Nutcracker Ballet Party {1st birthday}

Birthday Girl!!! Lilly Rose is ONE! We celebrated on her actual Birthday, Sunday, December 23, with a Nutcracker Ballet Birthday Party. Let me just say, a party two days before Christmas is nuts! I knew it was going to be tough but I didn't want to slight the fact that no matter what was going on, it was in-fact the day Lilly Rose was born...so we partied. Unfortunately, there were a few mishaps but we won't focus on all those. Let's just say next year we'll take a trip to Disney or plan a special day instead of trying to have a party. :)

 

We had an intimate group with pretty decorations, yummy goodies and a smiley ballerina to focus our attention on.  Lilly Rose was in a great mood, ate cake (cupcake) for the first time and opened lots of gifts. The most special gift was the one my dad (papa) gave Lilly, my very own child-hood rocking horse he made for me when I was her age. He updated the sweet horse with a fresh coat of paint (pink, of course) and I just know Lilly Rose will love it just as I did. Thanks Papa & Yaya for such a thoughtful gift (and all the other sweet things, too!!).

 

I won't bombard the blog post with tons of pictures because I turn my blog into a book for our family keepsake and I already made a birthday book of all the pictures. A special thank you to Uncle Jordan and Aunt Oana for taking the pictures so I could focus on the birthday girl. So, with all that said... here's my birthday ballerina (who refused, of all the days to refuse, to wear a bow, ha!).

 

Happy First Birthday, Lilly Rose!!!!

 

Monthly Update {12 months}

This is my final "monthly" post as my baby is now twelve months old. Seems so hard to believe. I knew it was going to be bittersweet so I prepared myself for the week of Lilly's birthday. Thankfully, my mommy moment came 3 nights before Lilly Rose turned one and not at her party. I was rocking Lilly to sleep and it just hit me. This beautiful, sleeping baby who is very long (thanks to both her parents) was stretched across my lap and she was finally asleep...so peaceful...and then tears came. I tried my best to cherish holding her while not waking her. I couldn't help but think that just last December when holding her she was not much bigger than a small child's baby doll. She made her daddy's hand look massive. Now, my sweet Lilly Rose is a big one year old! This was a super fast yet wonderful year!

Lilly Rose,
This past month you were very busy! You are not walking alone yet but are on the move by means of crawling, walking with help of your stroller and walking on your own when we hold your hands. You love playing and keeping busy. Right now your favorite character is Elmo (Elmo's World) and your favorite toy is probably the piggy bank (Thanks Cousin Hannah). However, you recently received a ton of toys for your Birthday and Christmas so we'll see what your new favorite is in the coming weeks.

Recent::
-- favorite foods: applesauce, yogurt, all baby food veggies & fruits, puffs, cheerios, & gold-fish (**we are working at broadening your diet but at the moment you are quite picky when it comes to new items as you make a face, push it away and wave your hands around dramatically so we can't try to feed it to you ourselves -- hopefully I can do a post in the near future giving you props on your new found love of big people food...until then, we'll spend every dime we have on Gerber items that make you happy as a lark. sigh**)

-- Oliver is your best friend, you adore him!

-- dropping things for mommy to pick up (and food for Oliver to snack on)

-- you like your picture book from our friend miss Shelly, you like to point to the pictures and can find daddy and you even say, "da-da" while pointing to his picture (sweet!)

-- you have 5 teeth (#5 tooth broke on 12/18) and are working on #6, it's been a bear as it is taking forever to break.

-- We sing a lot, you really love music. You clap with the music and bounce too.

-- Most recently you like to empty your pack-n-play and drop everything over-board.

-- You love books!

-- Lilly, you are a baby with a mission. You know what you like and you don't seem to be a follower. You have your own agenda when playing and like to turn everything upside down, take all books off the shelf, take toys apart and then keep moving. I'm not sure if this is a stage or your personality as your daddy and I are very organized and like things in there place and you are doing the exact opposite at the moment. We'll see...

-- Talking: hi, hey, da-da, duu (dog) are your favorite words. You have said at one time or another: O-vur (Oliver), stop, papa, yaya, no, ju (juice but that really means water as you've never had juice), and a few others I unfortunately didn't write down. You repeat our words a lot but have not added them to your vocabulary just yet. Also, as I was putting this post together this past week we noticed you saying to me when I'd walk into the room, "Hey Broo" and it clicked, oh my word - we think you are trying to say "Hey Brooke"! You must have picked up on Daddy & others calling me by name, we're correcting you with "it's mama". :) I'm still waiting on mama!

-- Attention to detail: I'll take credit for this one Lilly Rose... just like your mama you notice every little thing, especially if it's a flaw. You've pointed out a blemish on my face as soon I picked you up from your crib one morning. No 'good morning' just a "hey" and point. Nice! ;) A tiny spec as much as salt could be on your highchair tray and you find it immediately knowing it shouldn't be there. Because of this, we have to watch you closely as you're sure to find anything.

-- Sleep: You have been rocked to sleep every night since you were born. We may try to undo this habit in the future but for now it's still enjoyable. It's the only time you sit still long enough to cuddle and I love when you cuddle! You sleep great in your crib (8pm-7:30am) and nap in your swing for an hour or two each day. I'm afraid you are near weight limit so in the new year we'll be working on the nap transition to your crib.

Lilly, this past year has been so very special because of you. We are so happy God gave you to us and look forward to watching you grow this coming year. We love you to the moon and back!

Stats:

Clothes -  some 9mo, mostly 12 mo

Shoes - size 3
Diapers - size 3
Hair - sandy blonde shade and getting a little thicker, it is laying down now and stick straight
Eyes - hazel is the best way to describe them still, just like daddy's

** while trying to catch up on the monthly post, birthday party and Christmas, LR got sick and we've been up with no sleep. Poor thing still has a fever and we're doing good just to get by so I'm afraid some post will be delayed and have a January time-stamp on them for our books**
 

Happy Birthday, Lilly Rose {ONE}

Today came SO fast. I'll have to save the details of the party for later because after today, I'm beat! I wanted to be sure to post a picture of our Birthday girl though. How quickly this day came. It's been one amazing year raising Lilly Rose and I'm so grateful to Jesus for each day and each moment. Life is so sweet and being Lilly's mommy is the best gift!

Santa Baby {teething, hysterics and drama}

Today was one. of. THOSE. days. A repeat of yesterday. The kinda day where you know to-the-minute what the countdown to bedtime is. Our baby girl is breaking in another tooth (#5 and possibly another on it's way as well) and is not herself lately. Pure grumpiness.

 

Yesterday after church Lilly Rose & I went on a shopping trip and she was pleasantly happy for the most part. She's actually really great out but seeing that I do take my time in the stores due to my inability to make a quick decision, I'd say she's perfect in the stores. :) For some reason though during her lunch she broke down in hysterics...in 20 seconds flat. Lucky for her, I had my camera out (maybe added to the dramatic show??) and I caught the hysterics...for future evidence that she was not a perfect child as her daddy and her Yaya like to think. I'll give her a break because she is breaking in a toothy this week and turning the big one is probably hard work (yep, that's this week!) but I think it's safe to say Lilly Rose has a flair for the drama. Just a guess. 

 

My Happy Santa Baby

My Sad Santa Baby

 This is not a mocking of my old dance moves from my falcon's nest days... friends, this is a pure fit if I'd ever seen one!

Don't get me wrong, I do feel badly for her as I know she's not herself and partly miserable with this teething stuff, it's no fun. BUT I also know this is one dramatic baby. And if by chance, it's not Lilly Rose and it is just all baby girls...I have a bone to pick with all you girl mama's out there for not warning me! I would've prepared myself. ;)

 

Here's to hoping and praying that little tooth (and likely the next one) breaks quickly so I can have a happy, pleasant, feeling good baby for her birthday. :)

Keeping It Real

I haven't posted one of these in a long time. So, when Oliver decided to distribute our trash all over the house very early in the morning I figured it was worthy of this kind of post. Not to mention the trash had coffee grinds in it from the day before and it was everywhere! Pulling out the vacuum before I even say good morning to my girl is not my idea of fun. Did I mention this very same morning he went potty in my bathroom!? Making it two messes for me to clean before 7:30AM!

Free puppy to good home...would make a great Christmas gift (I'm sure he'd be on his best behavior for a new family!) Any takers?? ;)

Lilly Rose, a Christmas Parade and Santa {ramblings...}

The first Saturday of December (I'm a little late blogging about this) is always the big town of Callahan's Christmas Parade. :) Back when I was in school, we were very much apart of the parade. These past few years I've missed it all together. Tragedy! Four years ago Billy and I were married on parade day and last year we were in the hospital because the doctors were monitoring Lilly Rose. I'm not sure what happened the other couple of years but needless to say, Billy and I haven't been since we'd met! So Billy was in for a treat! It was due time to share this fun tradition with him as well as our girl!

 

Lilly Rose loved the parade. LOVED! She clapped, danced and had her first try at a sucker (which I took from her immediately because one it was blue and she's drooly, complete mess...and two, it is sugar and I've tried really hard to steer clear of that until her first birthday party). I digress... Yep, Lilly Rose loved the parade so much I left thinking she was definitely ready for her first trip to Disney. We are debating introducing the mouse to her at Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party next week. Debating... Thinking... Hmmmmm... I really want to take her but it is kind of late... she could nap on the drive down though... You see, I'm torn! Billy is soon off for a week with us *yay!!* so this Mickey party would kick off our fun First Birthday/Christmas week... We'll see.

 

Back to the point of this post, meeting Santa! After the Christmas parade Lilly Rose met Santa Claus (who happens to be a personal family friend - Yep, I know Santa!). She was very curious and just stared at him. She smiled a little and I could tell those little wheels in her head were spinning. It was a fun family day.

 

We also have a very happy baby who is trying so hard to walk. She likes her independence with this freedom of being so mobile.This mama is not quite ready for her to walk by herself yet but she's trying hard with her walker, scaling the walls, etc to get where she needs to go.

 

O Christmas Tree! O Christmas Tree! Much pleasure thou can'st give me...

Wedded Bliss {4 years}

Waiting for the perfect mate is well worth it, I'm so thankful God chose Billy for me. Today we celebrate four years of wedded bliss. Happy Anniversary, my love!

Squeals, Giggles & Hugs! {weekend}

Usually the weekend doesn't mean much to me if Billy's working. The only difference is more people in the stores and on the roads. I've gotten used to frequenting my favorite places Monday thru Thursday anytime before 3pm and don't like the crowds anymore. Just call me an old lady! The joys and blessings of being home. This weekend though Billy is off, first in awhile, so we are so excited around here! Crowds and all we have lots of fun ahead. Happy weekend to all and to all a goodnight. ;)

No, No, Lilly Rose {tree love}

Lilly Rose loves the Christmas tree. She likes the sparkly ornaments the best, just like her mama! We're working on obeying and this happens to be the current learning tool.

 

 She's thinking about it...

 Lilly Rose, no ma'am...

Lilly Rose, no-no

Lilly, no ma'am!

 "How serious is she?"

 "Yay!"

 Lilly Rose-1, Mama-0

 

Monthy Update {11 months}

11 months. 11 months. 11 months. Trying to let that fact sink in!

 

What a month we had...I'm going to be honest here... Lilly Rose, you were not your happy-fun loving self this past month and it was definitely one for the books. It was the day you turned 10 months old, just like you knew it was your 10 month birthday and time to switch things up a bit. Your mood changed and you were one cranky girl. About a week in (I can be a little slow) I realized you had to be teething and sure enough, you were. Every night this past month with the exception of two beautiful nights, you woke up 2-5 times. Yep, this past month was a sleepless month. So guess who else was cranky besides you? Mama! :)

 

Aside from the sleepless nights and cutting your two front teeth we did have a little fun. We celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving during your tenth month. And important to note, as of this past week we are all getting more sleep. Yay for sleeping through the night again! Here's a little more of what you were up to this past month:

 

-- Lilly you wave and smile at E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E. and while it really is the cutest thing this mama has ever seen, you are sure to grab strangers attention who like to come over and talk to us (not my favorite thing). Let's just say our trips to Publix and Target are taking a little longer these days.

-- You can now walk the length of the couch holding on. You love to be on your feet and on the move!

 

-- Meal times have become a little more challenging as you've learned to throw food. Luckily we have Oliver to pick up the crumbs but we are definitely working on this as we don't like you tossing your food overboard.

 

-- Your two front teeth fiiiinnnnaaaaaallllyyyyyyy arrived! That was a very long 3 weeks of fussy, crabby, and sleepless lights but we are all so glad that is behind us (for now as I hear the molars are a bear).

 

-- Pointing with one finger, a new skill you've mastered and use quite often.

 

-- Walking with your stroller (baby walker) is one of your favorite activities. You love to toss out Minnie Mouse as you don't like anyone to ride in the stroller. It's very funny.

-- Talking: Lilly your new favorite thing to say is "hiiiiiii" or "heeeeyyyy" when someone walks in the room. You say "hi" to anyone and everyone.

Even though this past month is probably not my favorite because it was a little more tiresome, it was wonderful because it was with you sweet girl. I'm really enjoying watching you grow and become your own (very independent) little person. I cannot believe in about 4 weeks I'll be writing your last monthly post as you turn one years old. I've said it 100 times, I'll say it again... It just goes WAY TOO FAST! Love you so much Lilly Rose!

 

Stats:

Clothes -  6/9, 9mo and some 12 mo - mostly just in PJs (still in newborn bloomers)

Shoes - size 3

Diapers - size 3

Hair - high, fuzzy, soft baby hair but as of the past 2 weeks it is starting to lay down, depending on the day. It's a sandy blonde shade and getting a little thicker.

Eyes - hazel is the best way to describe them still