happy valentine's day!

I got a card in the mail?! (gasp)

Wait...what? This isn't an edible card?

I can't tell who it's from!

Oh I see now...it's from Grandpa and Grandma VS!

That was so nice of them to send me a card!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

I'm trying to keep smiling...but, mom...I'm really ready for a nap. 

Can't you tell by my sleepy eyes?

See...told you...this sitting up stuff is hard work!

weekend

Sometimes just hanging out at home, not really doing a whole lot, is the best kind of weekend...

her favorite way to suck/chew on her pipe lately 

playing with daddy

not sure if lilia is laughing at matt's face or his kisses

Lilia slept in this morning but was quite content to just wait for us to come get her.  This is how she was looking at us when we opened up her door this morning....followed by a big smile.  What a way to start off a Sunday morning!

loving life

Lilia is in such a fun stage right now.  She absolutely loves to play in her little walker cart thing - I think because it allows her to stand up on her own and move around a bit.  Plus, it has many things of various shapes and textures to put in her mouth, which is a must these days.  It seems like if something is not in her mouth, drool is coming out...or maybe both at the same time.  And when we have her on the changing table, her toes or both thumbs will do the trick...

She's also becoming quite the mover.  She gets herself onto her stomach to sleep all the time, loves rolling around on the little play mat, and can even wiggle and scoot around if something is a little out of her reach.  When I checked on her napping the other day, she had moved herself all the way to the edge of her crib where there's no bumpers and was holding the bars with her head resting against them!

She loves to interact with people and easily wins them over with her bright-eyed smile. It's pretty hard to refuse, if you ask me!

new tricks

Last week, I was telling someone that it seems Lilia was just 3 months old.  Well, time really has gone fast because that's also the last time I updated this thing!  Well, we'll start with Christmas break, where we experienced quite a few firsts...

first teeth -- pretty quick and relatively painless, but pretty sure it led to her first cold which also got her to experience her....

first trip to the doctor (other than her well visits) -- we were in Iowa at the time, so Lilia was able to meet my pediatrician to make sure that croup cough wasn't anything more serious.

first time in Minnesota -- her dad was pretty proud of this one.

first time seeing snow -- we hadn't had more than a dusting in Chicago (and still haven't! I think the record for consecutive days without snow is still growing by the day)

first bubbles -- we try so hard to get a video of this, but she knows when the camera comes out and refuses to humor her crazy parents.

and celebrating declan and hannah's first birthday parties!

Matt thought she needed his hat to stay warm
 in the frigid temps last week.  Lilia seemed to
think that was a good idea as well :).

Well, since getting back from our far and long Christmas travels, a typical day for us includes rolling over any time I put her on her back...

...sticking anything and everything into our mouths (most recently, her toes)

...loving her new scooter toy thing

...and freely giving smiles and giggles (as long as she's not hungry or tired!)

thankful

Thanksgiving was special this year.  Well, it's special every year because it's my favorite holiday...so I should say it was a little extra special.  Not only was it our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3, but it was also the first time in many, many years that every member of this Thanksgiving family was together.  The time went waaay to fast, but it was great to be able to spend a few relaxing days with these people who I am so thankful for!

First time in a tractor!

Sporting the shirt from Auntie Kelli
"owl love you forever"

Lilia and I also made a trip up to Michigan to see some family and meet cousin Sarah's son Luke the weekend before Thanksgiving.  She loved playing with Grandma Slenk!

Lilia is 3 months old today, and she decided to celebrate by showing us a new trick...she rolled from her back to stomach yesterday!  It took her a while to get to this point, so we'll have to keep practicing to get better at it. 

Whipping that leg over..........yeah, we'll count it!

growin

6 weeks
(outfit from the vball girls :) )

7 weeks

8 weeks
(October 23 and super warm outside)

9 weeks
(already in my 3-6 mo clothes!)

10 weeks
(election day)

give thanks

It's hard not to be reminded of all that we can be thankful for at this time of year.  With many people posting 30 days of thanks on facebook, I usually can agree with most things I read.  However, I have seen some people being intentional about posting blessings in disguise, and I felt challenged to do the same - to take the nuisances and stresses in my life and instead see the blessing that is waiting for me if I only look a little deeper.  So here goes my first week...

#1: I am thankful for God's creativity that can be seen in each one of us.  Sometimes our differences can be frustrating and make it difficult to develop relationships, but we are all image bearers of Him and his diversity is beautiful.

#2: I am thankful for poopy diapers because it means my daughter is healthy and eating really well!

#3: I am thankful for the never-ending task of raking leaves because it allows me to do some physical labor outside and enjoy my favorite season of the year.

#4: I am thankful for political ads (not the content necessarily) but because they mean we live in a country that gives me the right to vote and freely live out my faith.  I personally think these kids say it much better to a little "Call Me Maybe" tune! :)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVkfNUxRh7g

#5: I am thankful for long (sometimes reeeally long) days at home because it means that God had provided just enough for me to be able to stay at home with our daughter this school year.  

#6: I am thankful for rainy, dreary days because our God knows just what we need after a hot, dry summer.

#7: I am thankful for a daughter that fights sleep because sometimes that's what it takes to make us slow down, drop everything, and just be with her to comfort and sing her to sleep.

And here are some pictures of our smiling, cooing, beautiful blessing that we see growing before our eyes every day...

peacefully sleeping

she LOVES the butterfly - never takes her eyes off it!

starting to learn how to use her hands

shows how much she has grown - she wore the on the left
right after coming home.  now, she fits into the one on the right!