Lillian's 18th Month

Lillian turned 18 months old on September 19th. She seems so big now and my "baby" is growing into a little girl...

Weight: 24lbs
Height: about 31in. (hard to measure a squiggly worm)

Things she has been doing and up to since my last monthly post.

- Lillian is very vocal. Most words are gibberish but we can tell she is just taking in so much and one day she is just to start blabbering and never stop.

- Can stack multiple blocks. I'm not sure if this is a huge accomplishment for her age or if she is behind but to me that's pretty stinking awesome if you can stack four blocks on each other without knocking them over. That takes eye hand coordination and control.

- Recognizes when we pull into our driveway that we are home. I'm not sure if she knows because of what she sees out the window or the huge dip between the road and driveway but either way as soon as I pull in she lifts her hands up and makes the same noise like she is saying we're home let me out.

-she has started her temper tantrums. They aren't terrible, she doesn't throw herself on the ground (yet) but she gives me this look a lot now and although it is very funny I can't react because that's exactly what she is waiting for. She knows what a spanking is and instead of spanking her for her fits I say "be sweet or you will get a spanking" and she stops (most of the time). So far they are only occasionally. I feel like as long as she eats and sleeps on her normal schedule she is okay.

- She knows exactly where her food is and where her cups are. When Lillian is hungry she will walk straight to the fridge or pantry and point to exactly what she wants whether its her "milk-milk" grapes or raisins. She even brought me the gallon of milk one time saying "milk-milk" over and over.

and while we were at some friends lake house she made herself at home in their fridge as well 

- We are still trying to get down to one nap a day but when I skip her morning nap her afternoon nap is still the same length, about an hour and 15 min. Then she is exhausted by 5 (dinner time) and gets super whiny. So for now we are continuing with morning nap generally 45 min to an hour and afternoon hour 15 min to an hour and a half.

- I'll ask her if she wants to go outside and she gets very excited. Girl loves to be outside. thankfully this last week we have had some awesome fall weather so I don't mind be out there for a few hours.

On one of the warmer days I put to her to work and we washed my car. Here is a video of her playing in the water to cool off.

- She loves her Toms shoes.

 They are a little big for her but small enough she can walk in them. Anytime I tell her to go get her shoes she always grabs her Toms. I have learned that if I already have an outfit planned that won't match the Toms I make sure not to tell her to get the shoes to avoid any melt downs. Speaking of shoes, she has started comprehending matching. I'll have one shoe in my hand and ask her where the other one is and she'll look and look on her shoe shelf until she finds the match. Its pretty cute because she stares so intently at the shelf looking for the right shoe and if it's upside down she totally doesn't see it so I'll help her out and make sure they are visible.

- Lillian loves to put Daddy's socks on his feet. Somehow there always seems to be a sock laying around (not pointing any fingers Daddy) and Lillian will find it and put it on Daddy's foot. She hasn't mastered how it actually goes on but she is so proud of herself when she gets it to stay on.

- Over this past weekend we went to Isom's Orchard Farm In Athens. It is not a pick your own farm but they always have tons of vegetables and when in season, apples, peaches, and pumpkins. We love to get our apples from there and get their apple freezes, basically an apple slushy but no added sugar so healthy right? :). Just straight blended apples and maybe some ice? So delicious so I shared with Lillian but next time she might have to get her own or share more with Daddy! 

7th Wedding Anniversary

Kevin and I celebrated our 7th Wedding Anniversary on September 15th. We generally don't do anything really big but try to always do something around that date to acknowledge a very important date for us. We through out a couple ideas but decided on just a nice dinner out as a family was all we wanted. Yes Lillian did come out to eat with us and did awesome. We left for dinner at about 5pm to have enough time out before Lillian's bed time at 7pm. We went to Connors Steak and Seafood. It was very delicious. Kevin and I both got a juicy 12oz ribeye steak (leftovers became kevin's steak and egg breakfast) and Lillian got grilled chicken and mashed potatoes. Like I said it was sooo tasty but also pretty pricey (for our wallets at least) but it was nice to not have to worry about the prices since we plan in our budget for special occasions like this. Lillian's chicken was really good too and I had it for leftovers the next day. Her meal was only $5 and it was a lot of food.

After dinner we headed to Home Depot (romantic huh :) ). One thing Kevin and I did a lot before we had Lillian and lived in our own house in GA was build things. Here are a couple of things we built/refinished in the past

my craft table before it was filled with junk

my favorite thing he has made yet. He regrets making it though because it is so heavy and we have already moved it twice :)

Some big some small but good times together. Kevin has got skills and I'm just a good Al Borlin; make sure he measures twice and cuts once and doesn't cut anything appendages off. We can't do much here in our rental and we don't have all the tools anymore like in GA but I still love when we work together to make something so we did something small. I had a 11x14 frame I bought at the Nashville Flea Market for $1 and we bough some MDF and chalkboard spray paint and made a new chalkboard. Small and silly but it is something I had been wanting so it was perfect for that night. We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home for dessert but unfortunately their registers were down so no ice cream for us. Probably a good thing because I was still so full and did not need anything else in my belly. Once we got home we put Lillian to bed. Kevin made sure the wood fit in the frame properly and got everything ready to paint. He has mad painting skills too but he let me spray the first few coats then he did the last coat for a nice finish. We had to wait 24 hrs to dry and the next evening he had it all sanded and completed. Here is the final product thanks to the hubby

Nothing fancy but totally us and I enjoyed the time together. I have heard that there is a "7 year itch" in a relationship but we made it past year 7 (married and 4 years before that) and because we focus on the importance of our marriage and the relationship we both have with God I'm not worried about it. I won't be naive and say it'll all be sunshine and rainbows but I know we will make it.

Lillian's First iPhone

Yes you read that correctly my 18 month old daughter has her own iPhone. 

Lillian has a fascination with cell phones. She already has a preference for iPhones which is funny because Kevin and I both have Androids but if you want to win Lillian over all you have to do is show her your iPhone. She knows which icon is for which app and thoroughly enjoys scrolling/swiping through pictures and knows which ones are videos to press the play button. Siri and Lillian are also BFFs. 

Now I know you are probably thinking how terrible of a mom I am for "exposing" her to the iPhone already. But before you judge, we just kept the apps that you can't delete on it so she basically just plays with the camera, photos, and videos. If we are at home she does have wifi connection and she knows how to get to Baby Einstein on you tube and FaceTime Nana. There are no games or movies that she is comatose by and we don't give it to her to keep her occupied while we lazily ignore her. Although on car trips it is a lifesaver for at least 45 minutes. :) Our world is very technology based and she is learning young how modern technology works. 

iPhone selfie

so excited!!!

My iPad now has a lock on it so it gets disabled a lot.

Looking at pictures on Daddy's phone

she would hold anything up to her ear and pretend it was a phone and always called Dada. Here is a video of her talking to Dada. (sorry for poor quality b/c it was texted to me then uploaded)

This is actually a battery charger and makes me think of cans tied together with a string.

My Mom and Dad (Nana and Papa) have actually recorded videos of themselves singing songs to Lillian and she loves it. If you are Happy and You Know It is a favorite right now.  we have Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Building up the Temple, and two songs Papa made up for her recorded as well.

She will be starting her first job at the Apple Store next week....Kidding.

Lillian Meets Colonel

For Labor Day Weekend we headed to Atlanta to visit with Nena and Poppa and the rest of the family. Lillian had a great time playing with her cousins. She loves older kids and they were so gentle with her, and helpful. On Sunday we headed out to the Farm for Lillian to meet Colonel, Poppa's horse. She was hesitant at first but so curious at the same time.

so interested but has her body positioned to bolt away if need be

feeding Colonel a pear

A few other random pics from our family visit!

Cooking oatmeal with Poppa

Reading bedtime story with Nena

We obviously ate well all weekend

Steak and Salmon

Brusters Ice Cream

Sausage Gravy Biscuits

and my favorite meal Monkey Bread!

And lastly Daddy taught Lillian how to climb down the stairs.