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It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas

I am so excited to spend Christmas this year with my own child! It somehow makes the holidays even more special... even if she won't understand a thing!

It's All a Matter of Perspective

Becoming a parent has given me a new perspective on a lot of things! Here are some recent examples:

-While the Salvation Army people in front of grocery stores are sweet, smiley and doing a good deed, I want to yell at them to stop ringing their darn bells 'cause they're waking up my baby!

-Fast food is suddenly an acceptable choice due to the fact that I don't have to get Lila out and I find myself wondering why places like Panera don't have drive thrus. How dare they make me lug the car seat inside just to get a sandwich!

-Going to the grocery store can always wait another day.

-Dressing Lila is 100 times better than dressing myself.

-Red lights are the devil! Not because they make me later than I already am, but because every time I stop at one, Lila screams. Every. Time. unless she is in a very, very deep sleep. I then get to drive while stretching my arm to its limit to locate the spit out binkey and feel around her face until I get slobbered on and stick the binkey into her mouth. Over and over.

-Do sidewalks really need to have such deep dividing crease things? And so often? When I take Lila on walks we have to go on the street because her cheeks shake and her body jolts every 3 seconds (I timed it) when we go over the crease parts of the sidewalk.

-Lila is usually a very good and regular pooper but gets constipated once in awhile. On one such occasion she hadn't gone in a day and a half (loooong for her) and she was screaming in frustration and maybe pain while trying to poop. As her face turned a deep shade of red and she grunted like no one's business, she pooped! I threw my hands in the air and yelled, "Yay Lila, you pooped! Yaaaay!" I distinctly remember thinking that I never would have dreamed those words would come out of my mouth.

-Being late is no longer a faux pas. It is just normal and expected.

-It is acceptable to put an extra baby blanket in my diaper bag. One for Lila and one for me.

-A baby pooping is one of the funniest things to watch! She is so serious about it.

-11 am is still early.

-I have begun to catagorize people as naughty or nice by if they hold the door open for my stroller or me with all my bags and car seat.

-I find myself scowling at people who cough, laugh, drop something or rustle a package near me while Lila is asleep at the grocery store or some other place that is not ideal for soothing a crying baby. Lila can sleep for 4 hours at the mall on black Friday but gets woken up by a crackling wrapper. Go figure.

-Picking a bugger out of Lila's nose with my finger nail does not gross me out but instead has me wondering how such a big bugger can fit in such a little nose.

-Her quivering lower lip makes my heart break way more than I thought it could, yet not enough for me to stop letting her cry it out when she wakes up 10 minutes after putting her to sleep. I don't get enough sleep for that.

-The video monitor is the coolest thing ever and I can't believe I considered not buying it. By far better than I thought it would be. I have been entertained by Lila staring at her end of the video monitor because it has a green light on it. She smiles and coos at it like it's her best friend.

I'm sure there are many more that I will think of later, but I just think it is funny how these are all things I wouldn't have noticed and that won't matter once again once all my kids are out of the baby stage but seem such a big deal now. I am happy though that the important things I said I would or wouldn't do once I had kids I have stuck to thus far. I know it's early, but you have to start somewhere, right?

As you now know, it is impossible to have a post without pictures of Lila, so here you go:

Lila at 3 months old

Lila has become the squirmiest thing ever! She rolls from tummy to back and almost from back to tummy. This is what she does in her bouncy now. I guess I'm finding out why the straps are necessary...

Don't worry, I was right there!

This is how much Lila liked being strapped in. I guess she figured she would get out from the top.

Chris had to work in Boca Raton so we stayed with our friends, the Grays, and had tons of fun. Jenna is pregnant with twins!!!! Hopefully being around Lila made her more excited and not scared.

The first time I put Lila in a bumbo seat I thought she looked hilarious!

Chris and I have been taking walks at night and were worried Lila would get cold while being strolled around. This is the result. She has socks on under the footed pants and long sleeves under the sweatshirt. This blanket is super warm. Not to mention she has an extra lining in her car seat in case of blow outs. Hopefully she wasn't sweating because we do live in Florida, not Nebraska.

Lila has become a pro at knocking her hair bows in her eyes. Most of the time she doesn't even cry right away but moves her head all around, trying to see. It is actually quite funny. Chris told me we needed to just take them off for awhile. My response was that she will learn not to do it. The bows stay!

Thanksgiving 2010 at Chris's parent's house.

Lila vs. the bouncy again. This is her trying to roll over, getting too tired and falling asleep. She knocked both boots off and I had to pull back the bow from her eyes. Who sleeps like this? She is one determined girl!

Lila shopping with mom.

She doesn't realize she is cuddling with her giraffe but it sure looks like it's on purpose. And no, I didn't put it there. She grabbed it, it slid and landed there. Perfect picture opportunity.

That's what we have been up to lately. She is the cutest little girl ever and Chris and I are having a ball raising her.

Lila's Baby Blessing

On November 7th Chris gave Lila a baby blessing at church. I was excited for that day because there is just something sweet about a father giving his baby blessings that we desire for her, surrounded by men we love and respect. I was also excited because we had Chris's Grandma Eatchel and my parents come into town to see it. It was wonderful to have Chris's family and my parents there to hear it and spend time with Lila.

One of my favorite things about the blessing day was dressing Lila in her blessing dress. This dress has history! My Grandma Calder sewed this beautiful dress over 30 years ago and it has been passed from baby girl to baby girl including me. In fact, I was blessed in the same dress as Lila in Novemeber 28 years ago. I believe Lila was the 13th girl to be blessed in this dress!

Lila

Me

Me and Lila

me and my mom

Our group

My family at my blessing

The dress has a bonnet that was sewn to match and is so sweet but I blessed her in the head band because it shows her face better.

My parents

Me, Lila, Chris, Cohen, Camie, Calla, Michael, Debbi, Colin, Grandma Eatchel

Our little family!

The sweet booties Lila wore that no one saw under the long dress!

We woke her up to take some pictures before church. Her hair looks red here! It normally only has a tint of strawberry. Must be the pink sheet.

The words of the blessing were beautiful as was Lila. She was nice and quiet during it too which is always a plus! Thank you binky! We are so glad Lila is here in our family!

Halloween and Grandpa and Grandma Visit

Until Lila is old enough to choose what she wants to be for halloween, I get to pick and will enjoy it thoroughly. I know a lot of babies wear the stuffed, plush animal outfits, but Florida weather is unpredictable in October and early November and I didn't want to buy something she would sweat to death in. Plus, I couldn't resist the idea of her being a ballerina since if she gets my genes, it may be the only time she can pull off being something dance related. I was better at slide tackling girls on the soccer field than twirling on tiny shoes.

I made her tutu and hair bow. The tights have the ballerina ribbon and shoe pattern on them, but it's hard to see.

Cousin Calla decided to get in on the tutu action wearing one she has refused to put on for over a year until seeing Lila in hers! Gotta love kids.

Lila slept during the ENTIRE trunk or treat at church. Sigh. This is my attempt to get a picture that night when she half awoke for 2 seconds. I didn't get to show off her costume to it's full extent but she was beautiful in her car seat. The first picture is actually on a different day when I brought her to Chris's parent's house to show them her costume. Yes, I am soaking this holiday with a kid thing up. I know it's probably a little sickening. :)

My parents came to visit this last week for Lila's blessing at church (which I have lots of pictures for to do a separate post soon). My dad met Lila for the first time and my mom was amazed at how much she has already changed. I kept them busy with shopping, cooking for the blessing, not to mention cleaning out my entire garage and installing an organizational system. If you have ever seen my garage you would realize what a big deal that was. My dad offered to do this because like all normal people, he likes working on his vacations. :) I will be forever grateful for that quirk of his!

My dad and Lila meet at the airport. She's taking him in...

My mom was really good at making Lila laugh and smile.

As you can see, we concluded the new hairband my mom brought was still a tad too big and opted for a smaller one later on. Not that I am known for worrying about the size of the bows, but hey, I have limits.

My parents were so happy to hold Lila that they even stayed up until 3am with her and let me sleep! I don't think it hurt that they were finishing a movie either. :)

She loves her mamma!

Thanks mom and dad for everything!

Here are a couple cute pictures of Lila to round things off (because you know you were thinking that was necessary):

In all her chubby glory.

2 Months

Lila is now 2 months old! I can't believe it! She seems to be growing and changing so fast. Here are some new pictures and things she does.

She gives lots of smiles now...unless I am trying to show someone her smiles.

I love this face! I can't stop kissing her cheeks. Surprisingly this is the only place she has rolls and chub. She still has skinny arms and legs.

During the day she sleeps longer on the couch. Why? I have no idea. Maybe we should break this habit.

Her favorite thing after she eats is to fling herself over my lap and hang upside down, smacking and licking her lips. When I try to pull her up she arches her back and throws herself back down or pushes back with her feet. I promise I'm not a bad mom, she really likes this.

I have finally found something Lila likes to lay in! Can I just say, thank goodness?! I put her play gym together a couple weeks ago, thinking that this was a futile act since no other baby thing seems to hold her fancy (aka she screams in her swing and bouncy so hard she practically stops breathing). Lo and behold, she actually will lie under it and look at the flashing sea turtle and dangling toys that her frantic little arms accidentally hit for more than 10 minutes.

Lila likes bath time. When she first feels the water she gets an, "I don't know about this" look on her face but soon warms up to the idea of getting wet.

Her hair cracks me up. She has baby fuzz on the top and sides but has about 1 inch of hair that hangs down her neck. I guess that is a nice description of a mullet.

I know you can't see her face in this picture, but I had to show off her sweet gold shoes. I wish I could wear most things in her closet!

I can't wait for our trunk or treat at church so Lila can wear her Halloween costume. She got to wear most of it last Saturday to a friend's halloween party, but I didn't have time to finish her tutu. I'll post pictures when she has the whole thing on. Be prepared to see the cutest baby ballerina ever, or so this mom says.

This girls has so much spice and spunk already, it is crazy! She gets amazing distance when she decides she doesn't want her binky and spits it out. She refuses to lay her head on my shoulder to relax or be burped unless she is ridiculously tired in the middle of the night. This means she has a really strong neck and uses it to look all around her. She is incredibly alert and loves to take everything in. Lila likes to stand, putting weight on her legs. I think this makes her feel like a big girl. :) Lila and I like to stroll around different malls and neighborhoods for some exercise for me and sleep for her. We also like to hang out at friends' houses for a change or scenery and adults to talk to.

Lila's acid reflux is finally more under control now and she is so much happier throughout the day. I think she has a touch of colic, but it is not so bad. Lila is still mixed up on night and day. Her average bed time is around 3 am. Lucky me. She will take little 20 minute naps earlier than that, but isn't really down until then. She will keep eating and going back to sleep for good stretches until around 11am or noon. This lets me catch up on some sleep but is not so good when we have to be somewhere. I'm going to have to buck up soon and keep her awake in the morning so she goes to bed earlier at night.

We love our Lila!