Girls Weekend

Before I get into our weekend recap, I have big news.... Lily rolled over this morning!! I've seen a back-to-tummy roll 3 times now, so it's not just a fluke. But she has no idea how to get back to her back. Good thing she likes her tummy now... she used to HATE it.

Matt was in St. Louis this weekend on a "man trip" so Lily and I did lots of girly things together. On Saturday we went to a bridal shower for our cousin Janet. Lily was pretty overwhelmed by all the new noises and people, so the pictures below aren't her best. It was fun getting her all dressed up and the extended family enjoyed meeting Lily. It was bizarre for me to be dressed up and taking care of Lily. I never imagined I'd be wearing high heels and pushing a stroller!! It felt more like a scene out of Sex In the City than my normal life. It was tough getting Lily to eat and nap in the exciting environment, but she eventually tired and fell asleep when our food came. (I'm always excited when I get to eat my food when it's still hot.) And then Lily woke up just in time to watch presents.

Lily and the Bride-to-Be, Janet

Lily and her Great-Great-Aunt Annette

Nana and Lily

On Sunday, Lily and I met up with my good friend Cara who was in town from Nashville. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factor (our 2nd visit this month... yum!) and shopped around Woodfield mall. Lily is still well behaved in public, but I think I'm quickly reaching her limit. I never realized how noisy restaurants were until we started taking Lily to them. If it's not the chatty people and plates clinking, it's the loud background music....geesh! Lily was much happier when we started shopping and she got to ride around in her stroller. I can already tell she's going to love being Mommy's shopping buddy. :)

Sleeping Beauty

This is what I found when I checked on Lily this morning. I think it's so cute how she tucks her hands under her head.

Berry Cute

4 months old

Lily is 4 months! She went to the doctor this morning and is 15 pounds and 26" long. She grew 1.25" and 1 lb last month. Once again, the doctor said she looks great and everything is right on track. It was a great visit, except for the 4 shots Lily got at the end. OUCH! Luckily, Grandma and Papa are visiting today to give Lily extra love and attention while Mommy works. The doctor gave us the green light to try rice cereal.... so expect pictures/videos soon!

My sunshine :)

Lily loves her mobile! Mommy loves it because it plays the Purdue fight song :

I am happy that I can capture a lot more smiles on camera now. I haven't got a laugh on video yet, but I'm working on it. She's giving us more and more giggles and I'm loving it. It's the best sound in the world!

Lily hasn't mastered rolling yet, but she's getting close. Here is her "half roll". She likes to twist herself around to watch tv.

My First Mother's Day

I am so happy to be a Mom! We had a wonderful Mother's Day weekend and were lucky enough to celebrate with both of our Moms. On Saturday we met my parents (Grandma and Papa) for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory and a little afternoon shopping. Lily was awake through most of the visit, but barely made any noise. She still gets very shy/quiet when in loud/scary places. But after hanging out with Grandma and Papa for a while, and once we got in a quieter place, Lily showed off her smiles and giggles for the grandparents to see in person.

On Sunday, I celebrated my first Mother's Day by sleeping in. :) I woke up with Lily for her first feed at 6:30 am, but then she and I went back to bed from 7:30 - 10:30. That felt good! While we were sleeping, she sent Daddy to the store and there was coffee cake and flowers waiting for me when I got up.

In the afternoon we went to Nana and Grandpa's house (Matt's parents) for an early dinner. Nana LOVES the twighlight movies so we watched New Moon and taught Lily about Edward, Bella, and Jacob. :)

I feel so blessed to be a Mom. It's something I've always wanted and I couldn't imagine my life without children in it. It's definitely a tough job, but it's all worth it when I see Lily's smile or hear her laugh.

Feliz Cumpleanos

Today is Chips' and Salsa's Birthday! I can't believe my "kitties" are 3 years old. If cat years work like dog years, then today is their 21st birthday. Not a bad way to spend Cinco de Mayo. :) Chips and Salsa came from separate litters and are actually a few months apart, but I thought Cinco de Mayo was a fitting birthday for cats named after a delicious Mexican snack.

Mr Chips

Princess Salsa

Weekend full of firsts

This weekend was crazy busy. We took Lily all over the place! And she did an amazing job, per usual. We are so blessed to have such a great baby. On Saturday, we participated in an Ovarian Cancer walk in downtown Chicago to support our friend Rich, who's mom passed away from the disease. That was Lily's first trip to Chicago and first time seeing Lake Michigan. On our way home we took Lily on her first trip to Woodfield Mall. (I'm teaching her to love shopping) Sunday was Lily's first time at Church and first time going to a restaurant with Mommy and Daddy. Pictures first, then stories...

Lily, in her official team KMK onesie

The Cincys and the Kiticks

Mr. Kitick, Lily, and Me

(Nice hair, huh? They don't call it the "Windy City" for nothing)It's always fun to participate in the walk and help a good cause, but it sure is tough getting downtown. And even tougher with a baby involved. Our normal 1 hr drive took 2 hrs due to construction on the interstate. Then we had a 20 minute walk from our car to the cancer walk. On top of that we had to do a feed and a couple diaper changes for Lily. I managed to bring a bottle of milk for Lily but forgot the nipple, so I had to try nursing in public for the first time. I've used a privacy blanket before, but never outside. Without going into to much detail, the wind was not my friend and the world probably saw more of me than they should have.

We left our house and hour early and got to the race an hour late! We found the team pretty easily around the half-way point and finished the race with them. Then we did the 20 min walk back to the car and sat in traffic for another two hours to get to our next destination. So I think we spent 5 hours in transit to do a 1 hour walk. Oh well! At least Lily wasn't too traumatized by it all. She slept through most of it and only got slightly cranky when she was hungry or had a wet diaper. Again, we are truly blessed to have such a good baby!

I have been nervous to take Lily to church because of germs and not knowing how she'd do. But she really impressed me today. She didn't cry once! She liked looking around at all the new faces, listening to the music, and looking at the stained glass windows. I'm sure things will change once she starts crawling, so we're going to take advantage of this stage as long as it lasts.

Since most restaurants are jam-packed on Mother's Day, we decided to celebrate a little early and go out today after church. Check out my "flight of pancakes".....Yum!!! I was sold when I saw Turtle, Smores, and Brownie pancakes on the menu. Each pancake had all those yummy ingredients on top and inside. It was so pretty and delicious, I had to take a picture. Hooray for my first Mother's Day!!