Mother's Day

There was a time in my life when I thought that this day was not a day meant for me. Sure, I was a step mom, but Tony and I had tried for years to have a baby on our own but were never successful. I was always thinking of reasons of why God didn't want me to be a parent...from being to wild in my younger days, the little fights that Tony and I would have, to the fact that I had an accident once that took away someone elses child. That was the big one that weighed on my mind. Then, it happened one day, with the help of medicine of course. God had decided that I was fit to be a parent. I will never forget telling Tony that we were having quadruplets (he was out of town when I had my first ultrasound) to break the blow that is was actually twins. The look on his face was priceless. We made it through the first 18 weeks and found out that we were having a boy and a girl. Tony said he could see the fear in my eyes when she said that baby A was a boy...I had wanted a girl so bad. We were thrilled that we were going to have one of each. On Sept. 3rd I watched as my sister gave birth to my beautiful niece. I couldn't believe that soon I would be experiencing the same. It was sooner than expected. That night, my water broke. I was only 20 weeks pregnant. there was no way to save the babies, I gave birth to both of them on Sept. 4, our little boy, Gavin, was stillborn, but I held little Greta, and could see her heart beating in her chest. There was nothing they could do for her, and she passed away just minutes after being born. Once again, my mind turned to the accident that I had so many years ago. I know that God is not a punishing God, and although those were my first thoughts, lots of praying helped me realize that it was all just a part of His plan for me. I have gone from last year being one of the worst Mother's Days of my life to this year, one of the best. As I watch my beautiful baby girl try to crawl around on the floor, I say, "Thank you God for letting me experience the most wonderful thing in the world, motherhood." I have been blessed! Happy Mother's Day!

Spring Time/ Cousins

Lilya loves babies, so she was thrilled to take this picture with her baby cousin, Layne.
Look how grown up she looks. We will be fighting off the boys before long.

She was screaming, my mom would act scared. She thought it was hillarious, so she kept doing it.

This is the first time I sat her in the grass...she wasn't too sure about it.

At least with a hat or a bow, you can tell she's a girl!

Growing Up!

Lilya is such a happy baby. She still has her orange nose, but is trying other baby foods. She is growing so fast. At her last doctor appointment, she weighed 17 lbs. and was 27 1/4 inches long. She is in the 90th percentile for length and 75th for weight. As you can tell from the pictures below, she is trying all kinds of new things. She can roll over easily now to get to things she wants. She says "momomomom", and it makes my heart melt.
Trying out the sippy cup. She can almost get it. She likes all kinds of "big girl" things. She wishes she had teeth so that she could eat regular food, but she still is yet to cut her first tooth.

She loves to see her own reflection. She gets very excited, screams, laughs, and hits the mirror. I have been giving her baths in the bathroom sink, and she loves it. She plays with rubber duckies and cups, and loves to splash water all over the place.

She is very mad in this picture. She wants to crawl really bad, but she doesn't quite have the coordination yet. She gets up on her hands and knees, rocks back and forth, and usually just moves backwards. It won't be long, and I'll be chasing her all over the house!

Over 6 months already!

I can't believe how fast the time goes by. Lilya is 28 weeks old today! She rolls to get to whatever she wants, but it won't be long before she is crawling. We finally put her highchair together this week, and as you can tell in the picture she is loving the orange veggies! She gags when I try to feed her green, so I guess for now she will have to live with an orange nose.

Wearing my outfit from Grandma Mary Lou

Lilya is lucky that we have so many crafty people in our family. My grandma that lives in New Mexico sent her this outfit that she knit for her. It looks so cute with the hat and booties!

Growing Up!

Look how big Lilya is getting. She is starting to try to sit up on her own. It is so amazing to watch her become more and more independent each day.
LuLu loves the baby...especially this slobbery stage that she's going through. She nabs every chcance she gets to give her a kiss.

I knew that I got into Discovery Toys for a reason. I had so much inventory, and now I am putting it to good use. Our motto is "Play with your children, it's the best investment you'll ever make." I honestly believe this. I am so excited that we are entering the play stages.

I love how blue her eyes look in this picture. She still doesn't have much hair, but what is coming in looks pretty blonde. I think she is going to look quite a bit like Tony.

This is one of the pictures I took the day after she turned 5 months. I can't believe how fast the time goes by. If you look close, you can see the big scratch down her nose. It doesn't matter how often I cut her nails, she manages to scratch herself good at least once a week.

Snow Day!

With all of the snow, school was cancelled today, so I got to stay home and take pictures all day long. The first picture is actually one of the last ones I took. She always smiles when Tony comes home from work. The others are of her on the floor. She rolls over right away now if I put her down on her stomach. The dog always thinks I am talking to her when I'm talking about rolling over...she has to be right there with the baby all of the time. She is really good with her though!