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?!"