A little catch up is in order...

Hello world. It's me... I'm back. I am not even going to say anything or make excuses about how I haven't blogged since OCTOBER (that's right... 6 months ago. SIX) Instead, I am going to do a guiltless 6 month recap, and move on with my life. I really do believe in documenting my family history, and a blog could be a great way to do that... if  I was consistent. So, turning over a new leaf and documenting the life of the most adorable little girl in the world. Lily will be two next month, so I wanted to catch up and get ready to start her next year of life with a blog full of pictures I can print and document for her. :)

NOVEMBER

~ Thanksgiving with the family, awesome food, family memories

DECEMBER

 ~ Winter break at school, Christmas time, Santa Clause, cold weather, Krystin's surprise visit early for the holidays, Lily not getting to see Santa because the line was too long (sorry Lils)  

 

 

JANUARY

~  birthday dinner at Carino's, Lily talking like crazy, visit to the Boise Aquarium, Lils starts loving nursery and can sing the ABC's all by herself

 

FEBRUARY

~ Sweet Valentine's day with the hubby, roadtrip to Utah with this little diva, Bridal shower for Bentis, one month closer to spring break, Lily giggling and laughing and absolutely overflowing with amazing personality, using words like butterfly, battery, purse, and hundreds of other words all in the right way

 

 

 

MARCH

~ jam packed with Las Vegas trip with the parents, discovering we love NASCAR (yes, that's right. I admitted that. and I really do love it), Benita's gorgeous wedding weekend in San Diego, PAYTON was born and I'm finally an aunt to the cutest little thing on the planet, a desperately needed Spring Break to just spend every day with Lily snuggling, jumping, dancing, singing, and playing

 

 

 

 

APRIL

~Well, we are still in the middle of April, so I guess pictures will be coming soon! Some exciting things are coming up though... Josh graduates next month and takes his big CCNA test!! So scary and exciting for him! We finally get to meet Payton in only THREE WEEKS!! I am seriously counting down the days and I wish it were tomorrow. I can't believe she will basically be TWO MONTHS when I get to see her for the first time.... so sad. I am just absolutely struggling to get through the end of the school year with my kids, filling in for the Student Council adviser who broke her ankle to plan prom later this month, my own leadership kids are planning Morp, Yearbooks will hopefully be delivered on time, all while I am supposed to be getting my US history kids ready for their final district exam... yuck. When am I supposed to be a good wife and cook and clean my house and go to the gym and play with my adorable baby girl and SLEEP and just take a breath? I haven't figured that out yet... 

Lils on the other hand is just tearing it up as a ball of eternal energy. She really is the most brilliant, beautiful baby in the world. Ok, ok... I know I am her mom, but it's so true. :) She is talking so much, and everyday says the funniest things that I just die laughing about. I am excited to be caught up now on the blog so I can share some of the joy she brings with the rest of you! 

More to come later... but wow, it feels good to be "caught up" and moving on. Here's to an incredible rest of April!

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkins galore. Bumpy hay rides. Delicious, hot mini doughnuts. Allergies from the hay.

The Pumpkin Patch at Linder farms is turning in to one of my most favorite fall traditions. Josh, my mom, and I took Lily this year, and I was so excited because I thought that Lily would love all of the sights and smells. And needless to say... I was not disappointed.

We headed to the hay ride first, eager to get the perfect little pumpkin in her waiting hands. I think the fact that she hadn't napped that day made her a bit apprehensive at first, nervous with every bump and jostle of the hay ride. But once we jumped off and entered the pumpkin patch, she was in heaven.
It was the cutest thing to see her discover the baby pumpkins that were growing underneath all the vines. She was fully committed to rescuing each one, digging in the dirt and carry them around. She loved that they were just her size.
In the end, we found the perfect sized pumpkin for my beautiful one year old. I think she loved it.

After the patch, we headed to the petting zoo. We all know how much i love, ok HATE, animals. Sorry animal lovers, I just don't like them. Sure, baby lambs are cute, but they are smelly and dirty, and don't think for one second that I will pay a dollar to feed them. Sorry Lils.

Luckly, her daddy stepped up to the plate, and Lily couldnt' get enough of the baby lambs eating the feed. Lots of hand sanitizer later, I was glad she had a good time.

We topped the day off with some doughnuts, and all in all, it was a perfect day.

Fall truly is my favorite season. The smells, the food, the chilly air, the scarves and boots. Love it all. I am so glad we live so close to family so we can do these things with them.
Can't wait for halloween... I am trying to whip up a family costume this year, so stay tuned for pictures of that spooky event.

Y.M.C.A. with Auntie Karalee

Lily is such a lucky girl, because she gets to spend time with her Auntie Karalee every week! Karalee is one of our amazing, incredible, perfect nannies. She devotes her complete time, energy, and love in to making sure Lily has an awesome day. She is so good about choosing activities that Lily will enjoy.

A couple Fridays ago was no different. Karalee took Lily to the YMCA to go swimming, and it turns out, Lily is absolutely obsessed with the YMCA... Karalee said she LOVED it.
The first stopped to look at the rock climbing wall. Apparently Lily was memorized by the height and color. Then, they went in to the locker room, and Lily loved to crawl in and out of every locker in the row.
She spent lots of time in the pool, splashing away. Zoe and Sophia swam with her too, and it turns out, Lily loved the baby pool! I feel bad I can't take her to swim as much as she would like, so I am so happy that Karalee took her this day.
They spent some time at the gym after the swim. Karalee says that there was a super intense basketball game going, and Lily was taking it all in.

They spent some time in the raquetball court. Apparently, I am raising an athlete, just like her Daddy.
Lily loved watching the workout room as well. I can just imagine how excited she was by all the sights and sounds, and I am so grateful that Karalee took her on such a fun adventure.

That is one thing that I absolutely LOVE about Lily. She loooves adventures and new things and being happy. I can just tell that she thought this whole place was full of new sights and adventures. Being a toddler is amazing... Love that girl. Love the Y. Love Karalee... perfect combination.

She loved it so much, it completely wiped her out...
Thanks sis for making Lily's day!

Babies for my Baby... 16 months!

I'm sorry, but is this my baby one year old, or a five year old child???
She is so stinkin' grown up these days... sometimes I have to check. Where did my baby go?!?!

As fast as time flies, and as much as I am missing my Baby Lily Jane, I have to say that i LOVE my toddler as well. She is at such a fun age!! 16 months is just awesome. I seriously love every day more and more. She is so full of personality and surprises. I can't imagine life without this little dear.

Here is a quick update on 16 month old Lily Jane Davis...

"MAMA" TIME
This little girl is obsessed with anything and everything about Babies now a days. It is the absolute cutest thing ever. She has about seven babies between the three houses, and she loves all of them. She carries them around, gives them her fluffies, changes their "bum bums" with her own wipes and diapers, puts their binkies in and out, and gives them a lot of loves, snuggles, and kisses. It really melts your heart. Whenever the day comes, she will be a great big sister.

Little Miss Mobile
She may have gotten off to a late start, but once Lily figured out how to walk more than 5 steps on a Friday, she was running around everywhere by Saturday. She is loving her new found freedom, and is definitely a toddler, exploring anything and everything in sight. She is finding new cupboards to dig through, new furniture to climb up, and new ways to get away even faster when she knows mama is coming because she did something naughty, like eating yucky things off the floor. It's been months now, and I still can't get over how cute it is so see her toddling all around on her own. She gets so proud of herself.
(And, as see below, she is still obsessed with her "fluffies", and always has at least one or two in tow at all times. So cute)

She is grown up enough to have these amazing big girl "up do's". Thanks to Karalee for this one... I love her long hair. You can do the most fun styles! I have the most amazing nannies that always do her hair so cute, way cuter than anything I could pull off. Thanks for always making Lily look so beautiful!

She loves pushing her babies around in strollers all the time. She is getting quite fast, and actually can run around while pushing strollers or walking toys. And you got to love her little shorts. I am going to miss dressing her in cute summer clothes.
Star Performer
This girl loves to sing, and she is quite good at it!! I am amazed at how well she can mimic melodies that I sing to her almost perfectly. She has recently discovered microphones, and she loves it. I am hoping that will continue and I can't wait to watch countless performances that she will come up with.

One of my favorite things about Lily is that she is still such a cuddle bug. She loves to snuggle up with mama and dada, and gives the best head snuggles and nose kisses. One of the most precious moments of my day is when she grabs a book and literally climbs up into your lap and wants to just snuggle and read. She can now say "love you", and it just melt my heart.

She is just growing up so fast, and we love her so much.

One of the all time favorite 'tricks', the squinty eye!! She can pretty much do this on command now, and she giggles and giggles so much, like she just did the best trick in the world. She loves to make people laugh.

Overall, it's been the best 16 months ever. She seriously has us wrapped so tight around her little finger, and we couldn't be happier to have her in our lives. What a blessing.

Things she loves:
1. GRAPES. Will never stop eating them.
2. Her nighttime routine, which is finally turning out successful. Awesome.
3. Going Outside. Anytime, anywhere... outside is always the first choice.
4. Num Nums. Almost any time she sits down in her stroller, carseat, highchair, she knows exactly how to ask for snacks.
5. Please and Thank Yous. She is so cute now that she can consistently says "pleeez" and "dank do" in the right context.
6. Repeating everything we say. I am amazed at how much she can say correctly.
7. Laughing and giggling. For those of you who have heard it, you know its the absolute cutest thing in the world.
8. Taking pictures and talking on the phone. Any phone or camera she sees, she picks it up, points it at her face and then says "CHEESE!" and smiles really big, followed by "Hellloooo" in to the phone. Adorbs.
9. Saying Hello and Bye Bye to EVERY person we walk by. Seriously... everyone.
10. Putting any shoes she finds on her feet. Daddy's shoes, mama's shoes, even tries to put daddy's shoes on her babies. She loves shoes.

I could go on and on.... so much to this little girl. We love her.

Art in the Park

Amanda and Jeremy came to visit for two weeks and we absolutely LOVED having them here! They live way too far away in Arizona, so it was so nice to have them back in Boise for a bit. We went to Art in the Park on Saturday, and Lily loved it. The puppies, the colors, the sunshine... it was her perfect day.

She was so happy she decided to make some funny faces for the camera...

My baby is growing up way too fast.

Lily is SUCH a daddy's girl recently. She absolutely loves every second she gets to spend with him. He has been working so hard this fall, working full time and going to school, and so when she gets to see him, she is the happiest baby. It's really sweet.

Lily's new favorite thing to do on walks... hold people's fingers while we walk along. It's precious!

The Davis Clan!! Love these guys!

Art in the Park 2011 was another success...