Growing, Changing Lily....

It is amazing how much Lily has changed in the last couple of weeks.  She consumes more formula now than breastmilk, because my body just isn't making enough, but she is happier because she is getting full, and she is so much more playful!  She is now reaching for toys, and smiling SO MUCH!  She has just been so much FUN!

St. Luois Botanical Gardens

 Last Saturday, while I was still in Missouri, we drove into St. Louis to see the botanical gardens.  The trees were all budding, and there were many flowering trees- and some flowers were already up.  It was beautiful, and a felt so good to be outside when it was sunny and about 75 degrees!  Lily did great in the baby bjorn, sleeping until all but the last hour- when I found a secluded spot to change her and feed her.  She then actually slept most of the way back....I was so impressed! But, after 2 days of consant eating, she spent 2 days pretty much sleeping and she sure grew!

 Aidan- in the kids Park, there was this balancing rope to cross- he loved it!  He was pretty brave!

 The kid's park was great- with all these little hidden areas for kids to hang, slide, crawl and play.

 Aidan rock climbed up this big boulder!....and then jumped off!

 There was an outdoor music area.

 In the Japanese garden....

Aidan and Alaina met some friends near the kid's garden.  What a fun day! And then 2 days later I came back to MN/WI.....where it has been snowing/raining/ice most of the week.  Today I finally see the sun peaking through the clouds at North Bend.  Hopefully it will melt all the new snow we got yesterday....  Lily and I are headed into town to do some shopping and visiting today.....I now have only 2 more weeks left of maternity leave =(

Missouri...Lily's first Hikes

 The weather in Missouri was beautiful!!...especially because our late spring in MN/WI.  I did not mind leaving snowstorm after snowstorm to find green grass and weather in the 60's or more each day!  While Katie and the kids were in school, and Matt was at work, Lily and I enjoyed hiking with Arlo in the Grand Bluffs nature reserve near their house.  The hike up the bluffs was exactly what I needed to clear my lungs and build up some strength after all my time inside with Lily.  She loved being outside in the nice weather, though she slept through most of the hiking.

 Arlo was thrilled to see his first butterflies to chase!  We also saw a few wildflowers, bees, buds on the trees....ahhhh!  SPRING!!!

 Oh, yeah, and the ticks were out....

The baby bjorn worked the best, though Lily was not a fan of the sun in her eyes.  The next day we bought a sunhat, since I didn't think to bring one!!

Lily's first Easter!

 We went up to my mom's after church for the kid's Easter egg hunt (where I recruited help from the kids in finding my "golden egg"), and then went down to Westfield for lunch with Jim's Dad an family.

 This is Lily's about to cry face...

 Most of the grandkids, with Great Grandma Ruth

Right after lunch Jim took off to drive to Annapolis, Maryland.  He was gone for a week for the Polar technology conference...so on Tuesday, Lily and I headed to Missouri for a week, where Lily had a major growth spurt!  Looking at these pictures 2 weeks later I am amazed with how much she has changed!!