Dancing Queen

A funny video of Lily "dancing" to Michael Buble...

A Fun Weekend!

Lily had a lot of food firsts this past weekend. She went to her first Lenten fish fry and was the center of attention! She then got her first experience at Montgomery Inn and Graeter's. She knew she wouldn't be able to eat the ribs or ice cream just yet, so she decided to sleep the entire time (thanks Lil'! we appreciate you letting us eat!)

Rachel's parents came in town from Wisconsin (hence the reason for all the Cincinnati dining experiences!) and got to meet Lily as well. We had a great weekend with them and can't wait to see them again at the wedding. We had a fun time dress shopping (although of course no pictures can be posted of the dress!) Rachel of course could make a potato sack look good - but THE dress was just perfect. She's going to make a beautiful bride!

Another wonderful weekend - and a nice way to end Greg's spring break...

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Here are a few pics of Rach and her mom.

Thanks Great Grandma Evelyn!

What a nice surprise - Lily received a package in the mail from her great grandma Evelyn (AKA Grandma GG!) with the cutest spring clothes. We showed Lily all the adorable little outfits...she is going to be one stylin' little girl. Just makes us all the more anxious for the warm weather to get here! We couldn't resist getting some pictures of Lily in the gift box with 2 of her many outfits.

Thanks so much - we can't wait to see you in April!

Gotta love spring break!

The last week has been great having Greg home on spring break. We've gotten so much (more) done around the house and yard and Lily has gotten a lot of bonding time with her daddy. It's a luxury to just take a shower, get dressed and have breakfast...solo!

We had some really warm weather days that we were able to get outside to walk and garden. I took some before/after pictures that are posted below. Only the daffodils are blooming right now, but you can see the green coming up all over so in a month or 2 we'll have to post more pictures of the flowers.

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We also had a nice walk and lunch with Lily's little friend Jimmy (and my friend from high school - Kristen!) Hard to believe Jimmy's almost 1!

Jimmy and Lily hanging out after lunch. Lily is looking to Jimmy for tips on eating solids!

We also visited Greg and Maggie who just had twin girls - Kate & Ellie! They are so adorable and sleeping away when we visited. They're 6 weeks old and just now about 7 pounds. Congratulations!!

Here are the before and after pictures of the yucky winter beds and the newly mulched ones!

Happy Spring Break!

Workin' Outside

So the Cole Family emerged from winter hibernation this week and everyone pitched in. Mary Lynn cleaned out the beds, I mulched, Boomer dug holes and Lily supervised. She said afterwords that we all worked real hard.

Spring Break has been awesome. I (Greg) haven't spent this much time with Lily in a while and I am going to miss it when school starts again on Monday. But here are some pics of our progress outside.

Grandma and Grandpa Bea joined Mary Lynn at our first lacrosse game (which we won). Lily said she like the game and can't wait to play someday. Her cousin Ethan helped watch her. He didn't take an eye off her for four quarters.

Since we were all hard at work, Lily wanted to do her part. Instead of Mommy and Daddy putting her pacifier in her mouth four times a night, we started working on her putting it back in herself. This is our first attempt.... and our second attempt...

Spring Has Sprung!

Just had to post a "happy spring" to everyone on this beautiful day! The sun is shining and it's just a teaser of what's to come. Hopefully our garden will look as good this spring as it did last year.

Lily is currently getting over a double ear infection. No fun. If I could be sick instead of her, I would. She definitely hasn't been feeling herself, but she was still smiling - even through her little cough and red eyes. Last night when Greg got home she had the biggest grin ever. She loves her daddy. Greg said, "well, aren't you just the cutest little daughter I ever did have!" Made me laugh!

Anyway, I wanted to post part of a poem my friend MT wrote on her blog - very creative!

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An Ode to Spring

Oh warmth, how we’ve missed you with all this cold weather,

Sledding is fun, but sunshine is better

For running and playing and staying outside

For swinging and sliding and nice long wagon rides.

Hot cocoa, we like how you’ve warmed up our tummies

But we have to admit, lemonade sure sounds yummy.

We’ve kept warm by eating chili and stew,

But grilled chicken and burgers, how we miss you!

Oh winter, we know that you’re not all that bad.

You’re the source of much of the fun that we’ve had.

But spring, what you offer sounds wonderfully great

Flip flops and flowers and sunshine til late.

*

Before you know it, summer will be here. I may be jumping ahead of myself, but these pictures remind me of what's coming...

Sitting outside eating oysters...does it get any better? This was from our stop in SF on the way home from Hawaii.

PJs, a Dress...and Spring on the Way!

Well, we've had a couple days of just beautiful weather and gearing up for spring on Friday! We went on a nice, long walk yesterday and Lily loved looking out at everything. She kept pushing her head forward and watching Boomer walk next to her. Boomer was a little more intent on zooming straight ahead to take much notice. We also brought up the rocking chairs from the basement and it was wonderful sitting outside. With this warm weather also brings out the neighbors! We talked to a bunch of people out in their yards and also on our walk - some we hadn't seen since last fall. We met a couple who live down the street and are friends with a cousin of mine...and it turns out they have a daughter who was born 9 days before Lily. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of them and Lily will have a neighborhood friend!

Now, for the pictures! One is in the morning with Lil' in her sleep sack. A couple are of her in a dress grandma and grandpa gave her from Mexico. We're not sure if it'll still fit her in the summer, so we played dress up so we could see her with it on.




You can tell she's lifting her head - she always does this and tries to sit up! It won't be long...

Lily's Baptism!

Last Sunday Lily was baptized and it was a very special day! Our family joined us at the church and then for a lunch afterwards to celebrate. Lily did a great job and didn't cry at all (we had the pacifier and a bottle ready just in case). It was neat because she wore the baptismal gown I was baptized in 31 years ago! My mom even kept the little hat I wore - which we had to put on her - it was too cute.

We thank Uncle Dave and (soon-to-be) Aunt Rachel for being her godparents. Lily is truly blessed!

"My prayer for you is one of love

that you may always know that our Father above

will be with you to nurture and guide you.

As you travel life's path seeking His ways,

May the peace and joy of His love

be always with you."

4 Months Old

I can't believe our little munchkin is already 4 months old. She seems to be growing so quickly and has already outgrown a number of clothes. I look at her little newborn clothes and think, "wow, she actually fit into that little outfit!" She smiles all the time now and babbles away. She has noticed Boomer a lot more recently and giggles when she sees him. Boomer just doesn't know what's in store for him!

We're really excited for spring to come - only 9 days away! We've had intermittent days of warm weather (yesterday mid-70's!) and with the days staying lighter longer, you can tell it's on the way. I know Lily is going to love the spring (and is looking forward to wearing her little dresses). :)

The Many Faces of Lily...

I love this big, mouthy smile she gives us. When she wakes up in the morning and we go in to see this smile, it just starts the day off right!

She gets these really big eyes when she hears loud noises or we make funny sounds. She's a little sensitive to sneezes, coughs etc. so we'll have to get her used to noises so she doesn't startle when she hears them. We were at library lap time the other day and during one exercise we played with rattles (with about 10 other kids shaking rattles too!) She was mesmerized just looking around at everything - and I think the noises are good for her to hear.

Why, oh why do you always take pictures of my tootsies!!??

We had her sitting in her Bumbo while I was cooking (our nightly routine!) and this picture cracks me up. It's as if she's saying, "Ok - enough kisses for one day, mom..."