Leapin' Lily!

My oh my, Lily fans, November is turning out to be a stellar month for updates!

This morning, as usual, I woke to Lily's gentle call and went to greet her. What I found nearly stopped my heart. There, with the concentration of the finest athlete, was Lily standing and poised to swan dive right up and out of her crib with this crazy look in her eye like I get when I smell a funnel cake. My reaction? I think it's this kind of moment we hear about when a mother sees her child under a car and lifts the thing with one arm and uses the other to pull the baby to safety... 'cause it felt like that. I gave the most adorable shriek and swooped the little lady up into my arms before any harm was done.

Tonight, as I rocked her to sleep, I remembered the incident and my earlier vow to lower the crib mattress to a more secure setting. Pushing the thought aside (it's been a long day, y'all) through some mildly stretched logic I put her down and didn't think much of it. And then she woke up about thirty minutes later.

Answering her gentle call, I skipped upstairs and what do I see? The Leaping Lizard strikes again! Again, my precious little scream and about five minutes later I had a party with a wrench, some screws and a can-do attitude.

As I write this, the little lady is still trying to adjust - after all, I did interrupt her beauty sleep. At this point I don't even mind the tears - as long as they're sobbed from inside the crib.

Clear As A Bell

So tonight Lily looked her doting daddy straight in the peepers and proclaimed him "Dada". Naturally we all pitched a giddy fit and frightened the little angel to tears. It's like the man who lights a match for the first time and upon jumping for joy at the achievement the fire is blown out. Lesson learned. We'll see if it happens again in the next 8 months...

Up And Out!

Dear Lily,

Today before I left for work I spoke to your Kiki about my concern for your lack of teeth. I was doubting that they would ever come. We have seen hints of teeth for months - just the tippy tops of one or two - but none had yet to breach the surface...until now.

In a matter of hours, you have willed your first pearly white into existence - I am not surprised. You have always done things your way in your own time- I fear you are far too much like your mother - and this is no exception. From now on, darling girl, I, to the best of my ability, will try to always remember that you need your time and space. Some people are easily molded and influenced- you are not. No amount of coaxing has ever gotten you to do something before you were ready; whether it be crawling, sleeping, even your first breath on this earth - all of it was achieved by your own will. I will remember that though I want many things for you I cannot force them into being. I will try to always remember that you will do as you see fit, and that the best I can do for you is be a set of arms to help you as you rise, catch you if you fall, hold you when you hurt, embrace you when you smile, and hopefully, let you go when you are ready. I'm sorry I ever doubted you. It will never happen again, darling girl.

Get ready for a world of toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, dentists, and one very special little fairy. You sure are growing up fast.

I love you. Always
Mommy

My Fair Lady

This past weekend, Lily and Braidan continued their courtship with an outing to the North Florida Fair (and yes, I've been planning the title of this blog since the dates of the Fair were announced last month - guilty). I have always loved the fair and last year I was not able to really partake in the fun (eating the supremely nutritious food, riding the calming and therapeutic coasters, socializing with the lovely, well-mannered and soft-spoken gentle-carnies...) so this year I was all too excited to introduce Lily to the carnival atmosphere! With Mommy, Daddy, Ms. Elise and Mr. Mike along as chaperones we all headed to the Fairgrounds to take in the festivities. The weather was perfect, the food was fatty, and we all had a fabulous time!

Petting Zoo is a must!

Not too sure about the Alpaca

All is well in Daddy's arms

A girl's first experience with deep fried Oreos! A big day for Lily...

MMMMM Sugar!

Lily's First Halloween!

Happy Halloween, y'all! We have all been anxiously awaiting this day!

Her first of the major holidays, (read as: holidays on which it is not only appropriate but necessary to rack up a rockin calorie count and not require a Come To Jesus meeting after - basically all but Flag Day and Earth Day) Halloween and its preparation has taken up much of this little ladybug's time during the past few weeks!

First things first - HOME DECOR!

Handmade crafts are a must

Next comes Pumpkin Pickin

Then pumpkin carving! We're not a fan of Mr. Pumpkin's unmentionables...

Halloween Eve - does anyone else remember when this was called "Mischief Night"?

Brunch? Bien Sur!

Family Shot!

Happy Halloween, y'all!

OPA!

The family has just returned fat and happy from the famous Tallahassee Greek Food Festival! This is a Tally tradition - I've been going since high school! We look forward to it every year and this year we got to introduce Lily to the scene! We sampled fabulous Greek delectables while listening to authentic Greek music and chatting with friends. Probably my favorite part about the whole event is you run into so many people! We bumped into so many old friends we hadn't seen in ages. It was great to be able to catch up and introduce them to Lily - I wish we had gotten pictures with everyone!

Lily with Ms. Mary!

Taking it all in!

Flashback! Greek Food Fest of 2006 - Greek Groovin'

Making The Call

Little Lily came down with what seemed like a cold last night. No biggie. It stuck with her this morning and throughout the day, resulting in the most pitiful little soggy angel face you could ever imagine. Poor little thing was leaking from her nose, drooling out the mouth (then again - she always does that) and her usually sparkling eyes had this funny glazed-over look to them. Pretty cute actually. Like a Basset Hound. Anyway, long story short (too late) things took a turn for the worst around 7:30 when she spiked a fever and re-enacted a famous scene from The Exorcist as we were welcoming Daddy home from his trip (welcome home, Honey!). Tonight, for the first time, we paged the good doctor.

Now, having a nurse for a mama has really been a blessing. We've had fevers before without issue, so when Kiki tells us to call the doc - we call the doc. Lily is sleeping now and will hopefully sleep most of this away within a day or so. This is not a particularly exciting event (after all, fevers and throw-up are kind of a given when it comes to babies) nor is anyone overly concerned; but again, this acts as our baby book and I want to make sure every "first" is documented. Necessary? Absolutely! Silly? Very.