Happy New Year ~ 2011

Lillian rang in her first new year and only missed the midnight countdown by two hours! She was a real trooper and was able to "hang with the big dogs" until just after 10:00, at that point she made it clear she had had enough! Happy New Year, baby girl!

Fortunately Lily was a sound sleeper that evening as her brother had prepared quite the firework display for friends and family, maybe she'll be able to catch that viewing next year!

Cheers to a healthy and prosperous 2011!

A Memory Frozen in Time

Canyon and Lillian...and Santa of course!

Our first Christmas as a family of four.

Merry Christmas, Baby

Lillian's first Christmas was full of reason to celebrate! Christmas Eve was spent with the majority of her grandparents and great-grandparents at her Papa & Grandma Holmes' house in Lake Nona. Christmas morning found us on our living room floor gathered around the Christmas tree as she tore through her presents from Santa. Our traditional Christmas brunch led us right next door to her Grandmom & Grandpop Macsay's with Nannie & Pop too. Later that day, Lily's big brother, Canyon, joined us for even more festivities. This was the first year that Scot and I hosted Christmas day at our home...what a perfect holiday! The only bad part of it all, the camera's memory card which held the majority of our Christmas pictures failed. Fortunately, I received a camera for Christmas this year which means there were a few pictures on it...but the "good ones" of the entire family on Christmas Eve, as well as pictures of our immediate family (Scot, Canyon, Lillian, and I) are gone. Needless to say, there are many family members missing from the pics on this blog. :(

Making her way towards her stash of presents.

A stocking (this is Lily's "temporary" stocking while her Bubs is still working on the "real deal", complete with her name and all to match the rest of the family's) full of gifts!

Mmmm, this lipstick tastes good!

Beep, beep...Lillian's first set of metal keys...maybe she won't want to play with her mommy's anymore!

Reindeer booty! Lillian was heading towards the door to see what her partner in crime was barking at. Santa and his reindeer??

Wow, this wrapping paper tastes just as good as it looks! Just about everything she opened received the Lillian-Taste-Test-Seal-of-Approval.

I believe that Lily and Riley formed another special bond this day. He was right beside her, ready to assist in any difficulties she came across while unwrapping her gifts. I believe there were a few he even unwrapped FOR her!

Wow! A bay-bay stroller, as Lillian calls it. She was most excited about this gift!

Welcome to the "Hurry Up and Put Your Daughter's Toys Together" Club, daddy!

Lillian's first waffle breakfast at her Grandmom & Grandpop's house on Christmas morning.

Lillian and her family, including daddy's friend, Tony! Canyon arrived later on that day.

Merry Christmas, Baby!

Probably the nosiest gift she received this year, but she loves it!

Three generations, the fourth (Bubs) was sitting on the couch. Those pictures were along with those that were lost on the memory card.

Grandma and Bubs playing with Lily.

Brother and Sister....this just melts my heart.

Tony, daddy's friend and the spectacular painter that completed Lily's room, celebrated Christmas with us this year as well!

I turned my back for a few minutes...

While going through Lily's closet and organizing her 3-6 month clothes into a bin to be stored away, I was apparently unaware of the mass chaos that was taking place behind me. Upon beginning this activity, Lily's room was clean, spotless. With the doorway blocked, and my back towards her while sitting in her closet for all of maybe five minutes, I turned turned to check on her only to find that my little munchkin had been tearing it up in her room...

And rightfully so. It is her room, and those are her belongings. I should add that this does not make me mad, it delights me as I know that she is growing and mastering basic skills everyday. Now, if she could just quickly master the "clean up" skill (although I have noticed that even at 13 years of age, her brother is STILL mastering that one...so I guess I shouldn't hold my breath for Lily)!

Perhaps this is one of those "only a mother could love" moments, but I had to record this video. While my back was facing her and she was busy playing with all of her toys, I realized that I kept hearing her little monkey singing. It was going on for several minutes when it finally hit me. Lily was entertaining herself with her singing monkey! Not only was she entertaining herself, she was reading to herself and trying to listen to some monkey songs at the same time. Fascinating!

(AS ALWAYS, PLEASE PRESS PAUSE ON THE MUSIC PLAYER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG BEFORE PRESSING PLAY ON THE VIDEO.)

My Gym

Lily has been attending weekly classes at My Gym for the past few months now. It consists of a small group of babies between the ages of 7-13 months. There's a fantastic mix of boys and girls. And while mostly moms bring their babies, we have seen a few dads step in when mom was unavailable! Lily has made several little friends and loves going there for the songs and activities. Mommy enjoys going there to see Lily interact with her friends (and the adult interaction isn't too shabby either). Lily has already shown so much growth from her first day. While I used to spend my time moving her around from activity to activity due to her lack of mobility, she is now able to do her little army crawl/half scoot, when she feels like it. This means mommy has more time to converse with the other moms about their little ones as well!

Lillian is all smiles at My Gym!

Maybe a future gymnast? Look at those straight arms!

Separation time...this is when they make all the babies play without their moms and dads for what feels like a lifetime for the kids (5 minutes) but is never long enough for the parents! Lily is on the far side with the yellow ball in her hand.

And here is a short video of Lillian showing off another skill of hers: swinging from the rings like a little monkey. She typically loves doing this, but gave a small fuss at first this time. The goal is for the baby to eventually be able to hang from the rings on their own. Surprisingly, there are several babies that can already do it! While there is really not much to hear, if you do want to listen, please press PAUSE ON THE MUSIC PLAYER AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BLOG, before pressing play on this video.

10 Months

December 6th - Lillian Grace reached the 10 month marker. This time last year, I was looking forward to a release from Winnie Palmer Hospital just in time for Christmas...and hoping that little Lily would just stay put for a few more weeks. And it was also this time last year that several people told me that while I was anxious to get off of bed rest, I should enjoy it while I had it...and they were right! If I could just sneak back to Winnie Palmer for a day of meals in bed and cat naps as needed...aaah!

Enough dreaming, I have my hands full here with our little princess. Lillian has discovered her "mobile self". She is an expert at pulling up to stand on just about anything, she has mastered the belly-to-sitting position maneuver quite well, and she is a very curious child. Lily enjoys sitting at her bookshelf pulling off books, blankets, towels, wipes, whatever it may be...it's going to be on the floor. Another favorite trick of Lily's: "SO BIG!" For those of you wondering, Lily still does not have any teeth.

Lillian has quite the personality that shows more and more each day. She is a very playful, happy baby...she is truly a delight (except for when she doesn't get her way) as I am told by her family as well as complete strangers. In this picture for example, I told her "No, you may not stand up". Well, as you can see, she didn't like my response to her attempt at standing on her changing table (another new discovery: standing up and turning her bedroom light on and off). Sorry Lily, safety first!

Santa's Baby

...and this was the pretty shot! Looks like 57% of voters were correct when they said Lily would cry. The crocodile tears only lasted as long as she was on his lap, however, she wanted nothing to do with the Santa puppet he gave her to keep (until we got home and he was well out of sight). Lily's great-grandma Bubs wanted to take her to see Santa, Grandma Holmes came with us too! We went to Hollyville at Mall at Millenia, had lunch, did some window shopping, checked out the beautiful decorations, and had a quick visit with the jolly fat man!

(Somehow, we managed to get through this event and forgot to take a picture of Lily with her grandma and Bubs....Ooops)

Wow...there's a tree in our living room!

Our family traditionally picks out the Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. Seeing as we were out of town this year, we had to wait until the four of us were back together as a family. We were able to make this outing happen the Monday after Thanksgiving, only a few short days "behind schedule". It was a typical Florida evening, hot and humid - definitely did not feel like the perfect tree picking weather. None the less, off we went to Home Depot. I pushed for Ranzzani's tree lot right here in Maitland, but I was overruled and we ended up at Home Depot. Bummer.

Lillian slept the majority of the time, not that we expected too much of an input from her besides the random smile or giggle. However, she did suddenly wake up as soon as the guys busted out the chainsaws to trim the trunk.

Canyon, Scot, and the "Home Depot Tree Guy" secured the tree semi-snugly, to the car and off we went. It wasn't until our arrival home that Scot noticed that they did not tie one side down and we were just inches away from losing the Shapiro Family Christmas tree, now that would have been a first! The boys brought it in and within minutes we had a beautiful tree in our living room. By this time, Lily was fast asleep in bed, and it wouldn't be until the following morning that she would get to experience this site.

Much to my surprise, Lily has ignored the tree completely. She does the occasional once over as we walk by, but that's about it. I suppose if we had flashing lights, that might be a different story.

We had both sets of grandparents over this past week for soup, sandwiches, and a little assistance in trimming the tree! Lily enjoyed her first tree decorating experience as well...she spent time in her brother's arms...


hanging her first ornament on the tree...

and entertaining us with a little musical number!

Odds & Ends

Is it odd that baby and dog get along so well together?

Lily finds her new pony fascinating. At this moment, she couldn't wait for her diaper change to end so she could get right back up to play with him. Hence, the missing pants.

Nothing cuter than finding your sleeping baby with her little rear-end sticking up!

Future Singer? Or maybe just a chatter box.

Unfortunately, I was taking this video in order to send it as a text message, and so it is VERY poor quality. However, the image is not nearly as funny as the sound. So please, PRESS PAUSE ON THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE BEFORE PRESSING PLAY ON THE VIDEO ABOVE.

My Baby

What does every little girl need? Well, I suppose that list could go on forever: a cute puppy, a sparkly party dress, pajamas with matching robe and furry slippers, a fluffy feather boa, a pair of ruby slippers (just like Dorothy's), a three story doll house, a shiny tiara, some lip gloss, maybe a pet hamster or two...definitely a fish named Nemo, a tiny kitten...well, you get the picture. In this particular blog, we are talking about a baby doll. Every little girl needs her very own baby doll!

On this day, my little baby doll received her first dolly from Auntie Carolyn. We have yet to name it, but I am sure I have hear Lily refer to her as "bay-bay".

Lillian caressed her face and held her hands as if to say, "Nice to meet you, baby."

She even has a soft spot for her baby doll's little chicky (and she will soon find out, upon our return home to Orlando, that her dog Riley also has a fondness for the little chick).

Lillian was sharing her baby doll with GG.

...Fast forward a few days. Here we are at home, in our living room this morning where Riley thought he was being sly and casually tried to sneak a sniff and walk away with her baby doll. Apparently he has his hands full with Lily and felt threatened when we returned home with another baby.

"Shooo Riley!" I must say, I was quite proud of my own baby this morning as I watched her ward off that evil Villain Riley (as any good mother would do) as he tried to snatch her baby doll.

Gobble till You Wobble!

...and we did just that! Lillian's first trip to Little Rock was a success. She met her great-grandmother Holmes (aka GG), Uncle Billy & Aunt Rita, and Auntie Carolyn, and she was also reunited with her great-grandpa & grandma Hartman.

Lillian's mommy ate enough for two people (although this Thanksgiving, I no longer had that as an excuse)! Uncle Billy spent his days cooking up a feast fit for Kings (Queens, and Princesses too). One of my most favorite perks of staying with my Aunt and Uncle? The fantastic recipes that I return home with!!

The weather started out on the warmer side, the mid 70s, and plummeted quickly on Thanksgiving day. The leaves were still bright with fall colors and most were left on the branches of the trees. Lillian experienced her first fall season!

We had a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. And although Lillian's family (her mommy. daddy, and brother) were not all together this holiday...we were in each other's hearts!

Lillian and mommy on Thanksgiving.

Great-Grandma & Grandpa Hartman

Lillian & Aunt Rita staying warm by the fire.

Four generations...Great-Grandpa Hartman, Grandma Holmes, Mommy, and Lillian.

Lillian and her Papa.

Auntie Carolyn presenting Miss Lily.

Turkey Butt.

...and I am thankful for Lillian!

Lillian with her Grandma & Papa.

Four more generations...Great-Grandma Holmes, Papa, Mommy, and Lillian.

One of the highlights of the trip...Splat, the cat!

Lillian meets her GG.

This was a little perplexing for Lillian. Uncle Billy & Papa looked awfully similar!