Sunny 9 for 2006 June

Today we went to Jason's Deli and after lunch they give you free soft serve cones. Well ice cream in a cone is one of Lily's favorite things. I tried to give her licks of mine but she wouldn't have it. She wanted her own. So Aaron got one for her. It was time to leave and Lily wasn't finished with her cone. She started taking bites out of the side and ice cream was dripping. We couldn't take her in the car like that so Aaron took the cone away saying "all done". She of course started screaming, and I saw how happy she was with her cone so I said, "Let’s just let her finish". So we give her back the cone and she starts licking it and let's out a squeal "heh-hah". Then Aaron mimicking Lily translated it as, "heh-hah, I always win".

I couldn't stop laughing. Isn't it the truth?!

Aaron's garden has so far yielded 2 yellow squash and one cucumber. He is very proud of it. First he built the raised garden, then he bought 2 truckloads of dirt and spread it in the garden, and then he planted all the plants. Everyday he goes out to see the progress. Sometimes two and three times a day. So far we have growing one banana pepper, one bell pepper, one tomato, eight cucumbers, one yellow squash, and two heads of lettuce.

I am very proud Aaron's hard work to bring food on the table. I wonder how fast vegetables will be pouring in once the plants really take off. Unfortunately, the initial cost of the garden this first year (approx. $120) will be far higher than the cost of actually buying the vegetables at the store. Perhaps next year when we only spend money on seeds, we will get great tasting vegetables and save money.

Lily has another yeast infection or at least we think. The doctor says she sees a little yeast, but she also has a really bad rash. We can never get rid of it too because she goes #2 three times a day usually waking up with a load in the pants. I have no idea when she first goes; I just hope it isn't in the middle of the night so she has it on her skin that long. But even if it is first thing in the morning, the girl just keeps going and going.

I am getting pretty tired of changing these diapers all the time. I wish it could be more normal and only once a day. I could handle that. I am beginning to think she might be allergic to something she eats. The doctor also said the long term solution is to potty train her so she doesn't have moist diapers and that she has sensitive skin that can't handle it. Potty training is not really in the cards right now. She only tells us about it after she goes because she is saying owie bum and pointing to it. Poor thing.

This is the month of birthdays by the way. Happy Birthday to Erin a couple days ago, Booner yesterday, Atticus and Chuck today, and Julie and Andrew tomorrow.

Lately, I haven't had a lack of things I could write about; I basically have had no desire to be on the computer with morning sickness and all. This is week 15 for me, and I am happy to report that I have been feeling better. I still have had trouble sleeping and a little bit of crazy hormones but my nausea is tapering off.

I just got called to be Laurels Advisor which the Bishopric probably did because of my recent spotty attendance to church. I am a little excited about the calling but mostly scared and the thoughts "Why me?" have crept in.

Also, this passed week we have had 2 new additions to the family. Jenni had her baby last Wed and she and Josh named him Austin Merrick. Then Erin had her baby on Friday and Jake and Erin named him Luke Thomas. They were actually in the hospital on overlapping days and were able to get a picture together in the hall with their little crib baskets. These are 2 out of the 7 new grandchildren coming in 6 months for the Smith family. They will be more than doubling grandkids. Melanie is pregnant with identical twin boys and Hailey is pregnant with identical twins, not sure what the sex is. And of course I am pregnant. We figured Christmas 2007 there will be 7 one-year olds running around! How crazy will that be?

Now that Lily is awake from her nap, I think we will go to Fiesta Texas water park and cool off.

Lily is sick with fever today. It is her first one. She has slept a long time. The only good thing that comes from fever is a very snuggly baby. When I went to the store to get a thermometer and medicine, I laid Lily down by Aaron and when I got back I found them both asleep. Aaron said that Lily said, "snuggle...pillow". Lily never snuggles in bed and lies down quietly. She isn't too bad though so hopefully she can feel better soon.

Lately it has been fun and interesting to try and decipher the new words Lily has been rapidly adding to her vocabulary. She parrots a lot of what we say, and she can even count to three now. I had to chuckle when I took Lily outside with me to see where Aaron had gone and I heard her call out, "Aurn". I don't know why I find it so amusing.

But then today when Aaron and I were out running errands, we were standing in line and Aaron was holding her. Lily reached for me and kept repeating, "dee-din". I thought, "hmm, I have heard Lily say that word before, but what context was it in or what was she playing with." I looked around me and thought about what I was holding thinking maybe I could find a clue as to what "dee-din" was. I asked Aaron, "what is dee-din?" and as soon as I said it out loud I knew exactly what it was. It sounded just like what Joe used to call me when he and I were little and what my mom sometimes calls me now. "Didden" actually is how he said it.

Lily was calling me by my first name. Aaron and I got a kick out of it, and we couldn't figure out how she knew my name since Aaron rarely calls me Kristen. I guess all the time we have been spending at my mom's and her and Lorna calling me Kristen maybe she figured it out.

Anyway, before I was a mom I kinda rolled my eyes at kids that called their parents by their first name, but now after hearing my name from Lily's lips, I think it is so precious. I guess it makes my heart swell that Lily is really getting to know me as her mama if that makes sense.

When Jenni had her baby we got to have Caden come over for 2 whole days. Lily just loved playing with "Cay-en" so much that she talks about him non-stop. We have a picture on the fridge of their family and Lily always has to see and point to "Cay-en". They really did play well together. Lily didn't even get jealous when Caden played with her toys. I think it might have something to do with Caden being a boy and maybe she has a crush on him because she has a meltdown when her girlfriend Maddie plays with her toys.

The greatest gift that Caden gave to Lily though was about a month ago when Jenni, Erin, and I met at Pei Wei for lunch. Caden has his portable DVD player on and since Caden was watching Elmo it instantly became Lily's favorite show. (Another reason why I think it is a crush because she adores everything Caden does.) Even though Lily had no idea what this Elmo puppet was about and she had only see like 5 minutes of the show, she would randomly just say "Elmo". We would be driving in the car 2 weeks after seeing it and she still remembered it and would say "Elmo". Then we got cable a couple of weeks ago for the summer since Aaron was out of school and I am pretty much homebound from this pregnancy and the heat. We were flipping through channels one morning and there he was. Lily knew instantly that it was Elmo and she began squealing for joy, "ELMO!” Aaron even said one morning he opened her door and the first thing she said was...you guessed it, Elmo.

Now, I'm still not sure if this is a cute thing or not. I am not the type of person that wants to deal with kids' TV withdrawals, and that is why before this Lily has never watched TV really. An occasional Baby Einstein video when I am in the shower once a week, but alas! In my moment of pregnancy weakness, aghhh what the heck.