Lily Speaks!

Lily has a new pastime: squealing!  She spent all afternoon chatting with the grandparents, then had a lively conversation with our cat.  Currently, she's laying in bed talking to herself nonstop.  She is definitely a loud chatty Friesen... perhaps too much time with Grandpa Ron?  =)

Last Week to Play and Back to Work

Lily and I made the most of our last few days of maternity leave! On Monday we went to Karen and Elise's house in Woodinville for some baby playtime, walks for mommies, and a picnic in the backyard. It was a HOT day! I've so appreciated getting to know these mommies, who are a blend of PEPS, Hypnobirthing, and Snugglers friends. Since we all gravitated to and frequent the same classes, I feel like we are very much on the same page when it comes to the babies. Plus they are some cool women and adorable babies!

Mommies working hard to climb "Mt. Avondale."

On Tuesday Lily and I had lunch with Auntie Rachel and got to visit her office in Everett! We also spent some quality mommy-baby time at home (sleeping in, playing with toys, napping on the couch) to enjoy our last few minutes of this precious time together before we headed out for PEPS. This is one of our favorite PEPS group photos on Sophia's beautiful handmade quilt. It's Week 10 already! On Friday night we had a fun PEPS event:  Parents' Night Out! We had a great time going out for pizza and wine with all 11 of us, but no babies! We're so happy that our group seems to be meshing really well, and we hope we continue to get together for years to come!

On Wednesday, Lily and I headed to school! Lily was a perfect baby. She smiled and cooed at everyone, then slept so I could assess kids' reading, meet with my sub, and go to team meetings. The kids were so excited to have a tiny visitor, and not just from my class. I wish I could post the photo of my neighbor's entire class all crowded around Lillian!

We were the last photo in a card for my sub, where each of the kids held a photo for "Thank you, You're the best!" I can't post it here, but trust me, it was really cute.

Here is everything ready to go at home! My first two days back at work went very smooth. Lily and the grandparents did great (so they tell me), and I hit the ground running with 20 kiddos happy to have me back. Only 5 weeks to go!

 Tonight we celebrated Libby and Alex's engagement with a family dinner! 

 Congrats adorable couple!

 I have about 9874359 pictures of Jack posing as animals. Here is a selection. He sure is a fun kid to be around these days!

Mother's Day Project

Now that we've delivered our Mother's Day gifts, we can reveal Lily's 3 month portraits!

We had so much fun getting these pictures taken. The photographer was great, and had so many fun ideas to make Lily look her best. Jason was in charge of silly sounds. Watching these 2 try to capture the smile of a 3 month old was very entertaining!

I'm 30! and Happy Mother's Day!

We've had great weather this week, and we have definitely been making the most of it! We've been busy celebrating Rachel and my birthday, having lunch out with friends, and celebrating Mother's Day! Thanks to all for the cards, calls, and happy birthdays! It's been a great week!

Earlier this week I snapped this picture of baby friends. Tummy time is so much more fun when there are friends to look at! 

We busted out the grill for our first chili-lime chicken of the season! Aren't baby-wearing Dads the cutest?

 On Saturday we took Nan and Ron to Greenlake for a picnic and a walk around the lake. Lillian is stylin' in her new sunglasses!

...but they didn't last too long. Back to sun hats for Baby!

  Happy Mother's Day to a wonderful Grandma and a fabulous Mother-in-Law!

 Thanks to Shaina and fam for the great picnic blanket! We love it!

 Today was my first Mother's Day! I got a sweet card, flowers, and a delicious waffle breakfast. Rachel and I went to see "The Producers" at the Village Theatre (our regular volunteer usher gig), and I can home to this sleeping beauty!

 But this was the best Mother's Day gift of all...Lily's first laugh!

(This is a video. If you got this by email, click here to go to the blog to see the adorableness!)

Lily and I will be enjoying our last few days of maternity leave this week. I have so appreciated this time to be at home with the new love of our life. On Wednesday, Lily will help me get a few things done at school, and then she will stay home with the Grandmas and Grandpas on Thursday and Friday while I am on my own back at work. Only 5 1/2 weeks until summer!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! 13 Weeks / 3 Months

Lily and I have been very busy...packing on the ounces! Look at this chunk!! Momma is very proud of all these rolls. This is my evidence of what I did on my maternity leave...ha!

Lily's building up her stamina for tummy time, and is able to hold her head up for longer periods of time. She is actually starting to look at some books (Itsy Bitsy Spider is the fav this week!). What a big 3 month old!

 I've been having fun with online photography lessons for parents and playing with our camera. Lily makes a great subject. :)

Lily and I had a pretty low key week. The weather has been pretty dicey. We even stayed in bed until noon on Monday! The days of being able to do that will soon come to an end...we better enjoy it while we can! We did go to our last Snugglers (we graduated! Next we move on to the 3-6 month class, Gigglers), hosted PEPs at our house (we talked about family traditions this week), and did some cooking and baking (Lily helps by riding in the carrier to the grocery store every day, and sleeping through critical culinary moments). On Thursday, we met up with some Snugglers friends for a rainy day walk. Here are the babies drying out! It is so fun now that they are all getting smiley, chatty, and wiggly.

 On Saturday we had our 30th birthday/Cinco de Mayo party at la casita de Rachel and Michael. We got peeks of sunny weather, and a supermoon!

 A whole bucket full of ice? Best party ever!

 And cupcakes? KK is in heaven.

 Happy 30th to us! Our 20s were pretty good to us, we're hoping for even more fun in the next decade!

3 Months Old!

We can't believe it! Lily is 3 months old! We all survived the "4th trimester."

 Here is a collage of our photos so far...

 And some of our adorable outtakes:

 I just love all the funny things she does with her hands and feets!