Disney Anyone?

I don't know about you, but I suddenly have a hankering to go to Disney World. Maybe even see a parade there...I know just the helper...




On our way out the door, we had a major spill on the driveway leaving Minnie Mouse with a not so nice goose egg as a Halloween souvenier. There were tears from both of us and she wailed in pain, but after some time with the boo-boo bunny, she was up and running.




She only wanted Grandpa after her fall and that almost made me fall over from the cuteness.


My camera completely died (insert halloween panic attack with ghoulish screams and immediate call to Nikon for 3rd time in 6 months, gr!) right after these pictures so I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I wanted(I smell a reshoot), but I still got some cute ones of Minnie Mouse and made me crave one of those Minnie Mouse ice cream pops like this

that used to be my favorite until Mindy Alpert choked on an MickeyMouse ear in HS and got the heimlich from the AP and shot an ear across the cafeteria. Wow, where'd that memory come from? Well, I was scarred from that experience, but I think the wounds have healed over now with some help from Lily Grace.


Reliving the holidays through Lily's eyes is even more enjoyable when I experienced them as a child. She adds that spark of magic to everything just by being her.

And being here.

Life is good!

Lily Wishes You a Happy Halloween

I'm only 18 months old, but Im learning to write with mommy's help. She said lots of people out there love me and prayed reely hard for me to bee here. I think that's perty nice of you. Did you know I went to the pumpkin patch with my famlee? I wanted to eat my hands the whole time instead of the pumpkin seeds.


Look how little I was last year at the pumpkin patch. Wow, now I know how I got the nickname "little person"



What happened to all of my hair and where were all of my teeth?




I really like my fingers lately. It makes my teefers feel better. Mommy even cot me sucking my thumb the other day like she used to.




Even my cuzin Katie was there this time. She is so much fun to bee with. She plays with me ALL the time and can make me laugh the really big deep belly laugh. Sometimes I get the hiccups after we play together because she makes me laugh so much. She's really nice to me too when I cry. She never gets mad at me and thinks I'm pretty special. I want to be like her when I am 11 years old.




I went inside for some cooler air and look who I ran into. I feel like my love cup keeps getting filled up everywhere I tern.


Then we read some books about Holloween. Isn't my cousin Grace pretty? She's almost 4. She's a really big girl and berry nice. She shares her clothes with me all of the time. Here, I'm wearing her dress and she's wearing Cousin Katie's dress. Isn't that cool? I'm still learning how to share and sometimes it's hard for me, but Grace helps me.



Then my school had a hat parade where I got to sit with all of my friends from the big and little classes and be like one of the big kids. I felt super special and waved a lot.



I even got to walk a little too. I told you I really like my fingers.



Some of my mommy's friends saw me too and were giddy with excitement waving and yelling my name.



My shirt actually glows in the dark! Isn't that cool?


I'm really excited about twick or treating this year. Last year mommy and daddy had to carry me from door to door, but now I'm a big girl and can walk. I still might want to hold their hand if I feel shy. They said that's okay with them. I think they really like me.

Ok, I'm goin to go put on my costume now. Mommy says I have to wash beehind the ears before we go.



Well, my chubby fingers are getting tired. I reely hope you have a Happy Halloween and find the perfect pumpkin today


and it's your most favorite-ist of all.

I wuv you so much,
Lily Grace

Happy Anniversary!

They say who you marry determines 90% of your happiness or misery in life and I couldn't agree more. I don't think I realized how true this statement was when I walked down the aisle 8 years ago,


10-27-01


and look, we haven't aged a bit...ha! (nose growing profusely)


but after the ups and downs life has thrown at us, I thank God everyday that we're on the same team to enjoy this wild ride. He is incredibly loyal, kind, makes me laugh everyday, is my rock and soft place to fall, my friend, and always puts "his girls" first. For that I am humbled, thankful and will never forget 11 years ago when my sister Molly said to me "you've got to meet this guy David; you 2 would be a great couple". Thanks Molly for going through what you had to go through to be the matchmaker. ;)

Then Molly met her own little cutie and was married 1 year 1 day later than us so we went to celebrate our anniversaries together for the best mexican I've ever eaten (guacamole was made from scratch tableside as in they cut the avocados right in front of us-gasp)

then David and I headed to see the funniest comedian on this planet Jerry Seinfeld.
If he's ever in a 400 mile radius of you, go to see him! You'll be glad you did (& so will your abs).

And from this little marriage 8 years ago came the cutest little person we were so very blessed to call ours and who reminds us that even when the daily grind can, well grind away, she always shows us how to ...


for that I am forever grateful and content in this imperfect, but perfect love we call ours.

Happy Anniversary David! Thank you for being the reason for 90% of the happiness in my life.

Home, School and Everything In Between

With both of us working full-time, it makes our time with Lily that much more precious and kicks our quality time with her into overdrive. I came home from the store and did some spying on my 2 favorite people...this was taken behind the glass sliders and I only wish I had them both mic'd up to hear all the details of their plan. I always imagined David would be an involved and good daddy, but their bond is like nothing I ever expected. When we were trying for years to get pg, I used to dream of seeing/hearing them together and I guess I didn't dream big enough. He makes me a better mom.


working hard on a tower of blocks they eventually got as high as Lily is tall...


I could've watched them for hours...until I got busted...and then joined in on the reindeer games...



So I got the bright idea and pulled out some art supplies, but something went terribly awry...




This picture is also taken through a glass window, but NOT in our backyard thank goodness...see this furry friend?



This is Lily's-I'm-not-sure-about-this-he-doesn't-look-like-my-furry-friend-cat, Charley-that-I'm-used-to face...




You guessed it, we went to the zoo and it was Africa hot, but the grown ups seemed to be the only ones feeling the pain...Lily could've stayed there all day...





David thought it'd be funny to play cootchie-cootchie-coo with the tiger. Yes, he was actually tickling the tiger, talking to him like he was real and laughing like a 10 year old...too bad it got Lily's attention too. She's looking at him like he's crazy as I'm talking like a ventriloquist to act normal for the picture...






Take 2...my tickling of Lily's leg distracted her from his "hey tiger, you want a nice scratch right there where it feels good?". Yes, he is actually scratching wood.




One cool thing about having Lily at school with me is she gets to take impromptu visits to Aunt Jennifer's classroom which looks like Disney World...sometimes she visits with her class or sometimes just with me. Her favorite thing to do is play school like she's done it all her life.


like she is saying "Ok, everyone, here is today's lesson..."


pay attention people...






I think she thinks she owns the joint at school...her teacher takes daily pictures and occasional videos and sends them randomly to their missing mommas...here she is making sure all the bills are paid up to date...



miss kim told us that lily is such a creature of habit (coughcoughlikedavidcoughcough) that as soon as she is finished with her lunch, she grabs her blanket and starts to prepare her area for naptime - oh my cute.

and after many hours of jabbering on her cell phone (like her momma) she decides to call it quits... this is what we call "Hutch-----Out"...


and then refreshed and ready for dress up time...she looks like laura ingalls here...lol



and boy does she love her leah bug...insists on giving her kisses good-bye when we leave and leah goes to Lily to wake her up when naptime is over, they are buds...although right now they're in a bit of a love triangle with G-man, but I think they'll work through it...haha
(nice dress wy-ha)



Lily loves her teachers and has a special bond with Mrs. Kim thinking her lap has a reserved sign on it that reads "Lily Parking Only"...here she is following her every move while she's outside...



hanging with her other buds...I just love this smile she captured here of her happiness while socializing with the other kiddos. They all get along so well and the energy in the room is always so loving. She looks like she's in kindergarten here!


Being away from her during the day is hard, but knowing how loved she is by her teachers and friends gives me that warm fuzzy feeling...and seeing her run up to me at the end of the day like she's in a race to the finish line in a full-out smiling sprint makes my love cup overflow and pour onto the floor. (note to self: get that on video)

I can't believe she's ours.

Life is good!

September Milestones

I've been working on the monumental task of moving all of our home videos onto a DVD so we can watch them on the actual tv instead of us all huddled around the computer to see Lily growing up right before our eyes. When I was growing up, my family had regular family movie nights where we gathered in the living room, sleeping bags rolled out, popcorn flowing everywhere, filmstrip reel rolling like the olden days onto a full-on pop up screen that even a stand. There was no sound on our videos, but we all watched in excitement like there were imaginary subtitles. Our old video camera also had a large bright light so everyone was squinting anytime they came close to looking directly into the camera. ha It was such a fond memory growing up and I was determined to have the same memories for Lily. Because I was young everything seemed to be a larger than life production.

You would probably cry with me if you knew all the technical difficulties I have had in the process, but after many weeks of hurdles, I finally got all of her videos up to date all on DVD and we can have our own family movie nights where we stare in amazement at how far she's come. Lily watches herself , points and says "baby" over and over, but I don't think she's made the connection that it's actually her trying to roll over from tummy to back. So cute!!

Her milestones this month seem like it's in honor of her daddy because they're so many of them so I guess I'm chop liver this month. ha
I always marvel at how much I/we love Lily and every little thing she does but as she gets older, I'm overtaken with humble pride about how much she loves us. She shows it more and more everyday as she grows and I just stare in amazement how she gives back all of the time showing us her heart more and more, like her kisses where she actually grabs our cheeks and pulls us close for a smooch. I feel like melting each and everytime! Have I mentioned I love her heart? mmmm






Life is Good! :)