New Wardrobe = New Photos

Lily just about 3.5 months old, but she has graduated into her 6 month clothes. She doesn't NEED to be in the new size, but I was getting a little tired of dressing her in the same clothes she's been wearing since February. Plus, so many of the clothes are cute summer outfits! I hope the weather cooperates so she can wear them all a few times before she grows out of them.

This is Lily's first 6 month outfit! I hope the pants were supposed to be capris. Otherwise it means I waited to long to dress her in this outfit. The hat and sandals were purchased with a different outfit, but I think they work great with this one too.
It was a beautiful day, so Lily and I played outside for a little bit. Her sandals are a bit too big and would not stay on, so she got to be barefoot in the grass. It was the first time her little feet have touched grass. I wonder what that feels like to her. Sometimes I try to look at the world through her eyes and it helps to recognize the little things I take for granted every day.

So cute!

On a different day this week, it was much colder so we had to bundle up when we went out. This is still a 3 month outfit, but it's her first time wearing sneakers!

I found the sneakers when I was packing away the old sizes and bringing out the new. Unfortunately, her feet are too big for them and this will be the only time she'll get to wear them. It's too bad, because they were really cute and when perfectly with that sweat suit.

While on the topic of footwear, I found another treasure in Lily's room. Lily has pink slippers, just like Mommy! They came with a robe she got at a baby shower. They stay on her feet a lot better than her socks, so we are using these often. Lily's hands and feet get cold easily (just like mine) so these will be great for the summer outfits that don't really have socks or shoes that match.

I have heard of sewing your own baby clothes before, but it's not often that someone designs their own. This dress was sent to Lily by our college friend, Mara. Mara works for Wal-Mart and at one point in her career, she designed baby clothes for the Faded Glory brand. This was one of the dresses she designed!

Lily liked the dress very much... well, she enjoyed eating her dress. Lily can grab objects very well now and she especially likes grabbing fabric (i.e. the dress she's wearing, her blanket when she's falling asleep, her doll that's made of fleece, her pants when I'm changing her diaper). And everything that she grabs goes into her mouth.

Finally, here's another new outfit she can now wear. It made Matt smile when he came home from work and saw her in it.

1st Trip to Indiana

2 weekends ago (I'm a little behind on my posts), Lily had her 1st trip to Grandma & Papa's house in Indiana. A routine trip back home was suddenly a very big occasion. It was Lily's 1st time out of the state, 1st nights away from home, 1st weekend away from Daddy, 1st time sleeping in the pack-n-play, and longest road trip. Tax season had just ended and Matt needed a weekend to recharge his batteries, so he stayed home.

I was pretty anxious about the doing the drive and packing all on my own, but everything turned out fine. The 3 hour drive turned into 4 hours because I stopped to feed Lily and give her a break from her car seat. I filled the SUV with just about everything she could possibly need and yet, we still had to do a load of laundry over the weekend. Oh well, at least I didn't forget anything important (yeah for Mommy!). Lily was amazing (as always) and didn't cry once in the car and slept very well in her new surroundings. She had a little stranger anxiety / fussy fit when we first got there, but after a good nap and feed she was back to her old self.


It was great having some quality time with Grandma and Papa. On Saturday the 3 gals went shopping at the mall. Grandma watched Lily while I got my haircut by the lady that did my hair all through high school and college. I wish I could have her do my hair every time... she's the best!

On Sunday, Papa got the afternoon with Lily while my Mom and I went to a bridal shower. After the shower, several of the Moms and friends stopped by to meet Lily. That was probably the most visitors Lily has seen at one time, and again, she was great. Lily gets very quiet and wide-eyed and just soaks everything in.

This was the first chance that Lily and I got to meet Kelsey's baby, Hallie. Hallie and Lily are 3 months apart and it's amazing to see the difference between the two. Hallie was rolling over and crawling around while Lily just laid still on her back. I love seeing Hallie because it gives me a sneak peak at what Lily will be doing in the next few months. And Kelsey like's seeing Lily because it's like going back in time 3 months.

Lily was watching Hallie intently and I would have loved to know what she was thinking. It was pretty obvious what Hallie was thinking when she saw Lily: "I want to squeeze your face!" ha ha :)

Overall, it was a great weekend!! We will be taking several trips to Indiana this summer for more wedding showers and parties. Plus, my 10 year high school reunion is in July. I feel like I say it over and over, but time sure does fly by fast!

3 Months Old!

Lily is 3 months old today! At the doctor she weighted in at 13.9 lbs (90th), 24.75" long (95th), and head circumference 16" (75th). She grew 2.5" in a month! Who would have thought we'd have a tall girl on our hands? Height doesn't really run in my family, so that's another reason why we think Lily takes more after Matt's side. Plus, we looked at his baby pictures and his cheeks were even BIGGER than Lily's!

A few of my friends had babies a few months before Lily was born and I remember them telling me in January they were jealous of what I was about to go through. At the time, I couldn't imagine wanting the pain and exhaustion of labor and figuring out how to care for a brand new baby. But now I understand that none of that matters in comparison to witnessing the miracle of birth and all the joy and love that a new baby brings. In a heartbeat, I would press rewind and live the last 3 months all over again if I could. But that's not the way it works, so I try to live every day to the fullest as best I can. I really like the stage Lily's in right now - she's smiling a lot, cooing more, grabbing/holding/playing with objects, and isn't mobile. I'm excited for her to roll and crawl, but I know that brings LOTS more responsibility on my part to keep her out of trouble.

Here's Lily's 3 month picture and a trip down memory lane. It's hard to believe she can change so much in such a short time.

3 Months

2 Months
1 Month

1 Week

Happy Tax Day

I know most people dread April 15th, but in our house we celebrate it. Actually, we celebrate April 16th because then tax season is officially over and Matt returns to civilization. Tax season is always rough for us, but this year it was especially tough with the addition of Lily and Matt starting at a new company. Matt helped out when he could, but for the most part it has just been me and Lily for the last 3 months. It was tough and wonderful at the same time. I gained a lot of confidence as a Mom because I had to figure things out on my own. Plus I had a lot of practice to get things right. I have loved all the bonding time I've had with Lily and am so thankful that my company is letting me work from home. I'm anxious for Matt to get more Lily time so he can experience the same joy (and so I can get a little bit of a break). :) Hooray for the end of tax season!

Go Cubs!

Today is the Cub's home opener, so Lily's got her gear ready to root them on. I just taught Lily the "Go Cubs Go" song and she sang along with me! Once tax season ends Lily is going to watch a lot of Cubs games with Daddy. I have a feeling it will help her take good naps. ;)

Lily's 1st Easter

For Lily's first Easter we had both sets of Grandparents over to our house. This wasn't the first time we've hosted a holiday, but we are certainly not experts yet. We took the opportunity to try a bunch of new recipes and they all tasted pretty yummy. I was most proud of the bunny bread that I made for the veggies and dip.

Above is Lily in her comfy Easter outfit and below is Lily in her pretty Easter dress. She was such a trouper to wear the whole ensemble and let us take a million pictures of her it in.

Her first purse!!

Family photo

Nana, Lily, and Grandpa

Grandma, Lily, and Papa
"No more pictures, please"

Matt's Lily Pictures

My brother, Matt, just posted the pictures he took when he visited last month. Below are a few of my favorites. It was hard to narrow it down. Click here to see the whole album:

http://flickr.com/gp/allskill/RKvwV3

Hello Sunshine

My future is so bright, I gotta wear shades

The weather just got nice. We've had 70-80 degree temps yesterday and today!! It feels great to open the windows and go on longer walks with Lily. Today was the first day she rocked her sunglasses. It was also the first time I used the jogging stroller without the car seat. I think she liked having more freedom to kick her legs around. Although that only lasted a few minutes.... she fell asleep 5 minutes into the walk.

What a difference a few days make. I took the pictures below earlier this week when the weather wasn't as great. I still don't really know how much protection she needs from the sun, wind, and cold. So I overdress and keep the walks short, just in case.

Hopefully spring is here to stay and we won't need the snowsuit anymore...