fridays with lily {oakland lds temple}

lily calls every building she sees with spires the temple, so i decided for our friday adventure that we would take a quick trip up to the oakland lds temple for a picnic and to walk around the grounds.  it was a beautiful day.  we were able to go into the visitors center and see the statue of the savior and look around.  she will now tell you that she "can go inside when she is older" (in our church, children can go inside the temple starting at age 12 in order to perform certain sacred ordinances).  i love that i was able to take her to the temple and am grateful for the spirit that was felt there.  i know that little children are so close to the veil and are able to feel the presence of our Heavenly Father and the Savior more readily than we adults can.  being on the temple grounds, feeling that sweet spirt, and listening to the things lily had to say, i know that i am helping her to feel and recognize the spirit and grow in a direction that is pleasing to the Lord.  it is days like this that i feel like i am doing a good job at this parenting thing.

i love that when i ask her to smile, it comes with a sassy pose.

random lily updates

the musical stylings of lily athey

"mama look at me!"
when i learned she had gotten into my purse and found my lipstick.

the right shoes are important.
even when you're sleeping.

first peep!
(she loved it--"pink marshmallows")

painting her new bedroom
(she will tell you she did it "all by myself.")

easter egg hunt

when you're cold, you should really bundle up.

watching thomas the train with her buddy ren, and so excited to
hold her newest buddy, soren.

prop yourself.

exploring the new bedroom

lily built a tower out of her blocks and was so
proud when they stayed standing.  i just love watching
her milestones and seeing her little personality develop
more and more each day.  i'm so grateful to be her mama.

an impromptu date with my girl.

being silly with ren.  these two together are just so fun to watch.

when i ask lily to smile...

and she gives me this...

and this...

and this...

...that's when i see little bits of me in there.  this girl cracks me up every day.  

dress-up

lily is a girl who likes sparkly, fluffy, and pink.  and she loves to dress up.  the other night i unpacked her "dress-up" box and she went to town.  first she put on her elsa dress, then the anna dress on top of that.  and over all of that went her fluffy tutu, with a cape to top it all off.  i love having a daughter.

let's see how the outfit works with this hat

honestly, could she be any cuter?

giving the bunny ears a go

a princess can also be a farmer.
don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

lily-isms

a few things lily has been saying (and doing) lately.

• "what the heck?!"
• "are you kidding me?"
• "oh. my. goodness."
• tickle me. tickle me so hard!"
• "are you serious?!"
• lily sneaks out of her bed and into the guest room to sleep in the bed there.  she manages to take her two dolls and two pooh bears and fall asleep without us hearing her move around.  ninja toddler.
• lily has taken to licking us as a sign of affection.  and she seems to find it funny.  we find it pretty gross.
• in the spirit of more is better, lily wants to wear five headbands at once. and doesn't understand why they keep falling off.
• lily loves taylor swift's "shake it off" and has a set of 'shake-it-off's' (infant nose-sucker bulbs) that she carries around and shakes while singing the song. 

this weekend

today is mother's day.  and my 35th birthday.  twice the fun for me!  i have a little tradition where, if my birthday falls on mother's day, i make sure to spend it with my mom.  so up to eureka we went for some r&r.  my parents took lily all day saturday, so kevin & i slept in, lounged around, and just had a chance to relax that we haven't been able to indulge in in quite some time.  it was the best birthday present i could have received.

a few fun things from while we were in the hometown:

• lily managed to fall in the pond in my parents backyard.  she leaned too far forward and just somersaulted in.  kevin was there and by the time he got to the pond, she had righted herself and come to the side (the pond is only about chest-deep on her).  she is perfectly fine, but has been milking the episode for all it is worth.
• lunch and catching up with my friend, candy.  she's the only one left in eureka, so seeing her whenever i'm back is always a treat.
• the weather could not have been better.  it was gorgeous days and cool weather.  exactly what i needed and wanted.
• lily has annabelle (my parents dog) trained; she "whistles," annabelle comes running.  she eats some cheese, annabelle is right there waiting.  she approaches annabelle to pet her, annabelle runs away.
• lily has taken to approaching annabelle saying, "it's ok, annabelle.  it's ok," since annabelle does not like to be shown toddler affection.  lily insists that annabelle needs her special brand of love.  annabelle disagrees.  maybe someday they'll be friends.

i managed to not take a single picture this entire trip (how did that happen?  who am i?), but it was such a wonderful, relaxing, and too short of a weekend.  i loved every moment of my birthday/mother's day weekend.