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!!

Florida bound...

Tomorrow we begin our trek down to FL to visit Private First Class Hoover...it's only 13+ hours in the car with 4 adults, 1 baby, and all the $h!t that we carry with us. We will be stopping in Wilmington, NC to rent a minivan (cause we need more space then we have in any of our cars). The trip should be great, I have not seen Bob-O since Christmas break, and he has not met Lilly so that will be an adventure. We are planning to do most of the driving at night while Lilly is sleeping, but that means the adults will not have sleep like the should. Can't wait to post photos of all the shenanigans that occur while we are there. Wish us luck.....

Tutu's for you-you's!

I have found a new hobby, well at least a craft to pass sometime. I have taken up making tutu's (and hair bows to match). It all started when I wanted Lilly to be a ballerina for Halloween, and soon found out how to make tutu's on the internet. So I thought, maybe I have found something here. Now my house is full of tutu's, tulle, ribbon, and decoration. I only have one really model, and she is unable to sit or stand alone, so I am waiting for my good buddy Meg to bring her girls down for a modeling session (as one can sit and crawl, and the other can stand and walk). Above are a few shots of Lilly modeling, three different ones (she is such a good sport). Let me know what you think?!

Is it really possible?

So, we made the trek up to Raleigh this weekend for a baby shower for a good friend of mine who is 27 weeks preggers with twins (a boy and a girl). We had fun, and made the trek back home, only to find out this good friend of mine went in to labor is and currently battling the dregs of pre-term labor stopping drugs. We joked that when I went in to preterm labor at 33 weeks, that my baby shower in Raleigh caused it. BUT WE WERE ONLY JOKING! Now friend #2 has had the same problem. I think it is all just a coincidence, but still....kinda weird don't ya think?! We are only going to have showers at the end (REAL end of the pregnancy from now on).

On a serious note....send some "keep those babies in" vibes to my girl Diana....she could use all of the help she can get. They are pumping her full of Mag and from experience I can tell you that's some wicked stuff. Hopefully, they can stop the contractions and keep those babies in for a few more weeks, and if nothing else until tomorrow.

Water Baby!

So, I know babies like baths and such, but let me tell you Lilly LOVES the water with a capital L! Well, as long as it's not cold...has to be at least 85 degrees. On Sunday, we wanted to get some photos of us with Lilly by the water, so we went over to the sound (less wind), but there was a dead fish floating near by in the water and Fitz was not so keen on getting in there. So we took some photos (see first two) and then headed to the pool instead. In Lilly went and she loved it yet again. Fitz taught her how to blow bubbles, doggie paddle and how to jump in off the side. He as really cute and for his sake I am looking forward to her actually understanding what he is saying. But for now, we will just let her love the water.....Water Baby!

Happy 5th Wedding Anniversary!

Yesterday, was our 5th wedding anniversary and how times have changed. We spent the day thinking of where we were during the different times of the day.

We managed to 'sleep in' until 7am then we spent a lazy morning around the house, then we got to run some errands without Lilly (it was much quicker that way), then we did the unthinkable....we did dinner out ALONE, at 5:30pm-the time at which our wedding started. How romantic!! As for the gift, we looked up what the 5th year was and it's "wood" so we got a wooden porch swing. Now, Fitz gets to spend the day trying to put it up. He's so handy! As for news, just watching the Olympics. (Ironically, the Olympics started on our 5th anniversary...and I LOVE watching the Olympics). GO USA!!

She got an A+ from the doctor

Lilly had her 4 month check up today, and she did great! She showed the doctor all of her tricks ... cooing, babbling, grabbing fingers, bringing hands together, smiling, laughing, and of course crying! She is 23.5 inches long, with a 16 inch head, and weights 14.5 lbs....go mommy! The doctor is very impressed with her growth since she was so small at the start, but he is not at all concerned with her weight. He says that she will thin out once she starts moving...which will happen soon!! He was very happy with all of her "social skills" and says she is "right on track!" Thank goodness...for all those parents out there who worry about anything and everything having to do with their kids...here's to chubby, healthy babies...and all the things they will become!!

Busy two days....

Fitz's parents made the trek down from NY to visit with us Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. We tried to cram as much into the time as we could, from the aquarium, to a trip to New Bern, to beach trip. And actually, that was all in one day. On Monday, we grilled out, making bbq ribs, and corn on the cob on the grill. All delicious, my compliments to the chef (Fitz-ie)!! Then on Tuesday we made a mass-exoduses to the Aquarium for some fish watching and to see what Lilly would do now that she can actually see and watch. She really liked the alcove part of the shipwreck exhibit, it is almost like you are inside the water and she had a ball watching the big fish swim around. Then is was home to get ready for a lunch date in New Bern, my good friend Leslie was home from CA for a visit and her Dad was kind enough to drive her to New Bern to meet me and Lilly for lunch. Fitz and his folks rode along up and ate at a different place so Lilly, Leslie and I could have our girl time. I sure do miss her!! Then is was back in the car and home for a feeding and then get ready for a trip to the beach. It was a bit windy to stay for too long but we managed to get a ton of photos. Lilly did much better with getting her feet wet, hopefully we can find a calm day and actually sit her in the water. As for now, it is back to the regular schedule....laundry, cleaning, and Lilly time.

In other new, my folks left today for Grand Cache, Alberta, Canada so my dad can compete in the Canadian Death Race on Saturday. It's a 75 mile foot race up and down mountains that must be completed in 24 hours or less. So if you remember send him some good vibes Saturday to Sunday. Here's to those silly Hoover's and their silly races.....Go Death Racer, Go!!!

Getting some shut eye!!

I am full aware that by writing this, I will jinx myself and not get any sleep for a week, but I have to brag anyway. Because what else do parent do, but brag about how wonderful their kids are...

For the past two nights Lilly has slept from 9pm-6am without waking up. This means that I have been getting potentially 7 hours straight of sleep....wonderful!! Today, we have to do some shopping due to a recent growth spurt upwards....Lilly needs some sleepers in bigger then 3-6 month sizes. She's growing up so fast, they all do, and time flies...so go spend time with someone you love.

First road race at 15 weeks

Lilly and Fitz did the 29th Annual Historic Beaufort Road Race on Saturday and ended up getting 3rd in the baby jogger division. Not to shabby, considering Fitz has only tried the baby jogger 1x prior to the race. Our good buddy Dustin made the trek down for a visit and to try his hand and the....FAST, HOT, and FLAT course. And boy was it hot....no wind, and 90% humidity....YUCK!!! Then the boys headed out for some surfing, and Mr. D had a grand ole time on the purple monster (my board), Lilly and I took a great nap instead of hitting the beach. The photos above are as follows pre-race nap for Lilly, then a quick bite to eat on the starting line in photo two, and the final photo is post race of the family. Everyone has to start racing sometime, why not now?!

Big Bertha and the Fat Lip...a short story by me.

Ok, I do not claim to be a super surfer or anything even close to that; just a girl who grew up at the beach and surfed every summer growing up (as a "fair weather surfer). I only go when the waves are just right for me . . . not too big and not too powerful; just right-like goldie locks. So this weekend the surf was up thanks to the hurricane that churned up some swell. Fitz got up bright and early and checked the online surf reports and when there are no reports listed then the surf is great because everyone is out surfing. He headed out and got a good hour and a half before he came home to spend come quality time with Lilly. Then we headed out again in the afternoon, while my Mom got her Lilly fix in. Having had fun on Saturday, we decided to head out again Sunday morning; although the wave were not as big as Saturday they were a bit more powerful. So with Lilly once again in great hands with my Mom; we commenced surfing. On ride number 2 for me, I was a bit to far forward on the board and over the front I went. Now as a seasoned wiper-outer, I went straight to the bottom to avoid the surf board hitting me, but forgot that with low tide I was only in 18 or less inches of water. And before I knew what had happened some part of my board had.....whamo...in the face. I stand up quickly and I'm seeing stars....thinking that's no good...touch my face and think I hope I did not break my jaw. Fitz heads in to check on me and I start spitting blood. So we head into shore and I keep spitting blood. We go through all of the check...open/close mouth-check, no loose teeth-check, small cut requiring no stitches-check, check, and check. Ok, clean it with some salt water, and head back out...but I had lost my nerve and we just headed home instead. Then we had a nice visit with our good friends..EP and J. Kane from Raleigh. And I found my nerve again, and we headed back out for some afternoon surfing with my Dad. We all caught some nice rides, and I even impressed myself and fun was had by all. Some people chose to get tattoos on the inside of their lip....I prefer self-inflicted marks. Here's to losing one's nerve and finding again in time to have a BLAST!! (I know the photos are now very impressive, but today I look like I had collagen injected into my bottom lip. And I could not post photos without adding a photo of Lilly.)

Camera ready....if only the operator was good!
So I have continued on my quest to take good photos of Lilly, as to save us money on having to get professional photos. So here are some of my latest tries; Lilly has started to smile and occasionally we can catch it on camera-note photo one, the rest are over two days where I think I still need to work on the background, but hopefully time will help that!

Family and the 4th of July!!

We had the largest gathering of my Mom's family outside of PA since I got married 5 years ago, at the end of June/beginning of July. My Aunt Elise and cousin Kit, my Uncle Matt and cousins Andrew and Issac, my Uncle John, Aunt Jan, and cousins Rachel, Janine and Stevie all made the trek down for a visit, time at the beach and to meet Lilly. We did some shopping, tea drinking, regular drinking (well not me, but the ones old enough did), beach time, bike rides, Bochee ball, hanging out and more hanging out. It was so great to see everyone and have everyone meet Lilly. And she did not disappoint!!

We then got a short break while everyone headed home, before we started our weekend that was the 4th of July. We started it on Friday with a kids parade in PKS with two family's from our birthing class. Then Fitz did some fishing with one of the Dad's; they caught a hammer head shark, a black tip shark and a ray...so much for living off of the land. Then we did a nice cook-out with the Furtner Family in PKS. On Saturday we hung out with my friend Cristin and her girlfriend Camella for breakfast in Beaufort followed by a trip to the Coral Bay Club for some sun time. Then home again to bake a cake and get ready for Carole's b-day party/cookout. Fitz and I knew she was going to get engaged that night so we made sure we were present for the surprise. Then it was home at a late...9:30pm for bed!!

We recovered on Sunday and spent the day together, before Fitz flew out on Monday. Oh, well super-fun times....just wish we were always on vacation. Don't you?!

Look how far I've come!!

My Mom suggested that we start taking photos of Lilly in her car seat each week so we could track her growth. And what a great idea it was (still is)! Here are two very dramatic photos....in photo one Lilly is 1 week old and in photo two Lilly is 13 weeks only (3 months on 4th of July). We have had a flurry of activity recently and all those photos will be posted later on. Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July!!

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!