A week of firsts :) ...and our last week all home together :(

Here's a recap of our last week of 'Freedom' - both George and I start back to work tomorrow and while we will welcome the paychecks, neither of us is looking forward to leaving our little girl!

Here's a picture to give you and idea of why we aren't looking forward to leaving this little girl - this is what we get to wake up to every morning...why wouldn't we want to stay home with her?


We started this 'last' week after spending a great weekend with my brother, Daniel, and his wife, Becca. They came in late last Friday night...

Here's a picture of Lilly waiting for them after we made up the guest bed :)



so after catching up a little bit we all headed to bed, so we could start our Saturday at a decent hour!

We decided to head down to the Westside Market - http://www.westsidemarket.org/ - George and I have been wanting to head down there for forever and I've been meaning to go ever since I moved here...just never happened, so we thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do with Dan and Becca. It was kind of crazy to find some parking, so we decided to head over to a paid lot and walk over. It was a little later in the morning, so we kind of lucked out with getting some fresh fruit and veggies for GREAT prices. I got a big container of blueberries for just $1.99 and you would pay like $4.99 at the grocery store for a container 1/2 the size! We also picked up some homemade perogies - Becca even got some to take home! Since we did get there late, a lot of the 'good' stuff was gone - so we definitely plan to go back another time and probably a little earlier. Lilly was great and slept thru our excursion thru the market - but I know it'll be a place she grows to love going to when she's a little earlier!

After the Market we went and hit a little coffee shop to get something hot to drink, as it was pretty chilly outside! Here are some cute pictures of us from the coffee shop!

Lilly with mommy and Aunt Becca!


Lilly with Daddy and Uncle Daniel - 'Reading the Newspaper' :)


After warming up and doing some tricky maneuvering in the bathroom to change Lilly (I never realized how few places have changing tables :P), we headed over to the Great Lakes Brewery to do the tour of the facility. I know...great parenting...but no worries - Lilly slept the whole time, so she wasn't corrupted, and Uncle Dan and Aunt Becca had a good time!

Here's a picture of Lilly with her Daddy and Uncle Dan and Aunt Becca


After the tour we went to this yummy mexican restaurant, Momocho's Modern Mexican - http://www.momocho.com/home.php - that Dan and Becca had seen featured on a show on TV. The place opens at 5pm and we got there around 5:20ish and there was already an hour and a half wait...guess we should have made reservations...now we know for next time! I think the hostess felt bad for us because we had a baby, because we ended up getting seated within a 1/2 hr. Which was a good thing, because Lilly wasn't too thrilled to be there - she had had a long day and was done with it! I think all she wanted was to nurse and to go to sleep b/c she wanted nothing to do with her bottle - poor George ended up taking her and walking up and down the stairs trying to get her to eat and go to sleep.

Here's a picture of Becca with her fun margarita sampler (I can't wait to try it next time I go and I'm not nursing :))!


So, while it was kind of a hectic meal and rushed, it was absolutely delicious - we definitely recommend it and hope to go back! If you decide to go - you MUST order the sofrito green beans - they were absolutely delicious - even George liked them and he doesn't do green beans!

It was a fun day and Lilly was a trooper! We finished the day off by coming home, putting Lilly to bed, and curling up on the couches and watching 'The Town' - with Ben Affleck, which I probably wouldn't have picked on my own, but it was actually a pretty good movie!

Sunday, we got up and George made us all breakfast and then we started to get ready...Lilly and I had Maria and Kyle's baby shower to go to and Dan and Becca needed to get on the road to head home!

Lilly and Aunt Becca before getting ready:


Here is a picture of Lilly with her Uncle Dan and Aunt Becca just before we/they left:




It was so good to see them and we had a great time visiting with them! Thanks so much for making the trek up guys!

Lilly and I had a good time Maria and Kyle's Baby shower! We can't wait to welcome their little girl! Lilly was a little fussy because it was during her nap time and she'd only slept for about a 1/2 hr on the drive down, and it was a bit over stimulating with all the people at the shower, so she was only content while I was holding her for the most part, which was disappointing for everyone that wanted to hold her! But, a few people got to hold her for a little bit! Here is a cute picture of her with our Vera and her girls - Vera is our brother-in-law, Frank's sister. She and her husband are going to be Kyle and Maria's little girl's Godparents, and Kyle and Maria will be Lilly's!



It ended up snowing while we were at the Baby Shower (all our snow had melted), but by the time we left there was at least an inch or two on the ground and we ended up having an ice storm and got another 6+ inches of snow. Here is a picture of Lilly on Monday morning - you can see the ice on the power lines! Thankfully we weren't some of the Thousands that lost power!


And Lilly taking a bath later that morning! I've started scrubbing her back and bottom first before setting her down in the tub - look at how well she is holding up her head!


Monday night, Kyle and Maria went to Babies R Us to pick up a few more items that they still needed and then came over to have dinner with us! George made some delicious Chicken, and I made some yummy asparagus, parmesan lime potatoes, and salad! It was fun to just hang out and catch up with them - we didn't really get to visit at the shower, plus George wasn't there. They also picked up some little gifts for Lilly at Babies R Us - a cute Soccer rattle and a St. Patty's day onesie that says McCutie :) Can't wait to put Lilly in it :) Thanks guys!

We just hung out at home on Tuesday because of the weather and on Wednesday, Lilly and I headed out to Moe's Southwest Grill to meet up with my coworkers, Leah and Lynn, they wanted to see Lilly again since they hadn't seen her since they visited in the hospital. Then we came home and just hung out with Daddy! Here are some more cute pictures :) She really is starting to get such a precious personality!

She LOVES to smile and is starting to giggle :)


Look at those pretty blue eyes!


Sitting up in her Bumbo Chair - still a little lopsided..but we can tell a difference just from last week when I tried her in the chair! Love her look of surprise!


Playing with Daddy!


Check out this smile/laugh!


and hangin out with Mommy...


On Thursday, Lilly and I got to watch her First ever Shuttle launch (on the computer) - she did get to go to one with us while I was pregnant, so technicaly it's her second :) I woke her up to watch it - not that she'll remember it, but I got some cute pictures :)

Sleeping just before the Launch (had to make sure it was going to go before I woke her up).


Just waking up...


Looking at Shuttle Discovery on launch pad...


And we have lift off!!


So cool! It never gets old! Just sad she won't get to see one that she'll remember :(


The rest of the week/weekend we just spent hanging out at home because we had a pretty big snowstorm on Friday it was really just that it was so windy (not too much more snow), but made for some dangerous driving conditions and we were perfectly happy to just hang in since we won't get so much time to do so any time soon!

Here are some pictures of a cool snow drift that we had in our yard between our house and our neighbors!




Our other 'babies' enjoying the snow!

Here's Shelby...


and Skyler...


They Love playing in the snow!


and our little munchkin who was hangin' out inside with her daddy - she's a little too small to enjoy the snow just yet - maybe next year :)


and...what her camo onesie says...in case you were wondering - George got this at the 'Daddy Bootcamp' class he attended. He's such a good Daddy!


So...that is how we spent our 'last' week! Lots of firsts and lots of memories we will remember for years to come! While George being unemployed for the past few months wasn't 'ideal' - it really couldn't have happened at a better time! He was able to get our Kitchen remodel finished, be home for my entire maternity leave, which in turn allowed us to both enjoy our little girl to pieces like we never would have been able to do!!! A true Blessing in disguise!

Please keep us in your prayers over the next few weeks, as I'm sure it will be a hard transition for all of us!

On a happy note - we will be doing a 3mo. photo shoot with Kim ( http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Kimberly-Althausen-Photography/151969411511387 ) sometime this week :) and we are beginning to plan Lillian's Christening, so details to follow on that :)

As I've been telling myself more and more these days - we are truly blessed!!!

Lilly 'Loves to Rock in between naps' :D

We started our day early today, our good friends Ryan and Barb had invited us to come to the music class that they go to with their two little ones. It is really a class geared towards toddlers, they had signed up their 2yr old, but also bring along their new baby girl - so Barb had invited us to come and check it out with Lilly just to see what it was all about. We had a great time and Lilly enjoyed taking it all in - watching the other little kids, singing, dancing, playing instruments, etc. and Lilly loved it! Her outfit said it all - and was quite fitting for the outing today :) Thanks Aunt Mariann! Unfortunately we didn't take any pictures at the class - I forgot my camera :( - but here is a cute picture of just Lilly and her shirt! and this one gives you an idea of how much fun she had :) After the music class we headed over to a sub shop with Ryan and Barb to grab a quick bite to eat, before heading up to the hospital to visit our friends Will and Rachelle and their new baby girl - Ava Katherine - who was born last night! We went together so that we could watch Rowan and Quinn while Ryan and Barb went into visit them and they could watch Lilly while George and I went in to visit. We all had such a great time sharing our pregnancies together and are now looking forward to watching our little girls grow up together - so fun! ! Here's a picture of me holding Ava with Rachelle - the proud new Mommy :) Ava is absolutely precious and it was so crazy holding her - I forgot how tiny they are and it's crazy to think that Lilly was that small just 2months ago...time has flown by so fast! Ryan and Barb were nice enough to take some pictures of Lilly while they were watching her - as you can see she was having a great time! After our visit at the hospital we came home and I fed Lilly before we headed out to take Lilly on her first walk outside - it was in the 50s here today :) a real 'heat wave' here in CLE - what would have made it even more perfect was if the sun was shining, but we'll take the warmer weather! Here's a shot of Lilly all bundled up for the walk :) Lilly with Daddy and Shelby and Skyler - and ready to go! And with Mommy! and the walk... Lilly loved the walk and passed out shortly after we started and woke up when we got home, so we decided to do some tummy time - I was so impressed with how well she was holding her head up today! She amazes me every day with something new! and here are just some more cute pictures! We are so truly blessed with such a sweet sweet girl! Love this smile :) and this laugh :D

So...our little sweet pea is resting now...as we've had a full day and I think we are all exhausted! We are excited for this tomorrow and this weekend as Lillian's Uncle Daniel and Aunt Becca are coming up to visit for the weekend :) We can't wait!

Our Little Valentine!

Our Valentine's Day gift to each other this year was the sweetest one yet - Lillian Grace!

I know I've said it before - more than once - but we are truly blessed with the sweetest little girl and she was by far my favorite Valentine's gift!

We had a pretty low key day, George had to go get a drug test and physical for his new job, and Lilly and I had gone to pick up Yue and drop her off at the airport - so after we finished, Lilly and I went to go meet George for lunch at Panera and George called Kyle - Lilly's furture Nouno (Godfather) - to join us since he works right there! And Lilly loves her Uncle Kyle...


We then came home relaxed and exchanged gifts, before going out to dinner at the Olive Garden with George's sister and our nephews. We had been planning to go out to Houlihan's where we actually had our first date (it was actually for Valentine's Day - before I moved to DC - 6 years ago - WOW I can't believe it's been that long - I tell myself that George realized he was gonna miss me when I was gone...so he finally asked me out on a date! :D), so when we got the call from George's sister, we opted to go with them (We still plan to do our family date another day!), since our Godson/Nephew Gregory's Birthday was the next day!

So we met them for dinner and had a great time with them and then treated Gregory to some ice cream at Malley's. Lilly and I didn't really get to celebrate too much over ice cream - we'd had a pretty busy day and she didn't really get a nap, and when she woke up, she wanted nothing to do with her bottle - so Lilly and I ended up going out to the car to nurse for a bit because she was overtired and couldn't be soothed otherwise - by the time we came back in, they had to head home because the boys still had some homework to do, my ice cream was pretty much melted (I still ate a bit of it with my hot fudge :)), but at least we had a sleeping calm little girl!

We then came home and got Lilly changed and then we had a happy little girl who was quite verbal :)- George was laying down with her making noises and she was just talking away with him - mimicking the noises he was making - it was just precious! So, we all hung out for a little bit longer, enjoying Lilly's gabbing and then George finally got Lilly to take her bottle and off to sleep she went, the poor little thing was exhausted!

All in all we had a great day - filled with love and that's what it's all about - and I LOVE how much we both LOVE this little gift from above!

How is it that you can love someone so deeply...after only 10 weeks?

I had to go to Lewis Little Folks (the Daycare at NASA) today to pick up Lillian's paperwork for her starting Daycare!

Let me just tell you that it was a look into how hard it is going to be to leave her there. Don't get me wrong - the Daycare is a GREAT daycare and I know they will take Excellent care of my little girl - but I know they won't take as good of care of her as I would...yes I know they will grow to love her too...but not as much as I love her!

My heart started to break today while the Director was giving me the details about the packet of information she was giving me. It was all I could do to keep from bursting into tears - I know she saw me choking back tears a few times and I know that when I do finally have to leave Lillian there that I will be leaving in tears!

I know this is going to be an incredibly hard transition for me and Lilly - probably harder on me (or at least harder b/c I will remember it!), but I do know or I at least have to believe, that we will both survive this and in the long run it'll be better for all of us. We will be able to have more money in savings and my school loans will be a thing of the past and we won't have to worry about that - but I can tell you that my #1 priority will be to build up our savings and get my student loans finally paid off, so that I can be home with my little girl full time!

Today ended on a high note though - Lilly and I went to Bunco with the girls and George got to meet up with some college buddies and go snowboarding (lucky duck - I still haven't gotten out on the slopes this year :( - my boarding buddy is preggo - and I have a precious little one I've been tied up with - so it's all good!)!

Also some more excitedment after Lilly and I got home from Bunco - she started to try and roll over :D - we've seen a few attempts but this was the farthest she's gotten :) Check out the pictures - doesn't quite capture it, but gives you an idea :)!


She probably could have done it if I'd put her on a flat surface (she was on the pack n' play changing table - Don't worry I was keeping a close eye on her!) :) Can you tell she is proud of herself :)


It is amazing at how much she has changed in such a short period of time! The girls at Bunco were commenting at how much she's changed in just 3 weeks - when they saw her at Rachelle's baby shower!

Here are just a few other cute pictures I took this past week:

Here Lilly is with her God brother and his Sister - we met up with them at Panera for Lunch on Super Bowl Sunday!


Lillian decked out in her Browns gear to watch the Super Bowl with Daddy (No the Browns weren't playing...but she was in her football gear)!




She really is such a Happy Baby!


Here's another picture of me playing with 'depth of field' (the ball is in focus and Lilly isn't so much)


On Wednesday - We ended up going to visit her cousins.

Getting ready to go visit cousins - Lilly just after her bath - blowing bubbles :)


Here's a picture of Lilly crackin' up in the car - George was in the front seat 'rockin' (i.e. singing) to "Ice Ice Baby" and Lilly just started laughing :) I was lucky enough to catch it with my phone!


Love this picture - Lilly's Theo (Uncle) Frank had her crackin' up!


Here's a picture of her with her 3 cousins - too cute!


...and here is her youngest cousin feeding her - He was so excited to hold her and also get to feed her!


Another BIG Highlight this week was that George got TWO job offers this week! Praise God! He got an offer to come back to ASRC (my company and where he was before) - they finally got funding for a new task (we are so appreciative of ASRC continuing to look for a new task for George), and he also got an offer from DuPont!

Yesterday, he decide to accept the offer with DuPont - in the long run it will be a better opportunity for him and we feel it is best that we aren't with the same company even though we are on different project, we feel it would be more stable to have us with different companies...even though nothing is necessarily 'stable' these days! But, we are excited about his opportunity at DuPont and with him starting work again means I'm all that much closer to being able to stay home full time :)

So - all in all it's been a good week - we are truly blessed and couldn't love our little girl anymore and we are so thankful that George has a new Job!! God is so good!