Tag, I'm It!!!

If you have a blog and your reading mine then you have been tagged!!

10 years ago...I was enjoying the summer before my senior year of high school, mostly swimming and working as a life guard, and spending time at the beach.

5 years ago...I was having a very busy summer; I had graduated undergrad from NCSU in May, training for my first ironman race in FL in Nov, and getting married in August.

1 year ago...I was starting to think about having a family, and still working at GSK with a house in Morehead City. I was not racing much due to a busy 2006.

5 things on my to do list today:

bike ride

swim

laundry

grocery store

write a letter to Bobby

5 snacks I enjoy:

Healthy: cold watermelon, cold apple with pb, fruit smoothie, carrots with ranch dressing, and banana bread

Sweet: twizzlers, ice cream (goodberries-yummmm!), nilla waffers, heath bar sundae from baskin robbins, and katie dugans' chocolate chip cookies

If I were a billionaire I would:

pay off my and my family's debts

donate money in honor of each person I know to a charity of their choice

buy a small island and have all my friends/family visit for a month

hire a chef and a dish-washer

let Fitz, Lilly and my parents chase their dreams

6 people I want to have lunch with:

Fitz, Lilly, my Pappy, my dad's Mom and Dad (because I never got to know them), and Heath Ledger.

5 places I have lived:

Jacksonville, NC

Morehead City, NC

Raleigh, NC

Cary, NC

Durham, NC

(and back to Morehead City, NC-full circle)

5 jobs I have had:

lifeguard at a pool

worked at a fish market

TA for general biology

Scientist (researcher at GSK)

Mom to Lilly

5 things few know about me:

I can find 4 leaf clovers

I have a large scar on my leg from shaving when I was 12

I have 5 tattoos

I am an organ donor

I would love to learn a second and third language

Useful Products for New Mommy's ... at least in my opinion.

I'm not sure how important anyone finds my opinion, but I will share it anyhow. We have had alot of luck with the Pamper's Swaddlers diapers (no so with huggies brand). I'm not sure if it's just my baby, but we have had leaks only with the huggies and none so far with the pampers. The other item we have been trying is cloth diaper "systems," I have both covers that you put cloth diapers into and "all in one" models. They both have their pros and cons. My test products have been: Bum-genius 3.0 for the all in one model, and the Bummis Super Whisper Wrap for the cover. Price-wise they are nearly equal if the wrap ends up getting dirty and can only be used once. The pros are they are easy to clean and clean up very well. The 3.0 is a single use diaper, but is very easy to put on because it's all in one just like a disposable. The Wrap can be used more then once if it ends up getting dirty. I have not tested any over night because that seems to much to worry about after the 2am feeding. I can average about 5 cloth diapers a day and then I clean them each night (sort of a pain, but so far it has not really been a problem). Nursing products I have been happy with are LilyPadz nursing pads. They are silicon pads and although are not absorbent are more comfortable then the disposable pads. Also, the nursing tanks by Glamormoms are great for both home and being out. I'm sure there are more things I could comment on, but I'll stop for now.

In other news, Mr. Fitz has been working his head off for the P-P-ed not only is he working full days when the sun is up, he goes back to work after the sun goes down until near or after midnight. So we are rarely alseep at the same time, since when he's headed there; I'm getting up for the second feeding of the night. Sometime that will change!!

Tomorrow my Aunt Elise and cousin Kit come into town for a visit and to meet Little Lilly. Then at the end of the week more company comes; my Uncle Matt, Leslie, Wes, and my cousins Issac and Andrew. Then more company comes for the weekend; my Uncle John, Aunt Jan, and cousins Rachel, Janine and Stevie. We don't have any real plans; we can go surfing, hit the aquarium, walk around downtown Morehead and Beaufort, and then just hangout of course. Here's to family making the effort to get together!! Cheers!!

Slightly Productive.....but Mostly Lazy Day!

It started out to be a productive day with working out, and getting small jobs accomplished (like finished the screens for the windows; and decorating Lilly's room, and laundry), but as you can see by photo number 4, two of the family members ran in to a nap zone and could not escape. I worked for 3 days on painting the letters to spell Lilliana and put her name up on the wall. First the letters needed to be painted pink, and then the white swirls needed to be added, and then it all had to dry. We also found butterflies to put on the wall to make her room more girly. The butterflies are these really cool wallpaper cut outs and go up with just a bit of water. The final wall is shown above; we still need to work on the wall above her crib; I think we will put photos up there later on. For the evening we are going to my folks house for a First Day of Summer party with ice cream sundaes!!! YEAH!!! Here's to summer and ice cream of course!

Silly Lilly.....

We did a very low key Father's Day, alittle surfing, some El's, napping, more surfing, and then more napping. Lilly (although she did not pose well for the photo in her Father's Day outfit), was the perfect little princess, just continuing to wrap her Daddy around her little finger. Lilly loved the beach, and only got alittle sun, right under her eyes (where I did not put any sunscreen and the reflection off the sand got her). I hate to write this, but she has been sleeping at least one 4 hour stretch at night, allowing me to get alittle shut-eye. The last picture is of Lilly sucking her thumb....for those who don't know....I was a BIG thumb sucker as a baby/child...so much so that when I broke my sucking thumb, I just moved on to the other thumb. I am NOT encouraging her thumb sucking, and she only did it enough for me to take the photo, but none the less; it was funny to see more similarities between she and I. I guess she really is my baby!!

Beach Baby...Beach Baby....

We did a trip to the beach early in the morning to enjoy the fact that Fitz was off again today and because the sun was shining and because we CAN!! There were no waves worth riding on a surf board so we decided to just relax and listen to the waves crash on the shore. Of course we don't travel anywhere without the camera now so when some chances arose for photos ops...we were ready. As you can tell by the final photos, the water was too cold for little Lilly to get her feet wet, but we are going to keep trying because she's going to have to be a "beach baby." Hopefully, if I keep posting beach photos, some of our friends who don't live at the beach will feel the need to put their toes in the sand and come down for a visit!!!

Cute baby and a birthday!!

I turned 27 yesterday, and it was a different birthday form years past. The day started with a morning of calming a fussy-wussy baby, then she was shipped to my Mom's for the lunch hour so Mr. Fitz and I could have an "adult lunch." So to the Beaufort Grocery we go, dressed up from our normal everyday wear...only to have a family of 5 seated next to us....and the first thing that is little girl did was to pock me on the arm and say hi. Now, NORMALLY I don't mind cute little kids, but you know when you make the special effort to try and be D.I.N.Ks again (dual income no kids) .... and there are kids...well you get the picture. However, the day was beautiful and Mr. Fitz had taken off work so we got to hang out and enjoy being a little family... Later on in the evening we made my birthday cake....funfetti of course...in the shape of a giant cupcake (curiosity of my folks as a b-day gift). I can't wait for someone else to have a birthday so I can make them a giant cupcake!!!!!

Kick Ass Cook-out!
So we did it, we took the plunge and tried a longer drive with Lilly. We made the trip to Raleigh to attend a cookout hosted by our friends Mike and Jackie. It was so great to see everyone and we got to surprise most people our presence, since we had originally RSVP-ed that we would not be able to make it. There was a large group of people and kids ready to party, so a fun time was had by all. Then we got to sleep in the most excellent "Man Cave," and Lilly only woke up 3 times during the night. Then on Sunday, I first got my butt kicked by 2 pregnant ladies running in the morning. I chalk it up to a lack of sleep and recovery due to Lilly not sleeping more then about 3 hours straight. We then made the trek from the Lake Johnson area in Raleigh to North Raleigh to visit out friends Jay, Emily, and Kate and Scot and Stephanie with their new baby Camryn. It was so nice to see everyone and introduce Lilly to all of our friends. The photos above are as follows: Grace and Finn on their first date (just kidding), Finn and his Mom pool side, Jordan "partying like a rock star" in the pool, Sean looking older then his 2.5 years, and Katie helping Grace put her feet in the water. There are no photos of Lilly because Fitz was busy playing Corn-Hole, and Stonehenge.

She's in the 25% for height and weight!!

Lilly had her 2 month check up today with the pediatrician, and she's doing just great. She is in the 25% for height (21.5 inches-up three from birth) and weight (10lbs-up 4.5 lbs from birth). The only thing she needs is a little iron supplement because she came early, otherwise she is just perfect. She got her 3 shots today and did as any baby would do...she cried, but then calmed quickly afterwards. Here's to some good milk!!!

Playing catch-up, with pictures to come later.
We have had a busy few days recently, full of fun (of course). On Friday of last week Fitz's sister, Chrissie, came into town for a weekend visit to meet Lilly. We introduced her to all of the sights, sounds, and tastes of MHC, NC. We took in two days at the beach, a little surfing, some bbq ribs and shrimp, the PKS Aquarium Luigi's pizza, and of course lots of time with Lilly. She is very personable during the day, mostly because she is sleeping. Then Fitz and Chrissie flew out to NY on Monday and with in a few hours the house was full again, this time with my good buddy Dustin and his pooch Dooley. Again, we did the sights, sounds and tastes of MHC with the Sanitary Restaurant, Bountiful Bagel, the PKS Aquarium, beach time, and of course more Lilly time. Lilly really likes to nap by the ocean in her little pop-up tent made for one. I think she likes the sound of the waves, and birds and such; just like her Mom. I have not really had time to workout recently, but hopefully that will happen soon again. Lilly has a doctor's appointment on Friday for her two month check-up. She will be getting shots, and weighted and such. We can't wait to see how much she weights....she got some cheeks on her!?!?!