Our 1 Month Old!

Our precious baby girl is one month today! It is so amazing to see her growing up before our very eyes. To be truthful, I am glad that we are past the first couple of weeks. Lily and I are finally in some sort of a "routine." I say that lightly because really, how much of a routine can you be in with a 4 week old infant?!? She is developing, changing and learning constantly and she is starting to smile. At first we thought it was probably just gas, but she is actually starting to curve that little mouth up even more.





One of our new friends took these awesome photos of Lily for us. We met Phil and Talitha on the hospital tour. Phil is a professional photographer. Talitha was due 2 days after me and we ended up having our baby girls on the same day. We are hoping that Brooke and Lily will be BFFs!



We took her to church yesterday and dressed her in her holiday digs.



She has so much hair that I am fortunate enough to be able to put little bows in it! So cute right? The sweater that she is wearing actally belonged to my mom when she was a baby and the little knit booties were mine when I was a little one! The funny thing is that I didn't wear them until I was over 6 months and she is in them now! Her feet are so long! Bob is so proud!

She loves to be in the Baby Bjorn and Bob has taken to keeping her entertained via juggling.



Of course she falls asleep because the swaying motion is so awesome. Some day she will giggle at her Daddy's antics!

In other news, it SNOWED here and it has been freezing!


Literally below 32 degrees during the day time. Bob and I are going through the winter shock and realizing that we have very little cold weather clothes. In Arizona, you could get away with wearing flip flops during the winter, NOT here! The windchill alone is around the 25 degree mark. BURRRRRR! Rocky is loving it, but we have to rock paper scissors for who has to take him outside! Lily doesn't mind the cold because she gets to wear all of her cozy winter gear and snuggle with her Daddy. What could be better?

Momma Got Her Boots Back!

I love the Christmas season. There is something so awesome about the holiday spirit that perpetuates the world around us. Eventhough there are some crazy shoppers out there and traffic galore, it is so much fun to see everything decorated with bright reds, greens, silvers and golds. All of the stores have Christmas music playing and people are wearing sweaters and smiles, I love it. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. This year is so special because it will be Lily's first Christmas.




We will miss not being in Illinois or Colorado for the holiday time, but will enjoy establishing some traditions of our own. Being in such a small apartment we have to keep our Christmas decorations to a minimum partly because we don't have the room to store everything. With a new little one in the house, it took us a couple of days just to get the tree up and decorated.





I know, it is only a three foot tree. Thank Heavens! Any bigger and it still wouldn't be decorated! Every year I love unwrapping all of the ornaments that we have collected over the years. I discovered that I have my Baby's First Christmas ornament. It is a little old and worn, but still cute. I have pulled out all of my Christmas music and play it all the time. Now all I need is the Winter Wonderland and it would be perfect!

I am starting to learn Lily's cries and what they mean. Her hunger cry is so distinctive it is like she is speaking clearly "I AM STARVING!" It has this high pitched wail and she is just inconsolable.


The cutest thing is when the tears start to fall and they are these big alligator tears that run down her face. Poor Baby. She is already becoming a bit of a diva.


She sleeps like a rock when we are holding her, but has started to complain when we have to put her in her swing or crib. Oh Boy! The other day she screamed all day long. To be totally honest there was a moment of the day when I just looked at my screaming child and thought, Yup, that is a sinful creature. Thank Heavens for God's saving grace!


We have also transitioned her to the cool tummy tub bathtub. Her first time was on the day when she screamed all day anyway, so I was not surprised when she didn't take to it as I would have hoped. She sure looked cute though.




Today she is officially four weeks and this morning Bob and I went for a run on the American Tobacco Trail. It was once a railroad track that has been converted to a running trail. I am back at running and so happy about it.





I was able to get 3 miles in before all of my muscles and legs petered out. I will tell you, having a baby changes so much of your body. It is going to take a while to get my core back. Right now it is on the "mushy" side. Praise the Lord for breastfeeding though because I was able to squeeze into my skinny jeans last night and put on my boots again! Whoo Hoo.


Bob took me out for date night last night and I cannot tell you how much fun I had in my saucy boots and skinny jeans. To be honest I did have a slight muffin top that I had to carefully conceal but hey, I was in them! I forgot how much I missed wearing heels and cute boots. The past 10 months were spent in flats, flip flops and socks. What fun!