Riding off into the sunset

Happy First Birthday Lily Gaëlle

It's so hard to believe that this time last year, I was lying in the postpartum ward of Northwestern Hospital with a brand-new baby and a really sore bottom! So much has happened since then, and now I have a sweet, happy, and healthy (and sleeping!) 1-year old...how time flies!! Jake and I are so glad that you have shared this amazing year with us.

Here are a few pics of Lily riding her new tricycle tonight with Daddy. When you ask her "How old are you?" she holds up one finger!

Birthday FUN

We had the formal celebration for Lily's birthday on Saturday the 18th, when I threw my first official kids' party. And boy, it is a lot of work!! But I had plenty of willing hands to help, and it was a really fun day for the birthday girl, who enjoyed all the attention despite a double ear infection. (which we found out about the next day...eeek!) She woke up to a shiny new red wagon from Gram, and decided that it was absolutely big enough for her to ride in. We had blueberry pancakes for breakfast, some friends and family over for slip-n-sliding and lunch, and then we played in our cake. After her first real taste of sweets, Lily now thinks that sugar=good! We opened lots of cool presents including a new tricycle from Mom and Dad...YAY!! Then Lily took a long nap, and the grown-ups had a nice grown-up drink to wind down from all the excitement. ;)

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Kopp

We took a whirlwind trip to Indiana over Labor Day weekend for Dan and Marissa (Gee) Kopp's wedding, and it was wonderful to be back in Valpo/Culver, even for such a short time. It was even COLD enough over the weekend (cold? What's that?) that Lily got to wear her pink Culver sweatshirt while hanging out at the oh-so-posh Culver motels on Saturday afternoon!

She behaved very sweetly during the wedding, keeping herself entertained with Destanie's pretty jewelry so that Mommy and Daddy could watch the ceremony. Marissa looked beautiful and they both seemed so happy!

While waiting for the bride and groom to come out of the chapel, we got to snap a family photo and some pretty pictures of our little girl (thanks for the dress, Abby!). Then Lily's amazing Mimi came to take her back to Valpo for the night, and Mommy and Daddy got to have a parents' night out. Seriously, the most fun I have had a wedding since my own (which was a different kind of fun anyway). Thanks for the good times, everyone! We miss you more than you know!

Monkey-ing around

First Day of School

Here is a pic from our first day of 'school,' when I started my PhD program at UGA and Lily started at Little Prodigies, an arts-based day care in Athens. It has been a big adjustment during the last 3 weeks, but we are both doing well and learning a lot. Lily is making lots of cute friends and she loves her teachers Miss Heather and Miss Trish, but she has definitely had her ups and downs. During the first two weeks we had a rash, diarrhea, an ear infection, and she is cutting her top teeth, but she has been a trooper and kept her smile on through all of it! I am so proud of my brave girl, especially when I get such glowing reviews about her. It has been super hard for me to leave her every day, but it is good to be teaching and taking classes again, and I know that it will all work out.

Ft Yargo State Park

There is a pretty cool state park a few minutes away from our house, and we decided to spend a family Saturday afternoon at the lake. Lily's life jacket is still waaay too big for her, but that didn't keep her from kick kick kicking her baby legs and trying to swim back and forth between Mommy and Daddy. We also had a pretty successful picnic - turkey and avocado sandwiches, Pirate's Booty, and only a little bit of sand! It was a great way to spend our final weekend together before Mommy and Lily started school on Monday.