Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wonderful Wednesday

Baba and Lily were having fun coloring together! She loves these Color Wonders markers and pages!
Lily is reading a book to herself- one of her favorites, Cat Tricks.

Here is a picture of Lily's little trim that Baba gave her. She needed her bangs to be a bit more even.



Here Lily is talking with Baba while they are coloring. We love to hear her talk! Listen to her say, "Baba, Baba, Baba!"



Tuesday, October 28, 2008

High School Musical Fan

We found out that Lily is a huge High School Musical fan over the weekend. I wish we could have gotten more of her dancing on video, but we watched for awhile before we realized we should probably capture these moments on film.

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Color Wonders & A Stinky Surprise!

Today at lunch, Baba came home for the second week in a row and cleaned up the whole house as a big present for me! How awesome is he! While he was home, he found this love-fest in our living room. From the left- Jambalaya (Jo-Jo to Lily), Scout, Cajun (in back), and Clancy. Now, onto our darling Lily- First, we bought her some Color Wonders. They do say 3 years old and up on them, but we just couldn't help it. She loves them! She already knows how to take the lid on and off the marker, and she just goes to town coloring away. How cool that she doesn't mark on our counter or the floor! This is the coolest thing ever invented!

Here she is coloring away while Baba is fixing dinner.



Now, onto the stinky surprise...Lily finally went to the potty for Mrs. Cindy. Cindy said that they danced and danced after Lily did this. It was a wonderful day all together! Now, things are completely perfect. Lily adores Cindy, and Cindy won't have to clean up stinky diapers anymore! What a blessing today was!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

All By Myself

Well, Miss Independent really wants to do lots of things by herself these days. She really wants to eat on her own. For those of you who know us really well- we are clean freaks. So, we have to admit we have been rather slow on allowing this to happen. But, last night, we finally gave in. One of our favorite things to do is fondue. So, we made some chocolate fondue for Lily with bananas. She had the best time using her fork all by herself. We just love this picture because she just looks like she has been eating with a fork forever!

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Lily's Horsey

A long, long time ago before we ever even saw Lily's face for the first time, Pop bought Lily this adorable purple horsey. Lily and I have now named her Violet. Just a few weeks ago, Lily discovered Violet in the corner of her bedroom. So, we started to show her how to ride her horsey. Now, when we go upstairs, Lily will go straight to Violet and want to take a ride. So, here she is starting off in the kitchen... Making her way into the living room....
With a huge smile on her face. Pop did a really good job! Lily loves Violet! (Another great day with Mrs. Cindy, by the way. They have really become close. This morning, I told Lily that Mrs. Cindy was at school to get her. She reached for me to pick her up, while stretching her neck to see out Aunt Trina's door. Then, as soon as she saw Cindy- she held out her hands and went straight into Mrs. Cindy's arms. It is wonderful to see them bonding and to know that Lily loves her babysitter! Praise God!!!)

Monday, October 20, 2008

Lily's Pumpkin

Lily had a super terrific day with Cindy today! There were no tears! That is a blessing. Cindy helped Lily to make a pumpkin and an art hanging. Lily was so excited to show me her pumpkin when we got home. She wanted to take out the parts and show me how to put them back in. She was so proud of her pumpkin!



Sunday, October 19, 2008

So Adorable!

Lily wanted to go see her friend, Colin, play football last night. Our weather has gotten really cold for us the last few days. So, since it was supposed to be in the 50's, we got to dress Lily up in her adorable hat and jacket that we have only been saving for her for about 2 1/2 years. Those of you in the adoption world totally understand that statement. Of course, she wore the jacket when we first got her home, but it was way too big. Now, it fits much better. Doesn't she look like a little doll!
She really enjoyed being at the football game. It was so cold! Brrr... She ate 1 1/2 hot dogs while we were there. She ate the whole thing, too- the bun, the nacho cheese, and the hot dog. It was funny to watch Jamie tear the hot dog into little bite-size pieces with his fingers.
Here they are- Lily and her Baba. As I type this, they are snuggled together sleeping in bed. We prayed and prayed that she would be close to both of us, and God definitely granted that prayer to us.
So, here is Colin- Lily's friend. We went to school with Colin's parents ages ago. It is hard to believe that only 17 years ago, Jamie and Todd were playing football together in high school. They were best friends back then, and it is the most amazing thing when you find your true friends- it doesn't matter how much time passes, you are still friends forever. Lita wouldn't let me take her picture. But, she is the one who took Lily's pictures (for those of you who clicked on that link weeks ago to see them.) Lita is an amazing photographer and a great friend, as well. By the way, Todd is the coach of the team, so I suppose we were there to see him, too! And they won the game- big time! We had a wonderful evening with friends!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

New Discoveries

Lily has discovered her love for Math, or I guess it is just for calculators! Regardless, I thought her laying in the floor kicking her feet in the air was too cute. Of course, notice that her Sesame Street Do The Alphabet video is also right there with her. She is still obsessed with that video... Then, she decided to get up and keep punching in numbers. She picked up the video, too. She is not about to leave that behind.
At this point, she pulled my hand for me to sit down so she could sit in my lap and continue working on her skills. (Notice the video- Yes, it is still there in her lap!)
So, the highchair has officially been placed in a storage closet (just in case there will be a little sister someday). Miss Lily is loving her big girl seat. She has really grown over the past few months.
We are going to watch her friend, Colin, play football this evening. I hope we get some cute pictures. Happy Saturday!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Friday Films (and 7 Months with Lily!)

Today marks our 7 month anniversary of Gotcha Day! Lily also turned 17 months old today. I really wanted to share some of these special moments between Lily and Jamie. I have a few other videos, but they just would not download. Please pause the music so you can hear Lily's laughter. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Lily's First Real Purse

I will have to get more pictures of her actually carrying her purse around. But, until then, here is a look at the first time she got to see her new Vera Bradley purse. I have this cabinet in the kitchen where I keep my purse that I carry back and forth to school. Lily loves to open the cabinet, get out my purse, and sit in the floor going through every item. There aren't many things in there, but she loves it anyway. So, I surprised her by moving my purse to a higher cabinet and putting her new purse in there instead. In this picture, she had gotten it out- and looked at me with a huge smile. I told her that was her purse- it belonged to Lily. She totally understood. I had put a tiny book in it, a brush, her John Deere keys that Pop got her a long time ago, and her ladybug beanie baby. She sat in the floor trying to unzip it, It didn't take her long to figure that part out. Then, she sat there going through her purse. Since then, she looks for it every day, and she carries it with her around the house. She especially likes to go through it in the car. Come back tomorrow for videos with Lily and Baba! They are too cute! Then, over the weekend, I will post Lily's new booster seat. That's right, no more highchairs for Miss Lily! She is a big girl now!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

A few more pictures from the weekend...

While Dad was home, he helped us with all kinds of little jobs around the house. One of the jobs included one of Lily's favorite things- the vacuum. So, she helped Jamie and Pop change out the filters throughout the house. Can you see her foot- she knows that I turn it on with my foot. So, she is still trying to copy that move. Here she is with Aunt Suzette after Pop went back home. She is getting really sleepy from her busy weekend.
Then, here she is completely out! She slept in her bed for 2 hours, then the phone rang. That woke her up, so then she slept her 3rd hour on Baba. She was worn out from all of the excitement.
At dinner time, she decided to take her bib and become SuperGirl. How cute is she!
I finally got a picture from the front as she was "flying" through the house!
More pictures tomorrow of Lily's first Vera Bradley purse! She loves it!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

The End of the Old... Onto a new beginning

Okay, I just couldn't help but post this picture of our two favorite cats in their favorite position. This is Jambalaya on the left and Cajun on the right. So, what does the title of this post mean? Well, it is the end of the old and onto a new beginning for me. I am going to have the BIG H- a hysterectomy. I have struggled with endometriosis and lots of complications that go along with it for awhile now. So, today, I went to my doctor, and we are going to take care of my problems. Please pray for me as I undergo this surgery that so many women go through. I will be having it the first week of December. I hope that Lily is old enough to understand why I can't pick her up for a week.

Now onto better pictures...
Lily has been having the best time opening up her mouth and showing us her teeth lately. So, here are some examples of this new behavior. She is also super proud of herself because she climbed up in this chair on her own for the first time.
Now, of course, she is showing us her "piggies"! Have a great day!



Monday, October 13, 2008

Our Family Weekend (Part 2) and an Update on Lily & Mrs. Cindy

Lily learned how to properly walk around in my shoes this weekend... And she also learned how to walk around in Baba's shoes, as well. Of course, you can see who was helping her with this---- Aunt Suzette.
Aunt Suzette got lots of loving this weekend... just like normal.
Here is an example of Lily- our lapgirl with her Aunt Suzette. If she wasn't sitting with Pop or playing with Pop- then she was with Aunt Suzette.
Of course, she also gravitated to whoever had food, too. This was the first of two popsicles.
Onto the Cindy & Lily update, Lily had an excellent day today. She is attaching to Cindy really well. This morning, Lily was playing with her Aunt Trina in her classroom when Cindy drove up to our side door. I told Lily that Cindy was here to see her. She started walking pretty quickly to see. Then, she wanted me to pick her up. When I took her out to see Cindy- she leaned right over to her for Cindy to hold her. We were both really excited. Well, the day continued on really well. Lily talked, giggled, and loved on Mrs. Cindy all day long. She ate well, and she took a great nap with no problems. We still have to work on the potty- but all in all, it looks like Lily is definitely beginning to love Mrs. Cindy. Thanks for all of the prayers! Keep sending them up- because they are totally working.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

A Blessing to Us

I hope you can hear the song playing on our blog. We will leave this one playing first for a long time. The song is Yours by Steven Curtis Chapman. It has been a real blessing to us in the past week. These lyrics are words that we must remember every day with Lily. She is all His, and He will always take care of her. His plan for her life is all that matters. I am amazed by the Chapman family. After all they have been through, they still remain faithful and true to God and His plan. We can definitely learn a lot from their example!

Our Family Weekend (Part 1)

Lily has had the best weekend ever! She has totally enjoyed having Pop at home with us, and Aunt Suzette has been over all weekend, too. So, I thought I would start this post off with a big kiss from Lily. She is puckering up... Lily has been a lap-girl all weekend long. She has wanted to sit with Pop or Aunt Suzette all weekend long. Here is Pop feeding her some puffed corn.
He kept teasing her with it, and she would laugh and laugh.
Then, he finally gave her a bite.

Here are Pop and Lily being silly with real kitty and fake kitty. We are trying to get Lily to like both of them so we can wash real kitty from time to time. She has done pretty well dealing with fake kitty when that is the only choice she has. But, she would much rather have real kitty. I will post more pictures from the weekend tomorrow.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Surprise! Pop is home!!

We had a wonderful surprise when we got home on Friday- Pop was finally home! It has been at least 3 years since he has been here. So, Lily was delighted to see her Pop. She got so excited when she saw him walking to the car to meet us.
Nothing about Pop has changed over time. On Saturday morning, he was up doing our yardwork! Lily had fun watching him. Then, we took Pop to a Pumpkin Festival held in town. Lily got to see lots of animals. She really paid attention to them.
See her expression. She was completely checking out these animals. There was a monkey, a small dog, a domesticated bobcat, a few miniature goats, a miniature donkey, a miniature cow, a lot of bunnies, and a pot-bellied pig. It was some combination!

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Learning New Things

It seems like every day brings something brand-new! Yesterday, Lily learned how to drink out of a straw. I guess I just thought she was too young. I had no idea that she would just pick up Jamie's drink and start sipping. At first, we just thought it was cute that she was trying to copy Baba. Then, we both saw the water coming up through the straw. We also both heard the coughing as Lily took too big of a gulp. We were just amazed! But, she learned quickly and has wanted to drink out of Baba's big cup again and again.

She also learned how to zip and unzip today. That really surprised me, too. But, she has watched us do this over and over again. She always watches everything so intently. Then, she just does it. She was quite proud of herself- so she clapped for herself. That has become a ritual with everything- and I know all kids do that. But, isn't it so cute!
She has also started doing the exercises with Sesame Street's Do The Alphabet. That is adorable. I will have to try to get that on tape.
Can't wait to see what else she learns this weekend!