Happy Birthday Daddy!

Last year, for Robert's 40th birthday, we had a big ol' luau at our house to celebrate.

We had lots of fun decorations...

...and TONS of food.

We had lots of friends and family...this is James, Allison and Lydia...

...Jenny and Phil...

...Marcos and Angela...

...Mike and Kerry...

...Jocelyn (daughter to Jenny and Phil)...

...even Shayna got in on the festivities!

And we had this amazing cake decorated by Robert's sister, Ellen.

This year was much more subdued with a small, quiet

(and fabulous!) dinner at Robert's mom's house.

There was a small, new addition to the party this year who was absent for the last. I'll let you decide which birthday was better....

Look Who's Walking!

A Little Breezy...

Robert went to take the trash out on Sunday night and this is what he found...

View from the front gate into the back yard.

View from the back yard looking towards our front gate.

It was dark Sunday when we discovered this, so these pictures were taken Monday morning. Needless to say, it's been very windy here! Fortunately, our dog has not discovered this escape route yet. Robert talked to our neighbor and he knows someone who can rebuild it for us. Apparently this one was built without a foundation which is why it fell over fairly easily. Ahhh...the joys of home ownership! The winds are supposed to die down tomorrow, so hopefully we can get started on this before the end of the week. Thankfully, none of the 16 fires burning in Southern California are near us, but we are getting quite a bit of smoke from the Malibu fire. Please pray for the people affected by all of these fires. They are saying over 1000 people have lost homes already. I can't even fathom what they must all be going through. Thank you to all of the firefighters who are working so hard!

We had quite an eventful end of the week/weekend with Lily. She had been struggling with a cold for a little over a week and last Thursday night (10/18) it turned bad. She was having a really hard time breathing and started wheezing in the evening. I called the doctor's office to get her in 1st thing Friday. He said it was asthma which is often brought on by colds. We gave her a nebulization treatment at the doctor's office (very familiar!) and he sent us home with an inhaler and breathing chamber. She is feeling so much better now and I am so glad to at least know what it is and how to help her in the future. I know it was harder on me than it was on her! The doctor feels she will probably outgrow it. All things considered, it could certainly be worse. We are thankful.

Here are a few more pictures of our girl...

Getting ready for our morning walk. See Panda's little head sticking out? He is no longer allowed to walk with us as we had to turn back twice to retrieve him from being thrown overboard!

Looking so cute in her Sunday best!

I caught her in this pose during her nap yesterday.

LOTS of Pictures!

Since it's been a while since I last posted, I figured I'd post a lot of pictures for ya'll. (I'm practicing my Texan drawl for when we go to Austin in December!) Enjoy!



Lily and Lily
Lily's friend Lily (aka Lydia) came over for a playdate last week. They had fun, but let's just say our Lily has lots of work to do on sharing!
This is fun!

Wait a minute...those are my blocks!

Looking Cool With Daddy

And sooo cute in pigtails! Daddy doesn't like them as much though because they make her look more like a little girl and not so much a baby. I have to say I agree, but they are sooo cute!

Lily's Precious Panda

I See You!

Feeding Herself For The First Time!

Robert tried handing her the spoon just to see what would happen. She put it right to her mouth and fed herself! She is a genious I tell you.

Going for the spoon...

...and right to the mouth!

Getting a little messier...

Oops! This is what happens when a 1 year old tries to feed herself!

Little People

Lily loves her Little People and this farm is her favorite...at the moment.

Shop 'Til You Drop!

After church on Sunday, we went to the mall to meet Robert's mom and sister for lunch. Someone got a little sleepy! I wish I had a stroller someone could push me around in when I get tired!

Another Check-Up...Our Girl is growing!

Lily and I have both been sick for the past week, so I haven't been up to blogging much lately. We both got colds at the same time so it hasn't been much fun around here! Thankfully I have a pretty amazing husband who also happens to be a pretty good dad. He took very good care of us this weekend by taking full charge of Lily and letting me get some much needed rest. We are both feeling much better now!

Last Tuesday, 9/25, Lily had her Dr. appointment. She did much better with the nurse. She was able to weigh and measure her without Lily screaming her head off. She now weighs 18 lbs 4 ozs. She's put on about 2 1/2 ponds since her last visit 2 months ago. She is also 29 1/4 inches now so she is getting taller too! How is it possible to be so exccited by this and yet sad at the same time? Anyway, she is still not fond of her doctor...at all. She screamed the whole time he examined her, and as he was leaving the office, she kept repeating, "Bye-bye!" over and over again like he wouldn't leave fast enough!

Here are some more recent pictures of our growing girl...


Another great shot by daddy.


Lily being her silly self!

So exhausted she fell asleep drinking her bottle.

Lily with her beloved Kissy Bear.

Lily with another of her favorites...Panda. She has just started wanting to take him everywhere. We are kind of excited she has finally started showing an attachment to one of her toys. She has slept with him in her crib every night since we got home from China and just started this a week or so ago. Here she is trying to feed him one of her precious cheerios. Sooooo cute! This picture was taken after we got home from her Dr. visit. She had 4 shots and 2 of her fingers pricked (note the bandaids) and was not feeling too well.

I'm not sure if you can tell in this picture, but her other top tooth started coming in!