9 Months

Monday Lilly Jo was 9 months old...holy moly:)

We had her 9 month well check on Monday and it went great! Well, I say great because she's a growing, healthy, active little girl. But if you had asked her how it went, I think she'd have said just the opposite. She was not a happy camper. Not sure if it's because she didn't have an afternoon nap beforehand, or if it's because it was time for her bottle, or if it was because she's starting to recognize/remember what the doctor's office is and means. Peanut pitched a fit anytime I sat her on the exam table. Even if the dr wasn't in the room. Hmmm. Oh well, it made for less painful shots (in my mind) because she was screaming her head off before the nurse even wiped her leg w/ the sanitizing wipe prior to the immunizations.

Anyways, she's developing well in all areas - cognitively, socially, physically - and I'm so thankful for that, and don't take it for granted.

Her dr is so sweet and listens very intently to all my questions and gives wonderful, thorough answers. She just adores Lilly Jo, so I can't help but love her!

Her vital stats are in a stack of papers in her room where she's asleep and I'm too tired to walk to her room, but they're something to the effect of...

head - 97th percentile

length - 80th percentile

weight - 80th percentile (20lb, 13oz - that's the only measurement I can actually remember)

Lately you can find Lilly Jo -

-cruising along anything she can hold onto (couches, tables, chairs, legs, etc)

-eating puffs like there's no tomorrow and starting finger foods (very cautiously bc it scares me to pieces!)

-eating the baby food dinners (like turkey and rice and veggies)

-still drinking almost 8oz bottles, 4 times a day

-waking up anywhere btw 6 and 7am (although closer to the 6am side of things)

-babbling all day long

-says 'mamamama' and 'dadadadadada' a lot, and maybe starting to actually connect it to me (mama) and seth (dada)

-learning what 'no' means

-playing with cords (which in turn begs a 'no no' from mama or dada)

-learning to sign 'more' and 'all done', and waving 'bye-bye'

And many other things but my brain is in shut down mode, so that's all for now...

Until next time...

NC STATE FAIR 2010

Saturday we went to the fair as a family, along with my mom, sister, her hubbie and cutie pie, my aunt Cathy and my cousin Lauren. We all had a wonderful time and really just enjoyed strolling around seeing the sights and eating the food. The weather was AMAZING and the girls (Milana and Lilly Jo) just loved being outside and seeing so many new things. I love watching them learn, explore and grow. I love seeing them grow...it makes me think about how much God must delight in us when we grow and mature in Him...and then I realized how much growth I want to occur in me and not just my 9mo old sweetpea...wowza.

Anyways...here's a few pictures of our time at the NC State Fair!

Lilly's first time {of many, I'm sure} in the Wolfpack House

Quite a successful trip (in many ways) to the NC State v BC game...

Rode a trolly to the stadium (never before have I seen one at a game - thank you Jesus!), sat in the shade (at a noon game!), Lilly Jo loved being outside, loved people watching, looked SUPER CUTE (as always) and the Pack won...what more could we ask for?!

tailgating w/ dada

getting a quick meal in before gametime...

had a great time w/ the kennedy's (in background) and willis' (who aren't pictured. why do i never think of taking pictures anymore if they don't include peanut? seriously, i have got to do better w/ this.)

quick visit w/ auntie flossie before we headed home...

we only stayed for the first half, but clearly it was enough for peanut. she did great but was ready to go home for a nap!

10.10.10

Two years of love.

Two years of challenges.

Two years of fun.

Two years of learning.

Two years of wonderful.

Two years of marriage.

We love because He first loved us. 1 John 4:19

Apple Birthdays

A couple times a year we get together with the Apple Family to celebrate birthdays. Last Sunday we went to Danville, VA to celebrate the recent birthdays of Seth, his brother Truce and their grandma Elizabeth. We always have a good time together and I must say the family is growing quite a bit these days! We've got babies popping out all over the place:)

I meant to get a picture of all the cousins together, but by the time I was able to it was meltdown central - feeding and naptime all around.

Next time...I promise:)

Lilly Jo and Aubree Lyn learning to share:)

Uncle Truce and his new son Christopher - who is solid as a rock!!

Granny Apple and Aubree Lyn

Uncle Seth and Aubree Lyn

Grandma Elizabeth and Aubree Lyn

Cody trying to blow up the impossible balloons:)

Aunt Angie with Christopher

Uncle Seth and baby Christopher

Cody and Lilly Jo...is it just me or are their heads about the same size?

:)

Combo - Lilly's 7th and 8th months

So I lost track of time and got a little slack with the month-by-month photo sessions of Lilly Jo. But nevertheless, here are her 7th and 8th month pics...taken about 5 days apart because I was so behind:) Oh well. If you were wondering if she was as cute in the 7th month as she is in the 8th, rest assured, SHE WAS!

Let's see, what's changed since month 6? Well, a lot I guess...

-Peanut learned to crawl the Thursday, September 2nd, right before Labor Day Weekend. She was a little hesitant at first, but within about a week she had it down pat and now she's quite the pro. She does still like to be held quite often, and carried wherever we're going...but we try and let her crawl as much as possible.

- Lilly started eating puffs (her first attempt at food that isn't pureed!) and has caught on pretty quickly. The first few days were a bit scary - choking and gagging. But now she only occasionally chokes/gags and we've learned to watch her very closely when eating them. But overall, she's a big fan of the puffs...and they make for a great snack throughout the day!

-Sweet Pea loves to pull up and stand up at the coffee table, the couch, the TV stand, the bed, wherever she can get her balance! It's lots of fun but brings on some 'ouchies' and 'boo-boos'. She's got some strong legs and arms though, so she can hold her own pretty well. It's the getting-down-to-the-ground-part that always gets her. One day she'll learn...

-Lillypie babbles a lot now, and still says 'dadadadada' more than 'mamama'...but that's ok with me. We think anything she says is cute. She's begun to copy us in the noises we make, for instance, "uh-oh!" makes her respond with 'EHH!'

-We've started trying to teach Lilly to communicate through signs, such as 'all done' and 'more' and 'bye bye'. She's not learned them yet, but I know it'll just take time and practice. She does recognize when we say those phrases, and watches our hand motions for the words we're saying. She smiles and looks at us as if to say "I've heard that before...I know what you're about to do!" And sometimes she moves her fingers/hands ever so slightly to open and close them like we do.

-She is sleeping well these days, after going through a rough week or so of screaming her head off when we put her down for bed at night. Whew. That was a rough week! But now she cries for about 10 seconds and she's gone. Crawling takes it out of her for sure!

-LJ sits and stands in her crib all the time now...so we've definitely lowered it to the lowest position possible. I have to say it is cute going in her room after a nap or in the morning and seeing her stand up against the railing and smiling at us, ready to get out and play!

-Munchkin has gone through somewhat of a separation anxiety phase, but I feel like she's coming out of it already. Maybe that comes and goes in stages as well. We'll see...

There's probably lots more, but that's the update I can think of for now! We love her to pieces and are so thankful for the gift she is to us!

gone?

not gone. just not on facebook anymore. trying to cut out some of the time i waste each day. not that fb is a total waste. i'm just not disciplined enough to not check it a million times a day. so it's gone. sorry nat, i'm not going back, even though you think i am...

i'd say i'll be better at uploading pics to the blog now, but let's be honest. if i'm trying to make more time to do things like play with my little lillypie, who knows how often i'll blog.

but for now - here's a few pics of our recent trip to TN to see our friend Marinna Moore marry her sweetheart Milo Jasso. it was one of the sweetest and neatest weddings i've ever been too. and we had some great family time in the mountains...even if it was a little dusty and some of us didn't sleep very well:)

sweet southern sugar

lilly and daddy
john and niblet

lilly learned to crawl the day we left for the moutains...and it's been a whole new world ever since then!

ahhh, childhood friends. all grown up and married!

binanas and peanut had some fun bathtime together - they're growing up so fast!

morning playtime on the porch

beautiful bride marinna and her father, roger

binanas and dada

nana and the girls

our growing family.