Away in a manger

Lillie had her first starring role as Baby Jesus in a video for our church's Christmas Eve service.



She cried most of the time, but I was able to catch a few shots before she WANTED OUT of the pile of hay.



Sorry Jesus, I'm sure you were cute and all when you were born, but this cute? I doubt it.

Lillie has got to be one of the happiest babies ever born. She has been all smiles lately, but for some reason, this phenomenon eludes my camera. Instead of capturing that cute crooked smile with the dimple on her left cheek, what I get is picture after picture of this:









For some reason, when she sees the camera she gets this look on her face like she's being hypnotized or pulled into a tractor beam. She better grow out of this or she or she is going to be the girl in the yearbook that everyone makes fun of.

Lillie's first playdate

Today Levi brought her mom Torrey over to our house so we could hang out. We decided to take a stroll down to the pier and the kids said they wanted to come too, so we let them.

Levi did a great job pushing Lillie in her stroller. Such a good job in fact, that I asked her if she would like to babysit for me sometime and that I would pay her 50 cents and hour and because she can't count that high yet, it seemed like a lot and she said yes. Score!







Then we walked up on the pier and the girls wanted to stop and watch the hunky surfers.
Paddle! Paddle! Paddle!



But then they realized, "Hey, boys are yucky. We are waaay cooler than they are."





Looks like this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Lazy sunday afternoon

2 Milestones

1. This morning as Lillie was waking up, I witnessed what I think was her first real (meaning that it did not occur while farting) smile as a response to seeing me.

2. I made the bed for the first time in over a month.

Both HUGE accomplishments in my book.

Changing table photo shoot

My apologies...

for not posting anything lately; I am currently having my butt kicked by motherhood.

Will post soon.

First Halloween

Lillie had a great first Halloween. We took a stroll with Gramma and Grampa K down Main Street where kids go trick-or-treating at all of the local shops. Lillie is obviously too young this year to say "trick-or-treat" but how awesome is it going to be when she's older and I have my own personal Candy Gatherer?


"I'm sorry Lillie, but I have to take all of this candy in case it's poisonous. And since I am concerned citizen, I should probably test each piece to alert the other mothers in the neighborhood of any danger."


We went dressed as exhausted parents. Pretty life-like, eh?


These are my in-laws. Jealous? You should be.

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

While she naps...

I thought I would post a few pictures of Lillie's first days.


No comments please


Before real labor started


Just put on a happy face


First cries...the most beautiful sound I've ever heard


It was SO worth it


Like father, like daughter


Lillie loves her Aunt Kerry


Her favorite spot: The cradle that Grandpa made by hand


First bath at home


I think she looks like Uncle Kenny but with more hair


Bliss

And Lillie makes three

I don't even know where to begin about this amazing little girl. From the moment she was born she has been an absolute dream. Besides being the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, she has the sweetest disposition. She loves to be held, but doesn't mind resting contently in her cradle and just soaking in the world around her. She only cries when she needs something, which isn't very often. Although, she is a champion eater, and therefore is a champion pooper. So much so that one of the questions on my list for the pediatrician is "Is it possible for a baby to poop too much?" Most moms I know are worried that their baby isn't getting enough milk. Well, I can rest assured that Lillie is running at tip-top shape in the digestive department. (Remind Kevin to tell you the "Projectile Poop" story sometime.) She also sleeps like, well, a baby. She is such a good sleeper that I actually have to wake her in the middle of the night for her feedings, or she would be happy to just keep on snoozing 'til morning.

We are so blessed. Even if she wasn't such a good baby, even if she weren't so dang cute, even if she had pooped on mommy instead of daddy, we would still be blessed.

We love you baby bear.

Introducing...

LILLIE MAE KRENZIN



Born Friday, October 17th at 5:27am
7 pounds, 13 ounces - 19.5 inches


More photos and updates coming soon!

A (non) update

Well, today was my due date. And since I am writing this right now, you can probably guess that I have not had the baby. Nor am I in labor. Nor anywhere close to being in labor either. I had a doctor's appointment this afternoon and was really excited to see what sort of progress I had made since last week. Especially since my doctor told me that she would be very surprised if I even made it to my next appointment. After hearing that last Monday, we made sure everything was wrapped up with a nice little pink bow because surely it would be any time now. We even asked her very nicely if she could just hold on 'til the weekend, so that Daddy could wrap things up at work (yeah right) and that Mommy could lay on the couch eating candy corn for a few more days. Well, the entire work week went by, and nothing. And then Saturday night came, and at 11pm, I spent about an hour buzzing around the house cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen before finally going to bed. And then at about 1am I started to have contractions. They weren't intensely painful but were uncomfortable enough to keep me awake, and I thought to myself this might be the start of something! And then, at 5am...they stopped. And the rest of the weekend was completely uneventful. But still, I had hope.

But, today Dr. Tracy informed us that I had made absolutely no progress whatsoever since my last appointment. None. Not one measly centimeter. It seems as though Miss Lillie Mae is quite comfortable where she is and has no qualms about making everyone wait until she is good and ready to make her grand appearance.

So, I will see the doctor again in two days, and she will check me once more. And then if I have not gone into labor by next Monday, she wants to induce. I really hope it doesn't come to that, so I will be spending the next week doing jumping jacks and eating jalapeno peppers.

38 weeks

So here I am at 38 weeks. Only 2 weeks left to go. Hopefully. On my last doctor's appointment, she warned me that she thought that this was not going to be a small baby. When she was examining my belly, she said "Wow, that is solid baby in there!". So hopefully that does not translate into her deciding to arrive early. Although on the other hand, I hope she doesn't get too much bigger; I'm not thrilled about the idea of delivering an 18lb infant.



As d-day approaches, Kevin and I have been thinking a lot lately about what Lillie looks like, and when exactly she will decide to grace us with her presence. Will she have daddy's blue eyes, or mommy's green? Blond hair like both of us had when we were young? Bona fide genius or just exceptionally gifted?

We thought it might be fun to guess some of her stats and then see who was closest.

Nicole's guesses:
10/13/2008, 12:23pm
8lbs, 9oz.
20 inches
Blond hair, blue eyes

Kevin's guesses:
10/12/2008, 5:30 pm
8lbs, 5oz.
22 inches
Brown hair, blue eyes

What do you think?
Leave your guess in the comments and we'll see who's right!

2 years going on 20

It's amazing to me that today is our 2nd wedding anniversary. It feels like our 20th! And I don't mean that in a bad way. Maybe it's because we dated for 6 years before getting married. Maybe its because we have already experienced so much together. But I think it's really because of the reflection of our years to come. Some how, the light is so bright from the future that it's shining back at me, past me even, and making the past seem so much bigger than is actually is.

I woke up today with a feeling of "this is exactly where I am supposed to be". That even though this is what I've always dreamed of, today I realized that this is who I was born to be. Wife to my husband, and mother to my daughter. I really couldn't ask for anything more in life. And I owe so much of that to Kevin. He works so hard to make sure that I get to do what I've always wanted to do, and stay at home and devote my time to my family. When he works late, sometimes I am selfish and want him to come home and be with me, but I need to remember that the reason he is working so hard is for me. I am so proud of him.

On this day only 2 years later, I thought it would be nice to take a look back. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from September 24th, 2006.















Happy anniversary Mr. Krenzin.

Love,

Your Mrs.