She's not a baby anymore...

Tear.. Today is the day that I relive the birth of my baby girl.  I will never forget all the emotions I felt the day she was born.  I wanted to be so tough, but I had to bust out in tears after I first got to hold her.  I was so jealous of everyone getting to see her before me.  I mean, she was residing inside of me for 10 months!  It was just fair that I get to be the first to hold her!  But she was with her daddy.  While I lay in the recovery room after the C-Section, ALONE, everyone else was getting to meet her for the first time.  Luckily, it wasn't for very long.  Daddy was getting to know her in the nursery after everyone left.  I still hold a little resentment for being in that recovery room alone.  Nobody came to check on me!  I mean, HELLO!  I just birthed the first grandchild, can't I get a little love?  I bet everyone would have felt really bad if I didn't make it through carrying on a legacy... Anyway, an old neighbor from my childhood was working the maternity ward that night and she came in to talk to me for a while. So many memories from that day but the greatest was getting to hold my little angel for the first time.  Technically, it was the 26th when I first held her because it was after midnight.  I got to feed her before the nurses took her away so I could get some sleep.  But I remember looking at her to find out what traits of mine she would have.  I knew she would be all Daddy, but its the little parts of her that are all mine!  Her ears, her nose, her chin, all mine!

I figured I would share with y'all some pictures from past birthdays.  There are many of you who live at a distance or just weren't a huge part of our lives during these times.  So here is some catching up....

Just born.  She's been in front a camera ever since

The chubby little face just hours after her birth

This one isn't a birthday picture, but she looks so divine here that she could have played the baby Jesus in a Christmas pageant.  I can't remember how old she was, maybe 1 or 2 months old.  I owe everything to this little life, because without her there is no telling where I would be..... 

Sorry, I have searched far and wide for a one year old party photo, So here is the next best thing, Christmas!

Here she is on her birthday at 2 years old 

At 3 with a homemade birthday cake! Spongebob Style!

Here she is at 4.  She wanted everyone to leave so she could play with her new toys.

And there you have it!  Our little girl growing up through the years. She is our jewel, angel, sugar booger, our Lillers... I hope you enjoyed my little stroll through memory lane.......

Lilliana's 5th Birthday!

Today was Lilliana's 5th Birthday Party.  Dominike and I stayed up until 4 am getting the house decorated for the party.  I spend most of the night preparing the cake and food that we served.  I have to say, this is my best cake yet!

This was the first year she actually had school friends to invite.  And all that were invited came!  Maleena, Avery and her sisters, Malachi, and Devin are classmates that Lilliana has made connections with.  Because Lilliana is an only child, it is important to us that she gets to involve them in her life outside of school.  

The kids made their own gift bags when they came in 

When the kids came in, the made their own gift bags and got to fill it with all the goodies they wanted.  The vampire teeth was the biggest hit!

Maleena, Avery, Lilliana, Jayda, and Jazz

  Here we have all the ladies standing together for a photo.  They were all so sweet and so well behaved!

Izayah and Andrew are painting pumpkins

Izayah and Andrew are my husbands second cousins.  We were so happy to have them join us.  Here they are painting pumpkins.  I wanted to give the kids a crafty activity to do to keep them occupied.  What better way to celebrate Halloween than by decorating a pumpkin?  The kids were very creative!  Many of the painted pumpkins had a marbled effect to them because the paint had been globbed on all at once.  But once they dried they looked really neat!

Gift Time!

Lillliana's First Bicycle!

This was the year we decided to get Lilliana a bicycle.  I got my first bike at 5 as well and I loved it!  I went everywhere on my bike.  Sometimes I wish I had a bike to ride, but I enjoy the back pedal to brake bikes.  Now we can take Lilliana to the park to ride around.  Malachi lives near the park and his grandmother invited us for a bike ride after Malachi's birthday.

My masterpiece in its defining moment!

Best friends - Lilliana and Malachi 

They might just run away and join the circus...

 After the cake, the kids needed to go burn off some steam.  We all poured outside and let the kiddos run and climb all over.  Lilliana had an absolute blast.  We didn't have any meltdowns like last year, but she was asking us to wrap up the party so she could play with her new toys, LOL.  The parents had some fun too!  We are so grateful to everyone who came to celebrate 5 wonderful years with our little girl!

Our Day at Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm

 Today, we went to Maxwell's Pumpkin Farm with the Girl Scouts.  Lilliana LOVES the Girl Scouts.  She already knows the Girl Scout Promise!  First, we fed the rabbits.  They were very hungry.  So hungry, in fact, they fought over the lettuce! Then we tried to feed the goats, but they were stuffed!

Lilliana met up with one of her Girl Scout friends and they pretty much stayed together throughout the day.

Then we all met up to have a snack.  Our troop leader made Jack-o-lantern cupcakes for all to enjoy.  Then we were off to conquer the Pumpkin Farm together!  Here is the troop together.  In hindsight, we should have pointed the camera the other way because the port-o-potties are not very autumn-festive... 

Lilliana and the girls on the Jumping Pillow

Oh to be a kid again.  The girls were having a blast with each other.  After the Jumping Pillow, we went through the Obstacle Course that was situated within a corn maze, TWICE!  Then we went to the slides inside the dirt mountain.  We slid down on burlap gunny sacks for a fast slide down.   I swear I got my workout going up that mountain so many times.

Helping one another is what Girl Scouts is all about!

We made it TWICE!  That obstacle course was FUN! 

I am so thankful for the Girl Scouts.  When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a Girl Scout but for some reason it just wasn't in the budget.  Which is a real testament to how poor we must have been because the Girl Scouts is not that expensive.  But I am glad I get to share these experiences with Lilliana.  She is an only child at home, but she has a band of sisters in this little group.

I finished the Pretty Pixie Hat!

Well the color that the author of the pattern, April Folts, used Red Heart Claret Fleck.  I just had some Lion Brand lying around, I forget the color name but it is a beige or blonde color.  While structurally, the hat is the same as the pattern, I should have thought the color through because this turned out to look like a blond Heidi wig!  Oh well, it is still cute!  I fell in love with April Draven Designs and Crochet Patterns blog last Christmas when I made a ton of Cable Fae Slouch hats that got distributed to anyone who was around when I finished.  She also wrote a pattern after Bella's La Push hat from Twilight.  I made one for my brother in-law out of the wool he bought me for Christmas... Anyway, all you "hookers" out there should check out her blog and her Etsy site.

April Draven Designs and Crochet Patterns
http://www.etsy.com/shop/aprildraven

iLilliana

Lilliana loves to make videos of her self talking to her 'web audience' on iPhoto.  This is a compilation of her first 3 'episodes'.  In the video she coins the phrase, "Hello, I'm Lilliana and today is a new day today". Then we get a glimpse of her acting abilities.  She keeps grabbing things within reach to show her audience.  In one portion she says "I'm a precious little girl", and yes, yes you are Lilliana.

Lilliana is Mad at Mama

Ever since we got our iMac, Lilliana has been fascinated with the photo booth and its video recording capabilities.  Usually we can find little 'web shows' she creates when she has time on the computer.  Here is one that Momma helped finish for her.  Lilliana gets angry with me sometimes and I don't even know it.  Apparently, I sneezed on a paper she was writing on and she thought it was rude.  Well of course, it was rude! But she waited until she could tell her "audience"about the ordeal before she told me.  In fact, I had to find out like the rest of the world through this video.  So enjoy my kid and her rant of anger.

The beginning of my favorite hobby...

This was my very first finished crochet project.  I checked out a how-to book about knit and crochet one summer from my university's library.  Everything I made was impromptu projects that I threw together.  First I made the scarf.  I wanted to start small so I could get familiar with the different types of stitches.  The hat was made from the pattern in the book.  It was not bad for a first timer, but I didn't gauge the stitches so it fit my daughters head just fine.  My head, not so much.  The flower was also a pattern in the book that combined the different types of stitches to create a flower.  It took a summer's worth of time for me to catch on, but now I crochet any free moment I have and there are not many of those in my life.  I am excited to show you other things I have made and will make in the future.  I do not sell my projects.  I am happy to just give them away.  I usually crochet things for family members as Christmas gifts.