An Official Baseball Season

Lillian survived her first official baseball season as her brother's #1 fan! She started attending his games at only a few weeks old. Lillian has learned how to eat, sleep, laugh, and cry through all six innings - what a good sport she is. Good thing too, because she will be going to his games for as long as Canyon continues to play. I tend to think that the surroundings are familiar to her seeing as she heard all of the usual baseball noises while in my belly for nine months...I didn't miss a game at all while pregnant (except for when I ended up in the hospital)!

Canyon's baseball season ended with the annual banquet at Keller Field. Lily supported her big brother by sporting a baseball onesie underneath her little jumper.

Belly Laughs

This beautiful belly laugh was captured this evening while Scot, Lily, and I were sitting at the dining room table eating dinner. Scot held his arms up in the air above his head in silly dad fashion, and much to our surprise Lily responded with a full blown belly laugh...the kind that brings tears to your eyes! Enjoy.

*In order to hear her, you MUST go to the bottom of the page and pause the music that is playing on the player before hitting the play button above*

Playing = Learning

Now that Lily is no longer a newborn and approaching that 4 month mark, she is becoming more of an independent baby. She has definite likes and dislikes (and she will let you know this loud and clear), she can hold her head up and is learning how to sit, she is starting to enjoy tummy time more and more, and standing has become a big deal. In a nutshell, while she is getting easier to take care of, she is also getting more difficult to keep occupied as she is at a very inquisitive time. Unfortunately for Lily, she cannot crawl, let alone walk which is what she would really like to do. So for now, she has to settle for the activities we provide for her...Here are a few:

Walks all hours of the day. Here she is chewing on one of her favorite crinkle toys. She typically shoves the little flames so far down her throat that she chokes herself and often spits up.

Sitting in her Bumbo chair. This Bumbo also has a tray that I will purchase soon that snaps on and allows her to play with toys on it. For now she enjoys sitting in it and watching us do whatever it is that we're doing...cooking, cleaning, putting together her exersaucer.

Tummy time. She loves to play in her room on her quilt with all of her toys. Riley often joins us and gives her something else to gaze at. This is where she typically practices her rolling around.

Highchair practice. Lily has graduated to short amounts of time in her highchair for two reasons. 1) to get her used to being in it, and 2) so that we can work in the kitchen and she can join us at our level. She usually has toys on her tray, but mostly she likes to watch us load/unload the dishwasher and cook. She even sat with us at the dinner table the other night for the first time!

Popadu garden blanket. I recently purchased this little blanket from a website called www.babyhalfoff.com, it is fantastic. The blanket has little pockets for stuffed toys that Lily loves to play with: crinkle corn, squeaky flower, rattle carrot, and a squeaky worm!

Peek-a-boo monkey. We usually use this during tummy time as it has a mirror on it as well as plays songs and sings nursery rhymes. Here Lily is teething on the plastic bananas the monkey has hanging from its hand.

Dress up! It's never to early to start dress ups. While I get ready in the morning, Lily sits on my bed in her Boppy, we either listen to Bob Marley or Disney songs (what a contrast, right?) and we sing, dance, and get dressed.

Pack n Play. She was supposed to be napping on this particular day in our bedroom since the roofers were above her room making noise. When I went in to check on her, I quickly found she alternative plans. Busted!

Goodbye Colic, Hello Happy.

I have recently noticed in all of my posts that I have not once mentioned that Lillian's colic has passed! It amazes me that I neglected to share this information with everyone as this was such a monumental moment. Gone are the days of seven straight hours of screaming in which no soothing could calm. Gone are the days of her over-tired mommy ready to jump out her window and runaway. Gone are the days of showing up in tears at her next door neighbor's house with a crying baby. Gone are the days of calling Lillian's daddy, or grandmas (complete strangers would have worked too) exasperated and looking for a little relief. Yes, those days are all gone.

Does Lily still cry? Sure, but all babies do. Her cries are "normal" now, if there is such a thing, and can usually be comforted with one of five things: 1) a diaper change, 2) a feeding, 3) more or less clothing, 4) play time, or 5) a nap. Everyone told me that three months was the magical age for colic to end. Honestly, I highly doubted that this would be the case for us. Nothing seems to go "as planned" around here. So when the three month mark hit, I certainly didn't expect this. It was the same week as Mother's Day, and the same week Lillian started sleeping in her own bed. I woke up one morning to a smiling baby in her crib. No crying, just little oohs and aahs. My day began as usual...but as it continued, I noticed something was absent from what had been our normal routine for three months - all of the crying. Of course I didn't believe that that was it, but surely it was (and not a moment too soon)!

So now my beautiful baby is turning out to be quite the princess I knew she would be. Melting hearts and turning heads with her smiles and charm!!

I have also discovered that Happy Baby = Happy Family! Scot, Canyon, and I have all seemed to breathe a little easier since Lily's digestive system has matured - supposedly that's what causes the colic in the first place. We have been able to finally get into a routine and have some sort of normalcy as a family again: watching Lost, eating family dinners at the dinner table, getting to Canyon's baseball games on time. I know this is just the beginning and we will have many bumps along the way...what a journey it has been so far!

One year ago today...

Lillian was an embryo getting ready to leave her previously frozen state at Cooper Institute to her "upgraded" home for the next nine months...on her way to a beautiful life! It still amazes me that one of these embryos is Lillian, the other a potential sibling that did not make it. Scot and I believe Lily is the more "advanced" embryo at the top.

My very own stick(er) family!

Back to Winnie Palmer...

but only for a short visit this time! This past Friday, Lily and I met our friends Kristin and Ava at Winnie Palmer. Kristin was a pregnant mommy stuck on bed rest in the room right next to me while I was there. Kristin's nurse let her "sneak" out of her room for a little while one day, and we had a chance to chat and enjoy each other's company. Ava was born about a month and a half before Lily (we had already returned home). Since then, we had kept in contact and became friends!

(Ava and Lily playing together at our house)

Kristin and I thought it would be nice to go back to Winnie Palmer with our "finished products" so that the nurses that took care of us 24/7 for months on end could see our beautiful babies! And much to my surprise, right when we walked onto the 5th floor, there stood Karyn and Shelby. Karyn was the nurse that helped me through my emotional breakdown and encouraged Dr. Christensen to allow me to have my wheelchair privileges back. Shelby was so thoughtful, she would come and check on me even on the days I wasn't one of her patients - she just sat in my room and kept me company for a while.

The next familiar face I saw (and voice Lily heard) was Dr. Christensen. How perfect!! He had stopped by the hospital to check on the patients he currently had there. Lily was smiley and chatty, apparently she remembered him! How could she not? He had been by to check on us every day for two months!

Dr. Cascio

I had appointment earlier this week with Dr. Cascio, the OB that cared for me throughout my pregnancy. Unfortunately she was not on call the day Lily had to be delivered, however, she was the one that discovered that Lillian was floating in only a tiny amount of amniotic fluid...and so she sent us to the hospital for the induction. She is also the same doctor that noticed my cervix was gone, and sent me to Winnie Palmer for my three months of bed rest. Despite all of the "crumby" news she had to deliver...she helped make my pregnancy a wonderful experience!

"Big Girl Bed"

The BEST Mother's Day gift came that night when Lily slept in her "big girl" bed as we call it. Although this night was a huge transition for both of us, it wasn't until the following evening that we received an even better surprise! Lillian decided it was time to start sleeping through the night, and not a moment too soon.

I'm sure that evening, or early morning rather, I reacted just as any other new mom did in this situation...I realized several hours had gone by, I was asleep, and not a peep from my little one. Instead of jumping up for joy, I whipped the covers off of me, jumped out of bed and nearly ran down the hall to Lily's room almost nervous to see what I might find. What I found was not what I was afraid of...instead it was a sound asleep (and very much so breathing) little baby.

Two nights have gone by now where Lily went to bed somewhere between 8:00-9:30, and she didn't wake up until 5:00 the next morning for a quick feed and then back to bed until 8:00am. Now THIS, I can work with!!

I ♥ You Lillian Grace!
;)

PS. Lily no longer has bumpers in her crib for those of you that are wondering. The first night she slept in there I had forgotten about them, and did not want to wake her by removing them.

Three Month Update

Lily had her appointment on Monday...and the little chunkers is weighing in at 12 pounds, 2 ounces! She is 23.2 inches long - she has grown 3.2 inches since birth. No wonder why all of the crying, that must be very uncomfortable. Our little angel in right on track developmentally and physically...and we think she's just as cute as a button!

Dr. Cannizzaro also said that it was time to start Lily on some organic rice cereal in her bottle at night. She is to get 3-4 teaspoon fulls at bedtime, and this should help her to sleep longer.

Next month Lily will start on organic vegetables. I have already looked at Williams & Sonoma for the Beaba Babycook Baby food Maker, which I have informed Scot that I am purchasing next month so that I can make Lily's baby food myself. I am so excited about this stage...to check out this cool contraption, click HERE. It steams, blends, warms, and defrosts all in one!

(Lillian sat waiting for Dr. Cannizzaro, taking turns between her mommy and daddy's arms!)

Lily is Learning to Share

These days I am noticing that Lily's belongings are being used by other family members as well. Good thing she likes to share!

Poor Riley, once again finding himself as the "dress-up" dog. I'm beginning to think he likes it. Unfortunately the saying on the bib is not at all accurate for him.

On our way to his baseball game, Canyon and I decided to play a quick game of, "I dare you..." with Lily's toy ring. This ring has officially been placed on ears and noses. The eyebrow and lip were far too painful. Canyon woke up the following morning with a bruise right where the ring came together in this picture. Do you think this little episode may have helped to thwart any future body piercings??

Mother's Day!

And what a wonderful Mother's Day it was! Although Mother's Day has been a special day for me every year since Scot, Canyon, and I became a family (we were married nearly 9 years ago)...this year it meant something entirely different. This year I celebrated Mother's Day with TWO children. One of which I happily gained through marriage, and the other I gave birth to! We celebrated this year on Saturday instead of Sunday so that Canyon would be with us. Scot and I had our parents (our children's grandparents) and grandparents (their great-grandparents) over for an afternoon lunch.

You may notice in all of the pictures that Canyon is MIA. No, we did not forget about him (notice the empty chair in the bottom right of the pics?)...he was off with the neighborhood kids at the swimming pool. Watching Canyon enjoy his youth and allowing him time to do so - makes me happy. Just another wonderful reward of motherhood!

Sunday morning I woke up to a smiley baby girl...what more could I ask for??

Four Generations

Lillian Grace shared a Kodak moment with her mommy, grandma, and great-grandma Bubs! Sadly, this photo was taken just six months after Nani, Lily's great-great grandmother passed away. The teddy bear in this picture was created by Hospice in Nani's memory, and she sits in Lily's crib and watches over her!!

3 Months Old!

Lillian has had a very productive month! As you know, she has learned how to roll over (both ways), she blows bubbles, grabs objects with one hand, holds her head steady, and I am convinced that she is starting to teeth. Her constant drooling and tendency to push objects into her mouth says it all. Lily's grandmother even bought her some teething rings the other day!

In response to Lily's growing colic, her pediatrician recommended that we take her to a CranioSacral Therapist. This type of therapy combined with my change in diet and her maturing digestive system would hopefully do the trick in eliminating her hysterical episodes. To read more about craniosacral therapy, click HERE. During Lily's first appointment with "Ms. Robyn" as I call her, I was instantly amazed. Robyn was able to tell me all about Lily's birth based on the shape of her skull and spinal column. This first appointment consisted of one and a half hours in which Robyn performed very gentle maneuvers to Lily's spine, skull, nervous and digestive system. Lily laughed, cried (not because she was in pain), and slept through all of the various movements. The past few days, though still very unpredictable, have been much better than the last few months! Hopefully this is the beginning of the end of Lily's colic!!

Yes, that is my hand holding up my little angel. Although Lily cannot sit up on her own yet, she can hold her head steady now. I was simply being the over protective mom, and not wanting her to bump her tiny head on the wood. Lily goes to see Dr. Cannizzaro on Monday for her 3 month check up...can't wait to see her height and weight. I'm sure she has gained a significant amount of weight see as she has been eating every TWO hours over the past week!!

Old Friends, New Beginnings

Sara Broihier (although she will always be a Haley to me) is one of my oldest, and dearest friends. We met each other while living on Gilbert Street in Downers Grove, IL. We were two years old at the time and were quick to develop a lifelong bond as friends. We experienced many events in our life together, first day of preschool, Camp Greenwood, and dance with Ms. Barbie to name a few.So it only seemed fitting that Sara was "ironically" in town from New York the day Lillian was born. She was Lily's very first visitor, as well as the first person (besides her mommy and daddy) to hold her.

Just this past weekend, Sara and her mother Mary Jane (whom I have written about before on my blog) flew down from NY and Chicago to share a few special days with Lillian Grace. Special they were indeed! We spent the days reminiscing about our childhood and the 30 plus years since we met. I can only hope that Lily is fortunate enough to have such wonderful, lasting friendships in her life. ♥

Where's Lily?

One thing I certainly did not consider before Lily was born was how different my grocery shopping trips would be. Gone are the days of quickly running in to grab a package of ground beef that I may have forgotten during my previous trip. Also gone is the room in my shopping cart! Lily's car seat takes up the majority of the basket. Two things come out of this...1) a cheaper grocery bill, and 2) only the essentials. I suppose I should actually thank her for this frugal assistance she has become.