we had a party for my nephew charlie this weekend in dallas. he is such a cutie pie!

charlie + mollie

GaGa + charlie

the guest of honor!

mollie + a very surprised charlie + erin

michelle (mom) + happy charlie

i keep a daily log of lily's meals so that i can remember when it was that she ate last, which side she ate on, etc. it also serves as handy proof that i actually do get something accomplished during the day- an average of 4-5 hours are spent feeding her!

this log includes late night and the wee hours of the morning. for example, here are the entries from a typical night:

side: time
left: 10:00pm - 10:25
right: 1:00am - 1:35
left: 5:45am - 6:10

this is what i saw when i woke up this morning:

side: time
right: 11:40pm - 12:10am
left : 1:00am - seat air crashes
right: 3:45am - 4:05

i'd love to know several things about that log including, but not limited to,
a) what in the world happened at 1am
b) what exactly does "seat air crashes" mean
c) when writing apparently while sleeping or dreaming, do you at some point realize you're being an idiot talking nonsense or no?

babies are forever.

ok, maybe babies aren't forever, but kids are. i can't tell you how many times i've looked at lily and thought "well i guess we can't change our minds about having kids now, huh?" haha.

we definitely didn't read the fine print when deciding that babies were cute and maybe we should think about having one... just so you know, there is no return policy on these suckers.

truthfully, she is an amazing blessing and of course we wouldn't dream of returning or exchanging her (are you SURE you don't have one that sleeps through the night at birth??)

now i'm off to feed my baby for the 8th time today. no really, babies are SO fun. ;)

katy had the best find! check out this bumper sticker:



how funny is that? apparently there is an elementary school in fort worth called lily b. clayton. i gotta get my hands on one of those stickers!

vote for erin!

if you have a second, please vote for my friend erin HERE!

you can listen to her music HERE if you want to be sure i'm not leading you astray and encouraging you to vote for someone who sucks. she doesn't, i promise. she actually really rocks! :)

she even recorded a CD of lullabies for miss lily - soon you'll be able to sample them HERE

it was such a beautiful morning! lily and i decided to take advantage of the cool weather to shock the neighbors with a nude photo shoot out on the front lawn.

the look on her face in that last picture is her peeing all over herself and her blanket, signalling the end of our glamour shots session. :)

lily's week in pictures

nuzzling auntie e

celebrating hula style with kai

giggles

goofing around

such a cutie pie

dad gave me my very first bottle

sweetness with dad

i've been slacking this week. i don't know how the blog isn't on the top of my to-do list. i realize it should be right up there after breastfeeding. i mean this should definitely take precedence before sleep - sorry about that. i obviously need to get my priorities in order.

and who is sleeping these days anyway? no one at my house! :)

lily is doing really well and is already having her 3 week growth spurt. which is of course good news for her chubby cheeks, but not so good news for my mammary glands. these puppies are working overtime!

ahh... see just when i get to typing the beast is stirring! more later!

the pastor at church yesterday referenced this quote and i thought it was worth posting as food for thought:

"The great tragedy is not mainly masturbation or fornication or acting like a peeping Tom (or curious Cathy) on the internet. The tragedy is that Satan uses the guilt of these failures to strip you of every radical dream you ever had, or might have, and in its place give you a happy, safe, secure, American life of superficial pleasures until you die in your lakeside rocking chair, wrinkled and useless, leaving a big fat inheritance to your middle-aged children to confirm them in their worldliness. That’s the main tragedy." - John Piper

it is so interesting to think about how we allow Satan to put the guilt of sin (any sin, not just sexual as referenced in the quote) as a wedge between ourselves and God and therefore rob us of our potential and the greatness that God has planned for us.

its true what they say, you should never leave a baby within reach of a dog - especially a vicious pit bull.

look- he's already planning to eat her!!

mmm... gonna snack on some baby face

more pictures of lily here and here :)

my baby is two weeks old!!

we had our check-up today and baby girl is a champ at eating. i wonder who she gets that from... hah! she has gained almost a pound since she was born and is now 7lbs, 7ozs.

according to the charts she is:

50th percentile - weight
90th percentile - height
80th percentile - head circumference

on all accounts she is absolutely perfect! of course, she did pee all down my shirt while i was holding her to get weighed, but we'll strike that from the record for now :)

we've officially made it past week one! so far we've managed our way through the very emotional departure of my mom (aka. the most helpful GaGa in the universe), our first discount shopping trip to target, tacos at maria's, our first restaurant meal at maudies, and a lovely bout of mastitis.

lily and i are really excited because kevin is home for a few days this week to spend time with us and make sure i am getting a decent nap in every once in a while. he is such an amazing dad already - i can't believe how lucky lily is to have a dad who is so in love with her.

lily had her first outing with mom and dad today. to celebrate being a week old we went to maria's for breakfast tacos.

shout out to south austin!

my first week of life
by: lily


YAWN! this has been a tiring week!

my GaGa was here all week taking good care of me. mom and i both cried a lot when she left. we miss her already.

i had my first bath today. i'm not sure i like getting clean - i'm a dirty bird already!

mom calls this my 'drunk milk face' when i am in breastmilk coma

i kinda like this new shelf mom has.

the peavy boys came to visit me!

they are such hotties!


i tried to make out with kyle...

he is such a sweetheart!

more lily pics. i simply can't resist!

i've already got them hook, line, and sinker.

hey! look how cute i am! peace out!

my first trip home


go red raiders! she is her father's daughter.

congratulations to the pritchards!

they're goin to the chapel and they're gonna get married...

today is the big day! i wish i could be in breckenridge celebrating with my favorite newlyweds. lily says she is sorry for hijacking the weekend for you guys. she promises to make up for it soon with lots of coo-ing.

lillian margaret
7.27.07
6 pounds, 12 ounces
20 inches long

happy birthday to lily!

its lily's birthday!!

we went to the doctor yesterday intent on waiting as much as another week and a half past my due date for her to come out on her own and were completely shocked by the news that lily had a surprise for us.

instead of looking like this:

like a good girl should...

she looks like this:

already doing things her own way...

finding out she is breech was not easy for either of us and with all of our expectations of a perfect natural birth headed out the window (and several hours of tears) we have accepted the fact that due to her size and the fact that i am already past my due date by 5 days that it would be best to plan a cesarean birth sooner rather than later.

as cheesy as it may sound, in a lot of ways letting go of the natural birth i was so excited about has been a mourning process, questioning if i did something wrong or why this would be happening, but at this point we are just trying to focus on the positive - we get to meet lily today!

so if the world feels slightly different around 5pm today, its because lillian margaret has joined us - i know nothing will ever be the same again!

be strong and courageous.
do not be terrified, do not be discouraged.
for the lord your God will be with you,
wherever you go.
joshua 1:9

Eviction notice for Lillian Margaret
July 24, 2007

Ms. Lily:

Please note that yesterday was July 23rd, which, as you have been orally reminded for several months now, was the "Due Date" referenced in the lease that you agreed to approximately nine months ago, and thus the date by which you were supposed to vacate your current premises. Following a routine inspection of the property this morning, I have been advised that you have not yet begun to make sufficient preparations towards moving. I am also advised that you may have changed the locks, as the inspector was unable to obtain access to the property.

Please note that, if your departure continues at this pace, you will be in violation of the lease, which was entered into in good faith, with the expectation that you would honor its terms. Accordingly, I have no choice but to advise you that if you do not voluntarily remove yourself from the premises within the next 14 days, I will have no choice but to commence formal eviction proceedings, and I have already put the proper authorities on notice. As you have been repeatedly advised, your new accommodations are in fact ready and awaiting your arrival, so your cooperation in voluntarily moving out of the current premises, avoiding the time and inconvenience of more formal, compelled proceedings, would be much appreciated. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
The Landlord

lily or no lily, her nursery is ready!

i finally took some pictures today:

lily's cozy crib

the colors are dark chocolate brown, super light pink, and white

i have the feeling i'll be spending a lot of time in that chair...

i did a few paintings to match the bird mobile

happy due date, to me!

one thing i have learned this week is that there are only so many ways to say "no, i haven't had the baby yet."

truly - everyone will KNOW when she is here! i hate to sound ungrateful that so many people care about my family, but it isn't a fun topic when you're frustrated that she isn't here already without having to tell everyone else all the time.

as if its not bad enough to get questioned daily by family and friends, the cashier at the grocery store actually asked me yesterday if i was dilated yet. no, i'm not kidding. i just said 'no' because i really have no desire to talk about my cervix with strangers!

so to everyone who is tempted to call and check on us today - no, she isn't here yet. and yes, you'll get a call or email when she arrives :)

we're officially on 'bump watch' around here! if this darn child would just get the hint and head south, i'd much appreciate it! :)

3 days till my due date...

get outta there lily!

i've reduced myself to relying on snoop dog for motivation these days. i'm going to start playing 'drop it like its hot' directly into miss lily's little fish bowl pretty soon if she doesn't get the message and drop already!! :)

for those of you who don't know my mom, she is a pretty tough lady. her one real fear in life is highway overpasses. yes, you read that correctly... highway overpasses or really any kind of elevated road.

she panics - she actually plans her driving directions to avoid any kind of overpass or high roads. i know it sounds crazy, but its true!

so when i got this picture in a forward of the tallest road in the world (its higher than the eiffel tower!) i just knew i had found my mom's worst nightmare...


can you imagine? its almost 2 miles long and is located in france. unlike most forwards, this one is actually TRUE! :)

to my dfw peeps - if you're looking for a interesting speaker, jim wallis is coming to dallas!

i've been a fan of his line of thought for a while now and wish i could go hear him talk. let me know if you decide to check him out!

july 24 - 7:00 wilshire baptist (mockingbird and abrams)

the right place at the right time...

there are only so many moments in life when i have felt completely blessed by being in the exact right place at the right time and this morning was one of those few.

kevin and i went to church this morning and after laughing about what in the world we would do if my water broke in the middle of the service, we settled in to listen to the sermon. it was a guest speaker who was taking us through the 20th chapter of john and had an amazing perspective on suffering and comfort.

i can't tell you how wonderful his words and thoughts were and how much i was fed exactly what i was hungry for - it was amazing!

it was a very centering experience and i kept thinking 'being here right now is exactly why lily isn't here yet! i needed to hear this!'

i don't know who the speaker was, but i wish i could give him a big hug and say thank you.

i know we're all anxious for lily to arrive, but let's all hope she doesn't show up today. there is just something not right about a halloween baby having a child on friday the 13th...

have a great weekend!!

happy 7-11 everyone!

don't forget to get your free slurpee today! yummm!

it has been an eventful past few days - i have just been a slacker about updating! mom came to visit on friday and it was so fun having her in town! we went shopping, ate good food, went to see a cute movie, and she decided that she thinks lily is coming out on the 19th... so we'll see how accurate she is :)

yesterday kevin and i had breastfeeding class at the hospital. we were the very mature couple in the back that got called out by the teacher for laughing at one of the boob pictures she had up on the board. its a good thing we didn't have class together in college - i barely paid attention in class back then as it was!

when we got home from class, sweet bea wasn't in the best shape. she was crying and yelping and couldn't eat. :( when she was yelping again this morning i decided to take her to the vet and apparently the happiest dog in the world actually managed to wag her back out of alignment and slipped a disc in her back. who knew that was even possible??

so beatle is on serious muscle relaxers and steroids for the next few weeks and will be on bed rest. it breaks my heart to hear her cry... which probably means we are in for some serious trouble when miss lily is upset! :)

i've also finally gotten to enjoy some texas sunshine and pool time in the past few days! i am loving it - i'll have to post soon about how i conned my homeowner's association into giving my sister a pool pass. heehee...

i think that brings us back up to speed!! i promise to be better for the next 2 weeks, but after that all bets are off!

looking at these 4th of july pictures makes me so excited to see kevin and lily together...

less than 3 weeks to go! (let's hope!!)

kai + haydn

lucy + tim

i have a new comment to add to the ever growing list of inappropriate and not-so-humorous comments regarding the size of my stomach.

we were at dinner tonight and when a couple asked me when i am due i said "three and a half weeks" and the husband looked at me and said, "huh??? are you having a midget?"

i mean truly, what makes that comment acceptable for public consumption? what should i have said in response? "oh yeah? you're mom's a midget!" sigh. i need to work on my list of comebacks for these last few weeks!

this hilariousness comes to you courtesy of tim:

ladies and gentlemen, i present to you the granddaughter of mike donovan...

it doesn't get any better than this...

rainy days make for the best naps...