Lily's 6 Month Portraits!

I forgot to post some of Lily's 6 Month Portraits!!! (no more professional pictures until 9 months!) I feel like we have taken so many pictures of Lily bean, but it's so hard not to! Ok, I lied about waiting until 9 months, she has a photo shoot on Tuesday but only because she's going to be on the cover of the Rio Grande Valley Kids Directory! It's the March cover, but we're shooting it now. She has to wear something "springy", I have a few options...I'm thinking either a shorts/tank outfit or a green polka dot dress...decisions, decisions.

Here are a few of her pictures! She was sick, but she still managed to be adorable!

Baby Girl's First Christmas

Since Lily was sick we didn't go out of the house this Christmas. I was so excited to dress her up and show her off to family, but with her being sick my plans had to change a little. I didn't want to take her out and have her passed from person to person (germ infested person to germ infested person). She's just starting to get better and I didn't want all of my hard work of sheltering her to be for nothing. Lily's first Christmas was really laid back. We just woke up early and opened gifts. We stayed in PJ's all day long and played with a couple of her new toys. She got so many gifts, it was nuts! I put most of them away and I'll bring them out a couple at a time and put a couple away too. It's just way too much and she doesn't really know the difference. Over all I'm really pleased with the way the day went. I had envisioned "baby's first christmas" very differently when I was pregnant, but at the end of the day it was perfect. A smile on her face and wrapping paper in her mouth :) Just PERFECT! I hear the second Christmas is better because they understand a little better and they get really excited....we'll see. I could never have guessed what this Christmas would be like, so I wont start thinking about next either! Here are some pictures of princess Lily on Christmas morning.

Being cozy while we round up her uncles

The first gift she opened!

All of her gifts! She got a carseat and a walker (from Grandpa Felix), a play pen, countless toys, clothes, curtains, and elf on a shelf (from Grandma Norma) for next year.

Lily's dad spoiled her as well! He got her tons of toys!

Thank you for this walker Grandpa Felix!!!

Lily's Sick :(

So, in the previous post I mentioned that Lily had gotten her first illness. Well I took her for her vaccines appointment with the doctor and it turns out she was too sick for vaccines. I was pretty sure that was going to happen because she had the sniffles and I know that typically doctors don't give vaccines when baby's immune system is low. What I was NOT expecting is for them to tell me that Lily had a VIRUS! I mean, I guess an illness can be either a virus or a bacteria, but when they told me they were going to test her for the flu virus and the rsv virus, I did not expect either test to come back positive. They swabbed the inside of her nose (painless) and left to run the test. Fifteen minutes later the results were positive for rsv, which is basically a bad bad cold. AAAAAAANNNNNDDDDDDD commence water works....I don't know why I started to cry, but I just couldn't help it. Lily wasn't crying and everything the doctor was saying was very reassuring, "very common", "easy to treat", "she'll be fine", etc. I guess I just wasn't ready to hear that my baby had "tested positive for a virus", those words are just scary. Also I guess I always just assumed that breast feeding created a magical force field that protected her from any illness EVER (I'm only half kidding).

The doctor gave me a decongestant and prescribed a breathing treatment (with a nebulizer). The nebulizer caused me to cry just a little harder. Again, the doctor was very reassuring, "breaks up congestion quicker because it goes straight to the lungs", "only takes about 5 minutes", "common form of treatment". Still though, the fact that I need to treat Lily with a MACHINE, was just too much to handle on top of the whole "baby has a virus". The doctor put his hand on my shoulder and was basically choking back laughter and said, "Everything is going to be OK". I KNOW THIS! I'm just emotional. She's my first baby and it's just overwhelming.

That was on Thursday, today is Sunday and she's doing very well. Three days of breathing treatment and it's not as hard or overwhelming as I imagined. She does gag and (depending on if she has a full stomach) spit up after she takes her medicine. I feel bad for her everytime! So, doctor said she would not be herself for 7 - 10 days and her cough could linger up to a week longer. Luckily she has NOT had a fever (knock on wood). Here are some pictures of my Lily bean on her six month birthday.

Waiting in the lobby for our appointment with the pediatrician...not at all expecting her to have a VIRUS!

My super sick baby before her breathing treatment! You'd never guess what wasn't feeling well

Taking her treatment, although, I found it works much better if she's sitting up

The nebulizer

Today we had to get out of the house so I took her out on the swing...she actually fell asleep swinging :) She's so precious!

I can't believe I let the whole month go by...

Month five was quite eventful! Lily learned to sit up on her own, she had her first big holiday, she started solids...she also got her first cold!

The day before Lily turned 5 months she started sitting on her own. I would prop her up and she would stay for a little while. As the month progressed she got much stronger and was able to hold her self up much better. Here are a couple pictures...the beginning of the month and then towards the end of the month.

Lily went to visit the doctor and he was really impressed that she was sitting up on her own before turning 6 months :) I was pretty proud of my little Lily Bean! Once she got sitting down she started propping her self up on all fours! My mom says I shouldn't be in a hurry to get her crawling, but I'M NOT...baby girl does it all on her own. Here's a picture of her on all fours.

She gets up and rocks back and forth, she doesn't go anywhere though. She's able to scoot backwards sometimes. She's getting stronger and stronger everyday!

So, Thanksgiving was also this month. Lily slept through most of it and since she wasn't eating solids during that time she didn't get to taste anything, but she did get to wear a pretty dress and an adorable romper, and she got to see some extended family.

A couple weeks shy of turning 6 months I went ahead and started Lily on solids. When she was four months old the doctor said she was a chubby girl and that I could skip cereal so I decided to go ahead and do that. I'm still breastfeeding as her main form of food, but I have already introduced sweet potatoes and she's currently on green beans. All of her food is going to be homemade. Next up will be pears and then peaches, then we'll go back to veggies and alternate again. Here's a picture of her first feeding. She eats like she's done it a million times! She's pretty good at keeping her hands back and out of the way.

She did really well and I did post a video at the end of the blog for your enjoyment :)

Also a new fun thing this month was her new swing! It took me 3 months to get my hands on this swing. My dad put it up outside and the very next day it got really cold and it hasn't been swinging weather since! I'm glad she got to enjoy it for that day though, and I'm sure we'll have tons of swinging days soon.

So to cap on her fifth month Lily got her first illness :( Nothing too bad and the doctor said in her first year she would (and should) get sick 3 times. She mostly just has the sniffles. She's on a decongestant and she's doing well. She hasn't been waking up too much.

Lily will be turning 6 months in a couple of days and I can hardly believe that it's been 6 months since I was in the hospital and we were meeting for the first time. It's amazing how fast the time has passed. I look at her and I can't even believe how big she's gotten and how much she can do now. It's like I blinked and she's this totally different baby. No longer just a little blob. She has her own little personality and her own little quirks. Lately she does this thing with her right arm, when she gets excited she flaps it like a little chick. It's hilarious...I'll have to get it on video. She's also babbling A LOT...she's going to be a chatter box like her mommy! Sometimes I swear I hear words, hahaha...but she's still a long way away from saying words and KNOWING what she's saying. In a couple of days she has her 6 month portraits. I'll make sure to post pictures once I've taken them. Hopefully I wont go a whole month without writing again.

Also, I'd like to say congratulations to my good friends Dawn Graustein, Ceci Garza, and Connie Reinhardt. All of these awesome gals welcomed new babies. Dawn had baby Abby, Ceci had baby Delilah, and Connie welcomed her second baby, baby Austin. All cuties!!! Lily has a bunch of new friends :)

We're looking forward to Christmas and hopefully we'll have a lot of pictures to post!

Here's that video of her eating!

Lily is 5 months!

This last month has been the most eventful by far! She's become so much more vocal and engaging and she's got such a unique personality. I can see a little human emerging, no longer just a baby blob. She recently started laughing, which is just amazing! She's also big enough for things like doorway bouncers, exersaucers, jumpers...things like that. She also just started to sit on her own! I sit her up but she stays there for a good while. She's also starting to recognize Dex. She follows him with her eyes and she reaches for him. The other day she was just pounding his back and grabbing his fur and he just laid there. It was so cute! I love to see her learn new things. She loves getting her little baby massages too! After every bath I massage her little body and she just smiles and squeals the whole time. I think she's beginning to be ticklish!

This month I took her to meet Santa (twice)! She met Santa at the photography studio and at the mall! She did great both times! Mall Santa was with Braden and they were dressed like little reindeer, Lily wore a bow on her antler ;)

Lily and Braden are MFEO!!!

So I've decided that Lily and her little buddy Braden are totally Made For Each Other :o) I just love love love to see them interact week after week. Every Monday we get together for a "playdate" and a few times a week we go for walks in the park. I just know they will be best of friends. I know I've said it before, but it's so nice to have someone with a baby the same age as Lily. Jill and Braden have become like family to us. Me and Lily are so lucky to have such great people in our lives. We love them! Here are some of my favorite B and L moments!!!

Just a few weeks old

Lily showing Braden who is boss

Shopping at Target

Baptized together

Handsome and Adorable

First Halloween Pictures

A cute video of the babies :o)

Lily's 3rd Month

Lily's 3rd month was an eventful one. The third month had the most transitions. When she turned 3 months she moved into her own room. As the month has progressed she's gradually dropped her night time feeding. She usually makes it 9 -12 hours straight before waking up! Most recently (at about 3.5 months) she turned from her back to her tummy! Baby girl has strong core muscles! I have adorable video of her doing it!

Also in the third month my mom, my grandma, Lily, and I took professional photos. All four generations. I know it will be a great memory for Lily when she's older. My grandma was 50 when I was born and my mom (Lily's grandma) is also 50 (next month). The day we went in to take the pictures we also got to take some of Lily by herself, and they came out so cute! Below are the pictures.

Baptism Week

Lily got baptized this week. She did so good! I took a bottle to the church and fed her when she fussed and then she ended up going right to sleep. She slept through the entire ceremony. It was so sweet :o) When I walked up to the priest I said "she's super asleep", hoping that he would be gentle with the pouring of the water, but no such luck. HE SOAKED her head, but she didn't even bat and eye! Then we stood in line and he came up and rubbed oil ALL OVER her little head, but she still didn't wake up! She woke up at the end of the ceremony when they rang some bells/chimes. She did very good, like the precious angel that she is. The baptism was separated into two ceremonies, one was on Tuesday and the other was Saturday. On Tuesday it was the anointment, she did ok that day. Lily is the luckiest baby to have such wonderful Godparents! Benny and Therese got her her plaid dress, her baptismal gown, her after party dress, a beautiful white embroidered blanket, an adorable white embroidered burp cloth for the ceremony, her little baptism candle and countless other goodies! I look forward to the day when Lily can spend quality time with them. It's such a blessing to have such wonderful people in my life and to be able to have them in Lily's life. They are truly a gift and we love them so much. Here are some pictures of little miss Lily during her big week!

Today was a pretty low key day. I decided that after yesterday Lily needed a day to relax and just hang out at home. I took her into her nursery and sat her in her bumbo and we "played". I showed her some of her toys. She's never really played with anything before. The "baby keys" were a HIT! She's so cute I can hardly stand it! Everyday she learns more and more, but today was the first day that I really felt like she was really interacting with me and her surroundings. She reaches out for my hands and face. She follows things with her eyes and grabs at them. I sat her in her swing and my dad started talking to her and she just started chatting away! She's getting such a unique personality and it's awesome seeing how she changes everyday. She's so loved :o)

Here's some video of Lily with her keys and of little miss chatter box!

New Camera = MORE pictures

I got a present today!  My mother in law got me a new camera.  I'm super pumped because it has a fast shutter speed (I think that's what it's called).  Anyway, it takes photos pretty quickly so I never miss a smile!  I took a few pictures today, but I'll make sure to be taking PLENTY more!

This past Monday my mom, me, my grandma, and of course LILY went to take some professional pictures.  We wanted a picture with all four generations.  I'm not sure how they came out, we'll get to see them on Monday.  We also took some of Lily on her own.  I think those came out cute, but again, I wont know until Monday.

(Ugh, I changed the settings on my blog and now I'm not sure how to make the pictures I just added of Lily any bigger...either way enjoy!)

This Saturday is Lily's baptism day!  Her and Braden (and 3 other little ones) are all going to be baptized.  After the baptism we're having a little get together at my parent's house.  I'm already stressing about it!  I hope I can get organized in time!  I already have all the food and drinks, and supplies.  It's just a matter of tying up lose ends.

I'll try and post some pictures of the four of us and pictures of the baptism on Monday.