These boots are made for walkin'

Lilly, Hank and I just couldn't stay inside another minute. Its beautiful here today; sunny with not a cloud in the sky and no wind. But its still only 40 degrees. So, to go for a walk I had to bundle Lilly up (luckily Hank required no extra layers).

If you look really, really close you can see Lilly's face underneath the blanket and hood.

Christmas, Christmas and more Christmas

First, I must apologize for this, the much anticipated Christmas blog, being so late. But, as you will clearly see our little family was quite busy the past couple of weeks.

We weren't home on the actual Christmas so we celebrated on the Saturday before the 25th. Santa came early and everything, then later that night my family joined us for Christmas dinner. Although she wasn't very adept at opening or unwrapping any presents, Lilly seemed to notice and enjoy her new gifts and toys. But, as you'll see in the last picture she took the most joy from violently jerking the bows off of gifts that were intended for others.

Here is Lilly sitting with the toys that Santa brought for her...evidently she was a very good girl this year.

Lilly and her Daddy Guy testing out the new walking toy. It also folds down and turns into a ride on toy. She seems to like it!

Lilly and Hank both took an interest in the musical animal parade as it rolls across the living room.

Christmas night, this is Lilly carefully removing the bow from a gift that was for my mom.

Sunday morning we packed ourselves up in the, literally, freezing cold to meet my dad's family for our annual Christmas brunch. This picture of my cousin Kelly's two girls, Ansley and Kennedy, Lilly and my dad's mom was taken after brunch. Suffice it to say, getting an 8 month old, a 9 month old and a two and a half year old to all sit still and smile was a challenge we weren't up for. So we focused on the holding still part.
Wow! What a weekend. But, we still weren't done.

On Christmas Eve we packed up the car and drove five hours in the pouring rain to eastern Kentucky to spend the rest of the holiday with Bryan's family. We had a great time and it was a traditional Christmas, complete with a tree, "A Christmas Story" marathon and of course 74 degree weather.

All in all it was a great 1st Christmas for Lilly and she can't wait for next year. Bryan and I will probably just be getting rested up from this year by the time next Christmas rolls around.

Ode to the Doodle

This post is dedicated to the member of our family that has recently and graciously stepped aside and given away his spot as most favored dependant. Hank has accepted his new position as #2 very well. He shares his toys with Lilly, while seeming to understand that he shouldn't play with hers. He is gentle with her and allows her to crawl on him, pull his hair and investigate his feet and tail. When he has had enough he waits until she is clear and then he gets up and just moves away. He doesn't steal food from her, but he does like to lick her face after she has had her juice.

Bryan and I have known for a while that we got lucky with our pound puppy, he is so good natured and well behaved. But, we didn't realize until Hank and Lilly started to interact what a truely good dog he is.

Gymboree

This past Thursday Lilly and I had to miss Gymboree, so we decided to do our makeup class on Saturday so The Daddy Guy could come. It was a lot of fun. Today we worked on balance, Lilly got to sit on a lambskin so she could be pulled up and down a few different slides in the playroom. It was supposed to help her learn to maintain her balance and body position while moving. While the slides were fun she was anxious to show her Daddy Guy what we did last week, which was crawl through tunnels. Here she is crawling through one of the longer tunnels, she had to be lured in with a ball. She's just like the Doodle in so many ways.

Here's Lilly at the end of class. She is enjoying some parachuet time, there is singing, a clown puppet and the best part of Gymboree...bubbles. She's quite taken with them and is very serious. While other babies crawl around, giggling and reaching for the bubbles, Lilly sits stone faced, gently touching any that happen to land on her.

Standing room only

Lilly riding her Lion with some assistance from the Daddy Guy.

I told you guys she could stand up!

She crawls right up to the table and climbs up on it. She's getting pretty sturdy on those little fat legs.

Go Cats

Bryan and Lilly spent the day together on Saturday: crawling around, pulling up on the furniture and watching the Kentucky basketball game. Aren't they cute in their matching outfits? But, that's not really the point now is it?

I said...crawling around and pulling up on the furniture. Yes, Lilly is quite mobile and has been for some time now. However, climbing up the coffee table and recliner are relatively new tricks. Then, just tonight she attempted to take a wobblely step from the table to Hank. She vastly over estimated her abilities, but attempted it just the same. Big Girl!

Lilly seems to be getting bigger every day and more curious every hour! She crawls everywhere and trys to get into everything. Some examples include...magazines and papers, Hanks toys, anything left on the coffee table or living room floor, anything on a low bookshelf, Christmas ribbon and of course the most coveted item...the dog's water. Its getting to be alot of fun at our house...and by the end of the day all four of us are worn out! Good night.

Exersauce

Lilly loves her exersaucer and Bryan and I feel that exersauce is very important for a peanut so we encourage her to use the exersaucer often, but this isn't exactly what we had in mind.