Tom, Lilly and I had a wonderful Thankgiving lunch with my boss/friend Lynnette's family. Plenty of southern cooking to tease her about and lots of chit chat with nice folks. Although we packed and took LG's first Thanksgiving meal, we decided to wait unti we were in our own home to put some new tasty traditions in front of her! After seeing the photos and videos, Lynnette will likely be grateful! Her home is full of beautiful flooring!
This first picture is of LG in her Thanksgiving gear: A comfy onesie with a turkey on it! It's hard to see, but on the bottom of her right foot the word "little" is embroided, and on the left, it reads "turkey!"
Here she is in her high chair, unsuspecting of the goodness about to be delivered.
A bountiful buffet awaits: Turkey w/gravy, sweet potatoes, carrots and peas! 
Yummmmmmm.....
Mmmmmmmmmm
I only get this once a year? WHAT?
I'll do it myself, thank you!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Lilly's first Thanksgiving meal
A video explanation of the Thanksgiving pictures!
These videos will show exactly how she (and I) got so yicky-messy! Enjoy!
Turkey
Sweet Potatoes
Peas
Our Lilly Grace is 7 months old....
At 7 mos., LG:
Can stay sitting up for a short period of time...
Loves to play with her feet...
Explores everything...
Has "officially" cut her two bottom, front teeth...
Plays with her right ear while drinking her bottle...
Still refuses to drink any kind of juice...
Has a different Christmas outfit to wear for every day before Christmas
.....(thanks Joyce!)....
Is looking forward to meeting my aunt Joyce and then visiting Grandma, Grandpa, Alicia and Alyssa in Florida for Christmas...
Passes gas then giggles (just like her dad!)....
Always wants to be standing up...
Is meeting Santa tonight...
Tends to produce a lot of ear wax...?.....
Is getting very big (but we haven't weighed her!)....
Is wearing 9 month clothing...
Understands the cause/effect of most of her toys...
Still sleeps through the night.....Amen......
I WANT to talk to Grandma! Where are you?
Just about every evening, I put mom on speaker phone to talk to Lilly. I've always said that she recognizes mom's voice, because in one way or another, LG responds to the black rectangular thing emitting her grandma's voice. Lilly has, in fact, become very conversational. She truly will engage in conversation. Of course she doesn't actually SAY much, but she sure tries. And it seems as if she understands turn-taking. This video shows how frustrated she gets when she knows her Grandma is talking to her, but can't figure out where she is!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Typical Lilly Grace
with all of her inquisitive looks provided by her eyebrows and the constrant stream of teething drool.
All the Baby Einstein "bells and whistles" -
Gma sent this Baby Einstein sitter/bouncer to Lilly a couple of months ago. She's now at the right size and curiosity level to start enjoying it. The seat spins when she pushes it around to place her in front of fun activities, like piano that plays classics, knobs that turn & crinkle, a mirror and a twirling frog. She likes it best when she realizes that she's standing! Although she loves listening to Beethoven from the various "lighting to the music" piano keys, her favorite part is the frog. Tom and I crack up at her because she tries so hard to get the frog in her mouth. (These days, everything is explored first by her mouth!) She leans foward....concentrating so hard...pushing just right, but that darn froggie evades her gums every time! LOL!
Lilly meets Uncle Robert
Tom's brother Robert was in town last weekend. LG gave him lots of giggles!
It's as if she has no arms ---
As I've posted before, LG does not want to use her arms. She always wants to be standing. And she's very strong. She can hold herself up against the couch. If you hold her fingers, she will move to a standing position from laying down by pressing her feet against your belly or whatever is there to assist her. We really don't care whether or not she crawls (I didn't and look how great I turned out!) but we do want her to build upper body strength. Tom and I were in Costco the other day and purchased this really cool belly toy made to motivate infants to use their arms (and legs) to move around. You lay the infant belly down on this disk that rotates when they move correctly. It is surrounded by colorful and interactive pictures of Pooh, Tigger, Eyeore and a Heffalump. Lilly? - NOT interested.
This is how she prefers to play with the belly toy!
After giggling at her about not wanting to push herself around, I laid LG on the floor next to the toy to stop/adjust the camera and find some new toy to entertain her. Thanks to Gma, that's not difficult. And here is what the little snot does!
Can you believe it? She won't spin it with her on it, but she will sure as heck spin it by kicking it! I swear LG is going to play soccer. Since in utero, she kicked up a storm. When she gets excited, she kicks. When we change her diaper. She kicks. She loves to kick her own feet together, especially when she has shoes on. Watching this video again, I'm thinking that she's trying to eat her feet. What do you think? She is quite taken with them. While they ARE cute little feet, they still resemble those concrete blocks at the bottom of her father's legs!
"Feeding time is special time...."
So says all of the infant food advertisements that I get in the mail!
For about the last week, Tom and I have put LG up to the table with us and fed her as we eat our dinner. The literature says that if she starts watching us eat, then she should become more interested. It's worked (a little). Here's a taste (no pun intended) of what our routine has become in the evenings. LG is not a fan of carrots; she is tolerant of bananas. Hope she doesn't notice that the foods we say "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" to when we eat them are not quite a squishy as her own. Would seem mighty unfair!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Halloween 2008
Happy that Halloween fell on a Friday and that we had already celebrated Tom's birthday, we spent all hallow's eve at Lilly's sitter's house! I work with Cecile (picture on the left in photo below); her mother-in-law, Ima Saty (which is the respectful way of saying revered elder/grandmother) watches Lilly in the day. Cecile made a wonderful dinner - we had a nice time visiting and getting excited about taking Toby trick-or-treating. Toby is Cecile's 9 yr. old son pictured below blowing out candles with Tom. His birthday was a few days before Halloween, so they shared a spooky birthday cake. Toby is such a great kid! I look forward to seeing him each day, especially in the afternoons when he greets me at the door to "REPORT" about Lilly's day. (how many times she pooped, passed gas, cried, tried to stand up, took off her own socks, etc.) Ima Saty is carrying LG in this picture. LG just loves her (and I think it's mutual! 
Forever kids, Tom and I dressed up too!
We stopped at all of the houses in their Hope Valley Farms neighborhood. My feet were thankful that the houses are placed neatly, and close together in rows! :)
Garrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhh! (Pirate less threatening when holding a lady bug, eh?)
Here are Lilly, Toby (as a zombie) and myself - (NOTE: Do not put white makeup on chin if you have more than one!) LOL!
The costume was perfect for Lilly. I was so thrilled when I saw this months back since I always call her Lady Bug, or Liddy Bug, or Bug, or Lady Buggers, or Buggers...LOL!
Exhausted bug and inevitable cavities! 
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
New York City October 2008
Tom, Lilly and I recently visited NYC. We were there for a conference, but took Lilly to enjoy some of the sites that only NYC has to offer. I've broken down the blog into sections as opposed to chronology. ENJOY! Reminder - if you click on the picture, it will show it to you in full size! :)
New York City - Central Park
Friday, October 24th was supposed to be the nicest day during our trip. Tom, Lilly and I spent the crisp, sunshiney day strolling through Central Park. We had a delightful time! CP is gorgeous at this time of year!
Here are some pics of us in the park!
Tom and LG in "the mall" -
The 3 of us at the end of "the mall" - 
This photo is one of my favorites and of particular sentiment! Tom and I danced in the same place, to the tune of the same sax player on our honeymoon. We were tickled to include Lilly in our dance!
Me and LG in the "sheep meadow" - To enforce the quiet nature of the “Green” as it was then called, a flock of sheep was added in 1864. A Sheepfold was built across the drive in 1870 and twice a day a shepherd would hold up carriage traffic, and later automobiles, as he drove the animals to and from the meadow. 
After the sheep had been banished to Brooklyn, the Sheepfold was converted into what is now the world famous restaurant Tavern on the Green. Tom and I love eating at Tavern on the Green - another place that we visited for the first time on our NYC honeymoon. Here is the link! Check out the neat rooms! We like the crystal room the best; and the gardens are exquisite! www.tavernonthegreen.com
Different from the romance and fun dining experience of our honeymoon, this time we had LG! We took "shifts" in enjoying the delicious courses. The snooty people did not share in our enthusiasm of having LG with us. (I remember hating people who coo'ed over babies, brought 800 bags, strollers, to nice places, etc.! Now I am one of them!)
Here is Lilly deciding whether or not she likes New York Cheese Cake! We were never quite certain of her final verdict!
We enjoyed the carousel a lot! Lilly was fascinated with all of the bright colors, fun, very loud music and her mother's laughter in her ear! 
A carousel had been in operation at Central Park since 1871. The original carousel was powered by a blind horse and mule. The current carousel was manufactured by the Stein & Goldstien Company of Brookyln, for a trolley terminal outside Coney Island. The carousel was moved to its present location when a fire destroyed the previous one in the in the fall of 1950. This carousel features the largest hand carved figures ever constructed. The outside horses are 3/4 the size of an actual horse, A Ruth Sohn band organ playing Wurlitzer 150 music roUs provides the music and is original to the carousel. To this day the carousel and its figures are hand painted.
I think this is the coolest merry-go-round EVER!
Lilly learns to (really) shop!
So, the highlight of NYC for me, of course, is the SHOPPING! From the knock-offs offered from huge suitcases on Canal Street to first class shopping at Bloomingdale's, I found it necessary as a mother to introduce LG to the many glorious shopping retreats that NYC has to offer!
FIRST STOP: CANAL STREET
Tom loves shopping on Canal Street; but with having a new motorcycle made him especially excited to hunt for leather bargains along the many city blocks of Chinatown. I enjoy looking for cute accessories to spruce up my work outfits - refusing, however, to buy any Tiffany knock-offs. This is one designer that I cannot stand to adorn a counterfeit.
We bundled Lilly up and hit the streets. Keep in mind that many of the store fronts are just that...fronts. If you act interested in, say, a particular handbag when accosted on the street by a cute Asian woman who whispers "Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Chanel PUSS" (they cannot pronounce the r's very well), you will be led to a store front that opens into basements, back alleys and convoluted stairways that lead you to the ultimate bizarre of counterfeit purses, luggage, jewelry, etc. It's almost like entering Batman's secret bat cave in order to find the perfect Burberry purse or fake Rolex. When you enter, others get on walkie-talkie's to signal to street look-outs that there is a potential buyer and to be on the look-out! It's strange, but not scary. We were actually there when there was a raid on a particular street corner. Guess the look-out wasn't doing such a great job because we saw a man in handcuffs being escorted by a cop; HUGE suitcase in tow. BTW, it is not illegal to BUY the knock-off, but it is illegal to SELL them. Not everything is of the underground nature; there are cool pashminas, jewelry, feng shui, tourist stuff, etc. lining the streets.
Here is LG bundled for a day of excitement. You can tell by her cheeks that it was a little chilly!
She stayed warm all cuddled up to her dad!
Here I am in HEAVEN! Can you imagine? 20 city blocks of displays just like this?
Of course since we were in Chinatown, we stopped for a lunch at an authentic Chinese restaurant. We found a gem a couple of blocks out from the hustle and bustle of Canal Street. We were the only non-Asians there. They actually cut the meat for your meals right in front of you (see behind LG). It was yummy! But I'd prefer to believe that the chicken/pork/beef that I eat does not look like this at any point in time before consumption!
We wore her out. So much fashion and fun in one day.
We then introduced LG to the extreme sport of a NYC taxi ride! I would like to live there and be a taxi-driver just so I can be exempt from any traffic laws! There are no lights, lanes - one of our drivers actually hit a pedestrian! 
NEXT STOP: MACY'S
Too crowded. I can shop Macy's in NC. Snooooooooooooze. Other than the fact that it is so huge, Tom, LG and I were bored rather quickly. LG picked out a bag for Grandma, then we were OUTTA THERE! 
NEXT STOP (and my personal favorite): BLOOMINGDALE'S
We left dad home for this spree! Too many designer boutiques to be draggin' a man around! LOL! Seven stories and a city block of the best names in fashion beautifully laid out for the enthusiastic shopper (with stroller)! Here is LG with the Bloomingdale's guide/map deciding where she wants to visit after shopping in the Burberry boutique! BTW, the outfit she is wearing is one that GMa bought for her before she was born at the Bloomies in WPB! :)
LG shopping for Chanel - (sorry Alicia!)
FINAL STOP: AMERICAN GIRL PLACE
My mom got me started loving the American Girl doll! WE then passed this love on to Alicia and Alyssa. The dolls are adorable, represent historic eras that teach about various periods in America and instill wonderful values. The girls always often recieve gifts for their American Girl dolls that we've gotten for them over the past couple of years. Tom, LG and I visited the American Girl store (signature store) in NYC. Although we enjoyed our shopping, we missed the girls so much. This place is right across the street from Sax Fifth Avenue, has 4 floors and is exactly like a big city department store, with elevators/escalators, departments representing different doll products, etc. There is a cafe where you can dine with your doll - they even have booster seats, a hospital for injured dolls, a salon for the dolls, a portrait studio and BEAUTIFUL displays! Even tom enjoyed the magic! Here are a few of our favorites! Girls - don't look at what we are holding in our hands - you might ruin some Christmas surprises!
Tom and Lilly at the salon (for the dolls, of course!)
American Girl stylist:
Tom poses for a picture in front of one of the Felicity Doll diplays - (Alicia has this one! She's one of my favorites!
Christmas outfit displays - Alicia, don't look at this one!
Another Felicity display - We took this one because Alyssa loves the horse items!
After all of the shopping - look who is "too pooped to pop!" <---- my mom says this! I, on the other hand, was out and about! :)
