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!!)

5 months!

I think I say this every time, but I can't believe how fast timeis going by...my Lily is 5 months old already!! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote. We started introducing Lily to solid foods...so she had her first rice cereal a couple weeks ago! She definitely didn't like it the first day, but she has gotten more used to it as time goes by. Now she eats almost the whole tablespoon of cereal!

she made really funny faces as Daddy tried to feed her...it was not her favorite the first time around!

She has also really gotten the hang of this rolling over thing. It used to take her a long time to roll over, but not she does it almost as soon as I put her down on the floor. She only rolls on her left side, no matter what I try to get her to roll over the other way too (like put her toys on that side of her). One day I got out of the shower and she had rolled over and fallen asleep without making any noise. She really likes it, and I just know that when she discovers mobility, I'll never be able to stop her!

look, Mommy! I did it! She just loves to roll over. This was the sight I came out of the shower to. What a sweet sleeping baby!

A couple of weekends ago, BYU was hosting this Christmas activity for families, complete with activities, crafts (for older kids), entertainment and Santa! I really wanted Lily to have her first picture with Santa...we had bought her a cute Christmas outfit and the pictures were free. The event went from 9-12 which we thought was perfect since Lily usually wakes up around 9:30. Well, of course that particular morning she decided to sleep in so we didn't get up to campus until 11:15. We thought it was still ok because the event was going until 12; however, when we got to the area where Santa was, there was a sign and a young lady standing at the entrance prohibiting anyone from entering because the line for Santa was closed. Closed?? Seriously?? It was only 11:15!! Faiver asked why and she said it was because Santa was supposed to be gone at 12. Why didn't you say that on the card?? We would've been there sooner if theyhad said, "you need to be in line by ____ time if you want a picture with Santa." But no! I walked away because I was so angry. My baby's first opportunity to get a picture with Santa and they turn us away? Argh!! Faiver, however, being the wonderful person that he was, stayed and argued with the girl until she finally let us in. I have no idea what he said to her, but we got in!! We then stood in the line for almost an hour before reaching Santa. Of course, Lily got sleepy, so she took a 20 minute nap before her picture, which we woke her up to get. And Santa looked completely wiped! So, the pictures didn't turn out perfectly, but they were ok for Lily's first time. Maybe next year will be better, although she'll probably cry next year. We also took some pictures around a nice Christmas display they had...Christmas card? I think so!!

First picture with Santa!! Potential Christmas Card pic Lily likes the presents!!

We went up to Temple Square last Saturday to see the Christmas lights with our friends Brian and Cassie. Apparently it was the wrong weekend to go! There were two concerts going on, so it was packed!! It was like General Conference crowds! Still, the lights were beautiful, and it was fun to spend some time with our friends. Lily liked looking at all the lights, too!

Ah, the lights! It was so pretty!! It was quite cold...but Faiver likes to feel it (crazy guy!)

All in all, Lily is a sweet, happy baby. She's so cuddly and so lovable. We're so lucky to have her. She definitely keeps our life happy :)

Big, beautiful smiles!!

First snow and feet

Lily has discovered her feet! She loves to play with them and put them in her mouth. She is so stinkin' cute!

She also experienced her first snow. It didn't stay past the night, but we went out and let her feel the snow on her face. The next day we put some from a bush in her hand. She held it for a few seconds and then let go. The look on her face was priceless!

4 Months!

Holy cow! Where does the time go? I can't believe that my little girl is four months old!! She is such a blessing in our lives. We went to the doctor on the 14th and she's looking good. She weighs 13 pounds 10 ounces and is 25 incheslong. She's in the 50th percentile for her head and weight and the 75th percentile for her height. My mom asked me how in the world we got a tall baby because neither of us are very tall...maybeshe'll grow into it or maybe she got the recessive gene. I guess only time will tell :) Lily is a brave little girl...she only cried a little when the nurses gave her 3 shots all at once. As soon as I picked her up, she was fine. What a trooper!! She did get a bit of a fever, but it was gone in a day. She is growing more hair which makes me very happy and her smiles can just melt away all the bad stuff or stress of the day. She's our little angel.

Trying to bring her fever down...poor baby

She has come to like tummy time a lot more and is holding up her head much higher now. She's rolled over a couple times, but it's not consistent yet. She smiles and laughs a lot and talks up a storm! She's super wiggly and likes to stand on our laps (with lots of helpof course). She continues her amazing sleeping habits and is so stinkin' sweet that it makes it soooooo hard for me to want to go to class! I know it's all worth it though. She likes to put everything in her mouth and has a favorite toy, Señor Cintas, which she plays with much longer than any of her other toys. And when I say "play" I mean put in her mouth. She loves getting in the car and usually falls asleep depending on how long the trip is. She makes funny faces and just lights up our lives.

Here are some more pictures from a few other fun times we've had lately:

We were BYU fans for Halloween! Lily loves her Daddy!!

Fun in the fall leaves

One year older...and wiser too?

Saturday was my birthday!! I slept in, did a little cleaning and hung out with my cute daughter while my hubby was working. I had told him I wanted to have a nice dinner with him and Lily at home and just spend some time together. He surprised me with a party! It was so nice to eat yummy food and spend time with wonderful friends. Thanks for everything you do for me honey!! It was one of the best birthdays ever! (the Gunnells sang me a special rendition of "Happy Birthday"...thanks guys!! It was awesome)

Laughter really is the best medicine!

I remember the first time my daughter smiled at me on purpose. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, and she was propped against my knees facing me. I just started making funny faces at her and she got the biggest smile on her face! It was one of the best moments in my life. Joy simply washed over me, and I was ecstatic! Now Lily smiles so much, but it never gets old!

About a month or so ago, she started laughing. It is the best sound in the world, but she's not very consistent! Daddy can make her laugh easier than I can, but even when we find something that makes her laugh, she'll do it two or three times and then she won't laugh again...she'll smile really big, but she won't laugh. Frustrating!!

This is the part I really wanted to write about: last night she laughed the most, longest and hardest ever, and I was the one to make it happen! She was in the same position as the first time she smiled on purpose (propped against my knees). I was sitting up straight and then got gradually closer to her face while saying "my little bugaboo." Oh my goodness it was amazing!!! I have no idea why it was so funny, but she just laughed and laughed. I probably did it for 5 minutes and she just loved it! Every time I think about it, it makes me so happy. So that's why I say laughter, especially baby laughter, is the best medicine.