Cupcake Birthday!

Sweet Lily enjoyed a sweet birthday weekend - full of cupcakes, cupcakes and more cupcakes! Beyond the sugar, she ever wore cupcake PJ's and received a new cupcake purse! Thank you to everyone who thought of our sweet little girl on her second birthday. She loved opening all of her mail and tearing through bags and packages. She is getting the hang of it!

To our sweet Lily - you are the sugar and spice of our lives. We hope your life continues to be as happy and full of joy as the past two years. You are a gift that never stops giving to us. You are our joy, pride and source of inspiration every day. On your birthday you receive gifts as recognition for the many, many gifts you give the world everyday. Thank you for choosing us to be your parents. We love you beyond words little angle!

Vacation Part II: Alabama

We had a wonderful time visiting family in Alabama. Lily met her cousin Stone and they had so much fun together (between the "mine, mine, mine" episodes).  They were wet, naked and running around the acres of trees and gardens at Aunt Pat and Uncle Wayne's house, just like toddlers should. I was happy to see her doing many of the things I remember doing as a tot - drinking from the hose, sliding around in a plastic swimming pool and eating popsicles on the back porch steps! 

Here are a few photos (more than a few) of our trip. Thank you Jenny, Aunt Pat and Uncle Wayne!

Look at that nose!

It goes without saying that the primary content of this site is all about Lily! Well, times are a changing and I am figuring out how to make room for two loves - on this site, in our home, in my heart. The truth is, it was very hard to imagine sharing my heart and arms and lap with more than one baby. But when I saw this image at our last ultrasound it all felt so real and totally right.

Now, the two car seats in the backseat don't seem so strange and foreign.

I have my list going - what I need for baby #2. I was wondering when the nesting would kick in. Bassinet, new bottles, the missing piece to the swing......oh, and I really want to try one of those baby slings this time.

This time.

I like it. Another magical opportunity to create life - and then love and nurture it. Approach it with less fear and more confidence. A chance to create a brother or sister for Lily. The chance to be a mom to two beautiful children.

6 months to go. And, just look at that nose!

Vacation Part I: SGI

Papa Salty did not disappoint. Upon our arrival, he had a cold Yohoo waiting for Lily. To which Lily replied, "I love a Yohoo!". She enjoyed a few firsts on the island, including steering a golf cart, sleeping in a toddler bed, eating blue crabs (with old bay!) and dipping her toes in the ocean's surf. Prior to this trip, she never had quite enough courage to walk into the ocean on her own! 

Thanks Papa Salty for a nice visit. We'll see you soon.

While We're Away

We are off to Papa Salty's at the beach and then Alabama for the week. A nice break for the overworked and weary in our house! I am so looking forward to a whole week with Lily and spending some time in her world - it is a great place to be. She makes fun out of everything - the stairs, a short car ride, even bedtime is fun in her world. I love disappearing in it when I am with her.

Here are some pictures from this week. The two sides of Lily! Miss Priss and Miss Get-er-done!

She dressed herself in these pink boots and the headband! And opted for no clothes! She is a fashion icon already!

Firecracker, Firecracker....Boom, Boom, Boom

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Cupcake Bandit

If you are missing a cupcake from your countertop, Lily may be the bandit! Chocolate, vanilla, sprinkles or colored frosting - she loves them all! No trip to the grocery store is complete without sampling the cupcake selection in the bakery. Maybe it is true, you are what you eat -- because she is soooo sweet! 

A few pics of Cupcake Lily and her cupcake friends!

Missed A Month

So I finally got a new camera.....again. Damn things! 

I am anxious to get some new pics of Lily and my growing belly (for the record). I feel like you all have missed a month of Lily life. She is a hoot these days. Her hair is so long and beautiful! Her legs have sprouted. And she is developing her own fashion sense that includes a lot of hair accessories, belts and sparkly shoes. 

New pics soon!

Have a wonderful weekend and Happy Fourth of July!

Making Memories

Someone sent me a great email the other day.....a list of lessons-learned by a syndicated author. One stood out to me: your child has only one childhood. Give her a good one.

I really gave it some thought. Are we doing everything we can to give Lily a special childhood? And, after some pondering I came to the conclusion, that this child has enjoyed every single day of her almost-two years. She is surrounded by love everyday. She has smiled and laughed every day of her life. Even in her infancy, she was happy.

As parents, and the village she is surrounded by, we deserve a pat on the back for providing her a wonderful world to live in. And she deserves credit too for choosing to smile at life. She has a wonderful, sunny soul!

Note to the adults: the author also encourages us to have a second childhood. What would you do if you could be a child again? I would drink out of the hose again! I loved that!

While I wait

Grandma's baby photo - mom, I will just use these until you send me photos:)

While I wait for my mom to email photos from "grandma camp" - no pressure mom - I thought I would just share some of the recent ramblings on my mind (you can opt out now if you wish....._).

For one, words and thoughts are just falling out of my head these days. I can't remember anything. However, food is being consumed at a rapid rate. The weight gain has begun! So while I am losing important names and facts, I am gaining calories and back fat! Joys of pregnancy.

Secondly, I am grouchy! For instance, facebook is driving me nuts! I can only take it once a day. All the chitter-chatter -- just too much. And, I can't help but think that so much of what is shared out there is so indulgent. I wonder why we post what we post, and share what we share.....feels very contrived to me. Hey, I am right there commenting on the happenings of the day, so i am guilty too. But, why? A competition of the whits? Or a way to show off our lives and our kids and our photo-shopped pics (Guilty!). I know all the benefits of social media, and study it every day, but these pregnancy hormones are making me allergic to the surface-level sharing. But I really do love when someone reaches out to me because they found something I might like, or just wanted to check in and say hi. That is real, and very nice.

Lastly, I really need to get a new camera. And I really need grandma's photos. I know you don't want any more of my gripes.....just more adorable pictures of my little sweet heart! Coming soon - I promise!

It's For Real and All New

Lily's birthday

Baby Stone #2 is the real deal! We had our first OB appointment and it was confirmed that I am preggars! As if the swollen belly, hunger and dragging energy were not signs enough!

It is surreal to know that we are doing this again, and I feel as excited and anxious as I did the first time around. I am reading all the brochures as if this is all new to me. But to be honest, I sort of forgot what to do -- what to eat, what not to eat, what I will feel and what is to come.

I love being on this journey again. But not again. Because it IS all new.

This is a new life. A new body growing inside me with new gene combinations, a new spirit, a new soul. So really I have not been down this path yet. And at the end of the journey, a perfect little person will join our family and bring with him or her a joy that is all new!

(And, if it is a boy - and all new wardrobe!)

I feel so blessed to have been raised in a small town with many familiar faces! Not much changes there. Not phone numbers. Not restaurant favorites. Not the people who love you. Those kind of roots are special and not taken for granted by this small-town girl. 

That is why I am so grateful that the same "fans" who loved me as a child, now "ooh and ahh" over my little one. It tickles me that these precious ties continue to move on into the next generation, even when we've moved on up the road.

I'm not sure where Lily will grow her roots, but I can promise her that I will try my hardest to find a special place where she is surrounded by the smiles, voices and embraces of people who will love her for all her life. 

Thank you to all of the special people in Homestead who loved me then, and love my little one now. You are all so dear to me! It means the world to me that you are part of Lily's life and influencing who she will be! I couldn't ask for more!