Boosta Boosta Nicky Nicky....and Dana

Lily in her magenta cloth diaper

Yesterday morning at about 5:00 a.m. we heard Lily waking up in her room. We brought her in with us and decided to change her diaper. In all the commotion we ended up with a Lily and a Buster snuggling with us in our bed. The snuggling didn't last long, as Lily and Buster were soon playing together. We were talking to Lily about Buster when suddenly she blurted out "Boosta, Boosta." We thought it might have been a fluke, but again this morning as our entire family was warm in bed, Lily woke up with a smile and the first thing she said, upon seeing her furry companion, was "Boosta." I don't know if that counts as a first word or not, but she definitely knows Buster. If she hears his name, she stops whatever she's doing and looks for him. They are best friends, for sure. They sit and look out the front door together, share toys, and Buster always tries to snuggle with her when we are holding her on the couch. So it was only a matter of time until she called out her best friend's name.

Just yesterday, Lily enjoyed a visit from her aunt Dana. Lily treated Aunt Dana like she treated Uncle Mike during his visit a couple of weeks ago. After a minute of scrutiny, Lily warmed to her and the two were like long, lost friends. A huge, two-toothed smile set the tone for the rest of their day together, as Dana played with Lily while Mommy and Daddy went to a wedding. Even though Aunt Dana had to make a quick return to the city for a party last night, she and Lily reconnected, and Lily is looking very forward to her next visit from her aunt.

Recently, Lily has had wonderful visits from two different Nicks. One from Grandpa Nick when he and Grandma Judy visited and the other last night from her 6-year-old cousin Nicky. As you can see from the pictures, she had a wonderful time with both of them.

Homecoming Babies

This past weekend was IWU's homecoming. Lily and I had so much fun visiting with all my friends that came back for the weekend. Tara, D, Lily and I had lunch with our very best running friend G and her beautiful baby Ron. Our other IWU friend, Shannon, and her cutie patootie, Abe, joined us as well. It was a wild lunch with the mom's eating as fast as we could so that we could keep an eye on our little monsters. After lunch, we had a mommy parade down to the game. President Wilson loved all three of us standing there with our strollers so much that he went and grabbed Tommy Titan and the IWU photographer to get a picture of all of us. Maybe we will be in the next alumni magazine! During the game some of my very special friends that were seniors when I was a freshman came over to meet Lily. It was so nice to see Mish, Mary, Kristy, and Angie. Lily loved Mish! They chatted for quite awhile. Lily was also in love with Katie Elwood. She sang a little song while Katie walked her around. We had so much fun seeing all of our friends and I was happy they finally got to meet Lil in person. After the game, we stopped by Tommy's with daddy and visited some of his friends from school. Lily, of course, put on a show and tried to get everyone's attention. Luckily, it was loud enough in there that her yelling didn't seem to bother anyone. After Tommy's, Lily went to Grandma and Grandpa O'Rourke's for a nice relaxing evening while dad went to the local bars for alumni duties and mom went to the Coliseum to work the Bob Dylan concert.

Sunday we had a wonderful visit from Grandpa Nick and Grandma Judy. Lily showed off her crawling skills and her new teeth. As of this morning, she now has a total of four showing through. She has two on the bottom and two just now poking through on the top. She also showed them her waving, clapping, and how she says "hi dada." She was not in the mood to play peek-a-boo.

This week has marked our first week in cloth diapering. Lily looks so cute with her booty all padded with a cloth dipey. Last Friday we met with a woman in town that sells cloth diapers and does free consultations. I had researched all the benefits, pros and cons, and tried to understand all the different types, but to look at them on the Internet was overwhelming. Luckily, Sarah was very informative and seeing the diapers in person made it all so much easier to grasp and understand. With both of us working, I knew we would need a diaper that would be easy and convenient for our lifestyle and for our babysitters. We talked it all over and decided to take the plunge. We purchased all-in-one diapers and the name says it all. The diapers are all one piece and have velcro as the latching mechanism. Once soiled you just throw the whole thing (minus any solid) in the diaper pale. So far so good. We have had a few leakage issues, but part of that problem can be attributed to our squirmy child that does not sit still for any diaper change. The washing has been easy as well. The diaper pale liner is made out of the same material as the diapers and goes in the wash with them so I never have to touch the diapers at all. I just dump them in and throw the bag in as well. Pretty easy so far. Lily is a lucky baby cruising around in those soft and cushy diapers.

SOLD

Soon to be Mavros Family's Home

Family room with wood burning fireplace

Front family/living room

another view

another angle

Kitchen

nursery
Kids Bath
bedroom

Spacious backyard

kid's playroom in basement
kid's fort in basement

another play area/family room in basement

We sold our house! So we will be making the big move right after Thanksgiving and couldn't be happier. Here are a few pictures of the new house. Unfortunately, our computer has been on the fritz so I wasn't able to load all the pictures I wanted. In addition to these pictures, you missed our master bedroom and bathroom as well as more of the open kitchen and eating area. I can't wait for everyone to come over and visit!

A Lily for all Ages

As you can see from the pictures, Lily has her first boyfriend. On Saturday, Lily and I went with Tara and Dalton to the Farmer's Market. We all rode together in Tara's car, and the whole way there we heard little giggles coming from the back seat. After some quick investigation, we realized that every time Dalton reached over and touched Lily she would start cracking up. It was so cute. We had such a fun time visiting together, and it was so nice of Dalton to share some of his Farmer's market bread with Lily while the mom's chatted over coffee at the Coffee Hound. After a nice stroll through the market and a brief, but fun visit with Melissa and baby Keaton, we all got back in the car for the ride home where Dalton and Lily held hands. I think they are going to be great friends. Lily also had fun visiting with her Great-grandma Dorkie on Friday night. We went over to Dorkie's apartment on Friday night where Lily put on a show of all her great tricks. She crawled and babbled and ate her new favorite baby food, organic mixed bananas, oatmeal, and peaches. She gobbled it up without making her usual disgusted face. She opened her mouth while awaiting every bite and ate more than expected. She then relaxed on Dorkie's lap and played with all of Dorkie's pretty jewelry before it was time to get home for bed. Today, Lily and I had a great surprise. We had Dorkie, Mimi ( grandma O'Rourke), and Aunt Molly all visit us at lunch today. After lunch the Grandmas took Lily out on the swing where I snapped a few shots.