Big Girl Toys

On Saturday I decided that Lilly needed some big girl toys. She is still playing with all of her baby toys and needed something a little more stimulating for her little brain. Growing up I remember having TONS of toys. But I was also the 3rd child and played with not only my toys but my sister and brothers. I kinda feel bad for Lills. She has hardly anything to play with because we dont have the money or the room for them. Being the first child, every new stage she hits, she needs new toys. She cant just play with her siblings old toys, because she doesnt have siblings.
So I jumped on Toys R Us online and started looking for something fun for Lills. But I soon realized that I have no idea what she is interested in. She is too old for baby toys but too young for Barbies and stuff. I started thinking about some of the fun toys I had when I was younger and how much she would love them. But of course they dont make anything like them anymore. So we ended up going to the store and walking around for like 2 hours trying to find something she would like. We came home with a shopping cart and fake dishes and food. She absolutely loves them but I wish I could have found more things that she would love just as much. But I have no clue what!

Lilly loaded up with all dad's oatmeal from the pantry

Just being crazy LillyHaving fun with dad

Happy 4th

We are fortunate that we have some family back east to help us celebrate the 4th. Gus's 2 sisters live out here in DC. His cousin Steph, her husband Sterling, and their son Taylor live in Pennsylvania and decided to drive down and spend the weekend with us. Our Party started out with a big breakfast with everyone and then a little swimming in our freezing pool. The pool was so cold that Lilly's lips were blue, but she stayed strong and kept on swimming!

Later that night we went to the fireworks show here in our town. Yes, we could have gone 20 minutes to downtown DC and seen an awesome show. But I just couldnt do it with Lilly. She would have been a wreck! So we stayed here and watched the fireworks from the Home Depot parking lot while it rained and rained.

Its great to have family out here to celebrate holidays with. It would have been a very sad day without them!

Lilly and her very white skin

Lilly now smiles on command. Sometimes it can be scary.

The 4th of July outfit that we threw together last minute. We found out too late that her first outfit was way too big. I always think everything will fit her since she is so large.

In the Home Depot parking lot watching the fireworks while it poured rain.

Lilly loved the fireworks

Holding the umbrella

Lilly loving Sterling a little too much while Taylor is glued to the firework show

Speak the Language!

I have said before that Lilly only says like 10 words. She thinks that she can say more, but she just cant. She says a few word here and there, but it mostly just sounds like this. Its all just jibberish. This isnt the best video, but it is the best one we have gotten yet of her speaking this new language. It may sound like she is actually saying real words, but she's not. She is probably saying something like, "I dont know where that squirrel went" or something about squirrels. Like her cousin Savanna would say, "Lilly speak the language!" Oh and sorry but you will have to pause my music player to hear it. I know, annoying!

Oh, Cute!

In the last month Lilly has grown up so much. I dont know if it was the big move and having to fend for herself for like the last month or what. But she is acting way older than she was last month. She has started saying more words like "Cute". Everything to do with clothing, shoes, hair stuff is "cute". I will put on her outfit for the day and she will look at herself and say, "Oh Cute!" She is such a little girly. Today she picked up her dad's socks and said, "Dad's socks". That was big for her. I hope she just wakes up tomorrow and starts speaking full sentences, or maybe just saying more than 10 words. It would make things so much easier!

Though she has been acting so grown up she has also been super clingy, and only to me. It really bugs me. Dont get me wrong, I love my little girl so much. I just dont like super clingy children. I need my space. I hate it when she cries on my leg while I make dinner because she wants to be held. It bugs. She has always been super independent, which I loved. She is probably just going through a phase since her world has been turned upside down. I am starting to feel bad now. But when she whines on my leg tommorow I wont feel bad.

I have been trying to find things to do around here. Lilly used to be really content to just play with her toys all day with maybe one outing. But now she wants to live outside. Its really hard because it is so hot and humid outside. So I am now having to find REALLY fun things to do inside to keep her mind off the outside. Help!

We bought Lilly this bike after looking for it for about 4 months! It was so hard to find. It has no peddles, which is great since she cant use them yet. She absolutely loves it! In the mornings when it is cooler she rides all around the complex. She can go for hours! She has had a couple of spills because she goes SO fast. But she just gets back up like it never happened and keeps going and going and going......

Home Sweet Home Part 2

Things are getting back to normal around here. Gus's mom, Susan, left yesterday. We loved having her here, but now that she is gone, life must go on. Lilly is back to her normal schedule, hopefully for good, she woke up at 8:30 this morning instead of 6:30. She ran straight for the couch to look for grandma, who wasnt there. She was devastated. It was so sad.

We decided to go to the pool since it is about 1,000 degrees outside. Actually it is only 90 but with this humidity it feels like alot more. We stepped out the door this morning and I almost gagged because the air is so thick. We only stayed at the pool for about 20 minutes becuase Lilly kept jumping out of my arms and trying to drown herself. She absolutely loves swimming but doesnt understand that she cant touch the bottom. She kept jumping off the stairs, side of the pool, and out of my arms and then inhaling water. She wanted to do it herself so bad. I need to go to Target and buy her a floating thing or maybe a life jacket so she can do it herself.

So, I have never been that great with directions. Out here I am horrible with directions. It is just WAY too confusing! We even have a GPS and I still get lost! On the way home from the airport yesterday I kept taking the wrong rode and going through Toll roads. It took us 40 min to get home instead of 20 min. It gives me so much anxiety!

Here are pics of our new place. I pretty much photographed every single room. I mean there is only like 5 of them! Oh, and out here they dont have lights in the main rooms, like the family room and bedrooms. So weird! So we have to have lots of lamps. I love lamps but the rooms just never get as bright. Anyways, here are the pics....

The Family Room. This room is actually a really good size. There is a patio off in the corner.

The Kitchen and Dining Room. We still have cute decorations for the Dining Room but have yet to put them up.

The Kitchen. There is not a whole lot of space to put things so most things are out on the countertops which doesnt leave alot of space for me to cook.

The Laundry Room. The Washer and dryer are SO small. I laughed and then almost cried when I saw them. It fits like 1/5 of a normal load. Hey, at least I have them. Right?

The one and only bathroom. Enough said.

The Master Bedroom. This room needs a little work. We have nothing on the walls and we still have about 6 unpacked boxes on the floor. I just dont know where to put everything!

Lilly's Bedroom. We have put up some things on walls so it looks alright. I just wish we could paint the walls! It also totally freaks me out that her room is off the patio! We still need some sort of storage system for Lills toys against the wall. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Another pic of Lills room. Notice the paper towels and water under the crib. I hate doing things like this where people can see them. But, desperate times call for desperate measures!

Home Sweet Home

Well we are finally here in green, green Virgina. Well we actually got here last Wednesday, but we didnt get the internet until today. I have been going out of my mind without it. I said before that we were moving to Washington DC and we are kindof. It would be just too darn expensive to live right in DC so we live about 30 min out.

I havent blogged for so long I dont even know where to start, so it may just be a big jumble of facts.

We moved all of our posessions into a moving truck on the 10th. Then we moved in with Gus's parents for a week. During that week I tried to say goodbye to everyone, run last minute errands, and clean our townhouse for our renters who are moving in on July 1st. I was expecting it to be a great relaxing week before the big move but it was actually a super busy week. I was also sick with some nasty stomach bug/sore throat thing for about 3 of those day.

On the 18th we flew from Salt Lake to the Baltimore Airport. I was SO nervous about flying with Lilly, but she surprised us. She fell asleep during takeoff and slept for one hour before I made Gus shove a bottle in her mouth so her ears wouldnt hurt. She freaked out and woke up. Gus was mad at me but he has obviously never experienced the pain that airplanes can cause to your ears. After she woke up, the millions of toys we bought her especially for the plane ride kept her entertained for the rest of the ride. We were very proud of her.

We stayed in a hotel the first night and then headed over to our house the next morning after the movers delivered our truck. We started unloading and the nightmare began. Pretty much everything had some damage. I dont know if the drivers were out of control or it wasnt packed right but it was devastating. Lilly's adorable rocking chair has a hole in it, her changing table was flattened to the ground, her crib has dents and nicks all over it, our dining room chairs are thrashed, and everything else has black marks and dents. We had big sturdy tupperware bins that were flattened. It was actually pretty incredible. I had a good cry and then tried to move on with life. Its just stuff, right? Its just frustrating to save and buy nice things to then have them ruined. It makes you sick.

It took us about 4 days to get everything put away and in its place. It took that long not because we have such a big place but because we have such a small place. It was a little tricky trying to fit all of our stuff into a 920 sq/ft apartment(we even sold and gave away a TON of stuff before we came out here). Its hard to go from a townhouse with a mortgage payment of $750/month to a tiny apartment that costs $1500/month. Its just a good thing we only have one child. The complex does have a pool, tennis courts, and lots of other fun things to do. So we will stay busy. The area is georgous. I just figured out why it is so green out here. It is because it rains a ton. Since we have been here it has rained like 8 times. Not just rained, but poured bucketfuls. It really is amazing. I like it here so far, it doesnt really feel like we left. I still talk to everyone on the phone but never see them, like I did before.

Gus's mom, Susan has been here for the last 4 days helping us get settled. She has bought us tons of stuff and taken care of Lilly. She has been a great help and we really appreciate it.

Gus started work on Monday. I was afraid he would hate it and then we would be stuck here. But he LOVES it. So thats a plus.

Here are a few pics that have been taken since we have been here. I will post pics of my apartment when I get it cleaned up.

Humidity can do amazing things to your hair

Swimming with Grandma

Lilly has been waking up at 7:00 AM and eating icecream before bed. Those are two bad habits we need to kick now that we are settled

Chasing pigeons in DC (I dont know who had more fun)

Looking Longingly into the swimming pool

Lilly is drawn to water

Family picture on Gus's first day of work

Playing in the volleyball pits

Again, she is drawn to water

butter knives and apples

The other day I gave Lilly a WHOLE apple instead of cutting it up for her. She was so excited that she ran and got a butter knife out of the drawer and stuck it in her apple. So it was kinda like a carameled apple. She just sat in her chair holding her knife and taking bites out of her apple. And YES, I know her hair is out of control.