Lila's Workout Routine

Lately I've been going to our community center to do different workout classes.  My favorite one to do is Zumba, but I can't do them every day because I have this little two foot tall person who requires care.  So I went to the library to find some workout DVDs, and I found this one.

amazon.com

It's a workout that you do with your baby! Now it wasn't super intense or anything, but it was fun to hold Lila while doing lunges and to do push-ups over her, kissing her nose every time I went down.  I'm not sure she really knew what was going on.  She just giggled and drooled on her pink bunny the whole time.  Right now she's in her swing with both arms extended straight out, pretending to fly, as the swing groans beneath its heavy load.

Have I Got An Idea For You

If you have a friend having a baby, then do I have a suggestion for you.  Of course, right off the bat, I suggest that you give these burp cloths that I made right before Lila was born.  You can make a lot of them in a little bit of time for a little bit of cash, and they are super necessary because babies have amazing super powers of spitting up.

But for just the same small amount of time and small amount of cash, I suggest that you make a nursing cover.  All of you need is a yard of fabric and some boning to make the top part stick out a bit so the mommy can see the baby, or for me, so that I can give Lila the stink eye when she tries to rip off the cover and successfully expose me to the hip dude sitting across from me at the coffee shop, who leaves a few minutes later.  Hey, I didn't say these were completely baby proof.

Here's a great tutorial that I've followed to make these nursing covers.  The tutorial suggests a set of D rings as well, but I prefer the least amount of stuff hanging around my neck as possible, so I just sew a non-adjustable strap.  All in all this takes about thirty minutes and is a very useful item.

Smartest Baby In the World

She finally did it when I was looking!

Lila Meets Her Future Husband

Congratulations to Tate and Abby on the birth of their baby boy, Bridger Alan!

We got to go to the hospital last night so that Lila could meet her husband-to-be. He is super cute, strong, and blonde...a perfect rower.  My dreams of Lila being his coxswain are faltering, though, with this new news of her being taller than 97% of all four month olds.  I might have to resign to the fact that she could be a real athlete. 

Who would have thought that five years after rowing together we would be raising kids together? Nice work Tate and Abby!

Four Months Old

Here's Lila's official four month photo...



...but I thought this one captured her perfectly.  She's always on the move!  She rolled over again in her crib last night; she just refuses to do it while anyone is around.



Weight: 15lbs 9oz (80%)
Length: 26 3/4 in (>97%)

At Lila's four month check up, when the nurse measured her length and compared it to her two month length (23 in), she had to go back and measure Lila again because she couldn't believe she had had such a big growth spurt.  It looks like we might have a basketball player on our hands.  I'm going to have to learn how to play that one.

Lila did have to get more shots again, but she took it really well.  The best part of the visit, though, was every time the doctor touched Lila (like with the stethoscope or with the ear thingie), Lila burst out laughing harder than I have ever heard her laugh.  Usually she'll giggle, and sometimes she'll ever give you a few good chuckles, but this was full on belly laughter.  She thought Dr. Pierson was hilarious! 

This Week's Meals

I've been working harder at planning my meals for the entire week on Sunday night and then getting all of my grocery shopping done on Monday.  It's worked out really well the last two weeks, so I thought I would share this week's meal plan with you.

Monday: Baked sweet and sour chicken with fried rice, edamame, and oranges

Tuesday: Whole wheat penne pasta with vodka sauce (Can you believe that we ate sauce with a hint of tomato in it? I know, neither can we!), homemade meatballs, and brussels sprouts*

*A note on brussels sprouts.  We love them cut in half and cooked face down in a little bit of olive oil.  It caramelizes them, and they taste so good.

Wednesday: Tangy brisket, broccoli parmesan fritters, baked potatoes, and peaches

Thursday: Leftover night! We usually eat up our leftovers at lunch, but the brisket makes a lot and so does the meatball recipe.

Friday: Baked chicken taquitos, lime roasted corn (throw frozen corn in a pan with some olive oil and salt, cook until the corn gets some nice brown spots, sprinkle with lime juice), salad

Saturday: Popcorn...we're seeing Batman.

Dessert Night: We've cut our desserts down to one night a week (but that doesn't count the mug brownie we made last night because it was only one and it was in a mug, so that's not really dessert).  Last week I made peanut butter cup ice cream that was definitely the best peanut butter ice cream I have ever had.  If you like peanut butter then you absolutely have to make it.  This week, still on an ice cream kick, I've decided to make red velvet cake ice cream.  This is the first time I've done ice cream with eggs, so we'll see how it goes.

PS. If you are wondering what Lila is doing while I'm writing this that would be singing to herself loudly in her crib while she's supposed to be having nap time.

A Quarter of a Century

I had a fabulous 25th birthday, so thank you for all the well wishes! Lila gave me a wonderful present of sleeping 13 hours through the night and then taking a two hour nap on my birthday.  She's also started laughing, but only when she feels like it...like pretty much everything else she does.  I have no idea where she gets that.

Along with wonderful presents from friends and family, Johnny made my year by getting me some fabulous macarons from The Roasterie, who just started selling them the day before my birthday.  He had to go to two different locations and then bought out the store.  He also gave me the gift of his next few weekends by promising to paint my front and upstairs hallways.  So stay tuned for some before and after shots.  Adios ugly wood trim.

Unexpected Pleasures

Lila and I enjoyed the quick but much needed rainstorm this afternoon on our front porch.  Lila was very confused by the thunder and kept looking at me each time it sounded.  There was a very loud bird bothering her as well.  Lucky for her, this is how I do nature...on a porch...far away from nature.

Growing Up

Look what Lila was doing when I went in to get her this morning!

She wanted to do it all by herself without anyone watching.  She sort of rolled over yesterday during her nap, but she was screaming because she had gotten her leg stuck between the mattress and the rails and was hitting her head on the corner of the crib, so we aren't going to count the traumatic one.  I guess we need to start baby proofing the house, ie cover up the open laundry shoot in the hall closet.

God's Country

What's that you say?  You've never heard of Branson, Missouri?  Well, my friend, you are in for a treat.  I grew up going to Kanakuk Kamp every summer down in Branson, so my parents thought it would be fun to take the whole family, including Johnny's parents, down to Branson for a weekend trip.  Johnny's parents flew in from North Carolina to hang out with us for a few days before hand also.

Before we left for the Bible Belt, we celebrated Mitchell's 16th birthday.  I can't believe he is this old.  I remember seeing him at the hospital right after he was born...and getting a How To Make Lanyards book as a present because my parents didn't want me to color all over the kitchen walls in anger again like I did when Jessie was born.

After celebrating Mitchell's birthday and the Fourth, everybody, including Mitchell's friends Austin (the Adams just can't get rid of me) and James, made the four hour trip down to Branson.  We stopped at this little sandwich place in Clinton, MO.  They tried to serve me uncarbonated Diet Coke, but I saw through their scheme.

Once we got to Branson, we all stayed in this really nice condo right by Table Rock Lake.  Lila had to wear her sun hat a lot because it was over 100 degrees and sunny the entire time we were there. 

Our first night there, we all went out on a pontoon boat.

It got a little hot for those of us who couldn't swim in the lake.

But I hopped in the water with Mitchell, James, and Austin.  It's been so hot there for so long that the water was like bath water.

Lila couldn't get in the lake, but she did love getting in the pool with Grammie, and by love I mean was scared to death of it.

While we were there, Johnny found out that he passed his third actuarial exam.  I apparently celebrated by having a crazy eye in this picture.

Lila loved hanging out with the big boys.  Do note that all of their shirts are Royals shirts.  I didn't know that there were that many Royals fans left.  I still refuse to switch my loyalty from the Phillies.

The main thing that we did in Branson was go to Silver Dollar City (or Steal Your Dollar City as my dad likes to call it).  We were too busy having fun watching glass blowing and riding Fire in the Hole! to take too many pictures, but we had enough time to stick Lila's head into one of those cardboard cut out things.  

Lila did a great job in the heat.  Silver Dollar City had really nice air conditioned nursing stations for moms and babies.  They also had some really fun shows that Lila loved.  Her favorites were the laser light show and the high wire act.  Not many babies can say that they nursed while watching the Flying Wallendas balance a chair on top of a bike on top of a tight rope.

So if you have the chance, I definitely recommend going down to Branson.  We didn't even make it to the go carts and The Berry Patch.  So much to do!

Lila's Life

So far it seems that Lila's life is pretty good.  We just got back from Branson with both sets of grandparents; that post is pending.  So until then, I had a few photos that were just begging to be shared, and I thought I would use them to illustrate what Lila does all day.

So when Lila isn't eating, sleeping, or crying, she spends a large chunk of her time on this beach towel on the floor of the kitchen.  I cook and clean while she rolls around, sucking on burp cloths or chewing on her ball.  She also frequently looks surprised because, well, pretty much everything is new and surprising.

She also spends a large portion of her day spitting up, so that means a lot of costume changes.  This outfit was worn to Grandmommy and Granddaddy's where Lila goes every Friday night for a few hours so that Johnny and I can go on a date.

Lila's new favorite thing to do is talk.  She loves to babble to herself or talk back and forth with people.  We are still working on rolling over, and she is getting very close to sitting up and scooting around on her tummy. The thrilling life of a 3.5 month old.