Tiki '08

Our friends Lisa and Rik had their annual Tiki Party this weekend. It was lots of fun!
David and I got to hang out with some good friends and just enjoy ourselves.

This is Lisa, the hostess. And darn it, I didn't get a picture of Rik.

My good friends Betsy and her hubby, Roger

Roger and my hubby

The girlfriends - me, Betsy and Christine

Lily made friends with Betsy by the ice cooler! Lily and Betsy played in the ice water for quite some time! Thanks Betsy for entertaining Lily!!

Lily played hide and seek with these cool chairs!

These are a few of my favorite things

And now I will have Julie Andrews stuck in my head the rest of the day.
Anywho -


I don't seem to be one to get cravings while pregnant. I didn't have many with Lily and I don't have many right now. However, I think I've been eating 2-3 peaches and/or nectarines a day!
I also love my new Green Tea lotion from Lemongrass. It's so light and refreshing!! I like it because the scent isn't strong at all.

Of course my husband is one of my favorite people. He is being extra sweet to me lately.

I love being pregnant in my 2nd trimester. So much easier when you aren't getting sick every 5 minutes and completely exhausted all day long!! This was taken the day I found out I was pregnant (obviously). This was taken on April 24th! We get to find out the sex of the baby on Aug 11th!! More to come...


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And I love this video of Lily. I promise I did not teach her this. She did this on her own. I think her Italian roots are coming through. Gotta love the pasta.

Lily's Potty and Belly Shot

Today David and I bought a potty for Lily. I'm not quite ready for the full on potty training and to be honest, I don't think Lily is either. I just thought now would be a good time to get used to having the potty around. Lily's been screaming "Go Potty!" and then proceeding to sit on the potty. It's quite funny. I think in a few months we'll try having her really sit down a few times a day and see what happens. Really, I'm in no rush.

I was chatting with my sisters today. I told them my belly is starting to pop and I really am uncomfortable in regular pants. I thought I'd post a belly shot. Sorry for the blurriness. I'm 18 weeks now. I'm sure in the next few weeks I will really start to look pregnant. I'm able to feel the baby moving now. Last night "shim" (she/him) was partying it up!

Thank you Auntie Amy

My good friend Amy made a doll for Lily when Lily was first born. This is now her favorite doll. Lily is currently napping with "Dolly". It originally came with shoes, but Lily insisted that Dolly be shoeless. We are pretty much a shoeless family, so Dolly fits right in. I'm not your stereotypical female with shoes. I do have plenty, but not so many. I like my sandals in the summer time, but if I'm indoors, I'm shoeless. Lily is sans shirt in this picture as:

1. it's blazing hot here in Colorado right now.
2. she was eating her breakfast and shirtless Lily is much easier to clean up.

As for the "Auntie" part for Amy. I thought that sounded better than "Miss Amy". We'll see what Lily uses for Amy as she gets older. Lily hasn't met Amy yet and I'm thinking we'll have to change that at some point down the road.

Playdough, Dresses and Friends

This weekend I made homemade playdough for the first time. I was amazed how easy it is! Lily loved it!

We told Lily to "Smile" and this is her picture smile. hee

David took this picture this morning of Lily. Just thought she looked quite pretty in her dress. Lily is all about dresses right now. Man, she looks like David in this picture!

Lily, Caoimhe, Zach and Mommy Karen

Last Thursday we had some of Lily's friends over to the house. It was fun! The kids played with bubbles and seemed to enjoy themselves.

Zach, Caoimhe, Lily and Declan

Caoimhe and Izzy

My New Favorite Song

I've been really interested in doing a water birth with this next baby. My midwife is very supportive of this idea and is working on getting the hospital to agree to it. I was searching the web and found a video of a water birth on youtube with this song attached to it. It made my cry. It makes me hopeful for my children's world. It makes me realize that what I do as a mother does matter. I must get this CD soon. It's on Jack Johnson's Curious George CD.

Ba-Bee-Na

The other day, David was throwing the ball for Maya and Lily was cracking up laughing. It made both David and I laugh. She was also yelling out "Ba-bee-na" Still not sure what that means.

The Past Couple of Days

This is what we have been up to the last couple of days....

Playing with sidewalk chalk with Daddy

Playing in the kiddie pool while Daddy blows bubbles

Helping Mom clean the coffee table

Hanging out with the neighborhood kids

Hot days and inappropriate toys

The past couple of days have been quite warm - in the lower 90s. Even with the heat, Lily and I have spent some time outside. Yesterday we got her in her kiddie pool. Unfortunately the pool has a hole and we'll have to take it back. It worked for yesterday though. Lily played in the pool with the neighbor kids and had a blast. They also had water balloons and Lily had fun watching them toss the balloons back and forth until they all burst. No pictures were taken though. Next time I will bring out the camera.

This is Lily playing with her new sidewalk chalk. I found it funny that this was for age 4 and above. It said it could contain small pieces which could be swallowed. Now, if she can swallow this hunk o'chalk, I'll be amazed. I know, I know, the pieces could break into smaller pieces. Don't worry, I was watching her the whole time.

Also, today my dear cousin Cindy would have been 43 years old. Miss you Cindy!! Hope wherever you are, you are dancing!!

Lily at 18 months

My little girl is now a year and a half. She is such a joy. I can't imagine life without her.

Here are a few things about Lily that I love:

• She has the best laugh ever
• She is cuddly
  
• She is so very smart
• She can basically feed herself now
• She loves all animals. She gets so excited to see an animal at the zoo or on tv
• She sleeps 12 hours at night and on most days 2-3 hours during the day
• She says:
  

mo = more
gall gone = all gone
ow = water
Babba = Abba
dadee = baby
gapes = grapes
nanana = banana
Aya = Maya
peas = please
gogurt = yogurt
gagel = bagel
me maw = oatmeal

• She loves water sprinklers
• She loves to listen to music and dance
• She self disciplines. She walks over to something she is not allowed to touch and says "no?". I tell her "Still no"
• She yells at the dog for us. "Bo Poddy!" (go potty! wonder who else in this house says that????)
  
• She loves her Daddy
• She pretends to burp and then says "be be" (excuse me)
• She enjoys eating: bananas, oatmeal, applesauce, grapes, cherries, cookies, ice cream (my girl!), corn, carrots, croissants, pancakes, shredded wheat cereal and eggs
• You know if you are doing something right if she says "'gain" (for "again")
• She loves to be twirled around

Love you Little One!!

4th of July

I hope everyone had a nice Independence Day!
We had a laid back day. We had our friends Melanie and James and Baby Ian come by for dinner. We can see a few of the city's firework displays from our backyard, so it was nice to see the fireworks without the hassle of traffic.

Lily and Ian

Melanie and James

Thanks Melanie and James! We really had a nice night hanging out with you!!

Makeshift Pool and more Pics of Kaitlyn

I keep meaning to go buy a kiddie pool for Lily. She loves to play in water. I just haven't drug myself out to do so. This was our makeshift pool this afternoon. She was soaking wet by the time we were finished.
Here are a few more pics of my new niece!!

Family of Four Now!

Abba

Big Sister, Cassie

Kaitlyn Maree is here!!

Kaitlyn and Nana

My niece, Kaitlyn Maree was born today, July 1st, 2008 at 11:20am. She is 6lbs 9oz.
I get to see her in August and I cannot wait!!!

Congratulations Matthew and Carrie on your newest addition to your family!