A Lot To Be Thankful For

This Thanksgiving was different than in years past. I have always had a lot to be thankful for but sometimes it gets lost in the baking and prep work. When you have a sweet, lively little 8 month old it is quite hard to get lost in any of that. We spent a wonderful 2 days at my parents house. For the first time we had all of my siblings and spouses and babies sleeping under one roof. Sure we are under the same roof all the time but two nights of sleepovers was awesome. I am so grateful that my family enjoys spending so much time together and that we live close enough that we can.

I love that we could spend a few days hanging out with my family and then come home and still get to spend a whole weekend just hanging out with our little family.

On Thanksgiving Dani, my sister-in-law with this awesome blog wanted to take some pictures of Lily. I included my favorites but you can click this to see more.

Prettiest Pumpkin in the Patch

Lily was the cutest little pumpkin ever this year.
I thought I would plan and plan her costume to figure out what would be the cutest thing on her and make her first Halloween perfect.
I'm glad thats not how it worked out.

This was a TJ Maxx find and I just got lucky with the headband in the $1 bin at Gymboree. Halloween and the Friday before at the ward trunk-or-treat were rainy and cold. I think I would have been kind of bummed if I had spent tons of time and energy on something that was hardly used.

More importantly this costume fits Lily's personality better than anything I could have thought up.

7 Months

I was asked all the time by other moms "don't you just love this age" or "this age is just so fun isn't it?" And I kept waiting to feel that way about what Lily was doing. Don't get me wrong, I always love her, I think she is the most adorable baby ever and enjoy being her mom...I just wasn't constantly having fun.

But if someone asked me that right now I would answer with a resounding YES! Someone please ask me that sometime soon. Her little body is just exploding with personality these days. She no longer wants to cuddle with me (the one part of this new stage that I am not enjoying) but just wants to soak in her world. She is constantly exploring with her new army crawl which is getting faster everyday. She is pulling herself up on low objects and people- she can be entertained for such a long time if I just lay on the floor and let her crawl all over me and let her pinch my face to pieces. OUCH (by the way a word she just laughs at no matter how hard I try to make it mean something). I find myself so exhausted by the end of the day but I just love it.

Sometimes when I put her to sleep I find myself just holding her long after her eyes close and her breathing slows...soaking up the sweet, calm baby and giving her kisses that she can't dodge as she struggles to break free and play.

She is perfect and I love being her mommy.

All About Lily

During my last post I neglected to put anything in about what Lily is doing these days.

She is sitting up

She recently learned to use her walker at Grandma's house and is loving her new found freedom

She hates sweet potatoes but loves prunes (weird kid)

Is finally using her sippy cup!

Has discovered her love for the kitties (she giggles at them whenever they are near by)

She has found her happy yelling voice...its loud.

She loves her giraffe toy

She loves going on walks

She loves Grandma's necklaces

She is an awesome cuddler

Her dimples are cuter and cuter all the time

Her peach fuzz on top is getting a little thicker...I swear its not my imagination!

She smiles so big whenever her Daddy comes home

She loves it when you sing and clap your hands

She is the sweetest and most adorable baby in the world.

6 Months

6 Month Stats

15 lbs 11 oz

25in long

Aunt Becs did an awesome photo shoot for us this weekend. Here are a few of my favs!

Did you notice?

How I never posted beach pics after promising them? How about that the video never got there either? Well here are some pictures to turn you into mush. My baby can turn just about anyone into mush. Unless its 10pm and the light on the fan is much more entertaining than sleep (but I guess we don't really need to talk about that).

Are you ready for the Thongthai 3 months in review?

You sure???

Because the cuteness is pretty much stunningly overwhelming.

Trust me.

I know.

San Diego Fourth

My friend Cristina got married in the San Diego temple on July 2nd. As a bridesmaid and incredibly proud friend I decided that we HAD to be there. With help of my parents rewards flights we took off for my first 4th of July weekend away from home. I was a little disappointed and may have started crying at some points in the weekend because the 4th is one of my favorite days of the year. I usually plan the food I will make for like weeks.

We ended up having a fun and relaxing week. It was our first vacation as the little Thongthai family and it was nice. We love going away with my family but it was a nice change to go at our pace and make our own schedule and just enjoy time together. Enjoy the photo dump!

On the way to the zoo (the picture would not turn!)

Cousin play date when we got home. FYI they did start close together- Lily decided to use her new skills to escape.

Wor rocking the purse and ice cream cone in front of the elephants.

Reaction to the smell.

The temple from the highway. Beautiful!

Our make-shift Bumbo. Isn't that just the cutest face you've ever seen?

La Jolla at sunset.

Climbing the never-ending hill to La Jolla Village- would be a awesome night spot if we didn't have a baby with us.

Beautiful La Jolla.

La Jolla Cove

Coming soon...

Memorial Day

Going into Memorial day weekend it looked like Lily and I would be pretty miserable. Both of us were feeling pretty bad and its hard to start feeling better as a Mom if you get little sleep with a congested baby. We were babysitting for my little brothers while my parents celebrated their 30th anniversary with a long weekend in Williamsburg. With the combination of Adam and Jacobs helping hands and Wor taking Lily on Saturday morning I started to feel much better.

The worst part of my day right now is suctioning out Lily's nose. I hate having her scream and scream- sometimes doing what you need to as a Mom makes you feel like a monster. It's awful!

Anyways.

We spent Memorial Day evening hanging out at Rachel and Ross' pool with my family picnicing. It was Lily's first dip in the pool and after she got used to it she seemed quite content to be held in the water.

At the end of the evening Wor stepped on a rusty bobby pin in the pool and it went into his foot- ouch!

Lily and Brooklyn in matching swimsuits and hats- courtesy Aunt Rachel.

First dip with Dad.

So adorable!

Ready to go!

Playing together on Sunday!

Getting so big and playing all by herself!