A Very Special Day

Yesterday was a very special day for a very special girl! June 27th marked Danielle Holub's first birthday. Danielle is the daughter of our very good friends Brad and Amber. This isn't just any first birthday, this is the day, one year ago, that their precious daughter entered the world 16 weeks early at 1 lb. 11 ozs and 13.5 inches long.

We celebrated her ups and downs and her miraculous journey to being able to celebrate her 1st birthday as a happy, healthy little girl! The day truly was a wonderful day, watching Brad and Amber with their perfect family with two miracle children by their side...they really take your breath away. Everything they have all been through, they deserve these happy times, we were so honored to be a part of it all!

The birthday girl in her 2nd outfit, yes there was an outfit specifically for opening presents!

Blowing out the candles!

I AM King of the mountain!

Happy Family!

Bonding Buddies!

Party Dress!

Partied out!

Happy Birthday Danielle! Continue to grow, smile and wow us with your determination! We can't wait to see where you are next year!

This weekend we also spent some time with my Dad, Laura, Jason, Jen, Celia and Ruby. We had dinner on Friday night to welcome home Dad and Laura from their 3 week trip to Europe. The adults had a nice time catching up and as always the girls had a good time being girls!

Loving on Lila

Aerial View!

We have had a wonderful weekend! Today is a beautiful day so we are going to get outside and enjoy the weather! As we all know, those days are few and far between in Iowa!

Happy Father's Day

I am trying to squeak in a post before we head off to bed! I think it is safe to say that Mike had a good FIRST Father's Day! The day started off on a high note...Lila slept through the night! She went to bed around 9:00 last night and woke up at about 10 minutes to 7:00 this morning. I gladly got up with her while Daddy continued to get a few more z's! When Mike got up we had breakfast and then all of us spent some quality time in our jammies reading the paper and snuggling on the couch!

It was then time for presents! Lila and the puppies picked out a watch for Daddy that he has had his eye on for awhile. He was very pleased with his watch but kept insisting that the best gifts in his life are his daughter, his puppies and his wife...AWWWW!!!

This evening we headed over to Jason and Jen's to have a celebratory dinner. We had steak, chicken, pork chops, salad, potatoes, asparagus and a scrumptious DQ cake for dessert! The Smith family just introduced the Wii into their lives, so everyone had a good time taking turns bowling and golfing, it definitely allowed us some good laughs! The food was wonderful as always and the company was a great way to spend Father's Day!

It truly is amazing looking down at little Lila...the one who makes days like this possible, Mike is right, she truly is the gift, but like I am a gift to him, he is a gift to me. I have fallen in love with him several times in my life, but I had never fallen as hard as when I saw him become a father. He truly is an amazing father and I know I wouldn't be half of the mother I am without him. I love you Mike, for being my friend, my husband and the father of my child...thank you!

Happy Father's Day to all of the amazing men in our lives!

Getting Bigger!

Today Lila had her second well-baby check up at the pediatrician. We are so proud to report that she is growing, growing, growing! She now weighs 10 lbs. 1 oz and is 23 inches long! She is in the 75th percentile for height, 60th for head and 40th for weight. Her doctor was thrilled at her progress considering when he first saw her she was 6 lbs. 4 oz. and was 19.5 inches long and that was in April, so she has grown 3.5 inches and gained almost 4 lbs. since then! She also got vaccinations today...she really was a trooper. She of course cried, but after some snuggling from Daddy was calmed down quickly. We are so blessed to have healthy baby girl!

Another big milestone...our first week of sitters/daycare is officially complete! The first part of the week she had my cousin Jorden watching her at our house and the second part of the week she was at her daycare providers home. She did really well considering all of the change and the shuffling around we had to do.

This has been kind of a hard week on Mommy and Daddy, so it helped that Lila really took it all in stride. Believe it or not, she helped remind us that change doesn't have to be that big of a deal!

We have survived!

Better yet...I have survived! As you can imagine, Lila did great today...I truly believe that the transition of a parent going back to work is harder on the parent than it is on the child. We have a modified daycare plan for the summer. My cousin Jorden is watching Lila a few days a week, Mike and I will alternate one day a week and she will go to what will be her regular daycare a few days a week as well. It sounds confusing, but really it isn't that big of a deal and actually, it allows Mom to pull the band aid off a little slower...allowing me some more precious time with Lila once a week! I now know not to take it for granted!

Today Jorden came to the house to watch her. I was all a flutter with trying to get ready and make sure Lila was content that I didn't actually have my emotional breakdown until I got in the car. This is where I think it is harder on the parent than the child...when I left the house Lila was sound asleep enjoying her bouncy seat, I was the only one awake for the big moment. And in true baby fashion she woke up, saw a smiling face that was willing to give her a bottle, read her stories, sing to her and make sure her bum was dry...she was a happy camper! I on the other hand had to live with the guilt of leaving her and wondering how exactly I was going to get through my day without having a breakdown every 15 minutes and picking up the phone to see if everything was okay. Well...I am proud to report, I only brokedown the ONE time in the car and I only called ONCE to check in! That doesn't mean I didn't think about Lila every 5 minutes and wonder what she was doing because I did, but I refrained from being the nervous Mom knowing again, this is much harder on me than it is on her.

I got home this afternoon and low and behold she was fine, in fact she was pooped! We have spent some quality time as a family snuggling on the couch. We even went outside to play fetch with the puppies! I know each day going to work will get easier and we will just have to make sure to make the most of the precious time we have together in the evenings...right down to the very last seconds!

Relaxing out back!

Yeah Mom, everything is going to be just fine!

Life Changes...

It is amazing to think that 8 weeks ago yesterday, Lila entered into this world. It has been 8 weeks filled with a slew of emotions! We went from being overwhelmed to starting to figure things out. We went from mourning our "old" life to fully embracing our new one. We have felt tired and energized all in the same 24 hour period. And most of all we have felt love like we never thought was possible...both for each other and for our beautiful daughter!

Another life change is upon us...just as we were getting cozy in our new life, another curve ball is thrown. I head back to work tomorrow. With that a whole new set of emotions have hit. I am truly excited to go back to work, I know myself well enough that I would not be the best stay at home mother. The adult stimulation will be good for me and I know I will be a better mother for working. However, the thought of leaving Lila for more than a few hours just about rips my heart out. I can't help but think about all the things I will miss out on and the few hours a day I will get to spend with her vs. the whole day I spend with her now.

Mike assures me that even though it is extremely hard, that it is such an amazing feeling to come home to her after a day of work, smiling, excited to see you. I know he is right and that soon, this transition will too become our new "normal." But for now it is the unknown and it is sad and quite frankly scary as hell. I mean seriously, how do you leave this face?!

A Double Celebration!

This weekend found us celebrating my Mom and my brother Jason's birthday. They share the same birthday, my brother was my Mom's birthday present 33 years ago on June 6th!

The celebration started on Friday night, we had an adult night out. This means...no kids obviously, SO...it was the first time we left Lila with a babysitter. I have to admit I was pretty anxious about it all day long, but I am proud to report it really wasn't that big of a deal! My cousin Megan and her friend were already babysitting Celia and Ruby, so they were happy to take on Lila too! We dropped off Lila and headed to Uptown Friday Night and from there we went to Daniel Arthur's for a wonderful dinner and good wine. It was beautiful outside so we were able to enjoy their patio. We had good conversation and a lot of laughs! We picked up Lila from a successful first babysitting experience (thanks Megs) and headed on home.

Saturday found us at Jason and Jen's to celebrate their actual birthday with family. Despite the damp weather we had a grill out which included Jason's famous turkey burgers and Mike's famous hamburgers...both very yummy! It was nice to hang out with all of our family and celebrate two very important people in our lives! Happy Birthday Mom & Jason, we love you!

Opening Gifts

Beautiful Girls

Lila was also seven weeks old on Saturday! She is changing everyday! She is awake a lot more and very animated. We are having so much fun with her. It is hard to believe that I will be going back to work in a little over a week...I can't get over the feeling that I will miss out on something. Here are a few pictures of her over the past few weeks.

Happy Girl

Bath Time

Mommy, Daddy & Lila

Grammy & Lila

Being snuggled by Great Grandma Smith

Cuddling with Great Grandpa Harvey

Snoozing in Grandpa Smith's arms

It has been a great week and ended with a great weekend surrounded by those we love! I am going to do my best to make the most of this last week home with Lila and the puppies, the time has gone by so fast, I have loved every minute of it.