My Favorite Memory of 2013

Posted in Kids, Lila, Liz's Life by Liz

Happy 2014 friends! We are finally back home in Reno settled in after two amazing weeks in Naples, Fl with my family. Our holidays were one of my favorite in recent memory and consisted of sun, pool, naps, good food, card games and special time spent with my family and Lila’s cousins.

To see more photos from our trip, check out my Instagram feed.

We spent New Year’s Eve at home since Lila was sick with a cold and we had just gotten home a few days before. I made a big fancy dinner of oysters, pork belly, roasted root vegetables and Paleo snickerdoodles. We were in bed by 9:30!

While we were eating dinner, Luke and I started talking about our favorite memories from the past year. There were SO many good ones – Lila’s birthday, starting my business as a consultant, special dates with my love, but when I was pressed to pick just one, I landed on an evening the three of us had at the beach in Florida.

We had decided to take a night with just our little family in downtown Naples. After browsing some shops, Luke suggested we walk the five blocks to the beach for sunset. We got there in the knick of time.

As we were watching the sun go to bed (and Lila eat sand), we realized our little bug had never been in the ocean before. I walked her toward the shore to see how she’d react to the soft waves lapping the sand, and what ensued was one of those parenting moments you hold on to.

Seeing Lila squeal with delight every time a wave rushed toward her and then laugh hysterically when it whooshed back the other way was without a doubt the best memory of my year. In fact, I hope that evening our family of three spent in the orange glow of an ocean sunset will be imprinted in my mind forever.

What was your favorite memory from 2013?

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18Nov2013

Dear Lila, You’re One Year Old!

Posted in Kids, Lila by Liz

Dear Lila,

Happy first birthday!! I cannot believe you are already a year old. Time sure has flown by and you have grown so much in the past year.

This weekend we hosted your first birthday party with Mimi, Gee, Uncle Matt, Aunt Amy, Uncle Mike, Mabel and our friends here in Reno. We had everyone over to our house for desserts and you played in the living room with all your friends. You LOVED your birthday cake and made sure to smear it all over.

You have changed so much in just the past month and are really starting to become a little toddler vs a baby.

Standing is your latest development. You are perfectly capable of standing for 20-30 seconds at a time, but only do it when you don’t realize you are letting go, like when you start clapping in excitement. Once you realize you aren’t holding on though, down you go.

Climbing is your favorite activity. We got you a little climber for our house and you’ll spend most of your time climbing up the slide and then going down on your stomach. You learned this move from Gymboree.

You are beginning to verbalize what you want. Your only words so far are “Dada,” “Mama,” and “Doggie,” but you let us know your wishes by extending your arm and grunting in the direction of what you want. Often times it’s our food (which we’re happy to give you).

Right on cue, you’ve started to let us know when you are NOT happy about something. For example, when it’s time to leave the park, you usually don’t want to go, and you’ll tell us by arching your back and screaming. I try to tell you that I know how you feel and that it’s okay to feel disappointed sometimes and you usually calm down quickly.

You love all sorts of foods including Ethiopian food, sauerkraut, goat cheese, steak and most of all … coconut! Your daddy will cut open a coconut, stick a straw in and you’ll drink all the juice. Then you two will split the coconut flesh (mommy doesn’t like coconut).

We have so much fun with you. Even on days when you’re fussy and we’re feeling worn out, after you go to bed, Daddy and I always end up sitting together spending our precious free time watching videos and looking at photos of you. You’re always on our mind little bug.

I can’t believe a year ago today you were just a 6 lb, tiny baby resting against my skin and now you are a 20 lb sweet little girl constantly flashing us your smile. You were brand new to the world and to us then, but now you are my best buddy and the center of our universe.

A year is a short amount of time really, but when I think of how much you’ve become part of our hearts, it feels like forever.

I am so proud to be your mommy. Thank you for all you’ve taught me this past year.

Love you forever little bug,

Mommy

1Nov2013

Questions and Answers

Posted in Kids, Lila by Liz

This week Luke was in Mexico (he got back last night), so it was just me and Lila. We had a lot of time together and I feel like I got to know her even better.

My favorite time from this week was Tuesday before her afternoon nap. I took her into her bedroom for some wind down time. I sat in the rocking chair watching her play for awhile until she crawled over to her basket of books, retrieved one and handed it to me.

I pulled her onto my lap and we “read” the book, which means she turns the pages quickly while I describe the image on the page. About four pages into the book, she shoved it aside and crawled to the edge to the chair to peer at the basket with all her other books.

She grunted a few times and when I asked her if she’d like me to pick another book, she grabbed my hand and pushed it toward the basket. So I picked another book and she settled in my lap to flip the pages again.

This process continued until we had a pile of 15 different books at our feet and she was ready for bed.

As I walked out of her room after saying “night, night,” I smiled to myself. This was one of the first clear-cut times she has led an interaction with me and been able to communicate exactly what she wants.

It feels like lately Lila has begun to really understand our words and actions. In addition to our reading routine, this week she’s also started signing “all done” and “more” during meal times, she is clapping and waving bye-bye without prompt, and she has been calling for her “Da da” on repeat.

Most of the first year of life you don’t really know what they’re thinking. It’s a guessing game and I had so many questions about her. What does she want? What interests her? What is her personality like? So now that I’m getting more and more glimpses into how her mind works, it’s brought a whole new exciting experience to parenting.

It’s funny to me what I find exciting these days … my baby clapping or touching her hands together to tell me she wants more blueberries has me calling anyone who will listen to tell them about her latest “trick”. I just love that I’m finally getting some answers to all those questions I had floating around in my head for 11 months.

I have a feeling the more I learn about her, the more this parenting thing is just going to get better and better.

28Oct2013

Planning For Lila’s Birthday Party

Posted in Kids, Lila, Party Ideas by Liz

November is a big month for our family. Lila’s birthday on the 18th, my parents visiting Nov. 15 – 19th, Luke’s birthday Nov. 27, Thanksgiving at our house Nov 28, Luke’s family visiting Nov 24 – 30. I’m super excited for all of these things, but I can feel the stress starting to creep in, which means I need to start checking things off my to-do list.

My planning focus lately has been on Lila’s birthday. We went back and forth about whether to do a party or just an activity with our family. We wanted it to be fun for Lila, not stressful for us, but also a special day where we could celebrate our girl. Ultimately we decided on a small party with family and a few friends at our house.

First up to figure out was the food. In an effort to keep things a stress-free as possible, we’re going to do just a dessert party so we don’t have to worry about a bunch of food. There is an awesome gluten-free bakery up the street from us, so Lila and I went in and ordered some goodies. A vanilla cake with purple icing for Lila’s smash cake, along with creme puffs, chocolate creme bundt cakes, cheesecake bars and cookies in the shape of a 1.

For the decor, I ordered this burlap Happy Birthday banner and a cake topper to go with.

I also made a trip to Party City and picked up some purple and white goodies to finish out the decorations like purple and white candies, purple polka dot napkins, white paper puffs and party favors like bubbles for the kids.

I also wanted Lila to have a special outfit to wear as the birthday girl, so I got her this totally ridiculous party hat and a personalized balloon onesie.

Now that I have everything planned out, I’m getting really excited for Lila’s birthday party. We’ll have family here (my mom & dad, sister and her family and Luke’s brother) and a few good friends to celebrate Lila’s first year of life. I can’t believe my baby is a year old already! I just hope I can keep it together during her party. :)

Okay, onto the next November event … Luke’s requested a pumpkin creme brulee cheesecake for his birthday. Does that even exist!?

A Batty Life

Finding My Way Through this Crazy World

Category Archives: Kids

My Favorite Memory of 2013

Dear Lila, You’re One Year Old!

Questions and Answers

Planning For Lila’s Birthday Party