Happy 1st Birthday, Lily!

Happy first birthday to our sweet Lily flower! It's amazing that it was just a year ago today that she was born. I REALLY feel like it was yesterday....cliche, cliche, cliche, but true. Steven and I were lying in bed last night remembering the night I went into labor and the exciting events that followed. I'm so thankful she was born. She has brought such joy, fun and laughter to our family unit.

I have to admit I cried a little bit while I was nursing her to sleep last night. I am sad to say goodbye to the baby stage yet excited to see her hit the upcoming milestones. And speaking of milestones, she stood up all by herself for the first time yesterday!
Happy Birthday, Lily! We love you!

My New Blog

I've started another blog called Nik's Kicks. Check it out!

www.nikskicks.blogspot.com

We Are in Fall Mode

Well summer is over (well, technically we have another week). It's bitter sweet for me. I love summer and I love fall but fall means that winter is right around the corner. And I must be honest, I do not like winter. Even after 8 years of living here you'd think I'd get use to it....but I haven't.

Okay, enough of me whining....I should be enjoying the fall. We've had a couple of teaser type weather days where the air is cool and crisp (ahhhhhh -unpack the jeans!) and then a day or two of heat and humidity. The girls' schedules are in full swing and we are back into "school year" mode.

Zoe started her last year of preschool and is going three full days per week. We signed her up for a combo dance/gymnastics class which she loves. We also signed her up for a 5 weeks of soccer through the Parks & Rec. in our town. I have to admit, watching 4 year olds play soccer is hysterical (in a cute way of course). The kids just run after the ball while the parents are cheering their kids. Zoe did great for her first soccer experience. She chased the ball, kicked it twice and ran her little tushy off. Afterwards she said, "Mommy, that was absolutely fun!" And so it begins....I am officially a soccer mom.

I also signed Lily up for some classes. We are doing 4 weeks of Itsy Bitsy Yoga Tots and Music for Babies. We started the yoga class last week....it's interesting and cute...I'll leave it at that. And music starts on Tuesday....I'll keep you posted. I'm sure she'll love it. She "dances" or sings every time she hears music.

Lily is turning one a week from tomorrow and I have to admit I'm kinda sad about it. She's likely our last kiddo and thinking about how fast this past year has gone by just blows my mind. I love the baby stage and I'm going to really miss it. But I also get to look forward to all the fun milestones she will encounter this next year.

I've posted a few pics from the past weeks and will post a link to all the photos soon. Thanks for visiting.

Lily 11 Months Old & Cinderella Zoe

Lily is 11 months old today! My baby girl is growing up (as they all do). She's doing really well with walking while holding on to mama or dada's fingers and on track to walking on her own by one year of age. She's also into climbing. She loves climbing her sister's princess chair and anything else she can explore. We even caught her trying to climb the tricycle. She also has such a fun and happy personality, laughing at her sister and even making herself laugh, too. Hearing it just warms my heart.

Zoe has been role playing a lot these days. She's into acting out Cinderella. We take turns being Cinderella, the fairy godmother, Anastasia, dancing with the prince and losing the glass slipper. It's so sweet to see her performing and using pretend voices. She's also into playing firefighter and fashion show.

As for us, Steven surprised me with a lovely dinner last night to celebrate my upcoming 25th (wink wink) birthday. We're going to see the "Dark Night" movie tomorrow night and Sunday, we're hosting a summer BBQ. Lots of birthday celebrations! Plus, my mom is coming up today, too!

A Quick Update, Photos and Red Sox

Click here to see all the Lewis Family photos we took on July 2oth.

I took the girls to Arizona to see my family and to finally meet my new nephew, Adam. We had a such a great time and took lots of pictures. I'm still getting them organized but will post them soon.

We're planning to really enjoy these last few weeks of summer. I hope we can get in a few more days at the beach before the fall madness begins. It's hard to believe that fall is just around the corner.

I went to the Red Sox game last night with my friend Sue (my friend who started, http://www.girlsoxnation.com/) and her friend Lauren. What a game and what a blast! Sox were up 10-0 in the first inning but then trailed 14-16 by the 8th. They rallied back at the bottom of the 8th to win 19-17! WOW! I had a so much fun and it was a great game to see live. For a quick but more detailed re-cap, click here.

I've also updated some of Lily's Milestones and Zoe's Funny Things on the side of the blog. Check it out.

Family Photo

We celebrated Steven's Dad's birthday last weekend and took some family shots. Here's one of our family. More photos to come....stay tuned.

Gotta Love Summer

We've been having a fun July so far. Our friends Reed & Noelle Johnstone came to visit (from CA). We not only got to meet their sweet little 6 month old Cole but also got to babysit him! It was so fun to see our girls interact with him and to see what three would be like. Even with three really "good" kids I think two is the right number for us. It was really so awesome to catch up with our great friends who we really miss.


Fourth of July was nice, too...although the weather was a bit cloudy. We spent the day in Mattapoisett with the Rhode Island Lewises. It was relaxing and the kids had a great time finding crabs by the jetty. The rest of the night was spent at home watching the Boston Pops fireworks celebration on tv.

We've been spending a lot of time at the pond and down at the cottage in Mattapoisett. Both girls enjoy being outside and in the water. And it's nice for us to watch our girls play and discover.

Lily is almost 10 months old and into EVERYTHING! We are babyproofing like crazy these days. She's also pulling up to standing and starting to crawl up the stairs. I think she'll be walking by her 1 year birthday.

Click here for all the photos. Email me if you need the password.