Busy week and weekend.

We spent much of last week trying to make decisions...should we get this bronco in Raleigh, should we start feeding Lilly solids foods, and such. So we found a 96 Ford Bronco XLT with manual windows and doors, and no carpet and vinyl seats. It was a state vehicle and it is great condition. We started our trek to Raleigh on Friday after work with the idea that we would be back on the road Saturday afternoon. Well that did not happen, but we did get to do alot; starting with Lilly's pizza for dinner on Friday with Katie and Dugan. Then we headed to see the bronco early on Saturday morning, then we stopped in to see Scot, Stephanie, and Camryn (and give them a tutu for Camryn). Then Katie and I got to visit with Diana and Jason, and chat about the babies. It was so nice to get to sit and chat (rather then run and chat). Then we headed to the NCSU track and field tail gate for some beers and visiting with the boys. We ended up staying over Saturday night, and then I got to run with Tara, Katie, and Catherine on Sunday morning before heading back to Morehead City in our two different cars. After winding down at home it was time to start "solid foods" with Lilly, and it was a MESS!! She could open her mouth, but kept spitting the food back out. Guess we will just need to keep trying!! Yesterday, was Lilly's 6 month appointment; she is 17 lb 2 oz and 25 inches tall. The doctor was very impressed that I had only nursed her for the past 6 months, but said it was time to start on foods. Fine by me!! At least I can start going through the baby food that's frozen away!! On to new baby adventures, and buying a pass for driving on the beach starting tomorrow!! YEAH!!

Recent Photos of Miss Lilly.

I have been trying to be more regular in taken photos of Lilly in hopes of getting that perfect shot that need to be blown up to an 8x10 or at least a 5x7 and go up on the wall in the house. We managed to get some really cute ones last week, when I was sitting outside enjoying the sunshine, and a photos session at the beach. I think I might have some winners in this set. I am hoping to make a trip out of the EI bridge and get some photos in the wild flowers that are planted there. Lilly is doing better at sitting up on her own for a few seconds at a time, and she is getting close to starting on solid foods. Should be exciting?!

And lots of it too!

I think the image is self explanatory, so there is no title for this post, but to tell my story anyhow... Yesterday around 2:45pm, a very nice, young, good looking FedEx driver made a stop at the house to pick up what he may have thought to be some type of NORMAL package for overnight delivery to Raleigh. So he begins scanning the package (which just happens to be a blue cooler-like the ones you would store fish in on a boat) maybe a little strange, but still fairly normal. Then he reads the BIG, RED label affixed next to the FedEx label...stating....CONTAINS HUMAN BREAST MILK, FRAGILE, PERISHABLE, CALL MILK BANK AT ###-#### upon arrival. And he looks up, with a questionable look on his face and merely states..."Gosh, nice weather we are having." I'm not sure he knew what to make of the blue cooler full of of breast milk (522.5oz to be exact), with the person who obviously made the milk standing right in front of him. I bet he got a good laugh when he told the story to his friends, family and or co-workers later on. To make the rest of the story short, instead of giving money or volunteering my time (which are both hard to come by these days), I found where I can donate my milk for a good cause. They will pasteurize the milk and give it to preemie babies, and very young children who are going through chemo or radiation. When I called yesterday to let the milk bank know my package was on the way, they told me they were completely out of milk. So, I was glad to be able to help. If anyone is interested in donating milk, check out the website at http://www.wakemed.com/body.cfm?id=135

I hope this did not gross anyone out, at least I'm not selling it on ebay! :)

Milestones for Miss Lilly.

Lilly is achieving new milestones each day...most recently she has started rolling over. She will only roll from her stomach to her back and only to the left side (does this mean she will be a lefty?). Although, she has only rolled over twice, I know she could do it more if she wanted to. Today she rolled over right away when I put her on her belly for some tummy time, and then when I put her back on her belly for a repeat show...she wined. (I think she was saying, I did it once, but this is not a show). Then this afternoon she found her toes, and had a great time playing with them while on her back during afternoon play time an then again during bath time. She still loves her bath time and mostly anytime she is in the water; I think she would stay in there all day if I could let her.

In other news, Fitz is getting scuba certified over the next two weekends (merry christmas-courtesy of my dad). My little bro, my Mom and Dad, two neighbors, and friends for high school are all certified also, so hopefully they can find time to go out together and check out what's "under the sea." I, on the other hand, am holding down the home front (with the help of my folks), and trying to find time to workout and get back into shape. We recently got a cleaning of our water softener system, and got a sulfur eliminator system installed. So for all those who have -I visited and made a comment about the smell....it's gone!!! (at least according to Fitz-I could not really notice it so I could not tell you).

Gonna give it a shot...
After my good buddy Meg, let me borrow her kiddo's for a photo shoot with the aforementioned tutu's; I think I might really start to sell them. Grace (2 yrs), was so much fun to shoot...she was like a little model; hitting different poses, and just having a ball. She really seemed to like to twirl around in circles with the tutu on. Grace is modeling a hot pink, light pink and white combo long tutu. And Ella (9months) was unfazed by having the tutu around her waist and she just went about her usual business of crawling, pulling up on things, and just being super cute. Ella is testing out the basic tutu in sage green with a pink and green bow on the back.

I am going to start by word of mouth (and blog comments) for getting things going. So, if your interested in a tutu for your little one, a niece, friend's beautiful little girl, or just as a cute shower gift. Let me know the approximate waist size you will need, or just age and weight of the child and color(s) that would would like and I will get started. For your basic tutu-similar to what Ella has on, we'll say $17 (including shipping and handling) and for something like Grace is modeling $32. The color options are light pink, white, hot pink, light purple, dark purple, sparkly purple, sage green (these are the colors I have played with thus far), and I have seen gold, silver, mauve, dusty pink, yellow, and different shades of blue. I have also started making head bands and hair bows to coordinate with the tutu's or any outfit. I will post those photos soon, and if let me if you would like a cute hair bow to match. Thanks for reading, and happy tutu designing.

The Fall Out from Hanna

Hanna made land fall early in the morning, and we started hearing the wind blowing around 5:30-6:00am here in MHC. We managed to get out of bed around 6:45am and looked out the windows to check things out and we saw lots of wind but strangely no rain. Checking the weather channel and our local news station and see that is rain is west of us (more towards Goldsboro/Raleigh) but we were getting gusts of nearly 60mph. After Lilly woke up around 7:30am we call my folks to make sure they were ok....and sure enough they had a story. The large Oak tree they had near the road had up rooted and landed on the house (causing some roof damage) and broke a window and window frame. After the wind subsided we headed over to check things out for ourselves, and boy was it a mess. You can see in the photos above (and the video) that professional help is needed to clean everything up, luckily there was a tree removal company cruising around and stopped off to see in my folks wanted his help. I wanted to get a picture of me standing on top of the tree before it was removed, so we forged through the brush to try and get a photo. BUT we found a very large yellow-jackets nest instead. My Dad was the only one to get stung, and we sent Fitz out to get some commercial grade bee spray. I think the bees have been annihilated, and when we left for home the tree guy was back to help. All in all we weathered the storm just fine, and the only real damage in the whole town was my folks house so they will be on the 6 o-clock news this evening, and perhaps in the paper tomorrow. Such celebrities!!

5 months and fabulous!!

Today, Lilly is 5 months old and she is just a blast. She can be very vocal when she is in a good mood and now will do both super loud and a more normal decibel level of sounds. Just today we tried her again in the walker, and she fits. (FINALLY!) For the longest time she was to short for her feet to touch the ground and I don't think she liked being suspended in the air. But, not today....she even managed to move around just the smallest bit. Please forgive the change in direction of the camera, I am still a student when it comes to video.

In other news, we are prepping for Hurricane/Tropical Storm Hanna, which is suppose to make land fall tomorrow evening and stay through Saturday morning. Although, I hate hurricanes, they do create some great swell for surfing. Yesterday after work, we did a short trip to the beach so Fitz could itch they surfing bug, and Lilly and I could play in the water. Of course I did not bring a camera, so there were plenty of photo opportunities. Oh well, next time!

And Lilly meets Uncle Bobby!

At 5:45pm on Thursday August 28th we started our 820 mile trek to Panama City Beach, FL to visit with my little bro Bobby and for him to meet Lilly for the first time. We drove from MHC to Wilmington, NC to pick up a minivan we rented for the trip (I can see why people have minivans-they are roomie!!) Then started our all night drive to FL, Fitz drove for 2.5 hours, and at 11pm I took over and drove until 1:30am, then my Dad drove until 4:30am and we all took a nap at a rest stop past Jacksonville, FL. I woke up around 5:30am, and kept my mom awake until Lilly woke up around 7am and needed to be fed. So we stopped at a rest stop for a break from the car (see first photos). We had not showered or anything so there were some interesting smells going around. We then finished the drive in to PCB, but not before realizing that the van we were in, had an expired inspection sticker. My folks said the guards at the base might be in very picky moods and make a big deal about the sticker, so we made a small detour to the PCB airport to get another van (not nearly as comfortable as the Toyota Sienna, but the Chrysler Town and Country). Then we had to get on base, check in to the officers quarters (my Dad was in the Navy for a few years), and get Bobby. We all took showers, met up with Bobby and then headed to Hooters for a bite to eat. After the food and some naps, we headed behind our officers hotel to take a dip in the bay with Lilly. Then we had a early evening to try and catch up on some of the missed sleep from the trip down. We spent the rest of the weekend, just hanging out and visiting with Bobby. We got a tour of PCB, of the base, of Bobby's school house, of his run courses for PT, and ate at all sorts of places. Then we left on Sunday evening and drove to Savannah, GA and stayed in a Days Inn and then finished the drive on Monday morning to afternoon. All in all it was a great trip, the long drive was worth spending some time with Bobby and letting Bobby meet Lilly. I think he is in love with her....she really flirted with him (see photo three), he is much less scary when he is clean shaven-required by the Army. Bobby has less then 3 months of AIT Dive training to go, and is doing GREAT!! I am so proud of my baby bro...and I can't wait to see him again at the end of November. Until then, he will be working hard and making us all so proud. Here's to you little bro...stay tough!!