enjoy her first swim. We met my friend Amy and her kids at the pool (gotta love it when your friend's in-laws live in the same community as your parents!). Amy had given LA the CUTEST flag bikini, but it literally fell off our little bean pole of a daughter. Luckily, the one piece stayed on (with a little work) Doesn't she look cute in her little suit?

She wasn't sure what to think at first......but after a little bit, she seemed to enjoy it. She even kicked her feet and squealed a few times. I tried to teach her how much fun it was to splash Justin, but apparently she is too much of a Daddy's Girl to do it. We stayed at the pool for about an hour before Lily started to get fussy and tired. It was such a fun time and I know we will be making more trips to the pool!

The obligatory family holiday photo. I'm sure that the blog, Awkward Family Photos (btw, if you haven't seen this, it is hilarious), would have a funny comment or two about us posing by the flag :)

On Sunday, Lily Anne had another big event--her first taste of rice cereal!!! Here is a video clip so you can judge for yourself whether she liked it or not...

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Still not sure if she actually liked the cereal or not (have you ever tasted this stuff? Quite honestly, I don't blame her for the faces...yuck!). But, in the end, we did get some smiles and no cries, so we will try it again tomorrow!

Fun on a Thursday

Apparently, sometimes it's the little things that get the best giggles. This afternoon, I discovered that when I spun the little toys on her swing, Lily Anne found it hysterical. I think she liked the sound because she certainly wasn't looking at the toys as they spun. Justin got in on the act too. You can't buy this kind of entertainment on a Thursday evening! (Ignore the loud beep you will hear in the middle...the oven was preheated!)

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She's On a Mission!

It's true...Lily Anne is on a mission. The other morning Lily Anne was playing with her toys on the activity gym when she decided to make her move. Not sure where she planned on going, but off she went. This is probably the longest LA has focused on forward progress while on her tummy. She now thinks rolling onto her tummy and back again is a big game (until she is tire and then she pitches a fit when she is on her tummy--go figure). But this morning, she was ready to go! Once this kid figures out how to use her arms and legs together, we are in big trouble!

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