Energizer Bunny

MUST BE HIDING

I have mentioned before the fondness my child has for "hide and go seek" but today I thought I would expand on that a bit. See, it is not just the game that Lily enjoys, but the concept of "hiding" itself. In her world, if you cannot physically see something at that particular moment, then it "must be hiding"...

Me: "Lily, where is your coat?"

Lily: "Hiding?"

Me: "Lily, where did daddy go?"

Lily: "Must be hiding!" (bet you saw that one coming)

Now, it is not the element of surprise one encounters from finding what was once hidden that Lily enjoys. Actually, when playing Hide and Go Seek with her, she will TELL you where you should hide first. "Momma hide playroom." Then she'll go and count and come "find" me...and I had BETTER be hiding in the playroom. If I am, there is a big "Boo!" or " I see you momma!" followed by excited laughter and jumping up and down. However, if I decided to get tricky and hide say, in the bedroom instead...the result is one of a confused and somewhat disappointed toddler. So, I opt to hide where she tells me to hide.

The other day while I was folding some laundry she took that 10 minutes to hide in the laundry basket until she was discovered, then she would pick up the basket, move it over a couple of feet and hide under it again...

"I see you momma!" "Here I am!" "She'll never find me up here"

Then, last night was the clincher... I was checking my e-mail at the kitchen table and she pulled up the chair next to me and started shoving her silver chain underneath my laptop. I didn't pay much attention, until she then put her hands over her eyes and began counting to ten. (What is she doing?) She uncovers her eyes, retrieves her chain and says with great pride and enthusiasm, "I found you bwacelet!"

The fun never stops around here, ya'll!

Finally, a little fun in the snow!

As you all know by now, I am not a fan of Old Man Winter. Much better friends with Young Lady Summer. Anyway, today I decided (at the pleading of my daughter) to come out of hibernation for some fun in the snow. It was way too cold for my liking, and I only lasted about 15 minutes before I ran inside to thaw out, but it was great to see Lily so in awe of that white stuff.

Daddy managed to play out there for a while longer with her. They had a tiny snowball fight and built the world's smallest snowman...

then it was inside for hot chocolate and marshmallows. (Jay drank the hot chocolate while Lily devoured the "marshmennows").

Favorite Photo Friday -- Memories!

Well, the title of my blog is "Life with Lily Lin" and it is usually 99.9% about Lily, but today I wanted to post one of my favorite pictures that was taken JUST BEFORE our life with Lily truly began.

That is us just days BEFORE meeting our little bundle face to face.

Our trip in China was very emotional, and at times EXTREMELY difficult, but when I look back I always just smile...it was wonderful and life changing.

While we were climbing The Great Wall I kept saying to Jay: "Can you BELIEVE we are in CHINA climbing THE GREAT WALL!!!????"

It all felt so surreal. But, it was amazing.

Plus, the picture makes me chuckle cuz Jay is wearing that ridiculous hat that crazy Dave bought him...good times! I love looking back to that time in our lives...when and where it all began.

To my sweet travel companions: I miss you all so much and love the bond that we will ALWAYS have...give your girls a big smooch from Lily! XOXOXOXO

TWO BABIES

Well, the time has finally come where Lily and Payton (my sister's youngest) are friends. For the first 15 months or so he was just an annoying little thing that stole some of princess Lily's thunder.

He was always trying to cozy up to her, but she was having none of that!

But, now they are little buds. They always greet each other with a big, long embrace and a smooch...I unfortunately don't

yet have a picture of that, but I will.

They will follow each other all over the place and I am afraid that Jody and I are going to spend the rest of our lives asking each other, "Now where have those two gone?"

Here they are hiding in Booma's closet...one of their favorite spots.

They have also been known to spend some time underneath Payton's crib. Lily is a huge fan of hiding. Life, to her, is just one big game of Hide N Seek.

The only downside (if you even want to call it that) is that now Lily has decided that she is NOT a big girl. With all the talk lately of "big-girl pottys" and "big girls clean up their toys" and "big girls don't have temper tantrums" -- she has decided that she is a baby. Payton is a baby, no responsibilities, no pressure, pee pee and poo poo are welcome to be deposited in the diaper. Yep, Lily has decided that she and her little buddy are in this thing together.

I was holding Payton the other night and she looked up at me and said, "Momma, hode you" (which means, Momma, I want you to hold me), so I lifted her up into my free arm and she got the biggest grin on her face and said "TWO BABIES!!"

Yep, my girl is going to remain a baby for just a little while longer...and that is perfectly OK with me.

Art (?) with Lily

My child has her own ideas as to what should be done with a box of crayons. Color? On paper? Naw. That doesn't sound very fun. I think it would be more exciting to sit and peel the paper off of every single crayon in the box. But don't worry mom -- I'll place all of the scrap paper nicely in a little bowl. No mess here!Don't the crayons look pretty this way...bare naked...the way they were born?

And, she also has some original thoughts on the proper use of markers. Paper does not display their vibrant colors as well as her hands do, apparently. I emerged from the shower to find her like this last week. They are washable, thankfully. But for now, they are also being placed out of her reach.

She seems to have the right idea with a paintbrush and paint. She manages to dip the brush in the water and then the paint and then she puts it to the PAPER and away she goes. However, she seems to believe that the only thing worth painting is water.

Me: "Whatcha painting, sweetie?"

Lily: "Blue water." (makes sense)

Me: "Now whatcha painting?"

Lily: "Green water" (hmmm)

Me: "Look honey, if you add some brown down here to the green, you can paint a tree!"

Lily: "All done tree."

Me: "Oh, OK. Now, what are you painting Lil? Black water?"

Lily: "yeah."

Me: "Is Lily gonna swim in the black water?" (ooh gross)

Lily: "No momma, need a boat!" (Of course. Thanks Dora the Explorer. Yes, we need life jackets too.)

And, lastly, her very FAVORITE art is done on her Aquadoodle. She loves this toy (a Christmas gift from Papa and Booma D), and draws on it daily. Lately she wants me to draw smiley faces and she colors them in. She is actually pretty darn good at it!

So, that was a glimpse at "art" with Lily. Hope you enjoyed it.

Once Upon a Potty

Well, another book has "come alive" in our house. NO, Lily is not potty-trained (yet). We have just begun the introductions at this point. I borrowed a couple "potty books" from my sister and have put Lily's "big-girl potty" out in her playroom and told her it is there when she is ready to use it. So far I have heard a whole lot of "all done big girl potty!"

But...she loves the books. Wants to read them all the time.

I, however, do not love the books. Maybe I am alone here, but I find the book I have pictured here to be a little ridiculous.

I didn't even know HOW to react when I turned the page only to see poor Prudence bent in half to show us EXACTLY where her poop comes out. I seriously had to ask myself, "Is this completely necessary??"

But, Lily insists on reading this particular book and who am I to argue? I mean, apparently parents everywhere highly recommend it. So, the other night when I was lying in bed with my little snuggle bug, waiting patiently for her to talk herself to sleep I realized she was repeating the same little sentence over and over again..."wittle ho mating poo poo" (which, of course ,translates to "little hole for making poo poo"...Oh my gosh, my maturity level must not be where it should be -- I about lost it. Are you kidding me???

Hey, if this book ends up playing an instrumental role in getting Lily potty-trained, then I will come back and eat my words, but until then... I just don't know!!!

Lilly's Big Day

Oh, how I love reading with my kid. It has always been one of my favorite things for us to do together, but now it is as if the books are coming alive in our house! "Lilly's Big Day" is one of Lily's favorites right now. (probably because she thinks it is all about HER!?) Anyway, in the book Lilly wants to be the flower girl in her teacher Mr. Slinger's wedding...she practices and practices at home.
So, one afternoon Lily asked me for some of the flowers out of a vase upstairs in our office and I gave them to her and for the next 15 minutes she "practiced" being a flower girl. "Wook at me, momma, I'm a fwower girl!"

So, if anyone is planning a wedding and needs a cute, little, well-rehearsed flower girl -- just give her a call!!!!

Favorite Photo Friday: Time flies!

Been thinking a lot lately about how quickly the time goes by. (perhaps it doesn't feel like it when you are WAITING for something, or someone), but when I look back at pictures of Lily taken when we were in China I am blown away!!
That adorable non-walking, non-talking, could barely sit up without falling down, baby we hardly knew is now a running, jumping, dancing, climbing, talking(non-stop), singing toddler whom we are getting to know better each day.
We loved her completely before we ever saw her face. We called her our daughter before we ever held her close. And our love for this sweet girl grows deeper every day as she continues to amaze and surprise us. Time does fly, so we try to enjoy all the moments --good, bad, and ugly because before you know it this will all be just a memory too.

My brown eyed girl

Yeah, there is something really special about a brown eyed girl.
My dad's nickname for my mom when they were dating was "Miss Brown Eyes".
My best friend from high school has blonde hair and brown eyes -- in my opinion, an incredibly rare and beautiful combination.
My niece has lovely, large brown eyes that I have admired for years, and now...
My Lily is a beautiful brown eyed girl.

She is very aware of everybody's eye color these days, too. Ever since she met (and fell in love with) the kitty cat down the street. She suddenly looked up at me and said "titty tat bween eyes" and then she gasped and said "momma bween eyes titty tat!" (translation: Kitty cat has green eyes. Momma has green eyes like the kitty cat). Then at Christmas she met Jay's aunt's dog Darby. So, now Lily has "bwown eyes wike Dawby" (brown eyes like Darby, obviously)...
Oh, and "daddy has bwoo eyes"...she hasn't met an animal with blue eyes yet.

Thanks Mya for the awesome shirt! We love it!

More Lil Tidbits

I wrote a post about a month ago about the little everyday things that Lily does and says to keep us amused...I'm about to do it again.

As my aunt (Gee-Gee) said today about Lil--"She would have me laughin all day long". Which is true, for the most part. I mean, there are also times when I am lifting my hands to the sky saying "Help me Lord!" But, yeah, I spend a lot of time laughin' my fool head off.

In the wardrobe department: She still has a very strong opinion about what she will and will not wear. Basically jogging suits are good and jeans are very, very bad. At least now she will communicate to me WHY she won't wear them. It is either "too small" or "it hurts" or more honestly "I no wike em momma." So, she has jogging suits in all colors and styles and she wears them well, I might add.

Oh, I can get her to wear skirts and dresses though, because then she can wear her "ballerina tights"...but when I put her ballerina costume on her just recently she only kept it on for about 5 seconds..."it hurts momma". And, in her defense, it probably was itchy. But doesn't she look cute (and uncomfortable)?

On to Lily's language:
Some of her favorite phrases right now are "Oh my gosh" and "oh bwap" (bwap=crap). The person who "taught" her this lovely phrase will remain nameless, but I can proudly say it was NOT me. I'm just glad she can't yet pronounce the 'K' sound, so most people wouldn't even know she was talkin naughty. She loves to say "Oh my gosh momma wook at dat" or "wook at me". When she is climbing on the counter, or the table, or the toilet, or the toybox, or WHATEVER she can find to climb on...once she is situated she will catch me looking at her disapprovingly and she'll softly say "I'm otay. Be careful now. Fall down get hurt."

Yep, sweetie, you took the words right out of my mouth.

That is the thing. She is so SWEET...it's hard to get upset with her. (Even when I know sometimes I need to be a little more strict)...Anyway, back to Lily...

She is very polite. Her new thing is "Bless you" or actually "Bwess you". She'll say this after a sneeze OR cough. And I have been fighting a nasty cold the past few days, so I have heard those 2 words endlessly. She actually ratted herself out with it the other night. I was trying ( again) to get her to go to sleep UPSTAIRS, BY HERSELF, IN HER BIG GIRL BED...well, I was downstairs on the computer and I hadn't heard anything for a few minutes and I started to get excited -- could she really be up there sleeping? Then I coughed and heard the faintest "bwess you momma" coming from the bottom of the stairs. See, I should've scolded her and sent her back upstairs. But instead I said "thank you sweetie" and went upstairs and layed down with her until she fell asleep.

She will often pet my hand or my hair and say "nice momma"... She has also been known to give me a hug and say "I'm so proud of you"..hey, I'll take it!

OK, that's all for now... Man, can I ever ramble on and on about my kid, or what!?!

Howdy Partner!

We have just been having such a great time this weekend, hangin out with family.

This is just a silly post to honor

Gee-Gee and Jim's wonderful state of Texas. My little goofball says

"Howdeeeeeee"!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gee-Gee is here!!!!!

Well, for those of you who don't know what a Gee-Gee is...it is the name we affectionately call my Aunt Lynn (my mom's sister). She and my Uncle Jim are visiting from Texas and we are so thrilled that they are here. We always have such a blast together! Plus, the last time they saw Lily she wasn't really talking and she was still EXTREMELY shy, so this visit is a big improvement from the last one.

Last night we all went out to Mr. B's for dinner to celebrate Papa's birthday and had a fabulous time. Then we went back to my parent's house for coffee and dessert.

Here are a few pics of Lily and Gee-Gee.

By the way, congrats Gee-Gee on losing almost 20 pounds on Weight Watchers...lookin good!!!

But how many points do you think were in the BITE you took of the caramel apple empanada last night??? hee hee

Happy Birthday, Papa!

Today is my dad's birthday, so I thought I would take a moment to say "Happy Birthday" to him and to say that he is the greatest dad and papa there ever could be.

Lily says, "Happy Birthday, Papa, let's have a tea party again soon.

P.S. Thanks for teaching me how to properly hold my tea cup.

Although, we know Lily wouldn't actually DRINK tea. She is a coffee lover like her parents.

I work today ( I'm already running late). We're going out for a birthday celebration tonight and GEE-GEE is in town... more on that later!

Yep, I lost again!

Don't let the picture fool ya folks! Lily may APPEAR to be happy as a clam in her "big girl bed", but that is only cuz momma is right there taking her pic. Her demeanor slightly changes when I try to leave the room.
So, for now she is still sleeping with me.
Don't worry about us, though. I call these things "battles" but I know that in the big scheme of things -- they are nothin.
We are doing really well over here. Lily is an awesome little girl, and I actually really admire her strong will. I think it will take her far in life. Not to mention the fact that she "snuggles" like no other.

To be continued...

It's a Battle of the Wills, folks!

BIG MOMMA VS. LITTLE LIL!

As many of you know, Lily has a very strong will. Once she sets her mind on something, she can be quite determined. This has caused many a battle between us, right from the start. In China, she decided she didn't want ANYTHING to do with ME -- only daddy. I tried everything in my power to win her over, but she didn't give in. (Until after we got home and daddy had to go back to work). So, I lost that little battle.

Once we were back home it was sleeping in her crib. She didn't want to. After MANY sleepless nights we gave in and let her sleep with us. So many people gave us advice...we tried it all.

1. Go in and comfort her and then leave. (That backfired. Once she saw one of us she went into almost a hysteria when we left).

2. Soft music playing; nightlight on; door closed; door open. (Nope, nope, nope, and nope).

We would try every couple months or so with no success. She wouldn't just cry for awhile and eventually cry herself to sleep. She would cry for HOURS and show no signs of stopping. So, I lost all of those battles... just couldn't handle it.

Then there was the church nursery. Decided she wanted nothing to do with it. She'd play real nicely with the toys and the other kids until she realized that mommy and daddy weren't in there anymore. Then, look out! She even made one of the nursery workers at our last church CRY. Yep, we're still fighting (and losing) that battle.

Oh, then there is the little issue of food. Quite some time ago she up and stopped eating pretty much everything. This has been a great frustration for me, as I am trying my best to be a good momma and feed her 3 square meals a day and give her fruits and veggies. I even tried force feeding her a couple times, only to have her GAG! This is gradually getting better. She is starting to eat a little more and I make sure she drinks her milk and she loves her V8 V-fusion drink, she takes a daily vitamin, and I have stopped stressing out about it. (for the most part).

OK, so she has a strong will. And me... not so much.

So, I listed as 1 of my goals for the new year to get Lily in her own bed.

My mom got her to fall asleep there when she babysat last week. However, Lily was up at 2am and spent the rest of the night in MY bed.

So, I tried again last night to put her in her own bed. The attempt began at 9:15 and Lily finally fell asleep at midnight. Where do you think she slept? Lily's bed or Momma's bed? Who won this battle???? Anyone care to venture a guess?

Lily and her "sister"

This evening we went to my parent's house for dinner. It is becoming somewhat of a Monday tradition for us. Lily and I meet my sister and her 3 kiddos out there to hang out and have a nice, home cooked meal since our hubbies work late. Tonight Logan (my sister's oldest child and ONLY daughter) says to me: "Aunt Nikki, I want a sister. I wish Lily was my sister." I thought that was so sweet, and since I obviously know the incredible blessing it is to have a sister -- I told her that they PRACTICALLY ARE sisters. That seemed to make her pretty happy, but it started quite the debate round the dinner table between Logan and her 5 year old brother, Braden.
Logan: (to Lily) "You're my sister. Say sister."
Lily: "sista, sista, sista"
Braden: "No she's not your sister... she is your COUSIN!!!"
Repeat about 5 or 6 times.
This episode lasted until Payton (my sister's 17 month old son) nailed Braden in the head with his sippy cup. Laughter erupts. Never a dull moment when the whole gang is together. I love my family and as sad as I was to see the weekend come to a close, I realize that I really enjoy my Mondays.
Oh, and the night ended with Lily having "Booma" paint her toenails real quick before we left. They were ALREADY painted pink, but she wanted more. I painted them for the first time just the other day and she is a fan. She LOVES her little piggies, and she thinks she is just ALL THAT when her toes are painted. Actually, I agree.

I've been tagged! (Thanks Dawn)

Dawn, from Eggrolls and Chopsticks has tagged me and I would NEVER want to let her down...
However, I did a meme a few weeks ago and already answered some of the questions, and I don't like to sound redundant, so I will change those up a little bit. (******)

A. Available or taken. Definitely taken.
B. Best Friend. My sister, Jody.
C. Cake or pie. Brownies, actually.
D. Drink of choice. Coffee with lots of flavored cream, YUM.
E. Eggs. How do you like them. Over-easy. (******)
F. Favorite Color. Pink, since Lily has come along.
G. Gummy bears or worms. I'll pass.
H. Dream house. Large ranch with a finished, walk-out basement. (******)
I. Indulgence. hmmm... see question D.
J. January or February. February (closer to spring).
K. Kid's name. Duh, Lily Lin.
L. Life incomplete without. Yes, friends and family.
M. Marriage date. May 26, 2001.
N. Number of siblings. One wonderful, awesome, beautiful, kind sister.
O. Oranges or apples. apples, I suppose. In caramel dip.
P. Phobias or fears. Crazy scared of the unknown.
Q. Quiet evening or Night on the town. Quiet evening. I'm a homebody. (******)
R. Reason to smile. Ditto my answer from K.
S. Season. Summer.
T. Tag 3 people. Becky, Verna, and Stef.
U. Unknown fact about me. That is a tough one. My life is an open book, but I guess my blogger friends might not know I was engaged to someone else before Jay. I called off my wedding 4 months before it was to take place. (Thank God)
V. Veggie I don't like. Peas, gross.
W. Worst job ever. Hostess at Denny's when I was about 14. (******)
X. X marks the spot -- where I'm ticklish. My thighs. (******)
Y. Your favorite food. Mexican. Lotsa cheese.
Z. Favorite animal at the zoo. The funny monkeys. (******)

Ok Becky, Verna, and Stef, your turn. For the original meme visit Dawn's blog (or you can do my revised version if you so choose).

Happy Weekend!!!

Well, another weekend draws to a close, and I can't help but feel a little sad. They go by too fast, in my opinion.

Friday night was a success. Jay and I had a great time with great friends and Lily was a perfect, little angel for my parents. My mom even got her to fall asleep in her OWN BED! (It was short lived, but I will go into more detail about that another time.)

Saturday we went to the mall to spend some of Jay's birthday money and had a fun (and exhausting) time there. Lily loves the mall. She got to ride in the fancy car stroller, ride her absolute favorite carousel (or as Lily says, "horsies round and round and round"), ride on daddy's shoulders (when the stroller got old), and basically run around like a complete maniac. GOOD TIMES!!!

This morning we went and checked out a new church. If you recall, one of my goals for the new year is to find a NEW church. Well, I think we found one!!!!! I am completely thrilled. Now, next week we just have to get Lily to go to her class and we will be all set.

Now Lily is taking a nap and I'm getting geared up to go to work tonight and then goodbye weekend...hello Monday!

Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

Favorite Photo Friday

Any picture of Lily is easily in the running for a "favorite" photo of mine. This pic I just took 10 minutes ago and I love it cuz I love her and her cute little face and her incredible smile and her adorable pearly whites.
I worked today, so my time with her today is brief. Jay and I are going out for his birthday "celebration" soon. My parents are coming here to babysit, so I'm gonna go do the ABC's with my girl for a few minutes before I have to leave her again.

"Oh My Goodness!!"

My child definitely makes me laugh more than anyone else on the planet. This is due, in part, to the fact that she is MY kid and I am biased. But, it is also due to the cold, hard truth: She is freakin hilarious!!! The pictures I have posted are of her new "Oh my goodness" face. She really breaks it down into 3 parts, as you can see. But the funniest is how dramatic she is when she finally gets her hands smashed against her cheeks and squeals "Oh my goodness!"

She knows she is a crack up, so she giggles uncontrollably after her performance, and I'm right there with her. I tell ya, she is good, clean, cheap entertainment and I love it. She is napping right now, but before she fell asleep she was in bed babbling away as she always does. Some of her cutest, most original material takes place when she is talking herself to sleep. Here is a play-by-play, as best as I can dictate. The misspellings are my best spelling of how my little one pronounces her words. Here goes...

Lily: (screaming)Oh MacDonald went ta town, ruff ruff here...

too loud. Oh MacDonald went ta town (softer this time)... MOO...

escuse me (she passed gas)... (she giggles for a moment)...poofer. Lily passed gas, stinky gas.

Funny stuff... Well, I should run. My little comedianne will be waking up shortly.