a word of thanks..

I just wanted to thank everyone that took the time to send emails and cards, or to call.. it means more to me and my family than you will ever truly know.

she was brain dead when she got to Albany Med... we had to let her go.

my dear, beautiful sister died Sunday, 6 days after her 33rd birthday at 2:35am.

Wa, I love you and miss you so much! I don't know what we're going to do without you.

please pray

My sister has bacterial meningitis.. last I heard she was being flown to Albany Medical Center since it's that serious.. Please pray for her, her cancer survivor husband, and their 8mo old twins.

Wa, I love you!

random stuff

We are doing our best to stay warm and survive until spring makes it's way to the Northeast. This week Lilly's Dad had his first cold since we met, and actually TOOK A DAY OFF! Yes, this is such a rare occurrence, I had to make a note of it. Poor guy felt awful! Thankfully, he's feeling 1000 times better now. Just in time to go to the dentist for the first time in years. Lucky me, my appointment is next week.

As of Tuesday, Miss Lilly is now 15lbs! No wonder my arm cramps up when I carry her around the house all day... She's also eating some solid foods - seems to really love oatmeal, green beans, and peas. Sweet potatoes and carrots go ok, but better when mixed with some oatmeal. The Hubby wanted to give her a sippy cup, and she does alright with BM in it, though she ends up leaking alot of it out the corners of her mouth. Not too big of a deal, but then she smells like sour milk an hour later! She's been rolling over, both from her belly to back and back to belly, for a while now, and has been working like a champ at sitting up. Lilly's been making some great progress!

My sister (Wa) is coming down a week from Sunday so we can cook. When we were both prego we had a grand ol' time cooking a ton of food, which we froze for post-baby almost instant-dinners. This time we're going to tackle baby food too! Her twins are 8 weeks older than Lilly so we can make big batches of sweet potato, peas, applesauce, and whatnot... and nothing should go to waste. I expect a very interesting day, with three babies and a busy kitchen. I'm really looking forward to it!

Wa and I need to talk about the annual camping trip too. Her inlaws always go the last week of the summer, and Hubby and I got included several years ago now. Last year we didn't go, since Wa and I were both very pregnant.. and I'm not too sure how it'll work this year with a baby. and two dogs. and a Honda Element! We had that Element packed to the brim last time, and our little dog was just 11 weeks old so she rode in the Hubby's lap! We'll have to either rent a trailer for our stuff.. or go with Hubby's idea and rent an RV. Ever seen the movie RV? I can see that kind of stuff happening, with the waste pipe clogging up and exploding or something. Although having some good space to put up the pack'n'play for Lilly to sleep in would be nice. Our tent was just big enough for us and the two dogs (one was a lil pup, and the St Bernard was 90ish lbs. We now have a 40lb pup, and a 105lb great dane.) We need *at least* a bigger tent now!

A few weeks ago now, the Hubby's cousin came out with her two lil girls to visit... We had a really nice time! L, you've got to come back soon! Maybe sometime this spring Lilly and I can make the drive, and check out the "new" house...

We also had a visit from the Hubby's brother's family.. their little girl is 7 1/2 weeks older than Lil! (it was a busy baby summer!) It was nice to see them as well.

And now, some pics :)

Lookin' cute on the way to Gram's

Playing with Grandma

Lilly with her twin cousins!

practicing that rolling over thing

My pretty Valentines roses

And my first video with the digital camera!

Lillian was having a good time blowing raspberries last night, so I had to try to capture the sound for prosperity!

TGIF and wish a Happy Birthday to the Hubby tomorrow!

Woohoo!

On the one day a week my husband is home, I'm not going to spend the time to write a "what we've been up to" post.. but there is some fantastic news!

My friend Mrs Fakes (http://itsnotamagicwand.blogspot.com/) had her triplets on Tuesday! All three girls are healthy and vibrant.. Rachel, Sophia, and Morgan, a combined weight of over 12lbs. :) Momma is home with Sophia and Morgan, recovering from her c-section.. Rachel's busy at the NICU eating and growing. Our love and joy goes out to them. Congrats, Momma.. I'm so proud of you!

4 month appointment and other stuff

Tuesday was Lillian's 4 month well-baby checkup, and she took it all like a champ! according to the office scale, she's now 15lbs and 25 3/4 inches. I guess I'm doing *something* right, huh? :) Of course, when we were at a local hospital's BF support group last Tuesday..their digital scale said she was 13lb 15oz. There is NO way she gained an entire pound in a week, so one or both scales are off. But whatever.. Lilly's doctor is happy with her gains, and more importantly so am I ;)

I also got my haircut again, since the lil one kept twisting her fingers into my hair at the nape of the neck - particularly painful when it's up in a ponytail!

Yesterday was our big dog's followup at the vet after a droopy eye tuck and being spayed two weeks ago. Roxy sooooo didn't like that doctor, but her incision looks good, and her eyelid stitches were removed. One of these days I need to take her to the pet store or somewhere fun. I don't want her to think every time she gets in the Element that she's going to the vet!

I also got to chat with Mrs Fakes yesterday.. I'm so excited that she'll have her triplet girls home within the next three weeks! YAY! Of course once they're all home, I'll miss being able to chat as (not so) often as we do now.

Today, I need to take down Christmas. Yes, we are slackers. BUT it's been so freaking cold (see previous post!) that I haven't been able to stand being on the front porch to pack the decorations. We have the tree on our enclosed porch every year because of the cat originally, and now with the two dogs.. and a soon-to-be-mobile baby? yeah. (we also have a whopping 884 sq ft house, so floor space is a little tight with 2 big dog crates)

OH! I almost forgot.. Sunday my sister (Wa) and I got together with our three baby girls for a mall outing. we got nothing done other than feeding, diapers, and a photo shoot at Ismile... and I can't even begin to tell you how cute the pics came out! I'll try to get a print scanned and posted one of these days. They asked us if they could hang up in the store a big print of the three girls looking in a mirror.. it's that cute! :)