Sunday at the zoo

Lily with dad, mom, Aunt Ingrid and Uncle Zander

Coolness defined

Up-close and personal with the cheetah

"Wow, dad, did you see that?"

A fishy examination

We had a wonderful weekend with Carl's dad, sister, and brother. We spent Sunday at the zoo and had a quadruple birthday celebration. Lily loved spending time with her extended family; she eats up all the extra attention! Even Terra enjoyed extra laps for cuddling. Thanks for visiting guys!

Petting zoo

Lily had a blast at the petting zoo - her favorite part of the zoo by far. The thing we heard the most from other people while we were there is "That girl has no fear, does she?" Truly, she doesn't. It was so much fun to see how much she enjoyed the animals though; I think that we will be making frequent trips there this summer.

Horsing around with Grandpa Deetz

Hat trick

Lily's latest

Searching for her keys maybe? I think she's watched mommy do this a few times.

Ready and looking adorable, as always

Lily received this cute little purse from her Uncle Jeff, Aunt Susie, and cousins Courtney, Nicholas and Abby. It has become one of her favorite accessories. When she first received it, I was amazed that she knew exactly what to do with it. She surprised me even further today by going to get it and putting it on her shoulder as I was grabbing my bags for work. Maybe she does have some girly girl in her after all :)

The gift of gab

"Excuse me, but I really must take this call."

"Hey girl. Whats-you been up to?"

"I've gotta run, but let's do lunch sometime."

*Some liberties may have been taken with the translation.

Actual conversation: "Hi. Shoe doooe gerss. Hi. Eye ma oooh gerss. Hi. Bye bye."

Open-air book dramatization

Brush happy

Farewell Twenties...

...Hello Thirties! As Carl so kindly reminded me, today is my last day as a girl in my twenties. I have to say, I'm not at all lamenting the final days of my third decade of life. My twenties were nothing short of great. Milestones reached in the last decade include graduating from college, completing my Masters Degree in Developmental Psychology, getting married, owning our first house, getting our little pooch, and of course, having our first child. I also had the good fortune of doing a fair bit of traveling including trips to Ireland/England/Scotland, Australia, and Western Europe. Of course, in this time, we also had many trips to different regions of this country, and I've had the opportunity to live in several states including Illinois, Tennessee, and Maryland. I've also been lucky enough to become an aunt several times over. We've been through many milestones with loved ones, including many marriages and new babies, thus extending our circle of friends and family.

Now I'm just excited to enter the next phase. Bring on the increased confidence in myself as a person, greater experience and knowledge in my field, happiness in my role as a mother, contentment in my accomplishments thus far, and excited anticipation for the things we have planned over the next ten years. I'm happy to be able to spend this birthday with my parents who have been here since Thursday. I'm also looking forward to a incredibly romantic weekend with my husband. We will be going away to a Bed and Breakfast and enjoying some alone time and fine dining at a French restaurant. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Meyer for babysitting! Overall, I'm feeling VERY lucky to be at this point in my life and feel such overwhelming happiness in nearly all aspects of my life. Thank you to all family and friends for your support over the past years - it is the only reason that I feel so fulfilled and happy today.

A Sunny Sunday at the Park

Cruisin' with her man, Nathan

Silly Lily

Me and my girls

Today was probably the most beautiful day in terms of weather that we have had all year. Carl, Lily, Terra, and I took advantage of the opportunity to meet Jen, Aris, and Nathan at the park for a play date. As always, Lily loved going down the slide, but this was her first experience with a bouncy car, and she totally loved it. The concept of taking turns with the car was definitely lost on her.

Cutest cook in the kitchen

We bought Lily her very own kitchen set this weekend, and she has been having a blast cooking up a storm. I'd kiss that cutie patootie cook any day!

Play time at the library

Thanks for the super-cute outfit, Grandpa Deetz!

Pigtails!

You can barely see them in the pictures, but we made our first attempt at pigtails today. They are teeny-tiny, but they're there! This is a difficult stage for her hair because it is starting to look a little unruly, but there still isn't enough to really style it. Oh, well. We try anyway.

Storytime with daddy

Sweet Pea

First time on a cot! She did great!!!!

Riveting news

Lily, Carl, and I went to visit our friends' now 5-week-old twins, Ellie and Henry, this weekend. What beautiful babies! They are so snuggly (and incredibly light!) They are very lucky to have such a great big sister, Rachel Grace, and two incredible moms. It's kind of hard to justify any complaining on my part about being busy when seeing all they have to juggle and realizing how relatively easy we have it. Even though it is hard, they are handling it so well - kudos to you guys!

In the land of Lily, it's all about the 'tude right now. I should probably discourage it more than I do, but it's hard when she's so darn cute. Currently Lily takes the washcloth from me at bath time, puts it behind her back and tells me "no, no". She still loves baths, she just doesn't like the actual washing part. She does, however, love to have the water on and running over her hair. Go figure. She also loves to brush her teeth, although I'm not sure that sucking the toothpaste off of the toothbrush actually counts as cleaning.

Probably the most hysterical thing that she does currently is roll her eyes. You have to see her do it to truly appreciate it, but it's just hilarious.

She has definitely taken to telling us "no" throughout the day but especially when eating. She used to eat anything and everything, but she has gotten a little more selective lately. The only reliable thing that we know she will always eat is fruit, blueberries still being the hands-down favorite. She also loves pasta with red sauce and any and all cheeses. Beans are also very high on her list. Vegetables can be a little tricky. The only meat she has taken to is beef. Probably the most notable thing in terms of her diet is that it used to be an all or nothing thing. She either liked a particular food or she didn't. Now she may not want something one day, but the next, she eats it just fine. I guess she's just beginning to be more like us, with preferences that change from day to day - perfectly acceptable, even if somewhat inconvenient for us.

Before Lily could walk, I was so anxious for it to happen. Now I keep thinking "why?" She does not tolerate being held for too long anymore, and she doesn't want me to hold her hand while walking, even outside. This translates to fun times for me in the parking lot. I've compromised by holding on to her hood when we are outside. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do when Spring hits. I've heard that we may be getting snow on Wednesday night so it seems that I still have some time before I have to answer that question.

And so this turned out to be a way longer post than I had intended. Don't you just hate it when people go on and on and on about their kids....?

60 Degree Saturday

A morning walk with mommy and Terra while daddy studied

Enjoying mango and sticky rice at daddy's favorite restaurant

Lovin' the slide

The swing does wonders for the hair

A beautiful day spent at the park with family

Jettison

Oh, Little Duckie, I love you so.

Bye, bye, Duckie.

Hello, Mr. Horse.

Lily playing in the gym at school

I just think that this picture is so funny.