Splash!

Looking for ways to stay busy and do Lilly focused activities vs running around with mommy or being stuck inside bored all day, we decided to start swimming classes again. I like getting Lilly into classes in the winter so that we can spend spring and summer outside. We took swim last year and she seemed to really enjoy it, although by the time summer came around she had lost some of her comfort in the water, so I thought it might be good to refresh her. It is quite different doing the class now that she is 19 months and not 6. She has a mind of her own now and doesn't always want to participate. She does great for the most part smiling and laughing, (mostly when we are singing) but when it is time to practice our skills like kicking or using our arms, she doesn't always want to cooperate. She is a great kicker when she wants to be and will say "kick, kick" while she is kicking, but then she will get to a point where she is tired of doing it and says "all done" until she gets to stop. OR she will stiffen her body, so that not even I can help her do the moments. I figure she will get the idea eventually that she doesn't dictate when class starts and ends, but until then her little determined spirit shines through. I have to say though as a momma it is rewarding to see Lilly getting to enjoy doing something that is just for and about her. (hopefully later we will get some pictures of her actually participating in swim, but Ziff hasn't come with us yet to be the camera man)

An Apple a Day...

Lilly has been really into her apples lately. It seems like she asks for one all the time. She wakes up and wants an apple. I think She loves them so much because now she can eat them like a big girl. She still eats them when I cut them up but she needs peanut butter to dip them in. One day I randomly let her try to eat the apple whole when she asked and to my surprise she ate half the apple. I was shocked. I do love it though when she runs around the house with her apple, just chomping away.

My booty!

I have been managing my time much better these days and finding that I have more time to do the things that I enjoy, such as crocheting. I have made several scarves and a handful of hats with the help of the knifty knitter, but with the baby on the way and my toes always cold I thought why not try baby booties! It turned out to be a little more complicated than I thought. The first day I spent an hour and a half trying to get the bottom figured out. I didn't understand it at first, but just kept undoing and re-doing and finally figured it out. The rest of the booty wasn't as difficult, but I defiantly think it will be a while before I can do it without instruction. I think I will try to make the match to this one and another pair or two just for practice. I am proud to say the least of myself for persevering and learning something new and overcoming the challenges. (i.e. being left handed)

The bottom and most challenging to say the least

The base (pretty straight forward part)

The top of the toe (a little tricky, my toe is a little long compared to how much room there is for the ankle, but I figure it would fit a newborn)

The finished product!! Not perfect, but for a first time I am thinking it's not to shabby

Potty Time

For a while now Lilly has been showing signs of readiness for the potty. Ziff and I were a little standoffish to it at first mostly I think because when you hear people talk about potty training you hear not so great things. It got to a point though where we couldn't ignore it anymore. So we set out to research potties. Pretty potties, basic potties, ugly potties, you name it we researched it. (well Ziff researched it) We did some light reading on PT and talked to a few people who have some experience with it and then we bought the potty. It was just a big of a deal for us as it was for Lilly, because it is truly a sign that Lilly is growing up.

When the potty showed up I put in in her bathroom while she was napping and was hoping when she woke up we could spend some time exploring and getting to know it. Lilly was all about this. She went in stared at it for a while started to touch it, picked it up carried it into the hall, set it down, checked it out some more, picked it up moved it a few more feet, then decided to take off her pants and diaper. Although she was a far cry from feeling ready to sit on it, she got the idea that the diaper comes off when you go potty. We put back on her pants and diaper about 50 times that night, mostly because she wouldn't sit on the potty, she just wanted to be naked by it. We used her bear and showed her how bear sits and goes potty on it, and one day Lilly can too. Eventually the potty made it into the living room and twice I caught her going potty right next to the potty but not on the potty. It made for some fun cleaning.

The next day we thought we would try to set her on the potty when she said she was going or needed to go. Ziff had alot of success with her. He would put her on, grab his ESPN and they would read it together while she sat. I however didn't have as much success. I would set her on and she would start crying and screaming. Once she actually told me when she had to go lead me to the bathroom and I set her on just in time for her to go in the potty, but as soon as she went she jumped up and started crying. after she calmed down she wanted to be naked and so I let her and she climbed up on our bed and said "uh-oh" and she had gone potty again... So we have decided to take it slow and let her decided when she is comfortable to sit on it and when she isn't. We'll see how it goes.

Hip hip hooray!

Meal time has been such a struggle in our house. Sometimes I felt like i was making three different meals and it was really wearing on me. Lilly has a very distinct taste pallet just like her daddy, and she has a ton of stubbornness to back it up. It seemed like every night she would choose to skip lunch and dinner and only eat breakfast and a handful of snacks. I was never really worried about it and never really pushed her too much, but recently she started asking for snack right after she would get down from the table, so I figured out she must just not want to eat what I was offering. Frustrated and not sure what to do I just flat out told her "this is what you get to eat, so either you eat it of you go hungry". I wasn't really sure if this would work or not, because I wasn't sure if she would understand all of those words put together, but after a few minutes she asked to get back up to the table and she ate the stew and all of the vegetables. Since then has been wonderful. She now eats breakfast lunch AND dinner and even a bonus, she eats her veggies without me asking even broccoli. Last night for dinner she ate a whole half a quesadilla and a whole bowl of fruit! Not even one complaint other than she wanted ranch to dip in. Thank God for answered prayers, my battle is over...for now.

Lilly and the library

I know this picture is sort of blurry, but you can see the pure joy pouring out of her.

We try to go to the library once a week. Most the time they have a special story time just for tots but last week because of the holidays there wasn't one, but we decided to go anyway. The library closest to our house has a speical room for little ones, filled with puzzles, stuffed animals, tables, chairs, and also computers. Usually I don't let Lilly on the computers, even though they are set up for little ones, but this past week I thought why not... lets give it a go. We spent over an hour at the library that day because Lilly was having such a great time. The computers are great because they are just her size and locked up so they can only play the games that are on the screen or they can have a book read to them. Lilly figured it all out, she figured out how to type and make pictures appear and how to hear the story in the head phones. I was so glad to see her so happy, but it was really difficult to convince her to leave and there were plenty of tears and foot stomping as we left. I suppose though all good things must come to an end, but there is always the next time. Hopefully she will learn that she will get to come back we aren't leaving the fun places forever.

G&G

I love my grandparents dearly. And I felt I needed to take a moment and dedicate it to who they have helped me to become. Growing up they were more parents to my sister and I than my dad. We lived with them for many years and even when we didn't live with them we visited every weekend. Needless to say our bond was very close. As a little girl I remember just watching my grandma do her daily chores and never EVER complain. It's just who she was and I think she truly loved it. She had her own laundry room downstairs and I remember going down there and sitting on the laundry basket for hours watching her iron. She ironed everything, jeans, shirts, pjs, undies, sheets, & tablecloths. You name it she ironed it. Regardless I loved watching her. We never really talked, but we didn't need too, it was our quiet time. My grandma was and still is a fa-nominal women. She used to scrub the kitchen floor on her knees every week, and dinner was always promptly on the table at 5:30 (a tradition that I try to carry on) and her dinners were always made with love and from scratch. Rarely did we eat out. As I get older I am starting to see that all of my hours watching my grandma have rubbed off on me, because I too find pleasure in serving my husband (meaning being a loving understanding wife who tries not to pick fights and taking care of him), cleaning my home, doing laundry, ironing, and all of the other wonderful things she did. Without her guidance, which at the time I'm sure she felt like was never going to pay off, as most parents have felt at some point, I would be a total mess and have no idea how to be domestic. I have 2 of the best women living inside of me, my mom and my grandma and I couldn't ask for better people to guide me. I love you grandma and you will always be with me!