More snow!

It snowed again this past Monday here. I took Lilly out to see it for a little bit, but I worried that she would get too cold since she really can't tell me if she is cold yet. it wasn't so fun for me because it meant we were trapped in the house for 2 days! Here is Lilly walking in the snow:


In other news... Lilly will now tell me "NO!" when she doesn't want to do something and refuse to do it. We were trying to give her a bath and she told us No and clinged to me. We tried a couple more times then just decided to wait until morning to try again. So, the next morning she told us no again. My Mom told me that we should put her in anyways so she won't think she can always get her way. Well, that didn't work out so well either. She immediately stood up stiffened her body and screamed until we picked her up. I ended up having to get in with her just to get ther to take a bath. The next day she decided she didn't want to get back in the carseat after we'd run a few errands. I had to end up giving her some puffs so I could buckle her. She is becoming Miss Independant most of the time, but others she clings to me and wants her "Mama". Since her 1 year Dr. appointment we have been trying to wean her from nursing to whole milk. She will drink the milk and doesn't mind the taste, but she just sips at it and still thinks she is supposed to nurse. I think we have made a little progress as she doesn't nurse quite as often during the day, but she got worse at night. She wouldn't let me put her to bed in her crib this week with out clinging to me and screaming crying. Brendan had to get up early for work so every night she ended up in the bed with us at some point. So last night we knew we had to reimpliment the CIO method. I hate it, but she has to get used to going to sleep again without nursing! It is really awful because she will call out Mama sometimes. She cried for about an hour last night, but once she got to sleep she slept until 6am. Which is much better than when she was in bed with us. Tonight she cried for about 30 min. and hopefully she will sleep well the rest of the night.
I have also been making Lilly some outfits. I figured out how easy it was to make pants for her and decided to figure out how to make her some bows instead of buying them. Here are some of the things I've made her:
Lilly actually made this Palmetto tree painting with her footprints and hand prints:

Minnie Mouse outfit I made:

Pants I made:

Zebra Print pants with Initial shirt I made (This is my fav. so far):

Lilly's 1st Birthday Party

Lilly's first Birthday party was Saturday, January 1st at 1:30pm. We got the food and all the supplies in advance, but decided to get the baloons the day of to make sure they looked good. Early that morning Lilly and I went out to get them while Brendan did a little more cleaning around the house. We went to Party City on our side of town first. Well.... they were CLOSED! They taped over the New Years day hours and wrote closed. So, I figured the other one must be opened. WRONG! So here I am the day of the party with no Minnie Mouse balloon. I had already picked it out in Party city. So we went to Piggly Wiggly, Kroger, Bi-Lo, Publix, and the Dollar Tree. Still no Minnie Mouse balloon. I just got some regular balloons in pink, yellow, and white to match the plates, napkins, and cups. We got the cake from Publix and they threw in a "smash" cake. I was going to make her a doll cake with the dress in a pink polka dot like Minnie's, but decided that I would just use the one Publix gave us to save me a lot of time. We had a good turn out and Lilly enjoyed herself. She slept in the car for about 30-40 min. that morning, but she never took another nap because she was so excited! She Got some sleepers and PJs, some crochet hats from her Great Mama (Great Grandmother), a mega blocks barn, clothes, and Minnie Mouse lap table with matching Minnie cup, and Minnie Mouse doll. She learned the word cake by the end of the day and when we were eating cake she would walk over and say cake expecting a bite. Here are some pictures from her big day:
Lilly's Cake:

Food Table:

Lilly's big cake:

Shirts off and she's ready for some cake:

Opening some presents:

Playing with her new baby with her Great Granny and Great Mama

Happy 1st Birthday, Lilly!

I can't believe our little baby is already 1! I guess she really isn't a baby anymore, but a sweet little girl. Brendan took off work so we could spend the day with her. We took her to Edventure Children's museum that morning and let her explore everything with a year pass we got her for Christmas. She really enjoyed herself and we really enjoyed watching her play and explore. We could tell she was getting tired so we left and got her a small cake to have with us. By the time we got home she was awake and not going back to sleep anytime soon, so we let her dig in to her cake. She touched it right away, but didn't eat it until I showed her it was okay to eat. Then she ate a little more. Brendan and I of course helped her eat it. Next, we took her to Toys R Us to use a gift card she got from her great Grandmother (Brendan's Nano). After debating between the talking purse set and a baby doll, we decided on the talking purse since she already has several babies. She really likes it. Not as much a my purse, but I guess that's just because she isn't supposed to play in it. We then went to my parents house and she got to see her Grandmama for a little while. For dinner we took her to Moe's Southwest grill and let her get her own kids burrito. She loved it and even got to try a piece of her cookie. I thought she would like it because she loves animal crackers and asks for a "kooki" when she sees them. Later that night she got into some of her presents so she got to open a few since it was actually her Birthday. She got a nice set of Dr. Seuss books from her Grandma and Grandpa, a rain jacket, a dinnerware set, and a puzzle from Brendan and I. She had to wait until her Birthday party to open her disney princess pajamas and baby doll that looks real. I will post about her party that was earlier today later.

Then next day, Lilly had her 1 year check up. She weighed in at 18 lbs., 6 ozs. (11%), is 29 in. long (49%), and her head was 45 cm (50%). I guess her growth rate has slowed because she only gained 4 ozs and grew 1/2 in. since her 9 month check up. Everything checked out fine and my poor baby had to get 3 shots and a toe prick. She sat very still and quiet for the toe prick and the 5 minutes it took to sqeeze out enough blood. She didn't like the shots at all and cried for a long time.
Here are a few pictures from her Birthday:

Santa Came!

Whew! Where to begin! We have now celebrated Christmas, Lilly's Birthday, and had Lilly's birthday party. Lilly must have been a good girl this past year because Santa came to visit Christmas Eve and brought her lots of nice things. She received a 3 in 1 smart trike that she can use now and grow into. She really likes it because she thinks she is a big girl riding it. She also got a corn popper, a "my pal Violet", precious moments prayer doll, of course her favorite puffs in her stocking, and many other nice things. We put her in the hall and let her walk into the living room while we waited with a camera and video camera to catch her reaction. Poor thing got upset that we left her there and it took her a little while to make it down the hall. Then, she just stopped. We had to talk her into coming into the room, but once she did she got excited to see her toys. Brendan made his Mom's special breakfast casserole and then his parents came to watch Lilly open gifts. They got here a Little Tikes baby grand piano, a musical clock, a cell phone, and a vtec musical farm. She loves all the noise makers and likes to play with them at the same time. They also got her a Trike very similar to the one Santa brought, so it was returned to the store and she will now have extra money to put into her savings account since she already got so many toys for Christmas.

Next, we went to my parents house. My parents, Grandparents (Mom's side), and my sister and her now fiance were all there. Yes, my sister got engaged for Christmas. She got a beautiful ring from a great future brother-in-law. We had a finger foods lunch complete with my Grandmama's chocolate delight and spiced tea. mmm mmmm! Then, we exchanged gifts. My parents gave Lilly a little disney princess rocking horse that is just her size, an activity table, elmo cell phone, other little things, and lots and lots of socks. Apparently my Mom thinks she needs tons of socks. She got some beautiful crocheted hats from my Grandmother and more money for her savings account. My sister gave her a cute daily block calendar and some cute outfits. She got a nice doug and melissa puzzle from her Uncle Luke and Aunt Alexa. Plus a genrous gift for her saving account. I think she will really enjoy having extra money put away for her future when she is older. After presents we said our good byes and headed home to let the dogs out before heading to Brendan's brother's house. Lilly really enjoyed spending time with her cousin Cason. He plays so well with her. They gave her a cute talking tea set that she already loves playing with, a talking camera, 2 books, and a baby that has a light up heart when you touch it. She loves babies!
We visited my Granny the Wednesday before Christmas to spend time with her and exchange gifts. She gave Lilly a cute book and stuffed animal and some money. Lilly had such a wonderful Christmas and has so many people that love her so much.

My Christmas was really nice, too! Brendan got me a new Citizen watch, my first pair of Costa sunglasses, a hat for running in the cold, a pair of shoes, and some clothes (that I helped pick out). The picking out the clothes was like a present, too! I don't get to do as much clothes shopping now and it is one of my favorite things to do.
Granny reading Lilly her new book:


Enjoying a ride from her cousing Cason


Coloring with Grandpa:

Checking out Santa's cookies:


Lilly all snug in her bed while visions of "puffs" danced in her head:


Coming out Christmas morning:



Playing in the snow the day after Christmas: