Wah, Wah, Wah, Wah (Like on Charlie Brown)

Recently Lilly has been amazing us with her responses to our indirect requests. Up until this point we have pretty much been blabbing at her just for the sake of talking. Not anymore though. Here is an example: Lilly was cruising around at my parent's house with a toothbrush in her hand. My friend Bev asked her where she had gotten it. Lilly walked her right into the bathroom and opened up the toothbrush drawer. Also, today she asked for a bath and I told her okay but that I needed to get a towel first. I turned around from running the water and she was standing behind me with the towel. She had gone across the house to get one.

She blows our minds. She has about a 50 word spoken vocabulary, but she is understanding much more than that.

Thanksgiving Day

Happy Birthday Noni

Lilly has decided that she is going to call my mom, "Noni." We recently celebrated her birthday. Lilly LOVES all of her grandparents a lot! We are so fortunate that all four of them live close enough for Lilly to have a strong relationship with them. They are all so patient with her and pretty much spoil her rotten.

We also recently celebrated Lilly's Great Grandpa Bob's birthday.

Pretty in Pink

This is her bear.  We didn't think she would end up with a security item.  But there is no doubt she loves on this bear.

Cheese!  She's still got those cheeks.

Lovely and Delightful

Each one of these pictures warms my heart. 

Over the Hills and Through the Woods

My grandpa, mom and Alan have moved from the desert to Arrowhead. It is awesome!

The house was built to the specifications of a wildlife preserve so their are tons of critters everywhere. My grandpa fills all of the feeders every morning. Then squirrels, chipmunks and all kinds of birds mob the back deck.

You can then go inside to the warmth and sit on these comfy, cozy chairs and watch the feeding frenzy. I think that my grandpa is really enjoying the simplicity and beauty in his new life.

In the far distance are the Pinnacles. This whole canyon and many of the surrounding houses burnt during the fires last year. That means that the area should not be subject again to fires, for awhile at least.

Shakin' a Tailfeather

She loves to dance!

This is her dancing in front of a juke box at King Taco. It is great how babies have zero inhibitions. For them, any time is a good time to be silly.

Halloween 2008

This is Lilly with Mike. He is Ryan (Nikki's husband) and Heather's dad. He is such a great guy! Their whole family is ALWAYS so incredibly warm and welcoming. We went over to Rick and Heather's to share the holiday and to trick or treat outside of the Upland hood.

Happy Dalmatian Lilly

It is hard to see, but there is a little black tail that would wag when she walked.Enjoying the fruits of her labor. Gettin' her candy on. She walked, pretty much, the whole way. It was a trek for her but she caught on and followed the other little guys up to the doors to get her loot. She wasn't afraid of anything, but then, she rarely ever is.

Nikki, Lilly, R.E. & Sleeping Beauty

Not Mommy's Choice

She was so upset that she stuck her finger in her nose. Maybe we should have gotten her a pirate costume since she seems set on diggin' for buried treasure. Aargh!

Everyone kept asking what I had picked for Lilly's Halloween costume. I happily answered, "a ladybug, of course." I would then go into telling them how much delight I took in choosing for her this year because I figured that this would probably be the last year that I got to pick out her costume.

These thoughts came about as I watched Nikki, with as much patience as anyone could be expected to muster, help 3 year old Robin finally decide which Disney Princess she wanted to be. It was a near impossible task. I knew, at that moment, that this very same experience was in my future. However, I didn't realize that it was a month in my future.

Lilly, as you can see, wanted NOTHING to do with the ladybug costume. I thought that maybe it was just that she didn't want to wear a costume at all. But nope. She just didn't want to wear that costume. Mommy's costume.

Out of shear luck, on Halloween night, Rene found another costume that was still in an unopened hand-me-down bag of clothes. (To all you wonderful hand-me-downers: THANK YOU! You are angels and you have saved yet another day!) Lilly put on the 101 Dalmatians costume and there was an instant change in attitude and she was raring to go.

Halloween 2007.

This has got to be Lilly's favorite holiday.

Whaddya think?

Rah, Rah Redlands

It was our 10 year union from the U of Redlands. We had a blast. We were all a bit older and maybe a bit chubbier but were still the same group of crazy kids. There were tons of people in town. Gaya was one of them (thanks Tracy).
I was not there for these festivities but I am welling with pride at the sight of Du Lang. For those of you that have never done a keg stand before, it is quite a feat, when you are in your prime. To be able to come back, 10 years later, and bust one out is really freakin' impressive. The only drawback is that it is like drinking 4-6 beers in 2 minutes. Some people have been known to engage in Frank the Tankish activities afterwards. In other words, you get instantly, "piss yourself," stinkin' drunk!