My First California Earthquake

Today I felt my first SoCal earthquake. There were a couple little ones when we first moved here, but I had slept through them, however, this one definitely woke me up. Lillie and I were napping in her room this morning when everything started shaking. It felt like I was five years old again and Heath, Wendy and Charee were shaking the bunk beds as hard as they could while I was on the top bunk. It took a split second for me to realize what was going on, but then I ran over to Lil's crib and laid my body across her so that nothing would fall on her. I didn't pick her up because I didn't want to wake her up and there wasn't really too much that could have fallen on her. She slept right through it, it only last 30 seconds or so. The earthquake was a 5.4 on the Richter scale and was only 7 miles down into the earth so people as far away as San Diego and Las Vegas felt it. As long as there aren't any more for a while and as long as they are never stronger than that, then I will be fine. It was an eye opener, though, to see that I couldn't get a hold of Eric because no calls would go through and it made me wonder about what we would do in case of a real emergency. I've been working on our 72 hr kits, but I now will have a renewed effort.

Family Photo Shoot

I decided that I couldn't put off taking family photos any longer, those last pregnancy pounds aren't just going to melt off by themselves any time soon, and Lillie is not getting any younger so we headed down to the mall to get a few pictures taken. This was our favorite family photo, but there were lots of good ones to choose from, because Lillie did such a good job smiling at the camera. I know that every photo shoot won't go as smoothly, especially once she can crawl, walk, etc. But I was so proud of her, she was great!

A Very Merry Unbirthday to Lillie

Lillie has officially turned .5 yesterday and we had to celebrate with some tasty cupcakes. Lillie wasn't as excited about it as we were but it was fun. Check out the video:

Trouble with a Capital L

Today I came to the conclusion that I am in big trouble. The first event that led me to this conclusion was when Lillie had wrapped herself up really tight inside our blue IKEA bag. She loves the sound of plastic bags, LOVES to kick them, and this was the only one I thought was somewhat safe, but not anymore. She had gotten one arm stuck in the handle and had rolled multiple times until she was completely encased in the huge blue bag. Then, later on I found her pulling all the cords out from the Xbox and sticking them in her mouth. Bad, bad. And just now, I came in just in time to pull her hand out from getting smashed by the drawer of our TV cabinet. She was hanging there on the handle with one hand, pulling the drawer open and close while her other hand's fingers were holding onto the bottom of the drawer. This is all from a baby that cannot crawl, cannot even sit up, but is still managing to cause all this trouble. I am now living in fear of that day when she will be able to do those things, because I am going to have to keep a constant eye on her.

Malibu Menagerie

Some friends invited us to go with them to the tide pools at low tide today in Malibu. After a steep little hike, we laid out a blanket where the girls sat and chatted as the boys climbed over rocks and out into the ocean to find sea creatures. They brought us back a sand dollar, a couple good sized crabs and they found some sea urchins. We didn't get to see any starfish, but I'm not even sad about that because it means that I have something to look forward to next time we go. There will definitely be a next time because as far as I'm concerned, this place is the best kept secret (beach) in SoCal. I'm not even going to tell you exactly where we went because I liked it that much and don't want it to become crowded like everywhere else. It was so beautiful!

She Finally Did It!

It took five and a half months but Lillie finally slept through the night! I am so proud of her, I knew she could do it. I have finally gotten her to the point where she will go to sleep in her crib as long as I sit next to her, usually without her crying, which is light years ahead of where we used to be. She is waking up in the night, usually just needing her pacifier put back in, at least once or twice. So this was a big surprise. I guess it had something to do with her staying up two hours later than usual for the fireworks. I am not holding my breath tonight, I don't know if it'll happen again for a long time, but at least I know it is possible. Yay for sleep!

4th of July Weekend

Eric had midterms this week, so after Wednesday, he was done with school. Back home, my family was attending an extended family reunion on the 4th and I was really sad to miss it. We were a little bummed about not having any super exciting plans, but it actually was a great weekend. We spent our time at the beach, shopping, bbqing, and just rocking out with Rockband.

On Thursday we went to the ocean, it was a little overcast and cold at first, that's why Lillie is wearing my shirt in the pictures, but the sun came out strong in the end and Eric and I both managed minor sunburns. This video is of Lillie's first time being in the ocean, she had already been to the beach a couple times, but I felt that she was too young to feel the cold water. Sorry about the annoying high pitched voice narrating the event...



Here are a couple more pics from the day:


On Friday, Independence Day, we went to our ward's pancake breakfast in the morning, went shopping in the middle of the day (a very successful trip) and went to the firework show at night. The fireworks were great, we went with the Porters and the Bates down to the school's soccer field two blocks from our house and had a good view. The show wasn't hardly advertised at all, so it wasn't crowded, and we had lots of room for the kids and husbands to play with the football before the show. Lillie did so well too, she was interested in the fireworks but then would get a little scared and hide her face in our shoulders, over and over. No crying, even though it was about two hrs after her bedtime.

Pictures taken while waiting for the fireworks:

Today was spent doing some things around the house that had been put off, beating Eric at Wii bowling and watching movies. I will no longer be bummed about times when we have nothing planned to do because it's all about what you make it to be. We had a great weekend, hope you did too.

First Ponytail

Lillie is adorable. Her hair has gotten longer recently and I finally tried to put it in a little ponytail and it worked! I think she looks so much older, my baby's getting so big.

SYTYCD

Last Thursday, a couple friends and I went to watch the elimination show for So You Think You Can Dance. We convinced our husbands to watch our children for the afternoon and we headed out to Hollywood. We ended up standing for like 6 hours straight, about 2.5 or more out in the hot sun, but it was totally worth it. I was on TV! A LOT! Way more than I wanted to be, actually. Anyway, we got to see all the hip hop group perform, all the solos, and Jordin Sparks sing! It was so cool. I love all the dancers, they are so amazing. It was a long time to be away from my lil one but it was a blast! Here's a pic. We'll see if we can get a video up later!

BFFs

You know those people who you meet who you just click with? Well Stephanie and Jay have always been those people for us. I won't lie, Eric and Jay are about as different as night and day, but for some reason that works. Stephanie and I are a lot alike and that works too. We have known them since 2003 and have been such good friends since, even though we've lived in different cities. We always have such a blast together. They are such great examples to us and we are so blessed to know them. We have so many priceless memories, but here are a some photos of a few:
This is one of the first photos we have of them. This is our first apartment and they lived in the next building.

This is us at Beacon Rock, one of our many camping trips, on a treacherous hike.

One year we threw a rockin' Halloween party. It was so much fun and we still laugh our heads off at Jay's costume.
Us enjoying our slammin' hobo dinners.

I said Eric and Jay are as different as night and day but they do have a crazy of love of sports in common. Especially golf and Steph and I were awesome caddies.
They are family to us and so we forced them to come to our family reunion at Priest Lake.


This was a fun night at the ball park, I even think the Mariners won. Crazy, huh? Too bad I didn't get dressed up for the night out...
This was New Years 06. They came to my parents house so that we could hang out. We had a fun but not so crazy night at the hockey game.

We went to Portland to spend time with Jay, Stephanie and his family and visited the Rose Gardens.

Thanks for all the good times, you are the best. We miss you!

No Dairy?

Since Monday I have taken all dairy out of my diet in order to see if it will help with Lillie's spitting up, to see if she's got a milk allergy. Man, has it been hard. Everything has milk it in! Even most bread! So I'm basically starving, this would be a good way to lose weight, but it makes me grumpy. And I'm happy/not happy to say that it's not making much of a difference, if at all. I mean, I wish that she wouldn't spit up so much, but I also am excited to go back to eating bread, ice cream, cheese, cream of mushroom soup, etc. It has made cooking quite difficult. I've still got a few days of the no dairy thing, we'll see if there is a significant improvement...

Don't you love Lillie's spit up goatee? Ha ha. I think this is such a funny pic, too bad it's blurry.

Happy Father's Day

This was this morning, Fathers day, where Lillie wore this shirt, which says: My Daddy Rocks. It's a little big, but is so cute.

Thank you, Eric for being such a great daddy. Lillie and I love you so much!

Happy Fathers Day to our Dads too: Eric and Lyle, we love you.

In My Red High Heels...

I would never have thought that I would have something in common with Kelly Pickler... in fact, I'm embarassed that I even know she sings this song, but...

Yesterday Shanell and I made a late night trip to the local Ross to find a lampshade, when I made a quick pass through the shoe isle. And that's when I found them. At first I tried them on just for fun, I don't really take stilettos seriously--I'm already 10 feet tall, but I fell in love. They are so gorgeous and even though they make me taller than my husband and I have nothing to wear with them, let alone the fact that they are NOT too comfy, they came home with me.

I wore them to church today and I just loved having them on my feet, I now know how Dorothy felt when she first put on those ruby slippers... FABULOUS. Ha ha. Honestly, I only felt that way for a second because I'm way too wobbly on high heels and they killed my feet.

But don't you fret, I will wear them again... just not anywhere where lots of walking is required.

Peek a Boo

We were surprised to find out how entertained she was by this tonight. The picture could be better, but then she'd just get distracted by the shiny silver camera.

Doctor Visit and Disneyland

Today Lil and I went in for her four month check up and shots. Ouch. She didn't like the shots, at all. There was a lot of very loud crying. But her stats looked good, 13 lbs 9 oz (50th percentile) and 25.5 in tall (75th percentile). She is right where she needs to be developmentally, as she is now a rolling machine.

Eric and I took a gamble and went to D-land after her appointment. It could have been really bad, since she was pretty fussy after two month appt, but she did really well. It was nice to be out in the sunshine, enjoying time together.
This was our only family shot today, too bad Lillie isn't looking in the right direction.I am sure I am biased, but she is so dang cute.
She's sucking on her lower lip, thats why it looks like doesn't have any.
Don't you just love her shirt? My good friend, Shanell, made one for Lil and for her daughter, who is just a day older than Lillie. And the cute yellow flower headband was made by my sister, Wendy. Aren't they just so crafty? I love it!

Another Photo Shoot, Not Very Successful

So it's been quite a while since Lil had taken some photos, I'd been wanting to but Eric isn't as enthusiastic about the whole process but I finally convinced him to do a few a week ago. She didn't hardly smile at all and there aren't very many that I like...that said, here are a few of the best.

Llama Lillie-She has this nickname for a reason. I'm so glad that we now have proof.
Lillie's new trick is doing raspberries with her slobbery little mouth. I had been trying so hard to get her to smile, but this is what I got.

Her other new trick is sticking her fingers in her mouth. She'd rather do this than suck on a pacifier or even eat.
This is mine and Eric's favorite photo. She's such a little goof.
She loves her toes and has gotten quite good at holding onto them and turning onto her side. She has also rolled over a couple times.

Such a doll, we love her so much. Four months is a fun age, she's changing every day.