Splish Splash, I was Taking a Bath!

 There is a new bath in town.  It's big, yellow and quacks.  Lilah is a big fan.  It's a little easier than the sink for now, not to mention someone's chunky thighs don't fit in the sink anymore.  Rooney seems pretty happy that he's not the only one getting baths in the bathtub for now. 

Does this thing have bubble jets? Ducky is wondering.

There is no shortage of rolls on this little one!

Not big into sharing yet

Our beautiful little ray of sunshine is just amazing and growing so fast!  She is now almost sitting up on her own.  She also has started expressing frustration by blowing bubbles furiously, which just makes Ben and I laugh, which in turn makes Lilah smile.  She is grabbing at toys and gnawing on everything :)  Our house looks like a really messy version of Toys R Us.  People seem to be amazed when they visit how much baby stuff we have.  Five months in... I can't imagine the toy heap we'll be living in after 7 more!  I just can't get enough of Lilah though, and neither can her dad.  Even after she goes to bed, we just stand in her nursery and watch her together.  Absolute, complete, overwhelming love for this little gal.

4 Months Old!

Mid-session, Fell over

Pretty little Pookie Rose

I have been lucky enough to be reviewing job offers over the last few weeks and have been heavily weighing what I should do.  As much as I love both jobs and their stark differences, it mostly comes down to Lilah right now.  How can I be a better mommy and do my job too?  So, after many hours of lying awake... I think we've decided which job works best.  But more to come later.  I can't get too ahead of myself before it's all said and done :)  Being a working mommy can be very challenging sometimes, as many of you can readily identify with! 

This face makes it all worth it  :)

Nanas, Cops, Uncles & Swim Caps

Well, it's been a crazy last few weeks.  If my hair doesn't have triple the amount of gray in it than it did before, something is not physiologically sound in my body.  We have had two fantastic visitors, swimming time, more job interviews, job offers, lots and lots of working, and a whole lot of craziness in between.  It's like an episode of COPS around here.

I was in one of my usual days where I tear around the hospital trying to see patients, talk to parents, put in orders, write notes, pump and get to clinic by 1pm.  The pumping is easily the part that gets dropped when I'm busy, so it came time for me to leave the North Hospital and speed across town to my clinic in a different suburb 40 minutes away.  I was desperate, needed lunch and had 15 minutes to drive a 40 minute drive.  So I grabbed some caffeine from the doctor's lounge and prepared to pump while driving.  I have never pumped while driving, there's probably a good reason for this.  But last Tuesday, I had no other choice.  So I put on my fancy pumping bra, hooked my black pumping bag and tubing and pumped while driving on the interstate to my clinic.  I realized a few miles in that my pop was still on top of the car... dang it.  I also noticed a cop sitting on the side of the interstate waving at my car to pull over.  I started to lane change to pull over, when by a miracle of God another car pulled over in front of me and the cop pulled up behind them.... YES!!!!!  Had I been pulled over, I envision a conversation sort of along these lines: "Yes Officer, Those are my Breast Pump Flanges I'm wearing.  Yes, I realize there is tubing connected to my chest going into a small back bag on the passenger seat.  No, I'm not a suicide bomber.  No, I have not ever thought what would happen if my airbag deployed while I'm wearing flanges.  Yes, that is my pop sitting on the car roof."  Don't even worry about the ticket for indecent exposure and who knows what else.  As if my close call didn't cut it.  I got pulled over exactly 7 days later while taking Deb to the airport.... yeah.  You can't make this stuff up.  Deb and I were gabbing away with Lilah hanging in the backseat (restrained in her car seat, of course!) and then I see the cherries flashing behind me.  I really had no idea what I was being pulled over for... maybe just a tail light out.  I proceeded to get lectured from the officer about speeding (and he was not buying that "I really had no idea I was speeding", but I really didn't).  So, I got a speeding ticket from the airport police... not even a real one since it was just airport police(which my mother-in-law graciously paid... thanks, Deb!).  Woo hoo!  But enough with my law enforcement run-ins!

Lilah got to hang out with her Nana (Ben's mom) for a week and a half this month, which was extremely helpful!  She loved it and got used to having a "Princess Routine".  If you're not familiar with a Princess Routine, it consists of having a grandma spoil you and dote on you all day every day for 12 days straight.  I wish we could all have one!!  The mom and dad of the house also got spoiled with many baked good as well, in addition to having clean dishes and laundry.  Rooney made out like a bandit- extra treats, long walks and someone who loves to wrestle with him!  It was wonderful!  While Nana was here, we got to swim and try out Lilah's new gift- a very fancy swim cap.  I don't know that I've ever seen one modeled quite so well! 

Functional and fancy

She takes modeling very seriously

Mom had fun picking this suit out :)

Nana Pool Time

Gilligan's adorable side-kick

The Pool Crew

We also enjoyed time downtown on the canal, eating out and eating ice cream at our favorite- Orange Leaf!

Downtown Canal

This is a face that just tasted Snickerdoodle ice cream

Happy faces after ice cream... is there anything better?

Another very important visitor pulled up after a LONG awaited arrival :)  Uncle Trevor made it home from Afghanistan 3 days ago!  What a wonderful site to see after 9 months of praying for his safety!  I think no one was as happy as Trevor to be back in the USA though.  He got to meet his niece finally and take some serious naps.  Uncle Trevor is now in full swing competition with Uncle Tyler for funniest face maker.  They are both neck and neck.  Lilah will announce a winner at Christmas.  Somehow, both uncles have now visited and both gotten away without changing a single diaper :)  We LOVED having him with us for a few short days and got to have a little fun too!

Happy to be home!

Dinner at Flatwater Grille to celebrate!

Rocking, and more importantly, Rolling

Ben is really getting his soccer fill this week.  Last night was the Gold Cup (nice job, USA!).  He watched it with his favorite little soccer fan who decided to dress herself in her Manchester United Jersey.  Smart girl.  Later this week, we're seeing Chelsea play Inter Milan in Indianapolis!  Whoop whoop!  Should be fun!

Who loves Man U?!

Sad news: 
1.  I was asked by a little girl in our neighborhood who my baby daddy was a few days ago while I was on a walk with Pookie Rose.  Sadness.  Oh baby daddies.
2. Cake Boss is coming to Indianapolis tomorrow to give away 10,000 free cakes tomorrow.  I have to work all day.  NOT COOL!!!

We be rock 'n and rollin' around here.  Lilah not only rolled the first time a few days ago, but she hasn't stopped.  We thought it was so amazingly cute the first few times she did it... we had no idea it would be less cute when she did it all the time in the middle of the night and ended up face down and screaming.  She hasn't mastered rolling the other direction, so she ends up with her face in the carpet and she is not happy about it.   But we are relieved she has met her milestone on time! Phew!  Now we look forward to what position we might find her in bed as she squirms in every odd direction from the one we started in.  Watch out, Rooney... this one's on the move!  Hide your bones!

Lilah passed out in her exersaucer the other night.  This probably has nothing to do with the fact that we don't have some sort of a regular schedule for her.  She was sleeping about 6 hours a day at daycare and trying  to play all night.  Ben and I would hear her randomly in the middle of the night fake coughing and laughing at her mobile on the monitor.  Yikes.  We have issues.

Lack of schedule

Rooney totally remembers those passed out in exersaucer days

To celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary, Ben and I did a little hiking trip at Turkey Run State Park.  It's beautiful and has a gorgeous canyon with a creek running down it that you have to climb.  Rooney is a another creature in that place... in fact, I can't even get a picture of him he runs around so fast.  We just let him off leash for the whole thing... there's really no point in letting him drag us up the whole thing.  There are some tricky portions, so props to Ben for making sure he and Lilah safely got through it!  So much fun!  And so much sand and mud in our car!  Love you, Ben!  It's been an amazing five years... can't wait for the next fifty! :)

The covered bridge at the start of Sugar Creek

Beginning of the cavern

Getting harder!

Flash the Goldendoodle

Baby Beluga...

Lilah got to take her first swim this weekend.  And she couldn't get enough of it.  We plopped her in her little swim diapers.  Successfully got her almost too small swimsuit on her chubby little body... and we were set for some swim time!  It was a fantastically humid day, but not too sunny.  We had a seahorse and duckies accompany us on our swim (I won't mention that some of them were stolen by nearby kids and never returned... naughty naughty).   Lilah was geared out with some sweet sunglasses, sun hat, toys, sunscreen and, of course, two fabulous swim instructors.  Our friends, Brian Lobo and Christie, also took part in the swim fiesta.  Lilah did create a fan club at the pool and we had a great time shooting the breeze with the other pool goers.  Miss Chill embodied a pool day.   I learned an important lesson in physics and physiology... chubby babies float easily.  Lilah was made for the water and truly was a waterbaby.  We played for 2 hours without her so much as fussing.  Thankfully, the water diapers did their duty and contained baby messes.  There's nothing that would've cleared that pool faster than a baby, some bubbles and a inappropriately fitting swim diaper.  Life lesson: there's no pooping in the pool.

Video of her first dip

Oh yes... we accessorize at the pool

 

The Princesses Meet

This week had been a busy one, but we ended it on a great note!  We've been fighting a very sad and painful diaper rash for Lilah.  Ben had Lilah all to himself for my 30 hour call last weekend and poor Ben had to use tylenol the whole weekend so he could even change Lilah's diapers.  Ouch.  We've been tirelessly trying every cream.  We had her 4  month shots in the middle of the week.  To top it off, my next 30 hour call, in the middle of the day I get a call that Lilah has a fever and is vomiting.  Ben to the rescue again!  2nd sick baby daddy duty in 1 week... he's a hero.  We did a 7am baby switch in the hospital parking lot on the morning of our 5th wedding anniversary since she couldn't go back to daycare.  It was one of those moments where you realize how much life really has changed from that 1st or 2nd annivesary (but in a great fantastic way!).  I spent the day cooking with Lilah and running errands.  It was the most time I've gotten to spend with her in 2 weeks, so it was wonderful!

Cooking with Lilah

Ben doing his night time dictations with a naked baby

 Princess Sofia and her parents, Casey and Paola, made a visit to Indy... and it was AWESOME!  Sofia is now 7 months old, incredibly cute and knows how to accessorize!  The babies were very into smiling and staring at each other.  And it was really nice to hang out with another couple who had a baby!  I felt like I didn't need to explain why I was going to bed at 10 pm :)  Of course, two babies in one house equaled massive chaos.  Not to mention 2 car seats and 2 strollers in the car... but it was fun!  Ben and Casey went to a beer festival, while Paola and the gals all went to the zoo.  It was a fun weekend!

Brunch on the canal

Backseat Madness

Sofia Time

Hanging with the Big Guy

Sofia's discovery of the Exersaucer

Paola and Sofia at the zoo

Gal Pals at the zoo

The Princesses

The crew before the Beer Festival

Party Pooper

Lilah has a theme song at home during the early morning scramble to get her fed, pump, diaper changes, lunch packed and get her to daycare all before 6:45am.  That theme song would be "It's my party and I'll poop if I want to."  From the time she gets up in the am, to approximately 45 minutes later we go through anywhere form 3-5 diapers and about 3 outfits.  She is a machine in the morning! In addition, Ben and I both go thru an outfit ourselves depending on whose lap she is in when the fireworks happen.  We've been a bit on the busy side this week and the laundry hasn't been done in awhile... so a three outfit morning leaves us scrambling a bit for a back up.  Ben improvised with a pants dress.  In case you're not familiar with a pants dress, it is a cute dress with the underwear missing, so you put non matching pants with it.  I think there's big potential for this idea at Target this fall.   Ben will be the next Heidi Klum designing baby outfits.  Daycare looked pretty impressed with this outfit... we were pretty proud parents.

Not to mention a little nail cutting incident that happened a few weeks ago.  Let's just say that I have a picture saved in a deep dark corner of the album for someday when Lilah needs to ask her dad for a pony or a wedding.  No more needs to be said.

Daycare has not been my favorite so far.  We've already battled a 2 week long diaper rash since starting daycare, had one fever, diarrhea and countless mornings of asking the daycare to try creams, more frequent changing, etc.  But all in all, given time, I think it will all work out. In the mean time, the minutes at home with Lilah mean even more. 

George had her beat a few months ago... not anymore!

Quit it, George!

6am smiles on the way to daycare drop off :)

We finally have this tummy time thing down

We are loving being fancy!

4 months old!