Happy Turkey Day!

We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  We spent the day with just our little family and enjoyed watching the parade, snacking, playing games, and then eating our big dinner!  It was the first year that we made the entire dinner ourselves.  I really don't like messing with raw meats, but I braved making a turkey (with gloves, of course).  I couldn't believe it, the turkey totally turned out PERFECTLY and we had such a fun time.  We love making our traditions in our little family and it's always fun to see how Lilly reacts each year as she gets older.  Thanksgiving was a success!

After we ate dinner and Lilly played with a Turkey leg, we were left with a greasy mess all over the table and herself.  We stripped her down and put her in the bathroom to "wash up" while we cleaned the kitchen.  I knew she might cause a mess, and I was disappointed.  haha!  There was water E.V.E.R.Y.W.H.E.R.E!  The bathroom was flooded, but all that matters was Lilly had fun; she was seriously screaming and squealing with delight, so it was worth every towel it took to soak up the mess. 

Baking Memories

We are getting ready for the Thanksgiving Holiday and started doing some baking today, along with getting some other prep done for the big day tomorrow.  We made some Pumpkin Pies and then decided to bake some Peanut Butter Cookies.  Lilly had a lot of fun helping in the kitchen and especially all the test-tasting that just had to be done!  And yes, we have already put up our Christmas decorations; just couldn't help myself.  :)

Lillys 2nd BIRTHDAY!!!

It's hard to believe that our little girl is 2 years old.  I was just thinking that her next birthday she will be 3; that's just crazy.  We have been overly blessed by this little angel in our life.  She makes us laugh everyday and has filled up our hearts to overflowing.  We were lucky enough to have her birthmom, Mandy, here for the weekend.  We enjoyed every second with her.  One of my brothers had commented to us that it would be interesting to see how Lilly reacts and if there is any connection between her and Mandy that's neurological or something.  It was amazing to sit back and watch Lilly as we were picking Mandy up from the airport; Lilly just loved Mandy as though she saw her every single day.  She played with her and laughed at her and there was definitely a connection.  When you think about it too much, it's hard to think that they will have this relationship I will never have with Lilly.  BUT just having her birthparents and their families in our lives has made our little family that much richer.  We feel abundantly blessed to have these people in our lives.  Lilly's birthfather and his mom are two amazing people as well.  They sent Lilly a package and even though they have only met her once, they love her so much.  They are two of the sweetest people in our family and we are grateful for their love and support too.

We were able to Skype with my parents (who are in Russia) first thing in the morning and Lilly loved it!  We also got to Skype throughout the day with quite a bit of family and got a lot of phone calls wishing Lilly a Happy Birthday!  We have a big pancake breakfast on our birthdays and Lilly was freaking out that she had Mickey Mouse pancakes!  She kept saying, "Mickey, Mickey, Mickey."

Mandy gives Lilly a charm for her charm bracelet every year and this year she got a cute little birthday cake (last year she got a cute key).

We also had to put Mandy to work while she was here and she made Lilly a really CUTE cake!  Lilly was a lot calmer about eating the cake this year.  Mandy was playing with her while she ate the cake and Lilly was laughing really hard...until Mandy decided to put a little frosting on her cheeks, scroll to the bottom to see how Lilly reacted.  :)

 

It really was a great day and Lilly quickly got a bath and was completely exhausted by the time she went to bed.  Thanks for everyone that made the day so special.

What a GREAT 2nd birthday!!!