Birthday Party #1

Jamie made Lily cupcakes for her birthday. It was his first attempt at cupcakes and homemade creamcheese icing- and I must say, he did an excellent job! They were delicious!

Tonight's celebration was held at Jamie's parents house (a.k.a. Nana and Poppa's). The whole family was there. We had an Abby-theme which will continue for her next two parties this weekend. Here she is getting ready to help blow out her Abby candle.

Lily's cousin, Elijah, is watching while Lily opens up her play-doh from Aunt Mindy, Uncle Michael, and Nathan.

She is checking out one of her birthday cards. She also got an Etch-a-sketch and a Paddington Bear from Harrod's Department Store in London, England. (Her Uncle Gene just returned from a business trip in London.)

Her Nana and Poppa bought her a tricycle. She loved it! And so did her cousin, Nathan. Since we have gotten home, she has been riding her tricycle all through the den and kitchen.

I will post more pictures tomorrow of her next party with Aunt Ruella and Aunt Trina!

Gymnastics!!

Jamie and I took Lily to her first gymnastics class today. We had no expectations- and we had no idea how Lily would react to the class. Do you see her back there touching her toes?

At first, she was shy and she just stood watching everything closely and intently. Then, she just joined right in. Of course, the girls were all older. So, she loved being around them. They took her hand and led her in the right directions during the class. Here, she is talking with one of the girls- who knows what they are chatting about.

She loved the balance beam! She wanted to do it over and over again. But, she understood that she had to take turns. Keaira is also in this class- she is a China sister who goes to church with us. Keaira is 4 years old.

I did not get any pictures of Lily hanging on the bar which is back in the corner of this photo. But, she loved it, too! She has had lots of practice on the bar- in my closet. She has been hanging since she started walking, so this was familiar to her.

She also really enjoyed bouncing on the trampoline. We were pleasantly surprised at her involvement, and Mrs. Kim is great with Lily and the other girls. She was blowing kisses and saying, "Bye girls" when we left. Then, she has been talking about "nastics" all evening long. She has also been doing some of the moves she learned in class tonight, and she stands up and says "Tada" every time she does something with arms raised straight up in the air and a cute little stance. We had a really good time tonight!

Come back for lots of birthday pictures this weekend! We are looking forward to the celebrations!

ABC's

Lily now recognizes all of her alphabet, except for X and Y. She still gets them confused. She will just sing bits and pieces of the ABC song, but she loves saying whatever we say. So, this is one of her copycat moments. She loves copying everything we say and do!

Those 3 Beautiful Words...

Lily started trying to say "I love you" a few weeks ago, but now, she seems to actually understand what it means, and her words are much clearer every day. She says, "I joooove you, Mama" and "I joooove you, Baba" all of the time now. It seriously brings us to happy tears. It is hard to believe we have waited so long to hear those words. The wait was soooo worth it!

You are my Lily...

Here a couple of cute pictures of Lily before we went out to eat with her Nana and Poppa last weekend. She is all about smiling for the camera these days!

This is one of my favorite Hanna Andderson outfits!

Lily has just learned a new word- Tennessee. Of course, she says it with an N at the beginning. But, we were impressed, anyway.

We have been singing this song to Lily since she was little. Now, she has started singing it to her Abby doll. We love listening to her sing- usually the last word of every line. And of course, the last word is loud and long! Have a great weekend!

On our way to a bob...

Lily got a new hair-do! We went to get our hair trimmed last week. She did well, and she was excited about seeing Troy, our hairdresser. He trimmed up the back, and we have an appointment in 6 weeks for our matching bob haircuts. We are really hopeful that her bangs will be grown out by then. I will be so glad when her hair is the same length. Growing out these bangs are hard, to say the least. But, I am glad we are getting this over with. She is so good at night when we blow dry her hair. She loves it! Now, I am even clipping it up and blowing it dry on a big round brush section by section--- like I do mine. Her hair is so poofy and thick when I get done. I am soooo jealous... but in a good way.
We hope you all have a great weekend! I should have some new videos to post next week.

Wee Wee (a.k.a. This Little Piggy)