Back from Nebraska!

Snacking on shredded cheese

Showing off her Christmas dress

Playing with her magnetic letters

Avoiding the paparazzi

Yesterday I wanted to have a mini photo shoot for Lily, but she was not into it all! At first I thought she was being shy, so I tried to make silly faces and noises to get her attention, but she just pretended like I wasn't there!

Happy Birthday!

We're sending all our birthday wishes, birthday hugs, and birthday kisses to Grandma Christy!

So much can be said about the type of person that she is: patient, kind, hospitable, and fun-loving; but her most beautiful attribute is her servant's heart! She is profoundly set apart by the way she has purposed to live in this world--not being conformed, but being transformed.

Happy Birthday, Christy! We are excited to see the many ways God will use you this next year!

We love you,

Eric, Sarita, & Lily

Little Giraffe!

While playing together, Eric decided to wrap Lily up in her pillow pet tonight and she had a great time! I think she liked the feeling of being surrounded by a giant cushion? She walked around bumping into things, so thrilled as she safely bounced back. Then she crawled around the room for a while and it actually looked like the Giraffe was walking! I'm not sure if it was THAT funny or if we were all in a silly mood, but our stomachs hurt by the time we stopped laughing!

The giraffe was a birthday gift to Lily from Auntie Lo and Danielle and has been a great addition to Lily's room! A few months ago we asked Lily what we should name the pet. She pointed at him and said, "Bug!" We tried to explain, "Lily, that's not a bug, that's a giraffe. Gir-Affe. Can you say, Gir-Affe?" But she pointed back at him and said, "Bug! Bug! Bug!" From that day on, his name has been Bug!

Happy Birthday, Grammy!

We want to send a special birthday wish out to Grammy today!

Its been an incredible year for you and we are so blessed to have you in our lives! You are more beautiful and wiser than ever and your example of learning, growing, and overcoming challenges is inspirational! Its amazing to see God's goodness in your life and to know how happy you are!

We wish you all the richness of life this next year and we look forward to celebrating with you soon!

Sending you all our love, hugs, and kisses...

Eric, Sarita, & Lily

Too cold!

Today Lily played outside as Eric shoveled snow from our driveway. Although she was dressed like Ralphie's little brother and could barely put her arms down, the cold air was pretty harsh on her cheeks and nose!

Much to her disappointment, I brought Lily inside after a few minutes. But missing out on the fun was so miserable that she stood at the door and cried for Eric to rescue her! She eventually cheered up when she realized we could look down and watch him work through the window of her warm bedroom!

I tried finding a snowsuit in her size at Target and Old Navy so we can play outside later this season when it really starts snowing, but I've been unsuccessful. Hopefully I can find something before Christmas! This is such a fun stage in her development, we can't wait to take her sledding this year!

Making her Christmas wish list

The new Pottery Barn Kids magazine came in the mail today. When I showed it to Lily she actually sat down and went through the pages, as if she was making out her Christmas wish list! She literally has us laughing at her little antics EVERY day!!

Holiday Shopping!

Today we went to Zona Rosa for some holiday shopping. Knowing it would be a long day, we packed Lily some snacks for the road. As expected, Zona Rosa was complete chaos, but we had a lot of fun together navigating through the madness. After a busy day, it was clear that Lily had shopped 'til she dropped!

New boots!

Tonight we took Lily to Target to pick out new boots because we're supposed to get snow next week. She is such a fantastic little shopper! She likes to pick her own items out, try things on, and she loves all the attention from store associates!

Lily wandered around the Target aisles for a few minutes, picking out her favorite pair of boots. As I took this picture, she stopped to wave to an old couple passing by.

When we got home and put on Lily's jammies, she still wanted to wear her boots. She was such a sight to see--carrying around her new socks as she stomped through the house.

She's still checking out her latest purchase

After a brief stroll around her room, Lily took her puppy (she says"putty") out for hugs! I especially love this picture because Eric bought that puppy for Lily her during a shopping trip to Lauren Alexandria while I was still pregnant!

My baby is so big!

Tonight Lily and I watched Dr. Suess' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! together (which is a milestone since she has about a two minute attention span for TV and movies). It was so much fun because Lily was humming along and swaying to the Whoville songs! After the movie she picked up my cell phone and had a pretend conversation with "Daddy". From her tone and expression, I wondered if she was telling Eric about the movie since he's away at work tonight. She's such a sweetheart!

I continue to be amazed, and a bit saddened, with how quickly she is growing up! Selfishly, I miss those days when she was a tiny baby that I carried around all day...but watching as her personality and unique characteristics develop is a beautiful thing!

I could not be any more blessed!

Almost December?

Today is such a beautiful day, we had to spend time outside enjoying it! It doesn't seem like December is only a few days away! I know this is my second post today, but I really wanted to share these pictures of Lily in the sun!

Time to hang the stockings!

All the family-togetherness from Thanksgiving put us in the warm-fuzzy-holiday spirit so yesterday evening we pulled out our Christmas decorations. I'm not sure how we're going to finish the tree this year because Lily can't keep her hands off the ornaments, but she did help out by trying on the stockings!

Holiday!

Apparently Lily just had to take a very important call...?

This holiday we were invited to spend the day with our friends, the McDonalds. We met Jon and Tara when we first moved to Kansas City back in 2005 and they have been a special part of our lives ever since!

This is the second year we've enjoyed Thanksgiving at Jon's parents' home and again, we had a fantastic time! Lily and Parker play so well together, part of the fun is just watching them interact! And of course, Beth and Tara prepared a delicious meal!

The best part of this holiday was being so welcomed by the McDonalds and sharing in their family traditions! Beth and James are such gracious hosts and they even made Lily feel right at home! By the time we left on Friday afternoon, Lily was running around their house acting like she owned the place!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today we are especially grateful for all our family and friends! We are incredibly blessed to be surrounded with so much love & support and we feel honored to share in the lives of so many wonderful people!

Lily turns 15 months old!

In honor of Lily turning 15 months old, we decided it was the perfect time to convert her crib into a big girl bed! We changed the set up after church on Sunday and by 6:00 PM she was ready to test it out!

Tidbits...

There is so much to write about Lily...I hardly know where to begin!

If you've talked to her on the phone lately, you know how vocal she is! Just when we thought she'd reached the height of her conversation skills for this age, she shocked us and started babbling even more--She repeats "A-B-C" all day in different tones and with different expressions!

Lily's current favorite snack is Go-gurt, which is a relief since she still doesn't like milk! She has a pretty boring diet, and doesn't really branch out to try new things. Last night I gave her a piece of a fresh baked chocolate chip cookie, and she spit it out, preferring to eat a banana instead!

She's tall enough now that she can reach all sorts of places that she couldn't reach before and we're learning that Lily is a determined little girl. If she sees something that she wants on the table or counter, she stands on her tippy toes to reach it. If its still not within reach, she puts both hands on the surface's edge and can actually lift herself off the floor for a second! She is even so resourceful that she will stack books or toys to give her a height boost or simply try to climb her small bookshelf (Yes, it is secured to the wall).

She's also at the perfect height to push all the buttons on the washer, dryer, dishwasher, computer, and she can even operate the water and ice dispenser on the fridge door! Last week, I forgot to lock the water dispenser. When I came around the corner it was obvious that Lily was wet but I had no idea how it happened. A short while later, I discovered a water mess in the kitchen and the mystery was solved.

Lily knows how to tickle (Thanks to Auntie M), how to wrestle (Thanks to Daddy), and how to hold a writing pen. She plays catch, throw, and piggy-back, and she likes to wash & dry her own produce before eating it. Some days I think she's a four year old, trapped in a one year old's body!

Tree lighting at Zona Rosa

Tonight we met up with the McDonalds at Zona Rosa for the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Lily and Parker had a great time investigating the huge ornaments and running around together!

Oh no--She's sick!

This is an update on Lily's runny nose...its officially become a cold! I have to admit, I'm a little surprised because Lily's been around Parker, Alexa, the kids in Sunday school class, all her cousins, and she's been in several planes already, and not gotten sick before!

In her 15 months, she's had one diaper rash (Labor day weekend--I cried, even though it was gone in three days!), a germ-related runny nose (December 2008--probably from all the travel, but it went away and did not turn into anything more serious), and the occasionally runny nose during teething times...but an actual cold?! It just breaks my heart!

Adios, Marissa & Israel

This morning we bid farewell to Marissa and Isreal! Although his visit was short, having Isreal here was a nice change of pace! We are grateful for the time we spent with them both and we wish them a safe trip back to Washington!

After nearly three months in Kansas City, Marissa made the decision to return to Washington, and we (and her church friends) are sad to see her go. It's been so much fun having her as part of our small family, but we know she is going back for the right reasons: She committed to a career-path and will be returning to school in January!

Lily's second day at Parent's Day Out!

Well it was Lily's second day at PDO and she came home with something else this time--a runny nose!

We heard from other parents that Lily would probably get sick because this is her first time in a public care setting, but we didn't expect it to happen so quickly!

Lily's first day at Parents Day Out!

Today was Lily's first day at Parents Day Out. It was a little sad for me because I was worried that she would miss us, but I was also excited for her because she just loves being in social situations! For months we've been contemplating part time care so Lily could be around other kids and just recently, everything fell into place. We picked the PDO program because its at Tara's church and she used to take Parker there when he was Lily's age.

Lily was there for about 4 hours and Ms. Debbie said she did very well! We figured she would start to pick up things from other kids after a while, but she already came home with something new: This evening Lily started saying, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." while shaking her head.

I wonder if that's something she picked up from the teachers or another toddler???!!

A lovely day!

Today we spent the afternoon at the Nelson...well, kinda. While Israel and Marissa walked through the museum, Eric, Lily, and I played outside. It was THE PERFECT day!

Welcome, Israel!

Tonight our cousin, Israel arrives for his first visit to Kansas City and we are super-excited to have him here! It's amazing that he still decided to come...he was originally supposed to arrive yesterday, but that's a long story...

update...continued...

Lily's speech abilities seemed to have increased significantly in the last month! She is such a great little communicator, she just rambles on in her own language--while she interacts with us, and even when she's talking on her play cell phone! The most incredible part is her vocal expression: Her tone gets higher & lighter at the end of a question, she pauses for responses during a conversation, and she raises her voice for added emphasis to her stories!

Lily has been humming along to music for a while, but she now also sings "Ding, ding, dong" during Are You Sleeping? And just last week, she called out "Mama, where are you?" as she searched for me after I left the room!

One of the most fascinating parts of this development stage is seeing all she's learned, just by observation. Lily brushes her own hair as well as others', she knows that make-up brushes are for the face, and she wants to dry her hair after baths, using the blowdryer, UNassisted!

Oddly, Lily does not like to have messy hands after meals; She does not like unabsorbed lotion on her hands; And she hates if one of my lost hairs gets stuck on her fingers. But she LOVES playing in the dirt outside or with spilled liquids inside, and she likes to collect rocks.

She's such a wonderful, unique little person!

Happy 21st Birthday to Auntie Marissa!

Today we had a mini-celebration for my sister's 21st birthday, complete with decorations, cupcakes, and Las Mananitas. As you can tell, Lily was thrilled to share in Marissa's special day!

Play time!

Today we took Lily to the playground at Zona Rosa where she was exstatic to be around other kids!

Update

It's been a while since I've taken the time to write a detailed update on Lily, although she continues to change in so many ways! We are getting ready for our cousin Israel to visit this month, and also for Marissa to return to Washington. Lily continues to keep us entertained and amazed at all she's learned:

She recently increased the difficulty of her climbing abilities. Instead of just climbing on the couch or chair, she wants to stand on the arm of her mini-chair, as she reaches for the light switch! And although she doesn't really like being in her crib, she is in the beginning phase of scaling the front side. She grabs the wooden slats on the adjustable side and puts a foot on the bottom wooden rail, but she hasn't been able to stand up and support her weight yet (thankfully).

Not surprisingly, Lily is very affectionate and loving! It makes me so happy to see that she has so much love in her heart, she just has to share it. Last week at Target, she walked up to another little toddler and gave the girl two big hugs! At home she gives out lots of kisses too!

When Lily wants to look at her books, she brings them to Eric, Marissa, or me and then sits right down on our laps. Its funny because she delivers the book, then turns around (facing away) and backs up, just like she was going to sit in a chair. She's our cuddle bug!

During play time Lily loves being chased and she plays Hide & Seek very well! Hiding is her best skill...she will hide behind the couch or a corner and much to our surprise, she will NOT give up her location, it doesn't matter how much time has passed!! When it comes to seeking, she has a little routine of places she looks, and even if she gets surprised during the game, she doesn't get scared, she just giggles!

I can hear Lily upstairs calling for me, so this post will have to be continued...