Deep & Wide & Daddy's in Deep Trouble

On Sunday, I went to a baby shower and Eric stayed home with Tilly. He dressed her when she woke up from her nap (because she was in a church dress before her nap.) I normally dress her or at least pick out her outfits. If you'll look closely, you can see why...

Tilly is wearing a camoflouge (?) dress AND a skirt...because Eric thought the dress was too shorty. Hmm... Well, the camo isn't my favorite, but my dad bought it for Tilly for Christmas at the Bass Pro Shop. (I'm pretty sure he thought it was cute but mainly got it because it was something I would NEVER pick out.) Regardless, the camo isn't the problem. It's the dress with the skirt that really gets me. And, you can't see from the picture, but the skirt has a multi-colored polka dot that adds insult to injury...Nice try, Eric! I'll be sure to lay something out next time! :)

Now, can you tell what Tilly's favorite song is?

Totally Tilly (Tilly see, Tilly do)

Tilly goes to Alabama (without mom and dad)

Two weekends ago, Tilly went with my mom and two of my sisters to Alabama for a family reunion for my Nana's family. I have always loved going to this family reunion, but had committed to hosting a baby shower at my house, so I didn't go this year. However, everyone still wanted Tilly to come, so we let her go WITHOUT HER PARENTS! I knew she would be in good hands though. My Nana emailed me several pictures of the trip. (How impressive is that?!)

Tilly was reportedly not feeling well the entire trip. We took her to the doctor first thing the following Monday, and she had bronchitis. : ( It doesn't look like she was completely miserable though...

Here is a picture of Aunt Marlene (my Nana's sister), Nana, and my cousin Hayden. Everyone at the reunion said Tilly looked just like Hayden did as a baby. I can see that! (Note the red hair.)

Here is Amanda with our Aunt Muriel (rhymes with pearl...) Amanda has always been nicknamed "Amanda Muriel" because she took to Aunt Muriel so much (and vice versa) when she was young. The reunion is at Aunt Muriel's lakehouse every year.

So, Nana also sent me a couple of pictures from last year's reunion (which I got to attend!) to let me see the difference in Tilly over a year. It's obvious that this is Tilly, but she is really slimming up and has gotten TONS more crazy hair--quite a difference, don't ya think!

Thanks for the pictures, Nana! Here are a few new ones from this weekend for you...

By the way, for any of you wondering what we did (besides the baby shower) on our very first "childless weekend" since we've been parents...I was also sick with a horrible sinus infection, so I mainly laid on the couch and blew my nose. Sounds romantic, huh? (Eric didn't think so since he was the one picking up my USED Kleenex...)

Pool Success!!

So, remember that the last time I took Tilly to the pool that she completely detested it? Well, I have good news....

Mandy and I took Noah and Tilly to the pool today. It was a great day today and the water was absolutely perfect! Noah and Tilly both did great! (Tilly didn't like it so much at first...in fact she gave a few really annoying, really girly screams because she was NOT wanting me to put her down....but it didn't take long for her to warm up.)

Both kids were splashing, playing, and laughing, and probably would have stayed for a good while longer. That made for 2 HAPPY moms!

(I realize that none of these pictures are very good...it was so bright that I couldn't even see my screen....I'm just glad I actually got the kids IN the pictures!!)

Daddy--guard you wallet!

I'm sure that when we found out we were having a girl that Eric had a billion thoughts run through his head. (I did too, but I just know we were thinking somewhat different things.) Knowing Eric, I'm sure that he immediately thought "this (having a gir) is going to be expensive." (Undoubtedly, I was thinking of all the fun things my daughter and I would be shopping for!)

Lately, Tilly has had a minor obsession with shoes. (Where, oh where could she have aquired that??) When she sees shoes on the floor, she says "CHU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" (translation: "shoe!!!!") and immediately starts playing with the shoes. She has really been wanting to take off and put on her shoes WITHOUT my help...she makes this quite clear! Unfortunately, she doesn't have that procedure down 100% just yet.

HOWEVER, while I was sitting on the couch watching her play last night, she started playing with my shoes. It went on for a combined thirty minutes at least.

Here is what she did... (another translation for what you hear her say at the end: "Thank you!")

Eric was really amused by this as well. He even said, "maybe next you can teach her how to give you a pedicure!" (I'm sure that's just a ploy of his to save money though!! :) Nice try!)

Totally Tilly (and conversations with her friends)

"Somebody help me!"

"Okay, maybe Winston's not so bad since he has food..."

"Cousin Bailey, this is a shoe. Nice outfit, by the way!"

"Bailey, I know you want to crawl (and you can do it very well), but if you just lay her like I am, these big people will pick you up and CARRY you wherever you want to go."

"And here is how you REALLY smile for the camera."


"Ready......set....."

Wonderful Wedding

Believe it or not, I did not take a single picture of Ashley's wedding. However, you go to to the photographer's website to see TONS of pictures. (Just click here.)

While I don't have any photos, I do have a few noteworthy events in my memory:

• The pianist began playing The Bridal March (Here comes the bride...) before the bridesmaids walked down. So, all the guests stood up, then had to sit down, wait for the bridesmaids to come down, THEN stand when it was actually time for the bride walk down the aisle.
• The flower girl (best one ever, I'm sure...since it was Tilly) and the ring bearer made it down the aisle tear free. My wonderful cousin Ericka pulled them down in a wagon, and they both were adorable! (They're both about 17 months old!)
• OH MY GOODNESS!!!! THE GROOM'S CAKE!!!!!
• I cried and wiped my nose with my Kleenex, then I notice my sister (the bride) crying, so I passed her my used kleenex...What are sisters for, right?
• My dad singing "Love is Not a Fight"
• During picture time before the wedding, Tilly said "go night-night?" so we laid her down in the nursery and she slept for an hour and a half and woke up just in time to go down the aisle. PERFECT!!!!!! :)
• EVERY SINGLE ONE OF MY SISTERS PLUS THE MAID OF HONOR AND MYSELF BEING SICK DURING THE WEDDING OR THE NEXT DAY! (The flower girl is sick too.)
• My sister Amanda caught the bouquet & her boyfriend Matt caught the garter (sp?). I don't know if that's good news or bad news considering my parents will have to pay for that wedding too...
• And perhaps the strangest thing....the bride and groom wanting to meet our entire family (all 16 of us!) for breakfast the next morning before their flight to Mexico. (Not awkward at all, right??)
• Did I mention the wonderful flower girl?

It was all fantastic! Beautiful bride, beautiful wedding, beautiful day, and here's to a beautiful marriage!

Not so much fun in the sun...

I took Tilly to the pool this afternoon thinking, "she'll have a ball, then take a really great nap." Well, she did not enjoy it the way I thought. First of all, she really wanted her nap when we were at the pool. Secondly, the water was ICE COLD. Third, and finally, she got sun screen in her eye first thing. (Her eye got kinda puffy and really red...) So who can blame her for not really loving it? I won't give up though--I love the pool!

Good time or not--the girl was rocking her bikini...don't you think??? :)

Something tells me that in a few years from now, she'll not think too highly of these photos.

What a Weekend!

It is not surprising that with this coming weekend being Ashley's wedding, this past weekend was NUTS!

Friday was the lingerie shower and bachelorette party. FUN, FUN, FUN! It's not very often that I just get to hang out with a bunch of girls and be silly, so I had a ball! Ashley was a great sport and seemed to really enjoy her party. She even wore this:




Here is the group of girls who attended:

Katie, Kaci, Ericka, Kalin, Christy, Ashley, Amanda, Amie, Allison, Andrea, and me:

Ericka and I kind of "mothered" the group the entire night. All the other girls said they felt like kids at Six Flags because Ericka and I were counting to make sure everyone was still around ALL NIGHT LONG. (When we were little, my mom counted us any time we got in and out of her car. It drove us nuts....oops!)

On Saturday, we threw a couples shower for Andy and Ashley. I only took pictures of Tilly, though. (Sorry, Ash!)

Here is Tilly at the shower in one of my very favorite summer outfits of hers:

After church on Sunday, it was time for yet another shower. This one was thrown by Andy's church. Again, I really only took pictures of Tilly... Now for us to get her to smile at the camera, we have to say, "Tilly, where are your teeth?" and this is what she does:

LOVE IT!!!!!

I loved this picture too for some reason...

Well, all the talk about showers reminds me that when I was little, I always thought it was weird that my mom went to "showers" because I moreso equated that to "baths" instead of a gathering to give gifts. So, I find it appropriate to end this little post with pictures of Tilly from one of her baths this weekend: