Me and Daddy

Happy Father's Day Daddy! Lilly is holding Kyle's father's day card waiting very patiently to give it to him! We had a great day with a few very light showers butwe didn't let it ruin our picnic, Lilly LOVED the umbrella.  She was very fascinated by it, Vancouver is in her heart! 

We have been meeting Kyle for lunch at a nearby park, enjoying the sun and the swings. It's a great for kyle to get in some extra Lilly time since he has been working very hard and gone most evenings. Lilly loves to kiss daddy, it's full on slobber but we love it. She kisses with such passion, hey? maybe she is destined for the movies! 
Lilly driving the boat.  We have been able to get up north a couple times to the cabin and The Lilster just loves the outdoors. She is miss Independence grabbing that steering wheel.  It has been a great summer so far.  We are enjoying the hot weather and seeing family.  Big news for Lilly, she slept the whole night in the crib last night. As many of you know this has been tough for us so we are praying it is not just a fluke and it happens again tonight. no more swing! 

Lilly is 8 months old!

My First Mother's Day was great. Kyle didn't let me change any diapers and we took a walk around the lake and enjoyed some ice cream cones.  I wish Mother's day was every month! 

Lilly is a very skilled jumper, she spends time everyday jumping, jumping, jumping, never tiring. Actually she did fall asleep once, head slumped to the side and legs still jumping. She does love to please a crowd, she jumps higher and smiles bigger when we cheer her on. 
Lilly has been enjoying the swing at the park! She is an outdoors kinda girl, loving walks and the wind in her hair. She squeals and laughs whenever a gust of wind blows. Since I'm not working this summer, we spend our time playing and doing all the shopping for the family. As you can see Lilly is just as in love with Target as I am! She absolutely loves to go to the store.  She is such a charmer smiling at everyone we pass, more than once people have told me she should be a baby model. I think she knows how cute she is, lately she tilts her head just a bit to the side and smiles big. what a cutie!

We have a crawler! Check out the video below. She started a couple weeks ago and she is progressing too fast for me. She is already trying to get up steps. yikes. Baby proofing the new digs happened fast after a few initial spills.  She is a little independent peanut trying to stand all by herself. I'm afraid she'll be walking soon.  People always tell me, mostly in grocery store lines, that it goes by so fast and it has. Eight months have flown by and this precious little girl has made our lives richer than we could have ever imagined.  

See you later, Vancouver

We have been out and about to try to escape the packing but it has caught up with us.  We have gone to our favorite spots this week and we're feeling sad to say goodbye to this beautiful city and our wonderful friends for four months. We will be back! 
We had a great adventure at Granville Island, We went to both of Kyle's favorite places there, the  hammock store and the donut shop! We had a run in with a seagull that I'm sure he'd love to tell you about! 
Lilly has been a little helper with packing! Actually not really at all but she has been super cute every bit of the way. One afternoon I was taping boxes and Lilly found it hilarious. I have never heard her laugh so much, every I pulled the tape over the box she was hysterical.  She and I laughed so much I ran out of tape. 

More Firsts

Spring has been so beautiful here in Vancouver.  The trees are in full bloom and the sidewalks are adorned with white and pink blossoms.  We live in beautiful place just steps away from the beach. We have loved taking walks at Kits Beach and around our neighborhood. As we plan to pack everything up and move it into storage in 10 days I have been getting nostalgic about our little one berdroom by the beach.  The first apartment Kyle and I had together, the first apartment with Lilly, it has been such a great place with a year and half of really great memories. We have loved our place and I'll be sad to leave.

  

We have enjoyed the nice weather with Lilly, its so nice not to have get her into her snow suit and bundled up.  Just a sunhat and blankie and we are out the door!  We decided to have Lilly try out the swing in the park at the beach. She was apprehensive as I slid her in the seat but once she started swinging she was all about it.  Cooing the whole time! She looked so tiny in that big swing, but she'll grow into it!  It has been fun to introducing her to new things.  She is a curious girl always watching very closely everything we do.  Touching everything she can get her hands on and then trying to put it in her mouth. She is adorable, Kyle and I are amazed when she gets cuter everyday.   

Day two of eating rice cereal has been seamless. She loves eating and gets it everywhere. In her ears, eyebrows, up her nose, in between her toes. How does she do that? At least some is getting into her mouth! 

6 months old!

                    Well Lilly ate solid food for the first time on her 6 month birthday.  For weeks she had been eyeing our food as we eat our meals and watching very closely as we put food in our mouth.  Lilly has also been grabbing for our cups and even brings it to her mouth! Maybe she knows where a cup goes or maybe she just puts everything to her mouth.  Either way, we think she is brilliant. 

As always the event was well documented with photos and videos.  Just as I had expected she LOVED eating real food.  She was a little unsure about the spoon but once the yummy rice cereal hit her tongue she could not get enough.  She wanted seconds! After she conquered soupy cereal we made another batch that was a bit thicker. I think if we let her she would eat all day long!  

I have heard stories about myself as a baby, food could not be shoveled in fast enough! I think Lilly is taking after her Mama, she was whining for more in between every bite.  We will continue on with cereal and hopefully she will be filled up enough to sleep through the night! 

     

"Give me more Daddy!"

Happy Easter!

We had a great Easter with our Vancouver community.  We are so blessed to have found such amazing friends that feel like a second family. Holidays have been so great spending time together as we are all away from home.  Lilly LOVED her first Easter.  I think her favorite part was charming everyone with her smiles.  We had a great time with Sarah who came up from Seattle and are so thankful that she gets to spend lots of holidays with us! 
Lilly was a bit curious about her Easter basket but mostly interested in how it tasted! 

This is a video of Lilly playing Peek-a-boo before bedtime! She is so playful and sweet we just can't even handle it!  What a precious and smart 6 month old! 

1st Day at the Beach!

It was a gorgeous day so we took a short stroll to the beach. Lilly has been on lots of walks to the beach but this is the first time we hung out and played on a blanket.  Kits beach was a popular place this afternoon. Jugglers, T'ai Chi-ers, and other little ones enjoying the nice weather.  We love our place by beach we'll miss it when we move to family housing on campus. 
The first time her little toes have felt grass. She really liked it. Lilly has never been a fan of socks so bare feet in the grass was right up her alley. We will have lots more adventures this summer barefoot at the park! 
I love this grin.  Lilly is a cutie.  She is learning more everyday and Kyle is convinced that she says "yeah" She loves watching us talk, usually with her mouth wide open or moving as our mouths make words. She sometimes copies our sounds too. It is amazing to watch her soak in information.  Her personality is so sweet and playful.  Lilly has started to play peek a boo on her own. She will hide her face in my shirt or hand and then look up and smile. I'll say "Peek a boo!" and she smiles bigger. She'll do this 10 times over before getting bored.  So Sweet. 
Here is a picture of our little Irish girl getting a kiss from Daddy.  Auntie Kristi gave Lilly this bib to wear for St. Patty's day. 
Lilly is still loving her sunglasses. She was all smiles one day when I was putting her in the car so I snapped a couple pictures. Lilly loves to go on outings, stroller, car seat, baby bijorn, no matter to her as long as she is moving! 

5 Months old today!

Lilly is five months old today! She is getting cuter everyday. She loves playing with her toys and her coordination is getting better, she can really get those toys in her mouth now!
This is one of her new favorite toys, Sofie the giraffe. She is very determined to get it in her mouth!


Lilly is a boogie boogie baby. She loves to dance, especially with Daddy.  Her favorite song to dance to is All she wants to do is Dance Dance Dance by the Eagles. A close second is Head, shoulders, knees and toes! 

Lilly loves wearing her sunglasses! I was so surprised when I put them on her face, she didn't try to grab at them.  She gladly wears them, maybe Lilly knows she is uber stylish. 

Vote for Cutest Baby

We entered the Cutest Baby contest with the Star Tribune. Please Vote for Lilly. She is the 199 in the the first round and first heat. Here is her Picture!

Four months old!

Lilly is now four months old. she can sit up by herself for a few seconds and she is LOVING her toys. It is so incredible to watch her interact with toys.  She is a very curious girl and usually sticks her tongue out when she is really focusing on a toy or book. Too cute. Lilly is making lots of new noises, I love that she interacts with us and mimics our noises. 

She weighed in at 13lbs and 9oz at her 4 month check up and got another installment of immunization shots.  Since she is such a big girl not she has graduated from sleeping in her car seat. I won't lie,  it's been a rough road but it will get better, I hope!  

I was able to see my college roommate Sonja and her new son Hakan when I was in Minnesota. We joked that Lilly had her first playdate with her future husband.   Hakan is very handsome although Lilly looked like a giant baby next to him.  It put some perspective on how much growing happens in 4 short months! 

Minnesota Visit!

Lilly had her very first trip to Minnesota! She was such a great traveler and she had a great time meeting lots of new friends. We stayed at my parents place and I think Lilly had more toys there than she does at home in Vancouver. Grandpa and Grandma had a great time with Lilly and it was so sweet to see her face light up each day when they got home from work.  

Lilly met her favorite uncle, Bryan for the first time. He was a natural with her. So sweet!  

We had a very special first trip to the bookstore with Grandma Sachs. Lilly is loving books lately, she looks at all the pictures with lots of interest.  I am sure she is brilliant!  She has lots of new books now, her current favorite is The I Love You Book by Todd Parr. 

3 Months Old!

Today Lilly is three months old. It's crazy to think that she has been in the works for almost a whole year.  I have been telling her all day what a big deal it is to be three months old but she doesn't seem to care, business as usual for her.  We took a walk to Granville Island and were thankful for temperatures that are above freezing.  All the snow is gone and it's green again. It will be a frigid shock to come to Minnesota in a couple weeks.  Lilly's baby dedication is on Saturday, February 7 in Minnetonka. Let us know if you'd like to come!  We want everyone to meet Lilly when we are in town. 

I am so in awe of this little girl.  She is more precious than I could have ever imagined. I'm so glad I can stay home with her because there are days I get nothing done simply because I have stared at her all day long, well truthfully the day is filled with diapers, feeding and playing but there is a lot of staring with awe that this little girl is my daughter.  

She is growing like crazy and learning too.  She is rolling over from her tummy to her back and she watches everything so closely. I wish I had a window into her thoughts. Her smile makes my day, there is no greater feeling than seeing a pout turn into a smile when she is waking up from her naps.   

This is a picture of Lilly seeing snow for the first time. She is just too cute. 

Bath time Beauty

The first couple weeks Lilly hated bath time but now that she is bigger it is her favorite time of the day. We have now graduated to the big tub and she loves it.  She kicks her legs, floats on her back and tries to eat the bubbles. I think we have another swimmer in the family. Can't wait to get her in a pool. 

What a great tummy!

sweet cheeks, huh?