Thursday, July 30, 2009

Four months





My apologies for the lack of pictures and posts over the past month. It has been nuts. I will not muse about this past month at this time, since this is meant to be a happy, light and fluffy post. Lilly celebrated 1/3 a year on earth with 2days of fevers! Luckily she perked up enough to pose for her portrait. Check out the dress that Grammy (Blake's mom) smocked. She is AWESOME!

The past month has been one of the most fun months of Lilly's short existence. She started to smile, giggle, screach, and play. She has rolled over from back to front and front to back... ONCE. She now just screams when we try to make her do it again, and without fail, Blake rescues her. No wonder she won't roll over, daddy does it for her :) She plays with her lion and monkey and various other weird animals on the mat my friends Anju and Carol Sue gave her (miss you guys).

She holds her tongue out to catch water in the bathtub the way you or I might try to catch snow. She has definitely learned to prefer her parents if given the option.

As far as sleeping goes, she gets a big fat F. She rarely sleeps more than 3 hours, and even that has become more rare. As you might imagine, this is an unwelcomed habit given the 2 times a week both blake and I pull 30 hour shifts. But we love her nonetheless. Hopefully she will grow out of it before my eyes have permanent circles under them.

It has been the best 4 months ever. I love being a mom, and every day is richer. She is so curious, and it is amazing to watch her discover the world. I used to wish that she would stay little and cuddly so I could always hold and protect her. I thought it would be so sad to watch her grow, but it is just the opposite. Sure I am aware of the passage of time, and how each minute is only here once. (more on that later... therein lies my problem with residency) But what a great joy it is to watch her grow and develop, to smile, and coo. I love my life! I am so blessed. Happy 4 months.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Beach Vacation - Installment #1


All the cousins at the beach. (I didn't get the jeans memo?!?)

Hey! Sorry it's been a while. We have had a CRAZY few weeks with a vacation, father's day, start of Jaclyn's orientation/residency, me on extra call followed by 3 nights in the ED...all combined with a pumpkin who has decided that sleep is for the birds.


Personal note: please pray for our household. While we are in a very large transition with adjusting to life with Lilly, Jaclyn starting residency, juggling terrible upper level residents and attendings, things are stressful to say the least. Jac and I are doing great with our marriage (it helps when you marry a stud that is the best mom and the best doctor I have ever been around), but b/c of my schedule this month, Jac and I have literally only seen each other for a few HOURS! We are each spending quality time with Lilly too, but that sometimes means sacrificing time with each other. It's tough to say the least, so pray for supernatural strength, wisdom as we are praying about what we should be doing and what life should look like, and thank for all the encouragement. Not to mention that I started running a fever last pm, cough, body aches, etc...so add to all of this an illness that I may well give to both Jac and Lilly!! Yikes! We couldn't make it without God's Grace and all of your love!

Lilly's cute beach hat! (Thanks Cousin Sherry!)
Ladybug outfit
Jaclyn graduated (YAY!), then shortly thereafter we headed to the Outer Banks, NC (or OBX) with Jaclyn's whole family for a week there. There were at least 20 people there the entire time: Jac's 3 aunts, all of her cousins and their families in tow. We had a great time, relaxing on the beach, going for short jogs, and watching Lilly meet her cousins and aunts. Like most great vacations, not too much to report, lots of rest, good food, fun stories, and whenever the crew gets together, tons of laughing. We took Lilly to the beach one day for pictures, but we didn't want to expose her to direct sunlight before 6 months of age (as per AAP guidelines), so she visited once and got to take lots and lots of baths with Grandma RuthAnn. More stories to follow, we did take one day trip as a family. More to come later. Here are some picture highlights:

Family on the beach in Nags Head, NC.

More adventures to follow...including a disaster poop story (Aunt Tara we need the pictures!)