A Starbucks Anniversary

Today is our five year anniversary! We normally celebrate with a really nice dinner at Bob's or Pappas Bros Steakhouse or someplace similar. This year, with a brand new baby we weren't exactly up for a nice dinner out. Instead, we drove to the Starbucks down the street from our house, put Lily in the sling, enjoyed our lattes together and talked about the last five years. The day started out a little rough for me, with Lily being a little fussy and Phil out of the house, but it ended nicely, and I feel so blessed to have a happy marriage, wonderful husband and sweet baby girl. Thanks for being so good to us Phil. We love you!

1 week old!

Wednesday Lily turned one week old. Honestly I don't even remember what day of the week it is most of the time, and it is all going by so fast! We are starting to figure out what works for her as far as sleeping goes. She loves being swaddled in the miracle blanket and tucked in her swing. She has been eating really well, and she sleeps for pretty decent stretches too. More so than I thought would happen at this point! She makes the funniest little sounds, almost like a little squirrel when we're changing her or I pick her up after feeding her. She just loves being worn in the sling. We can wear her for hours and she's as happy as a clam. She had her first doctor's appointment on Monday, and she already surpassed her birth weight and is a chunk at just over 9 lbs. Who knows how much of that was cloth diaper weight, but who's counting? We both just love having her, and she is such a joy to us.

First Doctor's Appointment

With my dad, a.k.a "The Captain"

Smiling in her sleep

Being worn by daddy. She loves this!

Eyes open!

Like a drug to me

That's how I described this baby girl to Phil. You always hear people say how amazing it is, and I never really got that. I mean, they don't do much at all at first! I just love every bit though and am cherishing this time with my baby. Even at 4:00 in the morning I am happy, because I get her all to myself for a little bit and there are no greedy paws around to whisk her away from me! She is just the sweetest little (big) thing, and we feel blessed beyond measure to have her. Not to make you all gag or anything, because this is sugary sweet, but I just wonder what I did to deserve such a great life? Praise God. He is good.

As for the details, Lillian Caroline entered the world at 9:23 am on Wednesday August 19. She put mommy through a couple of days worth of contractions before she decided it was time to get with the program, and she held out until the night before our scheduled induction, but I think she just wanted her own birthday rather than have to share with her Auntie Victoria. There is enough sharing birthdays in this family already!

With daddy right after she was born.

My little gremlin!

Sweet sleepy baby.

He's smitten! Check out those rockin biceps too.

The Lasts

I find myself wondering if each time I do something fun with a friend, or have a nice date with Phil, if it will be the last one before baby is here. We're trying to enjoy our time before she arrives and we are house bound for a while, and today was such a fun day for me. I woke up and did a little bit of cleaning, then was treated to a yummy lunch by Emily and her sweet mom Linda at Houston's, bought two super cute dresses for Lily and came home for a bit. I hung out with Phil and got in the pool for a little while, then went and saw The Proposal with Sherry and Emily (loved it, super cute movie), and then our husbands met us at Sonny Bryan's for a casual dinner. It was a great day, and as excited and anxious as we are for baby girl to arrive, it was really nice to spend some time with my good friends before she is here. We are usually busy running around all over the place on the weekends, and sometimes you just need to let things go and leave them for another day and spend some time with the people you care about!

Congrats Brady and Phil!

Phil's coworkers were sweet enough to throw him a work shower on Monday, along with Brady who's wife is expecting a little girl at the end of the month. The wives were invited to be a part of the festivities, and they had a nice lunch for us including a yummy cake from A&J's! This picture of the boys cutting "their cake" cracks me up!

Jennifer's Beer Bread

I've been in a recipe sharing mood lately! This beer bread is SO good. Jennifer made it for dinner a few weeks ago, and Phil had to have the recipe. In fact, he has already made it twice since then, and Emily and I were lucky enough to be getting out of the pool yesterday when a fresh loaf was pulled from the oven. She loved it too...and wrote down the recipe! Plus, it is all of three ingredients. I'm telling you people, go make this! You won't regret it.

Jennifer C's Beer Bread

3 Cups Self Rising Flour
1/2 Cup of Sugar
1 Beer (Room Temp)

Mix the above ingredients and bake for one hour at 350. Melt 1/4 cup of butter and pour over the top of the loaf. Turn oven off and let sit in oven for ten minutes. Then, indulge! Honestly, the last step with the butter isn't even necessary, so if you are feeling lazy, or trying to cut out some calories, you can skip that step. Also, the recipe will be fine if you use a cold beer. If you want to make this immediately, which I highly encourage, the conversion for self rising flour is 1 cup equals 1 cup of all purpose flour plus 1 1/2 tsp baking powder plus 1/2 tsp salt. A delicious addition is 1/2 - 1 cup of shredded sharp cheddar or pepper jack cheese. Yum!

My New Coworker

My work was nice enough to allow me to work at home my last few days before the baby arrives. I will be taking advantage of some pool time at lunch, the ability to throw in a load of laundry during the day, the dress code of shorts and a t-shirt, and the head start that not having a commute home allows me on preparing dinner. That said, my one and only coworker is a bit lacking. Phil asked me to come up with a performance review for him.

Quietness – A
Friendliness – C –
Initiative – F
Cuteness – A +

He mainly likes to lay five feet away from me on the aggie blanket, at times venturing outside for some sunbathing. Sadly, he is not a good Starbucks companion like my real coworkers are. They say it isn't sanitary or something like that. Poor guy! I mean he gets at least 4 baths a year?!