The Hartleys

What a difference a year makes ...

2012-01-25T14:11:00.000-08:00

Lily on January 20, 2011 at the park ...

Lily on January 20, 2012 at the park ...

Sometimes I miss that little baby in the first video but I sure do love the playful little girl in the second video! It is fun to think about the person she'll be next year! Maybe she'll have grown some hair by then! :)

Quinn is 7 months old!

2012-01-16T22:48:00.000-08:00

I feel like I say this every month, but how Quinn is already 7 months old is completely beyond me. I remember her birth like it was this morning but the truth is she is closer to one than birth! Absolutely crazy. As they say, time marches on, I suppose. Thankfully, Quinn at 7 months is just as cute or cuter than Quinn as a newborn! She is so so so precious and such a blessing to everyone she comes into contact with!

At 7 months old, Quinn:

*Is doing a considerably better job keeping her food in her belly instead of "sharing" it with the rest of the world after she's partially digested it. In other words, she's barfing way less ... most often only once or twice a day, which is much better than the 3-4 times per feeding of a few months ago.

*Is wearing mostly 6 month clothes, some 3-6 month still if they don't have legs or feet. She is almost ready for 9 month sleepers since she is much longer than she is wide.

*Loves being tickled, especially by her Daddy.

*Loves playing with empty/mostly empty plastic water bottles. She is actually pretty good at holding on to one with her tiny little hands.

*Loves sleeping with mom and dad and always manages to scoot right up next to me when she's sleeping. We put her down to sleep in her crib every night but most nights she ends up in our bed at some point. We never did that with Lily, but it seems to be working with Quinn. I am sure we'll have a battle to come somewhere down the road but right now we are all getting some much needed sleep and we've chosen to just fight that battle when it comes.

*Has the cutest little baby mohawk right down the center of her head.

*Hates being on her belly which is why I think she hasn't really started scooting yet. At 7 months Lily was a total scooter, but Quinn starts crying within moments of being put down for tummy time and has no interest in scooting. I put toys in front of her and she seems to want to get to them, but she gets super frustrated and just starts screaming. She'll get there in her own time.

*Still likes to be swaddled when she sleeps, also very different from Lily. She smacks herself and anything around her when she's not swaddled, which wakes her up. I am not sure when she's going to grow out of this, but we figure she'll let us know when she's done being swaddled.

* Is super smiley and content. She spends most of her time calmly observing the world around her and as long as she is being held and is fed, she is a happy camper.

*Loves being carried in the Ergo and I love carrying her in it. It is so sweet to have her tucked up against my chest as we are out and about and she almost always goes to sleep within minutes of being in there.

* Is still 100% breastfed and is eating more rice, peas, and carrots. Another difference from Lily is that she does not seem nearly as excited about solid food as Lily was. Lily couldn't get enough!

*Absolutely lights up when she sees someone she loves. Her whole body gets stiff and she starts waving her hands and kicking her legs. It is the cutest, most endearing thing ever.

We love you, Quinny Quinn! You are absolutely precious to us!

Lily is 33 Months Old!

2012-01-15T23:00:00.000-08:00

As Lily approaches her 3rd birthday, I find myself trying so hard to soak up every minute of her cuteness. She is getting bigger and more mature by the day, it seems, and I know that my darling toddler won't be toddling for too much longer. So far I've loved every stage of Lily's life even more than the last so I fully anticipate the I'll enjoy the kid stage as well, but I'll admit that sometimes I just want to cry thinking that someday all too soon she won't have her little mousy voice or need me to kiss every boo boo. And then ... well ... there are other days I really look forward to her being a little older and the independence that comes with that! :) But really, most days I just can't imagine any other place I'd rather be than with spending all day with Lily and hearing every thought that comes from her cute brain. Lily is a truly joyful girl and it is such a blessing to be her mom!

At 33 months old, Lily:

*Is so emotionally aware. The other day I lost something important and after searching for it for a very long time I let out a big sigh. Lily heard me and asked, "Mama. Why are you breathing so sad?" When I told her I had lost something important, she told me, "I'll help you find it! Let's look together! We're better as a team!" Such a sweetheart!

*Is always listening. Even when we think she's not, she is. That's how she learned the word crap. Ooops! She is also starting to figure things out even when we spell them. The other day my mom was talking about looking for T-O-Y-S at garage sales and Lily said "Mom, that means toys." Seriously, Lily? Are you aware that you are two years old?

*Got sick this past month with some sort of stomach bug. She threw up in the car at the mall parking lot out of nowhere. She was just talking, acting totally normal, and then she barfed like crazy all over herself and the car. We took her out and got her as cleaned up as possible, then she threw up a few more times on the way home. It was awful. Then she was fine the rest of the day, fine all the next day, then woke up throwing up again on the 3rd day! So strange! She's been fine for almost two weeks now so I am pretty confident that she is over whatever she had, but it was really a strange few days. Also, she now says "Remember when I barfed my peanut butter sandwich all over my car seat?" every time we are in the car. Apparently, it was quite traumatic for her too. :(

*Loves playing on the Ipad. She knows exactly how to turn it on, unlock it, get to the PBS Kids ap, and play her favorite shows. We know this isn't exactly parents of the year material, but sometimes when we are really tired and she wakes up at the crack of dawn, we give her the Ipad to play with in bed and that buys us at least an extra hour of sleep. Sometimes you just do what you've got to do. :)

*Is so sweet to Quinn. She often goes and gets Quinn's "baby toys" and brings them to her and is always hugging, kissing, and pretending to hold Quinn. When Quinn cries, Lily is always there saying "It's okay, Baby Girl, it's okay!" She tells people that she has a baby named Quinny Quinn and is so proud of her.

*Is very musical. She knows a million songs, loves making up her own songs (sometimes to a tune she knows and sometimes to a made up tune) and she loves "playing" instruments like the drums and guitar (katar, as she calls it.)

*Loves to play catch with her stuffed soccer ball and her hand eye coordination is really improving.

*Is on a fruit kick where she loves eating all kinds of fruit, especially oranges. She likes "the really drippy ones" and can eat an entire orange by herself without any problem.

*Simply doesn't stop talking. All day, every day, talk talk talk talk. It is amazing, adorable, and exhausting all at the same time.

*Is sleeping pretty good most nights! It takes her awhile to go to sleep most of the time, but once she is asleep she only wakes up about once a week. Awesome sauce.

*Knows that calling Chris and I by our first names will really get our attention.

*Loves her Jesus Storybook Bible and enjoys reading it daily. Her favorite story is "the story of Pharaoh, when he's not a good listener" and she will sometimes talk about God in ways that let us know that some of the things we are telling her are sinking in. She loves to pray and thanks God for things like toys, french fries, and specific people who are on her mind.

*Loves to race whenever we are walking and after she wins she is always encouraging. She says things like "Okay, now it's your turn to win, Mama!" I hope that is the beginning of a competitive person with excellent sportsmanship.

*Often laughs at her own jokes. In her words "That's hilarious!"

*Thinks its funny to call people the wrong names. She'll often call me "Grandma" when she's being silly and she thinks it's really funny when we call her the wrong name.

Lily at 33 months old is so so so cute. She is kind, thoughtful, smarter than smart, and even the things that are difficult about her (the incessant chatter, mainly) are really not that bad. She is such a sweetheart and we just love her to pieces!

Lily is 32 Months Old!

2011-12-16T09:36:00.000-08:00

At 32 months old, Lily:

Is hilarious. She cracks me up! She also thinks she is hilarious and laughs at the things she says when we laugh. She often asks "Is that funny?" which we also find amusing.

Likes to make up words and talk in her own little language. One word she made up is "bada" which means stop. So we'll be at a store and she'll yell out, "Bada, Mama!" which means she wants me to stop. Then she'll say "green light!" which means I can go. She finds this entertaining. I play along most of the time unless we are in a hurry which means I just keep saying "green light" immediately after she says "bada." Apparently that's not against the rules in Lily's version of the game because she goes along with it.

Is excited for Christmas and asks each day "Is today Christmas?" She doesn't understand the concept of weeks and days yet. She does, however, understand that presents are a comin' and she is ready.

Has the coldest hands and feet, no matter what level of clothing she has on! She's disovered that she can get a reaction out of us by putting her ice cold hands on our exposed skin and she loves it. She laughs crazily and likes to yell out "I put my freezing on you!"

Knows about things that 2 year olds don't normally know about. The other day we were talking about Daddy flying on a plane to visit Uncle Zack and we started talking about what Daddy was probably doing on the plane. I said he was probably eating pretzels and reading a book. Lily said "I think he's playing a trumpet! Or probably a sousaphone!" What 2 year old knows about a sousaphone?!?

Loves loves loves to play doctor and thanks to my Mom has multiple doctor kits from garage sales. Quinn is her favorite patient and her maladies often include boo boos, tummy aches, and a hurt back.

Loves to pretend and is really into dressing up. This is a fun stage!

Hates taking baths and getting her hair washed. The only thing that will entice her to get into the bath without screaming bloody murder is to promise her "colored water" from these bath fizzy things we got at Target. They turn the water red, blue, or yellow and we can combine them to make other colors. Lily thinks this is absolutely magical.

Asks tons of questions all the time and always wants to know "but why?" We love her curiousity.

Loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Dora the Explorer. She would watch TV all day long if we let her.

Adores Quinn and is so sweet with her. She loves stroking her hair and holding her hand. She calls her "Quinny Baby" and is such a great big sister.

Loves Christmas music, specifically "Jingle Bells" and "Deck the Halls" which she calls the chezy song because the thinks they say "Deck the halls with balls of chezy." Oh, Neeners. :)

Quinn is 6 months old!

2011-12-16T09:01:00.000-08:00

Our sweet baby Quinn is 6 months old! Our time with her has absolutely flown by and it's hard to believe it's even possible, but she gets cuter everyday!

At 6 months old, Quinn:

Is sitting up on her own! She's still wobbly but she can do it for awhile before toppling over. :)

Had about 3 ounces of formula while I was at a photo shoot last week. This was the first formula she's had since she was about 3 weeks old and apparently her little tummy didn't like it because she barfed liked crazy. More barf than I've ever seen either of my kids barf. She threw up over and over until she was just dry heaving. It was the saddest thing ever and made me really nervous about giving her formula again.

Is slightly more interested in rice cereal and is actually swallowing some, it seems. We've only tried a couple more times but now that she is 6 months old we'll be introducing more solid foods.

Is laughing a lot. I love that sound.

Is eating frequently, waking frequently, and spitting up frequently.

Does not like to be put down for any reason. She arches back and cries whenever we put her in the swing, bumbo, or car seat.

Weighs 14.9 pounds as of this morning and measures 24" tall. She is a little peanut.

Quinn is 5 months old!

2011-11-30T21:21:00.000-08:00

Quinn is already 5 months old! I can't believe it! She is certainly no longer a newborn and is becoming such a fun baby! It is really fun to see her little personality developing! I can't explain it, but I feel like Quinn and I are going to get along very well throughout her childhood and into her adulthood. We'll see if I still feel that way when she's two, but she is just so easy going and fun to be around right now. :)

At five months old, Quinn is:

Babbling like crazy! She may give Lily a run for her money in the talking department because she is babbling all the time! And at such a high volume! It is really fun to have "conversations" with her.

Laughing. It is the best sound in the world.

In love with her feet. She just recently discovered their existence and it's a whole new world for her.

Not such a great sleeper anymore. She got her first cold a few weeks ago and laying on her back was super uncomfortable for her. We ended up letting her sleep in her swing for a few nights and now she only wants to sleep in the swing. She's never been a fan of sleeping flat on her back and even though she is almost 6 months old she still needs to be swaddled to sleep for any length of time. The past few nights she's been waking up to eat 4-5 times with dozens of wake ups in between where she's wiggling and crying. Those can normally be soothed with a pacifier but it's been a rough couple of sleepless weeks.

Loving being in her Ergo carrier. We have a Moby wrap, a Maya wrap, and an Ergo and she seems to really prefer the Ergo. I like the Ergo because I can nurse her in it while we are walking which is very conveinent since Lily rarely wants to sit on a bench with me for 20 minutes while Quinn eats when we are out in public.

Quinn in the Ergo at Disneyland. This allows us to do Disneyland with 2 kids and no strollers which is no small accomplishment!

Sitting up better as long as she is propped up. I don't think it will be too much longer before we'll have a sitter on our hands. :)

Rolling over sometimes but not too frequently. My guess is that is because she isn't on the floor for very much time because someone is always holding her.

Here is a video of the first time Quinn rolled from her belly to her back. I missed the first little part because I was trying to get the camera to turn on, but the majority of it is there. :)

Enjoying her jumperoo! This is great because it is place she is happy for a couple of minutes while I get some things done that require two hands. Lily is great about pressing the buttons and turning the music on for her.

Still a toothless wonder.

Getting more hair and has a super cute little patch of hair at the base of her neck. A mullet, if you will. She actually had more hair on the back of her head, but she rubbed it off at night.

Very popular and has a great personality. She definitely knows her Mommy and Daddy, but she'll let other people hold her and she is very friendly and smiley. Lily was not a friendly baby. She would scream whenever anyone smiled at her in the grocery store. So Quinn's friendliness is a nice change. :)

Is still wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. She'll probably grow out of them soon but we are glad she is getting good use out of her clothes.

Picking up her toys, reaching and grabbing things like crazy, and bringing things to her mouth all the time.

Head over heels for Lily. Lily can always make her smile and Quinn often has a hard time focusing on eating when Lily is around because she just wants to watch her.

I mentioned before that Quinn had her first little sickness, a cold. It was super mild but she handled it like a champ and only had a mild fever. She is such a happy baby that even feeling sick didn't get her down.

Still 100% breastfed. I am loving not having to wash bottles, but breastfeeding has been a little harder because I've been crazy busy with photography lately. Most photo shoots are short enough that I can feed her right before I leave and then feed her right when I get home, but it is tough on Chris to be home with Quinn and not really be able to feed her when she's fussy. He can feed her pumped milk, of course, but we really try to time it so that I don't have to pump. Pumping those first 6 weeks of Quinn's life have made me pretty averse to pumping unless it's absolutely required.

In love with looking at herself in the mirror. She smiles at herself and I love thinking that she is thinking "Look at that cute baby!" She is cute and she knows it. :)

Quinn is still such a dream baby. We are head over heels for her and love having her as a part of our family! My only request would be that she slow down her growing just a little bit so I can still have a sweet baby to cuddle a little longer!

Lily is 31 Months Old!

2011-11-30T20:14:00.000-08:00

Well, more like 31.5 months old now! Things have been busier than usual around here with two kids and a growing business. It's all good busy, but this poor blog has been neglected. Without further ado, here are some facts about Lily at 31 months old! :)

Lily is:
.

"Reading" to herself a lot. It is super cute because she makes up the story and says things like, "This book says, 'If you can do it, then you can do it!'" She cracks us up.

Picking up all kinds of funny phrases that make her sound so grown up, like "I'll be back in just a minute" and "Actually, I'd like the other one" "That should do the trick!" and "That song makes me smile." Today she asked me "Do you have any imforlation (information) that would help me find my toy?" Every time she says one of those cute phrases I just want to pick her up and squeeze her!

Learning to lie. We've caught her a few times telling Chris "But Mommy said it was okay!" when Mommy did NOT say it was okay. We've got our eyes on her ... :)

Wanting to do things by herself and a commonly heard phrase around here is "I can do it all by myself!"
.

Making headway in the potty training department but still no where near fully trained.
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Sleeping pretty well most nights, though she has fallen out of bed a few times in recent weeks.

She does lay in bed about an hour most nights before falling asleep while trying to come up with reasons she shouldn't sleep. She frequently tells us she is going to "stay awake forever!"

Still the best big sister ever. She just loves Quinn. This month she got a little cold and she thought the worst part of being sick was that she couldn't touch Quinn. She kept saying "I just want to touch her little hands. I just want to kiss her little feetsies!" She also likes holding Quinn and making her smile. When Quinn is crying Lily will say "Quinny wants her Mommy! Quinny is tired! Quinny is hungry! Fix her!" She'll also put Quinn's pacifier in and say "It's okay, baby girl, it's okay." She is the sweetest!

Loving Veggie Tales.
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Still enjoying Winnie the Pooh books a lot and she has also been loving her Jesus Storybook Bible.

Obsessed with going to Papa and Grandma's house and understandably so! My mom has created a Lily paradise with a beautiful bedroom, a toy room in the house, and a garage full of toys, a Dora playhouse and a bounce house. Also, Papa and Grandma shower Lily with attention and are excellent playmates. :) Lily asks to go there every day and never wants to leave. We even asked Lily the other day if she would like to go to Papa Grandma's house or Disneyland and she chose Papa Grandma's. We are thankful she has such a wonderful home away from home.

Lily with her favorite cuddling buddy, Grandma

Really in love with the show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse which means I can't get that "hot dog, hot dog, hot diggity dog" song out of my head.

Becoming addicted to candy from the potty training. She gets a mini M&M every time she uses the potty along with a sticker and she squeals with delight every time she gets one of those M&Ms. I always told myself that I wouldn't reward my kids with food because I wanted them to see food as fuel for their body rather than a reward for something or a way to make themselves feel better. But, as I've come to find out, sometimes my lofty expectations of myself as a parent go out the window. I'm tired and candy works.

Whining. A lot. Still. It's getting super old.

Developing a fear of dogs. My parent's dog, Bella, stepped on Lily's feet with her toenails and that was all it took for Lily to completely cut off contact with her. Her affection is somewhat fickle. :)

Starting to love dressing up. We were given some great princess dress up clothes from a friend of Chris's and Lily has been wanting to wear the princess shoes all the time. She calls them her "cherry red slippers" and her "cherry blue slippers."

Lily's "cherry red slippers."

Quinn gets to wear the "cherry blue slippers."

At the stage where she says something hilarious/embarrassing every day. Recently, when we were in Target she wanted me to chase her with the cart, which she finds entertaining. But she didn't use the word "chase." Instead she started yelling, in the middle of Target, "Beat me, Mommy! Beat me! Ahhhh! You're going to beat me!" Thankfully, child protective services was nowhere to be found and I still have custody of my children. ;)

Starting to understand the concept of the past and the future, but she doesn't understand how long ago or how far into the future something is. Everything that happened in the past was either "this morning" or "last year" and everything in the future is "tomorrow."

Loving taking pictures with the old digital camera we gave her. She takes pictures of all of us, but her favorite subject is Quinn. She has actually taken an unfortunate number of photos of me breastfeeding Quinn but that is why they made a delete button. ;) Here is a video of Lily being a "photoglapha."

Full of energy. On Thanksgiving we did a 5k Turkey Trot and Lily walked 1.5 miles of it without a problem. She even walked a good chunk of that in the sand beside the path we were walking on. Her energy and endurance is amazing.

Lily is total joy and light in our lives. We love and adore her so much and even when she tests our patience, she is still such an incredible blessing!

Progress ...

2011-11-27T23:33:00.000-08:00

Visit with Grandma Dana and Jeff!

2011-11-17T23:45:00.000-08:00

Sorry about the blogging absence! We've been so super busy. Busy with good things, but still busy. :) One of the fun things we've been busy with these past few weeks was a visit with Grandma Dana and Jeff! We had so much fun seeing them on their visit and introducing them to Quinn. We got to spend lots of quality time together talking, eating, and laughing. We didn't take a ton of pictures because we were just enjoying the time together but here are some we took on the beach when we went to visit them at Camp Pendelton. :)

Quinn is 4 Months Old!

2011-10-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

At 4 months old, Quinn is so fun and one of the most relaxed and happy babies I've ever met. She is pure joy! I fall more and more in love with her all the time, which hardly even seems possible considering I loved her so much to start with! She is growing so so so fast and I just want her to slow down a little so I can keep soaking in her baby-goodness.

At 4 months old, Quinn:

Is babbling a lot and will hold a babble conversation when someone is talking to her. She is also laughing which is pretty much the best sound in the entire world.

Is drooling like crazy. Chris thinks she's teething but I make fun of him because he says it all the time, just like he did with Lily, even though she didn't teeth for a very long time. :)

Loves to stand on her cute little legs and seems to be pretty strong for such a small baby. If she's anything like her sister, she'll be walking in no time.

Was 13 pounds, 10 ounces (45th percentile) and 24.75" tall (56th percentile) as her four month check up. We aren't really sure what to do with this average sized baby ... we're so used to Lily's giantness that now having a normal-sized baby is a weird experience.

Was a champ during her 4 month shots. Recovered quickly and only had a minor fever the next day. Even when she had her fever she was still happy and smiley ... such a good baby!

Most likely has a case of reflux which causes her to throw up so frequently and never want to be laid down on her back. The doctor said she'll outgrow it and as long as she's growing well we don't need to give her medicine. While that generally corresponds to our more natural approach to parenting, sometimes the throwing up does seem uncomfortable for her, so I really hope she outgrows it quickly.

Has rolled over once from her back to her belly.

Still farts like crazy. Gas is her biggest complaint and one of the only reasons she cries when we are home.

Went a record 11 days without pooping this past month. She is, on average, pooping once every 5-8 days so 11 days meant a phone call to the doctor, who told us that as long as she wasn't vomiting an unusual amount, wasn't particularly fussy, and didn't have any hard spots on her belly then it was fine to wait 14 days before bringing her in to the doctor. The doctor suggested bicycling her legs and tickling her butt hole with a Q-tip to make her poop. When she said that I proved that I have the sense of humor of a 12 year old boy because I giggled for about 10 seconds. That is the weirdest thing ever! Thankfully, she pooped soon after that phone call. :)

Is becoming a Mommy's girl, probably because I am her food source. She doesn't like to be too far away from her next meal.

Is still 100% breastfed and doesn't like taking a bottle anymore. This is so great for us but also a little tricky because it makes it hard for me to go anywhere without Quinn. Thankfully there isn't need for us to be separated much, but I know it makes it hard on her caretakers whenever we are apart.

Eats quickly, normally around 5-10 minutes of active eating followed by more comfort nursing. She is very easily distracted while she is eating and often pops off to smile up at me while milk dribbles out of the corner of her mouth. Chris likes to joke that she is drunk on milk when that happens.

Loves, loves, loves Lily. She smiles so much at Lily and Lily is actually really great at calming her down when she's upset. I love their relationship.

Frequently takes her pacifier out of her mouth and holds on to it with a death grip. She flails it about and sometimes manages to get it back in her mouth, but not frequently. It is like an ever-present toy to her. :)

Has started chewing on her hands a lot. She has also started sucking her thumb and her fingers, even though she has a pacifier most of the time. I know this will come back to bite me if this becomes a habit, but it is so stinkin' cute!

Is wearing 3-6 month or 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers.

Has beautiful green-grey eyes. I really hope they stay this color because they are gorgeous!

Is at her fussiest in the car. She just does not like riding in the car, which is so strange since so many babies love the car. Lily never liked it either. We make sure to take plenty of pacifiers on each car ride.

Quinn is such a blessing to us! Last night Chris was talking about how it is hard to even remember what our lives were like without her because she just fits so well into our little family. We just adore her and couldn't be more thankful to have Quinny Quinn as our baby!

Lily is 2 1/2 Years Old!

2011-10-17T15:24:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that Lily is already 2.5 years old! Closer to 3 than to 2 ... wow. Everyday I see glimpses into the little girl she is becoming - polite, thoughtful, stubborn, funny, and kind. Lily is an incredible joy and we just can't even remember what our lives were like without her! Even in her tough moments (which are becoming increasingly frequent, unfortunately) she is still so lovable. I am trying to savor it all, even the moments when she frustrates me, because I feel like her childhood is just flying by!

At 2.5 years old Lily is:

Counting to 100 by 10s - 10, 20, 30, etc. She can also count from 1-30 most of the time. Sometimes she gets a little mixed up between 16-19 but she also does it correctly a lot of the time.

In love with painting with her watercolors and special painting paper. She likes to use every color on every painting and sometimes ends up painting herself in the process.

Seriously whining. Like, a lot a lot. We are really done with the whining and have begun to crack down on it, but we have found it hard because sometimes her requests are legitimate but just presented in a whiny way. We've started asking her to rephrase things in her "nice, normal Lily voice" and sometimes that works and sometimes that leads to a full blown tantrum. We're still working on it.

This is her "You're an idiot, Mom" face. I'm seeing this more and more.

Still fighting sleep constantly. Every naptime and bedtime is met with resistance, but at least she is sleeping well once she falls asleep - about 10 hours at night with only a handful of wake-ups each month and a 1.5-2 hour nap during the day. We are convinced that when she grows up she will be one of those people who only needs a few hours of sleep a night.

Asking "why?" ALL.THE.TIME. Here is a sample from the conversation we had this morning:

Me: Lily, we're going to go see your friend at her house!
Lily: Why are we going there?
Me: Because that's where she lives.
Lily: Why does she live there?
Me: Because that's where her Mommy and Daddy live and she lives with them.
Lily: Why does she live with them?
Me: Because kids live with their parents, just like you live with Daddy and I.
Lily: Why do I live with you and Daddy?
Me: Because we love you and take care of you and we want you to live with us.
Lily: Why do you want me to live with you?
Me: I'm having a hard time remembering right now.

Reminding us that even though her verbal skills are very advanced for her age, she still only 2. She does things like roaring while counting (One ... ROAR ... Two ... ROAR ... Three .... ROAR) and refuses to even entertain the idea of potty training, despite the candy, stickers, jelly beans, and presents waiting for her if she uses the potty. At this point we're thinking she may go college in diapers.

Note: She never went on the potty that day ... or any day. The potty chart remains void of stickers.

Still completely and utterly in love with her Quinny Quinn. She likes to put blankets on Quinn to keep her warm, read books to Quinn, help me give Quinn a bath, sing to Quinn in the car ... she is the sweetest big sister.

In love with the show Team Umi Zoomie which is kind of a math infused show on Nickelodeon. That is where she learned to count to 100 by 10s. She is also really into their theme song and likes to walk around singing it at least a few times each day.

Keeps saying she is going to be Spiderman for Halloween since she heard a little boy friend of her's say it. She has no concept of either Spiderman or Halloween.

Wearing mostly 3T clothes though we are having an increasingly difficult time finding pants for her since her waist is tiny and her legs are so long. She wears 2T adjustable waist pants on the smallest setting to fit her waist, but she really could be wearing 4T pants for the length. I am envisioning a winter full of dresses and tights for her this year.

Still happiest at "Papa Gamma's" house. My mom has created the ultimate play area for Lily in the garage (and in the rest of the house too!) so Lily loves playing in her Dora playhouse, reading her dozens of books, listening to her books on CD, riding her tricycle, playing with her play kitchen, playing with her puzzles, and sleeping in her GIANT bed all at Papa Gamma's house. She asks to go there every single day and when we tell her it is time to leave Papa Gamma's she gets so sad! It is so fun for her to have a place outside of our home where she feels so comfortable and has so much fun.

Saying the word "actually" a lot.

Me: Lily would you like some water?
Lily: Actually, I'd like milk please.

Me: Would you like to wear these pink pants today?
Lily: Actually, I want to wear my blue dress.

She's a girl who knows what she likes.

Still a very picky eater, but her current favorite snacks include apples, almonds, and string cheese.

A girl who likes to rough house with her Daddy. She likes to climb on Chris and her favorite new game is poking Daddy in the eye. "Daddy ... I'm going to poke your eyes!" I've discouraged this game for obvious reasons, but Chris and Lily both think it's hilarious so I'm on the losing end of this battle.

Is very crafty. The other day we bought marshmallows at the store and I gave her one in the car on the way home. She said "Mommy, would you like to give me a marshmallow?" and then, after receiving said marshmallow, said "Mommy, would you like to let me hold the bag?" Sneaky girl!

Lily is a girl who keeps us on our toes, that is for sure. She is still growing and changing so much and it is fun to look back and see that last year at this time she was just starting to put two words together and just learning her colors. She has come so far and changed so much in just the last 12 months! I am so excited to see what the future holds for this precious girl!

A Memory Verse and a Twist

2011-10-07T16:19:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday I decided that Lily was ready to start learning memory verses from the Bible. We started at the beginning - "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." - Genesis 1:1. By Thursday night, after spending a total of about 5 minutes on it over two days, she had it! Seriously, her memory amazes me. She keeps repeating the verse to herself and is already asking for a new verse to learn so hopefully this will be the start of a lifelong practice for her! :)

Plus, there's a little window into Lily's personality right there at the end ... maybe manners training is next? :)

Quinny Quinn

2011-10-07T15:59:00.000-07:00

Quinn is 3 Months Old!

2011-09-14T22:19:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it but Quinn is already 3 months old. We are having SO much fun with her and we thank God every single day for the gift that is our Quinny Quinn. I honestly have never met a more calm, content, and joyful baby. Intellectually I know she's not perfect, but right now she just seems like the most perfect little person in the whole world!

At 3 months old Quinn is:

Looking more and more like her Daddy. She has his hairline and when he is holding her I can really see the resemblance. Her eyes seem to be changing from the deep blue she was born with to more of a greenish blue, which also makes her look more like Chris. They are so cute together!

Seriously the happiest baby. She wakes up smiling every morning, even when she's hungry. She goes to bed smiling and smiles in her sleep. She smiles all the time and has begun to add little squeaky laughs to her smiles which are just delightful. Lily loves to talk about the "cute baby sounds" that Quinny makes.

Such a sweet-tempered baby that when she does cry to be picked up, she stops crying as soon as she sees us walking towards her. It's like she doesn't want to cry a second longer than she needs to. What a darling.

Is doing great at breast feeding! I am officially done pumping and she has been breastfeeding like a champ for the entire last month. I've only pumped twice with a hand pump (we returned our hospital grade rental pump) and that was only because it was super hot and I thought she was getting a little dehydrated so I wanted to give her just a little extra milk by bottle. We are so so so thankful for this development in our lives! Quinn seems to be a bit of a snacker, eating for 5-10 minutes at a time every 2-3 hours during the day and sleeping for one 5-6 hour stretch at night. It seems as though my milk comes out pretty quickly so that is a little bit of an issue because she ends up swallowing quite a bit of air while she is eating and then barfing a good bit of milk back up. However, she doesn't seem overly bothered by it and is gaining weight and growing well, so it isn't too much of a concern right now.

Has the cutest little dimple on her left cheek which is only visible when she's smiling really big. Adorable.

Still pooping about once every 7-8 days. I'm telling you, she's perfect.

Seemingly completely healed from the plugged duct in her eye. Yet another thing to be thankful for!

Starting to roll. She has rolled from her back to her belly once but she was on a bed with a slight incline so I don't think that totally counts. However, she frequently rolls from her back to her side so I think she'll be rolling for reals any day now. We honestly don't give her much time to practice because we are either holding her or she is in her swing most of the time.

A girl who loves to stand up. I am just betting she is going to be an early stander/walker because she loves when we stand her up. She gets such a surprised look on her face and then she gets a wide, toothless smile on her face.

I know time moved quickly when Lily was a baby, but time is just absolutely speeding by with Quinn. I am taking lots of pictures and videos, of course, to try and capture this precious time. But I find myself really trying to make memories of how it feels to be with her right now - the way it feels when I brush my cheek against her silky hair, the way her warm little body feels when she's sleeping on my chest, the way it feels when her tiny hand wraps itself around my finger, the way her entire foot can fit in the palm of my hand, the way her tiny belly is so amazingly soft and kissable. Those are the fleeting feelings that can't be captured on any piece of technology instead must be impressed upon my heart.

Quinn - my love for you knows no bounds. You are the exact right fit for our family and we never even knew that we were missing anything until you came along and filled the hole we didn't know existed. If I could freeze you right at this age, I would. Thankfully, I am not in charge of these things. I hope and pray daily that you will continue growing into the person you are meant to be and that you will find God's plan for your life. You truly are something special, my darling. Thanks for letting me be your Mommy and I am so thankful I get to share this journey with you. I love you, baby girl.

Lily is 29 Months Old!

2011-09-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Lily is 29 months old today! She is growing like crazy and it is still exciting to me how much she is changing from month to month. She is so so so cute and she just makes my heart smile, even on her (and my) rough days. What a joyful girl!

At 29 months old Lily is:

Grasping the concept of introducing herself to people. She loves to introduce herself to people who are running the cash registers at the stores we go to. Often they will say hi to her and she will say, "Hi! I'm Lily! This is my Mommy! That's my Quinny Quinn!" Yesterday at Yogurtland she changed up the script to, "Hi! I'm Lily! That's my daughter, Quinny." :)

Recognizing there is a difference between boys and girls, but she mostly thinks it has to do with hair length. We saw a woman with short hair the other day and Lily kept asking what "he" was doing. I promptly shushed her. Ha!

Repeating herself all.the.time. She loves the sound of her own voice and she's not old enough for a blog yet (ha!) so she resorts to saying the same things over and over again. Most recently it has been "I want Mama" or "Mama, I want you!" or most frequently "Maaaaammmaaaaa I waaaaannntttttt yyyoooooouuuu!" (Did you get it? That is Lily whining.) She'll say this at the first hint that she might be in trouble in an attempt to avoid the looming discipline. At first it actually worked because I am a sap and thought she really just wanted me and missed me because since Quinn was born we can't give her as much attention as we used to. She couldn't have know it, but she totally played into my Mommy guilt. Now, however, I'm onto her and her mini-manipulation. :)

Still completely and totally in love with Quinn. She loves looking at her and asks to touch her all the time. She HAS to kiss her goodnight and always talks about how "cute and silly" Quinny is. She is SUCH a good big sister!

Quite the singer and has started making up her own songs, some of which are quite hilarious and most of which are incomprehensible to us.

Asking to talk about God and Jesus a lot. She always asks me to talk about what happens if we do bad things (it makes God sad) and what happens if we do good things (it makes God happy.) The other day she came to me and said "Mommy! I need you to protect me!" and when I asked what she needed protection from she said "God and Jesus! They are going to get me!" OOOPS! Perhaps I have been stressing the justice/punishing side of God a little too much and need to focus more on God's grace in my discussions with Lily. Parenting fail!

In love with jumping. The girl could jump all day every day and never get tired. In fact, Chris and I both agree we've never yet found an activity that tires her out. We're still looking though. :) Lily's favorite thing to jump on is her Daddy. She loves to jump on his belly and chest and listen to his moans and groans. She finds this hilarious and I not-so-secretly do too. :)

Becoming quite the artist. She loves to color and uses her "Grandma Dana crayons" every single day. Her favorite thing is to dump all 96 crayons (well, really there are about 120 pieces now since she also loves to break said crayons) onto the floor and mix them up before using them to color in her coloring books. Shockingly, she does not enjoy putting the crayons away.

Really enjoying the Winnie the Pooh movies we got for her. She loves Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger the most and frequently asks us to sing the "Quinny the Pooh song" even though we only know one line of it. That one line really satisfies her though, so it works out.

Loving apple jacks, the cereal. She calls them "chump chumps" for some completely unknown reason and frequently says that they are her "favorite snack." Pretty much whatever snack she is having at the time is her "favorite snack" but chump chumps have really had some staying power.

Very sensitive to loud noises. This is a fairly recent development for her so we're hoping it's temporary. The list of noises that scare her include: the toilet flushing, the vacuum, the trash truck, motorcycles, Chris or I calling to each other from another room, and car alarms. She's a sensitive girl.

Even though this month has been a little more challenging than most because Lily has had some off days with lots of tears and tantrums, she still remains a very easy going and pleasant child. We are thankful for her energy, her enthusiasm, her sweetness, and her own unique personality. We love her so incredibly much!

Lily in the Rain

2011-09-10T21:39:00.000-07:00

We had a freak rain/thunder storm this morning in Southern California, so Lily and I took it as a sign that we were supposed to wake up early to go out and play in the rain. I was so spoiled to spend so much quality one and one time with Lily before Quinn was born and I'll confess, as much as I love and adore and treasure Quinn, I sometimes miss those special moments when I could give Lily my complete attention and affection. This morning's Mommy and Lily time was so special and good for both of us. Plus, who doesn't love jumping in puddles?!?

Lily in her pink raincoat that she got from our dear friend, Elaine. She LOVES this coat and asks to wear it all the time, mostly when it's not raining. She even once threw a 45 minute tantrum because we told her she couldn't wear it in the car since you aren't supposed to have kids wear coats in their car seats. The entire car ride she just screamed "rain coat!" over and over and over. Thankfully, after quite a while of restricted rain coat access following that fit, the raincoat is back.

What a special day with my special girl! A day full of memories I'll cherish for a long time to come.

5 Minute Photo Session

2011-09-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

A lot of times, when I want to take pictures of the girls, I think of it like in the same way as when I take photos for other people. I think about outfits, locations, specific shots I want to get, etc. And sometimes, that seems like too much work and I don't even end up getting the camera out of its bag. So, I'm trying something new. At least once a week, I'd like to take 5 minutes and do a little mini shoot with one or both of the girls. Sometimes I'll take them in our house and sometimes outside. Sometimes I'll get some great photos and sometimes all I'll get is two crying children. Either way, they will be memory pictures and even a picture of a fussy baby or a screaming toddler is better than no picture at all, right? :)

Since today is a holiday, Chris was home and he took some photos of me with Quinn. These are so special to me since I am normally the one taking the photos. I also managed to grab one of him with Quinn while I was changing some settings on the camera. Lily was napping, so she missed out on the photos this week but I figure we have about 10,000 photos of us with just Lily so it is nice to get some of us with just Quinn too. :) So here are the pictures from our first 5 minute photo session! :)

Probably one of my favorite pictures ever. :)

Genetics

2011-09-02T08:43:00.000-07:00

Lily made up this game all on her own in the car yesterday. Further proof that she is my daughter ...

Something on my heart

2011-08-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

For the past few weeks my heart has been heavy thinking about the people affected by the famine in Africa. I am frustrated that it doesn't seem to be getting the media attention I think it deserves and I am saddened that so many of us (myself included until recently) are so willing to just sit back and watch kids starve to death. That is not the person I want to be!

I think about how I would feel if it were my babies - Lily and Quinn - and how I just can't imagine the horror of watching my precious girls starve. And I know that every single person who reads this blog would move heaven and earth to save my children. So why not these children? I don't want to be one of those people on the sidelines anymore. 30,000 children have died from starvation in the last 90 days. How in the world are we, am I, letting this happen?

Thankfully, there is something we can do to help. The organization that I went to Africa with in 2005, World Help, is on the job and putting together containers of food and medical supplies to ship to help people affected by this catastrophe. We can help by donating money to ship those containers here. It is my own personal fundraising page within the World Help system. The president of World Help, Vernon Brewer, is an amazing man who I've met personally multiple times and is a great friend of my dad's. He recently visited a refugee camp and said this rivals any humanitarian crisis he's ever seen. Coming from a man who has traveled to just about every desperate place on earth, that really means something.

I know that any money donated to this group will be used wisely and will truly make an impact on this tragic situation. You can read more about what World Help is doing and you can donate here. You can also find out more by going to WorldHelp.net. Chris and I feel so strongly about the need to help in the only way we can, by giving money. We're donating the most money we've ever donated at one time, even at a time when our income is low and our expenses are high. But we know we are doing the right thing because the money we are donating will literally save lives. That is worth a few dinners at home rather than eating out ... at least we have food to eat. And I'd rather feed 160 people than spend $4 on a cup of coffee anyway.

Any amount will help - each dollar donated provides 40 meals to starving people! Each container of food costs $6000 to ship and contains 240,000 meals! Holy moly! I know that every single person who reads this blog can afford to donate at least a dollar. You can also donate $10 just by texting "WORLDHELP" to 85944. That text alone would provide 400 meals! I can guarantee that that simple text will be the most meaningful thing you will do today.

I try to keep this blog happy and joyful because our lives truly are happy and joyful. And I know this is a sad post. But it doesn't have to be sad if we take action. If we take action, we can make a difference to that child who gets his first real meal in weeks. We can save a mother from the horror of watching her child die. We can help. So please, from the bottom of my heart, please help by donating here. Thank you so much for hearing my heart and for caring about these precious lives!

Quinn is 2 Months Old!

2011-08-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

Quinn on her 2 month birthday:

August 15, 2011

Why oh why is it so hard to get good pictures of your own kids? I promise, Quinn really does have all 10 of her fingers intact. ;) I photograph other people's children all the time, but it is a thousand times harder to get good photos of my own! This picture does not do Quinn justice, but it is a memory. :) I fully intend to keep ~~torturing~~ trying to get good photos so poor Lily and Quinn ... they are either going to grow up to be photographers or shudder at the sight of a camera! On to the update ...

At two months old, Quinn:

Is 11.8 ounces (79th percentile) and 23.25 inches tall (84th percentile.) She is now only a quarter of an inch shorter than Lily was at two months old which is pretty amazing considering she started off two whole inches shorter. She is a rapidly growing girl!

Received 4 vaccines at her two month check up and was a trooper about the whole horrible event. She was fussy and felt a little bit warm that night, but she recovered really well.

Is smiling a ton! Seriously, there is nothing like seeing her smile. Her whole face lights up and she opens her mouth in the biggest grin. It is awesome.

Is cooing and squeaking frequently. Also quite adorable.

Is throwing up a little less frequently, so that is an improvement. She still still spits up at least a couple of times a day, but it is just spitting up now rather than really barfing like she was doing before.

Is a total wiggle worm. Almost everyone who holds her comments on how wiggly/twitchy she is. She gets that from her father. ;)

Is 100% breastfeeding - no more pumping and no more bottles! This is a huge change in our life as a family and is a total answer to prayer. Quinn is doing so well! She still nurses quite frequently, every 2-3 hours, but she only nurses for 10-15 minutes so we think she is just a girl who likes to snack.

Still wears 3 month clothes but will be moving up into 6 month fairly soon. The outfits which have feet in them are becoming especially tight ... she can barely straighten her legs and her feet are too big for the footsie part of the footsie jammies.

Still sleeps well, though she is waking up to eat more frequently now that she is exclusively breastfeeding than she was when we were feeding her breast milk by bottle. She typically sleeps for one long stretch of about 4 hours and then eats, then eats again in about 2 more hours. Also, I have to get up every time she needs to eat now rather than switching off with Chris during the night. That is a small price to pay though and we are handling the sleep deprivation fairly well, I think. :)

Farts like a man. Another characteristic she inherited from her father.

Only poops once every 5-7 days. The pediatrician said this was totally fine for a breastfed baby and to just celebrate it. So that's what we are doing. :)

Sleeps great in the car until we stop or slow down. Then she gets angry and Lily starts telling her to "Be quiet please, Quinny Quinn!"

Still really loves to be swaddled but she is getting stronger and busts out of her swaddles more frequently. Luckily, Lily was a total Houdini when it came to getting out of her swaddle so we are practiced in the art of the super swaddle.

And here is a video of Quinn right before her two month birthday. She is sleeping. Yes, that is how much we love her - we video her sleeping. It's not creepy as long as it's a baby, right? Right.

Quinn is a total delight and Chris and I often remark that we can't even remember what it was like before she joined our family. She just fits and is so essential to us now! We love being her parents and watching her grow!

Recent Lily-isms

2011-08-19T14:19:00.000-07:00

I took Lily outside to play in the grassy area behind our building. Quinn and I sat on a blanket while Lily played with a ball. I showed Lily four trees that formed a square and told her she needed to stay inside that square so I could see her. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, that's not a square. That's a trapezoid." And she was right.

Yesterday, as we were driving in the car, Lily shouts "S T zero P! That spells stop sign!"

She now officially knows her right and her left. I am pretty sure I didn't have that down until middle school.

We've been singing "You are My Sunshine" a lot lately and yesterday Lily told me, "Mommy, I won't take your sunshine away. I'll just borrow it for a little while."

There are so many more hilarious things that she says and does and I try to remember them to write them down, but I often forget. I am going to try and post these little Lily-isms more often.

Girls in Stripped Pajamas

2011-08-19T09:48:00.000-07:00

August 17, 2011

Note: All photos taken with our new point and shoot camera, the Nikon D300! So happy to have a quality point and shoot now! :)

Lily is 28 Months Old!

2011-08-16T04:23:00.000-07:00

At 28 months old, Lily is quickly becoming our comic relief. Every single day she does something that absolutely cracks me up! And it is even better when other people are around because then there is someone to share the laugh with. :) She is so cute, sweet, smart, and fun!

At 28 months old Lily:

Is beginning to say words correctly that she used to say incorrectly. For example, she used to say "stawawperry" rather than strawberry, but now she is saying it correctly. This makes me sad. Thankfully she still says "samanich" for sandwich, "elelelant" for elephant and "ching cheese" for string cheese so I've still got something to hold on to. :)

Calls the bottom piece of a hamburger bun her "appetite" because once when we were at In N Out she started eating the bottom bun when she only typically eats the meat out of the middle. Chris said, "Lily, you really have a big appetite today!" and ever since, she has called that piece of bun her appetite. We do not correct her. :)

Has fallen in love with Winnie the Pooh, or Quinnie the Pooh, as she calls him. Chris and I are enthusiastic about this because we both remember watching the old Winnie the Pooh movie when we were kids and it is way more tolerable than most of the annoying shows she wants to watch.

Is understanding complex concepts more and more. She has developed quite an accumulation of stuffed animals that she likes to sleep with (Grover, Elmo, Lulu the dog, Birthday Dora, Regular Dora, Ashley doll, and now a large Winnie the Pooh) and she often will try to hold all of them as she goes to sleep. The other night, as I was tucking her in, she told me "Mommy, I can't cuddle them all. I need to limit myself." Ha! I have no idea where she picked that up, but the fact that she understood it and was able to apply it to that situation was really surprising to me.

Repeats everything. We have to start being more careful about what we say around her because she has already said things like "That sucks!" "Oh crap!" and the infamous "Butt-licker!" Thankfully, neither Chris nor I use words that are too much more risque than that, but we still need to watch ourselves.

Is learning the art of conversation. When we pick Chris up from work for lunch each day, she asks him "How are your work going, Daddy?" She also likes to pretend to talk on the phone and most often calls Grandma Kathy and Papa Bill. The conversation typically goes like this:

"Hi Papa! What are you doing?"
Pause
"Playing with Grandma? Oh, how fun!"
Pause
"Oh, your belly hurts? Grandma will kiss it and make it better."
Pause
"I love you too! Talk to you soon!"

Looks like Shirley Temple, according to numerous strangers in various public places. Her curly hair really is adorable and she is even letting me put some clips in it now to keep it off her face.

Has started going to "school." We are trying to do some school-like activities with her everyday (tracing, sorting, counting, etc.) and she LOVES it. She picks up things incredibly quickly and loves to learn. Last night, when we had done about 7 pages in her preschool workbook and I said it was time to put it away, she threw a fit because she wanted more school. If I ever needed confirmation that she is my daughter, that was it.

Is bossy. She loves telling people what to do and how to do it. One way she likes to boss Chris and I around is to tell us what order she wants us to sing songs to her. She tells us - "First sing ABCs. Then Jesus Loves Me. Then teapot (I'm a Little Teapot.) Then sunshine (You are My Sunshine.)" And if we sing them out of order, we certainly hear about it. :) I have a feeling that once Quinn is a little older she is going to be Lily's main bossee.

Is very girly. She likes purses, gloves, jewelry, nail polish, and playing with my hair. She also loves to wear dresses.

Loves to "read" all of the books she has memorized. She also loves to be read to. Her current favorite books include Maggie Moo, her Dora books, and Quiet Bunny.

She also loves puzzles and art projects - chalk, crayons, coloring books, markers, and paints.

Loves to play outside with her "outside toy ball" and can throw and catch a ball about 1/2 the time.

Has a sweet, encouraging spirit. Today we were walking up the stairs to our apartment and I was holding Quinn's car seat in one hand and Lily's hand in the other. I asked Lily to hold the handrail on the stairs because I told her it was hard to hold her hand and hold the car seat. She responded with "I know it's hard, but you can do it, Mommy."

Is so sweet to her Quinny Quinn. When Quinn is crying she tells us to "Fix my Quinny!" and she tells Quinn, "It's okay, sweetheart" and "We're almost home Quinny Quinn" when Quinn is crying in the car. So sweet!

Is sleeping well, hallelujah! She is sleeping through the night about 6/7 nights each week and even though she wakes up earlier than we would like (around 6:30 or 7, regardless of when she went to sleep) we are very thankful she is sleeping!

Is being tricked into taking vitamins by being told they are special dinosaur treats. So far, she's buying it. :)

Says that everything is her favorite. Every show is her favorite show, every song is her favorite song, every meal is her favorite meal. I love her enthusiasm!

Loves to pray and has started praying on her own, which is the sweetest thing. She tells me that God loves her the most, then Mommy the next most. You are absolutely correct, Lily darling.

And, because Lily's dancing is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen, here is a short video of her getting her groove on ...

2 Years, 2 Months, 2 Days

2011-08-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

Lily and Quinn are 2 years, 2 months, and 2 days apart in age. My number-loving Dad figured that out the day Quinn was born. My hope and prayer is that these two girls grow up to the be the best of friends as well as sisters. So far, they both seem to be over the moon about each other. Lily loves touching Quinn, singing to her, and looking at her. And Quinn really seems to respond to Lily already. She loves looking at her and when Quinn is crying, Lily's singing will often calm her. It is so sweet to see that they already have such a connection.

I took these photos when Quinn was about 3 weeks old. I hope this is just the beginning of a lifelong friendship between these two beautiful girls.

Also, here is a funny video of the first time Lily held Quinn. :)

Quinn is 8 weeks old!

2011-08-10T13:53:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2011

Quinn is 7 weeks old!

2011-08-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

And she's a smiley girl. :)

August 2, 2011

On her actual 7 week birthday, August 3, 2011

What a treat to get to spend every day with this special little girl!

The Girl Can Talk

2011-07-31T21:46:00.001-07:00

Lily is a talker. The most talkative 2 year and 3 month old I've ever seen. As Chris put it today, "She is such a yakety-yak!" :) We make fun of her for it, but in all honesty, we love hearing the thoughts that are going through her sweet head. Here is a video I took of Lily yesterday in the car as we were on our way to the beach. It is only 3 minutes long but picture that three minutes multiplied by the 14 hours a day Lily is awake and you've gotten a glimpse into our daily life. :)

Quinn is 6 Weeks Old!

2011-07-27T21:16:00.000-07:00

July 27, 2011

Quinn is 5 Weeks Old!

2011-07-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

July 20, 2011

Quinn is 1 month old!

2011-07-17T21:40:00.001-07:00

Our darling Quinn is now officially one month old. She is so sweet, adorable, and such a good baby we can hardly believe how blessed we are!

At one month old Quinn:

Is growing like crazy! At her two week appointment she was 9 pounds, 6 ounces and 21.5 inches long - an increase of 10 ounces and 1.5 inches in just two weeks! And I know for sure she has grown since that two week appointment.

Has officially grown out of most of her newborn clothes. It was sad to pack them up so soon and she didn't even get to wear some of the cute clothes I bought her, but we are thankful to have such a healthy, growing girl.

Is officially drinking only breast milk that I have pumped, no formula. This is a huge victory for us and even though pumping isn't ideal, I feel really good about giving her the best food that I can, even if it has to be from a bottle. I'm not sure how long we'll keep up the pumping since it is quite the time commitment, but we are making it work right now and I am excited that she made it through her first month receiving breast milk every single day. Right now she is drinking about 21 ounces of breast milk each day.

Likes to be held most of the time and we are happy to oblige.

Is getting over the baby acne she developed around 2 weeks old. We are glad it is going away because it sure didn't look like it felt very good!

Has a clogged tear duct in her left eye that leaves it looking goopy every couple of hours. The doctor said it should resolve itself in a couple of months but until then it isn't anything to worry about.

Remains a wonderful sleeper. Right now, she eats around 11pm when we go to bed, wakes up around 3 am to eat and goes right back to sleep, and then wakes up again around 7am to eat again. During the 3am feeding Chris normally feeds Quinn while I pump so we are each getting around 6 solid hours of sleep a night, which we think is pretty great since Quinn is only 1 month old. We lived on about 6 hours a night until Lily was almost 2, so this is great!

Is spending more time alert and awake which is fun for us. She is making great eye contact and doesn't do the cross-eyed thing Lily used to do when she was a newborn.

Loves the black and white pictures around our house. She spends a lot of time staring at them.

Has the cutest toes in the universe. Literally.

See? :)

Does not like being in her car seat and isn't afraid to let us know!

Seems to have a fussy time right around 8-9pm each night. It really isn't too bad though and she can normally be soothed by swaddling her, giving her a pacifier, and walking with her until she calms down or falls asleep.

Is turning her head from side to side when on our chests or on her belly and is getting stronger every day.

Seems to sleep best when she is inclined, either in the Boppy or in her swing. She really loves the swing.

Snores in her sleep and also grunts and makes lots of other noises. She is also a wiggle worm both when she is awake and when she is asleep. Swaddling her for bed is required.

Is just a wonderful baby all around. Every single day we fall more in love with her and it is still amazing to us that she is ours to love and raise. What a blessing!

Quinn is 4 Weeks Old!

2011-07-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Snuggled up with Mommy in the Moby Wrap - July 13, 2011

Lily is 27 months old!

2011-07-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

This past month has been a big one for Lily! She went from being an only child to a big sister and she has handled the transition like a champ. While there have been a few times she has asked me to "put the baby in the swing and come in my room!" for the most part, Lily is enamored with Quinn. She is SO gentle with her, often just touching her with one finger. Over and over Lily will say/whimper "Awww ... She's so cute!" and she tells everyone "That's my baby sister!" I am so happy and thankful that Lily has been so adaptable and enthusiastic about our new addition to the family.

At 27 months old, Lily:

Has learned the art of whining and practices it frequently. We are working on reminding her to use her regular voice and trying not to respond when she is whining, but it is still a work in progress.

Repeats everything we say in the form of the a question. If we say "Lily, get a book" Lily will say "You want me to get a book?" If we say "Lily, it's bath time" she will respond with "It's time to take a bath?" It is 90% cute and 10% makes us want wear earplugs.

Is becoming more and more polite everyday. We have been working for months on reminding her to say "please" and "thank you" and "no thank you" and it is really sinking in now. She still needs reminders, of course, but it is so encouraging to us when she remembers to do it on her own.

Loves seeing other kids when we are out and about. She'll often go right up to a kid she doesn't know, wave her hand right in their face, and say "Hi kid!" She will continue to wave and repeat herself until they acknowledge her or we pull her away.

Has developed an obsession with baby wipes. She always asks to get "just one wipe" and then plays with it and throws it away. Then she asks to get "just one more wipe" and the game continues until I decide we should stop wasting wipes.

Has started using the phrase "that's silly" for everything she thinks is funny.

Is in love with the show Bubble Guppies. While Bubble Guppies isn't exactly must-see-tv in our books, we are just thankful she isn't asking to watch 27 episodes of Dora everyday anymore.

Has started really enjoying fruit. She now really loves blueberries, strawberries, and bananas and we are thankful that she is finally wanting some healthy foods. We have, however, begun to resort to bribery to get her to eat other healthy foods. Her favorite bribery food is french fries. We have a five bites of healthy food to one french fry ratio, so I only feel slightly guilty about that.

Loves to pray. She will often ask us to pray when we are in the car and once we have prayed a normal prayer, she will ask us to pray for various other random things, like her shoes, the car, her polka dot toe nails, her stuffed animals, her stickers, etc. Sometimes it is a challenge to come up with thoughtful things to pray about those things, but we try to make it work since we want to encourage her desire to pray. :)

Loves being told she is a strong girl. She likes lifting things and saying "I'm such a strong girl! I'm so strong!" She actually is really strong for a two year old, in our opinions.

Continually amazes us with her memory and intelligence. She is one smart little girl.

She loves doing puzzles. She calls this peg puzzle her "job" and can do it completely by herself.

Loves to watch Quinn in the swing. She likes to sing to her while she is in there, she waves to her, and she has to be reminded frequently not to touch her while the swing is in motion.

Says the most hilarious things. Here are a few recent examples.

-The other night as she was going to bed, a paused picture of Oprah was on our TV. I was feeding Quinn so Chris was putting Lily to bed. Lily walked out of the living room and said, "Good night, Mommy! Good night, Oprah!"

-Lily and Chris were playing outside throwing sticks into a ravine out behind our apartment building. All of a sudden Lily said, "Daddy! I have a challenge for you! Do this!" and proceeded to throw a stick. What two year old says that?

-Chris farted loudly when we were at dinner one night and Lily said, in a disappointed voice, "Oh Daddy."

-Once when I was pumping breast milk for Quinn, Lily, who is much more jealous of the pump than she is of Quinn, told me to "Put your boobies away and play with me!"

-After spending the day at the ER, getting an IV, blood drawn, and a catheter inserted, Lily summed up her day when going to bed by saying "We had a fun day!" You have to admire her optimism.

Lily remains such a joyful part of our family. We love her so much and are so thankful to have such a kind, fun, funny, loving, obedient, smart, wonderful daughter!

Quinn is 3 weeks old!

2011-07-06T21:02:00.000-07:00

July 6, 2011

Quinn's Birth Story

2011-07-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

The birth crew 40 minutes after Quinn was born

Note #1: If you'd like to read Lily's birth story, you can find it here. We based lots of our decisions before and during Quinn's birth on what happened during Lily's birth, so it kind of provides a background for this post. However, both of these posts are extremely long, so please don't feel obligated to read them! :)

Note #2: I look atrocious in all of the pictures I am posting here. Normally I refuse to post pictures where I look horrible, but there weren't any pictures where I looked good so I am biting the bullet.

Now, onto the story!

Quinn's birth is the most clearly miraculous event I have ever personally experienced. All births are miracles, of course, but Quinn's birth was basically like God telling me, "Megan. You know how you've been worrying about this for months? Watch this." And then God put on a show which ended with me holding my precious, perfect, healthy baby girl. Here's the story.

After getting all set to be induced at 38 weeks and then coming home from the hospital still pregnant, we were pretty sure my doctor was going to strongly recommend induction at my 39 week appointment on Wednesday, June 15th. Since I had gestational diabetes and a history of shoulder dystocia with Lily, she really wanted to do a C-section but we were pretty adamant that we at least wanted to try laboring. We tried everything we could think of to try to naturally induce labor before that appointment (including castor oil which didn't send me into labor, just to the bathroom) but Quinn was quite content to remain in my belly. My appointment was at 9am and when she checked I was 3cm dilated, compared to 2cm dilated the previous week. She stripped my membranes again (she had done this the previous week as well with no resulting labor) and sent us to the hospital to get induced.

We arrived at the hospital around 11am and they hooked me up the monitors for a while to monitor any contractions I was having as well as the baby's heartbeat. Everything looked good, so they decided to do yet another ultrasound to estimate the baby's size. Basically, it felt like they were looking for any reason to schedule a C-section since that is what every doctor we saw recommended. The ultrasound estimated the baby to weigh 8 pounds, 6 ounces and Chris and I really felt that was a totally deliverable baby for my body, especially since Lily was 8 pounds, 14 ounces. After multiple doctors/midwives/nurses talked to us about the risk of another shoulder dystocia and scared us silly with thoughts that our baby might be paralyzed or worse and I might hemorrhage, we finally got the reluctant go ahead to start the induction rather than schedule a C-section.

Chris and I had totally mixed feelings about being induced. On one hand, we really were concerned about the baby getting too big. Even though we were very fortunate and there was no permanent damage to Lily or myself, Lily's shoulder dystocia was one of the most terrifying experiences of our lives and we did not want to have that happen again. The bigger the baby got, the more likely a shoulder dystocia was to occur, so that meant we were in favor of getting the baby out as early as possible, even if that meant an induction. However, we had also been preparing for a natural, drug-free childbirth for months. I didn't talk very much about it to very many people because I didn't want to be one of those ladies who says they are going to go medication free and then ends up getting the epidural at 2cm. I didn't want anyone to tell me I was crazy and then I didn't want the "I told you so"s from anyone if I did end up getting an epidural. But, that was our plan. I wanted to go medication free for a couple of reasons. The first reason was that I felt like Lily's shoulder dystocia might not have happened if I had been able to move around and get her in a better position to be born. During Lily's birth I was in bed for 14 hours straight and it made sense to me that it would be hard for her to get into the ideal birthing position without help from me. The other big reason I wanted to go medication free was to help create the ideal breastfeeding conditions for the baby and I. Obviously, plenty of babies whose moms have epidurals do just fine with breastfeeding. However, babies who are born unmediated are supposed to have a much easier time breastfeeding immediately and since I had so many issues breastfeeding Lily, I really really really wanted to do everything in my power to get breastfeeding off to a good start with Quinn. We prepared for our natural birth by taking months of Bradley birth classes with our amazing instructor, Nicole Green, doing lots of exercises, stretches, and meditations, and by hiring a doula, Becky Facer, to help coach us through the birth. We knew that if I was induced, the pitocin was going to make my contractions longer, stronger, and more painful than normal labor contractions. I would also have to be monitored much more closely because pitocin can be hard on the baby and they need to make sure the baby's heart rate remains strong. Longer, stronger, more painful contractions plus having to stay in bed and be monitored was going to make our unmediated birth much more difficult. In the end though, we decided that an induction was our best chance at a vaginal birth and that even a vaginal birth with an epidural was preferable to a C-section to us.

By this time it was about 1pm and I had been having some stronger contractions following my doctor's appointment that morning. However, I had been having contractions on and off for weeks, so I really didn't think too much of it. When we got to the labor and delivery room where I was to be induced, the midwife checked me again and to our surprise she said I was 5cm dilated! I was in labor! On my own! Since I was induced with Lily at 41 weeks, I wasn't really even very confident that I would ever go into labor on my own with this baby, so it was a total shock and thrill. We asked the midwife if we could go home and labor at home for awhile, but she said she really wasn't comfortable sending us home because things could move very quickly. She was still planning on starting me on pitocin, but we requested to just let things move as naturally as possible. She agreed to let us walk around for about an hour and a half and then she said she would check me again and we could decide from there. We had a wonderful nurse, Laura, who was so sweet and supportive. When she found out we were Christians (they ask if you have a religious preference) she said she was a Christian too and she prayed with us for a healthy delivery and also for the life of the baby to be dedicated to God. It was so special to have her as our nurse and we felt SO blessed to have her support and encouragement.

So, we walked the halls of the labor and delivery floor for an hour and a half. I could tell my contractions were getting stronger, but they were still about 3-4 minute apart and lasting between 30 seconds to 1 minute. When the midwife, Cindy, checked me again she said I was 5 1/2 cm dilated. She wasn't too pleased with that progress, so she suggested we either start pitocin or that she break my water. We had planned on allowing my water to break naturally, but when faced with those two options, we decided to go ahead and allow her to break my water. Cindy broke my water at 3:35pm and wow, what a weird sensation. I remember thinking it was weird when I was in labor with Lily so I knew what to expect this time around, but I just don't think you ever get used to feeling like you are peeing yourself with the most pee you've ever peed. Thankfully, the fluid was clear and breaking my water really seemed to intensify the contractions almost immediately. We asked Cindy and Laura when they were off of work and they were both scheduled to leave at 8pm. I told them that was my goal then, to have the baby by 8pm. I don't know if they really thought that would happen or not, but they were encouraging.

After my water broke, I stayed in bed for a bit to let the baby move down and then we got back up and started walking the halls of the labor and delivery floor once again. The next few hours are a blur of contractions, sitting on a birth ball, pain, and walking. Chris was with me for every single step and every single contraction. He was AMAZING. When I would squat through a contraction, he would squat too. He reminded me over and over to breathe deep into my belly and to go loose and limp to let each contraction be its most effective. As the contractions got stronger and I stopped being able to walk and talk through them, I was literally leaning against him with all of my weight through each contraction and he was a rock. When the contractions got so intense that I had to moan to get through them, he reminded me to keep my moaning deep rather than high pitched (deeper is better in labor) and he even moaned with me. I could not ask for a better birth coach, partner, friend, husband, and father of my children.

Right after my water broke, our doula, Becky arrived at the hospital. She walked the halls with us, suggested various positions for me to be in during contractions, rubbed my back through every contraction, interacted with the midwife and nurses when Chris and I were busy working through contractions, and basically was just amazing. Chris and I both agree that we could not have made it through the birth without Becky's help and encouragement and I am so thankful she was there to share her expertise and to encourage both Chris and I.

My parents also arrived not too long after they broke my water. I was super thankful to see them and to know that Lily was in good hands with her Grandpa Chet and his girlfriend, Kathleen. My mom stayed with me the entire time I was in labor and was a trooper. She rubbed my feet when I had to be in bed while they monitored the baby and gave me water about a million times. I was so thankful she was there and really appreciated her support. I was also so glad my dad was there, even though he spent most of the time in the waiting room. He didn't really want to see me in pain and I didn't really want him to see my naked butt as moved about the room. It was still such a relief to me to know that he was there and that he was praying for me and my baby. I'll never forget being in labor with Lily and my mom coming in and telling me that my dad was literally on his knees in the waiting room praying for me. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. Knowing that he was there, once again asking God to watch out for me and my baby, meant the world to me.

After a few hours of painful but tolerable contractions, the pain of each contraction intensified and they began coming really really close together right around 7pm. Each contraction would last for between 45 seconds to 1 minute and then I would have about a 30 second break or less and then another one would start. It was super intense and I really began to doubt my ability to continue to endure. I told Chris and Becky that I needed to see the midwife and get checked because I either needed to know I was almost done or I needed the epidural. They just encouraged me and told me I was doing great and that the baby would be there soon. I knew they were stalling so I more forcefully told them to call the midwife. If I was a person who used bad words, I would have been using them at that point. Chris knew I was serious, so he called the midwife and when she came in to check me I was at 7 1/2 cm. That was pretty hard for me to hear because I really didn't think I could endure for another few hours. Becky was so sweet and I remember her saying to the nurse "7 1/2 cm is just like 8, right? So she's basically in transition now." Sidenote: transition is basically the time from 8cm-10cm and it is supposed to be the hardest/most painful part of labor. I figured Becky was just trying to encourage me and that in reality I still had hours to go, so I told the nurse I needed the epidural. She said she would put in the order, but that it would be about 30 minutes before I felt any relief from it. That was the only point I in the whole experience where I really felt panicky. 30 minutes sounded like an eternity.

After that last check at 7 1/2 cm, I got back up and told myself I just had to keep going because there was no other option. Within 15-30 minutes I started feeling like I really needed to push. It was a really weird feeling because it was like my body was just taking over and I had very little control. Not only did I want to push, I literally could not stop myself from pushing that baby out. As soon as I said I needed to push, things got a little chaotic and the room began to fill with people. The midwife had told me that there would be a lot of people around because they were going to be ready in case this baby had a shoulder dystocia too. I could hear them talking and moving around, but I have no idea who they were because I had my eyes closed the entire time. Pushing that baby out was the only thing occupying my attention and it was taking everything that I had to give. I had planned on pushing in either a squatting position or on my hands and knees, but I ended up just collapsing on the bed and pushing in the traditional position because I didn't really feel capable of adjusting myself at that point. I wasn't even laying in the bed correctly but I didn't care. I remember telling myself that it would only be about two more hours because no matter what I didn't think the midwife would let me push for longer than two hours. I thought I could make it another two hours if I had to.

At one point I opened my eyes and saw someone holding one of my feet who I had never seen before, but I didn't stop to introduce myself. All I was doing was listening to Chris and Becky's encouragement and listening to Cindy when she would occasionally give instructions. There were points at which Cindy told me to stop pushing as she helped maneuver the baby out but most of the time I was just pushing as hard as I could push whenever I felt the urge to push. Then, like an angel from heaven, I heard my mom say "I can see her head! She has lots of brown hair!" I was shocked because I had only pushed a few times. That was just the encouragement I needed to know the pain was going to be over soon and I was going to be holding my baby girl. I felt the infamous "ring of fire" as the baby's head crowned, but it really wasn't as horrible as I had thought it was going to be. About 15 minutes after I started pushing, Quinn Marilyn Hartley was born exactly at 8:00pm. 8 pounds, 12 ounces. 20 inches long. No shoulder dystocia.

Exhausted but thrilled to be done

Grandma Kathy - a trooper and such a blessing in the delivery room

Quinn was handed to me and it was such an incredible feeling holding her right away. She was perfect and looked like Lily Jr. I had a second degree tear, so the midwife went to work stitching me up and that was pretty painful. She gave me some shots to numb the area but I could still feel a lot. I was bleeding quite a bit so they gave me a shot in my leg to stop the bleeding and that seemed to do the trick. They weighed Quinn and measured her and then Chris was able to hold her skin to skin while my tear was repaired. I was trembling quite a bit which was frustrating to me but the overwhelming emotion that I remember feeling was relief that Quinn was out and that she was healthy.

Proud Daddy

After I stopped shaking so much and was able to go to the bathroom, our visitors came and were able to meet Quinn. Chet and Kathleen brought Lily to the hospital and she got to meet her baby sister just about 35 minutes after she was born. Lily came in the room, saw me holding Quinn and said, "Mama, d'you have your baby?" Lily looked at her for a minute and then said "Grandpa Chet! Come play toys with me!" Apparently, the kids area in the waiting room was more exciting than the arrival of her sister.

Lily meeting Quinn for the first time

Papa meets Quinn

Grandpa Chet meets Quinn

We were transferred to our postpartum room around 9:30 and Becky went and got us some Subway sandwiches, my first non-diabetic meal in 10 weeks. Around 11pm, it was just Chris, Quinn, and I and we decided to try and get some sleep. Quinn was sleeping like a champ, something we never experienced with Lily. I tried to sleep but the hospital had a rule that you had to leave one of the two lights on in the room so you could see the baby so that made it really difficult to sleep. Chris ended up sleeping a little bit on the pull out couch in the room, but we were still pretty much counting the hours until daylight.

Quinn slept pretty much our entire time at the hospital. We would wake her up every couple of hours to breastfeed and then she would go right back to sleep. It was during this time that breastfeeding became excruciatingly painful, but our breastfeeding saga deserves a post of it's own. We only had two visitors at the hospital before we checked out - our friends Luke and Sarah. They were moving that very day, headed to Iowa, and they stopped to see us on their way out of town. We were so glad they got to meet Quinn before they left since they experienced the entire pregnancy with us and are some of our dearest friends.

Luke, Quinn, and Sarah

We left the hospital about 2pm on June 16, 18 hours after Quinn was born. Physically and emotionally, I was feeling pretty great considering I just had a baby. A little tired, a little weepy, a little sore, but about a million times better than I felt after I had Lily. Quinn was a dream baby from the second she was born. Even at 3 weeks old, she is still a sleepy baby who really only cries when she's hungry. Plus, she's absolutely adorable.

We've had some set backs in Quinn's first few weeks at home - breastfeeding issues which have led me to pump exclusively at this point, plus Lily got sick when Quinn was two days old so Chris spent most of the day at the doctor with her and then Lily got sick again when Quinn was four days old so Chris spent most of Father's Day at the ER with her. Lily's sickness was my first real introduction to the difficulty of having multiple children - sometimes they both need you at the same time and it is really hard not being able to be with both of them. We have been so thankful to be close to family and to have their support. I don't know what we would have done without them.

I said at the beginning of this post that Quinn's birth was a miracle. I am now, for my own future reference, going to list all of the prayers God answered during Quinn's birth.

1. We prayed to go into labor naturally, without pitocin. My father-in-law, Chet, likes to say that God is always almost late. Well, He was almost late this time, but He answered this prayer right when it needed to be answered. It was totally miraculous that I went into labor while I was at the hospital waiting to be induced. Totally.

2. We prayed for the nurse and the doctor/midwife I would get. Both our nurse, Laura, and our midwife, Cindy, were supportive of our plans and helped us immensely. It could have been a completely different experience if we had had different members of the hospital staff assisting us. They were a complete blessing to us.

Our midwife, Cindy, who delivered Quinn.

3. We prayed that the birth would be speedy. We are saying I was in labor from 1pm to 8pm, so that was only 7 hours. Can't get much speedier than that!

4. We prayed that we wouldn't have another shoulder dystocia. HUGE prayer answered.

5. We prayed that the baby would be smaller than Lily. Quinn was smaller by 2 ounces. Not a ton smaller, but those 2 ounces seemed to make the difference.

6. We prayed that God would give me the strength to endure the pain without medication. I could not have gotten through this experience without prayer. There were times when I was having a really tough contraction that all I could say was "Jesus, please help me." He gave me the strength to do what I needed to do and, when it all felt like it was too much, He was merciful and allowed it to be over quickly.

7. We prayed that I would not have to push too long. I pushed for 3 1/2 hours with Lily and it was really really hard. Even though I had an epidural, it was excruciating. The part of labor I was most fearful about was the pushing stage and God allowed that to be mercifully short and not unbearably painful.

8. We prayed that my gestational diabetes would not cause Quinn's blood sugar to be low after birth. Sometimes babies whose mom's have gestational diabetes have to be given sugar water in order to stabilize their blood sugar or even have to spend time in the NICU. Quinn's blood sugar was fine at birth and was exactly the same (56) every time they tested her the night of her birth and the following day.

9. We prayed for a good recovery for me. This post-birth experience has been night and day different from the weeks following Lily's birth. Circumstances are much different now, but I feel so thankful to be feeling pretty much like my normal optimistic self.

10. We prayed that Quinn would be a good sleeper. After 2 years, Lily is finally starting to consistently sleep through the night and both Chris and I were dreading another two years of sleepless nights. Thankfully, Quinn has slept more in these first 3 weeks than Lily slept in her first 3 months of life.

So, there it is. Quinn's birth story. It is hard for me to even believe that it went as amazingly well as it did. I spent so long anticipating and worrying about it and in the end, it all went perfectly. I am so thankful to God for giving us this gift of a great birth and I am so thankful to all of the people who helped make it happen. Quinn is a precious, precious gift and our love for her is immeasurable. Even though it was tough, I am so glad we were able to give her the birth we wanted to give her and I would do it all again in a second to have this sweet baby in my arms. She is pure joy and happiness.

Quinn is 2 Weeks Old!

2011-06-29T21:25:00.000-07:00

Quinn at 2 weeks

Lily at 2 weeks

The pictures don't show it quite as I had hoped, but honestly, they are almost identical.

Our darling Quinny is already 2 weeks old! In some ways it feels like it was just yesterday that she was born and in other ways it feels like she's been a part of our family forever. She is currently asleep on my chest as I type one handed and I am just filled to the brim with joy and thankfulness for the gift that is Quinn.

At two weeks old, Quinn:

- Does not like her head rubbed. This is difficult because her hair is the softest thing I've ever felt and her head is so perfectly round that it just begs to be stroked and kissed. I am trying to control myself though.

- Has just started wanting a pacifier. Lily came out of the womb wanting a pacifier to soothe her but Quinn really didn't have much of an interest until just a couple of days ago.

- Has some crazy peely skin going on right now. Her umbilical cord has almost fallen off completely but not quite so we've only been giving her sponge baths. I think once we are able to really bathe her the peely skin will resolve itself quickly.

- Is still wearing newborn clothes but probably won't be for too much longer because she is growing too long for them.

- Still has the steely gray/blue colored eyes she was born with. I am betting they will get darker.

- Smiles a lot in her sleep and I really think she's been trying to smile when she's awake too. I've tried to capture it but this is the closest I've gotten so far. Such a sweetheart!

- Has hair on the edges of her ears just like Lily when she was a newborn. Weird but cute. :)

- Is eating about half pumped breast milk and half formula. This topic deserves it’s own post but so far feeding Quinn has been our only difficulty. She is a good eater though and is eating about 3 ounces every 2 ½ to 3 hours.

- Gets the hiccups at least once a day and does not enjoy them. Lily always informs us that Quinn has “those pesky baby hiccups” and tries to comfort Quinn by reading her a book or singing her a song. So sweet!

Lily reading to Quinn

Lily wants to hold Quinn's hand all the time. She loves her so much that sometimes we have to remind her to give Quinn a little bit of space. :)

- Likes to sleep inclined rather than flat on her back. Her favorite sleeping spot is lying on one of our chests.

- Rarely cries except when she’s hungry and immediately stops once she gets some food (unless we’re trying to breast feed … she finds that a very frustrating experience worthy of lots of crying.)

- Has a strong neck already, just like Lily. We are really enjoying not having to worry so much about her floppy neck. She does, however, have a tendency to use her strength to throw herself around and has tried to escape our arms a few times. We’ve learned to keep two hands on her whenever we can.

- Is still a great sleeper. She is spending more time awake now which has been fun but she is still sleeping a lot both during the day and at night and we are so thankful for that!

- Already has a number of nicknames including Quinny Quinn (that’s what Lily calls her), Quinny Bug, Quinny Bean, and Chris’s favorite, Quinnifer.

- Is the perfect addition to our family and simply couldn’t be more loved.

Quinn is 1 week old!

2011-06-22T19:34:00.000-07:00

Quinn is one week old today and is such a dream baby. We are over the moon about her and we are loving every single second. She is a good sleeper and a good eater, though breast feeding has been a struggle. Quinn seems to respond to Lily's voice the most of anyone and Lily is a wonderful big sister. Quinn is calm, happy, smiles a ton when she's sleeping, and has already brought so much joy to our family.

Quinn weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces at birth and at her 2 day doctor's appointment she weighed 8 pounds 5 ounces, which is good because we just don't want her to lose more than 10% of her birth weight. She didn't have any jaundice issues and is beautifully healthy.

We could not be more in love with this pumpkin!

Quinn Marilyn Hartley

2011-06-22T19:13:00.001-07:00

Quinn Marilyn Hartley is here!

She was born on June 15th and weighed 8 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20 inches long. I'll post a real birth story later, but the short version is we went to the hospital to be induced and found out I was in labor! I was able to labor naturally and labored without medication, even though it was pretty tough there at the end. 7 hours after the contractions really started, Quinn was born. The whole experience was a complete answer to our many prayers and we are SO thankful to God for this precious girl.

For reference: Here is a picture of Lily right after she was born. I think they are pretty identical!

Quinn is an incredible baby ... content, sleepy, adorable, wonderful and just as precious as can be. We are having some breast feeding issues but we are continuing to work on it and hope that everything clicks soon. Lily is a wonderful big sister and has been so sweet to Quinn. She wants to touch her and kiss her and is very concerned whenever Quinn cries. She sings to her when Quinn is in her swing and they are SO sweet together. Chris is a wonderful Daddy and I haven't found anything that makes me fall more in love with my husband than watching him be such an incredible father. He has been incredibly supportive of me, has given Lily lots of attention as we make this transition from one child to two, and has spent lots of time cuddling Quinn. I am doing well. Physically I am feeling pretty great considering I has a baby last week. Emotionally I am a little weepy, but I expected that since I was so weepy after Lily was born and this has been nothing compared to that experience. Quinn is healthy, happy, and has been sleeping which means we have been sleeping about 5-6 hours a day so that is a HUGE improvement over when Lily was born. Besides our breast feeding issues we also had a little scare with Lily last week when she got super sick vomiting and later developed severe enough neck pain that she couldn't turn her head. 2 visits to the doctor and 1 visit to the ER to make sure it wasn't meningitis later, Lily is back to her normal, happy, active self and we are starting to feel like we are keeping our heads above water. We really aren't quite up for too many visitors yet, especially considering I spend at least half the day with my upper half exposed, but we are looking forward to introducing Quinn to all of the people who love her already. I will try to update the blog as we go along, but at this point I am concentrating on cuddling this precious baby. This time around I know how quickly it goes and I want to soak in every single second. Thank you for your prayers and support!

First picture as a family of four :)

Papa's Thoughts 6/15/2011

2011-06-16T20:52:00.000-07:00

Sent to me by my Dad the night of Quinn's birth ... love him more than I could ever say.

"Well, tonight I go to bed with some pretty deep thoughts on my mind.

First, I thank God from the deepest part of my heart and soul for allowing you to go through the birth of Quinn Marilyn Hartley in a natural and healthy way. It's only natural that everyone focuses on the new baby - everyone is really nice and supportive to you, but their concern is (as it should be) primarily about the baby ... except for me. I started every single one of a thousand prayers asking God for your safety and health first, then the baby, then Chris. You'll know what I mean some day when I say that other babies coming into the world is off-the-charts magnificent, but I've only got one baby that's mine, and that's you. It started the day you were born, and it will end when infinity meets infinity.

But it's not that I just love you. That certainly didn't just happen today. But today I watched you climb a mountain. Today I watched you overcome and focus and clench and fight and create life with all it's difficulties and traumas. You made life today! And you did it with a husband totally right beside you, loving you and doing all he could to be there every step of the way. No doubt about it - there's only one person passing nine pounds of matter through a very small passageway ... but there was nothing he wouldn't do to support and encourage you, and I was very proud of Chris, too. Irrespective of the circumstances, Chris shows up and battles. He would battle the flames of Hell for you ... that makes two of us, but he's a lot younger and in better shape, so personally, I'm really glad to have him on our side ...

And hey, Quinn! Welcome to the family, sweetie. I guarantee you will be loved, and I suggest you prepare yourself to laugh, because that's something we really do well. You've been blessed with a great Mom and Dad, and a terrific big sister ... and a wonderful supporting cast of capable and loving family and friends. We all love the Lord, and we know that God loves us, too. How do we know that? Well, in part it's because He gave us you! And He gave us each other. And there's a thousand other reasons, but I'll save some of them for later. I hope we have lots of time together to talk about a lot of things.

And Quinn, I want to let you know that your sister Lily is one of the best things that ever happened in my life, and I'm betting that one day you'll feel the same. And I allready know what number will be your favorite number! It will be the number 2 ... And you have Lily to thank for that. Lily's birthdate is 04-13-09. Your birthdate is 06-15-11. Each number in Lily's birthdate is matched in your birthdate if you simply increase it by 2 ... coincidence? I don't think so!

Anyway, time for me to call it a day and head for bed. Lily is in her room upstairs sleeping. She got to stay up until almost 10:00 on this big day, so she went down with two short books and a kiss goodnight. What a wonderful child she is, a true joy. I have no doubt Quinn will be the same.

So tonight you are my daughter, my forever link to understanding unconditional love, and my hero. Part of the reason I look forward to tomorrow is because I get to see you again. Thanks for being my daughter, and my friend. Baby, you're the greatest ...

XXOO,
Dad"

38 weeks

2011-06-12T14:05:00.001-07:00

Lily kissing the baby at 38 weeks (all photos taken by Chris this morning)

It's been a few weeks since I updated about this pregnancy so I figured I should do it before the baby arrives! :)

I am now 38 weeks and 5 days pregnant and according to my doctor the baby could come "at any time." Please note: She said this at my 37 week appointment almost two weeks ago and so far, no baby. We are done with everything on our baby to do list except for picking a name. We are pretty sure we are just going to wait until she arrives before we officially settle on one. We've got some leading contenders though, so hopefully we'll just know exactly what she is supposed to be named once we see her. :)

I am feeling large but well. We had a little bit of excitement on Wednesday at my 38 week doctor's appointment. I had three high fasting blood sugar levels last week despite careful eating and lots of exercise, so my doctor decided that she wanted to go ahead and induce labor that day. While that was certainly not what Chris and I had planned on, we are also concerned about the baby getting too big from having too much insulin. After consulting with a perinatologist, my doctor sent us to the hospital Wednesday afternoon to do a non-stress test where they monitor the baby and the mom's contractions. My doctor said if it looked like I was having contractions, they would go ahead and induce using a very low dose of pitocin since we are aiming for a non-medicated childbirth this time around. Well, the test showed that I was having contractions (I've been having about 20 contractions a day for the past few weeks) but the doctor on duty at the hospital didn't think an induction was warranted/a good idea, so she sent us home. The doctor on duty actually thought a planned C-section was a better course of action, but I am super hoping to avoid that, so she agreed that if I went into labor on my own she thought that might be an acceptable option. Talk about an emotional roller coaster! I didn't want to be induced, but I had kind of accepted that and was mentally prepared to go through labor and excited to hold my baby. I left the hospital feeling somewhat discouraged ... I do not want to be induced nor do I want a C-section, but I also don't want to birth a huge baby and deal with the consequences of that. At 37 weeks we had an ultrasound done that estimated the baby to be 7 pounds 11 ounces, which would put the baby in the 77th percentile if she continued to grow at the same pace. That was super good news because then she would not be a giant baby! :) However, the more out of range blood sugar levels I have, the bigger she will get and those ultrasound size estimates are notoriously inaccurate, so there is still a chance she could get too big to deliver safely, especially if she is over a week late, like Lily. Oy.

I've been trying everything I can think of/google to try and get labor going on my own, but so far nothing has worked. And all that work just seems silly since I'm not even past my due date yet! But I just have a feeling my doctor will want to schedule an induction after this Wednesday's appointment (39 weeks) and we will most likely follow that recommendation. I am feeling really well and have been able to remain active but I am pretty ready to be done being pregnant, mainly because of the anxiety of an impending induction/C-section. I keep telling myself to relax and praying that the baby will come whenever God knows it is best, but patience is not really a strength of mine and neither is accepting that things are out of my control. Prayers for the baby's health, my health, and peace for all of us about the whole situation are very much appreciated. And if you wanted to pray that I go into labor on my own soon, that would be welcome as well. :)

I will be sure to keep you updated!

Don't Stop Believin'

2011-05-31T20:59:00.000-07:00

We've already established that Lily is a Gleek. For the past year we have been listening to the Glee soundtrack, volume 1. I think they are on volume 6 or something now, but Lily is only interested in volume 1. I guess interested isn't quite a strong enough word though ... more like obsessed! We listen to this CD constantly and even though there are great songs on it, we have become pretty sick of it. Lately though, Lily has been cracking us up by singing along with the first song on the disc - "Don't Stop Believin'" as performed by the Glee cast. She calls it "our song" and always wants to "listen to our song, Mama!" Hi-freaking-larious. We have tried a couple of times to capture her singing on video but she always stops when she sees the camera. Finally, one day I was able to catch her doing it with my cell phone. Normally I am terrified of using my cell phone in the car (one $250 cell phone ticket is enough!) but I was willing to risk it to get the awesomeness that follows. Enjoy. :)

Tonight she started singing along with "Defying Gravity" and kept asking for the "gabity" song again and telling herself "good singing!" I'll keep you posted if that becomes her next single. :)

Lily's Big Girl Bed

2011-05-23T14:57:00.001-07:00

When we found out I was pregnant with this baby, Lily was exactly 18 months old. At that point she was still taking 2-4 bottles a day and though she was growing and changing every day, she was still very much our baby. We knew that we'd have about 8 months before the new baby arrived, so Chris and I decided to try to accomplish 4 "big girl" tasks with Lily before that time.

1. Weaning her off bottles. Check. Not too hard!
2. Taking away her pacifier. Check. Super duper hard.
3. Transitioning her to big girl bed. Check! Much easier than expected!
4. Potty training. Nope. Probably not going to happen with only 4 weeks to go.

About two weeks ago we moved Lily out of her crib and into her "big girl bed" which is a twin daybed from Ikea. We had actually kind of shelved the idea of converting Lily's crib into a toddler bed since she still fit fine in her crib and had yet to figure out that she was totally physically capable of climbing out, but one of our neighbors moved out and left this perfectly great twin bed by the dumpster. That started us thinking ... if we got a twin bed for free, we could use Lily's crib for the new baby and completely skip the toddler bed stage by just going right to a twin. We snatched it up, bought a new mattress at Ikea and some fun bedding at Target, and voila! Lily has a big girl bed!

As any long time readers are aware, Lily is not a good sleeper. Even at 2 years old she rarely sleeps through the night. So, needless to say, Chris and I were super apprehensive about changing anything about her sleep routine. On the day we made the switch we talked to Lily all day long about how special her bed was and how fun it was going to be to sleep in a big girl bed. She "helped" us put it together and she kept talking about how she didn't need her crib anymore because she had a big girl bed. We kept every other part of her bedtime routine the same, but just put her in the bed instead of the crib. Then we closed the door and prayed really really hard that she wouldn't freak out and that this would be an easy transition for her. And it worked! She's been sleeping in her bed ever since and we even think she is sleeping a little bit better than she was in her crib! She wants to show her new bed to anyone that comes over and often asks Chris and I to come and play in her big girl bed with her during the day. We are SO thankful that it was such a smooth transition!

Here are some pictures of Lily sleeping in her big girl bed. :)

She looks pretty comfy! She also looks so tiny!

And, here is a video of Lily talking about the awesomeness that is her big girl bed. :) Is she cute or what?

34 weeks!

2011-05-11T21:10:00.000-07:00

Today marks our 34th week of pregnancy! Hurray! We are eagerly anticipating this baby girl's arrival - now more than ever! The larger I get the more eager I am to have this baby in my arms rather than my belly. Then again ... I am really loving that Lily has been sleeping a little better lately and I am not eager to wake up a lot each night again! :)

Things with the pregnancy are going well. We are over half way done with our birth classes and really enjoying them. We are taking our hospital tour on Monday, so that will be fun and hopefully answer some of our questions. My gestational diabetes is being well managed with diet and exercise, so that is good. I am pretty sick of it to be perfectly honest (I really really really want some orange juice!) but I can certainly do it for 6 more weeks for the health of my baby. I have been having some Braxton-Hicks (practice) contractions this past week, especially when I over do it. Even though they are a bit of an annoyance, I am glad to be having them because that means my body is getting ready for labor. I also feel like the baby has dropped down a bit and my pregnancy waddle has gotten pretty serious. I keep having to tell Chris to walk at half-speed so I can keep up. :)

One of the fun parts of this pregnancy has been sharing it with one of my dearest friends and college roommate, Katie! She is due about 4 weeks after I am and it has been fun comparing notes, talking babies, and experiencing the same things at the same time. Katie and our other college friends treated me to a day at the spa last weekend and it was A-MAZ-ING. Totally relaxing and fun! I am very thankful to have friends who love me and love my kids so much! While we were together we took a picture of our baby bellies together - hopefully our kids will grow up to be great friends!

Me at 33 weeks, Katie at 29 weeks.

We also had an ultrasound last week and got some great pictures of our little peanut. She's already got cute chubby little cheeks!

Sticking out her tongue.

While the ultrasound was taking place she got the hiccups and it was fun to see her and feel her hiccup at the same time. She gets the hiccups quite frequently, I would say almost every day. So cute! Also, she was measuring about two weeks larger than average, or about the size of the average baby at 35 weeks. That doesn't surprise us given Lily's height and weight stats at birth! Even though I've gained much less weight with this pregnancy (about half of what I gained with Lily) I am pretty sure my body is just meant to build big babies. Though it's not a precise measurement, the baby's estimated fetal weight was 5lbs 4oz, which is about 3/4 of a pound bigger than the average baby at 33 weeks. However, Lily was measuring 6 1/2 pounds at this point in my pregnancy, so the fact that this baby is about a pound smaller than Lily at the same point in the pregnancies is very encouraging. :) We have another ultrasound at the end of the month to try and get a better feel of the baby's size so we can further evaluate our birthing options.

Welp, that's about all there is to report on the pregnancy front! 6 weeks or 42 days until my due date! :)

April Catch-Up

2011-04-29T10:35:00.000-07:00

Life has been busy and the bigger this baby gets the more tired I get, so this blog has been sadly neglected! It is a bummer though because Lily has been doing so many cute and fun things but I just haven't had time to post all of them! So here is a bit of a catch up post with some recent pictures and videos. :)

Lily turned 2 and had her very first birthday party this month! It was a fun get together and Lily really enjoyed herself. Before her birthday she informed me that she wanted a birthday cake, birthday hats, and big presents, not small ones. Where she came up with that, I have no idea. :) Here are some pictures from her actual birthday -

"Look at my birfday hat!"

Lily "piling" (smiling) for the camera.

"Cupcakes for breakfast? I could get used to this!"

We took Lily to Disneyland for her birthday and she has a great time. Here is a picture of Lily and Chris on the carousel, Lily's favorite ride. :)

I didn't take any pictures at Lily's birthday party because it was busy and I was just trying to enjoy the time rather than document it, but she had so much fun blowing out the sparkly "2" candle on her cake, eating the rainbow frosting, going in the "acuzi" (jacuzzi), opening presents, and playing with the balloons. It was a great day and a fun memory for us.

Here is a video we took of Lily about a week before her birthday, talking about her two favorite topics - Dora's "Big Red Chicken" episode and her birthday. It's a little long, but it really captures her little talkative spirit. :)

And here is another video I took just a couple of days ago of Lily doing her "job." Obviously, she is already quite the workaholic. :)

We also went to Palm Springs with my parents this past weekend to celebrate Taxmas and we had a great time. Lily swam in the pool, ate yummy food, got lots of cuddles from Grandma and Papa, and even got to see a Mama duck with about 10 baby ducks! We all really enjoyed the relaxation and we were so excited that Lily slept well in the hotel.

Lily and her crazy hair.

Lily and Daddy in the "acuzi"

Lily and Papa. Can you tell they like each other? :)

And here is a video of Lily playing her favorite game of the moment "Where Papa's Glasses Go?"

Whew! Hopefully it won't be so long before our next update. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Metal Picture

2011-04-15T15:33:00.000-07:00

30 Weeks

2011-04-15T08:10:00.000-07:00

Pay no attention to the messy house in the background ... :)

This week marks 30 weeks pregnant. Woo hoo! 3/4 of the way there. :) We've had lots going on in the pregnancy world ... A few weeks ago we started Bradley birthing classes which we are really enjoying. These classes are 10 weeks long, 2 hours each class, so we are getting a ton of great information about having a healthy pregnancy and a healthy birth. The other couples in our class are really nice and our teacher is great, so it has been a really good experience so far. After such a challenging birth experience with Lily we are hoping to go into this baby's birth more prepared, more knowledgeable, and with clearer ideas about how we would like things to go.

The other big piece of pregnancy related news is that this week I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Bummer. I did not have gestational diabetes with Lily so I was pretty surprised to have it with this baby. I was also surprised because I have gained considerably less weight with this baby than I did with Lily, so I would have thought that would give me less chance of getting gestational diabetes, but alas, that was not the case. However, my glucose readings on a 3 hour glucose test were only a couple of points away from passing, so it appears that my body is doing a pretty good job regulating my blood sugar but just not quite good enough. So this week has been full of research, finger pricks, phone calls to set up appointments, and one incredibly long, boring, thought-about-poking-my eyes-out-with-my-pen diabetes education class. It seems that, at least at this point, I should hopefully be able to keep my blood sugar within normal levels by altering my eating and increasing exercise a bit. The diabetes should go away once the baby is born and the baby will not have diabetes, so the main concern is making sure my blood sugar levels stay as normal as possible so they baby doesn't grow too large and require me to have a C-section. As always, prayers are super appreciated. :)

Other than that piece of not so great news, this pregnancy is going well. I am feeling a little more tired than I was a couple of weeks ago, but I think that is pretty normal as the baby gets bigger. Lily felt the baby kick a couple of weeks ago, so that was fun. Her little face lit up when she felt it. She keeps poking my belly button and telling the baby to "Come out and play with me!" and she often kisses my belly and lifts my shirt so she can "See a baby." This is cute, except when she tries to do it in Target and ends of exposing me like she did the other day.

This baby is super active and it has been fun to feel her moving so much. I am hoping this hyperactivity doesn't translate into a hyperactive baby, but it appears that that is how we Hartleys breed 'em. Right now I am just appreciating the frequent reassurance that she is happy and healthy.

Lily is TWO Years Old!

2011-04-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

Dearest Lily,

I can hardly believe it has been two years since the first time I held you in my arms. You were so tiny, so new, and you captured my heart the second I laid eyes on you. A lot has changed these last two years but one thing that will never change is how much I love and adore you. You are growing into such a fun, beautiful, kind, thoughtful, sweet, intelligent, and joyful little girl and Daddy and I simply couldn't be more thankful that you are our daughter.

Lily, at two years old you are ...

A complete and total chatterbox! We love that now we can hear the hilarious thoughts that are running through your head! Our parenting book says you should be putting two words together, like saying "Go car." Well, you are speaking in paragraphs! We talk all day long and when we are in the car you will often say "Mommy. Turn the radio off and talk to me!" Yes, sometimes you are bossy but we are working on manners. :) You will often say "please" (even though it sometimes takes some prompting) and when you say "thank you" you also add "you're welcome!" without giving your conversation partner a chance to say it. :) Your ability to communicate is so amazing to us!

In love with singing. Music is calming to you and we love hearing you sing to us and to your stuffed "friends."

Still a very difficult sleeper. We've had periods where you slept fairly well for a few weeks in a row, but then something happens and all of a sudden you are back to waking up 3-6 times a night. You've had a bit of a cold for a couple of weeks now and Daddy and I are exhausted from waking up with you up to 10 times a night. Mostly you just want your blanket adjusted, or a hug, or a song, or a prayer. These are very difficult requests for us to refuse because they are so heartfelt and sweet. However, Mommy and Daddy are "tie-red" as you would say. I just keep reminding myself that someday you will be a teenager who sleeps late and I will miss our nightly check ins. One of my favorite parts of the day is right before Daddy and I go to bed and we always go in to your room to check on you. You are asleep, most often cuddling your doll "Ash-el-ley" and I can barely restrain myself from picking you up and nuzzling you. These are the times you most remind me of that little newborn baby you were two years ago.

A genius. Yep, I said it. You know all of your basic colors (and even some weird ones like silver and maroon), you know all of your uppercase letters and some of your lowercase ones, you know the difference between uppercase and lowercase letters, you can count to 14 consistently and sometimes to 18 (most often you say 13, 14, 16, 18, 17, 18), you know all of your shapes (even weird ones like pentagon, hexagon, and arrow), and now you are even learning some of these things in Spanish, thanks to "Dora the 'plorer." The other day we were at lunch and all of a sudden you counted to six in Spanish. You also say azul, rojo, verde, and amarillo on a regular basis, as well as abre, arriba, abajo, gracias, and de nada! Your little brain is absolutely amazing to me and watching you learn new things everyday is one of the best things about being your Mommy.

27 pounds (57th percentile) and 36.75 inches tall (97th percentile). If it is true that your full grown adult height is double your height at two years old, you will be about 6 feet 1 inch. We have our fingers crossed for a volleyball scholarship. :) You are wearing 3T clothes for the most part, though some of your 2T outfits still fit. We have a hard time finding jeans that fit you because your legs are so long and your waist is small. I know it won't always seem like it during your awkward teenage years, but this is a good problem to have.

Are a girly girl who loves getting her nails painted, wearing dresses, having tea parties, and playing with her fairy wings and wand.

Love the park, reading, watching TV, running around in the grass, helping Mommy, being tickled by Daddy, climbing anything and everything, and doing things by yourself. You are a sweet and sensitive girl who picks up on the emotions of others and takes criticism/scolding very seriously. Thankfully, you are a good listener and rarely get in trouble.

A picky eater. Your newest food passion is a "peanut butter snamwich" and you think Uncle Zack makes the best ones. The other day you said, "I need Uncle Zack" and when I asked why you said, "I need a peanut butter snamwich." The two are very connected in your mind. You also like string cheese, milk, black beans, quesadillas, grilled cheeses, french fries (you've had them twice despite our best efforts to keep you away from them), cookies, waffles, turkey sandwiches, yogurt, blueberries, oranges, meat, hot dogs, bean burritos, and sometimes strawberries. At the current moment, there are no vegetables that you really like though you keep asking for carrots because someone on Dora eats them. However, once you get them you refuse to eat them. Tricky girl. :)

When asked your name you will now say "Lily Georgianna Hartley" and if Daddy says something like "Are you a tickle worm?" or "You're a silly goose" you will say "No! I a Lily Bug!"

You say sweet things all the time and are generous with your love. Today you came up to me and pulled my arms so I would bend down and you could kiss my 7 months pregnant belly. Every night when we are getting you ready for bed and singing your bedtime song (ABCs) you grab my face in your little pudgy hands and kiss me over and over. Then you kiss my cheek a few times and put your head on my shoulder with your arms wrapped around my neck. My heart melts every time.

Have a wonderful imagination. The other day Daddy came home from work and you immediately led him to the couch, lifted his legs on the couch so he was laying down, then told him you were going to go get him "medicine for Daddy's nose." You walked to the kitchen, pretended to pick something up, walked half way back to the living room, and said to yourself "I need more medicine." You went back to the kitchen, then went to Daddy and proceeded to wiggle your fingers all over his nose. You also covered him with a piece of paper as his "bankie" and took excellent care of your patient. You also love to have tea parties and pretend to find food in people's pockets - most often that food is hot dogs.

Take your shoes off in the car every. single. time. we go anywhere. Then you immediately want them back on. We have had to institute a rule that if you take your shoes off they do not go back on until we get to wherever we are going. This does NOT make you happy.

Love bubble baths and blowing bubbles in the bath.

Do not like going to church/being in the nursery. You continually talk about having a "sticker on the back" (they put your name tag on your back so you don't take it off) and "crying in the toys." You also say you are "Crying inside. Crying in my fingers. I miss Mommy." Even though it makes you sad, it is good that you get to play with other kids and the nursery attendants assure me you never cry for very long. I am thankful we don't have to be apart from each other very often because I don't think either of us would enjoy that very much. We are pretty much attached at the hip. :)

A joyful little girl who brings us SO much happiness. You are the best thing that has ever happened to Daddy and I and we know we are so incredibly blessed to have you as our daughter. We love watching you grow and are so excited to see the person you are becoming!

We love you so much, Lily!

Lily Sings

2011-04-11T00:01:00.000-07:00

Lily loves music and loves both singing and being sung to. Her favorite songs include: Jesus Loves Me, ABCs, Mary had a Little Lamb, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, Jesus Loves the Little Children, and, most recently, the Happy Birthday song. The easiest and quickest way for us to calm her down when she is upset is to sing to her and we are often thankful to have that tool in our parenting arsenal!

The past couple of months she has started singing the songs along with us and is now singing them by herself. It is the cutest thing in the world to hear her singing to her "friends" (stuffed animals) in her crib! We've been trying to capture her singing on video for the longest time, but every time we pulled out the camera she immediately stopped singing. Finally, just a couple of days ago, she was in a very good mood and I was able to catch her singing a few of her favorite songs. Enjoy! :)

"'Bridge' Lake, Rainy Mountain!!!"

2011-03-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

As you've probably heard by now, Dora mania has come to the Hartley house. Lily is OBSESSED with Dora and everything that comes with Dora - Boots the monkey, Big Red Chicken, Dora's backpack, Map, and the list goes on. Often, she'll watch and episode (or 12 if she had her way) and then recount the stops Dora and friends made on that day's exploration. Most episodes have 3 stops and Lily will repeat said stops over and over again, in order.

We took this video of Lily right after the Dora obsession started. Chris and I hadn't seen an episode yet since it was my parents who introduced Lily to Dora (p.s. thanks a lot! :)) so it took us quite a while to figure out that she was saying "BRIDGE, lake, rainy mountain!" We couldn't stop laughing because it sure doesn't sound like she's saying "bridge" ... we'll, see for yourself. :)

Lily forgets to color on paper ...

2011-03-29T13:50:00.000-07:00

Daddy's Girl

2011-03-28T13:35:00.000-07:00

This is why Chris wanted kids ... :)

Si

Sidenote: For the next couple of days I'll be posting videos we've taken over the last month or so. I've gotten super behind on this blog so hopefully that will help us catch up a bit! :)

Lily is 23 Months Old!

2011-03-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

It is impossible for me to wrap my mind around the fact that in just one month, my little baby will be 2 years old! Where has the time gone? Lily is such a joyful presence in our lives and we are so thankful for her and her little personality!

At 23 months old Lily is:

Obsessed with Dora the Explorer. Wow. She is passionate about it and would watch Dora 24 hours a day if we allowed her to. Most of Lily's conversations revolve around Dora in some way. We spend lots of time talking about Dora's purple "pack pack" (aka backpack), Boots the monkey, bridges, waterfalls, nutty forests, big red chickens, and Map. Lily has taken to yelling "Arriba!" whenever we go somewhere and repeats "We did it! We did it!" over and over when she does something she is proud of. All of those things probably don't make any sense at all if you've never seen Dora, but don't worry, next time you see Lily she'll explain it to you. Sadly, Lily's love for Elmo, Big Bird, and all other things Sesame Street related has fallen by the wayside. Apparently, Lily's can be bought with rainbows, unicorns, and bowl haircuts. :)

A total chatterbox. As I said, many of these conversations revolve around Dora, but other topics of conversation include what Lily ate, what Lily would like to eat, boogers, emphatic statements that Lily is not "tie-red", lists of people Lily loves, Lily's toe nail polish, Lily's shoes, other clothing items Lily is wearing, Lily's favorite songs, counting anything and everything, and basically anything else that pops into Lily's mind. When people first meet Lily she is often quite quiet and shy, but just wait ... once she warms up she does not stop talking. The longest phrase we've heard from her so far has been 8 words. We love love love hearing all of the funny things that are going on in her head, but ... not going to lie ... sometimes we miss the quiet. :)

Loves waffles. She will sometimes eat 3 waffles for breakfast without batting an eye.

Is sleeping quite well! Hallelujah! She still wakes up a couple of times a week, but that is totally fine and such a huge improvement. Most of the time when she wakes up she just wants her blankets put back on her because she has kicked them off. Lily does, however, have quite the bedtime routine/list of requirements before she will sleep. Here are the things Lily inventories in her crib before she goes to sleep and will request if they are missing: Her doll, Ashley (At-ley.) Her other doll, Dolly. Her Grover stuffed animal. Her Elmo stuffed animal. Her doggy, Lulu. Her sippy cup of water. Two blankies. Her pillow. Also required are her noise machine set to "rain", a fan set on high, and a light show on her ceiling that displays sheep, cows, and stars on a starry night sky. Chris and I cannot understand how in the world she sleeps in there with all of that going on, but now that we've found the magic combination of white noise and comfort items, we are not messing with it. We both know her sleeping checklist and we follow it to a T. :) Does that make her spoiled? Probably. But we don't give a rip as long as she lets us sleep. :)

Loves the park and loves reading, especially her Dora books and any books that have fairies or light up.

Can consistently count aloud to 13 and can identify numbers 1-10 when she sees them.

Can identify all 26 uppercase letters and some lowercase ones.

Loves singing and being sung to. One of her favorite phrases is "sing a song!" Her favorite songs include Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (which she calls "Finkle Little Star"), Jesus Loves Me (Lily calls it "Love Me") and the ABC song (Lily says "Sing ABCDEFG"). She will sing Finkle Little Star by herself sometimes and it is the cutest most hilarious thing. We've had a hard time getting it on video because every time she sees the camera she stops singing, but hopefully we'll be able to share it soon.

Does not like being in a stroller or a shopping cart. Lily always wants to walk wherever we go and makes her case for walking by saying "listen to Mommy Daddy" and "good listener." While it is true that she is a good listener most of the time, it certainly was a lot easier to go shopping when she would willingly sit in the cart and play with a toy! I love that she wants to be independent but that independence requires more patience on my part. She also wants to climb in her car seat on her own and walk up and down stairs on her own rather than be carried. We are just waiting for the day she asks to borrow the keys to the car.

Is a very sensitive girl. She picks up on emotions and tone of voice very well and she is constantly listening to what we are saying. It is a good reminder to me to try my best never to let my frustration or anger come out but to remain calm in all situations. Case in point: The other day we were at Target and Lily was walking with me since she didn't want to ride in the cart. She kept walking too far away and after a few reminders and warnings, I told her she had to sit in the cart because she was not listening to Mommy. She let out a blood curdling scream in frustration and I harshly scolded her and said "Lily screaming like that is not good. That was very bad!" Well, once she calmed down she just kept repeating "Very bad. Lily very bad" to herself over and over! Talk about guilt! Even after trying to explain to her that she wasn't bad, it was the screaming/tantrum that was bad, she was still distraught. I don't really think her 1 year old mind could understand the distinction I was trying to make. It was a good reminder to me that her little spirit is sensitive and while it is my job to train her and discipline her when she misbehaves, I also don't want to wound her heart.

Says phrases like "I miss Mommy. I miss Daddy. I love Mommy. I love Daddy." that just make me melt whenever she says them.

Loves to pray. She loves to pray before we eat and before she goes to sleep. She will often say "more pray" and she is very good at sitting still while we pray and sometimes she'll add in an "Amen" at the end. She also loves it when we read her a blessing and when we talk about the fruits of the spirit.

Has crazy hair. It is curly and wild and tangly and the only way to really get it to look nice is to get it wet and let it curl up. It is getting longer though, so that is fun. Also, Lily has been really into wearing headbands lately, though she'll take it off after a few minutes and then want Mommy to put it back on. This happens over and over until I end up just taking away the headband and telling her we'll try again another day.

No longer uses a pacifier. This is actually a little bit of old news since we took it away about 2 months ago, but there were a few weeks where we weren't sure if that was really going to stick or not. Thankfully, she has finally adjusted and is sleeping well again, so cross that one off the parenting checklist!

Is a love bug. When we're walking, she'll often stop and wrap herself around my legs to give me a hug. She likes sitting on my lap when we're eating and loves sitting together while she's watching Dora. She loves climbing on Daddy and being held by him. She'll often put her head down on Chris's shoulder and you can just see his heart melt. Lily is a treasure and a wonderful little girl and I am so thankful that she is ours!

Big Bertha

2011-03-11T12:35:00.001-08:00

In my opinion, one of the worst things about a normal, healthy pregnancy is that it can make sleeping difficult. I am not sure exactly what it is, but sleeping with a giant belly is quite uncomfortable. Also, about 1/2 of the way through the pregnancy you aren't supposed to sleep on your back anymore and "experts" recommend trying to sleep on your left side because that gives the baby and the mom the best blood flow. Great idea, except who stays in one position all night long? Add in a sore back and multiple trips to the bathroom each night, and that is a recipe for exhaustion before the new baby even arrives.

So, knowing all of that was coming, my very thoughtful husband bought me a pregnancy pillow for Christmas. Okay, okay ... I bought it with his credit card, but he still gets the credit. :) Here is the link to the pillow from amazon and here is the product picture:

Awesome, right? Right.

I started using the pillow right around mid-February and it really has helped me sleep better. It is supportive in all of the right places and I like that when I flip over I don't have to flip the pillow with me because it is the same on both sides. I am sleeping better, longer, and I am less sore in the mornings when I wake up.

However, there is one noticeable drawback ... it is gargantuan! Chris has coined the pillow "Big Bertha" and I often catch him giving her dirty looks as she lays quietly on our bed.

Chris and I have queen sized bed which typically fits us both quite comfortably. Not anymore. Poor Chris is relegated to the edge of one side of the bed while "Big Bertha" and I take up about 2/3 of the bed. I will often feel Chris wrap himself around one side of Big Bertha and hold on just to stay on the bed. I have offered to get rid of it or find another pregnancy pillow, but Chris *says* he's fine. Only time will tell whether he is truly just that wonderful or if I will be paying for this for years to come, with the most probable form of payment being changing dirty diapers. :)

One added bonus is that Lily seems to enjoy Big Bertha quite a bit. She likes jumping on her, climbing over her, and reading in her. Poor Chris is outnumbered already. :)

24 weeks!

2011-03-02T13:58:00.000-08:00

I am now 24 weeks pregnant with this precious little girl! Time is flying by and it is hard to imagine that in just a little over 3 months we'll have a newborn baby joining our family ... SO exciting!

Here is a picture of my belly at 24 weeks, taken with my cell phone camera ...

In general, I am feeling very well. I have been trying to take things a little easier, particularly in regards to lifting Lily, and I can certainly feel it on the days that I am super active. Taking care of an almost two year old every day does not include a whole lot of resting! :) I have also been having a little more trouble sleeping lately, mainly because my hips have been hurting. I remember my hips hurting a lot when I was pregnant with Lily and this pregnancy is the same - my hips are just achy. It certainly isn't debilitating though and I am thankful that is the only thing I really have to complain about!

We had a couple of ultrasounds this past month (3 to be exact) and, after some initial concerns and inability to get clear pictures, the conclusion was that we can expect a healthy, normal baby girl. Here are some pictures from one of the ultrasounds!

I have my next pre-natal appointment on Monday, so I am looking forward to that. We've started gathering things together for the baby. Thankfully we still have lots of the things we used for Lily so we don't really need to buy too much. We found a great deal on a crib and we've started to stockpile diapers, so we are feeling pretty set. It is amazing how much less time and energy I am putting into acquiring things for this baby! With Lily I was trying to be prepared for every scenario and have everything in place at least a month before my due date. This time I just keep thinking "Eh ... we'll make it work." I am thankful that God has given me such a peace about the whole situation and much greater confidence in my ability to handle the unknown.

Chris has been amazing, as always, throughout this pregnancy. He has taken on more household chores, especially the laundry since our communal machines are super far away and it hard for me to carry our ridiculous amounts of laundry up and down our 3 flights of stairs. Chris has been very sweet to take Lily for me so I can get things done around the house or rest. And he even bought me a pre-natal massage for my birthday! I had never had a massage before and it was SO nice! It has also been great to experience Chris's enthusiasm for the new baby. Knowing what to expect and that we survived it once is giving us both confidence, I think. I am thankful that Chris is such a loving husband and father. I am so looking forward to seeing him hold our new baby in his arms!

Lily has been super cute whenever we have talked about the baby. She keeps saying "Baby! Bubbles!" which, come to find out, means she wants to teach the baby about bubbles and take a bubble bath with the baby. Where she came up with that, I have no idea. :) She loves reading her book about being a big sister and she talks about making sure the baby is "warm and cozy" like the baby in her book. Lily will frequently rub my belly and want to "hug kiss baby." She also digs her finger in my belly button and says "Baby OUT!" She may be impatient for the baby to come out, but I have a feeling it is going to rock her little world once the baby is born. How Lily will adjust is probably the thing I am most concerned about in this whole process, but I am hoping that her sweet and kind spirit will help her to look at the baby as a friend rather than an attention sucking enemy. Time will tell ... :)

Thank you to all who have been thinking of us and praying for us! As my belly grows larger and the reality of this baby's impending arrival sets in we are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family supporting us and loving this little girl already. We'll keep you updated!

If you want to smile ...

2011-02-26T08:24:00.000-08:00

Watch this video of Lily and Chris playing. Her laugh is the best!

Neeners

2011-02-23T14:17:00.000-08:00

Lily has had a lot of nicknames in her short 22 months of life. Lately, now that she is talking a ton, she has been calling herself "Ni Ni" rather than Lily. Most often she uses it when she is telling us that SHE wants to do something rather than have it be done for her. The list of things Ni Ni must do for herself these days includes: walk down the stairs, feed herself, hold her cup of milk, pick out her clothes, and, most important of all, climb in her car seat. Whenever she wants to do something, or whenever she does something she is proud of, she says "Ni Ni dood it!"

After hearing "Ni Ni dood it!" quite a few times, Chris and I jumped on the bandwagon and started calling Lily "Ni Ni" as well. This quickly devolved into "Neen" and "Neeners." Now, every once in a while, Lily will say "Neeners dood it!" She's basically the Puff Daddy of the baby world.

Here is video we took in January, right after Uncle Zack taught Lily that her last name was Hartley. :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-11T13:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we spent some time at a local park taking some Valentine's pictures of Lily and her BFF Owen. They were so cute together and even though it was a challenge wrangling a 1 and 2 year old at the same time, we had a lot of fun. Happy Valentine's Day from the cutest Valentine ever, Lily. :)

Lots more pictures from our shoot can be found on my photography blog at www.meganhartleyphotography.com. :)

Mommy has a cold ...

2011-02-04T09:10:00.000-08:00

So this is a lay in bed and read books kind of morning. And, if a photo shoot happens to occur, so be it. :)

"One More"

2011-01-21T13:45:00.000-08:00

One of Lily's newest passions in life is going to the park. She has liked going to the park for a couple of months but I'd say the past two weeks it's become a real obsession. Chris has been taking her most days when he gets home from work while I get some things done around the house and now every time he walks in the door Lily starts yelling "Daddy! Park! Daddy! Park!" Her enthusiasm is very entertaining.

I think one of the reasons she really loves the park now is that she is big enough (just barely) to navigate the equipment on her own now. She can climb the stairs and ladders and go down the slide all on her own because, in case you hadn't heard, she is a big girl now. :) Whenever she gets home from the park she enthusiastically recounts her time on the "reen lide" or green slide for those of you who don't speak Lilyish. Here is a video I took of her yesterday going down the "reen lide."

I love this video for so many reasons but here are just a few -

1. I think it is hilarious that she bonks her head every other time she goes down the slide but doesn't let that stop her.

2. I LOVE how she says "One more!" each time after she slides down. When I started taking the video I hadn't told her we were leaving any time soon, so she was just saying it to make sure she got to go at least one more time. I love how she holds up her little tiny finger and puts it right between her eyes ... seriously, the kid already knows how to get what she wants! Thankfully, she is normally a very good girl when it is time to leave the park and she rarely puts up a fight.

3. I love her little voice. She is such a chatterbox and I know someday I am going to miss the sound of her little squeals!

Baby #2: 18 Weeks

2011-01-19T21:31:00.000-08:00

So I haven't posted too much about this pregnancy so far. It's true what they say, the second kid gets the shaft even in utero! :) Our few pregnancy postings certainly don't appropriately convey our excitement about our newest addition ... we couldn't be more thrilled to have another little girl joining our family!

So far this pregnancy is going very well. I am 18 weeks today and feeling super. There was about a month where I felt nauseous and utterly exhausted, but ever since I hit about 12 weeks I've been feeling much better. I've also had some pretty intense back pain but that too has subsided recently, so that is VERY good. My doctor explained that being pregnant stretches out your stomach muscles, so when I was pregnant with Lily my muscles got super stretched from her giantness. And, since I did about 10 minutes of ab work total between pregnancies, my stomach muscles are slightly better than useless at this point. Lack of stomach muscles = back injuries so the doctor advised avoiding lifting anything even slightly heavy. Good advice but hard to follow since we live on the 3rd floor and, oh yeah, I have a 26 pound toddler who likes to be held and needs to be picked up about 20 times a day. So I am doing the best I can and Chris has been super helpful in helping with Lily when he is home. Overall, things are going extremely well and really quickly!

So here is a picture of me at 18 weeks pregnant. I feel like I look pregnant now, which is fun. Honestly, I never actually lost my baby bump from when I had Lily (remember the 10 minutes of ab work? Shockingly, it wasn't enough ...) so I've looked a couple of months pregnant ever since she was born. :) Now, however, the bump is becoming much more defined and that is fun. Most importantly, all signs so far point to healthy baby and we are SUPER thankful for her!

Lily "Reads"

2011-01-18T21:40:00.000-08:00

Lily loves books. She has loved books since she was a tiny baby and she would rather read books than play with almost any of her other toys. We obviously try to encourage this, even when I just don't think I can take reading "Goodnight Moon" one more time.

For Christmas, Lily was given a book called "Fifteen Animals" by our friends Marielle and Matt. In this book the main character has fourteen animals named Bob and 1 animal named Simon James Alexander Ragsdale the Third (that's the twist ... get it?) :) Lily LOVES this book and we've read it approximately 2700 times in the last month. Since we've read it so much, Lily now likes to say "Bob" whenever the name comes up in the book. We think it's adorable and we hope you do too! :)

Lily Loves ...

2011-01-13T20:08:00.001-08:00

Lily already loves the new baby! She pats and kisses my tummy and always wants to look at the ultrasound photos of the baby. I know she really doesn't have any idea what is coming her way, but I hope these two girls grow up to be the best of friends! :)

Boy or Girl? :)

2011-01-10T22:03:00.000-08:00

Last week we found out whether the new baby is a boy or a girl! Here is a video of Lily in the car on the way to our ultrasound ... she is fairly nonplussed about the whole thing, mostly likely because we woke her up from her nap to go to the ultrasound. :)

And here is a video sharing the news with Lily!

The new baby is a girl! We are so excited and happy that Lily got her wish and will be getting a sister! We can't wait for this precious little girl to join our family in June.

New Year, New Goals

2011-01-01T13:26:00.000-08:00

Last year I posted some New Year's goals on this blog in the hopes that posting them for the world to see would keep me accountable. Not gonna lie, it didn't go so well. :) However, I do honestly think I accomplished more of my goals by writing them down and posting them than if I had just neglected the exercise altogether. Being somewhat of a perfectionist, publicly admitting failure is not something I enjoy - hence the end to my monthly goal re-caps! But I've decided that allowing my fear of failure to stop me from setting high goals for myself is worse than failing at some or all those goals. So, here we go ... Megan's New Year's Goals 2011!

Personal Goals:

1. Read the Bible daily. Last year I attempted to read the entire Bible in a year and only made it to about February before hitting the wall. For the last half of 2010 I had one chapter of the New Testament e-mailed to me each day and that has been much more manageable. I am planning on sticking with that for this season of my life.

2. Limit computer time to when Lily is napping/sleeping/Chris is playing with her. 2010 was a busy learning year for me with the start of my photography business. I spent a lot of time reading and learning online as well as editing photos. The business has been a huge blessing to us, but it has also taken valuable time away from Lily. Being Chris's wife and Lily's mom is my favorite and most important job and I don't want photography to interfere with that.

3. Stick to a cleaning schedule. I pretty much spent the month of November 2009 on the couch with morning sickness and I basically didn't clean anything for the entire month. Gross. Once I started feeling better, the task of cleaning everything that had been neglected for that month seemed overwhelming. So I created a cleaning schedule with daily, monthly, and bi-annual cleaning tasks. I used it for the month of December and really felt like it helped each day to run more smoothly and no one day's work was too overwhelming. I would like to stick to this schedule (with modifications if needed) for the upcoming year.

I think these goals are challenging, but manageable. We'll see! :)

Financial Goals:

1. Continue to tithe 10% of our gross income. Even in the just the past year alone we have personally experienced financial miracles. The only way we can show our appreciation for the financial blessings we have received is to give God back a small portion of what He first gave us. Tithing must remain our top financial priority in 2011.

2. Spend the first 6 months of the year saving money to pay our insurance deductible/co-payment for the birth of the new baby. We've had trouble getting Kaiser to give us a firm cost for the baby's birth, but worst case scenario we need to save an additional $2400 before June. That will require us to put $400 a month towards this particular savings goal. Not gonna lie, that is a bit of a daunting figure for us at this stage of our lives. The new baby better remember that sacrifice when it's time to pick our nursing home! :)

3. Spend the second 6 months of the year paying for the new baby. :)

4. Maintain our 6 month emergency fund that we established in 2010. Since Chris transitioned from the Coast Guard to life as a student in 2010 our income was cut by more than 50%. Thankfully, we were already living on much less than Chris made in an attempt to pay off debt and build up our emergency fund. We are committed to not touching that emergency fund while Chris is in school, tempting though it may be. :) We are very hopeful that Chris will be able to find a job quickly after he graduates from grad school in December 2011 but we want to keep that emergency fund intact just in case the job search takes longer than expected.

5. Remain debt free. 2010 was the year we paid off our debt and we have really enjoyed the freedom that comes from being debt free. If we had had a lot of debt Chris would never have been able to leave the security of the Coast Guard to pursue graduate school and we are both very thankful that he is working on things that excite and interest him. Barring unforeseen circumstances, we should be able to go the next 12 months while Chris is in school without taking on debt. God has provided for us in ways we could NEVER have expected and we really believe that if we do our part by living frugally and tithing, He will take care of us without requiring us to take on debt.

Prayers and encouragement in our endeavours are very much appreciated! I tried to keep the goals a little more simple this year (plus there are less of them!) and I think that any progress made towards these goals will be positive. Happy New Year!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T20:49:00.000-08:00

This year we had a wonderful Christmas. We spent it with family and friends and it was so exciting for Lily to experience her first "real" Christmas where she actually realized that something special was happening. We kept asking her if she liked Christmas and she kept saying "Uh huh!" Even though she says that to pretty much every question we ask, we think she had a good time. :)

The day started with Chris making some delicious vegan pumpkin waffles along with pancakes and bacon. What a treat!

Lily got into the spirit of things quickly. :)

Chris got a bike and corresponding accoutrement.

Uncle Zack helped Lily open her presents when it all got to be a bit much.

Ear muffs for Papa and Grandma's freezing igloo ... I mean house. :)

Grandpa Chet and Lily stacked and stacked and stacked.

And, best of all, Lily got a pony! Okay, not really, but Daddy is a pretty good substitute. :)

Also, here is a fun video we took on Christmas Eve of Lily playing with my dad, a.k.a. Papa. One of Lily's FAVORITE things to do is play "AB!" which is what she calls her alphabet puzzle. This video really shows her little quirky sense of humor. It also shows that she thinks she is even more hilarious than we do! Plus you can see her sparkly shoes which she wears almost daily and calls her "barkees." :)

We didn't end up sending out Christmas cards this year, but we still want to wish everyone who takes the time to read this blog and keep up on our lives a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are so thankful to have you all in our lives and love you very much!

Professor Lily

2010-12-19T20:03:00.001-08:00

She's so cute!

Lily is going to be a big sister!

2010-12-12T21:30:00.001-08:00

Baby Hartley - Due June 22, 2011.

We're excited!!!

"Use Your Powers for Good, Lily"

2010-12-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

When I was pregnant with Lily, I was secretly afraid that I would have end up having child who was, shall we say, not the brightest crayon in the crayon box. I'm not talking about being worried that the child would have a mental handicap or anything, I was just worried that she would be a little slow ... a dunce ... the "Joey" of the Friends cast.

It was a completely irrational fear, like how some women are worried about their babies being born with two heads or something, but I was still a little nervous. I consider myself to be fairly intelligent and Chris is about twice as smart as I am, so I worried that if we had a kid who wasn't smart, we would have trouble relating to the child and he or she would always be compared to us and people would wonder how two smart parents had such a dumb kid. Yes, I know, I was 10 steps into crazy-ville.

Well, I am no longer worried about Lily being a dummy. She has proven herself to be quite the quick study and very curious. In fact, my concerns now lie in making sure she is challenged and engaged and thinking that someday, in the not too distant future, she may be smarter than me. She certainly surprised me the other day - I was sitting at the computer paying bills while Lily played quietly behind me. Quietly playing by herself is not one of her strengths, so I was enjoying the few moments to get something accomplished. She came over to my chair at the computer, tapped my leg, and pointed behind me. Thankfully, my cell phone was on the desk so I was able to grab it and document her creation.

The child is 19 months old and stacked all of those boxes, in size order, by herself! I don't think my shock was just parental pride ... I really think that is unusual, right?

She keeps us on our toes!

2010-12-03T13:09:00.000-08:00

Lily may only be 19 months old, but she has the strength and physical agility of someone twice her age. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but honestly, she's strong. And determined. Oh, so determined. Here is a video of Lily being a monkey and climbing into our bed, which is about 4 inches taller than her.

As you can see, she has no fear. She can also get down from the bed using a daring combination of lowering herself using the comforter and falling about half of her body height. Sometimes she lands on her feet, sometimes on her rear end, but she always stands up with a smile and a "ta da!" look on her face. I am pretty sure she'll be able to climb out of her crib pretty soon and then we are really in trouble!

PS: In the video Lily keeps asking to see the "baby." I didn't understand her at first, but she wanted to watch herself on the back of the camera - one of her favorite past times. Who ever thought narcissism would be so cute? :)

Lily Gross-ley

2010-11-22T14:06:00.000-08:00

Being a mom means dealing with a lot of gross-ness. I knew that going into motherhood and I was pretty prepared for the normal yucky-ness that comes with taking care of a small child. However, there is one gross thing that Lily has been doing lately that is just so gross and disgusting that I am overwhelmed by it. Steel your stomach, then take a look at this picture.

That is Lily's hair. Wrapped around her pacifier. Which she then sucks on. G.R.O.S.S.

For some reason, Lily has been swirling her pacifier in her hair constantly and then putting it in her mouth. We've stop her whenever we see her but she sleeps with her pacifier and that is when the majority of the hair gathering occurs. She is literally getting little bald spots on her head because she rips out so much of her hair! What is wrong with my child? Is this manifestation of some deep seeded psychological problem? Does she have some sort of "can't feel pain" disorder like on those mystery medical shows? Is she just doing it because she knows it bugs me? If so, I think we're in for some rocky teenage years.

The only solution we can come up with is to take away her pacifier ... but at this point that seems even more horrible than being greeted every morning by my bald child handing me clumps of her hair. What's a mom to do? Really ... ideas are welcome. :)

Lily Hartley- Genius Baby

2010-11-17T13:29:00.001-08:00

I know every parent thinks their child is a genius ... but mine really is! :)

Lily's development over the last month has really been astounding to us. She is learning letters, numbers, and colors and just can't get enough! She can say three letters (B, D, and P) and identify a couple more (A, and I.) She can identify the numbers 1-5 even though she doesn't say them yet and she can identify all of her basic colors, though she only says blue, purple, and black. Well, she also says "Melmo" whenever we see something red, so I am pretty sure she thinks the color red is called Elmo. Here is a video we took of Lily about two weeks ago as we practiced her colors. She has gotten even better at them in the last two weeks and is pointing out colors (along with B's, her favorite letter) everywhere we go. :)

Note: If you are having trouble seeing the video, try going to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w8nx98Nfww&feature=player_embedded and hopefully that will work! :)

Lily's Waterloo

2010-11-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you've probably noticed that we write a lot about Lily's sleeping patterns (or lack thereof.) The main reason for this is that ever since having a kid, sleep has become an incredible luxury and I now realize how much I took sleep for granted. I think back to those days when I could nap between classes, stay up as late as I wanted knowing I could sleep in the next day, and when a normal night included at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. I had no idea how good I had it! People have been so sweet in giving us ideas to try to help Lily sleep better. We've read article after article on the subject and they all suggest similar things - things that we were already doing. The only thing we weren't doing was letting her cry until she just collapsed in sleep, partially because it seemed mean and partially because anytime Lily cried in the middle of the night for more than about 3 minutes, our downstairs neighbors would start pounding on their ceiling. Perhaps they felt if they added more noise and annoyance to the situation it would somehow improve? I'm not really sure what their thought process was other than they wanted Lily to stop screaming. Us too.

Up until a few weeks ago, uninterrupted sleep seemed like something I would never experience again. Lily was waking up at least once a night (most often twice, sometimes three times) wanting a bottle of milk. And she only wanted Mama to give her the milk, not Dada. Of course. Sometimes she would pound two full bottles of milk, one right after the other. On one hand, it was incredibly annoying, but on the other hand, I didn't want her to be stuck in her crib thirsty/hungry and missing her Mama. So, I fed her. Bottle after bottle, night after night, growing more weary by the day.

At Lily's 18 month check up I talked to her pediatrician about our problem and all of the things we had done to help her sleep - feeding her lots right before bed, putting a sippy cup with water in her crib, putting a white noise machine and a fan in her room, giving her a lovey to sleep with, establishing a solid a bedtime routine, etc. She said it sounded like we were doing everything right and Lily was just using milk as an excuse to be cuddled in the middle of the night. She recommended letting Lily "cry it out" and checking on her in predetermined intervals to make sure she was okay, but never again feeding her in the middle of the night. I talked to Chris about the plan and he was on board, so when my parents went on vacation, we stayed at their house and prepared ourselves for a couple of sleepless nights.

The first night of not giving Lily a bottle in the middle of the night was rough. She woke up around 2:30am signing "milk" like always and then she became absolutely irate when milk was not immediately given to her. We checked on her at 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and then every 20 minutes after that. She screamed for over an hour and a half. It was horrible to listen to her scream, but we had both decided that enough was enough - Lily was being overthrown from her position as family dictator and any successful coup requires determination and and an iron will.

Even though that first night was rough, Chris and I survived and plodded through the next day on even less sleep than usual. Lily wasn't phased by her lack of sleep (she never is) and acted like all was well in the world. The second night we were more prepared - Chris brought home ear plugs from work as well as noise canceling headphones. We went to sleep expecting a repeat performance of the night before but ... the second night Lily only screamed for 10 minutes! We couldn't believe it. The third night it was 5 minutes and ever since then, she only wakes up occasionally when she loses her pacifier and rarely cries for longer than 5 minutes!

Even though that one night was hard it was so worth it to get more sleep! Lily has a very strong will for such a small person, but Chris and I (at least together!) have an even stronger will. This was a good lesson to Chris and I that as much as we want to allow Lily to express herself and become her own person, we are still the bosses and she has to listen to us because we are her parents. Sometimes it is uncomfortable to be in that kind of position of power, but this is what we signed up for and it is just better all around if we stick to our guns and don't give in to irrational demands. Overall, I am just thankful to finally be getting some good nights of sleep! 18 months is a LONG time to go without adequate sleep and every night Lily doesn't wake up is worthy of celebration in my book!

Lily is 18 Months Old!

2010-10-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Lily and Daddy on her 18 month birthday

Last week Lily turned 18 months old! It is hard to believe but she really isn't a baby anymore. She is running, talking, developing her own sense of humor and her own likes and dislikes. Even though I miss my cuddly baby, Lily is such a fun toddler. Here are some of the things Lily is up to at 18 moths old:

At her 18 month check up on October 13th, Lily was 26 pounds (75th percentile) and 34.25" tall (over 95th percentile). She is staying on the same growth curve as she has been on since birth, so the doctor says that is good. If she keeps staying in the 95th percentile, she's expected to be 6' 2" tall. No joke. Considering I am 5' 5" (when I stretch) I am preparing myself to be dwarfed right around age 8.

Lily has recently begun putting two words together into a phrase. Her favorite phrase is "Papa car." My dad (Papa) has a white Toyota Camry and anytime Lily sees a white car it is "Papa car." I don't know if you know this or not, but there are a LOT of white cars. :) She also knows that not every car is really Papa's car so once she says "Papa car" and we repeat "Papa car" she'll then say "No no no no no no." It's like she has a compulsion to say it and then correct herself.

Lily is getting much better at identifying colors. She can't say any of the colors yet (other than black) but if she's wearing pink pants I will say "Lily, what color are your pants?" and then, after she's had a chance to stare at them for a second, I'll say "Are they yellow?" and she'll say "No." We'll go through a couple of colors and then when I get to pink she'll say "Uh huh!"

"Uh huh!" is Lily's most frequently used phrase. She does not say "yes." It is really really cute when she says "uh huh!" with enthusiasm. We are just thankful her most frequently used word isn't "NO!"

Lily did learn the word "no" this month. It is most commonly accompanied by her passionately shaking of her head back and forth. As of right now though, she doesn't abuse this new found skill. :) She does, however, use it to lie about whether or not she needs her diaper changed. She hates getting her diaper changed now so whenever we ask her if she pooped she'll say no, even when it's quite obvious the answer is yes. :)

Another word Lily recently learned is "apple." She constantly asks for "apple" but when we give her a piece of apple or a slice of apple, she rejects it. She also made up her own sign for apple - pretending her fist is an apple and taking bites out of it. We think that is pretty advanced. :)

Lily loves going on the swings at the park but she always wants me to swing next to her rather than push her. She is cautious about going high and would basically prefer to watch Mommy swing rather than do it herself.

Lily has begun calling Chris "Daddy" rather than "Dada." It is so cute when she says it because she says "Da deeeeeeeeeeeeee" and repeats it over and over when she sees him or when she wants his attention. Yesterday we were in Costco and Chris was a couple of rows away from us, so Lily starts yelling "Da deeeeee Da deeeee Da deeeeee" over and over until he got to our cart. She is small, but she knows how to get what she wants! :)

Lily is still obsessed with Sesame Street. We allow her to watch 1 episode a day and I am pretty sure it is her favorite hour of the day! She knows all of the characters and is especially fond of Elmo (Melmo), Ernie (Nernie), and Big Bird (Bird). She dances to the opening song and then she will come and sit on the couch with me while we watch the rest of the show. I like the cuddling and she likes the entertainment, so really it is a win win. :)

Lily learned about playing the drums from Sesame Street and is now a bona fide drum player. The couch, the ottoman, the dinner table, the floor ... everything has become a drum set for Lily. On Sesame Street they showed kids playing bongo drums while singing the song "Here comes (insert name) solo." So when Lily plays the drums, I sing "Here comes Lily's solo" and her little face lights up. However, Lily really isn't happy with playing solo and always points next to her and says "Mama" because she wants a drumming partner. She really is the only person who has ever truly appreciated my musical abilities. :)

Lily loves the moon and gets really excited every time she sees it. She says "Mun" and then "ball."

Lily had her first major injury this month. She was playing on our bed, which she frequently does, with Chris and I standing right there. Chris said to Lily "I'm going to tickle you" and she threw herself backwards in a fit of giggles and then fell off the bed. She hit her face on the bedside table and cut the inside of her mouth. There was blood everywhere and the poor pumpkin had a super swollen lip! She recovered really well and didn't require medical attention, so all in all we felt like we were very lucky.

We are teaching Lily to say please which she pronounces as "Bluh."

Lily loves to play with balls. She can throw and roll balls but cannot catch. Her favorite ball is a big giant pink one that my mom got for her. It is at least half her size and it is hilarious to see her carry it around.

Here is a video of Lily, taken on her 18 month birthday, doing some of the things I just talked about. Sorry for the quality of the video ... I was using my DSLR to take it and I don't really know how to work the video feature yet. You'll get the gist of it though. :)

There are more funny and silly things to write, but in the interest of my time and your boredom, I'll stop here by saying it is SO fun to watch our precious girl grow and learn. She is truly a gift and we love her so much!

2010-10-08T20:43:00.000-07:00

Every night before we put Lily to bed, we read Lily a blessing. "We pray that you will know that the Lord your God is with you and that He is might enough to save you." We also recently posted the nine fruits of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23) up on the wall above her changing table and we've been reading them to her as well. Tonight, risking damnation, Chris added a tenth fruit of the Spirit - Sleeping through the night.

Hiya Itsy Bitsy!

2010-10-05T14:24:00.001-07:00

Sorry that we've been MIA ... Chris is back in school, photography is heating up, and life is all around busy but good. Hopefully I'll get a real post up soon, but until then I'll just share a couple of Lilyisms.

Lily has recently learned to say "hi" but she doesn't really say "hi" she says "hiya!" Now, she's never seen an episode of Rhoda so I am not sure where she picked that up, but it makes me smile.

Lily is obsessed with the spider that has been in the stairwell of our apartment building for about a month now. Every time we park in the parking lot she starts twisting her hands together doing the Itsy Bitsy Spider motions to let us know she's excited to see the "Itsy Bitsy" as we've named it. *Sidenote: It is nowhere near itsy or bitsy. In fact, if Lily didn't love that spider so much I would have bribed Chris with baked goods to smoosh it because it is huge and scary.* One morning we left the house early and the Itsy Bitsy wasn't moving around so I told Lily it was sleeping to which she replied "nigh nigh." Now every time we come up or go down the stairs Lily first waves to the Itsy Bitsy and then says "nigh nigh."

There are lots more Lilyisms to record and share but that will have to wait because she's up from her nap! Thanks for continuing to check up on us even though I have been a bad blogger. :)

Lily is 17 Months Old!

2010-09-12T21:55:00.000-07:00

This month has been a big one for our darling Lily. Her first trip to the ER, her first trip to Disneyland, and so much growth and learning! She learns SO MUCH each and every day ... I am continually amazed by everything her little brain is absorbing. Chris and I marvel daily at all of the things she understands.

One funny thing that Chris taught Lily is how to bring him the "troller" aka the remote control. She is always able to find it and bring it to him, much to Chris's delight. I am pretty sure that is half the reason he wanted to have a kid. :) The only problem with this scenario is that Lily brings him the controller and then demands that he turn on "Melmo" or "Bird" aka Elmo or Big Bird. And, no joke, she understands Tivo. She knows that if Elmo isn't on the screen at that exact moment, we can fast forward to when he is on the screen. She'll say "Melmo, Melmo, Melmo, Melmo, Melmo" eight thousand times until we give in to her demands. Yes, we're those parents.

Lily is getting much better at identifying her colors. Her favorite color so far seems to be black, or "ack" as she says. I am not sure if she just likes it because she can say it or if I should start saving for therapy now.

This month Lily has really developed a love for the song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." She follows along with the motions and whenever she wants us to sing it she will start twisting her hands together furiously. We also have a giant spider that has been in a web outside our apartment for about a week now and every time we say "Look at the spider" she starts doing the motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider." So cute!

Lily is still not sleeping very well. We've been trying some different things to try and help her sleep ... feeding her closer to bedtime, changing her nightlight so her room isn't so bright, leaving a sippy cup with water in her crib with her so she can get a drink if she wants in the middle of the night, taking her outside about an hour before bedtime to run around like crazy ... nothing is working. She still wakes up probably 4 or 5 times a week wanting a bottle. The other night she drank TWO full bottles in the middle of the night, one right after another. That is as much milk as she is supposed to have all day! At this point I'm pretty much thinking I'm not going to sleep through the night until she goes to college. Also our neighbors downstairs are not too fond of Lily's 3:00am wake up screams. Lately they have taken to pounding on their ceiling (our floor) with a broom handle to show their displeasure. Never saw that on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood did you?

Lily is learning so many new words and is really getting better at communicating using words rather than just gestures. We love it when she learns a new word and we are eagerly anticipating being able to communicate with her even more clearly.

Lily is a tough little girl. She loves running around and even when she falls she just gets right back up, brushes off her hands, and starts running again. Bruises and scrapes don't phase her at all. However, she does not like her hands to be dirty! I tried having her finger paint last week and as soon as the paint go on her hands she started signing "all done" and whimpering.

Lily is becoming slightly more friendly towards some strangers. Basically, if she initiates the contact, she is fine. Sometimes she will smile or wave at someone and then is delighted when they wave back. However, if a stranger looks at her and THEY wave or smile, it's all over. She immediately turns to me, buries her head in my chest, and says "Mama" to reassure herself that I'm still there. It is cute and sweet for me, but I know it is weird for the strangers who were just trying to be nice.

Lily has started shaking her head "No" quite frequently. She doesn't say the word though. Welcome to toddlerhood. :)

Lily has 15 teeth and her last canine tooth is just starting to peak through. She still has a big gap between her two front teeth that is absolutely adorable.

Lily is becoming more of a picky eater. The other day I made her eggs and toast for breakfast and the first thing she did was pick the few pieces of shredded cheese off of the eggs and lick the butter off of the toast. My kindred spirit.

Here are some pictures we took of Lily on Saturday, September 11th, 2010. Before Lily was born, when I thought about having a little girl, I imagined a life full of prettiness and light. While things aren't exactly always pretty (Lily's burps and farts rival Chris's!) sometimes there are moments with Lily where I just feel like stringed instruments should start playing in the background and I wish everything would suddenly turn into slow motion. These pictures capture one of those times and remind me that there is so much beauty in having a daughter. Lily as a sweet girl running around in a white dress in grassy fields ... and I couldn't be more thankful for her.

Lily's First Trip to Disneyland!

2010-09-04T15:18:00.000-07:00

This weekend we took Lily on her very first trip to Disneyland. We were wondering if she would really enjoy it or if she was still too little, but she had a ball. We kept the first trip short because it was unbelievably hot and crowded but we have passes so we are looking forward to taking her more often when it is cooler and less full of people who stop their strollers right in the middle of Main Street for no apparent reason. :)

We went on the tea cups twice and It's a Small World once. Two thoughts - 1. I can tell I am getting old because the tea cups left me dizzy for an hour. 2. It's a Small World remains the most annoying song in the universe. However, Lily loved both rides so I hopefully I can learn to appreciate the sentiment behind It's a Small World while keeping my lunch down on our future visits. We'll see.

Here are some pictures from our first visit as a family of three:

Lily and Daddy

Lily on the tea cups, already embracing the role of tourist. Notice the floppy hat and map reading?

Lily and Daddy on It's a Small World.

Waiting in line very patiently.

"Dad's hat is WAY better than mine."

Lily kept signing "more" to make us go faster on the tea cups. She tried to help spin us with her little baby muscles. I am pretty sure she is going to be a dare devil. :)

Lily's First Trip to the ER

2010-08-31T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last week Lily had a super duper runny nose. I thought she was teething but then one night she started coughing. Not like a regular cough - more like the cough of an 75 year old woman who's been smoking since she was 10. More like a bark than a cough, actually. We immediately thought Lily might have whooping cough which has been going around like crazy among babies here in Southern California. She has been fully vaccinated against it, but it still crossed our minds.

Anyway, Lily got progressively sicker and then one night Chris and I went in to check on her before we went to sleep and heard that she was having trouble breathing. She was breathing super fast and then would hold her breath for awhile before finally letting the air out and resuming the rapid breathing. She woke up while we were standing there and was obviously not doing well. We called the advice nurse who asked us a checklist of questions and told us to stay home but if it got any worse that we should go to the ER. Lily would not go back to sleep (and who can blame her? I wouldn't want to go to sleep if I couldn't breathe either!) and it seemed like the more she cried the worse her breathing got, so we headed off to the ER around 1 a.m.

We got the ER and it was blessedly empty. We never even sat down in the waiting room before seeing the nurse who then got us in a room immediately. We hadn't been the the emergency room with our new insurance (Kaiser) but man, it was slick. Good job, Kaiser!

They took Lily's vital signs and hooked her up to a machine to monitor her oxygen levels and her pulse. Her oxygen levels were good - between 90% and 100% but her poor heart was working so hard! The machine kept beeping because her heart rate was continually over 200 beats a minute. The nurse told us that was because she was struggling for breath. The doctor came and saw us and told us that it was good that we came in and ordered a chest X-ray to make sure there wasn't anything lodged in her airway. The X-ray was done in 10 minutes and came back clear so they gave Lily some oral steroids to open her airways and two breathing treatments using a nebulizer machine. Her breathing improved almost immediately! It was such a relief to hear her breathing normally and see her heart rate drop a little.

$334 later, we left the ER around 3:30am with Lily still wide awake - no joke. Sleep is optional in Lily's world. We also left with our very own nebulizer machine in hand. We were very glad to be able to give her breathing treatments over the next couple of days whenever she seemed to be struggling. The next day we had a follow up appointment with a doctor who ran tests for whooping cough and something else that both came back negative. We heard different diagnoses from different doctors - one said broncolitis and the other said a bad case of the croup (I thought that was eradicated with polio but apparently it's still a thing.) Regardless, she is doing much much better now.

Overall, it was a scary night but not terrifying. Lily never seemed like she was going to stop breathing, but it was unsettling to see her struggling so much. I was SO thankful that Chris was home and not in the middle of the ocean to help me care for her. He is an emotional rock when trouble strikes but he's also willing to sing the itsy bitsy spider to keep his daughter occupied ... a total gem of a man.

And Lily ... what a trooper! She finally fell asleep around 4:30am and then woke up at 8:00 like the whole night before was just a bad dream. She didn't eat much for the 3 days she was the sickest but she did develop an unhealthy obsession with Elmo since we let her watch TV non-stop to keep her quiet. She is feeling MUCH better now and pretty much back to her normal self (the Elmo addiction might be here to stay though.)

This whole experience once again reminded us how much we have to be thankful for:
1. Our general good health
2. Access to good medical care
3. The ability to absorb the financial costs associated with an emergency without too much heartache
4. Friends and family who are willing to pray for our child and her well being
5. A God who loves us and is with us in the good times and the bad. He is the ultimate healer and we are so thankful that He loves Lily even more than we do.

We didn't take too many pictures in the hospital since things were busy, but here are the two we took of our sweet pumpkin.

Lily did NOT appreciate the breathing treatments and pretty much screamed the entire time. I am finding there is too much "It's for your own good" in parenting for my taste.

E.T. toe.

Hopefully this trip satisfied our ER quota for awhile! :)

Daddy's Little Helper

2010-08-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

Who needs the Geek Squad when we've got Lily?

Lily is 16 Months Old!

2010-08-16T14:25:00.001-07:00

This post is a few days late, but Lily is now 16 months old! We didn't have time on to do a big photo session on the 13th, so we just had a quick photo shoot in the car. :) Lily is such a wonderful girl and surprises us every day with all of the new things she is learning. Here are some events, mannerisms, and milestones we've noted in the last month:

Lily loves to twirl (spin in circles)! It is really funny when she does it because she always has to bend her right elbow to be able to twirl. What a weirdo! :) She also likes it when Chris and I twirl with her and she only likes to twirl in her bedroom, not in the living room.

Lily's favorite new game play is night night, or as Lily says it, NIGH NIGH. Chris and I like the night night game because sometimes we can lay down while we play it. :) Here is a video we took of Chris and Lily playing night night.

Lily has become a little mimic this past month. We really noticed this the first time she choked on a sip of water and then began patting herself on back like we normally do to her when she is choking. SO funny!

Lily is getting better at repeating the sounds of the words we say. So if we say "paper" she'll say "ape er" even though she hasn't really learned the word. She is a chatterbox and quite good at communicating what she wants.

Lily still refuses to hold her own bottle. I know she can do it because she drinks from sippy cups just fine and drinks out of cups with straws even. That doesn't really bother me though because I love cuddling with her when I give her a bottle. Now that she is such an active ball of energy, it is the calmest, quietest part of our day.

Lily has an amazing sense of direction which she obviously did not get from me! When we go to pick Chris up for lunch, she starts yelling "Da Da!" as soon as we turn onto the street where we pick him up! She also knows when we are close to my parents house because as soon as we get off the freeway in Long Beach she starts yelling "Lella!"

Speaking of "Lella" Lily's new passion in life is the show Clifford the Big Red Dog on PBS. Whenever she wants to watch it (which is frequently) she'll bring Chris or I the remote and point to the TV while saying "Lella" over and over and over again.

Another TV character Lily loves is Elmo. This is particularly funny to us because she's never even seen Sesame Street (except maybe once or twice in the daycare at the gym) BUT Elmo is on her diapers and she walks around all day saying "Melmo" and pointing to her diaper. Hilarious.

Speaking of Lily's diaper ... she has become quite skilled at taking her diaper off. There was a recent disaster associated with this new found skill, but that deserves its own blog post. Let's just say we'll be keeping a diaper cover on at all times from now on.

Lily is wearing size 2T clothes and size 6 shoes. The girl has some giant feet.

Lily had her 15 month checkup this past month and received 6 shots! She was a champ though. She is 24.5 pounds and 31.5 inches tall, putting her in the 75th percentile for both height and weight.

Lily loves books more than any other her toys and even more than she loves watching "Lella" on TV. We read at least 50 books a day (most often about 10 books that are each read 5 times) and if it were up to her it would be more. Lily doesn't understand why Mama doesn't love Goodnight Moon and Pooh's Fuzzy Friends as much as she does. :)

Lily has learned that she likes dipping her food in things. She'll dip her chicken in her mashed potatoes, her burger in ketchup, etc. Sometimes she just dips whatever she's eating and licks off the sauce. It is gross but funny.

Lily has been breaking in her bottom canine teeth this entire month and they still aren't quite out yet. She's been super cranky and not sleeping very well because of it so we are hoping this teething process ends soon. As of now, not counting the canines, she has 12 teeth.

Lily has discovered the joys of peek a boo and is now a peek a boo devoté. She hides around corners, behind couches, and it is so cute to see her peaking through her fingers when she hides her face in her hands. She also likes to use her hands to play peek a boo on our faces which is fun.

Lily learned how fun it is to throw coins in fountains this month and we have subsequently donated all of our pennies to the owner of the local fountain. She still doesn't quite understand when we tell her that pennies don't grow on trees. :)

Lily constantly wants us to snap whenever we are listening to music. She can't snap, but she makes the motion with her fingers which is so cute. We get super tired of snapping but we keep doing it because it makes her happy. I think that's parenthood in a nutshell.

Happy Birthday Dear Grandma!

2010-07-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

Dear Grandma Kathy,

Happy Birthday! Thank you for being an amazing Grandma and for loving me so much. Thank you for all of the hugs, kisses, snuggles, all the times you rocked me to sleep, all the bottles and food you've fed me, all the baths you've given me, and all the times you've taken me swimming and walked me around the neighborhood in my car (beep! beep!) Thank you for the bike rides and the walks with my BFF Lella. Thank you for picking me up from my high chair when I want out at a restaurant, buying me toys and books, talking to me on the phone, singing me to sleep, and waking up with me in the middle of the night when Mommy and Daddy are tired. Mommy and Daddy really thank you for that too!

Grandma, I can tell you love me a lot because when you come into a room, I am the first person you look at and I am the only one you pick up. I think you are so special that sometimes I run to the door and scream "Rahma! Buh buh!" which Mommy knows means "I want Grandma! We should go bye bye!" I like looking at your picture when I can't be near you but I especially like that we live close so we get to see you lots now. I love you so much and hope you have the best birthday ever!

Love,

Lily Bug

PS: Thank you also for teaching me to point to my eyes when I say the "I" in "I love you." I am doing it in the picture just for you.

Lily is 15 Months Old!

2010-07-13T20:43:00.000-07:00

Lily turned 15 months old today and she is at an age where I just want to freeze her in time. She is so curious, so sweet, so funny, and just so wonderful. She has the absolute best sense of humor for any 15 month old baby I've met. :) She loves to make us laugh and her delight when we laugh just makes us laugh even more. Lily is joyful and generously spreads her joy to everyone she meets.

This past month Lily has become much more friendly to strangers. She has started waving to random people frequently which is both adorable and slightly embarrassing at the same time. Well, only when she does it over and over and over and we can tell the recipient of the wave simply wants to continue eating his or her dinner. :)

Lily has 12 teeth with a few more threatening to emerge. Her eyes remain the brightest of blue.

Lily loves to dance. She dances to any and all music, whether we are at home or in the car. It is so funny to see her bopping her head side to side in my rear view mirror when we are driving. She also loves to wave from her car seat when she knows I am looking in the mirror and gets the biggest thrill when I wave back. Her cuteness is more distracting than talking on a cell phone. :)

Lily takes after her mother in terms of her love for repetition. As a child I would play the same games, eat the same food, and watch the same movies over and over and over again. I don't know how my parents put up with it, but I am getting a taste of my own medicine now. :) Lily would read the same "Pooh's Fuzzy Friends" book 50 times a day if I could stand it. My limit is about 15 in a row. Her favorite part is when Tiger says "Bounce, bounce, bounce this way!" because then she can bounce up and down. She also loves the books "Happy Giddy" "Moo, Baa, La La La" and a kid's book of Bible stories. Her favorite pages in the Bible stories book are the pages with baby Isaac and baby Jesus ... she'll bring the book over and say "baaaabbbyy" because she wants to see the pictures of the babies. So sweet.

Lily still loves to takes baths/showers and is a total water baby. As soon as we enter my parents house she immediately starts signing "water" and wants to go in their pool.

Lily peed on her potty for the first time earlier today! She has been signing "potty" and likes to sit on the toilet, so we bought her her own little frog potty a couple of days ago. Today she actually used it so that was very exciting. I don't think we are really even close to her being fully potty trained but she certainly has an interest so we are encouraging that.

Lily's sleeping has improved somewhat this past month and she has been sleeping through the night at least a couple of days a week. I am SO thankful for that! When she sleeps well she is in a much better mood all day long and it is just better for everyone when she gets a good night's rest.

Lily picked out a baby doll at Target the other day and loves to give the baby kisses. She holds the doll and pats her back, just like a little Mommy. As Chris would say "What a pumpkin."

Lily got her first puzzle this past month and really loves playing with it. She knows which animals go in which spots but gets frustrated when she can't get the pieces in the holes. Her current strategy is to simply slam the wooden pieces harder to try to make them fit and then start moaning until Mom helps. Her favorite part of puzzling is taking everything apart.

Lily is a chatterbox and talks/makes sounds all day long. She is getting really good at repeating sounds and I LOVE hearing her little thoughts. She does not talk very much when we are out and about or around other people, but when we are at home or in the car she jabbers away.

Lily loves hugs and signs "more" over and over again when we give her hugs. She makes me melt with happiness.

Since I want to remember everything about this magical stage in Lily's life, I took about a bazillion pictures of her today. I especially wanted to focus on the little details ... her pudgy feet, her little ears, and those sweet sweet curls. Please excuse the excessive amount of pictures in this post ... since I can't freeze time, pictures are the next best thing. :)

Lily kissing her baby.

You can see how happy she is in this picture because her legs are flying! :)

She's with the band.

Reading "Pooh's Fuzzy Friends"

It's official ... Chris and I are the most blessed parents on the planet.

Lily Loves ...

2010-07-02T13:22:00.000-07:00

The theme song from The Office! She loves dancing to it and finally we captured it on video. You can see her putting her fingertips together to sign "more" because she wants the song to play over and over. And really, it is pretty catchy. But really only the first dozen times or so ...

Like Mother, Like Daugther

2010-06-28T13:29:00.001-07:00

1985

2010

To Grandmother's House We Go ...

2010-06-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to go visit Chris's Mom and Stepdad down in Camp Pendelton while they were visiting from Washington state. I'll post the pictures of their visit soon, but I wanted to post these funny pictures I took on my cell phone on the car ride down to Pendelton ...

Like Uncle, like niece. :)

Zack can sleep anywhere, anytime. :)

And Zack is clearly a better sleeper than Lily!

Lily in Daddy's Shoes

2010-06-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Lily discovered a new toy today - Dad's shoes! :)

Lily is 14 Months Old!

2010-06-13T20:14:00.000-07:00

Today Lily turned 14 months old. She is getting so big! I know I say it every month, but wow ... it is just amazing how much she can change in 30 days! The number of words and concepts she comprehends is increasing daily and she sure is keeping us on our toes!

Here are pictures taken this morning, on Lily's 14 month birthday ...

At 14 months old Lily:

Loves playing in the bath/shower. She just cannot get enough and even threw a 10 minute tantrum when she wanted to get in the bath but we said no. She is a water baby!

Has super curly hair that is just getting curlier as it gets longer. It is so soft and cute!

Still rarely sleeps through the night. Maybe once or twice a week. For reals, Lily?

Loves to climb stairs and has begun attempting to climb them while standing up ... yikes.

Gives kisses to all of her toys and pictures of people, but rarely will she kiss an actual person.

Is wearing size 2T clothing ... yeah. She remains our Giantess.

Has developed a love for peanut butter toast in the past month. She will run to the toaster and point at it when she wants toast. So cute.

Can say baby, mama, dada, hippo, cracker, banana (nana), bye bye, doggie, Lella, papa for grandpa, and grandma (ma'am ma). She will also repeat those things on demand (sometimes).

Has 10 teeth - 6 on top, 4 on the bottom. 2 more are currently working their way out.

Is all girl ... she has started putting anything round over her wrist and pretending it is a bracelet. She also will put any bag over her shoulder as a purse and likes it when I put chapstick on her.

Is very stubborn. We are trying to teach her to sit on the couch rather than run on it (she's fallen off a few too many times) but she just will not obey. We've started pinching her hand when we say "No" and then sitting her down but she just isn't fazed by that at all. Hence our purchase of "The New Strong Willed Child."

Really loves going to the park and running around outside. She loves going down the slide and trying to climb back up it.

Has learned to sign "water" and will sign "water" when she wants a drink or whenever we see a body of water.

Can now drink through a straw. Such a big girl!

Loves loves love books and turning the pages of her books.

Likes to spin her pacifier with her hand.

Is becoming less weary of strangers. We are very thankful for this!

Lily is an incredible joy. Even though she is certainly testing her limits she still remains a very sweet and good natured child. She is eager to please and loves when we clap for her. She actually frequently claps for herself and then looks to us to join in. So sweet. Even though I miss my cuddly little baby, I am really enjoying the little person Lily is becoming and watching her personality develop. I can't wait to see what the next month holds!

New Year's Goals: May Recap

2010-06-02T16:59:00.000-07:00

So ... I completely skipped the April recap of my progress on my New Year's goals, but lets just say it was pretty much more of the same continued from March. :) Thanks to all twelve of our loyal readers for letting me off the hook about the absence of an update. :)

This month I have some actual progress to report on my/our goals! Not that the picture is 100% rosy, but some progress is better than none, right? :) Okay, on to the update!

Personal Goals:

1. Read the Bible daily to read the entire Bible in a year.
Nope, didn't accomplish this one. I am really going to focus on this goal this month because if I don't have my spiritual life in order, none of these other goals matter much. Not to say that it isn't in order, but I need to be more faithful and continue to grow through reading the Bible.

2. Lose the remaining baby weight.
Hey, look over there! To the right! No, your other right! Oh ... that didn't distract you, huh? :) Let's just say I am not making very much progress on this goal which is very frustrating because it is just a matter of will power. Will power is a work in progress for me.

3. Be able to run a 5k without stopping.
I've actually made quite a bit of headway on this goal this month. Chris and I joined the gym at UCI and have been going 3-4 times a week. It is a great gym and they have childcare for $3 an hour. Such a bargain! Chris and I have really been enjoying working out together and it is almost like a little mini date since we don't get too much time alone. :) I've been running at least a mile each time we go and I can feel myself getting stronger, so that is encouraging.

4. Read at least one book a month.
Fail. However, I did just order two books from Amazon.com - The New Strong-Willed Child and Bringing Up Girls both by James Dobson. I am very much looking forward to reading these books so I think I'll be able to achieve this goal this month. Can you tell Lily is starting to give us a run for our money? :)

5. Limit television time to less than 2 hours a day.
We've been doing well at this. I think it will get even easier this summer because summer tv stinks anyway. :)

6. Floss at least five times a week.
Nope. Maybe I'll master this in the second half of the year. :)

Financial Goals:

1. Continue to tithe 10% of gross income.
Check.

2. Build our emergency fund to six months of living expenses by April 2009.
We ended the month of March at 95.6% of our savings goal and I am now very happy to report that we are now at 100% of our savings goal! Plus we paid for our move out of pocket but will be reimbursed from the Coast Guard, so all of that money will be going into savings. We are very happy to have this cash cushion and hope we'll be able to increase this cushion during Chris's time in grad school.

3. Pay off our remaining car payment by 2011 - approximately $13,012.35 as of January 1st.
Drum roll please ... today we actually paid off the remaining balance on our car! We received a tax refund that we saved to pay on the car, I've been working a little bit at the wonderful restaurant I worked at in college, La Strada, and we've been super motivated because we knew we were so close to paying off this debt so any extra money was allocated to pay off the car. We are VERY excited to actually own our car now and that we can now truly say we are debt free! Our goal is to remain debt free until we buy a home, so hopefully we'll be able to do that! :) We know that not having any debt is going to make our graduate school experience much easier and more pleasant.

4. Live off of 1/2 of our income and put the rest into paying off the car, savings, and giving.
I don't even know how to do the calculation this month since we've had income from many different sources and we've had some unusual expenses (more on that later) but I am just going to be happy with the financial progress we've made this month.

And, since every post is better with a picture of Lily, here are some pictures of Lily playing on this rocking caterpillar my mom got her at a garage sale. She really loves the caterpillar and kisses it and rests her head on it frequently. So cute!

5 Years ... By the Numbers

2010-05-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I still remember exactly what he looked like that day he came to pick me up. He was wearing dark blue jeans that looked like they had been ironed (and probably had), a white polo shirt with a Coast Guard logo embroidered on the left side, and hair so short it was barely visible. He opened my car door and had Christian music playing on the radio ... I was hooked. It is hard to believe that today is the 5th anniversary of our first date but it is true and I am thankful for every single day that we have spent together since that first date.

The First Five Years - By the Numbers

Note: All figures are approximate, but I am a big proponent of exactness so they are pretty close. :)

120,000 - Number of miles we've driven together
9228 - Number of Chris's farts Megan has been forced to endure
7000 - Minimum number of times we've said "I love you" to one another
1500 - Number of e-mails we've sent to one another
350 - Number of times we've eaten at In N Out together
284-Number of times Chris has lost his wallet/keys/cell phone/sunglasses
237 - Number of times we've walked into Costco "just for the samples" and left with a full cart of gigantic stuff
135 -Number of times Megan has asked Chris to stop playing Xbox.
134 - Number of times Chris has pretended not to hear Megan asking him to stop playing Xbox.
112-Number of times Chris has pumped Megan's gas
59 - Number of times Chris has asked Megan to turn off the television so he can go to sleep.
57- Number of times Megan has called Chris because she was lost and needed directions
16 - Number of months we've spent physically apart from one another (4 while dating, 12 while married)
15 - Number of months between our first date and our wedding day
13 - Number of states one of both of us have been in during the past 5 years
11 - Number of countries one or both of us have traveled to in the past 5 years
6 - Number of times we've moved together
4- Number of cars we've had
3 - Number of degrees/credentials we've earned
1 - Number of perfect, adorable, wonderful babies we've created

Chris, I love you with all of my heart and I cannot wait to see what the next five years hold for us!