Mommy's Birthday

Sunday was Mommy's birthday. Daddy was gone most of the day for bishop meetings, but once he was home he took good care of Mommy on her special day. We had Mommy's favorite Bar-be-que Chicken salad for dinner.

Mommy did have to make her own cake, but Daddy did all the set up and clean up.

Mommy must be pregnant because she wanted tres leches cake this year. It is not usually one of her favorites, but she has been craving it. It is Daddy's favorite cake. He was really excited about eating it. The whole family loved it.

Especially Lily Bug!

Happy birthday Mommy!

Piano Time

Daddy has been trying to practice the piano every day after work. Lily looks forward to this every day. She climbs into his lap and they "play" together for 10-15 minutes before Lily takes her bath. I hope they'll keep this tradition for years to come.

Spaghetti

We've tried feeding lily spaghetti in the past and she just wasn't interested. Tonight while we were eating, she kept reaching for Mommy's plate so we decided to give it another go. I think we've found her new favorite food.

She was covered from head to toe in noodles and sauce. Needless to say, we went straight to the bath after dinner. This was not a good night for Mommy to forget a bib.

Easter Egg-stravaganza!

Since we don't see much of Daddy during tax season, every year for my birthday I ask for a family day. This year we celebrated our family day at the zoo.

The zoo hosted Easter egg hunts for children all day long. Lily got to participate in the 2 & under hunt. As you can see, they don't "hide" the eggs very well.

Here we are waiting at the starting line. We are next to the speakers on the stage. Mommy is waving and wearing a purple shirt. Lily waited so patiently. She held her bucket so tight. She was ready.

Daddy had a hard time finding us when the hunt began. Mommy was amazed at how competitive the other parents were to get to the eggs and candy. Lily found a quiet spot where she felt comfortable exploring. Mommy showed her how to put the treats in the bucket. Lily kept wanting to put the treats back on the ground.

Here we are running to Daddy to show him what we found. Look at Lily's smile!

She was pretty pleased with her loot.

But we decided to see if more could be found.

By the end of the hunt, she was tired. She took some candy out of her bucket and wanted to hold it all day long.

We finally got her to drop the candy when she went to the petting zoo. She was very interested in this baby goat. Daddy tried to help her touch the soft ears, but she just wanted to look.

Here's the big girl wanting to walk by herself. She promptly fell down right after this picture was taken.

The giraffes were out enjoying the warm weather. Lily had never seen them this closely before. She was enchanted.

The lions are one of her favorite animals. She loves to try and roar just like them.

Here's the family after a fun day. Mommy loved being together for her birthday. Lily loved her first egg hunt. Daddy loved that it was all free.

We know it was a successful outing when she falls asleep only five minutes into the car ride.

Thanks for our zoo membership Puna and Papa! Wish you could have been here with us!

What's That?

I forgot to mention in the previous post that Lily's favorite phrase is, "What's that?". She asks it all day long while pointing at everything she sees. She also asks it when she hears a new sound. I love the way she watches us when we answer her. She tries to understand and mimic us when we give her the answers.

17 Months

Here is our happy girl at 17 months. She no longer uses pacifiers but has replaced them with her blankie. In the morning there is always a big wet spot somewhere on the blanket because she had it stuffed in her mouth.
Grammy had a birthday this month. Lily was so excited for Grammy to open her present. Apparently she just really wanted to play with the bag.

Lily's favorite foods are: mac and cheese, peas, and applesauce. I can count on her to eat them any time, at any location. She also likes to feed herself. It is hard for me to let her make the mess, but I also love seeing her try to figure it out on her own.

In our church, at 18 months the children enter Sunday School. Lily is not old enough yet, but I can take her in to play and enjoy the activities as long as I stay in class to help her. She had so much fun on Sunday. I think she will love Nursery in April. They wore her out! I will love not having to wrestle her through three hours of church.

Lily is so adventurous. We went to a BBQ this weekend and she had a ball on the trampoline. She didn't want to get off to eat dinner. She is fearless about trying new things. She's always climbing onto or into something. She falls a lot, but I think it makes her tough.

We are having so much fun with Lily. She seems to be learning so much faster now. She tries so hard to talk and gains new words every week. She loves to sing and dance all the time. She still prefers books over any of her other toys..... atta girl! Given a choice, she will always choose to play outside. Thank goodness the warmer weather is coming.

1st Trimester Yucks

I didn't get too sick while pregnant with Lily. This time around I am having a lot more trouble. If you have ideas - besides ginger ale and saltines - of how to combat morning, afternoon, and evening sickness...post a comment. Any ideas welcome!