Update

I know...I haven't updated my blog for a while and these pictures are all of today. I keep forgetting to take pictures. Hopefully this weekend I will get pictures of the new apartment to post. We love the new apartment. We moved have been here two weeks. The move was okay. We got sick the night before. Lily was up most of the night before throwing up. She was exhausted and cranky the next day and I don't blame her. I was not doing well the day we moved. I'm not sure if I was overly tired from staying up with Lily or I got some of what she had or both. We were so blessed to have people help us. Ryan and Cathy came the night before and helped us pack up the kitchen. Cathy was there bright and early Saturday morning and cleaned the entire kitchen (probably the worst job). We also had Jessica and Scott Anderson. They gave up their entire day, risked getting sick from us, and help till the end. Their kindness was amazing! Our other home teacher and our upstairs neighbor helped Matt move the big things. Matt wasn't feeling well either but he did so much work. He was really sick Saturday night. Anyway, thank you to all that helped. I hope to return the favor somehow.

We tried to put the apartment together as quick as we could because my mom, dad and Jayne came the following Wednesday. It was so great to see them and they didn't mind all the boxes. I wish I could say Lily was on her best behavior. I think she was still getting used to all the changes. I'm sure she will be a whole new girl the next time she sees them. It was so great to seem my family if only for a short while. My little brother Daniel just got his mission call to Vina Del Mar, Chile! We are thrilled for him. He will be the best missionary! I look up to him so much. He didn't get to come but he got his call last Saturday. Jayne was here and she is amazing! I'm so glad to have a little sister who is twice as smart as me! lol :)

Last Sunday was our first week in the new ward and we felt right at home. Everyone was more than nice and we know we are going to like it here. I don't even mind driving a little more. It is nice and quiet and we like being next to Ryan and Cathy. We hope they feel the same way. :) Lily seems to like it here too. Ever since we have been here she has gone to bed extremely well and slept better through the nights. I don't know if this is coincidence or not.

Developmental update. Lily is such a happy girl. She is talking a little bit now. Her favorite things to say are "Ooooooohhh WOW" and "Hi." She says hi to everyone we see. Cathy and Katie both are teaching her to shake her finger and say, "no, no, no" She does it really well. Lily loves to play patty cake. She does it all by herself. She claps, rolls her hands, and tosses it in the over (puts her hand over her head). Extremely cute! Every morning I put on chap stick right before we go to Rexburg. I have been putting a little on Lily's lips. After I put it on me and Lily, I smack my lips and then Lily smacks hers. I don't know if that made sense but I want to remember it. Another thing I want to remember, just the past couple of weeks I have noticed some big changes in her understanding and cognitive development. She is really smart. For her birthday she got a cabbage patch doll from Tamie. We call her dolls "dolly baby." A few days ago, I was sitting on the couch and said "Lily, go get dolly baby." She walked across the room, grabbed dolly baby and brought her back to me. Also, my mom gave Lily wooden circle blocks that stack. They are sort of like those rings that stack. Anyway, she has never even attempted to stack those until the other day. Now she is so good at it. At first it took her a while and she had to figure out it works better when her finger wasn't in the hole too. She's fast now. We got her a set of wooden blocks for her birthday and she loves them now. In one of my child development classes we did an entire unit on the benefits of blocks for children. There are different developmental stages just for how children use blocks. In the unit we talked about at what age they should be able to stack blocks and at what age they should be able to put them in rows, make tunnels and so on. I wish I had my book so I could remember them exactly. Lily stacked more than three block and I'm sure that is so advanced for a 13.5 month old. I am actually loving it that we don't have TV here. Lily was starting to become an addict and TV is not the best thing for a girl her age. We play together more and I love it. We still watch the occasional Baby Signing Time and Baby Einsteins. Lock the cupboards! This is not the first time I've caught her in the Q-tips. She always seems to find them and they are her favorite. This was this morning while we were getting ready for school.

We got a baby bike trailer and love it. We just got it yesterday and have already taken it out twice. Both nights we have went out to Broulims in St. Anthony. It is such a fun ride and we are excited to be able to ride with Lily. Lily likes it just fine. Last night it was a little rainy but Lily nice and cozy in there. We had three blankets and there is a plastic thing over the top to keep the rain out. I know we will get our moneys worth out of the trailer. We love riding our bikes. I have been so lucky to ride my bike to school the past few semesters. Even after we moved up here, I kept my bike at Katie's apartment. When I would drop Lily off for Katie to watch her, I would ride my bike to school. Anyway, these are pictures from tonight. After we got home from our bike ride we were outside and Matt rode his motor bike around a little bit. When we go outside Lily automatically walks over to Ryan and Cathy's.

This is in front of Ryan and Cathy's door.

She sees Matt riding his motor bike.

Goes over to say hi.

Matt says, "Lil, want to go for a ride?" I answer for her, "no, she doesn't." Do you blame me? I have been on that bike before. It only has one speed, FAST!

She did like sitting on it with her dad.

I took lots of pictures like this. She loves running around in the parking lot. To all of you concerned mothers, I am always right by her side. Don't worry!! We don't have a lawn yet because these apartments are so new. I think they need a playground like Angie's apartment.

This is it! We are the one on the bottom right.

I think the peas are doing well. They kind of got beat up by the rain. My bad for not moving them.

The tomatoes are looking better. I hope they survive. It was windy and the rain got them too. This is why we moved them under the deck. Tomato experts: Do I have to get the tomato racks and those plastic water things? I want them to live!

After playing outside we went to Cold Stone, thanks to Katie and Steve. They gave us a gift card a while ago. We went before dinner. We only ate half of our ice cream and came home and had spaghetti. My mom and dad gave us this chair that hooks onto the counter. Love it! It is neat because Matt and I sit with her at the counter and eat our dinner. We don't have a table and before we would always eat in the living room and consequently have the TV on. We agree that this is much better. Lily ate really well tonight. She loves spaghetti and I love that I don't have spoon feed her all the time anymore. She prefers to eat on her own. I love this girl!!!!!!!!