Books Books and More Books

As much as I want my mom to continue to purge the huge amount of stuff that she has collected over the years, I am ever so thankful that she has kept ALL of our children's books. Over xmas we dug them out of the attic and sorted through them. We traveled back to NC with maybe 1/8th of the total collection. Thanks Marmi for the starter library! This also inspired my to visit the Chapel Hill Lilbrary and it was amazing! Lilia was fascinated with all the children running around and fun art on the walls. This might be a new weekly trip for us.

Some Christmas Cheer

This was a great Christmas and even though my baby does not yet understand what the holiday is, it was so much fun having her around. She was the center of attention and did pretty well considering the 15 people that stayed at my parents house for 2 days. She banked on presents, thanks ya'll! and managed to steal everyone's hearts with her smiles and coos. I also wanted to mention our survival of the 48 hour trip to Indy. We got stuck in the winter blizzard of 2009 in WV. We had to stay in two hotels and spent a grand total of 26 hours in the car...8 of which was at a dead standstill. Lilia was amazing during that journey and only cried for a total of 10-15 minutes. The journey back was much shorter and a little fussier, but we made it and are glad to be back home.
Family picture: Sami, faux-uncle (aka funkle) Kris, Parmi, Sarah, Lala, me, Marmi and Bean, and Mimi (the proud great-grandmother)
Me and bean escaping the comotion
Knitted gifts from Sarah
Daddy reading Bean The Little Pea
Yippie, Our first night out!!!!

Holidays Cont...

Christi, Jess, and Sarah
Family portrait
Xmas pj's
Bean and Mama
Bean and Mimi

Like Mother, Like Child

Bean is taking after her mama with the phone in hand. Now if she could only get the pacing back and forth down....

Little Diva, Little Fin

Here is Bean looking her 1/4 Finnish. All bundled up in a super cute handmade snowsuit. hehehe
And, here is the little diva rocking out to the Pogues. She also sported a mini mohawk this day, even though it is hard to detect on film.

The Gingerbread House...That Was

Marjukka made Lilia a fantastic gingerbread house! Then, to celebrate it's beauty, we had our neighbor kids over to demolish it. Very fun. Lilia was jealous, but she will get her fix in a couple of years.

Pig and Bean

Bela has been a bit jealous of his little sister, but he is starting to come around. He sniffs her and wants to be near her. My only fear is how cats like to sit on whatever it is you are doing. For instance, Bela loves to come a sit on a book while you are reading it, or lay on wrapping paper in the middle of wrapping a present. Seems like he would also love to sit on Lilia's head while I am feeding her. We will be working on this, in the meantime he has been banished from sleeping with us at night. Sorry pig, you can come when Bean is old enought to dress you up and put you in the stroller.

Bye Bye Brits

On Thursday we bid farewell, for now, to Mummi and Taidi. Thank you so much for helping around the house, loving your baby grand-bean, and a fantastic visit! We will see you soon and miss you already.

Ahh, the Holy Ball

Yes, this blue yoga ball has been our savior. I loved it when I was preggers and since about 2 weeks old Bean has loved it as well. Almost every night this is how she falls asleep. Bouncing on the ball while her Dad sings stupid songs with ridiculous made up lyrics. I really like to put her in the sling and bounce her to sleep for naps while I sing Angel from Montgomery about 5 times through. I am working on learning some new songs. :)

Oh Cheap Christmas Tree

This year we decided to cut our own tree down from our 6 acres. It was fun to walk around the woods and it was fun to save $60 on a tree. We picked a cedar on the edge of the driveway that would have needed to come down at some point anyway. It is a bit of a "Charlie Brown" tree, but we love it. I just hope all the needles stay put for the next few weeks.

Lilia at 9 weeks

Today little Bean is 9 weeks old! So big. Here are some smiles from this morning.
Just waking up and staring at her favorite window.
Dad's pretty funny.
Mama's silly too.
Hehehe
Hilarious!

The Glider

Thanks to Sami's dad, the glider is finished about 3 years earlier then we ever anticipated! It is a shiny, polished, very bright blue. When I find the time, haha, I will make some pillows to mellow out the color a bit. It is a dream to glide on the front porch, and we officially feel southern.

AFTER
BEFORE

The Bottle and The Bean

After about 13 tries, Lilia finally accepted the bottle today. Her past refusal has really given me much to worry about, since I will be returning to work in about 6 weeks. I was worried that our nanny would be spoon feeding our child breast milk. But thank goodness, she has taken it at last.

Such a Lady

Crazy Bean

Last night, Lilia slept for two 5 hour stretches. Thanks Bean! Mama really needed that one. So this morning she was so excited to be awake at 6am, she did not even care to eat. She really wanted to look around and take in all she missed through the night's slumbers. She was staring intently at the light coming through the bedroom curtains and getting VERY excited. She was talking and kicking and moving her arms like crazy. We thought it was pretty funny.
"What is that lovely light coming through the window?"
"It is soooo cool, I am going to kick my legs like crazy"
"Whoao, I'm dancing to the light"
"I am also going to punch Dada in the face about 100 times because I am sooo excited!"

Boots and Tights Weather

Hey all. It has been awhile. I must admit the blog is not my biggest priority these days (not that it ever was) and I am finding it a bit difficult to keep up with. No worries though, I will continue to post as I am able. I also do promise to include posts other than on my precious Lilia Maven, but she is pretty great and I cannot resist posting her happening and pics, although she basically the center of our universe right now. :) We have been very busy hanging with Sami's parents. They are helping with some big projects (to be posted when complete) around the house and enjoying time with their grand-bean. I have been loving the recent weather. Beautiful sunny days with a bit of chill in the air. Excited to bust out my tights and boots.

Bean Updates

We have been very busy at the Grover abode. My parents were just here for their 2nd baby visit. We had a great time with all the grandparents together. Marjukka, mom, and I went to the mall on Friday. I had been looking forward to this for several weeks now. It is amazing what a little post preggo shopping trip can do. It was so nice to avoid maternity stores and shop in my regular old favorites (it has been almost a year since I could do that!!!) And I discovered how dangerous some of these baby clothing stores are. I should stay away, but I cannot help to want my Bean to look very fashionable.
Lilis is working on smiling. She smiles about 10 times a day now, but usually during sleep or breastfeeding. I think she is working on her smile muscles so she can wow us with a big one that is real. Her fussy time has quieted down a lot and she is very alert these days. She follows sound and movement very well. Below are some pics of her and Dada. He discovered that she loves watching his fingers move. He tells her it is practice for when she experiments in her teenage years. i say, let's not put any ideas in her head.
Bean totally zoned out on the tracers.
Om
DAD! Don't stop moving or I'll scream.

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!

We headed to Rachel and Edward's for a Halloween gathering with friends. It was great to see all the kids dressed up. Lilia dressed up as a purple flower...for about 5 minutes. She basically hated it, but we all loved it.
Heheheehe
"Daddy I look stupid!"
Charlie Ann was a pixie, Walker a T-Rex, and Aubrey was Pochahontas.
Walker enjoying a conversation with the baby.

Amazing Pumpkin Carvings

After hanging at Rachel and Edward's we all ventured to the Bynum Bridge (over the Haw River). The bridge is lined with about 100 carved jack0o-lanterns. We took some pictures, but some of our favorites did not show up on the camera so well.

Loving the Sling

This kid LOVES her sling. When she has fussy time, we usually take her on a walk in the fresh air and in the sling. It calms her and she loves being so warm and near us.

Tea for Two

The grandparents just got Lilia this adorable little antique table and chairs. We can't wait to have tea parties with her and her stuffed animals. Although, we might have to bring our own chairs.