What a difference a year makes.

Remember the left photo from this post last year? We took the same one this year, except this year, Lily is on the outside! Here is what Lily was up to at this time last year:

21 weeks gestation:
-Lily weighed almost 1 lb.
-She was about 10.5 in. long
-She was kicking lots
-Had developed
eyelids and fingernails

Here is what Lily is up to this year:

7 months, 2 weeks old:
-Lily weighs about 20 lbs.
-She is approximately 28 in. long
-She can roll over from front to
back and back to front
-Can sit up
-She waves hello/goodbye
-Sleeps 12 hours straight at night
-Babbles mama and dada
-Is so inquisitive and curious
-And SO much more!

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Miss Lily! We've been having a wonderful time celebrating the holidays and Lily's first Christmas. Here are some of the family traditions we started this year:

-Leaving cookies out for Santa and carrots for the reindeer
-Lily opening one gift on Christmas Eve
-Reading "The Night Before Christmas" and "Santa Mouse" on Christmas Eve
-Everyone getting an orange in their stocking (from the days of the Depression when that's all people could afford to give for Christmas)
-Making goodies and delivering them to the neighbors

We used to do a service/volunteer project or adopt a family at Christmas, so we'll probably begin that again when Lily is a bit older. I want her to know that it's so much more important to give than to receive.

Here is our holiday in pictures:

Reading Mary Engelbreit's The Night Before Christmas.


1. Lily sees carrots for reindeer.
2. Lily tries to eat carrots.
3. Lily sees cookies for Santa.
4. Lily tries to eat cookies.


Unwrapping packages is harder than it looks!


Our Christmas miracle.

Celebrating Fall Holidays

I've been such a slack blogger...thank you if you're still reading!

I can't believe that Lily is already 6 1/2 months old, sitting up, eating solid foods, and developing more personality each day. We had a wonderful Halloween and have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Here are some pics from our last two holiday celebrations.


Lily's first Halloween costume...a ladybug!


Happy Lilybug!


Lily's first Thanksgiving.


Guess what we're thankful for!


My little turkey!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Happy October! Lily is doing so well and growing so fast! I can't believe she's almost six months old. She has graduated from rice cereal and started eating veggies last week. So far we've only tried sweet potatoes, but we've got carrots, peas, and squash in the pantry, so we'll see what she likes best.

We've been having lots of adventures lately (as usual). Our latest were trips to the apple orchard and to the pumpkin patch. Lily loves being outside!

Here we are at Morgan Orchard:



Here is Lily's first visit to the pumpkin patch. I got her outfit from etsy and I love it! I'm addicted to that site.

Hello from Lily!

Hi there! It's been WAY too long since Mommy has updated her blog! I've been keeping her very busy but we're having so much fun!

I am now 4 1/2 months old and my parents love watching me grow and change each week. Here are some things I've been up to lately:


I'm eating rice cereal! I don't like it very much, but I love eating with a spoon.


I figured out how to put my feet in my mouth. YUM!


Mommy and Daddy got me an exersaucer! It's so much fun to play with all the toys.


Sometimes all those toys can be a little overwhelming, though.


I love going on trips, like up to the mountains in Asheville.


Whew, all these activities wear me out!

One Year Ago

One year ago yesterday, I had my first beta for our last IVF. It was 35 and I was devastated. I was sure that I was going to have a chemical pregnancy or a miscarriage and I told my IVF coordinator that if it was going to end, I just wanted it to happen sooner rather than later. Two days later my beta had doubled, a week later it was off the charts, and two weeks later we saw a heartbeat. I think I was more surprised than anyone that it actually worked! I can't believe that I'm sitting here, a year later, with my precious Lily sleeping in her crib in the yellow room.

Lily rolled over for the first time this week and we were so excited! It's amazing how much she grows and changes everyday. Here's a video of her latest antics at 3.5 months!

New England Trip

Mr. C, Lily, and I spent the last week in New England on a work trip/family vacation. We spent the first part of the trip in Newport, RI and then the rest of our time in Massachusetts. Lily was a wonderful flyer! We were worried about how she would do in the air, but she did beautifully!

The neatest thing happened on our USAir flight to RI. I asked the flight attendant if they still gave out wings for first time flyers. She said that they don't make them anymore but that she would get the signatures of the flight crew and captain for us to put in Lily's baby book. A few minutes later, she came back with the signatures and another flight attendant. She introduced the other lady, Sheila, and said that she had been a flight attendant on the plane that went down in the Hudson River last year. Sheila handed us a pair of wings and said she had them with her on the Hudson flight and she wanted Lily to have them. It was so special and neat! We were amazed!

Here are some pics from our time in New England.