quick update

Here I am!  Don't worry, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth: just a bit busy.

Lily has been growing and developing like crazy.  I do realize that babies grow and develop huge amounts the entire first year of existence, but there have been measurable changes and instead of just growing and picking her up head up a bit more, the developments are easily seen.  She has moved past army crawling (for the most part) and is either completely up on her hands and knees to crawl or at least making it to knees and elbows.  She is also pulling herself up on things, and occasionally all the way up to her feet.  I keep thinking I should do something to baby-proof the house, but I haven't done that yet.  She actually takes some decent naps, depending on the day, and so that has been awesome.  I get so much done!  

Yesterday, I tried to get Lily to take a nap, and she just was refusing to sleep like I thought she should, so I went ahead and put her in the crib anyway.  Instead of walking away just to walk back 2 minutes later when she started crying like I anticipated, I just sat down on the floor in front of her crib (we have a bumper on her crib so she couldn't see me.  I could hear her crawling and rolling around in her crib, but gave her a few minutes.  I eventually didn't hear anything and so I decided to check on her and when I looked up, there she was, smiling at me!  She had pulled the bumper down and was just staring at me with the most ornery grin you've ever seen..she's a goober.  Needless to say, we ended up playing instead of napping.

As far as food goes, she loves carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, bananas and the lick of ice cream her daddy gave her and detests all things green.  Jesse and I are making some of our own baby food, and she likes that just fine.

With this past weekend being Easter, Jesse, Lily and I headed to Findlay by way of Zanesville.  Our favorite Michigan siblings were at Mom and Dad H's for the weekend, so we spent the night there and everyone got to see Lily crawling and how much she's grown and how crazy she is getting.  I unfortunately  only took about 3 pictures while we were there, but we had a good time anyway.  

From Zanesville, we went on to Findlay.  It was fun to see everyone again, and Jesse won our Easter egg hunt again this year.  Lily's going to have her work cut out for her if she ever intends to win.  I should have come in a close second, considering I stole an egg or two out of some baskets when the owner's weren't looking, but I'm pretty sure that Kimmy beat me anyway.  

We played lots of games, Lily napped some and we ate waaaaay too much food. 

Alright, I guess that's really it.  I know you were all just about dying to hear from my crazy family and it was high time that I updated you all.  More pictures and updates coming soon!

sick..again.

This may end up being a bunch of random thoughts/paragraphs all thrown together into one post, hopefully in coherent sentences, but I make no promises. 

First: Lily is on the move.  She is army crawling all over the place.  Of course, all the toys we put out for her to play with are ignored as she makes a beeline for any toy of Zeke's, including his bones and rawhides, tennis balls and his new favorite squeaky toy.  The squeaky toy has been rather entertaining because Lily loves it, and so does Zeke.  So he is really protective of it, which has caused some issues when he growls at her (not acceptable) when she goes for it.  Currently, Zeke is dozing with it in his mouth so she can't get it, but that's ok, because she's been distracted by a cardboard box to lick.

I think Zeke has also been experiencing some levels of jealousy.  Not to the point of doing anything harmful, because he still loves Lily, but he's kind of ridiculous.  For example, I will be sitting on the floor playing with Lily, and he will try and weasel his way between us and sit on my lap for a back scratch.  I think he thinks he is still the little puppy that used to fit on my lap..

Second: Jesse and I are sick.  And that is incredibly lame.  I'm hoping and praying that a) we're both better by my half marathon, and b) that we don't pass whatever it is onto Lily.  It's kind of a cold/sinus infection kind of thing..I think.  Jesse has the added joy of a cough and sore throat.  We may need to go to the doctor to help make (a) a reality and prevent (b).

Speaking of my half marathon, my training last week was just pathetic.  I don't think I can even call it "training," and being sick again doesn't help me want to run.  Oh well, I've completed enough of my runs that I'll be able to finish the race, maybe not with the time I wanted, but there's always next time.  

Lily has gotten to play in the grass and outside some..and she loves it.  Which is great, considering how much Jesse and I love being outside and all the great plans we have for this spring/summer that involve being outside.  When I sit Lily in the grass, while she's not clapping yet, she will flail around like she does when she's really excited about something.  And since the little goober doesn't like to laugh, she has a smile that just lights up her face, and I think if she smiled any bigger, her face would crack in half. 

What else can I update you on..Lily still doesn't like peas, but she does love sweet potatoes, and I gave her part of a banana this morning.  We have a baby grinding mill thing so we can make our own baby food.  Jesse was pretty skeptical of it at first, but now that he's seen it in action, he's a fan.  Actually, his exact words of grinding up the sweet potato were "it's like a Play-dough fun factory!" 

I sat Lily in front of a mirror and she played for probably 20 minutes while she watched herself

I got to go out with Jen Friday night, and that was tons of fun.  It was very relaxing to go and have some time away from the house and know that Lily and Jesse were fine.  Jesse was a bit nervous at first, but he said the evening went fine.  They had a few hours worth of fun playing on the floor and computer games (ok, the computer games were mostly Jesse).  By the time I got home, she had eaten a whole jar of sweet potatoes, had gotten a bath and was in bed!  He's a champ.  Now if we could just get her to sleep through the nights again..and if I could breathe, life would be fabulous.

hello, sun?!

Well, this past week decided to tease us here in WV with a bit of nice, Spring-y weather.  And by 'tease,' I mean it is supposed to rain and storm the rest of the weekend.  So, Lily, Zeke, Jesse and I made the most of the one or two absolutely gorgeous days that we could.  

Monday or Tuesday (I don't remember), I took Zeke and Lily for a jog: we used the new running stroller, and Zeke got a good workout keeping up with me.  The first lap at the park, he was so excited and ran ahead of me.  By the second lap, he was jogging behind me.  We walked the third, and this was the result for two days:

Wednesday was so pretty outside that Jesse took the children for a walk at the park while I ran a few miles.  It was just so nice to get outside after all the cold of winter and spring showers/storms we've been having for the past two weeks.  

Thursday, the weather was perfect.  It was a great day to sit outside on a blanket and introduce Baby Bear to what grass is, and how wonderful it feels on your bare feet.  Low to mid 70s, with a bright sunny sky..it was perfect.  Momma could've easily fallen asleep, but I refrained.

So, after 4 gorgeous days, today was the drizzly-overcast type day, and it is supposed to rain all weekend.  Ugh.  We'll see if my long run happens tomorrow..

Today was a good, productive day: Jesse's dad text me this morning and asked if we were busy this evening (which we were not), and said they were thinking about coming to visit for the evening.  We had a great visit with them, and while Lily decided she wasn't going to show them how she kind of/sort of army crawls, she did sit up nicely for them and had a good cuddle with Grandma Hildebrand during dinner.  Dad H also brought me my rolling pin he made (yaaaaaay!!!  so excited, thanks, Dad!) and Mom brought the scrapbooks she made for Jesse and me of my pregnancy with Lily (LOVE them, they turned out great!  Thanks, Mom!).  

We're all looking forward to the weekend trips and get-aways we have planned..but it also means a ton of traveling.  I will try and keep pictures and stories coming :) looking forward to it all, while hoping and praying that Lily continues to travel as well as she has so far.  

Last thought: Lily officially likes oatmeal now (she wasn't a fan before), as well as sweet potatoes.   Still not a huge fan of peas or green beans (surprise, surprise).  We're working on it, though.    Turns out, introducing new foods to babies is a similar concept to introducing new foods to dogs: when she didn't like the oatmeal, I just mixed a bit at a time into the rice cereal until SURPRISE!  Just eating oatmeal and loving it :)

excuse me, where is my spring?

We recently purchased a running stroller.  So naturally, now that we have one and are ready for the great outdoors and to go on some wonderful runs and walks with Lily, the weather has been horrific.  Cold, rain and snow.  Ugh.  First, I don't want to take Lily out in that and second, I don't want to be out in that!   I keep hoping that the weather will decide to be nice so we can do more things outside, but unfortunately, this is not the case.   

Zeke

Zeke had his friend, Small Dog, over at the beginning of the week.  After having a blast inside for awhile, I decided it wasn't that cold outside, and the dogs would probably enjoy a romp in the yard.  So I bundled Lily up and off we went.  And yes, I did use my new stroller to push her around the yard.

the aforementioned "Small Dog"

"Big Dog"

Lily
This little munchkin is on the move.  I guess I can no longer deny this fact.  She isn't crawling..not even the army crawl.  I'm not sure what she's doing.  I've sat and watched her to try and figure it out, and it just is confusing me.  The best I can figure is that she created a hybrid move.  And I don't know a better word for it: she turns in circles, pushes herself backwards, side to side and occasionally a little forward momentum and somehow is moving across the room.  For some reason, I can't upload videos to my blog or you would have footage of this.

I present this picture as evidence: she started IN the bouncer (the pink seat on the right side of the frame).  And when I came back in the room, she was definitely out of the bouncer and well across the room.  I have no idea what happened.  Maybe she can transport herself?  

she pushed herself under the chair..and then pulled the blanket down on top of herself; she was not amused

not sure what this is, but I think she gets tired trying to push herself around

Again, if I could upload video (this is bothering me that it isn't working..), I would share the footage of Lily's first experience with peas.  She isn't too fond of them, or oatmeal for that matter.  We're going to try again, but she just doesn't seem interested.  Since there have been no allergies to anything so far, we may try green beans soon..I did some research on how to make my own baby food for her, and once we have introduced a few more types of food that we know she isn't allergic to, I will be making some of my own.  We'll see how this goes..

The Parents

My running is..going.  I was a slacker this week.  The weather just hasn't been cooperating, and it doesn't really give me any motivation to go running.  And let's just face it, running on treadmills is lame. I don't mind doing it occasionally, but anything more than 5 miles is almost torture.  I refused to even attempt the 11 miles I was supposed to do today on a treadmill: that just seemed ridiculous.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I will be able to do a few longer runs this week to make up for it.  I'm really looking forward to this race, even if I'm not the most prepared runner.

Jesse is doing great.  I feel I don't talk about him too much, so I now shall devote a paragraph or two to him :) he just called and is on his way home from buying his new (to him) kayak from a guy off craigslist.  We sold the one he bought last year and used that money for this new and improved one that he likes much better.  And if this weather would cooperate, we could go fishing and kayaking!  Before anyone panics, I have been banned (by Jesse and a few friends) from the thought of taking Lily in my kayak with me at this point.  hmph.  Regardless, he's looking forward to getting out on the water and spending some time fishing, hiking and camping this spring. 

Let's see, what else has he been up to..

He's been very encouraging and patient with me while I train for my race.  I (apparently) tend to stress out about my runs and how they fit into my day with things that need done around the house and working, but he has been very patient with me and helped out around the house, which has been great.  He's still annihilating me in fencing, but I'm claiming that a) he's been doing it longer than I have, b) I don't have as much energy as he does (from my runs, of course), and c) he has the natural first-born ability to catch onto everything lighting fast and I have to work harder to be good at things.  I'm not sure any of those are true, but he really is doing awesome, and we're having a lot of fun doing it.  I really will have to take my camera one week to document this (someone please remind me).

That's about it, I suppose.  I feel like my updates have been kind of lame lately, so if they are boring you, please let me know :) we're kind of just floating along right now; the calm before the storm of spring!  We have several weekend trips planned for various odds and ends, plus with siblings graduating, vacation and trying to sleep, it'll be a busy few months!