Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family!

We are so thankful for the lessons we've learned this past year about ourselves, about each other, about God's grace, and life in general. We have been blessed in our marriage, blessed with a new home, and greatest of all, blessed with a new baby!

Thank you to our friends and families for such amazing support during this past year! The encouragement when we were nervous, the patience when I was emotional, the love you all showed Lily when she was born...It means so much to us!

Thank you to our moms for coming out and helping us that first month of parenthood! The cooking, cleaning, prayers, advice, all of Lily's care...We were spoiled by your service and love!

Thank you to my wonderful husband for working so hard to allow me the opportunity to stay home with Lily!

Of course around the holidays Eric and I end up asking ourselves why we aren't closer to home. We've been praying about a move for three years now. We love our lives in Kansas City...but it would be nice to raise Lily around the family. Maybe the fact that God hasn't "opened a door" allowing us to move back home is His answer to our prayers??

Hugs and Kisses to everyone!

3 months old today!

(Double click on image to enlarge it)

Today Miss Smith is three months old! Its hard to believe how quickly time has passed. She is now 24 inches long and weighs 13.4 pounds. For the past month she was interested in her hands, but just today she started showing more interest in her feet. Its amazing to watch her become more aware of her body each day!

Life at the Smith residence continues to be absolute bliss! Now that she's getting older she smiles a lot more and interacts with us both. She won't have a problem voicing her opinion when she grows up because she's already pretty good at it!

This week was the first time we left Lily with a friend and it unfortunately it didn't go so well. About two hours into our evening we got a call because she was crying, but wouldn't take her paci or a bottle. We weren't sure if it was gas, trouble taking the bottle, or just adjusting to the new place, but we ended our night out early and brought our baby home.

Of course, we were already missing her so it wasn't too bad!

Our busy weekend

This weekend was Lily's first sleepover. Parker came over to play and just showered Lily with hugs and kisses! He is very sweet and loving toward her. We know that as they get older these two are going to make a great pair!

Lily got out of the baby-cradle-carry stage pretty quickly and has preferred sitting up for a while now. Back in October we discovered that she also loves standing up and she supports her weight very well! It seems like she is growing up too quickly! I thought babies stayed...well, baby-ish for a lot longer!

This weekend we got to visit our friends the Webbs and spend time with Miss Alexa. She's a year older than Lily and is such a big girl! She has so much energy and so much to say, its amazing to see what a difference 12 months makes as children develop! We don't get to see Alexa very often, but each time we do, her little personality shines brighter and brighter!

After all this action, Lily was exhausted!

Bedtime! (7 weeks old)

This is a video of Lily as we got her dressed for bed. It sounds like she was trying to negotiate for us to extend her bedtime. She's very clever like that!

Playing at home

November

Lily got her first lesson in civic responsibility on Tuesday as she accompanied me to the polls. She was so quiet and polite while voting, they even gave her a "Future Voter" sticker. The next day was her two month check up and also the day she got her vaccinations. The shots were probably harder on me than they were on her, but she handled them very well and didn't cry for too long. She slept most of that afternoon, but thankfully didn't suffer from any side effects.

Our first week home after vacation has been a peaceful one. We had to work on Lily's schedule because she was operating on PST for a few days after we returned! Now, she's back on track and we are falling into our routine again. She is currently fascinated with her hands and is always wringing them...as if she was plotting or scheming. It is so cute! And she continues to be as chatty as ever--I'm not an expert, but I believe she is already learning about conversation patterns. She babbles, then pauses as if waiting for a response from us, before continuing on. This little cycle gets repeated throughout our day and it is so fascinating! Not only does she change her tone and volume, but she repeats some of her "words".

Old friends

The first picture is with our old friend (and groomsman), Jared. The second picture is with our new friend Bayley and her dad, Brandon.

Trick or Treat!

Lily (aka Kitty Kokonuts) on Halloween with her cousin Caleb, the turtle.

Our Trip Home

Here are a few pictures from our trip back home (Double click on the image to enlarge it). It was ten days of chaos and bliss!

We were a little nervous about flying with a 2 month old, but she was just wonderful! The hardest part was definitely the increase in luggage.

Our first two days in Spokane were very relaxing. Lily had the opportunity to meet her cousin Caleb and Auntie Carli for the first time. Although Caleb wasn't too impressed with Lily, he was very sweet and gentle with her. He was practicing for when his baby sister comes in January!

Then we were off to the Tri-Cities for four days for Lily to be reunited with Grammy, meet our kind friend Larry, meet the extended family, and be introduced to her Grandpa Delgado and his new family. While in Kennewick, we also celebrated Auntie M's 20th birthday, carved pumpkins, met Auntie M's boyfriend Robert and played with the lovely baby Grayce.

We headed back to Spokane for two more days of family time with the Smiths, a visit to Auntie K's school, an open house with Grandma and Grandpa's closest friends, and the chance to meet Uncle Landen.

From Spokane we headed to Portland, Oregon for our friend Brent's wedding where Lily got to meet a few of our college friends. The bride was beautiful and in seven years, I've never seen the groom happier! Everyone agreed, its a strange thing that we are all married and starting families because it seems like only yesterday that we were freshman! Although Lily was a bit tired at the rehearsal dinner, she was an absolute doll at the wedding.

To answer the question on many people's mind, we ARE considering relocating back to the Northwest. We certainly love our Kansas City life and will be sad to leave our home, our favorite places, and most of all, our dear friends! However, as expected, having a baby has reminded us of how important family is and we are faced with a decision of what type of family structure we want for Lily. We are still in the very early stages of planning and are praying for God's guidance.