Not so Sweet Potatoes

Now that I am six months old, I'm doing and trying lots of new things. I now weigh 16lb. 5 oz. , I am rolling all over the place, sitting up by myself, reaching for EVERYTHING, babbling to anyone or anything that will listen, and trying baby food. At first it looked pretty exciting being bright orange and all but once I tried it, it was a different story... "Hi Mom" I see you have that big black camera thing out again-i know what to do..."cheese"!

If you say so...

I'm not so sure about this orange stuff!

Do I really have to have more-can't you see that not much went down the first time-its all over my face and not in my tummy! Next food, squash-I'll let you know later how that one goes later.

Best Buds

This is my best buddy Wilson. Usually he doesn't want much to do with me unless I spit up or spill some of my food on the floor or on myself. I do love watching him play though-I think its really funny when he is running all over the place-I can't wait until I get to run around with him. He is a great protector. He will bark at any stranger (or our next door neighbors) that walk by or ring our doorbell. Lately I've been able to get close enough to grab him. I get so excited I just want to squeeze him. Wilson tries to lick me when I get close but mommy & daddy always tell him "NO", I think its kinda funny and it even tickles a little. I can't wait to grow up with him, we are going to have so much fun together!

I really wanted to hold Wilson's hand but all he wanted to do was chew his bone.

4th of July

Mommy, Daddy, and me went up to Park River to Grandma and Grandpa Collins' house for the 4th of July. We had such a good time. We ate lots of Grandma's yummy food (well, mommy & daddy did), we played outside, went to a parade, met up with mommy's friends, and watched the fireworks! Mommy says its a tradition to go up to Park River over the 4th of July-even though I won't remember this one, there will be many more to come! Here are some pictures of our fun weekend! Getting ready to watch the fireworks-i got a little sun earlier that day watching the parade.

WOW! look at that one daddy!

Daddy and me watching the fireworks up at the golf course

Me & Damean (he lives in Virgina Beach with his mommy Rose)

Some of mommy's friends and their babies-we had a picnic out at Homme Dam (baby Sylvia-Jenny's baby, and baby Mia-Kristen's baby were sleeping.

Trying to grab grandpa Tim's sunglasses during the parade.

Watching the parade with Katie.

Me and Kate

Landon playing with grandma's flags

Landon was big enough this year to get candy during the parade so he got to eat his sucker while watching the parade

meeting more friends

I am becoming friends with so many people! We have been busy meeting lots of mommy's friends babies. We had a super fun time in Minneapolis at Sarah & Jenny's. Mommy's friend Mandie was up visiting from Austin Texas with her little boy Anderson (far right). I was soooo excited to see all of them and play with them. Since I have started babbling-it was great to have other babblers too-finally someone could understand what I was trying to say. Kaden and I had lots of converstations with each other-it was secret code though b/c everytime mommy or Sarah got their video camera out we stopped talking and got a little camera shy. Almost all of mommy's friends have had babies lately and there are 2 more on the way-I can't wait for next summer when our little group of 4 babies turns into 6 babies! Sylvia (Jenny's baby), Kaden (Sarah's baby-he's going to be a big brother in September too), ME, & Anderson (Mandie's baby)

Anderson wasn't all that stoked about me touching him-i just wanted to play!

Mommy's friend Katie (kate-my middle name) is going to have a baby in a couple of months-I was already touching her belly and saying hi to my new friend.

Here I am again grabbing Anderson-He's so cute, I couldn't help myself-maybe next year he will want to play with me more.

Chatter box

I have discovered my voice! Whether I am by myself or if someone is talking to me, I just LOVE using my voice! Sometimes, I just love to squeal because I get so excited and sometimes I like to hold conversations with pretty much anyone who will pay attention to me. My favorite thing to say is "da, da, da, da" even though I'm not sure what that means yet, it sure is easy to say and of course my daddy loves it-mommy...not so much. She does love to hear me talk but everytime I say "da, da, da, da," she tries to correct me and get me to say " ma, ma, ma, ma". I try to copy her but all that comes out is "da, da, da, da" and a smile of course. I'm sure as soon as I say "ma, ma" she will get another video.

Grandma & Papa's

Last weekend mommy and I went up to Park River to spend the weekend with grandma and papa. Papa is what my cousin Landon calls my grandpa Tim-I think its easier for him to say than the whole word. We had lots of fun playing on a blanket in the grass, going to the park (I slept in the stroller while mommy and grandma played with Landon). Auntie Lindsey and Uncle Brandon had to go somewhere so Landon stayed with us and grandma gave him a root beer float-she says that's what grandma's do when mommies aren't around. Landon got a hat at a garage sale that went with his new train set-he didn't take it off for the rest of the weekend! talking with grandpa "pa" or "papa" outside

mommy and Landon going down the twisty slide @ the park

Landon with his cool new train engineer hat

Hanging out in the backyard

Landon's rootbeer float mustache

Saturday mornings

I LOVE Saturday mornings! That's when daddy is home with me and mommy. We get to hang out, play, watch movies and take naps together. We were watching one of daddy's favorite movies from when he was a kid, "The Sandlot". It was on the family channel-he even knew most of the words! Wow, playing in my exercauser really wore me out! Taking a nap on daddy is the best-sometimes daddy even doses off a bit. Did I mention how much I LOVE Saturdays with daddy! Mommy thinks I look more and more like my daddy when we are sleeping. Out cold!

Oh so comfy! This is the life!

Happy Girl!

My favorite thing to do is SMILE! I am especially smiley when mommy or daddy come to pick me up out of my crib when I wake up in the morning or from a nap. I get so excited I squeal, kick my legs, wave my arms, and smile. Sometimes I am even at the very top of my crib or laying sideways from where mommy put me down. She says I'm kind of a crazy sleeper just like my daddy-I like to scooch and roll all over in my bed! Good Morning!

Just waking up from my afternoon nap-so glad to be home with mommy!

My new toy!

My Grandma Tammy got me this really cool new toy! Its called an excersaucer-it is the best! Even though it takes up half of mommy and daddy's living room it sure keeps me happy and busy. It has so many different toys on it I could play with it forever while mommy gets lots done. I am still learning how to balance and sometimes I even face plant into it but every day I get bigger and stronger. It plays music, makes honking noises, lights up and everything fits in my mouth! Mommy even took a little video of me learning how to play in my new toy-don't mind the weirdo talking on the video!

p.s. I'm so glad that mommy is home with me now for the summer so she can keep everyone updated on my blog and take lots of pictures and videos of me as I change and grow!

CRAZY HAIR!

So we finally had some warm weather. It was over 80 degrees yesterday and mommy dressed me a little too warm. I had 2 shirts on, pants, socks and shoes-mommy ended up taking most of it off after I started sweating! My hair gets a little crazy when I sweat so mommy had to get a picture of it-i think that it might be a little curly!

Just Chillin with dad @ Great Grandma Judy's house. We helped her clean out her garage for spring cleaning (I got a little dirty!) while mommy ran errands!

Lily's New Friends!

Last weekend we went on our longest car ride yet! We went all the way down to Maple Grove to see my friends Kaden and Sylvia. We got to stay at Kaden's house and he shared all of his stuff with me-his pack-n-play, his Boppy, and his Bumbo Chair. On Saturday we went downtown to the farmers market and Sylvia came over too-we had soooo much fun. Mommy, Sarah & Jenny tried to get a group picture of all of us together but they just kept laughing at us. I can't wait to go back in June when my friend Anderson will be there too!! I am getting to be such a BIG girl! Kaden loves me already!

Sylvia was all tuckered out from all those pictures mommy kept taking!

Kaden was all smiles & I was a little confused??!!??

3 months old!

My mommy took me to get my 3 month old pictures taken. Usually she would take them but since it is still so cold outside she decided to take me to a studio. The photographer couldn't believe how smiley I was-it only took 10 minutes and we were all done. Then mommy had to decide which ones she wanted and had such a hard time she just bought the whole disc! I have been super busy growing lately. Mommy just put all of my small clothes away that I have already grown out of. I am very alert, giggly, and smiley. I love to hold conversations with anyone who will talk to me. I am getting really good at holding my head up and I love to grab things-especially mommy's hair and necklace! My favorite thing in the whole world to do is suck on my fingers. I always have my hands in my mouth but I haven't found my thumb yet though. I am still going to daycare everyday and I lOVE it! The past couple of days it has been so nice outside that I got to go outside and play with the kids! Mommy and I just took our very first outside walk this week-she'll put those pictures up later. I'm not sure but I think I weigh about 14 pounds now!

This was my mommy's blanket when she was little-now its mine