Splish Splash!

Lilly Anna's first lesson started last week, but we missed it because we had just gotten back from Texas and she had the sniffles. I've been so excited about our lessons! Thankfully Josh decided to skip his first class today so he could tag along and take pictures and video. We were so glad he was there. Lilly Anna LOVED the water. She had the best time splashing around! I'm already looking forward to next week's lesson!

Solids!

Lilly Anna got her first taste of solids this morning! She's not so sure about the new food...we'll just have to give it some time. We're pretty sure she'll be eating like a champ soon enough! We're so proud of our big girl! Isn't she the cutest thing in her high chair?!

While the boy is away, his girls will play...in Texas!

Lilly Anna and I got to go home for a quick weekend trip (April 17 - 21) thanks to Josh's busy schedule! He had a day long conference on Friday and then went to Long Island for a friend's wedding on Saturday. Lilly Anna and I flew in to Fort Worth Friday afternoon where we were greeted by both grandmothers. They stood by the chauffeurs and made a sign just for Lilly Anna! It was so cute, wish I had taken a picture. After we landed we went straight to my grandmother's house because my cousins were in town visiting. My cousin Alec and his wife Kendall have two precious daughters, Allie - 4 and Isabel 18 months. They currently live in Boston. It was fun having the girls all together. My other cousins Anna and Laura and my Aunt Paula and Uncle David were there as well.

This is the best picture we got of the 3 girls!! We should have taken the picture 2 hours before we did
Lilly Anna with my Aunt Paula. I'm so glad she likes to cuddle!

Lilly Anna loves playing with jewelry. We're already in trouble!

On Saturday we went to my nephew Drew's 2nd birthday party! I was so glad we were in town and could attend. Drew was so cute! He kept on saying "Happy Day" for his birthday. When he would open a present he would take the item and hand it to someone - like he was sharing. It was really sweet. Lilly Anna had a great time playing with his toys and posing for pictures.

Lilly Anna with her Pops, Nonni, and cousin Drew

Lilly Anna and her Uncle Brad

Sunday afternoon we headed to Dallas to spend a couple of nights with Josh's family. Mary Marshall (& Harper :)) came over to visit. I had never seen Lilly Anna laugh and giggle so much with anyone else besides Josh and me! She absolutely LOVED MM! It was so cute to hear her belly laugh. Mary Marshall just found out a few weeks ago that she's having a little girl - Harper! I cannot tell you how excited I am. We're already having so much fun and Harper hasn't even arrived:)

That night was so much fun because I had dinner with Josh's family (his mom, dad and sister) Heather left her kiddos with her sweet husband so she could spend time with me! It was so sweet and special that she drove all the way down just to see me. We Skyped with Josh after dinner. It didn't seem right that he wasn't there with all of us.

Monday was a very busy day. Josh's mom's friend Donna stopped by before she went to work to say hello and see Lilly Anna (wish I had taken a picture!) then we went up to Little Elm to visit Aunt Heather, Halle and Cason. I've posted before how much Halle loves her little cousin. She is the sweetest little girl to Lilly Anna. They had the best time playing with each other. Once Cason was up from his nap it was time for LA to take her nap, so they didn't get much play time together. We'll just have to make sure they do next time!
Once we got back to Dallas Emily and Travis (13 months) stopped by for a quick playdate. It was so great to spend a little time with Emily and see Travis walking around and playing. He's the cutest little boy. He loved all of Grandmommy's toys! Tina dropped by for a quick hug and some LA smiles! We were so excited we got to see her, too! Carole also stopped by and even got to see Lilly Anna take her bath!
Even though the trip was quick, it was wonderful getting to see all of our family and a few friends. I do have to say that Lilly Anna was ready to get back to her Daddy though...I wish I had it on video when she saw him at the airport. She was about to explode she was so happy! Even the strangers at the baggage claim next to us commented on how much she must have missed her Daddy!

6 Months!

Our little girl turned 6 months old yesterday. I cannot believe she's been in our lives now for half a year! It's truly been the best 6 months I've ever experienced. I never knew how much you could love a child. I absolutely love her at this age - I love how she studies everything and everyone. I love that she knows our voices and gets so excited when we get her from her crib in the mornings and from her naps. Her smile and laughs are priceless...it's definitely the best way to wake up! I love her babbling. It's so cute to hear her say bbllluuu or make raspberries. I love that the simplest things fascinate her like her favorite "toys" - paper, pots, pans our cell phones. It's just amazing to see her learn. She's the sweetest little angel - she even lights up the faces of perfect strangers! She gives us so much joy and we find it a total blessing to be her parents.

6 month stats:

Height - 27.75 inches (96th percentile)

Weight - 15 lbs 14 oz (50th percentile)

Easter and Fun with Friends

We had such a good week last week!

#1 We are now successfully "sleep trained"! It only took about 2 hard days. It was well worth the stress and anxiety. Lilly Anna is such a big girl - she was ready to start putting herself to sleep.

#2 We had a few play dates with our friends. One was the Easter Party for the graduate student community. It was mainly for older kids, but we still had a nice time seeing our friends.

Tara and 3-month old Madeline

#3 We have a new little friend - Ella. Her parents are our friends and neighbors Lauren and Ben. We've seen her a lot since she's been born, but just haven't taken a picture with her and LA until the other day. LA loves her new friend.

#4 The Farmers' Market is finally open again! The freezing cold didn't keep us away and we bumped into several of our friends! Jisun and Shawn are expecting a baby girl at the beginning of June!

#5 Lilly Anna had a wonderful first Easter! We went to church (although we got there 15 minutes late and I had to leave a little early to feed her!) and then went to brunch at the Jones' home. This brunch was AMAZING! They did all the cooking and there were probably 15 people there. We had several different quiches, homemade scones, sticky buns, asparagus, ham...yumm! It was so good. Lilly Anna's friend Ezra (11 weeks) was there. We captured a few cute pics of the girls!

#6 We've discovered how much LA loves banging on our pots and pans. She's a master at sitting up now and just loves to beat the pans and play with the new blocks we just bought! She's so much fun!

New stroller and other happenings from the week!

We finally got our new BOB jogging stroller this past week. The weather wasn't so great on Friday when it arrived nor was it nice yesterday, so we finally got to take it for a stroll today. I took it out this morning before her morning nap. We walked to the bagel shop next to our apartment. It was so easy to maneuver! I love this stroller!

Then I did something terrible...I was getting things ready for her morning nap and put LA in the corner of the rocking chair in her room for a split second so I could quickly turn the humidifier on. She was so intrigued by a pillow on the chair that she started lunging for it and almost fell out! I saw it all happen so I ran to her but I smashed my foot into her crib! Luckily I saved her from falling, but now three of my five toes are greenish black! Awesome. Lesson LEARNED! Thank goodness she didn't fall on her head!

But anyway, today was BEAUTIFUL! I was so looking forward to taking her out again this afternoon...so instead DAD got the treat! He took LA out for a run this afternoon. We think she's a big fan of her new stroller even though the picture doesn't really show it:) Central Park - here we come!!!
I also wanted to include a couple of pics from this past week. We go to a weekly play date/coffee with some other moms and children of Johnson students. This is Lilly Anna with her friend Millie.

We just introduced her to the Sippy cup...hoping she'll take it better than she does a bottle!

Happy as a clam in her car seat! Isn't she such a cutie?!

LA in her cute Easter dress. Since today was so nice I had to dress her up and take a few pictures! Mary Marshall, can you tell that we LOVE the bloomers you gave? Can't wait for your little girl to have a pair, too!! Check out her thighs! They're even better in person!

LA and our friend Rachel. Our good friends Rachel & Mark live around the corner from us in the same apartment complex. Rachel's husband Mark is a huge grill master. Thankfully we are friends and neighbors so we enjoy their cooking often! Thanks Mark & Rachel for grilling out for us!!

LA's First "Slumber" Party

LA had her first "slumber" party. The reason I say it was a slumber party is because her friend Madeline came over while her parents went on a date and they were basically both asleep the entire time. We gave Madeline's parents a gift certificate to a local restaurant with free babysitting as a token of our appreciation for allowing us to stay in their NYC apartment in March. It was the least we could do - they seriously have the EASIEST baby on earth. Josh and I realized how high maintenance Lilly Anna was/still is, though of course we wouldn't trade her for the world. The only time Madeline fussed was when she was hungry and she got hungry right on schedule (she's 10 weeks old). Josh and I almost forgot we were babysitting she was so good - she just slept in LA's swing! Earlier in the evening she got to watch Lilly Anna's bath. I caught a couple of cute pics of the girls admiring each other. LA and Madeline really like each other - so cute! I guess that was the easiest slumber party we'll ever have!
I also had to include these pics of LA after her afternoon nap yesterday. You would think she would have just taken a really nice long nap...nope, just a quick cat nap. I had to include while I still can because pretty soon she'll probably get upset about bad hair days.