Lily and her tree

Click here to see video of Lily and her Christmas tree!

Lily has an announcement

Lily will be a BIG SISTER, come April!!!  We are thrilled and although she doesn't totally get it yet, she has taken a liking to all things "baby."  She talks to my belly, saying, "HI BABY" and giving kisses.  It's pretty dang cute!  We found out on December 1, that we are having a little girl!  SISTERS!!  I am tickled pink and Robb is headed to buy a shotgun... *wink, wink*

Winter

Denver has had some good snow so far this winter.  Being from the Midwest, I secretly get giddy every time the ground turns white.  If you ask Robb, it actually might not be such a secret (wink).  I hope Lily grows up to enjoy the snow as much as mommy does.  I guess we will wait to see.  In the meantime, I can say this - she sure is particular about keeping her little snow boots clean!  As pictured below, every time she got snow on them, she stopped, bent over and cleaned all the snow off (on mommy's pants).  It was pretty dang cute, if I don't say so myself!

If you frequent our blog, you have gotten pretty familiar with "Kitty."  Kitty is one of Lily's favorite little buds.  She eats a snack with Lily below.  The adventures that Kitty is part of in any given day are yet another priceless part of our precious (almost) 18 month-old's world.

Winter is a great time to snuggle up and read a good book or magazine.  Lily happens to be very partial to a magazine these days.  Not just any magazine - a Target publication that is basically all advertisements.  She is obsessed with "babies" and this one happens to be specifically targeting needs for kiddos from birth to 24 months.  We "read" the magazine (again, it's basically all photos of goods) several times a day.  Crazy how she can be so interested in such a non-interesting piece. Kind of adorable!

We're so thankful

Thanksgiving was only one week ago and although it seems like weeks have passed, we would like to share a few of our favorite "thankful memories"...

Lily goofed around at Noni and Papa's on Wednesday.  She has a thing for the piano and put on quite the show.  She also found Noni's little flower buds (around the lamp) extremely fascinating.  While looking at them, she also discovered the chair arm shams...heehee!

Fun times on Thanksgiving day at Uncle Pete and Aunt Alice's.  Erin, Dan, Grace, Lydia, Michelle, Ryan, Taylor and Addie all came to play and eat!  The fantastic weather made for some pretty great outdoor play time.  The kiddos played hard and Lily enjoyed the hula hoop and took it upon herself to tote the two purple balls around the entire yard for close to 20 minutes.  Training for black Friday, or the best balancing act ever?!  You be the judge...

Lily found her Halloween candy the other night.  She managed to take it all out and put it in what seemed to be little piles.  Her favorite item - not a piece of candy but a little glow stick.  Daddy activated it and we found that it brought the biggest smiles, little screams of joy and happiness.  Who could have known?  In true Robb fashion, my wonderful husband proceeded to order a 24 pack of glow sticks.  They arrived yesterday and now Lily won't let her new little stick out of sight.  It eats with her, plays with her - travels with her.  Last night I found her under her highchair with one of my baking bowls and her glow stick - appropriately placed in the bowl.  She was having a little party with her glowing friend!  Our little bee.  Everyday is a new day of fun adventures!

Let the Christmas season begin!

Lily takes in the Christmas parade at Southlands Mall

I realize my posting this before Thanksgiving is against my gut beliefs - take one holiday at a time. Especially these awesome "end-of-the-year" holidays that I LOVE...however, I got soooo behind on the blog that I am now committed to staying current (at least trying to). So, having said that, I admit, we have already taken part in Christmas activities. Yep. Two, to be exact. We went to the "Christmas tree lighting" in Stapleton last Friday and then the Christmas kick-off parade and performances at Southlands on Saturday. The temperatures decided to take a huge dip-a-roo between the two nights, but both were fun and both left Robb and I with HUGE smiles, as Lily is actually "getting it" ... Christmas, that is. Being someone who literally can not express how much she loves the Christmas holiday, it could not make me happier!! "Santa" and "Christmas trees" have taken over the "baby" obsession. Lily has talked about Santa and Christmas trees all week long. Robb even googled images of Christmas trees so that she could see some, as we have yet to put ours up (trying to stand firm on Thanksgiving getting it's full time...). ;-)  Our neighbor, "Mr. Ken," has had all 400 of his Christmas decorations up for a few weeks now ... he is the tactful version of Chevy Chase in Christmas vacation.  Anyway, he has several Santa figures in his yard and Lily loves to walk down and see them!  Again, can you almost see my huge smile right now?!  As we celebrate the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow, I want to welcome you all (early) to my favorite holiday.......!!!

Lily stays warm with Daddy...it was COLD.  See those rosy cheeks?!

Cleaning kitty's nose

Lily has had a really stuffy, runny nose these past few weeks, hence seeing a whole lot of time with the blue bulb.  Apparently she is concerned about kitty's nose too.  She took it upon herself to help clean kitty's nose with the lovely blue bulb.  Little pumpkin doesn't miss a beat!

"Now come here, little kitty.  Let me help you."

 "Here we go.  This is how mommy and daddy do it."  Funny thing is that she is the one laying on the floor when we do it.  She is just working from the only angle she knows.

"Doesn't that feel so much better?!"



Hello family and friends of the Bear, Bee and little Bee.  I made two posts yesterday and both had photo albums which I am told folks were not able to access.  I changed the privacy setting in Picasa, so try it again, if you were having trouble.  It should be all fixed.  Crazy Picasa.

Still catching up

Here you have it. Album #2 brings you up-to-date with, well literally, this week.

Click on the image below to start viewing.

Playing catch up

I am shocked that it has literally been over two months since I made a post to our blog! Life has been moving in the "faster than fast" lane and I can't seem to keep up. At this point, being so behind, the only way to catch up quickly is to do two photo album posts and then move on from there. I apologize for the delay. I have done some posting on Facebook, so please look for photos there too. Also, as a side note, we seem to have miss placed around 400 photos from early September - mid September, which means I don't have any photos to post of our time with Heather, Jon and Jude or of our time with Danny and Katy. I am so bummed. Literally disappeared.

Enjoy looking over the photos and reading the captions, as you travel through the past few months with Lily, Robb and I. She has changed a TON, as you will see.

Click on the image below to start the photo catch up.

Random tid-bits make fun viewing

 Food. We need it. It needs to make it to our mouth to be beneficial to our body. Hmmm.  Herein lies the dilemma. For a toddler, food is often another form of play. Lily teaches Robb and I patience and persistence with her food tendencies. But then there's this little face. Who can be mad at her?  Instead we giggle and try to be strict when she looks right at us, tosses a piece of food to the floor and says, "uh-oh." Ahhhh, parenting. We.LOVE.it.

Brush your teeth. Brush your teeth. Lily might very well be the next family member to launch a career in the dental field! We joke that there is NO denying she is my child with the amount of time and level of interest she has in her tooth brush. That may or may not be very similar to someone holding her in this photo - just sayin'! ;-)  Nana, you would be very proud!!

Happy hour is for all ages, right?  Well, I would be lying if I said that this was Lily's first happy hour.  Hey, don't judge! ;-)  She loves the attention and as long as we can keep hers, it's a win-win for all involved!!  Sadly, this was not the happiest HH, as we were saying good-bye to a very dear friend/co-worker.  Now mind you, she is not leaving CO, or even Denver, but the fact that she IS leaving Jones gives me reason to be very (selfishly) SAD. We're happy for you, Jennifer - go get 'em, tiger!!  Oh, and call me as soon as the next marketing job posts! ;-)



B-U-B-B-L-E-S!!!

Little Lily-kins LOVES bubbles.  These photos are over a month old already, but the love continues.  Every time we pass through the garage (where the bubbles are kept), Lily reminds us that they are there, "Bubbles, bubbles!!" the tiny voice exclaims with sheer joy and excitement! 


She waits patiently in these first photos for daddy to get the bubbles ready!

I think if I close my eyes all of the bubbles will fall around me and not ON me - yea?!

Our little peanut.  Her personality evolves by the day. It makes our life so exciting and gives us so much to look forward to and be grateful for.

A girl, making her way

Lily must have seen cousin, Jude's photos on Facebook.  That must have been it, right?  Why else would she want to have a cape too???  Lily found a second, and of course much better, use for the dish towel...a cape.  And a fine one, at that!  It was so cute to watch her walk round and round the center island with her little cape in tow!

Come on, cape, you can do it...stay up on my shoulders like a good little cape!

 Too bad this thing doesn't cover my tummy too...

And then there's the purse...what girl doesn't need to have a handbag with them at all times?!  Lily will carry her purse all around the house.  Typically she manages to find one other small item for her other hand/arm.  HMMMM.  Where does she get it from???

Adventures of the bottomless bee

Ahhh, the little bee.  How she loves to explore the world, free of her bottoms!  Last week, before bath, she got in some "HIs" to the outside world and toured around the house, all without her britches!  Those lil buns are the cutest ever - then again, I am her mother and I might be bias!!

"HIIII everyone. HIII"  Lily will say HI over and over and over until you acknowledge her and then she gets the biggest grin ever!  ADORABLE!

 Runnin' around the kitchen "nek-ed" ...

Check out that concentration!  She was determined to stay up.  Nice save, baby girl, nice save!!

Jazzin' it up!

This summer has afforded us the opportunity to take in three weekly Jazz in the Park concerts ... and summer is not over yet!  We might hit a record number of attendances - with a 1-year old, that's saying a lot!!  Lily loves watching all of the people, doggies, bicycles, feeling the bark on "real" trees and trying to eat leaves, grass and berries.  She gets time with her cousins, which is a total bonus!  Grace and Lydia are so good to her and Lily just loves playing with them!!  Thank you, city of Denver, for continuing the Sunday evening Jazz in the Park concerts.  They have been the backdrop for many wonderful summer memories!

CHEESE!

 Big kisses for mommy

 "I will take this spoon and I will make my great escape!"

 "The backdrop"

 Lily, in the park, with the spoon...

 Dan scores BIG points by peddling the girls around the lake in the scorching sun!!

 Time for a beverage stop

 Hi bear and Lily-girl!!

 Lydia scores some mommy snuggle time!

 This time, Lily digs on the ring toss game ... by herself.

 "Why isn't anyone listening to ME?!"