Lili at 6 Months

May was a crazy month for us with preschool ending, the start of swim team for Dallin, and swim lessons for Gavin.  Lili was a champ through it all.  She caught naps when she could and handled the hot weather while watching the boys. At Lili's 6 month appointment she weighed in at 12 pounds 2 ounces and was 24 inches tall.  She is still under the 2nd percentile, but because she is steadily growing the doctor isn't worried. She is just a tiny girl.  Although she looks like a 3 month old, Lili acts like a 6 month old baby.  She rolls around and really likes to move. She loves her bouncy toy, grabbing onto things including blankets, your shirt, fingers or anything she can get her hands on. Lili is very popular where ever she goes because she is such a cute, sweet baby.

Lili wearing the dress my mom made me for my blessing day.

With Grandma on Mother's Day wearing the dress she made for me

Lili loves this toy and can spend a long time in it before getting bored. In this picture, she discovered the mirror and really liked looking at herself!

Lili catching a nap at a swim meet.

Ready for Memorial Day

Lili has never enjoyed toys before now because she was such a sleepy baby.  During month 6 she became alert and ready to play!

 

Hanging with her brothers.  I love watching the relationship grow between the three of them. These boys love their sister!

 Giggling Lili

Snuggling in her blanket

 Lili's "I don't want to take pictures" face

 Lili does smile, but when she sees the camera light, this is the face I get.  Still cute!

Lili had an accident this month that really scared us.  While at swim practice, I put Lili down in her car seat which was in her stroller.  I didn't buckle her in because she was a little fussy and I knew I would have to pick her up again. In the couple of seconds that I turned my back to watch Dallin swim backstroke, Gavin came over to play on the stroller (without realizing Lili was in it) and pulled the handle down.  Lili flew out of the stroller and hit the ground. The next little while was crazy emotional as I got her calm and checked out any injuries.  I am convinced that she had an angel watching over her because she had no bumps and didn't suffer at all from the fall.  I on the other hand was an emotional wreck the whole night.  That incident on top of getting the news from our lawyer that Lili's adoption finalization was getting pushed back a few months because of a problem (a long story but hopefully everything will get worked out for us to finalize in a few months) was a lot to handle without a flood of tears! We feel very blessed that our little girl is healthy and doing so well.

Playing Catch Up and a BIG Announcment!

My blogging has been a little sparse the last few months. There are many reasons. Here are just a few. (If you read through the whole post, then you will be rewarded with our big announcement!)

Zane decided to do Tough Mudder in April. We trained together although I definitely didn't sign up to actually race.  Zane tried to convince me to join him in October for his next one. Jumping in freezing water and being electrocuted just aren't my thing. He had a great time and is looking forward to the next one.

His group before the race nice and clean

 The group right afterwards minus Zane and another guy.  They got separated from the group some how.

 Zane looks super tough especially with the number on his forehead!

 

In April as part of my job at church, (we have a lay ministry where everyone in the congregation has something they are responsible for) I helped organize and put on a special night for the women from 11 different congregations in our area.  I was in charge of the music (which has nothing to do with the picture below).  I spent a good two months finding music, finding the right people to sing/play instruments in the different groups, organizing a choir of 16 and 17 year old girls, and attending rehearsals.  The night turned out wonderfully and all the time was well worth it!

I have had a lot of cell phone problems lately.  My first iphone was lost/stolen while I was playing outside with the kids.  It very well could have been taken by Gavin and thrown down the drain.  I didn't keep my cell phone in my pocket because with my otter box it is too bulky. Luckily we could replace my iphone with a free phone because Zane's contract was up.  A month later while outside again, I placed my phone on the back of my mom's car before running down the street to save Gavin from fire ants.  My mom, not realizing the phone was on the back of her car, left.  My amazing phone stayed on my mom's car for two or so miles through many turns out of my neighborhood until if fell off in a busy intersection.  I found the phone using the Find My Phone feature and drove out to the intersection.  After a few u-turns, I strategically parked my car in the middle of the road, jumped out and grabbed the phone, and off we went. I was lucky we weren't hit.  Can you imagine the conversation with Zane when I told him the phone was ran over by a few cars and our car was hit by another? Zane and I thought for sure this phone was dead, but we have an awesome friend who replaced the screen for us and the phone works great!  Amazing!  Luckily I have kept this phone safe.

Preschool ended with a bang in May!  I made a DVD of the kids doing different activities and then a slide show of pictures for graduation.  This class was awesome and we had a great year.  I'm so proud of Dallin and how well he has done.

Zane and I became swim team parents in May.  More on swim team later but we loved being swim team parents and watching Dallin learn so much!

Getting ready to watch Dallin swim.

After spending how many weeks in the hot sun watching Dallin at swim lessons, I decided it was time to chop off my hair. It was 107 degrees today so I think this hair style will be a lot cooler!
 

And lastly, we are moving!  After eight years in our first home, we have decided to move to a bigger home in a whole new area.  We are pretty nervous about this because we are leaving the comfort of friends and being close to my sister (and most likely my brother will move back to this area when he is done living in Europe). Zane and I decided though that we needed to live close to downtown where Zane works so that we can have him home earlier at night to be with us. Everything has fallen into place nicely.  We found our new home through a friend before it had gone on the market and then were able to sell our home again to a friend before we put it on the market. We feel so blessed to have everything work out so nicely and especially that we avoided having to show our house and keep it immaculate. June has been crazy as we were getting the house ready to move and get all the paperwork done. We will most likely close the end of July/beginning of August. I will get pictures of our new house soon (I need to go back and take some!)

More updates soon with all the fun things the kids have been doing!

Getting Cuter and Cuter: Lili at 5 Months

Lili is showing her personality and it is so fun to see! She is probably around 11 pounds.

Laughing at the fan.

One thing we are worried about is how much she drinks.  Lili still prefers to sleep over eating so sometimes I have to get her to sleep at night, then pull out her paci in exchange for the bottle as we try to tank her up for the night.  She drinks better while sleeping.  

She started eating rice cereal this month.  Eating cereal isn't her favorite either.

This month she started using her feet to move around on her back.  It is all by accident and she doesn't realize where she is going.  Lili kicks and squirms so much that she can move across the floor.  While kicking and squirming she sometimes rolls from her back to her front.

  

If you look in the upper right corner, you can see the pad that she was on before she started kicking herself across the floor.

 Lili is so fun to hold, snuggle with, and play with. 

Lili started noticing her toys and reaching out for them.  It is fun to watch her as she discovers her world!

Joining in for bedtime stories

  

Lili is smiling more and more and the boys favorite game is to figure out how to make her smile.  She is such great entertainment for them!

Dallin/Transformer trying to get Lili to laugh

Daddy tickling Lili

Lili's first (but not last) time being thrown in the air.  I don't think Zane actually threw her thank goodness.  I think you need to weigh more than 11 pounds to be thrown in the air. :)

Lili unfortunately is going through a rough time with her hair.  She sleeps with her head turned to the side so she is losing hair on both sides.  She also rubs her head on the back and is losing hair there too.  The top is growing great though.

Enjoying the Bumbo.  The Bumbo is a great solution to getting Lili off her head and giving her hair a break!

Lili has a lot to put up with.  She lives with two very silly boys.

Lili is very patient though.

I've no doubt that she will be one tough girl!

Liliane at 4 months and Getting lots of Love

Lili at four months impresses everyone.  She weighed 10 pounds, 10 ounces and was 22 inches long.  She still seems really tiny for 4 months except for her chunky cheeks.  They are great kissable cheeks!  Lili is doing well sleeping through the night although we still get up a couple of times to put her paci in her mouth.  She really likes her paci.  This up and down every hour on the hour from about 4 a.m. on can get annoying, but we don't have to feed her. 

Lili came alive this month.  If you are lucky, she will give you a smile.  It melts our hearts.  She also giggles and coos.  She is aware of her surroundings and will follow you with her eyes.  This has become Dallin's favorite game.  While she is lying on the floor, he will run around her and just follows his every movement with her eyes and smiles. The boys love getting reactions from her.

Lili is strong for her age.  She rolled over when she was really young, then stopped and is now rolling over again.  Even the doctor commented on how strong she is.  She is starting to grab onto items.  A rattle is still to thick for her tiny hands, but she will grab onto my shirt, her clothes, and her bibs and try to get them in her mouth.  She wants everything in her mouth!

Lili is such a wonderful, calm baby.  She struggled with constipation this last month and we probably heard more crying than ever before.  She is doing much better now and is back to her happy, content self.

Her brothers fight over who gets to hold her.

And they love playing with her.

She loves playing dress ups.:)  She also loves eating her dresses or anything else for that matter.

 Photo shoots can be difficult for Lili depending on the silliness of the boys.

She may not enjoy them too much.

 But they sure love her!