Things I'm enjoying about May...

I felt like I needed a blog post that wasn't titled "Lily at such and such months". However, I admit I do have an agenda of recording her 15 month stats on here for my own memory-preserving purposes. :)

So... I thought I'd start off this post with some things I'm loving this month:

1. Having multiple books to read! I NEVER have several books lined up but thanks to a Book Club invite (thanks Betsy!), a Mother's Day present (thanks Clint!), a few discounted books, and one best seller I keep hearing about and saw cheap at Sam's...I'm set for the first part of the summer!
Speaking of books, the new(ish) Goodwill book store in the Mahan publix shopping center will write down books you want that they dont have in the store, and call you if and when they get that book in. I forgot I had expressed by interest in Lauren Conrad's new book Sweet Little Lies (her books are my guiltiest of pleasures!). Today I get a call from the nice boy at Goodwill telling me that got a copy of Sweet Little Lies and it is $3.99. There was a moment of shame when I had to tell the person on the phone that I went out and paid $20 for that book new. Lesson learned- be patient and wait for the Goodwill bookstore to call, it could save you $16- DOH!

2. Evening Wagon Rides- definitely one of the best parts of my day! I saw pictures of my friend Ashleigh-Anne's collapsable wagon from Sam's club a few months ago, and I've been on a mission to get a wagon ever since. I ended up pricing wagons at a bunch of stores, and finding that $56 at Sam's was as good as it gets. (And since Craigs list was a bust). Anyway, I look forward to Lily yelling "wee wee!" as we go around the block. I enjoy watching Lily lean back on pillows like a true Lady of Leisure and wave to all the neighborhood cats and dogs. And I'm hoping these walks will serve a double purpose of keeping my pregnancy weight gain under control this time- because clearly I have an appetite for at least 2 these days!

3. Being pregnant. Here's the belly at 24 weeks. Minus the heel/foot pain which is new this pregnancy, I'm feeling great and anxiously awaiting my little guy or girl! We have a baby boy name in mind (Bennett Christopher), and still nothing for a girl...hoping to settle on something soon. Having a boy name is making me biased to wanting a boy at the moment...and I'm hoping for the perfect girl name to balance that back out. Although I'm currently staring at 4 giant bins of girl clothes in my living room (because i have no clue where to store them!) and that is kinda balancing out the desire for a girl.... I'm definitely hoping to get to use these adorable little girl outfits again!

4. Clint's work travel being over until after the new baby arrives! I guess that was really something I didn't love about May...Clint spent a week in Orlando and a week in Miami for work...but now that those 2 weeks are over, I am looking forward to his summer travel hiatus- which we are assuming they will stretch out through September for us, with the baby coming in early September. Having Clint gone makes me truly appreciate how helpful he is with Lily and how amazing he is at chores.

Haha I know it looks like Clint is texting and ignoring Lily, but I still like this picture. (we'll just assume Clint is uploading a picture of LK to facebook for a quick second- that is entirely possible!) Lily was happy to see her daddy after his two trips!

5. The new season of The Bachelorette. While I'm not a huge Emily Maynard fan, I need some mind numbing tv in my life after a long day! Bachelorette= perfect! And it fills that void where my Monday nights were once filled with my favorite new show Smash. And now that American Idol is over...its kind of a TV lull for me. Thank you ABC for keeping the cheesy reality tv coming!

And now to my Lily Kate milestone agenda. My sweet girl is 15 1/2 months now, but we just had her 15 month shots and check-up today. I enjoy recording her milestones so I can go back and see how much she has grown and changed.

As of today...

* Lily weighs 22 lbs 14 oz. (49th percentile...same as its been)

* Lily is 30.5 inches long (49th percentile...same as its been)

* New habit: sucking on a pacifier. So weird, she has never liked one until this month when she got a fever and starting cutting three teeth at once. She looks like such a little baby to me with a paci, because im just not used to it. But I guess cutting a tooth in 3 out of 4 corners of your mouth could leave you needing some relief! Poor nuggie! :/

                                           

* Words: Lily's favorite is "wee wee!" (when swinging, riding her rocking horse, riding in her wagon,   etc), bye bye, baba (for bottle/sippy cup), dada, mama, yah, dis (for this, when pointing to something), and our favorite is peeas (for please, when she wants more food)

*Signs: more, milk, please, book, hat, car, hi, bye, and if you include song motions...wheels on the bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider

* Lily's favorite songs are: The Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider, If Youre Happy and You Know It, Clap Your Hands Together, Take the Keys and Lock Her Up, and the Barney Theme song.

* Lily's favorite books are still anything with a Lift-the-Flap feature. Sigh.These get old when I really want to read my favorites like "Brown Bear Brown Bear", "Goodnight Moon", "Guess How Much I Love You", and some mom-specific ones like "My Mom Loves Me." Instead...we do a lot of "Where's Spot?","Where is Baby's Mommy?", "Where is Baby's Belly Button?", and "Ears, Nose, and Toes"- all Lift-the-flap books. Lily has taken a liking to her "nugget books" (little tiny books) lately, so thats cute...she loves to flip the pages and make her focusing noise, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh." I guess they just fit so nice in her little hands.

*Things Lily loves: wandering around in big open spaces, wagon rides, stroller rides, the mall play area, park swings and tunnels (not really a slide fan), being flipped upside down, tickle attacks, her rocking horse and princess car, giving wet sloppy kisses, being a terror in restaurants, snuggling, eating fruit, smoothies, bathtime, playing with her potty, and playing out back with her pinwheel flowers. I recently found a good solution to Pugsley peeing on these flowers as his favorite target: the giant flower pot that once sat on our neglected deck!