Happy First Birthday Lilly!

After playing in the snow all morning, we celebrated Lilly's first birthday!  I cannot believe my baby girl is already one year old - it makes me so sad.  The year has flown by.  I regret that I can remember little of the first half of the year as those first months were very traumatic for us, but the past year, while difficult, has been a blessing for us as well.  I cannot imagine our life without Lilly - her smiles, laughs, and hugs.  She is such a beautiful child and is one of the happiest babies that I know.  She is also incredibly easy-going.  I guess she has to be with a sister as demanding as Olivia :)  Another word that would describe Lilly is determined - if she wants something, she will literally climb over you to get to it - nothing stands in her way.  I like that about her personality - while it can be frustrating (and I am sure will be VERY frustrating when she is a teenager), it is an important trait to have and a trait that I think will serve her well.

We have been lucky that despite her diagnosis, Lilly has been healthy this first year.  I took her in for her well-child visit and she weighs 18 lbs. and 2 ounces, which puts her in the 8th percentile in weight.  Lilly is 29 inches long, which puts her in the 30-40th percentile in length.  She is definitely not a bruiser, but she is growing and for that I am thankful.  Lilly can crawl, "cruise" across furniture, and stand on her own.  She is trying to take her first steps, but hasn't decided it is worth it since she can get anywhere she wants in a flash by crawling.  She says "mama" and "dada" and jabbers up a storm, but I can understand very little of Lilly's small talk at this point.  I have a feeling that will change soon and watch out - I am afraid once she starts talking she will never shut up!  She loves to play peek-a-boo and clap her hands (although she would rather clap yours!).  She is starting to point at what she wants and I am trying to teach her some sign language, although she looks at me like I am crazy :)

Lilly is also very sociable.  Unlike Liv, who hated the groups at her birthday parties (and still does), Lilly loved the excitement.  She was a joy to watch at her birthday party and as far as I am concerned, it was perfect!  Enjoy the pictures!

First Snow!

Liv getting ready to go out in the snow!

Packing the snow for snowballs...

Liv and Daddy worked hard to build Frosty the Snowman!

Poor Lilly wanted to go out so bad but all she could do was stand 

by the window and yell at her sissy and Daddy!

Lilly Belle :)

Instead of playing in the snow, Lilly and I 

read books in the playroom (which Mommy much prefers!)

Cousins

This is our attempt at a cousin's picture of Lilly, Olivia and Cooper.  If you notice, Cooper is holding a dollar.  We had to bribe Olivia and Cooper with money to get them to sit by the tree for a picture and this is the best we could get!  

Christmas Here We Come!

Happy Thanksgiving from the Lanksters!

Redeemed

Our second round of Christmas pictures went much better.  Olivia made sure of it - as I was dressing her that morning, she looked at me sternly and said, "Mommy, don't take us to the wrong picture place.  Let's go to the right picture place this time!"  The following are the good pictures...

And then there were some "not-so-good" pictures that just made me laugh!

Olivia was perfect during the picture session - except that we couldn't get the bow to stay very well in her hair.  Lilly was NOT a fan.  She had a bow that she refused to wear.  Her face in the last few pictures says it all.  There is just no doubt about it - taking pictures of the kiddos is exhausting and (almost) impossible!

Afraid of the Dark

Olivia is afraid of the dark, so bedtimes are a little "nightmarish" for us if you know what I mean - she refuses to go to sleep and oftentimes we find her crawled up in our bed with ALL the lights on when we finally trudge up to bed for the night.  It has been driving me crazy trying to figure out a way to deal with it.  This experience has been a window though to her personality.  Jeremy and I came up to bed the other night and found our room decorated with Olivia's toys.  Do you think she may be my daughter?

Who's that sleeping in my bed?  Sleeping Beauty of course!