Free Christmas Cards? What?

I'm so in! I order Christmas cards from Shutterfly every year (okay, the last 3 years). I love their cute designs, and the ease of creating their cards. The flat photo cards are my favorite because I don't have to think up something fun and clever to say in each card. I know, I could write the same exact thing in every card and nobody would know. Except for those 2 people who would check. Then I'd be caught. So if I just do the flat photo cards, all I have to do is write "Love, Jesus, Melissa, Lily & Chica". I can even get Jesus to help, sometimes. Lily'll be put to work in a few years too, you can bet on it!

They have some awesome new cards this year, and I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to choose just one design.

I love this one, but I also love this one too. And this one. This one too

I'm never going to be able to choose!

Tunes on Tuesday

We went to Tunes on Tuesday last night with my parents. FarCry was the band that played, and I thought they were pretty good. We picked out a spot on the grass, spread out our blanket and settled in for a couple hours of hanging out and listening to music. There was food and drinks and a lot of people.

Lily had a great time playing with Mommy & Daddy and Grammy & Papa.

Next week will be an African Marumba group, which sounds really fun! Hopefully we can make it out for it.

My Baby Girl

My baby's turning into a little girl. She's now 19 lbs, has her first tooth (finally) and her hair's starting to be thick enough to lay down and not look like she's been rubbing her head with a balloon. She crawls around the house, getting into anything and everything. We have a bookshelf with the 2 bottom shelves dedicated to her books and toys. We've learned the art of using dining room chairs to block off the dining room and kitchen. We've started to keep the living room picked up (shocker, I know!). She's only gotten into the dog's bowl once or twice. I think we're getting the hang of this mobile baby stuff. Of course, once we get into the groove, she'll start walking and it'll be totally different. Or Chica will teach her how to climb over the chair barricade.



A couple weeks ago, we took Lily on her first camping trip. We went to Cape Lookout near Tillamook, thanks to my boss. The plan was to use our tent, but the more we thought about it and talked with other people, we decided to borrow my parent's pickup and trailer. Man, am I glad we did! Friday and Saturday were beautiful and perfect beach weather. Sunday it POURED! We brought Lily's Pack'n'Play, which was a lifesaver. It fit perfectly over the lowered table and kept her contained. She experienced her toes in the sand for the first time, and how cold the ocean is. She pointed out all the birds (and there were a lot) and was fascinated by the trees. I can't wait to take her camping again, though next time will probably be in a tent. That will be a whole other experience.



Lily has hit the age where we can give her little bits of different foods. It's fun to watch her try to capture the slippery banana pieces, or chew (gum) on a lime and make faces. We've learned that sogged on graham crackers turn into cement when they dry on her face, and that dried up banana mush is impossible to get off the high chair tray. She loves fig newtons, and thinks it's fun to wipe her fig newton-y face all over Mommy's shirt. Mommy loves that.



I love my little girl and can't wait to learn more along the way, as well as teach her everything I know. I can't wait for her to start walking, but at the same time, I want her to just keep crawling. I can't wait for her to start talking, but at the same time, I love listening to her babble to herself like she has something very important to say. But no matter what, she'll be my little girl forever.

Slacker

I know, I've been slacking big time. I'll get a post up on here soon. I just gotta think of something good :-)

In the mean time here's a cute picture:

Singing

Lily has learned to sing. Who needs music??

She sat in her swing doing this for a good 20 minutes today. Yesterday, she sung herself to sleep, resting her head on the tray of her swing. It was pretty cute!

Sitting Up

Little Miss Lily Poo has learned how to sit up by herself. She still needs a little help to get balanced, but once she's there, she's golden. She sits for a while, then slowly leans forward, pulls herself back up straight, then starts all over again.





Lily got inspired by Grammy doing her Jillian Michaels tape every day, that she decided she should wear her exercise clothes as well. I'm not sure where the bunny slippers fit in, but the leg warmers and "leotard" are fabulous!!!

She exercised so much, she crashed on the couch.

Oatmeal Baby Cereal

Last night we fed Lily some oatmeal baby cereal. It's not the first time she's had it, but it was the first time she finished it all off and actually liked it. I made it a bit thicker than the other couple times, which seemed to help. It was, however, the first time using the highchair. And it worked a whole lot better than the bumbo seat.

This is before she started eating. Notice she's nice and clean.


She thought she needed to help Mommy.

She also thought she needed her hand to help me shove food in her mouth.

By the time she finished it off, she had it all over her face and hands. We actually got a whole lot more into her mouth than I thought we would.