Trip to Utah

In July, I went out to Utah for a visit.  It was a selfish visit, and mostly because I was so tired and didn't feel well and wanted someone else to entertain Lily.  It was also selfish because I wanted to find out the gender of our baby instead of waiting another month and a half. 

Lily was sure entertained!  She had a lot of fun with Grammy and even gave us a few surprises. 

My parents were able to see how she goes crazy for dolls whenever we go shopping at a store which has them.  If they are hidden, she will surely find them.  But I also now know the tricks of marketing and how they put the toys on shelves for those who can easily reach them (ex: toddlers).

After shopping, we took Lily to experience her very first splash pad.  Unfortunately there are no splash pads in Winston Salem, so Lily was quite unaware of what was going on.  Once she got the hang of it, she was all wet and got to drive home as a naked baby.

Since Lily loves shopping so much, we decided to hit a more "indoor" mall and check out their LoveSac couches.  I was perfectly sold on getting one of these couches.  But I'm glad Michal wasn't so sold because I actually like the one we ended up purchasing much more than the one Lily and I posed on below.

While shopping we had a pleasant, happy surprise.  I was able to meet up with Liz Jaggard.  This woman deserves to be canonized (in the Mormon faith) for how much guidance, help, and love she showed me while I lived in Poland.  Friends like these are few and far between and hard to come by.  Any day seeing Liz is a good day, and therefore, this day was absolutely perfect.

Later in the week, I was able to go to one of my YSA's weddings.  Kill two birds with one stone right? Add this to my list of selfish reasons to come out to Utah.  I was able to attend the temple - and have a FREE babysitter while doing it.  I even got an added bonus and ran into my 4th Grade Teacher in the sealing room.  We ended up on the same table for the Luncheon and it was so grande catching up with her and reminiscing.  Normally it would be awkward to run into a teacher from that long ago, but not this sweet lady.  She exudes kindness and charity from her very smile and I felt so much more at ease knowing she was present and that I at least knew one person in the wedding party other than the Bride. Needless to say, she was only the escort of a family friend (of the bride) who could not drive.  So she didn't know anyone.  So, as Forrest Gump would say, we were like "peas and carrots" together at this wedding.

Lily wanted to go everywhere Grammy went, so she did.  And she had a lot of fun following her around for a change.

She even followed Grammy into her Sunbeams class.  This was more of a treat for Lily than anyone else because she got to go around the rom and give everyone hugs and kisses... but the best part of it all... she got to try on everyone's shoes.  I swear that she was in absolute heaven!

While in Utah, Lily was able to meet her cousin Madeline for the first time...

 ... and wasn't shy about showing others that she loved them.

But no matter what... saying Goodbye is still the very hardest part of any trip.  

I was super nervous for the airplane right back home because it left at 5:00 pm and didn't arrive to Charlotte until 11:05 pm.  How was I supposed to keep a toddler entertained when she's sleepy and ornery?

Well, let's just say it was such a blessing that I was assigned to sit next to a cute 10 year old boy who Lily fell in love with right away.  During the whole flight she made sure this cute guy wouldn't fall asleep because anytime he closed his eyes, she reached over and gave him a hug (more like leaped out of my lap).  She gave him kisses, and patted him, and even snuggles.  At first I wasn't embarrassed, more nervous for what his reaction would be.  But I think that he loved all the attention he received also.  It was a match made in heaven.  Thank you little boy for entertaining my little girl and making this journey pleasant instead of a nightmare.

But big, ginormous, super-huge thank you goes out to my parents.  Thank you Mom & Dad for letting me come visit.  For loving Lily.  For loving me.  And... for all the fun adventures and talks we had while I was in Utah!

Lily loves shoes

I think that every child goes through a stage where they just love shoes.  Lily has reached this stage and wants to show off in putting any shoes on her own feet.  Often if we are at a large gathering where everyone has to take their shoes off in the foyer, we can find Lily sitting among all the shoes trying to put her favorite ones on.  I love this stage that she's going through.  It's very endearing and fun to see her little personality start to really come out.

Girlie Girl

Every little girl goes through a phase where dressing up is such a treat.  This stage came a little earlier than I had thought it would. But not only does she enjoy dressing up, there are many other "girlie" things that I'm able to catch Lily doing.

Lily modeling her "bracelet" rings.

If someone isn't watching their bags at church, Lily takes advantage of the situation and decides to inspect and organize their purses for them.  

Speaking of bags, Lily loves to carry her own bag around.  I'm convinced it's because I drag the diaper bag with me everywhere I go and she wants to be like Mommy. After noticing how much she carried bags around, we had some special friends go and purchase her, her own little unique fun purses.  But we haven't gotten pictures to prove how much she loves them... yet.

I don't know if you noticed her baby doll in the pictures above, but her "doll doll" (as she has named her) has to go with her everywhere.  She cares for the doll and gets frustrated if she's not around.  In fact, the only time she wakes up in the middle of the night is when 'doll-doll' isn't in the crib with her.  So we have to go in search of where she hid her doll during the day.  She is very creative in the places she has been hiding: toilets, cupboards, strollers, car seat, fireplace, shoe boxes, bathtubs, and our sock drawers.  We have gotten so good at finding doll-doll before bedtime now so that we get the extra sleep.

Lily has also become very fond of sunglasses. As of right now, I have gone through four pairs of sunglasses and Lily is on her very own third pair.  She hides them and they are never to be found again.  So if you think I'm wearing cheap sunglasses, you're right... I am.  No need to purchase expensive ones when Lily mysteriously and magically makes them disappear.

And lastly, Lily likes to put on make-up and wear earrings so that she can be like Mommy.

Krispie Kreme's 77th Birthday

In July Michal had to work a lot, and one particular Saturday as Lily and I were driving him to work so we could play during the day, we noticed a sign saying:

 - Krispie Kreme 77th Birthday - 

- Free Donuts - 

- Free Children's Museum - 

- 9 am - noon - 

It wasn't the free donuts that caught my eye, rather the free Children's Museum.  I've always wanted to check out the Children's Museum, but with it costing $7 for 12 months and older, I didn't want to spend any money until I knew what was inside and that it would be a good interaction for Lily.

So we headed off to the Krispie Kreme party, both of us in pajamas, no extra diapers or wipes for Lily, no make up for Mommy... but we got there right as it started and found a parking spot!

We were the first ones in the museum, so I let Lily just go.  Since it had barely opened, many of the rooms I didn't know what Lily was supposed to do.  Some are story-telling rooms, some are coloring rooms, some are exploring rooms - but almost all are manned by workers, and since it just barely opened, the workers weren't at their stations yet.  Nevertheless, I think Lily was just excited that it was someplace new for her to explore.

It was almost impossible to get her away from the "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears" room.  She just wanted to take all the bears with her everywhere she went. 

After more children trickled in, and we saw what kind of things there were to explore - Lily wanted to inspect all of them herself.

One of the features of the children's museum is that they have a mini 'fake' grocery store where kids can go pretend shopping, and "next door" they have a Krispie Kreme factory where kids can make 'fake' donuts.  I think the concept was a little too advanced for this little girl, but she still wanted to check it out.  She was most interested in driving the Krispie Kreme truck.

By the time we came outside and went to all the fun booths that were set up, there was a rather large crowd of people who had gathered.  The longest line was for coffee (so it worked out great for us). We just grabbed some free donuts, water, and went to each booth.  We ended up getting a free balloon for Lily, a free magnet, and a free slap-wrist bracelet.  

The day started to get hot, and I didn't want to chance a full diaper (with no spare on me), so we headed home.  By the time we got home, Lily was worn out from her morning explorations and she fell right asleep.  I love mornings like that, especially Saturday mornings where you get up early, do something fun, and take a nap from how much fun you had in the morning.