Just for fun

Brad and I decided to take advantage of the leisurely Thanksgiving weekend and put up all of our Christmas decorations. Lilia decided she didn't want to be left out so I strapped her onto Brad and we had a party!

P.s. look at that awesome drool in the first picture


Here are our latest family pictures taken by Brad's sister Leslie. She did an amazing job and I have always loved fall pictures so happy day!
Lilia thinks she is hilarious
Here is a video of a few of her tricks :)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13SNkEXvN64

Blessing Day!

Last weekend we had a wonderful time with family. Brad's Dad and my parents were able to fly out for Lilia's blessing. It was a fun packed weekend since my niece Naomi was baptized on Saturday. It was a wonderful experience after seeing so many of my nieces and nephews be blessed to have that experience myself...pretty surreal actually. Also, I will have you know that my mom made her dress and it is amazing. Seriously, not only is it beautiful in design but the quality of her work is flawless. I took some more pictures on Monday trying my best to pull the bib of and snap before she projectile vomited all over it. Unfortunately she did get a few dribbles on it but nothing oxyclean won't fix.




Brad's brother Jason and his wife Megan were a sweet surprise, they will be here in DC for a little bit between moves. It was awesome to have one more brother in the circle and so fun to see them and their cute kiddos.




My sister Jen and her husband Chris and their kids. Naomi the one in white was the one who was just baptized. I was so glad they could make it as well, they had to rush off to have naomi presented as a the newest member in their ward!






I took this pic at the end after I took her dress off, you can tell by her face that she doesn't like tummy time. We are working on it :)

The Illustrious White Coat Ceremony...and other tidbits

As I mentioned previously the Georgetown white coat ceremony was the day after Lilia was born so Brad was able to have his own personal ceremony in the Dean's office a month later. It was a unique experience. Dr. Knolan summarized the talk he gave at the actual ceremony for us and together Dean Mitchell and Brad recited the hippocratic oath. The oath was more powerful than I expected, I really enjoyed being able to be there to see it. Brad's mom was also in town so she was able to be there as well which was a special treat for all of us.








Also, here are few of the latest and greatest pictures of Lilia who...can you believe it...is two months old now.

Here are a few of her achievements:
-big grins, tongue included
-lifting her head off of the ground during tummy time
-seriously exploding out of a diaper (enough that it was easier just to hose her off with a bath)
-sleeping through the night...one day she went 8hrs, but most of the time it is more like 6-ish which I am told by baby books that counts!
-spitting up....still multiple times a day (we are working on the reflux issue and hoping it won't be an achievement for next month's list)
-she can now hold her head up when you she is vertical...it is pretty wobbly but hey!





Her face is so intense because she's just showing off her muscles...very impressive
her little "scoop" nose as we call it, don't know where it came from but it's sure cute.
I wasn't kidding when I said she sticks out her tongue a lot...here are a few examples :)


This is what we call our penguin baby. Our apartment was really cold for a couple of days because they haven't switched over to heat yet so we had to bundle up. That happened to be the night she slept for 8 hours so I took a picture to celebrate. If this were a video all of her limbs would be flailing around like crazy.
So here is a video of her playing in her crib....I was trying to get her to smile but she just ended up spitting up on me! Just ignore my high-pitched baby voice and watch until the end...yay reflux.

Lilia's first month

The past month has been filled with so many wonderful loved ones. Although Lilia has slept through most of it I am sure that she soaked in the love. Brad and I are gradually adjusting to our new home and feel like we are in the right place. We love Arlington and are so excited for this new stage of life with Lilia.

Here are a few pictures of our latest adventures

Grandma Taylor rocking Lilia - what a lifesaver that first week home. I find it ironic that when you become a new mom you find that you need your own mom more than ever.

Aunt Cheyenne holding Lilia or should I say her little "munchkin" as she came to call her.

Uncle Stephen came to visit Lilia while she was in the hospital, what a treat. We are so glad to be close to our East Coast siblings.My sister Jen and her children Naomi, Emily, and Christopher from L to R. Thanks to Jen & Chris, and Gwen and Matt Brad's sister and her husband we are able to borrow a whole nursery set, bouncer, swing, clothes, wipe-warmer, blankets and the list goes on. Not to mention that they have fed and housed us on multiple occasions during our homeless July months. I don't think I would have survived this whole summer with out these two remarkable families. Thank you, thank you!


Nana Petty was here the week before last. What an amazing woman, it's not everyday that you get a mother-in-law who worked as an OB nurse for years. We had so much fun venturing out into the world. Now I'm not afraid to take Lily to the grocery store :)I can't find a CD of some pictures that Gwen took with her amazing camera while they visited us in the hospital, but here is Nana holding Lilia with Audrey, Henry and Evie. Such adorable little kiddos, we love them (When I find the CD, I'll post some of the pictures because they are adorable!).


We have officially had our first visit from one of our loved Provo friends. Melissa Story was in the area with her family and was so sweet to take the time to come visit us. It was so good to see her and hope this was the first of many visits from our Provo friends...wink wink.
Brad's favorite thing to do when he comes home from a long day of class and studying is to hold Lilia. There is something so soothing about holding a soothing baby.

So Lilia definitely didn't get my hands. They look small in this picture but her fingers and arms are really long...just like her Daddy.


So my sister-in-law Haley is going to have to forgive my being a copy-cat but I just loved her pictures of her kids with their little milestone ages on them.


Our adventurous outing to the Great Falls National Park with Nana Petty, Gwen and Matt and the kids. Lilia enjoyed it...she slept the whole time.







There is this fun inside joke in the Petty family called the Mom salute, Lilia seemed to know that Marty was leaving after her fun week with us and as a token of appreciation for all of her help gave her the salute.