Best Week of the Year

In March, every year, there is a week where the air smells so strongly of flowers at night. It's like diving into a pool of lilacs. And it's this week. Every night we were out, we'd roll the windows down while driving and breathe deeply. Words cannot express how amazing it smells. I'm not exaggerating. Just ask my sister, Wendy, she was down here last year when it smelled SOOOO good...I'm gonna miss this.

The picture doesn't really go with the post, Eric just took it of the kids today and I liked it. He's a much better photographer than I am.

Winter Dance Recital

Last weekend Lillie had her second dance recital. It was pretty dang cute, wish my memory card hadn't gotten full halfway through my videotaping her dance...but thank goodness we did get a few pictures. There was one specific time during the dance where they were doing steps called sugars and Lillie tried to for a second and then yelled off stage at her teacher "I can't do these!" But she actually did really well besides that, WAY better than dress rehearsal and better than I was expecting. And Lillie loved the wilting flowers that we gave her afterwards. I'm glad she understands that it's the thought that counts.

Mardi Gras

To get in the spirit for our future southern home, we decorated Mardi Gras masks, put on our beads and watched The Princess and the Frog today. Too bad I don't know how to make gumbo, huh? I guess I should say yet...

One Great Morning

Our awesome friends, Melissa, Hayley and Cole, scored free tickets to the local botanical gardens this month and were nice enough to share them with us! We had a lot of fun at the children's garden and then ventured down to the Japanese gardens to see the koi fish. Lillie has two little friends that she absolutely loves and talks about all day; they were so fun to watch running around together. Even Henry did pretty well being pushed around in the stroller all morning, better than he ever does while I try to go shopping. The weather was perfecto, the company was impeccable, and to top it all off, Henry and Lillie took naps afterward. Both of them, at the same time!!! I won't lie, I did a little boogie dance to celebrate.

Mornings like this we will definitely miss. Sure, the botanical gardens, but mostly the friends.







These last pictures were ones where I told Lillie to pose for Daddy. At first she wasn't too in to it, but then started hamming it up. Funny girl.

Happy 3/4ths Birthday

Today Henry turns 9 months! Where has the time gone??

Here's what Hank's all about these days:
-He is still a huge momma's boy. Wants me to hold him all day, every day... but occasionally wants down to explore, which is good news for me, gives me hope that this is just a phase. But I cannot be out of his sight.
-Has developed quite a little scream for those times which I put him down when he doesn't want to be.
-Pulls himself up to standing on everything... even very unstable items. Constantly has bumps and bruises because of this.
-Still just has two teeth, but we can see that the top two will come in someday.
-Is SOOO slobbery. He goes through at least two shirts a day plus bibs. And after I change him, his shirt's soaked in less than 10 minutes. He often smells like clothes that were forgotten in the washer. Stinky!
-Loves to throw objects and watch them bounce across the floor. LOVES this.
-Balls are his toy of choice. And that's about it, everything else he likes is anything but toys (remotes, pens, bulb syringe, pin cushion, cell phones, etc.)
-Has been wearing the same size of diaper since I think, two months. Still wears the same shoes since about 3 months. And he's still a BIG boy. I never had a "baby".
-Has an orange nose from eating too many carrots! Almost all baby food dinners in the third level have carrots. Cannot get away from them... hope this doesn't become permanent.
-Sleeps in the same room as his big sis. After I wrote my whiner post, I moved Lillie's bed back into their room. The first night was a disaster (at 5 am Lillie and Henry were both screaming and Lil kept crying "I'M SO TIRED!!!!) but things have gotten better, even with Henry being sick.

I can't believe how old my man-baby is getting. Next thing I know, he'll be walking!!! Better brace myself.

Best Day

Henry said Mama today for the first time! Yay!

My Potato Heads

Lil and Hank, playing after breakfast. Funny kids.

Whiner Post, Please Ignore

There's going to be some whining in this post, but this is what's constantly on my mind right now. If you're gonna think bad of me, don't read it.

So I don't know if I've shared where we'll be moving once we're done with dental school, but I don't think I have. Anyway, we're moving to the South. I'm not getting much more specific than that because I am still fully aware that this is a public blog. I think it's safe to say that it's going to be a whole new world for us and we're kind of excited, kind of scared, but all in all we know it'll be interesting if nothing else.
However, since we've known where we were headed, we've been really trunky, at least me. Every single day I say I can't wait to get out of here. I am sick of this old, too small of an apartment. I am dying for a backyard and some privacy. I know there will be a lot of things that we'll miss, people, places, etc. in SoCal, but man, I am ready to move on. Nothing like being students for all of the almost 8 years of marriage.
Lillie's mattress has been on the floor of our bedroom pretty much since Henry's been born so that he can get as much uninterrupted sleep as possible...and the same for us too. But there's nothing fun about banging your shins on the corner of the bed as you try and sneak in the dark every night. Or when Lillie starts talking in her sleep and wakes you up. I guess I should be really grateful that she doesn't sleep in our bed, but it's still not the same. I feel like I'm a kid again, wanting my own room. Henry wakes up about 2 times a night where he half-wakes-up and whines for a minute or two before going back to sleep but I know it would wake Lil up. So this is our current sitch. I keep begging Eric to let us put Lillie in with Henry but I know that it will end the same way it did the last two times we've tried. Ugh.
Another MAJOR problem occurs every time Henry takes a nap. Good thing, right? Well, it keeps Lillie out of their room to play and so toys end up all over the rest of the apartment and she ends up watching more tv than I want her to, so that I can try to catch up with all over her messes. She doesn't nap, so I spend too much time cooped up within inches of her. Sounds like I'm a mean mom for not wanting to be around her, but you try it for a day. She is constantly whining for me to find something for her to do, begging to watch a show or to get her something to eat, etc.
The solution to this problem is space. We need another bedroom. We need a backyard. We've still got about 5 months before we're settled into our new home (we haven't gotten any place yet), but only 2 1/2 months til graduation and it's couldn't happen a moment too soon. Get me outta here!!!!
I love my kids, both of them. I think they are the perfect distance apart in age, especially when I see them playing together, it makes everything, yes even the sleeping sitch, worth it. Lillie told me yesterday that Henry was her best friend. Totally melts my heart. All of these probs could be solved with a little more space.

Siblings

 
Love these kiddos

Daddy Daughter date

Dad decided he and Lillie needed to spend some quality time together. Look at those canines .... is she part vampire?

Princess Tea Party

Today Lillie hosted her first tea party and I'm sure it won't be her last, because she loved it! It was so fun to watch these girls acting like little princesses. I can't believe how mature they are becoming. It was cute, they would hold the little cups properly and taking small sips. And Lillie had a ton of fun playing dress up with her friends, even switching dresses at one point. A great way to pass time on a Friday. Bring on the 3 day weekend!!!

First Word

Henry has been saying baba pretty much every time we bring him a bottle, so we think this is officially his first word. I mean, he babbles dadadada and babababa and other things every once in a while, but not like this. Yay, buddy!

Rainy Day

Grateful for the rain this week so that we can actually get some use out of our "winter" clothes

Valentine Party 2011

Not sure how it happened, but I volunteered to put on a Valentine party yesterday for all the kids in the ward ages 0-5. I think we had about 40 people. I reserved the cultural hall and set up tables and chairs to decorate valentines. We ate yummy treats, made beautiful valentines and had a gift exchange. It was a tad stressful. I ran around with my head cut off for the first 5 hours of the day. I didn't get to spend much time helping Lillie make valentines since I was trying to coordinate everything, but I think she still had fun playing with friends. Henry was tired the whole time so I strapped on my baby carrier and carried him the whole time. I think it turned out great, but even if it didn't, I don't care because it's over! Just joking. I am so grateful to all those friends who helped set up and clean up and everything in between. I was seriously touched by those who helped me so much. It's the only thing that saved me.

I hesitate to post the picture of me and my kids from the party because I had been so rushed because of the party that I totally forgot about putting on make up until the end of the party. Oops, so I'm not looking my best.



I love how both of my kids look like they're being tortured... when really it should have been me. :)

8 months

Henry turned 8 mos almost a week ago. The biggest change from last month to this month is that he's started to pull himself up onto things. Just to his knees, but I'm sure it'll be to his feet soon. He sometimes forgets that he needs to hold on and falls and bonks his head. Poor guy. Henry wakes up between 6 and 6:30 which is killing us and it doesn't matter when he goes to sleep either.
He's a sweet little guy. Quiet and cuddly. Really cuddly, like doesn't like to be put down or even be out of my sight, sometimes. At the same time, he's also really adventurous and is pretty content to go exploring. Honestly, he's really easy right now and so I can almost always keep up on the housework and still do a bit of crafting or reading. Ahhh, so nice.
Henry is a lot more coordinated than Lillie was. He's caught on to gross motor skills faster than his sister did and his fine motor skills are doing well too. His favorite toy is that toy where you move beads along the bent wires. He can actually do it already pretty well.
He is so much more quiet than Lillie was. She was always jabbering, always making noise and he's so quiet unless whining because he's tired or hungry. He has babbled dada a time or two though.
He's really thinned out compared to him at 2-4 months. He's still got chunky thighs and a booty but he's lost a lot of baby fat and it's hard for me to realize that I'm losing my baby. He's a fast crawler so I'm sure that even though he eats a TON he's burning all those calories. Because Henry is more compact than Lillie, they actually feel like they weigh the same, but I think she weighs about 7-8 lbs more.
Henry has started to eat cheerios so we're at the beginning of making the transition to "real life" food.
We love our little Chubba Bubba. I love having a son, it's so different than having a girl, not better or worse, just different. I love seeing Lillie and Henry playing together, when Lillie's not stealing his toys, they are each other's best friends. So lucky to have him as a son.

Visits with Gram

We've been so lucky to have both Grandmas (and Katie) come to visit us in the past couple weeks. My mom and Katie came first, in January. I had begged my mom to come visit while Eric was away at a rotation, 3 hours away, for the whole week. So she booked her ticket and then later on, Eric was able to switch that rotation to one held later in the semester close to home. So although he was around, it was still nice to have my mom here since both kids and I came down with colds. Lillie had two ear infections and both were on antibiotics. We missed a trip to Disneyland so that we could go to the doctor, which was a major bummer, but my mom and sister went and enjoyed themselves. We did, however, spend a AWESOME day at the beach. The sky was clear, the sun was hot, and there were lots of shells and sand dollars to collect. Seriously, the weather was better than most days during the summer. We also made a trip down to the fabric district for fabric and trims. I LOVE trim. Add a lot of snuggle time for both kids with their Grandma and you've got a great visit.
Then this last weekend Eric's mom stopped through enroute to Korea. We went to the beach, the park, IKEA, to a super bowl party and made a cute headband. The kids had recovered from their colds, although Henry's teething and was still a little miserable. He loved snuggling up to his grandma and Lillie loved making cinnamon rolls and cookies with her. So this was also a great visit and both have made me miss our families so much. Sigh. Too bad we're moving farther away instead of closer.

Latest Goings-On

So it's been a while since I've posted. Not because nothing's been going on, not even because I've been so crazy busy that I couldn't possibly (although I've been busy) but because Eric tried to do something crazy with our computer and almost lost all everything and has put in a ton of hours trying to recover it all. Something about partitions and linux. Bad news is all I have to say. So until we get all the pictures renamed and reorganized, there'll only be posts without pics.

Ahoy, Matey

Last Saturday, a group of dental students and their families were invited to take a harbor cruise in Newport on a yacht owned by a USC dental school alumni. It was an amazing boat (I wish I'd gotten a full shot of it) and it was a really fun time. Lillie loved running around from the front to the back, downstairs and on deck with a bunch of little friends. We were nervous about her falling overboard, so one of us got to follow her around. We saw a lot of beautiful homes, ginormous boats, sea lions and seals. So glad we got to go!

Visit to the Doc

Lillie's 3 year stats are:

Weight: 28 lbs 30th percentile
Height: 36 1/4 in 55th percentile

Henry's 7 month stats are:

Weight: 19 lbs 2 oz 53rd percentile

My Baby is 3!!!!

 

Three years ago, my whole life changed, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am so lucky to be Lillie's momma. She is such a special girl. Lillie is smart, sweet, funny and a wonderful big sister. I can't believe how fast she's growing up. I wish she could stay little forever!