Lily’s “Happy day”

We have had a lot of fun the last few weeks.  (I’ll try and give a brief overview of all the fun we’ve been up to.)

Lily loved decorating the Easter eggs.  She especially loved putting her fingers in the colored water and then licking them.  That drove me crazy!  I had to keep reminding myself that this was supposed to be a fun family event and not a Mom dictatorship event.  In the end, Lily had fun and the eggs were safely stowed away in the fridge.

Lily had a lot of fun at the Easter egg hunt at Eva & Cora’s house.  There were lots of little friends there to hunt eggs.  While most of the kids became distracted by the candy inside the eggs, Lily stayed focused on filling her basic.  After the egg hunt, we took turns photographing the kids in a large basket.  Lily ate up the attention of the photo shoot.

On Monday, Lily turned 2 years old!  Whenever we asked her how old she was, she held up her fingers like this: 

 

We said, “Happy Birthday” to her so much that she started saying, “Happy day!”  She really did have a happy day.  My friend, Tiffany, leant this pretty birthday dress to us – which Lily absolutely loved.  She loved twirling in it!  She also loved the tricycle we gave her, and the blocks Grandma & Papa gave her.  We had some friends over for cupcakes & ice cream, which made Lily’s day.  (Her cupcakes are little monsters, because she’s my little Lily Monster.)

The cutest part of the day for me, was when Lily talked to Grandma, Papa & Aunt Mickayla on the phone.  She was so good about holding the phone up to her ear, listening and responding to what was being said, pacing the floor just like her daddy, and saying bye right before she hung up on Grandma.  Scott tried to get the video camera in time, but Lily hung up too quick.

Not my cute girl, but still really cute. Must see!

Rude Awakening

So last night I woke up in the middle of the night and started to role over onto my side and go back to sleep. All of a sudden, I’m being attacked. Candice had just had a dream or something in her mind that the bed was breaking. It most certainly was not, but I was about to. She was sure convinced that it was and that she was going to rescue me from falling off the bed by hitting, grabbing, and pinching me. I quickly realized that this insane attack from my wife was not going to end unless I convinced her that everything was OK and that I was fine. I began shouting, “I’m fine, Candice. Nothing is happening. You can let go of me now. I’m fine!” And just like that she realized that I was. And without so much as an apology she rolled over and went back to sleep, leaving me bruised and beaten and full of terror! There’s nothing like the tender love of your darling wife at 4 in the morning . . . I guess you might say that she had her revenge from the exercise comment I made about her from the previous blog post.

Oh how I love my Scotty!

Scott has decided to sell the treadmill that neither of us use, so he placed an ad on craigslist.  He felt compelled to explain why we were selling it.  This is what he said (emphasis added):

“I bought this treadmill from Sears for $600. It is in “like new” condition because I broke my ankle only months after buying it and can no longer run on it due to lingering pains in my ankle that have made running impossible for me now. I have kept it in hopes that my ankle would get better, but it just never has. And since my wife doesn’t like to exercise (she’ll kill me for saying that), I’ve decided to put it up for sale. It is really a steal of an offer considering its quality, brand name, and lack of use.”

And no, I don’t like to exercise indoors.  I find it VERY, VERY, VERY boring.  I would rather walk or bike on a trail.  How can anyone be entertained looking at a wall for 30 minute as they run in place?  I’ve even tried watching TV and movies . . . it’s still boring.

Thanks Scott for the public humiliation!

Spring Break

We decided to take advantage of Scott’s time off of school by doing a little road trip to Eastern Washington.  Our first stop was in Walla Walla to see Michael, Noel, Alexis, and Logan (Scott’s brother & his family). 

Lily has recently become obsessed with trains, trucks, cars and buses.  Logan was happy to show Lily all of his toys, and he was so good about sharing his toys with Lily, too.

Our next stop was to Othello to visit my grandma.  Lily hasn’t seen Grandma in over a year, so I was a little worried Lily would be shy and standoffish with her.  I spent two weeks telling her we were going to see “Papa’s Mommy.”  (Papa is my dad.) 

Lily quickly warmed up to Grandma.  She had a lot of fun playing with her.  Grandma pushed Lily & Scott on the swing (the swing was too low for Scott to swing by himself).  Lily also played “Monkeys in a Barrel” with Grandma, which consisted of Lily throwing the Monkeys at Grandma while Grandma sat on the couch.  Lily also loved playing Grandma’s organ.

How I occupy my time

I decided it’s about time I become a certified kitchen designer.  It seemed like such a simple idea: take two tests and in return I receive three little letters after my name: CKD.  Along with the title, I also get free advertising on the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s website, proof that I know what I’m doing, and hopefully a big pay raise!  It also puts me closer to my goal of running my own design business. 

This is proving to be a daunting task.  I need to read and commit all 9 books to memory.  So far, I’ve read & memorized 2 1/2 books.  I make hundreds of flashcards and attend monthly study group sessions.  The challenge is trying to juggle a full-time job, while raising a daughter, and putting Scott through business school. On a good study day, I’m able to study for three hours, making maximum use of lunch breaks and Lily’s sleep schedule.  Although it doesn’t sound like fun, I hope the pay off makes it worth it.  The tests aren’t until September, and I won’t get the results back until November or December.

The cutest Chef

My friend, Tiffany, gave Lily is adorable apron & chef hat.  We decided to put it to good use making chocolate chip cookies.  Lily loved dumping the sugar into the mixing bowl.  She also loved taste testing all the cookie dough!  I was going to bring some cookies over to Tiffany and her family to thank her for the apron, but Lily decided to spit all over the cookie dough.  Yuck! 

My picky little monster

Lily is so particular that she makes me laugh!  She likes the weirdest things.  She has never liked a bib, EVER, but she will gladly wear her Home Depot apron when she eats.  She doesn’t like eating breakfast, unless she can eat out of my bowl of cereal.  Otherwise, she’ll settle for a bottle of milk.  She loves cheese, and yogurt (only if she can feed herself).  She also loves bananas and cooked carrots.  Her favorite food is sauce: ketchup, salsa, spaghetti sauce, cheese sauce, you tell her it’s sauce and she will eat it.  In fact, she will eat the sauce plain and not eat the French fries, chips, or pasta it was served with.

Last night, I made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for dinner.  I made Lily her own meal, because I didn’t think I stood a chance at convincing her to eat tomato soup.  She crawled up in my lap and wanted to try the soup.  What a nice surprise!

Today for lunch, Lily asked for soup.  I heated up some tomato soup.  I was worried about letting her feed herself.  I envisioned tomato soup being flung across the room, but Lily was very well behaved.  She ate almost all of her soup and crackers all by herself.  She let me wipe her face whenever she dribbled, and she didn’t throw anything on the floor!

Maybe there’s hope for my picky little monster after all.

We decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early this year, in order to work around Scott’s school schedule.  We decided to do a mini trip to Canada.  It only took us an hour to get to Vancouver (I love living near the border!).  Due to some navigational errors on my part, we drove around the entire Stanley Park loop before we stopped.  When we did stop, we admired the Totem Poles.  Lily was amazed at the size of the totem poles, although she gave us the exact same excited squeal when she saw a duck in the lake a minute later.

We then drove to the Aquarium.  Lily was excited when she saw a large tank of fish.  She exclaimed, “Fishies!”  Then she turned her head to the side and saw another tank of fish and squealed even louder, “Fishies!”  Her favorite fish were the piranhas.  She also liked the beluga whales, and would get excited whenever she saw them coming towards the surface of the water.  We had to help her get excited about the seals (we had to keep her in place long enough to see how playful they were).  She was instantly excited when she saw Kermit in a car.  She put her arm around Kermit without any coaxing on our part.  Isn’t that cute?

After lunch, Lily crashed in her stroller for her afternoon nap.  When she woke up, we showed her the jelly fish . . . she thought they were pretty cool. 

 

We took her to their children's play area.  They have it set up where the kids can give the stuffed animal seals check ups and x-rays like the veterinarians.  They also can dress up like sea animals, play with blocks, explore what it looks like to be under water, or draw at a table.  Lily did a little of everything.   She decided the best thing is to dance in the under water simulation area with Mommy.  (That was a little embarrassing.)

That night, we met up with my friend Sarah.  It’s been over eight years since I’ve seen her.  It was great to see her again and meet her husband (Frederick) and little boy (Mattias who is 18 months).  Mattias is absolutely adorable.  He is very affectionate and was constantly giving me kisses.  He even showed us his dance moves.  Lily loved playing with Mattias’ toys, but was tired and didn’t want Mattias to touch her or her mommy.   I wish Sarah and Frederick could have seen the more social side of Lily.

A Day of Pampering

Last Friday, Scott decided to give me a break from my normal mom routine.  We both had the day off, so he suggested I go pamper myself while he watched Lily.  It was fabulous!

I first went and got my hair cut.  (I decided that long hair isn’t my thing after all.)  I couldn’t bring myself to pay for what Ann calls a “big girl” haircut, so I settled on Great Clips.  The girl did a good job, and I didn’t have to pay a small fortune for her services.  And unlike Ann’s coworkers, I’ve only received compliments on my hair cut.  Which means either my coworkers have better social skills than her coworkers, or I looked worse with longer hair.

I then made an appointment for a pedicure and eyebrow waxing.  It was my birthday gift that I hadn’t cashed in, yet.  Erin recommended Jimmy’s Personal Care Salon.  It was a great choice.  I would highly recommend them to anyone in the area.  It was the first time I’ve ever had a man give me a pedicure, but he did a great job.  (He gave the best foot massage!)   I had to laugh at their brochure, though.  Inside it lists the normal salon services, on the back it lists additional services available upon request: spa parties, personal chef, and personal shopper.

Basketball & a Play Date

When we moved up here, we had great plans to be social and have friends over a few times a month.  But life hasn't gone as planned.  We have been social, but it isn't because we've gone out of our way to invite people over.  Our friends have been kind and invite us over to their houses. Scott decided it was about time we have some people over, so he invited two friends over to watch the Lakers vs. Celtics game.

 

The guys had a great time cheering, munching, and socializing.  Scott & Robbie rooted for the Lakers, and Mike rooted for the Celtics.  The game was thrilling, and went into overtime.  Thankfully, the Lakers won (otherwise there wouldn't have been peace in my house for a week). 

Robbie brought his son, Paden, over to play with Lily.  Lily enjoyed having someone mor eher size to play with.  She struggled to share her toys initially, but we got passed that and the kids had a great time.  Paden taught Lily how to pretend to be Spiderman and Spidergirl.  They also had fun playing with blocks, cars, and Lily's teaset.  I wish I had taken pictures when they were playing with toys.  I took this picture right before Paden left.  Their fun meters were maxed out! (I asked Paden what he was doing.  He said he was dead.  Lily was trying to copy him.)

Poker Night!

So last night Lily woke up in the middle of the night, which is nothing unusual. However, Lily was having trouble falling back to sleep. So Candice decided to take her downstairs and let her watch TV until she got tired again. I came downstairs a few minutes later to see what was going on. To my amazement and surprise, Candice and Lily were watching poker on the TV. "You're watching poker with Lily?" I asked in bewilderment. "There was nothing good on," Candice responded. My thought then was, "Well I think this should be included in the 'nothing good on' category." I held my tongue from further comment though as I knew that Candice was tired. You've gotta love her!

Candice Blesses the Food?

So it was Candice's turn to say our evening family prayer with Lily and I. It was about 10pm at this time. To my great surprise Candice began her prayer, "Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the food that's before us." At that moment I was lost. I thought we were saying our evening prayers before bed, not eating. I then opened my eyes to make sure that we were in fact in the bedroom praying and not at the dinner table eating. I then peered over at Candice and asked, "Food? What are you talking about?" We then burst out laughing at the realization that Candice had been praying on autopilot!

By the way, the lady with the hot 80's hairdo is supposed to be Candice. She did not approve of the photo. Oh well!

One of the books I read to Lily is about a Hoardasaurus. He's always afraid people will steal his things. It's a cute little story. Apparently, Lily has taken it to heart. I noticed her toys were disappearing, but I couldn't find her hiding spot.

Last week, I noticed she was showing a lot of interest in the subwoofer. She was stuffing the clean laundry in it. My hand isn't small enough to reach inside it, but I could hear things rattling around. I tried using salad tongs to pull the toys out, but I only was able to get one plastic fork out. Scott helped me take the subwoofer apart. Inside, we found more toys than we expected. Here is a picture of Lily's loot:

An End to Diapers?

The other day, the thought crossed my mind that I should start training Lily to go number two in the toilet.  I decided to pay extra attention to Lily the next couple of days and put her on the toilet whenever she needed to go.  Tonight was the first time.  Lily was uncertain at first, but cooperated.  I was thrilled that I had one less diaper to change!  Scott & I both made a big deal about Lily being a big girl.  She loved the extra attention.

I'm hoping this is the beginning of the end of poopy diapers!

Last Monday, Lily really scared me.  She had been sick for a week, but it got worse Sunday.  She threw up twice and hadn't had wet diapers.  I was really worried she was dehydrated.  I was told to worry if she became listless.  Well, Monday morning, she woke up at her normal time, but fell asleep again almost immediately.  Every time I tried to wake her, her eyes would open and then roll back in her head immediately.  This continued for over two hours.  I decided to take Lily in to the doctor's office and have her professionally evaluated.  They gave me the soonest appointment they had: 3:00 pm.

When Lily finally did get up, she threw up everywhere.  But when we went to the doctor's office, she acted happy & content.  Why can't she ever act sick & pathetic when I take her in?!  Her normal doctor wasn't able to see her.  I was concerned how Lily would react to a male doctor with facial hair (she is scared of men, especially if they have facial hair), which is why her normal doctor is a female.  But he didn't phase her one bit.  He was so kind and gentle with her!  The doctor validated my concern about her listlessness in the morning and no wet diapers.  He was very concerned with her throwing up.  He then showed me how I could tell for myself that Lily is hydrated:

* when you apply pressure on her finger tip it turns from white to red immediately

* when she cries, it isn't just sound, but tears, too

* her mouth is wet with saliva, not a thicker mucus

I thought I would share this information with other moms who might worry about their children being dehydrated.  Maybe it will save someone else a trip to the doctor.

I'm finally 27!

I know most adults dread turning another year older.  I'm the opposite.  I love it!  I'm sick of people mistaking me for a 21 year old, especially at work.  (I want people to take me seriously when I design their kitchen and ask them to hand over thousands of dollars.)  It seems like a week doesn't go by without a customer asking me how old I am.  If I'm in "one of my moods" I tell people I'm "approaching 30."  They don't need to know how slowly I'm approaching 30, just that I'm approaching.

Scott & Lily took me out to the Olive Garden for dinner.  The food was so good!  It was such a wonderful treat.  Lily ate a little food, and then played with her toys while we finished eating.  Afterwards, we had strawberry ice cream cake at home.  I know the cake looks homely, but the ice cream kept melting when I was icing the cake.  At least it was very yummy!

Some ladies at church took me out for ice cream the next day.  (It's the first time I've had a girls night out since Lily was born.)  The ice cream was really good, and the company was great!

My parents & Mickayla came up to visit us the following Saturday to continue the birthday celebration.  (Sorry Mom, Dad & Mick.  It's the only picture we had of your visit.)  We were able to show them our house.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to show them the park or much of Bellingham.  I guess they'll just have to come visit us again!  They took us out for dinner and then we finished off the ice cream cake at home.  (I'm grateful they didn't embarrass me at the restaurant by having anyone sing to me.)  Lily loved having Grandma, Papa, and Aunt Mickayla visit.  Mickayla played Lily's favorite game with her: run around the table.  Grandma spiced up the game by tickling the girls' bellies as they ran past her.

 

Thank you for all the gifts, phone calls, and emails.  It made the day/week very special.

The Finer Things in Life

My sister, Mickayla, gave Lily a darling tea set for Christmas.  The tea set is made out of thin metal, so it feel delicate but is durable.  I know Lily will get a lot of use out of it in the years to come.  She loves her dolls, and loves having things to do with her dolls. 

Lily & I invited all of her dolls down for a tea party today.  She was a good hostess: serving them all tea (water), and then taking their cups away when she thought they were done.  The party only lasted a few minutes, but was a fun break from normal life.  Maybe next time we'll invite her stuffed animals to join us and serve refreshments with the tea.

We'll have to keep practicing so that Lily can have real live friends over for a tea party someday.

P.S. The doll in the middle is Lily's newest & favorite doll.  Grandma & Papa gave it to her for Christmas.  She loves to carry her around the house and give her kisses.