Lilly turns 2!!!!

2 years ago we welcomed into the world our precious daughter Lilly Kay Reed. Over those 2 years not only have we gotten to watch Lilly learn and grow, but we too have learned and grown. She is an amazing little girl full of life! She loves to laugh and to snuggle and can be a bit mischievous at times something we have come to love about her. She can be very shy and cautious, assessing things before she decides whether or not to let her guard down. She enjoys playing with her friends, swimming, coloring, reading, singing and she loves to bake. It has been so fun to watch her grow and develop her personality. She is so bright and makes our world a better place everyday!This year I decided to start a new tradition of birthday pancakes. Lilly seemed to love the idea of having special fancy pancakes with a candle to blow out. When we sang to her she was grinning from ear to ear. It is a great was to make her special day even more special! She got to celebrate on Monday with a special trip to the zoo, Wednesday (her actual birthday) with pancakes and a present and Saturday with her friends at her party! A whole birthday week.

This year we had her party at a park again. She had so much fun! It was pretty warm out, but she didn't mind. She ran back and forth from the toys to me laughing and smiling. She was having so much fun she didn't want to even stop to eat lunch or her cupcake. She just wanted to play with her friends. She got many wonderful gifts including a doll that Grandma and Grandpa Reed got her, which she loves and takes everywhere with her, and a medical kit for her doll from our good friends. She also got a leaptop from us, which she seems to love as well and has already learned some new animals and letters from. When we got home from her party she kept telling us how happy she was and ran around the house saying "happy happy happy". I think it was a great day!

We have had so much fun these past 2 years and can't wait to see what fun is in store for us in the next few years. She loves to interact with her friends from playgroup and she looks forward to going to her nursery class at church every Sunday. She can count to 4 now, sing her ABC's (although you can't understand all the letters), she can set the table, put her dishes in the sink, dress herself, and say close to 200 words. And she is learning more and more every day. We love you Lilly!

Our fourth 4th

Our growing family

You can barely see her but She is such a big girl pulling her wagon. She almost got run over by big kids a few times so I had to walk right next to her the whole time.

Our sweet angels in their 4th gear! (thanks to Stacey!)

Lilly wasn't sure about touching the bunny at first but she really wanted me to hold all of the animals.

This 4th of July was the fourth one that Ziff and I have spent together. It was a pretty fun on considering that the actual 4th of July was rained out. On the 3rd we went to a pancake breakfast with our ward family. It was a really hot morning. At 9 am it was already in the mid 70's. By 10 it was in the mid 80's. Regardless of the heat though we tried our best to enjoy ourselves. We attempted to eat some breakfast but Lilly was to excited by everything else going on. They had a small area where there were kittens and bunnies to hold and pet and they also had a dog, but Lilly was more thrilled about the bunnies. They had face painting and a few fun games for the older kids and they also had a bike parade. Since Lilly is to small for a bike we decided to decorate her wagon so she wouldn't feel left out and she pulled her wagon until she got tired and then I pulled her. After the church get together we ran a few errands and then spent a lovely lazy afternoon at home together playing. It doesn't get much better than time with your family! I can't wait to see what our 40th 4th holds!!

Lions, tigers & hippos Oh my!

As a special treat for Lilly's birthday this year we went to the Zoo. It was our first time as a family going (besides the trip to see the Christmas lights which was at night). I was so excited and so was Lilly. The whole car ride there she kept talking about what animals she was going to see. I was so fun to go this time because she knew what each animal was and she could spot them on her own. I was so impressed with how grown up she has become. She walked around the entire Zoo for 2 hours and didn't ask to be carried or get into the stroller.

She found one of my old disposable cameras and she decided to bring it with her to the zoo and take pictures of ALL of the animals. It was quite cute to watch her. I assume she has learned from me because I always have the camera and am taking pictures constantly.

She LOVED the penguins! I think we had to stand there for about 10 minutes before we were able to pry her away...literally she was hanging on to the rail. Whats funny was that the whole time she kept asking to see the owl and then when we were at the penguins and the owls were in the building right nest to them she said she didn't want to see them.

We took this picture for grandma. We have one of Lilly in front of the antelopes (her favorite animal) but we needed on with Kyle. Although Ziff was hot and in a hurry so he didn't try to wait for Lilly or to make sure you could see the antelope. So I'm sorry grandma I tried!

I love this picture! It just makes my heart all warm and fuzzy.

Milk & cookies

This summer the local farm has added milk and cookie story time to its program. With the weather being fantastic the kids and I ventured out to the farm for some fresh air. Lilly had a great time and the whole car ride there she was chattering about all the animals she was going to see. I think she was a little excited about getting out of the house and getting to see animals. It was a double win day for her.

They have a little stream there that feeds into the pond where the ducks swim and Lilly and her friends decided it was a great place to cool off.

Lilly was so excited to see all of the animals. It has been a couple of months since we had been and she felt she needed to say hi to each and every one. This is apparently how she talks to chickens.

Our friends decided to make a playdate out of it. We all managed to find some shade to sit in and we enjoyed our cookies and a little bit of story. Lilly surprisingly drank most of her milk. She has been drinking it from her cereal bowl in the mornings because she sees me do it, but I thought she still wouldn't drink it plain. Maybe we have finally crossed that hurdle and can finally drink milk from a cup :-) Fingers crossed

Anyway, It was a fantastic morning and I think we all had a good time.

Snacks

Leave it to Lilly to be a creative one. We were playing with her stuffed animals the other day and I asked Lilly what her little brown dogs name was and she told me his name was "Snacks". (I double checked with her just to confirm that's really what she wanted to name him and she really wants his name to be snacks) It made me laugh, now it is confirmed that's what is on her mind all the time.

Keeping busy

With Kyle here and summer upon us, we have ventured back out into the world for some summer fun. We have been staying busy going to the park, visiting the farm, walking in the garden, going for strolls, playing at the pool, splashing in our porch pool, and digging in the sand. It has been a pretty fun couple of weeks so far and I think Lilly is having a pretty good time.

P P

I can't believe I forgot to blog about Lilly's big break through. About 2 weeks ago Lilly went pee pee on her potty. HUGE deal since she has only ever sat on her potty and jumped off every time she was about to actually go. On this night no one had prompted her it was all on her own free will. She was in the tub and suddenly she crossed her legs and put her hands over her legs and I asked her if she needed to go potty and she quickly said yes and I asked her if she wanted to get out and she pointed to her potty and told me she wanted to sit on it. Shocked I sat her on it and after a minute or 2 I heard the tinkle. I was so proud! I think it was a big step in the right direction. What makes me even happier is that our method of letting her be the guide of when she is ready seems to be working. We haven't put any more pressure on her since then but have tried to remind her more that the potty is available if she wants to sit on it. She is very aware of when she is going potty. When we were at the pool the other day she went pee pee and the swim diaper didn't catch it and standing there she was very discreetly trying to tell me she was going potty and that it was going down her leg. She has also started changing her own diaper so I am thinking she is more than ready and we are on the brink of potty training!!!!