Goodbye June! {27 wks}

It was one hot day! Temps in the high 90s, not ideal with a little one. Since I still have a little sunburn from pool day earlier this week, we stayed inside.

We had a 'first' today as well... Lilly Rose cried when her daddy left the room. I asked him to walk back in and she was all smiles, he left and she cried (okay, screamed). I was kind of shocked because I was sitting on the bed with her so it wasn't like she was left alone. We did this a few times and each time he walked away she cried. This baby loves her daddy! Tonight, we are playing and waiting for that special daddy to get home from work. We don't like when he closes but are happy to have a hard working daddy. :) Goodbye, June! It was one fun month.

Monthly Update {6 months}

Lilly Rose,

You are now 6 months old! I just cannot believe half of your first year is behind us. It seems each month is a little more fun than the last. Let's discuss some of what happened in the past month:

--We had a sleepover at Yaya's & Papa's. This was your second sleepover and you did so great! You slept 10PM-6AM in your crib at their house. I call that a great success seeing you were not in your own crib. The next morning after we woke up and you had breakfast, we went into their room and jumped on their bed. I think Yaya liked waking up to sweet baby hugs and kisses! We had a nice time.

 --You gave yourself your first arm hickey. Lovely! It was not a pretty sight. You began sucking and drooling a lot during this month... you may be teething. No signs of teethes just yet though. Dr. Baker did say your gums looked swollen.

--NEW Happenings: likes the jumperoo, Sucks toes, Calms to 'This Little Light of Mine' and getting great at grabbing toys, hair, and bibs, etc!

--Mommy's new favorite development was your kisses. You now grab our faces to give us a kiss. A great big slobbery kiss. LOVE IT! Sometimes you get so excited and can't seem to get enough. You like to give lots of sugar.

-- You survived your first big family reunion. It was a big crowd and you did really well being passed around. Besides being the cutest Bird in the house (I'm not biased at all, can't you tell?), I was really proud of you.

Above: LR with Aunt JoBeth, Below: LR with cousin Amanda

--FIRSTS: Transfer toy from left hand to right hand, starting to practice talking in vowels ("ahhhh ahhhhh ahhhhh") and smiles back at yourself and mommy in the mirror. This month you also had your first visit with great grandma!

--Doctors visit: you did so great at your sixth month check up. Everyone loved your little outfit and complimented your shoes again. ;) You talked to Dr. Baker and told her about your day. You are growing nicely. 10% in weight and 25% in height. We were given the okay for sunscreen and starting stage 2 food.

Lilly, you are a true observer. You like to watch our every move. Lately you catch our eyes from across the room and smile so big. I notice you take everything in before you react. It's still hard for others to get a smile out of you, it seems as though you are thinking and analyzing away. Maybe you're going to be brilliant!? ;) Lately, I find myself not wanting to put you in your crib after rocking you to sleep. You are growing so fast. Your sweet little legs stretch across me now and your toes touch the arm of the chair --- when did this happen!? I'm really looking forward to the next 6 months and watching you grow and learn. I believe this past month was my favorite so far, your personality is wonderful and I love seeing it develop.

Stats:

13 lb, 25 in long

Clothes - 0-3, some 3-6 & 6mo in PJs (newborn in bloomers only)

Diapers - size 1

Eyes - still blue, turning a little but can't make out what they will be just yet

First Big Swim {26 weeks}

We took a family trip to our little community pool today. Billy and I wanted to take Lilly Rose for her first big swim. I was a little nervous about how she might react and had doubts that our family time might end up going back home but Lilly did great! She fell asleep on our short drive to the pool house, which was great because it gave us a chance to eat lunch pool side before she woke up from her nap. After her short nap, I gave her a bottle and then we were off to join daddy in the water.

Lilly Rose was all smiles! I'm so glad she enjoyed her experience, a true Florida girl!! We were able to hang pool side for two hours thanks to the nice breezy coverings and enjoy the afternoon. It must have made for a great napping afternoon because Billy, the baby and the dog are all sound asleep. :)

Father's Day {a first for our little family}

Happy Father's Day!

Yesterday we celebrated Billy and what a great dad he is.  Unfortunately at the Bird house we've been a bit under the weather. Nothing major just some stuffy heads and allergies. We decided to have a low key day and just enjoy hanging out together since Billy was off work and we didn't want to spread our germs in case we're contagious. I picked up his favorite meal and we spent time at home. It was really nice to have down time with just the 3 of us.

We did miss visiting our dad's (Papa Kriner and Grandpa Bird) but we were sure to give them a call. I am so thankful for my daddy! He means more to me than I could put into words. I'm so grateful for the example he was to me growing up and all that he taught Jordan and me. Dad, you are so special to me!

Was this picture really 28 years ago!? Great hair! Before we turned you grey. ;)

Back to celebrating Billy... Here's just a few reasons why we (LR, Oliver and I) think he is the best dad:

-Very loving and has such a sweet spirit, he makes a great 'girls daddy'

-Likes to play the guitar and sing to Lilly, she loves singing!

-Takes time out to cuddle and play (with both his kids) ;)

-Makes us laugh, a lot!

-Patient with us

-Is a great help! Gives me "days off" to go do things. I really believe Lilly loves that special time with her dad.

-Provides for us, all our needs (and even our wants)

I could really make a very long list of why we love you, Billy! We believe you're a wonderful daddy and I'm looking forward to watching you continue to father and love our girl for the rest of our lives.

 Happy First Father's Day, Billy! We LOVE you!

My Guys {& random babbling}

I thought I'd share a sweet photo of my guys. Oliver usually is not allowed on the couch but for whatever reason he jumped up there with Billy this morning, so they cuddled. :) We all watched the Today show & I cuddled with my girl. She's getting so big! Another post on her growth soon. The anticipated 6 mo. appointment with Dr. Baker is this coming Wednesday.

I still need to find a moment to blog about the Bird family reunion that took place last weekend. At the moment though I'm fighting off a head cold, praying Lilly Rose doesn't get sick from my germs and looking forward to Aunt Oana & Cousin Carlo's arrival today. They will be in town for a while visiting. Happy Friday! :)

A Girls Weekend {B came to visit}

What a busy month we are having! I know if I have said it 10x, I've said it 100x BUT time is really flying!!! Lilly Rose will be a half year old next weekend. So crazy to me how fast this year is moving. OK, now that I've gotten that fact out of the way (again), I'll share what we've been up to. :)

We brought June in with a visit from one of my best college girls. Barabara drove down from Charleston where she was visiting with her mom on June 1. I was so excited to see her and meet one of her little girls, Miss Payton. She left Miss Reagan with her mom, "Emmy", so they could get some good visiting in on their own. Friday late afternoon Barbara pulled into the drive. We had so much fun catching up and sharing old memories while making new ones throughout the weekend. I cherish our friendship because after all these years it's nice to pick up where we left off, even if it's been a year or two in between visits. We just seem to add a baby to each visit here lately. Saturday we enjoyed the Town Center and dinner at Chick-fil-a!

My oh my how visits change when we are now lugging little ones around. Lilly Rose did really well going all day until about 7PM on the way home she had a total meltdown. Can't blame the girl, she didn't get a good nap in her stroller because she was too curious and just watched everything around her. She might have slept 40 minutes throughout the day. Not good! Payton, 18 months old, did great and is so cute! Oliver sure did love Miss Payton - she was just his size walking around here and he was so happy to have her here.  As always our visit was short but packed with fun. I'm so grateful Barbara was able to travel down. We just may have to take a road trip in the Fall to go visit her.

And just one picture of our babies, I didn't pull my camera out all weekend (shame on me!) until they were about to leave Sunday morning (and we're still in our PJs!). I'll have to get a few from Barbara. Doesn't Lilly Rose look excited about her new friend? She was grabbing Payton's arm after this pic, it was funny. :)