Roll Over, Rover!

I come home from camp to find out that my little one has decided to start rolling over! She gets everything just right except that darn arm that keeps getting in the way. Then she fusses and it starts to go downhill fast. However, because of the discovery of this new position, she seems to have come to a compromise with herself and put half of her body one way and the other half the other way while sucking her thumb.

Just a fun shot for Auntie Sa.

Mommy loves whales, therefore Lily loves whales.

A Week of Sunshine

What another incredible week it was! Camp Sunshine is one of the most special organizations I have had the privilege of working with. One camper said that he hopes heaven is like Camp Sunshine because of all the love you find here. All the campers continue to amaze me and make me feel old! When I started this journey nine years ago, I had no idea what an impact it would make to watch those little 7-9 year olds grow up and graduate from Camp! It's one of my most favorite things to do each year.

Our ridiculously, gawdy cabin. Looked like the Griswold's at Christmas time!

As fun as it is, there are also some peaceful moments.
These kids are so brave!

It was a week of superheroes.

(I have no muscles.)

The tennis champion! (It was all my partner's doing.)

The annual photo op

Deb, me and Dawn

The best part of the week....

coming home

A Week of Sunshine

The time has come for me to leave Lily for an entire week. I've been anticipating this and struggling with the decision since I first found out I was pregnant. Camp Sunshine has been a mainstay in my life since I became a nurse (minus 2 summers for various reasons) and as hard as it will be to leave my own little ray of sunshine, I know I would regret missing out on what's known as the "best week of the year." Besides, I want Lily to grow up knowing that it's a good thing to give your time to a cause you believe in, even if it means she's stuck with her father for an entire week.

Five Months

How quickly time flies. I can't believe five months have already gone by. Next thing I know, Lily will be graduating! I really couldn't ask for a better baby. Let's see, these days she's very close to rolling over, enjoying tummy time more and more, not missing a meal, "talks" to us, loves trying to eat her toes, turns around when she hears something new but doesn't get startled, did I mention she doesn't miss a meal?, smiles and giggles, sleeps about 10-12 hours STRAIGHT at night, OH! and she eats well.

How could I forget?

For the past few weeks, one would detect a whiff of something. Something one cannot exactly put one's finger (or nose) on.
Was it the dog? No.
Was it a diaper? No.
Was it John? No. (Hard to prove he wasn't contributing to it, though.)

Then my dear John finally got around to replacing the air filter for the good ol' a/c. Our lovely house had a surprise for him when he got down on his hands and knees in the crawl space...

Water.
Lots of water.

Well, we had several very hard rainstorms lately and despite cleaning out the gutters, those old things aren't able to drain like they did in the old days. Therefore, the pouring rain overflows the sides of the gutters and we have waterfalls outside of our windows. (Who needs to visit Niagra Falls anyway?) Long story short, there are cracks in our patio, mold on a few of the bricks.....must equal a foundation problem causing water to leak into the crawl space and causing the house to smell even better than it normally does.

Solution? Crawl space encasement.
Cost? $3000-$4000.
I start crapping my pants.

Again, long story short: beautiful weekend, not a rain cloud in sight, I do laundry, Johnny cleans the space, I do dishes, Johnny cleans the space, I wash bottles, I get woken up out of a deep sleep and told to run some faucets, the problem is discovered:


A $350 piece of plastic.
And I'm able to resume my bottle washing.

Love is.....

...sharing a chair with your new friend.

...holding hands.

...trusting mommy.
...Lily.

Wednesday Weekend Weport

What a fun weekend it was! Nana and Papa came to visit and arrived on Wednesday. Lily got to spend the day all by herself with them and had a ball going for walks, taking naps and lots of loving. I was able to take Friday off, so we ventured over to Erin's house so mom and Lily could meet handsome, little Charlie. He's awfully cute and extremely alert for a little peanut!

Saturday was a day for showering Kristy with love and gifts! Baby Bryson now has a fully furnished, baby-fied room to come home to.

The other huge event of the weekend? Lily started formula and seems to LOVE IT! We have to tear the bottle away from her to force her to take a break from the guzzling. It's tempting to tease her with it before feeding her because she gets ridiculously excited and you can't help but giggle a bit.

Enjoy the pictures!

Brother Bear & Sister Bug

Erin, Lily, me & Charlie

(Soon to be traveling companions)

Deb, Kristy (with baby Bryson), me, Amy

Dressed up for Kristy's shower

Hanging out by the pool

Nana, Lily and I making shapes out of clouds

First official bottle of formula

Tummy needed to get used to the new "food"

Sweet end to a fun weekend

Jake the PoodleDoodle

Bear Bear