Spring 2011

I know that is broad title for a blog post, but I am very behind in posting pictures and talking about the events over the past couple of months, so I figured why not get it all out in one long post.  So, fair warning, this blog will be long and filled with lots of fun pictures of a gorgeous little girl that I am very partial to.  We start with a naked butt :)  Sure to catch some attention...

Nothing better than being outside with no pants on

Just a cute picture

The first week in March, Lilah and I piled in the car at the awful hour of 4 AM and made the 10 hour trek to Visalia to stay with Shannon't family.  The fact that it was my niece Peyton's first birthday was the overall reason for the trip.  Lilah is a trooper in the car.  I couldn't ask for a better traveling partner.  The week started off great.  Lilah had SOOOO much fun with her cousins.  They are all going to be such good friends.   The birthday party was good.  And then we ended the week with sickness.  Yes....more sickness.  But it didn't stop Lilah from hanging out (and ultimately sharing her sickness with everyone).  When Lilah was starting to feel a little better and I was just starting to feel like I was coming down with it we made the long drive home.  Lilah was trooper, but driving that far that long when you don't feel good was terrible.  

The girls playing

My adorable niece Peyton

My adorable daughter 

Lilah liked Peyton's birthday present

The present opening crew

Yum - that frosting is good

Ok, that just looks disgusting

DONE!

Hiding out in the quiet house

So this is why Duke put up with Lilah all week

When we got home it took me almost two weeks to recover from the nasty bug we caught in CA.  But in time, with some antibiotics for a sinus infection, things seem to be back to normal for us.  Lilah decided it was time to only nap once a day, so she takes one afternoon nap now.  She also weaned herself off her bottle completely.  She was down to just one in the morning and she stopped asking for it, so I stopped offering it to her.  She can be so easy some times.  The most exciting part of the last month is that she has started talking like crazy.  Her vocabulary is huge right now and she just wants to read books ALL the time.  She loves pointing out all the things she knows and her pronunciation is getting better and better daily.

It was a real treat to have my parents come out for a week at the end of  March.  They got to witness the changes that Lilah has made since Christmas.  She is changing so much I know that they wish they got to see her more.  But it was so great to have them here and Lilah loved having them too, she always had somebody paying attention to her.  For my Dad's birthday I got tickets to go see a Spring Training game - it was the last game for the Mariners and the Rockies.

Enjoying the game

We also spent a day at the Wildlife World Zoo.  Lilah was using some of that vocabulary to name animals and learned how to talk like a monkey.  She and Gramps had a great time together looking at all the animals. She got most excited in the aquarium and was running around, crazy, excitedly pointing out all the fish and critters.  It was a fun day.  

Checking each other out

Watching the birds, monkeys, and fish with Gramps

The baby monkey was one of my favorites

Another cute picture

Parrots

Oh, I see him!

Not sure what to think about touching anything in the touch pools.

The week went quickly, as I knew it would.  We spent a few hours out at the Scottsdale Fashion Square doing some dress reconnaissance for Megan's wedding.    We took Gram and Gramps to swim lessons to watch.  We had great meals and sat out on the patio every night to eat.  It was nice and HOT for the snow and rain weary.  We finished the trip with a breakfast at The Buttes resort in Phoenix with my Uncle Bunie and cousins Neal and Kiana.  It was great to see them all.

Daddy took this picture last week.  This is the position that you will find Lilah and I in most of the day.  Reading, reading, reading.

I had the hose on our poor citrus trees one evening and Lilah has stepped outside for a few minutes.  I watched from the kitchen window as she gingerly picked up the hose and checked it out.  Then started playing with it a bit more, and got more and more wet.  Time to start playing in the water outside.

Am I in trouble?

Hey, this is pretty fun to drink from

So from the Friday my parents were here to this past Saturday the temperature in Phoenix changed 50 degrees!  We still made it to the park even though rain was threatening.

She is enjoying herself, I promise

Watch me go

That was AWESOME!

Just another cute picture

Time for a snack after all that playing, and time to get home, the sky is dark

After her fun with the hose, we couldn't resist this table from Costco last weekend.  It is supposed to hold water in half and sand in the other.  I was envisioning lots of mud, so we opted for water only.  But she seemed to LOVE it!

If you made it to this point, you must really care or be super bored and have nothing else to do.  But I am finally done!  I will try to keep blogs coming more frequently now that we are not sick anymore and getting out of the funk I was in.  Because we are NEVER getting sick again - ha ha ha!