Blog Post Every 6 Months is frequent, right?

Merry Christmas, everybody!! Yes, yes, we know what you're saying. Probably something along the lines of "Where in the world have you been?!" OR "'Bout darn time!!". Sorry about that. Truth is that in the last six months, I have taken off! Yes, it probably appeared as if I had taken off from blogging but I am talking about my development. You would not believe how much new and cool stuff I have learned!!

So much has happened since we last wrote. Daddy completed both the half-ironman and the full-ironman in wonderful times. And while that stuff is pretty cool, it pales in comparison to one other development that occurred this summer. We told you in the last post that Daddy was dating this wonderful person, Molly. Well, it's funny how life works out sometimes because Daddy asked her to marry him while we were up in Cedar Point for the ironman. In fact, I was there when Daddy popped the question. He had finished the race and after he had time to shower and drink some fluids, the three of us took a short walk on the beach. After 140.6 miles of racing, I guess Daddy's legs weren't really up for a lengthy stroll in the sand. Doesn't matter, he had a very important present to give and a proposition for Molly. So, while we were sitting on the beach chairs out in front of the resort Daddy asked her to be my mommy and his wife. How cool is that?! I am soo very excited and I know Daddy is too. You should see how mch fun the two of them have together. Add me to the mix, and Daddy says that he isn't sure life gets much more enjoyable. He says that life may have taking my mother way too soon but that God has no intention of allowing me to grow up without a mommy. So, from now on you will not see me to refer to her by her real name but rather, as mommy. Cause that's what she is :-)

If that weren't enough excitement, I have also been enrolled in school. I go on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays to a place called the Little Red Schoolhouse. I love it!!! My teachers Pam and Barb are AWESOME and I have met some really cool new friends in my classmates. We have all sorts of fun doing arts, crafts, singing songs and playing all sorts of games. Nevermind the fact that 8-10 toddlers in one classroom can be, ummm, shall we say...lively. It's just been a great deal of fun and Daddy and Mommy say that they have noticed that my speech and motor skills have taken off since I started there. I bet it's a mix between school, mommy and daddy reading to me everynight and the little bit of Sesame Street they let me watch. I sure do love that Elmo fella!! You put all that together and what do you get? Well, you can see a bit of that in the videos that we have posted.

What else? Well, Halloween was a lot of fun. I am not much for wearing costumes and I think Daddy had a good point when he asked me "what's the point in pretending to be something else when you are you?" So I wasn't a ladybug, a pumpkin, flower or a princess. Well, I guess I was kind of a princess; Daddy's princess. Since I am still a little young for candy and given my aversion to silly costumes, we hung around the house and handed out candy to the trick-or-treaters. I have to give it to a few of them, they were quite original.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE dressing up. I just love dressing up like a lady. Almost every night I insist on putting my dresses on. No need to bother with taking off my normal clothes, we just put my dresses on over them. But every once in a while, I like to rock out the bikini. And for that, my friends, I prefer to wear it the way it is meant to wear. Nevermind the fact that it is December and 7 degrees outside, we've got heat :-)

Thanksgiving was lots of fun...and driving. Boy-oh-boy, with Daddy's side and both mommys' sides, we did a TON of driving and by the end of the day we were beat. But we had a blast!

Let's see, what else? I am taking gymnastics class and I LOVE it. I do it with mommy and daddy. We start off by stretching and playing musical instruments and then they cut us loose on the rings, balance beems, trampolines and mats. Man is that fun!! To finish off our classes, we kids play in the parachute while the parents make it go up and down. Just awesome!

And that brings us to today! Daddy is off work through Christmas and I am anxiously awaiting Christmas and all the fun to be had. We get to go to the Festival of Lights, downtown to the Christmas stuff there, and maybe even the aquarium. I love when we get to go on adventures as a family. Good times!!!

Well, we'll be in touch. Hopefully before I graduate high school ;-) Just kidding!! Love you all and we wish you a Merry Christmas!!!!

Summer Fun!!!

Hey everybody!! Daddy and I sure hope you haven't been waiting around for a post because if you have, we feel bad that it has been over a month. We promised to post new stuff and then we got soo busy actually doing new stuff that we have done a good job of wearing ourselves and not having the time to get on the computer. Truth is, the summer is keeping us busier than we have ever been. Oh yea, happy solstice everybody!! For those of you kiddos out there that read this and are asking yourself, "what's solstice?", it's a fancy way of saying summer is officially here (as if the 90 degree weather isn't enough to make it official).

So, what kind of stuff have we been up to? Well, as most of you know Daddy really likes to train and compete in races called, Triathlons, where he races in three different areas (swim, bike and run). As you might imagine, in a place like Ohio there really is only one season to do such silly things. Yup, summer!! It may not sound like it but these events are a lot of fun and they give me, Molly, Mimi and the rest of the friends and family that come out a chance to hang out all day in pretty parks or by pretty lakes. I even get to make new friends and play in the water sometimes while Daddy is racing. I like the feeling of the sand between my toes and of my hands splashing in the water. Molly has gotten really good at making sure there are extra outfits in the diaper bag. We have a BLAST at Daddy's races and look forward to cheering him on all summer (you can see a glimpse of my cheering skills below). As it turns out, Daddy isn't half bad either. He did this one race a few weekends ago called the American Triple-T. Talk about crazy!! He did a "short" race Friday night, an Olympic distance (.9mile swim, 28 mile bike, 6.6 mile run) race Saturday morning, another Olympic distance race Saturday afternoon, and then finished the weekend with a half-ironman distance (1.2mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) race on Sunday. I'm telling you, he's crazy!! Anyway, Daddy ended up doing pretty well and finished 42nd out of the 362 men that were racing. He says he could never do it without Molly and me waiting for him at the finish. We'll keep y'all posted as the season continues.

Other than races, Daddy and Molly have been sure to keep our calendar chock full of things to do. We go to the zoo. We go to friends birthday parties. We go to the pool. We go to friends birthday parties at the pool. We go to family get-togethers. We go to the park. We go for walks. We even take Tuck to the dog park where we can let him go swim in the river. I tell you what, for being such a laid back dog, he goes wild in the water!! He and Daddy play fetch with sticks and Daddy always gets frustrated that Tuck doesn't bring them back all the way. He says Tuck is only 3/4 retriever and must not have inherited the gene that lets a dog know you bring the stick ALL the way back to the person who first tossed it. Oh well, they have fun playing around and I get to have fun splashing on the beach and tossing pebbles into the water. I just love the splashes and sounds that they make!!

You guys are smart, so you probably figured out that I am really diggin the summer and that I really like any activity that involves water. Can you blame me? Daddy and Molls realized my love for all things wet and bought me my very own baby pool. And I don't just mean any pool. They purchased a big blow-up pool with a jungle theme and it comes with a slide and a giraffe that sprays water. Talk about FUN!! I love to step in and out of the pool, throw toys in and out of it, splash my hands, and sit down in the cool water. Only downside is that I seem to have been blessed with Daddy's fair complexion and I can sunburn very easily so I don't get to stay out as long as I would like. But, nonetheless, I have a SUPER time when I am out there.

In other news, Daddy says that I am growing up too fast. He says that it seems like just yesterday that the only direction I could scoot was backwards and now he has to run just to keep up with me. He said he thanks God for caffeine; whatever that means. But he also lets me know that he could not be more proud of me and all the cool new things I am saying and doing. Daddy and Molly read to me all the time and I can even predict how some of the books are gonna go. My favorite book right now is called "Lily's Twinkly Bedtime". Suprised? Well, there is one page that goes "Is Jasmine fast asleep already?" and the answer is "No, she's holding Lily's teddy" Whenever, Daddy or Molly get to that part of the book I always answer before they can read the bit about the teddy. I love how they laugh when I do that.

Other things I have picked up on are the things Tucker says: "Ruff-ruff", the sound a lion makes "ROARRR!!!", and the sound a monkey makes: "eeh, eeh, eeh". I know where my head, eyes, nose and mouth are located on my body. And I LOVE to tell stories, even if nobody else seems to really understand what I am getting at. I can ride my little-tike scooter all around the house and love to push my teddy, Daisy, in the stroller. In the mornings, I like to act like I am putting on makeup just like Molly. Daddy and Molls say that it seems I learn something new everyday and I think they are right. What a cool time to be a kid!!

We still receive random gifts in the mail from people. Daddy is always so touched when he opens a card and reads the kind things people have to say about him or about how my Mommy impacted their life or how they love watching me grow through viewing this blog. Just the other week we recieved a card from Daddy's co-worker Jillian and her daughters Lindy and Addie. They sent us the nicest note, treated us to a nice lunch and even sent us a picture off the girls (it's hanging on our fridge in the kitchen). The card was cool but my favorite was the patch that was inside it. It's a girl scout badge that says "baby care" on it and it has a little teddy bear with bottles stitched on it. I love to carry it around the house. What cool girls Addie and Lindy are!! They have never even met me but still think of me lots. Daddy says that is the sign of someone with a genuine and compassionate heart and that God loves to use people like that to impact the world in great ways. He knows, he was married to my Mommy.

Well, it's getting late and I need to rest up for another day full of adventure. We hope you are getting outside and enjoying the warmth. Keep on rockin' and we'll check back later with all the cool things we are doing. Love you all more than words can say!!!!

Sincerely,

Lily

What We've Been Waiting For

Hey Everybody!! Things are getting pretty exciting here at the Carr household and as you will see below, there have been some big new developments. So, since it took so long to get these items to download, we're gonna let the pics and videos do the talking.

We hope all is well with you! We'll drop a line soon to keep you up to date on or adventures.

Love y'all

Lily

Just Video

Spring Has Sprung

Hey everybody!! Hope you guys are all having a great start to the season. Spring has officially sprung in the 'Nati and it is finding us running all over town doing all sorts of super fun stuff. I will get to that in a bit. But first, I should probably pick up where I left off last time.

As you all know, Daddy organized a team for the Heart Mini-Marathon in Mommy's honor and named the team "Party for Marty". That's a pretty fun name and Daddy tells me that it's the perfect name for Mommy because she loved a great party and had a natural ability to spice up any get together. As part of the team, people received special t-shirts with the team name and a picture of a lily on the back. How cool is that?! The flower that Daddy buys Mommy and after which I am named was on our team t-shirts. Daddy says that Mommy gave this world a whole lot of gifts but that I am her greatest gift and that is why he put in on the t-shirt. As if that wasn't cool enough, I got my own special t-shirt. A one-of-a-kind t-shirt that Daddy and Molly had made that had the same Lily on front but said "Party for Mommy" on it. I love it!!! The weather could have been better but the rain held off and we were able to have a great walk with thousands of our closest friends. What a great event!! Thanks to everyone who came out to walk or supported our team. I sooo can't wait for next year!!

As I noted in the intro, the new Spring season has come and we are taking full advantage of the warming weather. Mimi even had a whole week off from work because of her work's Spring Break and we got to spend almost every day together. So, I had heard rumors that Cincinnati has a major league baseball team at that there is a big parade every year when the season starts. Well, it just so happens that the "Opening Day Parade" happened to coincide with Mimi's break and she took me to see it. In a word, WOW! This was my first parade ever and I LOVED it. There were all sorts of people there and they had some cool floats and loud bands. It was a bunch of fun. Maybe, if I am lucky, I will get to go see a game sometime and if I am super lucky, next year I can go to the parade again. My week with Mimi was FANTASTIC and I can't wait for summer when we get to spend tons of time together. We are gonna have a blast all summer long!!

Spring might just be my favorite season. The leaves on the trees are coming out and the flowers are blooming. Thank goodness I don't have allergies (knock on wood) because my new favorite thing to do is play outside. Daddy and I even went to buy flowers to take to Mommy's gravesite. Since the weather was so great, we put out a blanket and just sat out with Mommy for a little while and enjoyed our time together. It was pretty special.

Easter came and went in a flash. What a great holiday! Daddy told me about the meaning of the holiday and why we celebrate it. He said it probably is no coincidence that Easter happens in the Spring because Spring is a season of new life and that's exactly why Jesus came, to give new life. Hmm, pretty heavy stuff. But on a lighter note, my Easter dress was super cute! My Great Aunt Mary Joe sent it up from Florida. It was my cousin, Haley's, dress and I have to say "Haley, you've got great fashion sense, girl!! Love the dress!" If you don't believe me, just check the pix. And by the way, I love Easter egg hunts! I love them soo much, that we still are doing them at the house. I take my basket full of plastic eggs, dump them out and pick them all p to place back in my basket. Soo much fun!

There is TONS more to tell you guys but we'll save it for later. From all the walks in the park that Molly, Daddy and I get to go on with Tucker to taking field trips to the zoo, we are having a blast this Spring!! It's only gonna get better this week because Molly is on Spring Break and we get to spend lotsa time together. YAY!!! I sure hope you all are having as much fun as me. Life is good!

As for my health, I am totally rockin. I had my last GI appointment last week and my Dr. says I don't need to come anymore. Awesome!! I mean, I love Dr. Kacoshis but I am soo happy that my belly is doing what it is supposed to. Thanks to all those prayers you all have been sending up. I love you guys!! And developmentally, I am still about 20lbs but am getting all sorts of new teeth and learning all sorts of new things. Can't wait to share more with you all soon.

Keep on rockin'!! We sure will.

Love Ya TONS!!!

Lily

PS Trouble loading video. Will try again tonight

Movin On Up

Hey everybody!!! And a BIG Happy St. Patrick's day to all you Irish lads and lassies out there!! Apparently, everybody is Irish one day ot of the year. I'll be sporting my green "I'm a McCutie" T-shirt. Daddy and I were chatting the other day about how excited we are to have Spring be right around the corner. The conversation all started because a couple of weekends ago the temps here reached close to 60degrees and gave us the opportunity to get out and take Tucker for a nice w-a-l-k. Sshhhh! You can't say the word because everytime you mention it, Tuck goes all wild and starts jumping up and down, chasing his tail and acts all super-crazy-excited. But anyway, the weather was so nice that Daddy, Molly (Daddy's GF), and I took Tucker on one of those "w" words. Ooopps, I just outed Daddy and his relationship status, didn't I? No worries though because we love having Molly around and Daddy says that just cause your life doesn't always turn out like you would have planned, you still deserve to find happiness. Mols is a super cool chick, we get to do all sorts of interesting stuff together, plus, she makes Daddy very happy. What more could you ask for?



So, you are probably wondering "what is new in Lilyworld?". Well, let's start with the not so cool thing. All three of us caught this thing that Daddy called the "stomach bug". Man-o-man, I don't know how that happened because I sure didn't see any bugs around. But whatever it was, it sure did a number on us. I was the only one to have the pukes but all of us spent an entire weekend laid up not feeling well. Thank goodness for Pedialite and Gatorade!!!



Once healed, we were back getting busy having fun. I am learning all sorts of new things. Check out the video (hopefully it loads right). I now know where my head is and even make these really fun noises with my mouth. The new thing that I love the most is climbing on stuff. I have a rocking chair that belonged to Mommy when she was a baby and I just LOVE to climb on it. Daddy is always reminding me "Sweetheart (that's what he calls me sometimes), on your bottom please." When he says that, I have to sit down. But that's OK because I can rock my body back and forth and the chair rocks with me. Totally cool!!!



I am still not walking even though I know you are all waiting for the footage. I am in no hurry and Daddy really isn't pushing me to do anything that I am not ready for. Besides, he says he's trying to soak up every little moment. So, I am giving him some more time to soak in me being a crawling toddler. Even though I am still just crawling, I manage to keep Daddy and Molly on their toes. I am getting so tall (I use the term loosely, of course) that I can now reach things on the window sills and end tables. They have already started moving the breakable things so that I can not reach them.



I am starting to adventure out and try new things to eat. It's been a pretty big deal since I really, and I mean REALLY, love my bottles of milk. But there are a few things that I love to eat. I like Sweet Potatoes, butternut squash, oatmeal, pears, applesauce, bananas, Zesta crackers, graham crackers, and all sorts of stuff. I even got to try an all-beef hotdog this weekend because Daddy had friends over for a cookout and all their kids were trying it. I didn't know what to think about it at first but, man was that yummy!! Daddy tells me that I will only get such foods at special occassions (ie cookouts, baseball games, when he's not watching). Eating all this food has really helped me grow!! In fact, I am on my last week in my pumpkin seat because I outgrew it. Daddy just bought a big-girl carseat and it should be here by the end of the week. I can't wait!!!



Well, that's about it in Lilyworld. Mommy's walk is coming up soon so we should have a lot to blog about. We are all really excited to do the run this year and are praying for good weather. Hope to see you all there!!! Until then, keep it cool and keep on rockin!!!!



Love you TONS!!!!



Lily

Bye-Bye Boob Juice

Hey there, everybody!! I know it's been a while since we last blogged but it hasn't been for lack of trying. Daddy and I have tried to post multiple times but the website has been SUPER slow and won't load videos. It has taken hours, literally, to load just one short clip of me and frankly, Daddy and I don't have the time to mess with that stff. We have some serious playing to do.

So, we will keep this post short but still give you the lowdown on what I have been up to.

Since we last posted, we got dumped on by snow and Daddy even got to spend a day at home with me because of it. I love that the snow kept Daddy at home so that we could play but I REALLY did not appreciate that snowsuit he put me in so that we could go out and play in it. The snow looks like a blast to play in when Daddy and Tuck are out there wrestling but it sure isn't worth putting on that suit. I'll wait until next year to play in it when I can actually run around. Heck, a girl can't even move in that silly suit. I felt like Ralphie's little brother in the movie "The Christmas Story". It's safe to say, I was less than thrilled.

With all the cold weather and stuff, it shouldn't be a big surprise that Daddy and I came down with a couple of colds. I had to go to the Dr. for mine and it was there that we found out I broke the 20 lbs mark. Can you believe it?! I am one big girl and now Daddy has to find a car seat befit of the young lady that I am. Pumpkin seat, your days are numbered, pal.

I am learning lots of new stuff. I am not walking quite yet but I am standing on my own and Daddy says that I can crawl at the speed of "Oh shoot!!" That just means I move pretty fast. Daddy will put me down for a second to do something like get a drink or let Tuck out and when he turns around, I'm gone. My new favorite places to go are the stereo (I can turn it on, crank the volume, and eject the tape deck and CD changer), the bathroom (that spinny thing with the white paper ribbon stuff is a lot of fun to unravel) and the kitchen (I LOVE tupperware, pots and pans). Daddy does his best to keep all doors shut, floors clean and remotes out of arms reach but I always find something.

Daddy says that I am also finding my voice. I like to babble and my favorite thing to say currently, is "Baby". I tend to make the "a" pretty long and loud and am getting really good at the "b" sound. I am learning stuff all day and if blogspot ever gets their stuff in order, maybe we could post some for you. But trust Daddy when he says, it's pretty cute and super awesome.

Last thing that I wanted to update you all on is my diet. The boob juice is all gone!! I am completely transitioned to whole milk and am loving it. Daddy says the next step is getting me off the bottle and onto sippy cups. That's gonna be a tough one, I think. I sure do love my bottles. I am starting to venture out and try new foods but am pretty hesitant to try new stuff. Just this morning Daddy tried to give me scrambled eggs. No thanks. I didn't try a single bite. That stuff just looked weird. Daddy says he'll keep trying but I am not making any promises that I am gonna like the new stuff.

Well, we hope all is great with you. Please keep in touch and we will try to get this blog/video stuff figured out.

Love to all!!!

Lily