Reasons to be grateful

Someone asked on a forum I belong to what word we would like to use to reflect the new year ahead - 2011.  I thought about it for a while, wondering what word I would truly like to reflect the year and I suddenly realised how incredibly blessed and amazing my life is.  I've always known this, but actually thinking about it, I realised that I REALLY do have such an incredible life!  The word I chose was GRATEFUL.

I am grateful for:

• My incredible husband who is a wonderful provider so I can be a stay at home, full time mom to Lily.  He is loving, extremely kind and just incredibly funny! I'm also grateful for the many laughs I share with him on a daily basis.
• My beautiful, happy baby girl.  She has blessed and changed my life completely.  I never quite understood the profound life-changing experience having a child really is.  Amazing doesn't even begin to describe it.
• For my amazing family. We are all so very close and I'm grateful for the love we all share.  My mom, my best friend, who is constantly concerned for the happiness and health of us all and never stops running around us like a little busy bee; my dad who is just full of love for his "girls" and just seeing him with Lily melts my heart, he has the softest, kindest nature; my sister, also my best friend, go-to person and confidant, a truly amazing spiritual person - one of the most sincere people I know.
• For my beautiful house, relaxed lifestyle, my cute little black car, the food I like (but that's not necessarily quite good for the figure!) and for being able to have the nice things in life.

I'm grateful for so many things actually! Typing this just makes me realize that I have so much to be thankful for.  Life is good!

7 months today

Yet another month has passed in a blur and you are 7 months old.  I honestly cannot believe it and if I were granted one wish, I would wish for time to stand still for a moment.  Just a little moment so that I could fully enjoy the little person Lily is right at this very precise day in time.  I know I have said that I'm enjoying every age and stage Lily is at, but honestly, it just seems to be getting better and better.

A snapshot at this very moment in time:

• Rolling over from her back to her stomach!  This took quite a lot of coaxing and manipulating, but finally, we had a 100% roll over.  Finally!  This doesn't happen very often, but we can say it has definitely happened now.
• A very strong personality is emerging.  Lily knows what she wants and makes this very evident to both mommy and daddy.  Distraction works at times, but I think she is a little cleverer than we give her credit for.
• The dogs still provide momentous amounts of entertainment.  Harley, who was once hesitant and a little nervous of the new addition to our family, seems to quite enjoy Lily now giving her nudges, licks and sniffs much to Lily's absolute delight, resulting in high pitched screaches!
• I have started to introduce little bits of food from my plate and boy does Lily take well to it all.  I had sushi the other day and offered her some of the rice and she loved it!  I've also introduced small pieces of soft dried fruit as well as mince - all of which were eagerly moved around in her tiny mouth and then happily swallowed.
• Lily is sitting up like a champ now!  Very solid and fully supported.  How amazing that this happened almost overnight.
• My little girl could easily pass for a little boy at times as she loves being rough!  Daddy spins her around, turns her upside down, bounces her around and she just laps it all up with a huge grin and giggles.
• Lily is still quite petite and still fits into her size 3-6 month clothing although some of her 6-12 month items are fitting her much better now.  It's always fun moving into a new size so she can wear her new outfits.
• Her once thick mound of dark hair is now falling out to reveal much lighter, shorter new hair beneath.  The thicker hair on the top of her head seems to have escaped the migration so this hair is combed over the balding areas - not only do old balding men have comb-overs! :)
• Lily is truly a very happy child.  Our days are unindated with smiles, grins and giggles.  We are truly blessed.

Happy 7 months my angel child!  I love you more than you will ever know! xxx

Great day!

Yesterday, exactly one week before Lily turns 7 months, Lily said "Dada" for the first time!  I realise of course that she doesn't understand the meaning, but it was extremely exciting for us nevertheless.  I have persistently been saying "Dada, Dada" to her as I am adamant that it should be her first word so that when she needs or wants something, that's who she will call for : )  But all joking aside, it was very cute and the smile on hubby's face when he heard her was priceless.

And just a week ago, Lily also rolled over from her back to her stomach for the first time!  She really is meeting milestones at the moment.

Yesterday was also exciting because we got the photographs from our photoshoot.  An old family friend who now lives in Australia, happened to be visiting her parents in East London while we've been here and came around for coffee.  She is a brilliant photographer and came along with her camera!  We took some casual photo's and they are absolutely stunning, especially of precious little Lily Pie.  Here are a few that I just had to share:

My little family

So happy with my daddy

A tender moment with mommy

With my very special grandparents

Just can't get enough!

Lily is just too adorable at the moment!  I literally cannot get enough of her.  Every stage so far has been truly amazing, I feel absolutely blessed, however, this particular stage makes me want to squeeze her and just absorb every single second of it all.  The hysterical laughter and giggles, the scrunching up of her nose, the infatuation with the dogs, her love for all food presented to her, her little fat roll at the top of her leg, the cute dimples on her elbows (as Aunty Lou calls them, "Fat lady elbows"), her uncontrollable hair, the constant smile on her face... all of these things make me so grateful for what I have!

We are still on our road trip and Lily is still just taking it all in her stride.  You would swear we were still at home in our usual routine.  The only slight "niggle" is that I think her teeth are now starting to bother her a little.  Every now and then she seems a bit "unlike Lily" and I honestly think her pesky little bottom toofies are going to make an appearance soon.  Poor little nunu.  Other than that, she is truly taking this whole road trip in her stride.

We began our road trip at the beginning of November and started at the Breede River where we stayed for a week.  Our next stop was Tsitsikama where we stayed right over the ocean!  The view was amazing, but the weather unfortunately wasn't.  We managed only one walk along the beach and the rest of the time was spent entertaining Miss Lily inside.  After 4 nights there, we made our way to Cannon Rocks where we stayed in a lovely place, just minutes from the beach.  Unfortunately yet again, the weather didn't play along so we spent our days having leisurely family time together and going for drives to nearby places like Kenton-on-Sea.  We then made our way to East London where we have been for a week.  It has been great to spend time with the family and to have my mom's help - she truly is Superwoman in my eyes (cooking, cleaning, early mornings with Lily so mommy can sleep - the list is never ending)!  So tomorrow is our last day in East London and then we are heading towards Knysna on Monday.  I wish I could take my parents home with me :(

So unbeknown to Lily, she is in fact exploring quite a few places already at the tender age of 6.5 months!  I've taken numerous photographs for her so she can have a look at them when she is older.  Two of the photographs I took are actually so cute, I have to share them here.  Daddy was playing with Lily and his cap at granny and gampa's house on the bed.

Constant entertainer

Whilst in East London a few weeks ago, my mom and I watched an episode of Oprah where she interviewed the controversial "Octomom", the woman who famously had octuplets after she already had 6 children!  So now she has 14 children to take care of on her own with hardly any help at all.  I watched this programme with much sadness when she allowed Oprah's production crew into her life for 24 hours.  Those poor children were pleading for attention and love.  At once stage, one of the little octuplets literally fell alseep in his high chair and no-one even noticed.  Head slumped back in his chair in his own little happier dream land... heartbreaking to say the least.

A huge contrast to the Octomom's children, Lily requires constant entertainment.  My child isn't satisfied to be left to play on her own for too long, nor with only one particular toy or object.  Mom is her constant entertainment!  Perhaps she is too alert and, as I, biased mommy would like to think, too bright to be plonked down in one space playing on her own.  As a result, I often think of those 14 children who are so very desperate for that undivided attention and love and my heart breaks.  It reminds me how lucky Lily and I are to just be the 2 of us and how, even if I'm absolutely shattered from my constant entertaining or lack of sleep, I love playing and spending quality time with my angel.

Having said that, come 6pm, I'm happy to say goodnight and sweet dreams to Lily so I can try to recharge for my entertaining that starts bright and early the next morning!

Life's little joys

From a life that revolved entirely around myself for 30 years, I have realized what it is to feel complete. Not that I was unhappy on my own, I just knew that I always wanted a family. So when I met my husband, I knew that my life was forever changed. I just knew that he was 'the one' and that my life was getting that much closer to being perfect. Then of course, just over 6 months ago, my world was forever changed once again when our precious little Lily arrived. Who knew that the tiny little things she would do would bring us so much joy - the sort of joy people would pay millions to experience is happening in my life daily absolutely free of charge!

• I love the little smiles I get when I go into Lily's room when she has just woken up. No matter how early it may be, that smile literally squeezes my heart.
• The wheezing noise she has started making is too funny! I think she loves the new sound she is hearing so continues to suck in the air and make her wheezing noise!
• She is still doing her 'royalty' wave and once she spots her hand, she waves it even more. Absolutely the cutest gesture!
• Her sitting is coming along nicely although she still wobbles and topples over occasionally Watching her trying to master this new milestone fills my heart with pride.
• Lily's sleeping seems to be improving (touch wood) with bedtime at 6pm, one feed at 4am and her day starting at 6am. What a lucky mommy!
• She loves playing flying airplane, being hung upside down and generally just being a bit rough! Maybe I'm going to have a tomboy on my hands!
• Food is still going down really well with banana and papaya now being added to the mix. Yay for Lily being such a good little eater.  Her favourite veggies are sweet potatoes followed closely by gem squash and of course, all fruit goes down with excited anticipation with every spoonful.
• The dogs still provide endless moments of laughter and entertainment much to everyone's amusement. It's so amazing to hear her fits of laughter while she watches them!

Even though I spent 30 happy years of my life on my own, I now cannot begin to imagine going back to that time. My hubby and baby have completely changed my life, all for the better! Who knew that our precious baby would bring us so much joy. Such tiny little priceless gestures fill my day with so much happiness.

Road Trip

Yesterday we packed up the car and headed off on our very first "family of 3" road trip. Packing for this journey was of epic proportions - who knew such a little person would require so much. I think we literally packed up our whole house for these meager 3 weeks away. This was the first time I was truly grateful for our Venter Trailer! I used to be quite snobbish about using a trailer and always threatened wearing a balaclava when it was in tow, but now it is my best friend! With the trailer choca-bloc, the dogs in the boot, Lily strapped in, mom in the back and daddy driving all on his lonesome in the front like a taxi driver, we were on our way!

Lily was a super star! It's not easy for a little baby to be constantly happy facing the backseat for a 4 hour road trip. I wouldn't be happy if my only view was the back of a seat! But Lily truly astounded me and was very happy playing with her toys and laughing at mommy's strange faces and voices. We decided to break the trip up so Lily wasn't confined to her seat for too long and she enjoyed watching the dogs running about and looking at the new scenery. Lily still finds our Labrador hilarious and bursts into absolute fits of laughter when he is in sight.

I have to say I'm so lucky that Lily takes to new places really well. Staying in new beds, in new environments doesn't seem to bother her. She still maintains her bedtime routine much to mom's relief! So whether at home or in a new place, mommy only gets woken up once at around 3am and then Lily starts her day at 5am. Compared to other mommies, I am very lucky!

So today is day 2 of our road trip and I'm sure we have many adventures ahead of us. I'm so looking forward to spending this quality time away with my precious daughter and watching her discover more of herself and her little world.