Sugar Plum Fairy and a One Year old!

Here are a few videos I took the other day. Lily has an affinity for trying on her ballet tutus (in a variety of colors...black, pink, purple and blue) and "practicing" her ballet/tap moves. They are growing up so quickly...right before our very eyes.



Here's another of Lily "dancing" with Griffy as her captive audience...



And here's a quick video from the morning of Griffin's first birthday - my little baby boy is getting so big!

Little Snippet

More posts and pics to come, but here's a couple from the other night.

When we're feeding Griff, we call him our "baby bird." He opens up his mouth so wide and will get really frustrated if you walk away during his meal (for any reason...even if it's just to grab a water or pass Lily something). He likes his meals. Rather ironic since at his last doctor appointment they said he needs to be gaining more weight! Have you seen my sweet boy's thighs!?! :) I think he has maintained his weight because in the time since his last appointment he started crawling and pulling himself up on everything. He is a boy on the go! It takes a lot of calories to keep up with his big sister!
Here's Lily celebrating grandma's birthday by eating ice cream cake and drinking her water with a multitude of pumpkin straws. The straws were the latest little surprise from grandma's "magic bag." When grandma brings her "magic bag" there's always a little surprise or treat in there for Lily. And boy does she love it!

We've been absolutely loving this fall weather and spending most of our time outdoors. I know the cooler weather is coming, so we're trying to make the most out of it! While I'm a summer gal, I really love this season too. There's something so refreshing about a breezy cool morning and crisp autumn day.

Hello friend...

Dear blog - yes, I know I have neglected you. I apologize. Life with 2 has been much busier than I would've imagined! That being said, I wouldn't change it for the world. I can't possibly sum up everything in a quick post (as I hear Lily waking up now and Griff starting to stir)...isn't that how it always happens!? but I will say that:

Lily - so very interesting, getting so big, growing hair long(ish) enough to have pigtails, riding her tricycle like a pro, speaking so well and telling me stories and asking questions, dipping her toes in the "I am going on 3 and independent and will assert my strong will whenever I can", funny, singing songs (her latest is the cutest version of the National Anthem), imaginative and just the sweetest little girl I could've ever desired for a daughter.

Griffin - oh boy, what a little smiling machine. He's going on 8 months (is that even possible?? I haven't even posted pics of his birth!!?) He has been rolling, sitting up, sleeping thru the nite, eating real food (and not spit anything out in disgust as of yet!), smiling like crazy and loving his big sister. His face and eyes literally light up when Lily starts talking or gets near him. One sweet thing he does - at night I read them a story together in Lily's bed and sometimes have Griff in the middle. While the book might be interesting to him, it's not nearly as exciting as Lily. He usually rolls over onto his stomach and stares at Lily (within about 5 inches of her face). Lily is less than thrilled that he's encroaching on her space, but he just stares and smiles. So sweet.

This can't quite possibly make up for my lack of posting, but my goal is to try and do this a bit more often. While I've neglected the blog recently, I am keeping up a journal of "Lily-isms" where I'm capturing all the funny and interesting and whacky things that come to Lily's mind. For a few weeks I'd repeat a story to my parents or a friend and say "I really should be writing these down"...so I did! I know one day we'll all appreciate and get a good laugh looking back on the things that go through a little 2 year old mind.

Now I'm off to the races! Thank you God for yet another day. Life is truly good.

An Early Thought...

I was looking back through old emails and stumbled upon this brief comment I typed right after Griffin was born. I emailed it to myself and (almost) forgot about it 'til now...

One thing I know for sure - that as I type this (or rather peck) on my blackberry, with a warm little fuzzy headed snoring being nuzzled on my neck, that this time is fleeting. I know I should put him down to sleep in his crib, but instead I choose to listen to his rhythmic breathing and feel his little sighs against my chest and know that I am truly blessed.

My Little Sunshine...

Here's a video of Lily singing to her little brother - and his funny reaction...

Lily singing...Griffy's yawn that turns into the sweetest little smile...I could watch this video over and over and over again...

"Cool Shoes"

Hey, you learn something new every day! I just figured out how to post a video directly from YouTube which makes things a little bit easier (since I've been having trouble loading videos to this blog). This is the video I previously posted about - Lily and her "cool shoes!"

One of those moments...

I feel like there so many moments every day that Lily says something so sweet or funny and it just makes my heart smile. Griff gives me his big, gummy smile....and makes me feel like all is right in the world. I happened to capture one of those moments the other day. Lily wanted to try on her "cool shoes" and show Griff.

I love the brief moment when she's looking over him while he's in the swing...and he gets the sweetest smile listening to his big sister. She's telling him to "look at my cool shoes, Griff." Love it. Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/R_IEDArW-7I

Quick Update!

Wow - so much has gone in these past 3 months and I realize I am WAY behind on postings. I've never even officially done a "Griffin is born!!" post - but they are coming. Greg has had our home laptop with him at school during the week so any extra time (who am I kidding...extra time?) has definitely not been devoted to doing blog posts. But, we're still as busy as ever and I have been taking pictures whenever I remember to bring the camera!
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A few updates:
* Lily finished her last swim lesson and is now on to a gym tots class. We went to our first one last week and she had a BLAST! At the end of class, she got stamps on her legs and I think she pulled her pant legs up at least 40 times the rest of the day to look at and show us her stamps. I knew a couple moms of little ones in the class which was really nice too!
* Griffin is 3 MONTHS tomorrow (gasp, shock!) I know, I can't believe it either! It feels like so long ago that he was born! He's getting SO big (as in 95% for height, weight and head circumference). He's smiling a ton and cooing all the time. He seems to enjoy books and will sit through a couple in a row. I still sometimes find it hard to believe we have a son! Greg and I will say out loud, "our CHILDREN are sleeping..." can you believe we have CHILDREN!?
* We've been busy going to the Y, friends' houses, the Museum, and playing in the backyard when the days have been a bit warmer.
* Lily and I recently had a "Mommy and Lily special day" (as Lily called it) and got dressed up to go to the theatre (AKA Madcap Puppet show!) followed by a fine dining lunch (AKA Big Boy). It was so fun and felt very strange just going out the two of us. It really seems hard to believe that was our reality just 3 months ago!?

Lily holding her play ticket.

Post show pictures with the biggest Madcap puppet (as you can tell, we took this picture from faaaaar away...)

A to Z

Here are a few funny videos of Lily reciting her ABC's. In the speedy version I'm not sure what I find more humorous - Lily whizzing thru the alphabet or Greg's reaction on the side...you be the judge!

The speedy version of ABC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEw7dr7et7o

The interrupted version of ABC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AUKfcrGljw

A slower, calmer version of ABC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Th2k5b3DTQ

Lily the Fish

Lily has now attended 2 swimming lessons and she's loving every minute of it. She loved the pool this past summer (and the ocean) so we thought it'd be a nice activity for her during the winter. I didn't want her to forget how much she enjoyed being in the water! It also allows for some special time with her daddy since she now has to share her time with a new little person.
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I didn't come to the first lesson because I didn't want to be a distraction. After going to the second lesson, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong about thinking my presence would distract her! She just had an absolute blast in the pool that it really didn't matter if I was there or not. She did look over a few times to see if I saw her swim through the hula hoop or go down the slide, and a couple times she'd look over and sign "more" because she wanted to do whatever it was they were doing again! So cute. They did a bunch of different songs and activities and I think she smiled just about the whole time.
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As I sat on the bench with a few other parents (and grandparents) laughing and clapping, I couldn't help but think, "wow, my little girl is in there kicking and paddling and singing songs with the group..." and I felt like it wasn't that long ago she was just a little baby, brand new to the world just like our sweet Griffin.

I went a little nuts taking videos (I think I took 8 in total!) but here

are a few, quick snippets from Lily's lessons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fz_YimquWXw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xcb-3_0lxxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jMMSTdeT9s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwavjiGVDT4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_tpSUJUOUc