Colombia 2012

We went to Colombia!! That's all..........just kidding. We had originally planned to take this trip next year in the summer, but we felt we should take it sooner. So, we made the arrangements and got all ready to go in August. It was a really great trip. We spent a few days in Bogota, a few more in Neiva, and the last part of our trip was spent in Cartagena. Lily was an amazing traveler. The plane rides didn't phase her, she adjusted well to the time difference, she like the bouncing of the bus rides in Bogota, she loved the food and the people, and she just had a good time. A piece of advice, though...baby food in Colombia is expensive...travel with your own or travel with a child that will eat what you're eating!

In Bogota, we visited some of Faiver's extended family, Monserrate, la Candelaria, the president's plaza (I don't actually know what it's called), and ate lots of yummy food. We were in Bogota the shortest amount of time, and because Lily needs naps, we didn't see as many things as we had originally planned. It was really great, though. Lily liked to make noises when she bounced on the bus! It was classic!  

Daddy and Lily at Monserrate

with Abuelita :)

                                                       

Lily loved her food 

On the plane from Bogota to Neiva 

We stayed in Neiva the longest. We visited lots of friends and family, ate lots of yummy food, went to Playa Juncal, went to the river, and got to see parts of the city that we hadn't been to last time. It was unbearably hot, but we managed! Thank goodness our friend stayed in a hotel with AC so Lily could take good naps. It was a life saver!!

This baby can sleep anywhere!
It was super hot at the river, and she slept for like an hour!!

Us with Faiver's mom

                                                 
Cartagena was beautiful! We rented an apartment right on the beach, so we only had to walk the length of a football field to be in the ocean. The water was wonderful and warm! Lily was a little hesitant at first, but then she started to like it. We went to see the castle, saw lots of stuff on our bus tour, took a boat tour to some islands, met an Italian actor, and had a very relaxing end to our vacation. I loved it there.
                                           

One of the stops on the bus tour

at the castle

on our way to the islands

getting in the ocean was a welcome relief from the heat

Hopefully we can go back to Colombia soon. It is a wonderful place with wonderful people and amazing food.

Aunt Muriel

This summer was a very special one for many reasons. One of them was that my sister was in Utah with us for the whole summer - she watched Lily while I worked, helped me around the house, and many other things. It was so nice to have her here! It was one of the best summers I've had because she was here. It was amazing to get to know her again (we haven't lived in the same house for many years) and spend time with her. We laughed, started a running program, and had great culinary experiences. Lily got to know her aunt, and I had a 24/7 helper. I don't know if I would've gotten through the summer without her. She left at the beginning of August...I miss her a lot. I'm glad we got the chance to spend so much time together. Love you, Muriel!!

Interrupting Aunt Muriel while she was doing her exercises

Lily LOVES Aunt Muriel's Camelbak

"Oh, that's your eye?!"

My bug is ONE!!

So, if anyone out there actually reads my blog, they'll know that I'm writing this quite a bit after Lily's first birthday. Better late than never :) Our little bug turned one in July, and I remember planning and getting everything ready for the party while thinking, "really?? I have a one-year-old??" Oh how time flies.

The day before her birthday, we went to FotoFly Away to do her one-year pictures. It was really nice because my parents were able to be in a few pictures too! They went to California for their 30th wedding anniversary and decided to stop in Utah on their way back home. It just so happened that their trip overlapped with Lily's birthday. It was so nice to have them here!! So, FotoFly is an amazing place for pictures. I love the work they do, although I didn't have a good experience getting my prints from them this time...that's another issue though. Our little Lily is so photogenic and just LOVES having her picture taken! See for yourself:

She did this pose all by herself!

Yay for family!

                                                             

Once again, all by herself. What a ham!

We did the cake smash with a cupcake. She loved it!

The day of her actual birthday was pretty low-key. We went out to dinner and sang to her, but the party was the next day, and since she's one, we didn't think she'd really care that she wasn't opening presents and having cake on her actual birthday. :) The party was stressful, but that just comes with being the hostess. Our friend let us have the party at his house...it's much bigger than our little apartment! Faiver made arroz con pollo and French Fries, and I made the appetizers and the cake. My mom decorated it the way I wanted it...she's amazing! The house was soon filled with friends and family that came to celebrate with us. Lily was a little nervous at first, but then she was ok. She wasn't too interested when it came to opening presents, and everyone staring and cheering when she ate her cake scared her, so that didn't last long. All in all, it was a great day!

                                                

The serving table

Ladybug appetizers...aren't they cute?!

  

Cake time!!

Thanks, Mom!!

Lily definitely makes our lives happier, more interesting, and just better. Happy Birthday, Lily bug! We love you!!

11 months and more

Wow! I just realized that the last time I blogged, Lily was just turning 6 months old. This past week she had her 11 month "birthday". Needless to say, it's time to blog about that little bug. Every day I am reminded more and more how blessed we are to have this beautiful daughter. She is the light of our lives and makes every day an adventure. Her wonderful Aunt Muriel is here for the summer to nanny while I go back to work. It is hard to leave but I love coming home to her excited squeals! Here are some things that have happened in the last 5 months, in no particular order (oh my gosh! 5 months! gotta pick it up!):

- separation anxiety...I've been in school/work almost Lily's whole life, but lately she has become very clingy and fussy when I leave...it breaks my heart!
- cruising around the furniture/walls/anything that will hold her up
- she understands both her daddy and me when we tell her to do certain things (Spanish and English, baby!!)
- commands she understands (in Spanish and English): come here, can I have it?, where's your (any familiar object), go get mommy/daddy, say bye-bye, say hi, give kisses, want some (any type of food), dance, bounce, splash, no
- gives open mouth kisses!
- likes to crawl over people when they are on the floor
- laughs when mommy and daddy hug - she likes to see that people are affectionate
- VERY grabby!! especially with things that are NOT toys
- Sunday she started walking with her little push piano...it was the best thing ever!!
- plays "gonna get you" and laughs so hard
- her two favorite foods are mango and squash
- thinks we should give her some of our food whenever we're eating
- loves books

I'm sure there are many more that will come to mind as soon as I post this, but that's all for now. What a great adventure to be a mom!!

What a sweet girl!

Swinging at the park

 

Another FotoFly Experience

We went back up to FotoFly in Draper for Lily's 6-month pictures. They are amazing!! If any of you reading this blog live in Utah, I highly recommend them. It's seriously the best deal you can get. The photographer this time was just as incredible as the one for her 2-month pictures, and Lily thought she was the funniest person in the world! She never fussed during the 45-minute session even though we changed her outfit 3 times. The pictures we got were amazing...the truly captured Lily and her personality. I'm including some pictures here (b/c along with great pictures, you get the copyright too!), but it's hard to choose because they are just that awesome. Enjoy!

1/2 a year...already!!

Lily turned 6 months old on Friday, January 13th (she's destined to have lots of those "bad luck" days for birthdays...sorry bug, but it's your fault...you came early). She is just growing like a weed! She weighs 16 lbs 4 oz and is 27 inches tall. She's in the 90th percentile for her height! We celebrated by going to dinner at the BYU creamery...we hope to make this a long-standing tradition for our little ones :) While Lily couldn't eat thefood there, we did give her her first vegetable - peas. She made some funny faces, but ate them really well. I'm sure they have more flavor than rice cereal! I'm so happy that she's eating solid foods and getting to the point where she can try new things, but I'm also sad that the days of nursing her will be over eventually. I think back to when she was first born and how hard it was for those first couple weeks...it hurt and I felt like that's all I was doing!! Now it's a special time for me to be with her. I'm glad she's growing up, but it's happening so fast (although I agree with my sister-in-law that it doesn't always feel like it's going fast!).

Some things Lily likes:

-bath time (she has started splashing the water!)

-peas!

-Daddy (this has always been true, but I love seeing her light up when he comes home from work!)

-playing in her pack-n-play (thanks Papa Noyes!)

-rolling over

-pushing up on her hands

-looking at herself in the mirror

-light switches (she thinks they're awesome!)

-riding in the car

-snuggling with Mommy

-playing with Mommy and Daddy

-looking at the tree on her wall (thanks Paola and Carlos!)

-sleeping (she's a great sleeper)

-her musical Lily doll (Leap Frog Lily...thanks Grandma Irvin!)

-Daddy's phone

-sitting up

Here's to many more great memories!

Happy 6 months Lily Bug!

A new addition

There's been a new addition! No, not to our family. Our wonderful friends Carlos and Paola welcomed their adorable little boy into the world on January 2nd. He was heavier and longer than Lily...and has tons more hair than her! He is just the cutest thing!! We're very happy for them and wish them the best on their new adventure.

Lily and Martín...destined to be great friends!

Christmas

This Christmas was the third Faiver and I have spend together, but the first with our little princess. We were so excited to go visit my family in North Carolina! It had been a while since I'd been with my family for Christmas, so I was very much looking forward to it. Let me preface our trip little: Lily is a very calm, mellow baby. She doesn't fuss very much and usually just goes with the flow. Even so, I was a little worried about howshe would handle flying. It wasn't just the fact of taking off, spending hours in one position, or landing, but we also had layover times, and let's face it, that's not fun for anyone. However, I shouldn't have worried. She didn't mind taking off or landing (I tried to time feedings so I could nurse her during those times to reduce the ear discomfort; but even when it didn't line up, she was not phased by it at all!), and she slept almost the whole time we were in the air. She was an angel! If traveling with all our future kids will be this easy, bring it on!

Posing for a picture...what a happy baby!

When we landed in NC, the flight attendant let us take a picture of Lily in the cockpit

For those of you who have never experienced a winter in the South, temperatures do not get too low. However, this Christmas was exceptionally warm! It stayed in the 60s the whole time we were there, except for the last day where it dropped into the 40s with lots of rain. I hardly even needed to wear a light jacket. It was heaven! Usually I would be devastated that there wasn't any snow (never had a white Christmas before), but after leaving the frigid temperatures of Utah, I was basking in the Spring-like weather.

It was good to have almost the whole familytogether (Nathaniel and his family couldn't make it) and I was especially excited to spend time with my nephew Alexander.Lily was super excited to meet him! When we went over the Phillip and Heather's house, as soon as Lily saw Alexander she got excited and made cute baby noises and touched his face. Alexander wasn't sure what to think about this new little girl who was touching him, but he just went with it. You should've seen the faces of confusion! It was the cutest thing to see them together! Hopefully these cousins will be able to get to know each other well in the future.

Playing with cousin Alexander

Christmas is definitely not the same with little ones around; it takes a lot longer to get through presents! Lily was interested in playing with the paper and the bows...she liked her presents ok, but what are they compared to things NOT designed for babies?! It was a great day!

opening some presents ... thanks cousin Trey for letting Lily use your Bumbo chair ... it was a great help!!

On the last day of our trip, we were able to visit Muriel's neck of the woods. She is finishing up her college degree this year at the University of North Carolina - Greensboro. We went up on Monday evening and stayed at the house where she lives with 2 other girls (they weren't there at the time). She showed us some of her favorite spots (a yummy restaurant and the international food market) as well as the beautiful lights in her neighborhood. I wish I had taken pictures of it because it was incredible! It was great to spend some special time with her!

Lily and Aunt Muriel!

Now we're back to normal every-day life, but it was a wonderful, memorable first Christmas with our daughter!

Merry Christmas! (I can't get over how cute Lily is in her red dress, white socks and black shoes!!)