"Boo & Oh-nage"

That's our girl!! So far, Blue & Orange are the only colors that Lily correctly identifies all the time...

Go 'Cuse!

Can you hear me now?

LilyBug, you are a silly, silly girl!!

This is what happened when Lily wanted to play with both cell phones and we used one to call the other. Apparently, she really enjoys the sound of her own voice!

Hey There De-Lily...

One night, while rockin' out to mommy's itunes mix, Lily started singing along. This is now our favorite song...

(Lily sings "Hey There Delilah")

"Like Daddy"

A few minutes ago, as I checked my email, Lily ran up to me, threw her arms around my leg and told me, "Lily toot!"

And then, "Like Daddy!"

She keeps no secrets...

Cute...

I admit it, some days when Lily & I are getting her dressed, I put her in one of the super-cute outfits that someone has given her, just for the photo op...

(Plus, I'm always looking for an excuse for Lily to wear her silly little Uggs!)

We were just running a bunch of errands this day, but Lily sure looked sweet! Thank you Great-Aunt Jeanne!

Blond Curls...

LilyBug, someday when you are cursing me and my genes for giving you stick-straight, mousy-brown hair, look back on this time... You had beautiful blond curls, once upon a time:

After a bath, it falls in ringlets:At least we'll always have the pictures!

What do you mean it's not beach weather yet???

New bathing suit & silly socks...

...excited Lily!

This after I asked her if she wanted to get dressed and she replied
"Jammies few mo minutes, peas!"

"Lily loves Holly!"

That's a direct quote - and it seems the feeling is mutual!

"Guh gul, Holly!"

"Lily's Café" is Open for Business!

Stop by for a meal any time:

Max can vouch for the food...

The house specialties are "pea-nuh buller an jell-ay",
"wa-ner melon", "bwed soup" and carrots!

Just having fun together:

Lily & Evan...

In the tub:

With toys:

Sharing cheerios:

Reading stories:

Eating cupcakes:
And just being adorable:

It was a great visit!

Taking Evan to Marbles

Evan's trip to Raleigh wouldn't be complete without a visit to Lily's favorite place on earth, so here are the highlights from Marbles...

Evan played the drums:

Lily & Daddy sailed the pirate ship:

Evan & Lily scrubbed the decks and looked overboard:

Doesn't Evan look like a miniature welder in this shot? He and Lily had BIG fun in the water play area:

They also had a good time for awhile at the train tables:

(Notice that Lily's rockin' the cowboy boots again!)

Lily & Daddy planted a garden:

And Evan was a firefighter:

All in a day's play!

Bouncing Buddies

In Lily's efforts to show Evan all of Raleigh's under-three hot spots, we took him to our favorite bouncing place. BIG fun was had by all:

Shawn & Evan had a lot of fun together:
Even Bumpa got into it:

After Evan climbed a ladder:

He gave Lily a helping hand:

We managed to get this one picture of both kids:
Just the one, because mostly, they were both doing this:

Shout Out to Uncle Eric...

Some fabulous pictures from the big birthday weekend, taken by Lily's very talented godfather, Uncle Eric:

Thanks for capturing all the little details for us!

So sweet!

The girl & the cupcake.

Birthday Party!!

Lily is a lucky, lucky little girl. On Saturday, we had 20 people here to help celebrate her 2nd birthday. We were overwhelmed with the outpouring of love!
Lily was pretty excited (mostly about cupcakes, I think!) and couldn't wait for her friends to arrive. Here she was waiting at the window:
Lily was old enough this year to open and appreciate her gifts. It was so fun to watch her get excited as she opened each one...

With each card she opened, Lily would gasp! and then say "aww!"
Scout was not such a big fan of the gift opening portion of the festivities:(I know - Poor puppy!)

Everyone else seemed to enjoy themselves though.
Shawn & Vinny had a smiling contest:

Ashley & Evan had a ton of fun playing in the house Shawn "built" out of the dishwasher box:

Evan tested all of Lily's toys before the party:

He also tried out her butterfly costume:

And her crown!

(Evan, I know someday you'll curse me for these,
but they are too funny!)

Lily got a fabulous pizza set for her birthday, so she & Ashley, with some help from Auntie, baked pizza all afternoon:

And served it to other party guests:
And there was all kinds of general silliness:

I think it's safe to say that fun was had by all. Thank you so much to everyone who came and helped to make this such a special day for LilyBug!

Cupcakes & Friends

What more does a two-year-old need to make her
birthday party a success?

Lily was so lucky to have so many of her friends at her party.
And they all seemed to like her chosen dessert... like Evan:

Lucas (aka "Heartbreaker"):

Ashley:

And Kailey (one of our friends from playgroup):

And here's the birthday girl herself:
And the big moment...

Happy Birthday, Dear Lily!! Maybe next year you'll want to blow your candles out...

Family Photos

Mommy & Daddy with our two-year-old:

Thank-you Auntie Erin!

Auntie Erin, look what a big girl I am sitting at my new table & chairs!

Penny & BearBear love the service around here...

This is so fun!

Come over for a tea party whenever you want!

Cuddlin' Cousins

Lily got to spend a lot of time with her big cousin Evan this weekend, and the two got along fabulously. In fact, there were so many spontaneous hugs, we couldn't catch them all . But here are a few:

"Baby Vinny"

She's been talking about him for months now - Baby Vinny. Ever since his baptism back in December, whenever she's holding her baby doll, Lily tells me that it's "Baby Vinny". So she was beyond excited that the boy himself was here to celebrate her birthday:

I thought my heart would burst when she asked to hold him:

She did a pretty good job:

And she kept stroking his cheek:

And trying to hug & kiss him:

She pretty much wanted to be wherever he was:
And really, who could resist this face??

Thanks for coming Vinny - you made Lily's day!

Fun with Ashley

Big Cousin Ashley was among the guests at Lily's 2nd Birthday Bash this weekend. This was the first time the girls really got to play together, and "keen family fun" was had by all...

The two had lots of fun bouncing in Lily's crib:

They also pretended to nap together - complete with fake snoring:

And had what I am calling their first pillow fight:


Silly girls!

Happy Birthday, Two-Year-Old!

My Sweet Girl:

Today you are two years old, which seems impossible to me. I can't stop thinking about the day you were born - such a a tiny little thing - but even then you were showing us the girl you'd become. Sweet and gentle, stubborn and tough, clever and funny - the funniest person I've ever known!

You wanted to be held all the time back then, and now my days are filled with your tiny little voice asking "Mommy hold Lily, peas." And even then, you knew what you wanted, and you fought us if we tried to feed you or change you or put you to sleep when you weren't ready. You are agreeable and eager to please these days, but you certainly have a mind of your own and you aren't afraid to tell us when something isn't quite how you'd like it to be.

A year ago, I was marveling at how much you'd changed, and what a big girl you were. But I couldn't have imagined how much you'd grow and change this year. You are my feisty little drama queen, and my sweet, cuddly angel. You speak in nearly complete sentences now. You say please & thank-you. You help me cook. You pick out your own clothes and try to put them on (with some success). You brush your teeth. You sing songs and "read" your books. You put together puzzles, rock your baby doll to sleep, and build towers from blocks. You request specific songs that you want to hear, games to play and stories to read. You take all of these choices very. very. seriously.

You are a serious girl. You tend to hang back and get comfortable in new situations, and people often think that you're shy. You get that from me. But once you engage, you are all in, with complete enthusiasm, wide grins and wild abandon. No one mistakes you for shy then! That part you get from your Daddy.

You are the most open and loving creature I have ever known. You love your animals, your toys, your friends, and every dog, cat, squirrel and bird you catch sight of. You give hugs and kisses to everything and everyone that will stay still long enough. But still you love your Scoutie, Mommy & Daddy most of all. And for that, we are so thankful.

I'll shake my head and laugh and say ' It all went by so fast'.
You'll fly away, but take my hand until that day.
So when they ask how far love goes,
When my job's done, you'll be the one who knows.
-Dar Williams

Sometimes I wish I could stop time, and hold you here, in this time where you love us so much, where Daddy & are are the most fabulous people you know (we all know that won't last!), where you need to hold my hand, and where you are still, in so many ways, mine. But the better part of me can't wait to see what time will bring for you.

Your Daddy & I love you so very much. We are already so proud of you and the person you have become. We are anxious to see what the next year will bring, but for now, we are happy to revel in the joy that is two-year-old you.

Happy Birthday, LilyBug!! I love you.

Always,
Mommy

"Pwesents!!!"

So silly...

Angelic...

...or something like that!

She jumps! (Finally!!)

It was a proud moment for Mommy today. Our playgroup met at the infamous "jumpin pace", as Lily calls it. I figured we were in for another morning of lounging in beach chairs, and posing for pictures anywhere but in a bounce house. Like this:

But, now that she's almost two, Lily seemed to be feeling a bit more adventurous. We already knew that she likes tunnels:

And our girl loves to slide:

But this is what we've been waiting for:


Yay Lily!! Good jumping, sweet pea!!

Two-Year Portraits

Where does the time go? Seems like just yesterday we were taking this:

(Lily at One Year)

Or even this:(Lily at One Month)

But somehow here we are, taking these...

Our big girl! Have you ever seen a sweeter Valentine?

And that was just on Wednesday!

These are all of the silly things that Lily did and said just on Wednesday. Well, the ones that I could remember at the end of the day anyway:

When I went in to get Lily up from her nap, she was standing on her head in the crib. She looked up at me, head between her legs, and said "Hi Mommy!"

She was playing in our closet and packed one of my purses with a pair of Daddy's boxers, a wallet and some lip balm and then announced "Bye bye Lily! See later!" When I asked her where she was going, she replied "Auntie's house." Always be prepared.

Birthday gifts have started arriving in the mail. When she opened a card tonight, she gasped and said "Oh my gosh!" Then, as she opened the gift, she said "Lucky Lily!"

To finish off the day, at bedtime, after she gave me a hug and kiss, I said "I love you Lily". To which she replied "Mommy close door!"

You got it, LilyBug. Thanks for all the laughs today. You are such a silly girl!

Mommy & Lily's Morning of Fun

Another day, another trip to Marbles - our favorite fun place! Lily has recently discovered all the fun & silly shoes in the dress up area, and boots seem to be her favorite.

When making phone calls, rain boots are a must:

But cowboy boots are really more appropriate for grocery shopping:

(An aside - every time we go to Marbles, Lily wants to play in the grocery store. And all she ever puts in her basket are rolls & strawberries. She gets quite upset if you try to convince her to add anything else!)

We also experimented with face paints today.
I painted a heart on Lily's cheek:

And she painted what look like music notes on mine!

So fun!

An Art Project!

Who knew Lily was ready for glue? Not me, that's for sure. One of the best part of going to Marbles for me is the chance to let Lily experiment with new toys and activities that I'm too chicken to try at home. And there's no clean up! Yay!

Here she is hard at work on a Valentine's Day collage...

And the finished product:

She really liked the feathers!

The Power of Positive Thinking

Lily has a new habit. When she's asking for something, like "Lily cookie" or "Lily hoe-wee mommy hi minute" (Lily hold Mommy's phone for a minute), she nods her head slowly and deeply while she's asking. As if trying to subliminally convince us to agree. It doesn't always work, but it's hilarious to watch.

Strict Disciplinarian

She may not look it, but Lily is tough.

"Baby" and "Max" (her dog) have spent endless minutes in time out the past few days. Every time I ask why Lily tells me that they "hit Mommy". I set the timer for them, just like I do when Lily is in time out, but most of the time, even once the timer goes off, Lily won't let them out. And when she does, they usually go right back in within a couple of minutes.

Seriously, she's strict.

Ouch!

At breakfast one day last week, and again this morning, Lily looked right at me and very firmly said "No Mommy sing!" Ouch...

Melting my heart...

Just now, as I lay Lily down in her crib for a nap, she looked up at me and announced "I luh loo", completely unprompted.

LilyBug, my sweet girl, "I luh loo" too!

Mommy's Little Helper

A salad, prepared by Lily - notice that the pepperoni is all on one side and the cheese all on the other - can't have them mixing, you know!

The table, after Lily set it - with no help from me! She does good work, huh?