I'm sorry guys. I got on to do the December post and realized I never did one in November. So I'll try to make this one long and juicy so you feel like you have all the news.

Lillian's chicken pox are gone. It wasn't too bad. She looked rather awful, but they didn't seem to bother her and she didn't scratch them. She still has a couple scars that I'm hoping will continue to fad. The one that seems to be holding on the most is from the first spot I noticed. The first to arrive and the last to leave, I guess. Luckily, she was fairly clear skinned for our family pictures.

Now that was an adventure. Trying to get Lillian and Laddie to look at the camera at the same time was quite the effort. I think the photographer was cursing us from bringing a dog in. We got the feeling that she hadn't worked with pets much since she seemed at a loss of what to do with him. So we got a couple of shots with him and then moved on. But they turned out well, and we're happy with the whole experience. We've pretty much decided to use Penny's from now on even though they don't give you the pictures electronically like Kiddie Kandids. Having a nice scanner makes up for that anyway. We felt we got so many more pictures for the same $ and liked the studio better.

For Thanksgiving, we spent it with Erik's family at the house of their friends Pat and Ivin. Erik had to work until 3 or so, but he got there in time for dinner, and we had a good time. Lillian got a taste of everything I think and sure had a good time just observing everything and everyone. We had it at our house last year, and while it turned out well, I was happy to let someone else be in charge.

The sad news of the last two months is that Erik's Grandma June passed away on December 4. Her health had been getting worse over the last year, so we were prepared, but it's never completely easy I don't think. The funeral was very nice. Trent gave a great eulogy that I think she would have been proud of and her step-son talked about some of the times they shared. I played a piano solo of In the Garden that Len arranged on very short notice. Lillian was surprisingly well behaved and was a trooper on a long day.

So tomorrow Lillian turns 11-months old! She's still not crawling yet although you can see she wants to. She'll get up on her hands and knees, but she can't quite figure out the logistics of moving. But she scoots backwards on her bum quite well and can get back to a sitting position from her stomach. Most mornings I walk in to find her sitting up in her crib. She's acting like she might be thinking about pulling herself up to a standing position lately. Maybe she's just going to skip that whole crawling thing and go right to walking! We still don't have any teeth yet, either, but at her last appointment, the doctor said teething can be anywhere from 7 to 17 months, so we have a while until we need to worry. We have our tree up and she likes to look at the lights. Of course she has no idea what it all means yet, but we're going to have fun with it anyway. I'm sure she'll be more interested in the paper and bows that what's inside them, but that could be amusing, too.

We'll be spending Christmas Eve in Roy at Erik's parents' house after their annual party. We'll probably stay in to the afternoon of Christmas itself and then head home. Hopefully, we'll get some snow, which I must say has been lacking this year. We've had a couple storms, but nothing has really stuck for very long. Not that I really like snow, but a dead, brown Christmas just isn't the same.

Well, I hope you all have a great holiday. My next update should have info from Lillian's next appointment. Hopefully, she'll have put on some pounds. She's actually got a little bit of a of baby pot belly, now, so I'm optimistic!

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Lillian has what???

So Lillian is now nine months old, if you can believe it. We went to the doctor last week and she's still only 12lbs 13oz. We expected a little more of a change after 3 months, but it didn't happen. As I got thinking about it, I remembered that she had a bout of not nursing well about a month ago, and we finally started doing formula except first thing in the morning and right before bed. So I wonder if she wasn't getting enough during that time and maybe lost a little weight before she started gaining well again. But we told the doctor, again, that she's eating well, so he said not to worry about it.

So she was healthy as a horse while we were at the doctor, but then on Saturday (the next day) I noticed that her "diaper rash" was spreading to other parts of her body. She had two little bumps on her tummy under her diaper and so I assumed diaper rash. But by Sunday morning, there were four on her neck and one on her leg and we started to think Chicken Pox. After doing some research online, we found some pictures and decided that's what they were. So Erik stayed home with her while I played the organ at church. By the time I got home, she had several more on her face. Today, she looks like a pizza. She looks awful, but the spots themselves don't seem to bother her; she's not scratching (yet, anyway), but she's had a bit of a fever and is sleeping quite a bit.

The crazy thing is that we have no idea where she got them from. I called the babysitter today to let her know, and none of the other kids have them. Addison, Erik's niece, was with her all last weekend, but she doesn't have them. She hasn't had a lot of close contact with any other kids and definitely none who have Chicken Pox, so we're mystified.

Anyway...enough with Lillian's health update. We spent last weekend in Park City with Erik's parents, brother, and niece. Grandma Nancy kept the girls while the rest of us went four wheeling. We had a pretty good time, and I only got myself stuck a couple times. I did bang up my knee a little, but it's getting better. Lars, Erik's brother, was the only one to roll his on its side, and he did it while driving through a huge puddle and ending up hydroplaning. He walked away without any trouble and Trent got a great picture from it. The rest of the trip was pretty low key. We spent some time in the pool/hot tubs and took Lillian swimming for a little while, which went a lot better than the last time we went. It was nice to just get a way for a couple days.

We got Lillian's picture taken in her Halloween costume. We don't have them back yet, but when we do, I'll scan one and put it up. She's going to be a chicken, and I think the pictures will be really cute. We're hoping to get a family picture in the next month or so, too.

Speaking of pictures, I finally framed a cross-stitch I did of a Japanese woman about 2 years ago. It looks really nice, and they did a great job with the matting. It's going to hang in our bedroom with the rest of my Asian-inspired collection. I just need to paint in there (still), and I have purchase in mind for over the bed. I just need to work up the courage to buy it. It's hard to justify with other bills and Christmas around the corner. Mom was up here a few weeks ago and brought the birth announcement she cross-stitched for Lillian, so we got that framed also. I picked it up Friday and it looks great in her room.

Erik is enjoying his new store. He's thinking about talking to one of the other managers about carpooling. Today, he followed the other guy to work and the other guy followed Erik home. It just seems silly for them both to be paying for a tank of gas each week when they could cut the cost in half. With Christmas coming, his time off will be slim. Basically, he can't expect to get any between now and New Year's. But he'll get time during slower times, so it all works out.

We're having a nice fall this year. The leaves were gorgeous a few weeks ago, at least until it froze. It seems like we've gone straight from summer to winter the last few years, so to actually have a fall is nice.

Hope this update will tide you over until next month. Love to all!

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Real food and more

Not bad...I just updated not too long ago, and here I am again.

Yesterday was Lillian's 8-month birthday. Can you believe it? We started letting her eat "real" food now. The other day, I shared some of my bagel for breakfast, and if we have pasta for dinner, she gets little bits. We went to dinner for Nancy's birthday on Monday and she got to much on some of the bread the gave us before our meals came. We also bought some of those "puffs." They dissolve as the get wet, so we know she won't choke on them. She's pretty good about picking stuff up from the table and putting it in her mouth. I mentioned to Erik just today that it's weird how she meets some milestones right on and others she is late on. This is about the right time to start feeding herself, but she has yet to crawl or cut any teeth.

Yep...that's right. After all her grumpiness and runny nose I mentioned last time, there are still no teeth visible. I'm beginning to think she doesn't have any. But at least the grumpiness has stopped. She's actually slept all the way through the night (well, until 5 at least) the last three nights *knock on wood*, and it's been wonderful!!!

She thought about getting on her hands and knees today. One knee was prepped and ready to go, but she couldn't quite figure out what to do with the other leg. So she was kind of leaning there on her hands and one leg bent behind her since she couldn't seem to get all the way back up to sitting, either. Finally she just toppled forward and I had to sit her back up. I wouldn't be surprised if she's mobile here pretty soon.

Erik is still on overnights, at least for the time being. No one will give him a straight answer on his schedule. One day they tell him it's his last night and the next they say he's back on overnights. As a result, he's never really gotten on to a real overnight sleep schedule and ends up being exhausted all the time. In addition to work, he's running a part time thrift shop as he tries to sell various items to buy a new snowmobile. He sold the one he acquired last year, so he's trying very hard so he can get a new sled before the snow flies. In addition to the snowmobile, he's sold the blue scooter and some sound equipment. We recently got the Rodeo back from Lars and Lisa now that their car troubles are resolved, so he's working on getting that gone, too.

I'm just doing the usual...work is getting a little busier now that school staff, etc. are settled in and professional development trainings are starting. It's never dull, that's for sure. Lillian also keeps me busy. She'll play on her own for a little while now, but once she notices I'm doing something else, she'll demand some attention. Which is alright; I'd rather play with her than work any day. :) She interacts a lot more, so it's a lot of fun to play with her and see her reaction to new things.

That's all for now. Hope it was informative! :)

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Here I am, alone again, as Erik goes to work for the evening. But we found out last week that he'll be moving to days pretty soon. Another manager is transferring from Montana, but they've had some problems with paper work so he can't start yet. He actually wants overnights, so Erik get to move to days. Hurrah!!! I'll be glad when he's not trying to sleep while the three of us are going about our day. I've felt bad the couple times he's actually had to do it when Laddie runs around like a mad dog or Lillian gets tired and fussy. Have you ever noticed that if you're trying to be quiet, you seem to make so much more noise than you would have if you'd just been acting normal? You bump into things that have been there forever or drop more stuff. Anyway...I know he'll be happy to go back to a normal sleep schedule, too. With how things have worked out, he's never really gotten in an overnight schedule, so he's tired when he goes to work; but he's not quite on a normal schedule either, so it's been a little rough.

Lillian has been kind of grumpy the last couple days. She has a little bit of a runny nose. I don't know if she's sick or finally teething. It seem like she gets teething symptoms at least once a month and then no teeth come of it, so I don't even try to guess any more. She doesn't seem sick other than the runny nose, but she is grumpier than usual so something must be going on. It could just be she doesn't like that we've started feeding her meat. We tried turkey for the first go, and the face she made was priceless. Not to mention the involuntary gagging that resulted! The next time I went for the chicken, which didn't cause gagging, but she still doesn't seem too impressed with it. I try to sneak some in with the sweet potatoes or green beans so it's not so bad, but I think she's figured it out. She's a lot more reluctant to open her month, that's for sure.

I know it's early, but we bought Lillian a Halloween costume today. We saw a monkey one in a catalog we really liked and then Erik saw that they had an identical one at the Brigham Walmart for half the price. When we went to the Logan Walmart, they hadn't even put the costumes out yet, so we couldn't get it. But then while we were at Old Navy today looking for some new work pants (and spending more money than we should have--you'd think he'd learn not to take me in there), we found the cutest chicken costume. Yes...a chicken! It comes with orange pants with attached shoe covers and a what's basically a chicken coat with a hood for the comb. We were afraid it would drown her since the smallest size was 6-12, but I put it on her when we got home and it fits great. It is a little big, but in a month and half it should be fine...or at least it won't look four sizes too big. We'll make sure to get pictures.

Speaking of pictures, I realized I never posted the shots from her last studio session, so here are a few. And I'll leave you with that.

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Is summer really winding down?

I'm a little late on this month's update, but at least I'm doing it. :) Erik was home for two weeks earlier this month while he worked at his new "home" store in Brigham. It was so wonderful to have him home again. We didn't do anything too exciting, but just having the company was nice. Now he's back up in Idaho, but as of Friday, he will be done with training. He starts on overnights on September 1. I guess one good thing about this training period was I got used to sleeping alone, so it won't be such a weird adjustment once he starts his new schedule.

Lillian is learning so much lately. She's a champ at sitting up now and rarely falls over when doing so. I picked up a stacker toy the other day so she'd have something new to play with. She can't stack them by herself yet, but she sure has fun tipping them over if I stack them for her. They can also connect to make balls of different sizes, which she likes to push around. It took a little trial and error to get where she could actually pick the balls up, but once she figured out she needed both hands, she was doing great. She's tried to play tug with Laddie a couple times by taking his toys, but Laddie usually just gently takes them from her and puts them somewhere safe for his enjoyment later. I played a little devil's advocate with a water bottle by giving it back to Lillian after he took it away just to see what he would do. He walked back over and took it away again...even though he didn't want to play with it at the time. Possessive little bugger!!

Even though Lillian still fits in her infant carrier, we went ahead and bought her a convertible car seat (converts to forward facing once she's a year old). I was getting sick of lugging the carrier around, and now that she can sit up, I don't need it when I go to the grocery store. Plus, the base had to be reinstalled about every other day because we could never get it to stay completely tight. I guess we were pretty lucky, though; most people only get a couple months out of their carriers because the kid gets too big pretty fast. We got to delay the purchase of a new seat for a long time.

She seems to be enjoying the babysitter. When I pick her up, she's usually playing on the floor with the sitter's son, who's about 4, maybe 5, months, I guess. Lillian tries to interact with him and he's not quite interested yet, but she looks like she's having a good time. The sitter always says how good she is and how well she naps...sometimes I wonder if it's the same person we're talking about...

It's hard to believe the summer is almost over. Lillian is 7.5 months old, and last month was the 1-year anniversary of moving into our house. It's flown by. I'm kind of hoping that the coming year will be a little less exciting. A lot happened in the last 12 months and I'm ready for some slow times...but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

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Check-up

Don't fall over...two posts in such quick succession...

At any rate, I just wanted to give an update from Lillian's check-up yesterday. She now weighs 11lbs 3oz. Erik was sure she was 12lbs and I said 11lbs, so I won that debate. She is 25.5 inches. She's still not on the curve for her weight. The doctor asked if she was eating well, and I told him yes, so he said he's not too concerned that she's still so slender. He also said she looks great. She had another round of shots, and I think she cried worse at these ones that she did with the 2-month set. She's been kind of sleepy the last two days and had a little bit of a fever last night. But I gave her some Tylenol and it went away pretty quick.

Today we went to get some pictures taken. I tried to make the appointment for a time she's not generally hungry and made sure she got in a nap right before we left so she would be happy for it. And she was great when we first got there, but they were running behind (of course), so by the time it was our turn, she wasn't too thrilled. I think it was a combination of starting to get hungry and still being a little irritable from the shots. But we ended up with some good smiles even though you can still see a tear in one. They forgot to put the CD in the bag, so I can't post any yet, but once I go pick it up, I'll be sure to add them to the blog. And of course we'll be sending real ones out.

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Busy Month

Doing these updates on Lillian's "birthday" each month seems like a good idea. More often would probably be better, but one step at a time...Plus, I had two requests for updates in two days. I can take a hint.

So this has been a pretty busy month. Erik received that promotion. He is currently doing training in Idaho Falls. The training is 8 weeks total: 4 weeks in Idaho Falls, 2 weeks in Brigham City (his new store), and 2 more weeks back in Idaho Falls for follow-up. We're nearing the end of week two. He gets to come home for the weekends, and if last week is any indication, they're going to be busy weekends. Lillian and I are getting kind of lonely...well, ok. Maybe it's just me. Lily seems perfectly fine. Although Laddie, I think, is starting to miss Erik more. I just don't romp the way Erik will. For one thing, I'd like to keep all my appendages. But I try to make sure I play with him a couple times a day so he doesn't get so mopey. Lily and I just do what we'd probably do if Erik were here anyway, but it gets wearing after a while when the other person in the room doesn't really contribute anything to the conversation.

With the promotion came a nice raise, so Erik decided he needed a new truck. He was driving a '93 Rodeo that, really, is still in pretty good shape, but he'd been wanting a pickup for a while and something that could tow a little more weight. We ended up with an '04 F-150. I call it pritty pritty truck truck. (If you don't watch King of the Hill, that will mean nothing to you.) Getting it in the garage the first time was quite the adventure. Erik didn't believe me when I used to tell him he had too many tools. I'm stuck driving the behemoth this week because the dealer needed to resurface the rotors. So Erik took my cute Passat to Idaho and left me to drive this thing that I can't park for anything so I could drop it off for the work.

Lillian is doing great. Like I said, today is her 6-month birthday. I can't believe she is that old already. She is getting so big. I was looking through some pictures the other day of when we brought her home. I don't even remember her being that small. Our neighbor had a baby 3 weeks ago who was the same weight Lillian was at 2 months...and that baby seemed so tiny compared to Lillian now. We go to the doctor on Monday to see how big she really is. She's doing great on solid foods. She likes everything we've tried so far and seems to really love green beans. Now that I'm mixing a little fruit in with her rice cereal, she does better with it. Have you ever tasted that stuff? I don't blame her for not being too stoked about it...it's not too impressive.

With Erik gone all week, we had to put Lily in daycare for the two days a week I go into the office. Some friends of ours recommended someone, and that's who we went with. She's in Hyde Park, which is about 15 minutes away. We could have found someone closer, but we felt better that we got the referral from someone who actually new Angie, not just a list provided by the state. And she's a little cheaper pricewise. Everything seems to be going well. Lillian always looks happy when I get there, and I haven't had any calls about Lillian going crazy and to come pick her up. :) When Erik starts his normal schedule, he'll be on overnights, but he'll have three days off a week. It depends on what they are, but we're hoping to work it so he can still have at least one day when he gets to be with her while I'm in the office. I think it's nice for them to spend some time together and get their own relationship figured out without me there all the time.

Compared to Erik and Lillian, my life is pretty boring. Work is busy with conferences, but that's not really that exciting. But I don't mind leaving the excitement to them. They can have it. Just seeing their excitement is about all I can handle right now. Except that the final installment of Harry Potter should be delivered on Saturday. Erik may get to spend the day with Lillian and Laddie while I curl up in my chair and read all day. Except for the few hours I'll take off to go see the new Harry Potter movie... ;)

I'll leave you with a picture of Lillian playing with her new favorite toy...paper.

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Now that you've had an update on Lillian, here's an update on all of us. There hasn't been anything too exciting, really...just regular life. My dishwasher did break, though, so that was a pain. It was down for about two weeks while the ordered the part. Apparently, the circuit board went out. But it got fixed today and all I can say is Hallelujah! No more hand washing!

We had our fireworks stand fall through. If you don't know, we were going to run a stand for Phantom Fireworks over the week of the 4th just to earn a little extra cash. But there was some problem about who they talked to about putting it up, so our location was canceled. Erik made a stink about having already taken off work and the time he'd already put in without compensation (the pay was partly based on how much product was sold), so they agreed to hire him on as the money-pick-up guy. He'll be driving around to the stands in northern Utah to collect their money and taking it to the bank. This will probably be better anyway since we won't have to find people to help staff the stand or sit in it in the heat.

Lillian forgot to mention that she attended her first demolition derby on Saturday. She's not really a fan...despite the adorable shirt Erik made that says Derby Chick. We bought her some baby ear muffs to protect her from all the noise. I tried them on and they block out almost everything, but I don't think she liked having them on. Plus, I think she was tired since we'd had a fairly full day walking around Summerfest (an art festival in Logan) earlier, and I think she may have been hungry. But even after I fed her, she just wasn't interested in staying for the whole thing. So she and I went outside the arena and walked around a bit while Erik watched the rest of the derby. We've decided we need to get her used to the ear muffs at home first, a little at a time, and then try again. We may have to wait until next year, though, and not make such a full day of it before the derby.

Erik recently applied for promotion at work. We haven't heard if he'll be interviewed, yet, but from something another manager let slip, it sounds like a good possibility. He probably won't stay with Wal-mart forever, but we figure that while he's there, he might as well move up and get some more management experience for his resume.

We had to speak in church on Sunday. Since it was Father's Day, that was the topic we were given. It went pretty well...except that we left about 10 minutes and a member of the bishopric had to fill the rest of it up. But I think three shorter talks is better than a couple really long ones that go no where, so it wasn't bad.

I think that's all I have. Until next time...

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5 months old

Today I am 5 months old. The time has flown by! I'm getting so big, and I'm really alert, now. I started eating cereal about a month ago, and it's going pretty well. Now mommy is talking about starting other foods. I think I'm trying peas tonight...wish me luck.

I like to grab for anything in arm's reach now, too. So mommy has to be careful if we're sitting by something I can grab. The other day, I pulled a candy flower out of a bouquet for Grandma Nancy. I think mommy was just showing me the colors, but I wanted to get an up close look. Everyone was amazed with my strength. And one day when I was riding on daddy's shoulders, I grabbed his hair. Mommy laughed while he tried to get me to let go.

I've been pretty fussy lately and went through a little phase of not sleeping well, but I'm getting better again. Mommy and daddy can't decide if I'm teething or not, but since I seem fine in every other way, they're just dealing with it as best they can.

We're enjoying our summer very much. We all go for walks or sit on the patio in the evening once it gets shady. I like to watch Laddie play and see all the people go by. On our walks, sometimes I'm in the stroller and sometimes I'm in the baby carrier that mommy wears. Most of the time I fall asleep, but I have a good time anyway.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summers also.

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So long May...

I apologize for the long delay between posts. I suddenly realized that the month of May is almost gone and I hadn't done a single update for the entire month.

Lillian went to the doctor for her 4-month check-up on May 18. She now weights 9lbs 11oz and is 23 inches long. She's slowly getting on the growth curve. She got her next round of shots and reacted about the same as last time. I don't think that will ever get any easier, for me at least. The doctor says she looks great and he gave us the go-ahead to start introducing some solids. We haven't started yet but probably will next week: just a little rice cereal at one feeding during the day. We'll see how she reacts before trying to do more.

She loves to sit up, so we got her a little chair specially made for infants that supports her. I felt better about that than propping her in the corner of the couch and having her tip over. She seems to like it and will sit in it for quite a while before getting fussy. She's also started to show some interest in her toys. She used to just look at them as we waved them in front of her, but now, if you put it in her lap, she'll pick it up and...of course...try to eat it. She almost put her binky back in her mouth a couple times, but we haven't decided if it was accidental or not. :)

As for the rest of the family, there's not really anything new to report. Laddie has started his next round of training classes and is learning lots. Erik is dealing with being short-staffed in the photolab, but other than that, things are going well. I finished my class at the beginning of the month (Conflict and Expressive Culture) and received an A. My final paper was on how sacrifice has been used in the Harry Potter series. I'm a nerd, I know. Right now, I'm busy getting ready for the summer conference season at work. Since we do a lot of trainings for educators, the busy time is over the summer when they aren't teaching.

That's about it I think. Until next time, which will hopefully come a lot quicker than this one did.

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Life is Good

It's been a while since I've let everyone know what I'm up to. I turned 3 months old on April 19. Isn't that hard to believe? I'm growing big and strong. When people see me, they always say how small I am, but Mommy and Daddy don't know what they're talking about since I'm quite a bit bigger than when they first saw me. I'm still wearing preemie pants, but the 0-3 shirts are fitting me now. Before you know it, nothing in my closet will fit.

While Mommy works, I like to look at my gym. There's a smiley face that I especially like. I must get that from Mommy since she likes smiley faces, too. Sometimes I like to swing in my swing, and occasionally, I just have to be held. On those days, Mommy doesn't always get a lot of work done, but we sure have fun.

I smile a lot now, and I talk to Mommy and Daddy, too. Sometimes I don't think they have a clue what I'm saying, but they're pretty good at pretending and we have some nice conversations. My favorite way to lounge around the house is to sit up. I can't hold myself up yet, so they have to prop me up somehow, but the view is so much better than from my back and I hate being on my tummy. Mommy keeps trying to get me to like my tummy since the doctors say I need tummy time, but a couple minutes is all I can stand before I staring wailing. Those mini-push ups and rolling over are way over rated anyway.

Daddy and I are still having a good time when Mommy goes into the office. Yesterday we took a walk in the stroller with our doggie, Laddie. I sure liked that a lot. Laddie likes to babysit while Mommy gets work done around the house. He sits next to me to make sure I don't misbehave and tries to comfort me if I start to fuss. I can't wait until I'm big enough to play with him.

That should give you a good idea about what's happening with me. Until next time...

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Happiness

Today as I was watching Lillian grin for no reason other than I was talking to her, I realized that this is happiness. I don't know why I was so surprised, but I realized that I am truly happy with my life. Sure, we have the occasional low spot when something goes wrong, but for the most part, we have it pretty good. We are so lucky that Lillian is doing well and is healthy, and I know we have been blessed as we've gone through everything with her. It was stressful for a while, but everything seems to just be falling into place like it should, and I'm just so grateful.

This past weekend, Nana and Grandpa Len came up for Lillian's blessing. We had a little shindig afterward, and it was great to visit with many of the people we care about most. It's so comforting to know that if we need someone to turn to, we have several choices and all would be more than willing.

So that was all I really wanted to say. Just thank you to everyone who has been there these last few months. We love you all.

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Easter Bunny

Lillian got her picture taken with the Easter Bunny this weekend, so I thought I put it up for everyone to see. It's nice having such a connection with the Wal-mart photo lab...no one else got their picture electronically, but since Erik had access to the memory card, he brought the file home.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!

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Life with Daddy

While Mommy works at her office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get to hang out with Daddy. We have a fun time, at least I do. I think sometimes he gets frustrated when I get cranky and he doesn't know why. But it's always an adventure when we're together. Sometimes I spit up all over him with no warning, and sometimes he does silly things to me. Like today when he got me dressed.

I got some new clothes from my Auntie Pam that I wanted to try on. They fit just fine, but all my cute pants are still too big. So what did Daddy do? He took the skirt of my stuffed frog and put that on me. Perfect fit! Here's a picture.

I guess that's not as bad as the duct tape diaper he's been threatening to make me. And as long as we have a good time together, I guess things are going pretty well.

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Decorating

So we're finally getting around to finishing (staring?) up the decorating of our house. We only moved in over 6 months ago...We got new curtains for the living room and finally decided on some for our bedroom. And last night we decided on a paint color for the living room...Balsam Beige. Sounds pretty boring, I know, but it's a nice warm, light brown, so I think it will look nice. I've never been one for outrageous wall colors. (The most exotic I've done is the Honeydew stripe in Lillian's room, but a kids room is a completely different story.) Once the walls are painted, we're going to add some shelves over and around the tv (an LCD) for some pictures. It looks great in my head, so hopefully it will meet my expectations. Erik doesn't like to paint, so the plan is to let him entertain Lillian while I get started on painting on Saturday.

Aside from the curtains, we haven't done anything else with the bedroom; well, besides the couple of hangings I have on the wall. I also have several paint chips taped to the wall above the bed, but we can't decide on what color to go with. It's so hard to commit to paint colors, which is silly since you can always change it if you don't like it.

Wish us luck!

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Family Visit

On Monday and Tuesday, I got to visit with my Grandpa and Grandma Tanner and my Aunt Cassandra. We had a wonderful time. They were able to hold me, which was a first for all of them since I was still in the hospital when they were here last time. I was very well behaved and didn't fuss hardly at all, even when we all went out to dinner; I wanted to make a good impression. They gave me a fun book with some very silly songs. I listened to the music from it yesterday, and I think I will like it very much. I hope they come again soon.

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Check-up

Lillian went to the doctor today for her 2-month check-up. She now weighs 7 lbs 6 oz and is 20 inches long. She also got her first set of vaccines. That wasn't a pleasant experience to say the least. She certainly didn't like getting poked with those needles. I guess on the positive side, she wore herself out complaining about it, so I was able to get some work done when we got home.

The doctor says she looks great. She has a little rash under her chin so he recommended some heavy moisturizer, but other than that, there weren't any problems. Our next visit will be in May.

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Back to work

I returned to work on March 8. After being off for almost 7 weeks, it was pretty hard. Luckily, I only have to go into the office two days a week; the rest of the week I work from home as a telecommuter. That's going to take some getting used to, too, since Lillian still needs quite a bit of attention. She's starting to get interested in toys a little, but it doesn't last for long before she starts to get fussy and wants to be held. I should be fantastic at typing one handed in no time. At this point, I work hard while she's sleeping, and occasionally, I have to work a little after hours once Erik gets home.

We're lucky that right now, Erik is able to adjust his schedule at work so he works nights the two days a week that I work at the office. That way, we don't have to find a babysitter. We're not sure how long Wal-mart will let that fly, but for now, we're taking advantage of it. I feel so much better knowing Lillian is with her Dad rather than someone we hardly know. Eventually, I'm sure we'll have to find a different solution, but at least we have some time to investigate thoroughly.

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Update from Lillian

I thought I should give everyone a little update. I'm growing a lot! My clothes are starting to get too small. Mommy and Daddy never thought it would happen! My other clothes are still a little too big, but I should be filling them out pretty soon, too. I have a doctor's appointment on Monday, so we'll see for sure how much I've grown then.

I'm starting to sleep a little better, which Mommy appreciates. I still get up a couple times a night, but I usually go back to sleep pretty quickly. The weather had been getting warmer, so Mommy and Daddy took me out for a walk in my stroller the other day. I didn't really like it at first, but once we got going, I didn't mind too much.

I had my first professional pictures taken on Saturday.
I was very cooperative, and the photographer was surprized considering how young I am. I've posted some of them so you can see how cute I really am.

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Welcome!

Welcome to the new Schaelling Family Blog. We'll try to keep it updated so you know what's happening with Erik, Leonora, Lillian, and Laddie. Please feel free to comment on anything we say; we'd love to hear what you think.

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