Sorry for the teaser posts lately, but here is a long overdue REAL update! So much has happened since the last big update, let’s start with one of the biggest ones - Lily’s First Birthday!! Her birthday was on Saturday the 13th and we had a party for some of her neighborhood friends on that day. We had the party at my parents house because my house is too dang small, but it was really nice! I bought way, way, way too much food and stuff (of course), and Lily didn’t always seem too interested in opening her presents, but I think everyone had a good time and now that she’s had the presents at home she loves EVERYTHING she got. She was spoiled rotten for her birthday - she got so many TOYS!
She did a nice job with her cake, and it was funny to watch. Her cake was decorated with little frosting dots and she just kept sticking her finger in the dot and eating the frosting without making much of a mess. Finally she dug in and ended up pulling the whole top layer off her cake and pushing half of it under her high chair tray, and she did get SOME frosting in her hair so it was a pretty nice mess. She has made much bigger messes with just a normal meal, so I was a little surprised (but happy) with how she handled it. (click the link by one of the pictures to see many more pictures from her birthday party.)
Now, lets skip to Christmas Eve (I know that’s a l lot of time to skip but I can’t possibly remember every day from then until now and this post would be far too long if I could!). Christmas Eve was spent at my parents house with my parents, my sister and her family, my brother, my brother’s friend Jason, and my Aunt. It was a nice family night with good food and LOTS of nice presents! This time, Lily really got the hang of opening presents and even tried to open some that weren’t for her while they were being wrapped! She also wanted to “test drive” some of her cousin’s presents but they didn’t seem to care too much! I told everyone Lily got PLENTY of toys for her birthday so her presents this time were more along the lines of clothes, pajamas, and BOOKS. Lily LOVES books so she was thrilled. Jason and I counted when we got home and we estimate she got over 20 books between her birthday and Christmas. TWENTY. Books. Insane.
Abby also managed to spill her Mama’s brandy eggnog and soak the sleeve of her shirt. Lisa washed her off good and soaked the sleeve in water, and Abby spent the rest of the evening chewing and sucking on her sleeve. Brandy helps with teething pain, right?!? 
Christmas day - we went back over to my parents house in the morning for Santa gifts and a delicious breakfast prepared by Auntie Lisa. After we finished opening Santa gifts, we got all packed up and drove to my Aunt’s house for a big family celebration. I was kind of dreading that part of the day because I was afraid it would be hard with my Grandma gone, but it actually went better than I expected. The twins have been having a hard time teething lately AND they missed their nap so they were pretty fussy (but still adorable!), and Lily was tired and a bit clingy, but I think they had a pretty good time.
We just have two more Christmas celebrations to attend, and they’re both today! Jason’s family is coming up to our house to celebrate Lily’s birthday (they missed her party) and Christmas all in one. Once they leave, we’re going to try to head over to my parents house (briefly) once again to celebrate with my half-brother and half-sister and their families. We typically only see them about once a year (Christmastime) so they haven’t met Claire and Abby yet and Lily has changed a bit since they last saw her, so that should be fun!
Finally, just some random, fun Lily updates. She is absolutely amazing me by how much she is learning lately. If you ask her to point to her nose, eyes, or mouth she can correctly point them out now. She is trying to say so many more words (duck, dog, kitty-kat, peekaboo, done, etc) and is playing peekaboo with her hands and saying “peek” or “peeka”, and once or twice I swore she said “peekaboo” (it’s adorable no matter what she says!). She can recognize and point to some animals in her books (she definitely knows that sheep says “baa” - she’ll see a sheep and say “baa” or if we’re reading Moo, Baa, La-la-la she can say baa at the right time). She has started following some commands, like if I ask her to bring me something she typically will. We were at my parents house and getting ready to go and I said “Lily, go get your coat please” (not expecting her to actually do it) and she walked right over and picked up her coat and brought it to me! My parents and I were amazed and I wasn’t sure if it was for real or not, but she did it a second time. She also loves to dance, and can climb off and on her toy pony without help.
Unfortunately, with all her exploring there also comes a whole host of new injuries. I think the poor girl injured herself 4 times on Christmas Day alone! She still has a cut on her forehead and a split eyebrow (complete with black eye) to show for it.
I’m sure there are many more stories or updates I could share with you but I think this post has gone on long enough, and I don’t remember anything off the top of my head right now! I promise in the New Year to try and post actual posts more often so I don’t forget anything! Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday, and have a fabulous start to 2009!
