Deck the Halls

I took this late at night during a snow storm last week. It was so peaceful and calm, and made me feel all warm inside. This is such an exciting year for Christmas now that Lillie is walking and is really absorbing everything around her. Having her in our lives has really brought out the kid in Conor and me...we can't wait for Santa to come!

Weeeeeee!


We spent Thanksgiving in Ohio and had another little birthday celebration with the fam. Lillie was a bit more into the cake this time...I think the buckeye bib may have helped.

The Big Birthday



We've had some technical difficulties with our computer (no space left) but we've fixed it for now. I realized we're rather far behind on some posts as I came across these photos of Lillie's first birthday party last month. It was so much fun, and while Lillie wasn't so fond of eating her cupcake, she was way into eating the duck on the cupcake. That girl and her duckies...best of friends.


See Spot Swim

Meet the newest addition to our family (and Lillie's birthday present), Spot. He arrived today and is loving his new tank in Lillie's room. Spot is a Mickey Mouse Platy...see Mickey's face on his tail? Welcome Spot.

Nice to See You Again Santa

With just a few weeks left until Christmas, Lillie was able to get her wish list in and tell Santa what a good girl she's been all year (well, mostly anyway). We went into the city to visit Dad and do a little shopping after seeing Santa. Whew. What an exciting day.

1 Year




Happy birthday to our little girl. Lillie, at one year you:

have started to walk

dance to the beat of music

love cheerios

can point to your belly button, nose, eyes, ears, hair and toes

are fascinated with all that is toes

give winnie the pooh big bear hugs

love talking on the phone, especially to dad

push anything that resembles a button

love reading books

applaud after the itsy bitsy spider

have a favorite food: sweet potatoes

play "night night" by putting your head on a pillow

look outside at the squirrels

dream of the day you can play inside the dishwasher or fridge

have six teeth

can say a few words, can sign a couple more and can always get your point across

love group hugs with mom and dad

have one year under your belt and are ready to take on the world


She Walks!

Three more days until Lillie's first birthday and what a lead-up it's been! All I can say is watch the video. Wow.

Future Voter



What a day. An amazing, historic, hopeful day.

Happy Halloween!


Hope you had a happily haunted day! Lillie was still a little under the weather, but she was brave and stuck it out. What a trooper, or should I say, what a chick-a-dee! We met up with some friends and walked up and down Southport where there were hundreds of kids with great costumes. We already can't wait until next year.






It's Cold Here



Colds are all around...first Conor, now Lillie. We just got back from the dr and we're hoping the fever comes down in time for Halloween tomorrow. If not, she just might wear her costume inside all day!

Take a Stand

Conor put together a cute little update for you all...enjoy!



Getting Ready for Halloween!



Yes, we have returned from the dead. I've gotten many requests to update the blog, so here it is! Lillie has gotten three more teeth since the last post, and she has added a few words to her vocabulary. They still sound mostly the same, but Mom and Dad can tell what they are! We've become proficient in baby speak. Lillie has also started standing on her own, a little bit longer each time. It seems that walking is just around the corner. For Halloween, we'll be heading to Southport for the Trick or Treat walk. Kids don't go door-to-door here, bummer. We'll still carve some pumpkins for the front stoop and roast up some pumpkin seeds. Lillie's costume is too cute to write about, you'll have to wait for the pictures!




We had a visit from Aunt Moira a couple weeks ago and headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was awesome. Another visit is in order...very soon. We barely scratched the surface!

Here are a few candids for you all to get your Lillie fix...until next time!



Where's YOUR Belly Button?


So much has been going on is the past couple of weeks. We had a visit from Grandma Zola and Grandpa John last week. Lillie had a blast hanging out with them while I got most of our boxes unpacked. Whew. They both worked so hard to get a kiss from Lillie before going back to Ohio, but she's not ready to give kisses out to anyone other than Mom and Dad right now.



Lillie has started climbing stairs, a lot of them, and all the time! She's so proud when she reaches the top. She also knows where her toes are, and cutest of all, where her belly button is! She has a lot of fun showing off her belly button...and then waits for the tickle to come afterward. Lillie has three teeth now (which she has learned is perfect for grinding...eeks!) And now she loves to "talk" on the phone, and boy does her phone gets a lot of use (that is, her hand over her ear.)


A nice co-worker of Conor gave Lillie a cute tractor with a set of Little People. There's a cow and chicken which she loves to imitate. It's her new favorite...don't even try taking it away. "Moooooo!"

Splish Splash, Taking a Bath

The weekend came and went with no sign of the sun. Since we couldn't go outside to play, we thought we'd bring the water inside! Lillie loves her bath, it's the highlight of every day. Plus, she gets to hang out with her favorite pal, Rubber Duckie.

Music class was a blast last week. Lots of new friends, loud instruments, and great songs got Lillie excited. I'll try to take some pictures or maybe even a video to post in the next few weeks.

Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Ball, & Duck


These are all words that Lillie now understands and can say back to us! Of course, "ball" and "duck" sound exactly the same, but she can find and bring each one to us when asked. And she will also wave to anyone who says "hello" or "goodbye," and loves to clap when you suggest it. Lillie seems to be developing at lightning speed now, it's so amazing to watch. Tomorrow we start music class, which she's sure to love.

Over the weekend, our friends Justin and Karen were in town and we got to see baby Annie again. The girls were so cute together. Lillie was such a big girl holding Annie for the pictures...and as you can see, Lillie's already learned a thing or two from Grandpa Tim (see her hand on Annie's head - "for scale.")

The Month in Review



Hello again! Wow, it's been a long time since our last update, and so much has happened. We're getting settled in our new place in Chicago, and finally have all our familiar tools handy again. How did we ever live without the internet?? Alright folks, settle in because this will probably be one of the longest entries here on Lillie's Blog. I promise not to let this much time pass by again without an update!



After we left Boston for good, we spent a quick couple of days in the corporate apartment in Chicago and then left for Alaska for the baptisms of Shanleigh and Collin. Conor was the godfather for Collin. It was a great ceremony (where Timmy and Terrill also got "married"). Much of the family was able to be there, which was great.



While we were there, we were able to see Jon and Julie's new baby girl...and is she ever beautiful. Four days came and went in the blink of an eye, but Lillie had a lot of fun being there and hanging out with Shanleigh and Collin.

Back in Chicago, we closed on our new place and had just enough time to arrange for some work to be done on it before heading to Ohio for a wedding and the Street Fair. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera for Joshua and Sema's big night, but it was a beautiful ceremony outdoors in Lancaster.


Conor wasn't able to stay for the street fair, but Lillie and I went to the first night before heading back to our new home. Running into some familiar faces is always fun, and of course I made sure to stop at the cheerleader's Lemon Shake-Up booth.


Cobi was scheduled to dance with her group during the judges break for Little Miss Firefighter. Those little girls were so cute...and glad to know they all knew what to do in case of a fire. Cobi danced her tail off and entertained the crowd! Before Lillie and I left, we took a ride down the fun slide...maybe next year she'll like it better.


Cobi, Carter, and Claudia were on hand for Lillie's first time in a "real" swing, and boy did she LOVE it.



Back in Chicago, we moved into our new place during the weekend of the big Air & Water Show. Planes were flying around everywhere in the city. It was great timing since we had to pack up all of our things in the corporate apartment on the 30th floor. We had a great view right from our living room!

Since being here, Lillie has gone to a Cubs and a White Sox game, seen several relatives, and hit several parks and playgrounds. She's standing up on anything and everything...including walls. A second tooth has started coming in and she can't stop saying "Da-da-da-da." She's sleeping through the night again and is loving having her crib back.

We still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do, but we're slowly getting through it all.

Our Second City


This is our second day officially in our second city...and we're off to Alaska in a few hours already! We're all looking forward to seeing family and Shanleigh and Collin's baptisms.



Friday, I finished my job and Lillie said goodbye to all her friends and teachers at daycare. It was a very tough day for all of us...I had a little breakdown before we headed to the Hampton's for the weekend. I felt like I was saying goodbye to family in both places - they all know us so well, and are really amazing people.




Once I was able to wipe away the tears and see the road, we were off to see our friends in East Hampton. Three ferries and a lot of traffic later, we arrived to a restful weekend. Molly's parents graciously hosted us all and we had a terrific weekend. Lillie discovered that she
loves the pool, and spent over an hour in it on our last day. While out on the town, we spotted a couple of celebrities: Alec & Billy Baldwin chatting at Starbucks. Later we saw Alec driving away in a car that looked very similar to the Jeep in Beetlejuice!

We haven't had much time in Chicago, but we're getting adjusted to our new surroundings. We have our closing on our new place next week and can't wait to start moving in! It will be a slow process, but we're so close.


Duckies and Turtles and Sharks, Oh My!


Our weekend started off a little rocky - Lillie was under the weather on Friday so plans for the weekend were looking gloomy. Saturday came and she was feeling good again so we decided to make our way to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues in Boston Common. How could we leave Boston without a trip to see the ducklings? Lillie wasn't so sure about those big ducks, but she looked pretty cute sitting on them! We also walked along the Charles and enjoyed the great weather. While stopping to rest along the way, we got this great shot of Lillie's tooth coming in.




We also made it to the New England Aquarium and saw all sorts of very cool things, like penguins, sharks, Myrtle the Turtle, sea horses, and more! Lillie was so excited to see all the big fish swimming around the giant tank. I think we've decided that we must have a little fish tank in our new house for Lillie.



There were so many people out enjoying the weekend...as we walked along the new Greenway, we snapped this picture of one of the new fountains. It looked like so much fun! Now that the Big Dig is over, this is such an amazing area to be near.




Our little girl is really moving along now, using her newfound freedom to check out anything and everything around her. Since we're pretty much living out of suitcases, we have a limited supply of toys with us. So we experimented with a homemade drum set - a plastic spoon and a metal colander. Not only did she love making music, but she loved seeing her misshapen reflection in the round bowl!



So there it is, our last weekend in Boston came and went so quickly. I think we packed as much into it as we possibly could. Now the countdown begins...only 8 more days until that flight to Chicago.