Happy Halloween!!

Thanks to Kelle for making this adorable card! David and I called Lily "peanut" while I was pg so we thought it'd be appropriate she would be one for her first Halloween! Looking forward to seeing her trick or treating abilities and helping to eat some/all of her candy! :)

On another front, we've had a stressful couple of days...we took Lily to the dermatologist for a routine appointment because it looked like one of her hemangiomas (ie angel kisses) was getting infected. We thought he'd prescribe some cream because it is always dry and flaky, but we left with a slew of directions that left us with our heads spinning. He seemed to be a bit of an alarmist and a bit out of his league so we're going to get a 2nd opinion from someone he highly recommended at University of Miami who specializes in hemangiomas. Oh my surprise! We went to the dermy to get a tube of cream and now are heading to Miami on Monday to see a specialist. Not what we had planned, but he opened pandoas box so we need to close it! Hemangiomas are not dangerous to her so we keep telling ourselves that. Our pediatrician made us feel better about the situation too. They are slightly concerned about the one near her eye because they don't want it to grow more and interfere with her vision. The one on the back of her arm is "ulcerating" which means it's dry, flaky and sometimes bleeds, but special cream should fix that. There is a lot more info about each of her 5 "hermys", but I'll spare you the details as you may fall asleep from the boring nitty gritty about each one. Should be interesting what we learn on Monday and how we need to proceed, if at all!

Hope you have a Happy Halloween and remember to floss after all the sugar intake in the next few days! Will keep you posted after our appointment on Monday at 2:30. I think I'm more nervous about Lily having to sit in the car for 2.5 hours one way to Miami, then turning around and doing the same 2.5 hours home! Um, math was never my strongest subject, but that's FIVE hours in the car!! Yipes!:)

Life is still really Good!

Full Circle

Who would've ever thought 7 years ago we would've gone from this





to....





Lily was baptized yesterday which is 7 years to the day we were married. Very meaningful to be walking down the same aisle in the same church listening to the same magical voice of Paul Todd. We requested him play a special song during mass and he agreed because he shared it took his mom 10 years to have him and he's an only child so he could relate with our story. I swear that I've seen actual angels flying out of his mouth when he sings...




Jen and Molly were co-godmothers as they were co-bridesmaids in our wedding. There's no way to choose just one. It's like choosing between Aruba or Bermuda for a vacation. Both are beautiful on the inside and out!! David's brother Duane (aka "Duaner) is Lily's Godfather who made us feel so special by flying in for her baptism. Duane, thank you for coming and loving Lily in such a fun way. Your "Little Tater" loves you so much!!

here they all are supporting and loving Lily like their own...(Duaner is in blue, Molly needs to be on her tippy toes)



it's very dramatic the way the baby/family/godparents walks in the with the priest as everyone stands with powerful music in the beginning of the service. They only do baptisms at the 11:00 mass so I used to try to make sure we went to the 9:00 service because the baptisms were too painful while we trying for so many years. Amazing that it was US as a family walking down that same aisle!!



The whole experience was very surreal and felt similar to our wedding day where it was all just a whirlwind happening around me and I watched from a helicopter above like it was happening to someone else...



Donna Lucarelli's son Jack was even an altar server to make it even more personal...


Lily was wearing the same dress my sisters and I wore for our baptism as a baby. That was really special to think about...


I think she knew she was the center of the church because she was all smiles looking around...



My mom and sisters got me a mother's bracelet for my bday - major tears when the card read "you can finally have one of your own" and then saw "Lily Grace" on my very own bracelet...I love it so much that I want to wear it on my forehead for all to see.

Mom and Bob bought one for Lily that read "Lily" with a cross to wear on her special day. We were twinnies...



also celebrating Father Glackin's last mass ever after starting the church from the ground up...Lily would be his last baptism ever before retiring!




Afterwards, we were approached by a man who told us his daughter was the FIRST baby he ever baptized so he wanted to get a picture of his first and last baptism as a keepsake...





she had a special dress for her "after party" ...


angel face...





It was a great way to celebrate our 7 year anniversary which is actually today. We were so busy the last couple of days we decided to celebrate with a nice dinner in, but when I got home David gave me a card that said we needed to boogie because we had 5:30 reservations as a location TBD. Casual attire "like we're going to Moe's" he tells me. I couldn't imagine a restaurant needing reservations with Moe's attire! So the 3 of us pile in the car and went to my favorite restaurant ever...




the Beach Restaurant catered by David. The car was secretly packed with a cooler, chairs, blankets, & jogging stroller, so we went to the beach for a picnic to watch sunset. I felt so loved. There's no better way I'd rather celebrate...





He packed dinner, drinks and even included appetizers (my favorite meal)

Lily was happy too...





We even played in the sand



Thank you David for giving me the best 7 years of my life and 9 years together... you are always so kind to me, making me laugh, and being such a thoughtful daddy...I hope Lily marries someone just like you...





and it's even better to celebrate our love with "Little Person"


Life is good.

Our Little Pumpkin

Look what we found at the pumpkin patch last week...





She started to blend in with the other cute pumpkins...





But we knew there was only one we wanted...






and she agreed too...






and wasn't even scared of the scarecrows...















On another note, it's hard to read books to Lily because she grabs hold of the book and won't stop until it's placed firmly in her mouth. We have to get creative with our reading time...David is trying to sneak up behind her to read to her...



it almost worked until she fell face forward trying to reach the book...

oh and she just started saying "da-da" which doesn't surprise me because David has been training her to say that since Lily was in the womb!! So cute!


David and I planted flowers this weekend. It was my first gardening experience, but David could tinker in the yard for hours ...or even days!! Sometimes I have to call him in like he's a kid playing stick ball in the street!!
We planted these flowers in honor of Lily's baptism this weekend. She'll be wearing the same christening dress that my sisters and I wore 35+ years ago! We'll walk down the same church aisle that David and I walked as a married couple 7 years to the day. What a moment it'll be!

Lily even helped us plant her flowers!!



she's so proud of her new flowers...




How can a mere 15 pounds bring so much joy into our lives?

Life is really good!

BLOG HACKER!!

This is Kelle...Kelly's friend...and I'm hacking into Kelly's blog because...TODAY IS HER BIRTHDAY!!!! LEAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL, INCREDIBLE WIFE/MOMMY/FRIEND/SISTER SOME BIRTHDAY LOVE, would ya?!

She'll hate me for doing this, but then again, I take care of her baby, so she can't be too mad at me.

Leave Kelly a comment because, as we all know, WE WOULDN'T BE THE SAME WITHOUT KNOWING HER!!! My heart loves bigger because of you, Kelly!

And, because her being mad at me would mostly be because I took away from the last cute pics of Lily she posted (make sure you see them!!!)...here's some more.

Happy Birthday, my beautiful, wonderful, loving friend!!!

COMMENT!!!!!







hey, lily...if you love your mom, clap your feet...

6 Month Shots

Here are some pictures taken the last week or 2. I still stutter her age when people ask me how old Lily is. It just doesn't seem natural to say "oh I have a 6 month old"

Still waiting for all this sink in.




Here she is in her Sunday best looking like she's jamming out dancing...






All smiles...




This is my ALL-TIME favorite outfit of hers...






There's nothing like her hanging out in just her diaper. Makes her body parts more edible!!
















On a whim, we tried her in a restaurant high chair on her 1/2 year bday. She did amazingly well except she wanted to eat the table. I tried it myself, but didn't see the attraction. (high chair cover used everytime after this)






Walking around the grocery store with Lily in the shopping cart is a new phenomenon that just began. It is so much fun! She turns boring errands like going to Publix feel like I'm at Disney World. Just don't try to get that shopping list out of her hand or there could be a major meltdown in seconds!! She holds onto it like her life depends on it!



Hard to keep her balance the entire time. Nanny K came to the rescue by propping her head up with the blanket. We just happened to run into her at Publix and she pulled this blanket out of her bag of tricks. Her super cape is always on....protecting her little one. So lucky!!

(please note the deteriorating shopping list)






First bite of solids!! Boy, does this girl love to eat! She scarfs whatever you put in front of her. Tried carrots first because I thought the pictures would be really good with food all over her face, but it started to look like blood so I turned it into black and white...







I love when she bites her lips like this.







Pre-crawling stance...







She'll be on her way in no time.


I knew it'd be this good, but never this good.

Girl of Many Hats...

This is a post I just found in my drafts from 8/11. The pictures are outdated, but oh so cute!! I was going through her hats trying to figure out which ones fit her and which ones didn't. As I put each one on her, I couldn't believe how much it changed her entire look. I felt like I was putting a wig on her and she'd go from Madonna to Cher in an instant. Some fit great. Some were too big. Some were too small. She was like Goldilocks looking for just the right hat. So I decided to snap away.

Little did I know, I'd have so many pictures.


WARNING! Many pictures to follow!!

Enjoy the tranformation baby...

She looks like a different baby in each hat!! I know that was a lot to digest! I warned you. Maybe that's why it took me 2 months to post it!! Amazes me how different of a baby she is just 2 months later. She looks so different and she doesn't eat her fingers like that anymore which I loved!! She's sitting up now with some assistance and more fun everyday.

Everyone tells me to enjoy every minute, they grow up so fast, not to fast forward her little life, etc and I find that's easy to do. Easy not to fast forward. Easy to enjoy every little minute. I don't fast forward with the "I can't wait until she..." because I literally can not envision it. I could never envision her rolling over, sitting up and now she's doing it. Crawling? I can't imagine that ever happening. I don't think it will. Doesn't process in my brain. Short circuits. I picture her still sitting in a high chair babbling and drooling in kindergarten. Yet, it seems to happen ever so slightly and oh so subtle. I'm always surprised when she doesn't fit into something that used to swim on her. It just doesn't compute with me. I blame it on the high heat in the dryer that shrunk her clothes.

I'd be happy if she stayed 6 months for the rest of her life because it's so much fun to be with her, play with her, talk to her, watch her and then I look at Lainey or AJ who are just a wee bit older than her and all that they're doing. My screen goes black. I can't believe there's more to come. I can't picture her ever doing any of those things. I'm not fast forwarding, but when I peek at the future through other babies, it blows my mind.

But, this whole having a baby that's ours still boggles my mind. Still waiting for it to sink in.

Still shocks me when she's talking in the backseat while I'm driving

or babbling in the bathtub

or talking to herself in the mirror

or as I pump in the car while going through Dunkin' Donuts drive through

or she's sitting in her highchair batting at toys while I'm cooking dinner

or when she's sleeping soundly in her crib while I'm downstairs doing laundry

or when I'm driving/racing to get her from the amazing Nanny K's house

or when I'm packing her diaper bag

or when she's wailing in the backseat while I'm trying to talk on the phone

or when we're reading her books

or when I'm pulling out the stroller from the trunk to go into Target.

The daily mundane stuff.

I stop and think how amazing it all is. How it all transpired. How we worked so hard to get to this point to have this little life. How painful it all was. Sometimes it feels like it never happened. I can't remember life without Lily, much less all that we went through. I have to remind myself sometimes. Then I sit in awe of it all. Leaves me speechless. Stops me in my tracks. I stop and stare. It's like I'm watching someone else's life from above in a helicopter. Then I realize it's me. I'm the mom. I'm the role model. I'm the one who needs to step up my game for her. I'm the one living this dream. I get to spend my days with this really cool person and call her mine.

E

V

E

R

Y

D

A

Y

!!

How did we get so lucky? What lottery did we enter to win all this? No matter how many times the stock market crashes & re-crashes then hits a "new low" and no matter how much it costs to fill up my gas tank and no matter how insecure this economy is, I just keep reminding myself that we have Lily and it helps to put everything into perspective. She's the best stock we ever put our money in.

The dividends are endless.

As Dig this Chick would say, I want to "kiss the universe" in thanks!!

Life is good.