Last Thursday we had our first overnight stay away from Lily to celebrate our 5 year anniversary. We got a room at Riverside Hotel & Casino near Iowa City. I had heard good things about the rooms there and it did not disappoint! Justin and I had such a fun time just being a young carefree married couple. We ate dinner at the steakhouse that was there, enjoyed the jacuzzi in our room and then had massages in the morning before we left. We stayed up late and slept in the next morning - just like the old days! :) And while we were celebrating "us", Lily was having an equally good time at the Benton's, playing with their little boy Ethan and with their big orange kitty, Henry, who she apparently found endearing. Praise God for an awesome getaway for us all and for blessing our marriage in numerous ways the past five years!
Sleeping in a king size bed is always a treat!
The jacuzzi
Yep, you're seeing that correctly. The shower opened up to the rest of the room. Very unique. That's the jacuzzi in the room off to the right. Justin had fun with the electric powered shower curtain. :)
Justin wanted to get a close-up of the flower in my hair. It actually clips onto one of Lily's headbands but I thought it would be fun & cute to wear with my outfit for the evening!
Hot Hubby
At dinner
I love when a hotel room provides robes!
Here's to another 60 years of marriage.
It truly does get better with time!
I'm reading a book right now about the role of wives and I really like this quote - I think it sums up marriage pretty well.
"God gave imperfect women to imperfect men so they can be heirs together of the grace of life and become something more together than either one of them would ever be alone."
What a glorious age! I am loving every part of this stage in Lily's life. Yes, even the discipline part! She's starting to understand obedience a little bit more and so I can see that she's learning during those teachable moments. Some other things I am loving - Lily will sit still to read books or be read to. She is still taking 2 solid naps a day like clockwork. Her vocabulary has exploded! She delights in "helping" me do things around the house. She has formed a strong friendship with her "puppy" (stuffed animal, not Jax) and "baby" (doll) and likes to include them in whatever activity she's doing. Yesterday when we were at the park, she insisted that "baby" go down the slide too. She is becoming a little less picky about the foods she will try.
She also likes to practice jumping:
Every day she seems to say a new word. I love that she is so verbal. As of today, the words that Lily can say are: mommy, daddy, lily, jax, baby, puppy, gaga (grandma), papa, trav (uncle travis), k (kristen), jon, molly, joel, ty, max, auggie (my uncle's dog), uh oh, please, more, all done, all gone, outside, car, plane, tractor,stinky, duck, bear, pig, kitty, bird, fly, shoe, again, ni-night, hello, hi, bye-bye, milk, cracker, cheese, apple, hot dog, pizza, hot, wet, no, yeah, up, blankie, ball, touchdown, work, tickle, go, jump, peekaboo, bible, jesus, amen, slide, bath, book and love you.
We've been working on counting but she will only say "2, 2, 2...". I happen to think it's pretty darn cute though. She will repeat the alphabet after me and the letter sounds.
She's developed some signature looks like this one.
She does a good job at playing independently during blanket time:
She has one speed right now: FASTER. Which is why she frequently ends up with bumps, bruises and scrapes. She'll come over and hold out the body part that she hurt for us to "kiss it all better".
She loves to take things in and out of boxes/bags, play with puzzles and do just about anything outside. She also likes the Baby Einstein Old McDonald video. Gasps every time she hears an airplane or train. Prays at mealtime and bedtime and finishes with a softspoken, "Amen".
Every night she sleeps with her puppy, baby and blankie.
LOVES crackers. Of any kind. Will answer most questions with "No". So we've been working on responding with "Yes, Mommy." :) Likes to give and receive butterfly kisses.
Is a ham. This was Lily's idea of everything she needed before she could start eating lunch the other day.
So this is sort of a way of bottling up this beautiful age of 18 months. But living in the present, that's the best part of all! I hope you've enjoyed seeing what it's like to be with Lily each and every day. Great, huh?
We love our Lily Maren. I can hardly believe she's only been in our family for a year and a half. You know what they say - time flies when you're havin' fun!
Early this last week, it was great weather for a day at the zoo. So we spontaneously decided to go after Lily woke up from her nap. There was hardly anyone else there so we took our time looking at all of the animals and finally rode the train for the first time. We're looking forward to a couple more trips before the weather turns too cold and of course, Night Eyes next month!
Saturday evening we went to a Cardinals game. We weren't sure if Lily would be able to stick it out for the whole game but she was very entertained and did a great job of entertaining those around us as well! We were glad we made it til the end because the game was close and they came out with the win! Go Cards!
We thought it was quite amusing that Lily still fit in her Cardinals onesie that she wore last year so we decided that all of us would wear the same thing again!
"Buy me some peanuts and cracker jacks..." (or oyster crackers)
I think this was around the 7th inning stretch. Lily was starting to get goofy and she loved it when "the wave" went around the stadium. I think it circled maybe 4 times around and she'd throw up her arms and go "wooooo!"
Last weekend we traveled to St. Louis to visit my mom's side of the family. This was the first time I'd gone there without my parents so that was different and fun. We stayed with my uncle Jerry, who is just plain enjoyable to be around. Friday night he hosted a get-together at his house and we got to catch up with the rest of the extended family that lives in the area. Lily and her cousin Mackenzie are just 3 months apart and this was the second time they've seen each other. Last year they weren't old enough to interact with one another so it was fun to watch them play and laugh.
We went to Lily's 18 month check-up last week. Everything was great! I have lots to update on where she's at developmentally so for now, I'll just leave you with her current stats and some fun pictures from her visit.
Weight: 21.1 lbs. (15th percentile)
Height: 30.5 in. (25th percentile)
Head: 18.25 in. (74th percentile)
She will now sit long enough to read a book. I'm loving that part of this stage!
Yesterday I participated in a flash mob for the first time. It was soooo much fun! We were at the downtown farmer's market so there was a large crowd there for when we spontaneously erupted into our dance moves! Justin missed recording the first dance which was a guy dancing by himself and he was pretty good. So enjoy this video, which also features a couple little cutie girls who were watching. :)
We went out on a date last night to Miyabi-9 which we'd heard from several people that it was "the best sushi in Des Moines". It was great! Then we hung out at Smokey Row for a little while and I must say, my Snicker Latte was a treat!
Justin eating octopus.
Which reminds me of this picture taken in Kauai of him eating octopus.....
Sushi rolls. Yummy!
Justin's a pro with chopsticks. Me? Not so much.
LOVE
The hot guy I get to wake up next to every day!
Stealing a sip of Justin's chocolate malt at Smokey Row
We were married in September of 2006 and have become a family of four with the addition of our precious gifts from God, Lily in March of 2010 and Silas in December of 2012. Our dog, Jax, is an added joy to the mix and is learning what it means to share the attention around here! We're hoping this will be a great way to stay in touch with those we love, both far and near.
