Sweetness

Instead of asking Kelle to move into my house and take pictures of Lily around the clock, I decided to buy a camera (without a delay) and snap away too. It's not nearly as nice as Kelle's camera, but it'll suffice since she refuses to move into our guest bedroom. lol.



can't remember which Kell took this one...

Let's Eat

Two chores I absolutely, strongly, utterly dislike (don't like the "h" word that rhymes with late) are grocery shopping and mopping! There's no correlation, but I don't like either very much at all It's more thinking about doing it that bothers me more than the act of doing it. After I do either, I always say "that wasn't so bad" and enjoy the fruits of my labor.

To help with my mopping, I bought this which I love!

To help with the grocery shopping, I made an excel spreadsheet of our staple items organizing it by aisle number. (pause for gasp from audience) Call it OCD, but I love it!!

Another way to speed up grocery shopping is by doing "Let's Eat" that my friend Allison told me about. (pause for audience clap for Alli) where you go and prepare fresh meals in advance, bring them home and freeze, pulling out as needed. It's healthy and DELICIOUS food. We did it before Lily was born, but they prepared it for me complimentary being that I was a new mom. So this time around I thought I'd save the $20 assembly charge and do it myself...with some girlfriends and some gigles. I prepared SIXTEEN meals for D & I in 3 hours!! I would've been faster, but was distracted by all the jibber-jabbing I couldn't stop doing! It was so productive and fun! I've never enjoyed cooking this much!!


If you have one in your area, I STRONGLY recommend you give it a try with some girlfriends and some wine (or mich ultra with a lime in a frosty mug-lol)







Watch out Rachel Ray!!



Even Jen's kids kids gobbled up the Mahi-Mahi last night!! It's kid friendly too!




Say hello to Donna who reads my blog daily, but never comments! I've begged her to for weeks to no avail! No more lurking Donna girl! You've been outed!! Comment away!! (audience applause for Donna)







Theresa is about to have a baby and looks oh so cute!!



Lots of laughs! Good energy in the kitchen!!






Jen making pesto!!





Stephanie is also glowing from her pregnancy and due at the same time as Theresa! Same doctor too! Doc should deliver both on the same day for "one stop shopping". lol.






Every time I turned around there was a Let's Eat employee offering to help! They seemed to be at my station a lot! lol


Thanks Andrea for setting this up! Fun times! Give it a try and you'll spend a little less time in that mean grocery store!!



They'll even mop up after you!!!! teeehee xoxo

Many Faces of Lily

Lily makes so many faces and is so expressive...just when I thought I've caught them all on camera, she'll make a new one!! God, I love this little girl!





Big step for Lily Pie...




She's doing better and better everyday in her bumbo... (click either link if video doesn't work)

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/kelster5/?action=view¤t=bumbogirl0625081534a.flv

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j206/kelster5/?action=view¤t=bumbogirl0625081534a.flv









Lily is VERY excited because Grandma and Grandpa H are coming from SC to meet her tomorrow for the first time!!!! Lily said she's a little nervous and hopes they like her. I told her they already love her just for being her!!

Lovin' Lily

We took Lily on her first road trip this weekend and had a blast!! We went to the east coast to see Aunt Molly, Uncle Dan, cousins Grace and Douglas, Grandma and Bob, while Grandpa rode along with us. It was relaxing, fun, memorable, and heartwarming all at once.

There is nothing like family and Lily is learning that everyday.

While we were on the roller coaster of trying to have Lily, we had many people in our lives who were in the roller coaster cart with us feeling every bump along the way! They even helped us to get back in the cart when we broke down and there didn't seem like there was any hope or happy ending. It seemed as if these people hurt more than we did because they felt everything as much as we did, but couldn't do anything except watch from the side as we battled the peaks and valleys as a couple.


They felt helpless, but helped move our cart along the rocky road to finally meet Lily at the end. I can't tell you how good it feels good to see those people holding Lily today because I know she offers hope, relief, and takes away the pain of watching us struggle. She is like a gigantic band aid for so many who were heartbroken with us. Not for us, but with us. She is not just our baby, but belongs in the hearts to so many who travelled this track with us!


She wouldn't be here today if we weren't helped along the way when we broke down.

This is one of those people....

Mom got pretty lucky in the 'grandchildren department' because she's lucky enough to have Jordan and Katie, then came Douglas and Grace. They are all amazing role models of what it means to be siblings, cousins and good ole' friends. They are growing up so fast and becoming such beautiful souls inside and out.

Here's a picture of Grace and Douglas who are best friends in the making...

...such special people....

...just like their mommy and daddy...

I think Lily felt very safe, loved and cherished this weekend.

She'll be a world traveler in no time!!

Pool Time

Someone in our family loves the pool!! I'll give you a hint to who it is....she's about 11 weeks old, weighs about 11 pounds and her name rhymes with Milly...

She loves her baths so much so we figured this would be a hit too!!



Here's her in action doing the backstroke

(note to self....don't turn camera while filming

...just relaxing trying to blow off some steam from her tough life.......

all this swimming is making me tired...

good night...

she actually fell asleep in the pool! That's my girl!!

We're off to the east coast for our first vacation to see grandma, Aunt Molly, Uncle Dan, and cousins Grace and Douglas. Grandpa is going along for the ride too! Should be lots of fun!! Will be snapping away :)

Life is Good!!

xoxo

Italian Girl

We love to go for pizza on Fridays so I thought this was an appropriate picture to share...this hat makes me laugh every time I put it on her!

She either looks like she's about to bake a cake, cook up an omelette or start throwing a large cirle of pizza dough in the air!! Too cute for words!!

Adjectives...

My mom always told us girls that she didn't care what we did in life...as long as we were happy!! It was repeated almost daily and seemed like such a simple dream for her daughters. As a child, it seem like such a attainable dream for us. We were loved no matter what.

Well mom, I think we've hit the lottery!

Happy Father's Day!

What a happy day to celebrate David on his first Father's Day...We had a rough day on Friday as David was rushed to the ER because he had a kidney stone! Never had one before and he was in A LOT of pain! More pain than he's ever experienced! The nurses and doctors said having a kidney stone is worse than childbirth!! WOAH!!!Thankfully, the kidney stone was gone in about 12 hours and he's feeling back to normal on this special day. Thanks to my sister Jen and cousin Katie who swooped in to save the day to watch Lily while I was with David in the hospital.

Here are some pictures from their special time together.

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=224643208/a=8080690_23283716/t_=8080690

Today they asked all the fathers to stand up today at church while the congregation held up theirhands and prayed for them; that was a very touching moment that made yours truly cry. They ask the fathers to stand up every year on Father's Day and it always stung when David couldn't stand up. Was neat to see all the fathers; old, young and in between stand up proudly as a father celebrating their accomplishments as a daddy.

Lily wore a special bib to celebrate her daddy today.

Lily is only 10 weeks old, but she told me some things she loves about her sweet daddy.

Daddy, I love you because you are so nice to me.

I love you because you tell me funny stories.

I love you because you tell me secrets that no one can hear but me.

I love you because you call me "Little Person".

I love you because you spend so much time with me.

I love you because you protect me.

I love you because you like to take me on walks.

I love you because you make me smile.

I love you because you feel bad for me when I cry.

I love you because you like to take pictures with me.

I love you because you watch golf with me and tell me all about it.

I love you because you come home from work early to see me.

I love you because you make me feel special.

I love you because you are sympathetic when I get the hiccups.

I love you because you kiss me about 50x per day!!

I love you because you were so patient waiting for me.

I love you because you prayed for me to come.

I love you because you were strong for mommy when I was born.

I love you because you because you play with me.

I love you because you work hard for me everyday at work.

I love you because you snuggle with me.

I love you because you take me to church every Sunday.

I love you because you talk softly to me when I'm crying.

I love you because you always watch over me when others hold me.

I love you because you think I'm a lot of fun.

I love you because I'm proud to be your daughter.

I love you because you rock with me.

I love you because you read stories to me.

I love you because you fill up my love cup.

I love you because you drive safely with me in the car.

I love you because you worked so hard on my special room.

I love you because I can tell I make you happy.

I love you because you like to show me off at work to your friends.

I love you because you call from work a lot to check on me.

I love you because you make up funny songs to sing to me.

I love you because I feel safe with you.

I love you because you talk to me about God.

I love you because we watch baseball together.

I love you because you make my heart smile.

I love you because you take me swimming and always turn on the water heater.

I love you because you give me baths.

I love you because you always clean up after me.

I love you because you feed me yummy food.

I love you because you don't act grumpy even tho you don't sleep as much as you need.

I love you because you waited so long for me while God made me extra special.

I love you because you're proud of me.

I love you because I make you happy by just being me.

I love you because I'm all you ever wished for and more.

I love you because you don't care what I do in life as long as I'm happy.

I love you because you call me "Baby Pop".

I love you because you're a good role model.

I love you because you go to the doctor with me when I'm a little scared.

I love you because I know I'll be happy if I marry someone like you.

I love you because you make mommy happy.

I love you because you love my hermangiomas.

I love you because you always believe in me.

I love you because I know what you wished for when you threw a penny into a fountain.

I love you because you love me unconditionally.

I love you because you're a really good daddy.

I love you because I make our family complete.



Here's a special book she wrote for her daddy....she's quite the writer...:)

(can email book directly if this link doesn't work)
http://www1.snapfish.com/memorybook/ordertype=DMB/orderId=158714909/orderstatus=OLD/leadingolioid=2733002363/fromPopup=true/u_=1112414119296227_xfc3f3bc181731d1_xfc1000_xfckelster5%40aol.com_xfc1000000_xfcSFOPRD15_xfc1_xfcLpeSzCjiSEW8WanQFwDtOg--/t_=8080690

Photo Editing Fun...

Just having some fun on www.bighugelabs.com




I edited this picture in http://www.picnik.com/ ...so much fun to edit your pictures with this site...check it out! Thanks for sharing Jen!! Love it!!

What Big Eyes You Have...

Better late than never....she's growing up so fast!!

Bumbo Baby

This bumbo chair is magical!! Sitting in this chair helps build her neck muscles, she looks adorable in it and it's great for taking pictures! I could just eat her she's so cute!!

Such a love!!

I love this mermaid outfit! I called her Daryl Hannah from Splash all day.

lol

Stretch Armstrong...

Lily could stretch all day long! I think she'll be a yoga instructor one day!! lol. Her hands are ALWAYS by her face as she stretches. I could watch her for hours. She looks so sweet, but her heart is even sweeter! I wish I could put a picture of her heart on the blog. That's my favorite part.

Life is good.

Really good.

Pure Joy

Kelle, Thank you for my blog remodel...makes Lily very happy too!! :)

Perfection

Look how Kelle captured Lily today!!

Go over to visit my friend Julie at http://frizziju.blogspot.com/ (who just nervously entered the blog world) and give her some love!! Save her as a favorite. Comments are welcome with open arms!! She will make you laugh. She will inspire you and make you a better person just by knowing her. I love you Julie and welcome to blog land!

Sitting Up (kinda, not really)

Look how cute she looks in the bumbo which is a special chair that helps infants sit up on their own. It's really ingenius how it works. It's like a magic chair!!

http://www.target.com/Bumbo-PINKLIL001-Baby-Sitter-Pink/dp/B0010WGPJM/ref=bxgy_cc_img_a_13774431/601-6412709-7641767

This was taken with my camera phone so it may not be very clear, but the cuteness shines through. One of these videos should work. She also started this new move of rapidly looking back and forth and David has nicknamed her "Stevie Wonder" because of it. She's doing it a little in this video.

Tough Life...

Lily is a DREAM sleeper!! We're so lucky in this department! I think she gets it from her sleepy mommy who loves 8+ hours every night and loves her naps everyday!!

When she sleeps, she is out for the count! The smoke alarm could go off and she wouldn't flinch! There's no need to tiptoe around her, that's for sure!


Here are some cute pictures I snapped of her wiped out from being all of 8 weeks old!!

These are just as you see them; no posing here, I promise!! She actually makes me sleepy just looking at these.








Yawn.

I think I need a nap!

xoxo

Lily Plant (with update)

Remember Kelle (via Kelle's dad) gave everyone a Lily bulb at our family shower in February? Well, many have planted them and it's so interesting to hear the "play-by-play" of how they're doing. We hear stories from all over. It's very symbolic and deep to know all these lillies are growing around us while our very own Lily is too.

They all seem to start blooming just as she was born.

Profound.

Ours is VERY close to blooming, but this is a picture of Stephanie's mom's Liliy that she has taken care of, nurtured, and loved to make it what it is today.

Hmm, sounds familiar!!

Last night David and I were checking ours out and it still had not bloomed. It was close, but no cigar. So I posted this picture of Steph's mom's lily this morning. Later on, I went to peek on our lily to see how it was doing...

this is what I found...

WOW!!

Unlike my husband, I've never had much of a green thumb, (D could tinker in the lawn ALL day every weekend) but this is really exciting to me!!

And if that didn't make you smile...this sure will!! Lily is so interactive and adorable, I could just eat her up!! Also, look at this cute burp cloth we got from Brian and Natalie Boe....they got it on http://www.stripesandpolkadots.com/Default.aspx

Life is good!