Wednesday, June 11, 2008

18 months and other things

Lilly is 18 months! Yeah! She is doing so much now - I just thought I would share a few things about our big girl.

Lilly is an early riser. She is normally up at 6:30, but we don't get her out of her crib until 7 to give us a chance to shower. She usually will stay in there and talk or say momma! She loves breakfast (cereal, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, poptarts).

Lilly is a vegetarian, not by my choosing. She will not touch meat at all. This week she miraculously ate 2 fish sticks, but this is definitely a first. She will not eat chicken, chicken nuggets, beef, or hot dogs. She peels off the breading of corndogs. So - pretty much, she eats all fruits, drinks milk and eats cheese and yogurt, and all bread products, and a few veggies. Her main courses are PBJ, grill cheese, pasta of any kind with red sauce/no meat (loves manicotti!), cheese pizza and quesidillas (and black beans). I know it is a phase and one day she will become more adventurous.

Lilly still loves to be outside. She will just dig in any dirt she can find (main reason we got the sand box). She likes to swing and go for walks and help dad water the yard.

She is communicating more now - some words she says often are shoes (very big obsession with any shoes!), outside, drink, eat, dada, momma, papa, nana (banana), all the animal sounds (including a big snort for pigs), kitty, daka (dakota), bubble, fish, duck (quack), light, Elmo, Ernie, Dora, go, toe, eye, oh no!, uh oh!, whoa!, no!, hello, night night.... I can't think of the others right now!

She loves music and singing and dancing. She twirls around and around and makes her so dizzy sometimes she falls down! Lilly also loves books - we read alot during the day - her favorites are the ones where you look for the objects on the page. Sometimes she will just sit in her chair and look at the books, which is very cute.

She gives great hugs and kisses now (kinda selective). She blows kisses and makes smoochy sounds and will kiss us on the lips occasionally - too cute! She loves to hug Dakota!

What a joy! Happy 18 months our little girl!

We went to an adoption picnic this Saturday - it was neat to see all the families who have adopted and imagining what our little one will look like. They had a petting zoo, which Lilly loved! We also had individual interviews this week with our adoption director/social worker. We spent around 2 hours each with her - for them to better get to know us. Only one more step - the home study! This will be in July!

I have to tell on myself, mainly because it is pretty funny and Brian found it pretty humorous. I was watering the plants and feeding the dog for Brian's brother's family who is out of town. I did not really know how to work their alarm and set it off upon entering their house. I finally turned it off after calling Brian and set about watering the plants. All of a sudden I hear Sherriff department being called out and they enter the house (I had left it unlocked while I was there). I rounded the corner with the watering can and the Sheriff rounded the corner with the gun drawn! I don't know who scared each other more! Anyways - all was well! I only had to show him my ID to prove I was who I said I was (not that a robber would be watering the plants!:)) I learned my lesson!



Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Outside Fun

This past weekend Mimi and Papa came from Tyler for a visit. We went to the zoo on Saturday (we went really early so it would not be too crowded or hot). It was not crowded - a lot of the animals were still sleepy - but we had a good time. I think the highlight was the giraffe's (we saw them up close and personal), the lion, and the monkey's (Lilly liked the baboon).


Mimi and Lilly were pretending to be elephants!

That afternoon we got a sandbox and blew up the baby pool for the back yard. Lilly had so much fun going back and forth between the sand box and the pool to dance and splash around. Lilly always loves to dig in the dirt, so we figured this was a good place to do that - and yes, we have pink sand! Very girly! What a good weekend!



This weekend we have an adoption picnic with our adoption agency. It is for anyone who has adopted or been adopted through AIM, birth moms, and waiting families.

Friday, May 30, 2008

Adoption Web Profile

Our adoption agency now has a place on their website for waiting families - so we are on there! I hope you all can visit the site - www.aimadoptions.org and look under the waiting families tab on the right side of the home page to see our profile. This is a great and innovative way for birth moms and others to have another avenue to find out about families waiting to adopt. Feel free to share it with friends and family!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Summertime

Well, Lilly started swimming lessons last week. It is a mommy and me (or daddy) where they blow bubbles, kick, float, and sing songs. Lilly is not too thrilled about this, but has at least tried to do all of the things. I think she just likes to sing the songs and kick the best.

Right now at home, Lilly loves to wear our shoes and will say "shoe" until you help her put one on. Also, if she does not like something now, she can definitely say "no!" I think she just likes to say that word. Nina and papa bill came over for hamburgers on Memorial Day. Lilly enjoyed playing with them, and is so glad Nina can hold her again. We also went to a birthday party for Mark Mahlmann who turned one on Sunday. Lilly loved playing with the kids, looking at the turtles, and playing on the playground which was just the right size!


We turned in our adoption scrapbook yesterday - so glad to have that done! We are praying for some little details to work out!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Adoption Seminar

This Thursday we attended an adoption seminar at AIM. The 10 couples that are in our adoption group were there and it was nice to get to know them a little better. We heard from 3 birthmoms that had placed a baby in the past - which was so interesting to hear their stories, their circumstances, and where they are now. Most have contact with their adopted families and child. What a wonderful ministry AIM is to these moms. We heard from one adopted teenage boy who definitely has a passion for adoption. We also heard from 3 adoptive couples who have previously adopted a child through AIM and are going through it the second time. All 3 of their stories were different and made us realize even more the importance of being open and flexible throughout this process.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day weekend


This was a fun weekend for us. Brian and Lilly went out on Saturday morning and got donuts and kolaches for my mother's day breakfast (Sunday's are way too crazy!) We got nursery furniture (I will show pics later when it is all in place). We probably will not have the new baby for another 9 months or so, but we found a great deal! Lilly got her first haircut on Saturday. I definitely recommend cool cuts - they had her sit/stand in this little car and she watched Sesame Street. We just got a little trim, but we were so proud - she did not even cry! She just stood there very serious and watched her movie and rang the bell on the car. They even put the hair they cut in an envelope with a picture of Lilly as well.
Mother's day we spent at the Burk's after church. (Lilly made a really cute hand print for me in the nursery.) We had Olive Garden and played kick ball. Papa has two horses, but now he also has a pony for the grandkids to ride on named Buster! What a surprise! Lilly did not want to ride yet, but did say her version of horse all day. I had a great day!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Definitions and Dancing

Throughout the adoption process, I feel like we are really looking inside ourselves and finding out more of who we are individually, as a couple, and as a family. Our autobiographies require much thought and really give an inside view of our thoughts and lives.

In the Dear Birthmother book, they presented a definition of adoption I had not considered, but totally agree with. "Adoption is the process of accepting the responsibility of raising an individual who has two sets of parents." We are the parents to nuture and help the child grow, while the birthparents gave the child their genes - their eye color and genetic traits. Both of us have love and will love the child forever.

Lilly dressed up in her 1 year pictures outfit today - she looked so cute, so I had to post a few of my favorites. She is saying a few new words - bubble, fish, shoe.