More of the Same :)

Last night as soon as Chip got home Lily wanted to go outside and "play sand" again. So far that sand table has been worth every penny (hope I don't jinx it now). So we all went out for a bit and enjoyed the nice evening. Playing with sand quickly turned into song and dance time and Lily danced all over the yard. Action shot

Here is a video of her singing her ABC's and one verse of Old MacDonald. A bunny ran into the yard and distracted her:

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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This morning we went to my Mom's house and Grandma had a surprise waiting for Lily. She bought her a set of play dishes, food, utensils and pans for her to play with at Grandma's house.

Lily went through the bag of new goodies and had to pretend taste every single thing in the bag. It was so funny. Above she is tasting a mushroom.

Drinking from a pot.

Yummy, a tube of mustard!

Corn!

If only she was this willing to try real food!!!

Lily set up her play kitchen in the entry hall way. Thanks Grandma for the fun new toys!!

Congrats Anda and Uncle Scott!

Ok people calm down -- I am NOT pregnant. But my little sister is!! A lot of you may have already known that Linda is expecting a baby in October, but we found out yesterday it is a little boy!! I am so happy and excited for her. That is my little nephew above at 19 weeks waving hi! So that is my big news. It is amazing how many people contacted me and speculated about my exciting news since I mentioned it briefly at the bottom of my blog yesterday and I would just like to say thanks to everyone for reading my entire blog and not just looking at the pictures. :) Oh and by the way, if/when I become pregnant again chances are you will know way before it is mentioned in the blog!!


Today we had Lily's friends Ashley and Emily & my friends (their moms) Heather and Patti over to play.
They had tea parties, played in the sand, made a huge mess with bubbles, danced, sang, ate snacks and pizza for lunch. It was a fun and exhausting morning!

Too Much Fun in the Sun & Gymboree

Sorry no post yesterday, it literally took me 2 hours to get a hysterical Lily down for her nap and after all that I was drained and just wanted to melt into the couch and watch The Bachelorette. I don't know what her deal was, but she was more upset than I have seen her in a really long time. She just kept screaming "I want out of bed!" Maybe in different circumstances 2 hours of hysterics would have broken me down, but not when an obviously much needed nap was involved -- there was no way she was getting out of that crib! I thought maybe she was just over tired since we spend the morning playing outside in the sun, but she had a mini repeat of yesterday's tantrum today so I'm not sure what her problem is. I don't think she is ready to give up naps (in fact today she asked to go to bed and then started protesting 20 minutes after I put her down!) and I am sure not ready for her to give up naps!!! :)

So to catch up, yesterday was the first day in weeks that we had no where to go and nothing to do! So we spend a fun morning outside playing with the new sand table that Chip and I bought her the night before!! So far it has been a big hit -- she loves playing in the sand!

It is actually a sand and water table, but I think we'll only put sand in it since she already has a water table and this way we aren't constantly mixing the two.

I was happy and shocked that I got her to wear her hat briefly -- with her thinning hair, I have to goop the sunscreen on her scalp and it is so gross.

The best part I got to relax on my comfy bench, read my book and work on my tan while she happily played!! It was the first time since we bought the set last year that I brought all the cushions and pillow out -- it was really comfortable!

Later in the afternoon Grandma came over to play!

After her much needed nap, she wanted to go out and play in the sand again and show Daddy her her toy (this time while wearing her princess shoes!)

Somehow playing in the sand turned into a dancing around the yard . . .

I can't wait until she is 3 and we can sign her up for dance class -- although she may not to be told how to dance, she has her own moves!

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This morning we had a very special guest come to Gymboree with us for the first time ever -- Chip! Lily was so so excited that Daddy was coming to Gymboree with us -- she even demanded to ride with with him in his car there, since we took two cars so he could go to work afterward. That is rare for my baby to want to go with him over me!

Showing Daddy how she "jumps".

I know it is blurry, but it helps to demonstrate her movement!

Lily did really well with Chip there. She ran around to all the different set ups and played on everything -- I think she was trying to show him how she could do it all! And Chip was good too, he got under the parachute with us and did the Gymbo dance! I was so glad he finally got to come and see with we do at Gymboree!

*** In other news, it is officially one year now since we arrive in Texas!! I'm not sure how it feels -- it kinda feels like we've been here forever since we felt at home since day one. The main thing is that I survived a summer, winter and spring -- so I am good. :) Saturday will be the one year anniversary for us living in our house, since we stayed at the Holiday Inn while we waiting for all our stuff to come out on the truck. It is crazy!!

**** I have other even more exciting news -- but I have to get the OK, before I can blog about it. :)

The Last 40 Hours - In Pictures

Yesterday morning was our turn to host Monday playgroup with the MOMS Club.

Here are Lily and her friend Ava playing at the table.

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After playgroup Lily and I ran to Babies R Us since we were nearly out of diapers. Lily was all excited and kept saying "we're going to get diapers for the baby", at first I just kinda shrugged it off, but the more she kept saying it I realized that she wanted to get diapers for her dolls! She recently started playing with Carmelita, the Cabbage Patch Kid I got her for Christmas (that is what happens when you buy your Cabbage Patch Kids from amazon.com on sale for $5, rather than spend $25 locally -- you don't get the luxury of looking into the boxes at the birth certificates for one with a cute name, thus Carmelita!). Anyway, the Cabbage Patch kid is her first doll to have a diaper on and Lily is obsessed. Apparently, Carmelita poos constantly and she is always having to change her diaper. It is cute and Lily is having so much fun, but the single diaper that came with the doll is not sticky anymore and starting to get torn up. Since Babies R Us is connected to a Toys R Us, we headed over to the doll aisle and got some new diapers for her dolls. Lily was SO excited! I, on the other hand, couldn't quite believe that I actually just bought diapers for dolls.

Showing off her doll diapers!

Changing Baby Doll

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The weather yesterday was absolutely perfect, but by the time Lily woke up from her nap I was feeling too lazy to head over to the park, yet I hated to sit inside and waste such a gorgeous day! So we went out back for awhile. I set up the water table, but she didn't use it too much which was better since it wasn't all the hot out. But she did love playing with the watering can the Easter Bunny brought her.

She watered the patio for a long time!

Then decided to water the plants.

Chip came home while we were still outside:

He is a good bubble maker since he is so tall!

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This morning I did my makeup on the couch, so Lily could eat breakfast nearby since we had a birthday party to get to. I didn't notice when Lily grabbed some mascara and put it on!

You can kinda see it on her right eye lid and forehead (your left). I think I need to look into play makeup or something because she is obsessed with makeup! She was so proud of herself.

After we got ready we headed over to Tara's house for Grace's 3rd birthday!! It was another beautiful day which was perfect since the party had an art theme and all the kids got smocks and brushes and got to paint outside!! It was so much fun!

Lily (her friend Ashely is next to her) really enjoyed painting!

We'll have to get some supplies soon!

All the kids were so cute in their little smocks!

Lily also really really had fun at the sand table! I never got her one since she normally doesn't like to get dirty or have stuff on her hands, but she played there for the longest time! I think we need a sand table too. :)

Lily's masterpiece on the fridge!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame!

Yesterday we took Lily to her first ever baseball game! I've been waiting since before she was even born to be able to take her to games, so I was pretty excited! Plus, the Angels were playing the Rangers -- so I was extra happy that her first game was an Angel game, since I am a lifelong Angel fan! Lily was excited too -- I had told her the night before that we were going to a baseball game -- she calls football, baseball & basketball "the ballgame", so in the morning she said "yeah, we're going to the ballgame to see the Cowboys!" I had to tell her that we were going to a baseball game and she said "OK, I want to throw and catch the ball." So I was a little nervous as to how she would be once we got there and could not actually play baseball!

It was an afternoon game, thankfully the weather was absolutely perfect -- 71 degrees and beautiful! It did get a little hot since the breeze didn't blow through Rangers Ballpark, but it was nice. I can't imagine having to go to a game in August though!! Chip brought up a good point when he was remarked how shocking it is that they didn't build a dome on the stadium in Texas!

Lily and Chip outside the stadium.
Chip got us free tickets from someone he met at work, so we had nice seats in the Lexus Club level.

Yes, Chip is a trader in his Rangers hat!! I couldn't believe it. He considered wearing an Angels jersey too, but didn't. It was amazing, but not surprising, how many people did have Rangers hats and Angels jerseys (or vice versa). There are so many California transplants here.

My Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim :)

Chone Figgins

I think Lily was way overwhelmed since the first 2 innings she just sat on my lap and sucked her fingers without saying a word.

Finally she got adventurous and got off my lap. It was great since we were in Row 1 -- Lily could stand and look out at the game without bothering anyone in front of us.

Time for hot dogs and nachos!

Her favorite part was being able to drink water from the bottle -- I let her at home sometimes, but she can't get the lid on tight enough (she can loosen it without any problems), and sometimes makes a mess. She drank 2 bottles at the game, which was good since it was a little warm in the sun.

Much to my dismay, Lily cheered for the Rangers.

Whenever the crowd would clap or cheer, so would Lily.

More popcorn for Lily!

She can't shovel it into her face fast enough!

Chip got her cotton candy too, but I didn't let her eat too much of that -- I didn't want to have to deal with a tired, hot, crazy Lily on a sugar rush!

Sharing ice cream with Mommy! We really didn't eat that much -- Lily basically tasted each thing and that was it. I totally thought she'd eat more.

Photo by Lily!

She really got into the game for awhile and actually watched it. I explained the basics to her and she would follow the ball and yell "he catched it" or "he throw it" or "he fell down" and laugh hysterically when someone slid into a base. I was very proud of her!

Finally, in the 8th inning she sat in her seat! (for about 2 minutes)

Luckily, it was free t-shirt day for kids under 13, so Lily got a shirt which helped keep her seat cool and out of the sun until she was ready to sit.

All that yummy ballpark food, and she wanted her "fish crackers".

Unfortunately the Angels lost. The Rangers swept the Angels and are on a 7 game winning streak (which sadly is rare for them).

I bought her a pom pom as we left.

Walking back to the car.

Not surprisingly she fell asleep before we got on the freeway! I was so happy that she had so much fun and made it through the whole game, especially since it was during nap time! We have tickets in the exact same seats in 2 weeks, so we'll be going again!