Lily....the 1 year old!

My little Lily is now 1 year old!  It's hard to believe.  It has been such a crazy year for us and has flown by.  As far as Lily goes....she's turned into quite the little spunky girl.  She has more personality every day now.  It has been so fun to watch her learn, grow, and try and do everything her Clementine does.  They are just starting to actually play together, which has been great for mommy.  As far a getting around, Lily has been on the slow path.  The started crawling at 11 months and is now almost 14 months and is STILL not walking.  She scoots all around the house a high rate of speed  and is just learning to stand on her own.  She is so proud of herself!  Lily loves bath time with her sister.  She loves splashing all around and then crawling around in the nude trying to out-run me while emptying every basket in her room.  Her latest tick is balancing things on her head, especially food.  It is pretty stinkin funny.  She love seeing what kind of reaction she can get out of us!


This was Lily on her birthday awaiting the singing and cake!  We had a fun birthday night with family and some friends.  My aunt and uncle were here from Key West....so it was fun to have them celebrate with us.  We all went to Red Robin for dinner and then back to the birthday girls house for the party.

Mommy's birthday creations.

The little Lily Cake

The cake aftermath...

This was Lily the afternoon of her birthday.  I was trying to keep her entertained while I made her cake so I gave her a dum dum.  She's showing off some of her food on the head tricks with the lolly pop in the hair.  

Lily wearing Clemie's birthday crown that she loved......until she sat on it and broke it.  

Lily bonding with Moses, my friend Jody's doggy, on our recent trip to Michigan.

Lily playing in the the kitchen.  There is something about little munckins in jean that is just too darn cute!  I also just started putting shoes on her, so I had to take a picture.

Clementine's First Day of Preschool!

Today was Clementine's first day of preschool.  Both of us were very excited!  I know most moms might be a little hesitant and sad to see their little ones go to school, but me....not so much.  It is only 2 hours, twice a week....so that hardly gives me enough time to start missing her.  I'm so excited for her to learn lots of new things this year and make new friends.  I think it will be great for everyone involved :)

Clementine insisting the picture be taken with me in it.

Clemie goofing off while I'm trying to take a picture.

Look at how cooperative she is.  At least you get a good look at the bag Grandma Nielsen made her for school.  Princesses of course....she also has a Princess and the Frog edition.

I told her to make a silly face.

I told her to dance.

Finally.....a smile.  A cheesy one, but we'll take it.

I forgot to take pictures of me dropping her off (we were LATE....on the fist day), but this is her chipper self coming out.

The Classmates waiting for their momma's.

  

I couldn't get her to look at me...but she was happy.  That is Miss Annie behind her.  The teacher of course.  She's Great!

Time to go home!

North Carolina and Scream-Time Zip-line!

Last month we took a trip to North Carolina to visit my Aunt and Uncle in their mountain cabin. We had a great time just hanging out, eating at every BBQ joint in town and on our Zip-line adventure.

This was Clementine's favorite part of the trip. All she wanted to do was ride the "Ba boom boom boom" as Clemie calls it. We stayed at a separate cabin just up the road and she has a blast going back and forth.

If you know me, you know that i'm pretty much the ultimate woosie. I hate roller coasters and even going over a hill in the car too fast takes my breath away. We saw some huge billboards along the road for a zip-line tour, so I thought it would be a great idea to conquer one of my fears and suggested we go. I did get pretty feakin nervous, but once we got going I had a great time. Down the first line I was so scared and screamed so loud that I actually scared one of the women on the tour and so she turned around and went back down. Oops! The best part about it was that Clementine got to go too. She and Brent were zipping buddies and she loved every moment of it. Unlike me, she is pretty much fearless.

The North Carolina Mountains

Riding up the mountain getting ready to start our adventure.

Clementine and Uncle David

Me doing an awesome job taking a picture. At least I got the most important person in the frame.

Resting in between Zips.

Uncle David coming in for a smooth landing.

Hanging on and having fun.

Best Buddies

Weeeeeee

Making my final landing in style. So proud of myself :)

Lily's 6 months old!

Attempting Cereal....

Our Lily is 6 months old now and is turning into such a cute little girl. She's quite petite at 13lbs 4 oz and in the 10th percentile for all her measurements. Her personality is really starting to show now and she loves to play and smile. She is not very mobile, and doesn't seem to really have the desire to go anywhere. She can roll from her tummy to her back, but that is only because she isn't a big fan of tummy time. She is quite good at sitting up by herself with a little support. She frequently hangs out in her bumbo chair in the kitchen with me as I cook and clean. Lily loves her exersaucer and any toys that crinkle or jingle. Her bloody murder screaming has somewhat subsided now. She is still an emotional little girl, but at least it is a little more manageable these days. Lily is still quite attached to mommy and needs to have me in her sight just about all the time to be happy. It's nice to feel loved, but it can really put a cramp on my freedom. I really wishes Lily would take a bottle so I could galavant kid-free more often. Maybe someday soon.....I hope. Lily is excellent at putting herself to sleep, but still wakes up at night at least twice. With Lily on the second floor and me on the main floor, it is a serious hike in the middle of the night. Oh to sleep through the night without any feeding or crying. That will be the day!

I tried cereal a few weeks ago with Lily and it didn't go so well. Since she's 6 month now, I figured I better try again. She's doing better, but not exactly loving it yet. This is a video of my first real attempt. I don't know what possessed me, but I decided to flip the camera around after I started filming. Sorry for the whiplash and small frame.

She is such a silly Lily.

Back-tracking to Lily's Blessing

Well, I'm trying to catch up on some photos I never posted. Lily's blessing was a special day, so I thought I should share them. I believe it was the first week in December. Lily was sure looking cute that day thanks to Grandma Nielsen. She made Lily a beautiful dress. It's nice to have someone with sewing skills willing to make these special dresses for my girls. Thanks again Grandma Nielsen!

Our Electronics Junkie

For those of you that know Clementine, you know she is an absolute electronics nut. She is especially fond of "numbs" or phones and computers. You should see her work an iphone. She is a pro. People stare in amazement when they she her whip through pages and applications. She even has her own iTouch. I know, it is crazy that a 2 year old would have that nice of electronics, but it helps keep us all sane at times.

She recently took at trip to the mall with her Grandma to visit the Apple Store. As you can see by the pictures, she was in heaven. I heard all the sales people got a big kick out of her. She cracks me up.

This was Clemie attempting a nap at Grandmas house. She has to have her iTouch when she goes to sleep now. She loves to watch YoGabbaGabba, Jacks Big Music Show, surfs the web, plays games, etc. I think it's actually a little out of control. I hope we're not causing some permanent damage by allowing her to do this.

Happy Birthday Dad....a day late!

It's just like me to forget birthdays. I have to constantly remind myself, write them down, put them on the calender, and then hope that someone else reminds me too. Well, I just looked at my calendar today and realized that I forgot yours, again! I'm pretty sure I totally forgot one year and you didn't ever get a phone call. I know you were very disappointed and knew I didn't want that to happen again. I'm sorry Dad for forgetting again. I hope you can forgive me for being a little lazy and selfish at times.

So as soon as I realized I forgot your birthday, I went to check my sister Kellie's blog to see if she had wrote anything for you. Of course she did. She had a really nice tribute to you and of course I cried all the way through. It made me think of all of the times we had together, many of the memories are the same as Kellie's. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think of you. I'm sad to not have you around and it is hard for me to believe that you aren't still here. I remember the day Brent had to tell me that you were gone and how shocked and in disbelief I was. It just felt like a nightmare and I was hoping I would wake up and realize it wasn't true. I think it's going to take us all a long time to adjust, but we'll always be missing you.

Dad, I am constantly reminded of you.

Us Williams girls were all blessed with the signature "Norm Forehead". Brent affectionately calls it the "Movie screen Forehead". Let's just way I'll always have bangs.

There is a certain look that I always give Brent that apparently you often gave him too. I always get a "thanks Norm" every time I give it to him.

I still get ripped on for my "making change" class in high school. Just to remind you it was called Quantitative Literacy. Apparently I learned something. I manage the money in our house.

Dad I do know what "Extra Care Bucks" are.....but NO there is no such thing as "Regular Care Bucks".

One of my favorite phrases I get from you. I've told Brent the story a million times of how I got it. I know he doesn't want to hear it again, so I'll tell you. It all came from the famous motor home trip where you tried to rent us an old, smelly beater of an RV. We made it about 10 minutes down the street before my mom made you turn back home to return it. The next morning we woke up to my mom pulling down the street in the most pimp-daddy motor home they had on the lot. We were all so excited and finally made it on the trip our second try. As we were pulling out of the driveway you said, "Let's blow this popsicle stand". I make sure to use this phrase whenever I get the chance.

These are just a few of the thoughts and memories of you. I wish you were around to make more, but it makes me happy to remember those times.

Happy Birthday Dad! I didn't forget, I just remembered a day late.